Author: newsdesk

  • Urgent cabinet meeting called ahead of SC verdict on election in Punjab, KP

    Urgent cabinet meeting called ahead of SC verdict on election in Punjab, KP

    The federal cabinet has been summoned for an emergency meeting for the second time in less than 24 hours today.

    The meeting, scheduled for 1pm today at Parliament House, comes after the upcoming announcement of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Punjab and KP elections delay case.

    This will be the second cabinet meeting in a row, following a previous one held on Monday at 8pm.

    During the meeting, the federal cabinet made the decision to withdraw the services of SC Registrar Ishrat Ali, following a letter by Justice Qazi Faez Isa seeking to remove him from office by the cabinet division.

  • Gold price in Pakistan increases to Rs209,500 per tola on weak rupee and global trends

    Gold price in Pakistan increases to Rs209,500 per tola on weak rupee and global trends

    Gold prices in Pakistan increased on Monday, following global trends and a potential boost from a weakening rupee. As a result, yellow metal became more expensive, prompting traders to be cautious on the eve of a monetary policy meeting. According to data released by the All-Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association (APSGJA), the price of 24-carat gold increased by Rs1,200 per tola and Rs1,028 per 10 grams, settling at Rs209,500 and Rs164,645 respectively.

    In the inter-bank market, the rupee depreciated 0.44 per cent against the dollar on Monday, settling at 285.04, a loss of Rs1.25 according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). As inflation in Pakistan spirals out of control, the SBP is expected to raise the policy rate by 100-200 basis points. In March, consumer price inflation in Pakistan rose to a record 35.37 per cent from the previous year.

    Gold is commonly viewed as a hedge against inflation, increasing in value as the purchasing power of the dollar decreases. In Pakistan, March’s monthly inflation surpassed predictions, reaching almost an all-time high of 35.4 per cent compared to the previous year. This has resulted in many individuals experiencing financial difficulty as the cost of living continues to outstrip average incomes. Last month, the central bank raised the policy rate by 300 basis points to 20 per cent.

    On Monday, world gold prices rebounded as the dollar trimmed its initial gains, which were driven by bets that OPEC’s surprise output cuts could raise global energy prices and cause central banks to increase interest rates. Spot gold increased by 0.5 per cent to $1,977.43 per ounce by 1206 GMT, with US gold futures gaining 0.4 per cent to $1,994.50. Earlier in the session, gold hit a one-week low of $1,949.54.

    However, when interest rates are raised to curb rising price pressures, the appeal of gold as an asset diminishes as it does not pay interest. In the domestic market, silver prices increased by Rs80 per tola and Rs68.59 per 10 grams, settling at their all-time highs of Rs2,350 and Rs2,014.47 respectively. While the international prices of silver fell 0.3 per cent to $24.01 per ounce, platinum was also down 0.3 per cent to $988.60, and palladium rose 0.7 per cent to $1,470.72.

  • Ramzan Miracle: ‘Mystery baby’ from Turkey earthquake reunited with mother previously declared dead

    Turkey’s ‘miracle baby’, rescued after nearly 128 hours under the rubble in the Turkey earthquake, has been reunited with her mother who was previously believed to be dead.

    The baby was handed over to her mother Yasemin Begdas at a hospital in the city of Adana, where she is receiving treatment.

    The baby had been named Gizem (Mystery) by the medical authorities who took care of her.

    “54 days of longing is over. Vetin Begdaş, who was rescued from the wreckage after 128 hours and named Gizem Bebek by our nurses, was reunited with her mother after 54 days. Vetin is now our baby too. As the Ministry, our support will always be with you,” Turkey’s Ministry of Family and Social Services, Derya Yanık tweeted.

    The baby’s father and two brothers lost their lives in the earthquake. The death toll from the February 6 earthquake and subsequent tremors in Turkey and Syria has risen to at least 44,000 according to Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

  • City Police Officer Islamabad directs all SHOs to disclose assets

    City Police Officer Islamabad directs all SHOs to disclose assets

    On Sunday, City Police Officer (CPO) Operations Syed Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari instructed all station house officers (SHOs) to disclose their assets. The CPO also directed that biometric attendance should be ensured in all wings of the operations division, and biometric machines should be installed as soon as possible.

    He added that the weekly performance of each officer will be reviewed, and investigation officers should meet plaintiffs in all cases. These instructions were given at a meeting held to review crime and performance at the divisional level, which was chaired by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan.

    It is worth noting that police officers across the country, especially SHOs, face allegations of corruption due to the unlimited powers they hold as the head of police stations. CPO Bukhari urged present and former SHOs to work together to make a concrete action plan to deal with crime, with the main target being criminals and proclaimed offenders. He also instructed the officers to ensure the cleanliness of police stations and to make the patrolling system more efficient.

    According to Dawn, the IGP reviewed the crime performance at the divisional level and directed officers to adopt comprehensive strategies to prevent crime in their respective areas. He suggested that safe city monitoring should be implemented at the police station level to help SHOs trace criminal elements early. The IGP also instructed SHOs to spend more time in police stations and a special plan should be made to eliminate serious crimes, especially street crime, and drug trafficking, particularly in educational institutions. The details of buyers of stolen goods should also be collected, and postmortems should be done on every dead body.

    Moreover, the IGP urged the acceleration of the crackdown on illegal weapons, and the completion of challans of under-investigation cases as soon as possible and submitted to relevant courts. He also emphasised that more personnel were being provided in police stations, and special campaigns against offenders should continue, with offenders brought to justice. The IGP also listened to the problems of all the SHOs and promised to solve them on a priority basis.

  • Supreme Court reserves decision over postponement of Punjab and KP elections

    The Supreme Court has reserved its decision over Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) elections and will announce the decision tomorrow (Tuesday).

