Pakistan Financial News

Afghanistan authorities on Sunday did not permit a Frankfurt-bound Vistara plane to use its airspace as there was a bomb threat, forcing the aircraft to return to Delhi, according to sources. The flight UK25 from the national capital to Frankfurt in Germany was operated with a Boeing 787 aircraft and had more than 240 people onboard, they said. The sources in the know told PTI that the bomb threat was classified as «non-specific» and it was decided that the flight will continue its journey to Frankfurt. However, the Afghanistan authorities did not give permission to overfly its airspace since there was a bomb threat, the sources added.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: With an eye on China, India is intensifying efforts to expand the number of Geographical Indication (GI) products to scale up exports and secure premium pricing in global markets, two people aware of the development said. GI products play a critical role in export promotion by highlighting the unique qualities tied to specific regions, cultures, and production methods.

Pakistan's intelligence agency and terror groups are trying to ramp up recruitment efforts in Jammu and Kashmir through digital platforms, as direct interactions become increasingly difficult due to heightened security measures, officials said on Sunday. These groups are now primarily using social media platforms and messaging apps such as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram to target vulnerable youth, according to an official. They are using fake profiles and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to evade detection.

Uttar Pradesh when the son of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader married a Pakistani woman via an online «nikah.» Tahseen Shahid, a BJP corporator, arranged the marriage of his elder son, Mohammad Abbas Haider, to Andleep Zahra, a resident of Lahore. Despite efforts to secure a visa for the groom, the ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan prevented his travel, as per a PTI report. The situation became more urgent when the bride's mother, Rana Yasmin Zaidi, fell ill and was admitted to the ICU in Pakistan. In response to these challenges, Shahid opted for an online wedding ceremony.

Jittering donkey carts have long been essential for aftermarket transport from southern Karachi's wholesale bazaars, nested in narrow streets preventing regular vehicles from accessing their trove of wares. For low-income workers, the beasts of burden provided a path to financial stability — their resilience, low overheads and integral role guaranteeing a modest and stable profit to live off.

web series on the life and times of one of the most notorious gangsters is underway. Noida-based producer Amit Jani has revealed plans for a new web series centered around the life of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. In an interview with India Today, sources confirmed that the project will be titled 'Lawrence — A Gangster Story'. The series has received the green light from the Indian Motion Pictures Association and will be produced under Jani's home banner, Firefox Film Production. According to the source, Amit Jani plans to share more details, including the cast, after Diwali. A poster for the series is also expected to be released following the festival. Fire Fox Productions is currently involved in other projects, including 'A Tailor Murder Story', which is based on the murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal Sahu in Udaipur, Rajasthan, and 'Karachi to Noida', a story inspired by the lives of Pakistani national Seema Haider and Indian resident Sachin. Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently held at Sabarmati Central Jail in Punjab, gained notoriety for issuing death threats to Salman Khan in connection with the Blackbuck case. The gangster also claimed responsibility for the killing of politician Baba Siddique, a close friend of Khan, in Mumbai on Saturday, October 12.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Khalistani separatist and Indian-origin citizen of the US and Canada, is in the spotlight after US this week named Vikash Yadav, a former Indian intelligence officer once associated with the Research and Analysis Wing, or R&AW — as the central figure in a failed plot to kill him. According to a wanted poster by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Vikas Yadav is the second Indian to be named in this controversy. The US Justice Department has charged Vikash Yadav with murder-for-hire and money laundering. According to reports, the plot allegedly began in May 2023, when Vikash Yadav then reportedly an employee of the Indian government, allegedly collaborating with individuals in India and overseas to execute the assassination of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. “TO GET RICH is glorious" is the maxim that inspired one of the most successful development strategies of the past 50 years. It’s an aspiration widely shared across developing countries—and for good reason.

Centre has amended the guidelines for disposal of the enemy property worth below Rs 1 crore located in rural areas and such property valued below Rs 5 crore in urban areas. Assets left behind by people who have taken citizenship of Pakistan and China — mostly between 1947 and 1962 — are called enemy property. In a notification, the Union Home Ministry said while disposing of the enemy property valued below Rs 1 crore in a rural area and valued below Rs 5 crore in an urban area, the custodian shall offer of purchase to the occupant first and if the occupant refuses the offer of purchase, then the enemy property shall be disposed of in accordance with already laid down norms i.e. by inviting tender or by holding public action. The home ministry also clarified that the 'rural area' means any area in a state except those areas covered by any urban local body or a Cantonment Board. Similarly, an 'urban area' means any area within the limits of a municipal corporation or municipality, or the central government may, having regard to the population, concentration of industries, need for proper planning of the area and other relevant factors, by general or special order, declare to be an urban area.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said the Assam Accord was a political solution to the problem of illegal migration. Read More: Assam Accord: SC upholds constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act

