The Global Social Network
Large numbers of Pakistanis headed north for respite from summer heat during Eid ul Fitr holidays last week. Tens of thousands went to Swat using the newly built Swat Expressway while others chose even cooler temperatures in the heights of the Karakoram mountain via the improved Karakoram Highway.
Karakoram Highway |
Fairy Meadows near Nanga Parbat in Gilgit Baltistan |
Swat Expressway |
Karakoram Highway (KKH) |
Hazara Motorway in Abbottabad, Pakistan |
Hazara Motorway M15 Connecting M1 Motorway With Abbottabad & Mansehra in KP |
Hazara Motorway M15 Connecting M1 Motorway With Abbottabad & Mansehra in KP |
Economic Contribution of Pakistan Tourism. Source: WTTC |
Courtesy: Nikkei Asian Review |
Malam Jabba Ski Resort in Swat Valley |
Pakistan Tourism Promotion in Jakarata, Indonesia |
Pakistan Brand Promotion on London Buses |
Hilton Signs Agreement for DoubleTree by Hilton Nathiagali, Pakistan
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the signing of an agreement with Baron Nathiagali (Pvt) Limited to open the upscale DoubleTree by Hilton Nathiagali. Located in the picturesque Galiyat mountain resort town of Nathiagali and approximately 85 kilometres from Islamabad, the new-build hotel is expected to open in 2025.
The property will benefit from spectacular views across the Galiyat mountain range and will feature three dining outlets including a pool café, an on-site shop as well a temperature-controlled swimming pool, spa and fitness facilities. The property will bask in natural daylight with floor-to-ceiling windows and an impressive central courtyard area. Many of the 111-guestrooms will feature private balconies. It will be equipped with three state-of-the-art meeting rooms, two 300 square metre ballrooms and an events lawn, perfect for weddings and large gatherings.
Mumtaz Muslim, owner and investor, said: "We look forward to working with Hilton to bring the renowned DoubleTree by Hilton brand to Nathiagali. We are confident the hotel will become a top choice for travellers to the resort town, raising the bar for hospitality in Nathiagali and providing opportunity for local people as well as a wonderful leisure option for guests."
The hotel will be located approximately 70 kilometres from New Islamabad International Airport, the largest airport in Pakistan. Hilton recently announced its re-entry into Pakistan with the signing of an agreement to open a DoubleTree by Hilton in Islamabad - adding to a global portfolio of more than 600 DoubleTree by Hilton hotels across 48 countries - including destinations such as Dubai, Riyadh and Istanbul.
Tourism Expressway project to be completed in 2 years
https://nation.com.pk/20-Sep-2021/tourism-expressway-project-to-be-...
According to Chairman Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Tariq Mehmood Murtaza, surveys and study of the project had been completed. The total cost of the project had been estimated as Rs4.5 billion and the first tranche of Rs1.5 billion had been released, he informed.
The road would be an alternative route from Rawalpindi to Murree for tourists and to reach new tourist destinations that would pass through four tehsils of Rawalpindi district. 123 kilometers long existing 12 to 13 feet wide road would be reconstructed and widened further up to 24 feet under the Tourism Highway project.
It’s a public sector development project and approved by the PM Imran Khan to promote tourism in the region and the project to be executed by Communication and Works Department, Punjab, he added.
He informed that the federal government had released Rs1.5 billion for the construction of 123km long tourism expressway from Rawat Pandori Chowk to the four hilly tehsils of Rawalpindi – Kahuta, Kotli Sattian, Kalar Syedan and Murree.
He said construction work of the project would be started soon and the project would be completed in two years.
He said the expressway would be 24 feet wide and would pass through the dense forest of Panjar. This would be an alternative road from Rawalpindi to Muzaffarabad and pass through Kotli Sattian, Kahuta, Kallar Syedan and Murree.
He said the area on both sides of the expressway would have commercial buildings, plazas, factories, markets, hospitals and educational institutions while large parks would also be set up along the road. Tariq Murtaza told that they also had chalked out a plan to plant 300,000 fruit, flower and shade trees on both sides of the expressway.
He said 20,000 to 30,000 local traditional fruit trees of the Pothohar and Kohsar region would be planted along the expressway.
#Pakistan: 21 dead as heavy #snowfall traps drivers in their vehicles in #Murree. 1,000 vehicles trapped on a highway during a #blizzard. Over 100,000 cars had entered the small #winter resort town in recent days to see unusually heavy snowfall. #tourism https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59920215
At least 21 people have died after heavy snow trapped them in their vehicles in northern Pakistan.
