A PPP delegation called on Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas on Friday and urged the opposition to join a proposed parliamentary committee on electoral reforms, Senator Sherry Rehman said after the meeting.

“He told us that he will respond [to the proposal] after consultation. We are hopeful that their response will be positive,” Rehman said in a video statement.

The proposal for the committee’s formation was shared by PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during the National Assembly (NA) on Thursday. He had said Parliament had decided to constitute a committee on electoral reforms in response to a PPP request and urged Opposition Leader in the NA Mehmood Khan Achakzai to nominate a representative to the committee since the opposition had described electoral rigging as a “fundamental issue”.

Another PPP delegation, comprising party’s secretary general Nayyar Bokhari, Senator Waqar Mehdi, Nadeem Afzal Chan and Rehman, visited Senate Opposition Leader Abbas today with yet another invitation to join the proposed body.

“Every political party should ensure its participation in the committee. We all know that the PTI has boycotted parliamentary committees. So we asked them to join this committee, play an active role in it, express their reservations and suggest reforms,” Rehman said in the video statement.

These committees, she said, were the “heart of parliamentary work”.

She further stated that the PTI should participate in other parliamentary committees as well and “strengthen Parliament’s role”.

Rehman added that Abbas had welcomed the PPP delegation, expressed gratitude to Bilawal and said they would respond to the proposal after consultation.

“We are hopeful that their response will be positive,” she said.

A day earlier, another PPP delegation invited Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai to participate in the parliamentary committee to promote consultation and discussion among parliamentary representatives on electoral reforms.

Later, in a press conference, Raja Pervez Ashraf said the PPP delegation had a meeting with Achakzai on Bilawal’s instructions to invite him to join the committee.

“The PPP wants the PTI to participate in parliamentary standing committees as well as the electoral reforms committee,” he added.

Achakzai had sought time to consult before responding to the invitation, he said.

Addressing a rally in Karachi earlier this month, Bilawal had also extended an olive branch to the opposition parties, saying their positive engagement with the federal government could result in the reversal of governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The PPP chairman had invited the opposition to join the Parliamentary electoral reforms process and “engage with the federal government”.

LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Friday granted the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) a further four-day physical remand of the prime suspect in a Rs35 billion fraud involving the online sale of counterfeit US postage stamps.

The NCCIA produced suspect Faheem Akram and his co-suspect, Naeem, before the court after their previous four-day remand expired.

The investigating officer (IO) sought further custody of the suspects for interrogation.

Magistrate Naeem Wattoo granted the agency’s request and extended the physical remand of both suspects by four days.

The IO was directed to produce the suspects again on Nov 3.

The initial investigation revealed that the suspect had allegedly been operating a website since August 2023 through which he sold more than five million counterfeit US postage labels online.

According to the US Department of Justice, Akram was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida in September 2026 over the alleged sale of more than 5.1 million counterfeit postage labels, which prosecutors say caused losses of more than $126 million to the US Postal Service.

US prosecutors allege that the website sold the labels for around $2 each, regardless of the weight, size or destination of a package. A US court order authorised the seizure and shutdown of the website.

The NCCIA had arrested the suspect, a resident of Khanewal, in Lahore.

Money trail

In a press conference on Oct 20, NCCIA’s Lahore Zone Additional Director Atif Ameer said that 16 bank accounts had been used in the scam. Seven of the accounts were operated by the suspect, five by his brother, two by his wife, and one each by his sister and aunt.

He said the agency had expanded the investigation across several parts of the country.

“Eight special teams were formed in Punjab, Islamabad and Sindh to trace the suspect and investigate the network,” he said and added the teams conducted raids at 35 locations and questioned 47 people as part of the investigation.

“Investigators also employed digital and forensic techniques to establish the suspect’s movements and identify people associated with the operation.”

Ameer added that investigators analysed 122 call-data records, 50 IMEI-tracking reports and audio and video recordings from 120 cameras.

“Artificial intelligence and other modern technological tools were also used during the investigation. A locator operation continued for 10 days as investigators attempted to establish the suspect’s whereabouts and trace his activities,” he said.

The NCCIA said the major focus of the investigation was the financial trail generated by the online sale of the counterfeit stamps.

“We are examining transactions conducted through the 16 bank accounts and attempting to determine the flow of funds between the accounts allegedly belonging to the suspect and his relatives.

“The involvement of family members is also being examined as part of the investigation, particularly the alleged use of their bank accounts in connection with the online business,” the additional director said.

He said the role of other individuals in operating the website, processing orders, receiving payments or distributing the counterfeit stamps was also being probed.

“Investigators are also working to establish the full scale of the operation and verify the volume and value of the transactions,” he said.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday directed the counsel for Noreen Niazi, sister of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, to file a separate miscellaneous application seeking medical treatment and family meetings.

On Wednesday evening, Noreen was shifted to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) following her deteriorating health conditions, on the recommendation of the doctors of the Kot Lakhpat Jail, where she has been detained.

Justice Abher Gul Khan issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by Sakeena Niazi challenging the extension of the preventive detention of PTI founder Imran Khan’s two sisters, Noreen and Dr Uzma Khan.

The judge asked the petitioner’s counsel whether an application had been filed seeking permission for medical treatment and meetings with family members.

Advocate Rana Mudassar Umar, counsel for the petitioner, replied that an application to this effect had been submitted to the deputy commissioner.

The judge directed the counsel to also file a separate civil miscellaneous application with the court. The counsel argued that there was no lawful justification for extending the detention of the two women.

He said Noreen, 70, had never suffered from a heart ailment before.

Questioning the circumstances that led to her hospitalisation, Advocate Umar asked what kind of pressure had been exerted on her during detention that she had to be taken to hospital.

He argued that the fresh detention orders were replicas of the previous ones, with only the dates changed. He further argued that suspending the detention notification would pave the way for the women’s release.

PTI Secretary General Advocate Salman Akram Raja, who was also present in court, claimed that Noreen was ill and had been shifted to the hospital’s intensive care unit.

However, neither her family members nor her lawyer had been allowed to meet her, he added. He said he was unaware whether she was still in hospital or had been shifted back to jail.

Asked whether the home secretary, who was abroad, had returned to the country, Additional Advocate General Nasir Chohan said he would check and inform the court.

Another petition, filed by Shahrez Khan challenging the detention of his mother, Aleema Khan, is yet to be fixed for a hearing.

Imran’s sisters were detained by authorities in September, under Section 3 of the MPO, as the PTI geared up for a planned protest march towards Islamabad.

Their detention was ordered for 30 days and would have expired on Oct 19 for Aleema and Oct 20 for Uzma and Noreen. However, they remained in jail, and the government later informed the LHC that their detentions had been extended on Oct 7.

On Sept 24, the LHC had turned down a request to immediately suspend the preventive detention notifications issued against Noreen and Dr Uzma.

Earlier this month, Imran’s cousin, Qasim Zaman, was also taken into custody when he went to Adiala jail to meet the ex-prime minister.

