LAHORE: The Punjab government has regulated the cement sector and issued 22 no-objection certificates (NOCs) for the setting up of new cement factories while ensuring that no more unit is established in the areas declared “negative”. A study earlier conducted declared areas around Kallar Kahar as “negative” for the setting up of cement factories as the underground water had fast …

KARACHI: The government expects higher economic growth in the current fiscal year (FY22) though the private sector seems to have slowed down its activities as reflected from its bank borrowing and debt retirement, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported for the current week. The private sector — which is the backbone of the economy — has been retiring debts …

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank’s decision to discontinue ‘Doing Business Report’ has irked Pakistan which was confident that the country would make a big jump in the next report to improve the current ranking of 108th to 75th position this year. During the last two years, Pakistan advanced 39 places to secure 108th place on the ease of doing business global …

Prime Minister Imran Khan said he believed US President Joe Biden was targeted with “unfair criticism” over troops withdrawal from Afghanistan, terming his decision to pull out troops “the most sensible thing to do.” In an interview with Russian broadcaster RT, the premier referred to former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country and the army surrendering a week before departure of foreign forces. “How …

ALGIERS: Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who ruled Algeria for two decades before resigning in 2019 as huge protests engulfed the country, has died aged 84, public television announced. The former strongman had left office in April 2019 under pressure from the military, following weeks of demonstrations over his bid to run for a fifth term in office. After quitting, he had stayed …

RED FIR: Firefighters battling to protect the world’s biggest tree from wildfires ravaging the parched United States said on Friday they are optimistic it can be saved. Flames are creeping closer to the majestic General Sherman and other giant sequoias, as man-made climate change worsens California’s fearsome fire season. “We have hundreds of firefighters there giving it their all, giving …

PARIS: France on Friday recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in a ferocious row over the scrapping of a submarine contract, an unprecedented step that revealed the extent of French anger against its allies. President Emmanuel Macron recalled the envoys after Canberra ditched a deal to buy French submarines in favour of US vessels, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves …

World leaders are returning to the United Nations in New York this week with a focus on boosting efforts to fight both climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, which last year forced them to send video statements for the annual gathering. As the coronavirus still rages amid an inequitable vaccine rollout, about a third of the 193 UN states are …

WASHINGTON: Sheh­r­yar Khan Afridi, chairman of the Parliamentary Com­mittee on Kashmir, was stopped briefly at New York’s JFK Airport for screening but was later allowed to enter the United States, said an official statement released on Saturday. Mr Afridi arrived in New York via flight QR-0701 (Qatar Airlines) at 3:15pm on Sept 15. JFK sources claimed that Mr Afridi was …

LAHORE: In a brash act of what appears to be exhibitionism, a young man stripped himself in front of a woman outside her home in Gulshan-i-Ravi area and fled the scene. The despicable act by the man, who had apparently been stalking the woman on a bike, was recorded by a closed-circuit TV (CCTV) camera. But, because of the poor …