Category: 1. Pakistan

ISLAMABAD:

Last year, sugar mills had submitted sugar stock figures to the federal government and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had been very happy with these stock figures.

Based on the stock figures, the government had allowed the export of sugar which was linked with Rs2 per kg increase in retail price. It was agreed that sugar export would be halted if the retail prices went up from the benchmark price. But that price increased from the ex-mill price of Rs141 per kg to Rs200 per kg.

Now, a game of imports has started with the Ministry of National Food Security and Research announcing on Saturday that the government is going to import 0.2 million tons of sugar to intervene to overcome sugar prices hike.

The traders and sugar mill owners are both beneficiaries in the dirty game of price hike. First, the government allowed the sugar mills to pocket millions of dollars by exporting sugar and even raised prices in the domestic market.

Now, the government is betting on the sugar import rather than taking strict action against the mills which had given an understanding that they would not increase the prices of the sweetener.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research in a statement announced the government’s decision to import 200,000 tons of sugar.

A spokesperson said the final order for sugar import has been placed and the import of sugar has entered the final stage after the opening of the tender. He said sugar is being imported from China.

“The first shipment of imported sugar will reach Pakistan in early September 2025,” the spokesperson said, adding that the aim of the import is to ensure the availability of sugar in the market and maintain price balance.

He added that the relevant committee formed by the government also successfully obtained a discount at the time of purchase in the international market. The arrival of imported sugar, he said, will maintain price balance in the local market and directly benefit consumers.

Federal Minister for Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain recently claimed during a press conference that sugar is available in abundant quantities and its price is within the reach of the common man.

He ruled out the claims that sugar was first exported and is now being imported to allow a mafia to mint money. “Except for one or two years, sugar has historically been exported in large quantities and then imported to meet demands. The sugar issue emerges seasonally like monsoon frogs,” he remarked.

He said the Sugar Advisory Board includes federal ministers, representatives from all four provinces, and relevant stakeholders.

The government allowed sugar export in a phased manner. At the time when the export request was made, the global market price of sugar was $750 per ton.

Hussain also claimed that there is a difference of Rs8 to Rs10 per kg between ex-mill and retail prices. After the export, he said, the local price of sugar dropped to Rs119 per kg. He said the government has maintained a buffer stock of 500,000 tons.

Despite an increase in the cultivated area, sugar production fell. “As soon as we learned about the shortfall, the prime minister halted the remaining sugar export and 40,000 tons of sugar was not exported,” he added.

LAHORE:

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced that the Independence Day celebrations this year will be organised with special participation of youth and children.

The importance of the struggle for truth, traditional dress and national pride will be highlighted on the occasion, she said.

“Messages from children, celebrities, national heroes, sportsmen and eminent personalities from various fields should be played on Independence Day,” she highlighted,

She said the struggle for truth had increased the importance of freedom and its celebration.

The chief minister underscored,”This year, Independence Day is being celebrated with a spirit of Pakistan’s victory in the ‘Battle of Truth, Operation ‘Bunyan-um-Marsoos.’”

She said,”Independence Day celebrations have been titled ‘From the acquisition of independence to the protection of independence”.

She directed the authorities concerned to organise Independence Day celebrations across Punjab.

Special Independence Day activities have begun in every district and activities from August 1 to 14 have been finalised. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said,”The main Independence Day ceremony will be held at Huzuri Bagh on August 14, where I will hoist national flag.”

She added, “I will unveil a Battle of Truth Park, Museum and Memorial of Battle at Expo Centre Lahore on August 14.”

She underscored, “Public celebrations will be held with full participation of all sections of society,. Houses, shops and markets will be decorated with national flags and banners.”

The chief minister said,”A campaign to hoist Pakistani flag on houses has been launched across Punjab.”

She added,”Government and private buildings across Punjab have started lighting up for Independence Day.”

LAHORE:

Like many countries in the Global South, Pakistan too is currently bearing the heavy brunt of climate change. While heatwaves are the most visible manifestation of extreme temperatures, this year the unprecedented duration and intensity of the monsoon season has raised alarm bells among meteorologists.

Climate experts are of the opinion that climate change is severely impacting Pakistan, particularly the province of Punjab, where rainfall has been unusually heavy and frequent. Compared to previous years, rainfall records have surpassed normal levels in areas that previously saw less intense weather since the increase in global temperatures has disrupted the monsoon system in the region. In particular, rising temperatures in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean have led to more moisture-laden monsoon winds, resulting in heavier and more prolonged downpours.

