Pakistan

.

.

.

Court rules FIA failed to prove charges; proceedings initiated in 2022 come to an end

.

.

10kg flour bag climbs to Rs1,300 as govt-subsidised stocks vanish from markets

.

.

NEW DELHI:  Responding to renewed US sanctions, India transferred approximately $120 million to Iran to fully liquidate its financial commitment for developing Chabahar port, a key gateway to landlocked Afghanistan, The Economic Times said on Friday. A government source stated that India now has “no liability” in its commitment and that Iran is free to use the funds independently. In October last year, India was granted a six-month exemption from US sanctions on the port. New Delhi and Tehran signed a contract to develop and equip the long-stalled Chabahar project in 2024, giving India 10 years of access. Following the reimposition of sanctions, the state-owned entity India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) effectively exited the project. Government directors resigned en masse, and its website was taken down to “insulate everybody associated with the port from potential sanctions”. A government source concluded, “India has no choice but to exit the Chabahar port”. The collapse followed US President Donald Trump’s Janua...

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Friday warned that Pakistan’s industrial sector was facing a severe crisis due to high energy tariffs and heavy taxation, leading to widespread factory closures and job losses. In December, it was reported that over 100 spinning mills and over 400 ginning factories had become non-operational, triggered by unprecedented taxes, high power tariffs, and a surge in under-invoiced cotton yarn and fabric imports from China and other countries. Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, President FPCCI Atif Ikram Sheikh said, “Costly electricity has crippled industrial activity, particularly in the textile sector.” “Around 150 large textile units had shut down over the past two years,” he stated. Sheikh urged the government to immediately abolish cross-subsidies imposed on the industrial sector and reduce the policy rate to single digits. He proposed that interest rates be cut first to nine per cent and subsequently to seven per cent to revive ...

The US government has said that it decided to pause immigrant visa processing until it ensures new applicants are “vetted to the maximum degree to ensure their eligibility”, according to a Friday statement shared by the US Embassy in Islamabad on the X platform. On Wednesday, the US announced a suspension of immigrant visa processing for Pakistan, along with 74 other countries, effective from January 21, citing concerns that immigrants from these nations often rely on public welfare programmes. “The Trump Administration is focused on protecting the American people by upholding the highest standards of screening and vetting of visa applicants,” the statement said. “Effective January 21,” the statement added, “the Department of State is pausing issuance to all immigrant visa applicants from selected countries, including Pakistan.” The statement said that US State Secretary Marco Rubio had instituted this pause until his government could “ensure that new immigrants have been vetted to the maximum degree to ensur...

Security forces have killed 12 terrorists and effectively thwarted their attempt to create a hostage situation in Balochistan’s Kharan district during multiple operations, the military’s media wing said in a statement. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on January 15, “approximately fifteen to twenty Indian-sponsored terrorists of Fitna Al Hindustan carried out multiple terrorist activities in Kharan City, District Kharan.” The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna al Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. It said that during the operations, “terrorists attacked [the] City Police Station, National Bank of Pakistan and Habib Bank Limited.” They also looted Rs3.4 million from the banks. “Security forces effectively responded and engaged the terrorists, prompting them to retreat. During the ensuing clearance operation, twelve terrorists were sent to hell in three different engagements,” the ISPR said. “Terrori...

X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday faced a global outage, the second in a week, as users from across the world reported having difficulties accessing the platform. According to a report by The Independent, the website and its app failed to load for users across the globe, with many visitors saying they saw a blank screen. “Some users also saw Cloudflare error pages – though the issue was at X itself, and the problem did not seem to be a repeat of recent Cloudflare technical issues that did take X offline,” the report said. Staffers at Dawn also saw a Cloudflare error page when they tried accessing the website, while the app did not load at all and showed posts from hours ago. Screenshot of a Cloudflare error a staffer at Dawn saw when they tried accessing the website at 8:52pm PKT. Tracking website Downdetector showed a massive uptick in reports of problems at X at 8:15pm, with 315 complaints, before they fell to 245 at 8:45pm. Screenshot showing as spike in reports of problems at X at around 8:15pm in P...

CTO penalises another 214 for negligence and poor performance

.

Authorities track residents and travellers in real time to ensure women's safety

Police say victim abducted, killed over suspected affair with married woman

.

.