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Three UK varsities, 57 colleges banned from sponsoring international students

Three universities and 57 private colleges have been told they cannot sponsor any new international students in a major crackdown on suspect English language qualifications.

In a statement to the House of Commons on June 24, immigration minister James Brokenshire said he was taking the action in the light of “detailed and wide-ranging investigation into actions by organized criminals to falsify English language tests for student visa applicants”.

It follows a BBC Panorama exposed in February, which revealed systematic cheating in tests from an organization called the Educational Testing Service (ETS). More than 29,000 invalid results and 19,000 questionable results had been identified so far, though “it is likely that the true totals will be higher,” said Brokenshire, who condemned the organized criminality behind the fraud.Read More »Three UK varsities, 57 colleges banned from sponsoring international students

Rich growing richer at the cost of poor

Pakistan’s economy has not done badly in the last two decades and per capita income in the country rose from $612 in 2003 to $1,295 in 2013 despite deteriorated internal security and frequent natural disasters, according to the International Monetary Fund. But participants in a discussion on inequality, arranged by SDPI and Oxfam here on Wednesday, learnt that the doubling of national income benefited the poor of the country the least.

“In urban areas, the top 20 per cent of the population take 61 per cent of the monthly income in comparison to 3.45 per cent of the bottom 20 per cent,” informed Babar Jamal of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute.Read More »Rich growing richer at the cost of poor

Highlights of Punjab Budget 2014-15

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Broadening  the tax net instead of burdening the existing taxpayers and setting up of coal and solar power plants from own resources are the highlight of Punjab government’s over Rs1 trillion budget for the next fiscal year

Following in the footsteps of the federal government, the provincial administration would also propose a 10 per cent increase in the salaries and pensions of its serving and retired employees.Read More »Highlights of Punjab Budget 2014-15

Pakistan Budget 14-15: New tax rates on cars, vehicles

The government has slapped increased tax rates as well as advance tax on motor cars in the budget 2014-15.

Up to 850 cc, the proposed advance tax stands at Rs 10000 for both return filers and non-filers. For 851 cc to 1000 cc, the proposed tax rate is Rs 20000 for filers and Rs 25,000 for non-filers.

For 1001cc to 1300cc, the government has proposed tax rate of Rs30,000 on filers and Rs40,000 for non-filers. For 1301 cc to 1600 cc, the proposed tax rate is Rs 50000 for filers and Rs 100,000 for non-filers.Read More »Pakistan Budget 14-15: New tax rates on cars, vehicles

Pakistan Economic Survey 2013-14

Growth rate less than the targeted 4.4% but highest in six years at 4.14%

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Monday that the country could provisionally achieve 4.1 percent growth target for the outgoing year, and termed the 4.4 percent GDP growth rate target for fiscal year 2013-14 as over-stretched.

Launching the Economic Survey for the year 2013-14 at a press conference at the premises of the Finance Ministry, the federal minister said the GDP growth rate was less than the targeted 4.4%, but it was for the first time in six years that the country had entered the territory of four percent growth in the fiscal year 2013-14. And, the GDP growth rate would be increased by one percent during the next three years, rising to 7% in 2017. Similarly, the industrial growth has been recorded at 5.84% as against 1.37% last year, he added.Read More »Pakistan Economic Survey 2013-14

Going to Pakistan? Check your polio shot status

Asma Ali Zain

The advice also applies to frequent travellers who can get the vaccine even before they travel, according to a health ministry official. 

Expatriates travelling to Pakistan from the UAE and planning to stay there for more than four weeks should be vaccinated against polio at least four weeks prior to travel, the UAE Ministry of Health has recommended as per the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) temporary requirements.Read More »Going to Pakistan? Check your polio shot status

Pakistani students win gold medal in international contest

Three groups of students from different branches of PakTurk International Schools and Colleges got first position worldwide and won two gold medals in an international climate contest held in Kenya. They also bagged third position globally in a science competition held in Indonesia and bronze medal in world’s largest science fair that took place in the US.

Muhammad bin Aslam and Naqi Raza of Lahore and Alam Khatoon and Vishah Nazim of Islamabad won first position and two gold medals while competing in the Golden Climate Project Olympiad in Nairobi, Kenya. Read More »Pakistani students win gold medal in international contest

Pakistan urged to develop second strike N-capability strategy

A renowned defence strategist has urged Pakistan to consider developing a second strike nuclear capability strategy to counter rising challenges.

Dr. Maria Sultan, Director General of South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) University, Islamabad presented her new theory termed as “Integrated Strategic Equivalence” at the three-day International Conference on Nuclear Deterrence and Emerging Dynamics in South Asia and attended by senior experts and strategists. Read More »Pakistan urged to develop second strike N-capability strategy

Course correction for Pakistani democracy

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Ayaz Amir

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) report which forms the basis of the Musharraf treason trial would be rejected by an area magistrate (the lowest magistrate in the judicial hierarchy) in the normal course of things. And were even a half-competent high court judge be asked to examine it, chances are he would recommend eggs and tomatoes in a public square for the authors of this inquiry. Such is its high calibre.

To think that this intellectual labour has led to the treason trial, and the trial is one of the major reasons for the souring of relations between the Nawaz Sharif (NS) government and the army, shows once more how from small beginnings great consequences can flow.Read More »Course correction for Pakistani democracy