From the News, Nation, Dawn, Pakistan Observer, Daily Times, Frontier Post, Nawa-i-Waqt (Urdu) and Jang (Urdu) newspapers                                                                            

2 April, 2009

LOCAL NEWS  

ECONOMIC 

-     Islamabad, April 1 (By Sher Baz Khan) The government is seeking a $ 30 billion package from the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) group - $ 21 billion as grant and credit and $ 9 billion in public-private partnership and foreign direct investment over 10 years. (Dawn, p-1)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

ECONOMIC 

-     Tokyo (Agencies) Japan’s most closely watched measure of business confidence has fallen to an all time low, the central bank said on Wednesday. (The Frontier Post, p-8; Dawn, p-10)

-     Tokyo (Agencies) The yen strengthened in Asian trade Wednesday on demand for currency as a safe haven as worries over the global economic outlook mounted on the eve of a high-stakes G20 summit. (The Frontier Post, p-8)

MISC

-          Tokyo (Agencies) Japan plans to ban retired bureaucrats from moving into jobs with companies they once supervised, an official said Wednesday, Prime Minister Taro Aso’s cabinet has approved an ordinance to outlaw the practice, known as amakudari or “descent from heaven”, which has been widely criticized for strengthening murky ties between powerful bureaucrats and the companies and groups under their watch. (The Frontier Post, p-5)

-          Article (By Yang Sung-Chul) Pyongyang’s missile tantrum – That is needed now is not more hot rhetoric about North Korea’s missiles, but  commitment to steady, patient diplomacy that transcends changes in the political cycle. (Daily Times, p-A7)