ISLAMABAD - Paki­stani rupee on Thursday witnessed the 18th con­secutive recovery session as it gained Rs 1.02 against the US dollar in the inter­bank trading and closed at Rs287.73 against the previous day’s closing of Rs288.75. However, accord­ing to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of the dol­lar in the open market stood at Rs286.15 and Rs289 respectively. The price of the Euro decreased by Rs 2.59 to close at Rs302.44 against the last day’s clos­ing of Rs305.03, according to the State Bank of Paki­stan (SBP). The Japanese Yen came down by 01 paisa to close at Rs1.92, whereas a decrease of 88 paisas was witnessed in the exchange rate of the British Pound, which traded at Rs349.86 as compared to the last closing of Rs350.74. The exchange rates of the Emir­ates Dirham and the Saudi Riyal declined by 28 paisas each to close at Rs78.33 and Rs76.70 respectively.

The FBR achieved almost 34% growth in tax collection and got Rs507 billion more than the last fiscal year. Low tax collection has remained a chronic issue as taxation has skewed towards the indirect mode that has hurt poor people the most. But out of the four types of taxes – income tax, sales tax, federal excise duty (FED) and customs duty, the FBR met only income tax and FED targets. Income tax collection amounted to Rs925 billion, up Rs324 billion, or 54%, during the first three months of current fiscal year. Income tax collection was Rs145 billion more than the target, offsetting the impact of missed sales tax and customs duty targets.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported a 0.76% decrease in its foreign exchange reserves on a week-on-week basis, with the total now standing at $7.64 billion. According to data released by the central bank on Thursday, its foreign currency reserves fell by $59 million to reach $7,636.7 million in the week ending on September 22, 2023, compared to the previous week’s tally of $7,695.3 million. The overall liquid foreign currency reserves of the country, including reserves held by commercial banks, amounted to $13,161.8 million, with commercial banks holding reserves of $5,525.1 million. It’s worth noting that the central bank’s reserves had significantly improved last week, although the specific reason for the improvement was not announced. The SBP’s reserves have experienced fluctuations but had improved modestly, primarily due to financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and friendly nations.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is causing "a lot of bad blood" with Afghanistan, said Interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Thursday urging the latter's incumbent government to take "solid practical steps" against the proscribed militant organisation. In conversation with TRT World on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Jilani said it was unfortunate that attacks within Pakistan continue to emanate from Afghanistan. “They committed to not allowing Afghan soil to be used against other countries,” he said, adding that TTP attacks in Pakistan stemming from Afghanistan “remain a major concern for us”. Jilani asserted that Pakistan would like to see Afghanistan as a stable and prosperous country but "then the presence of a large number of terrorist groups whether it’s TTP or ISIS-K...and many other organisations which are based in Afghanistan,” cause a dilemma. Read Sino-Pak ties not at expense of other relations: FM“And the kind of reforms being introduced by Pakistan in different sectors is also something that offers a promising future for the people of Pakistan,” said Jilani.

India urged Canada to take legal action against “anti-Indian elements” operating from its soil. Meanwhile, both India and Canada have issued updated travel advisories for their citizens amid the diplomatic tensions between the two countries. On the other hand, Canada has updated its travel advisory for its citizens planning to visit India. He alleged that for decades, India had targeted Sikhs in Canada with espionage, disinformation, and now murder. He cited his own experience as a Sikh Canadian and noted that there had always been suspicions of India interfering in the democratic rights of Canadians.

Reportedly, the words “secular” and “socialist” appear to have been deleted from the preamble of the country’s Constitution. India has been declared a socialist and secular state in the Constitution. The Modi government has apparently removed the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ from the newly published copy of the Constitution. Opposition leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the disappearance of the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ from the Constitution is very worrying. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi also said: “In the Preamble, the words (‘socialist and secular’) were not there.”The Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar accused the BJP of “displaying a biased mindset by removing the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular'”.

Prof Cheng, who is also a former Defense Attaché in South Asian countries, noted that due to unbearable extreme Hinduism by the Indian authorities, Sikhs hoped to establish their own country Khalistan. “This force was quite active from the 1960s to the 1980s but was subjected to bloody armed suppression by the Indian security forces. In this situation, some leaders and supporters of the Sikh separatist movement fled to Western countries, where they have regained their foothold and influence. The Chinese scholar further noted that over the years, the Modi regime has been vigorously promoting extreme nationalism that only reveres Hinduism. This has become a major headache for Narendra Modi,” he said.

