Pakistan Financial News

Pakistan's attempts to increase terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army is launching Operation Sarvashakti, where the security forces will be targeting the terrorists operating on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountain ranges in the Union Territory. In recent times, Pakistproxy terrorist groups have tried to revive terrorism in the South of Pir Panjal ranges especially in the Rajouri Poonch sector, where around 20 troops have been killed in attacks by terrorists, with the latest being on December 21, when four soldiers were killed in the Dera ki Gali area there. «Operation Sarvashakti would be to carry out combined counter-terrorist operations from both sides of the Pir Panjal ranges where the formations of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps along with the Nagrota-headquartered White Knight Corps would be carrying out simultaneous operations,» sources in the security forces told ANI. «The Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF, Special Operations Group, and the intelligence agencies would be working in close coordination to thwart Pakistani designs to revive terrorist activities in the UT, especially in the Rajouri Poonch sector,» they added.

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as «highly objectionable», India has registered a 'strong protest' with the British High Commissioner in India. This comes after British envoy Jane Marriott visited Mirpur city in the PoK region along with an official of the UK Foreign Office. «India has taken a serious note of the highly objectionable visit of the British High Commissioner in Islamabad, along with a UK Foreign Office official, to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on 10 January 2024,» the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Saturday. «Such infringement of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity is unacceptable,» it added. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has lodged a strong protest with the British High Commissioner in India on this 'infringement'. The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh «have been and shall always remain an integral part of India,» MEA added. In October last year, the US envoy to Pakistan, Donald Blome, visited the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir region. New Delhi conveyed to Washington its 'strong objection' to the visit and urged the international community to respect its «sovereignty and territorial integrity».

ODI World Cup match against India at Ahmedabad was one of the toughest moments during his stint, taking the side through a hostile environment. Arthur moved on after Pakistan failed to reach the semifinals of the showpiece event last year, while former all-rounder Mohammed Hafeez replaced him in the role. «It was extremely tough not having any Pakistan support.

Harvinder Rinda, who was supplying weapons to the associates of a terror outfit to carry out «sensational crimes» in Punjab, has been arrested, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Friday. A Chinese-made pistol and eight live cartridges were seized following the accused's arrest from Lohawat village in Rajasthan's Phalodi, the DGP said.

IMF's executive board approved an immediate disbursement of around $700 million for Pakistan Thursday as part of a program to support the cash-strapped South Asian country through an economic crisis. The funds were unlocked after the International Monetary Fund board approved the first review of a nine-month, $3 billion loan agreement reached in July 2023 to help Pakistan weather a balance-of-payments crisis and service crippling external debt.

pro-Pakistan separatist amalgam Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and Muslim League Jammu Kashmir headed by separatist Masarat Alam. Both the organisations were recently banned by the government. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat was founded by late separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Army is enhancing deployments, reorienting units and strengthening its intelligence network in the Poonch-Rajouri region that has seen scaling up of terror activities, Army chief Gen Manoj Pande has said. Relentless operations will be carried out till the area returns to normal, he said. Reiterating that there will be zero-tolerance for human rights violations, the Army chief said that follow-up action is being taken on the alleged killing of civilians in custody and the impacted village has been adopted by the Army for the welfare of locals. «Strengthening of the human intelligence network, outreach to locals and strengthening our ability to get technical intelligence in terms of communication is something we are working on.

