Islamabad, JULY26: Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of Punjab, has unveiled a comprehensive plan to increase safety throughout the province and boost online taxi services. Maryam Nawaz emphasized the significance of improved regulations and technology to assist service providers and users at a recent meeting with representatives from an online taxi service company. She underlined the necessity of new regulations to raise the caliber of services provided by the ride-hailing industry. Linking the Women Safety App with online ride-hailing services was a major suggestion that was addressed in order to improve security and safety for female riders who use technology.…
Author: Iqra Khan
Islamabad, JULY26: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that a $400 million concessional loan has been approved to help rebuild homes and community facilities that were destroyed by the catastrophic floods that struck Sindh, a province in southeast Pakistan, in 2022. The nation’s unusual monsoon rains, which are linked to climate change, caused the floods, which devastated houses, farms, and public infrastructure and lost 1,700 lives. The damages totaled over $35 billion. In an effort to accelerate Pakistan’s flood recovery, the ADB has committed to giving the nation $1.5 billion in overall assistance between 2023 and 2025, which includes approving…
Islamabad, JULY26: Prime Minister’s on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam says the government is taking all policy measures to enhance the country’s climate resilience against the recurring and intensifying disasters. Chairing a meeting in Islamabad today, she said building disaster resilience of socio-economic sectors, particularly agriculture, water, energy, health and education is top priority of government. Romina Khurshid Alam further said that her ministry will engage with every single development sector partner to make Pakistan disaster-resilience.
Islamabad, JULY26: Amidst Karachi’s growing concrete jungle, mangrove forests which protect the city’s coastline against cyclones, strong winds, coastal flooding or other climate change induced disasters, face serious threat of destruction. A recent report by WWF-Pakistan has identified several locations along the Karachi coast where significant tracts of mangroves have been cleared for housing schemes and commercial and industrial projects. The report also highlighted areas where mangrove landscapes were still under threat of massive deforestation. It proposed that to stop mangrove destruction along the coastline of Karachi, it is essential to implement strict enforcement of laws and encourage reforestation and…
Islamabad, JULY26: The State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves dropped sharply by $397 million in the week that concluded on July 19, making it challenging for the government to maintain the reserves at roughly $9 billion prior to entering into a new loan arrangement with the IMF. The State Bank claims that the fall in reserves to $9.027.2 billion was caused by repayments of external loans. The nation is having a difficult time paying down its massive external and domestic debt. Since they have already exhausted the majority of the available sources of funding, economic management are facing challenges in meeting…
Islamabad, JULY26: The Pakistani women’s team defeated Nepal and the United Arab Emirates twice in a row to secure a spot in the Asia Cup 2024 semifinal. They faced challenges at the beginning of the competition when they lost to India, but they have made impressive improvement thus far. In a thrilling triumph over the UAE, Pakistan’s opening duo of Muneeba Ali and Gul Feroza amassed 104 runs without losing a single wicket. Similar to this, Feroza’s outstanding performance against Nepal propelled the team into the tournament semifinals. The team’s seamless performance was commended by newly appointed head coach Muhammad…
Islamabad, JULY26: Mustafa Jamal Qazi, the Director General of Immigration and Passports, informed a Senate committee that the backlog in passport applications had increased dramatically. In an official statement, he informed the Senate Standing Committee on Interior that approximately 16.5 million applications were still pending in the “normal” category, but there was no backlog in the foreign category.However, given that the backlog was approximately 0.8 million in May, the number appears to be more than it should be, and some observers think the amount from the official release may be a typo. The committee was told by Mr. Qazi on…
Islamabad, JULY26: Due to shifts in sales and factory closures, unrestricted imports starting in February raised the arrival of completely knocked down (CKD) kits to $779 million in FY24 from $750 million in FY23. In an effort to reduce auto demand and manage the current account deficit, the State Bank of Pakistan placed restrictions on the opening of new letters of credit (LCs), which caused CKD imports to drop precipitously from $104 million in December 2023 to $37 million in January. CKD imports increased to $50 million in February, $60 million in March, $72 million in April, $78 million in…
Islamabad, JULY26: Members of the National Assembly’s (MNAs) pay and benefits are public knowledge. A monthly base pay of Rs 150,000 is given to each MNA, and they also receive additional allowances totaling Rs 38,000, for a total monthly earnings of Rs 188,000.An additional Rs 25,000 is paid to the chairperson of a standing committee, making their total monthly salary Rs 213,000. Additionally, MNAs get Rs 8,800 for each National Assembly or Standing Committee meeting they participate in. For air travel, there are travel expenses of Rs 150 per kilometer and for road travel, Rs 25 per kilometer. In addition,…
Islamabad, JULY25: Chief Commissioner Islamabad Muhammad Ali Randhawa has taken strict notice on the suspension of death and birth registration services in Islamabad. Chief Commissioner Islamabad and Chairman CDA Muhammad Ali Randhawa immediately contacted Chairman NADRA. After the intervention of Chief Commissioner Islamabad Muhammad Ali Randhawa, MCI services were immediately restored for the citizens. It is pertinent to mention here that the Municipal Corporation Islamabad (MCI) has paid all the dues of NADRA immediately. Chief Commissioner Islamabad and Chairman CDA Muhammad Ali Randhawa instructed the authorities to take permanent steps to pay the dues of NADRA. He directed the Director…
