Author: Shahab Jagirani

Federal Minister for Investment Board Chaudhry Salik Hussain says the caretaker Punjab government’s notification of suspending divisional status for Gujrat will be reversed after the next elections as the caretakers do not have the power and resources to run the new administrative unit. He made these remarks while talking to reporters after he kicked off his political campaign from Gujrat and announced to contest the next elections from the National Assembly seat of his father and PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. Before the campaign launch on Thursday, Salik Hussain visited the grave of his grandfather Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi where he…

Textile exports reached to $10,039.743 million during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (2022-23), Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Friday. The textile exports during the period showed a decline of 8.17 per cent as compared to the exports of $10,933.059 million during the same period of last year (July-January 2021-22). The textile products that witnessed positive growth during July-January (2022-23) as compared to the corresponding period of last year included raw cotton, the exports of which grew by 134.77 percent, from $5.233 million to $12.286 million. The exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulin also went up…

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched two new courses — diploma in integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing and BTech or BE (electronics) in VLSI design and technology.Announcing the launch, electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “These two programmes will help us create throughout the engineering ecosystem a very good semiconductor talent.” Any AICTE-affiliated college/university/technical institute may opt to offer these courses.In January 2020, PM Modi had launched ‘SemiconIndia’ programme with a vision that India will develop 85,000 semiconductor professionals over the next 10 years.The PM had said, “Semiconductors are playing a critical role in the world in more ways than we…

Google India has terminated more than 400 employees and some of the impacted workers took to LinkedIn to share their plight. The layoffs at Google India were part of the larger job cuts that impacted 12,000 workers globally at the company. Kamal Dave, an account manager at Google’s Gurugram office, wrote on LinkedIn: “I was a part of Google India Layoffs yesterday. At Google my energies were focused on delivering digital marketing goals for multiple industries at the top of their food chain in India as a strategic key account manager/consultant”. “I am looking for a new role and would…

Egypt and India have asserted their firm stance on denouncing all forms of terrorism, calling on all the United Nations member states to respect the UN resolutions on this score. The affirmation came at the 3rd session of the Egypt-Indian joint working group, held in the Indian capital New Delhi with the participation of respective Egyptian and Indian officials. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the meeting reviewed national experiments on combating terrorism and extremism. The two sides underscored the need to continue coordinating efforts to counter terrorism. Both countries also called on the UN member…

Cash-strapped Pakistan has a different side too. On February 10, Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons opened its first branch in Lahore and even a 48-year high inflation couldn’t keep thousands away from coffee. Tim Hortons was established in 1964 and has 5352 outlets across the world. And the Lahore outlet smashed a global record with the highest opening day sale in the 61-year history of the brand. Long queues outside the outlet were a common sight on February 10 and photos and videos of the so-called phenomenon made it to Twitter. “As the first day sale of Tim Hortons in…

In a major success for ‘Make in India’ in defence, the Indian Navy is soon going to deploy indigenous firefighting bots on its largest warships including the aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya. Speaking with ANI, Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral SN Ghormade discussed about the initiatives taken in the maritime force under the ‘Make in India’ project and said, “I was confident that the Navy would be able to fulfil a promise made to the Prime Minister on indigenous projects.” “Two contracts have already materialised including a fire fighting bot which has been used in INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya aircraft carriers,” Ghormade said on…

Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Jawad Sohrab Malik met with the Ambassador of Switzerland Georg Steiner and discussed the matters pertaining to enhancement of mutual relations and bilateral cooperation in different areas. The SAPM underscored the commitments of honorable Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals in fostering sustainable economic growth, rule of law, management of natural resources and peace for the people of this country. In this regard, Jawad Sohran Malik appreciated Switzerland’s International Cooperation Strategy 2021–24, formulated by the Federal Council highlighting sustainable economic growth, market development, creation of jobs, addressing climate change by managing natural…

The Pakistan Foreign Office has questioned the accuracy of reports claiming that the country was providing ammunition to Ukraine in its war with Russia, the media reported. “The reporting about supply of defence items by Pakistan to Ukraine is not accurate,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly media briefing. Reports claiming that Pakistan was providing ammunition to Ukraine have regularly surfaced in media since middle of the last year, but it is rare for Islamabad to have officially denied such involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Dawn reported. France 24 had a couple of days back reported…

Among the acknowledged nuclear weapon states, Pakistan remains at the forefront primarily because Islamabad is also recognized as a nation that practices terrorism as a state policy. Ever since Pakistan acquired nuclear weapons, the possibility/threat of a nuclear weapon landing in the hands of terrorists has been discussed around the globe, India in particular. The reason is apparent; Pakistan has openly admitted that its nukes are aimed toward India. Such statements worded differently have been made from time to time by Pakistani Presidents, Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, and, more importantly, by known terror outfits. Undoubtedly, it is a serious but…