KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan reported a 20% drop in annual profit as the impact of the central bank’s monetary easing campaign began to show up in its own bottom line, even as the institution continued to funnel enormous sums to a government still struggling to close its budget gap.
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Gilgit-Baltistan presses ahead with trophy hunt auction after a season upended by unrest
GILGIT: The mountainous northern territory of Gilgit-Baltistan will put hunting permits for three markhor, the national animal of Pakistan, up for auction next month, part of a wildlife program that generates millions of dollars a year for remote Himalayan communities but that has struggled to recover from a wave of unrest tied to the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader.
Petrol falls 50 paisa to Rs342.60, diesel 19 paisa to Rs371.61
ISLAMABAD: The government lowered pump prices for gasoline and diesel on Thursday, the latest in a string of near-daily adjustments that have replaced the country’s longstanding practice of setting fuel costs every two weeks.
Kashmir’s ruling party fractures as Sharif taps political newcomer for premier
MUZAFFARABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz appeared headed into Friday’s vote for a new Azad Jammu and Kashmir prime minister with its own house in disorder, after the party’s central leadership passed over two senior regional figures in favour of a young barrister barely four days into his legislative career — and those passed-over leaders responded by saying they would boycott the election entirely.
After 14 newborns die in PIMS fire, questions turn to negligence and safety
ISLAMABAD: A committee appointed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif began investigating on Thursday what caused a fire to tear through a hospital nursery here, killing 14 newborns and leaving a nation searching for someone to blame.
He lived his entire life in a hospital ward – and died there, too
For two months, a baby boy lived in a hospital nursery because no one would say who he belonged to.
Pakistan weighs scrapping tiered gas pricing for single rate
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government is considering scrapping its tiered natural gas pricing system in favor of a single uniform rate for all consumers, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said, a shift that would mark one of the most significant overhauls of the country’s energy subsidy regime in years.
Grief, fury mount in Islamabad as officials probe hospital fire that killed 14 infants
ISLAMABAD: The federal minister overseeing Pakistan’s health system said on Thursday that he would submit himself to the same accountability he has promised for anyone found responsible for a fire that killed 14 newborns at a major Islamabad hospital, as grieving families, opposition politicians, and international officials pressed for answers about how the tragedy unfolded.
Rangers soldier killed in ambush during Kashmir road-clearing operation
MUZAFFARABAD: A paramilitary soldier was shot dead and a second wounded on Wednesday when gunmen opened fire on security forces conducting a road-clearing operation in the Sarsawa-Thorar-Thal area, officials said, the latest episode of violence in a region that has been convulsed by months of unrest.
Security forces kill 11 militants in Bannu, South Waziristan, Balochistan raids
ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed 11 militants in a series of intelligence-based raids across the country’s volatile northwest and southwest on Thursday, the government said, the latest in a string of operations that officials describe as central to an intensifying campaign against insurgent groups along the Afghan border.