ISLAMABAD: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has announced the construction of 1,000 houses for families displaced by the 2022 floods in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and eastern Punjab provinces, aiming to “rebuild communities and foster resilience” across the South Asian nation, a statement said on Wednesday.
The Saudi charity organization, with one of the largest humanitarian budgets available to any aid agency worldwide, has undertaken a wide variety of projects in more than 80 countries.
Pakistan is the fifth largest beneficiary of its aid and humanitarian activities and has received significant assistance, particularly following the 2022 monsoon floods, during which unusually heavy rains triggered flash floods, killing over 1,700 people and causing economic losses of around $30 billion.
The agreement for construction was finalized between Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and KSrelief earlier in October when officials from both sides signed the Cooperation Programs. Of the 1,000 houses, 590 will be built in KP’s Dera Ismail Khan and 410 in Punjab’s Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan.
“KSrelief has announced a major initiative to build 1,000 permanent houses for families in KP and Punjab who were displaced by the devastating 2022 floods,” the charity organization said in a statement. “This project is part of a broader series of public facilitation initiatives announced by KSrelief.”
All the houses will include two rooms, a kitchen and a washroom, with the aim of providing “safe and permanent” housing for around 7,000 people in the flood-hit regions of KP and Punjab.
The statement emphasized that KSrelief’s initiative will support the “recovery process” while enhancing the long-term well-being of affected communities.
Earlier this year in July, heavy monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in KP and Punjab, resulting in nearly 250 deaths.
Pakistan is recognized as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. This year, the country recorded its “wettest April since 1961,” with 59.3 millimeters of rainfall, while some regions faced a deadly heat wave in May and June.
KSrelief to construct 1,000 houses for flood-hit families of Pakistan
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KSrelief to construct 1,000 houses for flood-hit families of Pakistan
- 590 homes will be built in northwest KP while 410 in eastern Punjab provinces
- 2022 floods killed over 1,700 people and caused a loss of around $30 billion
Pakistan says ‘about time’ concrete steps are taken to operationalize loss and damage fund
- Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb attends Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group meeting in United States
- Fund compensates developing countries for losses and damages due to natural disasters triggered by climate change
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb this week urged the international community to take “concrete steps” to ensure the climate loss and damage fund is operationalized, warning that countries were falling into debt traps due to natural disasters.
Pakistan joined hands with other developing nations in 2022 at a major climate conference, COP27, in Egypt, to call for the Loss and Damage Fund to mitigate the impacts of climate-induced disasters. While the fund was set up, developing and developed countries have been at odds over questions on which entity should oversee the fund, who should pay and which countries would be eligible to receive funding.
Pakistan’s efforts followed the disastrous floods of 2022 in which over 1,700 people were killed and critical infrastructure was damaged, costing Islamabad over $30 billion after unusually heavy monsoon rains wreaked havoc in the country.
“Loss & damage fund was discussed but it is about time concrete steps are taken to operationalize it,” Aurangzeb was quoted as saying by the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF).
The Pakistani minister was speaking during a meeting of the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group, which comprises the finance ministers of the CVF, a dedicated cooperation initiative by economies vulnerable to climate change. The V20 works through dialogue and action to tackle global climate change.
Pakistan has repeatedly urged the international community to ensure a fair deal in assisting developing countries such as itself in coping with the adverse impacts of climate change, warning that loans for this purpose were debt traps or “death traps.”
“There is an urgent need to reform global finance to make debt work for climate,” Aurangzeb noted. “Countries may be getting into a climate debt trap.”
The finance minister announced Pakistan was developing its Climate Prosperity Plan, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said, without sharing its details.
Aurangzeb is in the United States to attend the annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings from Oct. 21-26. Leading the Pakistani delegation, he has met counterparts from several countries and senior IMF officials, briefing them about Pakistan’s macroeconomic reforms related to energy, tax and state-owned enterprises.
Ben Stokes forecasts spin battle in Pakistan-England decider
- England captain says the longer the game goes, the more spin will come into play
- Pakistan won the second Test in Multan by 152 runs by relying on spin bowlers
RAWALPINDI: England captain Ben Stokes believes the series-deciding third Test against Pakistan starting Thursday will boil down to a spin battle on a Rawalpindi pitch likely to favor slow bowlers.
