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  • Federal ministers predict petrol price reduction, oil authority cautions against speculation

    Federal ministers predict petrol price reduction, oil authority cautions against speculation

    The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has cautioned against engaging in speculative discussions regarding the future pricing of petroleum products. This advisory comes in response to recent statements made by federal ministers suggesting potential reductions in Petroleum Oil and Lubricants (POL) rates during the upcoming fortnightly review.

    Caretaker Federal Commerce and Industries Minister Gohar Ejaz and Interim Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi had asserted last week that POL prices might see a decrease, attributing this possibility to the strengthening of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar.

    Over the past two weeks, the rupee has appreciated by approximately Rs16 against the dollar, prompting these statements. It’s important to note that Pakistan, as a petroleum importer, conducts its transactions in US dollars.

    In the preceding fortnightly review, the caretaker government had substantially raised the prices of petrol and diesel, setting historic highs at Rs331.38 and Rs329.18 per litre, respectively.

    In light of the ministers’ remarks, OGRA has released a statement reiterating the importance of refraining from speculative discourse concerning petroleum product prices. The regulatory authority clarified that these prices in Pakistan are primarily influenced by international market rates and the prevailing dollar-to-ruble exchange rate.

    OGRA pointed out that recent times have witnessed an upsurge in global petroleum prices, while the rupee has demonstrated an improvement against the dollar. However, OGRA emphasised that there is still one week remaining before the announcement of the new pricing structure.

    The statement from OGRA further underscores that any conjecture regarding price fluctuations during this interim period is highly speculative and could potentially disrupt the efficient functioning of the petroleum supply chain.

  • Pakistani rupee settles at Rs290.86 against US dollar, marking 14th consecutive gain

    Pakistani rupee settles at Rs290.86 against US dollar, marking 14th consecutive gain

    In continuation of its recent positive streak, the Pakistani rupee extended its upward trajectory against the US dollar for the 14th consecutive session, marking a gain of 0.31 per cent in the interbank market on Monday.

    According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee closed at Rs290.86, representing a noteworthy increase of Re0.9 in the inter-bank market. This sustained appreciation trend has seen the rupee make significant gains, amounting to 5.28 per cenr, or Rs16.24, since its record low of Rs307.1 against the US dollar on September 5 in the inter-bank market.

    In the previous week, the rupee experienced a further appreciation of 1.74 per cent, concluding positively for all five trading sessions and settling at Rs291.76 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market by the end of the week. Additionally, the rupee’s performance in the open market has strengthened, reducing the ‘premium’ to negligible levels and aligning with the benchmarks established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    While several experts attribute the rupee’s recent gains to administrative and enforcement measures, some argue that these increases reflect the currency’s intrinsic value when speculative influences and negative sentiment are excluded.

  • What made Pakistan volleyball team’s Brazilian coach burst into tears?

    What made Pakistan volleyball team’s Brazilian coach burst into tears?

    A video went viral on social media a few days ago featuring the Brazilian coach of the Pakistani volleyball team. In the video, Issanye Ferraz broke down in tears during a press conference after the Pakistani team defeated South Korea, thus qualifying for the quarter finals of the Asian Games 2023.

    In the video, Ferraz can be seen praising players for their dedication and hardwork.

    “There is no dimension to victory, you have no idea what these guys do to come to the court. It’s very difficult, very difficult but we knew it was possible,” he said.

    “For the level of the commitment of the athletes, for the level of dedication we have in the work, for the physical quality they have.”

    Social media was deeply moved by the short video.

  • Five Pakistani runners break record in Berlin Marathon 2023

    Five Pakistani runners break record in Berlin Marathon 2023

    Five Pakistani runners broke the record of the Berlin Marathon, finishing the race in less than three hours.

    The runners who completed the race are as follows:

    Muhammad Sajjad 2 hours, 37 minutes, and 34 seconds
    Amin Mukatay 2 hours, 46 minutes
    Abdul Rehman 2 hours, 50 minutes
    Sadiq Shah 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 16 seconds
    Faisal Shafi 2 hours, 58 minutes

    Earlier in the year, Sadiq Shah participated in the London Marathon race, where he emerged as the fastest runner in his age group.

    Muhammad Sajjad belongs to Bahawalpur. He completed this race in 2 hours, 37 minutes and 34 seconds. He not only earned the title of fastest runner but also secured the spot for World Marathon Major Participant.

