Pakistani shopkeeper rolls out Ramadan discounts as inflation soars

Special Pakistani shopkeeper rolls out Ramadan discounts as inflation soars
People buy food and drinks items at the Asia Super Mart departmental store at discounted rates during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Mastung city some 50 kilometers north of Quetta, Balochistan on March 14, 2024. (AN Photo)
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Updated 16 March 2024
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Pakistani shopkeeper rolls out Ramadan discounts as inflation soars

Pakistani shopkeeper rolls out Ramadan discounts as inflation soars
  • Abdul Hakeem offers discount on over 50 edible grocery items for third consecutive year at shop in Mastung city
  • Inflation hit historic high of 38 percent in May last year, eased to 23.1 percent in Feb. but still on high side due to energy, food costs

MASTUNG, Balochistan: The Quetta-Karachi highway in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province is notorious for fatal road accidents throughout the year. But for the last three years during the holy month of Ramadan, it has become known for something else: a shop-cum-bakery where you can get discounts of up to 30 percent on over 50 items.

Abdul Hakeem, who hails from Mastung city some 50 kilometers north of the provincial capital of Quetta, has been running the ‘Asia Bakers, Sweet and Super Mart’ on the Quetta-Karachi highway for 13 years. But for the last three consecutive years during the fasting month of Ramadan, he offers discounts on basic food items like flour, sugar, dates, oil, tea, and lentils.

Inflation reached a record high of 38 percent in Pakistan last May but eased to 23.1 percent in February, still on the higher side mostly due to high food and energy costs. Though newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a Rs12.5 billion ($40 million) Ramadan relief package, there is a history of heightened food inflation during Ramadan in Pakistan.

“When people go there [to government-run utility stores], it costs a lot, it is difficult, people still purchase at higher rates,” Hakeem told Arab News at his shop earlier this week as he sat on the floor with two workers and packed boxes marked “Ramadan Relief Package.”

Behind him, bottles of different brands of oil were lined up on a shelf, each marked down by at least 7-10 percent.

“Despite the [government’s Ramadan relief] package, people still get expensive things at utility stores.”

But not at his shop:

“The rates thank god that people get here, without any inconvenience or pushing and shoveling, you leave your house and in your own area, in your own city, you get this [discount] facility, so it is a reason for happiness for them.”

“ONE MONTH FOR ALLAH”

The 23-year-old grocery store owner decided to launch Ramadan discounts in 2021, when he was moved by the sight of a crowd of desperate customers, including the elderly and women, lining up outside a grocery store in Mastung Bazar during the holy month.

“We earn 11 months but this one month is for Allah,” Hakeem said, adding that he was not bothered by the losses his shop faced in Ramadan due to the discounts.

 “When we offer this Ramadan [discount] package, the actual reward [from God] is four times higher.”

The shop has many grateful customers, including 40-year-old professor Rihan Din Baloch, who walked 8 kilometers from Wali Khan village to buy Ramadan groceries at Hakeem’s super store.

“Although the government has announced Ramadan relief packages in utility stores and established Sastar Bazars, we can’t buy quality food items there but here they are selling quality items at discounted rates as compared to other markets in Mastung and Quetta,” Baloch said.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area but its most backward by almost all social and economic indicators.

“In Pakistan’s Balochistan province, the poverty line is much higher, at least 70 to 80 percent people here are living below the poverty line,” Baloch said.

“So if you offer people such Ramadan packages, they will also be able to enjoy their Ramadan, buy food items, eat and drink. These types of packages should be given by all businesses, as much as possible. They should provide as much relief as they can this Ramadan.”

55-years old local resident of Mastung, Abdul Majeed, who was visiting the shop for the first time, said he had heard about it from friends and was surprised to learn that the discounts were real:

“Obviously, if they are giving discounts, it is to reap rewards [from God], so that the stove burns in every house, everyone gets to have iftari [fast-breaking meal] and sehri [fast-keep meal].”

Assistant Commissioner Mastung Atta ul Munim also applauded Hakeem and his workers for their charitable initiative.

“It is a good cause for the people of Mastung,” he told Arab News. “Every businessman should show this goodness in the holy month.”


Pakistan, Iran chambers of commerce sign agreement aimed at increasing exports to $10 billion

Pakistan, Iran chambers of commerce sign agreement aimed at increasing exports to $10 billion
Updated 7 sec ago
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Pakistan, Iran chambers of commerce sign agreement aimed at increasing exports to $10 billion

Pakistan, Iran chambers of commerce sign agreement aimed at increasing exports to $10 billion
  • Governors of Pakistan’s Punjab and Iran’s Razavi Khorasan provinces attend signing of MoU in Lahore
  • Pakistan, Iran have often been at odds over militancy and instability along shared, porous border 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s and Iran’s chambers of commerce have signed an agreement aimed at increasing exports between the two countries to $10 billion, state-run media reported on Monday, as the two sides eye increasing trade to move past strained ties. 

