Samina Baig, a mountaineer from Gilgit-Shimshal Baltistan, has become the first Pakistani woman to reach the top of K2. At 7:42 am today (Friday), Samina Baig and a Pakistani team of seven successfully ascended the treacherous peak of K2.
The team consists of mountaineers Samina Baig, Eid Muhammad, Bulbul Kari, Ahmed Baig, Rizwan Dad, Waqar Ali, and Akber Hussain Sadpara.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Samina Baig on her achievement.
“Samina Baig has emerged as a symbol of determination, courage and bravery of Pakistani women,” tweeted PM Shehbaz.
دنیا کی دوسری بلند ترین چوٹی ‘کے 2’ سر کرنے والی پہلی پاکستانی خاتون کوہ پیما ثمینہ بیگ اور ان کے اہل خانہ کو کامیابی پر مبارک پیش کرتا ہوں۔ ثمینہ بیگ پاکستانی خواتین کے عزم و ہمت اور بہادری کی علامت بن کر ابھری ہیں۔
The second-highest summit in the world, K2, is 8,611 metres above sea level. It is considered to be the most hazardous and challenging summit in the world.
In 2013, Baig became the first Pakistani woman to summit Mt Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.
In FY2023, Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to modestly improve due to structural changes, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
According to the bank’s most recent Asian Development Outlook Supplement, Pakistan’s GDP growth is predicted to decrease in FY22 (which ends on June 30, 2022), as a result of fiscal tightening measures taken to control rising demand pressures and contain external and fiscal imbalances.
As the country’s inflation surged from 12.3 per cent in December 2021 to 21.3 per cent in June 2022, the bank slightly lowered Pakistan’s inflation for FY22 and dramatically for FY23.
“In addition to the effects of elevated global energy and food prices, the government’s efforts to revive the stalled International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme has meant raising power tariffs and withdrawing subsidies in the oil and power sectors,” said ADB.
In comparison to Sri Lanka, which boosted its policy rate by 950 basis points over the previous six months, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has upped interest rates by 525 basis points since January 1. This also makes it one of the most active central banks in the region.
The ADB also reduced its 2022 growth prediction for Asia and issued a warning that things could become worse as a result of the conflict in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions that are expected to drive up costs.
Although Covid-19’s effects had subsided, the region was now dealing with the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, lockdowns in China, and aggressively raised interest rates, according to the Manila-based lender.
The bank reduced its 2022 growth prediction to 4.6 per cent to reflect the decline in developing Asia, which runs from Kazakhstan in Central Asia to the Cook Islands in the Pacific.
South Asia’s economy is anticipated to grow less than the projected rate of growth in the Asian Development Outlook 2022.
A 24-year-old Pakistani man was detained near the India-Pakistan international border in Rajasthan.
As per media reports, he was allegedly planning to kill Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman Nupur Sharma who made derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in June.
According to Indian media reports, the man is influenced by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
The accused, identified as Rizwan Ashraf, son of Mohammad Ashraf is a resident of Mandi Bahauddin. He had sneaked into India from Hindumalkot international border. He was arrested on the intervening night of July 16-17.
“In the preliminary interrogation, he revealed his plan to kill BJP leader Nupur Sharma. He seems to be religiously motivated. He was produced before a court from where he was sent into police custody for five days,” said Superintendent of Police (SP), Anand Sharm.
His connections, according to the SP, are also being questioned.
Rizwan is the same man who in August 2021 vandalised Ranjit Singh’s statue, reports Roohan Ahmed for Urdu News. He was later released on bail.
As per Rizwan’s father, his son left home before Eid-ul-Azha. His father said that he told his mother that he is going somewhere but did not tell his family where he is going.
Indian authorities have not contacted Pakistani authorities in this regard.
According to a TLP leader, Rizwan is only a worker of the party.
Police in India’s Rajasthan have arrested a Pakistani national Rizwan Ashraf Rizvi, an activist of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, for plotting to kill former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. He was arrested last year in Lahore for vandalising Ranjit Singh’s statue but later got bail. pic.twitter.com/rJW9Hvyfdj
I spoke with the father of Pakistani national Rizwan, who was arrested in India’s a few days for plotting to kill BJP’s Nupur Sharma, & he confirmed his son was a worker of TLP. Ashraf told me his son left home on a Thursday before Eid & didn’t come backhttps://t.co/4ySTgeLNqc
Indian journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair was released from jail on Wednesday (July 20). He was granted bail by the Indian Supreme Court.
The police also charged him with criminal conspiracy, destroying evidence and receiving foreign funds in at least half a dozen other cases.
Mohammed Zubair is a co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News. He is a critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, and regularly tracks and highlights anti-Muslim hate speech by Hindu right-wing activists and politicians.
Zubair wants to convey his heartfelt gratitude to everyone who stood by us and supported us in the last few weeks. He’ll be back real soon. pic.twitter.com/PkyYOnEewh
He was detained because of a tweet from 2018 that included a screenshot from a well-known Hindi film, which authorities claim was insulting to Hindu religious beliefs.
Just a few days prior to his detention, he had called attention to Nupur Sharma, a suspended BJP spokeswoman, who had made offensive remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during a TV debate.
Journalists allege that BJP-linked trolls weaponised Twitter and the law to send Zubair to jail in a fake case.
In 10 minutes we explain how BJP-linked trolls weaponised Twitter—and the Law—to send @zoo_bear to jail in a fake casehttps://t.co/so3BrrR51c via @thewire_inWatch and share widely!
Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Hamza Shehbaz on Wednesday sought a report from Inspector-General (IG) Punjab after former MPA Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Baloch was attacked in Jhang.
