Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced to launch the “largest ever needs-based” scholarship programme. ‘Ehsaas for Students’ is another project of the government’s social welfare programme Ehsaas and aims to provide scholarships to about 200,000 students from lower income families over the next four years. The government will award 50,000 scholarships every year, half of which will be granted to women.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf government decided to file a mutiny case against Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for delivering a provocative speech and “instigating people” against the prime minister and state institutions. PTI government on Saturday warned the Azadi march participants against advancing towards the sensitive D-Chowk. According to Defence Minister Pervez Khattak the PTI government is not worried at all.
Two major opposition parties — the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — have announced they would not become a part of the sit-in announced by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The leaders of the two parties said they had already told Maulana in categorical terms that they would only attend public meeting and would not support any sit-in.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced in a Tweet two special waivers for Sikh pilgrims who arrive from India to visit Kartarpur. The visitors will no longer need a passport to cross over into Pakistan as long as they have a valid identity. The condition for pilgrims to register 10 days before their arrival to the Kartarpur shrine also be waived.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) accepted apology of Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, special assistant to prime minister on information and broadcasting, for scandalising judiciary and issued her a fresh contempt of court notice for making a statement regarding a pending criminal proceeding. Awan assured the court that she would be extremely careful in future and placed herself at mercy of the court.
Sheikh Rashid clearly said that that the people who want resignation from him after the Tezgam inferno must wait till Sunday as Prime Minister Imran Khan has already ordered an inquiry in the incident. He claimed that least number of railway incidents occurred in his tenure and blamed the passengers for the incident as they didn’t obey laws and kept on using canister and stoves even after being stopped by the guards on duty.
Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) JF-17 Thunder has reaffirmed its credibility as the country’s best fighter jet by winning the Best Armament Trophy(BAT) at Inter-Squadron Armament Competition. Best pilots from different squadrons of the force took part in the competition that started on October 10 at Sonmiani firing range in Balochistan where No 11 Multi role Squadron was crowned the overall winner of the tournament.
The government has decided to counter the spread of misinformation or fake news on mainstream and social media through an e-letter according to special assistant to Prime Minister Firdous Aashiq Awan. Strict actions would be taken along with issuance of an e-letter in order to control the spread of misinformation in the country. Creation of WhatsApp-like end-to-end encrypted application for secure intercommunication between government departments was also suggested.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in order to improve its performance in the aviation sector has increased its flights to the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been increased weekly whereas new flights from Islamabad, Peshawar, and Lahore to gulf countries are now scheduled, according to PIA Public Affairs Manager Athar Awan. Business community in Faisalabad would benefit from the new flights as they wont have to catch flights from Lahore or Islamabad now.
At least 13 people have died and more than 30 injured after a fire broke out on a train travelling from Karachi to Rawalpindi. A gas canister used to cook food exploded in Tezgam Express, destroying three of the train’s carriages. Death toll continues to rise, while rescue teams are working to extinguish the fire at Liaquatpur near Rahim Yar Khan.