Pope names Mexican-American as first woman to lead Vatican department
Pope Leo XIV has taken a step toward overhauling the Vatican’s communications by naming Maria Montserrat Alvarado as the new head of its communications office
"COMMUNICATION" · 총 402건
필터 보기현재 지수
50.3
0 = 부정 우세
50 = 중립
100 = 긍정 우세
최근 7일 기준 84,616건을 분석한 결과, 뉴스 심리지수는 50.2(균형)입니다. 긍정 4,413건(5.2%)·중립 78,052건(92.2%)·부정 2,151건(2.5%)이며, 중립 비중이 뚜렷하게 높습니다. 성향 지수는 종합 15.2(중도 균형)입니다.
Pope Leo XIV has taken a step toward overhauling the Vatican’s communications by naming Maria Montserrat Alvarado as the new head of its communications office
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communications Aleem Khan on Tuesday approved the construction of a new, state-of-the-art motorway via Mansehra, Kaghan, Naran, Jhal Khand, and Chilas (MNJC) to provide a safe alternative route to the Karakoram Highway (KKH). The decision was taken in a meeting of the National Highway Authority (NHA) held under the chairmanship of the minister, where key decisions were approved to modernise the country’s transport infrastructure. The secretary of communications and NHA Chairman Capt (retd) Asadullah Khan were also present. During the meeting, the federal minister was briefed on ongoing and new projects. Officials told the meeting that the MNJC motorway would be 172km in length, and that the route would reduce travel distance on the KKH by up to 120 kilometres. The project will be completed in two phases, the minister said. In the first phase, the motorway will be built from Mansehra to Kaghan, Naran, and Babusar Top, while the second phase will cover the section from Babusar Top to Chilas. A major highlight of the project is the construction of the 13.5km-long Babusar Tunnel, which will be the longest tunnel in Pakistan. Designed with future demand in mind, the four-lane motorway will have the capacity to expand to six lanes. Modern rest areas will be built every 25-30km for motorists, and freight terminals will be established at both ends of the motorway. Highlighting the economic significance of the project, the minister said that traditionally, trade from the Arabian Sea to China via existing routes was time-consuming and resulted in significant financial costs. The new motorway would directly link western China to the ports of Karachi and Gwadar, the minister added. He said the network would serve as the fastest, shortest, and most cost-effective route from the Arabian Sea to western China, drastically reducing transit times and costs while proving to be a “real game-changer” for the sustainable development of Gwadar Port. The minister directed NHA officials to finalise all technical aspects of the project within the specified timeline.
GEORGE TOWN, June 2 — Police are actively tracking down suspects believed to be involved in a telecommunications c...
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday held separate meetings with senior leaders of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Bharti Enterprises to review ongoing projects and discuss future investments in the state.The Chief Minister said he met S.N. Subrahmanyan, Chairman and Managing Director of Larsen & Toubro, at his official residence and reviewed the progress of various projects being executed by the engineering and infrastructure major in Assam."We discussed the various projects that L&T is undertaking in Assam and the roadmap for their timely completion," Sarma said in a post on X.Later in the day, the Chief Minister also held discussions with Rajan Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, at his official residence, focusing on the group's expansion plans in Assam, particularly in the telecommunications sector."We discussed the group's expansion plans in Assam, with a specific focus on covering dark areas so that more people can benefit from proper phone and internet connectivity," Sarma said.The meetings underline the Assam government's continued engagement with leading corporate groups to accelerate infrastructure development and improve digital connectivity across the state, especially in underserved regions.Sarma also congratulated Dr Ashok Lahiri on his recent appointment as Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog and expressed the state's commitment to strengthening its partnership with the national policy think tank.Sharing details of his meeting with Lahiri in the national capital, Sarma said the newly appointed Vice Chairman "brings with him extensive experience in public policy and finance", highlighting the expertise he is expected to bring to NITI Aayog's policymaking and reform agenda.The Chief Minister noted that the Assam government is keen to deepen its engagement with NITI Aayog in implementing reforms and development policies."The Assam government aims to deepen its partnership with NITI Aayog in implementing reforms and policies that will improve the ease of living of our people," Sarma said in a post on X after the meeting.The interaction comes as Assam continues to pursue governance reforms, infrastructure development and welfare initiatives with support from central institutions. Officials believe closer collaboration with NITI Aayog will help accelerate policy implementation and improve outcomes across key sectors.
ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV took a step Tuesday toward overhauling the Vatican’s communications operations by naming the Mexican-American president of the Catholic U.S. media conglomerate EWTN News as its new head. Maria Montserrat Alvarado replaces Paolo Ruffini as prefect of the Dicastery of Communications, the office that controls the Vatican’s television, radio, online, […]
VATICAN CITY, June 2 - Pope Leo named an executive with U.S. Catholic media conglomerate EWTN as the new head of the Vatican's communications department on Tuesday, in the first appointment of a woman to the senior Church role.
Tata Steel Netherlands has terminated its contract with newly appointed Chief Sustainability Officer and Director of Communications Donald Pols, who had only been in the role for one day, the compa
A surprising romance is set against a backdrop of climate crisis, political instability and corporate corruption in this bleak but witty novel Rosa Rankin-Gee follows her 2021 near-future climate-crisis dystopia, Dreamland, with a similar but more politically focused work. As I read My Only Boy, I kept having to remind myself that the nation it describes is not (yet) real, because, for a reader living abroad, the novel’s England seems unnervingly close to what might come next. Any political dystopia risks being overtaken by reality, but in this case the gap between truth and fiction feels claustrophobic. At the beginning of the novel, Elle is at a party held to mourn that day’s election of a far-right populist government. She’s the communications director for the almost too brilliantly named Gigr, a company connecting people seeking immediate shift work with businesses offering it. Elle is freshly upset by witnessing and immediately containing the reputational damage of a worker’s jump from a balcony. She knows how to do this, because “we’d had a death every four weeks, then every three weeks, then every two”: exhausted, starving people taking underpaid shifts from Gigr after finishing public sector jobs that no longer pay enough for survival. Almost everyone, in this slightly more desperate, divided and unfair nation, ends up doing some work for Gigr sooner or later, to buy faster access to emergency healthcare or food for crisis-stricken family, and Gigr has algorithms to ensure that each person is paid the least their particular circumstances oblige them to accept. Continue reading...
Chief Executive John Lee on Tuesday said the city’s push to deepen connectivity with Central Asia is already bearing fruit, as he announced progress on direct flights to Kazakhstan alongside moves to make visa arrangements more convenient for travellers. Speaking to reporters in Astana during his first official visit to Central Asia, Lee said a Hong Kong-based airline will begin direct flights to Kazakhstan's biggest city Almaty in the first quarter of next year, significantly cutting travel time between the two places. He added that the new route will also provide access to other Central Asian, Eastern European and Caucasus regional destinations. In a statement, the SAR's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific announced plans to launch direct flights to Almaty in the first quarter of 2027. "The airline plans to operate three flights per week using an Airbus A330-300 widebody aircraft, which will be the only direct service linking Hong Kong and Kazakhstan," the airline said. Alongside the aviation breakthrough, Lee confirmed that the SAR is working to substantially extend visa-free access for Hongkongers in Central Asia. The SAR already has visa-free arrangements with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, allowing stays of between 10 and 30 days. But Lee said his target is to extend the visa-free period to 30 days for all three nations. "We and the Kazakh government both agree that this is definitely one of our goals. We have already exchanged some further information with the two governments, and everyone is working hard to work toward this target," he said. "We hope that by this year, we can reach the best arrangement." He added that Uzbekistan has also signalled its agreement to the proposal following communications before the delegation's departure, Lee added. Once agreements with these countries are finalised, the SAR government will seek to facilitate easier entry for the remaining two Central Asian countries. On Wednesday, Lee is scheduled to visit Astana's Nazarbayev University, where President Xi Jinping first proposed the concept of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. The chief executive said Hong Kong and Kazakhstan can enhance collaboration on education. "The Education University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, they will be developing a working relationship with the Nazarbayev University, to further expand the collaboration between the higher education institutions of the two places," he said. Lee will conclude his stay in Kazakhstan on Wednesday before travelling to Uzbekistan, describing the Astana leg alone as a significant breakthrough – with 43 memoranda of understanding in areas such as economic and trade cooperation, investment, and green finance expected to be signed in the country. Edited by Thomas McAlinden