The development takes place after Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of general staff of Iran’s armed forces, visited Pakistan last month to hold talks with the country’s civil and military leadership on border management, economic cooperation and regional issues. 

Pakistan and Iran have often been at odds over instability along their shared, porous border and routinely trade blame for not rooting out militancy. Tensions surged in January last year when Pakistan and Iran exchanged airstrikes, with both claiming to target alleged militant hideouts in each other’s territory.

“A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Mashhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Lahore,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

“The purpose of the MoU is to take bilateral volume of exports to ten billion dollars between the two countries,” the statement said. 

It said the governor of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, Sardar Saleem Haider Khan and the governor general of Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province, Gholam Hossein Mozaffari, both attended the signing ceremony.

Khan said his Iranian counterpart expressed “great interest” in Pakistani products, stressing that both countries should focus on expanding trade relations.

“He said the Iranian Governor has assured to consider reducing tourist and business visa fees and improving facilities for easier travel and trade,” the report said. 

Later, both governors inaugurated a one-day shopping festival organized by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Expo Center Lahore.

Iran’s late president Ebrahim Raisi toured Pakistan in April 2024 as both countries sought to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes. 

During Raisi’s three-day visit, the two governments signed MoUs and agreements covering different fields including trade, science and technology, agriculture, health, culture and judicial matters. 

Raisi had said that the volume of trade between the two countries “is not acceptable at all” and that they should enhance bilateral trade to $10 billion. 


Pakistan begins first anti-polio drive of 2025 to vaccinate over 45 million children

Pakistan begins first anti-polio drive of 2025 to vaccinate over 45 million children
Updated 29 min 5 sec ago
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Pakistan begins first anti-polio drive of 2025 to vaccinate over 45 million children

Pakistan begins first anti-polio drive of 2025 to vaccinate over 45 million children
  • Around 400,000 polio vaccinators will administer vaccines door-to-door to children, says official 
  • Pakistan has reported only one case this year but last year, it reported an alarming 73 cases of disease

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally kicked off its first anti-polio drive of 2025 today, Monday, to vaccinate over 45 million children under the age of five, the health ministry said as the country hopes to stem the spread of the disease. 

The Pakistan polio program conducts multiple mass vaccination drives in a year, and this year’s first anti-polio vaccination campaign is expected to continue till Feb. 9. Pakistan has assembled teams of around 400,000 polio workers to go door-to-door countrywide to vaccinate children below five years of age, Coordinator for Health Dr. Mukhtar Bharath said. 

Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five are essential to provide children high immunity against the disease.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched Pakistan’s first anti-polio drive of 2025 during an event in Islamabad on Sunday, administering polio drops to children during the ceremony. 

“During the polio campaign, more than 45 million children across the country will be administered polio drops,” the Ministry of Health’s spokesperson said. 

Dr. Bharath called on parents to support polio vaccinators and ensure their children received the vaccines. 

“It is the national and moral responsibility of parents to vaccinate all children under the age of five,” he said. 

Pakistan has reported only one polio case this year. However, last year the South Asian country reported 73 cases with Balochistan province reporting 27, the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh reporting 22 case each, and Pakistan’s capital city and eastern Punjab province each reporting one case of the disease throughout the year. 

Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the disease is endemic. 

Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.

Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies.

Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.
 


Pakistan busts international drug gang, frees family ‘framed’ for smuggling narcotics

Pakistan busts international drug gang, frees family ‘framed’ for smuggling narcotics
Updated 03 February 2025
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Pakistan busts international drug gang, frees family ‘framed’ for smuggling narcotics

Pakistan busts international drug gang, frees family ‘framed’ for smuggling narcotics
  • The family was detained in Saudi Arabia after their luggage tag was swapped by the gang at the airport
  • Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi praises Anti-Narcotics Force, thanks Saudi government for their cooperation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has busted an international drug gang and arrested nine suspects who had “framed” a Pakistani family in their bid to smuggle narcotics to Saudi Arabia, the Pakistani interior ministry said on Sunday.

Farhana Akram, a resident of Lahore, had traveled to Saudi Arabia with her four family members, Haroon Ali, Malik Aziz, Fouzia Aziz, and Zakria Begum, on December 23, when the gang swapped Akram’s luggage tag with the help of an airport staff, according to the interior ministry.

Consequently, Farhana and her family members were detained in Saudi Arabia. The ANF investigated the case and detained a porter after viewing airport footage, which led to the arrest of nine suspects, including the ringleader.

“The ANF provided evidence to Saudi authorities, which led to the release of the innocent family,” the interior ministry said in a statement.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and ANF Director-General Maj. Gen. Abdul Mueed visited the affected family at their residence and congratulated them on their return home.

“The pain the family endured is indescribable,” he said, praising the ANF and the Saudi authorities for their cooperation. “I extend special thanks to the Saudi government.”

