Sunday, December 28th, 2025
FBR suspends officials absent from sugar mill monitoring duties
ISLAMABAD, DEC 28 (APP/DNA): The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has initiated disciplinary action and immediately suspended six officials who were found unauthorizedly absent from their assigned monitoring duties at sugar mills, reaffirming its zero-tolerance policy toward misconduct and dereliction of duty. The officials had been deployed under Section 40B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 to ensure effective, transparent and uninterrupted monitoring of sugar production, said a news release. The absence was detected during routine monitoring and verification carried out by the Large Tax Office (LTO) Lahore, responsible forRead More
Agha to lead as Pakistan announce squad for Sri Lanka T20I series
LAHORE: Pakistan on Sunday announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 International series against Sri Lanka, with the team set to tour in early January 2026. The three-match series will serve as an important platform ahead of the next T20I World Cup. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has unveiled a 15-member squad for the T20 International series against Sri Lanka. The team will depart for Sri Lanka in phases on January 4 and 5, 2026. Salman Ali Agha has been named captain for the tour, continuing his leadership roleRead More
Clouds-sun hide & seek at Ayubia as horse riders, cash in on snowfall buzz at Galiyat
As clouds roll low over the Hamaliya mountain range and sunlight breaks through snow-laden pines, the Galiyat region has slipped into a postcard perfect scene. Visitors mostly arrived from plain districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab have poured into Ayubia over the weekend, eager to enjoy snow games, savor trout fish, and capture fleeting winter moments amid nature’s grandeur. For local horse riders, the winter season has brought both excitement and income especially influx of tourists during snowfall. Along colonial-era trails linking Ayubia to Nathiagali, horses clip-clop through powdery paths,Read More
CCD to take action against groups committing online crimes
LAHORE, Dec 28 (APP):It has been decided to give new responsibility to the Crime Control Department (CCD) against organized groups committing online crimes.According to the sources of the CCD, the department is being given an authority to take actionagainst those who rob people through online and electronic devices, the Punjab government isentrusting the CCD with the task of taking action against organised groups who rob the public throughonline and electronic devices.Sources further informed APP that organised groups of robbers are robbinginnocent citizens online and through electronic devices, the CCD willRead More
The Enemy Within — and the American Habit of Fixing It
Qamar Bashir War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent address to defense-industry leaders began not with warnings about China or Russia, but with a stark admission that the gravest threat to American military readiness comes from inside the Pentagon itself — not the people, he stressed, but the entrenched acquisition bureaucracy that governs them. He described this culture as one of centralized planning and rigid five-year cycles that choke innovation, punish initiative, and turn paperwork into a substitute for performance. For a moment it sounded as though he were describing the oldRead More
A Defining Year for Pakistan
by Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal As the final days of 2025 quietly recede and the first light of 2026 prepares to dawn, the moment demands more than ritual optimism. It invites reflection upon a year that altered the course of a nation. Calendars change every year, but only rarely does history pause to redraw its lines. For Pakistan, the year now ending proved to be one such moment, where destiny, resolve, and divine grace converged with unmistakable force. Until the first decade of May 2025, the national atmosphere was weighed downRead More