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Asian Development Bank’s Energy Outlook 2013

Pakistan needs to enhance reliance on imports

With continued energy demand growth in Pakistan, it will be increasingly difficult to meet the demand with domestic sources and Islamabad will have to increasingly rely on imported energy sources, the Asian Development Bank’s Energy Outlook 2013 revealed on Monday.

In the business as usual (BAU) case, the primary energy demand for Pakistan is projected to increase from 84.6 million tons in 2010 to 145.8 million tons in 2035, growing at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, it showed. With this growth, Pakistan’s per capita energy demand will reach 0.59 tons per person as compared to that of 0.49tons in 2010.Read More »Asian Development Bank’s Energy Outlook 2013

SMS to 9988 to know passport status

Islamabad: Directorate General of Immigration and Passports has launched a short messaging service (SMS) to help the applicants track their passports and get them easily.

The applicants can find their documents by sending an SMS, containing their tracking number to 9988, whereby the automated system would respond with the information containing the status of their passport.

“It is one of the key milestones in easing the process of receiving passports as the hassle for an individual to visit the passport office repeatedly has been removed and one can confirm the status of his/her passport status through SMS service,” said Director General (I&P) Sikander Sultan Raja.Read More »SMS to 9988 to know passport status

Roar of the lion

By Ayaz Amir

What was the election slogan of our straw lions? “Kaun aya, kaun aya, Sher aya, Sher aya”…who is coming? the lion is coming, (lion being the election symbol of the winning PML-N). And Punjab swooned to the sound of this slogan and voted the straw lions into power, convinced salvation was at hand.

In barely three and a half months the national landscape seems transformed. The same voting public awaiting miracles has begun not just to squeal but to howl. The rupee was slipping vis-à-vis the dollar, making everything more expensive, and prices of common necessities were shooting into the sky. As if this was not enough to sour the public mood we have had the two mighty kicks just delivered, sharp rises in the prices of electricity and petrol. Punjabi wit can be devastating and jokes these days are about the strength and hunting prowess of the lion.
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Learning lessons from Sri Lankan victory over rebel Tamil Tigers

By Sabir Shah

While Pakistan continues to be hit on regular basis by terrorism after 9/11, it needs to gain some inspiration from a much smaller and poorer Sri Lanka, which is literally rising from ashes after having fought with the rebel Tamil Tigers for nearly 27 long years and ultimately defeating the insurgents on May 29, 2009.

Sri Lanka was left with a daunting post-war task to ensure the welfare of nearly 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who were held as a human shield and a bargaining chip by the rebel Tamil Tigers.Read More »Learning lessons from Sri Lankan victory over rebel Tamil Tigers

Multiple impacts of a falling rupee

By Mohiuddin Aazim

 The falling value of the rupee will have many fiscal and monetary implications, including an increase in the rupee-cost of external debt servicing and a rise in liquidity levels.

And depreciation of the rupee is partially explained by the recent central bank’s buying of $125 million from the interbank market.

It is not unusual for the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to buy dollars from banks, either on spot or through swaps. “But this time, the buying is covered under the scope of the IMF’s new lending programme,” says the treasurer of a large local bank. ‘That’s unusual.”Read More »Multiple impacts of a falling rupee

Eight nuclear states possess 17,270 nukes

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The 2013 report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has revealed that eight nuclear countries—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and Israel possess a total of approximately 17,270 nukes including operational warheads, spares, those in both active and inactive storage and intact warheads scheduled for dismantlement.

According to SIPRI, at the start of 2013, the eight afore-mentioned nuclear states had possessed approximately 4,400 operational nuclear weapons, of which nearly 2,000 have been kept in a state of high operational alert.Read More »Eight nuclear states possess 17,270 nukes

Pakistani student breaks world record

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani students have bagged a plethora of As and A*s at the Edexcel, Cambridge International Examinations’ (CIE) International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and A-level exams, June 2013 session.

The Froebel’s International School’s (FIS) student Haroon Tariq has beaten the current world record and secured phenomenal 40 As across IGCSE, O-level and A-level subjects, spanning both humanities and sciences, such as human and social biology, Islamic religion and culture, physics, chemistry and global development. This is an outstanding feat of achievement, putting Pakistan at center stage and in the global spotlight.
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Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park

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CM Punjab approves Master Plan

Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif presided over the fourth meeting of Punjab Energy Council in which formal approval was given to master plan of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park consisting of ten thousand acresof land.

The Chief Minister said that development work on the project will be started immediately andcompleted on emergent basis.
Read More »Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park