Author: newsdesk

  • BBZ is going to India next month for the Shanghai Cooperation Org

    BBZ is going to India next month for the Shanghai Cooperation Org

    In a major diplomatic development, Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will be visiting India to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which is set to take place on May 4-5 in Goa, India, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has confirmed.

    The minister is going to India at the invitation of the country’s External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

    Pakistan is currently preparing for the meeting.

    It is pertinent to mention that Bilawal’s visit to India will be the first by a Pakistani foreign minister in nearly 12 years. In 2011, the then-top Pakistani diplomat, Hina Rabbani Khar, now Bhutto-Zardari’s deputy in the foreign ministry, visited India.

    If Bilawal’s visit goes as per plan, it is likely that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit India too for the summit, reports Express Tribune.

    ​Bilawal also attended the last meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in July last year in Tashkent.

    The SCO is a regional political and security bloc whose members include Russia, China, India and Pakistan.

  • Pakistan places first order for discounted Russian crude oil

    Pakistan places first order for discounted Russian crude oil

    Pakistan has placed its first order for discounted Russian crude oil under a new deal negotiated between Pakistan and Russia, following months of discussions.

    State Minister for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, confirmed that one cargo will dock at Karachi port in May.

    Pakistan will only purchase crude oil, not refined oil, and imports are expected to reach 100,000 barrels per day if the initial transaction goes smoothly. Pakistan’s Refinery Limited (PRL) will initially refine the Russian crude, with other refineries to be included after a trial run.

    A delegation from Russia arrived in Pakistan earlier this month to discuss the payment mode. During these talks, the Russian side requested that the deal with Moscow be kept secret as they do not want the disclosure to other Russian crude buyer countries.

    Consequently, Pakistan’s top officials decided not to disclose the mode of payment and the exact discount. Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov led a delegation to Islamabad in January to hold talks on the deal, after which he said oil exports to Pakistan could begin after March.

  • Boycott? PML-N decides not to give tickets for Punjab election

    Boycott? PML-N decides not to give tickets for Punjab election

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided not to issue tickets to any candidate for the general elections in Punjab.

    According to news reports, PML-N leadership has decided that the nomination papers of the party candidates will not be withdrawn for now. The party will give tickets after the Supreme Court gives its verdict. For now, it has been decided not to issue party tickets till the court decision is announced.

    It is also reported that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif will decide whether his party will participate in the upcoming elections or not.

    In the light of the court decision, there is a possibility of calling an important consultative meeting after Eid ul Fitr.

    According to the election schedule, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has to allot party symbols to the candidates today.

  • Har maidan main Fateh; King Babar is just one win away from breaking T20I record

    Har maidan main Fateh; King Babar is just one win away from breaking T20I record

    Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is just one win away from breaking another record in T20 internationals.

    Babar will have the opportunity to write his name in history as the captain with the most number of wins when his side meets New Zealand in the fourth T20I at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday (today).

    Currently, Babar is the joint-holder of this record with Afghanistan’s Asghar Afghan and England’s Eoin Morgan after 42 wins. The 28-year-old has captained the Green Shirts in 69 T20 Internationals.

    Under his captaincy, Pakistan reached the semifinals of two successive T20 World Cups — 2021 and 2022 — and finished as runner-ups in the latter.

    During the second T20I against the Black Caps, Babar scored his third T20I century at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

    Babar is close to breaking the record of Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma, who currently tops the International Cricket Council (ICC) list with four centuries.

    He is the only Pakistan batter with more than one ton in the format. The hundred puts Babar close to the top of the list of batters with the most T20I tons.

    During the match, Babar managed to score a half-century on merely 36 balls and then slammed 51 runs off the next 22 deliveries, including 36 runs off the last three overs.

    Babar smashed James Neesham for two fours and a six in the last over, completing 100 runs off the final ball of the innings.

  • ‘Trying to update our software’: Khan says reign of terror controlled by other force, not PDM

    ‘Trying to update our software’: Khan says reign of terror controlled by other force, not PDM

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chair­man Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that the “reign of terror” that his party was going through was not controlled by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) but by another force that sees itself as above the law.

    In a series of tweets Khan said, “The way we have descended into becoming a banana republic where there is no Rule of Law & only law of the jungle, it is clear that this reign of terror is not controlled by PDM puppets but by another force that sees itself totally above the law.”

    “Our ppl are abducted & afterwards sham FIRs are registered. As bail in one FIR is granted, another FIR pops up. I have over 145 FIRs against me. Its a circus of FIRs. My Bani Gala caretaker, my Zaman Park cook, our social media’s Mashwani, Waqas & my security incharge Ghumman – all abducted & tortured to try & update their software.”

    “Ali Amin got bail in one sham case, & another FIR popped up & now another one with police taking him to Lahore.”

    “Despite his falling ill on the way & being taken to hospital, he was removed from hospital before he had stabilised. Now total fascism prevails.”

