The Pakistani rupee dropped against the US dollar for the sixth straight session on Wednesday, losing 0.53 per cent in the inter-bank market.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the local currency dropped by Rs1.17, or 0.53 per cent, to close at Rs220.88. In the last six trading sessions, the rupee has lost Rs3.09, or 1.4 per cent, of its value overall.
The rupee lost value against the US dollar on Tuesday for the fifth consecutive session, closing at Rs219.71 after losing Rs0.82 (0.37 per cent).
According to market analysts, the local currency’s weakness is caused by declining reserves and a lack of evidence of foreign capital inflows.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the rupee has been “heavily undervalued”.
“It is due to speculation – and some players in the market have been responsible for that,” he added.
Globally, the greenback hung close to a 32-year peak versus the yen on Wednesday while edging up from a two-week trough against a basket of major peers as traders weighed improved risk sentiment against the prospect of aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes.
The dollar index – which measures the currency against six peers including the yen, sterling and euro – edged up to Rs112.01, after dropping to the lowest since October 6 at Rs111.76 overnight.
On Wednesday, oil prices increased marginally despite bearish factors like unclear Chinese demand growth and falling gas costs, which were offset by bullish factors like declining crude stocks and a generally undersupplied market.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has revealed that no decision has been reached by the federal government yet about the appointment of a new Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
According to the defence minister, the selection process for the new army chief will likely begin within the next five to seven days.
Talking in Geo News’ programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath”, the minister said five names will be forwarded and then Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will pick one of those names. He was of the view that the appointment is quite a simple method as this exercise has been conducted several times in the past too.
The appointment for the COAS position is due to take place in November.
About the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) planned long march, the federal minister said that the government will not be blackmailed by the PTI if the party comes to Islamabad.
The minister also said that no negotiations have taken place with PTI. “A couple of meetings took place because of Imran’s old acquaintances”, he added.
On the contrary, Khan has claimed that negotiations were indeed held. He also warned the government to give a date for early general elections or else he will announce a date for the long march within the current month.
عمران خان کے اسٹبلشمنٹ سےکوئی مذاکرات نہیں ہورہےبلکہ اپنےساتھیوں کوآسرا دینےکیلئے مذاکرات کی بات کی ہے۔انکی ایک دو ملاقاتیں پرانی شناسائی کی وجہ سے ہوئی ہیں،جس میں تین آدمیPTIکےتھے اورباقی شناساتھے ۔الیکشن وقت پر ہوں گے،ہم بلیک میل نہیں ہوں گے۔ خواجہ آصف
Discussing the recent by-elections held on the past Sunday, Asif said that if Khan had let his party candidates run from their respective constituencies instead of contesting himself, the results would have been different.
During the show, he also hinted towards keeping the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance in place in the next elections.
پی ڈی ایم نے جو دو سیٹیں جیتیں وہ بھی پیپلزپارٹی نے جیتیں۔ کیا ن لیگ کو نظر آرہا ہے کہ اگلا الیکشن اتحادیوں کے ساتھ لڑنا پڑے گا؟ دیکھیے خواجہ آصف کا مؤقف
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday acquitted Shahrukh Jatoi and others in Shahzeb Khan’s murder case. Shahzeb was murdered in Karachi in 2012.
An Anti-Terrorism Court handed Jatoi a death sentence in 2013. However, in 2017, the complainant side had ‘pardoned’ Jatoi under the country’s Qisas and Diyat law. The hearing at the apex court was headed by a three-judge bench that included Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
The son of Deputy Superintendent of Police, Aurangzeb Khan, the 20-years-old Shahzeb Khan was shot and killed at Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority on December 24, 2012. He was returning home from a wedding with his sister. Shahzeb was slain after he got into an altercation with one of the suspects’ servants who had verbally threatened and tormented his sister.
Celebrities are expressing their anger over the acquittal of Shahrukh Jatoi.
Time to pack up and leave. For those of you who are young, educated and determined please, for the sake of your children, move out if the opportunity arises. https://t.co/OE2FIBzcQv
Shahzeb’s parents apparently settled abroad after the incident but today I worry for the safety and well being of all the people who testified against this monster. Will the honorable judges and police provide and guarantee them safety and protection?
Multiple A-list Bollywood celebrities use social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter to interact with their fans on a regular basis. However most of them have been disturbed due to massive trolling and negative comments by anonymous netizens.
Every now and then, netizens are seen writing abusive and toxic comments under their posts. This month, renowned filmmaker Karan Johar quit Twitter. Earlier, celebs like Aamir Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and others too had deactivated their Twitter accounts.
