UAE launches higher education scholarship program for students from Balochistan

UAE launches higher education scholarship program for students from Balochistan
The picture posted on March 15, 2015, shows exterior view of Abu Dhabi University in Abu Dhabi, UAE. (Muhammad Hilal/Google Maps)
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Updated 26 February 2025

UAE launches higher education scholarship program for students from Balochistan

UAE launches higher education scholarship program for students from Balochistan
  • 20 boys and five girls have been selected from different districts of Balochistan after written tests
  • Balochistan has low literacy rate compared to rest of Pakistan, gender gap in education also significant

ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a higher education scholarship program for students from Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday.

Balochistan has a low literacy rate compared to the rest of Pakistan. The gender gap in education is also significant.

In 2022–2023, Balochistan’s literacy rate was 54.5 percent, the lowest in Pakistan. The literacy rate for women in Balochistan is lower than the national average. In some districts, like Washuk and Kharan, female literacy is less than 10 percent, according to official data. Across the province, only 34 percent of girls attend school, compared to 52 percent of boys. More than 60 percent of government schools in Balochistan lack electricity and 45 percent operate without clean water. Classrooms are overcrowded, with a pupil-teacher ratio of 50:1.

“The UAE has announced a scholarship program for students of Balochistan to promote higher education in the province,” Radio Pakistan reported. “Under the scholarship, 25 candidates including five girls have been selected from different districts of the province after conducting written tests.”

Students selected for the scholarship thanked the Pakistan and UAE governments for the “educational journey milestone.”

One of the girls selected for the scholarship, Husun Bano, a resident of Turbat district, said in a video message the scholarship offered her a way to fulfill her childhood dreams.

Another student identified as Malik Lehri, a resident of the provincial capital of Quetta, said he would be completing his civil engineering bachelor’s degree from Abu Dhabi University.

Earlier this month, the Balochistan government had announced fully funded scholarships for talented students from the province.

In 2018, n Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Al-Maliki announced 50 scholarships for Balochistan students to allow them to study in Saudi universities.


Pakistan officials in Dubai for two-day exchange on innovation in governance, service delivery

Pakistan officials in Dubai for two-day exchange on innovation in governance, service delivery
Updated 15 sec ago

Pakistan officials in Dubai for two-day exchange on innovation in governance, service delivery

Pakistan officials in Dubai for two-day exchange on innovation in governance, service delivery
  • Visit aims to boost cooperation with UAE on governance, competitiveness, reform
  • Pakistan, UAE share longstanding ties underpinned by strong people-to-people ties

ISLAMABAD: A senior delegation of Pakistani government officials is in Dubai this week to participate in a two-day experience exchange program aimed at learning from the UAE’s governance and public sector innovation models, Pakistan’s embassy in Abu Dhabi said on Monday.

The program, running from July 8–9, includes sessions with various UAE ministries and authorities and focuses on innovative approaches to public service delivery, competitiveness, and institutional reform. The initiative comes as Islamabad seeks to modernize its public sector and strengthen economic cooperation with the Gulf nation.

On the sidelines of the visit, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, met on Monday with Abdulla Nasser Lootah, UAE Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Experience Exchange. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to deepening collaboration in governance, reform, and digital public services.

“The Ambassador extended appreciation to the UAE Government for hosting a visiting delegation of senior Pakistani government officials,” the embassy said in a statement after Tirmizi’s meeting with Lootah.

The envoy also conveyed his gratitude on behalf of the Pakistani delegation “for the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue” with UAE colleagues. 

He also praised the Emirates for fostering “a model of inclusive development and harmony that embraces people from across the world, including the large and vibrant Pakistani diaspora.”

The ambassador noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had shown “strong interest in learning from the UAE’s successful tax automation systems to enhance Pakistan’s domestic tax collection capacity” and had directed the visiting team to fully benefit from the opportunity for knowledge-sharing.

For his part, Lootah reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to “seamless cooperation with Pakistan,” particularly in governance and innovation, the embassy statement said. He also stressed Pakistan’s potential across multiple sectors and said mutual learning could help both countries develop forward-looking policy solutions.

Pakistan and the UAE share longstanding ties underpinned by strong people-to-people connections.

More than 1.8 million Pakistanis live and work in the Emirates, which is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States, and the second-largest source of remittances after .


