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Showing posts from June, 2014

1800 Km Long Rail Link Planned to Connect China and Pakistan

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China has funded a study to build an international rail link from the city of Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in  Western China to Pakistan's deep-sea Gwadar Por t on the Arabian Sea, according to Zhang Chunlin, director of Xinjiang's regional development and reform commission. "The 1,800-kilometer China-Pakistan railway is planned to also pass through Pakistan's capital of Islamabad and Karachi," Zhang Chunlin said at the two-day International Seminar on the Silk Road Economic Belt in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, according to  China Daily . "Although the cost of constructing the railway is expected to be high due to the hostile environment and complicated geographic conditions, the study of the project has already started," Zhang said. "China and Pakistan will co-fund the railway construction. Building oil and gas pipelines between Gwadar Port and China is also on the agenda," Zhang added. Source: China Daily The P

India Loves Pakistan Meat Dishes

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"When Delhi's Press Club organised an evening of Pakistani food and music, flying in chefs from Islamabad, the racks of richly-spiced meat on the grill quickly ran out as hundreds of Indian journalists brought their families, equipped with "tiffin" boxes to take away extra supplies"   BBC Report 26 June 2014 The BBC story highlights the fact that the vegetarian  India demonstrates its deep love  of the exquisite taste of Pakistan's meat dishes whenever the opportunity presents itself.  To further illustrate the phenomenon, let me share with my readers how two famous Indians see meat-loving Pakistan: Sachin Tendulkar:  The senior cricketer...said he gorged on Pakistani food and had piled on a few kilos on his debut tour there. "The first tour of Pakistan was a memorable one. I used to have a heavy breakfast which was keema paratha and then have a glass of lassi and then think of dinner. After practice sessions there was no lunch because it was h

Pakistan Accepted as Associate Member of CERN Ahead of India

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"It would be embarrassing if Pakistan becomes an associate member of CERN before India", said eminent Indian scientist and Homi Bhabha Professor Bikash Sinha in early June, 2014. Well, it has happened this week. Pakistan is now an associate member of CERN, the world's largest and most prestigious center for science research. Large Hadron Collider at CERN Pakistan is the first Asian country and only the third in the world after Turkey and Serbia to be honored with CERN's associate membership. The status of associate member is a step before full membership. As an associate member, Pakistan  is entitled to attend open and restricted sessions of the organization. The CERN was founded in 1953 by 12 European nations including Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia. The organization was subsequently joined by Austria (1959), Spain (1961-1969, re-joined

10 Pakistani Universities Among Asia's Top 300

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QS World University Rankings 2014 announcement lists 10 Pakistani universities among  Asia's top 300 . South Asian institutions featuring on this list include 17 from India, 10 from Pakistan and 1 each from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The list is topped by Singapore with its National University at #1 and includes Singapore's Nanyang Technical University at #7. It is dominated by 58 universities from China (including 7 in Hong Kong and 1 in Macao), 50 from Japan, 47 from South Korea and 28 from Taiwan. Other nations represented with universities among top 300 in Asia are: Malaysia (17), Thailand (10), Indonesia (9), Philippines (5), Vietnam (3) and Brunei (1). Pakistani Universities Among Top 300 Asian Universities (Source: QS World Rankings) Pakistani universities on the list are: Pakistan Inst of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) at  106,  Aga Khan University (AKU) at 116,  Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU)at 123 National University of Sciences and Trechnology (NUS

Pakistan-Made Soccer Ball Design For FIFA World Cup 2014

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Pakistan is manufacturing and supplying footballs for use in all 64 matches of the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. In addition, most European football leagues have place huge orders to buy Brazuca balls designed by Adidas and made in Pakistan. Brazuca Ball Source: BBC  Brazuca football is made from six identical propeller shaped polyurethane pieces glued to a rubber bladder and thermally  bonded together. It weighs 437 grams and measures 69 cm in circumference. Pakistan produces the high-quality polyurethane used in manufacturing Brazuca football panels. Brazuca is quite different from the traditional soccer balls which have historically been made of leather pieces stitched together in Sialkot, Pakistan. Polyurethane balls are water-resistant and maintain their shape much better than the leather balls under a variety of conditions in terms of temperature, pressure and humidity. Leather balls have a problem specially  if they soak up the water when it rains during play. Pakistan was cho

World Bank Revises Pakistan Poverty Rate Sharply Down

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Oops! The World Bank made a big mistake. The number of Pakistanis living below the 2005 $1.25 poverty line (set at $1.44 for 2011) is 4.8 million, less than one-seventh of the 35.1 million reported earlier.  It is a huge drop from about 20% of the population to 3% of the population living below the international poverty line. World Bank's Revised Poverty Estimates (Source: CGD) Poverty rates for many other nations, including India and Bangladesh,  have also seen dramatic downward revisions. As a result, India now has 102 million poor, just slightly above China's 99 million. In fact, the new report has cut the world poverty rate in half from 19.7% to 8.9%. Reduction from 21% to 3% for Pakistan poverty is much sharper than the rest of the world because ICP 2011 found it to be the second cheapest in the world. The revision became necessary after the World Bank's International Comparison Program (ICP) completed a detailed study of a list of around 800 household and non

Pakistan Facing Another Lost Decade Like 1990s?

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Meager 4.1% GDP growth reported by Pakistan for 2013-14 caps sixth consecutive year of disappointing economic performance under "democratic" governments in the country. This slow growth brings back bitter memories of the last  lost decade of 1990s  when economic growth plummeted to between 3% and 4%, poverty rose to 33%, inflation was in double digits and the foreign debt mounted to nearly the entire GDP of Pakistan as the governments of Benazir Bhutto (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif (PMLN) played musical chairs. Pakistan GDP Growth Rates Since 1993. Source: World Bank Economy in 1990s: Before the current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted by General Pervez Musharraf  in 1999, Pakistan's two main political parties had presided over a decade of corruption and mismanagement. In 1999 Pakistan’s economy was the slowest in South Asia while its total public debt as percentage of GDP was the highest in the region– 99.3 percent of its GDP and 629 percent of its revenue receipts, compa