COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s food prices rose by a record 22.1 per cent in December, official figures showed on Saturday, as the country struggles to finance urgent imports to tackle an acute shortage of essentials. The census and statistics department said food inflation hit an all-time high last month on a year-on-year basis since the Colombo Consumer … Read more
LAS VEGAS, Dec 31, 2021 (AFP) – The CES tech show announced Friday that the Las Vegas event next week will go on in person but will end one day early amid the surge in Covid-19 infections. Many high-profile participants like Amazon, BMW and Microsoft have pulled out or reduced their footprint at one of the … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib has said that record tax collection of Rs 2,920 billion by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) with an increase of 32% in the second quarter of the current financial year reflected the best economic activities in the country Read more: FBR defers implementation of … Read more
Google joins in to greet the New Year with an animated doodle, a huge lollipop that pops up to welcome 2022, as people all across the world are ringing in the New Year. The tech giant writes on its blog, announcing the year’s first doodle, which has a global reach, “And just like that, 2022 … Read more
KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI)’s Businessmen Panel (BMP) has condemned the hike in the petroleum products prices, a statement said on Saturday. They demanded the government to reduce the tax ratio on oil products to support the trade and industry, as the government has raised the petroleum levy, along … Read more
Under the Consular Access Agreement, Pakistan and India have exchanged the list of each other’s nationals held in jails by both countries, a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Saturday. The statement said the government of Pakistan has shared a list of 628 Indian prisoners in Pakistan including 51 civilians … Read more
JAKARTA: The entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement will open up opportunities to catalyse the expansion of regional trade and investment much needed for economic recovery, amid Covid-19, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) secretary general Dato Lim Jock Hoi said. The Asean Secretariat announced in November that the RCEP … Read more
KARACHI: Two terrorists belonging to the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and trained in Afghanistan were arrested from Shah Latif Town area of Karachi, Bol News reported on Saturday. Police sources said the arrested terrorists had gathered in Karachi for planning to carry out sabotage activities. They were reportedly involved in an attack on security … Read more
LOS ANGELES: Actress Betty White, who made US television audiences laugh for more than seven decades, starring on popular sitcoms “The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” died Friday at age 99. The pioneering Emmy-winning comedienne enjoyed one of the longest careers in showbiz history: she began regularly appearing on television in 1949 … Read more
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be flying to Europe in the first quarter of 2022, the PIA chief executive officer said, after an International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) validation committee cleared a safety audit report on the Pakistani flag carrier this month Arab News reported. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had suspended the … Read more
Pakistani film and drama actress Hareem Farooq is known for dressing up to the nine on every occasion. The actress looked magical when she donned a pink dress to welcome 2022. Read more: ‘Happy new year to the love of my life’: Sonam showers love on husband Ahuja Farooq took to her Instagram and shared … Read more
LONDON: From the great lockdown, to the great rebound? At the start of this year the world was optimistic that the development of pioneering vaccines would restrict the global spread of the Covid-19. December 2020 marked the date when vaccinations for the virus first began to be administered around the world. Since then, the death … Read more
RIYADH: The Saudi economy recovered in 2021 after a tough year of pandemic restrictions as vaccination campaigns rolled out in the kingdom and across the world driving its key oil exports, Arab News reported. MENA’s largest economy bounced back from last year, when the kingdom’s gross domestic product contracted by 4.1 per cent, according to the International … Read more
ISLAMABAD: As per the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities, Pakistan and India shared the lists of nuclear installations and facilities on Saturday. In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) said that the list was handed over as per “Article-II of the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and … Read more
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that only family courts have got exclusive jurisdiction to take cognisance of offences pertaining to solemnising second marriage without the permission of the first wife. In its five-page long judgment, Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafiq voided three months imprisonment and Rs 0.5million fine on Muzaffar Nawaz by a … Read more
MOUNT MAUNGANUI: New Zealand batsman Devon Conway continued his phenomenal rise in Test cricket, scoring 122 as New Zealand finished day one of the first Test against Bangladesh in a strong position at Mount Maunganui on Saturday. In only his fourth Test, and first since recovering from a broken hand, Conway lifted New Zealand from being one for one … Read more
NEW YORK: Boston Celtics legend Sam Jones, a lightning-fast guard and clutch shooter whose 10 NBA titles rank second in league history, has died at age 88, a team spokesman announced Friday. Jones, inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984, was a key spark in the Celtics’ 1960s dynasty, averaging 17.7 points and 4.9 rebounds … Read more
A group of 159 Indian Hindu pilgrims, reaching Pakistan earlier today on a four-day visit via the Wagha border, have left for Peshawar on Saturday to visit the shrine of Shri Param Hansji Maharaj in Teri village of Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The group left for Peshawar via a special flight of Pakistan … Read more
KARACHI: The headline or food inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased to a 22-month high of 12.3 per cent in December 2021, according to the inflation numbers released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Saturday. The CPI inflation rose 12.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis in December 2021, … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said that at the beginning of the new year 2022, there was a need to reduce the bitterness between the government and opposition. In a tweet, Chaudhry said that the government and the opposition should hold consultations about elections, economy, political and judicial reforms. … Read more
Bollywood stunning diva Sonam Kapoor started her new year with a warm and lover wish for her husband, Anand Ahuja. Kapoor shared some pictures with Ahuja, and the two looked a perfect made-for-each-other couple. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sonam Kapoor Ahuja (@sonamkapoor) Read more: Sonam Kapoor extends heartfelt … Read more
PARIS: The euro on Saturday marks 20 years since people began to use the single European currency, overcoming initial doubts, price concerns and a debt crisis to spread across the region. Euro banknotes and coins came into circulation in 12 countries on January 1, 2002, greeted by a mix of enthusiasm and scepticism from citizens who … Read more
KARACHI: The local authorities imposed a smart lockdown in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Block 7 area of the city for two weeks after 12 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus were confirmed, Bol News reported on Saturday. “A smart lockdown has been imposed in the affected areas of Gulshan-e-Iqbal,” read a notification issued in this regard. Read … Read more
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put the economy front and centre of an agenda-setting speech at the end of a key ruling party meeting, state media reported on Saturday, with no mention of the United States. Instead of the policy positions on diplomacy for which Kim’s New Year statements have been closely watched in … Read more
ISLAMABAD: The collection of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has registered a growth of 32.5 per cent in July-December of 2021, according to the provisional figures of the revenue collection released for the months of July-December of the current financial year 2021/22. The revenue board has collected the net revenue of Rs2.920 trillion during … Read more
ULAN BATOR, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) — Mongolia recorded 289 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, raising the national tally to 390,752, the country’s health ministry said on Saturday. Among the latest confirmed cases, 11 were imported from abroad, the ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile, the country’s death toll remained at 1,986 as … Read more
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) — Malaysia reported another 3,573 new COVID-19 infections, as of midnight Friday, bringing the national total to 2,758,086, according to the health ministry. A total of 343 new cases were imported, and 3,230 were local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed. Twenty five more deaths were reported, bringing … Read more
Another year became an old tale with political uncertainty, Covid-19 cases and conflicts. From federal ministers to opposition leaders, Pakistani politicians ramped up to combat these, and other issues in 2022. Read more: PHOTOS: New Year 2022 fireworks and celebrations around the world Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said, “Wishing a happier, … Read more