  • Proposed cross-fuel subsidy plan fails to impress IMF, causing delays in bailout program

    Proposed cross-fuel subsidy plan fails to impress IMF, causing delays in bailout program

    In a bid to fulfil promises made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Ministry of Finance is prepared to strongly oppose a draft summary proposed by the Ministry of Petroleum on the provision of cross-fuel subsidy.

    The proposed subsidy would involve increasing petroleum product prices by Rs75 per litre for all vehicles with engines of 1,000cc or more, in order to subsidize petrol for vehicles of 800cc and motorbikes. The draft summary was circulated among different ministries for comments before the upcoming Economic Coordination Committee meeting.

    An official from the finance ministry stated that the petrol scheme was still at the draft stage, and the ministry was preparing its comments and consulting with the IMF. The official recalled that a similar scheme had been proposed during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government but could not be implemented.

    Former finance minister Miftah Ismail had also allocated Rs48 billion on account of the Sasta Petrol Scheme in the last budget, but these resources were diverted towards flood-affected areas. The official added that such a scheme could not be implemented transparently in Pakistan, and the ministry would send its official comments soon.

    In March, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the government’s plans for fuel pricing. While economists warned the decision could hinder a crucial IMF payout needed to prevent economic collapse, the government said that it was a scheme, not a subsidy.

    The IMF officials were quick to share that the Pakistani government did not consult the global lender on its petrol subsidy for low-income groups before the announcement. The Fund has asked the Pakistani authorities to provide more details about the petrol relief package causing more delay in the signing of the staff-level agreement.

    Pakistan has been trying to convince the Washington-based lender to release the next tranche of the bailout programme since the IMF funding stalled in November, hit by snags over fiscal policy adjustments after officials of the lender visited Islamabad in February for talks. They formed part of a ninth review exercise on a bailout package of $6.5 billion agreed upon in 2019 whose resumption is critical for Pakistan to avoid risking default on external payment obligations.

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  • Nine Pakistani pilgrims killed in road accident in Saudi Arabia

    Nine Pakistani pilgrims killed in road accident in Saudi Arabia

    A road accident near the Al-Qassim area in Saudi Arabia has resulted in the deaths of nine Pakistani citizens, including women and children. Additionally, five Umrah pilgrims were injured in the accident.

    The victims were returning to Riyadh from Madina after performing Umrah.

    According to reports, the individuals who lost their lives in the accident were from neighbouring villages, namely Islamnagar and Chak 18, located in the Nankana Sahib area. The individuals were in Saudi Arabia on visit visas

  • ‘Enough’; Saeeda Imtiaz slams critics for saying death rumor was publicity stunt

    ‘Enough’; Saeeda Imtiaz slams critics for saying death rumor was publicity stunt

    On Tuesday, actress Saeeda Imtiaz made national headlines when it was reported that she had passed away at her home. Later in the day, the ‘Tamasha ghar’ actor and her legal representative slammed the rumors to confirm that she was alive. The news reports had been released after the actress’ Instagram page posted an announcement of her death.

    Saeeda Imtiaz said that a group of hackers had posted fake news on her Instagram and Facebook accounts leading her family and friends to become extremely upset, as they kept calling her to confirm the news.

    Television host Mathira had slammed Imtiaz for refusing to come forward with details, calling this a badly staged publicity stunt, in a screenshot shared by Galaxy Lollywood.

    Taking to her Instagram account, Imtiaz criticised those who were claiming that this was a publicity stunt, pointing out that the incident was traumatising for her, especially listening to news sources saying that she had passed away. She called for the critics to be mindful of their actions, because no one knows about how their life would turn out.

  • After ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Twilight’ is coming to television screens

    Hold on tight, spider monkeys.

    It seems like we’re heading back to 2008 again. ‘Harry Potter’ is set to be adapted into a television series and now the popular young adult fantasy romance series ‘The Twilight Saga’, written by Stephenie Meyer, is going to get a television adaptation as well.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project is in the early stages of development at Lionsgate Television and has already gotten a script writer, Sinead Daly. Sources are already saying that Daly is working with the production house on the angle the series should take, and whether it will be a remake or completely divert from Meyer’s books.

    The news has arrived just after HBO Max announced that a television series based on the ‘Harry Potter’ series is officially in the works, with writer J.K Rowling set to work as executive producer.

  • UAE astronaut shares stunning video of Makkah, Madina from space

    UAE astronaut shares stunning video of Makkah, Madina from space

    United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi has shared a stunning video of Makkah, Madina and Jeddah sparkling in the night as seen from space. 

    AlNeyadi has been posting images on his Twitter account since he went off to space in March. 

    In his latest Twitter post, AlNeyadi wrote: “Dedication to the country of the Two Holy Mosques, the landing site of revelation and the land of the message, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

    The video shows a clear image of twinkling lights and many roads. 

    “This is the city of Jeddah, often referred to as the Bride of the Red Sea,” says AlNeyadi as he moves the camera towards the second city. “… the holy city of Makkah, where the message of Islam took root with the Prophet (PBUH).” 

    AlNeyadi then points out the light from the Masjid Al Haram which can be seen shining bright even from space. 

    “They are shining like stars, and it is one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen,” he wrote.