Pakistan’s total liquid foreign reserves reached a sum of $13,030.8 million, with the central bank holding reserves amounting to $7,615.4 million, as reported by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
According to a statement released by the State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday, during the week ending on September 28, 2023, SBP’s reserves experienced a decrease of $21 million, resulting in a total of US$ 7,615.4 million. Concurrently, commercial banks held net foreign reserves totaling $5,415.4 million.
In the preceding week, ending on September 22, 2023, the country’s total liquid foreign reserves were reported at US$ 13.162 billion. Among these, the central bank held foreign reserves amounting to $7.636 billion, while commercial banks held net foreign reserves of $5.525 billion.
As of September 29, the total liquid foreign reserves of Pakistan stood at US$ 13.18 billion, with the central bank’s reserves totaling $7,636.7 million. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) spokesperson attributed the decrease in SBP’s reserves by $59 million to debt repayments during the week ending on September 22, 2023. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $5,525.1 million.
In the week ending on September 15, 2023, the country’s total liquid foreign reserves were recorded at $13.186 billion. Among these, the central bank held foreign reserves amounting to $7.695 billion, while commercial banks held net foreign reserves totaling $5.491 billion.
Social media users are questioning the decision by the ICC to let India host the World Cup when there is no opening ceremony and barely any spectators in the first match.
Interestingly, when the Asia Cup was being partially hosted by Pakistan, some Indians criticized the ‘empty stadium’ in Multan. Now, the tables have turned, India is the host, the first match is between New Zealand and England, finalists of the last World Cup, and the stadium is empty. There was no opening ceremony for ICC World Cup 2023 and honestly, we can’t see spectators either.
This one’s hilarious, to be honest, does this remind you of Asif Zardari too?
Tendulkar waving hand at Empty Stadium reminds me off Asif Ali Zardari in Punjab. pic.twitter.com/Xk16eTBAge
Osama highlighted multiple issues regarding the World Cup being hosted in India
Opening ceremony canceled, scheduled changed numerous times, ticketing issues, visa delays for participating team, warm up to be played behind closed doors due to security, completely empty stadium in the opening match, is India really the right venue to be hosting global event?
Trendulkar hopes that the stadium will fill up after office hours
Currently, the stadium in Ahmedabad looks empty for the World Cup opener. Hope it gets gradually filled up after office hours.pic.twitter.com/VsBCZahnwg
Punjab Minister for Population Welfare, Dr Jamal Nasir, has asserted that a three-year gap must be ensured between two child births for the health and safety of both the mother and the baby.
While addressing a seminar on population welfare on Tuesday, Dr. Nasir added that under-nourishment and anaemia has resulted in women suffering from poor health.
A policy is also being developed in which only employees with three or less than three children will be allowed to work in the Population Welfare Department.
The caretaker government has reportedly promoted about 45,000 lady health workers in the province as part of its efforts towards improving mother and child healthcare and promoting population welfare.
Dr Jamal Nasir pointed out that population control had never been seriously prioritised in Pakistan for sustainable development of the country, highlighting Iran and Bangladesh as role models pertaining to family planning.
Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, has approached the Islamabad High Court seeking protection for her husband and expressing concerns about his safety in jail. She has requested permission for homemade food for Imran Khan, while his legal team has claimed that his life is in danger.
The IHC has issued notices to respondents in Bushra Bibi’s case and is considering her request to provide homecooked food to Imran Khan. The court has adjourned the hearing until next week.
Imran Khan, the Chairman of PTI, has taken his case to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in an effort to suspend a trial court’s verdict in the Toshakhana case. This move comes after the IHC previously suspended his three-year sentence in the same case about a month ago.
In August, a trial court in Islamabad found Imran Khan guilty of “corrupt practices” related to concealing details of state gifts and sentenced him to three years in prison. While Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar had ordered the capital police chief to arrest Imran, he was instead arrested by the Punjab police, who took him to the Attock district jail. The Supreme Court later acknowledged “procedural defects” in Imran’s conviction by the trial court, suspending his sentence.
