Ammar Khan
@rogueonomist
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prolific shitposter. x-Crane, Poole & Schmidt.
Knowhere
Joined February 2009
Pakistan's debt situation is a raging fire. Collaborated with @tabadlab to communicate in simple terms, how much debt actually exists, how it is accumulated, and what will happen if the status quo continues. Detailed slide deck is available here:.1/.
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No Ishaq Dar. This is the best outcome ever at this point.
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NA 236. Askari 4 polling station. The voting hasn't even begun yet at 3 pm. Hundreds of people queued up -- senior citizens, women, children. The presiding officer threatening to pack up, if people don't cooperate -- which they have been since 8 am. Mobile networks shut
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Small towns in KP have a much better rain infrastructure than Karachi. Fact.
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Recently, an event happened in Karachi where a @foodpanda_pk rider died because the elevator did not arrive (he stepped in the void), and he did not have his phone to call for help, because the phone was kept as a deposit by a customer who gave him PKR 5000 to get change. 1/.
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DHA Phase 8.
Is anyone doing land reclamations better than the Netherlands?
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Retired bureaucrats becoming op-ed writers prescribing solutions after destroying the same thing that they are producing a solution for, is my favorite kind of op-ed writer.
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Imma going to vote just because they shut down network -- this is North Korea level stuff.
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This is 14 years of PPP governance in its full glory.
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Meanwhile, @Official_PIA running a hole of PKR 40bn+ every year, being funded by the taxpayer for the last decade and more, continues to have a counter for Parliamentarians. Beautiful, and hilarious at the same time
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On this day 14 years back, hundreds died, many more hundreds vehicles were burned, billions of rupees of business and property was burnt to crisp, many were stranded for days at various locations, Karachi was in absolute shutdown for 3 days due to mobs - few seem to remember this.
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Umm no. Pakistan has one of the lowest CO2 emissions per Capita in the world. We didn't emit shit, and we can't mitigate either, b/c we poor and didn't benefit from emissions like the developed world. Stop gaslighting literally, for lack of a better word.
Pakistan must step up climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts to avoid loss and damage to the greatest possible extent, with the aim of preventing other cities in Pakistan developing living conditions as those in Jacobabad.
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Y'all screaming amreeka ka yar ghaddar in Karachi rn pls cancel your US Visa appointments tonite -- so that I can get an appointment, wil be grateful. thx.
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This is how the petrol price decrease will pan out:. Prices are sticky, so prices of other goods won't decline. A few weeks later, oil is going to shoot, PKR will depreciate, and petrol price will increase more. Congratulations, you have unlocked another round of inflation.
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64% of all marriages in Pakistan are b/w a first cousin, or second cousin, or another relative. First cousin on father's side is the dominant pick, followed by first cousin on mother's side. Stop being creepy folks. Stop.
How to stop marrying your cousins. A thread 🧵.
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Imagine getting ratio-ed twice back-to-back within 24 hours. There is not a single economic or social metric in which Sindh (ex-Karachi) does any good on. Food insecurity, malnourishment, out of school children, illiteracy, stunted growth -- all in top quartile.
I seem to have upset some people with this comment. I stand by it. Need to check their own elitist ignorance if they think their opinions somehow outweigh the votes of 90,000 people that elected @BBhuttoZardari as their MNA for the past four years 🙂.
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Guys whoever is against the US because of foreign intervention or whatever, and also has a visa interview lined up at the Consulate in Karachi, can you guys like cancel your appointment such that the 15 month wait for an interview can maybe reduce. Thx.
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It will also increase the import bill by roughly US$ 1.5 billion due to fuel imports, while also leading to more power breakdowns. Obviously, productivity is only going to decrease anyway.
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Why is @easypaisa charging fee for SMS alters without my consent. It should be opt-in, and not opt-out. This is blatant fraud, and potentially against @StateBank_Pak regulations. And opt-out is via phone. I can do everything via app, but opt-out of a forced charge via phone.
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NICVD. Had to rush to NICVD for a cardiac emergency (all well now), and the emergency treatment was super efficient. In a city of 23m+, this is a high quality facility, that does what it is supposed to do -- treat patients well. Also, everyone is treated for free. Everyone. 1/.
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Incorrect. Pakistan has the highest rate of inflation in Asia, and in the world excluding hyperinflationary economies for now. The crisis is a crisis of governance driven by supply chain breakdowns due to bad gov. policies. Cannot attribute this to global prices in 2023.
Inflation has hit people hard globally. Geo-strategic rivalries, increase in prices of the fuel & food commodities & historic floods are some of the key factors responsible for inflation. Mindful of its impact, govt has expanded social safety net & provided targeted subsidies 9/n.
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Me: Pick an aisle seat. Me: Pay for an aisle seat. Random lady in the middle seat: *aap mujhe yeh seat de dein. Thora khayal karein*. There is like a one in four chance of this happening now. Airlines should like do that Daewoo thing and create a laydiss section at this point.
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Airport security at Karachi airport opened my 4-yr old's Elsa handcarry luggage, and were not letting him take two palm-sized dinosaurs, because a 4-yr old may scare someone with toy dinosaurs. True story. Airport security is literally snatching toys now. @abeeerr.
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I just joined Waqar Zaka crypto group for kicks. The average IQ of this country is less than 70., maybe 60.
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Yea let us extract underground water and not pay a fair price for it, bottle it up, forget about all the plastic, and then pretend to care w/ some fluff campaign. Nestle is like Umbrella Corp lol.
Nestle Head of Corporate Affairs Waqar Ahmed called on Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator @sherryrehman , The areas of mutual cooperation including public awareness campaign, zero emissions, plastic recycling structures, water conservation & others came under discussion.
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Applied for Credit Card in a Big Bank. Gave 'reference' of a female. Big Bank says in case of a female, 2 references are required -- because 2 females is equal to 1 male when it comes to references. This happened in 2020.
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Reforms.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairing a meeting in Lahore regarding reforms in PIA.
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Taxes of retailers & markets paid by Saddar + Jodia Bazar in Karachi: PKR 80.7 bn. Taxes of retailers & markets paid by Islamabad & Lahore combined together: PKR 81 bn. This is the kind of unimaginable scale at which Karachi operates, and this is barely scratching the surface.
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This is probably the worst take on this ever. The # of hours remain unchanged. Higher fuel and energy costs, and lower productivity. Real wages dropping by a straight 14% in an already stressed environment.
6 working days in a week for Govt officials. Mon - Sat. In a country like Pakistan; I support this. Unless we make our homeland a developed one to compete with the rest of the world; then we can have the luxury of holidays be it two or three. Till then,lazy ones must work hard.
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I don't know who needs to hear this, but someone clubbed animal feed ($68m) with pet food ($5m) -- and now suddenly we may have a feed crisis, b/c animal feed isn't really a luxury and is used as a key agri input. Someone somewhere needs to amend the SRO.
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Indeed, but there was zero prep for it. A base level infrastructure, and emergency services mitigates risk and loss. No operational disaster management authority, and no operational emergency service either in the province. Floods are natural. Excess losses are bad governance.
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Proudly subsidized by our taxpayer money 🫡.
@faizansiddiqi I had a very nice breakfast platter at DHA club for PKR 107. Market price for a similar platter is 600-700.
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The government should also block LinkedIn. There is too much cringe there.
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A curious child often asks why can't we print more money, and solve all problems. You just print, and give people money, and no one will be poor. This is why. When you print more money, this leads to more money in a system. When there is more money, there is more demand. 1/.
Is the PKR under pressure because of smuggling?. Or is the country just printing too much money?. The chart below shows that Pakistan has continued to flood the economy with PKR in the midst of declining foreign currency. This is what is driving devaluation, not smuggling.
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Let's break these down and see how many of the Top 25 companies rely heavily on the state for the largesse, it's inefficiency, or shareholding, thereby benefiting heavily from gov intervention:. 1. FFC. Literally gets subsidized gas. Lol. Rent seeker. 2. Engro Corp. Every.
Exciting News! The Pakistan Stock Exchange has just unveiled the exceptional victors of the highly anticipated Top 25 Companies Award for 2022!. Let's celebrate their incredible achievements together!. #PSX #Top25CompaniesAwards
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With more than PKR 130 billion in cash, funded by > PKR 99 billion in customer advances, Toyota being all petty here. The audacity of these rent seekers.
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KFC ran out of chicken in Karachi and stopped delivering due to supply disruptions. This is what PPP has done to the city.
