Pakistan

Islamabad, Sep 27 (PTI) The catastrophic floods that hit Pakistan has caused the country a whopping USD 28 billion in damages and it might take 2 to 10 years for the long-term construction of the areas affected by the unprecedented calamity, the media reported on Tuesday, quoting a revised estimate.

Islamabad, Sep 27 (PTI) Ishaq Dar, the former finance minister of Pakistan who is once again set to take charge as the new financial czar, has vowed to take the cash-strapped country out of the economic vortex, the media reported on Tuesday.

The senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday returned to Pakistan from London with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who following a meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, announced the appointment of 72-year-old Dar as the incoming finance minister.

ISLAMABAD, Sep 26 (APP): One each relief assistance flight from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Turkiye on Monday landed at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.

A total of 9 such flights carrying relief goods for the flood affectees of Pakistan had arrived from KSA, Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press release.

While, one relief assistance flight from Turkiye was also received at Jinnah International airport, Karachi.

It was 14th flight from Turkiye, carrying relief goods for the people affected by unprecedented floods in Pakistan.

NEW DELHI, Sept 26 (NNN-Bernama) — Six soldiers, including two majors, were killed in a Pakistani military helicopter crash in the province of Balochistan on Sunday night.

The helicopter crashed during a flying mission in the Harnai area, the military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Monday.

“All 6 personnel on board including 2 pilots have embraced shahadat (martyrdom),” the ISPR said.

This is the second army helicopter crash in Balochistan in less than two months.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The World Bank said it will provide about $2 billion in aid to Pakistan, ravaged by floods that have killed more than 1,600 people this year, the largest pledge of assistance so far.

Unprecedented monsoon rains and flooding this year — which many experts attribute to climate change — have also injured some 13,000 people across the country since mid-June. The floods have displaced millions and destroyed crops, half a million homes and thousands of kilometers (miles) of roads.

ISLAMABAD, Sep 23 (APP): Pakistan earned US $199.100 million by providing different Information Technology (IT) services in various countries during the first month of current fiscal year 2022-23.

This shows growth of 1.58 percent as compared with US $ 195.996 million earned through provision of services during the corresponding period of last fiscal year 2021-22, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

During the month under review, the computer services grew by 5.77 percent as it surged from US $150.456 million last year to US $159.140 million during July 2022.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan deployed thousands more doctors and medics to battle the outbreak of disease as the death toll from the unprecedented floods that have gripped the country this summer surpassed 1,600 on Friday, officials said.

The disaster management agency said 10 more people had died from the floods in the past 24 hours — four in Sindh, the worst-hit province in the deluge, and six in Baluchistan province — bringing the overall number of fatalities to 1,606 across Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, Sep 22 (APP): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday expressed his gratitude to the United States President Joe Biden for highlighting the need for urgent action in the wake of massive floods in Pakistan.

“Thank you President Joe Biden for highlighting the plight of the flood victims in Pakistan and urging the world for an immediate response, as my country is facing the ravages of unprecedented floods,” he posted on his Twitter handle.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An explosion in Afghanistan’s capital has killed at least three people and wounded 13 others, a Taliban official said on Wednesday.

According to Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police chief, the blast occurred in a restaurant in the city’s western Dehmazang neighborhood. A team has arrived in the area to find out the cause of the blast, he added.

Police did not say if the blast was an accident or the result of an attack. Afghan cities are sometimes the target of the local Islamic State group affiliate.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Devastating floods in Pakistan’s worst-hit province have killed 17 more people in the past 48 hours, including nine children, officials said Wednesday as the U.N. children’s agency renewed its appeal for $39 million to help the most vulnerable flood victims.