Infinity Social Updates

The Balochistan government on Friday announced that two suspects were arrested in connection to the murder of seven labourers hailing from Punjab in the coastal town of Sarba­ndan. Earlier this month, seven barbershop workers were killed and one was injured in Surbandar, Gwadar, when unknown gunmen entered their residential quarters and opened fire on them while they were sleeping. The police said the victims belonged to different cities of south Punjab, including Khanewal, Mian Channu and Lodhran. Addressing a press conference in Quetta, Balochistan Home Minister Zia Ullah Langau said all institutions were tasked to apprehend the culprits. “I congratulate all our institutions who fulfilled their responsibility and the government’s orders with their efforts and we have arrested two killers of the Gwadar labourers,” he said. The home minister added: “Statements have been drawn from them which clearly show they were given orders … and guns and weapons have been seized from them.” H...

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday constituted a full court bench to hear the case related to seats reserved for women and minorities, which was filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). Led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, the full court bench includes Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Athar Minallah, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Irfan Saadat Khan and Naeem Akhtar Afghan. The bench will hear the case on June 3 (Monday) at 11:30am. The SIC had earlier been joined by PTI-backed independent candidates after they won the February 8 elections as their party had been deprived of its electoral symbol ‘bat’. In a 4-1 verdict in March, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had ruled that the SIC was not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats “due to having non-curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserve...

The Margalla Hills were again ablaze on Friday, with dousing efforts “focused on the centre” after the fire was controlled from the sides, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) said. More than 80 firefighters were on the site in attempts to control the fire, the CDA said in a post on X. “They have encircled the fire from sides, controlled it from sides and now the efforts are concentrated on [the] centre-point,” it added. According to CDA spokesperson Kamran Aslam, additional teams had departed to join the extinguishing efforts. Environment director Asif Majeed was monitoring the operation himself on the directives of CDA Chairman Mohammad Ali Randhawa, Aslam said, adding that the relevant assistant commissioner was also present on the site. High-speed winds and hot weather posed difficulties in putting out the blaze, the CDA spokesperson highlighted. He asserted that all resources were being to use to control the fire. Spread over 12,605 hectares, Margalla Hills face a n...

MIANWALI: A decomposed body of an elderly man was found in a locked store of District Headquarter Hospital on Thursday. Reports said in February, Rescue 1122 personnel brought an injured elderly man with a fractured leg to DHQ Hospital following an accident in Isakhel tehsil. He was admitted to the general ward and began receiving treatment. The patient was identified as Mohammad Ali, son of Mohammad Asif. During his stay, no relatives visited him. It was revealed that the injured man was also mentally challenged and had difficulty in speaking. Due to complaints from other patients in the ward, he was moved to a side room. Some days back, the Punjab health secretary visited the hospital. Fearing any ‘objectionable’ behaviour from the patient during the secretary’s visit, some hospital staff moved him from the side room to a vacant store and locked the door until the visit was over. The staff forgot to release him afterwards. A few days later, a foul odour spread through the hospita...

PML-N MPA Hina Parvez Butt on Wednesday alleged that senior foreign journalist Mehdi Hasan took money to publish an interview of PTI founder Imran Khan. However, the MPA misunderstood the meaning of a “paid” article, which Hasan clarified meant that the piece was only for his paid subscription users. The interview was conducted through a letter Hasan sent with questions for Imran, and the journalist was not allowed to ask follow-up questions. The former premier, who is currently incarcerated at Adiala Jail in a string of cases against him, blasted Pakistan’s political and military leaders — with a special focus on his friend-turned-foe former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa — in the interview with Hasan for his independent news platform Zeteo that was published on Wednesday. In April 2022, Pakistan saw for the first time in its history the ouster of a prime minister through a no-confidence vote. The efforts for the PTI founder’s removal were led by the then-opposition...

PTI founder Imran Khan has said that his only regret from his time in power was trusting former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, whom he held responsible for “creating lies and false narratives”, allegedly to secure a second extension as the military head. The former premier, who is currently incarcerated at Adiala Jail in a string of cases against him, blasted Pakistan’s political and military leaders — with a special focus on his friend-turned-foe Gen Bajwa — in an interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan for Zeteo that was published on Wednesday. The interview was conducted through a letter Mehdi sent with questions for Imran, and the journalist was not allowed to ask follow-up questions. When asked who he blames for his imprisonment, Imran said: “I am certain that this ordeal was orchestrated by General Bajwa. I hold no one else responsible. “He meticulously planned and executed this scheme, presenting himself as a deceitful figure, creating lies and false narratives...

