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FCCI may attend Annual Investment Meeting-2024 in UAE

By
Waseem Iqbal
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FAISALABAD, Mar 20 (APP):The Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) is considering a proposal to participate in 13th Annual Investment Meeting-2024 (AIM) as a delegate, which is scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE from 7-9 May this year, said FCCI President Dr Khurram Tariq.
Muhammad Haroon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) AIM, visited the FCCI and briefed President Dr Khurram Tariq about the importance of this leading investment forum.
The FCCI president said that Abu Dhabi had become the most lucrative destination for investment and people from Arab, Asia and other regions have established their offices in this city to capitalize its dividends. He termed AIM an important event to steer the global economy from the continuing meltdown. He said that major investors were following Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of UAE, to earn hefty profit from their investment.
He said that Pakistan is situated very close to this city and “we should also avail from its investment potential”.
Earlier, Muhammad Haroon said that 10,313 investors from 174 different countries are expected to participate in this meeting which would specifically focus on digitalization

Mangla Dam nears seasonal dryness with 0.233 MAF remaining

By
Waseem Iqbal
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Mangla dam
MIRPUR, Mar 20 (APP):The water level in Mangla Dam, Pakistan’s second-largest reservoir, is swiftly approaching seasonal dryness, with only 0.233 MAF of water left in the reservoir.
This decline is attributed to continual heavy snowfall in the upper reaches of the Himalayan Jammu and Kashmir state, resulting in low inflows.
As of Tuesday, the water level was reported at 1085.90 feet against a maximum conservation level of 1242 feet. Mangla Dam, which boasts the largest water storage capacity in the country, reached its maximum conservation capacity last August.
Inflows and outflows from the Jhelum River at Mangla reservoir recorded 19300 and 28000 cusecs respectively on Wednesday, reflecting mean flows over a 24-hour period.

Three days polio drive set to start in DG Khan

By
Waseem Iqbal
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Polio
DG KHAN, Mar 20 (APP):The three-day anti-polio drive would start from the 25th of March where about eight lac children be administered vaccines across the district.
A meeting reviewed the arrangements of the campaign with Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shahid Zaman in the chair here on on Wednesday.
The meeting was that the about 800562 children would be given the drops in the stipulated time frame to protect them from lifelong crippling.
He said the team was ready to hit the field with utmost force to eradicate polio from the soil of the country.  The DC said the teams’ members were assigned duty at border areas and would be provided complete security.
He expressed resolve to overcome flaws being experienced in the previous campaign launched here. Dr. Kamran Mustafa, Huma Mehdi, Zubair, and other officers of the concerned departments participated in the meeting.

21 candidates cleared to contest 12 Punjab Senate seats

By
Waseem Iqbal
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LAHORE, Mar 20 (APP):A total of 21 candidates have been allowed to contest elections for 12 Senate seats from Punjab after scrutiny of nomination papers.
Twenty-eight candidates had filed nomination papers with Provincial Election Commissioner Punjab Aijaz Anwar Chohan, who also served as the returning officer for the Senate Election, for 12 Senate seats including seven general, two reserved for women, two for technocrats/ulema, and one reserved for non-Muslims, from Punjab.
As per the lists of qualified and rejected candidates, issued by the provincial election commissioner on Wednesday, the nomination papers of 21 candidates were accepted, while papers of seven candidates were rejected.
The nomination papers of 12 candidates were accepted for the seven general seats after scrutiny. The candidates are: Walid Iqbal, Shahzad Waseem, Muhammad Tallal Badar, Ejaz Hussain Minhas, Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, Ahad Khan Cheema, Pervaiz Rashid, Nasir Mehmood, Hamid Khan, Raja Nasir Abbas, Musadik Masood Malik, and Omar Sarfraz Cheema.
For the two technocrat seats, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Mustafa Ramday, Yasmin Rashid, and Musadik Masood Malik were allowed to contest. Faiza Ahmad, Anusha Rehman Ahmad Khan, and Bushra Anjum Butt were allowed to contest the two women-reserved seats.
For the one minority seat, the nomination papers of Asif Ashiq and Khalil Tahir were declared valid. Meanwhile, the nomination papers of seven candidates were rejected for the Senate elections.
The nomination papers of Mian Najeeb-ud-Din Awaisi, Irfan Ahmad Khan Daha, Sayed Zulifkar Abbas Bukhari, and Khawaja Habib-ur-Rehman were rejected for general seats. The nomination papers of Surriya Naseem and Sanam Javed Khan were rejected for women-reserved seats, whereas the nomination papers of Tariq Javed were rejected for the minority seat.
Polling for the 12 Senate seats from Punjab will be held on April 2 in the provincial assembly. According to the schedule, issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the last date for filing appeals against the decisions of the RO about acceptance/rejection of nomination papers would be March 21.

