ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Tuesday said that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has completed the payment of Rs700 million to the media houses as per the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan for clearing outstanding dues of media organisations. In a tweet he said, the amount was outstanding for a long time and the payments to media houses have helped mitigate the financial woes of media workers. He said that the payment of the long due arrears has definitely strengthened (financial position) and protected the media houses. However, he said, it would be unfortunate if the media houses still do not pay salaries to their employees.
Info ministry pays Rs 700m to media houses to pay outstanding dues
ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister on Political Communication, Shahbaz Gill on Friday said, Thank God, the federal budget 2021-22 was passed with majority vote. In a tweet, after passage of the federal budget he said that those who used to say that they would not allow the budget to be passed, today could not succeed to stop the budget from passing. They could not even succeed to complete their own members in the National Assembly session, he added. The PML-N which had to block the passage of the budget, had the most members missing. “Your own members do not believe in your hollow slogans,” Shahbaz Gill said in his tweet.
Federal budget passed with majority vote, say Gill
Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Islamabad, in partnership with U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, concluded the seventh edition of the Startup Cup Finale. Over 500 startups competed in the various stages of the competition, which included coaching and business readiness workshops. From the final 15 startups, the first prize of 1million rupees goes to Scaryammi, Pakistan’s first mothering community application. The second prize of 750,000 rupees goes to mimAR, a building visualization company offering interactive visualization for the real estate industry. MeraFuture, Islamabad’s startup offering artificial intelligence-based career counselling for 9th to12th grade students takes the rupees 500,000 third prize.
Regional Winners include: Mobiliti from Lahore, Poulta from Islamabad, Moogle Studio from Peshawar, Kaachi from Karachi, and Edjin Robotics from Quetta.
The Startup Cup is a local business model competition designed to increase the quality and quantity of entrepreneurs in Pakistan. This year’s event promises to show a unique virtual experience to those attending it.
“Our number-one goal for this competition is to encourage and support the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pakistan,” said Murtaza Zaidi, President of TiE Islamabad. “Through this competition, we can help budding entrepreneurs connect with successful businesspersons and prominent members of the startup ecosystem to gain the knowledge and expertise their business requires to prosper,” he added.
U.S. Embassy Minister Counselor for Public Affairs Raymond Castillo noted, “It is exciting to see the level of creativity and business drive that the Startup Cup generates. The United States has a long and proud history of supporting entrepreneurs, and we are thrilled to be able to share this experience with Pakistan.”
Senator, Sania Nishtar added, “Initiatives like the Pakistan Startup Cup are so important for Pakistan. With such a high percentage of youth in the country, it is important for our young population to entrepreneurial skills that TiE Islamabad that will not only help them but also create opportunities for others as their businesses grow.”
The Startup Cup is Pakistan’s largest startup competition. TiE Islamabad, in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, has increased the initial scope of the competition to include entrepreneurs from across the country, and has already helped over 2,500 startups grow. For more information, see
PACRA reaffirms credit rating of PMIC – News Update Times
LAHORE: A local court on Monday sent Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman, involved in a sexual assault case, to jail on 14-day judicial remand. Earlier, the police produced the accused before Judicial Magistrate Rana Arshad Ali at Cantt courts on expiry of his three-day physical remand. The investigation officer submitted that investigation had been completed and the physical custody of the accused was no longer required. At this, the court sent the accused to jail on judicial remand and ordered for producing him on expiry of the remand term. The court also sought a report from the police about challan on the next date of hearing. The North Cantonment police had registered a case against the cleric for sexually assaulting one of his students, after a harrowing video clip of him was widely shared on the social media.
Mufti Aziz urRehman sent to jail on judicial remand
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia”s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah called on all those who received permits to perform Hajj rituals this year to take the second dose of the vaccine. In a statement, the Ministry said that Hajj permits would facilitate getting an appointment for the second dose within 48 hours of issuing the permit, Saudi Gazette reported. “This comes from the keenness of the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to take all precautionary measures to limit the spread of the virus and preserve the safety of pilgrims,” the Ministry said. “When the Hajj permit is issued after completing all the procedures, the candidate who has not completed the vaccination with two doses must visit one of the vaccine centers to complete taking the doses. ”The Ministry reiterated that the vaccination is one of the primary conditions for registration, and the second dose is an essential requirement to enable the pilgrims of Hajj.
Saudi Hajj Ministry asks pilgrims to complete vaccine doses
KARACHI: The entire banking sector will observe holiday on Thursday July 1 for annual closure of the accounts and all the banks and financial institutions would remain closed for public dealing. According to a circular letter issued on Monday by SBP’s Banking Policy and Regulations Department, the State Bank of Pakistan would remain closed for public dealing on Thursday, July 1, which shall be observed as Bank Holiday enabling the Bank to close its accounts. All banks, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) would remain closed for public dealing on the date, the circular letter said and added that employees of the banks, DFIs and MFBs would attend the office as usual.
ISLAMABAD: The price of 24 karat per tola gold increased by Rs 200 and was sold at Rs109,500 on Saturday against its sale at Rs109,300 the previous day, Karachi Sarafa and Jewellers Group reported. The price of 10 gram 24 karat also increased by Rs 172 and was sold at Rs 93,879 against its sale at Rs 93,707 while the prices of 10 gram 22 Karat gold went up to Rs 86,055 against Rs85,898 . The price of per tola and ten gram silver remained unchanged at Rs1420 and Rs1217.42 respectively. The price of gold in international market deceased by $4 and was traded at $1778 against its sale at $1782.
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday notified the transfer and posting of high ranking officers. According to a notification issued by the Establishment Division, Noor Ahmed, a BS-22 officer of Secretariat Group (SG), presently posted as Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, is transferred and appointed as Executive Director / Alternate Executive Director on the Board of Directors of Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a term of four (04) years with effect from 01-07-2021, until further orders,Likewise, Suljuk Mustansar Tarar, a BS-20 officer of Foreign Services of Pakistan (FSP), presently posted as Joint Secretary, Prime Minister”s Office (Public), under Section 10 of CSA, 1973, is transferred and directed to report to his parent Department Foreign Affairs Division, with immediate effect.
ISLAMABAD: Senior Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari Monday reiterated that he had not visited Israel in the past, rubbishing opposition propaganda on the social media networking sites. “Did not go to Israel. Funny bit is Pakistani paper says I went to Israel based on “Israeli news source”, and Israeli paper says I went to Israel based on a “Pakistani source”–wonder who this imaginative Pakistani source is. Apparently, I’m the only one who was kept out of the loop,” he tweeted