Experts said that extreme temperatures across India are having their worst impact in the country’s teeming megacities, warning that the heat is fast becoming a public health crisis. India is enduring a crushing heatwave with temperatures in several cities sizzling well over 45°C. Temperature readings in the capital New Delhi rose into the high 40s on Wednesday, with power usage in the city — where the population is estimated at more than 30 million — surging to a record high. Indian media reported on Thursday that a labourer in the city had died of heatstroke. Workers stack ice blocks at a market during a hot summer day in New Delhi on May 30, 2024, amid ongoing heatwave. — AFP “Cities are more vulnerable to the compounding effects of urbanisation and climate change,” said Aarti Khosla, director at research institute Climate Trends. “Expect a greater number of hotter days, prolonged dry spells and less rainy days as weather patterns continue to change due to increased human...

The top brass of Pakistan’s military vowed to comprehensively defeat the threat of what it termed “digital terrorism”, which aims to “induce despondency in the Pakistani nation and “sow discord among national institutions”. According to a press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the consensus was reached during the 83rd Formation Commanders’ Conference at the General Headquarters on Thursday. The annual conference, which discusses geostrategic dynamics and national security, was chaired by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir. Corps commanders, principal staff officers and all formation commanders were also in attendance. “The forum offered fatiha (prayers) and paid tribute to the supreme sacrifices of shuhadas (martyrs), including officers and men of the armed forces, law enforcement agencies and citizens of Pakistan who laid their lives for the country’s safety, security, and sovereignty,” the military’s media wing said. According to the statement, t...

Inflation is expected to hover between 13.5 to 14.5 per cent in May and to ease further to 12.5 to 13.5pc by June, according to a monthly economic update from the finance ministry on Wednesday. The country has been beset by inflation above 20pc since May 2022, registering a high of 38pc in May 2023, as it navigated reforms as part of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme. However, inflation has slowed over the past few months. The consumer price index for April slowed to 17.3pc from a year earlier, the lowest reading in nearly two years and below the finance ministry’s projections for the month. “The inflation outlook for May 2024 continues on a downward trajectory, attributed to elevated inflation levels previous year and improvements in domestic supply chain of perishable items, staple food like wheat and reduction in transportation costs,” the report said. It added that going forward, the economy will gain momentum owing to favourable external and domesti...

South Korea accused North Korea on Wednesday of sending a large number of balloons across their heavily fortified border to drop objects including trash and excrement, calling the act “dirty and dangerous”. The military’s explosives ordnance unit and chemical and biological warfare response team were deployed to inspect and collect the objects and an alert was issued warning residents to keep away and report any sightings to authorities. By Wednesday afternoon, more than 260 balloons had been detected, most of which landed on the ground, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Photographs released by the South Korean military showed inflated balloons with plastic bags tied to them. Other images appeared to show trash strewn around collapsed balloons, with the word “excrement” written on a bag in one photograph. Yonhap news agency said some of the balloons contained animal faeces. An official at Seoul’s presidential office said the North might want to “test” the South’s reaction but vowed...

Temperatures in India’s capital New Delhi have soared to a record-high 49.9 degrees Celsius as authorities warn of water shortages in the sprawling mega-city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), which reported “severe heat-wave conditions”, recorded the temperatures on Tuesday at two Delhi suburbs stations at Narela and Mungeshpur. The weather bureau said the temperatures were nine degrees higher than expected. Forecasters predict similar temperatures on Wednesday for the city with an estimated population of more than 30 million people, issuing a red alert warning notice for people to take care. The IMD’s red alert is a warning there is a “very high likelihood of developing heat illness and heat stroke in all ages”, with “extreme care needed for vulnerable people”. Heat remains high even during the night, it added. The IMD said the heat wave in northwest and central India was “likely to reduce gradually” from Thursday. In May 2022, parts of Delhi hit 49.2 degrees Celsius ...

Originally published on November 18, 2017 LIVING OUR THE LEGACY OF HIS MENTOR EXCERPTS FROM DAWN’S ARCHIVES SURVIVAL AT STAKE? NOT QUITE RARE AUDIO AND VIDEO EXTRACTS A young Nawaz Sharif – with a considerably lighter mop of hair on is head – came to power for the first – but certainly not the last – time in November 1990 after a massive showing in rallies leading up to the elections. He waved and waved to the crowds across the land and apparently owed his elevation to popular public sentiment in his favour. Regardless of the fact that the victory of the right-wing Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) remains politically tainted to date, it was the time when Nawaz Sharif – and his family – entered big time politics. LIVING OUR THE LEGACY OF HIS MENTOR By I.A. Rehman MIAN Nawaz Sharif became prime minister of the country twice within two decades of the death of General Ziaul Haq, his principal benefactor, and his two terms were like a sequel of the general’s regime. His priorities ...