ISLAMABAD: April 18 -.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chairs a meeting regarding Power Sector
ISLAMABAD: April 18 -.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chairs a meeting regarding Power Sector
ISLAMABAD: April 18 – .
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chairs a meeting regarding Power Sector
ISLAMABAD: April 18 –
MoHR helpline received 1,460,460 calls since its inception
ISLAMABAD, Apr 18 (APP):Ministry of Huaman Right’s Helpline 1099 has received 1,460,460 calls since i has established providing services in 5,5323 relevant cases, said an official here on Thursday.
Talking to APP, he said all callers being victim of human rights violation, received legal assistance and were referred to the concerned departments when necessary.
During this period, 41,615 call backs and follow-up calls have been made to the victims.
During the financial year 2022-23, individuals seek 131,309 inquiries 1,657 were provided with comprehensive legal advice and other essential support services.
The Helpline, diligently committed to ensuring the utmost efficacy and efficacy of its operations, further undertook 28,904 call backs and follow-up calls in relation to the pertinent cases during this specified period.
Total of 88 calls received relating to matters of rights and welfare of children.These inquiries are regarding child protection, education, health, and general well-being.
The helpline received 403 calls concerning to challenges faced by individuals with disabilities.
These inquiries cover accessibility, discrimination, employment opportunities, and the provision of adequate support and services.
A significant number of 577 calls were received concerning governance-related human rights issues.
These inquiries encompassed issues such as transparency, accountability, corruption, and the protection of civil and political rights within the broad framework of governance and administration.
The helpline received a minimal number of 2 calls relating to land rights. These inquiries involved matters such as land ownership, disputes, and the protection of land rights for individuals and communities.
The helpline received 2 calls specifically requesting free legal assistance. These inquiries sought guidance and support on various legal matters, including criminal cases,civil disputes etc.
He further added that that a total of 288 calls fell under the miscellaneous category, encompassing a wide range of inquiries that did not fit into the other predefined categories. These inquiries covered topics such as employment rights, social welfare, consumer protection, and various other individual concerns.
The Helpline received 42 calls related to the protection of life and personal liberty. These inquiries encompassed concerns such as threats to personal safety,and violations of fundamental rights.
Around 23 calls were received concerning transgender rights. They sought guidance and support on issues specific to the transgender community, such as discrimination, healthcare, and social inclusion.
A solitary call was received addressing matters pertaining to the rights of minorities. This inquiry sought assistance and guidance on issues related to discrimination, religious freedom, and equal opportunities for minority communities.
Ambassador of the European Union, Riina Kionka calls on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif
ISLAMABAD: April 18 –
Ambassador of the European Union, Riina Kionka calls on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
ISLAMABAD: April 18 –
World Heritage Day celebrated at Taxila Museum
WAH, Apr 18 (APP):Under the guidance of Director General of Archeology, Mr. Zaheer Abbas Malik, the Directorate General of Archeology Punjab commemorated World Heritage Day at Taxila Museum on Thursday.
The event included a rally organized by the Directorate at the museum premises.
Anjum Javaid, Deputy Director of the Department of Archaeology, highlighted the significance of the day, emphasizing its role in raising awareness about global cultural heritage.
The event also aimed to instill a sense of responsibility among students for preserving cultural heritage for future generations.
Tobacco smoke contains chemicals that cause cancer: Cardiologist
HYDERABAD, Apr 18 (APP):Smoking damages nearly every organ in the body and is bad for a person’s overall health. People can significantly reduce their chance of smoking-related disease by giving it up.
Talking to APP here on Thursday, Eminent cardiologists Dr. Zaman informed that the tobacco smoke contains more than fifty chemicals that cause cancer.
He said that tobacco also contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive psychoactive drug. When tobacco is smoked, nicotine causes physical and psychological dependency.
He said that every third Pakistani after the age of 40 was suffering from high blood pressure, whereas only 3 percent of them get regular medical checkups.
He said that the smoking is not only injurious for the users, but passive smoking is also a great threat to those who associate with the smokers as inhaling of cigarettes’ smoke could cause more complications.
