Category: Uncategorized

  • Pakistani rupee surges 0.43% versus US dollar in inter-bank trading

    Pakistani rupee surges 0.43% versus US dollar in inter-bank trading

    The Pakistani rupee displayed resilience against the US dollar, registering a noteworthy 0.43 per cent appreciation in the early hours of trading within the inter-bank market on Friday.

    By 11:15 am, the rupee had reached a level of 296.68, marking a substantial increase of Rs1.28 in the inter-bank market.

    In contrast, on the previous Wednesday, the rupee had demonstrated a 0.29 per cent appreciation, ultimately settling at 297.96.

    Concurrently, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) opted to maintain the key policy rate at 22 per cent, anticipating a future decline in inflation.

    This decision mirrors the MPC’s stance during the preceding meeting, indicating a consistent status quo in the policy rate despite market expectations of a potential rate hike.

    Internationally, the US dollar maintained relative stability in the Asian market on Friday, slightly retreating from its recent gains against other currencies. This shift coincided with the strengthening of the yuan, driven by positive economic data from China.

    The US dollar’s surge was driven by an unexpected increase of 0.6 per cent in August retail sales, surpassing the estimated 0.2 per cent rise. Additionally, market participants reacted to the European Central Bank’s 25-basis-point hike.

    While the US dollar index currently stands at 105.32, marginally lower than Thursday’s six-month peak of 105.43, it still maintains its overall strength.

    Furthermore, oil prices experienced an uptick on Friday, marking their third consecutive weekly gain. This rise was influenced by better-than-expected Chinese economic data and reports indicating record oil consumption, reinforcing the belief in continued high demand from the world’s second-largest crude consumer.

  • Economic crisis: 95 per cent of Pakistanis fear unemployment

    Economic crisis: 95 per cent of Pakistanis fear unemployment

    In Pakistan, 95 per cent of Pakistanis are worried about the possibility of unemployment, while only 5% are confident of job security.

    Apsus Pakistan’s new survey, based on public opinion, says that there has been a clear increase in the rate of Pakistanis claiming to be unemployed in the last one year.

    According to the survey, 95 per cent of Pakistanis are afraid of unemployment due to the country’s economic conditions, while only 5 percent are confident of job security.

    In the survey, 63 per cent said that they, or someone they know, lost their job; and 99 per cent claimed that it was difficult to buy daily necessities, while 99 per cent were not confident about buying a house or a car.

    About 96 per cent of Pakistanis expressed their inability to save and invest to meet their financial needs in the future.

  • Asad Umar gets pre-arrest bail in cipher case; Qureshi, Imran bail pleas rejected

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar got pre-arrest bail in US cipher case from a special court on Thurday. On the other hand, PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s bail pleas got rejected in the same case while their judicial remand has been extended till September 26.

    Special prosecutor Shah Khawar told the judge Abul Hasnat that Umar’s arrest is not necessary at this stage.

    “Asad Umar’s arrest is not required in the case as yet and no evidence against him has been gathered as of now,” Shah Khawar told the judge, adding that if investigators found evidence against the former finance minister, he would be informed.

    “If Asad Umar’s arrest is required, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will proceed according to law,” the judge ordered.

    Judge Hasnat also instructed FIA to inform Asad Umar before arresting him.

  • Environmental Protection Agency seals brick kilns, impounds cars

    Environmental Protection Agency seals brick kilns, impounds cars

    In a crackdown by the Rawalpindi Environmental Protection Department, 12 brick kilns and six stone crushing units have been sealed while 33 vehicles have been seized for violating environmental laws.

    Express Tribune reported that as per a spokesperson, the purpose of the operation is to counter increasing smog in the region.

    Authorities also identified numerous dengue larvae breeding sites during the operation, and filed cases against 35 property owners, sealing 20 properties.

    The operation was conducted by Environment Protection Department Deputy Director Maria Safeer, Senior Inspector Romaisa Babar and inspectors Maqbool Hussain, Mohsen Shah and Inamul Haque.

