Blaze News - Pakistan

A great power rests on three pillars: military, diplomacy and economy. Pakistan has achieved many milestones on the military and diplomatic fronts. Two recent events further reinforced our strength. First, the decisive victory in Operation Bunyan Marsoos strengthened Pakistan's credentials as a formidable military power. It elevated Pakistan's global profile. Countries began to show keen interest in establishing military linkages with Pakistan. Our military leadership was invited around the world to share our experiences and expertise. It also opened the door to the sale of military equipment, weapons and fighter jets. The Saudi Arabia-Pakistan defence pact is also derived from this victory. Many countries have shown interest in strengthening security and military cooperation with Pakistan. Simultaneously, Pakistan was blessed with another major trump: mediation between Iran and the US. Pakistan brokered a ceasefire at a time when the world was counting down to the outbr...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), being the lender of last resort for countries in balance-of-payments crisis or in danger of default, almost always ties its bailouts to excessive austerity measures. Its loans are tied, to use IMF jargon, to "structural adjustment programmes" and "conditionality". These programmes centre on raising taxes and/or spurring tax rate reductions, balancing the budget at all costs, devaluing the currency and increasing interest rates. Such anti-growth policies, delivered in line with IMF diktat, have been shown in the majority of cases to have actually increased the country's dependence on the IMF over time. Just think of what has happened in Argentina, Pakistan, Ecuador, Egypt or Ghana. Since 1980, the conditionality-induced structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) have become a major part of the standard crisis-management and post-crisis economic reform toolkit. According to the IMF, these reforms aim at restoring or mainta...

The Punjab government’s body camera initiative in public hospitals, aimed at improving healthcare services, strengthening staff accountability, and ensuring faster complaint resolution, is being projected as a major reform in the province’s health system. However, months after its launch, the project continues to face scrutiny over its cost, contract details, data security measures, and protection of patient privacy, while full-scale implementation remains incomplete. On the instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the government decided this year to introduce body-worn cameras in public hospitals. The pilot phase began in Lahore’s major teaching hospitals, including Mayo Hospital, Services Hospital, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore General Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, and Children's Hospital Lahore. Initially, pharmacists, security personnel, storekeepers, and some paramedical staff were provided with cameras, with plans to expand the program to other...

The Pakistan Peoples Party announced on Saturday that it and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had come to an agreement on forming the next government in Gilgit-Baltistan together.  In a post on X, the PPP said: "Following detailed consultations, mutual trust and consensus between the local leadership and organisations of the PPP and PML-N in Gilgit-Baltistan, a decision has been made to form a government under political collaboration. Both parties have expressed their resolve to move forward together, prioritising political stability, public welfare and well-being, and the promotion of democratic values." گلگت بلتستان میں پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی اور مسلم لیگ (ن) کی مقامی قیادت اور تنظیموں کے درمیان تفصیلی مشاورت، باہمی اعتماد اور اتفاقِ رائے کے بعد سیاسی اشتراک کے تحت حکومت کے قیام کا فیصلہ کیا گیا ہے، دونوں جماعتوں نے سیاسی استحکام، عوامی فلاح و بہبود اور جمہوری اقدار کے فروغ کو… pic.twitter.com/w9JRfdCk62 — Pakistan Peoples Party - PPP (@PPP_...

Nine people remain in a critical condition following a train crash on Friday near Bedford, about ​100 kilometres north of London, in which ‌the driver of one of the services was killed. Two passenger trains bound for London collided at around 5:15pm local ​time (1615 GMT) on Friday. The driver of one ​of the trains died at the scene. Providing an ⁠update on those injured in the crash on ​Saturday, British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D'Orsi said ​more than 80 people had received hospital treatment on Friday night. "As of this morning, 28 remain in hospital, and nine are ​in a critical condition," she said. Investigators were working to ​establish what caused the accident, D'Orsi added. Read More: Racing cars collision leaves four dead A video posted on social ‌media ⁠by one of the passengers on Friday showed what appeared to be the damaged front of one train entangled with the back of another, with the ​carriages remaining uprigh...

Norway is imposing a near ban on the use of generative AI tools by elementary school pupils while also restricting their use in the education of older children to prevent a negative impact on learning, the country’s prime minister said on Friday. Facing a broad decline in education test scores, the government in 2024 banned smartphones from schools and gave teachers more powers to enforce discipline in the classroom. Using AI increases the risk that young children skip important steps in their education, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told a press conference. “The most important thing in school is that our children learn to read, write and do mathematics,” Store said, adding that the new standards will be imposed from the new school year beginning in late August. Read More: The Indian workers training AI robots to take their jobs Pupils from first through seventh grade (ages 6 to 13) should generally not use AI, while those in lower secondary school (ages 14...