WEB DESK, June 22(ABC): The popular messaging application WhatsApp is planning to roll out a new animation update for one of the most frequently used chat emojis. WhatsApp is working on bringing its larger animated heart emojis feature in a future version of the app. Though the update is a small visual addition, it will make WhatsApp chats more expressive …

KARACHI, June 22(ABC): The Pakistani rupee finally snapped its losing streak against the US dollar on Wednesday, gaining nearly Re1 in early morning interbank trade, mainly due to the ‘broad agreement’ with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. The rupee reversed some of the gains but still appreciated to Rs211 (as of 10:42am) against the dollar from Tuesday’s close of …

KABUL, June 22(ABC): An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 killed at least 950 people in Afghanistan early on Wednesday, officials said, adding that hundreds of people were injured and the toll was likely to rise as information trickled in from remote mountain villages. The quake struck about 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, the …

ISLAMABAD, June 22(ABC): After nearly a five-month hiatus since the last wave of coronavirus, the infection is rearing its head again in Pakistan, with a nationwide positivity rate of 1.53%, according to the latest data by the National Institute of Health Sciences. According to the NIH, 204 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours after …

ISLAMABAD, June 22(ABC): Discussions between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan are underway and major progress has been made regarding the budget for the next fiscal year, Resident Representative to Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said Wednesday morning. “Discussions between the IMF staff and the authorities on policies to strengthen macroeconomic stability in the coming year continue,” Ruiz said. On …

ISLAMABAD, June 22(ABC): A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the wee hours of Wednesday,  reported. Tremors were felt in Islamabad, Multan, Bhakkar, Phalia, Peshawar, Malakand, Swat, Mianwali, Pakpattan, and Buner, among other places. This was the third time during the ongoing week that tremors were felt in different areas of the two provinces. On Friday, an earthquake …

LARKANA, June 21(ABC): Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday while holding the former Prime Minister Imran Khan responsible for the economic crisis said that Imran Niazi has harmed the country and he should be held accountable. Addressing a public gathering in Larkana, on occasion of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s birthday, the Federal Foreign Minister …

NEW DELHI, June 21(ABC): National Security Advisor (NSA) to the Prime Minister of India Ajit Doval said on Tuesday that New Delhi wishes to normalize ties with Pakistan. According to a news agency, Doval in an interview said that Indian wants good relations with all neighbouring countries. The Indian national security adviser added that “we will decide when to talk …

KARACHI, June 21(ABC): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rebutting rumours Tuesday said that its liquid foreign exchange reserves of $8.9 billion have not dried up and are are “fully usable”. The central bank’s response came after reports implied that the reserves have dried up or are not usable and that the SBP has stopped import payments and that banks …

LONDON, June 21(ABC): Former Pakistani cricket captain Zaheer Abbas has been shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital in the English capital, his family sources told Tuesday. Abbas was taken to the hospital three days ago after which he had to be given put on oxygen support. The family of the cricketer has requested his fans …

QUETTA, June 21(ABC): After much delay, Balochistan Finance Minister Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran unveiled the province’s budget for the fiscal year 2022-23, with a total outlay of more than Rs612 billion. In his speech at the Balochistan Assembly, the finance minister said that over Rs191 billion have been proposed for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). Khetran said Rs28.3 billion …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar said Tuesday that if former prime minister Nawaz Sharif does not secure transit bail while coming back to Pakistan, he can be arrested. In 2020, Islamabad High Court’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the PML-N supremo after he failed to return to Pakistan following the expiry of his …

ISLAMABAD, Jun 21 (ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed his government’s strong resolve to redouble its efforts to enhance and expand bilateral cooperation with Canada in the areas of mutual interest, in particular, trade, investment, energy, health and education. The prime minister was talking to High Commissioner for Canada Ms. Wendy Gilmour, who called on him here. During …

ISLAMABAD, Jun 21 (ABC): Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday said that political consensus on issues of vital national importance were imperative for leading the country on path of progress. He said that the present national government had initiated various measures to take the country out of the present economic challenges. He expressed these views during a meeting …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan Tuesday called for throwing incumbent rulers behind bars for “shamelessly” passing the amendments in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws. “They should be put in jail for their shamelessness. Nobody can pass such laws the way this government did,” the PTI chairman said while speaking during a press conference …

LAHORE, June 21(ABC): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz while criticising former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said that the “certified liar” knows that his party is splitting and its political future is coming to an end. In her latest tweet, the PML-N vice-president while taking a dig at Imran Khan said that not …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Tuesday said that the incumbent government was seeking guidance from PML-N’s “financial guru” Ishaq Dar to manage the ongoing economic crisis. During the initial days of the coalition government, Dar, who is based in London along with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, was very active and regularly appeared on TV shows, giving his input …

KARACHI (Dunya News) – Due to strong economic expansion, financial sector of Pakistan manifested steady performance in CY21 while its financial and operational resilience remained intact, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s annual flagship publication, the Financial Stability Review (FSR) for CY21 said. The financial sector’s asset base expanded by 15.6 percent in CY21, while financial markets observed a relatively …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): Lashing out at the conduct of President Arif Alvi, former prime minister and senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday accused him of refusing to accept the supremacy of parliament. Speaking to the media outside an accountability court in Islamabad, Khaqan Abbasi said it was hard to comprehend as to what fault he …

LAHORE, June 21 (ABC): The Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shehbaz Sharif chaired the ‘Dilkash Murree‘project’s meeting and ordered regulation of hotel rents during the peak season. According to details, the CM Punjab said that the regulation of rents would benefit the tourists who wish to visit Murree in peak season. The CM ordered to implement the ‘ Dilkash Murree‘ project …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that the government is ready to make more “difficult” decisions if needed, hoping that the rich people will support the nation in the tough economic situation the country is going through. Speaking to journalists after a meeting of the federal cabinet, the premier again blamed the previous PTI-led government’s poor …