    After inspecting 350 vehicles, 124 smoke-emitting cars were issued challans by the authorities, 33 were impounded, and a total fine of Rs228,800 was imposed.

    Similarly, 152 brick kilns were thoroughly examined which revealed that 18 of them were emitting excessive smoke.

    Cases against seven kiln owners have also been filed.

    Additionally, eight hospitals received notices for contributing to pollution, with two of them being charged accordingly.

  • ‘Aliens’ presented in Mexican Senate

    ‘Aliens’ presented in Mexican Senate

    Mexican senators have been presented with supposed remains of “non-human” mummies as a witness stated, “we are not alone” in the universe.

    Two withered bodies were presented before Mexican Senators on Tuesday, simultaneous to a video footage of “unexplained anomalous phenomena” by Jaime Maussan, a sports journalist turned UFO enthusiast.

    Claiming that the remains were more than 1,000 years old, Maussan said they belonged to “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution”.

    “It’s the queen of all evidence,” Maussan claimed. “That is, if the DNA is showing us that they are non-human beings and that there is nothing that looks like this in the world, we should take it as such.”

    However, previous claims by Maussan about mummies found in Nazca, Peru, in 2017, turned out to be false. Tuesday’s hearing, organised by Sergio Gutiérrez Luna -a lawmaker from the governing Morena party- included participants from around the world who made calls for transparency and international cooperation.

    Maussan proposed that Mexico could become the first country to accept the existence of aliens.
    Gutiérrez Luna, however, said that Congress did not have a stance on the theories as of yet but he also highlighted the importance of listening to “all voices, all opinions”.

    Well-known politicians, such as US Republican senator Marco Rubio, have pushed for more disclosure, and in 2022 Barack Obama told CBS that the government has “footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don’t know exactly what they are, we can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory”.

  • Judges disagreement only on constitutional cases coming to court: CJP Bandial

    Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Atta Bandial has said on Wednesday that judges of the apex court only disagree on whether constitutional cases should come to the Supreme Court (SC) or not.

    While addressing a ceremony hosted by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in his honour, the Chief Justice said that judges only disagree on whether constitutional cases should come directly to the apex court or not. “There is no contradiction amongst us on constitutional principles,” he stated, emphasizing that the apex court and judiciary are the protectors of the constitution.

    A large numbers of lawyers along with nearly all SC judges attended the farewell dinner ceremony, however, Justices Yahya Afridi and Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi didn’t attend the event.

    CJP Bandial is going to retire on September 16, while Justice Qazi Faez Isa will be the next CJP, joining office on September 17.

  • 10-year-old Fatima case: Suspect Asad Shah appears in court

    10-year-old Fatima case: Suspect Asad Shah appears in court

    Pir Asad Shah, compounder Imtiaz and driver Ijaz were produced in an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in the rape and suspicious death of 10-year-old Fatima in Ranipur Haveli, Khairpur.

    The suspects were produced in the court after the completion of seven day physical remand.

    According to the Khairpur police, the investigation has not been completed yet, so they will seek further remand.

    Khairpur police has also said that Hina Shah and father Fayaz Shah, also accused in the case, are still on the run.

    Fatima’s case

    A domestic maid, 10-year-old child Fatima Phuriro, was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Ranipur.

    The child had been working as a domestic worker at a haveli owned by an influential local, Pir Asad Shah Jilani.

    Fatima’s mother, Shabana, was informed about the death by the employer who asked her to remove the body from the premises where two of Fatima’s sisters were also employed.

    According to DIG Sukkur Javed Jiskani, the parents initially did not share the facts of the case with the police and claimed that the girl was suffering from gastroenteritis. While her diagnosis was also confirmed by Dr Abdul Fatah Memon who treated her, the DIG revealed that Fatima was taken to the hospital either by the Pir or his staff and that the SHO was present at the time she was pronounced dead.

    It was not until videos of the child were leaked by an unknown source and circulated in social media that the case caught media’s eye. By then, the family had buried Fatima on August 15.

    The body was later exhumed and sent for an autopsy which revealed that the girl had been raped both vaginally and anally.