The detention had come amid reports of a crackdown on the PTI ahead of its countrywide protest and march to Islamabad, which the party had called to demand Imran’s release from jail and mobilise people for the supremacy of the Constitution.

BAJAUR: A police officer was martyred after terrorists attacked a police post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, officials said on Friday.

The attack on the police post in Silai Pati area in the remote Barang tehsil, bordering Malakand district, occurred late on Thursday night.

Mansoor Khan, a spokesperson for the district police, while confirming the attack, told Dawn that a group of Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists targeted the Silai Pati police post, prompting the personnel to retaliate bravely and courageously.

Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The official said that the police official embraced martyrdom after putting up a brave resistance.

He added that the attackers fled after an effective response by the personnel deployed at the post.

Later, funeral prayers for the martyred cop were held at the Police Lines in Khar, which were attended by Deputy Commissioner Adnan Farid Afridi, DPO Khan Zeb Mohmand and elders of the area.

A large number of police officials and political and social activists also attended the funeral prayers before the body was dispatched to his native area in Barang tehsil for burial.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Thursday, Bajaur district administration banned pillion riding for 10 days by invoking Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), owing to the security situation. The notification said the measure was taken in view of reports from intelligence agencies and the police department.

Earlier, the authorities imposed a 15-day ban on pillion riding in Bajaur on September 5, citing the security situation back then as well.

KP has been witnessing terrorist attacks and security challenges for a long time. According to a recent report from the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan recor­ded a sharp 83 per cent increase in violence-linked fatalities during the third quarter of 2026, re­­versing a declining trend reported in the first and second quarters as terrorism and counter-terrorism deaths surged nationwide.

Balochistan and KP remained the epicentres of violence, jointly accounting for 98pc of all fatalities during the period. Balochistan recorded 829 deaths, nearly 59pc of the national total, while KP reported 556 fatalities, accounting for more than 39pc.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar discussed with Sin­ga­porean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday the possible resumption of direct flights between Pakistan and Singapore “to facilitate business travel and close contact between our peoples”.

Dar shared this while addressing a press conference alongside Balakrishnan, who is on an official visit to Pakistan.

He began by saying that Pakistan and Singapore enjoyed longstanding and friendly ties focused on mutual respect and good will, and Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognise Singapore following its independence in 1965.

He noted that Balakrishnan’s visit to Pakistan was the first one by a Singaporean foreign minister in over two decades.

“I am grateful that he was kind to accept my invitation,” he said, adding that the trip was particularly significant as the two countries were commemorating 60 years of diplomatic relations this year.

“The visit reflects our shared commitment to strengthen this friendship and broaden our cooperation.”

Dar said that delegation-level talks and a restricted meeting between the two sides earlier in the day focused on strengthening political and economic ties, expanding cooperation in technology and education and promoting culture and people-to-people contact.

“We also exchanged views on key regional and international developments,” he added.

Talks on enhancing trade, investment cooperation

Earlier, the two leader held talks and discussed ways enhance cooperation in trade and investment, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

Balakrishnan arrived in Islamabad earlier in the day. He called on DPM Dar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The FO said in a statement that the two leaders reviewed the “longstanding and friendly relations” between Pakistan and Singapore as the two countries marked 60 years of diplomatic relations.

They underscored the importance of sustained high-level exchanges and discussed ways to further enhance cooperation in trade, investment, connectivity and skills development, while promoting business-to-business exchanges and people-to-people contacts, the statement added.

Dar and Balakrishnan also discussed cooperation at multilateral fora and Pakistan’s enhanced engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, particularly in the context of Singapore’s forthcoming chairmanship of the body in 2027.

Moreover, exchanging views on regional and global developments, Dar emphasised the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in resolving disputes and advancing lasting peace and stability, the statement said.

Later, their opening remarks from delegation-level talks between the two sides were televised, with Dar saying that the depth of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Singapore was not reflected in economic ties.

He said his focus had been on “economic diplomacy” after joining the Foreign Office, adding: “If we work together, […] I am sure we can reach a new level of economic relations.”

The DPM further suggested the Board of Investment in Pakistan could work with its counterpart in Singapore.

He said the two countries had “great cooperation” on multilateral issues and Singapore’s interest in regional issues was “greatly appreciated”.

“You remain in touch, and we keep sharing developments with you.”

He added that the two had also discussed Palestine and Kashmir issues, among other matters, in a restricted meeting.

“So I think this friendship and great cooperation will continue from our side, and I am sure you will always reciprocate, rather go a mile ahead of us,” the DPM said.

For his part, the Singaporean foreign minister recalled that Pakistan was one of the “early countries to recognise Singapore post independence”. He pointed out that Singapore was 61 and was commemorating 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Pakistan.

MoU exchanged

After the meeting, the DPM Dar and Balakrishnan also exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in disaster management between Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority and the Singapore Civil Defence Force in Islamabad.

“The MoU reflects the shared commitment of Pakistan and Singapore to strengthening cooperation in disaster preparedness and response and building resilience against natural disasters,” the FO statement on the document’s exchange said.

US President Donald Trump is scrapping two of his last midterm election rallies, his Republican Party said Thursday, as the 80-year-old leader lashed out at a reporter who asked if he was “sick of travelling”.

“You’re sick to ask that question. You are sick,” Trump told the reporter after returning to Washington from a campaign trip to South Carolina.

“I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape, you look like hell.”

Trump told reporters he did not “feel like I have to go to Kansas,” a Midwestern state where Senator Roger Marshall, a fellow Republican, is in an unexpectedly competitive race with Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton.

“He is doing very well,” Trump said of Marshall.

“We are going to have a strong Tuesday night.”

Later on Thursday, the Republican National Committee said in a statement that it would also cancel a planned rally in Iowa, home to several competitive congressional races.

Instead of the events in Kansas and Iowa, Trump will hold a “large number” of virtual “telerallies” in a series of states, the Republican National Committee said.

The canceled in-person rallies were set for Salina, Kansas, on Saturday, and Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday.

Republicans are fighting to keep control of Congress in the November 3 midterms. Trump has urged the party to “pretend I’m on the ballot” to maximise turnout despite his poor approval ratings.

“With Republicans in a strong position in Kansas and Iowa, previously planned in-person rallies in those states will no longer take place as scheduled,” the RNC statement said.

The president is still expected to travel to rallies in several states before Tuesday’s election. Trump’s final election rally is now set to be in Florida on Friday.

Despite being the oldest elected president in US history, Trump has kept up a gruelling schedule of near-daily rallies throughout October to help Republicans in the midterms.

Since October 1, Trump has hosted 25 rallies in 19 states, often speaking for his party in rural areas of Republican-friendly states. Tuesday’s midterm elections will determine whether Republicans retain narrow control of the US Senate and House of Representatives.

MAGA Inc, a campaign funding group aligned with Trump, said on Thursday it would host a series of “tele-rallies” with the president in at least 19 states, including Kansas and Iowa, before Election Day.

