ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s central bank launched a new ‘Diamond’ category in its remittance program for overseas Pakistanis on Friday, promising additional benefits to category holders such as preferential treatment at embassies and airports, and gratis passports.
The Sohni Dharti Remittance Program (SDRP) is a point-based loyalty scheme for remitters who work abroad and send money to their relatives in Pakistan through banking channels or exchange companies.
Remitters earn reward points based on a certain percentage of every remittance they send. The SDRP program already has three categories: Green (annual remittances of up to $10,000), Gold (annual remittances from $10,001 to $30,000) and Platinum (annual remittances of more than $30,000). The statement did not specify the amount for the Diamond category.
“Effective from September 22, 2023, a new ‘Diamond’ category has been added in the Sohni Dharti Remittance Program (SDRP),” the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a statement.
Remitters can track their remittances and reward points through the SDRP app on their smartphones.
The SBP recalled former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s statement in which he said the Diamond category would include enhanced reward points and benefits such as arms license of non-prohibited bore, preferential treatment at Pakistan embassies/airports, and gratis passports.
It said reward points can be redeemed by the remitter and their beneficiary by availing free of cost products and services such as the payment of the Emigrant Registration fee, payment of duty for imported mobile sets and vehicles to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the payment of renewal fee for passports.
“Moreover, benefits on redeeming reward points can also be availed on International air tickets and extra luggage charges by Pakistan International Airlines; life insurance/takaful premium payment at State Life Insurance Corporation; and purchases made at Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan,” the SBP added.
Pakistan relies heavily on remittances to keep its cash-starved economy afloat. According to official data by the SBP, the South Asian country received $27 billion in remittances during the outgoing fiscal year, FY23.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE remained the top contributors of money sent home by Pakistani workers during FY23.
Pakistan launches ‘Diamond’ category in loyalty scheme for remitters, promising new benefits
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Pakistan launches ‘Diamond’ category in loyalty scheme for remitters, promising new benefits
- Remitters can avail preferential treatment at airports and embassies and get gratis passports
- The South Asian country relies heavily on foreign remittances to keep its cash-starved economy afloat
Anti-minority hate speech in India rose by 13 percent in 2025, US research group says
- India Hate Lab documented 1,318 instances in 2025
- The Indian government calls such reports biased
WASHINGTON: Hate speech against minorities, including Muslims and Christians, in India rose by 13 percent in 2025, with most incidents occurring in states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, a Washington-based research group said on Tuesday.
India Hate Lab documented 1,318 instances of what it called hate speech in 2025, up from 1,165 in 2024 and 668 in 2023, at events such as political rallies, religious processions, protest marches and cultural gatherings.
Of that number, 1,164 incidents occurred in states and union territories governed by the BJP, either directly or with coalition political parties, the group said. The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Modi and his party deny being discriminatory and say their policies, including food subsidy programs and electrification drives, benefit all communities.
April recorded the highest monthly spike, 158 events, with nearly 100 occurring between April 22, after a deadly militant attack in India-administered Kashmir, and May 7, when four days of deadly fighting broke out between India and Pakistan.
Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say abuse of minorities has risen in India since Modi took office in 2014, pointing to a religion-based citizenship law the UN calls “fundamentally discriminatory,” anti-conversion legislation that challenges freedom of belief, the 2019 removal of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s special status, and the demolition of Muslim-owned properties.
India Hate Lab, founded by US-based Kashmiri journalist Raqib Hameed Naik, is a project of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a nonprofit Washington-based think tank. The BJP has previously said India Hate Lab presents a biased picture of India.
India Hate Lab says it uses the UN’s definition of hate speech, which defines it as prejudiced or discriminatory language toward an individual or group based on attributes including religion, ethnicity, nationality, race or gender.
