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1. Senior analyst Nusrat Javed has predicted that the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, will be taken into “military custody” in the coming days. On the other hand, Hamid Mir has claimed that efforts are being made to put Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi back into jail because the government is wary of the possibility of Bibi joining PTI’s tehreek starting November 9.

2. Yesterday marked International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, and according to UNESCO, more than 50% of journalist killings were documented in “crisis- and conflict-zones” in 2023, with the figures persistently at a high in the first six months of 2024.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has ranked Pakistan 12th out of the 13 “worst offenders”, whereas Geo reports that this year alone, six journalists were killed while 11 assassination attempts were made.

Speaking of fear and lack of freedom, the federal government has proposed amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act under which any person with “reasonable suspicion” can be arrested and held in custody for three months, considering the “current security situation.”

3. 30 bottled water brands have been deemed undrinkable by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) with the presence of microbiological and chemical contamination. 

Among the 12 brands are Natural Pure Life, Bro H2O, Purifa Spring Water, Aqua Health, Meher Natural, Mountain Pure, Oslo, Smart Pure, Fijji, More Plus, Qudrat, and Natural, declared unsafe for having high levels of sodium. 

The remaining two brands, Black Seed Water and Natural, have increased turbidity levels.

Turbidity is the “cloudiness” of a liquid caused by tiny particles, like sediments and microorganisms — the higher the turbidity, the more polluted water is and the harder it is to disinfect it.

4. Pakistan is experiencing an upward trend in inflation, with the inflation rate rising to 7.17 per cent on an annualised basis in October.

According to data released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, the average inflation rate measured by the Consumer Price Index has been recorded at 8.68 per cent during the first four months of the fiscal year 2025 (July to October).

5. The government plans to propose a major change to help people from the middle classes who want to go for Hajj. According to the submitted plan, which has yet to be approved by the federal cabinet, pilgrims will be able to pay their Hajj expenses in three instalments instead of a single payment.

This is reportedly a part of a wider Hajj policy expected to be approved by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. As per the details of the instalments, pilgrims will pay a total of Rs 1.1 million in three payments, with an initial deposit of Rs 200,000 required when applying. On selection from a lucky draw, an additional Rs 400,000 will have to be paid, with the final amount payable before departure.

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1. Did you know that suicide risk is highest on Mondays around the globe? A research study led by Yoonhee Kim, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo, has connected the beginning of the workweek to an increase in cases.

15-18% of worldwide suicides have been recorded on a Monday — a pattern observed in many countries across North America, Asia, and Europe.

The analysis, which examined data from 740 locations in 26 countries over nearly 50 years, reveals that weekends generally have lower suicide rates in most regions.

However, in Central and South America, Finland, and South Africa, the chances of suicide increase over the weekend, indicating the cultural and societal factors that influence mental health trends across the globe.

2. Google is developing an AI technology called “Project Jarvis” that can control computers and do tasks like research and shopping through a web browser, particularly Chrome.

It will carry out online tasks by interpreting screenshots and interacting with web pages.

The AI will be publically shared in December along with the Gemini language model, but this timeline isn’t certain. Google may first test Jarvis with a small group to fix any issues.

3. According to Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi, about 45,000 to 50,000 passport applications are being received by the ministry on daily — a number that exceeds the production capacity and is consequently creating a backlog.

The Machine Readable Passport (MRP) system was established in 2004 for 30 regional offices and 10 missions abroad, which has not been upgraded despite the number of offices increasing to 223 and missions to 93.

Now, the production facility can only manage 20,000 to 22,000 applications per day, which has caused long delays. To tackle the issue, the government has made the production facility operational 24/7 in three shifts.

The move has been made after reports of citizens facing delays of up to two months, affecting patients in need of urgent medical treatment, students applying to foreign universities, and those seeking work visas.

4. Pakistan’s opener, Fakhar Zaman, is reportedly considering retirement after being dropped from the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) central contract, according to Urdupoint.