England piled up 823-7 to thrash Pakistan by an innings on a lifeless Multan pitch in the first Test, before the hosts bounced back with a 152-run win on a recycled and turning Multan track.
For the deciding match, Pakistan have kept the same combination of three frontline spinners in Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mahmood, with just one fast bowler in Aamer Jamal.
Pakistan have used industrial fans and heaters to dry the Rawalpindi pitch, hoping to replicate their spin-led success in Multan which ended a drought of home wins stretching back to 2021.
Stokes said his three spinners in Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir and the recalled Rehan Ahmed were equal to the challenge.
“I’ll be backing the three spinners that we’ve picked,” Stokes told reporters after a training session on the eve of the third and final Test.
“We don’t know exactly how the wicket will play, but we’ve taken as much information from it as we can.
“We think the longer the game goes, the more spin will come into play.”
Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie, the former Australia fast bowler, also expects the near-bald pitch “to favor the slower bowlers.”
The toss could be crucial, with both teams looking to bat first and maximize the impact of their spinners on a deteriorating pitch.
Pakistan have performed poorly in all formats in the past year, losing 2-0 in a home Test series to Bangladesh and crashing out of the ODI and Twenty20 World Cups in the first rounds.
A series victory over England would mark a stark change in fortunes.
“Over the last few years Pakistan’s Test cricket hasn’t been where we’d like it to be, so any win is a positive,” he said.
Cross-border couple marries online, appeals for travel permit, as Pakistani bride denied Indian visa
Cross-border couple marries online, appeals for travel permit, as Pakistani bride denied Indian visa
- Strained relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals have made it difficult for their people to get visas
- Mohammad Abbas Haider from India and Syeda Andleeb Zaidi from Pakistan faced the same issue
KARACHI: A cross-border couple from India and Pakistan was forced to hold their marriage ceremony online last week after the bride’s visa was denied by authorities in New Delhi, with the newlyweds saying on Tuesday they hoped Indian authorities would grant her travel permission so they can begin their life together.
Mohammad Abbas Haider from Jaunpur, India, and Syeda Andleeb Zahra Zaidi from Lahore, Pakistan, have known each other since childhood, as their families have been closely connected.
The couple’s wedding, originally set for October 18 in India, was disrupted when Zaidi’s visa application was rejected, highlighting the challenges faced by families separated across borders.
“This has been an emotional and difficult experience for us, as we had hoped to celebrate this special moment side by side,” Zaidi told Arab News over the phone. “We request Indian authorities to grant the visa so we can finally be together.”
The couple’s story highlights the challenges faced by residents of the two neighboring countries seeking visas to meet family members, mostly separated during the 1947 partition, or for work-related or tourism purposes.
Strained relations between the two nuclear-armed states, downgraded after India’s decision in October 2019 to withdraw special rights for Indian-administered Kashmir, have led to stricter security measures and bureaucratic hurdles, complicating the visa process.
“The current sponsorship requirements are a barrier for ordinary people,” Haider, the groom, said in a conversation with Arab News, urging both governments to simplify visa procedures.
He added that his wife’s mother was his aunt, who had migrated to Pakistan in 1986 after marrying Syed Ali Zaidi, a resident of Lahore. They had visited India regularly until 2020 before visa complications arose.
“When we decided it was time to get married, they applied for a visa but encountered difficulties,” he said.
Haider explained their marriage had been arranged by their grandparents long ago.
“It’s not just about marriages,” he added, emphasizing that inter-country unions and easier movement could foster greater understanding.
“The false narrative that portrays enmity between our nations overlooks the fact that people live in both places and love and kindness are shared similarly,” he continued.
“When people from one country come to the other, they receive love in return,” he added, urging simplification of visa procedures and documentation requirements.
Haider described their nikkah, the Islamic marriage contract formalizing the union under Sharia law, saying it was initially planned as a large event but turned out to be a simple ceremony attended by close relatives.
“Insha’Allah [God willing], when my wife arrives here in India, we will hold a grand celebration,” he said, hoping the issue will attract the attention of higher authorities and push them to issue visas to the bride and her family.
Zaidi, meanwhile, shared this sentiment, expressing her eagerness to visit India with her family to complete their marriage rituals.
