Category: English

Veteran Indian actor Nana Patekar died on Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest at his residence in Goa. He was 75. Patekar was found unconscious at his home in the Dona Paula area and was rushed to Manipal Hospital, where doctors attempted to revive him with continuous cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for around 45 minutes. He was declared dead at about 5.20am. His son, Malhar Patekar, confirmed the death, saying the actor died of natural causes. Dr Shekhar Salkar, chief of the oncology department at Manipal Hospital, said a medico-legal case…

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Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday called for a more effective, inclusive and representative United Nations and reiterated Pakistan’s position that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute should be resolved peacefully in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. PM Sharif made the remarks while welcoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is on an official visit to Pakistan, during a meeting in Islamabad, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. PM Sharif welcomed Guterres’ UN80 Initiative and said reform of the United Nations…

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Pakistani troops have been deployed in Saudi Arabia for decades as part of longstanding defence ties between the two countries, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in an interview with CNN. ISPR said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had maintained defence relations for several decades. “Pakistani troops, possessing capabilities across multiple domains, are already deployed in Saudi Arabia,” he said. The DG ISPR said the Makkah Alliance was not something that had emerged “in a vacuum.” Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye had maintained sustained diplomatic,…

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Indian ​police detained opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and several lawmakers for the third time in two ‌days on Wednesday as they launched an unannounced protest demanding the resignation of the election chief over a controversial revision of voter lists. Opposition parties, their student units, and the “cockroach” youth movement have been staging almost daily demonstrations seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, ​after the Indian Express newspaper last month reported disagreements within the poll panel over updating voter ​lists, stoking concerns over its neutrality. Opposition lawmakers led by Congress party…

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K-Electric Chairman Shaheryar Chishty met Minister of State/Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Digital Media Fahd Haroon on Wednesday, with the two discussing technology, the digital landscape and the business environment in Pakistan. They also discussed K-Electric and the role of technology in improving service delivery, as well as opportunities arising from Pakistan’s growing digital and technology ecosystem, according to a statement. The meeting was attended by Col. (r) Shaukat Ali, Head of the Chairman’s Inspection Team at K-Electric.

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Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday that imposing governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be the government’s last option as tensions between the provincial and federal governments continued over a planned march on Islamabad. Speaking to reporters at Parliament House, the Defence Minister said the government was considering all constitutional and legal options, including governor’s rule, but was making efforts to avoid it. “The final decision regarding governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be taken by looking at the situation and available options,” he said. Khawaja Asif said…

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Pakistan Navy ship Yarmook seized about 850 kg of ice and 2,000 kg of hashish/cannabis worth approximately $96 million in two counter-narcotics operations in the Arabian Sea, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a press release on Wednesday. The operations, conducted at extended ranges from the Pakistani coast, involved the interception of two dhows, from which the narcotics were recovered from concealed compartments, the navy said. The seized narcotics were taken into custody and will subsequently be handed over to the relevant authorities for disposal…

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UN Secretary-General António Guterres met Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, at General Headquarters (GHQ) on Wednesday, where they discussed regional security and the United Nations’ role in promoting international peace and security, Pakistan’s military said. The two sides exchanged views on regional stability, the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, India’s abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty and terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. Field Marshal reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to international peace and highlighted the…

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Novartis’ experimental drug for a rare type of muscular dystrophy was expected to be a winner, with the Swiss company’s CEO predicting annual peak sales of $5 billion. When a late-stage trial missed its goal last month, shares fell 11%, erasing $30 billion in market value. AI start-up BioinvestGPT was not surprised. In July, it ran a simulated trial to measure how virtual patients would respond to del-desiran and predicted an insignificant clinical benefit. It and other ​artificial intelligence companies say they are working with some drugmakers on virtual trials…

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Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the relevant authorities to remove obstacles hindering the provision of financial resources to the housing, agriculture, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sectors, saying that the lending system should be made more effective. Chairing a review meeting regarding access to finance, the prime minister also directed to make the SME Portal operational by the end of November to facilitate the provision of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises. “The SME Portal will enable real-time monitoring of the latest status of loans being…

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