PM announces compensation for laborers killed while working on M5 motorway

MULTAN: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday offered Fateha for labourers who lost their lives while working on the Shujabad Interchange of M5 Multan-Sukkur motorway and announced Rs 1 million each as compensation for the bereaved families.The Prime Minister also announced Rs 500,000 for each labourer injured in the accident late on Friday night.A pin-drop silence dominated the big crowd on Saturday in Shujabad when Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Javed Ali Shah announced the tragic accident in which five labourers had lost lives late Friday night while working at Shujabad Interchange.After announcing compensation for the deceased labourers and the injured, Prime Minister Abbasi said that the company, executing the project, would also provide compensation.Syed Javed Ali Shah said the incident had saddened everybody and added: "We would have been happier, had this tragic incident not happened.”Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Governor Malik Rafique Rajwana said that poor labourers had shed their blood for the construction of this motorway and added that their sacrifice would never go waste.These labourers would be remembered forever, he added.

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Pakistan?s new envoy to US Ali Siddiqui to assume office on May 29

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's ambassador-designate to Washington Ali Jahangir Siddiqui will travel to the United States tonight to take charge of his office on May 29. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had appointed the investment banking expert and his special assistant as Pakistan's ambassador to the US last month.He is scheduled to leave for the United States tonight using his diplomatic passport. In August last year, Siddiqui was appointed as a special assistant to the prime minister with the status of a minister of state.He is the son of renowned businessman and banker Jahangir Siddiqui.Prior to his appointment in the prime minister's cabinet, he was serving as chairman of JS Bank and JS Private Equity.In 2014, he was honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.

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5 People Who Straight Up Survived The Unsurvivable

By E. J. Díaz  Published: May 26th, 2018 

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History Has Never Agreed On A True Definition Of 'Happiness'

By Cracked Writers  Published: May 26th, 2018 

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Good News, You Can Now Pray To Amazon (Literally)

By Adam Wears  Published: May 25th, 2018 

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Pakistan s climate resilience receives boost with WB aid pledge

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank is committing $728 million through four projects to put Pakistan on the path of climate resilient development which will benefit millions of its citizens.These projects will protect the environment and improve the quality of life in cities while being engines of growth and promoting sustainable water management through efficient irrigation, robust weather forecasting and improved disaster preparedness.“The projects offer wide ranging support to address climate vulnerability and variability by strengthening institutions and systems and investing in priority infrastructure in rural and urban areas,” said Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan.“Millions of Pakistanis will benefit from improved irrigation, weather services, and resilience to natural disasters.At the same time, Punjab’s cities will benefit from investments to improve infrastructure and local services while protecting its environment", he said in a statement here on Saturday.The $188 million Hydro met and Disaster Risk Management Services Project will help Pakistan deliver more reliable and timely weather forecasting and disaster risk management services.Pakistan suffered US$18 billion losses between 2005 and 2014 (US$10.5 billion from the 2010 floods alone) due to the adverse impact of climate change.The project will help increase preparation for and resilience to natural disasters and climate change, as well as improve water management for agriculture.The Sindh Barrages Improvement Project will benefit from $140 million in additional financing to help improve the reliability and safety of the Guddu and Sukkur Barrages and strengthen the Sindh Irrigation Department’s ability to operate and manage them.The rehabilitation and modernization of Sukkur Barrage will provide reliable water supply to 14 canals and reduce floods.This project will also ensure the barrage’s capacity to safely pass floods up to 1.3 million cusecs.This will be achieved under the oversight of a newly-established Barrage Monitoring Unit.The $200 million Punjab Green Development Program will strengthen the province’s environmental management through empowering its departments to provide better environmental services to citizens and the private sector, with a focus on strengthening the capacity of the Environment Protection Department.It will help modernize laws and regulations and promote investments in cleaner technologies to reduce air and water pollution.The $200 million Punjab Cities Programme will benefit 4.1 million people in 16 urban areas by strengthening local governments’ ability to deliver basic and green infrastructure.The programme will also build systems to improve transparency, accountability, and responsiveness of municipal committees and other structures.

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Pakistan seeks economic lifeline with fresh China loans