Inaugural PCB inter-collegiate Ramadan T20 tourney from March 22

By
Waseem Iqbal
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0
LAHORE, Mar 20 (APP):The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced the first-ever Inter-Collegiate Ramadan T20 Cup among 30 colleges of Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi regions with a view to popularize the game and scout talent.
The opening match will be held at the LCCA ground on March 22 (Friday) at 8 p.m. while the final will also be played at the same venue on April 8.
The tourney will be held under an organizing committee comprising members from the regional bodies involving Lahore Regional Cricket Association (LRCA), Karachi Regional Cricket Association (KRCA) and Islamabad Regional Cricket Association (IRCA).
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said that he was thrilled to announce the inaugural Ramadan Inter-College T20 tournament to foster cricket talent within educational institutions, adding that tournament expresses our commitment to the game development at the grassroots level.
“The spirit of Ramadan, combined with the excitement of T20 cricket, promises an electrifying atmosphere on the field,” he said. He said: “Our vision extends beyond just cricket and through this tournament and we hope to encourage students to pursue both academic excellence and sporting achievements”.
“By hosting this tournament in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad, we aim to provide
a platform for young cricketers from diverse backgrounds to showcase their skills
and passion for the game”, he added.
Director Domestic PCB Abdullah Khurram Niazi, in his message, expressed the hope
to increase the outreach of the game to a vast majority of the students who normally
find it tough to juggle between playing cricket and their studies as per vision of Chairman PCB.
“I am confident this tournament will also bring some exciting talent to the forefront as well while providing young students the opportunities to prove their mettle on the cricket field,” he said. He further said the tournament would see a total of 10 teams participating in each city.
These teams will be divided into two groups while the top team of each group will play the final. Each team will play four matches in the pool stage while a total of 21 matches will be played in each city. Each team will have a squad of 14 players and additionally three reserve players, along with three officials. On rules, he said the participation rules for the players involve an age bracket where a player born on or after 1 September 2000, will be eligible to take part in this Inter-Collegiate T20 tournament.
To take part in the tournament a player must be a bonafide student of the respective college. He further said the PCB panel of Umpires would officiate the matches.
He said the winning team in each city would be awarded a cash prize of PKR 500,000 while the runners-up in each city would bag PKR 250,000. He said the PCB selectors would be at the venues to closely monitor the performances of the players.
Islamabad-leg
Group A – Bahria College Zafar Camp E-8, Beaconhouse I-8, IMCB F-7/3, IMPCC H -8/4 and FROBELS
Group B – IMCB – Chakshahzad, West Minister, IMCB Degree College Sihala, IMCB F-10/3 and IMCB G-10/4
The Islamabad-leg will be played from 23 March to 3 April at the Misam Cricket Ground. The first match will
take place at 8pm, while the second match will resume at 1130pm. The first ball of the final is expected to be bowled at 9pm.
Lahore-leg
Group A – Punjab College, Superior College, Diyal Singh College, Gulberg College and Science College
Group B – Government College University, MAO College, Islamia College Civil Lines, Government College Township and Shalimar College Baghbanpura
The Lahore-leg matches will be played at the LCCA Ground with the opening and final match taking place at 8pm. The second match later in the evening will start at 11pm. On the double-header matches, the first match will start at 730pm.
The final of the Lahore-leg will be played at the LCCA Ground on 8 April.
Karachi-leg
Group A – Government Dehli College, Government College for Men, Happy Palace College, Beaconhouse School System and Government Jinnah College
Group B – Government National College, Government College Asifabad, Government College 36-B Landhi-4, The City School and Government Pak Shipowners College
The Karachi-leg matches will resume from 23 March and the final of the tournament will take place on 4 April. The T20 matches will be held at Eid GAH Ground Nazimabad and IBA Karachi University Ground, with the match starting at 730pm. The final of the tournament will be played at the EID GAH Ground in Nazimabad, with the first ball expected to be bowled at 730pm.