Survivors grieve, worry about future after deadly building collapse in Pakistan

Survivors grieve, worry about future after deadly building collapse in Pakistan
Updated 7 min 43 sec ago

Survivors grieve, worry about future after deadly building collapse in Pakistan

Survivors grieve, worry about future after deadly building collapse in Pakistan
  • The five-story building collapsed in a crowded area where many working-class and poor families live in aging apartment blocks
  • The site is now a tangle of twisted metal, shattered concrete and scattered belongings, schoolbooks, shoes and sewing machines

KARACHI: Survivors of a building collapse that killed 27 people in the Pakistani city of Karachi were trying on Monday to come to terms with the loss of loved ones and their homes.

The five-story building collapsed on Friday in the overcrowded inner-city Lyari district where many working-class and poor families live in aging apartment blocks. The site is now a tangle of twisted metal, shattered concrete and scattered belongings, schoolbooks, shoes and sewing machines.

On Monday, rescue officials said the death toll had reached 27 and dozens of people were being housed in makeshift shelters following the building’s collapse and the evacuation of nearby buildings over structural fears.

“I grew up in that building. I knew everyone who lived there,” said Imdad Hussain, 28, a fisherman who lost neighbors, childhood friends and seven members of his extended family.

Members of the media report from the ground near a five-storey residential building that collapsed on Friday, July 4, in Karachi, Pakistan, on July 7, 2025. (REUTERS)

He is now sheltering with relatives, and family members are in mourning as they try to figure out what the future holds.

“We’ve lost our home, our people. I don’t know how we’ll start again,” he said.

Officials in Karachi, the capital of the southeastern province of Sindh, said the building had received multiple evacuation notices since 2023, including a final one in late June.

Saeed Ghani, Provincial Minister of Sindh for Local Governments, said the Karachi commissioner — who oversees the city administration — had been tasked with inspecting 51 buildings identified as “extremely dangerous” to prevent similar collapses.

Personal belongings lie amid the rubble of a five-storey residential building that collapsed on Friday, July 4, in Karachi, Pakistan, on July 7, 2025. (REUTERS)

BUILDING SHOOK VIOLENTLY

Residents said the building in Lyari, which has been home to generations of working-class families from minority and migrant backgrounds, shook violently on Friday before collapsing in a cloud of dust.

Rescue workers had been digging through the debris since Friday but declared the search over late on Sunday.

They said about 100 residents from 12 families had been living in the building, and nearly 50 more families had been displaced after three neighboring buildings were declared unsafe and evacuated.

A duck walks near the pile of rubble and belongings after a five-storey residential building collapsed on Friday, July 4, in Karachi, Pakistan, on July 7, 2025. (REUTER)

Lakshmi, a school janitor who lived next door to the collapsed building, said her sister had lived in the building that came down and called moments before it fell to say it was shaking.

Her sister survived, but Lakshmi feared losing the gold she had left with her for safekeeping before her daughter’s wedding.

“We got out with our lives, but everything else is gone, with no certainty about what is to come,” Lakshmi said.


Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack

Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack
Updated 07 July 2025

Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack

Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack
  • Official says there are 584 lions and tigers in homes and breeding farms in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province
  • Keeping exotic animals as pets has been fueled by social media, with owners often showing them off as status symbols

LAHORE: Eighteen lions kept illegally as pets have been confiscated in Pakistan’s Punjab region, authorities said on Monday, as they launched a crackdown after one escaped from a house and attacked a woman and two children.

The woman suffered scratches and bruises, and the two children, aged five and seven, were hospitalized after the attack last week but their injuries were not life-threatening, provincial wildlife officials said.

The lion, which was kept without a license in a house in Lahore, was confiscated and sent to a local safari park, said Mubeen Elahi, director general of the provincial Wildlife and Parks Department. The owner was later arrested, police said.

Keeping exotic animals as pets has been fueled by social media, with owners often showing off their animals online as status symbols.

“According to the new regulations for keeping big cats, no individual is allowed to keep a lion without a license, without adhering to the required cage size, and without following other standard operating procedures,” Elahi said.

The punishment is up to seven years in jail.

As well as confiscating the 18 animals, the department raided 38 lion and tiger breeding farms and arrested eight people for violating the rules, he said, adding that all farms will be inspected by the end of this week.

There are 584 lions and tigers in homes and breeding farms in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, he said.

“I know plenty of people who keep big cats as pets,” said Qaim Ali, 30, who himself had a lion but sold it after it attacked his nephew.

“Most of them are not interested in breeding but keep them as a symbol of power and influence in society.”