A video that surfaced on social media showed that he was beaten, his clothes were torn and abuses were being hurled at him.
نون لیگ کے سابق ایم پی اے افتخار بلوچ پر تشدد کی یہ ویڈیو شئیر نہیں کرنا چاہتا تھا لیکن پاکستانی سیاست میں فاشزم کے اثرات اسے دکھائے بغیر بتانا ممکن نہیں اور یہ پورے معاشرے تک پھیلیں گے، تب تک بہت دیر ہو چکی ہو گی pic.twitter.com/TZU6kA9jby
A district and sessions court in Islamabad extended Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s interim bail till July 30. He got bail extension in 10 cases related to vandalism during his party’s Azadi March in the federal capital held on May 25.
During today’s hearing, District and Sessions Court Judge Kamran Basharat Mufti approved an application filed by Khan seeking exemption from personal appearance and extended his interim bail.
When Khan’s junior counsel Rai Tajamul pleaded with the court to grant his client interim bail in a case registered in Kohsar police station, the judge remarked that “Khan’s personal appearance is necessary” since he is seeking a fresh bail.
He informed the court that the PTI chief is in Lahore, while his lawyer Babar Awan is abroad. However, Khan’s counsel assured the judge that his client would appear at the next hearing, which is on July 30.
On July 19, Judge Mufti extended the interim bail of the PTI Chairman till July 21 in these cases.
The United States (US) removed Pakistan from its human trafficking watchlist.
Although Pakistan was taken off the “watchlist,” Pakistan remains on Tier 2, which serves as a warning that penalties might be imposed if it didn’t make any further progress and will be downgraded to Tier 3, which would lead to sanctions.
Tier 2 nations are those who are making considerable efforts in that direction. Pakistan’s performance in combating trafficking, according to the study, has improved.
“The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Pakistan was upgraded to Tier 2,” the report said.
“The government allocated resources for the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) and amended the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act (PTPA) to remove provisions that allowed fines in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking crimes with women and children as victims,” the report added.
On Thursday, the rupee’s decline against the US dollar reached an all-time low of Rs227 in the interbank market.
Experts blame the losses on political unrest and the fact that the dollar is bolstering against other currencies as well, according to DAWN. On Wednesday, the rupee had a closing value of Rs224.92.
According to the Foreign Exchange Association of Pakistan (FAP), the local currency fell by Rs2.08 to Rs227 versus the US dollar when the session started today at 10:57 AM.
According to experts, the country’s political unrest had reduced investor confidence, which had caused importers to worry and “unnecessarily” buy dollars from the market. He claimed that as a result, there was an increase in the interbank market’s demand for dollars.
Furthermore, over the past week, the dollar’s value had increased against over 40 currencies, including the British pound and the Japanese yen, which had an impact on the local market’s use of the rupee, according to Bostan.
After reaching Rs211.93 on June 22, the local currency climbed to Rs204.56 in the first week of July. When the country’s staff-level agreement with the international lender was reached on July 15, it briefly appreciated but again continued to depreciate against the US dollar.
Amid the ongoing economic and political crisis, Sri Lanka has withdrawn from hosting the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. This news came after Sri Lanka decided to postpone the third edition of the Lankan Premier League (LPL).
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) informed the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) about their decision that they are not in a position of hosting the Asia Cup because of the current political situation.
The venue is yet to be decided. It could either be the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or any Asian country, including India.
Sri Lanka will reportedly consult the UAE Cricket Board, requesting them to provide a venue to host the event. Sri Lanka Cricket will remain the official host of the Asia Cup, but the tournament is set to be played in Dubai and Sharjah between August 27 and September 11, according to ESPNcricinfo.
The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to be a T20I tournament. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and one other team from the qualifiers will be competing against each other in the T20 format at the Asia Cup 2022. UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, and Hong Kong will compete with each other in the qualifier rounds to get the spot as the sixth team in the tournament.
Since 1984, 14 Asia Cups have taken place. India won the Asia Cup title seven times. Sri Lanka is second to India with five cups to their name while Pakistan has won this title two times.
Hollywood star Emilia Clarke has revealed that she did not expect to retain her speech ability after suffering from two brain aneurysms.
Getting candid about her health troubles in a new interview, the Daenerys Targaryen of Game of Thrones was surprised she was still able to speak and communicate normally despite missing parts of her brain, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Having gone through several surgeries to treat her brain aneurysms, Emilia Clarke offered updates on her health during an appearance on BBC One’s ‘Sunday Morning’.
“The amount of my brain that is no longer usable – It’s remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately,” Emilia Clarke shared her astonishment.
“And live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions,” she continued in the interview airing on July 17.
She went on to express gratefulness for being one of the lucky ones, saying: “I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.”
Emilia Clarke then brought up the result of her brain scans.
“There’s quite a bit missing! Which always makes me laugh,” she lightheartedly spilled, adding, “Because strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone. And so the blood finds a different route to get around but then whatever bit it’s missing is therefore gone.”
Back in 2019, the actress said that she couldn’t bear to look at her own reflection in the mirror post-surgeries.
“After my operations I didn’t want to look at my own face. I was so full of drugs from being in the hospital that I had a lot of water retention, and one half of my face was quite swollen,” Emilia Clarke told Stylist magazine.
“I felt so deeply unattractive. What I can see now is that I could see the pain behind my eyes. And no amount of anything can cover that.”
Clarke was reported to have suffered from aphasia following her aneurysms, which is a language disorder affecting a person’s ability to communicate. At one point, the “Last Christmas” actress was even unable to recall her own name. In 2019, she launched a charity by the name of SameYou that aims to raise funds to help those recovering from brain surgeries and strokes.