Trump has noted that his recent series of more than hour-long campaign speeches has been challenging. Sounding hoarse in Mississippi on Monday, Trump said, “God didn’t make your vocal cords to do a rally every day.”

On Thursday, after campaigning for Senator Darline Graham in South Carolina, Trump ridiculed a Reuters reporter who asked how he felt after weeks of rallies and whether he was sick of travelling.

“You’ve been following me for two weeks,” Trump said before boarding his motorcade back to the White House.

“I feel perfect.”

Bangladesh is unlikely to see an immediate fall in remittances from Saudi Arabia even as Houthi attacks on the kingdom intensified from early October, but a slowdown in new migration could weigh on inflows in the years ahead.

Following the attacks, migration to Saudi Arabia, the largest destination for Bangladeshi workers, has already been disrupted. As of Sunday, 144 direct and transit flights had been affected by prolonged flight restrictions at Saudi airports, disrupting the travel plans of around 22,000 passengers.

But economists and manpower experts say remittance inflows are unlikely to be hit immediately because newly arrived migrant workers typically take about a year to start sending significant amounts of money home.

According to them, the longer-term impact will depend on the duration of the crisis, the performance of the Saudi economy and demand for labour, particularly in construction.

A prolonged crisis that damages the Saudi economy could slow job creation and reduce workers’ incomes. But the outcome is not necessarily negative for the kingdom’s economy.

If Houthi missile and drone attacks continue without damaging oilfields and refineries, higher global oil prices could boost Saudi revenues, potentially supporting investment and demand for foreign workers, according to Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka office.

“But everything is uncertain so far,” he commented.

Remittances are a major source of foreign currency for Bangladesh, accounting for around 7.5 per cent of gross domestic product, according to World Bank data. Their importance has grown amid volatility in global energy markets following the US-Israel war on Iran, which has sent shockwaves through sectors ranging from agriculture to the garment industry.

In the July-September quarter of the current fiscal year, Saudi Arabia remained Bangladesh’s largest source of remittances. Inflows from the kingdom rose to $1.65 billion, up from $1.23bn in the same period of FY26, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

The kingdom accounted for 19.2pc of Bangladesh’s total remittance inflows in the first quarter of FY27, compared with 16.26pc a year earlier.

During the July-September quarter, overall remittances reached around $8.59bn, with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continuing to account for the bulk of transfers.

Diversifying overseas jobs is becoming urgent

The latest disruption shows Bangladesh’s heavy reliance on a handful of overseas labour markets, leaving migrant workers and the economy exposed to regional crises.

Since FY2014-15, Saudi Arabia has employed around half of the 9.6 million Bangladeshis who went abroad for work. Workers in the kingdom have sent home an average of $5bn a year.

The pressure on migration is already evident. Overseas employment fell 36pc year-on-year to 134,000 in the July-August period this year, following a decline to around 969,000 workers in FY26, the lowest level in five years, according to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training data.

Tasneem Siddiqui, executive director of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), a local think tank, said the crisis exposed the structural weaknesses of the country’s migration sector.

“Therefore, rather than relying on piecemeal decisions, we must completely overhaul and diversify the manpower market. Otherwise, one crisis after another will emerge, leaving us perpetually vulnerable,” said Tasneem, also a political science professor at Dhaka University.

She said the government needs a long-term strategy to develop skills suited to specific overseas markets and expand employment opportunities beyond traditional destinations.

“Long-term strategic planning is essential. Particularly, allocating a mere 0.08pc of the budget for a $35bn remittance sector is grossly insufficient to accomplish meaningful interventions,” she said.

Meanwhile, economist Zahid said Bangladesh should target countries facing ageing populations and labour shortages, including Japan and countries in eastern Europe, where demand for workers in nursing, caregiving and manufacturing could offer alternatives to Middle Eastern markets.

Sayema Haque Bidisha, an economics professor at Dhaka University, also called for greater diversification of migration destinations, stronger diplomatic engagement and better support for expatriates through overseas missions.

She said Bangladesh needs to improve its international image by demonstrating that its workers can fill skilled jobs, rather than being seen primarily as a source of manual labour.

Shariful Hasan, associate director of BRAC’s Migration Programme and Youth Platform, said earlier this month that many Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia depend on daily or weekly employment and that security concerns have reduced work opportunities.

Pakistan faces greater exposure than India

Bangladesh is not the only country with a significant reliance on remittances from Saudi Arabia.

Its neighbours India and Pakistan also depend on money sent home by their citizens working in the kingdom, although the potential impact varies.

Saudi Arabia is Pakistan’s largest source of remittances, contributing $9.78 billion in the last fiscal year, according to State Bank of Pakistan data.

Meanwhile, around 7pc of India’s international remittance inflows originate from Saudi Arabia. The country receives about $8 billion annually from the kingdom, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

A prolonged crisis that affects employment and earnings in Saudi Arabia could therefore have a greater impact on Pakistan than on India, given Pakistan’s substantial reliance on the kingdom as a source of remittances.

KARACHI: Sindh Senior Minister Sha­r­jeel Inam Memon has announ­ced that an internship programme for fresh graduates is being launched from next month through the iwork4Sindh platform.

He said that the programme would provide young people with better opportunities to gain practical experience.

He said the Sindh government is taking practical measures to provide employment opportunities to young people and enhance their professional capabilities. “The government wants young people to have an appropriate platform to utilise their abilities and access better opportunities,” he added.

Mr Memon added that the next phase of physical short courses for skilled individuals is also being launched on the iwork4Sindh platform in collaboration with companies.

These courses will focus on developing young people’s skills in accordance with market requirements, he said, adding that in the present era, traditional education alone is not sufficient, as practical skills and professional training are also of great importance to secure employment.

Regarding the performance of the iwork4Sindh platform, the minister said that more than 5.3 million visits had been recorded on the platform so far, while the number of registered candidates had increased to 137,770 and the number of registered companies had reached 726.

The senior minister said that 26,677 active job opportunities were currently available on the platform, while the number of applications submitted had reached 480,000.

He mentioned that during the past three months, 4,800 candidates had completed various courses, while around 6,000 candidates were currently undergoing training in different courses.

He said career counselling was also continuing to guide young people and help them choose better career paths for the future, with 18 to 20 sessions being conducted every week.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

INDIA’S nuclear jingoism was on ample display during Operation Marka-i-Haq in May 2025 when it fired dual-use BrahMos cruise missiles with conventional payload, unmindful of the fact that the dangerous caper could have been misconstrued by Pakistani air defenders as a nuclear attack. Despite an agreement on pre-notification of flight testing of ballistic missiles, the Indians, while testing the Agni V MIRV-capable missile, have shown a blithe disregard for established pre-notification protocols that mandate a 72-hour pre-test notification, a fact pointed out by Pakistan’s Foreign Office in 2024.

While the Indians keep up an implacable momentum of vertical proliferation of nuclear and missile technology, the world indulges them through exceptionalism enshrined in the nuclear waiver for the Nuclear Suppliers Group and membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime.

