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  • Committee formed to investigate stolen cipher from PM House

    The federal cabinet announced the formation of a committee to probe the diplomatic cipher that it was said has been ‘stolen’ from the records of the Prime Minister’s House, a statement issued by the premier’s office said.

    “The meeting was told that although there is a record of the receipt of the cipher sent to the former premier at the Prime Minister’s House, its copy is not available in the record,” said the statement. As per the law, the cable is property of the Prime Minister’s House, it added.

    The statement said that the meeting termed the ‘theft’ of the letter a serious matter and, following a detailed consultation, the cabinet formed a special committee to launch an investigation.

    The committee will recommend what legal action the government should take against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the then principal secretary to prime minister Azam Khan, and former ministers.

    It is pertinent to mention here that Khan was ousted from power in a vote of no-confidence, however, the former Prime Minister has alleged that his government had received a threatening letter and that a foreign conspiracy was behind this.

  • Pakistan seeks rollover of SAFE deposits worth $2 billion from China in March 2023

    Pakistan seeks rollover of SAFE deposits worth $2 billion from China in March 2023

    Pakistan seeks the rollover of $2 billion in State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) China deposits in March 2023. Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar, received a visit from Nong Rong, the People’s Republic of China’s ambassador, at the Finance Division.

    According to APP, Dar emphasised the long-standing friendship and kinship ties between Pakistan and China.

    The finance minister also thanked the Chinese leadership for their assistance in refinancing a syndicate facility worth RMB 15 billion ($2.24 billion) for Pakistan. He also asked the ambassador to help facilitate the rollover of $2 billion in SAFE China deposits in March 2023.

    Dar informed the ambassador of the costs to the overall economy as well as the harm done to Pakistan’s infrastructure, agriculture, lives, and property by the severe floods. He expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for providing the government and people of Pakistan with unwavering support during this difficult time.

    In reference to the CPEC, the finance minister stated that the economic corridor will be crucial in advancing Pakistan’s economy and fortifying bilateral ties between the two nations. He further pledged his unwavering support for the aid in realising the success of CPEC.

    The minister received Nong Rong’s congratulations on taking up his new duties. The envoy underlined China’s continuous support for Pakistan and emphasised how China is a rock for the Pakistani people in this time of need.

    “Since the devastating floods occurred in Pakistan, among all countries, China has announced over 644 million RMB (around 90 million dollars), the biggest amount of assistance to Pakistan,” said Nong Rong, in a tweet.

  • 10-month-old child dies of Polio, 20 cases reported in one year

    10-month-old child dies of Polio, 20 cases reported in one year

    A 10-month-old boy from North Waziristan’s Ghulam Khan Union Council passed away after testing positive for wild polio, reports The News.

    According to the National Institute of Health, the 10-month-old boy experienced symptoms in his left arm and neck and paralysis on September 15.
    This is the 17th case of poliovirus that has been reported from North Waziristan this year and 20th in Pakistan.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020.

    However, polio has been rearing its head up in countries where the virus was eradicated decades ago. In June, a 20-year-old man in New York was afflicted with the virus, resulting in paralysis. The strain that affected him was the kind that is found in vaccines, and then behaves like a wild version of the virus. The man had not been vaccinated against the disease, however, more worryingly, he had not traveled internationally.

    The same strain of the virus has been detected in sewer samples in Jerusalem. Israel has recorded its first polio case in 30 years. The United Kingdom too has found the same strain in London.
    Polio is a potentially fatal disease that can cause paralysis if it spreads to the spinal cord. One in 10 polio fever afflicted patients die. The disease is more severe in children than it is in adults.

  • Weekly inflation increases 0.94% as food prices rise

    Weekly inflation increases 0.94% as food prices rise

    Owing to an increase in the prices of food items, the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)-based weekly inflation for the week ending September 29 increased by 0.94 per cent.