Following the suspension of his Toshakhana case sentence, Imran Khan was detained in the cipher case and has been in judicial remand, which was extended until October 10. Recently, he was moved to Adiala jail from Attock jail under the IHC’s directives.
Imran Khan, represented by senior lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa, has filed a petition with the IHC seeking the rectification of the order that suspended the Toshakhana case verdict. The petition requests the suspension of the order until the final appeal decision and also seeks permission to make the state a respondent in the appeal.
The petition argues that the IHC has the authority to suspend the impugned order and sentence under the relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure Code. It highlights an omission in recording the counsel’s request for suspension of the trial court verdict, which has affected Imran Khan’s rights, including his disqualification from elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The petition further alleges mala fide intentions on the part of the ECP in disqualifying Imran Khan and mentions attempts to remove him from the leadership of PTI and prevent him from participating in general elections.
In a related development, the Special Court (Official Secrets Act) handling the cipher case against Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is expected to indict both leaders on October 9. The case involves the disclosure of classified diplomatic information.
During the trial behind bars, the prosecution requested in-camera proceedings, but the judge ruled that the trial would commence after framing charges against the suspects and that proceedings were already being conducted inside Adiala Jail. The IHC rejected the FIA’s request for an in-camera hearing of their post-arrest bail petitions in the cipher case.
Today is Imran Khan’s 71st birthday and as much as PTI followers are missing his birthday celebrations, we miss him the most when we are cutting birthday cake, waiting to eat it all by ourselves.
Of course, he is the one who we miss today as ICC World Cup is starting. Many are drawing parallels with 1992 when Pakistan Won the World Cup under Imran’s captaincy.
All pet lovers know that Khan is indeed a pet lover and he used to spend a significant time with his dogs.
For me, another cute memory is him having a fun time with Pervez Khattak in a chair lift.
For all the right reasons, we can’t forget his romantic and protective side for his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Nothing can be said about Imran Khan without mentioning Jemima, his first wife. For a few years, they did give a lot of young couples a happy ideal marriage to emulate.
Sanda police have arrested a man who reportedly dug up the graves of three children, took the bodies out, and called their parents to rebury them “properly”.
After the police investigated the matter, the man, identified as Usman alias Mani, was found to have dug up a number of graves. He claims that he was directed by “voices” to commit the act.
As the parents found out about what the man had done, they hurried to the graveyard where the bodies were lying outside of the graves.
As soon as the police were informed, the administration of the graveyard was alerted, and Usman was later arrested.
Police have called in a senior psychologist who declared Usman mentally unstable after questioning and examining him.
A case has, nonetheless, been lodged against Usman under section 297 of the Pakistan Penal Code (trespassing of burial places ) and the inquiry is to continue.
Kamran Shahid, the anchor of On the Front on Dunya News, filmed a highly anticipated interview at his ancestral ‘Haveli’, airing it on Wednesday night.
Usman Dar, one of the stalwarts of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the former head of PTI’s Tiger Force, an organization comprising young volunteers, appeared on the show to talk about who was the mastermind behind the May 9 riots. On the said day, after PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested from Islamabad High Court, protests broke out throughout the country, leading to armed clashes between them and law enforcement agencies. Jinnah House in Lahore, GHQ building in Rawalpindi, airbases and other state installations, along with monuments honouring martyred military men, Askari Tower, Military Library, residences of the armed forces officers, army selection center, petrol pumps, were attacked or set ablaze.
Dar reappeared in public after 147 days to announce on the show that not only was he leaving PTI but also bidding farewell to politics forever. Dar started off by mentioning that he had been missing his passionate arguments with Kamran Shahid on his programs, moving on to say he joined PTI because he genuinely believed that Imran Khan was a leader who could provide a platform for “clean politics.”
Dar termed the aftermath of May 9 for PTI workers an “earthquake”, stating that the day did not unfold incidentally but happened after a significant build-up. After the PTI government was removed, there were two types of mindsets in the party, Dar revealed. Murad Saeed, Azam Swati, and Hammad Azhar were the ones who believed in the politics of collision while Asad Umar, Omar Ayub, Ali Muhammad Khan, Shafqat Mahmood, and Dar himself believed in the politics of reconciliation.