The military is attempting to clear roads and rescue those still trapped near the hilltop town of Murree.
Around 1,000 vehicles were trapped on a highway during a blizzard, according to Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid.
Murree is a mountain resort town north of the capital Islamabad. Local media reported on Friday that tourists were getting stranded due to snow.
More than 100,000 cars had entered Murree in recent days to see the unusually heavy snowfall. This caused a huge traffic jam on roads leading in and out of the town, police said.
Police said at least six people had frozen to death in their cars, but it is not yet clear how others had died. Asphyxiation after inhaling fumes has been given as a possible reason.
The area has now been declared a disaster area and people have been urged to stay away.
"People are facing a terrible situation," Usman Abbasi, a tourist stuck in the town where heavy snow was still falling, told the AFP news agency by phone.
"It's not only the tourists, but the local population is also facing severe problems" including gas and water shortages, he added.
"For the first time in 15 to 20 years such large number of tourists flocked to Murree, which created a big crisis," Mr Rashid said in a video message.
Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed shock over the "tragic deaths" of the tourists.
"Have ordered inquiry and putting in place strong regulations to ensure prevention of such tragedies," Khan said in a tweet.
Murree was built by the British in the 19th century as a medical base for its colonial troops.
List of Motorways in Pakistan
https://www.incpak.com/info/motorways-in-pakistan/
For a long time we have known that improved transport accessibility leads to more opportunities and better lives.
ANDREW DABALENSHOMIK MEHNDIRATTA|JANUARY 24, 2022
https://blogs.worldbank.org/transport/knowledge-action-new-way-maxi...
Accessibility describes how easy (or difficult) it is for people to reach services and opportunities. When you look at the data, significant accessibility gaps persist around the world. Globally 51% of individuals living in low-income countries reside within an hour of a city compared to 91% of individuals in high-income countries. This limited access to urban centers hinders rural populations from accessing services and opportunities, including healthcare, education, jobs, and markets. Gender plays an important role as well: as these findings from Pakistan illustrate, women typically must cover greater distances to reach basic services. Even for people living in cities, accessibility may vary depending on the availability of public transport, the impact of traffic congestion.
Lack of access is systematically linked to inferior development outcomes, even more so if motorized transport is not available. The inability to travel to healthcare facilities, for instance, has been associated with increased mortality and morbidity from treatable conditions. Conversely, improved access is often synonymous with improved development outcomes. For example, women with access to roads in Pakistan are twice more likely (14% vs 28%) to go to pre-natal consultations. In rural Morocco, girls’ enrollment in primary schools increased from 17% to 54% when their access to roads improved.
Looking particularly at rural roads investments, the construction of a new road can lead to a chain of positive impacts. When a rural community gets connected to the road network, people who could not reach healthcare, schools, or other essential services before are suddenly able to do so. Workers can access more and better jobs. Farmers can sell their products in more distant markets. But these outcomes can only materialize if rural road projects are carefully planned and prioritized. Also, while investments in road networks are often a critical first step toward enhancing accessibility, they should be integrated into a broader investment package targeting social and technological development overall.
However, transforming this knowledge into action had been hard to operationalize. Lack of data regarding the transport network, opportunities, limited computing power to calculate travel times in large areas and lack of consistent framework had made it hard for us to take this academic research into an operational reality. We needed to understand exactly which transport projects will have the highest impact on accessibility? How would this accessibility transform into household welfare? And how do we create tools to inform planning and investment decisions?
To address these questions, the World Bank’s Transport and Poverty and Equity teams jointly developed a new framework that relies on high-resolution mapping and other sophisticated analytical tools to provide a more granular view of how rural road infrastructure can benefit communities.
We are now able to deploy all that knowledge into operational action, by developing an analytical framework that highlights spatial disparities in access to services and opportunities, calculates the expected gains in accessibility from investments into road infrastructure and thereby informs the placement of transport investments throughout the region.
Pakistan to Spend ‘Bare Minimum’ $6 Billion to Boost Growth
Targets 5% GDP growth next fiscal year to create new jobs
Finance chief sees this year’s fiscal deficit just above 7%
Video player cover image
WATCH: Pakistan's finance minister says the country plans to boost spending on large infrastructure projects by as much as 40% to create jobs.(Source: Bloomberg)
By Faseeh Mangi and Khalid Qayum
May 6, 2021, 8:37 AM PDTUpdated onMay 6, 2021, 9:46 PM PDT
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-06/pakistan-to-spen...
