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  • State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves jump to $8.46 billion

    State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves jump to $8.46 billion

    The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased 2.2 per cent on a weekly basis, data released by the central bank has revealed.

    According to The Express Tribune, the reserves had earlier spiralled downwards, falling below the $7 billion mark, which raised concern over Pakistan’s ability to meet its financing requirements. However, financial assistance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and other friendly nations helped shore up the foreign exchange reserves.

    On September 6, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8,462.3 million, up by $181.8 million compared with $8,280.5 million in the previous week. The central bank cited official inflows as the reason for the increase in reserves.

    Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves, held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $15,751.7 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,289.4 million.

    Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on July 9, which helped bolster the reserves. Previously, the reserves had jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China.

    Over time, the declining reserves have forced the central bank to let the rupee depreciate massively, sparking concern about the country’s ability to finance a hefty import bill as well as meet debt obligations in coming months.

  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under fire for awarding ‘fascist’ Modi

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under fire for awarding ‘fascist’ Modi

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is facing massive criticism from prominent South Asian lawyers, human rights activists and philanthropists in the United States (US) after it announced to honour Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi with an award, The Guardian reported.

    According to the details, the foundation is said to give Modi “The Global Goalkeeper” award for his “Clean India Programme” under which millions of toilets were set up and benefits of sanitation and hygiene were publicised.

    Reacting to the news about the award, a group of South Asian Americans working in philanthropy on Tuesday wrote an open letter to the Gates Foundation, alleging that Modi had effectively confined millions to their communities.

    The letter also urged the organisation to rescind the award.

    “For over a month now, PM Modi has placed 8 million people in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) under house arrest, blocked communications and media coverage to the outside world, detained thousands of people, including children, and denied basic benefits,” said the letter.

    The award comes amid growing criticism of detention and deportation of Muslims in Assam and Kashmir and human rights violations in IoK since August 5 under Modi’s rule have made front pages around the world.

    While Modi’s government claims that the programme has given 90% of Indians access to clean toilets, press reports suggest otherwise. Reports claim that many of the newly-built toilets remain unused because of poor access to water and caste rules that restrict people from cleaning them.

  • Abbasi apologises to nation for appointing NAB chief

    Abbasi apologises to nation for appointing NAB chief

    Former prime minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has apologised to the nation for having appointed Justice (r) Javed Iqbal as the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), The News reported.

    A jurist and professor of law, Iqbal has served as a senior justice of the Supreme Court (SC). He was appointed as the NAB chief on October 8, 2017, by then Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government led by Abbasi.

    “The name of NAB chairman had come from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the appointment was made with consensus,” the former premier said in an informal talk with media outside an accountability court Thursday.

    The PML-N leader said the “main aim of NAB was to break the PML-N” and questioned the bureau’s actions for having “instituted the case after arresting an ex-PM”.

    Abbasi said he was accused of using a vehicle of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the PM and had he knew about such allegations beforehand, he would have hired a tonga or taxi for reaching the PM Office.

    “NAB is conducting investigation against me and remand is also continuing for 55 days, but it doesn’t know anything about the case,” he said further.

    Earlier in the day, an accountability court extended the physical remand of former PM Abbasi and former finance adviser Miftah Ismail in the LNG case. Both the leaders were presented before the court that approved NAB’s plea for remand extension and asked it to present the suspects once again on September 26.

  • VIDEO: Indian minister credits Einstein for discovering gravity

    VIDEO: Indian minister credits Einstein for discovering gravity

    Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal made a rather outlandish comment on Wednesday. He said that “maths never helped Einstein discover gravity”.

    Mr. Goyal was rubbishing TV reports that India’s economy wasn’t doing well given the statistics about India’s economic growth.

    “Don’t go by all these calculations you see on TV, that if the country has to become a $5 trillion economy, it will have to grow at 12% but right now it is currently growing at 6-7%,” said Mr. Goyal.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/bhayankur/status/1172068601995522048?s=21

    “Don’t get into those maths; those maths never helped Einstein discover gravity,” Mr. Goyal added. “If he had only gone by structured formulae and what was past knowledge, I don’t think there would have been any innovation in this world.”

    Twitter had a field day following these remarks. Many were quick to point out that Einstein indeed didn’t discover gravity; it was Newton!

    Memes and jokes followed after that.

    https://twitter.com/roshankrrai/status/1172074577075171328?s=21

    https://twitter.com/supariman_/status/1172142047462977537?s=21

    https://twitter.com/coldmine3/status/1172099226219597824?s=21

  • Deal struck, Nawaz to get bail on Sept 18, leave country: analyst

    Deal struck, Nawaz to get bail on Sept 18, leave country: analyst

    With the Islamabad High Court (IHC) set to hear former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s appeal against his conviction, an analyst has claimed that “a deal has been struck” and the former “will soon be leaving the country”.

    Earlier this week, IHC constituted a two-member bench to hear the appeal filed by Nawaz against his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference. The bench, comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, will hear the appeal on September 18.

    This will be the first hearing of Nawaz’s appeal since the controversy regarding the leaked video of accountability court judge Arshad Malik surfaced in July.

    The video, purportedly showing the judge “confessing” that he had convicted Nawaz under duress, was made public by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President (VP) Maryam Nawaz.

    Malik had in December 2018 sentenced the former premier to seven years imprisonment in Al-Azizia reference. After the removal of the judge over the controversy, IHC had ordered to attach Malik’s affidavit with Nawaz’s plea against his sentence.

