Times.pk

Times.pk Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Times.pk, Media/News Company, Islamabad.

We aim to provide latest and authentic news from around Pakistan and the world to our audience and help them connect with latest events happening around the world and within Pakistan

05/12/2021
"Russia is said to be planning a massive military offensive against Ukraine involving 175,000 troops, U.S. intelligence ...
05/12/2021

"Russia is said to be planning a massive military offensive against Ukraine involving 175,000 troops, U.S. intelligence warns".
“The Russian plans call for a military offensive against Ukraine as soon as early 2022 with a scale of forces twice what we saw this past spring during Russia’s snap exercise near Ukraine’s borders,” said an administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. “The plans involve extensive movement of 100 battalion tactical groups with an estimated 175,000 personnel, along with armor, artillery and equipment.”
The unclassified U.S. intelligence document obtained by The Post, which includes satellite photos, shows Russian forces massing in four locations. Currently, 50 battlefield tactical groups are deployed, along with “newly arrived” tanks and artillery, according to the document.
While Ukrainian assessments have said Russia has approximately 94,000 troops near the border, the U.S. map puts the number at 70,000 — but it predicts a buildup to as many as 175,000 and describes extensive movement of battalion tactical groups to and from the border “to obfuscate intentions and to create uncertainty.”

The U.S. analysis of Russia’s plans is based in part on satellite images that “show newly arrived units at various locations along the Ukrainian border over the last month,” the official said.

“We don’t know whether President Putin has made the decision to invade. We do know that he is putting in place the capacity to do so on short order should he so decide,” Blinken told reporters in Europe a day before meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “We must prepare for all contingencies.”

U.S. and Ukrainian officials and military analysts believe Russia would mount a far larger-scale invasion now than it did in 2014, when the country annexed Crimea and fueled a separatist uprising in Ukraine’s east. The plan, the officials and analysts believe, could be to force Ukrainian troops to fight on multiple fronts, seeking not so much territory but rather a capitulation by Kyiv and its Western backers that results in the security guarantees Putin wants. Military analysts have compared that strategy to Moscow’s 2008 invasion of Georgia.

This week, Putin said drills with U.S. nuclear-capable strategic bombers flying over the Black Sea posed a threat to Moscow, along with U.S. missile defense systems in Poland and Romania. He also expressed concern about NATO deploying missiles on Ukrainian territory that could have a flight time of seven to 10 minutes to Moscow — though no such plans have been announced.

The United Arab Emirates and France have signed a $19bn arms deal that will see the Gulf state acquire 80 Rafale fighter...
05/12/2021

The United Arab Emirates and France have signed a $19bn arms deal that will see the Gulf state acquire 80 Rafale fighter jets and 12 military helicopters.
The largest-ever overseas sale of Rafale jets was sealed on Friday as French President Emmanuel Macron began a two-day trip to the Gulf, during which he will also visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The deal will directly support 7,000 jobs in France and guarantee the supply chain of the Dassault Aviation-made aircraft until the end of 2031, a French official told journalists.

The F4 model Rafales, currently under development, will be delivered from 2027.
By snapping up the fighter craft, the UAE is following the lead of Gulf rival Qatar, which has bought 36 of the planes.
Abu Dhabi also ordered 12 Caracal helicopters. It is the French code name for the H225M, the multi-role military version of the Super Puma.

The shake-up, meant to streamline the company’s operations and accelerate its growth, will bring together employees prev...
04/12/2021

The shake-up, meant to streamline the company’s operations and accelerate its growth, will bring together employees previously divided by job function such as engineering, design and product development on teams organized by what they’re working on, such as consumer product, revenue and core tech. Two executives, head of engineering Michael Montano and chief design officer Dantley Davis, will step down as part of the reshuffling and leave the company by year’s end.
In a companywide email Agrawal said that he will focus on “clear decision-making, increased accountability, and faster execution,” and said he was “making a number of organizational and leadership changes to best position us to achieve our goals. … We’ve all discussed the critical need for more operational rigor and it must start from the top.”

On November 29, the central bank of Pakistan and the Saudi Fund for Development signed a deposit agreement for funds wor...
04/12/2021

On November 29, the central bank of Pakistan and the Saudi Fund for Development signed a deposit agreement for funds worth $3 billion.
According to a joint statement, under this deposit agreement, SFD shall park $3 billion in the SBP. “The deposit amount under the agreement shall become part of SBP’s foreign exchange reserves,” it had said.
The central bank had stated that the deposit would help support Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves and “contribute towards resolving the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The deposit agreement was signed by SFD Chief Executive Officer H E Sultan Bin AbdulRahman Al-Marshad and the SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir at the State Bank of Pakistan in Karachi.
On October 27, the Saudi Fund for Development agreed to deposit $3 billion in the SBP to help support its foreign reserves.
The fund had stated that an official directive was issued to supply $1.2 billion to finance Pakistan’s oil products trade during the year.

04/12/2021

In the video, the robot known as "Ameca" can be seen expressing what appears to be surprise as it opens its eyes and looks around and examines itself. When it notices the camera person, it then smiles and offers out its hand.

The Ameca has grey-coloured skin, with gender and race-neutral characteristics, but is being described as the world's "most advanced human shaped robot representing the forefront of human-robotics technology."