Pakistan plans to boost spending on large infrastructure projects by as much as 40% to create jobs and foster productivity in an economy crippled by the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said.
The federal government will earmark as much as 900 billion rupees ($6 billion) for development expenditure in the year beginning July, Tarin, who took office last month, said in an interview in Islamabad. The economy needs to expand by 5% next year, he said.
“That’s the bare minimum we need for a country this size,” said Tarin, who is due to present a new budget next month for the world’s fifth most-populous nation. “There are almost 110 million youth.”
Tarin, a former banker, was appointed last month as the fourth finance minister since Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government took power in 2018. He also served in the role between 2008 and 2010, helping the nation avoid default by securing a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. He comes into office as Pakistan faces a third wave of coronavirus cases, prompting authorities to order a week-long shutdown that may weigh on economic activity and hurt incomes.
Tarin’s plan will reverse his predecessor’s decision to lower spending to narrow the budget deficit, which he estimates to be a little above 7% of gross domestic product in the current fiscal year through June, against 8.1% in the previous year. Tarin said he expects the deficit in the next fiscal to be 1 or 1.5 percentage points lower.
While balancing the budget will be key for Pakistan’s current $6 billion loan program with the IMF, the new finance minister is negotiating with the organization for more wriggle room to support economic growth.
The government’s GDP target for next year is a percentage point higher than the IMF’s 4% projection, and Tarin is seeking to boost growth to 6% in the year after. The Washington-based lender sees the economy expanding 1.5% in the current fiscal period after a rare contraction last year.
“We need 2 million jobs every year,” he said. “If we do not go into growth mode, we will have a major crisis on the streets.”
The central bank, which has cut interest rates to a three-year low to support the economy, has been on pause mode for a while and has left some of the heavy lifting to the government.
“First we have to get more revenues,” Tarin said, adding that he’s targeting about 6 trillion rupees next year in tax authority revenue, compared with this year’s 4.75 trillion-rupee target. “Unless we get more revenues, forget about any incentives to boost the economy.”
Other comments from Tarin’s interview:
On talks with the IMF: “All we are saying is that we are just basically going to give them alternate ways of achieving the same objective” including revenue generation and reducing energy debt, adding that the aim is for this to be the last IMF bailout in Pakistan’s history
Plans to tap undrawn allocated funds from Asian Development Bank and World Bank that total $20 billion
Aims to increase tech exports to $8 billion in two years, from an estimated $2 billion this fiscal year, a sector he said that he aims to support
Nation plans to soon launch global sukuk bond
Travel & Tourism
Development Index 2021
Rebuilding for a Sustainable
and Resilient Future
Pakistan is most improved, moving up 6 places from 89th to 83rd.
India's ranking dropped 8 places from 46th to 54th.
As mentioned, Japan is the top performer in both
the APAC region and globally, with Australia (7th)
and Singapore (9th) ranking in the global top 10.
However, it is lower-middle-income economies such
as Viet Nam (+4.7%, 60th to 52nd), Indonesia
(+3.4%, 44th to 32nd) and Pakistan (+2.9%, 89th
to 83rd) that have improved their TTDI scores the
most since 2019. China, which ranks 12th on the
TTDI, has the region’s largest T&T economy, while
the Philippines, which depended the most on T&T
for its GDP in 2020, ranks 75th. Although Japan
and Singapore lead the ranking in the Eastern APAC
and South-East Asia subregions, respectively, India
(54th) is the top scorer in South Asia.
https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Travel_Tourism_Development_2021.pdf
Relatively stagnant TTDI results reinforce the difficult
situation the T&T sector faces. On average, TTDI
scores increased by just 0.1% between 2019 and
2021, with only 39 out of 117 economies covered
by the index improving by more than 1.0%, 51
increasing or decreasing within a 1.0% range and
27 declining by over 1.0%.
Aside from the United States (2nd), the top 10
scoring countries are high-income economies in
the Europe and Eurasia or Asia-Pacific regions.
