Tag: Pakistan

  • Bykea expands to car-hailing service

    Bykea expands to car-hailing service

    The bike taxi and logistics company BYKEA has recently launched its car-hailing service. The service has only been made available by Bykea in Karachi and Islamabad so far, but it will likely be expanded in the coming months.

    The launch of the new service was confirmed by the company through a social media post.
    “Hum ho gaye hain 2 se 4,” tweeted BYKEA’s official account.

    https://twitter.com/bykeapk/status/1563111486989299712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1563111486989299712%7Ctwgr%5E14b12e65edff4173732ad6b26f8eaa4238d042c0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthecurrent.pk%2F%3Fp%3D194223

    Earlier this month, the company hinted that it will start offering a car-hailing service. However, it did not publicly announce its plans or inform its regular users. A tweet from its official account suggested that the company is launching a car-hailing service.

  • US Congressman expresses concern over the flood crisis in Pakistan

    US Congressman expresses concern over the flood crisis in Pakistan

    United States (US) Congressman Gregory W. Meeks has expressed sympathies and offered condolences over the loss of hundreds of lives due to the catastrophic situation of floods in Pakistan.

    Meeks, who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, held a meeting with Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Masood Khan.

    During the meeting, Khan thanked Chairman Meeks for expressing solidarity with the flood victims, saying that the country is trying to deal with this natural catastrophe, reports Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

    Khan also thanked the US for its financial assistance for the Pakistani flood victims and relief activities.

    Earlier, US Secretary Antony Blinken had announced $1 million to build resilience against natural disasters in addition to $100,000 in immediate relief for the flood victims of Pakistan.

    Meeks visited Pakistan in 2020. During the visit, he met Pakistani parliamentary and government leaders and members of civil society.

    On Thursday, the Pakistani government declared the ongoing flood situation in the country a “national emergency”. 

    At least 937 people have died in floods caused by heavy rains in Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

    According to the data issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 234 people have lost their lives to rain and flood-related incidents in Balochistan and 306 people have lost their lives in Sindh. 165 people have lost their lives in Punjab and 185 have lost their lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

  • ‘Threatened govt officials’: FIR registered against Rana Sanaullah for spreading terror

    A case was registered by the Punjab police against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday on charges of terrorism under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). A complainant named Sheikh Aslam registered a First Information Report (FIR) at the Industrial Estate police station of Gujrat.

    In the FIR, Aslam stated that Rana Sanaullah appeared on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’ on August 21. During the show, Aslam said that the anchor [Shahzad Iqbal] ran some old clips and statements of Sanaullah that were aired on different TV channels on April 16, 2021 and January 29, 2022, respectively.

    In the clips, the minister had threatened the judiciary, the Punjab chief secretary, commissioner, other government officials and their children with dire consequences. Moreover, the FIR stated that Sanaullah threatened to kill government officials’ children and said they wouldn’t get any help from the judiciary.

    “Rana Sanaullah’s statement was to terrorise the judiciary, chief secretary and other government officials so they can’t do their job and fulfil their legal responsibilities”, added the FIR.

    The development was confirmed by Punjab Home Minister Hashim Dogar. In a tweet, the home minister said that the charges levelled in the FIR are serious and action would be taken in accordance with the law.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi also shared a copy of the FIR: “You [Sanaullah] make false cases against Imran Khan, now the Pakistani nation has registered a true case against you.”

    An official source told Dawn that the complainant was “wanted” by the Islamabad Police in some cases lodged with Kohsar and Aabpara police stations. The police had already issued him notices and they have initiated the process to declare him a proclaimed offender.

     

  • Pak Suzuki suffers losses of Rs17.23 million due to rising production costs

    Pak Suzuki suffers losses of Rs17.23 million due to rising production costs

    Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd. (PSMC) reported its half-yearly results, which were completed on June 30, 2022. The company reported a net loss of Rs17.23 million against a net profit of Rs1.19 billion, according to the automaker’s latest filing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

    According to Mettis Global, the company’s sales revenue climbed 30 per cent YoY, from Rs66 billion to Rs112, 62 billion, mostly due to volumetric growth and pricing increases.

    As a result of growing input costs and the significant depreciation of the local currency, the gross margins during 1HFY22 decreased from 5.98 per cent to 3.74 per cent.

    Regarding the company’s primary expense heads, distribution and marketing costs came in at Rs1.64 billion, up 30 per cent YoY, while administration costs dipped to Rs1.48 billion, up 11 per cent YoY.

    In contrast to Rs866 millionn in 1HFY21, the company additionally received Rs1.56 billion in other income.

    Furthermore, as a result of rising interest rates, finance costs increased by 6.2x YoY, from Rs292 million to Rs1.8 billion.

    The company also paid Rs767.84 million in taxes, which represents an increase of 57 per cent YoY because of the impact of super taxes.

  • Pakistan or India: Shane Watson predicts who will win Asia Cup 2022

    Pakistan or India: Shane Watson predicts who will win Asia Cup 2022

    Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson predicted the winner of the upcoming Asia Cup 2022, which starts on August 27 (Saturday).

    There will be eight teams in two groups competing against one another in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. The most awaited-match between Pakistan and India will take place on August 28 (Sunday).

    There are many strong contenders – India and Pakistan favoured most among them – but Watson picked India to win the tournament. 

    “My predicted winner is India,” said Watson in the latest episode of The ICC Review. “They’re so strong and depending on what the conditions are, they adapt easily to conditions.”

    “Pakistan,” said Watson when asked about the biggest threat to India’s success. He said the winner of the India-Pakistan clash on Sunday (August 28) would go on to win the Asia Cup.