Etisalat CEO reaffirms investment commitment to Pakistan in meeting with deputy PM

Etisalat CEO reaffirms investment commitment to Pakistan in meeting with deputy PM
Updated 07 July 2025

Etisalat CEO reaffirms investment commitment to Pakistan in meeting with deputy PM

Etisalat CEO reaffirms investment commitment to Pakistan in meeting with deputy PM
  • UAE telecom giant expresses interest in ICT expansion as Pakistan pushes for digital growth
  • Meeting comes amid stalled PTCL privatization process over unresolved asset transfer issue

ISLAMABAD: The chief executive of UAE-based telecom firm Etisalat met Pakistan’s deputy prime minister in Islamabad on Monday and reaffirmed the group’s long-term investment commitment to the country, Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar hosted Etisalat Group CEO Hatem Dowidar and a high-level delegation that included top Pakistani officials from the IT, commerce, and privatization ministries, as well as the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

Dar highlighted Pakistan’s “growing digital economy and the government’s commitment to fostering a business-friendly environment. He invited Etisalat Group to expand its investments in the country’s ICT and telecom sectors,” a statement from the foreign ministry said. 

Dowidar “appreciated the Government of Pakistan’s consistent support” and expressed interest in contributing to the country’s digital connectivity and growth goals, the statement added.

Etisalat currently owns a 26 percent stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), a former state-owned enterprise that was partially privatized in 2006. However, the transaction has been mired in disputes, with Etisalat withholding $800 million of the sale price over issues related to the transfer of properties promised as part of the deal.

Pakistan’s repeated efforts to fully privatize PTCL have faced delays due to the unresolved asset transfer issue and lack of consensus on valuation. The government has said resolving the matter with Etisalat is crucial for moving forward with broader privatization goals, especially under commitments tied to IMF-supported economic reforms.
 


Pakistan army chief rejects Indian claims of Chinese help in May conflict

Pakistan army chief rejects Indian claims of Chinese help in May conflict
Updated 07 July 2025

Pakistan army chief rejects Indian claims of Chinese help in May conflict

Pakistan army chief rejects Indian claims of Chinese help in May conflict
  • In early May, the two sides engaged in a four-day war involving drones, missiles and artillery fire
  • Top Indian general has said China gave Pakistan “live inputs” about key Indian military positions

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief on Monday rejected recent Indian military claims Islamabad received real-time support from China during the May 2025 conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, calling the insinuations “factually incorrect” and a “shoddy attempt” to deflect from its battlefield failures.

The remarks came during an address by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, to graduating officers at the National Defense University in Islamabad.

Last week, Indian Army Deputy Chief Lt. Gen. Rahul Singh alleged at a defense forum in New Delhi that during the May fighting, China had provided Pakistan with “live inputs” about key Indian military positions. Singh did not detail the evidence behind the claim.

In an interview with Arab News last month, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif denied any direct Chinese military involvement during the May 7-10 conflict.

“Insinuations regarding external support in Pakistan’s successful Operation Bunyan Al Marsoos are irresponsible and factually incorrect,” Munir said, according to a statement from the military’s media wing, referring to the name of the Pakistani military response to Indian attacks on May 10.

He described the allegations as reflecting “a chronic reluctance to acknowledge indigenous capability and institutional resilience developed over decades of strategic prudence.”

“Naming other states as participants in the purely bilateral military conflagration is also a shoddy attempt at playing camp politics and desperately trying that India remains the beneficiary of larger geopolitical contestation as the so-called net security provider in a region which is getting increasingly weary of its hegemonic and extremist Hindutva ideology.”

Munir said India’s failure to achieve its stated goals during the conflict highlighted shortcomings in planning and capability.

“India’s inability to achieve its stated military objectives during Operation Sindoor, and the subsequent attempt to rationalize this shortfall through convoluted logic, speaks volumes about its lack of operational readiness and strategic foresight,” he said.

The Indian government and military have not yet responded to Munir’s remarks. 

Tensions between the two countries escalated after a deadly April 2025 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the assault, which Islamabad denied.

In early May, the two sides engaged in a four-day war involving drones, missiles, and artillery fire — their worst clash in decades — before a ceasefire was brokered by the United States.

Pakistan said its armed forces launched Operation Bunyan Al Marsoos in response to Indian strikes on civilian and military infrastructure. India, for its part, claimed it had targeted militant camps and infrastructure inside Pakistan.

In his speech, Munir warned that any future misadventure would be met with a swift and forceful response.

“Any attempt to target our population centers, military bases, economic hubs and ports will instantly invoke a ‘deeply hurting and more than reciprocal response,’” he said. “The onus of escalation will squarely lie on the strategically blind, arrogant aggressor.”