Portal:Pakistan

Habib Bank Limited (often abbreviated as HBL) is a Pakistani bank headquartered at Habib Bank Plaza, Karachi with regional offices in Lahore and Islamabad. It is a subsidiary of Swiss-based organisation Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). Established in 1941 by the Habib Family, it the oldest bank in Pakistan post-independence. In 1972, the bank moved its headquarters to the Habib Bank Plaza which was the tallest building in South Asia at the time. It was nationalised in 1974 by the Government of Pakistan and privatised it in 2004; at that time, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development acquired a controlling share and management control. AKFED maintains significant shareholding in HBL to date.

HBL is the largest domestic multinational company in Pakistan in terms of assets, and has repeatedly ranked as the top Pakistani company in the Forbes Global 2000. As of 2025, HBL is the fourth largest bank in Pakistan by market capitalization and serves about 15% of all Pakistani bank deposits. It is Pakistan's largest bank by tier 1 capital. (Full article...)

• 8 October 2005: The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the South Asia earthquake or the Great Pakistan earthquake) of 2005, was a major earthquake, of which the epicentre was the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The earthquake occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC) on 8 October 2005. It registered 7.6 on the richter scale making it a major earthquake similar in intensity to the 1935 Quetta earthquake, the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The Pakistani government's official death toll was 73,276, while officials say nearly 1,400 people died in Jammu and Kashmir and fourteen people in Afghanistan. Most of the affected people lived in mountainous regions with access impeded by landslides that blocked the roads, leaving an estimated 3.3 million homeless in Pakistan.

Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, HI, MBE, SI, FPAS, FRS (Urdu: سلیم الزّماں صدّیقی [səˈliːmʊzːəmaːn sɪˈd̪ːiːqi]; 19 October 1897 – 14 April 1994) was a Pakistani organic chemist specialising in natural products, and a professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi.

Siddiqui studied philosophy at Aligarh Muslim University and later studied chemistry at Frankfurt University, where he received his PhD in 1927. On return to British India, he worked at the Tibbia College Delhi and the Indian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. He later moved to Pakistan and worked in the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He went on to establish the Pakistan National Science Council and was appointed its first chairman in 1961. In the same year he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. He later co-founded the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, and after retirement from the government, he founded the Hussain Ebrahim Jamal Research Institute of Chemistry. (Full article...)

• ... that Rehri Goth, one of the poor neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Karachi, is one of the oldest settlements dating back to the 13th century? (31 March 2024)

• ... that Burushaski, a predominantly in northern Gilgit-Baltistan spoken rather than written language, has not more than 120,000 native speakers? (9 July 2023)

• ... that the MagnifiScience Centre in Karachi is the only science center in the country, and, unlike a museum, visitors are encouraged to touch and learn from the interaction with the exhibits? (11 June 2023)

• ... that Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau, the famous German–Pakistani Catholic nun who devoted more than 55 years of her life to fighting leprosy was the first Christian and first non-Muslim to have a state funeral in Pakistan? (2 September 2021)

• ... that Lahore Metrobus open in 2013, was modelled after the Istanbul Bus Rapid Transit System. Plans were developed in the last quarter of 2011 by both local and Turkish experts. (31 August 2021)

• ... that Lahore Knowledge Park is an actualization of Triple Helix configuration; a framework to create synergies between government, academia and industry to operate into an interactive rather than linear model for the establishment of social formats and entities to promote commercial innovation and R&D. (27 January 2017)

• ... that Karachi Kings is the most expensive franchise team of Pakistan Super League? (04 December 2015)

• ... that Sialkot is the world's largest producer of hand-sewed footballs, with local factories manufacturing 40~60 million footballs a year, amounting to roughly 60% of world production. (4 December 2017)

• ... that Hafiz Muhammad Fazal Azim Taha, the famous living Pakistani poet said about Iqbal's work that "He not only dreamed for Pakistan but also got the nation up for their rights". This famous saying is regarded as Iqbal's definition. (14 July 2014)

• ... that Tajammul Hussain Malik headed an unsuccessful coup attempt against Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq in 1980? (22 September 2009)

• ... that the Legal Framework Order, 1970, issued by Gen. Yahya Khan, set the rules for the first direct popular elections in the history of Pakistan? (14 September 2009)

• ... that in 1881 in the village of Bakhshali in northern Pakistan, the Bakhshali manuscript, the oldest surviving example of Indian mathematics, was discovered written on birch bark? (1 September 2008)

• ... that the original images of Lord Swaminarayan at the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Karachi, Pakistan were removed and taken to India during the turbulent times of its partition? (1 September 2008)

• ... that Saudi Arabia promised to supply 50,000 barrels of free oil per day to help Pakistan if economic sanctions were imposed after its 1998 nuclear tests? (1 September 2008)

• ... that in a major improvement in bilateral relations in 2008, Pakistan proposed sharing nuclear technology with Bangladesh? (31 August 2008)

• ... that Abdur Rashid Kardar, a pioneer of the Pakistani film industry in Lahore, was a calligraphist who prepared posters for foreign-made films? (11 July 2008)

• ... that the Nigar Awards are the oldest awards of merit in the Pakistani film industry? (10 July 2008)

• ... that Syed Wajid Ali was the longest serving President of the Pakistan Olympic Association with a tenure of 26 years? (7 July 2008)

• ... that the 1948 film Teri Yaad was the first feature film to be released in Pakistan after the partition of India? (6 July 2008)

• ... that The Edhi Foundation, founded by Edhi, runs the world's largest volunteer ambulance service operating 1,800 of them with upto 6,000 a day in Karachi alone. (4 December 2017)

More current events...
Current events on Wikinews

10 May 2025 – 2025 India–Pakistan conflict

Pakistan announces Operation Bunyanun Marsoos, the start of large-scale military action against India. (Samaa.tv)

Pakistan Air Force warplanes launch airstrikes throughout India with missile strikes targeting Udhampur, Pathankot Airport and a BrahMos missile storage facility in Beas City, Punjab. (Al Jazeera)

A Pakistani Fatah-II missile is intercepted over the city of Sirsa in the Indian state of Haryana. (News18)

India announces the temporary closure of its airspace over the northern and western regions of the country until May 14. (Al Jazeera)

United States President Donald Trump and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar announce a full and immediate ceasefire between India and Pakistan, mediated by the U.S. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri later confirms the ceasefire as well. (BBC News)

Violations of the ceasefire and new clashes are reported shortly after the announcement of the agreement. (Reuters)