Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Adviser to the Prime Minister for Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan announced the policy while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

Akhtar said the process of the cabinet’s approval began today, with Tarar saying they wanted to address the speculations before moving on to the approval.

The PM’s adviser emphasised that a lot of work was done in drafting the policy, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had invested a lot of time in this regard.

He explained that the policy rested on six pillars: cheaper vehicles, especially for the middle class and lower middle class; encouraging exports; localisation; vehicle safety; promotion of EVs; and transparency.

The adviser said that the government intends to finance the proposed incentives for EVs through an automotive development levy (ADL) on vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (ICE) above 1,000cc — ordinary cars.

He said that the premier had introduced a tariff policy, the purpose of which was to lower the cost of production and the import bill of raw materials.

The policy sets a cumulative export target of $6 billion over five years. Akhtar noted that Pakistan’s auto exports remained limited, with most overseas shipments comprising parts rather than vehicles manufactured by local assemblers.

“You will see that prices of cars will come down … the manufacturing cost of automakers will come down; these were the prime minister’s specific instructions. The prices of all vehicles, except luxury vehicles, will come down,” Akhtar said.

He explained that prices would come down gradually as the duties for completely built units (CBUs), assembly plants and components would be reduced each year, eventually leading to competitive tariffs after five years.

He stressed that the government did not want Pakistan’s automotive industry to remain dependent on the import of CBUs or merely assemble completely knocked-down (CKD) kits without developing a strong domestic manufacturing base.

The PM’s adviser stated that there was no monopoly of any automaker in the market and currently there were 16 car or sport utility vehicle (SUV) makers and 100 two-wheeler manufacturers in Pakistan.

He added that the new policy will address the issue of additional charges commonly known as “on-money” in vehicle bookings; the policy makes it mandatory for manufacturers not to charge more than 20 per cent of the vehicle price as an advance payment at the time of booking.

The PM’s industries aide said localisation had been made mandatory, with targets to be given to manufacturers.

He added that a “rewards and penalty” system will also be introduced to boost exports, under which exporters will get 5 per cent Duty Drawback on Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL), with an additional 10pc incentive on incremental annual export growth.

“But if you do not achieve the targets, a penalty will be imposed as well,” he warned, adding that car manufacturers will not get DLTL unless they achieve the entire export target as well as their local manufacturing target.

Akhtar stressed that the government had made the export rebate conditional on the local manufacturing target, noting that PM Shehbaz wanted more jobs to be created in the country through increased plants.

Speaking on vehicle safety, Akhtar said the policy includes 45 additional safety standards in line with the United Nations’ WP.29 code. He contended, “When our vehicles will go through these safety codes, they will be considered the world’s safest vehicles — both manufactured and used.”

He said that the absence of adequate safety standards, particularly in imported used vehicles, had been a serious concern, referring to recurring road accidents caused by issues such as defective brakes and tyre failures.

Incentives for EV sector

The production adviser further said that the government’s aim of transitioning 30pc of all new vehicles in Pakistan to electric power by 2030 was “about to happen sooner than that”.

Explaining a “major benefit” for EVs, he said three categories of sales taxes have been planned — 1pc on purely electric vehicles, 6pc on range-extended (REEVs) and 9pc on hybrid EVs. However, he added this was subject to approval by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Akhtar also said no capital value tax (CVT), withholding tax or federal excise duty (FED) would be applicable on EVs that are priced up to $50,000. EVs above this will be considered “luxury” items and will be subject to normal taxation.

Furthermore, the State Bank of Pakistan’s car financing plan, which offers up to Rs3 million for ordinary cars, will be expanded up to Rs10m for all EVs, along with the tenure extended from three years to five years.

Akhtar went on to note that the government will also incentivise setting up charging stations, explaining that this was a key step in the ultimate goal of shifting to pure EVs, with hybrid and REEVs aiding in the transition period.

He said the government will fund the viability gap that currently exists, with the business community facing a lack of demand for charging stations, while consumers needed those stations in order to switch to EVs.

Sales tax on the equipment for charging stations has been reduced to 1pc, while customs duty has been removed.

Akhtar said that due to the government being committed to an IMF programme, it was aiming for “neutral revenue on whatever incentives we are giving”, adding that revenue would be collected from ICE vehicles above 1,000cc rather than EVs, so that lower and middle-income groups using cars less than 1,000cc are exempted.

He added that the revenue collected will also be used for export rebates and research and development.

Akhtar highlighted that following the launch of the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Policy 2025-30 last year, the number of electric two-wheelers sold increased to 240,000 in FY25-26 from 60,000 in FY2024-25.

He identified the promotion of EVs as another major priority, particularly in view of Pakistan’s vulnerability to fluctuations in international oil prices.

He explained that rising oil prices increase the country’s import bill, put pressure on the current account and contribute to inflationary pressures.

‘Need of the time’

Addressing the press conference, the information minister regretted that under “protectionist policies” in past decades, wherein import duties were increased and local industry was supported, the local industry did not innovate or make value additions.

Tarar noted the increased use of electric motorcycles and scooties, terming it a “need of the time”. He also pointed out the need to prevent or even reduce the increasing import bills for oil, which in turn impacts the public through rising fuel prices.

He emphasised that no changes were made under the policy to ordinary petrol vehicles under 1,000cc, as many common citizens still use those.

On a question about rampant availability of non-custom-paid vehicles in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where governor’s rule was imposed on Oct 11, Tarar said the province now has a transparent set-up working on the issue.

A formal policy is being framed so that no vehicle remains unregistered and all are registered through the Customs and Excise departments, he added, affirming that such issues contributing to terrorism were being addressed.

In a post on X, Tarar said the new policy was developed after consultations with all stakeholders, analysis of technical data, and a review of various global models.

“Innovation, value addition, and localisation will be promoted in the local industry to create employment opportunities and enable vehicle exports,” he said.

The minister highlighted that encouraging EVs will reduce carbon emissions and the oil import bill, adding that incentives have also been provided for establishing charging stations.

He termed the initiative a “significant step toward providing Pakistani citizens with affordable, high-quality, and environmentally friendly transportation”.

In the men’s final, Pakistan’s Noor Zaman and Asim Khan outclassed their respective opponents. Noor beat Jeongmin Ryu 11-5, 11-7, 13-11 while Asim outplayed Seojin Oh 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 to give Pakistan the title.

In the women’s final, Hong Kong China downed Malaysia 2-1 to become Asian champions.

Hong Kong China and Malaysia men’s teams won bronze medal while Iran and Korea claimed bronze in the women’s section.

Squash legends Gogi Alauddin, Qamar Zaman and Jansher Khan, along with chief guest Asian Squash Federation Vice-President Adil Jassim Al-Ghareeb, Pakistan Squash Federation President Air Marshal Kazim Hammad and AVM Sohail Akbar, the PSF Senior Vice-President, graced the closing ceremony.

Results:

Women’s:

Korea bt Pakistan 3-0: Dami Kim (Korea) bt Sehrish Ali (Pakistan) 11-9, 11-3, 11-4; Mingyeong Heo (Korea) bt Sana Bahadar (Pakistan) 11-6, 3-11, 11-5, 11-5; Hwayeong Eum (Korea) bt Mahnoor Ali (Pakistan) 11-5, 11-3, 11-9

Hong Kong China bt Malaysia 2-1: Tse Yee Lam Toby (Hong Kong China) bt Yee Xin Ying (Malaysia) 5-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6; Chan Sin Yuk (Hong Kong China) bt Ainaa Amani (Malaysia) 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7; Yasshmita Jadishkumar (Malaysia) bt Lee Ka Yi (Hong Kong China) 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4

Men’s (final): Pakistan bt Korea 2-0: Noor Zaman (Pakistan) bt Jeongmin Ryu (Korea) 11-5, 11-7, 13-11; Mohammad Asim Khan (Pakistan) bt Seojin Oh (Korea) 11-6, 11-5, 11-4.

RLabs, a Pakistani startup incubated at the National Incubation Centre for Aerospace Technologies (Nicat) and led by Harris Ahmed, won the ‘GOAL Startup Award’ at the summit. The event, held from Nov 2 to Nov 5, was organised by Plug and Play, an innovation platform and a venture capital firm.

RLabs was among 18 startups from around the world that “earned the incredible opportunity to pitch their idea” at the summit under Plug and Play’s Global Overseas Acceleration & Learning (GOAL) programme.

“Had the opportunity to present our work on XR (extended reality) simulators, synthetic data and machine training on a platform that brought together more than 3,000 attendees, including founders, venture capitalists, corporate executives, innovation leaders, and government partners,” Ahmed wrote on his LinkedIn account, sharing a photo of him posing with the award.

Ahmed, a 2018 graduate of the National University of Sciences and Technology (Nust) as per his profile, said he “spent the last decade teaching humans how to operate complex machines in XR”.

“Now we use the same human experience to train machine instincts. (Launching in the US soon),” he added.

Ahmed noted that the summit centred on artificial intelligence (AI) and deep tech, featuring live demonstrations and pitches from over 300 startups across more than 20 industry programmes.

According to Nicat, RLabs had been training a proprietary Large Language Model to “power a modular, cross-platform simulation engine that cuts development time by 75 per cent”.

In a statement, also posted by the government’s official X account, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja wrote: “From Pakistan to Silicon Valley — a proud moment for our nation!”

She termed the achievement a “moment of immense pride” for her ministry and tech innovation arm Ignite, reflecting the “extraordinary potential of Pakistani talent and the growing strength of our startup ecosystem”.

“Seeing our homegrown startups earn international recognition reinforces our commitment to nurturing innovation, creating global opportunities, and empowering the next generation of Pakistani entrepreneurs,” the minister said.

She reaffirmed the government’s vision: “Pakistani startups should not just compete globally, but help shape the future of technology.”

“Congratulations to Harris Ahmed and the entire RLabs team for making Pakistan proud. May this be one of many more success stories that take our green flag to new heights!” the statement added.

On Oct 10, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally inaugurated the newly renamed Daanish IT Park (National Technology Park), hailing the country’s first national technology facility as a crucial milestone for Pakistan’s rapid economic progress and prosperity.

He noted that the state-of-the-art facility brings incubation centres, innovation hubs, small and medium enterprises, startups, and industry leaders together under one roof.

