Khas daily

08/03/2023

This Year's Most Popular Travel Destinations.

08/03/2023

Astola Island is the largest Island of Pakistan also known as Jezira Haft Talar. An uninhabited Pakistani island in the Arabian Sea approximately 25 km south of the nearest part of the coast and 39 km southeast of the fishing port of Pasni. Astola is Pakistan's largest offshore island at approximately 6.7 km (4.2 mi) long with a maximum width of 2.3 km (1.4 mi) and an area of approximately 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi). The highest point is 246 ft (75 m) above sea level. Administratively, the island is part of the Pasni subdistrict of Gwadar District in Balochistan province. The island can be accessed by motorised boats from Pasni, with a journey time of about 1.5 hours to reach the island.

08/03/2023

The air entering a peregrine falcon's nose during its high speed dives (320 km/h) would cause its lungs to explode, but bony tubercles in its nostrils safely regulate the passage of air. Engineers solved the air intake in jet engines in a similar way.

09/02/2023

Self-proclaimed Arch-rival of AI Chatbot ChatGPT, Google's Bard which has recently been launched, gave an inaccurate answering, causing Google lost $100 Billions in market capitalization.

Shares of Google's parent company lost more than $100 billion in market value on Wednesday after its Bard chatbot ad showed inaccurate information and analysts said its AI search event lacked details on how it will answer Microsoft's ChatGPT challenge, reported Reuters.

Reuters was first to point out the error in Google's advertisement, which debuted Monday, about which satellite first took pictures of a planet outside the Earth’s solar system. Shares of the company's parent Alphabet fell 8% or $8.59 a share to $99.05 and was one of the most actively traded on U.S. exchanges.

30/08/2022

Gautam Adani; Indian Business Tycoon Becomes the World's Third richest person, No Pakistani even in The top 100.
It is the first time an Asian person has broken into the top three of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Few outside of India had heard of Gautam Adani just a few years ago. Now the Indian businessman, a college dropout who first tried his luck as a diamond trader before turning to coal, has become the world’s third-richest person.

It’s the first time an Asian person has broken into the top three of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — fellow citizen Mukesh Ambani and China’s Jack Ma never made it that far. With a $137.4 billion fortune, Adani has overtaken France’s Bernard Arnault and now trails just Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos of the US in the ranking.

All told, Adani has added $60.9 billion to his fortune in 2022 alone, five times more than anyone else. He first overtook Ambani as the richest Asian in February, became a centibillionaire in April and surpassed Microsoft Corp.’s Bill Gates as the world’s fourth-richest person last month.

Adani was able to move past some of the world’s richest US billionaires partly because they’ve recently boosted their philanthropy. Gates said in July he was transferring $20 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while Warren Buffett has already donated more than $35 billion to the charity.

Source: Aljazeera/Bloomberg

30/08/2022

ممبئی: انڈیا کے معروف ٹویٹر ناقد کمال راشد کمار (کے آر کے) نے اسٹار کرکٹر ویرات کوہلی کی بگڑتی دماغی حالت کا ذمہ دار ان کی بیوی انوشکا شرما کو قرار دیا ہے۔

اپنی ایک ٹویٹ میں کے آر کے کا کہنا تھا کہ ویرات کوہلی انڈین ٹیم کے پہلے کھلاڑی ہیں جن کو ڈپریشن ہوا ہے۔ یہ ایک ہیروئن سے شادی کا نتیجہ ہے کیوں کہ لازمی طور انوشکا نے ویرات کے دماغ میں یہ بات ڈالی ہوگی کہ اسے ڈپریشن پروبلم ہے۔

انہوں نے سوال اٹھایا کہ نارتھ انڈیا کے ایک مضبوط جوان ویرات کوہلی کو ڈپریشن کی بیماری کیسے ہوگئی؟
کے آر کے نے ویرات کوہلی کی انڈین ٹیم میں شمولیت پر بھی اعتراض اٹھایا ہے۔
اس نے ٹویٹ میں لکھا کہ جب ویرات کوہلی خود اعتراف کررہا ہے کہ اسے ڈپریشن پروبلم ہے تو اسے ٹیم میں شامل کیوں کیا گیا۔ کیا سلیکٹرز بھی ڈپریشن کا شکار ہیں۔

کے آر کے کے ٹویٹس پر صارفین کی بڑی تعداد ردعمل دے رہی ہے لیکن انوشکا شرما نے اب تک کوئی ری ایکشن نہیں دیا ہے۔

2020 میں سنیل گواسگر کے اسی قسم کے بیان پر انوشکا شرما نے سخت الفاظ میں ردعمل دیا تھا۔

29/08/2022

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan on Monday held an international telethon to raise funds from within the country and overseas Pakistanis for the flood victims.
According to Senator Faisal Javed Khan, who moderated the event, the former prime minister collected over Rs5 billion in donations in 3 hours long flood telethon.
British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan also joined the telethon and announced Rs5 million for flood victims. Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, who attended PTI’s live telethon transmission, announced Rs30 million for flood affectees.