PDMA spokesperson Chaudhry Mazhar confirmed that the monsoon season started earlier than usual this year. “Typically, the monsoon season begins around July 15, but in 2025 it began as early as June 25 – previously considered a pre-monsoon phase. This year’s early rains were exceptionally intense, and now it is expected that the monsoon will continue until at least mid-September. Every monsoon downpour this year has been extremely strong, breaking previous rainfall records – and the trend is likely to continue in the coming weeks,” warned Mazhar.

According to the latest figures obtained from the Meteorological Department and the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Chakwal district recorded 423mm of rainfall in a single day between the night of July 16th and 17th; the highest in any one location in Punjab this season. During the first half of July 2025, rainfall in Punjab exceeded normal levels by 73 per cent. Reports from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and PDMA have indicated that in the fourth spell of the monsoon, not just Punjab but the entire country received far more rainfall than the seasonal average. Overall, Punjab has seen a 30 to 36 per cent increase in rainfall this season compared to previous years.

Meteorologists have estimated that if normal monsoon rainfall for Punjab is between 800-900mm, the total this year has already crossed 1,000mm and could reach 1,200mm by the end of the season. Despite alerts issued from the Meteorological Department and PDMA, local administrations were unprepared for the unprecedented downpours and are now reacting to it as though it were a natural disaster.

Dr Saadia Khalid, a climate change expert, stated that monsoon rains have become more powerful and are now following unconventional routes. “This is why regions like Punjab, which rarely saw such intense rain, are now experiencing a sharp increase in rainfall volume and intensity. Furthermore, urbanization, deforestation, and changes in land use are worsening the impact of these rains. Major cities in Punjab have lost much of their natural water absorption capacity, making it harder to drain rainwater quickly, leading to frequent urban flooding,” noted Dr Khalid.

Hence, experts have agreed that if immediate action is not taken on carbon emissions, land management, and devising a climate policy, extreme weather patterns — including heavy rainfall and flooding — will become the new normal in Punjab.

In July 2025, Pakistan crossed a digital milestone with the approval of its first-ever National Artificial Intelligence Policy — a bold, ethical and transformative step toward our future. As Chair of the National AI Policy Committee, I had the distinct privilege of guiding this process not merely as a technical exercise, but as a national conversation.

This policy did not emerge from behind closed doors. It was built through an inclusive, iterative process that brought together a multi-stakeholder committee of experts from across Pakistan: government institutions, private technology firms, academia, civil society and the armed forces. Voices from every corner of the country contributed to its vision and detail.

The Ministry of IT and Telecom anchored this effort with clarity and consistency. The team engaged deeply across all phases of drafting and consultation. Minister of State Shaza Fatima Khawaja offered timely guidance and ensured that the policy remained a national priority. Her role was pivotal in securing cabinet approval. Wider feedback was also invited and incorporated. Stakeholders such as HEC, FBR, PEMRA, PTA, provincial IT boards, and universities all engaged actively. Industry partners including JAZZ, OICCI and GSMA, as well as global players like Google and UNESCO, reviewed and helped refine the document. Their insights enhanced the policy’s relevance and broadened its ambition.

As Chair, I witnessed first-hand how divergent voices can converge on a shared goal when the stakes are national. There were moments of debate — on how far to push AI regulation, how to ensure equity or how to align with international norms. But the spirit was always constructive. Our committee became a microcosm of what policy-making should be: evidence-informed, participatory and public-spirited.

I still remember one committee member from Balochistan saying, “This policy will matter when our girls can code in Khuzdar.” That spirit of inclusion with aspiration stayed with me throughout.

Pakistan now joins a select group of South Asian countries with AI policies like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. What distinguishes Pakistan’s policy is not chronology, but character. It is the policy’s scope, structure and soul that truly set it apart. Rather than offering piecemeal ideas or generic aspirations, the National AI Policy 2025 presents a full-spectrum blueprint for how Pakistan can responsibly harness AI across sectors and generations.

At its core, the policy is structured around six interlinked pillars. These include:

1) Building an innovation ecosystem to nurture AI research, start-ups and venture capital.

2) Expanding national awareness and readiness through large-scale skilling and public sector training.

3) Securing AI through ethical frameworks, data sovereignty and transparent governance.

4) Going for AI-led transformation. Here, sectoral roadmaps will be developed to integrate AI into agriculture, education, health, climate resilience, energy and governance. The policy envisions a public sector where predictive analytics improve service delivery, where farmers access climate-smart tools, and where health diagnostics reach rural clinics via AI-backed platforms.

5) Laying the digital foundation. Pakistan will invest in high-performance computing clusters, local large language models, national AI data repositories and cloud infrastructure. It will establish AI hubs in major cities to bridge regional disparities and build connectivity between universities, industry and government.

