LAHORE: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore Director General Amjad Majeed Aulakh announced an ongoing crackdown on illegal housing schemes in the city and its surrounding areas. NAB Lahore recently held a monthly open court at its Thokar Niaz Baig headquarters, attended by around 400 real estate affectees. Mr. Aulakh personally heard their grievances and issued directives for action. The affectees from various housing schemes—including Khayaban-e-Amin, Pak-Arab, Professional Cooperative Housing Society, Al-Falah, Prime Zone, New Lahore City, Al-Rehman Garden Phase-4, La Villa De Paris, Toyota Motors Gujranwala, Greater Lahore Cooperative Society, and Airport Avenue Housing Society Sialkot—sought resolution and compensation for…
Author: WebDesk
Ms. Esther Perez Ruiz, the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Pakistan, met with Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication. During their meeting, they exchanged detailed views on Pakistan’s digitalization process and the advancements in the IT and Telecommunication sector. Minister Shaza Fatima highlighted ongoing efforts toward the country’s digital transformation, emphasizing that connectivity, fiberization, and the availability of digital devices are crucial foundations for this process. She reiterated the government’s commitment to transforming Pakistan into a digital economy through the National Digitalization Plan, emphasizing the importance of digitalizing the health,…
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has identified the earliest-known galaxy, an unexpectedly bright and large formation from the universe’s infancy, only 2% of its current age. This galaxy, named JADES-GS-z14-0, was observed as it existed about 290 million years after the Big Bang, which occurred roughly 13.8 billion years ago. This era is known as the cosmic dawn. Since becoming operational in 2022, the JWST has transformed our understanding of the early universe. The discovery of JADES-GS-z14-0 was made by the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) research team. Measuring about 1,700 light-years across, JADES-GS-z14-0 has a mass equivalent…
The Pakistani rupee appreciated by Rs0.17 to Rs278.33 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday, ending a three-day losing streak. This improvement is attributed to an increase in the supply of dollars in the domestic economy. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the currency recovered from Thursday’s closing level of Rs278.50, which was a two-and-a-half-month low. Over the past nine months, the rupee has gained 10.33% or Rs28.77, recovering from a record low of Rs307.10 per dollar in early September 2023. This recovery is largely due to foreign investors injecting new capital into rupee-based government debt…
Auto experts argue that electric vehicles (EVs) could become much more accessible if the government addressed critical policy issues. They advocate for revising policy classifications, extending incentives to all EVs, eliminating barriers to EV financing, and reducing heavy taxes that currently make these vehicles prohibitively expensive. Experts urge the government to standardize policy classifications and apply incentives uniformly across all EVs. They emphasize the need to remove obstacles in auto financing for EVs and to make the EV charging business attractive to investors. Additionally, they criticize the high taxation on cars, which makes them inaccessible to consumers, while used cars…
The government proposed a record Rs1.22 trillion for the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the upcoming budget, with 59% allocated for infrastructure projects. Despite this significant allocation, it remains less than half of the estimated financing requirements. In a notable policy shift, the government has attempted to align the development budget with the requirements of the Constitution and the National Finance Commission. The Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC), responsible for these decisions, also approved the elimination of discretionary spending budgets for parliamentarians. Major energy sector projects have been prioritized, receiving 31% of the proposed budget. The proposed Rs1.221…
Realme has officially announced the global comeback of its GT series, confirming the GT6 launch for June 20. The GT 6T has already debuted in India, and the GT6 will follow suit. Today, Chase Xu, Realme’s Vice President and Global Marketing President, shared a teaser video on his X account, which you can view here. Notably, a “newspaper” appears at the 19-second mark in the video. The video confirms the June 20 launch date for the GT6, featuring the tagline “Power meets AI.” This hints at the device’s AI capabilities, as suggested by a leaked retail box. These AI features…
The Punjab School Education Department (SED) has announced a province-wide ban on summer school camps in all public and private schools until further notice. This clarification came after several private schools claimed they had received permission to hold summer camps. The SED confirmed that no such permissions had been granted and stated that no private school is allowed to conduct a summer camp without official approval and a departmental notification. The Lahore District Education Authority (DEA) has directed school heads to remain at their schools until 2 pm during summer vacations to organize records of furniture, computer labs, and science…
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has alerted the Lahore High Court about an impending severe heatwave in Punjab, expected next week, with temperatures forecasted to exceed 50 degrees Celsius. During a Friday hearing on petitions regarding smog and environmental pollution, a PDMA representative informed the court about the extreme heatwave. The official emphasized the intensity of the anticipated heat. Justice Shahid Karim expressed concern over the alarming forecast. The PDMA representative noted that the heatwaves are also adversely affecting plants and trees. In response, Justice Karim instructed the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) to take measures to maintain all…
In a move attributed to inflation, the federal government has raised electricity prices once again, hitting the public with an additional financial strain. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) announced an increase of Rs3.25 per unit in electricity rates. Reports indicate that NEPRA has forwarded the decision to raise electricity prices to the federal government. This price hike is expected to impose an additional burden of Rs46 billion on consumers. It’s worth noting that NEPRA had previously reserved its decision on May 30 regarding a request from the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) to raise electricity prices by Rs3.49…