    “That first game is going to be very special to watch because Pakistan have full belief now that they can beat this Indian team,” said Watson. “I think, really, whoever wins that game is going to go on and win the Asia Cup.”

    Pak-India clash

    “I’m sitting on the fence a little bit!” Watson laughed. “But I think Pakistan have a chance to win that game because of the confidence they’d have got out of winning for the first time in a long time against India.”

    Watson added that Pakistan’s “confidence is going to be flying high”.

    “India is hard to contain, especially their batting. But Pakistan, and as I’ve always known playing against them, when their confidence is high, they’re nearly unstoppable. And their confidence is high now that they know they can beat India in a big tournament.”

  • VIDEO: Babar Azam meets Virat Kohli in Dubai ahead of Pak Vs India clash

    Team India landed in Dubai on August 23 and went straight to the nets to prepare for India’s match against Pakistan on August 28 (Sunday). Ahead of the much-anticipated match, players from both the teams met each other in Dubai.  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video in which Virat Kohli could be seen meeting Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.

    In the video, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal were also chatting with Muhammad Nabi.

    Babar Azam retained his top spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I rankings. He is at the top of the rankings with 818 points, whereas Kohli has been struggling of late.

    Comparisons between the two had started long back and gathers steam ahead of a match between the two rival sides.

    Read more: ‘This too shall pass’, Pakistani captain Babar Azam backs Virat Kohli to regain form

    Asia Cup is all set to start from August 27 and Pakistan will be playing its first match against India on August 28 in Dubai.

    Babar and Kohli’s video has drawn massive reaction of fans from both countries. Here are some tweets.

  • Neighbour kills 7-year-old, dumps her body in water tank

    Neighbour kills 7-year-old, dumps her body in water tank

    Trigger warning: Murder

    A seven-year-old minor girl was killed in the Karpa area of Islamabad by a female neighbour and her male accomplice.

    According to the girl’s father, his daughter was burnt and her body was dumped in a water tank. After the incident, the minor girl’s father lodged a complaint against his female neighbour and her unidentified young abettor.

    In the First Information Report (FIR), the complainant told the police that his mother and wife along with daughter Maira went to their neighbor’s house to participate in Quran Khawani.

    The minor went up to the roof. After some time, the visitors smelled something burning. When they went to the roof, they saw a burning mattress but no sign of Maira. Later, Maira’s burnt body was recovered from a water tank kept on the roof.

    The complainant said his family members saw their female neighbour and an unidentified man fleeing the scene.

    Islamabad Police Operations Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) has also taken notice of the incident and directed the related police officials to arrest the suspects.

  • Pakistani internet users may face more disruption

    Pakistani internet users may face more disruption

    Internet users in Pakistan are expected to face internet disruption in the coming days, reports Kalbe Ali for Dawn. The internet services in the country were disrupted due to flood relief work in Sindh.

    Minister of Information and Telecommunications Syed Aminul Haque said that initial reports of previous internet outages that happened this month indicated that the situation was severe and that more such incidents could be expected in the near future.

    “Due to extensive flooding, most of the pathways of underground cables have been submerged, as relief workers or locals were trying to divert flood water by digging trenches on roads and footpaths.”

    “The ministry has directed PTCL to declare an emergency so that repair work could be initiated when any such incident is reported in the system, while the PTA is constantly monitoring the quality of service,” the minister added.

    According to a technical report submitted on Wednesday by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, the repeated internet outages were caused primarily by flood relief efforts in the Sukkur division, where fibre-optic cables were damaged by the use of heavy machinery used to drain out flood water in Sindh.

    Read more- Here’s why the internet was down in Pakistan last night

    The internet services in Pakistan suffered two major disruptions this month on August 19 and August 22.

  • US refuses to comment on Imran Khan’s terrorism charges

    US refuses to comment on Imran Khan’s terrorism charges

    The United States (US) refused to comment on the terrorism case registered against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

    “This is a matter for the Pakistani legal and judicial system”, said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

    “It is not directly a matter for the US and that’s because we don’t have a position on one political candidate or party versus any other political candidate or party.”

    Ned Price added that the US supports the “peaceful upholding of democratic, constitutional, and legal principles in Pakistan and around the world”.

    Read more: Rejected: White House says they have nothing to do with Khan’s allegation of a US-backed ‘foreign conspiracy’

    Imran Khan was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) after he threatened Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and senior officers of the Islamabad Police. However, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted transit bail to Khan till August 25.

    The IHC also issued a show-cause notice to the PTI chairman today (August 23) and summoned him on August 31 in a contempt of court case.

  • Twitterati praise Police, Rangers for saving blasphemy-accused from charged mob

    Twitterati praise Police, Rangers for saving blasphemy-accused from charged mob

    The Sindh Police and Rangers dispersed a mob that had gathered outside the home of a Hindu sanitary worker accused of alleged blasphemy on Sunday. The incident took place in Hyderabad, Sindh.

    People on social media are praising the role of the law enforcement agencies for saving the accused from the charged mob.

    Have a look at some reactions:

    https://twitter.com/alysalmaan/status/1561453107803979776

    https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1561386456739971073
    What happened?

    According to the police, a Hindu sanitary worker was targeted as a result of a personal dispute with a local resident. The accused man has been identified as Ashok Kumar, and he was charged with blasphemy under Section 295-B for allegedly desecrating the Quran.

    The case was registered on the complaint of Bilal, son of Bundo Khan Abbasi.

    After the news spread, a charged mob gathered around an apartment building and demanded that he should be handed over.

    Police then dispersed the violent mob.