Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) is ready to increase gas prices for the first half of 2020 in order to meet the revenue shortfall. People have already experienced an increase in petrol and gas prices several times till now and once again the domestic users will incur an increase of 191 paisas while for the commercial users there will be a hike of 31 paisas.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked/processed a total of 933,775 URLs so far. The URLs were related to objectionable or pornographic images, texts and videos on the internet including blasphemy, pornography, judiciary, hats speech etc. PTA has established a directorate “Web Analysis Directorate” to evaluate complaints received from different quarters and the general public and block objectionable material over the internet.
European group, EU DisinfoLab, has exposed over 200 ‘fake’ news outlets managed by an Indian network to influence the European Union and the United Nations with content critical of Pakistan. During the investigation, the DisinfoLab found that the news outlets were managed by Indian stakeholders, with ties to a large network of think tanks, NGOs, and companies from the Srivastava Group.
Pakistan’s top court has declared that the tenure and other service terms of the post of chief of army staff (COAS) shall be determined through simple legislation (act of parliament). The current status of the COAS is to continue for a period of six months after which a fresh legislation (act of the parliament) shall determine his tenure and other terms of his service.
For the first time in the nation’s history, a special court has sentenced former military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to death in high treason case. The verdict was split 2-1 and the detailed judgement will be issued with in the next two days. The former military ruler is currently residing and under treatment in Dubai.
To promote tourism in the country, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved Rs. 5 billion for construction of roads and new tourism spots across the province. The budget will be used to build fourteen roads in Hazara and Malakand Divisions. On the directives of the provincial Minister for Tourism Atif Khan, the construction work will start this week.
Islamabad Capital Territory Police has decided to use body-worn cameras at checkpoints in the capital for enhanced security and better implementation of law and order. The capital Police has arranged 20 cameras to start with and the footage will be connected to the Safe City Project.The initiative is a pilot project to test the performance of these cameras and are sponsored by JS bank.
Competitive Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has imposed a heavy fine of Rs. 75 million on Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) for illegally increasing prices. The association has been involved in fixing the market prices of flour along with the production of the mills causing higher prices of the most demanding eatable item throughout the country.
President Arif Alvi and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, in their messages on the fifth anniversary of the Army Public School (APS) attack, said the carnage will never be forgotten. On Dec 16, 2014, six terrorists affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan carried out the horrific attack on the school and killed 132 innocent students and 17 staff members.
The police authorities faced severe criticism for missing out Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nephew Barrister Hassaan Niazi name in the cases registered against lawyers who attacked the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. A mobile phone footage had caught PM’s nephew Hassaan Niazi throwing stones on police on Jail Road. A senior police officer however, denied the allegation of giving favour to Hassaan Niazi.