ISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (FD):  Transparency International ranked Pakistan at 140 out of 180 countries in the newly released Corruption Perceptions Index, an annual index that ranks countries based on perceptions of public sector corruption. On a scale of 0-100, with zero being ‘Highly Corrupt’ and 100 being ‘Very Clean’, the South Asian country’s corruption score stands at 28 — …

  ISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (FD):  The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday reduced electricity price by Rs2.31 per unit on account of fuel cost adjustments (FCAs) for December 2022. Nepra Chairman Tauseef H. Farooqui announced the decision on an application filed by the Central Power Purchasing Authority (CPPA), seeking a decrease of Rs2.20 per unit. A representative of …

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 30 (INP)-“The opening of China’s tourism is a very positive sign for Pakistan. Pakistan has made extensive preparations to welcome Chinese visitors,” said Aftab ur Rehman Rana, Managing Director of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, Gwadar Pro reported it on Monday. From January 8, 2023, China resumed outbound tourism after downgrading COVID-19 management measures from Class A to B. …

  DUBAI, Jan 29 (AFP):  Climate talks in the United Arab Emirates this year should focus on action rather than visions, former United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to the oil-rich Gulf country. “Many countries and many people have already presented the visions, so we may not need any more,” he told AFP in Dubai on Saturday. “We need …

  ISLAMABAD, Jan 29 (FD): Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced an increase in petrol and diesel prices by Rs35 per litre effective as of 11 am on Sunday. The minister made the announcement in a brief televised address to the nation today and maintained that Kerosene oil and light diesel oil prices were jacked up by Rs18 per litre. ejecting …

  The PTI announced on Sunday that it would take part in the by-elections on 33 National Assembly seats, adding that party chairman Imran Khan would contest for all the seats up for grabs. Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the party’s core committee in Lahore, PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said: “There was a long discussion and …

  At least 41 people were killed after a passenger coach fell into a ravine in Balochistan’s Lasbela on Sunday morning, according to officials. Lasbela Assistant Commissioner Hamza Anjum, while confirming the incident, told Dawn.com that the vehicle, with nearly 48 passengers on board, was travelling from Quetta to Karachi. “Due to speeding, the coach crashed into the pillar of a bridge …

  GENEVA, Jan 29 (AFP): The World Health Organisation’s emergency committee on COVID-19 was meeting Friday to discuss whether the pandemic still merits the highest level of global alert. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus suggested the emergency phase of the pandemic is not over, pointing to surging numbers of deaths and warning that the global response to the crisis “remains hobbled”. …

  MULTAN, Pakistan, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) — On a fine January morning, Muhammad Sajjad was all smiles after seeing thriving saplings of the Chinese sweet chili at a nursery in a remote farming land of Pakistan’s eastern city of Multan. “These saplings are very close to my heart; in their blossom, I can see the future of Pakistan’s agriculture industry, …

  ISLAMABAD: Jan 27 (INP):  A delegation of nine Pakistani students accompanied by a supervisor will be visiting Japan from February 1 to February 7, 2023 on the invitation by the Government of Japan under the Japan-SAARC Network Program of People–to-People Exchange known as JENESYS. The students’ delegation comprises of five undergraduate students from COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad campus and four …