Shares of Anant Raj surged as much as 4.6% to Rs 563.25 in Tuesday's trade after the company announced a landmark partnership with the Government of Haryana to accelerate the state's digital infrastructure buildout.The real estate and infrastructure developer has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Haryana Enterprises Promotion Centre (HEPC), marking a significant step in its ambitions to expand its data centre and cloud services business.The agreement was formalized on June 1, 2026, during the launch of the "Make in Haryana Policy & Other Sectoral Policies" event, presided over by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.Rs 25,000 crore investment planUnder the MoU, Anant Raj intends to invest around Rs 25,000 crore in building data centres and cloud infrastructure across Haryana. The move highlights the company's increasing emphasis on digital infrastructure as demand continues to grow for artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and data storage solutions.The partnership framework involves several key government departments and agencies, including:Haryana Enterprises Promotion Centre (HEPC)Department of Information Technology, Electronics & CommunicationHaryana State Electronics Development CorporationCitizen Resources Information DepartmentDepartment of Industries & CommerceThe agreement is designed to support Anant Raj's expansion of its Digital Infrastructure Business, encompassing both data centre operations and cloud services. The Haryana government, through HEPC, has committed to providing facilitation support and ease-of-doing-business assistance to help fast-track the project.The company said the arrangement aims to foster long-term cooperation between the state government and Anant Raj, positioning Haryana as a major hub for next-generation digital infrastructure investments.Anant Raj clarified that the MoU does not involve any shareholding arrangement, special rights, equity issuance, or related-party transaction. The agreement is focused solely on enabling investment and operational expansion in the state.Share price performance and technical indicatorsOver the past three years, the stock has delivered strong returns, rallying nearly 254%. The company currently commands a market capitalization of approximately Rs 19,406 crore.From a technical perspective, the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 61. An RSI reading below 30 typically indicates oversold conditions, while a reading above 70 suggests the stock may be overbought.The stock also exhibits strong bullish momentum, trading above all eight of its key Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), signaling a positive technical trend.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
From engineers and business graduates to literature and communications majors, Duke-NUS Medical School's largest ...
Multiple hosts on ABC’s “The View” slammed Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner for his litany of controversies, after reports surfaced over the weekend that he sent sexually explicit messages to women after he married his wife. Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as White House director of strategic communications during President Trump’s first term, listed...
ISLAMABAD: A Senate subcommittee on Monday voiced alarm over widespread internet degradation and fuel theft from telecom sites, after being told that more than 9,200 incidents of theft and vandalism had hit about 16 per cent of the country’s cellular infrastructure in 11 months. The subcommittee of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Senator Sadia Abbasi, reviewed challenges posed to nationwide telecom service continuity. The committee was informed that Sindh recorded the highest number of 3,938 fuel theft cases across 31 districts, followed by Punjab with 2,827 incidents in 38 districts. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 1,668 incidents across 25 districts, while Balochistan reported 716 incidents in 26 districts. During the briefing, officials of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said that persistent loadshedding had severely deteriorated service continuity by rapidly depleting backup batteries and exhausting local generators. To build long-term resilience, the PTA has engaged Nepra and the power division to secure dedicated priority power feeders and speed up deployment of smart transformers for critical telecom nodes. Separately, the Universal Service Fund (USF) and its quality assurance teams reported infrastructure deployments in Balochistan. While 80pc of target areas are identified through competitive bidding, severe security vulnerabilities and systemic diesel theft continue to undermine telecom operations. In response, the committee directed relevant departments to map high-theft hotspots and instructed district and provincial authorities to handle complaints strictly under the law. The panel also reviewed network modernisation steps, including recent spectrum auctions that expanded bandwidth by 480 MHz and the issuance of 5G commercial licences in March 2026. Infrastructure targets include raising average 4G speeds from 4 Mbps to 20 Mbps, mandatory rollout of 1,000 new sites annually, and introducing Voice over LTE and Voice over Wi-Fi services. To enforce compliance, the regulator has set stringent network downtime thresholds for cellular mobile operators. CMOs must now keep downtime to 5pc or less at the UC level, 3pc or less at the tehsil level, 2pc or less at the district level, and 1pc or less nationwide. The committee reaffirmed that internet access must be classified under essential services criteria. It directed all telecom operators to execute immediate safeguards against fuel theft to ensure national connectivity standards are met without interruption. Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had previously announced the social media ban on May 22, which sought to reduce youths’ exposure to harmful content on digital platforms.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensified on Monday, after US President Donald Trump said the two sides had agreed to dial back fighting following talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and indirect communication with Hezbollah.
