Pakistan, among other countries is already lined up to acquire the $25 million shoulder-winged turboprop-powered airliner known as Modern Ark 700 (MA700) with the ability to operate in complex flight environments. The 86 passenger capacity aircraft can reach up to 640 kilometres per hour having a range of 2700 kilometres making it ideal for PIA’s domestic flights.
Pakistan has decided to grant the facility of visa-on-arrival to tourists from 25 countries taking the number to 50 countries. Vice Chairman Overseas Pakistanis Commission, Chaudhary Waseem Akhtar revealed the news on Monday, stating that the incumbent government has undertaken numerous initiatives to boost tourism in the country. The initiative will also project a soft image of Pakistan on the global stage.
The four provinces jointly provided a whopping cash surplus of Rs202 billion to the Centre during the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year to help meet its fiscal targets committed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The provinces did not utilise more than one-fourth of the funds for the welfare of their citizens made available to them under their total revenue.
The third and final day of AdAsia 2019 belonged to Randi Zukerberg, sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. She kept the fully packed hall spell-bound during her one-hour lecture, describing Pakistan as the friendliest country. She justified her praise for Pakistani nation by citing the names of Malala Yousafzai and Benazir Bhutto, the great women produced by it.
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has transferred to Pakistan Rs28 billion obtained through a settlement with a Pakistani citizen in a civil lawsuit, according to a spokesperson. The amount was deposited in the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s account in the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). The NCA corespondent confirmed that the agency had transferred the amount but declined to give any further information about where the money had been deposited.
Th federal government is planning to reform the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination process. The government has decided to slash the upper age limit for CSS examination by 2 years decreasing it from 30 to 28 years. Moreover,the special quota for candidates hailing from underdeveloped parts of the country in will be eliminated judging all candidates equally by using percentile system.
In the The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for 2019 Pakistan was ranked poor in terms of the efficiency of air transport services. Pakistan scored 52.9 points out of 100, securing 93rd place on the list which includes 141 countries. The country got a value of 4.2 on a scale of 1-7 with 7 being the best. (GCI) for 2019 was compiled based on a different factors including the efficiency of air transport services.
The government has decided to develop an indigenous LNG shipping facility, by building the operational capacity of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) in the next few years. As the import of LNG has been on the rise since the past couple of years to meet the local demand,, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs asked PNSC to make a joint-venture setup in the coming months with the private shipping service.
The government is looking to import Euro IV emission standard fuel in a bid to curb air pollution caused by vehicular emission. According to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the country will shift to the Euro V emission standard by the end of 2020. A three year deadline will be given to the oil refineries to enhance the quality of fuel after which they will be closed down for not meeting the set directives.
Moody’s Investors Services upgraded Pakistan’s outlook from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’, reaffirming the country’s rating of B3. Moody’s had downgraded Pakistan’s ratings outlook to negative last year in June, citing heightened external vulnerability risk due to depleting foreign exchange reserves. The upgrade was welcomed by Pakistan, attributing the development to an “improvement in balance of payments position, supported by policy adjustments and currency flexibility”.