Rise Pakistan

A used car can look perfect and still be a problem: unpaid token tax, a tampered chassis number, or a record that does not match the seller's story. In Pakistan, you can check most of that from your phone in under two minutes — before you pay a single rupee. Start with the registration number Every province runs its own vehicle database, so use the portal for the province where the car is registered — a Karachi car will not appear on Punjab's system. The checks are free, and you only need the registration number exactly as printed on the number plate. Punjab: open the MTMIS portal at mtmis.excise.punjab.gov.pk — the Motor Transport Management Information System, run by the Punjab Excise Department. Enter the registration number and the registration date from the car's papers, solve the picture code and search. No internet? Text the registration number to 8785 by SMS for the basic record. Sindh: use excise.gos.pk, choose vehicle verification, select four-wheeler or two-wheel...

When a family member dies leaving behind bank accounts, shares or other movable assets, the bank will not simply hand the money to the family. It will ask for a succession certificate — the document that names the rightful heirs and lets them collect what the deceased person left behind. In Pakistan, that certificate now comes from NADRA, and the process is far quicker than going to court. What is a succession certificate? A succession certificate authorises the legal heirs of a deceased person to collect debts and securities owed to them — bank balances, prize bonds, shares and similar movable assets. It does not cover immovable property such as houses or land; for that, NADRA issues a separate Letter of Administration. Since the Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Act, 2020, NADRA has the authority to issue these certificates alongside the courts. The court route still exists, but it is now mainly used where NADRA cannot act — for example, where the heirs disagree o...

Suhail Ahmed's career began in 2018 on online marketplaces — and it has taken him from Islamabad to the chief executive's office of a California-based company. In 2024 he became CEO of Hearthy Foods, a US company that closed 2025 with $5.27 million in revenue. It is a journey built step by step, through e-commerce, team leadership and his own agency, and it has made him one of the more striking examples of Pakistani talent reaching the top of an American business. Starting with online marketplaces Ahmed began in 2018, working with online marketplaces — the digital shopfronts where sellers list products and learn, often the hard way, how online trade actually works. He moved from there into managing Amazon stores, a role that demands attention to listings, pricing, customer service and the platform's constantly changing rules. That grounding matters. Running a store on a marketplace teaches the unglamorous fundamentals of e-commerce: which products sell, what customers compl...

Around 1,000 stalls, kiosks and carts were flattened in the dark. Between 2am and 3am on Thursday, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolished Islamabad's G-10 Sunday Bazaar, wiping out goods worth millions of rupees and leaving stallholders to return in the morning to rubble where their livelihoods had stood. The traders say they were given no chance to save anything. Many describe the stock destroyed in the operation as their lifetime savings — goods bought on credit and built up over years — now gone without warning and without a chance to collect their belongings. A market that was meant to reopen The demolition came as a shock because the market had only been shut temporarily two weeks earlier, over security concerns. Traders say they were assured at the time that the closure was short-term and that the bazaar would reopen. Instead, they woke to news that it had been razed overnight. That gap between the assurance and the demolition is now the heart of the traders' ...

Islamabad is preparing for a transformation. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said the capital will look like a totally different city by the time it hosts the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in August 2027, unveiling a package of landmark projects that includes a new cricket stadium, a modern convention centre and what is planned to be Asia's largest safari park. The announcement sets a clear deadline. With the summit around nine months away, the government has tied the city's makeover directly to the arrival of foreign delegations, turning the event into both a diplomatic occasion and a test of the capital's ability to deliver major infrastructure on time. What is being built Three projects sit at the centre of the plan. A new cricket stadium would give the capital a modern venue for international matches, something Islamabad has long lacked despite being home to a large cricket-loving population. A convention centre would provide the formal setting for t...

A traffic challan used to mean a trip to the bank and half a day lost. Today, in most of Pakistan's big cities, you can check and pay one by phone in minutes. This guide explains where to check your fine and how to pay it safely. What is an e-challan? An e-challan is an electronic traffic fine, issued when a Safe City camera records a violation — running a red light, speeding, a missing helmet, or crossing a lane line — or when traffic police issue a ticket on the road. Cameras photograph the vehicle and record the fine against the registered owner. Because the system is run city by city, there is no single national portal yet: you check the portal for the province or city where your vehicle is registered or where the violation happened. Step 1: Check your challan Punjab has the most developed system, run by the Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA), covering Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Bahawalpur. 1. Open the official PSCA e-challan portal at echa...

