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  • 11-month export decline triggers concerns over industry closures in Pakistan

    Pakistan’s merchandise exports have suffered yet another blow, registering a sharp decline for the 11th consecutive month in July 2023. According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), exports plummeted by 8.6 per cent year-on-year to $2.05 billion. The decline in export proceeds has raised concerns about the potential closure of industrial units, particularly in the textile and clothing sectors.

    On a month-on-month basis, the situation worsened further, as the export proceeds contracted by 12.68 per cent in July alone. Throughout the entire fiscal year 2023, merchandise exports experienced a substantial dip of 12.71 per cent, falling to $27.54 billion from $31.78 billion in the previous fiscal year (FY22). This significant shortfall of $4.46 billion compared to the $32 billion target set by the government has added to the challenges faced by exporters.

    The government’s projection of a $30 billion export target for the current fiscal year will be a daunting task given the consistent decline in exports and the absence of any concrete measures to address the root causes.

    Read more: Pak Suzuki halts motorcycle production amidst ongoing inventory shortage

    Criticism has been directed towards the Commerce Ministry, as it remained conspicuously silent throughout FY23, failing to hold any meetings or issue statements to understand and resolve the export downturn. The Commerce Minister’s focus on frequent foreign tours without addressing the pressing issue of diminishing exports has raised eyebrows among concerned stakeholders.

    Simultaneously, imports have also experienced a sharp contraction, plunging by 26.44 per cent to $3.66 billion in July from $4.98 billion in the corresponding month last year. On a month-on-month basis, imports declined by 13.15 per cent, indicating a slowdown in the domestic economy.

    During FY23, overall imports fell by a staggering 31 per cent, reducing from $80.13 billion in FY22 to $55.29 billion. The government’s projection of a $58.69 billion import target for FY24 reflects a planned increase of $3.4 billion or 8.14 per cent.

    To address the economic challenges and meet the requirements set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has eased import restrictions and declared that the State Bank of Pakistan will not hinder the opening of letters of credit (LCs) from July 1. This decision was a condition for reaching a Staff-Level Agreement with the IMF for a nine-month $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement.

    The trade deficit, however, showed signs of improvement, decelerating by 41.16 per cent to $1.60 billion in July from $2.73 billion in the same month last year. The trade deficit for FY23 also witnessed a significant decline of 43 per cent, falling to $27.54 billion from $48.35 billion in FY22.

    Read more: Urgent passport renewal fee increases to Rs6,000 for both online and offline applications

    The continuous negative growth in exports, with only a minor upswing in August 2022 due to a backlog of orders, has raised concerns about Pakistan’s ability to balance its external account. The decline in textile and clothing exports, which account for over 60 per cent of the total exports, remains a significant contributing factor to the overall export contraction in FY23.

    As Pakistan navigates its economic challenges, the government faces mounting pressure to devise effective strategies and take immediate action to revive the exports sector and stabilise the nation’s external trade.

  • WHO applauds four countries for full adoption of anti-tobacco measures

    WHO applauds four countries for full adoption of anti-tobacco measures

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has commended Brazil, Mauritius, the Netherlands, and Turkey for wholly implementing recommended measures against tobacco usage.

    The recent announcement was made in a report released by the global health body, which is advocating for a broader implementation of known strategies that have proven effective against smoking.

    These measures include bans on tobacco advertising, placing conspicuous health warnings on cigarette packaging, increasing tobacco taxation, and offering support to help smokers quit the habit. As part of the recently endorsed full measures, Mauritius and the Netherlands join Brazil and Turkey as leaders in the anti-tobacco initiative.

    The report confirms that as of now, 71% of the world’s population, or around 5.6 billion people, are safeguarded by at least one of these tobacco control measures. This represents a significant upturn from the figures recorded in 2007.

    The global prevalence of smoking has seen a decline from 22.8% in 2007 to 17% in 2021, averting an estimated 300 million additional smokers.

    Despite these efforts, smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable death, annually accounting for 8.7 million fatalities, which include 1.3 million deaths resulting from second-hand smoke inhalation.