Senior journalist Sabir Shakir announced Rs500,000 donations for the flood-affected people.

The overseas Pakistanis participated in the telethon and spoke directly to Imran Khan via telephonic calls to offer their donations for the flood-hit victims.

28/08/2022

Israel unveils 1,200-year-old desert mansion.

Isra*li archaeologists unveiled a 1,200-year-old mansion on Tuesday, broadening knowledge of the southern desert region where a mosque was recently discovered.

Described as a "luxurious rural estate" by the Isra*l Antiquities Authority, the home boasted a marble-paved hallway and walls decorated with frescoes.

The first building of its kind to be found in the southern Negev desert, according to the IAA, it contained vaulted rooms around a central courtyard.

The remains of oil lamps were unearthed in storage rooms underground, along with a cistern.

"The luxurious estate and the unique impressive underground vaults are evidence of the owners' means," said a statement from the archaeologists leading the excavations.

"Their high status and wealth allowed them to build a luxurious mansion that served as a residence and for entertaining," added Oren Shmueli, Elena Kogan-Zehavi and Noe D. Michael.

"We assume whoever lived here was some local ruler," Michael told AFP, adding that such estates had been "totally unknown in the Negev until today"

28/08/2022

Relief and rescue operations continued in the country’s northwestern region on Saturday as Pakistan Army rescued 22 tourists who got struck near Upper Dir of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations said, the troops established contact for the search of a few families from Islamabad who got stranded in Kumrat due to a sudden flash flood.

Many of the families, who visited the picturesque valley, could not be evacuated due to bad weather.

The military spokesperson said those people are safe and will be evacuated by army aviation helicopters as and when weather permits, saying a ground party is also ready from Khaweza Khela for evacuation.
Meanwhile, Army urged Pakistanis not to travel toward northern areas in wake of alerts of more flash floods.

Earlier, students, including females and males both, called on authorities to evacuate them.

In one of the viral, a girl can be seen saying it’s been two days and they are braving chilly weather. "We are forced to sleep on the flood with no food and water," she added .

28/08/2022

Russia has contacted several Asian countries to discuss possible long-term oil contracts at discounted prices as the United States continues to push a plan to cap Moscow’s oil prices, reported Bloomberg.
The preliminary discussions to offer some Asian buyers discounts of up to 30 percent may be a sign that Russia aims to block the Group of Seven discussions about carving out an exception for pending European Union (EU) sanctions on its oil. This plan will make it easier for third parties to purchase Russian crude oil at a low price.
Russia may also be attempting to secure replacement buyers for the oil it is currently selling to Europe, but a few countries, including Indonesia, have voiced their concerns about being hit by US sanctions.

To recall, the EU’s sixth round of sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine includes a ban on Russian oil, as well as the use of EU companies for insurance and financial services by third countries. This ban goes into effect on 5 December but the US is concerned that the current framework will significantly raise oil prices and provide Russia with windfall profits.

Some European countries have backed the idea of exempting oil sold under an internationally set price cap from the sanctions, but others have said such a system will only work if significant Asian purchasers of Russian oil agree to participate.
The positions of most Asian countries on the plan are unclear but only a few have publicly expressed support. People familiar with the Indian energy sector revealed that India is hesitant to join the price-cap scheme because its industry is concerned that it will lose out to other buyers on the opportunity to buy discounted Russian crude.

Officials moving the plan hope to have it in place before the EU imposes oil sanctions in early December. Western leaders have argued that a price cap would deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of much-needed revenue while also keeping global oil prices low as EU sanctions take effect.

G-7 officials are still working on how the price-cap will be set.