6) Forging international partnerships and collaboration. Pakistan will join global AI forums, forge bilateral and multilateral cooperation and promote AI diplomacy. The goal is to remain interoperable with global standards, attract ethical AI investment and participate in joint research and development. Institutions including UNESCO and the Asian Development Bank have engaged with the policy, endorsing its principles and recognising Pakistan’s readiness to lead responsibly.

Crucially, this policy is not developed in isolation. It is tightly integrated with existing digital and cybersecurity frameworks, including the National Cyber Security Policy, Cloud First Policy, Personal Data Protection Bill, Digital Pakistan Policy, and the Digital Nation Pakistan Act. This alignment ensures coherence, avoids duplication and reflects a whole-of-government approach to digital transformation. Inclusivity is a defining feature. From AI scholarships for women and persons with disabilities to training for underserved communities, the policy aims to bridge divides. The gender digital divide and algorithmic bias are not afterthoughts. They are front and centre. AI must not replicate structural inequalities. It must help dismantle them.

AI is not just another layer in our tech stack. It is a force multiplier for development — whether we speak of boosting agricultural yields, identifying learning gaps in public schools, supporting financial inclusion or enabling transparent governance. AI has the potential to do in years what conventional reforms could not in decades. Yet technology alone is not a solution. It must be matched with public values, institutional readiness and civic trust. That is why the policy emphasises ethics, transparency and human oversight. It proposes an open-source AI governance framework, regulatory sandboxes and a national registry for public sector AI tools. These are not cosmetic additions. They are foundational guardrails.

By 2030, AI adoption could increase Pakistan’s GDP by up to 12% and generate over 3.5 million new jobs. The policy positions Pakistan not as a passive user of imported technology, but as a sovereign innovator — producing local AI models, building indigenous talent and exporting smart solutions.

For me, this journey was never just about drafting a document. It was about shaping the digital destiny of a country I believe in. The conversations we had as a committee about national capacity, public trust, inclusion and innovation reminded me that policymaking is at its best when it is aspirational, yet grounded in the lives of people. Pakistan must not merely adapt to the future.

We must help define it. In doing so, we choose clarity over confusion, inclusion over inertia, and innovation over indifference. This is not the conclusion of a policy process. It is the beginning of a national transformation. The words may be written, but their impact will depend on action, ownership and follow-through. Let us step forward — not as bystanders to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but as active architects of a future where Pakistani talent, values and innovation shape the global AI horizon.

The Darakshan Police on Saturday registered a case against eight nominated suspects under terrorism and murder charges for killing senior lawyer Khawaja Shamsul Islam and critically injuring his young son inside a mosque in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority a day prior.

South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza had told Dawn.com on Friday that the firing took place after prayers at a mosque in DHA Phase 6. “As advocate Khawaja Shamsul Islam and his son [Khawaja Daniyal, 25] were about to leave the mosque, a lone gunman apparently resorted to firing on them and fled,” the DIG had said.

The Darakshan Police registered a first information report (FIR) today upon the complaint of the victim’s brother and under Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 302 (premeditated murder) and 324 (attempted murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

“My brother Khawaja Shamsul Islam, along with his two young sons and two guards had gone to offer Friday prayers and attend funeral prayers at the Quran Academy mosque located on Khayaban-i-Rahat, Phase 6,” the FIR read.

“He was picking up his slippers at the staircase of the mosque when [the suspect] fired two shots at around 2:30pm. As a result, one bullet hit my brother and another hit his son. The suspect managed to escape while taking advantage of the rush.”

The complainant added that the victim’s younger son was unharmed in the incident and took his injured father to a private hospital in Clifton, while unidentified persons took the injured son to another private hospital in the same locale.

“Khawaja Shamsul Islam expired during treatment while his son was admitted with critical injuries,” the FIR added.

The complainant alleged that the primary suspect, along with 15-20 accomplices, attacked the lawyer last November, in which he was shot twice and tortured. The case was registered with Clifton police under terror and other charges.

“Now, the suspect, his two brothers and five other suspects attacked together … resulting in the death of the lawyer and serious injuries to his son,” the complainant stated, adding that the incident also triggered fear and chaos among the general public.

The complainant said he wanted legal proceedings against the nominated suspects over terrorism, murder charges and criminal conspiracy.

DIG Raza also told Dawn.com, “The prime suspect has confessed to the crime in a recorded video message.”

On Friday, the DIG constituted a special team under the supervision of the South senior superintendent of police to arrest the suspects who murdered the advocate and injured his son.

He had added that the prime suspect was the son of a police constable deployed for Islam’s security in the past, as witnesses heard him saying that he had taken “revenge” for the murder of his father.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Karachi Bar Association condemned the murder of Islam and announced that its members would not appear before any court today to express solidarity with the slain senior lawyer.