• Only Rs1.13tr allocated to PSDP against Rs4.1tr requirement; minister terms shortfall ‘new circular debt crisis’ • Record Rs4.715tr development plan unveiled • APCC resolves to divert resources to ongoing projects ISLAMABAD: Under tight International Monetary Fund (IMF) oversight, the government has trimmed allocations for most sectors in the next federal development programme to create additional fiscal space for the PML-N’s trademark national highways, a new Rs87 billion share for coalition partners and a Rs70bn allocation for ruling party lawmakers’ schemes. Yet, the Annual Plan Coordination Committee, led by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, on Monday unveiled a record national development programme of Rs4.715 trillion, made possible by an unprecedented 27pc hike in development allocations by state-owned entities and a 10pc rise in provincial allocations to an all-time high of Rs3.138tr. The overall Rs4.715tr development portfolio comprises the largest share of provincial annual development plans (ADPs) at Rs3.138tr (up 9.6pc), followed by the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs1.126tr, up 12.6pc from the current year, and Rs451bn from SOEs, up 27pc from Rs355bn in the current fiscal year. However, the federal PSDP allocation of Rs1.126tr for next year disappointed the planning minister, who described it as “a new circular debt crisis”, with almost Rs11tr in throw-forward liabilities from around 800 ongoing projects that would be impossible to complete over the next decade. He said he had requested the prime minister for a minimum allocation of Rs2.9tr for development next year against actual requirements of Rs4.1tr, but the Ministry of Finance could spare only Rs1.126tr owing to IMF restrictions. Mr Iqbal said development projects had come to a standstill over the past eight years after record development investments between 2013 and 2018. He said it should be a matter of shame that the country continued to celebrate raising foreign debt and issuing bonds to service liabilities instead of supporting export growth to finance national development and social welfare needs. Even within the constrained PSDP allocation of Rs1.126tr, which includes Rs267bn in foreign assistance, about Rs125bn pertains to the N-25 highway in Balochistan, for which the prime minister had separately imposed an additional Rs10 per litre levy on petroleum products. This effectively leaves the PSDP size at Rs1.001tr — almost unchanged from the current year’s Rs1tr allocation, which was later reduced to Rs836bn to partially finance the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The government has allocated Rs264bn for national highways next year, up 18.4pc from Rs223bn in the current fiscal year, while the power sector has been earmarked Rs91bn, almost unchanged from this year’s Rs90.8bn. The planning minister told the APCC that after allocating Rs87bn for coalition partners, Rs70bn for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme, Rs100bn for Balochistan projects excluding the N-25, and Rs153bn for AJK, GB and the newly-merged districts of KP, the actual PSDP allocation drops to a “disgraceful” Rs591bn. After meeting the Rs426bn rupee-cover requirement for foreign-funded projects, only Rs165bn remains available for other ongoing schemes. The Rs3.138tr provincial development outlay is led by Punjab, which has allocated Rs1.450tr (46pc) for next year, up 17pc. Sindh follows with a relatively restrained development allocation of Rs816bn compared to Rs887bn in the current fiscal year, a decline of 8pc. KP has proposed a development envelope of Rs564bn for next year, up almost 24pc from Rs455bn in the current year. In addition to substantial federal allocations, Balochistan has increased its ADP size to Rs308bn, up 10pc from Rs279bn this year. Based on these financial envelopes, the government has set next year’s economic growth target at 4pc, supported by projected growth of 3.8pc in agriculture, 4pc in industry and 4.2pc in services. Inflation is targeted at 8.2pc. Given the tight fiscal position, the APCC decided to make limited allocations, focusing on strategic and high-impact projects, ensuring adequate rupee cover for foreign-funded schemes to honour international obligations, prioritising projects with more than 70pc completion for early execution, avoiding token allocations, restricting new projects except those aimed at enhancing productivity, and discouraging projects of a provincial nature except in less-developed areas. The sector-wise breakdown shows that the largest share — Rs729.9bn, or 65pc — has been earmarked