Pakistan Armed forces, security agencies vigilant to protect homeland: Senator Zehri

By
Waseem Iqbal
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QUETTA, March 20 (APP):The entire nation is standing by the side of the army until the end of menace of terrorism and terrorists and they will never succeed in their evil intentions.
These views were expressed by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri in her statement issued on Wednesday. Samina Zehri strongly condemned the new wave of terrorism entered to this region.
She said that in the recent terrorist attack reported in Mir Ali of North Waziristan, the terrorist organizations originating from Afghanistan are found involved and we strongly condemned such incidents in this part of the region.
She said that in retaliation, the Pakistan’s action in Afghanistan is justified.  Samina Zehri said that all the martyrs, including Lt Col. Syed Kashif Ali and Captain Ahmed Badr, are the heroes of the nation and the entire nation and their families are proud of the martyrs’ sacrifices for this country.
Senator Samina Zehri said that those who sacrificed their lives for the protection of the motherland have proved that  Pakistan is in a strong hands and no one could dare to look at this country with sinister design.
Senator Samina Zehri further said that the brave soldiers and officers of Pakistan Army sacrificed their lives for the safety and security of this country, for which, the nation pays tribute to the martyrs.
She said that the courage, perseverance and patience of the families of the martyrs are a source of strength for the nation and the security forces. Soon, she hoped these terrorists will be brought to their end.
She said that cowardly enemies cannot shake our firm resolve with such actions. Every drop of blood of martyrs will be counted.  Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri said that determination of the security forces and the nation will not decrease until the end of the last terrorist.

Pakistan needs ‘Economic Long March’ to achieve development, prosperity: Ahsan Iqbal

By
NNPS Desk
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Ahsan Iqbal

ISLAMABAD, Mar 20 (APP): Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has said that the country needed an ‘Economic Long March’ to move on a consistent path of development and prosperity.

Participating in a private television programme, he urged opposition parties to play a positive role in Parliament so that the country could move forward to achieve the goal of economic stability effectively.

He criticized a political party for making failed attempts to dent the country’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), terming it ‘Economic Terrorism.’

Ahsan Iqbal was of the view that the financial matters of the country could not be sustained on loans permanently and stressed the need to increase production capacity, suggesting imposing an export emergency in the country.

Last year, the Ministry of Planning set up a 5-Es framework consisting of Export, Energy, Equity, E-Pakistan and Environment, under which a comprehensive plan had been prepared for the implementation of the framework and suggestions from all the ministries in this regard to be sought.

Replying to a question, the federal minister said all chambers of commerce would have to play their due role so that more efficiency could be achieved in agriculture, information technology and other sectors with value addition of the products.
Citing the examples of developing countries like Korea and Japan, Ahsan Iqbal said these countries had progressed by increasing their production capacity.

He vowed to lead the country towards development during the next five years under the dynamic leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

To another question, the minister said he could not even think of rolling back the 18th Constitutional Amendment due to the sensitivity of its nature; however, some matters including the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) could be discussed with the provinces.

He said the total revenue of the federal government was Rs7000 billion after taking out the share of the provinces. Debt repayment written in the budget was Rs7300 billion, which actually stood at Rs8000 billion, while Pakistan would have to borrow Rs1000 billion rupees to pay its debts.

Further narrating the country’s fiscal position, he said federal government expenses were Rs700 billion, pension payments Rs800 billion and defence expenditure Rs1800 billion.

He said the country’s development budget was Rs950 billion and about Rs1200 billion were the transfer payments to provinces. “Some subsidies are also paid by the government which is about Rs1200 billion. All these payments are on loans. No country can be run in such a way that every expenditure is on debt.”

President Zardari for expanding scope of Pak-Japan cooperation

By
Ishtiaq Rao
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0

ISLAMABAD, Mar 20 (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday called for expanding the scope of bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Japan across a wide spectrum of areas, especially trade, investment, economy, culture and people-to-people contacts.

