The National Assembly is decorated with a massive national flag, prepared by the country’s Hindu community with over 60,000 balloons. Installed on one side of the main entrance, the 40-feet flag covers the whole area from floor to ceiling of the assembly hall. Students belonging to different educational institutions across the country are also invited to visit the Parliament House on August 14.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative Teresa Daban has said that it is essential for Pakistan to exit the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in order to secure private sector credit to meet external financing needs. “Failure to exit from the FATF grey list is a risk to the recently approved $6 billion IMF deal,” said Daban.
After Indian government’s plot to strengthen its hold in occupied Kashmir, the Foreign Office (FO) strongly condemned the move and stated that “Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps”. The statement reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the Kashmiri cause and rejected the move by the Indian government, stressing that IoK was internationally recognised as a disputed territory.
Despite considerable improvement in security situation in Pakistan, some foreign cricketers have refused to play the entire fifth season of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League in Pakistan. Reportedly, franchises want to hold half season of next year’s PSL5 in United Arab Emirates (UAE), since they feel that it is currently not feasible to hold entire edition in Pakistan.
An engineer by profession, Kulsoom Abdullah is a Pakistani-American Ph.D. scholar and is the first Muslim woman in the world to compete in an international weightlifting event while wearing Hijab. Kulsoom has made Pakistani proud by being the only woman to represent Pakistan in multiple weightlifting championships across the globe and that too while not compromising her family life.
Noshaba Zafar, the daughter of a truck driver, has scored the highest marks in Punjab University’s history of 173 years. Noshaba, who hails from district Chakwal’s tehsil Talagang, is a BSc student from VIP Girls Degree College – an affiliate of Punjab University and has become the first student ever to score 714 marks out of 800 in BA/BSc Examination.
The government has announced a four-day holiday on accounts of Eidul Azha and Independence Day. According to the Interior Ministry notification issued on Wednesday, August 12 to 15 (Monday to Thursday) have been declared public holidays. Last month, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had announced this year’s dates for Eidul Azha and the beginning of the month of Muharram, based on scientific evidence.
PTI leader and former finance minister Asad Umar has said that according to his assessment inflation rates would peak in next two to four months. While speaking on a local news channel, Umar said that after few months, slowly inflation rate would start going down, which would be reflected in monetary policy and hence, interest rates would also go down.
A special delegation of over 500 Indian Sikh pilgrims have been allowed to visit Nankana Sahib for the celebrations of the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion. The pilgrims crossed through Wagah border and will commence celebrations in connection with Baba Guru Nanak’s 500th birth anniversary from his birthplace in Nankana Sahib on Thursday,
Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services, Murad Saeed has said that Pakistan-issued driving licenses will be accepted in Dubai after signing of MoU. A team will be visiting the Gulf state in coming week for this purpose. Once MoU is signed, job opportunities for Pakistani expats will increase significantly, as there will be no need to get UAE license.