  • Weird that specific party knows election date, says Bilawal Bhutto

    Weird that specific party knows election date, says Bilawal Bhutto

    The chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has said on Wednesday that it’s weird that only one party knows the election date.
    Bilawal Bhutto didn’t take the name of any party, but his statement was about the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as President Arif Alvi proposed November 6 as the date for the country’s general elections in response to the appeal from his party.
    The former foreign minister also said that one party cannot resolve the issues in the country. “All parties will have to sit together to take the country out of this crisis.”

    “The PPP is answerable for its ministries and the PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement] for its own,” Bilawal added.
    “As far as the PTI is concerned, those who were involved in the May 9 attacks, it is very difficult for us [to hold talks with them],” Bilawal said, adding, “An incompetent and ineligible prime minister was imposed due to which [country] had to face a crisis at the economic and foreign level.”

  • Sara Sharif’s father, stepmother arrested in UK

    Sara Sharif’s father, stepmother arrested in UK

    10-year-old Sara Sharif’s father Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool, and her uncle flew back to the UK as law enforcing agencies in Pakistan kept pursuing them. The trio has been arrested from Gatwick Airport where they surrendered to the police, BBC has reported.

    Raja Haq Nawaz, a lawyer for Urfan Sharif’s father Muhammad Sharif, told DAWN that the suspects were not arrested and that their flight left from Sialkot, Punjab.

    Previously, Jhelum police shifted Urfan Sharif’s five children to the Child Protection Bureau after a local court granted permission to the police to do so. The children were to be in the Bureau’s custody till the parents were found and arrested.

    A day before that, Sharif’s children, found in their grandfather’s house, were taken into protective custody by the police as the hunt continued for their father and stepmother.

    RPO Khurram Ali claimed that police is “conducting raids at possible hideouts for their arrests”.

    He had also clarified that the three suspects will not be able to flee Pakistan as FIA’s Immigration Wing had put staff on alert at all airports.

    The couple also released a video in which Batool touched upon media reporting of Sara’s death, claiming that they both will cooperate with UK authorities, and that they were on the run in Pakistan because the family feared that the Pakistan police will torture and kill them.

    The Case
    On August 10, 10-year-old Sara Sharif was found dead in her home in Woking, England, when her father, Urfan Sharif, called 999 from Pakistan.

    Nadeem Riaz, shop owner and a travelling agent, has known Sharif for 11 years.
    During an interview with The Times, he recalled that on August 8, he booked a one-way tickets to Pakistan on urgent basis, claiming that his cousin died.

    On August 9, Sharif, his wife Beinash Batool, their five children and Sharif’s brother Faisal Malik left for Islamabad from the UK on a British Airways flight.

    The next day, Urfan Sharif called 999 after which the police found Sara’s body at home. Surrey Police then began an investigation along with international partners. The same day, after arriving at Islamabad, the family travelled to Jhelum. The police kept on tracking them as they left for Domeli late on August 12, and then left Domeli the very next day. This was the last location tracked.

    On August 15, Pakistan police received a request from International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) via FIA to hunt them down.

  • Naseem out, Zaman in; Rauf to possibly play today against Sri Lanka

    Naseem out, Zaman in; Rauf to possibly play today against Sri Lanka

    Right-arm fast bowler Zaman Khan has replaced Naseem Shah in today’s Asia Cup 2023 match against Sri Lanka.

    According to a press release issued by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Naseem Shah got injured on Monday in the last match against India. Pakistan team’s medical panel is continuously monitoring his health as the upcoming one-day international World Cup is going to start on October 5.

    Zaman Khan joined the team on Thursday and will bowl against Sri Lanka in today’s crucial match.

    PCB also said about pacer Haris Rauf that he “continues to recover well” after he felt discomfort in his right flank in the match against India.

    “These two fast bowlers are our assets, and the team’s medical panel will provide them the best possible care ahead of the all-important World Cup,” the press release quoted the team’s doctor, Sohail Saleem, as saying.

    Shahnwaz Dhani also joined the 17-player squad on Thursday.