ISLAMABAD: A senior member of the Prime Minister’s Office has approached the Federal Ombudsman over the ‘extreme injustice’ of out of turn allotment of second residential plots in the federal capital to a selected few in the bureaucracy in a non-transparent and unjust manner. The...

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan’s GDP is going to contract by 1.6 percent in the ongoing fiscal 2019-20 and will grow to 2.9 percent in the next financial year 2020-21 and the loans from IMF and other multilateral and bilateral donors will help to ease...

RAWALPINDI: US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad Friday called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa here on Friday.During the meeting, issues of mutual interest and overall regional security situation, including Afghan reconciliation process, came under...

BEIJING: China said on Friday it supports a World Health Organisation-led review into the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, but “after the pandemic is over”.The comments from foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying came as China has faced increasing global pressure in...

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said Pakistan’s support towards Afghan peace is a manifestation of “our goodwill to the cause” in a meeting with US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.According to a press release issued by the...

FRANKFURT: An Indian national will stand trial in Germany accused of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities for New Delhi’s spy agency, a court said on Friday.Federal prosecutors allege the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Balvir, has been working with the Indian foreign intelligence...

There is one sector that contributes up to a third of gross domestic product, and is an important source of foreign currency, in many of Asia’s developing countries. It could be deployed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Skills training, civic engagement and youth forums will help young people become active players in society’s shared efforts to grow and improve.

The graduation approach provides a sequenced intervention designed to overcome multiple barriers that prevent the extreme poor from breaking out of poverty.

There’s one big element missing before we can create a truly transparent, seamless and open international trading framework.

‘Build back better’ is often easier said than done after a disaster, but one example from the People’s Republic of China shows that it can be done well. 

Health and safety on the jobsite involves more than simply enforcing rules and regulations. A culture of prevention, as well as innovative digital solutions, are needed to keep workers alive and healthy.

Central banks have powerful tools to affect national economies but they are being challenged by innovative financial practices

A landmark international agreement designed to eliminate violence and harassment in the workplace has been passed. Now comes the hard part.

Countries around the world are taking an integrated approach to address the complexities of poverty. 

For quality evaluations of international development projects and programs to lead to better results, they need to be influential.

Infrastructure has a critical role in narrowing gender gaps and accelerating the advancement of women and girls. If women are given a say in infrastructure design and investment, projects can become more effective enablers of their growth.

Data-driven decision making can be a powerful tool in the world of international development but it requires careful planning and management. 

Work done within the home, including caring for children, is extremely important to society but undervalued and poorly tracked. 

The over-use of acronyms turns the joy of reading into a tedious process of decoding. It also muddles the message of development communications.

After a disappointing 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, there is a need to restore confidence that the intergovernmental process can deliver on mitigation, adaptation, and finance.

Governments in the region need to invest more in prevention and response to the long-term impacts of disaster displacement.

To offset the declining benefits of manufacturing, governments must increase the productivity of the services sector. This will boost growth and offer employment opportunities.

Asia and the Pacific is not where it needs to be to meet the Sustainable Development Goals but there remains a decade to make up for lost time.

With key reforms, Pacific states could move toward cleaner, more affordable sources of energy that eventually eliminate fossil fuels completely.

Girls and women today have far more opportunities and role models than their mothers and grandmothers, but there is much more to be done.

Universal health coverage must be high quality to improve patients’ health outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic could be an opportunity to take a more holistic approach to health and well-being, invest in health systems and in resilient supply chains.

Pacific nations, led by the smallest and least well-off, moved decisively to restrict travel from a fast-growing list of COVID-19 affected countries.

The Asia Pacific region is standing together to cooperate regionally to address the transnational threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the impacts of the pandemic on food and nutrition being felt around the region, planning is needed to avoid higher food prices, decreased nutrition and reduced food security. 

In the fragile energy scenario of small Pacific islands, contingency plans are crucial to keep the lights on during a crisis.

The pandemic demonstrates that disasters are triggered by multidimensional risks and hazards, and that a country’s approach to urban resilience needs to be multifaceted.

With timely and well-targeted programs, policy makers can prevent the health crisis from deepening into a wider economic and financial crisis. This could sow the seeds of economic recovery.  

The pandemic is producing more household waste and increased amounts of dangerous medical waste. We need to manage these changes for our immediate safety and for the long-term welfare of our communities.

The Asia-Pacific region has the expertise and resources to take a leadership role in not only developing a COVID-19 vaccine but distributing it to those who need it most.

Bold action is required by policymakers and central bankers to keep the region’s economies afloat and contain the pandemic.

Директивным органам и центральным банкам необходимо предпринять смелые действия для поддержания экономики региона на плаву и сдерживания пандемии.

Like other sci-fi before it, it imagined the present year as a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Despite the global outcry against animal sacrifice in Nepal, the tradition persists.

A California appeals court on Tuesday overturned most of a 2017 jury verdict awarding Quincy Jones $9.4 million in royalties and fees from the Michael Jackson estate over the use of Jones-produced Jackson hits in the concert film "This Is It" and two Cirque du Soleil shows.The state's 2nd District C...

The United States is rallying support to back Taiwan's observer status in the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, leading into its annual meeting May 17-21."Today, I want to call on all nations, including those in Europe, to support Taiwan's participatio...

A meme based on an image from a video clip of Lisa, a member of K-pop girl group Black Pink, has gone viral among global celebrities on Twitter. Lisa uploaded the 1 minute, 20 second video, which shows her performing a sexy dance routine, on her personal YouTube channel on April 20. Hollywood celebr...

Domestic air passenger numbers bounced back to over 100,000 last weekend for the first time in 10 weeks amid signs that the coronavirus epidemic is easing. Many Koreans chose the long weekend to travel to Jeju and other destinations in the south.According to the Korea Civil Aviation Association on W...

Actress Choi Ji-woo posted a handwritten letter with a photo of herself showing her "baby bump" on her fan site on Thursday. "I now have 15 days left before my baby's due date. I took a selfie in front of my house. As I got pregnant at a late age and am preparing for delivery amid the coronavirus ep...

Japan has fast-tracked the approval of the anti-viral drug remdesivir to be used to treat COVID-19 patients in that country.Speaking to reporters Friday in Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga confirmed the rare fast-track, four-day approval of remdesivir by the Ministry of Health,...

Surrounded by the White River National Forest, the 11,600-acre Seven Lakes Ranch located in the Meeker Valley is up for sale three years removed from extensive renovations.

Rawalpindi : The Public Facilitation Centre of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board , during the last seven days, received 163 complaints regarding electricity, water supply and sanitation problems in the cantonment areas and resolved 90 of them.According to RCB spokesman, Qaiser Mehmood, the RCB’s...

Islamabad : It has been rather unfortunate that despite a huge relief package of Rs50 billion for Utility Stores Corporation and a cut in POL products by almost 31 rupees in a month by the federal government, its impact has not trickled down to the grassroots level, as the general public is still...

Islamabad : Iran, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines have the most cases of COVID-19 and related deaths in the Asia Pacific region.The COVID-19 situation of Asia Pacific was highlighted in the Second COVID-19 Situation Report Asia Pacific released by United Nations Population...