Author: Jimmie Mann

A Cabinet committee has greenlighted the privatisation of PIA – Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) following the passing of an amendment bill to address the airline’s PKR71 billion rupee (USD247 million) annual losses and align it with international aviation safety and regulatory standards. The Ministry of Finance announced the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) on August 8 decided to include PIA in a list of ongoing privatisation programmes. On August 7, the Pakistan Senate unanimously passed “The Pakistan International Airline Corporation (Conversion) (Amendment) Bill, 2023”, amending an earlier Act of 2016, to address the airline’s financial situation, reported several Pakistani media, including…

Libya’s state-owned oil company, the National Oil Corporation (NOC), had established last month a new program office, but multiple foreign press reports claim that one of the staff running the office is embroiled in a major fraud case in Kazakhstan. Peter Sztyk, a Canadian lawyer and entrepreneur who also goes by the name “Petro”, has joined a group of foreign consultants who will manage the Office of Strategic Programs, which the NOC inaugurated in February 15 during a meeting with local oil industry executives in Benghazi. Who is Peter Sztyk? The Canadian lawyer graduated in 1993 from Concordia University with bachelor in…

The launch of the highly anticipated Hollywood movie Barbie has been delayed in Pakistan’s Punjab province over “objectionable content”. Officials said the film would be reviewed and needed clearance from the provincial boards that censor scenes violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values. “We will review the film before its release in the country,” Farrukh Mahmood, secretary of the Punjab film censor board, told the Guardian. He did not mention any particular scenes. The move comes after the release of one of the year’s most talked about films was also postponed by Middle Eastern countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE)…

The men’s version of the 2023 Emerging Asia Cup starts on July 13. Here is India A Emerging Asia Cup schedule for the tournament, which includes full fixtures list and match timings for IND A. The fifth edition of the men’s Emerging Asia Cup will be played in Sri Lanka from July 13-July 23. Eight Asian teams will feature in the tournament, with seven of them being ‘A’ teams of their respective countries. The women’s version of the same tournament was played last month in which India A women emerged victorious, defeating Bangladesh A women by 31 runs in the Final. While that tournament was played…

There’s no misunderstanding between the United States and Pakistan over Islamabad’s move to buy discounted Russian oil, Ambassador Masood Khan has said, while underscoring that the reset Islamabad-Washington relationship is “transcending the past.” “We have placed the first order for Russian oil, and this has been done in consultation with the United States government; There’s no misunderstanding between Washington and Islamabad on this count,” he said in response to a question at a conference organized by the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute, a Washington-based think-tank, on the future of relations between the two countries. The questioner had suggested the energy…

Several medicines including painkillers, anti-infection drugs, cardiac drugs, and antibiotics get expensive after Economic Coordination Committee approved the hike. Already distressed Pakistanis will have to pay more for routine and essential medicines as the South Asian nation grapples with skyrocketing inflation while local currency depreciated massively. Earlier, Sharif-led government dismissed a request by pharma giants to increase the prices of more than 100 medicines, but the firms pushed the government and warned of a shortage of several drugs which prompted the recent action. In a recent meeting, officials approved the increase of up to 20 percent in retail prices of…

During a meeting in Lahore regarding wheat procurement, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif expressed contentment with the record wheat production of 20.75 million metric tons in the country. Despite the challenges of rains and floods, the prime minister credited the government’s timely decisions and efficient governance for the bumper crop of wheat. He directed relevant provincial and federal departments to purchase wheat directly from farmers to ensure their maximum benefit, and emphasized timely purchases and strict action against hoarders. He also urged the institutions to increase their wheat procurement target to guarantee uninterrupted wheat supply throughout the year. To achieve…

President Yoon Suk-yeol celebrated Seoul’s “stronger than ever” alliance with Washington in a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday (April 27) as the partners unite to deter North Korea’s nuclear threat. Yoon is on a week-long US state visit to mark the 70th anniversary of the friendship, amid saber-rattling from the North, the war in Ukraine and other global challenges facing both countries. “Our alliance was forged 70 years ago to defend Korea’s freedom. The alliance has now become a global alliance to safeguard freedom and peace around the world,” he said. Echoing President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, he greeted…

KARACHI – Dubai Royal Family member Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum’s office has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Defence Housing Association (DHA) Karachi to develop ultra-high end golf view villas overlooking the newly built golf course in DHA City Karachi. The office of Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, Member of the Dubai Royal Family, United Arab Emirates (UAE), signed the deal at a ceremony here witnessed by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, General Babar Iftikhar, Corps Commander 5 Core, President DHA and former DGIPSR, and Mr Fakhr-e-Alam, business partner. The project will be completed by…

Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav from the Janata Samajbadi Party was elected as the vice president of Nepal on Friday. “Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav has been elected as the vice president,” Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, chief election commissioner of the Election Commission, told Xinhua. Yadav was endorsed by the major ruling parties in the vote and he won by securing 30,328 electoral votes, while his closest rival Asta Laxmi Shakya, vice chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), got 16,328 electoral votes. Members of the House of Representatives, the National Assembly and the seven provincial assemblies of Nepal cast…