News
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Rs 1.038bn spent on ambassador-at-large’s foreign tours, NA told* Railways minister says ADB to provide $500 million for doubling rail tracks
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Friday that Pakistan’s ambassador at-large has undertaken 38 visits abroad in the last two years costing Rs 1.038 billion to the national exchequer.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi informed the National Assembly in a written reply that the tours were undertaken between March 2008 and January 2010.
In another written reply, Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour informed the House that the Pakistan Railways was suffering a loss of Rs 9.2 billion, but efforts were underway to overcome the losses by improving services. He said it had been decided to replace the railways’ fleet of old coaches with modern Chinese coaches, which are equipped with all latest facilities. Bilour said the railways was promoting freight traffic as a policy and reliable locomotives were being inducted for freight trains besides the induction of high speed freight wagons.
Tracks: To another question, Bilour said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would provide $500 million
to the Pakistan Railways for doubling the track from Shahdara to Lala Musa and Shahdara to Faisalabad.Similarly, the World Bank has sanctioned $25 million for the restructuring and modernisation of Pakistan Railways.
Parliamentary Secretary for Food and Agriculture Liaqat Ali Khan informed the House that wheat procurement had been started in Sindh while it would begin in Punjab shortly.
He said it was expected that over 23 million tonnes of wheat would be produced this year, which would be more than the country’s requirements.
Khan said the country already had sufficient wheat stocks and there was no probability of any shortage this season.
Minister for Livestock Humayun Aziz Kurd informed the House that the government had taken a number of steps to enhance the production of milk and meat for catering to domestic demands. Minister for Health Makhdoom Shahabuddin informed the National Assembly that the Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic) and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) were providing free treatment to the patients of tuberculosis, AIDS and cardiac diseases.
To another question, he said free treatment facilities were also being provided to cancer patients, adding that a number of development projects were underway at these hospitals.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk