Pakistan declares state of emergency in southwest as lightning, rains kill 49

Lightning and heavy rains have killed at least 49 people across Pakistan in the past three days, officials said Monday, as authorities in the country’s southwest declared a state of emergency. Some deaths occurred when lightning struck farmers harvesting wheat. Rains caused dozens of houses to collapse in the northwest and in eastern Punjab province. … Read more

Old Pension Scheme to restrict states’ capacity to undertake development activities: RBI

Mumbai: Sounding a note of caution, a Reserve Bank report has said that reverting to the DA-linked Old Pension Scheme (OPS) will exert huge pressure on state finances and restrict their capacity to undertake developmental expenditure. The Reserve Bank’s report on ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2023-24’ also said the provision of non-merit … Read more