Japan tops the ranking, with fellow regional
economies Australia and Singapore coming in7th and 9th, respectively. Meanwhile, Italy joined the top 10 (up from 12th in 2019) in 2021, while
Canada slid out (10th to 13th). The remaining top
10 TTDI performers are Spain (3rd), France (4th),
Germany (5th), Switzerland (6th) and the United
Kingdom (8th). Viet Nam experienced the greatest
improvement in score (+4.7%, 60th to 52nd) on
the overall index, while Indonesia (+3.4%, 44th
to 32nd) and Saudi Arabia (+2.3%, 43rd to 33rd)
had the greatest improvement in rank. Meanwhile,
Malaysia (-3.0%, 29th to 38th), India (-2.6%, 46th
to 54th) and Mongolia (-2.1%, 76th to 84th) had
the largest declines in ranking.
Pakistani peaks set to attract record number of international climbers
https://www.dawn.com/news/1696931/pakistani-peaks-set-to-attract-re...
As many as 1,400 mountaineers from around the globe, including the first female Arab climber, are expected to scale some of the world’s highest peaks located in Gilgit-Baltistan this year.
It’s a stark contrast to the previous year, when 550 foreign climbers arrived for adventure tourism.
The Gilgit-Baltistan tourism department had already issued 700 permits to international climbers, and as many were expected to be issued this summer, an official told Dawn.
The climbers — coming from Europe, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China, Russia, Poland, Japan and Norway — are eyeing to summit various peaks, including five eight-thousanders (i.e. mountains towering above 8,000 metres) and 20 seven- and six-thousanders.
Pakistan boasts five of the world’s 14 eight-thousanders, including the world’s second-highest peak K2 (8,611 metres), followed by Nanga Parbat (ranked ninth at 8,126 metres), Gasherbrum-I (11th at 8,080 metres), Broad Peak (12th at 8,051 metres), and Gasherbrum-II (13th at 8,035m).
Moreover, 40 Pakistani mountaineers are also in the race, including Sajid Ali Sadpara, Sirbaz Khan, Abdul Joshi, Sheroze Kashif, Samina Baig and Naila Kiani.
As many as 3,000 local porters have been hired by several expedition teams to carry the supplies.
Peaceful environment
Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary Karrar Haidri said many international expedition team members from various countries had already arrived in Pakistan. He said this was the highest number of international mountaineers coming to Pakistan since the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Mr Haidri said a record number of more than 400 climbers would attempt to scale K2, the second-highest — and also the most challenging — peak in the world.
He believed that the prevailing peaceful environment in Pakistan and the introduction of online visas had helped attract such a large number of international tourists this year.
GB Tourism Minister Raja Nasir Ali Khan told Dawn the tourism department was ready to facilitate climbers and cope with emergencies. He said 1,200 international climbers had applied for permits, adding that this year would witness record adventure tourism activity in Pakistan.
Home Secretary Iqbal Hussain Khan told Dawn the GB government and the army had all arrangements in place to rescue climbers in case of emergency.
Adventure Pakistan CEO Muhammad Ali Nagri told Dawn several expeditions had reached base camps while more were on the way.
World's highest #ATM奴: #Pakistan's mountaintop bank machine at 4,693m elevation, the #Khunjerab pass is the world's highest paved border crossing. It has been serving the small number of residents, border staff & tourists – since 2016. #China #Pakistan https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221003-the-worlds-highest-atm-...
The Guinness World Record-holding machine works like any other; it can be used to withdraw cash, pay utility bills and make interbank fund transfers. But as my kids and I acclimated to the dip in oxygen, what struck me most was the unexpected festivity in the atmosphere: almost carnivalesque, with people FaceTiming relatives, posing for photos and orbiting the ATM to get the best selfie shot.
Karachi school teacher Atiya Saeed had brought 39 of her secondary-school students – all girls – here to the Pakistan-China border. "It's the first time in a long time that we've travelled in Pakistan," she said.
Although they didn't come for the ATM alone, the visit to the border was, she explained, an adventurous geography, history and economics lesson in the most hauntingly beautiful of "classrooms".
Constructed by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in 2016, the solar- and wind-powered machine serves the small number of residents and staff at this border crossing – and the adventurous travellers who flock to it as a badge of honour, taking pictures while making a transaction that brings new meaning to the phrase "cold, hard cash".
"My account is frozen!" joked another visitor, South African retired principal Ayesha Bayat, who was on holiday with her husband. "We've come from a country where we do have mountain ranges… but not like this. I'm finding the panoramic views absolutely beautiful," she said.
"It's important to have landmarks… like the Eiffel Tower," said Bayat's husband, Farouk. "They become an excuse to discover the rest of the landscape."