The Indians have slyly wangled the concession from the USA and IAEA in the civil nuclear deal to keep eight reactors out of IAEA oversight. These pressurised heavy water reactors consume less nuclear fuel than they produce, which can be harvested for strategic military purposes.

It should be remembered that it was the Indians who introduced the nuclear arms race in the subcontinent because of their grandiose big-power pretensions. Their nuclear explosions in 1974 and 1998 forced Pakistan to follow suit out of its security compulsions.

The world indulges India through nuclear exceptionalism.

The Indian nuclear security architecture was provided conceptual ballast by Gen K. Sunderji and Krishna Subramanyam in the 1980s, when they came up with the notion of no-first use of nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear nation, with a caveat of making an exception for biological and chemical attacks. However, India kept developing its conventional forces, especially the armoured and mechanised component, as per the Sunderji doctrine, aimed at tearing Pakistan asunder.

On the geopolitical level the Indians have acquiesced to the status of a regional surrogate to accommodate balancing needs of the US vis-a-vis a rising global competitor, China. While enjoying nuclear exceptionalism the Indians went on a shopping spree for nuclear technology as well as the conventional hardware to operationalise the military strategy that sought an elusive space for conventional wars under the nuclear overhang.

The operational manifestation of these military ambitions was a slew of concepts starting with Cold Start and graduating to proactive operations. The latest manifestation of those concepts is the Dynamic Response Strategy that is based on rapidly deployable all-arms-based integrated battle groups and multidomain-enabled terrain-customised brigade-sized groups called Rudra Brigades.

Pakistan relies on its full-spectrum deterrence, keeping strategic nuclear ambiguity for greater liberty of action to deny India the space for conventional conflict.

While India deploys non-state actors to keep Pakistan destabilised through terrorism, it cleverly conflates Pakistan’s principled support to the victims of Indian state repression in Occupied Kashmir, a UNSC-recognised dispute, with militancy. It has also withdrawn from its international law commitments by illegally holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and imperilling the food security of Pakistan.

India under the BJP and RSS sway has adopted a foreign policy based upon the antiquated notion of ‘Akhand Bharat’ that covets the territories of neighbours based on historical myths. The inflammatory statement of Prime Mi­­ni­s­ter Narendra Modi at Bar­m­­er, Rajasthan, during an el­­e­ction rally that “Indian nukes are not kept for Diwali” in­­dicates a bellicose mi­­­ndset.

It is against the backdrop of the above facts that the notions of nuclear deterrence in the subcontinent have to be understood. Since the stability of nuclear deterrence is based upon nuclear dialectics between two rational actors, Indian irrationality adds dangerous instability to the nuclear equation.

The deployment of canisterised ground-based ready-to-use nuclear missiles and the submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missiles point to an aggressive nuclear intent when viewed in the context of Indo-Pak distrust and irrationality of the ideologically driven BJP leadership.

The well-known military historian Martin Van Creveld had coined a term for wars in the nuclear era: “Non-trinitarian”, where, unlike Clausewitz’s trinitarian wars, the only political objective would be deterring and not winning the wars.

Whether India has strengthened or reduced its strategic deterrence by fielding shallow-range submarine-based missiles is a point to ponder by Indian nuclear strategists.

The writer is a PhD from NUST.

rwjanj@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said a security breach had resulted in an estimated $6.3 billion impact that analysts said could amount to the biggest crypto heist ever and might make investors rethink the risks of owning digital assets.

Binance said it had worked with partners to freeze the affected assets, with about $3bn located so far. It gave no update on the status of the remaining $3.3bn as Binance co-founder Yi He said the company would cover “all hacking losses”.

An initial investigation suggested the breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of its engineers, which let an attacker gain access to one of its systems and make unauthorised withdrawals, Binance said.

Later, US blockchain ​analysis firm TRM Labs said North Korean hackers were ​behind the raid on Binance.

“An ⁠attacker moved approximately $6.36 bn out of ​Binance wallets on 10 blockchains, most of it ​in about 20 ​minutes,” TRM Labs said ‌in ⁠a blog post on its website.

“TRM attributes the attack ​to TraderTraitor, ​North ⁠Korea’s elite hacking unit, ​based on robust ​on ⁠and off-chain intelligence. We make this ⁠judgement ​with high ​confidence,” the blog said.

‘Biggest hack in history’

Markets reacted immediately to Binance’s hacking in early Asian trading on Friday.

Bitcoin dropped more than 3 per cent to a six-week low of $76,368 and ether fell more than 3pc to a two-month low of $2,178. BNB, a token originally launched as Binance Coin that can be used to pay Binance fees, was down 5pc over the past 24 hours at $709.70, according to market aggregator CoinGecko.

Shares in crypto exchange Coinbase Global slid 4.8pc while those of bitcoin buyer Strategy fell nearly 6pc in extended US trading.

The incident could be the world’s biggest crypto heist, according to analytics firm Chainalysis and other industry experts.

“It’s the biggest hack in history,” said Aravind Srinivasan, head of large crypto market maker GSR’s systematic OTC business.

Beyond the potential loss of assets, the security breach was likely to have wider ramifications for crypto, which had already been under pressure lately due to higher US interest rates and softer demand from exchange-traded fund buyers, analysts said.

“It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralised exchanges, as well as counterparty, solvency and liquidity risks,” said Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, based in Hong Kong.

Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally and had about $162.8 billion in assets under custody as of the exchange’s 2025 annual report.

“User funds remain safe,” Binance said in a statement.

“As a precaution, all deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while our security teams conduct checks, secure wallet infrastructure, and trace affected assets, with the close support of our law enforcement and industry partners.”

Binance has secure asset fund

Binance runs a secure asset fund for users, which is a reserve held entirely in bitcoin that is intended to protect user assets in cases of security breaches, according to its website.

“It’s becoming very hard to counter hacks as AI can find vulnerabilities faster than you can fix them,” said Bernardo Brites, CEO of Trace Finance, a payments and stablecoin infrastructure company.

“My view is that users will move away from smaller and medium-sized exchanges, (it is) becoming too risky to park your money somewhere that couldn’t cover a hack of meaningful size.”

Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than $800 million.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, said on Thursday it had worked with cryptocurrency custodian BitGo to freeze funds stolen in what it described as a Binance hack. Binance’s Yi said $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen.

Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly $200 million in funds, Yi said. Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, said the company was closely monitoring reports of a potential exploit involving Binance and was freezing affected funds and coordinating with relevant parties.

Incident adds to string of crypto thefts

Miguel Morel, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, said data indicated that billions of dollars appeared to have been hacked from Binance by an unknown actor.

The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts. Last year, attackers stole $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks, according to researchers at TRM Labs. In September, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget said roughly $350 million in crypto had been stolen from its platform, underscoring the industry’s vulnerability to hackers.

Authorities have warned that organised crime groups are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders outside the traditional financial system.

Binance.US, a separate cryptocurrency exchange, said it was not affected by the security incident.

Coinbase said it was unaffected and was monitoring the situation.