    The items which saw an increase in prices include onions (47.77 per cent), tomatoes (30.29 per cent), tea Lipton (2.50 per cent), bread (1.74 per cent) and non-food item, washing soap (1.13 per cent), according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

    Moreover, the year-on-year trend recorded an increase of 30.62 per cent, mainly due to a surge in prices of tomatoes (224.20 per cent), onions (139.03 per cent), diesel (105.12 per cent), petrol (91.87 per cent), pulse gram (74.56 per cent, masoor (72.42 per cent), mustard oil (64.53 per cent), washing soap (63.33 per cent), cooking oil 5 litre (61.78 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (58.37 per cent), maash (57.36 per cent), vegetable ghee 1kg (55.89 per cent), gents sponge chappal (52.21 per cent), and moong (47.96 per cent), while decrease observed in the prices of electricity for q1 (45.61 per cent), chillies powder (42.73 per cent), sugar (18.27 per cent), and gur (1.92 per cent).

    According to the most recent PBS data issued on Friday, the SPI for the week under review in the aforementioned category was recorded at 205.13 points as opposed to 203.21 points observed in the previous week.

  • Floods in Pakistan: US to provide $132 million in US debt relief

    Floods in Pakistan: US to provide $132 million in US debt relief

    The United States (US) on Friday unveiled a roll-over agreement to suspend payments of USD 132 million of Pakistan’s debt in the wake of the economic crisis caused by the floods.

    “Ambassador Blome today signed the second U.S.-Pakistan bilateral agreement under the G 20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, providing $132 million in U.S. debt relief to Pakistan. Our priority is to redirect critical resources in Pakistan,” said the US Embassy Islamabad in a statement.

    Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers triggered the disaster. The United Nations (UN) and Pakistan have linked the extreme weather to climate change. Approximately 600,000 people have fled their homes.

    As many as 33 million people of the 220 million South Asian nation have been affected in some way by the floods that swept away houses, roads, railways and bridges and submerged around 4 million acres of farmland.

  • Petrol price reduced by Rs12.63 to Rs224.80 per litre

    Petrol price reduced by Rs12.63 to Rs224.80 per litre

    Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has announced a significant reduction in petrol prices on Friday, cutting the cost by Rs12.63 per litre to Rs224.80 per litre.

    A reduction of Rs12.13 has also been made to the cost of high-speed diesel, bringing the new price down to Rs235.30 per litre. After a reduction of Rs10.19 per litre, the cost of light diesel oil will be Rs191.83, according to Geo News.

    The new petrol price will go into effect after 12 AM.

    According to a statement from the Finance Division, the government decided to lower the price of petroleum goods in response to a drop in the price of these products on the global market and to help consumers who had been affected severely by inflation.

  • Woman in Iran arrested for eating without hijab

    A woman has been detained in Iran for dining out without wearing a headscarf. During the riots over Mahsa Amini’s passing, an image of a woman eating out in Iran without a headscarf went viral on social media.

    The image showed Donya Rad having what appeared to be breakfast while chatting with a female acquaintance who was also not wearing a hijab in a traditional Tehran restaurant.

    “Yesterday after this photo was published, the security agencies contacted my sister Donya Rad and asked her to give an explanation,” her sister Dina wrote on Twitter.

    Today, after appearing where she was told to come, she was arrested. After a few hours of silence, Donya told me in a short call that she was transferred to ward 209 of Evin prison,” she said, referring to a notorious wing of the Tehran jail which is reputedly run by the intelligence ministry.

    “Our family is very concerned about her wellbeing,” she added.

    “They just went to get breakfast without headscarves. They were arrested. This is how brutal/sick the hijab policy is in Iran,” commented prominent US-based campaigner and journalist Omid Memarian on Twitter.

    Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman breathed her last after being arrested by a police unit responsible for forcing Iran’s strict dress code for women. She was taken into custody for not complying with hijab rules.

    Mahsa Amini was beaten while inside a police van when she was picked up in Tehran on Tuesday. Photographs of Mahsa lying in a hospital bed have gone viral, showing the young woman in a coma with her head wrapped in bandages and breathing through tubes.

