The rupee on Friday lost Rs1.1 against the US dollar in interbank trade, soaring past the 210-rupee mark again as it closed at 210.95. According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the greenback gained 0.55% against the local currency. The central bank data shows that the rupee had made a nominal recovery against the dollar a day earlier after Pakistan and the Fund reached a staff-level agreement, closing at 209.80. After reaching a peak of Rs211.93 on June 22, the dollar started declining for a brief period and fell to a low of Rs204.56 on July 4. Since then, the rupee continued its downward slide until Thursday when it made a slight gain.

ISLAMABAD: The first batch of Pakistani students studying in Chinese universities, who were stranded in Pakistan due to COVID-19, reached back China on June 20, 2022 and joined their institutions after going through mandatory quarantine period. According to a press release issued on Friday, the remaining students who want to return to China for resumption of their studies are advised to register their fresh information at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctLsHVvXutwkjfftU1hDc9Gtd9AWOOrl3wINPHfcsy-lTdiw/viewformMoreover, students are advised to fill correct, reliable and accurate information until July 21, 2022. The information will be shared with the Chinese authorities for further procedure and verification of the submitted information.

NEW YORK – Minister for Planning, Devel­opment and Special Initia­tives Ahsan Iqbal said dura­ble peace in the region would continue to be elusive unless Jammu and Kashmir dispute is resolved in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions. Address­ing a news conference in New York, the minister expressed grave concern over plight of people of Jammu and Kash­mir under foreign occupa­tion. He said after illegal and unilateral measures of August 5, 2019 to snatch identity of Jammu and Kashmir, Indian authorities had been mount­ing a massive campaign of repression against its peo­ple. Ahsan Iqbal said steps were aimed at changing de­mography of Muslim majori­ty state to transform it into a Hindu majority territory by eliminating indigenous Mus­lim population and settling down Hindus from across In­dia in the area. The minister warned that if situation aris­en due to India’s cruel poli­cies in Illegally Occupied Jam­mu and Kashmir were left unattended, it could lead to another conflict in the region with potentially catastrophic consequences.

On the 28th of February 2022, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced subsidies on petrol and diesel in order to deliver some relief to the people. The prices were raised by Rs.30 per litre of petrol and diesel on the 26th of May 2022. Is this a fact that Imran Khan’s subsidy caused an increase in petrol prices? According to the calculation, from the announcement of that subsidy on 28th February till the removal of Imran Khan from the Prime Minister’s Office on 10th April, he survived for just 40 days. If the subsidy was against the agreements with IMF then why did this subsidy kep continuing for almost 45 days for political means?

REUTERSHalf a world away from the political drama in London, many Indians are closely following the twists and turns of who replaces Boris Johnson as British prime minister, curious to see how two candidates with Indian ancestry fare. If either were to win the race for the premiership, they would be the first prime minister of Indian origin in the United Kingdom. Leading Indian industrialist Anand Mahindra joined a steady stream of social media reaction to the possibility of a British prime minister with Indian heritage. Sunak's colleague Braverman, currently Britain's attorney general and also in the race to succeed Johnson, was born into a Christian family of Indian origin. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is another recent example of a politician of Indian origin who made it big abroad.

LAHORE -Pakistan’s promising cueist and IBSF world snooker champion Ahsan Ramzan continued exhibiting his brilliance at international level as he got off to a flying start in the World Games 2022 by outsmarting USA’s Ahmed Aly Elsayed 3-1 in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th edition of the multi-sport that got underway on July 7 will conclude on July 17. Sixteen-year-old Ahsan won the first frame 73-31 but lost the second 58-49. The 11th edition of the Games, originally planned for 2021, was postponed to 2022 because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Games celebrated their première in 1981 in Santa Clara, California, and now, a little more than 40 years later, they returned to the USA.

Kyle Dubas stayed true to his word and went out and added some defensive depth today in the form of Benn and Mete. From the Leafs press release:The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has signed defencemen Jordie Benn and Victor Mete to one-year contracts. Jordie Benn is 6’2 and absolutely the physical presence that Kyle Dubas was talking about acquiring for the blueline. Like Benn, Mete is a left shot, and doesn’t really address the right side needs of the Leafs, but fits from a depth perspective. Data sourced from Evolving Hockey and Hockey ReferenceMore from TheLeafsNation.comAdvertisement - Continue Reading BelowPointsBet is live in Ontario.

