ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday launched a Rs 37 billion relief program to provide Rs 25,000 cash assistance each among 1.5 million families across the flood-hit areas of the country. The prime minister, addressing the launching ceremony, said the cash disbursement would be done through Benazir Income Support Program in collaboration with the National Disaster …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (ABC): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday alleged that Imran Khan wanted the head of every institution to act like former NAB chairman Javed Iqbal, and dared him to name the “agencies and their officials” who were involved in politics and had given him the guarantee that the incumbent chief election commissioner would toe …

ISLSMABAD, August 19(ABC): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday reserved its judgment in a plea seeking Shahbaz Gill’s medical examination, while a sessions court in the federal capital ordered the concerned authorities to conduct a second medical examination of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) where he is to be kept till …

ISLAMABAD, August 19(ABC): Hearing former premier Imran Khan’s petition against the recent amendments made to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial said on Friday that those sitting in parliament must not make self-serving legislation. The CJP stated that the country was not through some ordinary times, but an “exceptional time”. During today’s hearing, the …

LAHORE, August 19(ABC): A judicial magistrate Friday issued the arrest warrants for a dozen PML-N leaders, including prime minister’s special assistant Ata Tarar, in relation to a ruckus created at the Punjab Assembly. A case was registered against the PML-N leaders over the ruckus which took place in April during the chief minister’s election — when Hamza Shahbaz was elected …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday launched the nationwide anti-polio drive with an aim to eradicate the crippling disease from the country. The drive kicked off as the prime minister administered drops of polio vaccine to the children under five years of age, here at the Prime Minister’s House. The prime minister vowed to get the …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19(ABC): A judicial Magistrate of Islamabad on Friday directed to conduct another medical analysis of PTI’s leader Shahbaz Gill and ordered to keep him in hospital till August 22, in a sedition case registered by Kohsar Police Station. The court order said that the two-day physical remand of the accused was not started yet and thus rejected the …

August 19(ABC): If you’re a motorcyclist, strapping on a helmet could be the most important thing you can do before riding your bike. According to a data report from the NCBI, head, neck, face, and traumatic brain injuries are the main risks for death among motorcyclists. Wearing a helmet can significantly lessen mortality if you wind up in a road …

August 19(ABC): Smart TVs use what is known as ACR, or automatic content recognition, to track what it is that you’re watching in order to target you with recommendations or ads in the future. It tries to recognize anything you watch on your TV, no matter what route you’re streaming content through. This data is then collected and saved to …

August 19(ABC): A year after Tesla announced its humanoid robot — the Tesla Bot — the conceptual general-purpose robot is up against some Chinese competition. On the sidelines of Xiaomi’s Autumn launch event in Beijing, the company announced its first full-size humanoid bionic robot. The rather unimaginatively named Xiaomi CyberOne is the second robotic product from Xiaomi and comes a …

August 19(ABC): Drones are slowly becoming a major industry game-changer, and when it comes to the medical field, lives might not be the only thing they’ll save. Drone technology has come a long way, from elevating photography (both figuratively and literally) to becoming a sport with wide mainstream media acceptance. However, companies and government bodies are only starting to tap …

August 19(ABC): Have you ever been stuck in bad traffic and daydreaming about how easy life would be if your car could just fly over the half-mile of honking metal in front of you? Well, those dreams could soon come true, sort of. The solution could be air taxis, which are basically exactly what they sound like: flying vehicles that …

August 19(ABC): While we’re barely a month away from the debut of Apple’s latest and greatest iPhones, those aren’t the only exciting new devices we’ll likely see this fall season. Of course, there will be new Macs and new iPad Pros heading our way, but these might be simple incremental upgrades from their predecessors. One device, however, could end up …

August 19(ABC): Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night or early morning, grab your phone, and unlock it, only to have your eyes singed by the blinding light from the screen? That’s because of the millions of pixels on the phone’s screen bombarding your unprepared eyes with photons. The blinding effect is somewhat similar to that …

August 19(ABC): There’s a common misconception about smartphones, and it’s a dangerous one: many people believe they don’t need to worry about viruses, spyware, and malware when they’re using a phone. If only that were true! Unfortunately, there are tons of smartphone viruses out there, and it’s more important than ever to try to protect yourself. After all, it’s not …

August 19(ABC): Android makes it ridiculously convenient to get new apps; you only need to head to the Play Store, look up the app, and tap install. However, you cannot find every app on the official Google store even though it offers millions of titles. For example, some apps that don’t comply with Google’s rulebook or aren’t published because their …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (ABC): President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday called for concerted efforts by all segments of society to carry out extensive plantation in a bid to save the country from the horrendous effects of climate change. In his message on the launch of the national monsoon tree plantation drive, he urged every citizen, particularly youth, to actively participate …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (ABC): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday took a dig at Imran Khan for cancelling his visit to Karachi yet again due to rain forecast, saying it was the ‘Islamic touch’ which in fact forbade his visit to the flood-hit areas. The minister, in a tweet, lashed out at Imran Khan for doing politics …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (ABC): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail here on Thursday announced lifting of ban on import of non-essential and luxury goods on the demand of International Monetary Fund (IMF), however said that the Regulatory Duties (RDs) would be enhanced manifold to discourage import of such products. “It is requirement of international community that there should …

 ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (ABC): Minister for Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique said on Thursday that Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and other coalition parties, having solid footprints in all provinces, were political realities and could not be eliminated from political arena. Responding to a Calling Attention Notice in Senate, he admitted that  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)  had a support base and it …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (ABC): Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Thursday agreed to further improve the coordination between the interior ministries of both the countries to deal with common challenges. The agreement reached at the meeting held at Jeddah between Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and his Saudi counterpart party, said a statement issued here. Earlier, Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Dr. Nasir …