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My man here defending golf courses made with taxpayer money but with restricted access, and high barriers to entry -- all subsidized by the taxpayer. The sense of entitlement is off the charts here.
They are after golf courses. These are not stealing dollars. Get your revenue & taxes but don’t eliminate these. Let the cities breathe. If you do, these will be converted into concrete jungles. Typical of them; ask them to mend their ways & they distract you so craftily.
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It's amazing how people (mostly rich and capital owners) have an issue with raising salaries and minimum wage. Salaries need to keep up with inflation, wage suppression is only going to create more problems. The same people would happily gobble up all kinds of subsidies.
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It is important to grow the right kind of potatoes for potato chips first, before even thinking of semiconductor chips.
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Vaccines are readily available now. You (>40-yrs) can literally walk in with a CNIC irrespective of your wealth and you can get a jab. Private vaccines make up <1% of total jabs. Public vaccine roll-out has gained massive traction lately, and this article is misrepresentation.
Pakistan’s Private Vaccine Sales Highlight Rich-Poor Divide
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Tell us you don't live in Karachi, without telling us you don't live in Karachi.
Seeing a lot of anti-PPP hatred under the garb of concern for Karachi. Unfortunate how a crisis is used for political point scoring and name calling. #KarachiRain.
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It's called inflation. With inflation at 25%, all nominal taxes increase accordingly. Try creating the same history in real terms, rather than nominal.
FBR creates history by collecting Rs.1635 billion in the first quarter of current FY. This performance is achieved despite zero sales tax on POL products, import compression and recent floods. FBR expresses gratitude to taxpayers for making this record collection possible.
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A life lost because of mismanagement, and because someone was petty enough to keep a phone as a deposit. Delivery riders are among the most vulnerable. They get PKR 30 per delivery & are running against time. They do not have any life insurance, nor any health coverage. 2/.
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What is Raast? An Explainer. It simply allows payments to be processed instantly. Each Bank has its own payment system, like a pipe. Many pipes not talking to each other, or just talking to each other once a day. Raast is that one big pipe to which everyone can connect. 1/.
#RaastbySBP is a game-changer for financial inclusion & digital transformation in 🇵🇰 - delighted to be at today’s launch of instant payment system led by @rezabaqir @StateBank_Pak @PakPMO @KarandaazPK @gatesfoundation
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In case anyone in GoP is actually trying to figure out a way to reduce electricity bills. 1) Eliminate that Additional Surcharge that pays for inefficiency of circular debt. The consumer never signed up for it. 2) Reduce Sales Tax and Income Tax by half, or keep it flat and
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Meanwhile, one of the worst ideas in the history of bad ideas.
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My man gave zero solutions, just keeps repeating the same fluff he has been doing since 2013. Dude spent like maybe 10 days in his term as a PM in Karachi while having a largely incompetent team in the city.
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@JordanInFinTech Bargaining for a competitive market salary in a global marketplace is ripping off? . People work for sub-par salaries in $ here largely b/c of macro environment, and inability to move, and not b/c of their skillset. Let's not treat the country as a tech sweatshop for giggles.
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Provincial Agriculture Ministry websites of Punjab, KP, and Balochistan: Have district wise crop yield, output, etc. data. Meanwhile, Provincial Agriculture Ministry website of Sindh:
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Why is this country obsessed with planting palm trees in areas where they just die in a few months. Lmao. Whoever supplies palm trees is making bank.
Beautification work in progress by planting grown-up date palm trees at Sakhi Hassan Roundabout, North Nazimabad, District Central, Karachi. #Karachi.#MeraKarachi.#KarachiWorks.#NorthNazimabad
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@foodpanda_pk staying true to its petty self only paid like PKR 100k as compensation to the family of the rider, while a private food group crowdsourced more than PKR 600k. Globally, there is a movement for providing base-level benefits to workers of the gig economy. 3/.
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Pakistani Banks: We want to become a Digital Bank. Also Pakistani Banks: We have data leaks, unauthorized transactions, horrible UI/UX, and our app often never works. Giving a digital banking license to these incumbents would be a disaster. Ngmi.
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@deliveryherocom which is the parent of @foodpanda_pk should stop treating its core human capital as dispensable. We need laws where gig economy workers are provided life insurance& health coverage and are compensated fairly on an hourly basis. These are human lives at stake. /4.
