News Desk

7,031 houses rebuilt in Balochistan under $161m WB flood recovery project

ISLAMABAD, Oct 12 (APP): Pakistan has fast-tracked post-flood reconstruction in Balochistan under the World Bank-funded Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation Project (IFRAP), completing 7,031 new houses for affected families and targeting another 3,000 units in October 2025. The US$161 million component titled “Resilient Housing Reconstruction and Restoration” is the largest part of IFRAP and is…

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Govt mulls new licensing policy to regulate bilateral business chambers

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (APP): The government is preparing a new licensing policy to regulate bilateral business chambers to ensure transparency, credibility and stronger reciprocal trade partnerships with foreign countries. The Ministry of Commerce, in collaboration with the Directorate General of Trade Organisations (DGTO), is developing a proposed framework, which sets out enhanced eligibility, financial, and…

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Pakistan launches project to upgrade early flood warning system

ISLAMABAD, Oct 07 (APP): The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has launched an initiative to upgrade the country’s early flood warning and weather forecasting network. The initiative titled “Modernization of Hydromet Services of Pakistan (MHSP)” has been launched under the World Bank-funded Integrated Flood Resilience Adaptation Project (IFRAP), said a press release. The project aims to…

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Punjab Forest Department moves to boost silk output, cut Rs 112billion imports

LAHORE, Oct 5 (APP): The Punjab Forest Department is taking steps to revive and strengthen the province’s declining sericulture sector with the aim of boosting local silk output and reducing the country’s heavy dependence on imported silk worth Rs112 billion annually. Sericulture has been practiced for decades in Punjab’s rural areas, providing a vital source…

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250,000 BISP beneficiaries to get training in digital finance skills

ISLAMABAD, Oct 4 (APP): The government will train 250,000 Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) beneficiaries in digital finance skills as it prepares to launch a new interoperable digital payment model by June 2026. Official documents exclusively available with Wealth Pakistan say the initiative aims to make social protection payments more flexible, transparent, and accessible for…

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PIDCL assigned Rs 37 billion infrastructure projects in KP, Sindh

ISLAMABAD, Oct 3 (APP): The federal government has assigned a broad portfolio of around Rs 37.42 billion infrastructure projects to Pakistan Infrastructure Development Company Limited (PIDCL) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Sindh. According to documents available with Wealth Pakistan, seven new PSDP schemes worth Rs 1.768 billion have been assigned to the company in KPK….

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Commercial cultivation of Pakistan’s first hybrid cotton variety likely in 2029

LAHORE, Oct 02 (APP): Pakistani and Chinese agricultural scientists have conducted successful trials of Pakistan’s first-ever hybrid cotton seed variety, whose commercial cultivation is expected to begin in 2029. “This all depends on the existing seed approval system,” Shahzad Ali Malik, Chief Executive Officer of Guard Agricultural Research and Services Limited and Chairman of the…

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