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• PPP leaders insist BISP data best suited for flood relief • Maryam says Punjab is working while other provinces are busy criticising it • 2,200 survey teams with 10,000 personnel from army, other depts deployed in the province • Azma Bokhari threatens to sue Nadeem Afzal Chan over loan claim ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: As the Punjab government on Saturday launched a survey to assess the losses caused by recent floods, the PPP urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to accept its demand for providing immediate relief to the flood-affected people through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The PML-N and the PPP — coalition partners at the Centre and in Punjab — have been at odds over how to help the flood victims, with the former’s government in Punjab insisting on using its own resources, while the latter is adamant about channelling the aid through the BISP. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, PPP Secretary General Humayun Khan, Senator Palwasha Khan and the party’s Khyber...

COMPARED to the coldness of the Biden administration towards Pakistan, bilateral relations under Donald Trump’s watch have warmed up considerably. Early on Friday, the prime minister and the army chief met the American leader in the White House to mainly discuss , as a PM House readout describes, security, counterterrorism and investment issues. Mr Trump had earlier in the week met Shehbaz Sharif in New York, during a meeting with leaders of Muslim states on the sidelines of the UNGA to discuss the Gaza war. In June, the army chief had an unprecedented lunch with the American president. This is the first time a Pakistani prime minister has had a dedicated bilateral interaction with a US president in six years; the last interaction was between Imran Khan and Mr Trump in 2019. Apart from the photos of beaming leaders and mutual appreciation — Mr Trump referred to Mr Sharif as a “great leader”, while the PM called the US leader “courageous” — the details of what was discussed are ske...

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on Friday approved the adoption of the latest WiFi generation, WiFi 7, making it one of the first nations in the Asia-Pacific region to use the network. According to a press release, WiFi 7 and future generations will operate on the 6 GHz network band, underscoring Pakistan’s commitment to digital innovation and leadership. “Wi-Fi 7 delivers ultra-high data rates, low latency, and robust reliability, enabling 8K streaming, AR/VR, and industrial automation,” the press release read. “By easing congestion in legacy bands and reducing broadband delivery costs, it will strengthen connectivity for households, SMEs (small-medium enterprises), campuses, healthcare, and smart cities.” This development comes a week after Information and Technology Secretary Zarrar Hasham said that restoring damaged undersea internet cables may take four to five weeks. During a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology and...

THE new World Bank report, Reclaiming Momentum Towards Prosperity, is a sobering reminder that Pakistan’s current growth and development model is no longer fit to sustain reduction in poverty and inequality. The model, which supported initial gains in poverty alleviation before running aground, has already eroded two decades of progress as poverty trends reversed over the past three years. A new development trajectory is needed, one which prioritises inclusive growth, equity and sustained investment in human capital, the WB said. The bank also called for the overhaul of the present development model at the report’s launch in Islamabad recently. “Reforms that expand access to quality services, protect households from shocks and create better jobs — especially for the bottom 40pc — are essential to break cycles of poverty and deliver durable, inclusive growth,” it said. Poverty, which had declined from 64.3pc in 2001-02 to 21.9pc in 2018-19, has been climbing again. It rose to 24...

• Seniority concerns cannot override constitutional transfers, holds Justice Mazhar • Justice Panhwar suggests creating unified seniority list of all high court judges ISLAMABAD: Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar on Thursday ruled that the transfer of a judge from one high court to another under Article 200(1) of the Constitution cannot be declared “against the public interest” merely because it affects the seniority of a few existing judges. “The best interest of public at large is always with the expeditious disposal of their cases and not in forum shopping,” emphasised Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar in a detailed judgement. Justice Mazhar had presided over the Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitutional Bench that heard a joint petition by five Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges — Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Saman Rafat Imtiaz — who had argued that three transferred judges, including IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarf...

THE World Bank has issued a stark warning to Pakistan in a report released on Tuesday. The country’s growth model has run its course, and over the past five years, the number of people living below the poverty line has begun to swell after two decades of shrinkage. Not only that. Nearly 40 per cent of children are stunted, and this percentage has not changed much over a long period of time. One quarter of children of primary school age remain out of school. Of the ones that do go to school, 75pc of those who finish primary schooling cannot read, or follow a simple story. One after another, the dismal state of the population as seen in the social indicators testifies to the fact that the economy is not delivering, whether or not it grows. The middle of the decade of the 2010s saw a high-growth spurt, yet between the years 2011 and 2021, “real wage growth in sectors employing the poor remained minimal at just 2-3pc” the report notes, “making the poor ill-equipped to convert economic ...

• Diplomats head back to Washington to prepare, but officials remain guarded about prospects of ‘flagship engagement’ at the White House • Premier asks IMF to take flood damage into account as lender’s team meets govt officials in Islamabad today • In joint statement after meeting Trump, Muslim bloc leaders reject forced displacement from Gaza NEW YORK: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s diplomacy-packed US visit is expected to reach a climax in a White House meeting with President Donald Trump today (Thursday). During his whirlwind tour, PM Shehbaz has attended UNGA sessions, a key multilateral summit of the Muslim bloc, as well as side meetings with the heads of international financial institutions in New York. All signs now point to a flagship engagement in Washington, though officials remain guarded about specifics. The PM’s media team, the staff at Pakistan’s embassy and its UN mission, all describe the meeting as being “almost certain”. This is evident from the fact that sev...