Millions of Pakistani families depend on the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), and the question they ask most is a simple one: has my payment arrived? The answer takes less than a minute to find — if you use the official 8171 channels. This guide explains the two free ways to check, what the result means, and how to avoid the scams that target BISP families. What is BISP 8171? BISP is Pakistan's largest cash-support programme for low-income households. Its main scheme, Benazir Kafaalat, pays eligible families a quarterly installment — currently Rs 14,500 per quarter. The number 8171 is the programme's official shortcode: the same number works for the web portal and for SMS checks. Checking is free. BISP does not charge any fee for status checks, registration or payments, and no agent can speed up your payment for money. Method 1: Check on the 8171 web portal The official portal is 8171.bisp.gov.pk. Type the address yourself into your browser — never tap a link sent on Wh...

Thatta Cement, one of Pakistan's established cement makers, is stepping into the country's electric vehicle market with a new subsidiary — starting with affordable, compact electric cars imported from China, with local assembly possible later. The move is a sign of how quickly Pakistan's EV story is changing. Until recently, electric cars in Pakistan were a luxury import, priced far beyond most buyers. Now cement companies, assemblers and startups are all racing to offer something ordinary families can actually afford. Why a cement company is selling cars On the surface, cement and electric cars have little in common. But Thatta's logic is straightforward: Pakistan's construction and transport sectors are both being reshaped by the same forces — rising fuel prices, pressure to cut emissions, and cheaper Chinese electric technology. Compact electric cars imported from China are the natural starting point. China now builds more electric vehicles than the rest of the w...

Pakistan has scored a clear diplomatic win at the United Nations, where its resolution on conventional arms control at regional and subregional levels was adopted by the General Assembly's First Committee with 180 votes in favour. Only India and Israel voted against it. The result is one of the strongest endorsements Pakistan has received at the UN in recent years, and it underlines how widely the country's position on regional arms restraint is shared — even in a world where agreement on disarmament is increasingly hard to find. What the resolution is about The resolution focuses on conventional arms control — the tanks, artillery, aircraft and other standard military hardware that states hold — at the regional and subregional level. Its argument is a practical one: arms races are most dangerous where neighbours distrust each other, so restraint works best when it is built between the countries of a region rather than imposed from above. Pakistan has tabled versions of this re...

Pakistan has quietly become one of TikTok's biggest audiences on earth. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has told lawmakers that the country now has around 100 million TikTok users and 96 million YouTube users — figures that place Pakistan among the largest short-video markets anywhere in the world. The scale of daily viewing is even more striking. According to the PTA briefing, nearly 150 million TikTok videos are watched and uploaded every day in Pakistan, while YouTube sees about 560 million videos watched daily. For a country of roughly 250 million people, that means short video is not a niche pastime. It is the main way millions of Pakistanis get their news, entertainment, learning and laughs. How Pakistan became a short-video nation The rise has been driven by cheap smartphones, low-cost data bundles and a young population. More than six in ten Pakistanis are under 30, and for many of them TikTok was their first social platform — easier to use than text-heavy ap...

If you need to enrol a child in school, apply for a passport, or complete a family record, you will very likely be asked for a birth certificate or a Child Registration Certificate (CRC), sometimes called a B-Form. Both documents are issued through Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), but they are not the same thing, and knowing which one you need will save you a wasted trip. This guide explains the difference, the documents you will need, and how to apply, step by step. It also connects with our guides on getting a Family Registration Certificate (FRC) and renewing a CNIC online , which cover the next documents many families need after a child's registration. Birth certificate or CRC — which do you need? A birth certificate is usually the first record of a child's birth. In Pakistan, births are registered at the local level — typically through the union council — and the birth certificate issued there records the child's name, date and plac...

Filing an income tax return sounds intimidating, but in Pakistan the process is now largely online, and most filers can complete it in a few sittings once their documents are ready. This guide explains the steps in plain language, what you will need, and the common mistakes to avoid. It is general information only, not tax advice for your personal situation — if your finances are complex, consider speaking to a qualified tax professional. If you are a freelancer, start by making sure you have a National Tax Number (NTN) — see our guide on how to register as a freelancer and get an NTN in Pakistan , which covers that first step in detail. Step 1: Get your documents together Before you open the filing portal, gather the papers the return will ask about. For most salaried people and freelancers, that means your CNIC, your NTN if you have one, salary slips or an employer salary certificate, bank statements for the tax year, and records of tax already deducted. Freelancers should also colle...