  • Imran asks ‘neutrals’ who is responsible for PMO audio leaks?

    Imran asks ‘neutrals’ who is responsible for PMO audio leaks?

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday asked the “neutrals” — the term he uses for the military establishment — who was responsible for the security breach at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

    “I ask them [neutrals] that the audio leaks of the Prime Minister Office […] if the security of the Prime Minister Office has been breached […] this means that our enemies have our sensitive information,” Imran said in a speech at Edwardes College in Peshawar today. “Who is responsible for this,” he asked.

    “I ask the protectors today […] if robbers are looting a house, can the guards say that they are neutral? What will the residents say? That the house is being looted but the guards say they are neutral,” Imran said, claiming that Pakistan, too, was being “looted” today.

    Responding to Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz said, ““The massive security breach you have done sitting in the PMO with your secretary and followers, even the biggest enemies of Pakistan couldn’t compete with it,” she tweeted.

    “A foreign-funded evil mind has been playing with the destiny of the country for the past four years and has the nerve to do that same today,” Maryam added.

    Khan’s comments come in relevance to his audio leaks related to the cipher and the foreign conspiracy.

  • Rs16 billion money laundering case: PM Shehbaz appears before court, terms case as ‘fake’

    Rs16 billion money laundering case: PM Shehbaz appears before court, terms case as ‘fake’

    A special court in Lahore adjourned the hearing till October 8 in a Rs16 billion money laundering case filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza Shehbaz.

    The court also directed the lawyer to submit additional details on the acquittal plea by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders.

    In the hearing which took place on Friday (today), PM’s son Hamza Shehbaz did not appear before the court as he had sought exemption on medical grounds. However, PM Shehbaz appeared before the court but later sought exemption as he had “important” matters to attend to.

    PM’s lawyer Amjad Pervaiz told the court that the first information report (FIR) registered against his clients mentioned they were involved in money laundering worth Rs25 billion from 2008-2018 through fake companies. However, he said, “During this 10-year span, PM Shehbaz was neither the director nor a shareholder of those companies.”

    PM Shehbaz also spoke before the court, stating that the money laundering case against him is “fake”.

    He claimed that when he was Chief Minister (CM) for 20 years he had made decisions that “hurt” his family’s sugar business. “I was requested to provide subsidy to sugar mills, but I refused. I refused as the amount (that would be used for subsidy) belonged to the poor people in Punjab,” he declared to the court.

    Later, he sought an exemption from the court which was granted to him. After Shehbaz left, the court went on a break.

    Once the hearing resumed, the lawyer presented his arguments again. Then, the court adjourned the hearing till October 8 and asked him to continue deliberations at the next hearing.

    In 2021, the FIA submitted a challan against Shehbaz and Hamza to the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering Rs16 billion in a sugar scam.

    The report added that the amount was kept in “hidden accounts” and “given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity”.

    At the time, FIA had said that the amount of Rs16 billion has nothing to do with the sugar business of Shehbaz’s family. The money allegedly received from the accounts of low-wage employees was transferred outside Pakistan, ultimately destined for the beneficial use of his family members.

  • ‘Changing threat matrix of terrorism is need of the hour’: PM Shehbaz responds to Kabul suicide blast killing 19

    ‘Changing threat matrix of terrorism is need of the hour’: PM Shehbaz responds to Kabul suicide blast killing 19

    A suicide bomb attack on a classroom of hundreds of students preparing for exams in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday killed at least 19 people.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, extending his condolences, said, “Deeply grieved at the loss of young lives in a horrific suicide attack at a learning center in Kabul. Words can’t express this sheer barbarism. We send our deepest condolences & most sincere sympathies to the bereaved families & people of Afghanistan.”

    He further tweeted, “As I stated in my address at UNGA, terrorism continues to threaten not just Afghanistan & Pakistan but also the world. The international community should not let its guard down. Strengthening global cooperation against changing threat matrix of terrorism is need of the hour.”