PML-N's Asif backs twelve new provinces

Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif has backed the idea of creating new administrative units in the country, but warned that such provinces should not be created on ethnic or political grounds. Talking to a private news channel on Sunday, the PML-N stalwart said Pakistan's growing population required a more effective system of governance to ensure the provision of public services. He said, "If there is a proposal for 12 provinces, then make 12 provinces, but do not create them on the basis of language, ethnicity or political interests." He also cited the example of Afghanistan where the number of provinces had been increased from around eight or 10 to more than 30. The minister said power should not remain concentrated in provincial capitals such as Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar; instead, administrative powers should be transferred to smaller units. He also criticised the existing distribution of financial resources, saying funds transferred from the Centre remained at the discretion of provincial governments. He said these funds are ultimately intended for local governments but local governments remain dependent on provincial authorities. The minister also called on politicians to reconsider their approach towards exercising authority, stating that power is a trust bestowed upon politicians by people. Referring to Pakistan's history, he recalled that the country's provinces had previously been merged under the One Unit scheme during the Ayub era, but the decision was later reversed. According to some recent reports, a proposal to reorganise Pakistan into 12 provinces was under consideration, with a nationwide referendum envisaged ahead of a possible 28th Constitutional Amendment. One of the reports claimed that the proposed arrangement could see Punjab divided into four provinces, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan into three each, and Sindh into two. Last week, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called for an end to the ongoing debate about creating new provinces, stating that the Provincial Assembly of Sindh had opposed the division of the province. On July 31, Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi while addressing a function in Islamabad claimed that the existing system had failed and needed a "reset" with the creation of new administrative units. The statement sparked a heated debate with even a number of ministers in the ruling coalition issuing statements both in support and against the idea and even Naqvi Later, on September 4, the Sindh Assembly passed a resolution rejecting all attempts to divide the province or create new administrative units, with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah declaring that "there will be no compromise on Sindh's geographical unity." However, on September 6, Naqvi renewed his call for a "reset" of Pakistan's governance system, insisting that the country needed to restructure its administrative framework. On October 3, he reiterated his stance, stating that the "country's system was about to be reset".

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Husband, relative arrested after woman allegedly electrocuted to death in Okara

A woman was allegedly tortured and electrocuted to death by her husband, with the help of his sister, brother-in-law and nephew, in Ahmed Nagar within the jurisdiction of Cantt police station. The suspects allegedly tied the woman, identified as Misbah and a mother of two, to a cot before subjecting her to an electric shock. Her in-laws reportedly attempted to portray her death as natural, but burn blisters on her feet, noticed while her body was being prepared for burial, raised suspicions about the circumstances of her death. According to Okara DPO spokesperson Irfan Sandhu Jutt, Cantt police received information that Misbah's sudden death was not natural and that she had allegedly been murdered by her husband, Tanveer, in collusion with his relatives. Read: Three of a family electrocuted The victim's mother, Faizun Nisa, alerted the police. When police reached the scene, Tanveer allegedly fled. Taking notice of the incident, DPO Dr Asad Ijaz Malhi directed the Cantt police to arrest all those involved and ensure that they were brought to justice. Acting on scientific evidence, police arrested the main suspect, Tanveer, and his brother-in-law, Asghar. Raids are under way to apprehend the remaining suspects. A case has been registered on the complaint of the victim's mother against four nominated and three unidentified suspects. Misbah's body was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Police said the findings of the autopsy would help establish the exact cause and circumstances of her death.

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Husband, relative arrested after woman allegedly electrocuted to death in Okara

