2004 December - 2

China and Pakistan are poised to widen the silk road between them by building a free trade area (FTA). For Pakistanis, it is mainly a “cotton road.” Currently, 70 per cent of Pakistani exports to China are cotton yarn and cotton fabric. However, the country is also keen to promote its other products ranging from [...]

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced to start e-ticketing facility and has thus became the first airline of the country providing the facility. Using this facility, now tickets can be booked at PIA’ s website through credit cards also. Talking to a private TV channel, PIA Chairman Ahmed Saeed on Saturday said PIA would start [...]

At the end of November 2004, all local and foreign banks working in Pakistan had $3 billion fresh foreign currency deposits i.e. those generated afresh after the freezing of $11 billion deposits in May 1998 when the country had gone nuclear. Data released by the State Bank show that the stock of fresh foreign currency [...]

Renowned Pakistani restaurants set up in the Global Village 2005 will offer a variety of traditional and international cuisine to the visitors of the approaching Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2005. Among the restaurants, Ravi Restaurant, Barbeque Delight, Al Ibrahimi Palace and Bundu Khan will represent Pakistan in the food court. The four restaurants, the largest [...]

An exhibition of paintings featuring works by nine Bengali artists opened at the Hamail Art Gallery on Wednesday. Hussain Jahania Gardezi, minister for Literacy and non-Formal Basic Education inaugurated the exhibition. The artists whose works were on display included Abdus Shakoor, Abdul Wahab, Era Hossain, Farida Zaman, Jahangir Hossain, Kazi SA, Fakhrul Islam, Nurul Amin [...]

Pakistani stocks extended their bull run on Friday, closing above 6,000 points for the first time on optimism about the country’s economy, dealers said. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange 100-share index closed at 6,045.80 points, up 1.14 percent on the day. The index set a lifetime intraday high of 6,064.06. The KSE-100 has risen nearly [...]

By night, Iqbal Hussain moves shyly among the crowds of customers who flock to his restaurant to dine in the shadow of the magnificent sandstone minarets of Lahore’s Badshahi Mosque. By day, Hussain takes his pencils and paintbrushes into the narrow, filthy streets of the Heera Mandi, Lahore’s red light district. It is on the [...]

Pakistan’s cotton production and consumption are expected to hit historic highs this year as it aggressively prepares to meet global competition. Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton producer in the world and poses a serious challenge to India in Western markets. Many experts believe Pakistan’s low cost of production will allow it to come out [...]

Oslo’s Lindeberg School will cooperate with two schools in Pakistan next year to help bring Norwegian classes to hundreds of Norwegian-Pakistani children living in Kharian. State secretary Cathrin Bretzeg (right) is satisfied with the teaching and staff at Bloomfield Hall School. Evening classes in Norwegian are already underway here. Over half of all Norwegian-Pakistanis stem [...]

Doctors have found two pairs of scissors and a piece of paper in the lungs of a woman who claims she never underwent any surgery in her life. For the last 11 years, Sharifaan Bibi had been feeling as if something was eating into her lungs. She got treatment from several doctors but all went [...]