    The hearing of the case has been going on for the past week with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanding immediate elections.

    On February 22, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial took a suo motu notice of the delay in elections, forming a larger bench to hear the case but later many top judges excused themselves from the hearing.

    Today, the hearing was headed by a three-judge bench comprising Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Bandial.

    Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lawyers Irfan Qadir and Sajeel Swati, PTI lawyer Ali Zafar, and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) counsel Farooq H. Naek were present in the courtroom.

    At the outset of the hearing, Naek came to the rostrum. Justice Bandial asked the lawyer if PPP had ended its boycott against the court hearing to which the latter replied that he had not boycotted the proceedings.

    Naek replied in the affirmative and said that “we never boycotted the hearing”.

    At one point during the hearing, the CJP noted that harmony among judges was crucial for the Supreme Court. He observed that while judicial proceedings were made public, consultations among judges were considered internal matters.

  • ‘We can be like Turkiye or become another Myanmar’: Khan chooses to stand with constitution

    ‘We can be like Turkiye or become another Myanmar’: Khan chooses to stand with constitution

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that Pakistan is at a turning point.

    “Today we stand at a turning point in our Constitutional history where we can be like Turkiye or become another Myanmar,” tweeted Khan.

    The PTI leader went on to say, “Everyone must choose whether they stand, as PTI does, with Constitution, Rule of Law & democracy; or with a corrupt mafia, law of the jungle & fascism.”

  • McDonald’s temporarily closes US offices ahead of layoffs announcement

    McDonald’s temporarily closes US offices ahead of layoffs announcement

    McDonald’s, the fast-food chain, will temporarily close its US offices this week to inform its corporate employees about layoffs as part of a broader company restructuring.

    Last week, the company sent an internal email to its US employees and some international staff requesting that they work from home on Monday through Wednesday to communicate staffing decisions virtually. It is currently unknown how many employees will be affected by the layoffs.

    The Chicago-based company stated in the message that it would communicate “key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization” during the week of April 3. The report also indicated that McDonald’s asked its employees to cancel all in-person meetings with vendors and other outside parties at its headquarters.

    In January, McDonald’s had previously announced that it would review corporate staffing levels as part of an updated business strategy that could result in layoffs in some areas and expansion in others.

    McDonald’s is expected to start announcing key decisions this week.

  • Subha utha nahi jata? Don’t worry, researchers back up your laziness with scientific explanation

    Subha ka alarm miss hojata hai chahe kitni dafa time set karo?

    If you can’t wake up in the morning, you’re not alone. And now you have a scientific explanation that is more respectable than good old laziness.
    Researchers have concluded that there is a logical explanation behind why you can’t seem to become a morning person- and it all boils down to the way genes function, as Wired has reported.

    Previous research done by a group of biologists who later went on to win the Noble Prize in 2017 showed that human bodies have a total of 24 genes known as the ‘period genes’ which determine the human body clock.

    Now, research published by New Communications has concluded that there are actually 351 genes, which can determine whether a person is an early bird or a night owl. According to Michael Weedon, a bioinformatics at the University of Exeter Medical School:

    “Depending on how many of those genes you carry, you can be anywhere on the scale of ‘morningness’. But our research showed that the top five per cent with the most of those 351 genes go to sleep on average 25 minutes earlier than the five per cent who carry the least.”

    Furthermore, the study further looked into where those genes are more likely to be switched on in the body, because different parts of our body carry different tissues. Samuel Jones from the University of Exeter Medical School explained:

    “The genes we found to be related to our circadian rhythms tend to be switched on a lot more in the brain and in the retina,” he explained. “This helps us map what parts of the body are important in creating morning and evening people.”

    The scientists went on to explain how the genes are activated inside our brain. In a specific zone of the hypothalamus known as suprachiasmatic nucleus (SNC), an oscillator which sets our body time of the day, in accordance to the diffferent signals it receives from the environment.

    An important signal for the SNC to activate is light, because once the retina signals that it is night time, our brain releases a sleep-inducing hormone called melatonin, which is our cue to fall asleep.

  • Govt to send one million Pakistanis abroad for employment

    Govt to send one million Pakistanis abroad for employment

    The Government of Pakistan will send 1 million citizens abroad for employment, Tikka Sani has reported for Samaa. Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Sajid Hussain Turi, while talking to Samaa said that the ministry is working on signing work visa agreements with fifty countries including Germany.

    He continued by adding that Saudi authorities are coming to Pakistan soon to issue visas and citizens who pass technical training tests will be able to get the visa.

    The minister further said that Japan has also opened visas for Pakistani workers while South Korea has a demand for 10,000 skilled workers from Pakistan.

    The Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis said that 27,000 blocked passports of overseas Pakistanis have also been restored.

  • Imran Khan ko Shah Mahmood se khatra hai, PPP leaders

    Imran Khan ko Shah Mahmood se khatra hai, PPP leaders

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders have questioned the loyalty of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi to party Chairman Imran Khan.

    Saeed Ghani has said that Quershi should never forget his past before criticising Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Qureshi was part of the PPP and a foreign minister during the party’s tenure.

    Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said that Shah Mahmood Qureshi has changed political parties according to circumstances, alleging that PPP caught him red-handed while hatching a conspiracy.

    “The biggest threat to PTI chief Imran Khan is from Shah Mahmood Qureshi,” Memon said.

    Qureshi joined PTI in 2011, one of the first big names to do so.

    Earlier, Qureshi held a press conference and criticised the PPP leadership.

    Speaking to the media in Karachi, the former foreign minister asked PPP to clear its stance on whether they are standing with the Constitution or abrogating it.