The Shahid Afridi Foundation has now built more than 750 homes across Pakistan, giving disadvantaged families secure housing with solar energy access. Just last year, the count stood at 350 homes in Sindh and Balochistan — and the former cricket captain has thanked donors and appealed for more support so that even more families can own a home. Doubling the number of homes in about a year is an achievement worth pausing on, because each home in that total is not a statistic. It is a family that previously lived without secure shelter, now living under a roof of its own, with light powered by the sun. Why a home changes everything For families living in insecure or unsafe housing, a home is the foundation on which everything else is built. Children can study in a stable place. Parents can store food, medicine and documents safely. Illness becomes easier to manage when shelter protects against heat, cold and rain. A secure address also makes it easier to access schooling, healthcare and w...

In a hall full of exhibits from across the world, one stall stopped visitors in their tracks. At the 9th Silk Road Cultural Expo in Dunhuang, China, a Pakistani family business is winning hearts with around 100 fully handmade pieces — rosewood jars, brass horses, stone crafts and more. One visitor was so taken by the finish of a polished rosewood jar that they mistook it for plastic. It is a small moment, but it captures something large: the power of craft made slowly, by hand, in an age of mass production. A family business carrying a tradition The stall is run by a family business, and that detail matters. In Pakistan, much of the finest craft work is not made in factories. It is passed down within families, learned at a workbench rather than in a classroom, and refined over years of practice. A rosewood jar is not simply carved; the wood must be chosen, dried, shaped, sanded and polished until it feels almost like glass. A brass horse is not simply cast; it is finished by hand until...

For anyone watching Pakistan's car market, the most telling number is not a price tag or a launch date. It is 10,000. That is how many BYD vehicles have now been sold in Pakistan, a milestone that has given the world's largest electric vehicle maker enough confidence to take the next, much bigger step: building cars locally. Local assembly of BYD vehicles in Pakistan is targeted for December 2026, starting with the Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid. The Karachi-area plant will begin with an annual capacity of 25,000 vehicles. For a market where imported cars have long carried heavy duties and long waiting times, local assembly is the moment a brand stops being a visitor and starts becoming part of the industry. Why local assembly changes the equation An imported car arrives with shipping costs, port charges and import duties baked into its price. A locally assembled car avoids much of that burden, even though many parts are still imported at first. Assembly also creates a local supply c...

  Freelancing is now a serious career in Pakistan, from developers and designers to writers and virtual assistants earning from clients abroad. Sooner or later, most freelancers ask the same question: how do I formalise this work and get a National Tax Number (NTN)? This guide walks through the process in outline — practical steps, not tax advice. Why an NTN matters for freelancers An NTN is your tax identification number, issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the starting point for filing a tax return. Banks, payment platforms and many corporate clients ask for it. Having one does not automatically mean a large tax bill: liability depends on your income, expenses and the rules in force in a given tax year. What it does give you is a formal footing — proof of income for a bank account, a visa application or a loan. Step 1 — Gather your documents Before you start, keep these ready: Your CNIC (valid and unexpired) A mobile number and email address in your name Your home a...

  The Sehat Card is one of Pakistan's most widely used health schemes, designed to help eligible families get hospital treatment without facing a bill they cannot pay. Yet many who may qualify have never checked, and many cardholders are unsure which hospitals accept it. This guide explains, in plain steps, how to check your eligibility, find a panel hospital, and use the card without surprises. What the Sehat Card covers, in outline The programme provides free inpatient hospital treatment for eligible families at empanelled public and private hospitals. When a covered patient is admitted, the cost is settled through the programme, subject to its coverage limits. Step 1 — Check your eligibility Eligibility is normally linked to your CNIC and to the household record held by the programme. To check: Visit the programme's official website or helpline for your province and look for the eligibility-check option. Enter your CNIC number exactly as printed, and follow the on-screen ins...

  Pakistani motorists have received a brief piece of good news at the pump. Fuel prices have dropped for 3 November, with diesel down by Rs7.76 per litre to Rs395.20 and petrol down by Rs3.40 to Rs374.51. The cut brings some relief to households and businesses feeling the weight of transport costs — but it may not last long. Another price review lands on 4 November, just a day later, so today's relief could be revised almost immediately. What the cut means at the pump The diesel cut is the larger of the two, and it matters most to the wider economy. Diesel powers trucks, buses, tractors and generators, so a fall in its price feeds through, in principle, to freight charges, public transport fares and the cost of moving goods to market. Petrol, used mainly by cars and motorcycles, affects daily commuters more directly: for a motorcyclist filling a small tank, a Rs3.40 cut is modest but welcome, while for a family car the saving on a full tank is more noticeable. Even so, the headline...

