BANK TRANSFER FEE: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed the banks to charge fee on inter-bank fund transfer (IBFT) services which were made free during the pandemic. The government has recently warned about the fourth Covid wave of the deadly Delta variant.

In the light of the announcement, the SBP should immediately restore the free-of-charge IBFT facility.

M. Maruf Athar
Karachi

GREY LIST: This is apropos the reports “‘Some forces’ using FATF grey list to pressurise Pakistan: FM” (June 27). Instead of blaming ‘some forces’ on the issue, we must review our own position. Pakistan may slip into the ‘black list’, if we do not set things right in our legal and banking frameworks in line with the suggestions of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). We should also consider taking appropriate action against perpetrators of money-laundering and the facilitating banks to avoid the wrath of the alleged ‘some forces’.

Javaid Saadat
Lahore

ORAL CANCER: More than 160,000 people are believed to die in Pakistan every year owing to tobacco-related diseases, especially oral cancer. Around 6,000 new cancer patients are admitted to the Karachi Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine (Kiran) alone. The government’s inattention towards this significant problem is appalling, to say the least. The relevant authorities must take action against all those found involved in such criminal activities.

Irfan Rasheed Baloch
Karachi

UTILITY OF UNITED NATIONS: Since the establishment of the United Nations, war, famine, illegal occupation and inequity have increased the world over. Besides, we are about to enter another era of cold war, which will further clout the UN’s performance. The UN should brace itself for urgent, far-reaching reforms and modernisation so that it can finally play a role on the world stage before calls grow for this institution to be scrapped for good.

Abbas R. Siddiqi
Lahore

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2021