Naqvi said the ANF had initiated a nationwide crackdown against smugglers, cautioning citizens to remain vigilant against individuals offering free Umrah packages as such offers could be deceitful.

Separately, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Sunday it had arrested 10 persons deported from Saudi Arabia for allegedly begging in the Kingdom, despite traveling there on Umrah visas.

The trend of beggars abusing visas to beg in foreign countries has Pakistan worried that it could impact genuine visa-seekers and particularly religious pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia. According to widespread media reports, Riyadh raised this issue with Islamabad at various forums last year.

Pakistanis are the second-largest expatriate community in the Kingdom, with over 2.5 million living and working in Saudi Arabia, the top source of remittances to the South Asian country.


Saudi Arabia’s KSrelief continues relief efforts in Pakistan, Lebanon and Syria

Saudi Arabia’s KSrelief continues relief efforts in Pakistan, Lebanon and Syria
Updated 02 February 2025
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Saudi Arabia’s KSrelief continues relief efforts in Pakistan, Lebanon and Syria

Saudi Arabia’s KSrelief continues relief efforts in Pakistan, Lebanon and Syria
  • The charity distributed 2,160 food packages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram and Buner districts as well as Sukkur in Sindh
  • The aid was given to families in flood-affected areas as part of the Saudi organization’s Food Security Support Project 2025

RIYADH: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center’s (KSrelief) humanitarian and relief efforts continue with the distribution of food, hygiene supplies as well as the provision of emergency transport services.

In in Ma’arrat Misrin of Syria’s Idlib Governorate, KSrelief handed out 672 food boxes and 672 hygiene kits as part of the second phase of the food aid and hygiene kit distribution project for populations affected by the earthquake in 2025.

In Lebanon’s Akkar Governorate and Miniyeh district, the aid agency during the past week distributed 175,000 bags of bread to Syrian and Palestinian refugees as well as residents of host communities. The initiative was part of the fourth phase of Al-Amal Charitable Bakery Project in the country.

In the Battagram and Buner districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as well as the Sukkur district in Sindh province of Pakistan, 2,160 food packages were given to families in flood-affected areas as part of the Food Security Support Project 2025

Meanwhile, KSrelief delivered 125 tons of dates to Sudan as a gift from the Kingdom.

In north Lebanon, the KSrelief-funded ambulance service of Subul Al-Salam Social Association in the Miniyeh district carried out 61 missions during the past week, including transporting patients to and from hospitals and treating burn injuries.


Islamabad lawyers call strike today over ‘unconstitutional’ transfer of judges

Islamabad lawyers call strike today over ‘unconstitutional’ transfer of judges
Updated 02 February 2025
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Islamabad lawyers call strike today over ‘unconstitutional’ transfer of judges

Islamabad lawyers call strike today over ‘unconstitutional’ transfer of judges
  • The development comes a day after Pakistan’s president approved transfer of three judges from Sindh, Balochistan and Lahore to Islamabad High Court
  • Pakistan’s constitution empowers the president to transfer a judge from one high court to another after the concerned judge consents to the decision

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Bar Council (IBC), Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) and the Islamabad District Bar Association (IDBA) have announced a strike on Monday to protest recent transfer of judges to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), calling them “unconstitutional measures affecting the judiciary and the legal profession.”
The announcement was made after a joint meeting of lawyer bodies a day after President Asif Ali Zardari approved the transfer of three judges from the high courts of Sindh, Balochistan and Lahore to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), amid opposition from five IHC judges.
Zardari approved the transfers of Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) Justice Muhammad Asif to the IHC. Local media reported the government was considering elevating Justice Dogar to the post of the IHC chief justice.
In a statement issued after Sunday’s meeting of lawyer bodies, the IBC said the legal fraternity of Islamabad “strongly condemns” the recent notification regarding the transfer of judges from other provinces to the Islamabad High Court, describing the move as a “direct violation of the principles of judicial independence and regional representation.”
“It undermines the autonomy of the Islamabad high Court,” the IBC said. “The legal fraternity of Islamabad ensures its commitment to resist the unjustified transfers and appointments of judges from other provinces.”
Pakistan’s constitution empowers the president to transfer a judge from one high court to another after the concerned judge consents to the decision. The president can approve the transfer after consulting the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justice of both high courts.
On Friday, five of 10 IHC judges opposed Justice Dogar’s transfer in a letter addressed to the chief justices of the Supreme Court and high courts. The five judges said if the decision to transfer the judge was aimed at elevating him to the post of IHC chief justice, it would be a “fraud on the constitution.”
The IBC said the lawyer bodies will pursue all legal and constitutional avenues to challenge the move and safeguard the “judicial independence of Islamabad.”
“An All-Pakistan Lawyers’ Convention will be held under the Islamabad Bar Council tomorrow... to formulate future strategy,” it said on Sunday.