A recent federal audit report has uncovered large-scale financial irregularities within the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), amounting to over Rs5.83 billion in public funds during the fiscal year 2023-24. The audit report, issued on August 8, 2025, consists of 22 detailed paragraphs, highlighting significant violations of public procurement regulations, treasury
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off the week on a bullish note, with the benchmark KSE-100 index surging to a record intraday high above 147,000 before settling at an all-time closing high of 146,929 points on Monday. Persistent economic optimism, strong corporate earnings, and expectations of foreign investment inflows drove the rally. According to Topline Securities Ltd, the index ga
In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has announced a string of new trade deals with dozens of countries across the globe. Although the details of those agreements remain limited, a closer look at them clearly shows that President Trump has leveraged the threat of his higher tariffs imposed on most countries on April 2 and the US’s economic power to force massive trade concessions and inve
Ever since its passage by the Balochistan Assembly, the Mines and Minerals Act, 2025 has stirred considerable uproar. Opposition is not limited to Baloch nationalists, who have historically resisted the exploitation of their province’s resources by the central government; even the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) — a right-wing religious party led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman — has challenged the legislat
The 50 per cent tariff imposed by the Trump administration on Indian goods, including basmati rice, has reshaped trade flows in the United States, providing Pakistan an opportunity to expand its share in the American aromatic rice market. Pakistan’s basmati rice exports have witnessed steady growth in recent years. According to the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP), the country expo