KARACHI: Famous televangelist and PTI MNA Aamir Liaquat’s body will be exhumed on Thursday morning (June 23), a notification issued by the Sindh health department said on Tuesday. The announcement comes in response to court orders for the exhumation of Hussain’s body for an autopsy so a cause of death can be ascertained. The sudden death of the televangelist on June 9 …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday reserved the verdict in the PTI “foreign funding” case. CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja conducted a hearing on the case at the ECP office in Islamabad. The verdict was reserved after the completion of a briefing by the financial expert brought by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar. Babar has …

KARACHI, June 21(ABC): The Pakistani rupee remained highly volatile and continued its losing streak against the US dollar on Tuesday, losing over Rs2 during intra-day trading despite Finance Minister Miftah Ismail claiming that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme will be revived within the next two days. According to the sources, the dollar was trading at Rs211.99, after appreciating over Rs2 (as …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged investors from Saudi Arabia to come to Pakistan and invest in a variety of fields, reported on Tuesday. In a speech given in Islamabad before a group of Saudi businessmen and investors, he stated that Pakistan has a significant amount of untapped potential for investment in a variety of industries, including agriculture and …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has stated that corruption is not the dominant driver impeding Pakistan’s economic development, citing instances of countries that managed to advance despite corruption levels comparable to Pakistan’s,  reported. The PML-N leader said that “political instability and policy reversals” were far greater impediments to Pakistan’s growth than corruption. According to him, the …

ISLAMABAD, June 21 (ABC): Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja on Monday after the recent deadly clash incidents in different constituencies has requested the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to provide security for the upcoming by-polls and local body elections. Sources privy to the development said that CEC sent a letter to COAS and …

ISLAMABAD, Jun 21 (ABC): Federal Minister for Climate Change, Senator Sherry Rehman sent out a warning for the upcoming monsoon season and urged the national and provincial disaster management authorities and relevant local authorities to take all-out precautionary measures to cope with possible disastrous impacts of the expected monsoon rains. “Pakistan will experience monsoon rains until at least August 2022, …

ISLAMABAD, Jun 21 (ABC):Minister for Defense Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Monday said the government was fully committed to invest time and energy to stabilize economy and put it back on track. Talking to a private news channel, he said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was trying to take credit  for meeting the FATF’s 34 action plans to ensure that Pakistan comes …

ISLAMABAD, June 21(ABC): Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said Monday that the coalition government’s recently passed bill on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) includes 85% changes that the PTI made to the previous law through two separate ordinances. The government passed the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in the National Assembly and the Senate last month, but President Arif Alvi returned the …

KARACHI, June 21(ABC): Commercial banks have been asked to seek State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) permission before initiating import transactions worth $100,000 in an attempt to ease dollar shortages and conserve eroding foreign exchange reserves amid IMF loan uncertainty, sources confided. “Earlier, banks were needed to inform the SBP if they wanted to start processing the trade documents such as …

ISLAMABAD, June 20(ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz on Monday decided in principle to provide flour, ghee, cooking oil, pulses, rice and sugar at a low price to the poor segment of society for the next financial year. Presiding over a high-level meeting on utility stores in Islamabad on Monday, he said the poor segment of society is in dire need of …

WEB DESK, June 20(ABC): The device, which is about the size of a suitcase, needs less power to operate than a cell phone charger. It can also be driven by a small, portable solar panel, which can be purchased online for around $50. It automatically generates drinking water that exceeds World Health Organization (WHO) quality standards. The technology is packaged …

WEB DESK, June 20(ABC): A new machine-learning system may someday help driverless cars predict the next moves of nearby drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists in real-time. Humans may be one of the biggest roadblocks to fully autonomous vehicles operating on city streets. If a robot is going to navigate a vehicle safely through downtown Boston, it must be able to predict …

WEB DESK, June 20(ABC): “We used two kinds of data to build NeuroMechFly,” says Professor Pavan Ramdya at the School of Life Sciences at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). “First, we took a real fly and performed a CT scan to build a morphologically realistic biomechanical model. The second source of data was the real limb movements of the …

WEB DESK, June 20(ABC): Diabetes is a long-term chronic disease with many complications and requires lifelong care. The longer a patient suffers from diabetes, the higher the risk of developing retinopathy (disease of the retina) which can progressively lead to a decline in vision and even to blindness. A research team led by Professor Sei Kwang Hahn and Ph.D. candidate …

TEHRAN, June 20 (ABC): Pakistan and Iran have discussed steps to expedite the electricity supply project aiming at the import of electrical energy to Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar. A press release said that Federal Power Minister Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan held a one-on-one meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbari Mehrabian in Tehran on Monday. The meeting aimed at …

ISLAMABAD, June 20(ABC): Federal Minister for Revenue and Finance Miftah Ismail said Monday that the stalled International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) would be revived within a day or two. “I am very hopeful that the IMF programme will be revived,” the finance minister said while speaking to journalists as uncertainty over the revival of the fund’s programme …

ISLAMABAD, June 20(ABC): President Arif Alvi on Monday rejected a bill amending the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance due to the “flaws in its implementation”. According to a statement released on the official Twitter handle of the President of Pakistan, Alvi said that as conceived originally, the bill took inspiration from “Hazrat Umar’s incident” when asked about the source of …

KARACHI, June 20(ABC): The positivity ratio of COVID-19 cases in Karachi and Hyderabad, once again, crossed 10% amid a steady increase in cases across the country, data from the National Institute of Health (NIH) showed on Monday. According to the stats, 171 new infections were detected after 11,212 coronavirus diagnostic tests performed across the country, which placed Pakistan’s positivity ratio …