  • 44 killed, 200 injured in suicide blast at JUI-F workers’ convention

    44 killed, 200 injured in suicide blast at JUI-F workers’ convention

    Almost 44 people have been killed in a suicide in a Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) worker’s convention In Bajaur on Sunday. The caretaker Information Minister, Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel, told Geo News that the explosion occurred during a JUI-F leader’s address, resulting in more than 200 injuries.
    According to the district emergency officer, the injured are being transported to Timergara and Peshawar.


    Samiullah, a cameraman for Geo News, is one of the injured and has been taken to the Lower Dir district headquarter hospital as reports emerged that he is reportedly in severe condition.


    Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Akhtar Hayat has confirmed that the first investigation indicated that the attack was a suicide bombing.
    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed officials to investigate the attack and identify those who are responsible for it.

  • ‘Protect our children’: Sajal Aly speaks out after 13-year-old tortured in Islamabad by judge, wife

    ‘Protect our children’: Sajal Aly speaks out after 13-year-old tortured in Islamabad by judge, wife

    After the news of a 13-year-old domestic worker in Islamabad being tortured by a judge and his wife went viral, many social media users were shocked and expressed outrage for what the girl went through. Now prominent actors like Sajal Aly and Nadia Jamil have spoken out against the injustice and demanded that the domestic worker gets immediate justice.

    READ MORE: Police ‘reluctant’ to register 13-year-old housemaid torture case against civil judge

    Nadia Jamil shared a clip of actor Sajal Aly who demanded that the act of forcing small children to carry out domestic chores is banned:

    “For the love of God, stop forcing little children to do all of your work. Child labor is wrong. It is illegal. It is punishable under the child protection laws.”

    The ‘Kuch Ankahi’ actress urged her followers to report anyone forcing little children to work as slaves and call the Child Protection Bureau to take strict action.

    Nadia Jamil, a long time advocate for children’s rights, herself also shared a strongly-worded message slamming those who hire children as domestic slaves:

    “You and both know the truth. Often these tiny children are made to carry rich babies, clean rich peoples homes, serve them and press them. They are beaten, starved and NEARLY ALL are deprived of an education! An education which is their constitutional right AND their deeni right. Remember poverty alleviation IS NOT the job of innocent children. Robbing them of their childhood is criminal. Too many of our children suffer. Too many.”

  • Can you take your kids with you to watch Barbie and Oppenheimer?

    Can you take your kids with you to watch Barbie and Oppenheimer?

    Warning: Spoilers

    Happy Barbenheimer Eve!

    The showdown of the decade begins tomorrow: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie versus Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The anticipation is mounting as fans of both Nolan and Gerwig are placing bets on which film will dominate the box office and acquire cult status for the years to come. Critics are already praising the performances by Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy by declaring them Oscar-worthy.

    But in the midst of all this excitement, a lot of people have been questioning if both films are age appropriate for family members to attend, and what essential things should they know before watching the films.

    Regarding Barbie, the Motion Picture Association Grant has granted it a “PG-13” rating, citing “suggestive references and brief language”. This remark alludes to the heavy themes the film will be exploring as shown by the trailer how Barbie deals with an existentialist crisis and begins to doubt the way she had known the world.

    Another things parents can look out for is that there will some explicit language used in the film, like People magazine reports that there are some curse words used in the film like “b**” or “crap” and there is a sexually explicit line delivered by Kate Mckinnon when she makes a comment about Ryan Gosling’s character Ken: ” “I’d like to see what smooth blob he’s packing in those shorts.” So if your kids are below the ages of 15, children are not recommended to watch Barbie.

    Coming to Oppenheimer, we would recommend you not to take your children under 18 to watch the film, as it has received an R rating due to nudity, explicit language as well as sex scenes between Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy.