In an unrelated incident earlier on Thursday, prediction market operator Polymarket temporarily halted trading after a security incident involving a third-party provider. It later resumed trading and said it would fully reimburse affected traders.

FEW companies are hailed as proof of free-market genius more than Tesla. Yet, at every turn that mattered, it stood on public capital.

In 2010 it borrowed $465m from a US federal programme open to every carmaker building cleaner vehicles, in a country where transport is now the largest source of greenhouse gases. It paid the Treasury’s own cost, roughly one to 3.4 per cent, with principal deferred until production began. One of the smallest borrowers, it became the star, repaying with interest nine years early. Regulatory credits, earned by beating emission rules and bought by those that fall short, then carried it into profit.

Pakistan asks its banks to do alone what no quintessential capitalist economy asks of its own: lend to priority sectors without the state sharing the risk and the price. This is not a lesson taken from state-led economies such as China, where public support is part of the model. It comes from the market economies themselves, which do it openly and without apology. Tesla is not their exception; it is their method.

Look at where they aim interest subsidies, and how deep. Farming comes first: America lends beginning farmers money to buy land at under 2pc and caps their operating microloans at 5pc, while Canada pays the interest on the first C$250,000 of each grower’s cash advance. Housing is next: France gives first-time buyers zero-interest loans and compensates banks through tax credits. Then enterprise: Britain lends start-ups unsecured at a fixed 6pc, with mentoring, and its firms outlive their peers; Germany’s KfW cheapens founders’ loans and absorbs four-fifths of any loss so local banks will lend.

In every case, the taxpayer took the first risk and part of the financing cost, at the stage private finance would not, and demanded performance in return. And the subsidy went to the borrower, the priority-sector player, not the lender: the bank is paid only the market interest the borrower is spared.

Subsidies have built giants, and an emerging economy needs them more, not less.

That is the global norm. Why, then, is Pakistan so averse to it? Here, subsidy for producers is treated as a dirty word, subsidised credit is misread as a benefit to banks, and lenders are blamed for holding back from risks their peers abroad never shoulder unaided. Asking them to match the world’s lending without the world’s toolkit is neither fair nor realistic.

The money exists; its direction is the problem. This year’s federal budget allocates Rs838bn to the Benazir Income Support Programme, up by a sixth, and almost as much to the power sector; provincial budgets add their own spending on wheat, fertiliser and household relief. Little of it is designed to make the poor bankable.

BISP is indispensable. Reaching some 10 million families through a national registry and digital payments, it is one of the country’s institutional achievements, and that safety net must stay. But a stipend, by its nature, protects rather than transforms. A net that never becomes a springboard keeps the poor safe, but poor.

BISP must now be balanced with wealth creation at the lower strata of society, so that families able to work have a path from support to enterprise. Wealth, like subsidy, is not a bad word. It can be created at every level, including the bottom, and it is what keeps incomes rising sustainably. The cliché about wealth must go, just like subsidies.

So add a ramp without lowering the floor: dedicate a tenth of BISP’s allocation to an enterprise window within the programme; that is smaller than this year’s increase, so no family need receive less than last year.

Run it as the world does. Target precisely: older people, persons with disabilities and households with no working member keep their full stipend; working-age households, starting with the women BISP serves, get concessional credit for livestock, horticulture, cottage industry, solar trades and digital work. Price it for the borrower: the first loan interest-free and repeat loans at no more than 5pc, the state paying the difference. Pay for delivery: lenders earn the subsidy only for verified results, and every loan comes with training and a mentor. Build the exit: the stipend tapers only once the business stands, and the subsidy steps down with each cycle.

Even at today’s rates, that tenth could carry some Rs400bn of lending: over a million small businesses. Audit it independently after three years; scale it only if it works.

Two objections deserve answers. Credit alone, global trials show, raises poor families’ incomes only modestly; what lifts them for good is capital paired with training and continued support while the business finds its feet, which is this design. Nor does the window raid BISP: it is paid for from the programme’s growth and serves the same households.

It is time to retire the reflex that subsidies never create wealth or welfare. Bad design is bad; subsidy is not, if it pays for the initial risk rather than permanent inefficiency. Subsidies have built giants, and an emerging economy needs them more, not less.

Washington’s decisive bet on Tesla was not a stipend but a loan, tied to milestones. Pakistan’s Teslas are smaller — a woman’s dairy herd, a tailor’s workshop, a graduate’s laptop — but they deserve the same deal: capital to start, conditions to keep, and a way out. Then the cycle begins again with the next borrower. That is routine in every quintessential capitalist economy, and it should be in Pakistan too.

The writer is a development-focused and impact-oriented banker.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

PARLIAMENT has recently been debating the future of Pakistani democracy, but those debates will be for naught unless our leaders also develop the capacity to acknowledge each other’s positions.

The past two days have seen the government and opposition benches trading blame for democracy’s present, rather sorry state.

On Wednesday, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman accused the government of misusing the Constitution and resorting to unconstitutional measures. He also said his party was “prepared to die” resisting the government if the latter continued pursuing a policy of confrontation and violence, and proposed a new Charter of Democracy as the way out.

Regretting that his efforts to mediate between the government and the PTI had failed because the government had changed course and imposed an emergency and governor’s rule in KP, the maulana said the political leadership had grown too intolerant for parliament to do its job.

He was not wrong, though the fault is hardly the government’s alone.

The maulana’s rebuke drew two kinds of response. Minister of Defence Khawaja Asif resorted to personal attacks, insinuating that the JUI-F chief was merely sore at being denied a share of power in KP.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, on the other hand, was more circumspect. Though he, too, laid much of the blame for parliament’s dysfunction on the opposition, he nonetheless urged it to exercise its powers and return to parliamentary committees.

“Those who want this House to remain dysfunctional and do not want the people of Pakistan to benefit from it have succeeded,” he told the opposition benches. “You have played a part in helping these people achieve their objective.” It was a surprisingly candid admission that the House’s dysfunction serves interests other than the people’s, even if the PPP chief left out his own party’s role in getting us here.

They may have yet to come to terms with it, but both ruling and opposition parties have lost credibility and political ground due to their ongoing vendetta. The maulana’s call for a new Charter of Democracy, though welcome, looks difficult to realise when the two sides cannot even agree to sit together in parliamentary committees.

The imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP was a gross misstep by the federal government, and it has spoiled the chances of a negotiated settlement. But the opposition, too, has gained little from confrontation.

Unless both sides start to show some flexibility on key matters, make compromises and enter negotiations without preconditions, they risk further deepening this crisis of their own making.

If enough lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are willing to admit that matters have gone too far, there may yet be hope for parliament, and for Pakistani democracy. The question is, are they ready to do so?

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan remained deeply hostile to journalism and its practitioners in 2025-26 despite a decline in documented violations against media workers, according to a new report issued by an Islamabad-based media watchdog.

“About 10 cases a month [against media personnel], their nationwide spread and severity in the period showed that fewer violations did not mean greater safety,” stated Freedom Network’s latest annual Impunity Report 2026, titled “From Violence to Lawfare: Process as Punishment for Journalists”.