  A cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration has turned a routine piece of shop equipment into a food-safety emergency across Europe. Hackers pushed fridge and freezer temperatures to between 50°C and 70°C in affected stores, spoiling food on shelves from Sweden to Belgium. Sweden has opened investigations as retailers pull affected goods from their shelves and work out how far the intrusion reached. What happened Refrigeration is one of the quiet systems that modern food retail depends on. Fridges and freezers in supermarkets are increasingly connected to central monitoring systems, which let managers check temperatures remotely and receive alerts when something goes wrong. That connectivity is efficient, but it also creates an entry point: if attackers can reach the control system, they can change the settings that keep food cold. In this case, the reported effect was dramatic. Temperatures that should sit a few degrees above or below freezing were driven up to levels at which ch...

  Few fixtures in world sport can stop two nations at once. Pakistan against India at a Cricket World Cup is one of them, and the numbers behind the next meeting show just how far demand has outrun supply. Nearly 8.4 million ticket requests have poured in for the group match at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, a ground that holds just 34,000 spectators. In other words, roughly 247 people have applied for every single seat. A fixture that needs no introduction Pakistan and India meet rarely outside major tournaments, which is a large part of why the fixture carries so much weight. When the two sides meet on cricket's biggest stage, millions of South Asian fans living in Britain, the Gulf, North America and elsewhere plan their viewing around it. That global pull is visible in the ticket figures alone. The final, at the same Johannesburg ground, has drawn almost eight million requests of its own — a reminder that demand for the biggest games dwarfs the capacity of even a famous...

For the millions of Pakistanis living abroad, keeping a financial link to home used to mean paperwork, branch visits during rare trips, and slow remittance channels. The Roshan Digital Account (RDA), launched by the State Bank of Pakistan, changed that: it lets overseas Pakistanis open a bank account in Pakistan entirely online, from wherever they live, and use it for banking, investment, and sending money home. This guide explains who can open one, what you need, and how the process works. What is a Roshan Digital Account? The RDA is a dedicated account for non-resident Pakistanis, offered by banks in Pakistan under the State Bank's framework. It can be opened remotely — no branch visit required — and comes in both conventional and Islamic variants, in rupees and in foreign currency. Once open, it works like a normal bank account: you can receive funds from abroad, pay bills in Pakistan, and invest in government securities and the stock market. The key point is the remote onboardi...

Moving into a new house in Pakistan comes with a familiar piece of paperwork: getting the electricity connected in your name, or transferring an existing meter when you move. The process runs through your local distribution company — LESCO in Lahore, IESCO in Islamabad, FESCO in Faisalabad, MEPCO in Multan, K-Electric in Karachi, and others — and while the details vary by company, the steps are broadly the same. This guide walks you through both jobs: a brand-new connection and a meter transfer. New connection: what you need Before you apply, gather these documents: A copy of your CNIC. Proof of ownership or tenancy — property documents, registry, or a rent agreement. A copy of a neighbour's electricity bill (this helps the company identify the nearest pole and feeder). An affidavit or undertaking, if your distribution company asks for one. Your mobile number, registered in your name. Most companies now accept applications online through their websites or customer portals, though y...

Ask anyone what colour the Moon is and the answer comes instantly: white, or perhaps a pale grey. Italian photographer Marcella Giulia Pace spent ten years proving that answer incomplete. She has now gathered 48 of her lunar photographs into a single spiral artwork — and the result shows the same Moon glowing gold, pink, blue, and white, a decade of moonlight wound into one image. Ten years, one subject Pace photographed the Moon over the course of a decade, capturing it in different seasons, at different heights above the horizon, and in different atmospheric conditions. The 48 images she selected were arranged in a spiral, so the eye travels through years of moonrises and moonsets in a single glance. It is a patient kind of art: no single night could have produced it, and no shortcut could fake the variety. The project has struck a chord far beyond astronomy circles because it makes an invisible truth visible. We think of the Moon as fixed and monochrome, but what we actually see fro...