Parliament’s joint sitting to take.

Parliament’s joint sitting to take ‘important decision’ today

In a major development, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) led government on Tuesday rescheduled a joint session of the parliament to take “important decisions” to enforce the state’s authority in the backdrop of the March 18 clashes between the supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the law enforcers and the alleged attack on the Federal Judicial Complex.

Areas around the judicial complex had turned into battel filed when PTI Chairman Imran Khan — who was ousted from the government last spring via a vote of no confidence — arrived there to attend a hearing in the Toshakhana case.

As per the details, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, while exercising his powers under Joint Sitting Rules 1973, has made a change in the schedule of the joint session of parliament. Now, the joint sitting of parliament will be held on Wednesday (tomorrow) instead of the 10th of next month.

The meeting will be held on March 22 at 4 pm at the Parliament House in Islamabad.

The development came a day after a six-hour-long meeting of the heads of the component parties of the PDM — a 13-party ruling alliance — was held with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.

The high-level huddle of the ruling alliance was held after the premier’s meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz in Lahore.

Govt didn’t consult on petrol subsidy

Govt didn’t consult on petrol subsidy for low-income groups:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the Pakistani government did not consult the global lender on its petrol subsidy for low-income groups, reported Bloomberg on Tuesday.

Esther Perez, the IMF’s resident representative for Pakistan, told the publication that the lender was not consulted on the government’s plan to raise fuel prices for wealthier motorists to finance a subsidy for lower-income people.

“Fund staff are seeking greater details on the scheme in terms of its operation, cost, targeting, protections against fraud and abuse, and offsetting measures, and will carefully discuss these elements with the authorities,” said Perez.

A day earlier, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik announced that the federal government in order to cushion the effect of high petrol prices on inflation-hit masses decided to subsidize petrol up to Rs100 for motorcyclists and owners of vehicles up to 800cc.

Three Cups of Coffee a day may help

Three Cups of Coffee a day may help reduce body fat and Diabetes Risk

Coffee and green and black tea are bursting with antioxidants, natural compounds that have been linked to a number of health benefits.

But the caffeine present in those beverages may also offer its own benefits, including reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, suggests a new genetic study. This is possibly due to the effect of caffeine on body fat and weight.

“Our … finding suggests that caffeine might, at least in part, explain the inverse association between coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes,” write the researchers. Caffeine linked to lower type 2 diabetes risk

The results of the new study fit with other research suggesting a link between caffeine and type 2 diabetes risk.

Earlier studies showed that moderate coffee consumption (three to five cups per day) is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease Trusted Source.

Another study found that caffeine intake results in a reduction in body fat. Excess weight is a risk factorTrusted Source for type 2 diabetes.
However, these studies weren’t designed to tease apart the potential effects of caffeine from those of antioxidants.

To overcome this limitation, the authors of the new study used a genetic method called Mendelian randomizationTrusted Source to examine the impact of blood levels of caffeine on body fat and on the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease outcomes.

Mawra Hocane, Ameer Gilani to star

Mawra Hocane, Ameer Gilani to star in a drama again

Mawra Hocane is a gorgeous and extremely talented Pakistani television and film actor. She has performed in various amazing hit drama serials. Her recent hit drama serial was Sabaat with Ameer Gilani who debuted in that drama.

Well, fans loved the onscreen pairing and we’re looking forward to seeing the couple. Last year, Mawra Hocane revealed details about her project with Ameer Gilani which was supposed to be shot after his return from Harvard.

The upcoming drama serial name is Nauroz which is the production of Momina Duraid. The drama has been written by Kashif Anwar and it is beautiful Ng directed by Shehzad Kashmiri who directed Sabaat & Parizaad. The cast includes Mawra Hocane, Ameer Gilani, Syed Jibran, Rana Majid, and others.

