Skip to main content

Posts

Probe shows foreigners' involvement in network run by alleged drug queenpin Anmol alias Pinky: Karachi AIG

Karachi Additional Inspector General (AIG) Azad Khan shared details on Friday of probe against alleged queenpin Anmol alias Pinky, saying that investigators had come across information regarding the involvement of foreigners in running the drug network. Anmol had been arrested earlier this week from her apartment in Karachi in a joint raid conducted by police and a civilian intelligence agency in connection with two cases pertaining to the possession of narcotics and an unlicenced weapon. On Wednesday, a court in Karachi granted police her three-day physical remand. The Karachi AIG shared details during a press conference on Friday of the investigation conducted against Anmol thus far, saying that the case could turn out to be a transnational one as investigators had come across information about the involvement of foreigners in the drugs networks allegedly run by the suspect. “We have come across information that some foreigners from African countries are involved in this networ...
Recent posts

Indian magnate Adani agrees to multi-million-dollar penalty in US court case

Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani has agreed to pay a multi-million-dollar settlement in a US civil court case linked to corruption without admitting guilt, his company said on Friday. The November 2024 indictment in New York accused the industrialist and multiple subordinates of deliberately misleading international investors as part of a vast bribery scheme. Adani was accused of having participated in an estimated $250 million scheme to bribe Indian officials for lucrative solar energy supply contracts. Adani, along with his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to the “payment of a civil penalty” totalling $18 million, while noting that it came “without admitting or denying the allegations made in the civil complaint,” a letter from Adani Green Energy to the Mumbai stock exchange read. The penalty payment comes as US prosecutors are reported to be set to drop charges against Adani, The New York Times reported on Thursday. The Adani letter, which noted that the final judgemen...

Chinese FM's remarks to Dar on Iran war 'misrepresented', call held with cordiality: FO

The Foreign Office on Thursday said media reports “misrepresented” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent remarks to Deputy Prime Minister and FM Ishaq Dar, affirming the call was held with cordiality. The clarification comes after Chinese state media Xinhua reported that during his call with Dar on Tuesday, Wang expressed hope that “Pakistan can step up mediation efforts ” between the United States and Iran. Addressing a weekly press briefing, FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said: “Some reports suggested that the Chinese side urged us to enhance the mediation efforts, implying as if Pakistan was being asked to sort in a ‘do more’ paradigm. So news coverage by some of local newspapers conveyed the same impression. “I wish to place on record that such reports somewhat misrepresent the call in both letter and spirit,” he added, asserting that the call was held with “traditional warmth and cordiality”. Andrabi said FM Wang appreciated “Pakistan’s constr...

Indian pharma fuels Africa's 'zombie drug' and opioid crisis despite crackdown

They come in blister packs of 10 like any normal painkiller and you can buy them easily in roadside kiosks and street pharmacies across west Africa. Millions of tapentadol tablets from India are helping drive a deadly opioid epidemic ravaging the region, with officials and researchers telling AFP that they are also being added to the “zombie drug” kush. The cheap pills are so strong that no regulatory authority in the world has approved them. Yet an AFP investigation found Indian pharmaceutical firms were flooding west Africa with the pills despite New Delhi vowing to crack down on the trade. Some shipments were even labelled “Harmless Medicines for Human Consumption”. Customs records show millions of dollars’ worth of the high-strength synthetic opioid being shipped from India every month to Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Ghana, where even low doses of the drug are not permitted. With opioids now heavily regulated in wealthier nation...

Modest gains in GDP, per capita income indicate recovery in output, government says

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita income increased in dollar terms at a modest pace, indicating a recovery in the country’s overall output compared to the previous year, the government said on Wednesday. It was revealed that the country’s economy is expected to grow by 3.70 per cent in the current fiscal year, a revision from earlier projections of 4pc, suggesting that Pakistan will fall short of its GDP target. The provisional growth rates in agriculture, industry and services in FY26 are 2.89pc, 3.51pc and 4.09pc, respectively. The 117th meeting of the National Accounts Committee (NAC) was held in the federal capital on Wednesday at the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Headquarters, Statistics House. The secretary of the Ministry of Planning and Development chaired the meeting. The committee approved the quarterly GDP growth rates for Q1 (revised), Q2 (revised), and Q3 (provisional) during FY 2025-26 and annual growth rates for 2023-24 (final), 2024-2...

Khawaja Asif says KP on 'same page' as Centre in fight against terrorism

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday acknowledged that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was standing firmly with the Centre in combatting terrorism, hailing that they were on the “same page”. He made the remarks on the floor of the National Assembly while responding to an emotionally charged speech by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Noor Alam Khan, who had criticised both the federal and provincial governments for rising terrorism in the province. “We did not have the KP government’s cooperation for a very long time, [but] now we have [it]. They are standing firmly with the Centre and the armed forces against terrorism. There is no doubt,” Asif declared. “It is a good thing that we are all on the same page,” he added. The defence minister said, “I agree with them that a solution to this issue is needed, but it is not the centre’s responsibility; it is partially, but all provinces have to contribute to this with their resources.” Asif also strongly responded to suggestio...

UK PM Starmer defies calls to quit, says he's getting on with governing

Prime Minister Keir Starmer defied calls to resign on Tuesday, telling ministers he would “get on with governing” despite a “destabilising” 48 hours of growing calls to set out a timetable for his departure after a drubbing in local elections. At a meeting of his cabinet, Starmer, in the top job for less than two years, repeated that, while he took responsibility for one of his Labour Party’s worst election defeats , there had been no official move to trigger a leadership contest. Four ministers expressed their support for him. It was the latest pledge from Starmer to press on with a premiership that has been dogged by scandal and policy U-turns since he won a large majority at a national election in 2024. On Monday, he promised to be bolder in tackling the problems besetting Britain to try to shore up his political future. Borrowing costs rise In a nod to an increase in borrowing costs on the markets over fears of another bout of political instability in Britain, Starmer said ...