A woman was allegedly tortured and electrocuted to death by her husband, with the help of his sister, brother-in-law and nephew, in Ahmed Nagar within the jurisdiction of Cantt police station. The suspects allegedly tied the woman, identified as Misbah and a mother of two, to a cot before subjecting her to an electric shock. Her in-laws reportedly attempted to portray her death as natural, but burn blisters on her feet, noticed while her body was being prepared for burial, raised suspicions about the circumstances of her death. According to Okara DPO spokesperson Irfan Sandhu Jutt, Cantt police received information that Misbah's sudden death was not natural and that she had allegedly been murdered by her husband, Tanveer, in collusion with his relatives. Read: Three of a family electrocuted The victim's mother, Faizun Nisa, alerted the police. When police reached the scene, Tanveer allegedly fled. Taking notice of the incident, DPO Dr Asad Ijaz Malhi directed the Cantt police to arrest all those involved and ensure that they were brought to justice. Acting on scientific evidence, police arrested the main suspect, Tanveer, and his brother-in-law, Asghar. Raids are under way to apprehend the remaining suspects. A case has been registered on the complaint of the victim's mother against four nominated and three unidentified suspects. Misbah's body was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Police said the findings of the autopsy would help establish the exact cause and circumstances of her death.

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POL price cut does little to ease Pindi's burden

Despite a fifth consecutive reduction in petrol and diesel prices, fares of private public transport operating on local routes in Rawalpindi and Islamabad remain unchanged, placing the burden of daily commuting costs on passengers travelling between the twin cities for work, education and labour. While inter-district and inter-provincial transport operators running services from Rawalpindi to other cities have reduced fares by between Rs50 and Rs1,000, local commuters continue to pay the previous rates. Local transport operators attribute their reluctance to reduce fares to uncertainty over fuel prices. They maintain that the latest reduction may be temporary and that if fares are lowered now and petrol or diesel prices rise again within days, they will have to increase them once more. For the time being, however, the burden of this uncertainty is being borne by local passengers, whose daily commuting expenses remain unchanged. A review of petroleum prices shows that between October 31 and November 7, petrol became cheaper by Rs31.91 per litre and high-speed diesel by Rs24.96 per litre. During this period, the price of petrol fell from Rs377.91 to Rs346 per litre, while diesel declined from Rs402.96 to Rs378 per litre. In the latest reduction, petrol prices were cut by Rs6.59 per litre and diesel by Rs4.25 per litre. The revised rates have been fixed for the period from 7 to 10 November. According to inter-city fare lists issued in Rawalpindi on November 7, Kohistan Express reduced its ticket price from Rawalpindi to Peshawar from Rs1,200 to Rs1,150, while the executive-class fare to Lahore was lowered from Rs2,500 to Rs2,400. The same fare list separately mentions discounted rates of Rs1,100 for Peshawar and Rs2,200 for Lahore. According to Crystal Lines' revised fare list, the fare from Rawalpindi to Karachi has been reduced from Rs7,600 to Rs7,300, Hyderabad from Rs7,550 to Rs7,250, and Sukkur from Rs6,050 to Rs5,800. The fare to Multan has been cut from Rs3,500 to Rs3,350, while the ticket price for Rawalakot has fallen from Rs1,100 to Rs1,050. The most significant reductions have been recorded on Safe Way Travel's routes to Sindh. The executive-class fare from Rawalpindi to Karachi has been reduced from Rs8,000 to Rs7,000, while the sleeper-class fare has fallen from Rs13,000 to Rs12,000. The executive-class ticket to Hyderabad has been reduced from Rs7,500 to Rs6,500, while fares to Khairpur and Sukkur have dropped from Rs6,000 to Rs5,000.

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PP-203 by-election set for Sunday

Seven candidates are in the running for the Punjab Assembly constituency PP-203 by-election, scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday), with 258,122 registered voters set to elect their representative amid an increasingly active political campaign. The PP-203 seat fell vacant following the death of PML-N MPA Hanif Jutt, who had been elected to the Punjab Assembly from this constituency after winning a previous by-election on November 25, 2025. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 10 candidates initially submitted nomination papers for the contest. However, three subsequently withdrew, leaving seven candidates in the field. PML-N candidate Asad Hanif Jutt is contesting on the party ticket with the election symbol of the lion, while Awais Mahmood Gujjar, representing Tehreek-e-Ehsaas Pakistan, has been allotted the streetlight symbol. The remaining five candidates are contesting as independents. The constituency has a total of 258,122 registered voters, comprising 135,728 men and 122,394 women, according to ECP figures. The number of male voters is therefore higher than that of female voters by 13,334. For the smooth conduct of polling, the ECP has established 185 polling stations across the constituency.

