GCUF holds seminar
FAISALABAD: A national seminar entitled 'Proceedings and Practices on Women's Land Rights Cases in the Revenue Department, Punjab,' was conducted at Government College University Faisalabad, as part of the Higher Education Commission's-funded project, 'Women's Land Rights in Pakistan: Laws, Policy and Practices.'
The seminar was organised by Dr Mazhar Abbas, Principal Investigator of the research project and a lecturer in History at Government College University Faisalabad.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
11 hours ago
- Business Recorder
World Bank approves $194mn to support education & access to water in Balochistan
ISLAMABAD: The World Bank Board of Executive Directors on Tuesday approved $194 million for two projects to enhance educational opportunities for children and boost water security in Balochistan. 'The GRADES-Balochistan project aims to reduce learning poverty in the province, while the Balochistan Water Security and Productivity Improvement Project will help address the province's water security challenges and enhance climate resilience,' said Najy Benhassine, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. 'The World Bank remains committed to supporting Balochistan through strategic investments in infrastructure and human development to build the foundations for more job creation, poverty reduction, and stronger resilience,' he added. The Getting Results: Access and Delivery of Quality Education Services in Balochistan (GRADES-Balochistan) project, i.e. $100 million, will benefit 250,000 students with a focus on increasing enrollment and improving literacy and numeracy skills in early childhood and primary education. Pakistan seeks fourth restructuring of $393.73mn WB-funded higher education project The project will also provide support for 5,000 teachers through continuous professional development programs. Additionally, scholarships will be provided to 400 female students to pursue teacher pre-service education, fostering a new generation of educators who will serve as mentors and role models. 'The GRADES-Balochistan project is a strategically important initiative that addresses critical gaps in access to and quality of pre-primary and primary education in the province,' said Inga Afanasieva, Team Leader for the project. 'The project not only aims to enhance educational infrastructure but also to increase resilience to disasters and environmental sustainability. These efforts underscore the World Bank's commitment to creating a safer and more sustainable future for the children of Balochistan.' Meanwhile, the World Bank also approved the Balochistan Water Security and Productivity Improvement Project (BWSPIP) i.e. $94 million, which aims to improve the lives of smallholder and tenant farmers in the Nari, Talli, and Lehri river basins of the Kachi Plain and improve water supply services in Quetta. The project is expected to benefit 500,000 people with improved access to basic water supply services and benefit more than 80,000 people by providing climate-resilient infrastructure. Key elements include enhancing flood protection, increasing access to water for productive use, and improving water supply service delivery. 'The project supports the implementation of Pakistan's Resilient Recovery Framework and aims to provide significant benefits for the farming communities in the province as well as for the residents of Quetta. It will also empower women in community-level water management,' said Carolina Dominguez Torres, Task Team Leader for the Project. 'Through strategic investments, improved water management, and community engagement, the project aims to deliver lasting benefits for the sustainable development of Balochistan.' The GRADES project, designed to reduce learning poverty, and the BWSPIP project, designed to reduce child stunting through increased access to safe water and sanitation services, are key outcome targets under the 10-year Country Partnership Framework for Pakistan, the World Bank said.
Business Recorder
16 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Punjab budget reflects deliberate realignment of fiscal priorities?
LAHORE: The structure of the Punjab budget for FY 2025–26 reflects a deliberate and disciplined realignment of fiscal priorities. While curtailing non-essential current expenditure, the government has expanded development spending through the largest-ever Annual Development Programme (ADP) in Punjab's history, with 47.3% increase over previous year's ADP. This expansion has been made possible through robust public financial management reforms, including but not limited to the successful retirement of unsustainable commodity operations debt. As per budget document, this year's budget reflects a strategic shift from foundational infrastructure to transformative development. While the first year focused on road connectivity and basic service delivery, FY 2025–26 marks the next logical step i.e., empowering communities through integrated urban development and rural uplift. Transport has emerged as a key priority with a focus on expanding eco-friendly public mobility options, including the introduction of electric buses to reduce urban congestion and environmental impact. The Punjab government has also placed unprecedented emphasis on education—expanding access through scholarships, laptops, school meals, and higher education grants. Health remains a cornerstone, with flagship health initiatives such as Medical City, free medicine, and new centres for cancer and cardiac care. New frontiers in IT, affordable Housing and Climate Action signal the province's ambition to build an inclusive, forward-looking economy, the budget document reveals. On the other hand, the Punjab government, in view of its rapidly increasing annual pension expense and burgeoning accrued pension liabilities accorded approval of the Defined Contribution Pension Scheme. Under the scheme, employees would be contributing for its pension contrary to the defined benefit scheme where government finances solely to the pension. This would significantly reduce the piling of accrued liability, and this has been enacted for the employees joining the government service on or after January 08, 2024. Moreover, the Punjab government has implemented the deregulation of commodity operations of wheat which previously was financed through commercial borrowing from the financial institutions. The scheme had accumulated a circular debt of Rs 629 billion outstanding at June 2022 due to unfunded general subsidy expenditure. The government has eliminated this debt from provincial revenues leading to reduction of commodity debt outstanding down to Rs 13.9 billion at April`25, which is fully backed by the wheat stock leveraging the saving of future debt service in the range of approximately Rs 50 billion per annum. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
16 hours ago
- Business Recorder
GCUF holds seminar
FAISALABAD: A national seminar entitled 'Proceedings and Practices on Women's Land Rights Cases in the Revenue Department, Punjab,' was conducted at Government College University Faisalabad, as part of the Higher Education Commission's-funded project, 'Women's Land Rights in Pakistan: Laws, Policy and Practices.' The seminar was organised by Dr Mazhar Abbas, Principal Investigator of the research project and a lecturer in History at Government College University Faisalabad. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