The World Bank — under the “Pakistan Entrepr­eneurship and Private In­­v­­estment Catalyst Proj­ect” expected to be approved by its executive board in early 2027 — would help the government establish and capitalise a $50 million Fund of Funds (FoF) to catalyse Pakistan’s nascent innovation and venture capital ecosystem.

Earlier this year, co-founders of Singapore-based Plouton AI secured a spot in the ‘finance and venture capital’ category of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list. The venture, co-founded by Muhammad Furqan Karim Kidwai and Sarfraz Shahid Hussain, was described as an “agentic automation platform that helps midmarket companies automate finance workflows”.

Buledi’s clarification comes over a week after CM Bugti acknowledged shortcomings in FWO’s performance while responding to remarks made by National Party leader Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, who had also criticised the entity.

Speaking on a point of order in the Balochistan Assembly in late October, Baloch, a former chief minister, had criticised the contracting process for road projects and alleged that the FWO had awarded work according to its own preferences.

In reply, CM Bugti expressed his dissatisfaction with the FWO’s performance, adding that the elected provincial assembly shared these concerns. The chief minister said even roads constructed in his own area had deteriorated.

He said the organisation was awarded projects with the expectation of quality work, but claimed that the entity handed projects to smaller subcontractors, resulting in poor execution.

Regarding projects by the National Highways Authority (NHA), Bugti said security-related challenges also affec­ted some road schemes and that the government was addressing those issues.

On Friday, addressing an informal dialogue programme at the Turbat Press Club auditorium, Buledi emphasised that the FWO had rendered invaluable services for the construction of highways in Balochistan.

He recalled that multiple personnel had lost their lives during the construction of the Hoshab-Panjgur-Surab Highway (N-85).

Buledi also highlighted the Balochistan government’s efforts to prioritise infrastructure development, education, healthcare and youth employment.

Reiterating his position on the broader situation and development agenda in Balochistan, Buledi defended the FWO, terming its overall performance in the province commendable.

Criticising certain political opponents, the PPP leader claimed they opposed the province’s progress and had attempted to create negative narratives around infrastructure projects.

He cited their opposition to the Hub Industrial Zone, Gwadar Port, Mirani Dam, Gishkor Dam, and the South Balochistan Package, accusing them of misleading the public for political gain despite these initiatives being vital for regional prosperity.

In August, a high-level meeting of the Communication and Works (C&W) Department reviewed progress on Phase I and II of road-sector projects launched across the province under the Balochistan Socio-Economic Development Programme.

Chairing the meeting, C&W Secretary Babar Khan expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work on certain critical projects.

The protests marked the fourth consecutive weekend of demonstrations against the rising cost of living, which have erupted as the country heads to presidential elections in five months’ time, where the far right sees its best chance yet to win power.

A total of 146,000 people took part in demonstrations across France on Saturday, including 46,000 in Paris, the interior ministry said. Unions put the figure at 250,000 protesters nationwide, with 75,000 in the capital.

These figures were lower than the previous three weekends of protests but also came after a mass union protest on Thursday that rallied 575,000 people, according to the authorities — 1.6 million according to unions.

At the end of the protest in Paris, police used tear gas against individuals throwing projectiles and homemade fireworks at the security forces, an AFP correspondent said.

Police said a group of 200 violent individuals attacked officers as they were arresting a man who had set fire to a trash bin in the square.

Banned protests thwarted

Some 70,000 members of the security forces were deployed on Saturday, ready to move in quickly after mass protests on October 17 degenerated into the worst riots seen in France in years.

Unions had staged a march along a traditional route, from the Place de la Republique in central Paris to Place de la Nation in the east of the city where the clashes erupted at the end of the protest.

But the Yellow Vests movement — a group whose protests shook Emmanuel Macron in the early years of his presidency almost a decade ago — called for a rival demonstration at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, a stone’s throw from the president’s Élysée Palace and the lower house of parliament.

This action has been banned by the authorities, and on Saturday a large police presence prevented protesters from getting close. Some 100 people who arrived were surrounded by police and one of the movement’s coordinators, Benjamin Ball, and its spokeswoman, Azelma Sigaux, were among those arrested by police, an AFP reporter said.

In the southeastern city of Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred people in the city centre blocking a road during an unauthorised gathering.

‘This can’t go on’

The wave of demonstrations was sparked by a movement in late September by high school students angered by conditions at their establishments. These teens, joined by university students, remain at the heart of the protests.

“Today is a date that helps keep the pressure on,” said Sabine Kharbach, spokeswoman of the Student Union. “Many young people are mobilising because the government’s responses remain unsatisfactory.”

The police response has faced criticism for being heavy-handed, with dozens of internal investigations launched into allegations of brutality against demonstrators.

Local businesses are also feeling the pain. “So this can’t go on, otherwise I think it will be a disaster before long,” said Paris shop manager Jean Emile Moulinier. His store is around the main protest route and he said hardly any customers brave security barricades on protest weekends.

Shop windows of stores in Paris and other cities were again barricaded with wooden shutters and often closed for the day to prevent potential ransacking.

The government is grappling with ways to find solutions but is constrained by France’s gigantic debt pile, which is already spooking markets.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is to meet unions and employer federation representatives on Monday to discuss wages and purchasing power.

But student and teacher groups in France have called for a new strike on Tuesday to keep pressure on the government for more education spending, saying they were “in a position of strength [and] the government in a position of weakness and starting to yield”.

Polls indicate that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is the favourite to win the Elysee in 2027, with her main rival currently not one of Macron’s centrist former allies but hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Melenchon, addressing 20,000 at a rally outside Paris on Saturday, declared “we are going to win” and “everything must change”.

The announcement of the task force, designated “Iron Gate”, was made on Saturday in a statement by US Central Command (Centcom). Based in Tampa, Florida and comprising 20 civilian and military personnel, it will coordinate with other US government agencies.

It aims “to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials”.

“The new Centcom team will coordinate with other US government agencies on preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea,” the statement read.

“Strengthening Centcom’s collaboration with US interagency partners will further constrain Iran’s ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military,” Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of Centcom, said in a statement, adding that the new task force “reinforces the success” of the US blockade.

In the statement, Centcom claimed that its naval blockade has prevented Iran from exporting more than $25 billion in crude oil.

This is one of the latest moves by the US to put economic and logistical pressure on Iran after a slowdown in hostilities.

In August, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ — an economic pressure campaign targeting five sectors Iran was using to prop up its economy: digital assets, gold, technology, aviation and shipping.

“In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including in third countries,” he said.

“Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe. Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime, until Tehran stands alone,” Bessent added.

In June, US President Donald Trump reimposed a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz to prevent Iranian oil exports, which would apply to all vessel traffic regardless of flag, covering the entire Iranian coastline, including ports and oil terminals.

It said the measure would not impede neutral transit passage through the strait to or from non-Iranian destinations, and that humanitarian shipments would be permitted subject to inspection.

Despite the blockade, Tehran has been able to export oil and liquefied natural gas.

According to a press release issued by the ECP, the minister visited the constituency by helicopter and addressed a campaign event for Rashid Basheer Virk, who is contesting elections in National Assembly constituency NA-77 (Gujranwala-I).

This violates a provision in the Code of Conduct, which bars public office holders, including federal ministers, from participating in campaign activities.

The Commission has sought a report from the district monitoring officer and the district returning officer to inquire into the matter. It has also directed the minister to appear before the commission in person.

The ECP added that the result of the constituency could be withheld until a final decision is made on the matter.

By-elections in NA-77 and Punjab Assembly constituency PP-203 (Sahiwal-VI) are scheduled for November 8, both of which fell vacant after the deaths of their respective PML-N lawmakers.

NA-77 fell vacant following the death of five-time MNA Chaudhry Mehmood Bashir Virk on September 11 after a prolonged illness. His son, Rashid, is among the candidates contesting the by-election.

Hanif Jutt had won the seat in a by-election held in November 2025 after the constituency’s original winner, PTI-backed independent Rai Murtaza Iqbal, was disqualified following his conviction by an Anti-Terrorism Court.

The upcoming by-election will therefore be the second electoral contest for PP-203 since the 2024 general elections. PML-N candidate Muhammad Asad Hanif Jutt is among the contenders for the vacant seat.

Mehmood Virk was elected to the National Assembly five times during his electoral career as a PML-N nominee. Considered a strong loyalist of PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he was first elected as an MNA in 1997 and then lost in 2002, but since 2008 he won four consecutive contests.

Rashid and 17 other candidates have filed nomination papers to contest the constituency.

In PP-203, however, the seat was initially won by independent candidate Rai Murtaza Iqbal, backed by the PTI, who secured 55,874 votes against PML-N’s Chaudhry Hanif Jutt, who polled 35,163 votes.

However, Iqbal, along with four other PTI-backed parliamentarians, was disqualified and denotified by the ECP following their conviction by an Anti-Terrorism Court in Faisalabad on July 31.

Subsequently, the ECP scheduled a by-election for Nov 23, 2025, which was won by Jutt with 46,820 votes. His closest rival, independent candidate Falik Sher, secured 10,975 votes.

Jutt died of cardiac arrest on Sept 17, 2026, necessitating another by-election in the constituency.

The IL-76MD, a four-engine Russian-origin turbofan military aircraft also known as Ganjraj, landed at an airfield at 4,154 metres above sea level, close to the frontier with China.

“An Indian Air Force IL-76MD has scripted history with a successful landing at Nyoma, marking the highest-altitude landing ever achieved by the aircraft anywhere in the world,” the IAF said in a statement.

Images posted by the IAF on social media showed the aircraft landing and taking off from the runway surrounded by barren mountains in the cold desert area, where temperatures can plummet to minus 20°C.

The military airfield at Nyoma was completed last year as part of a push for military infrastructure in the icy region following a border clash in 2020 that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

India and China compete fiercely for influence in South Asia. Relations have improved slowly since that clash, with renewed political contacts at the highest levels.

However, deep distrust remains and both sides maintain military deployments along their roughly 3,500-kilometre high-altitude border along Tibet owing to unresolved territorial disputes.

A man drove a car onto Krakow’s Main Square and began shooting at random people, said police. Officers shot a suspect who is now in custody, they added.

“As a result of the incident, five people were killed and around a dozen others were wounded,” a Krakow police spokesman told AFP by phone.

“The perpetrator was shot by police” and was transported to a hospital, regional police said on X.

The gunman acted alone and is Polish, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

“There is one perpetrator; it is a Polish man,” she said by phone.

An AFP reporter on site noted ambulances and multiple police cars at the scene as police cordoned off the area — one of Poland’s landmark tourist hotspots popular with locals and foreign visitors.

“The police are investigating the background and all the circumstances of the attack,” said Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, calling it “a tragic shooting”.

“I saw a man shooting at people and walking around the square,” Annette, a woman in her sixties, told AFP. “It’s a tragedy for Krakow, we’ve never seen anything like this before,” she added.

The EU’s top diplomat called the incident a “tragedy”, adding that “Poland does not stand alone”.

“The tragic loss of life in the shooting in Krakow is a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland,” Kaja Kallas said on X. “My thoughts are with the victims and their families and the first responders.”

‘Dramatic events’

Deadly shootings are rare in Poland, a European Union and Nato member with 38 million people. But the country was on high alert following a series of stabbings in October, which Tusk denounced as a “cult of violence”.

Warsaw, a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, has repeatedly warned of Russian sabotage and hybrid warfare on Polish soil, accusations rejected by Moscow.

The historic city of Krakow, in southern Poland, which was once Poland’s capital, attracts millions of tourists annually. In 2025, it was visited by 16.2 million people, the city said.

Poland’s conservative-nationalist president Karol Nawrocki said on X he was “in contact with the relevant authorities” and awaiting “a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding these dramatic events”.

“The safety of Poles is an absolute priority,” he added.

The order, issued by Information Commissioner Ijaz Hassan Awan and Chief Information Commissioner Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, came following an appeal filed by journalist Saddia Mazhar.

In the order, available with Dawn, the PIC directed the secretary of the NA Secretariat to provide clear and specific responses to 13 outstanding questions under the Right of Access to Information Act 2017 (RTI Act) within 10 days.

As per the order, Mazhar had submitted an information request on June 21, seeking details about the functioning and financial expenditures of parliamentary committees from January 2025 onwards.

She had requested lists of standing committees and subcommittees, the number of meetings conducted, total expenditure incurred on those meetings and travel allowances paid to committee members and chairpersons, as well as the complete details of perks, privileges and other payments made to lawmakers serving on these committees.

After receiving no satisfactory response from the NA Secretariat, she filed an appeal with the PIC on July 5.

National Assembly Litigation Officer Sehrish Mushtaq represented the Secretariat during the proceedings.

The NA Secretariat submitted responses which were shared with the applicant, but she maintained that, except for the first question concerning the list of standing committees, the remaining 13 questions remained unanswered.

After examining the responses and information available on the NA’s official website, the PIC acknowledged that substantial parliamentary information had been published online but observed that it did not adequately address the journalist’s specific questions.

“The information provided does not meet the specific requirements set out in the information request,” the PIC stated, stressing that public bodies must provide objective and specific responses to information requests in accordance with the RTI Act, even where relevant information is already available online.

Thus, the PIC directed the NA Secretary to provide complete and specific responses to questions numbered 2 to 14 within 10 days. The implementation proceedings have been scheduled for Nov 19 to review compliance with the directive.

Under Section 11 of the RTA Act, any citizen of Pakistan can submit requests to the designated official in any official body.

“Any written request which identifies the information or record sought in sufficient detail, to enable the public body to locate it and which includes a complete address and contact details for delivery of the information or record, shall be treated as a request,” it reads.

Information regarding the grant of licences, allotments and other benefits, privileges, contracts and agreements made by a public body is publicly disclosable information, according to the Act.

“Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Sudanese Interior Minister Lt Gen Babiker Samra Mustafa Ali signed the agreement,” the ministry said on the social media platform X.

“Under the agreement, holders of Pakistani and Sudanese official and diplomatic passports will be able to enter each other’s countries without a visa,” it stated.

“Both interior ministers welcomed the visa-free entry agreement for official and diplomatic passports,” the statement said.

“This agreement marks an important milestone in bilateral relations between Pakistan and Sudan,” it added.

The statement emphasised that the visa-free facility would further facilitate high-level contacts and exchanges of delegations between Pakistan and Sudan.

“New opportunities will emerge to promote official-level ties and mutual cooperation between the two countries.”

“The agreement will further strengthen friendly relations and institutional cooperation between Pakistan and Sudan, the Sudanese interior minister was quoted as saying.

“Both interior ministers reaffirmed their commitment to further consolidating and strengthening bilateral relations,” the statement added.

Earlier on Saturday, both countries also decided to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in combating cybercrime, the statement by the interior ministry said.

The decision was taken during delegation-level talks between interior ministers of both countries. Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry also attended the meeting.

The Sudanese interior minister said his country wanted to benefit from Pakistan’s expertise and experience in combating cybercrime, the statement said.

“The two sides also agreed to expand cooperation in security, internal affairs, police training, institutional cooperation, the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and other sectors.”

“Pakistan is ready to extend all possible cooperation to Sudan in peace-building and reconstruction,” Naqvi was quoted as saying.

“Pakistan is also ready to provide professional training to Sudanese police officers,” the interior minister said during the meeting.

Briefing the visiting minister, Naqvi said that with Nadra’s cooperation, 36 million citizenship cards, 9 million national identity cards, 18 million birth certificates and 500,000 death certificates had been issued in Sudan. He said Nadra was ready to continue cooperation in the civil registration process.

On a query by the Sudanese minister, Naqvi ordered immediate resolution of visa issues faced by married Sudanese women in Pakistan, the statement said.

“Sudanese citizens can avail medical facilities in Pakistan and will be provided every possible facility in the health sector,” Naqvi said.

“Pakistan is a brotherly country and Sudan attaches great importance to cooperation with it in all fields,” the Sudanese interior minister was quoted as saying.

He expressed the desire to promote cooperation in various sectors and thanked Pakistan for its cooperation.

A day ago, the Sudanese interior minister held a meeting with Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and discussed avenues to enhance bilateral cooperation between their countries.

On Thursday, he also met Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

In a meeting with the prime minister, he commended Pakistan’s support on international forums regarding efforts to restore peace and security in Sudan.

Pakistan and China are close diplomatic and strategic partners, and signed a deal in February 2025 setting up a Chinese government training programme for Pakistani astronauts.

The statement by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) did not give a date of departure, but the mission is expected to take place by the end of the year.

However, earlier in October, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the space mission would take place on Nov 25 while addressing a ceremony.

The Pakistani astronaut, a payload specialist, will join a short orbital flight before returning with the Shenzhou-23 spaceship, which docked at the Tiangong space station in May, according to the CMSA.

The agency did not name the Pakistani crew member, but said in April that astronauts Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud had been chosen to start training in China.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met the two in April, and congratulated them on their selection. He said the space mission was a “matter of pride for the entire nation” and further commended their “round-the-clock efforts” in achieving the milestone.

PM Shehbaz hoped that the space mission would “add new dimensions to the brotherly relationship between Pakistan and China”.

Beijing has invested heavily in its space programme in recent years — catching up with its main rival the United States — and aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030.

Pakistan is a natural partner, given the countries decades-long, “all-weather” friendship. China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and a major foreign investor.

In February 2025, Suparco and CMSA had signed a cooperation agreement. Under the pact, two Pakistanis were to train in China, with one joining a mission on the Tiangong space station operated by Beijing.

China has been barred from particip­ating in the International Space Station since 2011, when the US prohibited Nasa from collaborating with Chinese space agencies. Since then, Beijing has sought to build partnerships with other countries — including Pakistan — in its expanding space programme.

This principle is also “reverberated across the world with one voice by dint of a legal maxim ‘Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt’, thereby implying that the law assists the vigilant, not those who sleep over their rights”, observed Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar in an eight-page judgment issued on Saturday, which restored two civil revisions that were dismissed for non-prosecution after the petitioner’s counsel could not appear due to Coronavirus infection.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Mazhar and including Justices Musarrat Hilali and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, allowed the civil petitions by converting them into appeals and setting aside the Feb 23, 2026 Lahore High Court’s (LHC) rejection of the restoration applications.

Last September as well, the SC, while rejecting three civil miscellaneous applications seeking the restoration of review petitions, regretted that litigants and their counsel sometimes treat the court’s benevolence and leniency as a mere procedural formality, disregarding the solemnity of its categorical directives.

The present issue arose when the petitioner, Safdar Ali Butt, filed a case before the LHC, but on Feb 2, 2026, both revisions were dismissed for non-prosecution because the petitioner’s counsel, Shahid Azeem Bajwa, could not reach the bench despite being present at the court as he was suffering from Coronavirus.

Upon being called, the counsel rushed inside but could not approach the bench due to the crowd in the courtroom.

Demonstrating diligence, the petitioner then filed restoration applications the very next day on Feb 3, but these were also dismissed by the LHC on Feb 23, prompting the present appeal to the SC.

On Saturday, Justice Mazhar emphasised that, if an advocate lacks a sense of his professional duty, the ultimate sufferer was the client who engaged the advocate on reposing confidence in him.

At the same time, Justice Mazhar highlighted that the client should also be vigilant and pursue his case diligently without leaving everything to the lawyer and should not opt to put out of sight or play hide-and-seek tactics based on an advocate’s inattention or negligence.

“To ensure effective performance of professional ethics and further to avoid allegations of professional misconduct or violation of canons of practice, the lawyers ought to properly track fixation dates, cause lists and court benches to avoid missing cases due to human error.

“They should also make all best possible efforts to handle every facet and dimension of the lis to protect his client’s interests,” the judgement emphasised.

The lawyer should also keep his client updated on case progress, risks and even the settlement offers, if any and also avoid conflicts of interest, Justice Mazhar reminded.

“In case of overlapping and simultaneous commitments in different courts of law, advocates ought to make alternate arrangements for holding brief even for adjournment requests or must file proper application for adjournment in advance with prior information to the other side’s counsel as a matter of professional ethics,” Justice Mazhar explained.

“Sometimes the court dismisses the lawsuit when, despite various opportunities afforded by the court to proceed with the case or producing evidence, the party and his counsel persistently and calculatingly disappear, either due to lack of interest or to drag the proceedings to avoid well-timed disposal on merits,” regretted the judgment.

Dismissal in default of a case on the negligence of an advocate without well-grounded sanity is one of the most serious blemishes which disparage and tarnish the professional image and reputation, the judgment highlighted.

“Universally, a dismissal due to non-prosecution is considered a plainspoken ineptitude of the lawyers and also a breach of clients’ trust, which also sets the stage for filing complaints against the lawyers alleging professional misconduct to the Bar Councils under the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973,” Justice Mazhar emphasised.

At the same time, Justice Mazhar also observed that courts cannot turn a blind eye to the well-settled doctrine of restoration of a case, which gives carte blanche to courts to resuscitate the lawsuit dismissed in default if sufficient cause is put on record and the demands of justice so demand.

“If the sufficient cause is pleaded through a promptly filed application for restoration within the limitation period and satisfactorily explains the absence on the date of hearing, the eventual consensus of the courts across the board is to lean toward compassion,” Justice Mazhar said.

“The all-encompassing philosophy of justice articulates that lawsuits must be decided on merits rather than technical knockouts or due to procedural oversights or inadvertences.”

Albeit the benefit of a lenient approach cannot be regarded as absolute, he added.

Justice Mazhar emphasised that the “scale of justice neither tilts towards automatic dismissal nor automatic restoration, but it should be with a balanced frame of mind and also subject to the law of limitation to ward off and protect a genuine litigant from suffering due to counsel’s blunders, while delineating a strict dividing line against premeditated recklessness and genuine and honest grounds pleaded for restoration of the case to its original position”.

He observed that force majeure circumstances or unexpected situations, including physical incapacitation or medical emergencies, are ordinarily acknowledged as convincing grounds to exercise inherent or discretionary powers by courts for restoring cases to “meet the ends of justice with or without imposing costs”.

This was because the “indispensable purpose of a court is to determine the actual disputes as an elementary virtue of the administration of civil and criminal justice”.

“The rules of procedure are meant to serve justice and not obstruct it,” the judgment concluded.

Batter Mohammad Tayyab Arif, fast bowlers Ali Shabbir and Saqib Khan have earned their maiden call-ups following impressive performances in domestic cricket and the PCB Patron’s XI’s three-day practice match against Sri Lanka at the Islamabad Club from November 4 to 6.

The PCB also released Ali Usman and Abdullah Fazal from the original 14-member squad.

The first Test is scheduled to begin at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday, with the second to be played at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium from November 17 to 21.

Both matches are part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, in which Pakistan currently occupy the bottom position, while Sri Lanka are seventh.

Aamir, who has represented Pakistan in nine Tests, three ODIs and six T20Is, returns to the squad on the back of strong domestic performances.

He was named player of the final in the President’s Trophy Grade-I after taking seven for 32 and scoring 55 to help Markhor IT Solutions win the title.

He also made an impact in the opening round of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Gold, taking three wickets and scoring 74 and 23 while captaining Lahore Whites.

Aamir was among the players sent home during Pakistan’s recent tour of England.

Tayyab, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the leading performers in domestic first-class cricket this season. The 19-year-old right-handed batter from Sialkot scored 727 runs in seven matches for Kingsmen Academy in the departmental tournament at an average of 66.09, including three centuries in his maiden season.

Ali Shabbir, also 19, has taken 22 wickets in eight first-class matches. He claimed three wickets in the practice game against Sri Lanka, with bowling coach Shaun Tait reportedly impressed by the young fast bowler’s pace and rhythm.

Saqib Khan was among the standout performers in Karachi Blues’ Quaid-i-Azam Trophy 2025-26 title-winning campaign. He finished with 47 wickets in nine matches at an average of 20.60, including best figures of seven for 34.

The latest additions underline the team management’s emphasis on rewarding domestic performances and providing opportunities to emerging players. The original squad already included several relatively inexperienced players, among them Mohammad Taha, Sameer Minhas, Mohammad Suleman and all-rounder Razaullah.

Razaullah made an impressive impression on his Test debut against England at Edgbaston earlier this year, taking four wickets before scoring a rapid 81, which included nine sixes.

Meanwhile, experienced fast bowler Mohammad Abbas will lead the pace attack as Pakistan seek to make a strong start to their home Test season.

Abbas, who has taken more than 110 Test wickets at an average in the low 20s, said he was keen to register a maiden five-wicket haul on home soil, a milestone that has so far eluded him.

“I thank Allah that I am in form and will try to continue it. I owe a big performance — a five-wicket haul — in Pakistan, so I will try to get my name on the board here as well,” he said on the sidelines of the team’s practice session at the Islamabad Club.

The 36-year-old has enjoyed considerable success overseas, including career-best figures of six for 54 and a match haul of 10 for 95 against Australia in the UAE in 2018. He also claimed five for 57 at Lord’s earlier this year.

Abbas attributed his consistency to regular participation in domestic red-ball competitions and English county cricket, saying he managed to get around 20 to 25 days of competitive cricket almost every year.

He also welcomed the inclusion of young players in the squad, describing it as an opportunity for them to establish themselves at the highest level.

“This team has quite a few youngsters. The cricket board and management have decided that youngsters should be given a chance. It is a big opportunity for them to show their skills and secure their place for the future. This is a good sign,” he said.

Abbas singled out Razaullah as a promising prospect, praising his willingness to learn and improve.

The veteran pacer said preparations for the series had gone well, with players getting match practice ahead of the opening Test. He cautioned, however, against taking Sri Lanka lightly, stressing the importance of assessing conditions and performing consistently.

Pakistan have won 23 of their 59 previous Tests against Sri Lanka, losing 17, while 19 ended in draws. They won the last home series between the sides 1-0 in 2019-20.

Sri Lanka, led by Kusal Mendis, have named a 15-member squad featuring experienced players Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva and Prabath Jayasuriya, while Pathum Nissanka is also in contention.

Revised Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (captain), Aamir Jamal, Ali Shabbir, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Taha, Mohammad Tayyab Arif, Razaullah, Saad Baig (wicket-keeper), Salman Ali Agha, Sameer Minhas, Saqib Khan, Saud Shakeel

Bushra Bibi is serving a seven-year sentence in the £190 million corruption case. In December 2025, she was sen­tenced to 17 years’ imprisonment in the Tosha­khana-2 case, which revolved around the purchase of an expensive jewellery set gifted to Imran by the Saudi crown prince during his May 2021 visit.

A miscellaneous application has been filed in the IHC in connection with the pending appeals in the £190 million case, seeking a fresh and comprehensive medical report from Adiala jail authorities regarding her health condition.

The application seeks complete details of her diagnosis and treatment and requests the court to direct the jail authorities to produce all relevant medical records. It also asks the court to order an immediate examination by an ophthalmologist, allow her to receive treatment from her personal doctors at her own expense and ensure the provision of appropriate medical facilities.

Meanwhile, Barrister Salman Safdar, counsel for the PTI founder, has submitted an affidavit before the IHC detailing his recent meeting with Imran and Bushra at Adiala jail and raising serious concerns about her eyesight.

According to the affidavit, jail authorities informed him on October 31 that a meeting with the PTI founder and Bushra had been scheduled for November 2 at 3:30pm. The meeting began at 4pm and lasted approximately 40 minutes.

Barrister Safdar stated that Bushra Bibi was wearing exceptionally dark-tinted glasses during the meeting. However, when she removed them at the request of Imran and the counsel, her condition appeared extremely distressing.

He said Bushra Bibi told him that she could not tolerate either sunlight or artificial light and was unable to open her eyes without protective glasses. Her eyesight appeared to have deteriorated considerably, giving the impression that her vision had been severely impaired.

The affidavit further stated that the PTI founder also appeared visibly concerned about his wife’s deteriorating eyesight.

According to the former first lady, doctors who examined her had diagnosed her condition as a “mature cataract” and advised that another eye surgery would be required around November 15.

Her first eye surgery was on April 18, after which she was sent back to Adiala jail.

She also expressed dissatisfaction with the hygiene standards inside the prison and the medical treatment being provided to her.

Barrister Safdar stated that Bushra had specifically requested that her medical examination and treatment be conducted by her personal doctors. He assured her that he would raise the matter before the court.

The application urges the IHC to intervene to ensure that Bushra receives immediate specialist medical attention and that her deteriorating eyesight is not further compromised due to any delay in treatment.

Earlier this week, the government unveiled a new LPG policy, aimed at creating competition and supplies through procurement by four state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under government-to-government (G2G) and business-to-business (B2B) arrangements.

The government directed four state-owned enterprises to re-enter the LPG import business to ease severe supply constraints and soaring prices.

Under the policy, the locally produced gas will be sold through open auctions, which should cut out the intermediaries who profit from the existing arrangement.

According to state-run Radio Pakistan, the minister attended the first meeting of the committee formed to ensure transparent auction of LPG.

He said the new auction system would help ensure fair distribution of LPG, stability in the supply chain and energy security.

Under the new mechanism, local LPG producers would allocate 10 per cent of their production to government-owned marketing companies to meet the needs of remote areas. The remaining 90pc of locally produced LPG would be sold through a transparent auction in the presence of the media.

The committee also decided that each company would be allowed to acquire a maximum of 20 metric tonnes of LPG per day through the auction.

Daily LPG production would also be monitored, with the data presented to the prime minister.

Malik said all eligible companies would be given equal opportunities to participate in the auction, Radio Pakistan reported.

LPG, long considered the poor man’s fuel, is now what many middle-class families use for cooking and heating. An increasing number of homes end up buying cylinders as temperatures fall.

Earlier this week, Malik assured the public that the government will make utmost efforts to meet the demand for LPG during the winter months.

His remarks come as LPG supply has been disrupted due to the closure of Iranian border crossings, resulting in gas cylinders being sold at twice the official rate in the open market. LPG is widely used for rickshaws, but also for cooking and other purposes by those not on the piped gas network.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Malik said, “Seeing people’s distress and also knowing that from December and January, winter will be at its peak […] even if the most expensive fuel has to be purchased for the piped network, we will bring it in and try to meet demand through LNG (liquefied natural gas).”

The minister assured the public that the government will make “utmost efforts” to ensure piped supply of domestic gas for meal times. Besides this, LPG will be needed for other needs and by those without piped connections, he noted.

Mediators have been working to prevent any resumption of fighting after months of deadlock in the Middle East conflict, which began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Tehran has sought to limit traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption.

Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said Tehran retained control over the strategic waterway and that it would remain closed until its demands were met by the US.

He also said Iran’s forces had grown stronger and more confident, state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

“Today, the Islamic Republic’s armed forces… having gained experience from direct confrontation with the United States and the Israeli regime, are on higher alert and are stronger than they were at the beginning of the war,” he said.

“They now possess greater motivation, commitment, and self-confidence.”

“Under the order of the Supreme Leader, the response of the armed forces will be immediate, effective, and without geographical limitations,” he added.

Reward offered

The US military said it was offering a $20 million reward “and possible relocation” for information about Iran’s nuclear programme.

The programme was established in 1984 under the State Department’s national security rewards programme to offer money for information that protects American lives and interests.

In a statement about the reward, the State Department said Iran’s “lack of compliance with the (International Atomic Energy Agency) on safeguards obligations has led to the agency’s loss of ‘continuity of knowledge’ regarding Iran’s production and inventory of key components like centrifuges.”

It did not specify what type of information would warrant a $20 million reward.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said US forces have effectively obliterated Iran’s nuclear programme.

“If we didn’t hit Iran, you wouldn’t have Israel today,” Trump said Friday night in West Palm Beach, Florida.

“If they had nuclear, they would have used nuclear. They would have obliterated the Middle East.”

Dialogue

The president also said Iran — which he stressed has had its economy and military severely damaged over eight months of war — is eager to end the conflict.

“We’re dealing with them now. They want to make a deal very badly,” he said.

Trump called Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Friday to discuss efforts to end the war.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said this week his government was still trying to resolve the crisis through dialogue.

Early on Saturday, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that two missiles had struck Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, adding there was no official information about any damage.

Iranian state television reported two explosions on the island.

The Iranian army said early Saturday that its air defences had “struck and destroyed” a US drone that was flying over the island, according to state media. It did not say whether the island was attacked.

The warning comes as UN peacekeeping faces mounting financial and political pressures. The General Assembly has approved a $5.1 billion budget for peacekeeping operations for 2026-27, about 10 per cent lower than the previous year’s allocation. A funding crisis last year had already forced the organisation to reduce mission expenditure and repatriate a quarter of its uniformed personnel from peacekeeping operations.

Against this backdrop, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, called for reforms that improve the effectiveness of peacekeeping without sacrificing the capabilities needed to carry out its mandates.

“What is needed is the political will in the Security Council to use this important instrument when circumstances require,” he told the Fourth Committee of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on Friday.

Pakistan is one of the largest and longest-serving contributors to UN peacekeeping. More than 170,000 Pakistani military and police personnel have served in UN missions over the past six decades, with 183 losing their lives. Pakistan also hosts the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

Ambassador Shah’s intervention comes at a time when peacekeeping operations are confronting not only financial difficulties but also increasingly complicated political and security environments. Growing reliance on regional arrangements and ad hoc operations, he argued, demonstrated that the need for a credible UN presence on the ground remained undiminished.

Welcoming the secretary-general’s review of peacekeeping operations, Pakistan outlined six priorities for reform: giving primacy to political solutions; ensuring focused and adequately resourced mandates; preserving the institutional strengths of peacekeeping; preparing for future military and police requirements; improving the safety and security of peacekeepers; and maintaining peacekeeping as a collective UN responsibility.

The central concern was the widening gap between the responsibilities assigned to peacekeeping missions and the resources made available to them.

Pakistan cautioned against allowing financial ceilings to determine operational requirements. Political objectives, Ambassador Shah argued, should first establish what a mission is expected to accomplish. Its mandate should then determine the personnel, equipment and financial resources required.

Peacekeeping missions can help stabilise conflict situations, protect civilians, sustain ceasefires and preserve space for negotiations. But these functions depend on political processes and adequate operational capabilities working together.

Pakistan also urged member states to preserve the distinctive advantages of UN peacekeeping, including its universal legitimacy, predictable financing, established command and logistics systems, and ability to draw personnel and specialised capabilities from across the UN membership.

“Efficiency and cost reduction must therefore strengthen peacekeeping, not hollow out the capabilities that give UN peacekeeping its unique value,” the ambassador said.

The protection of peacekeepers and accountability for crimes committed against them formed another major part of Pakistan’s intervention.

Pakistan, alongside Denmark, played a leading role in advancing UN Security Council Resolution 2823, which was unanimously adopted with a record 153 co-sponsors. The resolution seeks to strengthen accountability for crimes against UN peacekeepers, an issue Pakistan has repeatedly raised at the UN.

Welcoming the secretary-general’s first report on accountability for crimes against peacekeepers, Ambassador Shah also noted the appointment of Assistant Secretary-General Elizabeth Spehar as Senior Focal Point on the matter.

He called for the resolution’s effective implementation through stronger investigations and prosecutions, better tracking of cases and greater support for national capacities to ensure that those responsible for attacks on peacekeepers were brought to justice.

Pakistan also stressed the importance of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, known as C-34, describing it as the universal intergovernmental forum for collectively shaping peacekeeping policy.

The consensus achieved within the committee, together with the broad support for Resolution 2823, demonstrated that member states continued to regard peacekeeping as an important instrument of international cooperation.

Pakistan’s position was that reform should make peacekeeping more effective and adaptable to changing circumstances, rather than weaken the institution at a time when international conflicts and political divisions make its role increasingly important.

“Peacekeeping remains a vital, effective and cost-efficient means for ensuring peace and security. We will need this instrument again. We should ensure that it is ready when we do,” Ambassador Shah concluded.

Captain Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were sent home in disgrace and found by a Cricket Australia investigation to be the only three players with prior knowledge of the ball-tampering plot.

Smith was banned for a year and sacked as skipper, Warner was suspended for 12 months and stripped of all leadership roles, while Bancroft was slapped with a nine-month ban.

But former opener Khawaja, who retired this year after 88 Tests, told the Sydney Morning Herald that everyone knew.

“It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” he said ahead of the release of his autobiography next week where a chapter is dedicated to the issue.

Bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all denied publicly in 2021 that they knew about it.

Khawaja said he spoke in the dressing room after the Cape Town Test urging the team to take collective responsibility, rather than scapegoating Warner, Smith and Bancroft.

“In an ideal world, I don’t want to do this,” Khawaja said.

“I don’t want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now.

“Maybe I thought Davey (Warner) would have exposed it, or someone else would have talked about it more. I just didn’t think it was going to come down to this.” Darren Lehmann, who was head coach at the time, denied there was widespread knowledge of the plot, while claiming ball-tampering was once ever-present in international cricket.

“I don’t think everybody would have known,” he told national broadcaster ABC.

“I can’t speak for them (the players) at all. I only know what I know, and I know that ball-tampering was a big part of the game of cricket.
“Now it’s obsolete, but that doesn’t make it right either and we paid a heavy price for that.”

Comfortable

Lehmann, who quit after the series, said Khawaja’s claims dredged up “bad memories” for him, the players and their families.

“For the families and the people involved, I feel for them right now because it’s taking them back to a really bad place,” he said.

“It’s been eight years. You get to a place where you move on, and I’ve moved on with my life.” In the book, according to the newspaper, Khawaja recounts that discussions about ways to rough up the ball were first held in the dressing room during the second Test at Port Elizabeth, now known as Gqeberha.

It culminated in the discovery that sandpaper was effective, and at this point Smith allegedly walked away, saying he did not want to know about it.

Bancroft then allegedly volunteered to use sandpaper in South Africa’s first innings in Gqeberha, where the ball swung significantly.

Cricket Australia said in a statement it was “comfortable” with the findings of its original investigation, but remained open to new evidence.
“There has been a great deal of speculation in the eight years since the 2018 Cape Town Test, including extensive media coverage throughout last month’s series in South Africa,” it said.

“During this time there has been the ongoing opportunity to present any relevant information, and this remains the case.

“All relevant information presented to CA to date has been properly considered and we remain comfortable with the findings of our integrity process. “

The map is based on the claim that: ‘Pakistan and Afghanistan would be blanketed by the fallout of radiation if nuclear facilities in Iran are attacked.’ Such a broad conclusion reflects an incomplete understanding of the nature of Iran’s nuclear facilities as well as the geographical and metrological factors that would determine the potential consequences of any military strike. It should, therefore, be approached with caution and supported by a rigorous, evidence-based assessment instead of being presented as an inevitable outcome.

In our view, this claim has been presented without real data, supporting facts, calculations, or illustrations of a plausible scenario or a string of scenarios resulting from any such attack of this nature. For it to be credible, certain assumptions would need to be established under two possibilities: an attack on facilities carrying fission fragments and irradiated fuel and, an attack on facilities carrying natural uranium, enriched uranium, heavy water, mining and milling facilities, research reactors etc. Then these two possibilities should be considered with the choice and the nature of the attacks if carried out by the United States and its allies. Let us examine two possible scenarios; in one conventional weapons are used and in the other nuclear weapons are used to attack Iran’s facilities.

What are Iran’s facilities

Natanz is the principal industrial uranium enrichment complex with underground and above-ground infrastructure.
It has been hit by the US and its above-ground structures have been destroyed. The underground allegedly fissionable material is still unknown in quantity and enrichment capacity.

Fordow is an underground uranium enrichment facility near Qum, recognized as an advanced enrichment installation located within a mountain complex.
The facility has reportedly been struck repeatedly, however, no definitive confirmation has emerged regarding the American claim that it was destroyed, or that radiation plumes are expanding.

The Isfahan Nuclear Complex is a uranium conversion and nuclear fuel fabrication facility.

The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is a commercial VVER-1000 MW pressurized water reactor.
A possible fallout if the attack is not restricted to Pakistan or Afghanistan, but will cover the entire Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia. The consequences would be similar to that of Chernobyl which demonstrated that radioactive fallout with highly variable contamination can be detected more than 1000km away. American bases and its allies can also suffer.