KARACHI, August 18(ABC): Car drowned in Malir river at Karachi Highway Link Road was found on Thursday, while the rescue operation is going on to search for five to six people in the car. As per details, the Edhi team has recovered the car that sank into the river at Kathor in Karachi, but the family in the car is …

ISLAMABAD, August 18(ABC): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed NDMA, PDMA and the provincial government to speed-up relief operations in the flood-affected areas immediately. According to PM Office, Shehbaz Sharif said the first priority in a flood situation is the rescue of the affected people and their immediate assistance. He also directed that 50000 rupees should be provided immediately …

ISLAMABAD, August 18(ABC): A four-member medical board has unanimously recommended that PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s chief of staff Shahbaz Gill be monitored further and assessed by specialists. Gill is at the Pakistan Institute Of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where he is under treatment after being shifted to the medical facility from Adiala Jail. The medical board unanimously concluded in a post-examination …

ISLAMABAD, August 18(ABC): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday served notices to the Islamabad advocate general, additional attorney general and other officials, summoning them for the hearing of PTI’s plea against the physical remand given to police of senior PTI leader Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case. Yesterday, a district and sessions court ordered Gill — who has been behind bars …

LONDON, August 18(ABC): The British government has signed a new agreement under which foreign criminals and immigration offenders will be returned from the United Kingdom to Pakistan. Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the development on Wednesday after signing the new deal with Pakistan’s Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar and the Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK, Moazzam Ahmad Khan. A …

ISLAMABAD, August 18(ABC): In an effort based on humanitarian grounds, the United States has pledged $1 million to Pakistan “to build resilience against natural disasters”. The announcement follows an earlier decision to provide $100,000 in immediate relief, as floods caused by torrential rains wreak havoc in the country. “We stand by Pakistan in hard times and offer our support to flood victims. …

ISLAMABAD, August 18(ABC): PTI leader Murad Saeed on Thursday claimed that some armed men dressed in plain clothes came by his residence in his absence last night when he was at PIMS Hospital, Islamabad to meet Shahbaz Gill. “When I was at PIMS, Islamabad, armed motorcyclists dressed in plain clothes came to my doorstep at 2am. I contacted some friends …

ISLAMABAD, August 18(ABC): The government has assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it will increase the petroleum levy to Rs50 per litre in the Letter of Intent (LoI) sent back ahead of the Fund’s board meeting on August 29. Pakistan sent back its LoI after the document was signed by Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail and Governor State Bank of …

ISLAMABAD, August 17(ABC): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supremo and former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Chief of Staff Shahbaz Gill was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital over a serious medical condition. The PTI leader was shifted to PIMS under high alert security while a medical team has been formed comprising heart, lung specialists doctors and medical officers. …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (ABC): Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Wednesday accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his party associates of launching a smear social media campaign against the state institutions after the Lasbela helicopter crash. The PTI leadership tried to divert the attention from the Pakistan Election Commission’s decision in the foreign funding case, which was …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (ABC): Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday underlined the need to fully utilize the existing potential between Pakistan and Iran in energy, air links, and connectivity. The foreign minister received Minister for Roads and Urban Development of Iran Rostam Ghasemi, Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press release. Welcoming the delegation, the foreign minister highlighted fraternal …

ISLAMABAD, August 17(ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that soldiers and officers of Pakistan Armed Forces never hesitated to sacrifice their lives to protect their motherland. PM Shehbaz met the grieved family of 12 Corps Commander late Lt General Sarfaraz Ali, who was recently martyred in a chopper crash in Balochistan s Lasbela area. Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif …

ISLAMABAD, August 17(ABC): Pakistan and the United Kingdom on Wednesday signed the landmark agreement for repatriation of convicted criminals and immigration offenders from the UK to Pakistan. “I’m proud to have signed a new landmark agreement with our Pakistani friends to return foreign criminals and immigration offenders from the UK to Pakistan,” British Home Secretary Priti Patel announced in a …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (ABC): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday alleged that the media faced the worst fascism during the four-year rule of Imran Khan, who himself had been declared “fascist” by the international media watchdog. The minister, in a news statement, said Imran Khan had no right to speak about media freedom as it was he …

ISLAMABAD, August 17(ABC): Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday refused to respond to the notice sent by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in a case pertaining to prohibited funding. Former PM and former Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan on behalf of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman sent a reply to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). …

ISLAMABAD, August 17(ABC): The federal government has decided to increase the petroleum levy on petrol and diesel from September as it has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. In the Letter of Intent sent to the IMF — after the prime minister and finance minister signed it — Pakistan has assured the global lender that it will phase-wise …

 RAJANPUR, Aug 17 (ABC): Hill torrents originated from Suleman Mountain Range following recent heavy spell of monsoon rains were the ferocious most during last four decades affecting over 100,000 people besides damaging nearly 4000 homes and over 200,000 acre crop area in Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur, the two districts sandwitched between hill torrents from mountains in the west and …

ISLAMABAD, August 17(ABC): The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday decided to expand the scope of prohibited funding received by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to foreign countries. FIA will now investigate the case in America, Britain and any other country where PTI received funding from. Investigation agencies of different countries will also be contacted and taken on board. FIA will …

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (ABC): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail here on Wednesday highlighted that self-reliance, export promotion, farm productivity enhancement and educating children were four basic principles to lead the country towards growth and development. Addressing the “Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit” here the minister said Pakistan was not at the place where it should have been …