June 30 deadline for initiation of delayed projects, says PM
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza on Saturday fixed June 30 as deadline for initiation of all the projects which could not start due to non availability of land.
Chairing the 12th ERRA Council meeting at the Prime Minister House, Gilani directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and the AJK governments to ensure that requisite land is provided for the projects till June 30 else these projects (18 in Pakhtunkhwa and nine in AJK) would be dropped and deleted from the reconstruction strategy.
The Prime Minister further asked the two governments to take responsibility of the completed projects and ensure their sustainability, particularly in health and education sectors.
The recurring expenditures of the completed projects, he said, would be borne by the respective governments.
He also directed them to complete the requisite formalities and settle the issues for the completion of projects in urban areas.
He particularly referred to New Balakot, Bakrial and Muzafarabad in this context and directed that all efforts in this regard be made on war footings and accordingly Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) be kept updated with progress so that these projects could be completed at the earliest.
Lauding the role of ERRA, the Prime Minister said the government from the very first day was committed to the renewal of livelihood and re-establishment of infrastructure in the earthquake affected areas.
The progress made in the two-year period is remarkable, which shows the focused nature of government’s resolve, he added.
Britain exits recession quicker than expected
LONDON: Britain escaped from a record recession in better shape than previously thought in the fourth quarter of 2009, revised data showed, but analysts agreed that the outlook remained weak.
Gross domestic product — the value of all the goods and services produced in the economy — grew by 0.4 percent in the three months to the end of December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
The third and final estimate was stronger than the previous reading of 0.3-percent expansion. Market expectations had been for no change in the figure.
The upward revision, driven by improved readings in the services, construction and agricultural sectors, comes after the ONS had already upgraded the data last month.
“The further upward revision to the fourth quarter … suggests that the economy exited recession with a bit more momentum than previously thought at the end of last year,” said Capital Economics analyst Jonathan Loynes.
“While (the) figures perhaps provide a fractionally stronger platform for growth in 2010, the outlook remains fundamentally weak.”
News of upwardly-revised growth comes just weeks before a general election, which is expected to take place on May 6.
“To hear that Britain emerged from its worst post-war recession stronger than expected is clearly good news for future growth,” added City Index analyst Nick Serff.
“However, there remains a lot of uncertainty as to whether this momentum can carry.”
And the ONS added Tuesday that the economy shrank by a record 4.9 percent last year, which was a slight improvement on the prior estimate for a contraction of 5.0 percent.
However, the last three months of 2009 marked the end of a deep recession following six successive quarters of contraction.
“The latest estimate of GDP … was higher than expectations and means the longest, deepest recession since official records began has ended,” said economist Charles Davis at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
“However, there are still concerns on the sustainability of the recovery as growth was largely driven by consumer and government spending — factors that are likely to wear off through 2010.”
GDP meanwhile shrank 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the October-December period in 2008. That compared with the previous reading of a 3.3-percent contraction.
Chancellor Alistair Darling forecast last week in a pre-election budget statement that the economy would grow by a weaker-than-expected 3.0-3.5 percent in 2011.
Last week, Labour vowed to hike taxes on the rich to help the poor hit by the global downturn and cut borrowing targets in a budget unveiled weeks before a knife-edge election.
Dollar Higher in Asia
TOKYO : The dollar edged up in Asian trade Friday as traders reacted to positive US trade data and signs that central banks are becoming more confidence about the economic outlook, dealers said.
The dollar rose to 88.34 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 88.25 in New York late Thursday. The euro fell to 1.4728 dollars from 1.4732 but gained to 130.13 yen from 130.01.
The greenback was stronger after government data showed that the US trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in October, with a jump in exports offsetting a smaller rise in imports.
A separate report showed new US claims for unemployment benefits rose in the past week, although holding below the level of 500,000.
“US economic news was generally good and this contributed to both a rise in stocks and bond yields which ended up having a neutral effect on the dollar,” NAB Capital strategist John Kyriakopoulos in a note.
Investors were digesting the Bank of England’s decision not to expand its asset purchase plan, as it left its key lending rate on hold at 0.5 percent.
“Central banks around the world seem to be turning a little bit more confident about the sustainability of a (world) recovery,” said Calyon analyst Sebastien Barbe.
But that does “not imply a drastic tightening of monetary conditions in the very short term, as central banks seem keen on protecting the recovery,” he cautioned.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Alan Bollard on Thursday indicated that the Bank could start tightening monetary policy in the middle of next year, earlier than previously expected.
The Reserve Bank of India meanwhile tightened conditions for local companies borrowing from overseas, but made it clear that it does not intend to curb capital inflows, seeking to support an economic recovery, Barbe noted.
Dollar Higher in Asia was first posted on December 11, 2009 at 3:03 pm.
Oil Prices Mixed as Inventories Stay High
LONDON : Oil prices traded mixed on Friday and were likely to stay under 80 dollars amid high energy inventories in the United States, the world’s biggest energy-consuming nation.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, dipped nine cents to 77.37 dollars a barrel after slumping by more than two dollars on Thursday.
Brent North Sea crude for January delivery rose 23 cents to 77.87 dollars in early London trading on Friday.
Prices diverged within a tight range “with relatively swollen US stockpiles still weighing on prices,” said VTB Capital commodities analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov in London.
New York crude prices on Wednesday breached 80 dollars a barrel after government data showed crude reserves in the United States fell 900,000 barrels in the week ending November 13.
However levels remain relatively high with demand struggling to recover following the financial crisis.
Oil prices slumped on Thursday as the dollar rose and owing to renewed doubts about a sustainable global economic recovery, traders said.
An array of largely unimpressive US economic data caused a fall on Wall Street as investors sought safety in the dollar, a traditional safe haven currency in times of distress.
A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities — like crude oil and gold — more expensive for buyers using other currencies. That tends to reduce demand for such raw materials, eventually weighing on prices.
Oil under 78 dollars a barrel was “a buying opportunity,” said analyst Victor Shum at the Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.
“The oil market has shown resistance against breaking through the 80-dollar level simply because the sustainability of economic recovery.”
They were also struggling to find support owing to strong supplies and weak demand, he added.
Oil Prices Mixed as Inventories Stay High was first posted on November 20, 2009 at 4:52 pm.
About Blue Grenadier
September 12, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
The blue grenadier, hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, whiptail or whiptail hake, Macruronus novaezelandiae, is a merluccid hake of the family Merlucciidae found around southern Australia and New Zealand at depths of between 10 and 1,000 m (33 and 3,300 ft). Its length is between 60 and 120 cm (24 and 47 in).
The blue grenadier is the subject of a large commercial fishery industry in New Zealand, which has been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as well-managed and sustainable in March 2001. The first MSC certification ended in April 2007. Reassessment of the certification commenced in early 2005 and finished in October 2007, although there is a rising controversy over the sustainability of blue grenadier fishing practices around New Zealand.
The hoki is one of the species used in McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish and McFish sandwiches. It was previously served at Long John Silver and Denny’s Restaurants (still is served in Denny’s in New Zealand) before the 2009 controversy over its fishery sustainability erupted.
The meat of the fish is white. New Zealand has established a fishing quota of 100,000 tons, down from 275,000 tons.
About Blue Grenadier was first posted on September 12, 2009 at 10:14 am.
©2009 “News Trends“.