The Tehran Research Complex is a 5MW research reactor that uses 20% enriched uranium as fuel.

The Khondab Heavy Water Reactor is not a facility carrying fissionable materials.

The uranium mining and processing facilities are non-fissionable material facilities in terms of radiation fallouts.

Iran also possesses supporting facilities for nuclear research, centrifuge manufacturing, hot cells, and other related activities. But they cannot be considered facilities carrying fissionable materials that can lead to radiation fallouts that could reach Pakistan or Afghanistan.

The American and Israeli military attacks in June 2025 affected several major Iranian nuclear facilities. Therefore, the list above should not be interpreted as a confirmation that all these installations are currently operational.

These facilities do not present the same radiological hazards as operating nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, an assessment of the consequences of the previous attacks indicates that significant radioactive fallout was not detected beyond the affected facilities.

Similarly, an attack on Natanz and Fordow would not necessarily result in significant radiological releases into the wider environment because uranium and enriched uranium, although radioactive, do not contain the substantial inventory of fission products found in irradiated reactor fuel.

Significant contamination within a damaged enrichment facility is possible. However, a major radiological release affecting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, or the UAE should not be considered a reasonable default assumption.

The IAEA watchdog has already stated that following the June 2025 attacks, radiation levels outside the affected facilities remained normal. Therefore, claims regarding radiological consequences for neighbouring countries should not be based on unsupported assumptions.

The situation would be considerably different in the case of a nuclear power plant operating along the Persian Gulf coast. If such a facility were struck by conventional weapons, the potential consequences could be more serious because it contains substantial quantities of radioactive fission products and irradiated nuclear fuel.

Its geographical location, together with prevailing wind patterns, could also contribute to a wider radiological exposure and fallout pattern than would be expected from attacks on inland Iranian facilities, many of which are deeply buried or constructed with protective infrastructure in accordance with the safety requirements applicable to civilian nuclear installations.

A severe accident involving damage to the reactor core, loss of cooling, or failure of safety barriers could release radioactive material. However, a projectile striking a nuclear power plant does not automatically mean that sufficient radioactive material will be released into the environment to cause a major radiological accident.

The consequences would depend on whether the reactor, its safety systems, cooling systems, and supporting infrastructure were damaged, as well as the extent of that damage. Furthermore, attacks on civilian nuclear power plants raise serious issues under international humanitarian law and applicable international conventions, including the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities (as amended by the 2005 Amendment), 1977 Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention etc.

Any assessment of such an attack must also take into account whether the nuclear power plant is operational at the time of the strike. The most significant question is what military purpose will the United States gain from attacking a nuclear power plant which has been under the IAEA safeguards for decades and is not reported for any diversion of. nuclear materials from the facility.

Other nuclear facilities, including research reactors, fuel fabrication plants, uranium conversion facilities, and radioactive material storage locations, may also present some risk of radiological releases. However, these risks are considerably smaller than those associated with a large operating nuclear power plant in terms of radiation fallouts or contamination zones.

The overall assessment of the potential consequences for each facility is as follows:

Natanz / Fordow enrichment plants: Low radiological consequences beyond the immediate facility, with no reasonable basis for assuming a significant radiological threat to neighboring countries.

Isfahan conversion/fuel facilities: Primarily localized chemical and radiological hazards are expected.

Research reactors: Potential radiological consequences that would generally be expected to remain within a limited geographical area, potentially extending a few kilometers from the facility, depending on the nature and severity of the incident.

Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and spent fuel storage: Potentially serious transboundary radiological consequences in the event of a severe accident, although such an outcome is not inevitable and would depend on the nature and extent of the damage.

What if you go nuclear?

Another scenario sometimes discussed is the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Iran or its nuclear facilities. This remains highly speculative and extremely unlikely. Nuclear weapons have been used in warfare only once, in 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since then, despite numerous international conflicts, severe geopolitical crises, and periods of heightened nuclear tensions, no country has resorted to using nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. This restraint reflects the understanding of not only the devastating humanitarian and environmental consequences of their use but also the far-reaching strategic, political, and international repercussions that would inevitably follow.

Most importantly, the use of nuclear weapons would not necessarily translate into a military victory for the United States. On the contrary, it could result in a complete loss of control over the Strait of Hormuz as the region may not approve of such an action. Already the US has achieved successful engagement of its military targets at the very onset of the war. And lastly Bushrer does not qualify as a significant military target. Iran’s demonstrated resilience in maintaining its political and military structures during and after the initial strikes against its leadership and strategic installations indicates that the projection of a decisive military victory cannot be sustained unilaterally. Any eventual political settlement would still require the acceptance of the Iranian leadership, which may not be forthcoming.

The use of nuclear weapons against Iran would cross an exceptionally dangerous threshold. It would fundamentally alter the international security environment, undermine the longstanding norm against nuclear weapons use, and potentially trigger unpredictable regional and global consequences. The country responsible could face enormous international condemnation, diplomatic isolation, and potentially severe strategic repercussions. This would be an extremely difficult and potentially self-defeating course of action, particularly when a range of conventional military, diplomatic, economic, and other alternatives remain available. Why would any country deliberately do this when the consequences could extend far beyond the immediate conflict and potentially shape international security for generations to come?

In our assessment, the use of nuclear weapons should therefore be treated as an extreme hypothetical scenario rather than a realistic expectation in the context of the current confrontation.

• It is scientifically inappropriate to assume that damage to Iranian uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel-cycle facilities would necessarily expose neighbouring countries to significant levels of radiation.

• Serious questions can be raised about American professor, Robert A. Pape’s warning that Pakistan and Afghanistan would inevitably face severe radiological consequences (watch this influencer’s Urdu commentary). Such an assessment would require a detailed understanding of the specific facility targeted, its operational status, the radioactive inventory involved, the nature and extent of the damage, and the prevailing meteorological conditions and also the war outcome.

• Significant transboundary radiological fallout cannot simply be presumed; it would require a credible scientific assessment supported by facility-specific data and atmospheric dispersion modelling.

• A deep understanding is needed of the war objectives of the United States whether they can be achieved by the use of nuclear weapons. The same is true for Israeli military planners as well, except in this case the Iranian ability to respond would perhaps create a new phase of a war cycle which would not be as controllable as believed.

• A nuclear war is too serious a business to be left for the arbitrary conclusions where it can affect the future of mankind itself.

The government on Friday once again decreased the price of petrol by Rs6.59 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs4.25, in the fifth consecutive cut in fuel prices.

Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs346 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs378.

The prices are applicable from Nov 7 (Saturday) to Nov 10 (Tuesday) due to a public holiday on Nov 9, according to a notification by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).

The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.

Under an arrangement announced on Monday for 30 days, oil refineries will contribute to the petroleum levy by bearing a cumulative impact of Rs15 billion, according to the government. This allows a Rs14.71 reduction in the petrol price at the consumer end.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said efforts were being made to introduce a similar system for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Rise in fuel prices

The price of HSD has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on Feb 28.

The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in the first week of March.

Meanwhile, the government has reintroduced a raft of austerity measures in response to rising fuel prices amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. Under these measures, markets are required to close by 9pm, and fuel allocations for official vehicles have been cut by 50pc for three months.

On Sept 13, PM Shehbaz also announced a “relief scheme” for users of motorcycles, autos and vehicles of up to 800cc to “alleviate the burden” of rising global oil prices.

Previously, on July 17, the petroleum minister announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.

Prior to this, the government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices since early March, alongside measures for the conservation of fuel amid possible oil supply disruptions due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The federal government in April also announced targeted relief measures to provide subsidised fuel.

The petroleum minister stated that the cabinet and the prime minister had decided to give Ogra the responsibility of deciding fuel prices on a daily basis based on international market trends.

Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, and changes in its price affect the middle and lower-middle classes.

Similarly, changes in diesel prices also impact the public at large, as it is mainly used in the heavy transport sector, power plants and large generators.

Petrol and HSD are the major revenue earners, with monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes, compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.

The observation came from a two-judge SC bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, which was hearing a bail-cancellation petition in a case where a person suffered an electric shock after a power wire snapped.

In a six-page order, Justice Mazhar emphasised the need for a thorough examination of current practices by Wapda and the concerned utility companies, observing that it was inconceivable that electricity could be supplied without the knowledge of Wapda, or the concerned utility company and its officials.

Petitioner Ali Asghar Khokhar, a resident of Khuhawar Street, Larkana, had filed a criminal petition before the SC seeking cancellation of bail granted to respondent Anwar Ali Kori by the Sindh High Court’s Larkana circuit bench on Oct 20, 2025.

Wonders how ‘unauthorised’ supply rackets run under Wapda officials’ noses

The case stemmed from an incident in March 2024, when Noor Hussain, the petitioner’s brother, suffered an electric shock after a PVC wire broke and came into contact with a high-tension line. Subsequently, an FIR was registered at Rehmatpur police station in Larkana against Anwar Ali Kori and other Wapda officials.

The allegation was that the co-accused, including Wapda officials and the respondent, were supplying electricity to people in their shops by laying a special line from the disposal phase line and running an electric wire over the complainant’s shops.

The complainant, who appeared in person before the SC, argued that the high court had granted bail without examining the facts and the incriminating material collected by the investigating officer (IO).

However, the SC noted that the high court had granted bail to the respondent predominantly on the grounds of a nine-month delay in lodging the FIR, besides the fact that the role attributed to the respondent was one of negligence.

Furthermore, the high court’s order also reflected the IO’s statement that the respondent had no contact with Wapda officials.

Therefore, after considering the relevant factors, the high court had reached the tentative assessment that the allegations levelled in the FIR required further inquiry and accordingly confirmed the bail order, the SC observed. It added that the matter at hand also required further inquiry and that, unless a full-dress trial was conducted, the role and guilt of the accused persons implicated in the case could not be established.

The SC recalled that, when the complainant was asked how he was powering his shop, he said the respondent was working as a contractor in collusion with Wapda officials and supplying electricity to his shop against monetary consideration. He added that he had never been issued a bill by Wapda or any other utility company.

However, after arguing at some length, the complainant himself stated that since the trial was pending, he did not wish to press for cancellation of the respondent’s bail.