ISLAMABAD:  Pakistan expects to obtain fresh Chinese loans worth $1-2 billion to help it avert a balance of payments crisis, Pakistani government sources said, in another sign of Islamabad’s growing reliance on Beijing for financial support.Lending to Pakistan by China and its banks is on track to hit $5 billion in the fiscal year ending in June, according to recent disclosures by officials and Pakistan finance ministry data reviewed by Reuters.The ramp up in China’s lending comes as the United States is cutting aid to Pakistan following a fracture in relations between the on-off allies. In February, Washington led efforts that saw Pakistan placed on a global terror financing watchlist, drawing anger in Islamabad amid fears it will hurt the economy.The new Chinese loans that are being negotiated will help bolster Pakistan’s rapidly-depleting foreign currency reserves, which tumbled to $10.3 billion last week from $16.4 billion in May 2017.The talks come only weeks after a group of Chinese commercial banks lent $1 billion to Pakistan’s government in April.The reserves decline and a sharp widening of Pakistan’s current account deficit have prompted many financial analysts to predict that after the general election, likely in July, Islamabad will need its second International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout since 2013. The last IMF assistance package was worth $6.7 billion.Beijing’s attempts to prop up Pakistan’s economy follow a deepening in political and military ties in the wake of China’s pledge to fund badly-needed power and road infrastructure as part of the $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key cog in Beijing’s vast Belt and Road initiative.“I think this month we will get that $1-2 billion,” said a senior Pakistan government official, saying the funds will come from Chinese state-run institutions.A second government official confirmed Pakistan was in “sensitive” talks with Beijing over extra funding for up to $2 billion.Pakistan finance ministry officials did not respond to a request for comment.China’s finance ministry and central bank, who were faxed questions about the loans, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Although Pakistan’s economic growth has soared to nearly 6 percent, the fastest pace in 13 years, the structural problems with the economy are coming to the fore. It is similar to 2013, when foreign currency reserves dwindled and Pakistan narrowly escaped a full-blown currency crisis.“The current situation appears to be a replica of what we experienced in 2013, albeit on a slightly larger scale,” said Yaseen Anwar, who was the governor of the central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), back in 2013.The darkening macroeconomic outlook prompted the IMF earlier this month to downgrade its economic growth forecast for Pakistan to 4.7 percent for the next fiscal year ending in June 2019, way below the government’s own ambitious target of 6.2 percent.“TEMPORARY BRIDGE”Over the past nine months Pakistan has enacted a series of measures to combat its ballooning current account deficit, including hiking tariffs on more than 200 luxury items and devaluing its currency by about 10 percent.In the six months to end of March, Pakistan took bilateral loans worth $1.2 billion from China, according to the Pakistan Finance Ministry document reviewed by Reuters. During this period the government also borrowed about $1.7 billion in commercial loans, mostly from Chinese banks, finance ministry officials added.In April, Pakistan’s central bank borrowed another $1 billion from Chinese commercial banks to buffer its reserves, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Tariq Bajwa told the Financial Times (FT). A spokesman for the central bank told Reuters the FT report was accurate.The $1-2 billion under discussion would be in addition to that loan.So far, all the measures appear to have had a limited impact on Pakistan’s economy and foreign exchange reserves continue to plummet.The collapse of the reserves is mainly due to the central bank’s efforts to maintain an artificially strong rupee over the past few years, analysts say. The currency is now trading at about 115.50/116 to the U.S. dollar, down 9.8 percent in last six months after two separate devaluations since December.In the past three weeks, reserves have declined by $1.2 billion and now stand at two months worth of import cover.“This new (Chinese) money is a temporary bridge until August or September, when a new government will come into office and the country will likely opt for a new IMF programme,” said Saad Hashmey, chief economist at brokerage house Topline Securities.Hashmey and several other economists are predicting another currency devaluation by the end of 2018.Pakistan may also seek help from Saudi Arabia. The Middle Eastern ally loaned $1.5 billion to Pakistan in 2014 to shore up its foreign currency reserves.RISING EXPORTSThe scale of the task facing Pakistan is huge as the current account deficit widened to $14 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, according to SBP data. Dollar-denominated debt repayments in 2018 are also expected to top $5 billion, analysts say.Part of the problem for Pakistan has been a multi-year consumer boom accompanied by huge imports of Chinese machinery for CPEC projects, which has piled pressure on the current account deficit. More recently, a jump in the oil price has compounded the problem as Pakistan is a fuel importer.One of the senior Pakistani government officials said the money from China should give the economy breathing space.He said exports have shot up in the last two months, helped by the devaluation in the rupee, and that should help ease the current account deficit.However, Pakistan’s central bank appears more nervous as oil prices climb, raising its main policy rate by 50 basis point to 6.5 percent on Friday and warning the “the balance-of-payments picture...has further deteriorated”.

