Volkswagen (VW) is set to begin the production of its vehicles in Pakistan in 2022. The automaker will initially produce the Amarok Pickup Truck and the Transporter Van in Pakistan. The Amarok will compete with the Toyota Hilux and the Isuzu D-Max, whereas the Transporter Van will go up against the likes of Kia Grand Carnival and Hyundai Grand Starex.
Among 600 entrepreneurs in North America, three Pakistanis made it to the Forbes’ 30 Under 30s 2021 list for the North American region. The Pakistanis who made it to the list are Asad J Malik, a 24 year old chief executive officer of Jadu AR, Danish Damani – co-founder of Oral AI and lastly Faizan Bhatty, co-founder of Halo Cars.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that around two million families would benefit from the government’s new Ehsaas Kafaalat Policy aimed at extending financial support to special persons. As the world observed the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the PM said on Twitter that under the new programme, the special persons would be eligible for a monthly stipend of Rs2000.
Two Pakistani companies have made it to the most coveted Forbes ‘Asia’s Best Under A Billion 2020’ list. Information technology company Systems Limited Pakistan (SLP) along with local textile giant Feroze1888 Mills Ltd have made it to this year’s list. The annual list recognises 200 top-performing small and mid-sized companies in the Asia-Pacific region with sales under $1 billion.
An Australia-based Pakistani computer scientist, Shazia Sadiq, has been recognized for innovative STEM research by the prestigious Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE). ATSE has recognized Shazia for her work which focuses on developing solutions for Business Information Systems to more effectively process information, significantly improving business process management, governance, and risk and compliance data.
Chairman Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, has called the newly-announced chemical castration as punishment for rapists “un-Islamic”. While speaking with a local news channel, the Chairman said that instead of enforcing Islamic laws, the government has adopted a policy of enacting new laws. He stated that Allah had prescribed stoning and flogging as the punishments for adultery and rape.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is planning to lay off 3,000 employees through a voluntary retirement scheme this year to reduce its annual losses by Rs4.5 billion ($28.26 million). The Pakistani government approved the national flag carrier’s voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to remove the employees from service. PIA management is now seeking about Rs12.7 billion from the government to compensate them.
Recruitment agencies fear Pakistani nationals will lose job opportunities to Indians after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has suspended issuance of work or employment visas to 13 Muslim-majority countries including Pakistan. In fact, since the ban came into effect on 18 of November, one recruitment agency alone in Rawalpindi has lost 3,000 jobs which have now been diverted to India by its client.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for chemical castration and death penalty for convicted rapists during a meeting of the federal cabinet. The PM has instructed the law ministry to draft an ordinance within a week to curb violent sexual crimes that mostly target women and children. The federal cabinet has approved in principle the rape law.
A special permit by the Pakistan government has allowed Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum to “export” 150 falcons of rare species from Pakistan to the UAE. The permission was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and delivered to the UAE’s embassy in the federal capital.