Infinity Social Updates

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...

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...

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 ...

The United Nations condemned on Tuesday the toll from “escalating” Israeli military operations and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank on children, with 70 Palestinian children killed since the start of 2025. “Children are paying an intolerable price for escalating military operations and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” UN children’s agency spokesman James Elder told reporters. Since the start of 2025, when Israel began a large-scale military operation in the West Bank, “at least one Palestinian child has been killed on average every single week” there, adding that another 850 children had been injured during that period. “Most of those killed or wounded were done by live ammunition,” he said. Israeli forces were responsible for a full 93 per cent of the deaths, Elder said, highlighting that the scaled-up military operations had come amid “historic levels of settler attacks”. According to the UN, March...

World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday “our work is not over” to contain hantavirus after evacuations from a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of the illness. The fate of the MV Hondius sparked international alarm after three passengers died in an outbreak of the rare virus, for which no vaccines or specific treatments exist. Yet health officials stressed that the global public health risk was low and rejected comparisons to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. “There is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak,” Tedros told a joint news conference in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. “But of course the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks,” Tedros said. More than 120 passengers and crew on the MV Hondius were flown out from Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday and ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday ordered an inquiry into an attack in Toba Tek Singh that left PML-N MPA Col (retired) Sardar Ayub Gadhi injured and four of his aides dead. The incident occurred on Sunday night, when Gadhi was sitting with his friends in his outhouse (Dera) in Chak 184-GB. Subsequently, unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire. In a statement on Monday, PM Shehbaz expressed deep concern and strongly condemned the incident. He also directed the relevant authorities to swiftly complete the inquiry so that those responsible could be identified and brought to justice. Calling Gadhi one of the PML-N’s hardworking workers, the prime minister said that the attack on the MPA while he was listening to public grievances was extremely concerning. He offered prayers for those who lost their lives in the incident and for the recovery of the injured. Those killed in the incident on Sunday night were identified as Zaig...

THE Sindh government’s 28-point list of restrictions imposed on Aurat March Karachi is a distressing example of familiar double standards: women are celebrated in speeches and choreographed photo opportunities, only for the state to recoil the moment they demand their rights. The organisers sought permission to march peacefully for women’s rights. What they received, instead, was a document dripping with authoritarian anxiety. The message could not have been clearer: women may gather, but only if they remain politically harmless. Rather than facilitating peaceful assembly, the administration chose to police slogans, speech and even clothing. The vague and sweeping conditions betray insecurity. Why does a march calling attention to gender violence and economic inequality provoke such discomfort in official circles? Why are women demanding bodily autonomy and constitutional rights treated as a threat? Secure governments do not fear placards, nor do t...