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National dialogue be held for creation of new provinces PM

SHUJABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday that said a national dialogue must be held to evolve consensus for new province but it should not be used as mere election slogan.Addressing a public gathering here after inaugurating Multan-Shujabad section of Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5), the prime minister said many other countries had also created new provinces.He was accompanied by Governor Punjab Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana and Minister for Water Resources Javed Ali Shah.The prime minister earlier unveiled the plaque of the project what he said had been completed a year ahead of schedule.The Sukkur-Multan Motorway is part of Karachi-Lahore Motorway Project and is being constructed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that would cost Rs 294 billion.Work on the motorway was started in 2016 and is scheduled to complete by 2019. It is a 6-lane access controlled facility, taking off from Sukkur and terminating at Multan, after passing through several major cities including Ghotki, Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiqabad and Bahawalpur.The prime minister told the gathering that those who had now been calling for South Punjab province were part of Pervez Musharraf’s government when new province could have been created within no time.He said such people were just cheating the people and challenged them to prove their performance during their respective tenures with that of the PML-N government in all sectors.He said the whole political elite should join heads on the issue of new provinces and other national issues as the politics of blackmailing and impersonation would not work anymore.He said the present government had delivered even beyond its commitments and besides it own projects, it had also accomplished the half-complete projects of previous government that had been lingering for decades.He said the previous governments too had same resources but failed to deliver.During the last five years, the government had executed record projects, comparing with the last 65 years.It had added around 10,400MW to national grid, comparing with 20,000 MW generated since creation of Pakistan.

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Pervaiz Khattak's wife barred from travelling to US

PESHAWAR: Wife of Khyber Paktunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak was not  allowed to board a plan on Saturday after she failed to produce complete  travel documents.According to Geo News, Amira Khattak wanted to  travel on her US passport through a  foreign airline but was stopped by airport authorities  at the Bacha Khan Airport.Citing unnamed sources, the TV channel reported that  Mrs Khattak  couldn't produce  National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) .

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Manzoor Afridi to become caretaker chief minister of KP

PESHAWAR: Khyber Paktunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Opposition Leader in the provincial assembly Maulana Lutfur Rehman has agreed on  the name of caretaker chief minister of the province.Citing unnamed sources, Geo TV reported that the opposition leader belonging to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and the chief minister  agreed on the name of Manzoor Ahmed, a brother of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Ayub Afridi.Geo TV correspondent said Manzoor Afridi is  a businessman with little interest in politics.According to the TV report,   Aridi is known for his inclination towards the JUI-F .    

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Military shows reservations on Asad Durrani?s book

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Military has expressed its reservations on the book written by former DG-ISI Asad Durrani, security sources said.Durrani has been summoned to GHQ for clearing his position on the issue.The sources further stated that the military said it was a violation of the military code of conduct. It also said that various topics discussed in the book were contrary to the facts.The controversial book titled "The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and The Illusion of Peace" has been co-authored by former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Asad Durrani and the former chief of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) A S Dulat.The book has discussed important issues between the two nations. It also sheds light on Kargil Operation, Abbottabad Operation against Osama bin Laden, arrest of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan, Hafiz Saeed, Kashmiri freedom fighter Burhan Wani.

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Nawaz Sharif playing double game, alleges Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Friday said that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was still playing game with them.Addressing a press conference here Friday, Asif Zardari questioned Nawaz Sharif’s loyalties to the country.Zardari said Nawaz Sharif should make it clear whether he is with Pakistan, adding that PML-N supremo is playing a double game.“Nawaz Sharif was playing a double game in the past and doing the same now,” alleged the former president.

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Party deserters can never be loyal to masses: PM Abbasi

MANANWALA (Sheikhupura): Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Friday said that those who were not loyal to the party could never be loyal to masses and the people will reject the opportunists in upcoming elections in July.Addressing a public gathering after inaugurating gas supply to different localities of NA-136 constituency, the prime minister said the people would respond to such people in elections, who could only serve their own interests, not of the people.The prime minister – who was accompanied by Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Irfan Dogar, MNA and local leadership of the party – said his party would stand victorious from Sheikhupura district in next elections too.He told the gathering that the government had launched gas supply projects worth over Rs 10 billion during the last five years in the district with many of them already completed.He said it was the PML-N that always carried out massive development at such a huge scale and that was the difference between those who delivered and who made hollow claims.He said it was people’s belief that only the PML-N could bring progress to Pakistan and make it an economic power.The prime minister recalled that the government had inherited gas crisis but now uninterrupted supply was being made to all consumers and around 1.6 million gas connections had been given, purely on merit.Citing the networks of roads, motorways, power plants, airports, sea ports and mega projects being executed under China Pakistan Economic Corridor, he said the PML-N had carried out record development work compared to last 65 years.He told the gathering that the parliament had passed a bill on Thursday for merging FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in what he said, the locals from FATA were comparing it with the independence of Pakistan in 1947.Referring to the 100-day plan of action announced by the PTI, the prime minister said those who could do nothing during last 1500 days were now announcing 100-day plan. The PML-N had already executed the projects they were planning under their agenda.Advising the people to be aware of the impersonators, he said the PML-N always carried out politics of respect and dignity, not of abuses and immorality. Those who do not respect others cannot respect the vote either.He also announced that the Mananwala Chowk, Farooqabad bypass, and road between Sheikhupura and Khanqah Dogran would also be constructed.He said he would hold prime minister’s office till May 31 and hoped that PML-N would form the next government too and execute the said projects.

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