Six hundred Pakistanis will receive fully funded Saudi scholarships to join top universities in the Kingdom. The scholarship initiative, which was announced by the Kingdom last year, was launched by the Saudi Ministry of Education earlier this week. It includes 25 universities that will receive students pursuing diploma, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral studies. The students will join their respective programs in September-October.
Tea in indeed Pakistan’s national drink as budget documents reveal Pakistan imported tea worth Rs. 83.88 billion during the fiscal year 2021-22, Rs13 billion more than the previous year. The country imported tea worth Rs. 70.82 billion during the previous fiscal year. In response, Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal appealed that nation should reduce the tea consumption.
While Pakistan suffers from extreme economic disability with IMF down its throat, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Friday proposed a Rs9.5 trillion inflationary federal budget. The new budget for fiscal year 2022-23 provides solace to the salaried class whose tax burden has been significantly lessened in addition to 15% increase in salaries of the inflation-stricken government employees.
Pakistan has urged the UN General Assembly not to be silent on the offensive remarks made by BJP officials in India last week. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned that silence on such issues could be mistaken for complicity. hutto-Zardari called UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid on Friday and apprised him of the derogatory remarks made by two senior officials of BJP.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Shareef has lauded tanker driver Faisal’s bravado who drove a blazing truck out of a petrol pump without caring for his own life. Head of Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms team Sufi Salman called the truck driver Faisal and applauded him for his selfless act on behalf of the PM. The PM has also ordered to call Faisal to Islamabad and reward him.
Moody’s Investors Service – one of the world’s top three credit rating agencies – on Thursday downgraded Pakistan’s outlook from stable to negative. The decision to change the outlook to negative is driven by Pakistan’s heightened external vulnerability risk and uncertainty around the sovereign’s ability to secure additional external financing to meet its needs, the rating agency said in its report.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Thursday announced that the federal government has decided to raise the prices of all petroleum products barring one by another Rs30 — just a week after making a similar increase. After the latest round of hikes, petrol will be priced at Rs209.86, diesel at Rs204.15, kerosene oil at Rs181.94 and light diesel at Rs178.31.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s name has been removed from the exit control list (ECL) and he has finally been issued a green passport by the government, led by his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif. The former prime minister’s new passport with a 10-year validity was processed in the urgent category. As of now, the passport’s status in the immigration and passports department’s system is “active”.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan CJP Umar Ata Bandial has said that the country has to be taken towards a “mature democracy.” The remark came during the hearing of the presidential reference seeking the interpretation of Article 63(A) of the Constitution. He observed that the votes of the dissidents should not be counted to ensure national interest and to end the scourge of shifting loyalties.
Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan was on Wednesday named the Leading T20 Cricketer in the World by the Wisden Almanack. The 29-year-old had a prolific run in 2021, becoming the first-ever cricketer in the history of T20 cricket to amass over 2,000 runs in a calendar year. In 45 innings, the right-hander amassed 2,036 runs at a fine average of 56.55.