It will be aired on Green Entertainment Channel which is soon launching. Today, Mawra Hocane posted many stories about her upcoming serial Nauroz with Ameer Gilani. Mawra Hocane and Rana Majid have shared many BTS pictures from the project which we have collected for you

HBFC barred from risky borrowing

The Privatisation Commission (PC) board on Tuesday barred the management of House Building Finance Company (HBFC) from taking expensive but risky commercial loans for their re-lending and investment in government debt and picked two parties for the privatization of the entity.

At a time when the PC was putting in all its energies to sell the company, the HBFC management tried to borrow more to finance new mortgage loans, finance investment in government securities, and finance the development of land blocks on its balance sheet.

PTI not a political party but a group

PTI is not a political party but a group of trained militants: PDM

Ruling alliance parties also call for action against ‘PTI attack on judicial complex’

In a recent development on Monday, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — a 13-party ruling alliance — has demanded stringent measures to be taken against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The call comes in response to the alleged assault on both the Federal Judicial Complex and security personnel during a court appearance by PTI chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. The PDM is urging authorities to take immediate action against the PTI for their purported involvement in the incident.

Ahead of the PTI chief’s appearance before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal on March 18, fierce clashes erupted between PTI supporters and the security personnel. Khan had claimed that the government planned either to assassinate or arrest him inside the judicial complex.

According to an official statement, the decision was made during a six-hour-long meeting of the heads of the component parties of the PDM with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.

The high-level huddle was summoned after the premier’s meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz in Lahore.

Officials, privy to the meeting, said that Maryam held a detailed meeting with PM Shehbaz and discussed the party’s future strategy to deal with the PTI chairman.

People snatch 1,000 flour bags in Kasur

KASUR: People snatched more than 1,000 flour bags without following the prescribed procedure from two free flour distribution points at Kot Radha Kishan and Kanganpur on Monday.

On the other hand, scores of protesters staged a demonstration and blocked Multan Road in Phoolnagar against the failure of the administration to supply flour bags.

People took away 280 flour bags from a distribution point at Jamshair Kalan in Kanganpur. The officials kept asking the people to follow the procedure but the people, including women, attacked the truck carrying floor bags and took them away.

Bitcoin passes the bank stress test

As crisis stalks the traditional world of stocks and bonds, bitcoin is suddenly looking like a safe haven.

The infamously volatile cryptocurrency seems positively hale and hearty, just as a banking meltdown drives markets into the arms of a recession.

Bitcoin has risen 21% this month, while a choppy S&P 500 has lost 1.4% and gold has gained 8%.

“If you were going to describe an environment where there were successive bank runs because central banks are trying to fight inflation with fast rate increases, that is pretty close to as spot-on a thesis for owning bitcoin as you’ve ever heard,” said Stéphane Ouellette, CEO at digital asset investment platform FRNT Financial.

The cryptocurrency has, for now, severed its ties with stocks and bonds and tagged on to a rally in gold, fulfilling at least one part of creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s dream – that bitcoin can serve as a refuge for suffering investors.

Bitcoin’s 30-day correlation with the S&P 500 has slid to negative 0.12 over the past week, where a measure of 1 indicates the two assets are moving in lockstep.

Covid tests for China travellers to England

Covid tests for China travelers to England ending

Travelers flying into England from mainland China will no longer have to provide proof of a negative pre-departure test from next month.

The change will come into effect on 5 April – exactly three months after the measures started.

Ministers brought in controls after a spike in cases following Beijing’s relaxation of its zero-Covid policy.

Their removal comes after greater transparency from China, the government said.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that there has been increased information on “testing, vaccination, and genomic sequencing results” on China’s domestic disease levels.

The data indicate that Covid variants seen in China “continue to be the same as those already circulating in the UK”, it added.

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that all regions had passed their infection peak, the statement reported.

The temporary testing program was implemented in January. The government said its aim was to improve Covid surveillance of travelers arriving at London’s main airport from China by helping to detect potential new variants.

The government said an average of 99 people per flight had been tested, totaling 3,374 passengers.