Friday, June 2nd, 2017
Punjab announces Rs1.96 trillion budget with focus on development
Punjab Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha on Friday presented the province’s budget for the fiscal year 2017-18, with an outlay of Rs1.971 trillion. The minister, presenting the budget speech with Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan in the chair, said the budget provisions Rs635bn for development programmes, adding that the development budget was unprecedented in the country’s history. Punjab’s fiscal 2017-18 development budget is 15 per cent larger than the ongoing fiscal year, the finance minister said. Earlier, the provincial cabinet had approved the budget in a meetingRead More
Chinese ‘Silk Road’ firms to help Balochistan mine minerals
The government of resource-rich Balochistan wants Chinese companies to kick-start a boom in its mining industry by including the sector into Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, a senior provincial mining official said. Beijing has pledged $57 billion for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship Belt and Road project that first focused on Chinese firms building roads and power stations but is now expanding to include setting up industries. Mineral extraction is a deeply contentious issue in Balochistan, where many indigenous people are angry that the province remains the country’sRead More
Dubai govt discontinues 90-day visit visa for Pakistanis, Filipinos
Dubai’s immigration authorities have discontinued the three-month visit visa for Pakistanis and Filipinos for the next three months, Noor Mohammad, a local travel agent, told on Friday. “We have been directed to refuse applications for the three-month visa starting June 1,” he said; adding, however, that those travellers who had submitted their application before June 1 would still be processed. He added that this is not the first time the Emirati government has banned such visas. In the past, similar restrictions have been placed on travel to the country, particularlyRead More
Indian High Commission issues medical visa to ailing Pakistani baby
The Indian High Commission on Friday issued visas to an ailing two-and-a-half-year-old Pakistani baby boy and his parents after India’s Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj promised they would be allowed to travel to the neighbouring country for treatment. Earlier this week Twitter user, Ken Sid, a Pakistani national, reached out to Swaraj through the social media platform for a medical visa for his son, who has a heart complication which cannot be treated in Pakistan. The family had been trying to get a visa for three months.Read More
Pakistan’s emerging market status first step toward becoming Asian Tiger: Report
ISLAMABAD, June 2 (DNA): Pakistan’s re-entry into the emerging market block, achieved with an amazing speed due to China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), driven optimism, is a first step towards becoming an Asian Tiger that would lure wider class of investors, injecting huge amounts of money into the country. According to an article appeared in Tokyo-based magazine The Diplomat, Pakistan is the first country to get the frontier-to-emerging market promotion in MSCI’s latest review after Qatar and the United Arab Emirates several years ago. Experts expect global funds to comeRead More
Electricity generation crosses record level of 18,000MW: Khawaja Asif
SLAMABAD: Minister of Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said government will fulfill its promises to make Pakistan a load shedding free country. In an interview, he said electricity generation has crossed record level of 18,000 megawatt. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Water and Power has said there has been no unscheduled load shedding across the country.