KARACHI: Pakistan’s annual inflation rate rose to 9.2 percent in October, up from 9 percent in previous months, the statistics bureau said on Monday as the country’s prime minister called for measures to bring down the prices of essential commodities and provide relief to the public.
The general inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 9.2 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in October 2021 as compared to an increase of 9 percent in the previous month and 8.9 percent in October 2020, according to Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) data.
The South Asian nation is facing inflationary pressure amid rising prices of commodities in the international market, including petroleum products, analysts say, as Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Monday said his government was working hard to reduce the impact of inflation.
“We are working hard to mitigate negative impacts of international inflation, especially in petroleum products and food items,” Khan was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office. “Stabilizing macroeconomic indicators in the country is the government’s top priority to spur economic growth.”
The PM has also directed authorities to take necessary measures to bring down the prices of essential commodities, the statement said.
For urban residents, according to official statistics, inflation rose by 9.6 percent on a year-on-year basis in October 2021 as compared to an increase of 9.1 percent in the previous month and 7.3 percent in October 2020.
However, inflation for rural dwellers of the country witnessed a slight surge, going up by 8.7 percent on a year-on-year basis in October 2021 as compared to an increase of 8.8 percent in the previous month and 11.3 percent in October 2020.
In October 2021, the South Asian country witnessed a 71.03 percent hike in the price of Liquefied Hydrocarbons for urban residents while electricity charges rose by 32.14 percent in the non-food basket.
The prices of vegetable and ghee surged by 43.03 percent, cooking oil by 40.02 percent and chicken by 34.69 percent.
Analysts say the country is facing inflationary pressure due to high commodity prices in the international market.
“Inflation is higher due to increase in petroleum prices on the back of rising global oil prices. It has fed into both the transportation and housing groups,” Samiullah Tariq, Director Research at Pakistan Kuwait Investment, said.
“Inflation is expected to go up in the coming months as global food and energy prices are still on the higher side,” said Khurram Schehzad, CEO of Alpha Beta Core, a financial advisory platform.
Pakistan’s annual inflation rises to 9.2% in Oct. 2021 as global commodity prices spike
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Pakistan’s annual inflation rises to 9.2% in Oct. 2021 as global commodity prices spike
- Prime minister Imran Khan says his government working hard to reduce the impact of inflation
- PM directs authorities to take necessary measures to bring down prices of essential commodities
New Zealand win toss, opt to bowl in 5th and final T20 against Pakistan
- Pakistan, looking to build-up for June’s T20 World Cup, are trailing 2-1 in the series
- Pakistan have brought in their ace fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi in place of Zaman Khan
LAHORE: New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell won the toss and elected to field in the fifth and final Twenty20 against Pakistan on Saturday.
Pakistan, looking to build-up for June’s T20 World Cup, are trailing 2-1 in the series as they tested their bench strength against the understrength Black Caps.
Pakistan made just one change from the team that lost the fourth match by four runs, bringing in their ace fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi in place of Zaman Khan.
New Zealand, touring Pakistan without their nine frontline T20 players who are in the Indian Premier League, made three changes.
Tim Seifert recovered from sore back and returns in place of Tim Robinson, who scored a half-century in the last game but was ruled out with a groin injury.
Cole McConchie and Zak Foulkes also made it to the playing XI replacing Dean Foxcroft and Jacob Duffy. Foxcroft was ruled out with a back injury.
The first game was abandoned because of rain before Pakistan bowled out New Zealand for 90 runs in the second game to win by seven wickets.
New Zealand made a comeback, winning the third match by seven wickets before edging out the home team in the last game at Qaddafi Stadium on Thursday.
Pro-Palestine protester claims manhandling after disrupting German ambassador’s speech in Lahore
- Ambassador Grannas was speaking on safeguarding civil rights in South Asia when his speech was interrupted
- Ali Abdullah Khan said Germany was ‘brutally abusing’ people for speaking in favor of the rights of Palestinians
ISLAMABAD: A pro-Palestine protester in Pakistan, who interrupted German Ambassador Alfred Grannas during his speech on civil liberties in South Asia at a rights conference in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday, said he was ‘manhandled’ by the organizers who later forces him out of the hall.
Ali Abdullah Khan, who studies economics and is part of the Progressive Students Collective, disrupted the German envoy’s speech at the popular Asma Jahangir Conference while accusing the European state of “brutally abusing” those who have been agitating for Palestinian rights.