Here’s a list of celebrities who decided to quit the micro-blogging site in the past:
Karan Johar
On October 10, Karan Johar posted his last tweet and announced that he is quitting Twitter. He has been facing a lot of trolling online. His chat show, Koffee with Karan 7 grabbed a lot of attention like always but this time, people were seen targeting him for constantly mentioning mommy-to-be Alia Bhatt’s name throughout the season. During the finale episode, Karan went on to reveal that even Alia pointed out the same thing and asked him to not mention her. In his last tweet, Karan said that he is leaving Twitter to ‘make space for more positive energies’. His tweet read, “Making space for more positive energies only and this is step one towards that. Goodbye Twitter!”
Sonakshi Sinha
In 2020, Sonakshi announced her decision to leave Twitter to ‘stay away from negativity’. She quit the platform after Sushant Singh Rajput’s sudden demise. The actress took to Instagram and shared the update with her fans. Her post read, “The first step to protecting your sanity is to stay away from negativity. And nowhere more of that than Twitter these days. Chalo I’m off– deactivating my account. Bye guys, peace out. Aag lage basti mein… mein apni masti mein! Bye Twitter.”
Aamir Khan
In 2021, after celebrating his birthday, Aamir shared a note with his fans to update them about his decision to leave social media. He revealed that he wanted to focus on work and keep himself dedicated to his art. Before exiting, Aamir wrote, “Hey guys, thank you so much for all the love and warmth on my birthday. My heart is full. In other news, this is going to be my last post on social media. Considering that I am SO active anyway. I have decided to drop the pretence. We will continue to communicate as we did before. In addition, AKP has created its official channel! So future updates on me and my films can be found there. Here’s the official handle! @akppl_official. Lots of love, always. a.”
Saqib Saleem
Saqib also decided to leave Twitter and cited ‘bullying and lack of kindness’ as the main reasons. He shared a long note with his fans and thanked them for their love. A part of his note read, “Hey Twitter, when we met for the first time, you were a lovely. A great platform to express feelings, gather knowledge and understand many different points of view. But, of late you seem to have gotten lost in all the hate everyone is so ready to throw at each other, a place of bullies, a place where abusing people is a normal code of conduct. These last few days have forced me to realise that I don’t need this kind of energy in my life, where I wake up to hatred, where kindness is lost. It has made me realise that I need to surround myself with people, things, content and vibes that reflect who I want to be and how I want to feel; energies are contagious!”
Shashank Khaitan
Dhadak director Shashank Khaitan also quit the platform after Sushant’s demise in 2020. Amid the nepotism debate, he called Twitter a ‘breeding ground for hate and negativity’. His post read, “Done with twitter… just a breeding ground for hate and negativity… very sad that a platform so powerful, could not be used to create a better world… praying for peace and love always… deactivating my account now…”
Zaheer Iqbal
Zaheer Iqbal made his Bollywood debut alongside Pranutan Bahl in Notebook and Salman Khan backed the film. He also bid goodbye to Twitter without revealing any particular reason. The actor is rumoured to be dating Sonakshi.
Aayush Sharma
Salman’s brother-in-law Aayush Sharma also decided to leave Twitter due to negativity. He took to Instagram and wrote, “280 characters are less to define a human being. But 280 characters are more than enough to spread fake news, hatred and negativity. Didn’t sign up for this nasty herd mentality. Khuda hafiz.”
The Federal government on Tuesday announced that it would file a review petition over Shahrukh Jatoi’s acquittal for the murder of Shahzeb Khan.
“This is despite the instant case having already been adjudicated to be one of constitutional importance by the Supreme Court, which mandates seeking the assistance of the Attorney-General – as has been sought previously in petitions pertaining to the same matter,” the statement issued by Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali read.
The letter further stated that the AGP’s Office had already declared that the case was related to terrorism after Jibran Nasir and other activists approached the SC against a Sindh High Court (SHC) ruling that overturned the death penalty for Jatoi and other defendants in the murder case, adding that the SHC’s decision was a “violation of the SC’s order.”
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday acquitted Shahrukh Jatoi and others in Shahzeb Khan’s murder case.
Shahzeb was murdered in Karachi in 2012.
An Anti-Terrorism Court handed Jatoi a death sentence in 2013. However, in 2017, the complainants had ‘pardoned’ Jatoi under the country’s Qisas and Diyat law.
CNG stations in Punjab and KP will stop operating from November 2022 to March 2023 as the gas crisis increases as a result of the lack of required LNG during the winter.
While the government is obligated to purchase 12 LNG cargoes each month, Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) has been unable to do so; as a result, the country will only have 10 LNG cargoes available in December and nine LNG cargoes each month in the following months. Due to the decreased LNG import cargoes, gas utilities will be forced to limit the supply of gas to captive power plants by 50 per cent.