By Ariba Shahid

Henley Passport Index, released on Tuesday, India's passport has ascended to the 80th position worldwide. This elevated ranking now affords Indian citizens the privilege of unhindered exploration across 62 countries, alleviating the burden of intricate visa application procedures. The assessment of this ranking aligns with visa regulations effective as of January 11, as sourced from data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A cornerstone in displaying, organizing, and ranking global passports, the Henley Passport Index, reveals six countries — France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain — jointly holding the prestigious title of the world's most potent visa. Citizens from these nations enjoy the unprecedented freedom to traverse over 194 countries without dealing with pesky visa requirements. On the flip side, Afghanistan sits at the bottom rung of the list, granting its passport holders access to a mere 28 countries without a visa. Syria closely follows with visa-free entry to 29 destinations, trailed by Iraq with 31, and Pakistan with 34. Indian passport bearers can now revel in the liberty of visiting 62 countries, including Oman and Qatar, without the encumbrance of a visa. These destinations extend either visa-free entry or the convenience of visa-on-arrival for Indian travelers, as elucidated by the Henley Passport Index 2024. Here is the full list of destinations Indians can visit without getting a visa before travel:

most powerful passport list for 2024, with citizens allowed to travel to 62 countries without a visa. The country shares its rank with Uzbekistan, while the neighboring nation Pakistan is positioned at 101 spot. Singapore and Japan have boasted the world’s most powerful travel documents for the last five years, granting their citizens access to more countries without a prior visa than anyone else.

The World Economic Forum says false and misleading information supercharged with cutting-edge artificial intelligence is the top immediate risk to the global economy

Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday night said that hackers, possibly from Pakistan, made an attempt to hack his Facebook account. He said that an investigation was underway to identify those behind the attempt.

Maldives controversy, former Pakistan cricket team spinner, Danish Kaneria, made a statement on his official X (formerly known as Twitter) handle. Kaneria, known for his subtle posts, published the word "Lakshadweep" accompanied by a fire emoji.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina swept the country’s 7 January elections to achieve a fourth straight term in power, with her Awami League party winning a heavy majority of the parliamentary seats up for contest. It is another matter that these were not contested in any real sense, as the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had boycotted the polls.

In his upcoming book, Bisaria, who was serving as Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad in that period, also writes that India was willing to send an aircraft of the Indian Air Force to Pakistan to bring back Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, but the Pakistani government refused permission. Varthaman (now Group Captain) downed a Pakistani jet on February 27, 2019, before his MiG 21 Bison jet was hit in a dogfight. Pakistan had launched the retaliation for the Balakot airstrikes a day before.

Taliban-appointed prime minister met on Monday with one of Pakistan's most senior politicians in an attempt to reduce lingering tensions between the two countries, a spokesman for the Taliban government said. Fazlur Rehman, whose Jamiat Ulema Islam party is known for backing the Afghan Taliban, is the first senior Pakistani politician to visit Kabul since the Taliban seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops withdrew from the country after 20 years of war. The Pakistani delegation met with Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund in Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday scrapped lifetime bans from contesting elections for people with past convictions, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa said, giving Nawaz Sharif the chance to become prime minister for a fourth time. Sharif's party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), is considered a frontrunner to win the election, scheduled for February 8, with his main rival, former prime minister Imran Khan, in jail and barred from contesting the polls for five years.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) restricted it to a five-year term only. A seven-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, on Monday ruled that no person can be barred for a lifetime from running in elections if they are disqualified under Article 62 (1)(f).

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T20 International format. MSK Prasad, the former chairman of selectors and wicketkeeper, stated on Sunday that if both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have declared themselves fit for the T20 World Cup in June, then they need to be included in the T20I squad for the forthcoming series against Afghanistan. After the ODI World Cup, they were supposed to return to T20Is. India had matches against South Africa and Australia, but they missed both of those matches as well, which sparked debate over whether they would even play in the World Cup in June, which the USA and the West Indies would be co-hosting. If news about the ICC tournament in 2024 is to be believed, Kohli and Rohit have both committed to participate.

Supreme Court that nomination papers of 76 per cent of candidates of jailed former premier Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party were accepted for the February 8 general elections. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) submitted the data in response to a contempt petition filed by the PTI party that the electoral body had not followed a direction by the apex court to address its concerns about the lack of a level playing field in the run-up to polls. The ECP stated that 598 out of a total of 843 nomination papers of PTI candidates for the National Assembly were accepted, while another 1,398 out of 1,777 candidatures for provincial assemblies were approved.