The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) rating agency has affirmed Pakistan’s ‘B-’ long-term and ‘B’ short-term sovereign rating while maintaining ‘stable’ long-term outlook. The New York-based rating agency also affirmed ‘B-’ long-term issue rating on Pakistan’s senior unsecured debt and sukuk trust certificates. It said the country’s rating remains constrained by a narrow tax base and domestic and external security risks, which continue to be high.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will finalize in October the masterplan for Pakistan’s first Digital City, which it expects to serve as a hub for high technology, innovation, and create thousands of new jobs. Pakistan Digital City will be located in Haripur district of KP, a province which for years was a site of militancy and military operations and only in the recent past regained stability.
Vaccine alliance Gavi is going to supply Pakistan with COVID-19 vaccine doses to immunize for free 20 percent of its 225 million population. Gavi is a public-private partnership that helps provide vaccines to developing countries. It has signed an agreement with Pakistan to provide 90 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, once it is ready.
Pakistan’s workers’ remittances reached an all time high in the month of July, the first month of fiscal year 2021, at $2.77 billion, the State Bank reported on Monday. Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the news on Twitter, alling it “more good news” for Pakistan’s economy. July’s remittances improved by 36.5% compared to remittances recorded last July, which were $2 billion.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected an Australian news outlet’s report alleging that a Wuhan lab has been conducting alleged covert operations in Pakistan as “politically motivated and fake”. The Klaxon report, quoting unnamed “intelligence experts”, claims China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology has “set up operations in Pakistan as part of a broader offensive against India and Western rivals”.
Malaysia has verified licenses of 18 Pakistani pilots currently employed in the country and it has reinstated them with immediate effect. The pilots were suspended earlier this month after authorities in Pakistan discovered that up to a third of the country’s pilots may have falsified their qualifications. Last week, the Vietnamese government also verified licences of all Pakistani pilots.
The Supreme Court hinted at another YouTube ban a day ago, completely dismissing the fact that the last three year ban caused an approximate loss of Rs. 1.4 billion in revenues. The people of Pakistan are not happy with the news, as YouTube is not only a source of entertainment for people, but also creates employment opportunities for thousands.
The United States-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has ranked Pakistan as the “most improved among countries with materials” in its Nuclear Security Index 2020 report. Pakistan had improved its overall score, by adopting “new on-site physical protection and cybersecurity regulations, improving insider threat protection measures, and more.” Pakistan’s score improvement for regulatory measures is the second largest improvement for regulations in the Index since 2012.
Foreign Ministry has sanctioned $25,000 for the repair and renovation of just one bathroom of the official residence in New York of the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. According to a source this latest sanction of $25000 is just one extra spending on a bathroom, which is already in good condition. Around $50,000 has already been spent from Mission’s account.
BSF troops caught a 20-year-old man last week from near the international border in Gujarat’s Kutch, who was trying to cross the border to meet his girlfriend in Pakistan. According to the troops, the man was trying to cross the border through Rann of Kutch area to meet a girl from Karachi, with whom he was in contact through Facebook and Whatsapp.