ISLAMABAD (September 03, 2010): Inter-national Monetary Fund (IMF) would provide around US$450 million in immediate emergency financing to Pakistan to help the country manage the aftermath of the massive and devastating floods that wrecked havoc in the country.

ISLAMABAD (September 03, 2010): The directives by the Cabinet to remove contractual inconsistencies for the multi billion dollar Rental Power Projects (RPPs), as noted by third party audit, has been put on hold by an office memorandum (OM) signed by a Section Officer of the Cabinet Division.

KARACHI (September 03, 2010): The members of Karachi Stock Exchange on Thursday decided that general body meeting will be called to amend KSE Article of Association to appoint broker as a chairman of the exchange. In an emergent meeting held at KSE here on Thursday, the members decided that the 2005 decision of appointment of a non-member chairman would be reverted and KSE Article of Association would be amended to appoint a real stakeholder of capital market as the chairman of KSE.

TAUNTON (September 03, 2010): The three cricketers accused of involvement in an illegal betting scam insisted on their innocence Thursday as they formally withdrew from the scandal-tainted tour of England. Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif vowed to clear their names in a meeting in London with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt and Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's ambassador to Britain.

WASHINGTON (September 03, 2010): Israeli and Palestinian leaders began their first round of direct peace negotiations in more than a year on Thursday, pledging to meet again in two weeks as part of a US-brokered quest for peace. US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held productive meetings and would meet again in the region on September 14-15 and every two weeks thereafter.

ISLAMABAD (September 03, 2010): Rules and regulations pertaining to appointments are being flouted by Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) to fill two key vacant posts in legal wing, Business Recorder has learnt reliably. Sources revealed that Human Resource Committee (HRC) of OGDCL Board has approved the appointments on the posts of General Manager (GM) Legal and Manager Legal Corporate.

ISLAMABAD (September 03, 2010): The cash strapped Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has curtailed its import of petroleum products by 50 percent for the month of September due to non-payment of outstanding by power sector companies, besides the reduction in demand of the products caused by the devastating floods.

KARACHI (September 03, 2010): Foreign exchange reserves rose to $16.12 billion in the week ending on August 27, from $16.11 billion a week earlier, the central bank said on Thursday. Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose to $12.37 billion from $12.35 billion, while those held by commercial banks fell to $3.75 billion from $3.76 billion, said Syed Wasimuddin. the SBP's chief spokesman.

LAHORE (September 03, 2010): Soneri Bank's Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Atif Bajwa as the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the bank. He will be taking over from Safar Ali K Lakhani who will retire after serving for 19 years as the President and Chief Executive Officer.