Author: Kainat R

Dar Meets Araghchi on Sidelines of SCO Summit 2026, Pushes for Islamabad MoU Implementation

Kainat R
Ishaq Dar and Abbas Araghchi shake hands at the SCO Summit 2026 in Bishkek

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar sat down with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit 2026 in Bishkek. The two men agreed on one thing above all: the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has to be followed through, not just signed and shelved. The meeting took place as the wider Middle East remains tense, and it added another data point to Pakistan’s ongoing effort to keep itself in the middle of that conversation rather than on the sidelines of it.…

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CM Maryam Nawaz Orders Designated Motorcycle Lanes in Lahore

Kainat R
Motorcyclists riding in a designated motorcycle lane on a busy Lahore road

Summary LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has ordered the designation of dedicated bike lanes on major roads of Lahore. She also directed authorities to enforce strict compliance with traffic rules on vehicles operating under the Suthra Punjab Programme. The order came during a special meeting on traffic management held on Monday. It covers designated motorcycle lanes Lahore-wide, pedestrian safety, and stricter monitoring of sanitation vehicles that have been involved in recent road accidents. Background Lahore has struggled with mixed traffic for years, with motorcycles, cars, rickshaws and heavy vehicles…

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Rawalpindi Rain Today: Heavy Downpour Floods Twin Cities, Shuts Schools

Kainat R
Flooded road in Rawalpindi with cars wading through rainwater during heavy monsoon downpour

Rawalpindi woke up to one of its heaviest spells of the season on Tuesday morning. Rain that started overnight kept falling into the early hours, and by the time most people were getting ready for work, several neighbourhoods were already underwater. The district administration didn’t wait around. Schools across Rawalpindi, both government and private, were told to stay shut for the day. Islamabad followed the same route. It’s the kind of call that inconveniences a lot of parents on short notice, but given how fast the water was rising in…

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Dubai Property No Longer a Safe Haven for Pakistani Black Money

Kainat R
Karachi skyline representing black money shifting from Dubai property back into Pakistani real estate

KARACHI: The regional Gulf war has cut off the flow of black money from Pakistan into Dubai property, and money already parked there is now being pulled back and redirected into real estate inside Pakistan, according to sources in the property and currency markets. The shift marks a rare reversal for a route that has funneled undocumented wealth out of the country for years. Background Dubai has long served as the preferred destination for undocumented wealth generated in Pakistan. Thousands of Pakistanis have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into…

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PSX Loses 721 Points as Oil Price Surge and Inflation Fears Rattle Investors

Kainat R
KSE-100 index board showing PSX loses 721 points during Monday trading session in Karachi

Summary The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed sharply lower on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index shedding 721 points. The sell-off came after a brief weekend recovery, as fresh Middle East tensions pushed oil prices higher and revived concerns about inflation. Investors pulled out of key sectors including banks, cement, autos and energy stocks as sentiment turned cautious once again. Background Just days earlier, the market had staged a modest recovery, giving investors some relief after a volatile stretch. That calm did not last long. On Monday, fresh reports of…

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IHC Seeks Replies From Ministries, PTA and PEMRA on Social Media Regulation for Children in Pakistan

Kainat R
Islamabad High Court building, representing the case on social media regulation for children in Pakistan

The Islamabad High Court has pushed the debate over social media regulation for children in Pakistan into a new phase. On Monday, the court asked six government bodies to explain, in writing, what they are doing to protect children under 16 from the risks of unsupervised social media use. Summary Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar heard a petition asking the federal government to build a legal framework for children’s social media use. The court issued notices to five ministries plus the PTA and PEMRA and told them to file…

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Pakistan Prime Minister 2026 Kyrgyzstan Visit: Shehbaz Sharif Heads to Bishkek for SCO Summit

Kainat R
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Zhaparov at the SCO summit in Bishkek, 2026

Shehbaz Sharif Begins Three-Day Kyrgyzstan Trip as Pakistan Takes Over SCO Chair.Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif left for Bishkek on Monday, opening a three-day visit that runs from August 31 to September 2, 2026. Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Nurgozhoevich Zhaparov extended the invitation, and the trip centres on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of State meeting. The Foreign Office confirmed the schedule in a statement issued before departure. It described the visit as combining the SCO summit with a separate round of bilateral talks in the Kyrgyz Republic, and…

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Pakistan Cotton Quality Under Pressure Across Key Growing Areas in 2026

Kainat R
Raw cotton bolls in a field in southern Punjab, one of the main cotton growing areas in Pakistan

Summary Pakistan cotton quality has become almost as pressing a concern as the falling volume of the crop itself. Contamination during manual picking, pest damage, and the use of uncertified seed are dragging fibre grades down across the country’s main cotton growing areas in Pakistan. Buyers and mills say the gap with international quality benchmarks is widening. Background For decades, Pakistan built a textile industry on the back of locally grown cotton, prized for length and strength that suited both domestic spinning and export orders. That reputation has slipped in…

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Punjab IT Sector Gets a Fresh Push as Alibaba Cloud Signals Interest During CM’s China Visit

Kainat R
CM Maryam Nawaz meeting Alibaba Cloud delegation to discuss Punjab IT sector cooperation in China

Punjab’s technology push just picked up a serious backer. During her ongoing visit to China, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz sat down with a high-level delegation from Alibaba Cloud, and the Chinese tech giant came away impressed enough to talk openly about investing in the province’s IT sector. The meeting, held on Sunday in Beijing, centered on artificial intelligence, public-sector digitisation, and where Punjab’s growing tech ecosystem might fit into Alibaba’s regional plans. Background: Punjab’s AI Push Didn’t Start Yesterday This meeting doesn’t come out of nowhere. Punjab has spent the…

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Punjab Launches Major Hospital Safety Reforms After PIMS Tragedy

Kainat R
Firefighters and hospital staff outside a Punjab government hospital during a fire-safety inspection

LAHORE: The Punjab government has initiated multiple major steps at public-sector hospitals across the province to prevent a recurrence of the incident that claimed the lives of 14 infants at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has ordered an urgent review of fire-safety arrangements, and the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) has directed both public and private hospitals to tighten emergency preparedness. The push marks one of the fastest healthcare policy responses seen in Punjab in recent years, and it is being watched closely…

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