In a press Conference held on Friday, Advisor to Prime Minister on Revenue and Finance, Shaukat Tarin said that the coun...
04/12/2021

In a press Conference held on Friday, Advisor to Prime Minister on Revenue and Finance, Shaukat Tarin said that the country was facing escalation in import bill and inflationary pressure due to surge in prices of imported commodities.
“The inflation and import bill are connected and have same cause and that is international commodity prices,” the adviser said while addressing a press conference along with Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood.
The adviser said the country was witnessing inflationary pressure due to rise in international prices of commodities which it was importing, citing that the prices of fuel, LNG, coal, steel and edible oil rose in international market and have impact on inflation in Pakistan. Comparing the imports of October 2021 and November 2021, the adviser said that the import bill went up from $6.3 billion in October to $7.5 billion in November, showing around $1.2 billion difference.He said all other countries were also affected by international commodity prices adding that the import bill of neghbouring country India had also doubled to $ 20 billion due to rise in international prices.
The adviser said that the imports into the country have increased more in terms of value and less in terms of volume. He said, there was 72 percent increase in imports of petroleum products in terms of value and only 11 percent in terms of volume.
Likewise, crude petroleum imports increased 86 percent in value and only 5 percent in quantity while palm oil and soya bean increased 75 percent in value and only 5 percent in volume. Same was the case with pulses, which grew by 34 percent in value and only 5 percent in quantity.

The adviser said that the situation would not last and expressed the hope that this disequilibrium would end soon and commodity prices would come down in the international market and consequently have impact on commodity prices in Pakistan.

“The Government wishes to express its condolence over the death of Mr. Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, a Sri Lankan Univers...
04/12/2021

“The Government wishes to express its condolence over the death of Mr. Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, a Sri Lankan University degree holder and a Manager at a factory in Pakistan, who was the victim of an attack carried out by extremists regardless of territorial boundaries. Further, the Government strongly condemns the inhumane attack that took the world by surprise,” Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told Parliament. He further added: “We also wish to appreciate the intervention of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to ensure that justice is served.”
Meanwhile more than 120 people have been arrested and more culprits are being searched with the help of CCTV footages and social media clips by the Law enforcement agencies after a mob of factory workers and others killed a Sri Lankan Export Manager of a factory and burnt his body over allegations of Blasphemy.

03/12/2021

On Thursday, Angela Markel attended her farewell parade after she decided in 2018 that she would not run for reelection this year, putting an end to her 16 years long tenure as a German Chancellor. Her successor is her finance minister, "Olaf Scholz". A farewell ceremony known as Großer Zapfenstreich, the country's highest military ceremony, was held in her honour in Berlin on Thursday.

Pakistan's economy seems to have a sharp downward trend as country is facing immense economic pressures for the past 4 m...
03/12/2021

Pakistan's economy seems to have a sharp downward trend as country is facing immense economic pressures for the past 4 months. Rising inflation, deteriorating Pak rupee against US Dollar and increasing Trade Deficit has shaken the economic system of the country.
1) Inflation hits record high as oil prices and Supply Chain Crisis hit the global financial system. However, the country was already witnessing one of its worst inflation even before this global dilemma. CPI index inflation rate stood at 11.83% in November 2021.
2) Depreciating currency against US Dollar is a growing concern of the country as it has fallen from Rs.153 against 1 US Dollar to Rs.176 in a span of 4 months, which is further putting pressure on our financial reserves. One reason for this downfall is the illegal smuggling of dollars to Afghanistan.
3) Trade Deficit of the country has increased sharply in past few months as world economies started to open and demand for imports has grown sharply against the exports of the country. In November only, Trade deficit reaches 5 Billion USD which is an increase of over 134% as compared with 2.2 Billion USD in the same month last year.

DO YOU KNOW!?
03/12/2021

DO YOU KNOW!?

Lahore is currently suffering from a major environmental crisis as Air Quality index of Lahore has fallen sharply and is...
02/12/2021

Lahore is currently suffering from a major environmental crisis as Air Quality index of Lahore has fallen sharply and is now ranking as
the 2nd most polluted city of the world in terms of living. Delhi, the capital of India is currently ranked as the worst polluted city of the world. Meanwhile both provincial governments of the 2 countries are now considering of taking severe actions against the factories, automobiles and other heavy vehicles who are contributing to this pollution in their respective cities.
There are also options of moving towards the lockdown for couple of days in order to curb the level of smog in their respective cities.

On Thursday, Pakistan Stock Exchange(PSX) fell 4.7% when its benchmark kSE-100 index fell to the minimum of 43100 points...
02/12/2021

On Thursday, Pakistan Stock Exchange(PSX) fell 4.7% when its benchmark kSE-100 index fell to the minimum of 43100 points, recording its worst single-day fall since March 2020.
The major reasons of constant and drastic fall of Stock market is indicating the lack of confidence of investors to the market. Taking the indication of T-bills auction, market is skeptical over the possibility of an increase in policy-rate by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Furthermore, an increase in Trade deficit because of the drastic increase of import bill is also creating an atmosphere of unease among investors, sources say.

02/12/2021
02/12/2021

Address

Islamabad

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Times.pk posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Videos

Share