“It would mean the world to us to finally be together and complete this important chapter in our lives,” she said.
Pakistan court grants bail to Imran Khan’s wife in state repository case
- Bushra Bibi faced the allegation of illegally retaining an expensive jewelry set from a state repository
- PTI says there are no other charges against her, though trial court judges are not there to sign her release
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday approved bail for former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, in a case involving allegations of illegally retaining a jewelry set from a state repository, though it remains unclear if she will be released from prison.
Both Khan and his wife, currently in jail, face numerous charges, including the illegal sale of gifts worth more than Rs140 million ($501,000) during his 2018-2022 premiership from a state repository known locally as the “Toshakhana.”
Bibi’s bail has been approved in another case, referred to as the new Toshakhana reference, which relates to the possession of a jewelry set comprising a ring, bracelet, necklace and earrings gifted to the former first lady by a foreign dignitary. The couple allegedly undervalued the set and retained it at a lower price.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said there were no other charges against her, expressing hope for her release after a single-member IHC bench headed by Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb granted her bail and approved it against a surety bond of Rs1 million ($3,600).
“For detailed reasons to be recorded, the instant petition is accepted and the petitioner is admitted to post-arrest bail subjecting to her furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs1,000,000 with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court,” Justice Aurangzeb stated on Wednesday.
Khan and his wife secured a district and sessions court order for immediate release in July after it accepted their appeals in another case challenging a ruling that they had violated the country’s marriage law.
The couple had been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined in February by a court that ruled their 2018 marriage violated the law. Bibi was accused of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, known as “Iddat,” after divorcing her previous husband and marrying Khan.
At that time, two of Khan’s convictions had been suspended by the court, and he had been acquitted in a third case, leaving the Iddat case as the only one keeping him in prison.
However, just hours after the local court’s verdict in their favor, the new Toshakhana case was filed by Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau, and the former prime minister and his wife were re-arrested, ruling out the possibility of their release from jail.
Following the IHC’s order on Wednesday, the PTI announced that trial court judges were unavailable to sign Bibi’s release order, adding that both judges were apparently taking the day off.
Khan’s convictions disqualified him from the February 8 general elections, as convicted individuals cannot run for public office under Pakistani law.
Arguably the country’s most popular politician, he claims that all cases against him are politically motivated to prevent his return to politics.
Pakistan’s finance chief discusses trade, investment with Saudi counterpart in Washington
- Saudi minister shares kingdom’s energy sector reform experience with Muhammad Aurangzeb
- The officials from both countries agreed to advance cooperation in areas of mutual interest
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday discussed trade and investment with his Saudi counterpart, Mohammed Aljadaan, during a meeting in the United States, according to an official statement.
The Pakistani minister is currently in Washington, DC, attending the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where other global finance leaders have also gathered.
Last month, the IMF approved a fresh $7 billion bailout package for Pakistan after recognizing the government’s efforts to implement stringent economic reforms, saying they had contributed to gradual financial stability.
Saudi Arabia, along with other friendly nations such as China and the United Arab Emirates, played a key role in helping Pakistan secure the new IMF loan, which the Islamabad administration deemed essential for further macroeconomic stability.
“Finance Minister, Mr. Muhammad Aurangzeb, met with his Saudi counterpart, H.E. Mohammed Aljadaan, on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Washington DC,” the Finance Division announced. “Appreciating the historical, fraternal bonds between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the two Ministers resolved to further deepen mutually beneficial economic ties, enhance bilateral trade, and facilitate investments in key sectors.”
“The Saudi Minister also shared his experience of reforms in the energy sector,” the statement continued. “Both sides agreed to advance cooperation in areas of mutual interest.”
Pakistan has actively sought to attract foreign investment while aiming to boost trade with its allies.
In 2023, the government established the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a civil-military hybrid body designed to streamline and facilitate foreign business operations, particularly targeting investment from Gulf states.
Alongside these efforts, Pakistan has expressed interest in exporting a larger pool of human resources to the region, enhancing its workforce contribution to the Gulf economies.
Additionally, the country is keen on developing partnerships across various economic sectors, including infrastructure, energy, mining and agriculture, to promote sustainable growth and economic cooperation with its allies.
