A total of 190 million pounds from UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) have been received by National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on account of a settlement with property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain’s family. The State Bank of Pakistan confirmed the news but declined to share details. However, the debate about whether the funds belong to state bank or the government is still ongoing.
In a major development, Switzerland will now share financial information with Pakistan which will help unearth the corrupt politicians’ foreign accounts. The Swiss parliament approved 18 more countries, including Oman, Nigeria, Azerbaijan etc. for automatic exchange of financial information (AEOI). Under this treaty, Switzerland will share the details of bank accounts held by their citizens in the country, as well as foreign citizens that have Swiss bank accounts.
Two FIRs have been registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act against more than 250 lawyers who attacked Lahore’s Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) on Wednesday. The lawyers tortured doctors and attendants, and damaged hospital property and police vehicles in order to avenge a group of lawyers who were beaten at PIC a few weeks ago. The attack resulted in death of three patients at the facility.
In a bid to protect the people from fuel adjustment effects in electricity bills, the federal government is offering a subsidy of Rs. 242 billion to domestic consumers. According to Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information, Firdaus Ashiq Awan, only lifeline consumers, who use less than or up to 300 units (kwh) per month, have been given the tariff relief in recent months.
One of Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) planes has been damaged after landing at the Sialkot airport. The Boeing 777 which was flying from Jeddah to Sialkot was taxiing after the landing when one of its tires burst on a rough portion of the tarmac. The plane remained grounded at the airport for three hours and caused damage worth several hundred thousand rupees.
The shuttle train service between Lahore and Wagah Railway Station will take Lahoris to Wagah for Rs30. The train, named ‘Rail Car’, can carry more than 200 passengers. Two passenger trains and a break van have been added to the train. Rail Car will leave Lahore thrice a day stopping at the Moghalpura, Harbanspura, and Jallo Park stations.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotted on Monday Indian Minister VK Singh’s speech at the Heart of Asia conference in Turkey. As soon as the Indian minister began his speech, Qureshi rose from his seat and walked out of the hall. The boycott was in protest against the brutalities and the grave violation of human rights exercised by the India government in Kashmir, according to Qureshi.
Facebook removed the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chapter’s official page from its platform, allegedly over the party’s promotion of its Kashmir March to be held on December 22. According to Ameer JI Karachi Naeem ur Rehman , the accounts admins of the page had also been banned following the page’s removal. Naeem-ur-Rehman took to twitter to register his protest saying Facebook cannot suppress their right of free speech in support of Kashmiris.
A British-Pakistani passenger, travelling on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, was briefly detained and then charged Rs. 10,000 fine for smoking during a flight. Ahsan, a chain-smoker, went to the airplane’s lavatory to smoke a cigarette or two and was caught when other passengers saw the smoke coming out. The crew confiscated his passport and was briefly detained by the Airport Security Force (ASF) upon landing at Islamabad International airport.
Pakistan has decided to grant the facility of visa-on-arrival to tourists from 25 countries taking the number to 50 countries. Vice Chairman Overseas Pakistanis Commission, Chaudhary Waseem Akhtar revealed the news on Monday, stating that the incumbent government has undertaken numerous initiatives to boost tourism in the country. The initiative will also project a soft image of Pakistan on the global stage.