Germany has clearly sided with Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza after a surprise attack was launched by Hamas on Oct. 7 as a response to the deteriorating Palestinian condition living under Israeli occupation.
The conflict, which has led to the killing of over 34,000 Palestinians, has led to widespread criticism of the Israeli government, leading to protests in different parts of the world.
While countries like South Africa have accused the Jewish state of committing genocide in Gaza, German authorities have forcibly removed protest encampments and gone into people’s houses to arrest them for critical social media posts on charges of antisemitism.
“We were forced out of the place after we raised our voice during the German ambassador’s speech,” Khan said while speaking to Arab News. “The organizers manhandled us and banned our entry in the conference.”
He said it was “baffling” to see the German ambassador “lecturing” people on civil liberties in Pakistan after his country supplied arms and ammunition to Israeli military to kill Palestinian civilians and destroy hospitals and education institutions.
“Germany isn’t in a position to champion civil liberties and human rights when it is complicit in the killing of thousands of civilians in Palestine,” he continued. “We simply called out Germany’s hypocrisy by peacefully raising our voice in the conference that literally agitated the ambassador.”
Khan said he had peacefully expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine and would continue to do so until the western world remained “complicit in the brutal massacre of Palestinians.”
The Asma Jahangir Conference is named after a late Pakistani human rights lawyer and activist that brings together scholars, activists, legal experts and policymakers to discuss a wide range of issues affecting the lives of marginalized communities.
Arab News reached out to Munizae Jahangir, Asma’s daughter and a known journalist, for a comment but did not get a response.
Earlier, Khan interrupted the German ambassador shortly after he began his speech.
“I am shocked by the audacity that you are here to talk about civil rights while your country is brutally abusing the people speaking for the rights of the Palestinians,” he shouted while standing at the back of hall.
Many people around him supported him by shouting “Free, Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea.”
The German envoy, who looked visibly perturbed by the development, responded by shouting back at him and pointing to the exit.
“If you, if you want to shout, go out,” he said. “There you can shout. Because shouting is not a discussion.”
Last year in November, a Pakistani classical dancer and human rights activist Sheema Kermani raised slogans for a ceasefire at a British Deputy High Commission event in Karachi and later complained of being “escorted out.”
Gunmen abduct judge in Pakistan’s northwest amid surge in militant violence
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister says ‘emergency measures’ must be taken to bring back the judge
- Police say a heavy contingent has gone to the area to gather evidence and identify the armed men
PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen abducted a district and sessions court judge in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Saturday as he was traveling from his hometown of Tank to the southern Dera Ismail Khan district, according to a police official.
The incident has alarmed the legal community and coincides with a resurgence of militant violence in KP and Balochistan provinces, following the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)’s termination of a fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
“Shakirullah Marwat, the district and sessions judge in South Waziristan, was kidnapped near Bagwal, a dusty town between Tank and Dera Ismail Khan,” said Muhammad Ibrahim, a police spokesman. “The kidnappers released Marwat’s driver but took the judge with them.”
Ibrahim added that a heavy police contingent was dispatched to the area immediately after the incident to collect evidence and search for the armed men.
Earlier this month, an attack in Dera Ismail Khan resulted in the death of six people, including five customs department officials, with another person wounded when gunmen targeted their vehicle.
Shah Fahad Ansari, a high court advocate and the divisional president for the People Lawyers’ Forum, condemned the abduction, saying that courts across the region should be locked down in protest to draw attention to the deteriorating law and order situation.
“The provincial government has completely failed to maintain security in the area,” Ansari added. “You can imagine the sense of insecurity among people at a time when the state cannot even protect its judges.”
Reacting to the development, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur instructed the police to ensure the safe recovery of the judge.
“Emergency measures must be taken to recover the judge, and all available resources should be utilized for this purpose,” he said in a statement.
Gandapur maintained the people who were behind the incident would not be able to escape the law.
The recent weeks have also seen attacks on police officials in KP.
Earlier this month, a policeman was shot dead in North Waziristan. In related incidents, an official from the provincial counterterrorism department and a senior cleric affiliated with the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam religious party were fatally shot in target killings in the area.
