Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said Wednesday that “darkness lies ahead” for the nation if it does not stand up after his party’s senior leader, Fawad Chaudhry, was arrested in a sedition case. “It is a crime to call the election commissioner a munshi (clerk)?” he asked, referring to Fawad’s press talk on Tuesday. “Was there no one else that you picked the person who was against us the most?” Imran said that he expected the judiciary to “protect our fundamental rights”. “The nation is expecting you to protect our rights.”Imran claimed that Naqvi had reinstated all the officials who were part of the cabinet of Hamza Shahbaz. The nation is expecting the judiciary to safeguard their rights and save democracy,” he said, further lamenting how the institution hasn’t done that so far.

The investigating officer in the money laundering case filed against 14 people including former managing director of Global Islami Bank (formerly NRB Global) Prashanta Kumar (PK) Halder has testified in court on Wednesday. Deputy Director of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Salahuddin testified as the last witness in the case in the court of Judge Mohammad Nazrul Islam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-10. On January 8, 2020, the ACC filed a case against PK Halder for acquiring and smuggling illegal assets worth Tk275 crore. The investigation of the case has so far received information about embezzlement and smuggling of around Tk3,000 crore. On May 14 this year, PK Halder was arrested in Ashoknagar of India's West Bengal.

Microsoft did not disclose the number of users affected by the disruption, but data from outage tracking website Downdetector showed thousands of incidents across continents. Azure, the second largest cloud services provider after Amazon, faced outages last year. We're investigating an issue in which some users are experiencing delays or connection issues when accessing the Exchange Online service. — Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) June 21, 2022During the outage, users faced problems in exchanging messages, joining calls or using any features of Teams application. Among the other services affected were Microsoft Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, according to the company's status page.

PHOTO: APPThe federal cabinet gave permission on Tuesday for making all the data of Toshakhana public and approved a nationwide public awareness drive for conservation of power, water, gas and other resources. The cabinet members presented their recommendations on the committee’s proposals and the new Toshakhana policy. The prime minister stressed that action should be taken against those responsible. Meanwhile, the cabinet approved the first-of-its-kind nationwide public awareness campaign to promote the habit of conserving electricity, water, gas and other resources. The prime minister directed all the ministries to support the information ministry in this campaign.

Despite a great run, Pakistan has missed out on its first Oscar nomination in the International Feature Film Category. Joyland, which became Pakistan's first ever film to have been shortlisted for the Academy Awards, didn't get a nomination. The nominations were announced by British Pakistani Oscar-winning actor, Riz Ahmed and Hollywood star Allison Williams. Saim Sadiq's directorial became the first Pakistani film to have been shortlisted for Oscars. India grabs one nomination in the Original Song category for RRR's Naatu Naatu.

President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday stressed the need for integrating the initiatives taken by various public departments to address the challenges pertaining to mental health. Chairing a follow-up meeting on mental health, he said the initiatives on mental health taken by the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Planning and Development and Special Initiatives, and the President’s House could be integrated by optimising processes and combining them to develop an effective artificial Intelligence based helpline. Members of the National Commission for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Pakistan Psychological Association, the Pakistan Psychiatric Society, officials of the Taskeen Health Initiative, and members of the academia attended the meeting at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Tuesday. The president said the helpline could reach out to the maximum population around the country to provide them counselling and advice on mental health issues faced by them. He added the financial needs may be determined by the relevant stakeholders.

A similar invitation for foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has also been delivered to foreign office by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto has been invited for the SCO foreign ministers’ conference expected in the middle of May this year. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, however, would consult Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for attending SCO FM conference and accordingly communicate the decision to the Indian government. If confirmed, it would be the first ever visit to India by the chief justice of Pakistan and foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. However, observers are attaching great importance to the expected visit by foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to India and hoped that it may lead to ice melting between Pakistan and India.