The SC observed that the high court’s order granting bail did not require any interference and directed the court office to transmit a copy of the order to the Wapda chairman for information.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2026

QUETTA / LARKANA: The JUI-F staged protests in different parts of Sindh and Balochistan on Friday, decrying what it called a “coordinated character assassination campaign” against its leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

In Balochistan, protests were held in district headquarters across the province, including Quetta, Khuz­dar, Awaran, Musakhel, Harnai, Lasbela, Qila Saifullah, Ziarat, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Chaman, Pishin, Kalat, Mastung and Kohlu.

Party office-bearers, workers, religious scholars, political and social figures participated in the demonstrations, expressing their solidarity with the Maulana.

Addressing the gatherings, speakers praised the Maulana’s role in safeguarding the Constitution, democracy, parliamentary supremacy, religious values and public rights.

They said the alleged aerial surveillance of his private residence through a drone and the subsequent circulation of the footage on social media were unacceptable in any civilised society.

They emphasised that the protection of privacy and the sanctity of one’s home were fundamental rights of every citizen, adding that unjustified interference in anyone’s private life violated moral, legal and constitutional principles.

The speakers said it was deeply regrettable that political differences were being turned into personal vendettas, character assassination, unethical campaigns and violations of personal privacy.

Such actions, they argued, could intensify political tensions and create unrest and resentment in society. In democratic societies, differences of opinion should be addres­sed through dialogue, arguments and constitutional struggle rather than targeting individuals’ private lives or launching negative propaganda campaigns on social media.

They demanded an immediate, transparent and impartial investigation into the alleged drone filming of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s residence. They called for those responsible, including the individuals allegedly involved behind the scenes, to be identified and dealt with in accordance with the law.

They also condemned the use of social media for character assassination, false allegations and organized negative campaigns instead of promoting political debate and public awareness. They stressed that those involved in such activities must be brought to justice.

Meanwhile, a meeting of JUI-F Sindh leaders expressed concern over the drone filming of the residence of its general secretary Maulana Rashid Mehmood Soomro, the issuance of NAB and FIA notices to Mufti Asad Mahmood, Kamran Murtaza and other leaders, and the sealing of shops in various cities.

Terming them acts of government panic and political vendetta, the gathering insisted that the Maulana and his party were being subjected to vindictive action for raising their voice against the “Form 47 government”, for the unity of the provinces, the NFC Award and the possible 18th Constitutional Amend­ment, and against what they termed conspiracies to seize the provinces’ mineral resources.

They stressed, however, that the party would not be intimidated and would continue its constitutional, legal and democratic struggle. The meeting announced that, on the directive of the party chief and in line with a policy of non-violence, protests would be held on highways and major roads.

Transparency in investments

Meanwhile, addressing a gathering of the Jamiat Talaba Islam in Islamabad, the Maulana called for transparency in agreements with foreign investors, particularly those involving Pakistan’s mineral resources, stressing that the country’s natural wealth should not be exploited through secret arrangements at the expense of its people.

He said his party was not oppo­sed to investment from China, the US or multinational companies, but all agreements must be made public, with clearly defined shares of profits for Pakistan, foreign investors and local communities.

“We are not against anyone’s inv­estment, but there must be transparency in the process and agreements. The nation should be informed about the conditions under which contracts are signed,” he said.

The Maulana also alleged that the government was using security measures in tribal districts to facilitate illegal trade routes.

Referring to recurring curfews in parts of the tribal belt, he questioned why restrictions were im­­posed for two days a week while the remaining five days were apparently considered free of terrorism.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2026

Vance argued the case for Republicans, who lost control of Congress in Tuesday’s vote, almost exclusively through the lens of his policy portfolio, according to a Reuters review of half a dozen speeches since the Republican convention in September.

He bypassed Trump’s signature policies, including the Iran war and deportations, as polls showed the president’s sagging popularity dragging down Republican office-seekers.

The change was deliberate, according to two people familiar with the strategy. Vance and his advisers saw the issues he championed — economic nationalism, foreign policy restraint and public safety as politically potent subjects he could address with authority.

While Trump embraced them as part of his ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) movement, Vance had emerged as their lead crusader, the people said.

The shift offered an early glimpse of how the 42-year-old vice president could chart his own course as Republicans begin looking beyond Trump.

Vance hasn’t said whether he will run for president in 2028, and Trump hasn’t endorsed him or anyone else. But Vance is viewed as a leading potential contender who some Republican officials say will need to inherit much of Trump’s coalition while separating himself from his boss’s baggage.

Vance took a more public step on Wednesday toward reinforcing his own political brand with an unusually blunt election postmortem. In a social media post, he blamed the Iran war for Republicans’ midterm defeat and laid out a platform for a Republican rebound.

He called for a swift end to the conflict and urged Republicans to focus on affordability, reevaluate foreign relations and overhaul the US relationship with Israel.

Trump has called Americans’ affordability concerns a Democratic hoax. He launched a war against Iran following sustained lobbying from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump went on to endorse Netanyahu in the Israeli election.

Vance makes unease at the war public

The post, for the first time, put Vance openly on the side of ending the war.

Three people familiar with the White House and Vance’s communications told Reuters that the vice president was not breaking with Trump and said White House chief of staff Susie Wiles knew in advance about Vance’s post.

On Friday, Trump reshuffled senior White House leadership, replacing Wiles with Stephen Miller in a move that suggests the White House plans to double down on some of Trump’s more hardline policies.

Trump has acknowledged the Iran war played a role in the Republican rout because of the resulting high gas prices but has continued to defend it. “I would have done nothing different,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Reuters could not determine whether Trump was aware of the post in advance.

Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, endorsed Vance’s remarks on social media, along with some conservative allies.

The dialogue further elevated Vance as a potential post-Trump conservative standard-bearer, said Michael Ricci, a Republican strategist and former adviser to House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.

Using the megaphone of the vice presidency

He said Vance’s message forced conservatives to debate the merits of the war, and more broadly, what core tenets Republican presidential candidates should embrace in 2028.

“It’s simplistic to say this about him looking for ways to differentiate himself from Trump,” Ricci said. “This is about him using his megaphone of the vice presidency to set the terms of debate.”

Representatives for Vance declined to comment. White House representatives referred Reuters to Trump’s comments on Wednesday, when he told reporters he understood Vance’s perspective on the election results.

Democrats are poised to tie Vance or any Republican nominee to Trump in 2028, especially if Trump plays a large role in vetting conservative hopefuls.

“There’s a real challenge of how you position yourself to be viable in a general election while winning a primary that still requires you to bow down and kiss the ring, said Igor Volsky, a Democratic strategist.

Vance’s brand did not emerge from the midterms unscathed. Republicans lost in states where he campaigned. Some of the strategies he endorsed, including an ad by Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that cast doubt on the sexual abuse suffered by the victorious Democratic candidate, Amy Acton, may have swung races away from Republicans.

Other possible 2028 presidential contenders have offered their diagnoses of the midterm defeat. Texas Senator Ted Cruz said Republicans hadn’t done enough on affordability.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said losing candidates had focused too heavily on transgender issues and neglected voter concerns about data centres and artificial intelligence. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stayed silent.

Vance’s effort to shape the debate was visible during the closing days of the campaign. In stump speeches, he told voters to support Republicans because they would investigate fraud in federal health care and antipoverty programs, tying that to the White House’s immigration agenda and cost of living.

He almost entirely ignored the Iran war and gas prices, and seldom mentioned Trump by name.

“I want my kids to raise a family in a country that is vibrant and thriving and free and prosperous. I want the simple things,” Vance said at one of his final rallies in North Carolina. “And because I want that for me, I want it for you too.”

The minor’s body, when recovered, showed a two-inch exposed spinal cord attaching the head and mutilated remains. Azan had reportedly been tortured and eventually killed with an eight-inch-long knife by his own father, allegedly in a calculated bid to implicate a third party. Azan is just one of several children who are killed every month by people known to them.

Moving back, in October, a 13-year-old in Mianwali was shot dead by her cousin for not wearing a hijab. In September, a three-year-old in Islamabad was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by her brother-in-law. In August, an 18-month-old in Karachi died after being raped by her 17-year-old cousin, while in July, a six-year-old boy was beaten up, raped, and strangled with a wire by his neighbour, and a four-year-old girl in Gujranwala was set on fire by her mother on suspicion of being ‘possessed’.

In May, a father in Vehari repeatedly raped his three daughters aged 14, 11, and nine for six consecutive months; while three children aged six, four, and three were killed and found hanging from the fans in their home in Multan. A month earlier, in April, a mother in Lahore brutally slit the throats of her three children, luring them through a sadistic ‘game’ of hide-and-seek.

Occurring within the safe confines of the home, these tragedies shocked and enraged us more than others, but our protest ended in quiet resignation, as it did in 2022 when an eight-year-old was tortured and poisoned by her grandparents for failing at household chores, and in 2015 when a 12-year-old was beaten to death by her father for not making properly round rotis.

Homes repeatedly turn into hell for children as our criminal justice system is unequipped to intercept and prevent attacks within the home. Statutes such as the ICT and Sindh Child Protection Acts create institutional bodies that address minors’ welfare, but they lack the authority to adopt anticipatory, prompt, and intrusive measures to ensure child safety. Our laws are reactive rather than anticipatory. Even the landmark Zainab Alert, Response, and Recovery Act, 2020, creates a protection mechanism for missing children that is enforceable only after the abduction is reported. As a result, attacks on children in public are not easily prevented.

Our criminal justice system is unequipped to intercept and prevent attacks within the home.

Recently, a five-year-old in Haripur was raped and left to die after being lured out of her home to see her father; an eight-year-old in Lahore was sexually harassed in a grocery store by the owner, and an eight-year-old in Sargodha was raped and murdered in a grocery store. Even when these victims were seen being accompanied or coaxed by a group of men or being eyed by strangers, the palpable threat of attack was ignored by those present at the scene. It was also in the presence of bystanders in Multan that 15-year-old Wasim was tortured and then run over by his employer recently. Whether it was their indifference or ignorance, they abandoned the weakest, most vulnerable members of society — our children. Being voiceless, defenceless and weak, children are considered dispensable. It is, therefore, easy to ignore injustices against them.