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Imagine going to Belgium, leaving everything and eating McD. Depressing.
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Hatching plan to take over administration of the college. What a legend.
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Nope. I have traveled across KP, beyond tier 1 cities, and there is decent infrastructure everywhere. Compared to Sindh, the infrastructure in KP is like 5x better.
When your exposure to small towns in KP is limited to Facebook posts from PTI's official handles.
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Bloomberg: Pakistan and China agree to build a $10bn railroad project. Haters: Haha they didn't get anything haha.
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PKR 2 billion subsidy ANNUALLY for Metro Bus in twin cities. PKR 3 billion+ subsidy for fuel DAILY. Choose your poison.
Metro Bus Islamabad route 1 was expected to handle 150,000 passengers to repay loans but it was handling only 80,000 passengers. Single Bus trip cost 9100 vs 2600 earnings, i.e. 6500 loss, 2 Billion each year. For the same reason route 2 was delayed earlier & it is less viable.
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Pakistan has a horribly regressive taxation regime. The poorest households pay the most taxes in terms of % of income as most taxes are indirect. We pay a lot of taxes. The tax policy is so bad and so anti-people that it continues to punish those who pay taxes.
Everything else aside, the reluctance of Pakistanis to pay taxes has always escaped logic for me; I’ve not heard of a more miserly nation that wants to cling so hard to its money. Don’t mention inflation, we didn’t wanna pay tax even when things WERE good/better. Bite me. idc.
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Pakistan will continue to pay PKR 90bn+ on fuel subsidies on a monthly basis. Subsidizing demand when supply is constrained. The subsidies are pro-rich, and favor predominantly the rich only. Same subsidies can be targeted towards the more vulnerable segments via Ehsaas.1/.
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lol this is saalan on naan, not a pizza.
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This is a bad decision. Literally no reason why traders should be left out of the tax net. This clearly shows that the gov. isn't serious about expanding the tax net, like the prev. gov, and so on. You've got to be completely stupid to be salaried and pay tax in this country.
تاجروں کے بجلی کے بلوں پر ٹیکس ختم کرنے کا فیصلہ ۔۔۔شکریہ مریم نواز جن کی بدولت وزیر خزانہ نے فیصلہ واپس لیا @MaryamNSharif
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This is what local SMEs can do. This is their power. Shipping a ton of cherries within eight hours of harvest in Gilgit Baltistan to customers across the country. Super stuff by @PNJunkIEE
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Rarely has a public official exited with such grace, and full of praise. Absolute respect.
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Imagine being this petty. So petty that you put the sovereign at risk. The bar is so low that it's underground.
In a move that could potentially jeopardize Pakistan case at the IMF Board meeting scheduled for August 29, the KP finance minister has withdrawn his commitment to run a provincial surplus this fiscal year.
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Since Foodpanda is talk of the day, here is roughly how it business model works. Foodpanda charges 30%+ from most restaurants for delivery service, with the exception of big franchises. It also does not disclose customer data w/ restaurants, restricting them from managing . 1/.
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This is factually incorrect. PCB received $16m (c. PKR 2.4bn) from ICC in 2020, against total revenue of PKR 9.4bn, so it's about 25%. Also, India does not contribute 90% to ICC. This is just bad math all over the place -- and very irresponsible coming from the Chairman.
Chairman PCB Ramiz Raja — "PCB runs 50% on the funding of ICC whereas 90٪ of funding to ICC comes from India. I'm afraid if India stopped funding ICC than PCB might collapse and that's a reality because PCB gives 0% funding to ICC. I'm determined to make Pakistan Cricket strong.".
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Context is important. He is on point. - He is talking about money laundering in case of BCCI -- something that all banks used to do at that time (and still do. ). - Abraaj isn't a case of money laundering. It's misappropriation of specific funds, and misrepresentation.
Imran Khan defends Arif Naqvi and says he’s innocent as there are corruption allegations against him and he has yet to face the trial. The same Imran Khan calls his opponents corrupt, daaku, chor & lutairay over unverified allegations without any trial or court finding of guilt
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Karachi-domiciled individuals paid PKR 37bn+ in Income Taxes, relative to PKR 5.7bn+ for Lahore, and PKR 7bn for Islamabad. Individuals in Karachi pay 3x more income taxes than Lahore & Islamabad combined together. Karachi South & Karachi East collectively paid PKR 21b+.