“Those who believed in the collision were convinced that this confrontation would generate results. Unfortunately, Imran Khan supported that group more. He is anyways more of a leading from the front type, and he likes front liners,” said Dar, unveiling what went on in Zaman Park, where Imran Khan was bunkered down.
He further stated that the beliefs of the collision group prevailed more within the party and Imran Khan supported this policy. He also explained how workers from Punjab and KPK were called on and off to Lahore to provide Imran Khan with a ‘human shield’ to avoid arrest. Duties, timing, and days were divided among leaders and workers to stop something as “unique” as Imran Khan’s arrest.
Dar stated that workers had a feeling that they had to save Imran Khan at all costs. Imran Khan was supporting the anti-state narrative that was being developed among workers. “Imran Khan started with General Bajwa and then on to [Chief of Army Staff] Asim Munir. I believe any Army Chief would leave, like today General Asim Munir is there instead of General Bajwa but the institution remains there,” he said.
He also explained that the long march organised by PTI in November 2022 was to oppose General Asim Munir’s appointment. “I think Imran Khan had some information from within the institution that probably the long march would hinder the appointment of General Asim Munir,” Dar said, confirming what many political pundits had suspected since long.
Dar also said that he’ll appear in court to state all this under oath if he has to.
After May 9, the lives of PTI workers have changed entirely and their families are suffering, the Sialkot based Dar observed. Finally, he said he is disappointed in Imran Khan.
The Caretaker Federal Minister of Energy, Muhammad Ali, has said that gas load-shedding will continue this year, similar to last year when gas was supplied for eight hours a day.
This year, natural gas has reduced by 30 per cent whereas the demand is high and supply is low.
In a statement, he highlighted that two LNG cargoes have been purchased to meet the shortage of gas in winter.
Additionally, he pointed out that Rs16 billion have been recovered from power thieves so far.
Farid Town police in Sahiwal have arrested the manager and assistant manager of a wedding marquee at 96/6-R village, for reportedly installing hidden cameras in the bridal dressing room.
Complainant Muhammad Arshad from 94/6-R village had booked his daughter’s wedding at Grand Imperial Marriage Hall on September 1, 2023.
DAWN has reported that the man said that when his daughter went into the dressing room to change, she and her mother heard voices through the walls.
Arshad’s wife informed him about it after which, along with his son Ali Akbar and cousin Tariq Hussain, he went to the adjacent room only to find a video recording setup connected with the camera capturing the activities of the bridal room.
A man pointed a gun at them, while the manager and his assistant escaped the premises. He called the police on 15 helpline after which the manager and his assistant, Umer Iqbal and Javed Munir, were arrested.
A case (FIR No 1495/23) has been registered against both the suspects and their accomplice who had pointed a pistol at the complainant, under sections 292 and 506/B of the PPC on the complaint of Arshad.
Arshad has demanded that the district police officer conduct an investigation, and recover all the videos made by the suspects because they might have or could use it to blackmail and exploit women.
In a recent development, China’s state-owned Shanghai Electric Power (SEP) has reiterated its interest in acquiring the shares of Karachi’s sole power company, K-Electric, with a renewed offer of $1.77 billion.
According to Shan Abbas Ashari, the investment advisor of the Saudi group Al-Jomaih Power Limited, a major shareholder of K-Electric, the Saudi group has indicated the possibility of selling its shares at a price of $2 billion.
Ashari stated that a deal with Shanghai Electric, involving the acquisition of K-Electric shares, is set to be rekindled. He mentioned that SEP had initially proposed the $1.77 billion offer to acquire K-Electric several years ago, and this offer would now be revisited.
Ashari highlighted the growing electricity demand in Karachi, which should have already reached 5,000 MW. He emphasised that this demand could further increase if all industries were integrated into the company’s grid.
Moreover, Ashari emphasised that Pakistan stands as an ideal investment destination for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries due to its rapidly expanding population, distinguishing it from Europe.
However, he acknowledged that investors from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait faced challenges following the K-Electric deal. Stay tuned for further updates on this significant investment development.