    Amid rumours that a deal was being struck between the government and jailed Nawaz, analyst and former Balochistan government adviser Jan Achakzai has claimed that the former PM and his daughter will soon be leaving the country.

    “Deal is done as earlier I claimed. Nawaz Sharif will be flying out of the country after bail. Maryam Nawaz will likely join him. Big hurdle in front of stressed govt is almost over. Expect Interesting political roller coaster and fireworks after November [sic],” he tweeted.

  • Bilal Ashraf shares fun behind the scenes from ‘Superstar’

    Bilal Ashraf shares fun behind the scenes from ‘Superstar’

    Bilal Ashraf and Mahira Khan’s latest release Superstar has been a stellar success both critically and commercially. And the one thing that everyone has agreed on is how lit Mahira and Bilal’s onscreen chemistry is and how well the two have acted in the film.

    Now that the pre and post-release promotions for the film have wrapped up, Bilal has been sharing some fun BTS of the cast’s shenanigans from the sets of the film. We have to say, BTS is often more fun than the film itself.

    So this is how it rains on set.

    Bilal and Mahira sharing a laugh while shooting

    The lead stars being goofy

    So that’s how he always has perfect hair

    When Mahira and Bilal twirled on the stage

    Oh damn! That looks pretty scary.

    We even got to see Mahira shooting Noori

  • Mathira lashes out at Malala for not talking about Kashmir

    Mathira lashes out at Malala for not talking about Kashmir

    Apple’s latest iPhone 11 Pro has been at the receiving end of jokes ever since the company unveiled its first look. The tech giant was mocked for its redundant change in designs and their triple-camera ended up being the victim of memes on all the social media platforms.

    Among the social media users making fun of Apple’s new design was Malala Yousafzai.

    Taking to Twitter, the humanitarian shared a picture of her kurta which had a similar design on it.

    Malala’s tweet might have been in good humour but it started a debate on how Malala should be calling out the cruelty in Indian occupied Kashmir instead of commenting on the new iPhone.

    Among the critics was actor Mathira who expressed her outrage at Malala’s tweet. 

    Meanwhile, the public had different opinions. Some were fine with Malala cracking a joke and some began to argue on what a peace representative should and should not focus on.

    Malala has not responded to Mathira’s or any other tweet
    yet

  • Earthquake causes panic in Punjab, KP, Azad Kashmir

    Earthquake causes panic in Punjab, KP, Azad Kashmir

    An earthquake of high intensity jolted the federal capital besides various districts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday, but no causalities or property damages were reported.

    According to the geological wing of Pakistan Meteorological Department, the earthquake was felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Mardan, Abbottabad, Swat, Upper Dir, Malakand, Rawlakot, Peshawar, Charsadda, Mansehra, Mohmand, Bajaur and parts of AJK with the intensity of 5.2 on the Richter scale.

    People of the areas where the quake was felt rushed out of their homes and other buildings in panic reciting verses from Holy Quran. The epicenter of the quake was Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan, 251 meters deep in the ground.

    An earthquake was also felt in Swat, Mingora and adjoining areas a few days back. The intensity was recorded at 5.5 on the Richter scale.

  • VIDEO: ‘Troops ready to make Azad Kashmir part of India,’ army chief says

    VIDEO: ‘Troops ready to make Azad Kashmir part of India,’ army chief says

    Amid heightened tensions and Narendra Modi-led Indian government’s threats of “invading” Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) region of the country, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat has said his “troops are ready to make the territory a part of India”.

    “Indian troops are ready to retrieve Pakistan occupied Kashmir and make it a part of India, but it is the government which takes decisions in such matters,” Gen Rawat said while speaking to an Indian news agency.

    He said that the institutions of the country will work as per the orders of the government, but the army is always ready.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Earlier, a similar statement was made by Indian Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who had said that after the abrogation of Article 370 in India Held Kashmir (IHK), the next agenda of the government was to “retrieve Pakistan-administered Kashmir”.

    Singh, however, was brutally trolled by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor, who suggested him “to consult Indian Air Force (IAF) before taking any such steps”.

    https://twitter.com/peaceforchange/status/1171493626024587270

    He had ridiculed the Indian minister while mentioning failed Indian airstrikes from February 2019, which resulted in two IAF jets being shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and capture of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.

  • Officer, who raided Lahore’s Café Aylanto, removed

    Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) Masood Bashir Warraich, who conducted a raid on Lahore’s Café Aylanto, has been made an Officer on Special Duty (OSD), The News International reported.

    According to reports, the development comes days after he raided the elite restaurant on MM Alam Road for allegedly allowing its customers to consume alcohol.

    The raiding party, led by Warraich and Model Town assistant commissioner, had claimed recovering imported liquor from the restaurant. But interestingly, the FIR [First Information Report] did not include the restaurant owner’s name and only 13 employees — mostly waiters — were arrested.

    Warraich had earlier been accused of deliberately delaying the renewal of liquor licences of four hotels in Lahore after their managements allegedly refused to pay him 30 per cent commission from daily liquor sales.

    “I am being accused of corruption just because I implemented the rules,” Warraich said while rejecting the claims, adding that before he took charge, all four hotels were selling over 100,000 liquor bottles each illegally every day which reduced to about 8,000 each after he intervened.

    “Rumours about my character are being spread by the liquor mafia to discredit me.”

    Meanwhile, an Excise Department official has claimed that Warraich’s transfer is not linked with last week’s raid. “The summary for the transfer of the ETO was sent three days prior to the raid,” reports quoted the official as saying.