for infrastructure projects, compared to Rs615bn budgeted in the current fiscal year, an increase of 19pc. Within infrastructure, transport and communications receive the highest allocation at Rs409bn (36pc), compared to Rs326bn in the current year, up 25pc. This is followed by water resources at Rs140bn (12.5pc), energy at Rs136bn (12pc), and physical planning and housing at Rs45bn (4pc). The social sector has been allocated Rs187.2bn (16.6pc), including education (7pc), health (2.2pc), the SDGs Achievement Programme (6.2pc) and other social sectors (1.3pc). To help less-developed regions catch up with the rest of the country, Rs54.1bn (4.8pc) has been earmarked for AJK, GB and the newly merged districts of KP. The science, technology and information technology sector has been allocated Rs45bn (4pc), while governance and production sectors have been allocated Rs10.2bn and 0.8pc of the PSDP, respectively. Iqbal lamented that the country was operating with an extremely reduced PSDP at a time when development needs were rising sharply. He said development space had been squeezed by mounting debt-servicing pressures, prolonged macroeconomic stress and worsening global headwinds. PSDP allocations, he noted, stood at 19.6pc of the national budget and 2.5pc of GDP in FY18, but had fallen to just 4pc of the budget and 0.6pc of GDP by 2025-26. “The PSDP is not merely a budget line — it is a statement of national intent,” the minister said, stressing that development funding was directly linked to economic growth, national productivity and public welfare. He warned that Pakistan was still struggling to recover from the post-2018 economic shock, with debt servicing burdens and recurring external vulnerabilities limiting the country’s ability to invest in transformative projects. Given the limited fiscal space, the APCC decided that more than 98pc of available resources would be directed towards ongoing projects, with priority accorded to high-impact and near-completion schemes, particularly in water, energy, transport and other core infrastructure sectors. Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026
Country: Nigeria Sources: Emergency Telecommunications Cluster, World Food Programme Please refer to the attached Infographic.
Country: Nigeria Sources: Emergency Telecommunications Cluster, World Food Programme Please refer to the attached Map.
• Only Rs1.13tr allocated to PSDP against Rs4.1tr requirement; minister terms shortfall ‘new circular debt crisis’ • Record Rs4.715tr development plan unveiled • APCC resolves to divert resources to ongoing projects ISLAMABAD: Under tight International Monetary Fund (IMF) oversight, the government has trimmed allocations for most sectors in the next federal development programme to create additional fiscal space for the PML-N’s trademark national highways, a new Rs87 billion share for coalition partners and a Rs70bn allocation for ruling party lawmakers’ schemes. Yet, the Annual Plan Coordination Committee, led by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, on Monday unveiled a record national development programme of Rs4.715 trillion, made possible by an unprecedented 27pc hike in development allocations by state-owned entities and a 10pc rise in provincial allocations to an all-time high of Rs3.138tr. The overall Rs4.715tr development portfolio comprises the largest share of provincial annual development plans (ADPs) at Rs3.138tr (up 9.6pc), followed by the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs1.126tr, up 12.6pc from the current year, and Rs451bn from SOEs, up 27pc from Rs355bn in the current fiscal year. However, the federal PSDP allocation of Rs1.126tr for next year disappointed the planning minister, who described it as “a new circular debt crisis”, with almost Rs11tr in throw-forward liabilities from around 800 ongoing projects that would be impossible to complete over the next decade. He said he had requested the prime minister for a minimum allocation of Rs2.9tr for development next year against actual requirements of Rs4.1tr, but the Ministry of Finance could spare only Rs1.126tr owing to IMF restrictions. Mr Iqbal said development projects had come to a standstill over the past eight years after record development investments between 2013 and 2018. He said it should be a matter of shame that the country continued to celebrate raising foreign debt and issuing bonds to service liabilities instead of supporting export growth to finance national development and social welfare needs. Even within the constrained PSDP allocation of Rs1.126tr, which includes Rs267bn in foreign assistance, about