Dr. Zaman said that smoking is the biggest totally avoidable cause of death and disability known to mankind and any support for the growth, distribution or sale of tobacco is indefensible on public health grounds.
Dr. said that the smoking can also cause threat of ten percent more of oral cancer such as tongue, mouth and buckle cavity and 15 percent to other diseases including cardiac, tuberculosis, asthma, shrinking of mouth tissues and respiratory system.
He further informed that alternate use of smoking like anti-smoking chewing, Gutka, leaf with chewing tobacco and battle nut are more dangerous for those who left smoking. Only the strong will power can bring them back towards healthy life, he added.
Dr. Zaman said that many of the college including school students found to be regular smokers. He said and added that the one of the most effective ways to protect young people from the harmful effects of tobacco use is to ban the promotion of the tobacco products.
Cardiologist said that tobacco advertising has a strong influence on children, as it ‘normalizes’ smoking, making it socially acceptable, and difficult for health education to convince people.
Dr. Zaman emphasized the need for community-based efforts with a massive awareness campaign about the hazards of the use of smoking so that the people could stop such addiction for the health of their own and their relatives and friends.
Prudent policies, reforms poised to result in sustainable economic growth: Governor SBP
KARACHI, Apr 18 (APP):Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmed highlighting country’s substantial improvements in macroeconomic outlook hoped that time bound reforms will put the economy on the path of sustainable economic growth.
Governor SBP expressed the views during his meetings with key international investors during multiple events organized by leading global banks and financial firms, including JP Morgan, Citibank and Jefferies, on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC, said a statement issued here.
He informed the participants about the substantial improvement in Pakistan’s macroeconomic outlook achieved over the past year as a result of a prudent monetary policy, backed adequately by fiscal consolidation and beginning of the implementation of key structural reforms.
Governor referring to sharp decline in inflation over the past year from a peak of 38 percent in May 2023 to the two-year low of 20.7 percent in March 2024 explained that the deceleration in inflation is broad-based, reflecting the combined impact of monetary tightening, fiscal consolidation, ease in import supplies, improved agriculture output and base effect.
“More importantly, core inflation declined markedly, reaching 15.7 percent in March, after persistently staying above 20 percent throughout last year,” he added.
The governor informed the participants that the external sector has also stabilized, as reflected in the sharp reduction in the current account deficit (CAD) to $1 billion during Jul-Feb FY24 from $3.8 billion in the same period last year.
In addition to stabilization policies, improved agriculture output has contributed to higher food exports, while lowering the import demand of agri commodities like wheat and cotton, he stated adding that workers’ remittances have risen consistently since October 2023 on yearly basis, driven by incentives and regulatory measures to divert inflows towards formal channels.
These qualitative improvements in the external account have allowed the SBP to more than double its FX reserves from January 2023 ($3.1 billion) to around $8 billion on 12 April 2024 despite the repayment of a $1 billion Eurobond on the same day, Mr. Ahmed mentioned and added that at the same time, the SBP’s forward liabilities have also reduced significantly from $5.7 billion in January 2023 to $ 3.4 billion in February 2024.
Governor SBP stressed upon the improvement in the country’s external debt dynamics, with a reduction in the gross financing requirements due to sizable CAD contraction. Moreover, he noted that the maturity profile of external debt has also improved, with share of relatively costly short-term commercial loans declining while the share of long term concessional financing from multilateral agencies, coupled with support from bilateral partners, is rising.
Mr. Ahmad also noted a recent pickup in inflows from overseas Pakistanis via Roshan Digital Accounts and also by other foreign investors, on the back of strong performance in achieving the targets and benchmarks under the IMF SBA program.
He said that government was hopeful of signing a long term IMF program, which will facilitate additional external financing and the adoption of structural reforms to deal with longstanding issues in the economy.
Governor also highlighted SBP’s efforts to provide a conducive macroeconomic environment for the private sector to invest in the economy as the SBP’s Strategic Plan 2028 aims to facilitate growth by achieving price and financial stability.
The governor highlighted the widespread adoption of digital technologies to address gaps in access to financial services and to revolutionize the domestic payments system and hoped that these time-bound reforms are expected to put the economy on the path of sustainable economic growth.