IMF deal paves way for nation to emerge from economic crisis: PMPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that the IMF agreement has set the stage for bringing the country out of economic difficulties. In a tweet on Thursday, he congratulated the Finance and Foreign Office teams led by Ministers Miftah Ismail and Bilawal Bhutto for their efforts in getting the IMF programme revived. The Prime Minster hailed the step saying it was a great team work

One of the biggest obstacles to girls’ education is the thinking that women are best suited for household chores and therefore should remain within the confines of four walls. Even if parents do allow their daughters to acquire education, the decision is usually influenced by the intention that men prefer educated girls for marriage. - Advertisement -Moreover, given the demarcated lines of morality and ethics, many girls are engaged before they are allowed to pursue higher education. However, as many girls would agree, being engaged while studying at a university is an uphill task. With higher education getting increasingly challenging, unnecessary restrictions from the future in-laws become a major hindrance to achieving satisfactory grades.

Pakistan is progressing towards digital transformation, but at a snail’s pace. Similarly, the National Information Technology Board (NITB) has conveniently left out the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom (MoITT) from the list of Level 1 for raising a complaint at the Citizen’s Portal. Besides, the Smart Pakistan app is launched with a dysfunctional interface for user registration. - Advertisement -Pakistan needs pragmatic, agile and customer-focussed approach. Moreover, it needs an overhaul of organisational culture and processes to accelerate the pace of digital transformation and e-governance.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses the nation in Islamabad on July 14, 2022. — Screengrab/YouTubeISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday announced reducing the price of petrol by Rs18.50 per litre after the oil rate in the international market witnessed a reduction. The new price of petrol will be Rs230.24 per litre while diesel will be available at Rs236 per litre. The prime minister said that the path ahead could be "thorny and difficult" but in the end, he said, "I reassure you that good times will come soon." ‘Alhamdulillah’Following the announcement by the premier, the finance minister said: “PM has just announced a reduction in the prices of petrol of Rs 18.5 per litre [and] in diesel of Rs 40.54 per litre.”“The new price of petrol is Rs 230.24 [and] diesel is Rs 236 per litre from [July 15].

The Leafs were pretty active for the first day of free agency. That’s a fair bit of work for one day, but they were also far from the busiest and are likely far from down. The Leafs are going into day two with several bubble players on forward, but still a couple of potential needs. No one seems worried here and that’s potentially a good sign. Last year day two featured two depth signings (Gogolev, and Seney), day three featured the Kase signing, and day four was the Nick Ritchie signing.

NASA (GSFC) – The cosmic cliffs of a stellar nursery and a quintet of galaxies bound in a celestial dance: NASA released the next wave of images from the James Webb Space Telescope Wednesday, heralding a new era of astronomy. The latest tranche included the “mountains” and “valleys” of a star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, dubbed the “Cosmic Cliffs,” 7,600 light years away. “For the first time we’re seeing brand new stars that were previously completely hidden from our view,” said NASA astrophysicist Amber Straughn. Understanding the molecules present in such stellar graveyards can help scientists learn more about the process of stellar death. “We don’t know what we don’t know yet,” said Straughn.

ISLAMABAD – IT exports have surged at the growth rate of 25.45 percent in eleven months of the last financial year. “ICT export remittances, including telecommunication, computer, and information services for the period July 2021 to May 2022 during Financial Year 2021-22 have surged to the $2.381 billion at a growth rate of 25.45 % in comparison to the $1.898 billion during the same period in FY 2020-21,” the official of the ministry told APP. The net exports for the period July 2021 to May 2022 during FY 2021-22 were $1.809 billion which was 75.98% of $2.381 billion in ICT exports. Last year, for the same period the net exports were $1.425 billion which was 75.08% of $1.898 billion in ICT exports, he added. On the direction of the Prime Minister, he said, steps were being taken to take ICT exports to record levels, with the implementation of the tax relief announced by the finance minister in the federal budget for the IT industry.

In the 108-page detailed judgement, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah noted that the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, the Air Force Act, 1953 and the Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961, were promulgated to regulate the respective branches of the armed forces and their discipline. The court also rejected the ownership claim of the Pakistan Army Directorate on 8,068 acres of land in the National Park. The ruling said the lease agreement of the Farms Directorate of the Pakistan Army with Monal Restaurant was also declared illegal. The court further stated that the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Army had violated the law by taking it into their own hands, which was an ideal case of weakening the rule of law. According to the IHC, the state has a duty to take steps to repair the damage to Margalla Hills to prevent further destruction.