  • ‘Outrageous’: Arooj Aftab slams US magazine for racist review of album

    ‘Outrageous’: Arooj Aftab slams US magazine for racist review of album

    Pakistani-American Grammy winning singer Arooj Aftab has taken to Twitter to slam US based music magazine Down Beat for its racist review of her new album ‘Love In Exile’, released in March 2023. The ‘Mohabbat’ singer shared screenshots of the review written by the music critic John McDonough, who said the album had “Urdu chants” and then wrote “maybe music should not be a universal language.”

    Aftab shared a clip of the review on her Instagram, criticising the critic as a “fossilised white man” who was allowed to publish his racist views.

    “What’s monotonous is fossilized white men having platforms and safety to publish their racist views”

    ‘John Mcdonough’s unapologetic racial prejudice and Islamophobia is deeply troubling and quite frankly should get him fired @downbeat_mag I can’t believe this even went to print.”

    The ‘Udheero Na’ singer further wrote:

    “If you are having trouble understanding the outrage because you’ve never had to think about any of this before. He says he is ‘obliged’ for the ‘sake of diversity’ THAT IS INSANE. And he reduces what is a new contemporary jazz music album to CHANTING. Only because we are brown people and he does not believe we are allowed to exist in a contemporary music space. We are only meditation, yoga, chanting and Bollywood. And then he says music is not a universal language. I have never seen this many problematic words strung together so well in a short sentence.”

    Vijay Iyer, an Indian-origin musician, who collaborated on the album with Aftab, lent his support to the Grammy winner by tweeting, “This is what passes for okay in jazz journalism. Love to my dear sis Arooj”.

    https://twitter.com/vijayiyer/status/1678847893149556738?s=20

    Down Beat magazine responded to both Aftab and Iyer’s criticism by writing that Mcdonough didn’t like the album but the rest of the editors did which shouldn’t subject him to so much public humiliation:

    “Three other DB reviewers LOVED this record, as do I. John McDonough doesn’t. OK. It doesn’t fit his definition of jazz — period — hence the term “diversity.” He has no other malice. No one should be cancelled for so little. — @frankalkyer, DB editor”

    However, Aftab pointed out that intolerant and racist behavior should not be shrugged off as “having an opinion”.

    https://twitter.com/vijayiyer/status/1679152552862941184?s=20

    “Frank, we appreciate all the love for this record, but these lines you printed are racist. To not like the record and offer criticism is one thing. But he wrapped it in race by pointing out “diversity,” wrote Aftab.

    Social media users had also lent their support to Aftab, and criticised the magazine editors for publishing such racist views

    https://twitter.com/CJIsWingingIt/status/1679257587756179457?s=20
  • ‘Shah Rukh Khan treated Gauri like she was made of rose petals during Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’: Suchitra Krishnamoorthi

    ‘Shah Rukh Khan treated Gauri like she was made of rose petals during Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’: Suchitra Krishnamoorthi

    Shah Rukh Khan’s 1994 blockbuster film ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’ is regarded as one of the best Bollywood rom-coms, and among the many classics that have cemented the Bollywood Badshah’s legacy.

    Recently, actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, who played the female lead Anna, revealed in an interview that during filming, Khan’s wife Gauri visited the sets. The actress gushed about how Shah Rukh was loving and devoted to his wife, and noted that it was his vulnerability that the director, Kundan Shah, utilised in the film which made it the cult classic it is today.

    “We were witnessing it on the set with Gauri. The way he was with Gauri, he used to be like she is made of rose petals, you know the way he used to treat her. It was just so beautiful,” she said.

    Recalling her time shooting the film, Suchitra revealed that the Bollywood Badshah was completely reserved, and was especially very shy around women:

    “Shah Rukh was very reserved. I used to hang out with Gauri. He used to be quite shy and quiet with me. I think he was shy with women.”

    Shah Rukh and Gauri married in October 1991, facing some hurdles because Khan was a Muslim while his wife was from a Hindu family. In a recently resurfaced interview that went viral on the internet, Shah Ruhk chuckled about how he played a prank on Gauri’s family by making them think he would make his wife change her religion after marriage.