Produced with technical assistance from International Media Support (IMS), the report was authored by journalist Adnan Rehmat and Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak.

It finds that “impunity has evolved from a failure to punish violence into a broader system of coercion”.

Peca increasingly used to punish dissent, says Freedom Network report

The report was released on Thursday ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, observed worldwide, including in Pakistan, on Nov 2 each year.

“Despite the presence on the statute books of two laws to combat impunity for crimes against journalists, such a finding should be a matter of concern for those at the helm of affairs of the two safety commissions established under these laws,” Mr Khattak said.

Cases documented between October 2025 and August 2026 included one work-related killing, three attempted assassinations, 18 threats of murder or harm, 11 assaults, 13 legal actions and 32 threats of legal action.

Punjab recorded 49 cases, just over half the total, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and Balochistan. Digital and independent journalists were targeted most often. Victims or their families identified government authorities and officials as alleged instigators in nearly two-thirds of the cases.

The report identifies the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) and its increasing use against journalists by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to punish dissent as “central to this legal siege” of online journalism in the country.

‘Recurring pattern’

A detailed analysis of representative Peca-related cases against journalists reveals a recurring pattern in which allegations of defamation, false information, harassment or reputational harm are channelled through cybercrime procedures, including in cases involving reporting on public expenditure, corruption or official conduct.

Even without a confirmed FIR or conviction, the process itself becomes “punitive” through summonses, device scrutiny, travel, legal costs, detention, repeated hearings, and reputational harm, the report says.

It adds that relief is commonly limited to bail or procedural protection rather than final vindication.

The report also provides guidelines for journalists and other media practitioners facing Peca-related cases to help minimise the harmful effects of legal action.

It expresses concern over the lack of institutional safeguards for media workers despite the establishment of two high-powered safety commissions, one at the federal level and the other in Sindh.

“The federal journalist protection mechanism is effectively dysfunctional, while the Sindh Commission, although more visible, has limited reach and demonstrated protection impact outside Karachi,” it says.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

• Achakzai questions govt’s handling of Tehran diplomacy, Afghanistan ties
• Senate resolution seeks coordinated national action to curb population growth

ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers in the National Assembly and Senate on Thursday raised concerns over the political situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and alleged human rights violations, while both houses also discussed electoral reforms and the need to strengthen parliamentary institutions.

National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai criticised the government for failing to take parliament into confidence over recent diplomatic developments in Tehran.

“How can four people decide the future of the whole nation?” he asked, warning that such decisions could push the country towards “anarchy and civil war”.

Mr Achakzai also opposed the suspension of trade with Afghanistan, describing Afghans as traditional friends of Pakistan and criticising the country’s past policies towards its neighbour.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the parliamentary proceedings and the prevailing political situation in KP were creating a negative impression among the public. He also called for an end to hereditary politics in the country.

Rights concerns raised

Meanwhile, speaking on a point of order in the Senate, PTI parliamentary leader Barrister Syed Ali Zafar accused the government of undermining constitutional protections through the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP.

He argued that fundamental human rights could not be suspended or compromised, regardless of the political situation. “There is one thing that cannot be broken, suspended or compromised: the fundamental human rights of the people of Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Zafar expressed concern over the detention of Noreen Niazi, sister of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, claiming that she had suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised but her family was not being allowed to meet her.

Responding to the concerns, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said Noreen Niazi had been provided medical treatment in Lahore and was in satisfactory condition.

On allegations that her family was being denied access, Mr Sanaullah assured the house that details would be sought and the matter addressed according to the circumstances.

He defended her detention, alleging that she had sought to create unrest by mobilising people for a protest march towards Islamabad.

Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas also criticised the government’s actions in KP, alleging that the province had been “snatched from the people”.

He also questioned the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP, arguing that democratic institutions could not function without respect for the law.

Population growth resolution

Separately, the Senate passed a resolution calling for urgent and coordinated national action to address the challenges posed by the country’s rapidly growing population.

The resolution, moved by PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman, called for a comprehensive national response to population growth and its impact on public services and socioeconomic development.

Ms Rehman said Pakistan’s population was projected to reach approximately 390 million by 2050 at the current growth rate, placing unprecedented pressure on national resources.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp finished ahead of the opposition but remained well short of a majority, final results from general election showed on Friday, setting the stage for tough coalition talks or potentially another vote.

Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing and far-right parties won 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, with his Likud party remaining the largest faction with 27 seats.

The opposition bloc, led by centrist Gadi Eisenkot, secured 48 seats.

The results from the Central Elections Committee also cemented the emergence as potential kingmakers of the Arab party groupings Raam and the Joint List, with the two winning a combined 19 seats.

The fragmented outcome sets the stage for difficult negotiations to form a government that could last weeks, with no single bloc able to reach the 61-seat threshold needed and the prospect of another election remaining if talks fail.

The final tally came after Netanyahu’s camp spent Thursday amplifying unproven allegations that Arab-Israeli groups received foreign funding to influence the vote, accusations rejected by both Arab-majority lists and Qatar.

Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service said it was investigating suspected irregularities, but stressed the probe was not intended to “cast aspersions or place blame on an entire sector that went out to vote in a democratic and lawful manner”.

The electoral commission also sought to calm tensions, with its acting director general Dean Livne saying any suggestion of widespread issues was “entirely groundless”.

Political earthquake

The controversy centred on allegations that Raam received money from Qatar, the energy-rich Gulf powerbroker that has channels to Hamas, to finance vote-buying operations.

“The Raamgate scandal is a political earthquake. Israel’s elections have been stolen!” Netanyahu’s Likud party alleged on Thursday.

Raam leader Mansour Abbas denied any wrongdoing and welcomed an investigation, while the Joint List accused Netanyahu and his allies of conducting a “campaign of incitement” out of fear of Arab voters’ growing political influence.

Government officials have so far provided no evidence to back the allegations.

Opposition figures accused Netanyahu of attempting to undermine confidence in the results after failing to secure a governing majority.

“He is trying to challenge the election results,” left-wing candidate Yair Golan said.

Eisenkot said he was briefed by the Shin Bet and the election committee, adding it was “too early to understand what happened, and whether anything happened at all”.

But he continued: “It’s already clear that Likud and Netanyahu have embarked on a coordinated, organised campaign seeking to delegitimise the results of the election.”

Netanyahu himself has long been under the cloud of allegations related to Qatar after the arrests last year of two of his aides for allegedly receiving payments from the Gulf state.

Qatar called the latest accusations “ridiculous and dangerous”.

Kingmakers under pressure

Yousef Jabareen, head of the Joint List, told AFP that he is willing to cooperate with the opposition to bring down Netanyahu but without joining it in a government.

Netanyahu had tried during the voting to raise allegations of fraud, saying that Arab parties were caught with envelopes of cash, and Likud peddled the accusations throughout Thursday.

Police said they arrested three suspects but the election commission called it an isolated local case.