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Govt to issue 'smart syllabus' for Classes 9 to 12

Provincial Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat has announced that the Punjab Education Curriculum, Training and Assessment Authority (PECTAA) is expected to release a smart syllabus for students of Classes 9 to 12 on Saturday. An Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) is a revised version of curriculum in which topics, textbook exercises and less essential content are excluded or reduced for examinations. It identifies the learning areas that should receive priority while retaining essential concepts and subject knowledge. The PECTAA had previously used the approach to specify deleted topics, exercise questions, examination pairing schemes and model papers. Its curriculum portal carries documents for Grade 9 and 11 for the last annual examinations. The proposed extension covering all four secondary and higher secondary grades is important because their students are preparing for board examinations that influence their future educational opportunities. In many institutions, teachers struggle to complete the courses in the academic calendar, while students increasingly depend on private tuition and examination notes to cover the material.

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Security forces respond to unprovoked firing from Afghan border posts: DC South Waziristan

Security forces responded to unprovoked firing from Afghan border posts near Angoor Adda in South Waziristan, forcing Afghan Taliban personnel to abandon their positions, Lower South Waziristan deputy commissioner said on Sunday. In a statement on X, the deputy commissioner said Pakistani forces targeted several Afghan border posts, mortar positions and defensive positions in response to the firing. انگور اڈہ، جنوبی وزیرستان | 1 نومبر 2026 افغان سرحدی پوسٹوں سے پاکستانی سرحدی چوکیوں پر بلااشتعال فائرنگ کا سلسلہ جاری ہے۔ پاکستانی سیکیورٹی فورسز نے فوری اور مؤثر جوابی کارروائی کرتے ہوئے متعدد افغان سرحدی پوسٹوں، مارٹر پوزیشنز اور دفاعی چوکیوں کو نشانہ بنایا۔ پاکستانی فورسز کے… — Deputy Commissioner South Waziristan Lower (@dcswlower) November 1, 2026 He said Afghan Taliban personnel were forced to abandon their posts and flee following the intense response by Pakistani forces. The deputy commissioner added that no casualties had so far been reported in the Pakistani border areas. He further said Pakistani security forces were prepared to respond effectively to any form of aggression. Also Read: Pakistan slams Afghan Taliban’s 'latest fabrication of lies' on Angoor Adda clashes The latest development comes amid heightened tensions along the border in recent days. Earlier this week, clashes near Angoor Adda along the South Waziristan border left one person dead and five members of a family injured. Following the incident, the Pakistan Army said it had given an immediate, highly vigilant and strong response to the Afghan aggression by targeting Afghan Taliban checkposts. It added that the military's response to the attack on civilians was continuing. Earlier in September this year, Pakistan carried out “calibrated” air strikes against terrorist hideouts near the Afghan border and conducted intelligence-based ground operations that killed a total of 37 terrorists following a series of deadly attacks in K-P. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in a statement, said that three targets were destroyed in precision strikes, including a training centre for suicide bombers. It said 28 terrorists, along with several suicide bombers, were killed, while large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at the centres and hideouts were also destroyed. On September 24, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that Pakistan had carried out “precision” aerial and drone strikes against 10 locations in Afghanistan after drones launched from Afghan territory entered Pakistani airspace, describing the strikes as a response to a “deliberate and unlawful incursion”. Pak-Afghan tensions The development came amid fighting ​between Pakistan and Afghanistan that started in October 2025. Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring ⁠militants ​who launch attacks in Pakistan, ​although Kabul denies this, calling the militancy its neighbour's domestic problem. Amid continued tensions between the neighbours, Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched around the end of February following renewed clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, after Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation by Pakistan. The clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani air strikes targeting terrorist positions. The two sides had agreed to a week-long ceasefire on the eve of Eidul Fitr on March 18, following requests from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Pakistan in April put forth three core demands to the Afghan Taliban during peace talks in Urumqi, China, including Kabul formally declaring the TTP a terrorist organisation, dismantling its infrastructure, and providing verifiable proof of the action. These demands form the basis of Pakistan's negotiating position, which sources say has hardened amid persistent security concerns.

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