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.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police has arrested four men who shattered an ancient Buddha statue found during construction work in the province’s Takhtbhai area of Mardan. Videos surfaced on social media showing a man breaking with a hammer a life-sized statue of Buddha, parts of which were still embedded underground. KP police later tweeted that pieces of the broken statue were recovered.
A month after grounding all Pakistani pilots, Vietnam has stated all the pilots flying for their airlines have valid and legitimate licences. A note from the Pakistani embassy to the Vietnamese government, states that none of the pilots have been involved in a flight incident or safety threat. It also said that there are no fake licences, as mentioned by the media.
A viral Twitter post, changed the life of a 24-year-old Pakistani carpenter living in Saudi Arabia. Muhammad Waqas who moved to the Kingdom four years ago, always wanted to become a model but could not pursue the career. However, a viral Twitter post by his friend landed him a modelling opportunity within couple of weeks.
Pakistan-born scientist Asifa Akhtar has become the first international female vice president of the biology and medicine section at Germany’s prestigious Max Planck Society. The Max Planck Society is Germany’s most successful research organisation. During her term of office, Ms Akhtar will be in charge of the institutes of the sections and will also be the contact person for the Max Planck Schools.
Pakistani doctor in Saudi Arabia, Zia Ullah Khan Dawar, was awarded a medal by the Kingdom’s health ministry in recognition of his services as one of the “captains” of the COVID-19 team. Dawar has been living in the Kingdom for last four years and is currently working with the kingdom’s health ministry in Jeddah as part of a COVID-19 surveillance and data analysis team.
Saudi Arabia has offered financial assistance for the construction of Pakistan’s first state-owned Quran complex in Islamabad. The government will be building the complex to preserve historical manuscripts of the Muslim scripture. The center will also oversee and set standards for the publication of the Quran in the country and would recycle worn pages of the holy book.
Qatar and UAE airlines have announced mandatory coronavirus tests for passengers from Pakistan three to four days before the scheduled departure. The mandatory pre-flight requirement for Qatar airways will take effect from Monday, July 13th. Passengers from Pakistan must show they were tested for COVID-19, 72 hours before their flight departure and present a negative result.