Tag: UAE

  • Gold price drops by Rs8,600 per tola as rupee strengthens

    Gold price drops by Rs8,600 per tola as rupee strengthens

    The price of 24 karat gold decreased by Rs8,600 per tola and Rs7,373 per 10 grams to settle at Rs145,300 and Rs124,571, respectively, in the local market, according to figures released on Wednesday by All Sindh Sarafa and Jewellers Association (ASSJA).

    The latest decrease was in accordance with what the traders anticipated that the market would correct itself after achieving fresh heights in earlier sessions.

    On July 28, the price of a tola of gold rose to an all-time high of Rs162,500.

    The local currency made a significant comeback against the US dollar, rising by nearly Rs9 or 4 per cent, which diminished the shine of the precious metal.

    In the last three sessions, the price of gold has fallen by a total of Rs14,300 per tola, from Monday to Wednesday.

    Read more: Pakistan rupee appreciates Rs9.58 against US dollar, closes at Rs228.8

    Compared to Dubai, the price of gold in Pakistan is Rs2,000 per tola less.

    Bullion prices also fell $14 per ounce to close at $1,766 on the global market.

  • Asia’s first monkeypox death reported in India

    Asia’s first monkeypox death reported in India

    India confirmed the death of a 22-year-old man from monkeypox in the southern state of Kerala. The death is India’s as well as Asia’s first death from the disease, reports Reuters. This is the world’s fourth known fatality from the disease.

    Kerala’s revenue minister K Rajan said that the government isolated 21 people who had come in contact with the young man. He further said that the deceased displayed fatigue and fever.

    According to the state’s Health Minister Veena George, the man’s family told the authorities that he had tested positive for monkeypox in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before returning to India.

    The Indian federal health ministry stated that they had formed a task force to monitor monkeypox cases across the country.

    Last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of monkeypox a global health emergency. No case of monkeypox has been reported in Pakistan. However, 78 countries had reported more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox.

  • Asia Cup 2022 to be held in UAE

    Asia Cup 2022 to be held in UAE

    The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced on Wednesday that Asia Cup 2022 will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, Sri Lanka will still officially have hosting rights. According to the ACC, the competition has been relocated to the UAE in light of the current crisis in Sri Lanka.

    “Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to shift the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation. The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will continue to retain hosting rights,” ACC president Jay Shah said.

    The tournament will be played between August 27 and September 11.

    The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to be a T20I 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.

  • Gen Bajwa receives medal for his contributions by Saudi Arabia

    Gen Bajwa receives medal for his contributions by Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, first deputy Prime Minister (PM) and minister of defence, decorated Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa with the King Abdulaziz Medal of Excellent Class for making “significant contributions in defence cooperation” between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

    The medal was named after Saudi Arabia’s founding King Abdulaziz Al Saud and is considered the highest civilian honour in KSA. Recently, it was given to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    Pakistan’s army chief visited Saudi Arabia on an official tour met with the Crown Prince in Jeddah on Saturday. They reviewed bilateral relations, especially in the military fields, and opportunities for developing them. They also discussed a number of issues of common interest.

    Following this, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the COAS for being conferred the honour. “It is a great honour for the people and the armed forces of Pakistan,” he said in a tweet.

    In another tweet, he said Pakistan considers the security of Saudi Arabia “as our own and are completely resolved to further cementing our multifaceted bilateral relationship including excellent defence cooperation”.

    COAS Bajwa meets Musharraf:

    COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his wife also paid a visit to former President and Army Chief General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in Dubai, reports emerged on Saturday.

    Gen Qamar and his wife were accompanied by top physicians of the Pakistan Army. They spent some time with Gen Musharraf and his family while the army doctors examined the former military ruler, reports The Express Tribune.

    Earlier this month, Musharraf’s family revealed that he is going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible as his organs are malfunctioning.

    After this, the establishment and politicians, including Nawaz Sharif, came forward and were of the view that he should be brought back to Pakistan.

  • Gold surges to Rs147,250 per tola in local market

    Gold surges to Rs147,250 per tola in local market

    On Monday, gold prices in the local market rose by Rs1,450 per tola to a new all-time high, pushed up by the Pakistani currency’s continued depreciation against the US dollar.

    Despite no change in gold rates in the international market, gold rates in the local market increased to Rs147,250 per tola, according to data released by the All Sindh Saraf Jewelers Association. Similarly, the price of a gramme of gold increased by Rs1,243 to Rs126,243.

    However, gold prices on the international market remained unchanged at $1,840 per ounce.

    The price of silver per tola remained unchanged at Rs1,560. The price of a gramme of silver also remained unchanged at Rs1,337.44. When compared to rates in the Dubai gold market, local jewellers said prices in the local market remained below Rs3,000 per tola.

    Pakistani rupee dips to new lows

    Experts predict that the Pakistan rupee will continue to fall against the US dollar and other major currencies owing to concerns regarding the IMF’s $6 billion program’s restoration, the country’s expanding current account deficit, and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

    The PKR which lost 32.5 per cent of its value in the current financial year 2021-22 is forecasted to remain under stress as the dollar is in high demand in the market due to economic crises.

    The central bank appears helpless to stem the rupee’s speculative fall, as demand for the US dollar continues to rise due to quarter-end payment strain.

  • Khan demands probe in ‘Maqsood chaprasi’ death case

    Khan demands probe in ‘Maqsood chaprasi’ death case

    Malik Maqsood Ahmad, more commonly known as Maqsood ‘Chaprasi’ (peon), accused of Rs16 billion money-laundering in the case against Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and his son Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Hamza Shehbaz passed away in Dubai on Thursday, June 9.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday demanded a probe into Maqsood’s death.