The president, talking to the Ambassador of Japan Mitsuhiro Wada, who called on him, said that Pakistan was a huge market and Japanese businesses should benefit from the economic opportunities by investing in diverse sectors.

He said that both countries had been enjoying long-standing relations, which needed to be further cemented for the mutual benefit of the two sides.

He highlighted that Japan had been a key development partner of Pakistan that had been supporting Pakistan’s socio-economic development in different sectors under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

He further said that Pakistan had a huge population and could send the trained workforce and professionals to help Japan fulfill its requirement for human resources.

The president said that Japanese automobile companies, based in Pakistan, should enhance production to export their products from Pakistan.

The Japanese banks should also be encouraged to restart their operations in Pakistan, he said and reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to overcome its current socio-economic challenges.

The Japanese ambassador said that Pakistan had a strategic location and a huge population, and Japanese companies were interested in these potential areas.

He called for further strengthening the existing bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two countries and informed that the export of Pakistani mangoes to Japan was growing.

The ambassador also termed the visit of former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to Japan as successful, saying that the young generation of Pakistan could play a strong role in making it a prosperous country.

Mitsuhiro Wada warmly congratulated President Zardari on becoming the president for the second time and conveyed the regards of the Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

President Zardari thanked the ambassador for the felicitations and asked him to convey his warm regards to the Emperor of Japan.

He also fondly recalled his visit to Japan and meeting with the former Emperor of Japan Akihito.

He thanked the Japanese government for its support to Pakistan in the aftermath of the devastating floods in 2022.

President Zardari for expanding scope of Pak-Japan cooperation

Later, Ambassador of Yemen to Pakistan Mohammad Motahar Alashabi also called on President Asif Ali Zardari and felicitated him on assuming his office.

During the meeting, the president said that Pakistan and Yemen enjoyed excellent bilateral relations based on shared bonds of religion, culture and values. Both sides emphasised the need for further increasing mutually beneficial cooperation.

President Zardari also thanked the Ambassador of Yemen for felicitations.

Child beggars swarm twin cities’ markets in Ramzan

By
Waseem Iqbal
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0
ISLAMABAD, Mar 20 (APP):The number of child beggars and alms seekers has increased manifold in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad during the holy month of Ramazan.
The people of the two cities demanded strict actions against those who were involved in child begging and alms seeking.
A citizen namely Muhammad Ashfaq said that alms seekers sometimes became a constant nuisance specially in Iftar time
at traffic signals and alleged that no one was taking action against the professional begging.
Similarly, another citizen, Muhammad Imran said that professional child begging was a serious problem in society as minors were involved in beseeching and imploring the citizens especially in markets in Ramazan. He said that when people tried to ignore them, they cursed or abused the people and escaped.
When contacted to ICT Spokesman, Dr Abdullah Tabassum, he said that the ICT administration continuously conducted raids against the child begging.
In recent action, Assistant Commissioner for Rural Areas Kamran Saeed has initiated an operation to curb professional beggars in the Federal Capital.
During the visit, seven beggars were apprehended and identified as professional beggars. All of them were promptly transferred to police custody, while minors among them were directed to the Edhi Center for appropriate care.
Furthermore, Assistant Commissioner City Farhan Ahmad conducted raids at F-6, F-7, Blue Area, Nadra Office, D-Watson, and nearby localities and arrested 22 professional beggars.
The move underscored authorities’ commitment to maintaining order and addressing social issues in the capital city, the spokesman added.

Drug peddler sentenced to 9 years in prison

By
Waseem Iqbal
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0
Jail
WAH, Mar 20 (APP):A special court for the Control of Narcotic Substances (CNS) in Taxila on Wednesday sentenced nine years imprisonment to and a fine to a convict facing drug peddling charges.
According to detail, the convict, Muhammad Taimour was arrested by Wah Cantonment Police during 2023 in the case registered under section 9-C of the Control of narcotics substance act 1997 after recovery of hashish from his custody.
The additional Session Judge Ms. Shazia Zaffar Raja after hearing the arguments of defense and prosecution counsels announced the verdict as the convicted was found guilty of having drugs, and subsequently awarded 9-year imprisonment and a fine worth Rs80 thousand.
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