We tolerate inadequate child protection laws and mechanisms, ignore the proliferation of pornographic content, disregard paedophilic customs such as trading minor boys, and permit appalling lectures advocating marriage with girls as young as four. Our complicity and apathy have normalised child abuse and allowed it to persist, putting Pakistan third on the global map for child abuse.

Around 2,000 cases of child abuse were reported in just the first six months of the current year. Sahil reported over 3,600 in 2025. In 2024, 21 children were being abused daily. Reducing such horrifying figures demands enforceable protection under the law. Justice Jawad Hasan in 2023 (Zafar Khizer vs the Federation of Pakistan)initiated a shift in discourse from viewing children as ordinary citizens to viewing them as vulnerable citizens categorised as ‘child citizens’ and entitled to a higher degree of protection and concern under the law.

Justice Usman G. Rashid last month said that the child citizen is entitled to fundamental rights in their independent capacity that cannot be displaced by any parental authority. While the concept of the child citizen as an independent rights holder is evolving through jurisprudence, it is insufficient without effective implementation and accountability.

Mandatory reporting regimes should be introduced for designated professionals such as healthcare providers, instructors, and adults in child-related roles or positions of trust, as under Australian law and England’s Crime and Policing Act, 2026. Additional measures for prevention through reporting suspected child abuse and conducting child-sensitive investigations and follow-ups in such cases must be made compulsory in line with the spirit of Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

These obligations must be rooted not merely in law, but in a shared sense of humanity and a collective duty to protect the vulnerable because, as lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir said, a society that fails to protect its children has, in fact, failed humanity’s most basic test.

The writer is a lawyer.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2026

Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif performed the groundbreaking for the new lounge. The ceremony was attended by Secretary Defence Mohammad Ali, PAA Director General AVM Mohammad Shahid Afzaal and senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the PAA.

In his welcome address, the PAA Director General highlighted the significance of the project in strengthening state protocol and hospitality arrangements at the IIA , particularly ahead of the forthcoming SCO Council of Heads of State Summit.

Following the groundbreaking, the defence minister unveiled the commemorative plaque and participated in a tree plantation activity, reaffirming the commitment to environmental sustainability.

The new State Lounge forms part of Pakistan’s preparations for the SCO Summit, scheduled to be hosted in Islamabad in August 2027. The facility will enhance protocol, hospitality and facilitation arrangements for visiting heads of state, foreign dignitaries, senior government officials and international delegations.

Meanwhile, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) management has started deep cleaning its fleet of aircraft in an effort to significantly improve cabin maintenance and aircraft cleanliness.

A PIA spokesman said on Friday that the airline’s management had launched a deep-cleaning exercise for aircraft in its fleet. PIA has decided to focus on further improving the quality of aircraft cleaning and cabin maintenance. Special inspections of aircraft cabin cleaning were carried out in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. “Aircraft cleanliness is extremely important. It is important to maintain your brand at the highest standards,” the spokesman quoted PIA Chief Executive Officer Adrian Hamilton-Manns as saying.

“Maintaining aircraft in excellent condition is our priority,” the PIA CEO said.

“This is the beginning of the process and pace at which aircraft will be maintained in optimal condition,” he said. He pledged to continue initiatives aimed at promoting high standards of cleanliness, quality and service at PIA.

Shields and certificates were distributed among employees who played a prominent role in the cleaning process. Cash prizes were also awarded to employees who performed their duties exceptionally well.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2026

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday announced a controversial revision of a special electricity tariff introduced as an incentive to revive industrial activity, while approving an additional burden of Rs2.37 per unit on electricity consumers for November.

The decision, opposed by the industrial sector, is likely to have a negative impact on all electricity consumers, including those served by K-Electric and other distribution companies (Discos).

All four members of the regulator unanimously held the Power Division and its subordinate entities responsible for failing to fulfil their legal obligations within the prescribed timelines, pushing Nepra into an unprecedented deadlock and potentially increasing costs for electricity consumers across the country.

At the centre of the controversy was an incremental support package (ISP) of Rs22.98 per unit introduced for industrial consumers in December last year. Industrialists have been protesting against the package since May, seeking its suspension on the grounds that it had failed to benefit them and was instead increasing their electricity bills. The package was due for a review after the completion of its first six months in June, based on the lessons learnt during its implementation.

Following a belated request from the Power Division, despite repeated reminders from the regulator, Nepra on Friday revised the ISP rate to Rs25.30 per unit. The decision was strongly opposed by its two most relevant members, those responsible for tariff and development matters.

Interestingly, Nepra Chairman Waseem Mukhtar fully endorsed the written arguments and positions taken by the dissenting members but subsequently exercised his special casting vote to approve the revised rate of Rs25.30 per unit instead of retaining the existing rate of Rs22.98. The authority was divided 2-2 on the matter.

Member Tariff Amina Ahmed and Member Development Maqsood Anwar, in a joint dissenting note, maintained that even the proposed revised rate of Rs25.30 per unit was a “random number” unsupported by evidence. They said Nepra’s own institutional calculations put the marginal cost at Rs31.83 per unit rather than Rs25.30.

“The revised incremental rate of Rs25.30 per unit proposed by the Ministry of Energy (MoE), and allowed by the honourable Chairman and Member (Law), is based on the generation mix apparently assumed at the design stage of the package, with updated fuel prices,” the two members observed.

They called for the immediate suspension of the ISP until authentic data became available.

The dissenting members argued that compliance with the federal cabinet’s decision and Nepra’s own directives required a reassessment of the existing rate of Rs22.98 per unit to determine whether it should be retained, revised or suspended. However, this exercise had not been carried out, resulting in the continuation of the package at a rate below the actual cost of supplying incremental electricity.

“The resulting misalignment has had implications for consumers in two ways. First, to the extent incremental consumption increased the system’s average fuel cost, the resulting impact was recovered from all consumers through the FCA mechanism. Second, because incremental units are excluded from quarterly tariff adjustments, the exclusion of such units increases the quarterly adjustment borne by consumers not availing the package,” they said.

The two members, therefore, recommended the temporary suspension of the tariff package rather than choosing the proposed rate of Rs25.30 or above per unit.

They questioned how a package based on the principle of cost-reflectivity could continue without a validated cost-reflective rate. They argued that since the alternative rate had no credible link with the actual marginal cost, continuation of the package was no longer justified.

They said other consumers should not be made to bear the cost of a review that the MoE was required to submit five months ago but had yet to provide.

In his casting vote, Nepra Chairman Waseem Mukhtar observed that the dissenting members’ conclusions “need serious consideration”. However, he said suspending the package at this stage would not be appropriate and that the Ministry of Energy should be given another opportunity to provide the information repeatedly sought by the regulator, including in its latest determination.

All four members agreed that the Power Division was required to submit revised calculations six months ago but had failed to do so despite repeated reminders from Nepra. They also regretted that the ministry had not responded adequately to the questions and queries raised by the regulator.

“The marginal price, in proper form, was not provided to the regulator by either the Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) or the Power Planning and Monitoring Company (PPMC), which were duty-bound to do so. Since the ISP is a flagship project of the ministry, it should give due consideration to the observations of Nepra and the lack of inter-agency coordination among the entities working under the ministry,” the members observed.

The determination also sets deadlines for the relevant entities to provide the required information. The four members warned that failure to meet these deadlines could lead to an adverse outcome in the review of the programme, including its suspension or termination.

“Furthermore, any entity that fails to provide the required information within the stipulated timeline shall lead to initiation of legal proceedings under the applicable legal framework,” they stated.

Explaining his decision, Nepra chairman said: “I hereby exercise, in due and faithful discharge of the functions of the Authority, my second and casting vote envisaged and entrusted to me under the Nepra Act in favour of the First Opinion, thereby breaking the deadlock in relation to the aforesaid issues. Accordingly, the First Opinion constitutes the Order of the Authority.”

Meanwhile, Nepra allowed power distribution companies to charge an additional Rs2.37 per unit from all consumers in their November bills under the monthly fuel cost adjustment (FCA) mechanism to recover an additional Rs25 billion.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2026

Justice Abher Gul Khan clarified that the ruling neither endorses violence or abuse within marriage, nor prevents the Parliament or any provincial assembly from taking up the matter.

Areej Sohail Bhutta, a lawyer, filed the petition, stating that she had encountered women clients who complained of non-consensual sexual conduct within their marriages.

She argued that the law lacked a distinct statutory framework for sexual violence within marriage. She sought directions for legislative measures, including amendments to sections 375 and 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

A court can’t force the legislature to enact a law or create an offence, observes the judge

Justice Khan observed that the Constitution divides powers among the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, and that judicial review does not authorise courts to assume legislative functions.

She said Article 199 empowers the high court to issue directions for the enforcement of fundamental rights. However, she maintained, there is a distinction between directing an authority to perform an existing constitutional or statutory obligation and compelling the legislature to enact a particular law or create a new offence.

The judge noted that articles 9, 14 and 25 protect the security, dignity and equality of a person, while articles 25(3) and 34 allow special protections for women and promote their participation in national life.

She said Article 35, which requires the state to protect marriage and the family, does not provide a licence for violence against a spouse.

Justice Khan observed that foreign laws can provide comparative guidance, but cannot override Pakistan’s Constitution or replace the judgment of its legislature.

She said any proposed legal framework also has to be examined in the light of the Constitution, existing laws and the injunctions of Islam.

The judge noted that under Article 142(b), the Parliament and provincial assemblies are competent to legislate on criminal law, procedure and evidence.

“The question whether an additional offence, a separate statutory provision or a further protective mechanism is required, is essentially a matter of legislative policy,” the judge observed.

Citing Supreme Court judgments, including Tika Iqbal Muhammad Khan versus Pervez Musharraf (PLJ 2008 SC 500), the judge observed, “A court cannot issue a mandamus compelling the legislature to enact a particular law.”

The judge noted that the petitioner had neither challenged a specific statutory provision as unconstitutional nor identified an authority’s failure to perform an existing legal duty.

She said the relief sought would require the court to direct legislation according to a model proposed by the petitioner, amounting to interference in the legislative process.

The judge stressed that the decision does not diminish a woman’s dignity or bodily integrity because of marriage, or endorse coercion and abuse within marriage.

The judge dismissed the petition to the extent of the relief sought.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2026