According to Express, in Punjab and KP, there won’t be any LNG available for CNG stations during the winter. Due to insufficient local gas output, Punjab has also been experiencing a gas crisis.
According to government officials, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) system’s gas supply to the fertiliser sectors won’t be reduced. Due to the probable political reaction this would cause, the government does not intend to reduce supplies of gas for the household sectors, therefore there will always be a supply available.
As instructed by the federal government, SNGPL has been providing Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) to a number of subsidised industries, including domestic consumers, export-oriented businesses, and fertiliser producers.
Government payments to SNGPL for RLNG subsidies are Rs199 billion as of this writing. SNGPL’s capacity to pay RLNG suppliers PSO and PLL has been severely hampered by the reduced pricing. The amounts owed to PSO and PLL are now Rs284 billion and Rs135 billion, respectively.
The power industry pays in full, but because its receivables have grown to over Rs115 billion, payments to suppliers have been significantly delayed.
The United States (US) has said that it is confident of Pakistan’s ability to keep its nuclear assets safe and secure.
“The United States is confident of Pakistan’s commitment and its ability to secure nuclear assets,” US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told journalists in Washington shortly after a meeting between Ambassador Masood Khan and Counselor Derek Chollet.
The statement came after US President Joe Biden made a off-the-cuff remark on Pakistan’s nuclear programme last week while at a private Democratic Party fundraiser in California where he was talking about challenges faced by President Xi Jinping of China, a close ally of Pakistan.
“And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” Biden said, according to a White House transcript.
Patel, responding to questions, gave a detailed answer regarding what was said about Pakistan by President Biden, and said: “The US has always viewed a secure and prosperous Pakistan as critical to US interests. And more broadly, the US values our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan.”
The two countries “enjoy a strong partnership”, said the State Department official, adding that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited Washington recently where he met Secretary Blinken as well.
He recalled that Counselor Chollet also visited Karachi and Islamabad during the floods, as did USAID Administrator Sam Power.
“So, this is a relationship we view as important, and it’s something that we’re going to continue to remain deeply engaged in,” said Patel, pointing out that US and Pakistani officials meet regularly.
But when the journalist insisted on a response to his question about President Biden’s remarks, the US official said: “I don’t have any specific conversation to read out, but the United States is confident of Pakistan’s commitment and its ability to secure its nuclear assets.”
Actor Hamza Ali Abbasi is currently riding high on the success of his latest film, The Legend Of Maula Jatt. The talented star recently indulged in an exclusive chat with team Current, where he opened up about his wedding and parenting.
On being asked about his married life, the Alif hero stated, “Alhamdulillah, I am immensely happy (post marriage), I believe God himself made me get married. I just told Allah that I want to do Tauba, I want to talk about him, and I believe if you talk about Allah, then you have to be away from all sort of wrong doings.”
He added, “I had several flaws in me, no doubt about that, I had to work hard on myself. Even God tells us to work on yourself. On top of that, I got a partner like Naimal. I think I am extremely lucky and blessed, that makes me grateful to Allah.”
On a lighter note he also mentioned that his marriage is not like a typical Pakistani drama, however he is a typical father as apart from other father duties, he also changes his son Mustafa’s diapers and often puts him to sleep.”
In another interview with us, he revealed what he loves the most about Naimal and which quality of his would he want to see in his son.
Star-singer Aima Baig is currently in the holy city of Madina to perform Umrah alongside her immediate family.
Aima shared her pictures with her father on her Instagram story.
“Me and my Aba Jee have been summoned again this year by Allah to visit his Honorable and Majestic Empire (Bait-Ullah Shareef) in this beautiful month of Rabi-ul-Awal. Couldn’t ask for anything bigger and better for myself than this. My Allah , im so grateful”, Baig wrote.
The Sajna Door crooner’s religious practices and their supposed acceptance were questioned by a netizen on social media. However Aima shut the troll down with a savage yet humble response.
Actor Imran Asraf Awan has announced his divorce with wife designer wife Kiran Ashfaq after four years of marriage.
Taking it to his Instagram, Imran wrote: “With a heavy heart, we announce that we have mutually and respectfully decided to part ways.”
“The primary concern for both of us will remain our son, Roham for whom we will continue to be the best possible parents.”
“We request the fans, well wishers and the media to support us during this difficult time and give us the privacy we need to move on. Love and respect for all, Kiran and Imran, concluded Ranjha Ranjha Kardi actor.”
They tied the knot in 2018.
Recently, Imran exclusively spoke to The Current about his love story with Kiran and their marriage details.