While no group has claimed responsibility for these attacks, suspicion has fallen on the TTP, whose leadership is said to be based in neighboring Afghanistan.
The Afghan deputy interior minister, Mohammad Nabi Omari, urged Pakistan and the banned militant network to resume negotiations earlier this month, but Pakistani authorities rejected this idea, calling on the administration in Kabul to act against militants operating from its soil.
‘The audacity’: German envoy’s speech disrupted by pro-Palestinian protester at Lahore rights conference
- Ambassador Grannas was speaking on safeguarding civil rights in South Asia when his speech was interrupted
- The protester said Germany was ‘brutally abusing’ those speaking in favor of the rights of Palestinian people
ISLAMABAD: German Ambassador to Pakistan Alfred Grannas was challenged by a pro-Palestine protester on Saturday shortly after he began his speech on safeguarding civil rights in South Asia at a high-profile conference held in the eastern city of Lahore.
Germany has clearly sided with Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza after a surprise attack was launched by Hamas on Oct. 7 as a response to the deteriorating Palestinian condition living under Israeli occupation.
The conflict, which has led to the killing of over 34,000 Palestinians, has led to widespread criticism of the Israeli government, leading to protests in different parts of the world.
While countries like South Africa have accused the Jewish state of committing genocide in Gaza, authorities in Germany have forcibly removed protest encampments and gone into people’s houses to arrest them for critical social media posts on charges of antisemitism.
“I am shocked by the audacity that you are here to talk about civil rights while your country is brutally abusing the people speaking for the rights of the Palestinians,” the young protester standing at the back of the hall shouted at him.
Many people around him supported him by shouting “Free, Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea.”
The German envoy, who looked visibly agitated by the development, responded by shouting back and pointing to the exit.
“If you, if you want to shout, go out,” he said. “There you can shout. Because shouting is not a discussion.”
The incident happened at the Asma Jahangir Conference that focuses on dialogue and advocacy for human rights issues in Pakistan and its broader neighborhood.
Last year in November, a Pakistani classical dancer and human rights activist Sheema Kermani raised slogans for a ceasefire at a British Deputy High Commission event in Karachi and later complained of being “escorted out.”
Pakistan PM arrives in Riyadh to attend World Economic Forum meeting
- PM Sharif is expected to discuss inclusive growth, regional collaboration and energy issues at the gathering
- He will also attend the Islamic Summit Conference in Gambia on May 4 to discuss Islamophobia and Palestine
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Riyadh on Saturday to attend a two-day special conference of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The WEF meeting on global collaboration, growth and energy will be held in the Saudi capital on April 28-29, according to PM Sharif’s office.
The prime minister was extended an invitation to attend the meeting by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Professor Klaus Schwab, the WEF executive chairman.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh,” said an official statement circulated in Islamabad.
“At Riyadh’s Royal Airport, the Deputy Governor of the Riyadh Region, His Highness Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Aziz, the Ambassador of Pakistan in Saudi Arabia, and other diplomatic staff welcomed the Prime Minister,” it added.
Prior to his departure, the PM Office said Sharif would be accompanied by a high-level delegation including foreign minister Ishaq Dar and finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
“The Prime Minister and the Ministers will participate in WEF discussions on issues related to trade and investment measures, new investment frameworks, restructuring of supply chains, sustainable growth, and the energy landscape,” it added.
Sharif’s participation in the forum will afford Pakistan an opportunity to highlight its priorities in global health architecture, inclusive growth, revitalizing regional collaboration, and the need for striking a balance between promoting growth and energy consumption.
“On the margins of the main event, the Prime Minister and his delegation will hold bilateral meetings with world leaders, including the Saudi leadership, heads of international organizations, and other prominent figures participating in the event,” the statement added.
The prime minister will also attend the 15th session of the Islamic Summit Conference organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on May 4-5 in the Gambian capital of Banjul to discuss a variety of regional and global issues, including Palestine, Islamophobia, climate change and the status of minorities, the Pakistani state-run APP news agency reported.
The session will be held under the slogan “Enhancing Unity and Solidarity through Dialogue for Sustainable Development,” according to a press release issued by the OIC General Secretariat.
The Islamic Summit is a principal organ of the OIC focused on the formulation, development, and implementation of decisions made by 57 member states. It is attended by concerned heads of state such as prime ministers, presidents, emirs and other equivalent heads.