Cucho Hernández scored three goals in the first 23 minutes — his second hat trick in the last three matches — and the Columbus Crew clinched a playoff spot with a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night. The hat trick by Hernández was the second fastest from the start in league history. Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar set the league record with a hat trick in the first 16 minutes of a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Fire in July of 2021. Hernández scored again on a PK for a 2-0 lead eight minutes later after Yaw Yeboah drew a yellow card on defender Arnaud Souquet. Hernández finished off the hat trick when he used a pass from Julian Gressel to push the lead to 3-0.

The Foreign Office on Wednesday said Pakistan’s position on the Ukraine dispute was one of maintaining strict neutrality. “We continue to discuss matters of mutual interest and we believe that Russia understands that Pakistan has taken a neutral stance on the dispute between Russia and Ukraine,” spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at her weekly news conference. The spokesperson said both the countries had a very robust dialogue and a number of visits and exchanges had taken place. Baloch said Pakistan is ready to hold talks with India on all disputes, especially the core dispute of J&K. “He will also share the measures taken by Pakistan to consolidate economic recovery and efforts to mobilize domestic and external investments,” she said.

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Dániel Gazdag scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time — his league-record 11th PK goal of the season — to rally Philadelphia to a 2-2 draw with Charlotte FC on Wednesday night, clinching a playoff spot for the Union. Gazdag, who has 13 goals this season, scored the equalizer after Olivier Mbaizo drew a foul on Charlotte’s Brecht Dejaegere. AdvertisementJustin Meram found the net unassisted in the 55th minute to give Charlotte (7-9-12) a 1-0 lead. Karol Swiderski picked up his eighth goal this season, scoring unassisted in the 61st minute to make it 2-0. Kristijan Kahlina finished with three saves — all in the first half — for Charlotte.

BALI - An Indo­nesian court has sentenced a woman to two years in jail for posting a viral TikTok video where she said an Is­lamic phrase before eating pork. Lina Lutfiawati, 33, was found guilty of “inciting ha­tred” against religious indi­viduals and groups. Lina Lutfiawati, who adopted the Indian name Lina Mukherjee due to her love of Bollywood movies, identifies as Muslim. The lifestyle influ­encer, who has more than two million TikTok followers, also runs a business in India. In March, she posted a video where she uttered “Bismillah” - an Arabic phrase that means “in the name of God” - before eating crispy pork skin.

In Pakistan, the transgender community, people with disabilities, re­ligious minorities as well as women constitute the broad spectrum of marginalised people. But for the disabled, the transgender, and religious minorities, the gap persists. The fate of religious minorities is equally miserable. Unless the laws that deprive minorities of voting rights are repealed and revised, the problem will persist. Including them will only make the democratic process more grounded and the sub­sequent government will be representative of the people as it should be.

It quoted Baloch as saying that Pakistan had remained a “target of a series of targeted killings and espionage by RAW”. Canada said it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of the Sikh separatist leader. Replying to a question about statements by Indian civil and military leadership against Pakistan, she said Pakistan had the capacity and will to defend itself. India, Canada update travel advisoryToday, India warned its citizens against visiting parts of Canada, the latest salvo in a diplomatic row over allegations that New Delhi was involved in Nijjar’s killing. “In my experience, as a Sikh Canadian, there have always been suspicions that India was interfering in the democratic rights of Canadians.

The Foreign Office on Wednesday said the news of India’s involvement in an extrajudicial killing in Canada had shown that the country’s “network of extra-territorial killings had now gone global”. The spokesperson said the incident was a “reckless and irresponsible act” that called into question India’s reliability as a credible international partner and its claims for enhanced global responsibilities. She recalled that in December 2022, Pakistan released a comprehensive dossier providing concrete and irrefutable evidence of India’s involvement in the Lahore attack of June 2021. Qazi added that Pakistan was well-acquainted with India, having dealt with them for over seven decades. He recalled Pakistan's response to India's incursion in February 2019 and asserted that Pakistan would defend its independence again if necessary.