The United States is planning to send 15 trade delegations to Pakistan in 2020 to explore possibilities for expanding trade with the country, says Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells. This information was in a paper which Wells read at a Washington think-tank last week. She added that both the governments are working to increase US-Pakistan trade and investment relationship.
Fatima Pinto, international football star from Portugal, wrote a heartfelt post on Instagram for Pakistan’s first female footballer from Chitral, Karishma Ali. Pinto, in her post highlights the struggle Karishma and girls in Chitral had to go through in order to practice the sport, mentioning that some had to walk 4 hours just to reach the first day of camp.
A case has been registered against a woman who misbehaved with a traffic policeman after she was pulled over for violating a traffic signal in Karachi’s upscale Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area. The development came about after the video went viral on social media, in which the female motorist can be seen resorting to uncouth language as well as threatening the cop.
The President of United States, Donald Trump, sent a wave of shock on social media after he tweeted a photo of his head photoshopped on the super-buff, bare body of the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa. The picture was tweeted on the official Twitter account on Wednesday morning, with Trump offering exactly zero explanation – not even a caption.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 2019, Pakistan has been ranked at a poor 116th place out of 140 countries in the freedom of press rankings. While the European countries are expectedly included in the top 10, countries like Jamaica, Costa Rica, and New Zealand are also rated highly. China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are all listed at the bottom.
Government officials have been advised by federal Ministry of Information Technology to discard Whatsapp for official correspondence after an Israeli spyware infected millions of users. The spyware, Pegasus, gives access to “hostile intelligence” agencies of users’ activities and sensitive data. According to experts, Pakistani mobile users could be in double jeopardy as Indian government is also reportedly using Pegasus to steal data.
Pensioners who receive money through Pakistan Post will no longer have to stand in the long queues outside the banks to collect their dues as the national postal service is introducing a debit card facility for them which will enable them to collect their pensions from any nearby ATM. According to a key official of the postal service, the decision was taken after many complaints from the pensioners.
The Punjab government has decided to reinforce a complete ban on sheesha, imposing hefty fines on its provision on public places. The decision has come in the backdrop of the videos circulating on social media, suggesting that a few cafes are still serving the hazardous flavored smoke. The government has directed the administration and divisional police chiefs to effectively implement the ban.
Recently, the government launched the country’s first-ever electric vehicle policy which aims to slash the import bill, curb greenhouse gas emissions and convert 30% of all cars to Electric Vehicles (EVs). The comprehensive policy has multiple incentives to boost the growth of EVs in the country including free registration, tax exemption and others. Under the proposed policy, Foreign Exchange Remittance Cardholders, who remit $100,000 over a period of two years, will be allowed to import one hybrid car duty-free.
Cows in RusMoloko dairy farm, Russia wear specially designed VR headsets for improved milk productivity. The glasses offer sun-filled views of green grazing fields to help the cows relax which has a direct link to a cow’s milk-producing ability. After experts in the field of technology and dairy farming worked together to find a solution to the issue of milk production came up with perfect-fit VR goggles as a solution.