It's all about KPK ,Pakistan

Out of 27,000: 11% of KPs public schools are without boundary walls

PESHAWAR: Despite the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government’s claim of record spending on education and Imran Khan saying that 34,000 students dropped out of private schools to enrol in public schools, official documents paint a dismal picture of the on-ground situation. The latest report of the K-P education department’s Independent Monitoring Unit (IMU) shows that 11% of the province’s schools…

KP back-pedals on Karak gas project

The Karak residents’ dream to see their homes supplied with natural gas appears to have shattered as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has withdrawn the Rs31 million funds released as initial amount to start the gas supply project. The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has returned the amount – which is supposed to be utilised on other projects – to the K-P Finance Department. The…

Accelerate pace of development in Fata: KP Governor

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Iqbal Zafar Jhagra has asked the authorities concerned of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) Secretariat to accelerate the pace of development and ensure efficient use of funds. Annual allocation of Rs24.5 billion for development during the current year is unprecedented and meant to make it possible, he said while presiding over a meeting on…

KP’s new voucher scheme targets out-of-school children

PESHAWAR: Ayesha, Laiba and Tayyaba smile for the camera. Their father, a tractor driver, watches them from a distance as the three girls head off to attend the first day of school. Enrollment of the girls from Musazai Union Council in Peshawar, would not have been possible but for a new programme introduced by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government, the Iqra Farogh-e-Taleem Education Scheme,…

Ramazan night sports: Carrom tournament returns to Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Syed Akbar hunches over the large, square board. He grinds the board powder under his striker as he lines up a shot. The 50-year-old curls back his index finger, locks it with his thumb and then releases it, sending the striker flying across the plywood board. Slide, “crack”, pocket. “Hurrah,” roars the crowd of around 200 people which had been eagerly watching the move at a small…

End of load-shedding: No politics on power crisis from next year: Amir Muqam

PESHAWAR: The PM’s adviser and the ruling PML-N’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chapter chief Amir Muqam has said no political party will be able to play politics on ‘power outages’ as the country’s power crisis will come to an end within one year. “This will be the last year of playing politics over power outages as 10,000MW will be added to the system before June 2018,” Muqam told a news conference…

Chelsea legend John Terry to play friendly match in Pakistan

World renowned footballer John Terry had recently expressed his desire to one day visit Pakistan as part of the Leisure Leagues Pakistan’s (LLP) drive to develop football in the country. The former Chelsea defender’s announcement had created a bit of confusion as it was unclear whether he would be a part of this year’s Ronaldinho & Friends exhibition or he planned to visit in future editions of…

Education budget up by 15% in KP

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has earmarked Rs136 billion for education in the province for the fiscal year 2017-18, an increase of around 15 per cent over last year’s budget. According to the budget documents presented by K-P Finance Minister Muzafar Said in the provincial assembly on Wednesday, the government has set aside Rs24 billion for as the…

Special ‘Tourist Police’ launched in Nathiagali

PESHAWAR: In a bid to make tourists feel safer while visiting scenic valleys along the Kunhar River, the Abbottabad police have launched a special tourist police and have set up a tourist facilitation centre in the Nathiagali area. The centre and the police arm would facilitate tourists who are visiting the scenic Nathiagali, Dongagali and Ayubia. The District Police Officer (DPO) Abbottabad…

Imad reacts after dismissing de Villiers for golden duck

Pakistan left-arm spinner Imad Wasim has credited his luck for dismissing South Africa captain AB de Villiers on a golden duck on Wednesday when his team beat the world number one side by 19 runs via the DLS method in their 2017 ICC Champions Trophy match. De Villiers, who had only six ducks to his name in 211 innings before Wednesday, was caught at point on the first ball he faced of Imad,…

11% of budget allocated for health in K-P

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government budget for health sector has been increased to Rs65.7 billion, for the fiscal year 2017-18, up by 19.45 per cent from Rs55 billion last year. This is 11 per cent of the total proposed provincial budget. Although the provincial government has allocated RsRs51.971billionfor the health ministry for the fiscal year 2017-18, Rs13.78 billion have been…

Khattak seeks ‘due share’ in net hydel profit

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak urged National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to play its constitutional role in ensuring that the province gets its due share in the net hydel profit. Khattak urged the authority to play its role while leading a delegation comprising the KP assembly parliamentary leaders to the public hearing in a Tariff Petition filed by…

P budget to be unveiled today

PESHAWAR: The PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is all set to present today (Wednesday) the last budget of its tenure for FY2017-18, with a total outlay of Rs603 billion featuring more than Rs208 billion for the Annual Development Programme (ADP). Documents obtained by The Express Tribune show that the budget outlay is 19% higher than the revised estimates of Rs505 billion in the outgoing…

KP govt approves timescale, promotion policy for primary teachers

Primary teachers can now be promoted to different cadres including, subject specialist, secondary school teacher and even headmaster. PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has approved long-awaited demands for a policy of timescale increase and grade promotion of primary school teachers in the province. K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Media Advisor Najiullah Khattak confirmed…

Walking the Trail Majestic

PHOTO: The magnificent 300-year-old Deodar Cedar tree, dubbed Chaghbini by the locals, is located on the main track of the park. As a nature enthusiast, the Chitral Gol National Park (CGNP) has always been on my bucket list. Located in the valley of the Hindukush and a two-hour’s drive from Chitral city, CGNP harbours the world’s largest population of Kashmir Markhor (a kind of mountain goat) and…

KP govt to dole out Rs30 million for BRT office

A view of one of the busses to be rolled out under the project.PHOTO: APP PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government will spend Rs30.1 million to set up the offices of the Bus Rapid Transit System(BRT). Ten million rupees would be spent on tables, chairs, sofa sets and visiting chairs for the Project Management Unit. While another Rs10 million would be dispensed to procure air…