The batter has been asked to undergo another fitness test in January, revealing double standards. Usman Khan stopped during the third round of the 2-kilometre run but not only received a contract but also made it into the squad.

5. People in Karachi have recently been actively protesting various issues. This week began with a Climate March, where participants carried placards and banners against climate change, highlighting anti-environmental policies.

Participants also held the Palestinian flag.

Speakers at the Friar Hall Climate March addressed issues such as deforestation, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers in a heatwave-wrapped world.

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1. Teachers in Punjab have boycotted the Training Need Assessment (TNA) test — an examination which evaluates their training needs in the School Education Department (SED).

The government created the TNA App to help in efficient online testing using multiple-choice questions to assess key teaching skills, and helping to identify areas for professional growth.

With 720 centres set up for the test, and 60 teachers expected at each location, around 43,000 primary school teachers (PSTs) were supposed to take the test over the weekend but only 80 showed up.

2. The Swat River has been diverted for the Mohmand Dam project, confirmed by Asim Rauf Khan, Project Director and General Manager of WAPDA, and Chief Engineer Fasih Ullah.

About 35% of the dam is built, and 98% of the tunnel work is done. When finished, the dam is expected to generate 800 megawatts of electricity each year, with completion set for 2027.

It will store 1.29 million acre-feet of water, manage floods, produce low-cost electricity, and deliver 300 million gallons of drinking water to Peshawar every day.

3. With on-going tensions in the middle east and Iran being one of Israeli targets, Pakistan is now closely monitoring air traffic entering its airspace. Pakistani air traffic control is now reviewing all incoming flights from the west to ensure safety.

And now that Iran has closed its airspace, flights passing through Iran are now redirected through Muscat which is affecting a number of international routes and has resulted in increased security checks for planes coming from the west.

4. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officially announced Mohammad Rizwan as the new captain for the ODI and T20 teams, with Salman Ali Agha as the vice-captain. This decision comes after former captain Babar Azam stepped down from his role earlier this month. Rizwan will lead the team in the upcoming limited-overs tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.

Apart from this PCB has finalized the central contract list for the 2024-25 season, which will be effective from July 1, 2024.

Notably, Fakhar Zaman has not been awarded a central contract this time around. His exclusion is speculated to be due to his dissent towards PCB regarding the dropping of Babar Azam from the squad and his failure in fitness tests.

5. Manufacturers of essential foreign goods in Pakistan have not seen a major declines. In comparison, sales of foreign soft drinks, bottled water, and fast food have dropped amid consumer boycotts of Israeli products.

Dawn highlighted that sales for Nestlé Pakistan were Rs 149.2 billion for the nine months ending September 30 —- a slight drop of 1.3% from Rs151 billion the previous year.

1. In general, people believe that the more secluded and mildly populated a place is, the less polluted and corrupted it would be. But it seems like that is not always the case because surprisingly, all water samples collected from the beautiful region of Gilgit have been found to be 100 per cent contaminated, making the water unsuitable for drinking.

Similarly, samples from the Sindh cities of Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad are also deemed completely unsafe for human consumption.

Details presented by the Ministry of Water Resources in the National Assembly reveal that 94% of drinking water in Multan, 93% in Karachi, and 92% in Badin is contaminated.

In Bahawalpur, 76% of the water is polluted, while Sargodha has 83% unsafe water, and Faisalabad and Sheikhupura report 59% and 60%, respectively, of their water being unfit for drinking.

In Abbottabad and Khuzdar, 55% of the water is contaminated, with Loralai and Quetta showing 59%. Meanwhile, 80% of drinking water in Hyderabad, 67% in Sukkur, and 70% in Muzaffar is also unsafe.

Following the 18th Amendment, the responsibility for ensuring safe drinking water and enhancing its quality now lies with the provincial governments.

2. According to the World Justice Project’s (WJP) Rule of Law Index for 2024, Pakistan has ~ slightly ~ improved, climbing one spot to rank 129th out of (wait for it…) 142 countries evaluated.

