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Lahore-- Updates...............

Some nice things going on there..... especially that park and new airport terminal.
 
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A billion dollar project, Lahore Knowledge Park, to produce 11,200 PhD

The government of Punjab is working on a Knowledge Park in Lahore that will feature centers for research, academics, and entrepreneurs. The budget for this project is an enormous $1 billion and it will be undertaken by the Lahore Knowledge Park Company that was established in October 2014 specifically for this purpose.

The management of the Lahore Knowledge Park Company has said that the work on infrastructure development will begin in September, later this year. It is expected that by the end of 2017, the basic infrastructure facilities such as roads as well as a few life-sciences universities will be finalized.

While talking to the Express Tribune, the CEO of the Lahore Knowledge Park, Shahid Zaman, had this to say:
“It is a very interesting concept from which the entire world is benefiting. Lahore Knowledge Park will be a fourth generation park being established over 852 acres of land located a few kilometers from the Pak-India border. It will consist of universities and schools, science and innovation hubs, a retail and central business district, a residential district, an entertainment zone and green areas. The project will serve as a growth engine for Lahore as it will promote education in five key areas, namely, life sciences and bio-technology, design and creative industry, information technology, computer sciences and science and engineering.”

It is expected that the Punjab government will spend 20% in the total investment for the Knowledge Park that would be used for developing the basic infrastructure for the park. Once that is done, the private sector will be expected to make the remaining 80% investment in the next 25 years. This financial plan has been drawn up by Frost & Sullivan, a US consultancy firm. It is expected that the Knowledge Park will generate over PKR 5.9 trillion by the next 25 years. Of this, PKR 253 billion will be in labor income while PKR 178 billion in income taxes.

According to Shahid Zaman, both foreign and local investors have taken interest in the project and offered to invest the entire $1 billion required for the project. Once operational, it is expected that the project will produce over 40,000 jobs and 11,200 PhDs for Pakistan in the next 25 years.

A board member for the Lahore Knowledge Park, Almas Hyder, said that there was no need for the government to invest further in the project, especially in the first phase of development. This is because the management has already been approached by eight universities that are willing to build their campuses in the Lahore Knowledge Park.

The Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and board member for the Lahore Knowledge Park, Dr. Sohail Naqvi, talked about the long-term continuity of the project:
“The project is valuable and attitudes of the governments are now changing; politicians now continue the projects, the main example of which is the Benazir Income Support Program(BISP)
 
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BAHRIA TOWN ..... Heritage Hotel

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Metro feeder routes: 200 buses to reach Lahore in mid-Sept

As many as 35 articulated buses to be used for the Multan Metro Bus Service have reached the country, Daewoo Pakistan spokesperson said.

LAHORE:
As many as 200 buses to be run on feeder routes of the Metro Bus Service are set to reach the city by mid-September, a Daewoo Pakistan spokesperson told The Express Tribune on Tuesday.

He said an order had already been placed for these buses. The company would run these buses, 162 big-sized and 38 small-sized, under an agreement with the Punjab Mass-transit Authority (PMA) on 14 routes spread over 123 kilometers. The agreement has been signed for a six-year period. It can be extended with consent of both parties.

The spokesperson said Daewoo Pakistan was spending Rs3 billion for the procurement of these buses. He said that the Punjab Mass-transit Authority (PMA) would pay the company Rs165 (for big-sized buses) and Rs140 (for small-sized buses) per kilometre for operating these buses. The company estimates that around 200,000 passengers will travel on the feeder routes every day. The buses will be equipped with Automated Fare Collection and Bus Scheduling System (AFC-BSS) and global positioning system (GPS) tracking devices.

Official documents available with The Tribune state that the company will set up card (ticket) sale and recharge points at 22 locations along the feeder routes. These points will remain open during operations hours – estimated to be around 18 in a day. The company will also arrange 15 handheld electronic ticket validators for spot checking by ticket inspectors.

Earlier, PMA Operations General Manager Syed Uzair Shah had announced that buses for feeder routes would reach the city in August. He had said that the company hoped to arrange public transport facilities within 500 metres of each resident of the city. The authority planned to run around 1,400 standard or mini-buses on 104 routes covering 951 km, he had said.
 
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