<p>PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday decided to withdraw the controversial clauses from recently enacted legislation that expanded lawmakers’ powers and privileges after widespread backlash.</p> <p>In April, the provincial assembly <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1996445">passed</a> the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, granting blue passports to members and their spouses, arms licenses, blanket immunity from preventive detention and m

<p>ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the ultimate purpose of procedural law was to give voice to human suffering and not to silence it.</p> <p>The observation came while setting aside rulings of lower courts in a criminal appeal moved by Nayab Umrani before the Supreme Court regarding the murder trial of her sister Sanam Umrani. Advocate Sanam Umrani, who used to fight for women’s rights, was <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1418441">killed </a>on May 31, 2018, in Jacobabad

<p>THE security situation in Balochistan remains alarming, with a recent uptick in terrorist violence resulting in a large number of casualties amongst security forces. The seriousness of the situation can be gauged from the fact that the<a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2014127"> country’s top civilian and military leaders</a> — led by the prime minister and chief of defence forces — were in Quetta yesterday to take stock of matters.</p> <p>On Tuesday, the ISPR chief, while addressing th

<p><strong>• Sets July 14 as deadline for ‘acceptance’ of its demands<br>• Two die near Rawalakot as forces clear path for convoy carrying food items</strong></p> <p>MUZAFFARABAD: The proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) announced on Thursday that it would resume its long march on Muzaffarabad on July 15, if its demands remained unmet.</p> <p>Addressing participants at the Eidgah sit-in, JAAC core member Umar Nazir Kashmiri said the alliance would stage a long march on Muzaffar

<p>ISLAMABAD: After failing to control the population growth for over three years, the federal government has now pinned hopes on Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to play a role in curbing the population growth rate.</p> <p>This was disclosed by Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal during a joint meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services and the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Thursday.</p> <p>Jointly chaired by Senators Amir Waliuddin Chishti and Sam

<p>ISLAMABAD: A local court on Thursday convicted three men, including a retired officer and a senior Bahria Town official, in a case regarding the illegal transfer of funds abroad for Bahria Town projects.</p> <p>The court handed down sentences of one year’s imprisonment and a fine of Rs500,000 to each of the three convicts.</p> <p>Additional District and Sessions Judge Nasaruminallah Baloch announced the verdict after hearing the final arguments from both sides.</p> <p>The three men convicte

<p>GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court on Thursday disqualified PPP candidate Fida Muhammad Nashad for concealing his assets in his nomination papers, setting aside the GB Chief Court’s decision that had allowed him to contest the elections.</p> <p>Nashad’s nomination papers were initially rejected by the returning officer (RO), prompting him to challenge the decision before the election tribunal. The tribunal, however, upheld the RO’s decision. Subsequently, Nashad challe

<p>ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on state-owned enterprises on Thursday rejected a request from two circular debt-hit state-owned gas utilities — Sui Southern and Sui Northern — for exemption from international accounting and financial reporting standards to avoid being declared insolvent.</p> <p>However, the cabinet committee, headed by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, “instructed the Petroleum Division to undertake further deliberations with the Finance Division and the Law and Ju

<p>KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Thursday handed over a 20-year-old man <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2013914/20-year-old-arrested-over-suspected-rape-murder-of-6-year-old-boy-in-karachi">accused</a> of sexually assaulting and murdering a six-year-old boy to police on a five-day physical remand.</p> <p>The child’s body had been found in an empty plot near Karachi’s Lea Market on the night of July 7, a day after he went missing. Police said that although doctors had collected samples

<p>GUJRAT: A deportee hailing from Gujranwala was convicted by a local court on Thursday, taking the number of deportees from Libya and Greece sentenced over the past two weeks across three districts to 64.</p> <p>The deportees were handed 10-15 days’ imprisonment on average after summary trials in cases lodged against them by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in its three circles of the region.</p> <p>The courts of special judges central (SJCs) in Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sialkot districts