The government announced the new prices of petroleum products. The Finance Ministry has announced a reduction in the price of diesel by Rs 1 77 paise per liter while deciding to maintain the price of petrol. According to sources in the Ministry of Finance, the price of kerosene oil has been reduced by Rs 1.35 paise per liter while the price of light diesel oil has been reduced by Rs 2.12 paise per liter. The Ministry of Finance says that the price of petrol will remain at 279 rupees 75 paise while the new price of diesel has been fixed at 285 rupees 56 paise per liter. According to the Ministry of Finance, the new prices will be applied from March 16 to March 31.

The most powerful space rocket in human history has made its first successful flight around Earth’s orbit. Elon Musk’s company SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft is designed to take humans to the Moon and Mars. Earlier, 2 test flights of Starship had failed but the third Baria rocket was able to fly into space. This video from SpaceX shows parts of the starship spacecraft becoming extremely red from the superheated condensed plasma during re-entry to Earth. According to experts, this is the best video of a spacecraft re-entry to Earth.

Following the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on the premises of the demol­ished Babri mosque, a wave of fear was observed among Muslims for their religious sites. Since then, a large number of minorities have been facing re­ligious persecution. Coming back to the Ram tem­ple, the 210 million minority Mus­lims feel a sense of insecurity in protecting their religious sites. The secular state of India should take some pragmatic measures to protect the religious sites of mi­norities and halt its moves to de­molish the archaic religious sites. It must engage with the religious elements of all faiths to sort out complicated issues through dia­logue and must not use religion to gain political fame.

Plastic waste wash ashore in the beach next to the Panama Canal. “I believe the biggest challenge we are facing here is the intensive use of plastic by consumers, such as using plastic water bottles.”DID YOU KNOW? • Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam generate almost 50% of total plastic waste in Saudi Arabia. “Until now, regulations have not been enforced to eliminate plastic products from the local market,” said Al-Fadl. For example, large, medium and small sizes of plastic water bottles are unacceptable.

Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar pushed forward seven ordinances and two bills amidst vehement opposition protests. Ayub accused the government of making unjust alterations to laws, citing the proposed removal of the word "difficulties" from 'The Pakistan Postal Services Management Board (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023' as an example. Ayub further scrutinised the alterations proposed in 'The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023', questioning the level of scrutiny from standing committees. He expressed concern over potential repercussions, referencing 'The National Highway Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023'. In response to the uproar, Minister Tarar condemned the opposition's actions, urging them to read the ordinances before making judgments.

Even though it’s too soon to be excited, this development has been a welcome surprise. Despite all of their disagreements, Pakistan’s prime minister and KP’s chief minister were able to have “good talks” on Wednesday about their future partnership. Therefore, it makes sense for the PTI government in KP and the PML-N government in Islamabad to maintain a steady working relationship. Since he presently has the upper hand, Mr. Sharif would want to think about other ways to defuse the situation, such advocating for the early release of political prisoners. Half of the crises will be resolved if politicians can come to an agreement to settle their differences between themselves.

Israeli politicians and soldiers destroyed Gaza, indulging in the happy fantasy of settling Israeli immigrants in Gaza. Genocide experts say such open and active support for the genocide has never appeared for anybody in the past. For a genocide to take place, two things are necessary: the infrastructural and material capacity to carry out the genocide and the continuation of the genocide under a name other than genocide. Many are losing their jobs accused of criminal activities for supporting Palestine. The Gaza war is having a very negative impact on the lives of Israeli citizens.

As the first- ever female provincial chief minister has set a landmark in national history, I would like to draw the attention of the Punjab chief executive towards the crisis that is currently hounding the country; both the centre and the provinces. She should work to transform the old model of governance into a modern one. I am sure she has plenty of ideas to do that. Change is surely needed. MUMRAIZ KHANKARACHI

LAHORE - A seminar on the ‘Crime stopper service’ was organised at Black­stone School of Law & Business, here on Thursday. Chief Law and Procurement Officer of Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) Zafar Javed Malik and Deputy Executive Officer Areeba Butt actively partic­ipated in the sessions. The representa­tives of the Punjab Safe Cities Au­thority delivered comprehensive briefings on the services provided. Participants were enlightened about the ‘Crime stopper’ num­bers and the Women’s Safety App. Deputy Executive Of­ficer Areeba Butt, during her brief­ing, said that the incorporation of new features in the Women Safety App aims to provide enhanced safety and support for women.

VIJAYAWADA: Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan has announced his decision to contest from Pithapuram Assembly constituency during the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh. “The Jana Sena is waging a war for peace and stability,” he said. Jagan Mohan Reddy for what he said “subjecting people to trouble.” He predicted that such a government will certainly lose power. The Jana Sena chief charged Jagan Mohan Reddy government with distributing funds to people in the name of welfare schemes. The Jana Sena chief sought to predict that Jagan Mohan Reddy will face a fate similar to the President of Sri Lanka.

The airdrops have mainly been a show. They are the most costly, most hazardous, and least efficient means of getting aid into Gaza. US President Joe Biden conspicuously on Monday announced plans to build temporarily a jetty on the coast of Gaza to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Russia has termed the US initiative to build a jetty off the coast of the Gaza Strip to provide humanitarian aid as a cruel joke. As a result, people in Gaza, especially in northern Gaza, are in famine-like conditions.

The former banker signalled the continuation of the $3 billion Stand-by Arrangement’s IMF-mandated stabilisation policies, stating that Pakistan, a nuclear-armed sovereign state, could no longer afford to continue treating its long-standing economic problems with a “patchwork” solution if it wanted to address the issue of low economic growth and inflation. The finance minister’s message was crystal clear: growth will be sacrificed in order to achieve the government’s goal of long-term macroeconomic stabilisation. Additionally, his strategy differs significantly from the PML-N’s well-known financial and economic ideas. Will he have sufficient space to carry out the stabilising measures for as long as they are needed? However, managing the aspirations and expectations of the ruling party without straying from the reform route will be crucial to the finance minister’s stabilisation agenda’s success.

Microsoft is working on a unique technology through which people will be able to communicate with other people or type on the computer only through their eyes. This technology has been named iGazeka by Microsoft and the patent has been published. This technology will allow typing on a screen with eye movements and this technology will be perfect for people with disabilities. According to a report, artificial intelligence (AI) tools and machine learning technology will be used for this technology. Thanks to advanced technology, it will be possible for the device to understand what word people are trying to type based on their eye movements.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Minister for Agriculture, Mohammad Sajjad, emphasized the pivotal role of the agricultural sector in the nation’s economy. He underscored the current government’s commitment to prioritizing agricultural development in alignment with the vision set forth by PTI founder Imran Khan and Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. During the first review meeting concerning agricultural projects, Minister Sajjad urged agricultural officers to execute their duties with dedication and integrity. He emphasized the importance of formulating agricultural projects with significant and enduring impacts, tailored to meet the needs of landowners while benefiting farmers. Detailed briefings were provided on various service projects, agricultural extension and research endeavors, and engineering initiatives.

(You can now subscribe to our(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channelA highly polarising issue is gaining speed in India: one nation, one election. However, a consensus among political parties has remained elusive.In 1983, the EC first suggested exploring the feasibility of simultaneous elections. The Law Commission, in its 170th report in 1999, also advocated for holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has strongly backed the concept of 'one nation, one election' in its presentation given to the Kovind-led committee. In simultaneous polls, local and regional issues will be subdued by bigger national-level issues.