ISLAMABAD: A private think tank has found more fiscal faults than benefits of the much-discussed creation of new provinces, advising priority to stronger local governments instead of new provinces if public service delivery was actually intended.

In its latest market analysis release on Thursday, Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (Prime) highlighted the additional annual recurring cost of Rs47 billion to Rs57bn in case of creation of two more provinces — South Punjab, Bahawalpur and remaining Punjab — and up to Rs730bn if 30 divisional units were to upgrade to provincial status.

“Any proposal for creating new provinces should include a formal fiscal costing exercise before constitutional or legislative changes are pursued”, the think tank said, adding that the costing should estimate the recurring expenditure required for the governor, chief minister, provincial assembly, secretariat, high court and other core institutions, together with the likely NFC resource envelope of each proposed unit. This would make it possible to assess whether the expected administrative benefits justify the additional recurring burden,” it said.

If the number of provinces increases to six, South Punjab receives an illustrative allocation of Rs1tr under the existing NFC, while Bahawalpur receives Rs537bn. In case of 30 provinces, allocations differ considerably, ranging from Rs7201bn for Lahore and Rs691bn for Karachi to Rs46bn for Loralai and Rs50bn for Zhob. Thus 11 of the 30 proposed units receive less than Rs150bn per annum.

Think tank puts annual recurring bill at Rs47-57bn for two provinces and up to Rs730bn for 30

The estimated annual recurring cost of a new provincial government is Rs22.4bn under the low-cost scenario and Rs25.9bn under the high-cost scenario, therefore Rs47-56bn per annum for two and Rs610-730bn for 30 provinces.

Using a 10pc fiscal sustainability benchmark based on the low recurring-cost estimate, 16 of the 30 proposed provinces would remain at or below the threshold, while 14 exceed it. The burden is particularly high in the smallest units: the core provincial structure would absorb around 49pc of Loralai’s allocation, 45pc of Zhob’s and 37pc of Rakhshan’s even under the low-cost estimate.

Every proposed province with a population below 1.2 million would require more than one-third of its NFC allocation to finance the core provincial government structure.

The findings therefore show that the fiscal implications of restructuring depend strongly on the number and size of the provinces created. Limited restructuring involving relatively large units produces a much smaller recurring burden, whereas several smaller division-based provinces would face disproportionately high administrative costs relative to their expected NFC resources.

Therefore, at the fiscal level, creation of new provinces will put additional pressure on fiscal resources of smaller provinces, especially those with lower NFC allocations and constrained revenue generation capacity. A greater portion of their available resources would be consumed by ongoing government expenses, resulting in reduced fiscal room for other provincial spending, such as public service provision and developmental expenditure, the analysis showed.

Therefore, the think tank emphasised that provincial restructuring should be evaluated not only in political and administrative terms, but also through a clear fiscal framework.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

• Ex-health officials slam country’s ‘too little, too late’ disaster response; demand climate-proof hospitals, early warnings, heat action plans
• Study calls for climate change to be declared global health emergency
• Heat-related deaths rise 36pc since Paris accord; economic losses estimated at over $1tr

ISLAMABAD: Health and environmental experts in Pakistan have called for urgent measures to address growing climate-related health risks after a Lancet report warned that rising heat-related deaths, floods, droughts and economic losses are outpacing global efforts to combat climate change.

The 2026 Lancet Countdown report, launched at the British Library in London, called for climate change to be recognised as a “global health emergency”, warning that climate-related health risks continue to worsen a decade after the Paris Agreement.

The report found that average annual heat-related deaths worldwide have risen 36 per cent since the Paris Agreement. In 2023, heat was linked to a record 710,000 deaths, with more than 70pc attributed to human-caused climate change. Meanwhile, heat-related economic losses reached an estimated $1.07 trillion in 2025.

Former Punjab health minister Professor Dr Javed Akram told Dawn that the warning was particularly urgent for Pakistan, where the devastating 2022 floods displaced communities, damaged health care infrastructure, disrupted access to essential medicines and increased the risk of waterborne diseases and malnutrition.

“Extreme heat further threatens vulnerable populations, particularly children, older adults, outdoor workers and people living with chronic illnesses,” he said.

Mr Akram criticised Pakistan’s disaster management approach, saying policies had historically been reactive rather than proactive, with preparations beginning only after disasters strike.

“Pakistan must strengthen heat-health action plans, establish effective early-warning systems, climate-proof hospitals, improve disease surveillance, and expand access to safe water and sanitation,” he said.

He urged federal and provincial governments to allocate dedicated funding for climate-resilient health care and called on international partners to provide predictable, grant-based climate finance.

Former special assistant to the prime minister on health Dr Zafar Mirza also warned that climate change had become a growing public health emergency in Pakistan.

“Extreme heat, flash floods, cloud bursts and worsening air quality cause illness and death, while disrupting healthcare, contaminating water, undermining nutrition and deepening poverty and psychological distress,” he told Dawn.

Dr Mirza said Pakistan needed climate-resilient health facilities, stronger disease surveillance, early-warning systems and coordinated action across health, climate, water, energy and finance.

Dr Muhammad Irfan Khan, professor of environmental science and former dean at International Islamic University, expressed concern that Lancet Countdown’s launch statement did not mention Pakistan despite its exposure to climate-related disasters. “Pakistan’s experience should inform global priorities, research and investment,” he said, citing Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index 2025, which ranked Pakistan as the country most affected by extreme weather in 2022.

He urged international institutions to give greater visibility to vulnerable countries and ensure affected communities help shape climate responses.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

• President says outreach focused on medical supplies, not peace talks
• Tehran confirms receiving vice president’s letter, no response yet
• US media claims correspondence sought to avert new strikes

TEHRAN: Iranian media reported on Thursday that Tehran had received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance but had not yet responded, amid efforts to revive peace talks between the countries, though President Donald Trump said the outreach was about helping the country get medical supplies.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that “Iran has received the letter, but has not yet responded,” while the Fars news agency carried a similar account, citing “a source familiar with the matter.”

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter, that Vance had sent the letter to Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei at Trump’s direction in a bid to revive peace negotiations and avert new US strikes.

The letter and subsequent contact between US and Iranian officials focused on a possible framework for negotiations rather than specific terms for a peace deal, the Journal reported.

When asked by reporters later on Wednesday if he directed Vance to reach out to Iran to restart peace negotiations, Trump said, “No”.

“What that is is they need help with medical supplies and various things. He asked me what I thought. I said, if you want to do that, that’s OK. Basically, it’s getting supplies in to help people that are not well,” Trump told reporters.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York and Vance’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter and Trump’s remark.

The reported correspondence comes as diplomatic efforts to end the war have yet to produce a lasting agreement.

On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was discussing a plan with mediators, mainly Qatar and Pakistan, to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption.

Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal Sunday to end the war, but a senior Iranian official said Doha had only put forward unacceptable ideas that did not amount to an offer.

Tehran insists that Washington meet seven conditions it has set for reopening the strait. The conditions include a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade.

