Food for thought: PM Khan to slash flatbread prices
ISLAMABAD:PAKISTAN’S cabinet has decided to bring down the prices of ‘naan’ and ‘roti’ - the country’s staple and hugely popular flatbreads - to their previous rates.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken stern notice of increasing prices of naan and roti and he has decided to take immediate steps to revert them to their original rates,” Firdous Ashiq Awan, special assistant to the prime minister on information, told reporters after the cabinet meeting. At present, naans sell for Rs 12 to Rs 15 each across Pakistan.
Before a sharp increase in the tariffs on gas and wheat flour, naan prices had ranged from Rs 8 to Rs 10.
Similarly, rotis are currently available for Rs10 to Rs12 apiece, while the previous rate was between Rs 7 and Rs 8.
Awan said that apart from the cabinet meeting, the prime minister specifically presided over a separate meeting on gas tariffs and the rates of naans and rotis.
Awan said Khan has also called a meeting of the economic coordination committee of the cabinet with the aim of reducing gas tariffs for “tandoorwalas” (those who make naans and rotis) and for slashing the price of atta (wheat flour) and the existing duties on it.
5 KILLED IN EXPLOSION TARGETING POLICE CAR KARACHI:A powerful blast targeting a police vehicle in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province has killed five people, including two security personnel, and injured 38 others, a top police official said on Wednesday. The blast took place close to a police vehicle at the Bacha Khan Chowk in the remit of the City Police Station on Tuesday, Quetta’s deputy inspector-general of police Abdul Razzaq Cheema said.
The target of the blast appeared to be the station house officer (SHO) of the area who received some injuries and has been shifted to a hospital, Cheema told reporters.
“The bomb went off as soon as SHO Shaffat got down from his vehicle,” he said, adding that the condition of the SHO is said to be critical.
Cheema said it was too early to confirm whether it was a suicide attack or the blast caused by a remotely triggered device.
Police said the bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked close to the patrolling vehicle. Five people, including two cops, were killed and 38 others injured in the attack. Three people died on the spot, police said.