Chicago sent defenseman Riley Stillman, who didn’t really have a spot/role on the Blackhawks’ blue line, to Vancouver in a cost-cutting move for the Canucks. In return, the Blackhawks received a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and veteran center Jason Dickinson. Last year in Vancouver, Dickinson appeared in 62 games for the Canucks. Dickinson has become an important part of the Blackhawks’ third line, which has been a strong energy source for the team at times this season. Dickinson has created nine rebound opportunities this season, which ranks fourth among Blackhawks forwards behind Domi, Kurashev and Andreas Athanasiou.

Over this past weekend, Pakistan made a payment of roughly $328 million guaranteed Chinese debt that the country had taken to set up power plants. The processing of the $500 million loan was at an advanced stage. The draft of the $700 million loan agreement has also been received they added. The SBP governor also added that Pakistan expects a bilateral commercial loan of $2.2 billion to go from its accounts and be returned. Foreign commercial banks are now demanding an interest rate much higher than 10%, which the government cannot politically afford.

From The Tribune staff reports Birmingham – The City of Birmingham and The Penny Foundation announced that they will be hosting a free event called “Embrace Mothers Mom’s Night Out” to celebrate the resiliency and tenacity of mothers. On Monday, Jan. 30, area mothers are invited to attend an evening featuring a film screening and fellowship at the Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema, located at 1821 2nd Ave. North. eventbrite.com/e/embrace- mothers-moms-night-out-film- screening-tickets-520019621687This event is made possible through the generosity of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI). In addition, MGI supports Embrace Mothers, a guaranteed income pilot supporting 110 Birmingham single mothers and women in mothering roles with $375 per month for 12 months. This pilot is part of a broader effort to understand and support the needs of Birmingham women and families.

The decree was also unanimously adopted by the Ulema and Mashaykh of all schools of thought present in the conference. Mufti Taqi Usmani said during his meetings in Kabul while heading a delegation, the Afghan Taliban also expressed their resentment against the TTP elements were were carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan. “Fighting against national security agencies and carrying out anti-state activities come under mutiny and it has nothing to do with Jihad,” he added. The Ulema and Mashaykh stood with the Pakistan Army and other security agencies, and they were countering the enemy’s agenda, he added. Former religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said they had to make collective efforts to net the “masterminds”.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has apologized to the nation over the power breakdown. - Advertisement -“On behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincere regrets for the inconvenience our citizens suffered due to the power outage yesterday. On behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincere regrets for the inconvenience our citizens suffered due to power outage yesterday. — Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) January 24, 2023The Prime Minister said that on my orders, the investigation of the power breakdown is going on and those responsible will be determined in this regard. - Advertisement -Yesterday Pakistan faced the first power outage of 2023 after which electricity was restored after 15 hours of blackout.

India has invited Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Atta Bandial and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to attend meetings of a key regional forum that also includes Russia and China. India currently holds the presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which comprises Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran and Central Asian States. The meeting of the SCO foreign ministers is due to take place in Goa, a tourist destination in South India. India will also host the SCO summit meeting in June and is almost certain that Pakistan will be invited. Soon after the SCO summit, India is set to host the One Day International Cricket World in October-November.

He emphasized on finding the pitfalls that led to the power breakdown, with clearly fixing the responsibility. Khurram Dastgir said the entire transmission system was safe despite such a massive power breakdown. A power plant located in the Uch area was functional, and power supply to some areas of Balochistan and southern Punjab had already been restored. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) also took serious notice of the countrywide power breakdown, directing the NTDC to submit a detailed report in this regard. He said the electricity supply was improving gradually in the Islamabad region, including Jhelum, and Karachi as well.

In the past, Pakistan weathered the storm thanks to generous help by our friends. After the 1998 nuclear explosions, Saudi Arabia quietly continued to supply oil on deferred payment. That is why now negotiating with the IMF is becoming far more challenging since the Washington-based lender is operating in tandem with Pakistan’s friends. But the key part of that statement was that Saudi Arabia would “study” — meaning these funds would not be without any conditions. The message from lenders to our friends is loud and clear —let Pakistan put their house in order or face the consequences!