    Read More: Gautam Gambhir has high praise for one Pakistani cricketer

    In the women’s race, Pakistani Dr. Rabia Naeem, based in the United States, became the first ever Pakistani female finisher at Marathon Berlin. She completed the race in 3 hours and 54 minutes.

    More than 60 Pakistanis participated in Marathon Berlin which included 14 women.

  • BTS singer Suga begins military service in South Korea

    BTS singer Suga begins military service in South Korea

    Singer and performer Suga from the popular South Korean band BTS has officially begun mandatory military service from September 22.

    The singer will not be actually serving in the military, but is working as a social service agent.

    The social service branch provides an alternative offer for people who cannot complete military duty because of physical or mental health issues, and revolves around working in welfare centers, community service or post office but it is still a requirement to complete three weeks of basic military service.

    Suga gave an update to fans on Weverse, writing: “I’ll faithfully serve and come back … Please stay healthy and let’s meet all again in 2025.”

    Suga is the third member of the band to begin mandatory military duty, with Jin and J-Hope already performing active service on army bases.

    BTS announced a hiatus in 2022 in a pre-taped special with all seven members of the band, Jin, Jimin, RM, J-Hope, Suga, V, and Jungkook.

    Jimin spoke about the group’s “rough patch” as they try to “find our identity, and that’s an exhausting and long process.”
    Suga said “The hardest thing is writing lyrics… I have to talk about something that I really feel, but right now, I’m just squeezing it out because we have to satisfy people’s wants and the listeners. It’s so painful, but that’s just how this job goes.”

    Jungkook said the group was taking some time apart in order to focus on individual music: “We’re each going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things. We promise we will return someday even more mature than we are now.”

    Since then, the group members have released individual music, with Jungkook releasing his new single ‘3D’ which featured Jack Harlow, and ‘Seven’ in 2023 which featured Latto, and went to debut at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2020, Suga had released his mixtape D-2 which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200.

  • Noor Mukadam and Sara Inam’s fathers demand speedy trial

    Noor Mukadam and Sara Inam’s fathers demand speedy trial

    The fathers of Noor Mukadam and Sara Inam, victims of two high-profile murders, held a news conference in Islamabad on Sunday, demanding that legal proceedings in their daughters’ cases be sped up.

    Sunday also marked a year since 37-year-old economist Sara Inam was found dead after allegedly being killed by her husband, Shahnawaz Amir.

    Both the grieving fathers also stressed on the safety and rights of women in Pakistan.

    Sara Inam’s father, Engineer Inam Rahim, said, “We were hoping this would take about six months since these were open-and-shut cases.”

    He also urged the media to continue highlighting the cases in newspapers and on television channels.

    “We request you to continue to highlight these cases since that will raise our hopes of getting justice,” he said, reminding the press that Sara was victimised by her husband who only wanted her wealth and killed her.

    Similarly, Noor Mukadam’s father, former diplomat Shaukat Ali Mukadam, also urged the authorities to endure prompt action.

    Noor Mukadam was murdered in July 2021 by her friend Zahir Jaffer, who was later sentenced to death. He filed an appeal with the Supreme Court in April this year and the case has remained pending since then.

    “The courts will lose their credibility if such cases continue to remain pending in them,” Noor’s father said.

  • Injection causing vision loss withdrawn from market

    Injection causing vision loss withdrawn from market

    Federal Health Minister Nadeem Jan has banned the sale and usage of Avastin injection that led to severe eye infections and loss of vision.

    On Sunday, Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi, held a meeting with the Health department and doctors to discuss the matter.

    The number of patients affected by the injection across Punjab has increased to more than sixty, with the highest number of cases in Multan. The number of patients affected is expected to increase.

    According to the health minister, diabetic patients in Lahore, Kasur and other districts were given Avastin injections to tackle retinal damage, however, it led to severe infections and loss of sight in a dozen patients.

    Punjab Chief Minister has also halted sales of the injection in question and to remove stock from the market till the inquiry report is finished.

    Moreover, a case has been lodged against the two absconding suppliers of locally manufactured injection Avastin, while Punjab government has formed a five-member committee of experts to look into the matter and submit a report in three days.

    The Chief Minister has stated that strict action will be taken against all concerned drug inspectors for negligence and the affected persons will be treated free of cost.

    The Punjab government has also decided to monitor the supply of eye medicines, forming a committee for the sale of eye medicines and injections to issue licences.