Tasnim reported that “any position that undermines this firm framework established by Iran is unacceptable”.

The war began Feb 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that assassinated former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders. Iran retaliated with attacks on Israel and US assets in the region, while the US imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to starve it of oil export revenue.

Iran has long blamed US sanctions for hindering civilian access to medical supplies.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

• CPPA seeks Rs2.56 per unit additional fuel cost adjustment to recover Rs33bn
• Industrial representatives insist fuel levies inflating generation costs

ISLAMABAD: The manufacturing sector and the power division on Thursday unanimously called for the removal or reduction of the petroleum levy on furnace oil and diesel used for power generation, stressing that it was resulting in about Rs10 per unit additional impact to electricity costs.

The demand emerged during a public hearing on the Rs2.56 per unit additional monthly fuel cost adjustment (FCA) sought by power companies to recover about Rs33 billion for electricity consumed in September.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) conducted the hearing on a request by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) to allow distribution companies to charge the additional FCA in November bills. A government official said the proposed adjustment was the highest for comparable months in recent years.

Industrial representatives Amir Shaikh, Arif Bilwani, Tanveer Bari and Rehan Javed, representing various chambers of commerce and industry, said the government was charging substantial petroleum levies — about Rs76,000 per tonne on furnace oil and Rs80 per litre on diesel — which could otherwise be reduced to lower generation costs amid the energy crisis arising from the Iran conflict.

Representatives of entities under the power division confirmed that furnace oil- and diesel-based generation accounted for 3.6 per cent of total power generation in September because of the unavailability of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other cheaper sources.

Industrial representatives said removing the levies could reduce generation costs from around Rs62 per unit to Rs44-50 per unit.

They argued that the levy was also increasing the government’s subsidy burden, effectively shifting money from one pocket to another.

The representatives said the prime minister had previously removed certain charges to subsidise power tariffs, but the relief had since been discontinued. They also pointed out that continuation of the surplus incremental package was imposing an additional burden of around Rs11 per unit on grid consumers and demanded its immediate suspension.

Naveed Qaiser, chief financial officer of the Power Planning and Monitoring Company (PPMC), agreed that petroleum levies on diesel and furnace oil had a substantial impact on generation costs.

He said the power division had been fighting for their removal or reduction at relevant forums and urged business representatives to continue raising the issue with senior government officials.

Mr Qaiser said reducing electricity tariffs remained a government priority, particularly for industry, to improve competitiveness with regional economies.

He said these efforts had already helped reduce tariffs by around Rs10 per unit for consumers generally and up to Rs18 per unit for industry, achievements that should also be acknowledged.

CPPA’s Rehan Akhtar said the actual fuel cost in September stood at Rs10.022 per unit against the reference rate of Rs7.46, resulting in the request for an additional FCA of Rs2.56 per unit.

He said the total financial impact was estimated at Rs32.76bn, mainly because of changes in the generation fuel mix and higher costs of alternative fuels.

However, he maintained that the net increase in the FCA would not exceed Rs1.45 per unit, as the existing positive adjustment in October would expire and be replaced by the proposed Rs2.56 adjustment in November.

Nepra and industrial representatives also raised concerns over discrepancies in power generation data submitted by the CPPA and demanded greater transparency.

They questioned a previous adjustment of Rs16bn on account of LNG prices, arguing that timely reporting of those prices could have avoided a substantial portion of the proposed additional FCA.

Officials from Nepra’s Monitoring and Enforcement Division also questioned the authenticity and consistency of information supplied by government entities.

Nepra member Amina Ahmed acknowledged the concerns, saying the regulator was aware of the discrepancies but did not want to turn the proceedings into a “circus” by publicly taking up every inconsistency.

Industrial representatives also questioned coal procurement practices at the Port Qasim power plant, alleging that the producer was procuring coal through affiliated entities at prices significantly higher than those paid by other plants.

They demanded a comprehensive investigation, including by the National Accountability Bureau. Nepra assured participants that only prudent coal costs would be allowed and that the producer would have to bear the impact.

Government entities reported a 6.5pc increase in overall power demand in September, including a 6.7pc rise in industrial consumption.

Industry representatives maintained that the higher industrial consumption reflected a shift from captive power generation to the national grid rather than the impact of the incremental package.

Average fuel cost surged by almost 37.5pc year-on-year in September, mainly because expensive, heavily taxed fuels were used to compensate for reduced LNG supplies amid the regional conflict and increased reliance on imported coal.

According to CPPA data, high-speed diesel (HSD) accounted for 213 gigawatt-hours (GWh), or about 1.6pc of total grid supply, at a generation cost of Rs62.14 per unit. This compared with 80GWh generated at Rs54 per unit in August.

Furnace oil-based generation stood at 263GWh in September, down from 321GWh in August, while its generation cost declined to Rs44.86 per unit from around Rs46.

Its share of total generation remained close to 2pc.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has held that merely uploading an appellate order to the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Inland Revenue Information System (IRIS) does not constitute valid service under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

An LHC division bench comprising Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf and Justice Anwaar Hussain decided three connected reference applications led by Tahir Mehmood.

The applications challenged three orders of the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue, which had dismissed the taxpayers’ appeals as time-barred on the ground that uploading the orders to IRIS constituted sufficient service.

In one case, the taxpayer argued that Covid-19 and quarantine following a foreign trip had prevented him from accessing the portal. In the other two cases, the taxpayers said they learned of the Commissioner (Appeals)’ orders only after receiving recovery notices in April 2026, months after the orders had been passed.

Justice Anwaar Hussain, who authored the judgement, held that Section 218(1)(d) of the ordinance recognises electronic service only when carried out in the prescribed manner.

He observed that Rule 74 of the Income Tax Rules limits an electronic addr­e­ss to a fax number or an email address and requi­res confirmation of transmission.

IRIS, by contrast, is an internal, web-based workflow system for tax administration, the judge noted, adding that placing an order in a taxpayer’s account does not establish its transmission to an electronic address as required under the rule.

The judge distinguished between accessibility and service, observing that an order may be accessible wi­­thout having been served in accordance with the law.

He further held that the limitation period could not begin from an event that the law did not recognise as its starting point.

Rejecting the department’s argument that Rule 74 could not restrict the parent provision, the jud­ge said the requirement of service in the “prescribed manner” was part of the ordinance itself.

The judge also dismissed the contention that taxpayers were required to routinely monitor IRIS.

The judge said the dep­artment could not dismiss the pandemic-related exp­lanation, as the corre­ct­n­ess of the tribunal’s conclusion involved a question of law that the high court was competent to examine.

Observing that technology was an instrument of statutory administration ra­­ther than an independent source of statutory au­­thority, the judge said mo­­d­ernisation could not disp­ense with legal safeguards.

The court referred to rulings of the Peshawar and Islamabad high courts and the Delhi High Court, as well as Articles 4 and 10A of the Constitution.

The bench set aside the impugned orders and dire­cted the tribunal to decide the appeals afresh on merit.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026