28/08/2022

Tarbela Dam reservoir Friday maintained its maximum storage capacity of 1550 feet and the power production of the dam also reached to 4766 Megawatts.
Tarbela Dam reservoir Friday maintained its maximum storage capacity of 1550 feet and the power production of the dam also reached to 4766 Megawatts.

According to the Tarbaila Dam officials, the reservoir is full to its capacity, today the water level of the dam was recorded 1550 feet, the dam administration has opened one spillway and rest of the water was discharging through the spill ways.
Today the water inflow was recorded 307000 cusec feet and the outflow was 272300 cusec feet, after filling the reservoir the inflow of the water and outflow would be same.

Today 16 power generation units were working with full capacity and were producing 4766 megawatts electricity while one unit was shutdown due to technical reasons.

27/08/2022

Kalam's iconic New Honey Moon hotel collapsed and was washed away by the raging floods as KP declared an emergency at the hill station, Geo News reported.

The hotel was located on the bank of the Swat River in Kalam. It was evacuated timely, and no casualties were reported, according to Geo News. Other hotels near the river were also cleared out following the incident.

Meanwhile, a National Highway Authority (NHA) alert has been issued for tourists for the towns of Bahrain and Kalam in Swat. The alert said that a flood-like situation has developed in the district due to heavy rain.

It said that the Bahrain-Kalam section of the N-95 and N-90 highways have been severely damaged by the downpour.

A spokesperson for the NHA said that flooding has affected the Bahrain bridge as well as the approach road and that aside from the Bahrain-Kalam road, the surrounding tracks have also been impacted.

"Tourists and locals in Swat should avoid unnecessary travel," the spokesperson said.

25/08/2022

In an amazing feat, a Pakistani man just completed his journey all the way from France to Pakistan by road.
Ali Saad (social media handle: Aliontheroad) recorded his road trip on his Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles. According to details, Ali and his family traveled from France to Pakistan on a Volkswagen Passat station wagon for 11,000 kilometers (km).
In their 17-day-long journey, the family traveled across Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, and Iran, concluding their journey in Pakistan. The car is on temporary import, which allowed the family to cross various borders easily.
Netizens have appreciated Ali for making an incredible journey with his family and taking everyone along with them digitally. The Pakistani traveler is gaining significant traction on various platforms, with numerous outlets sharing the his story and journey, which continues to serve as an inspiration for people.

25/08/2022

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament on Tuesday summoned ex-chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar for an explanation on the Diamer-Bhasha Dam Fund that was set up during his tenure.

The parliamentary body also issued an arrest warrant for former principal secretary Azam Khan for his absence from the meeting over the Malam Jabba and Billion Tree Tsunami cases. It ordered the interior ministry and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) not to allow Azam to leave the country from any airport.

The PAC session, presided over by Noor Alam Khan, also summoned the Supreme Court registrar to provide details of the fund.

The fund was set up by then CJP Nisar in July 2018 to collect money for the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams, and the website of the Supreme Court had specifically solicited donations for the construction of these reservoirs.

Later, then prime minister Imran Khan had also thrown weight behind Justice Nisar’s call for donations.

He had urged overseas Pakistanis to contribute to the effort to raise funds via voluntary donations.

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal had maintained in 2019 that it was his party, which revitalised the dead projects of Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams.

He had claimed that the fund had reached Rs10 billion in collections by March 2019 while a sum of Rs13 billion was spent on its advertisements.

During the PAC huddle, the body’s member and PML-N MNA, Barjees Tahir, maintained that a sum of Rs14 billion was spent on advertisements for the fund against a collection of Rs9 billion.

He called for an explanation on why the funds were not spent on the construction of the dams.

25/08/2022

At least three Muslim nations Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt are among the countries offering citizenship through investment, according to the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Index 2022.
The index was released on Monday by PWM Magazine, a publication from the Financial Times, in collaboration with CS Global Partners. It offers a glimpse into the future of the citizenship by investment industry.

PWM Magazine calls the index “the world’s most definitive guide on citizenship by investment.”
Muslim nations offering CBI
Egypt, Turkey and Jordan are the only three Muslim countries the offcer citizen by investment. On the CBI Index 2022, they rank at 8th, 10th, and 11th position, respectively.

Egypt secured only 1 point out of 10 on freedom of movement, 5 on the standard of living, 8 each on minimum investment layout, mandatory residence and citizenship timeline, 10 on ease of process, 7 on due diligence, 5 on family, and 4 on certainty of product.