    “I remember, when their whole family, old fashioned people, I respect them all and respect their beliefs but at that time, in that old-fashioned reception, all of them were sitting there when I came in at 1:15, whispering “Hmmm.. He’s a Muslim boy. Hmm.. Will he change the girl’s name? Will she (Gauri) become a Muslim,” Shah Rukh was seen saying in the video.

    “Then, I said ‘OK Gauri, put on your ‘burqa’ and let’s recite the namaaz now’. The whole family stared at us wondering if I had changed her religion already. So I told them, ‘From now on she will wear a burqa all the time, she won’t ever leave the house and her name will be changed to Ayesha and she will be like this’.”

    Shah Rukh certainly proved that everything could change but he will remain the king of wit, but what was incredibly moving about this clip is how he declares that all religions must be respected, but it shouldn’t come in the way of love.

    “I had a lot of fun, but the lesson in all of this was that one should respect religions, but it should not come in the way of love. But it was a great wedding and it’s still going on strong,” SRK concluded.

  • Hidden Jupiter and Uranus-sized planets may exist at solar system’s edge, scientists suggest

    Hidden Jupiter and Uranus-sized planets may exist at solar system’s edge, scientists suggest

    Researchers have indicated that the outer regions of the Solar System may harbor a greater number of interstellar objects than previously hypothesized.

    As reported by The Independent, scientists are speculating that large Jupiter and Uranus-sized planets could be concealed within our solar system, potentially located at its outer fringes.

    These planets are believed to be trapped within the Oort Cloud, a theoretical shell that astronomers propose marks the gravitational border of the Sun and its associated satellites.

    To investigate the ejection and capture of large planets within solar systems, scientists employed sophisticated computer simulations. Such simulations demonstrate that when a planet is flung out of its host star’s gravitational orbit, it requires a significant amount of kinetic energy. Conversely, for another system to capture such a planet, a comparable amount of energy is necessary.

    Based on their observations, scientists assert that Oort Cloud planets situated at the solar system’s edge are more likely to have originated from interstellar space rather than being born of the Sun itself.

    The researchers estimate that approximately “one in every 200-3000 stars could host an Oort Cloud planet.”

  • Karachi Mayor warns of action against road defacers

    Karachi Mayor warns of action against road defacers

    The newly elected Mayor of Karachi, Murtaza Wahab, on Monday said that action will be taken against road defacers who put up banners and advertisements blocking the tidiness and beauty of the area.

    Murtaza Wahab pointed out that the posters culture, the ever popular ‘Mehboob apk Kadmoo may’ and such other ads written on the walls destroy the clean view, making the area look displeasing. He shared his thoughts during the foundation ceremony of beautification and restoration project of Shahrah-e-Faisal.

    Wahab asserted that the condition of Shahrah-e-Faisal was very bad until a few years ago and so the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government decided to improve the drainage with new drains installed at different places, rain water did not accumulate on road in the recent spells.

    Karachi Mayor said the beautification and improvement project of Shahrah-e-Faisal will cost about Rs20 crore and will be completed in one year.
    “You won’t find the flag of any political party on the Shahrah-e-Faisal,” he said and further warned of action against road defacers.

  • Birth of endangered Somali Wild Ass offers hope for the species

    Birth of endangered Somali Wild Ass offers hope for the species

    The birth of a Somali Wild Ass foal was celebrated by a zoo in Chile as a significant development for the conservation of a critically endangered species.

    The rare kind of baby donkey was born last week, as reported by Reuters. There are fewer than 200 mature individuals remaining worldwide, with drastic decline in populations attributed to habitat loss and hunting for consumption or traditional medicinal purposes.

    The Buin Zoo, located in the outskirts of Santiago, is actively participating in an international endeavor aimed at revitalizing the Somali Wild Ass population, which has been classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

    The founder and director of the Buin Zoo expressed immense joy in sharing the news. He remarked, “It’s great news for the conservation of a wild donkey that is vanishing from the face of the Earth, and we have the capability to breed it here, at the edge of the world, in Chile.”

    The recent arrival of the foal marks the fifth specimen of its kind at the zoo.