ISLAMABAD: Pakistan climbed off the floor of the World Economic Forum’s annual gender-parity ranking this year, posting its steepest improvement in a decade even as the country remained mired near the bottom of a 145-economy field.
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Pakistan’s top court frees rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and husband after eight months in jail in social media case
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday suspended the 17-year prison sentences imposed on the prominent human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband over social media posts critical of the country’s powerful military, ordering the couple released on bail after nearly eight months in custody.
Punjab chief minister defends use of state jet for daughter’s graduation
MULTAN: Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of Punjab province, has launched a robust defence of her use of a provincial government aircraft to attend her daughter’s graduation ceremony in London, telling critics she “does not owe” them an explanation while simultaneously producing what she described as a receipt for the trip on her mobile phone.
Islamabad sealed with containers as senior PTI leader briefly detained en route to funeral
ISLAMABAD: Major roads into Islamabad were sealed with shipping containers on Thursday as the country’s capital braced for a fortnight of competing political marches, hours after the secretary general of Imran Khan’s opposition party said he had been detained and then released by police.
Pakistan revives austerity drive, halves official fuel use, bans foreign trips as oil shock deepens
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan ordered a 50% cut in fuel allocations for government vehicles and imposed a three-month freeze on official foreign travel, reviving an emergency austerity regime it abandoned less than three months ago as renewed fighting in the Middle East disrupts the shipping lanes that carry most of the country’s imported energy.
Security forces kill three militants in Balochistan as violence engulfs restive province
QUETTA: Security forces killed three militants in a raid in the restive south-western province of Balochistan on Thursday, officials said, the latest in a string of operations as the region grapples with a sharp escalation in violence.
Pakistan IT exports jump 17 percent as tech sector cushions trade gap
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s technology exports rose 17.4% in the first two months of the new fiscal year, extending a run of double-digit gains that has turned the software and call-centre industry into one of the country’s most reliable sources of foreign exchange.
Pakistan wheat tender draws $349-$370 bids, missing target volume
KARACHI: Pakistan’s state grain buyer received bids for 656,000 metric tons of wheat in its first import tender of the season, falling short of a 750,000-ton target as the South Asian nation moves to head off a supply gap flagged by its provinces.
Pakistan plans virtual power grids as minister admits theft drives outages
ISLAMABAD: The government is drafting rules for a virtual power grid that would let households and businesses generate and store their own electricity, part of a broader push to modernise a distribution network that Energy Minister Awais Leghari acknowledged is being undermined by theft and staff corruption.
July factory output rebounds 9.5 percent as autos, apparel offset textile slump
ISLAMABAD: The large-scale manufacturers staged a sharp rebound in July, with output climbing 9.5% from the prior month as a surge in automobile and apparel production papered over continued weakness in textiles, pharmaceuticals and steel — an uneven start to the fiscal year that underscores how narrow the country’s industrial recovery remains.