LAHORE: The Water and Power Ministry has warned Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) Chief Executive Arshad Rafique that he should either “improve situation at the company, or the ministry will take direct action”. Pointing out total collapse of governance – falling recoveries, increasing line losses, excessive and wrong billing – at Lesco, the ministry has…

ISLAMABAD: On the complaint of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Defence Ministry on Tuesday directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to take action against the Geo TV network for levelling allegations against the ISI. According to an official source, the application was submitted to the media regulator under Sections 33 and 36 of…

MINGORA: Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah said here on Monday that Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf failed to bring changes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz could not meet its promises in the centre. He claimed that people of Swat would reject candidates of both the ruling parties in the by-election that would…

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif was briefed at the headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) by the agency’s top brass on the functioning of its various operations and tasks. Upon his arrival at the headquarters, DG ISI Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam received the army chief. The COAS was given a detailed briefing…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday conducted a successful test-fire of Short Range Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile Hatf III (Ghazanavi) which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 290 kilometres. The successful launch concluded the ongoing field training exercise of strategic missile group of army strategic forces command. The training launch was witnessed…

ISLAMABAD: The third round of auction process for 3G licenses concluded at $896.8 million on Wednesday with a $11.8 million increase in the bids for 3G licenses, DawnNews reported. The total opening price of the four lots of 3G licenses was $885 million while there was an increase of $5.9 million in Lot D and…

Following the technological advancement in the government of Punjab, after free laptop episode, it has raised the requirement of Android based Smart Phones for its various departments. In this regard, Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has invited the bids from the interested parties through an advertisement in the media. According to reports, since last couple…

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on the request of Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has asked the media representatives not to sensationalize and mis-report 3G/4G auction. The three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Jawwad S.Khawaja resumed hearing of the case. At the outset of the hearing, Chairman PTA Dr. Ismail Shah pointed out…

Justice Jawwad S Khawaja on Thursday said the constitution is supreme and parliament has no authority to legislate against it. He gave these remarks while presiding over a three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) during the course of hearing of 3-G case. He also observed, “This is case of 10.3 trillions. State is protector…

ISLAMABAD: The auction of next generation 3G and 4G licences is expected to fetch the national exchequer $1.3 billion and create employment opportunities for about 100,000 people, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday. “We are satisfied by the response from cellular service providers,” the finance minister said a press briefing convened to discuss his…

Karachi – 16 April, 2014: As the number of polio cases in Pakistan reached 49 so far this year more partners come forward to protect the children and rid Pakistan and the world of the menace of the this debilitating disease. To create an enabling environment for polio eradication in Pakistan, ZonG and UNICEF signed today…

KARACHI: The winners of much awaited short film competition “Heroes of Pakistan” were announced in a humble ceremony held at the Karachi Press Club on Monday to acknowledge the youths who have demonstrated their film making potential by contesting in the competition organized by the American companies Green Card Capital and SoundView Broadcasting. While addressing…

Popular Bollywood actor Rani Mukherjee has tied the knot with Aditya Chopra, son of late iconic filmmaker Yash Chopra, according to the Indian media. The wedding — a private affair — took place in Italy on April 21. The couple had reportedly been dating for a long time with frequent speculation surrounding their relationship. Mukherjee…

LOS ANGELES: Captain America continues to vanquish box office foes, triumphing in ticket sales for the third consecutive week and dominating over megastar Johnny Depp’s new movie. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” added another $26 million to its coffers, according to studio estimates Sunday, while Depp’s sci-fi thriller, “Transcendence,” opened in fourth place with $11…

LOS ANGELES: Johnny Depp has abandoned flashy pirate gear, wigs and other “clown nose” costumes to plunge into the serious, even cerebral “Transcendence,” a sci-fi thriller about nanotechnology. Known for his “Pirates of the Caribbean” dreadlocks, “Alice in Wonderland” top hat and “Lone Ranger” face paint, Depp slips into the less colorful role of a…

LOS ANGELES: A lawyer for “X-Men” director Bryan Singer dismissed as “fabricated” and absurd claims Thursday that the filmmaker sexually assaulted a former child model and aspiring teenage actor. The lawyer also pledged to counter-sue the 31-year-old alleged victim, who gave details of his allegations dating from 15 years ago at a Beverly Hills press…

I sat stunned as I absorbed the news: He had been shot in the chest and was at a hospital in an unstable condition. I could never have imagined it. Especially when he had done everything as I had asked him to do. A conciliatory man, he never went against my advice. He had done…

Hamid Mir was shot because of his calls to respect the human rights of the Baloch, because he stood with Mama Qadeer in the VMBP’s Long March. No, it was because he didn’t give enough space to the Taliban’s viewpoint. No, silly, it’s because a distraction was needed from the non-stop coverage of Musharraf in…

ATTINGAL: ”I have a surprise for you. Please wait till evening,” reads a message sent by Nino Mathew to his lover Anu Santhi, after calling her before setting out to commit the murders. His target was actually Lijeesh, her husband. However, he killed Omana and Swastika before Lijeesh came home as he wanted to eliminate…

Ask any Pakistani woman, and she’ll tell you it doesn’t take much to cross the line between banter and lewdness: an inappropriate touch, an unwanted remark, or even indecent flirtation. With women often advised to stay mum in the face of abuse, sexual harassment is reaching epidemic proportions in Pakistan. Crouched on the edge of…

I’m motivated to write this blog because of a death threat that was bought to my attention, posted on to a news update on the teenage activist, Malala Yousafzai. Since web 2.0 sites have become popular with middle class Pakistanis over the last four years, the criminal Pakistani trend of making death threats has migrated…