    Maqsood had reportedly left for the UAE in 2018, just before the PTI came to power. Khan often referred to him in his public speeches alleging that PM Sharif and his sons laundered billions of rupees using Maqsood’s bank account.

    PTI information secretary Farrukh Habib raised several questions on the death of Maqsood and tweeted, “After the Shehbaz Sharif government came to power, the sudden deaths of Dr Rizwan and Maqsood, and change of prosecutor in the money-laundering case (against Shehbaz and others) are evident of how the Sicilian Mafia works.”

    PTI central Punjab president Dr Yasmin Rashid and general secretary Hammad Azhar also demanded Maqsood’s postmortem, maintaining that the nation should be informed who would inherit the Rs3bn apparently lying in his account.

  • After Saudi Arabia, PM Shehbaz set to visit Turkey

    After Saudi Arabia, PM Shehbaz set to visit Turkey

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will visit Turkey next week as his first visit to Ankara after assuming office in April.

    The Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar, in a briefing, said: “The prime minister would be visiting Turkey next week, and we would be sharing with you more details containing elements, specific elements, and engagements envisaged during this visit.”

    Prior to this, PM Shehbaz held two foreign trips to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    Following his visit, it was announced that Saudi Arabia is finalising the extension of the $3 billion deposit to Pakistan.

    On the other foreign engagements, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited Davos, Switzerland, to attend World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting (May 23-26), with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman accompanying him.

  • PM Shehbaz, Hamza appear in court for hearing of Rs16bn money laundering case

    PM Shehbaz, Hamza appear in court for hearing of Rs16bn money laundering case

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and his son Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Hamza Shehbaz appeared in a special court (Central-I) for their hearing in the Rs16 billion money-laundering case today.

    The father-son duo was accompanied by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.

    Shehbaz and Hamza were set to be indicted in the case in the previous hearing on May 14 but it was delayed because the prime minister was in the UK and postponed his return to the country in order to visit the UAE to offer condolences over the death of their president.

    Once the hearing started, Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan complained that due to the security of the prime minister, others coming to the court had to suffer.

    Replying to his complaint, PM Shehbaz mentioned that he has asked his security not to stop anybody. “I am appearing before the court in order to maintain its dignity and follow the laws of the country,” the premier added.

    When the court asked PM Shehbaz to take the rostrum, the premier said he would have committed a crime if he hadn’t appeared in the court.

    “On the orders of former prime minister Imran Khan, an investigation was conducted in Britain and I was proved innocent,” PM Shehbaz recalled, adding that he returned to Pakistan back in 2004 and wouldn’t have come back if he had black money.

    When Shehbaz again took the stand, he told the court he had served as the chief minister for 10 years but had never taken a salary. “My salary would be Rs10 million but I did not take it. I also went on official tours using my own money. I used to get the government car refuelled from my own pocket.”

    “I saved the nation billions of rupees.”

    The premier’s counsel argued that the 14 accounts mentioned by the FIA were through banking channels. “Baseless propaganda was done in this case for 1.5 years. The suspects tolerated insults despite lack of evidence.”

    “It seems the FIA is inspired by [streaming platform] Netflix. This is a film-inspired FIR,” he argued.

    The FIA had in December 2021 submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza to a special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16bn in the sugar scam case.

  • Pakistan to host Cricket World Cup for veteran players in 2023

    Pakistan will host Cricket World Cup for veteran players in the next year 2023. The age limit for players to play in the tournament would be 40 and above.

    According to Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), 12 teams will play in the tournament which will commence on September 23, 2023, at six venues in Karachi while the final match will be played on October 8.

    Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman PVCA told the media: “Pakistan will be joined in the World Cup by old rivals – India, Australia, England, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Canada, USA, Zimbabwe, Wales, UAE, and Namibia.”

    He added, “It is going to be a major event and we will take all steps to make sure that we host it successfully.”

    “We have a number of leading cricketers who would be eligible to compete in the World Cup. We are hoping that top players like Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, and Mohammad Hafeez will play for Pakistan. We are going to field a very strong team and will be the favorites to win the World Cup,” he further said.

    There is a new concept that will give an opportunity to former cricketers to play on the fields again while young audiences and players will also get another chance to see their seniors playing on the grounds.

    Every match will be of 45 overs and local TV channels will broadcast the matches of Pakistan including the semi-finals and finals live.

    The Veterans World Cup, aged above 50, was first launched in Australia in 2018. However, its second edition was canceled due to a covid pandemic.

  • Pakistanis can now stay for 60 days in Dubai on a tourist visa

    United Arab Emirates (UAE) has now allowed Pakistanis to stay for 60 days on a tourist visa as a standard policy from September. It will facilitate people who intend to stay for a long break in the country.

    The country also provides another visa type for job seekers that is called ‘ a job exploration entry visa ‘ which allows people to explore job opportunities in the region.

    The UAE government media office said, “Major improvements include facilitating the entry requirements for all visa types, offering flexible visa durations that meet the needs of the visitors and the purpose of the visit,” will be implemented.

    “In addition, all entry visas are available for single or multiple entry, can be renewed for similar periods, and are valid for 60 days from their issuance date.”

    In the past, UAE had a standard 30-days visa on arrival for many nations including Britain, America, and Australia. People who overstayed were given a nine-day grace period to return to their countries. Otherwise, they were subjected to fines that amounted to 200 dirhams for the first day and 100 dirhams for each consecutive day.

    Nations that do not have a visa on arrival policy such as India and Pakistan have to arrange for a visa through a travel agency before arrival in the UAE.