But building this landmark was no small feat. And neither is maintaining it.
The project took around four months, said NBP ATM monitoring officer Shah Bibi. The closest NBP bank location is 87km away in Sost, and Sost branch manager Zahid Hussain regularly travels back and forth, braving extreme weather, treacherous mountain passes and frequent landslides to replenish the ATM. "On average, around 4 to 5 million rupees [£15,540–£19,427] is withdrawn within the span of 15 days," he said.
Pakistan Preserves Its Buddhist Heritage Amidst Grave Challenges
https://www.eurasiareview.com/22122022-pakistan-preserves-its-buddh...
Despite an ever-present and growing threat from an iconoclastic fringe in Pakistan, successive governments in Islamabad have managed to preserve the Islamic country’s Buddhist heritage that exists as archaeological findings.
This is all the more creditable since the remnants of 2,200-year-old Gandhara Buddhist civilization are still substantially intact in the Swat Valley of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK) though KPK is the epicenter of present-day Islamic terrorism. Among Pakistan’s provinces, it is the KPK which bears the brunt of the fury of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Interestingly, news of the discovery of a 2200 year-old Buddhist temple at Barikot in KPK (counted among the “Top 10 Discoveries of 2022” by Archeology Magazine) came as TTP gunmen and Pakistani commandoes fought a pitched battle at Bannu, a town in KPK. 33 terrorists and two commandoes were killed in the shootout.
According to Sana Jamal of Gulf News, the 2nd Century BC temple at Barikot was discovered jointly by archaeology professor, Luca Maria Olivieri of Ca’ Foscari of the University of Venice, the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums KP Province, and the Swat Museum. It is the oldest known Buddhist temple in the Swat region that was a center for the exchange of goods and culture between the civilizations of the Middle East, Central Asia and India from 6th Century BC.
“The temple’s ruins are around ten feet tall and consist of a ceremonial platform that once housed a stupa or dome often found in Buddhist architecture. The structure includes a smaller stupa at the front, a room or cell for monks, a podium or pillar, a staircase, vestibule rooms, and a public courtyard that overlooks a road,” Jamal says. A stupa is a Buddhist structure containing holy relics.
Swat is also home to the renowned Dharmarajika stupa, locally known as Chir Tope, located near Taxila, a seat of Buddhist learning between the 3 rd., Century BC and 7th.Century AD.
Pakistan has been working hard to let the world know of its pre-Islamic past, which includes Mohenjodaro of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, the Buddhist University at Taxila, Gandhara art and Buddhist stupas containing sacred relics.
During the tenure of Pakistan High Commissioner Seema Baloch in Sri Lanka (2011-13), Pakistani Buddhist relics were, for the first time, brought to Sri Lanka and publicly exhibited at various places in the island. A group of 40 Buddhist monks were taken to see sites of Buddhist interest in Pakistan. This did help correct (albeit only to a small extent), the image that Pakistan had nothing to offer Buddhists and had little or nothing to do with Buddhism.
In June 2016, Pakistan High Commission held an exhibition of Gandhara Art in Colombo, in which coffee-table books in both English and Sinhala sold like hotcakes. “I had to bring in replenishments from the High Commission several times to meet the constant demand,” remarked the then Press Attache, Intesar Ahmad Sulehry. Later the High Commission showed a documentary on Gandhara Art jointly made by a group of Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Indians.
Pakistan is now 95% Muslim and Islam is the official religion, but Buddhism once flourished in the KPK, then called Gandhara. The region was subject to Achaemenian Persia in the 6th and 5th centuries BC and was conquered by Alexander the Great in 4th Century BC. It was thereafter ruled by the Mauryan dynasty of India, under which it became a center for the spread of Buddhism to Afghanistan and Central Asia. Gandhara was successively ruled by Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Parthians, and Kushans. After its conquest by Mahmud of Gazni in 11th century AD , it came under a series of Muslim dynasties.
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India's population has aged faster than expected while its economic growth has slowed over the last decade. This raises the obvious question: Will India get old before it gets rich? Is India getting poorer relative to its peers in the emerging markets? …
Posted by Riaz Haq on October 29, 2024 at 12:30pm
The United States and Canadian governments are alleging that Indian government agents plotted assassinations of Sikh dissidents on their soils. Their investigations paint a shocking picture of how recklessly Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government operates. …
Posted by Riaz Haq on October 19, 2024 at 4:43pm — 7 Comments
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