Jordan scored 1 point on freedom of movement, 5 on the standard of living, 4 on minimum investment layout, 10 on mandatory residence, 9 on citizenship timeline, 7 on ease of process, 2 on due diligence, and 4 each on family and certainty of product.

Turkey — which is probably one of the most sought-after travel destinations for Pakistanis — scored 3 points on freedom of movement, 7 each on the standard of living and minimum investment layout, 8 each on mandatory residence and citizenship timeline, 7 on ease of process, 3 on due diligence, and 5 each on family and certainty of product.

Caribean nations ranked the highest on the index with Dominica on the top and St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda following in that order.

European destinations of Malta and Montenegro were the next.

Vanuatu, a far-flung nation off the continent of Australia, was ranked eighth.

Then came the three Muslim countries followed by Austria and Cambodia, which were ranked 12th and 13 respectively.

25/08/2022

A human rights group said Monday that Sheikh Saleh Al-Talib, a well-known imam and preacher at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, has been given a ten-year prison sentence by the Saudi Court of Appeals.

According to the group, the Specialized Criminal Court’s decision to clear Sheikh Al-Talib of the allegations against him was rejected by the Court of Appeal. Al-Talib, who is 48 years old, was detained in August 2018, but no formal justification for the detention was given. At the time, he served as an imam in Makkah. Al-Talib was detained, according to the social media advocacy group Prisoners of Conscience, which tracks and records the detention of Saudi preachers and religious figures, after he gave a sermon on the obligation of Muslims to denounce wrongdoing in public.

Numerous preachers have been detained by Saudi Arabia since the summer of 2017. While Saudi Arabia was leading a siege on neighbouring Qatar, others were criticizing it for openly pushing for peace between the Gulf States. The priests are still in jail more than a year after the boycott came to an end. Four years after his arrest, activists urged the Saudi government to free Sheikh Salah Al-Talib, the former imam of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. Activists showed their support for Al-Talib on social media by using the hashtag four years since the imam of the Holy Mosque was arrested.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, Sheikh Saleh derided the mixing of unrelated men and women at concerts and other mixed entertainment events in his sermon, according to the Arabic news outlet Khaleej Online. In an interview with CBS News, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman stated that we have radicals who restrict mixing between the genders and are unable to distinguish between a man and a woman being together alone and their being together in a workplace.

25/08/2022

The Indian Air Force has dismissed three officers for accidentally firing a supersonic cruise missile into neighbor and rival Pakistan during a routine military exercise in March.
The incident in March led to questions over safety mechanisms to prevent accidental launches or miscalculations.
The Indian Air Force has said the government sacked three officers for accidentally firing a missile into Pakistan in March.

Military experts have in the past warned of the risk of accidents or miscalculations by the neighbours, which have fought three wars and engaged in numerous smaller armed clashes, usually over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

“A Court of Inquiry, set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile,” the air force said in a statement on Tuesday.

24/08/2022

Anvwar Asian Investments (AAI), an Oman project finance firm, has volunteered to invest in a train line connecting Gwadar to Pakistan’s major railway system.

Earlier this month, Oman AAI officials met with members of Pakistan’s Board of Investment (BOI) and showed strong interest in establishing a 1,087-kilometer railway line between Gwadar and Jacobabad costing $2.3 billion.

The BOI disclosed that the AAI is willing to give $500 million in first finance right now.
Gwadar’s lack of rail connectivity with the rest of the country might be addressed by the projected multibillion-dollar investment.
However, Pakistan’s fragile political scenario raises question on the feasibility of continuing forward with the plan and realising the port’s potential.

Despite being at the heart of China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI), the port city lacks rail connections.

Meanwhile, political uncertainty surrounds the likelihood of additional railway enhancements under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is worth $50 billion (CPEC).

If the railway project is completed by Oman investment, it would improve access to Gwadar and its Chinese-built and managed harbor.

23/08/2022

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) plans to start making the iPhone 14 in India about two months after its release out of China, in a move that will narrow the gap from the typical six to nine months for previous launches, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

23/08/2022

The court on Monday constituted a larger bench to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Khan for "threatening" Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry during his speech in Islamabad Saturday.
A top court in Pakistan on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to former prime minister Imran Khan and summoned him on August 31 in contempt proceedings initiated against him for passing controversial remarks against a female judge at a rally here.

A three-member bench of the Islamabad High Court, headed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and comprising Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, also asked Khan to personally appear before the bench on August 31.