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Dekho Vladimir, Ukraine ko mujh se behtar koi nahi jaanta.
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A key lesson from the leaked audiots. - All of your phones are already hacked.- Get an iPhone (difficult to hack).- Don't install random shit.- Don't connect to public wifi.- Don't add social media apps to phone w/ which you do sensitive stuff.- Use a burner phone for such calls.
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East End. Karachi. Mutton Roast. Bohra Fried Chicken. Gulab Jamun on a bed of Sewaiyan. Malpura. This is top food. Nothing in rest of the country comes even close.
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Pakistan's use of coastline is probably one of the worst. We don't have any big ports, we don't catch a lot of fish, we don't do a lot of tourism. PK can export fresh catch, from sea to the lucrative GCC market within a day. Gujarat, India does a super job at this -- but we.
Why haven't Pakistan's🇵🇰 fish🎣 exports grown beyond pre Covid💉levels? . Large stall from 2011 to 2017 was understandable and can be attributed to a policy decision. But why aren't exports growing now? . Or are Pakistanis consuming more fish🐟than they used to ?
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The rapid covid test at Karachi airport is truly rapid. You get tested first thing after stepping out of plane, get the swab, get the result -- all in less than five minutes. This is more efficient than many first world jurisdictions. Impressive stuff.
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Probably the only medical facility in the country with no cash counter. There is no way to pay even if you want to. Everyone gets treated equally. Your class or privilege doesn't matter at SIUT. Top stuff.
Appreciation tweet for SIUT—one of the few places I have encountered in this country where class (almost) doesn’t matter. I remember @titojourno talking about this once & how he wanted to write about his experiences going for dialysis there.
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I'm watching Netflix, and they have just started showing ARY as well. Amazing.
All public places in Peshawar have ARY tuned on their TVs. Went through hospitals, shops, boutiques, pharmacies all today. Same channel.
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There are 131 million broadband users in Pakistan, of which 128 million use the internet through cellular networks -- effectively 98% of users. Shutting down cellular networks effectively shut down the internet for 98% of the country, effectively pushing to disenfranchise people.
🔊: PR NO. 3️⃣8️⃣/2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣. General Elections 2024. 🔗⬇️.
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Y'all protesting on Sh-Faisal and choking traffic, get a job guys. How can y'all protest during peak rush hours on a weekday.
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I see people getting upset because the country won't be defaulting anymore. .
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Crazy. Mind boggling. Developing Pakistan indeed. What next? Power windows? Crystal lights? Chrome bumper?.
And the wait is finally over, as Suzuki Bolan with AC is here. Launched by Pakistan Suzuki with a price tag of Rs.1,265,000. #SuzukiBolan #Suzuki #Pakistan 🇵🇰
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Lmao what is this valima decor.
Colorful seats have been installed at general enclosures of Pindi Cricket Stadium for Rawalpindi Test between Pakistan and Australia #PAKvAUS
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2023 in food. These were some of the best meals I had during the last twelve months in no particular order. New Zealand rib-eye at Saltage Karachi. 1/
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It's over now
PPP agrees to Ishaq Dar's role as finance minister: sources
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By not demanding better health & life benefits for the gig economy workers, every burger you order, you're equally to blame for this mess. We as a society are to blame if we can't take care of the vulnerable, and actively participate in the suppression of basic worker rights. /5.
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US$ strengthening. EUR imploded. GBP imploded. Pegs breaking everywhere. Dollar doom loop in full swing. What do we do? We get the guy obsessed with fixed exchange rages. The timing couldn't have been more perfect for complete doom.
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This is what being dishonest to the country looks like. If the same was not done, we could have been close to a default b/c of the poison pill the gentleman left behind. Some people just don't have the best interests of the country at heart.
Nation starting to pay price for Imported govt's subservience before foreign masters with 20% / Rs30 per litre hike in petrol & diesel prices - the highest single price hike in our history.The incompetent & insensitive Govt has not pursued our deal with Russia for 30% cheaper oil.
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Day 1 of Debt re-profiling talks due to 'climate' change. Meanwhile:
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