In the global category of order and security, Pakistan ranks 140th i.e. the third worst in the world.

Regionally, Pakistan is fifth out of six South Asian countries evaluated and while an overall score indicates decline from 2019 to 2023, the 2024 report shows a change in this trend after five years of decline.

3. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that Pakistan’s inflation rate, which has decreased from 29% to 12.6% this year, will further fall to 10.6% by 2025, according to Jihad Azour, the IMF’s Director for the Middle East and Central Asia.

In a recent statement regarding Pakistan’s economic outlook, Azour noted that the country’s economy is anticipated to grow at a rate of 3.2% in the 2024-25 fiscal year, indicating a positive sign of economic recovery.

4. New Zealand defeated India in the second Test to take a decisive lead of 2-0 in the three-match series.

In the match played in Pune, New Zealand defeated India by 113 runs.

Chasing New Zealand’s 359 runs on the third day of play, the Indian team was bowled out for 245 runs.

After 12 years, India has lost a Test series at home.

5. According to the recent data by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the local manufacturing sector maintained its upward trend in September 2024, with domestic companies producing or assembling 2.15 million units.

22.59 million locally manufactured or assembled mobile phones were sold in nine months which marks a 74% year-on-year increase.

1. Social media apps are still interrupted from time to time, while the internet remains slow and yet, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has reported that incidents of WhatsApp hacking are rapidly increasing in Pakistan.

1,426 complaints have been received in the last four months. The FIA, so far, has recovered 549 hacked accounts, but 877 complaints remain under investigation.

This increase also calls for users to strengthen their online security through strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and caution with suspicious links.

Hacking tactics include creating fake WhatsApp profiles using stolen photos of victims’ friends and family. They then send messages to gain the victims’ trust and ask for personal information or verification codes to access their accounts.

2. India is likely to support Pakistan’s bid to join the BRICS bloc, an alliance that challenges the economic monopoly of the West, Indian media has reported. Indian media has speculated that following Russia’s influence on India, News Delhi may vote in favour of Pakistan joining the BRICS.

“One of the key takeaways of the summit is likely to be India’s green signal to Pakistan’s long-pending bid for membership in the bloc,” ABP Live reported.

Pakistan applied for membership in BRICS in August 2023; following this, other countries, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and Malaysia, also formally applied to become members of the bloc.

3. The Council of Islamic Ideology has recommended that the government make the practice of giving three talaqs at once punishable. In a meeting chaired by Dr. Muhammad Raghib Hussain Naimi, the Council also suggested increasing the punishment for violating the Dowry Act from six months to one year and adjusting marriage expenses to equalise costs. They decided to send a previously prepared draft on this subject to the federal government. 

Punjab police have proposed making domestic violence a non-bailable offence and amending the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act (PPWVA-2016) to include a Rs 1 million fine for offenders. IG Police Dr. Usman Anwar submitted this proposal to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, citing concerns that most domestic violence suspects escape legal action. Currently, only 6% of incidents result in FIRs due to a lack of clear legal definitions. The proposed changes aim to strengthen protections for women and ensure better enforcement against domestic violence in Punjab.

4. The IMF forecasts that global economic growth will stabilise at 3.2% in 2025 and rise to about 3.3% by 2026. This outlook comes amid ongoing inflation and geopolitical uncertainties that are slowing recovery in major economies. In its World Economic Outlook report, the IMF cautioned that persistent inflation, rising energy costs, and geopolitical conflicts could disrupt global trade and investment, affecting some regions more than others.

5. Chinese military drills have been exercised around Taiwan for the past five years, but now, the practice has intensified since Taiwanese polls in April that elected President William Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has labelled a “dangerous separatist”. 

On October 14, Beijing launched large-scale military drills, which included the army, navy, air force and rocket force, after which Taiwan’s defence chief cautioned that a Chinese blockade would be considered an act of war and could have a severe impact on international trade.

These drills came soon after Lai delivered his National Day speech on October 10 and were issued as a “stern warning to the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan Independence’ forces”.

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