• Governments introducing work from home, emergency measures as US-Israeli war on Iran sends energy shocks across the globe
• Bangladesh reduces working hours for public and private offices, banks, as well as fuel intake of prime minister, ministers, and junior ministers by 30%

ISTANBUL

Pakistan on Friday announced free public transportation in its capital for a month amid fuel price hikes prompted by the Middle East conflict.

"All public transport in Islamabad will be made free of cost for the general public for the next 30 days, starting tomorrow," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement on the US social media company X.

The ministry will bear the expenditure of 350 million Pakistani rupees ($1.2 million) for the initiative, he said.

The country has increased fuel prices on Thursday, hiking the price of petrol per liter to 458.4 Pakistani rupees ($1.64) from 321.17 ($1.15), and high-speed diesel to 520.35 rupees ($1.86) from 335.86 ($1.20).

The developments come as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for oil and gas shipments, has sharply declined amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.

About 20 million barrels of oil pass through the strait daily, and its disruption has driven up oil prices as well as shipping and insurance costs, fueling global economic concerns.  

Nepal says 21 migrant workers injured, 1 dead in Middle East 

 Separately, Nepal’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said 21 Nepali migrant workers in the Middle East have been injured since the war began there.

One died in an Iranian drone attack and 11 others were arrested on charges of spreading misinformation, the ministry’s spokesperson said.

Human remains discovered in Thai-ship attacked in Hormuz Strait

Thailand's public broadcaster Thai PBS on Friday also reported that human remains were found aboard the Thai vessel attacked in the Strait of Hormuz last month during a second search.

The Thai Foreign Ministry said that the remains will be sent for forensic identification as soon as possible.

The Mayuree Naree was hit while sailing in waters near Oman on March 11. Three members of the crew remained missing after the incident.

According to a tally by Anadolu, at least 26 people from Asian nations have either been killed or remain missing since the conflict began.

They include nine from India (including one missing), four from Bangladesh, four from Pakistan, and one each from China, Nepal, and the Philippines, while three each from Indonesia and Thailand are missing in waters around the Middle East.  

Indonesia, Malaysia to track geolocations of civil servants working from home  

In Indonesia, the government has required civil servants working from home amid the energy crisis to activate location-tracking features and respond to communications within five minutes during working hours, Jakarta Globe reported earlier.

In Malaysia, civil servants living over 8 kilometers (4.9 miles) from their offices who will work from home three days a week from April 15 must log into an online monitoring system every hour to record their attendance through geolocation functions, Free Malaysia Today reported.  

Bangladesh takes new measures to tackle energy crisis  

The Bangladesh government has cut working hours for public and private offices as well as banks by one hour from Friday amid the global fuel crisis. All shops and shopping malls will also close by 6.00 pm.

The prime minister, along with ministers and junior ministers, will reduce their official vehicle fuel use by 30%. The government has also suspended interest-free loans for officials to purchase vehicles.  

* Bhadra Sharma from Kathmandu, Islamuddin Sajid from Islamabad, and Najmus Sakib from Dhaka contributed to this report