The court on Monday constituted a larger bench to initiate contempt of court proceedings against 69-year-old Khan for "threatening" Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry during his speech in Islamabad on Saturday.

23/08/2022

Wahab Bugti, who rose to fame earlier this year after his Coke Studio debut with Kana Yaari, is forced to live in ruinous conditions after his homeland, Balochistan, was left flooded due to torrential rain.

According to reports, the singer and his family has been suffering and living without a roof after his mud house was destroyed by floods.

Soon as news about Bugti broke on social media, fans took to the internet to pressurize Coke Studio to extend emotional and financial help to Bugti.

Balochistan has been flooded this year as record-breaking rain spells continue to lash the region, leaving thousands without food and shelter.

23/08/2022

22/08/2022

During the forthcoming FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar will get security assistance from the Pakistan Army.

The Pakistan Army and Qatari agreement to provide support during the major football tournament received approved from the Federal Cabinet.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place in Qatar from November 20 until December 18. The spectacle will be held in the Middle Eastern nation for the very first time.

22/08/2022

Taliban Conduct Successful Test Flights of Seized Military Aircraft After Restoration.

The Taliban government, on Wednesday, conducted test flights of what appeared to be a military Russian helicopter and American jets after successfully repairing them. The Taliban had seized the helicopter and aircraft following the US exit from Afghanistan almost a year ago.
Speaking in this regard, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense, Enayatullah Khowarazmi, confirmed that test flights of repaired a helicopter and two planes were successfully conducted.
When asked about the source from where the Taliban government acquired the technical expertise for repairing the helicopter and planes, Khowarazmi clarified that no country has helped the Taliban in restoring the seized military equipment.

Khowarazmi also declined to confirm the country of origin and model of the helicopters and jets that conducted low flights over Kabul for several hours on Wednesday.

The spokesperson added that pilots, mechanics, and other specialists from the former Afghan National Army trained by the US and its allies will also be recruited into the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

22/08/2022

Commissioner Peshawar has ordered to conduct dope test of students in schools, colleges and universities across the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to sources privy to the matter, the staffers from the health and other concerned departments will visit the educational institutes and conduct dope test on students.

“The process will begin from September and anyone who test positive for it will be shifted to rehabilitation centres,” they said.

Gangs selling drugs to students have been busted previously, raising alarm bells among the authorities to take stern action against the peddlers.

In a similar move to keep in check use of drugs among students, the Punjab government decided to bar students using drugs and addictive to smoking from getting college admissions in intermediate part one.

It emerged that those students who are addictive of drugs and smoking will not be given admissions in first-year studies in colleges in a bid to discourage usage of narcotics among the young generation.

Punjab’s Director Public Instructions (DPI) Colleges also prepared a health questionnaire for the intermediate students besides sending a summary to the provincial higher education department.

The health declaration form will compile all records of students and declared mandatory for all students willing to take admission in the colleges for intermediate courses.

The students will be advised to fill all sections (Part A, B, C, D and E) of the health form which will be authenticated by the concerned institution.

Moreover, a psychiatrist will issue a health clearance certificate for the students and the physician will be given authority to suggest urine and blood tests.

22/08/2022

Pakistan likes its neighboring country India has always been famous for its IT services around the world. Low costs and better human resources push international companies to outsource all of their IT services to developing countries. For this reason, Pakistan has seen massive growth in its IT services exports over the years. Despite the heavy economic recession, this fiscal year 2021-2022 was no different and the IT service export Industry made a record total revenue of around $2,615 million.

Now that sure is great numbers, but what is even better about it is the fact that this is a 24% increase from last year’s IT service exports, where the numbers remained at $2,107 million in 2021-21.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) published detailed findings about the IT industry and the amount of money each sub-sector namely (Computer Services, IT Services, Telecom Services and Software Services) made in the IT Export industry. Let’s discuss each one of them and also break them down in detailed statistics.

The Pakistan IT export industry performed exceptionally well in computer services, the computer service industry saw an exceptional 26.40 percent growth, overall the industry grew from a total of $1,666.310 million last fiscal year to $2,106.145 this year. Exports of software consultancy services were the most prominent in computer services, witnessing a rise of 43.43 percent, rising from $554.612 million to $795.480 million. Hardware consultancy services saw a whooping 429.58 percent rise, growing from $0.551 million to $2.918 million.