    All the details of medicines and injections will be compiled in the data of the health department and there will be monitoring of surgeons’ procedures.

    The issue was raised by Chaudhary Manzoor Ahmed, member of Pakistan Peoples Party, who had posted on X (formerly Twitter) that his friend got infected and eventually blinded after getting the injection.

  • Muhammad Asif slams Babar Azam, World Cup squad

    Muhammad Asif slams Babar Azam, World Cup squad

    Former test cricketer and fast bowler Muhammad Asif has criticized Pakistan captain Babar Azam along with the rest of the squad selected for the upcoming World Cup.

    In a statement given on social media, Mohammad Asif slammed the Pakistani squad selected for the World Cup, attacking many players including captain Babar Azam.

    He also abuse National Cricketer Ihsanullah during a live on X.

    Mohammad Asif said that he picked Babar Azam in trials after he had only faced twi balls. “You can ask his father (Azam Siddiqui) that I picked Babar in the ZTBL trials.”

    The former fast bowler admitted that Babar is one of the best batsmen in the country but said that he plays too many dot balls and increases pressure on Rizwan. If you give him good balls, he can’t hit, the former pacer opined.


    “Almost all the bowlers we have in the squad are average, no one is special”, Muhammad Asif said.

    He also said that favoritism goes on in the team. Stating that he and Shoaib Akhtar used to be special bowlers in the team, he expressed the view that there are no special bowlers in the team now. Babar Azam’s father

    Azam Siddiqui, reacted to Mohammad Asif’s criticism, writing, “When Babar played the U-16 World Cup, there used to be a club school of cricket next to the DPS Model Town Ground. There was a match with Babar’s club, on the other side, Muhammad Asif was preparing for a comeback. He played this match and Babar used to open. Hoi Babar came out with great patience and told me that Asif Bhai said very badly.”

    Azam Siddiqui further said that Mr. Mansoor Rana helped Babar to play for ZTBL while his trial was going on in the National Academy.

    The captain’s father further said that “Babar’s first salary of 16,800 helped Babar to move forward. Your timely testimony will be of great help to us. People are requested not to talk directly about Muhammad Asif with reference to Babar”.

  • Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority is dividing into two entities

    Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority is dividing into two entities

    A specialised committee consisting of nine members has been established to supervise the division of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

    Heading this committee is Shazia Rizvi, who holds the position of Joint Secretary II within the Ministry of Aviation. Assisting her as the committee’s deputy is Vice Air Marshal Taimoor Iqbal.

    As per the official notification, Vice Air Marshal Taimoor Iqbal will serve as the committee’s deputy. The committee will also include other distinguished members, namely Asif Iqbal, the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation; Abdul Malik from the Ministry of Finance; and Nadir Shafiq, the Deputy Director General of Regulatory CAA.

    In addition to the aforementioned members, Commodore Mirza Aamir, President of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board; Saqib Butt, Director of Finance at CAA; Sameer Saeed, responsible for Aviation Security; Sadiqul Rahman, Director of APS; and Abid Ali Shah, Director of HR at CAA, will also be integral parts of this committee.

    The committee has been allocated a deadline of October 15th to carry out its assigned tasks. The primary objective of this restructuring initiative is to bifurcate the CAA into two distinct entities, namely the Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) and the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI).

    In addition to the creation of these new entities, the committee holds the vital responsibility of seamlessly transferring assets, funds, personnel, records, and equipment between them.

  • Juggun Kazim was harassed by fans for this reason

    Juggun Kazim was harassed by fans for this reason

    Actress Juggun Kazim was a guest on Momin Saqib’s show ‘Had Kar Di’ where she criticised Pakistani audiences for turning a blind eye to toxic love stories promoting violence and sexism towards women.

    The ‘Gunah’ actress said that she had once shared a picture on her Instagram where she was kissing her husband’s cheek. The picture got her severe backlash.

    “I couldn’t understand! This was four or five years ago. I said what is everyone’s problem? That’s my husband!”

    Juggun questioned why it is appropriate to display violence on television screens but controversy ignites when romance is shown.

    Drama channels profiting off of women’s misery is often discussed by public figures, including ‘Kuch Ankahi’ writer Syed Mohammad Ahmed. In a June appearance on ‘Mazaaq Raat’, he spoke at length about television channels prioritizing viewership ratings over honest storytelling.