Rs125bn pertains to the N-25 highway in Balochistan, for which the prime minister had separately imposed an additional Rs10 per litre levy on petroleum products. This effectively leaves the PSDP size at Rs1.001tr — almost unchanged from the current year’s Rs1tr allocation, which was later reduced to Rs836bn to partially finance the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The government has allocated Rs264bn for national highways next year, up 18.4pc from Rs223bn in the current fiscal year, while the power sector has been earmarked Rs91bn, almost unchanged from this year’s Rs90.8bn. The planning minister told the APCC that after allocating Rs87bn for coalition partners, Rs70bn for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme, Rs100bn for Balochistan projects excluding the N-25, and Rs153bn for AJK, GB and the newly-merged districts of KP, the actual PSDP allocation drops to a “disgraceful” Rs591bn. After meeting the Rs426bn rupee-cover requirement for foreign-funded projects, only Rs165bn remains available for other ongoing schemes. The Rs3.138tr provincial development outlay is led by Punjab, which has allocated Rs1.450tr (46pc) for next year, up 17pc. Sindh follows with a relatively restrained development allocation of Rs816bn compared to Rs887bn in the current fiscal year, a decline of 8pc. KP has proposed a development envelope of Rs564bn for next year, up almost 24pc from Rs455bn in the current year. In addition to substantial federal allocations, Balochistan has increased its ADP size to Rs308bn, up 10pc from Rs279bn this year. Based on these financial envelopes, the government has set next year’s economic growth target at 4pc, supported by projected growth of 3.8pc in agriculture, 4pc in industry and 4.2pc in services. Inflation is targeted at 8.2pc. Given the tight fiscal position, the APCC decided to make limited allocations, focusing on strategic and high-impact projects, ensuring adequate rupee cover for foreign-funded schemes to honour international obligations, prioritising projects with more than 70pc completion for early execution, avoiding token allocations, restricting new projects except those aimed at enhancing productivity, and discouraging projects of a provincial nature except in less-developed areas. The sector-wise breakdown shows that the largest share — Rs729.9bn, or 65pc — has been earmarked for infrastructure projects, compared to Rs615bn budgeted in the current fiscal year, an increase of 19pc. Within infrastructure, transport and communications receive the highest allocation at Rs409bn (36pc), compared to Rs326bn in the current year, up 25pc. This is followed by water resources at Rs140bn (12.5pc), energy at Rs136bn (12pc), and physical planning and housing at Rs45bn (4pc). The social sector has been allocated Rs187.2bn (16.6pc), including education (7pc), health (2.2pc), the SDGs Achievement Programme (6.2pc) and other social sectors (1.3pc). To help less-developed regions catch up with the rest of the country, Rs54.1bn (4.8pc) has been earmarked for AJK, GB and the newly merged districts of KP. The science, technology and information technology sector has been allocated Rs45bn (4pc), while governance and production sectors have been allocated Rs10.2bn and 0.8pc of the PSDP, respectively. Iqbal lamented that the country was operating with an extremely reduced PSDP at a time when development needs were rising sharply. He said development space had been squeezed by mounting debt-servicing pressures, prolonged macroeconomic stress and worsening global headwinds. PSDP allocations, he noted, stood at 19.6pc of the national budget and 2.5pc of GDP in FY18, but had fallen to just 4pc of the budget and 0.6pc of GDP by 2025-26. “The PSDP is not merely a budget line — it is a statement of national intent,” the minister said, stressing that development funding was directly linked to economic growth, national productivity and public welfare. He warned that Pakistan was still struggling to recover from the post-2018 economic shock, with debt servicing burdens and recurring external vulnerabilities limiting the country’s ability to invest in transformative projects. Given the limited fiscal space, the APCC decided that more than 98pc of available resources would be directed towards ongoing projects, with priority accorded to high-impact and near-completion schemes, particularly in water, energy, transport and other core infrastructure sectors. Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026
Country: Sudan Sources: Emergency Telecommunications Cluster, World Food Programme Please refer to the attached Infographic.