Pakistani News for the Rest of Us

The fast emerging economic tiger, Thailand, has offered to develop Pakistan’s silk industry which, according to former foreign minister Prachuab Chaiyasan, would add silky shine to the country’s economy.
Thailand had offered dozens of proposals to Pakistan to further boost the economy and raise the standard of living of the people of the two countries, Chaiyasan …

Ufone, a leading [Pakistani] cellular GSM operator, on Monday signed the single largest expansion contract in Pakistan’s cellular history, with Nortel Networks for the extension of its network in 2004-05.
Under the contract valued at over $125 million, Nortel will expand Ufone’s Global System for Mobile (GSM) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks to more …

An exhibition titled ‘Ode to Lahore in Colour’ featuring pastel works and drawings by Aboo opened here at Croweaters Gallery on Monday. Over 20 works are on display at the show. Among these, ‘Summer heat,’ in pencil, ‘Spring time,’ in pastel and ‘Long and winding path of N Sharif Park’, were exceptionally dazzling.
The artworks on …

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has given over 42,000 free of cost phone connections in Karachi during its two-week long ‘Bilkul Muft’ Scheme.
On September 2, the state-owned telecom giant launched its ‘Bilkul Muft’ Scheme under which the phone utility waived a Rs750 fee for demand note for two weeks to install free of cost telephone …

Sunday in leafy Edgbaston was less tranquil than usual yesterday. The first rays of the September sun were barely filtering through the trees when the bugles and whistles, drums and airhorns, which day long were to fill the air with the noise of a million bees, began. By the end, as Pakistan steered their way …

The Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology will hold a three-day all Pakistan software, multimedia, quiz and speed programming competition (Soft com 2004) from Sept 23 to 25. A spokesman for the institute told reporters on Sunday that Softcom 2004 would provide opportunities to contestants to exhibit their skills in the field …

The Punjab Tourism Department (PTD) on the special directives of the provincial chief minister will develop a 12-bed tourist resort-cum-motel at Wagah border to promote tourism and attract foreign and local tourists.
Unfolding the plans for the promotion of tourism in the province, Punjab Tourism Minister Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal in an exclusive interview with the …

Museums are like people. They come in all shapes and sizes and one cannot always realise what is inside by their exterior. The recently inaugurated ‘Heritage Museum: The National Museum of Ethnology’ is no different. People might consider museum visits as monotonous, but inside the Heritage Museum, it is hard not to fall in a …

India’s World Cup winning captain Ajitpal Singh and former Olympian-turned-selectors BP Govinda, Aslam Sher Khan and Surinder Singh Sodhi will be felicitated during Indian hockey team’s tour of Pakistan next week.
Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and its Pakistan counterpart have decided to felicitate four former players from each country during the eight-match home-and-away series.
“Pakistan Hockey Federation …

Pakistan Saturday staged its first ever women’s soccer match to mark the FIFA (International Football Federation) Fair Play Day which officials said would help boost women’s sports in this Muslim country.
The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) organised the match and coach Tariq Lutfi told AFP it would go a long way in promoting women’s sports in …

The University of Sindh will introduce the solar energy system to provide electricity to its departments, teaching institutes, hostels and residential colony.
The project, to be prepared by the Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), will first be implemented at the Marui Hostel and then extended step-by-step to the university’s other facilities. The university …

Nishtar Road, located in the old city, is a chaotic, thriving, giant market. Everything from plastic goods to bolts of cloth are traded in this densely packed, historic place of trade. Why have businesses thronged here through the decades? Daily Times’ Imran Ayub walks us through a unique entrepreneurial paradise.
Consider this picture. A 20-kilometer stretch …

The government will soon award 12 new TV channel licences, says General Manager Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority. He was speaking in a PTV programme on Saturday. He said that 22 new license for TV channels were being processed, adding that the process would be completed soon.
Pemra’s general manager said that 10 licenses had …

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $22 million to $12.181 billion in the week ended Sept. 11 mainly because of an increase in inflows to commercial banks, the central bank said on Friday. During the week, reserves held by commercial banks rose to $2.176 billion from $2.158 billion a week earlier, the central bank …