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Now for the country, please

PAKISTAN has earned international appreciation and respect for its role in mediating between the US and Iran and helping them achieve a ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding that aims to pave the way for a lasting settlement. This kind of mediatory role finds no precedent in Pakistan’s diplomatic history. It has raised Pakistan’s global standing and boosted its international image. The diplomatic achievement has sparked discussion in the country about the economic benefits Pakistan might gain. Certainly, economic opportunities that could open from these developments merit serious thinking and exploring. Also, if the war had not come to a negotiated end there would have been enormous pressure on Pakistan’s fragile economy from higher oil prices, disruption in energy supplies and uncertain remittances. This could have derailed its economic stabilisation efforts. But there has also been a fair amount of wishful thinking about the economic dividend...
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NHA increases toll tax on Islamabad-Lahore M-2 Motorway by 7pc

ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has announced an increase in toll tax on the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway (M-2) by 7 per cent. According to a notification issued on Saturday, the authority has raised its toll rates by 7pc for M-2 Motorway, and the revised toll rate shall be in effect till April 23, 2027. The toll was raised under the concession agreement between NHA and Motorway Operations and Rehabilitation Engineering (Private) Limited (MORE), a subsidiary of Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). The organisation is responsible for the rehabilitation and modernisation of the M-2 Motorway. The revised toll rates for vehicles travelling on the M-2 Motorway are as follows: Rs1,430 for cars, jeeps and taxis, Rs2,390 for wagons, Rs3,350 for coasters, Rs4,770 for buses, Rs6,210 for trucks (2- and 3-axle), and Rs7,980 for articulated trucks The rates have been increased according to the per-kilometre charge. On Friday, the Islamabad High Co...
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Global crises cannot be ignored, outgoing UK PM Starmer warns successor

LONDON: Britain’s outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned his probable successor, Andy Burnham, in an interview released on Saturday that he cannot ignore international turmoil and just concentrate on the country’s domestic problems. In his first interview since announcing his resignation June 22, Starmer said his successor as leader of the ruling Labour Party could not spend less time on turbulent international affairs. So far, Burnham, the former Manchester mayor, is the only candidate to take over the centre-left party. He could be in office by mid-July. “Whoever’s my successor is going to face the same global conflict,” Starmer told the BBC . “We keep saying, and it’s true, we’re in a more dangerous and volatile world than we’ve been in for probably most of my lifetime. That’s not just a phrase; that’s reality.” Burnham’s supporters have said he should put more focus on domestic issues, such as the cost of living and the decentralisation of government. But Starmer stressed...
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PPP ticket picks trigger legal challenge, fresh controversy

MUZAFFARABAD: The PPP’s selection of candidates for the forthcoming Azad Jam­mu and Kashmir (AJK) elections ran into controversy on Friday as the opposition announced plans to seek contempt proceedings over one nominee’s disputed State Subject status, while the ruling party also reversed its decisions on candidates in two other constituencies. The legal challenge was announced by Syed Shoukat Ali Shah, the PML-N candidate for LA-42 (Kashmir Valley-III), who said he would move the AJK Supreme Court against the PPP’s regional leadership, including Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, for awarding the party ticket to his rival, Asim Sharif Butt, despite official inquiries declaring the latter’s State Subject certificate invalid. Mr Butt, a resident of Multan, was elected from the refugee constituency in 2021 on a PTI ticket but left the party after it ran into political turmoil in April 2023 . In November last year, he joined fellow refugee lawmakers Abdul Majid Khan and Akbar Ibrahim...
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UK in talks with Pakistan over deportation of Rochdale grooming gang leader: BBC

The UK government is in talks with Pakistan over the possibility of deporting a leader of the Rochdale grooming gang to the country, the BBC reported on Friday. Shabbir Ahmed, who has dual British-Pakistani citizenship, was released from prison this week after his 2012 conviction on multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls. British officials told his victims that Ahmed could not be deported to Pakistan because of a 55-year-old law barring his removal. However, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has asked the home secretary to review Ahmed’s case following calls for his deportation from the UK. The BBC reported that Andy Burnham, who is widely tipped as a future leader, was among those calling for Ahmed to be deported. “We have raised this issue with our counterparts in Islamabad and we are committed to doing everything possible to deport foreign national offenders, and we’re clear that they should have no place in this country,” said a spokesperson for the Br...
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Unfinished business

THE landmark 18th Amendment and seventh NFC Award radically reshaped Pakistan’s fiscal federalism by transferring greater powers and financial resources to the provinces so that authority would eventually flow closer to citizens through local governments. Sixteen years later, a new World Bank report , Strengthening Fiscal Federalism in Pakistan , has concluded that while the constitutional framework remains sound, its implementation has been patchy and ineffective. The federal government continues to run deficits because transfers to the provinces increased without a corresponding reduction in federal expenditure, or increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio. Islamabad still spends in devolved sectors, creating duplication and weakening fiscal discipline. The provinces themselves have failed to expand their own tax bases. And despite receiving larger fiscal transfers, they have devoted much of the additional resources to salaries and an expanding bureaucracy ...
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PTI boycotts AJK elections, citing regional crisis

MUZAFFARABAD: In a widely anticipated move, the PTI on Thursday announced its decision to boycott the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general election, stating it would instead stand by the people amid the prevailing political and social unrest. The announcement was made by PTI regional president and former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi through a statement shared with Dawn by his press secretary. “Expressing unwavering solidarity with the aspirations, right to self-determination, and democratic rights of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the PTI has decided not to participate in the elections under the current circumstances,” Niazi said. He said that the decision was not a political strategy, but a principled stance aimed at aligning with the public. Regional president says party will stand with people amid prevailing political, social unrest Pointing to the ongoing turmoil across the AJK, the former premier noted that t...
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