Recent rankings list NUST as the only Pakistani university among Asia’s top 100 institutions. NUST has moved up two places to 74th place in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings 2022. The university has advanced 17 places over the past five years as it was ranked 91st in 2018. NUST is also ranked among the top 400 universities in the world.
The Pakistan Navy reported on Wednesday that the UK and Pakistani navies conducted a joint exercise in the northern Arabian Sea. Following the visit of the UK Navy’s ship HMS Richmond to Karachi, the drill was held. The naval exercises covered a range of maritime operations. It contributed to efforts towards ensuring maritime security in the region by improving interoperability.
Nauman Niaz has apologized for a verbal spat with Shoaib Akhtar during the live broadcast on state-run television. He apologized a thousand times for his outburst on television, stating that he was justified in his actions. He told a Pakistani journalist on his YouTube channel that he could apologize more than once.
United Kingdom approves COVID-19 antiviral pill as a potentially game-changing tool against the pandemic. The treatment is being developed jointly by Merck & Co Inc. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. British regulators have approved Molnupiravir for use in people with mild to moderate COVID-19. The antiviral works by reducing a virus’ ability to replicate, thereby slowing the disease down.
Babar Azam’s father has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to immediately arrange for the treatment of injured cricketer Bisma Amjad. Taking to Instagram, Azaeem Siddique expressed his concerns about the cricketer. The PCB can pay the Babar’s India match fee if other arrangements cannot be made for the treatment of injured woman cricketers, Siddique said.
The practice of seeing living statues is very common in other countries, but not in Pakistan. This can either be a performer (or mannequin) who poses like a statue or someone with statue-like makeup. The ‘Golden Man of Islamabad,’ Muhammad Ahsan, is the first living statue in Pakistan. DC Islamabad granted Ahsan permission to perform as the living statute in Islamabad.
Afghanistan is also experiencing a boom in cryptocurrency adoption as the trend spreads around the globe. According to Chainalysis’ August report, the war-torn nation ranked 20th out of 154 nations using digital coins. Additionally, Afghanistan is also ranked eighth globally for the core peer-to-peer trading volume. In the wake of recurrent bullish and bearish trends, cryptocurrency usage is on the rise globally.
Reports indicate that Pakistan has paid the Asian Development Bank a hefty fine of $100 million for failing to execute projects. Over the past 15 years, Pakistan failed to honor the deadlines on various donor-funded projects. There have been a few examples shared with the media regarding bad governance in the implementation of donor-funded projects in Pakistan.
The Indian authorities have ordered the establishment of a special agency called the State Investigation Agency. This will exacerbate the pressure on Kashmiris who are demanding self-determination. According to the authorities, the aforementioned agency would serve as the Nodal Agency in coordinating with India’s notorious National Investigation Agency. Accordingly, it calls for effective investigation and prosecution of cases involving Kashmiris, especially young people.
The 80-year-old civil engineer launched Pakistan’s first Islamic garden in Karachi inspired by the Islamic Botanical Garden in Sharjah. The garden of Shaukat Omari includes plants, trees, and shrubs named in Islamic scriptures, like the Sharjah park that opened in 2014. There are 25 new species of trees planted in Jinnah Urban Forest, including olive, date palm, pomegranate, and fig trees.