A European non-governmental group has uncovered a network of 265 ‘fake’ news outlets managed by an Indian network to influence the European Union and the United Nations with content critical of Pakistan. During the investigation, the DisinfoLab found that the fake websites copy-pasted anti-Pakistan content from unusual press agencies and amplified material shared by politicians and obscure think tanks that supported Indian geopolitical interests.
Pakistan is going to start exporting pine nuts to China soon. A Chinese snack company, Bestore, has inked a deal worth 300 million yuan ($42 million) with Pakistani pine nut company Halo foods. According to Yang Yinfen, CEO and president of Bestore, hand peeled pine nuts are one of the most expensive nut products for Bestore now as both demand and output has grown rapidly.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Chief Executive Officer Air Marshal Arshad Mahmood Malik has said that monthly operational losses of the national flag carrier have been cut to half. The CEO said that the losses have been brought down to Rs1.5 billion as compared to more than Rs3 billion suffered earlier. However, a lot more still needs to be done to deal with PIA’s liabilities.
Indian cotton exporters are looking forward to resuming trade with Pakistan after halting it after India’s decision to revoke the disputed status of Indian occupied Kashmir. India exported 500,000 bales of cotton to Pakistan last year and is expecting to sell 1.5-2 million bales this year. As the quality of cotton produced in Pakistan has decreased, Pakistan is seeing a 35-percent fall in cotton production this year becoming a net importer of cotton from a cotton exporting country.
Former premier Nawaz Sharif’s departure from the country was postponed on Monday as the PML-N supremo’s name is yet to be removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) by the authorities. The former premier was set to depart for London via Doha today along with his brother Shehbaz Sharif and family physician Dr Adnan Khan. However, his ticket has now been cancelled.
Pakistani cueist Muhammad Asif won IBSF World Snooker Championship being played in Antalya, Turkey. Asif who also won World Snooker title in 2012 and became the first Pakistani 1994 to win the title defeated Philippine’s Jeffery Rod by 5-8 in final match of the event. He dedicated this win to the Pakistani nation and expressed joy on becoming the world champion.
In the wake of escalating data leaks around the world, the government of Pakistan has made a decision to launch a dedicated messaging app for all official communication. The application will be named as the “Govt App” and the government will stop using other messaging applications like WhatsApp, according to Prime Minister Imran Khan
Pakistan has received first onion export order of more than 300 tons from Bangladesh after nearly 15 years. This is after an Indian ban on Bangladesh to avert price hike in domestic markets. At least 12 containers of onions are being exported to Bangladesh and more will follow. The onion trade was also agreed on in government-to-government talks. The shipment value from Pakistan will be around $600/ton.
Exports of manufactured leather goods from Pakistan grew by 10.41% during the first quarter of the current financial year as compared to exports of the corresponding period last year. According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the export of leather garments increased by 11.48%. Other leather goods exports of the country also recorded a positive growth of 5.20%. i.e. worth $2.6 million as compared to to the exports of $2.5 million in the same period last year.
Pakistan may remain on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) beyond February 2020, mainly because of its risk profile and in view of two simultaneous evaluations according to senior officials. Officials also revealed that the government recovered only Rs5.6 billion in taxes on foreign assets worth about $7.4bn (Rs1.15 trillion) of Pakistanis reported by the international