Michael Rubin has described the concept of Khalistan as artificial as Pakistan was in its infancy and cautioned the USA establishment against entertaining any Khalistani figures. In an article titled ‘Khalistani Extremism: A Growing Threat In The U.S. And Canada’ in the National Security Journal, Rubin explained, “Khalistan today is as artificial as Pakistan was in its infancy. Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Choudhry Rahmat Ali and Muhammad Ali Jinnah created the concept of Pakistan to be a separate state for Muslims upon India’s independence. The name Pakistan, coined by Rahmat Ali, was completely artificial: It was both an anagram, taking the P from Punjab, A from Afghan, K from Kashmir, S from Sindh, I from the Indus River Valley, and the last four letters from Baluchistan, and a pun: Pakistan is both a Persian and Urdu word meaning “land of the pure.”” “Khalistan, likewise, has no historical basis. As with Pakistan, Khalistan literally means “land of the pure,” although it substitutes the Persian/Urdu “Pak” for the Punjabi/Arabic “Khalis.” Khalistani separatists use the term to frame their demand for an independent Sikh state in Punjab. Sikhs comprise slightly over half the population of Indian Punjab; their population is now near zero in Pakistani Punjab due to decades of Pakistani sectarian cleansing,” he alleged.

Amnesty International announced on Wednesday that Pakistan is set for its second review by the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva on October 17 and 18, emphasizing that "human rights violations and abuses are still widespread." This review falls under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Pakistan is a signatory, according to the rights organization's statement. The organization highlighted several concerning issues reported in the past month, including two extrajudicial killings of blasphemy suspects by police, crackdowns on protests, the enactment of the restrictive Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024, arbitrary detention and mass arrests of opposition workers and leaders, a ban on the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), and harassment of human rights defenders like Mahrang Baloch.

Leaders and top officials from an international group founded to counter Western alliances have met in Pakistan’s capital, with Moscow and Beijing announcing they will boost cooperation

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday urged SCO member states to strengthen the organisation's framework for tackling multiple regional challenges and forging close cooperation. Sharif's remarks came as he addressed the opening session of the 23rd meeting of the Council of the Heads of Government (CHG) of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). «From the esteemed platform of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a beacon of multilateralism, I stand in the belief that we possess not only the potential but the will to forge a future that is more prosperous and secure for our people — a future inclusive and reflective of shared aspirations of all member states,» he said. Prime Minister Shehbaz highlighted: «We are at a historic moment of transition where sweeping transformations are reshaping the global, social, political, economic, and security landscape.»

terrorism and extremism are unlikely to encourage trade, energy flows, and connectivity, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, on Wednesday. Speaking against the backdrop of heightened tensions and global challenges, Jaishankar pointed out that terrorism and extremism, particularly along the India-Pakistan borders, continue to hinder progress in trade, energy exchanges, and regional connectivity. «Cooperation must be based on mutual respect, sovereign equality, and it should recognise territorial integrity and sovereignty,» he stated. He also noted the ongoing global conflicts, saying, «We meet at a difficult time in world affairs; two major conflicts underway, each with global repercussions.»

Pakistan and China reaffirmed their «unwavering commitment» to combating terrorism in all its forms, embracing a zero-tolerance policy during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, according to a report by Geo News. The two nations also expressed readiness to collaborate with the international community to bolster multilateral counter-terrorism cooperation within established organisations such as the United Nations and the SCO. During the summit, Pakistan strongly condemned recent terrorist attacks targeting Chinese personnel in Pakistan, including the March 26, 2024 attack on the Dasu Hydropower Project and the October 6, 2024 attack on the Port Qasim Power Plant convoy. It pledged to uncover the truth behind these incidents and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

The effective import duty on fresh, soft and hard dates is between 20-30% but under the CEPA, their imports are duty-free. New Delhi imposes 200% duty on direct imports of all products from Pakistan since 2019. “Industry has flagged concerns that dates are coming from Pakistan via the UAE and undue benefiting from our trade pact,” said an official, adding that the ministries of commerce and industry, and finance are examining the issue.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Thirteen years have passed since al-Qaeda’s last big plot against America, a botched effort to blow up New York’s subway in 2009. The war in Afghanistan is over.

Eldos Mathew Punnoose exercised India's right of reply against Pakistan at the Joint General Debate on decolonization at the United Nations on Monday. Punnoose condemned Pakistan's «unsubstantiated allegations» regarding the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. He emphasised the need for Pakistan to cease its ongoing human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Targeting Pakistan, he said, «Unsubstantiated allegations by Pakistan largely pertain to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. India would like to reiterate that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are, were and will be an integral and inalienable part of India. Clearly, Pakistan does not merit a response on the internal affairs of India.»

China’s Premier Li Qiang has inaugurated a Beijing-funded airport built in restive southwestern Pakistan as he arrived for a regional security meeting in the capital, Islamabad

New Zealand qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament at the expense of both India and Pakistan, following a 54-run win for the White Ferns in Dubai on Monday against Pakistan. Matchday opponents Pakistan knew they could qualify if they chased down a target of 111 in quick time, while India would have qualified instead of both teams had Pakistan still gone on to win in a slower fashion. But a combination of superb bowling from New Zealand and a gung-ho approach from Pakistan saw the match race to a conclusion in just 11.4 overs of the second innings, as Pakistan crashed to 56 all out.