by Rejaul Karim Byron in The Daily Star, Dec 29, 2023The government’s spending on interest payments against the mounting foreign debt surged 136.70 percent year-on-year to $562 million in the first five months of the current fiscal year as disbursements surged in recent years. The interest payment stood at $237 million in July-November of the previous financial year of 2022-23, data from the Economic Relations Division (ERD) showed. The fund release for the mega projects…
Posts tagged as “million”
report in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2023.ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Monday rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) request for extending former prime minister Imran Khan’s physical remand in the £190 million case. The court instead, sent the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman on a 14-day judicial remand. Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Islamabad Accountability Court-I presided over the hearing of the corruption case, with the primary accused Imran and his wife Bushra…
By Fidel Rahmati in The Khaama Press Online, November 23, 2023According to Pakistani media, authorities in the country have reported that the process of deporting migrants will be carried out as previously planned. The interim government of Pakistan intends to deport approximately one million Afghan migrants by January 2024. Geo News, a Pakistani media outlet, reported on Wednesday, citing Jan Achakzai, the Information Minister of Balochistan province, that the second phase of deporting illegal immigrants…
by Imran Mukhtar in The Nation, Nov 23, 2023ISLAMABAD – A sub-committee of the federal cabinet on Wednesday recommended placing the names of imprisoned PTI Chairman Imran Khan and 28 others on the Exit Control List (ECL) in the £190 million scandal. The sub-committee recommended placing these names in the nofly list on the advice of National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The caretaker federal cabinet would take a final decision on the recommendations of the subcommittee.…
report in DSaily FT, Oct 23, 2023Sri Lanka’s main export engine, apparel, saw its shipments plunge further in September worsening the sector’s status quo. Apparel exports in September were down sharply by 26% to $ 332 million whilst performance in the first nine months was down by 20.5% to $ 3.4 billion. “September was a bad month. The industry was hoping to see some signs of slight recovery but that may now be October at…
By Mujib Mashal in The NY Times, Sept 3, 2023Bangladesh’s multiparty democracy is being methodically strangled in crowded courtrooms across this country of 170 million people. Nearly every day, thousands of leaders, members and supporters of opposition parties stand before a judge. Charges are usually vague, and evidence is shoddy, at best. But just months before a pivotal election pitting them against the ruling Awami League, the immobilizing effect is clear. About half of the…
by Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana in Daily Mirror online, Aug 26m 2023A Chinese national who was caught distributing illegal Chinese-branded cigarettes in Colombo was imposed a fine of Rs.1 million by the Fort Magistrate yesterday. Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage imposed this fine when Kollupitiya Police produced the foreigner arrested for distributing a stock of Chinese branded cigarettes, which the sale and consumption is entirely prohibited in Sri Lanka. Two officials attached to the Kollupitiya Police on…
report in Khaama Press online, July 7, 2023Fan China Afghan Mining Processing and Trading Company (FAMPTC) stated on Thursday that it would spend $350 million in Afghanistan over the next months in several industries, including electricity generation, the building of a cement factory, and healthcare. In a meeting with Maulwi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy and acting prime minister, the FAMPTC representative discussed their investment intentions. According to a statement issued by the prime minister’s…
Reuters Report in Dawn, March 19th, 2023KABUL: The UN World Food Programme has been forced to cut rations to four million Afghans this month, it said in a statement late on Friday, due to a funding shortfall in the midst of the country’s severe humanitarian crisis. “Due to funding constraints, at least four million people will receive just half of what they need to get by in March,” the statement said, adding the UN food…
What Went Wrong with Pakistan’s “Strategic Depth” Policy?
by Abdul Rehman in South Voices, Henry L. Stimson Center, Dec 14, 2023As Pakistan begins deporting 1.7 million undocumented Afghan refugees, Pak-Afghan relations stand at a historical low. Almost four decades ago, when Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan, four million Afghan refugees migrated to Pakistan to seek shelter. Following recent growing tensions between Kabul and Islamabad, Pakistan gave all undocumented Afghan migrants – many of which have been born and raised in Pakistan – until November…