ISLAMABAD: December 21 –
ISLAMABAD: December 21 –
Murtaza Solangi, Caretaker Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting in a meeting with Jordanian Ambassador, H.E. Maen Khreasat
ISLAMABAD: December 21 –
ISLAMABAD: December 21 –
Majority of Pakistanis perceive CPEC positive for Pak economy: Report
BEIJING, Dec. 21 (APP): As 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a report titled Perceptions on CPEC in Pakistan, was revealed in the 8th CPEC Media Forum, hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan and organized by China Economic Net and Pakistan-China Institute.
Data from the report indicate that there is widespread agreement among Pakistanis that CPEC will help revive economic activity in Pakistan.
The report draws its insight from 350 individuals, encompassing key stakeholders including 62 government employees, 22 parliamentarians, civil sector representatives, private sector professionals, journalists, members of academia and students from Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Paktunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit.
Based on the report, 65% of the respondents view Chinese professionals as friends of Pakistan who will help revive the country’s economy and socio-economic well-being.
This means a majority of Pakistani people strongly believe that CPEC will prove to be beneficial for the country and its people. About how CPEC will help Pakistan, 93.5% of the respondents view CPEC as a project that will significantly help Pakistan through investment in various sectors while also opening avenues for businessmen.
And, 75.1% of the respondents agree that through CPEC, local businessmen will get access to international markets. Moreover, 61.1% of the respondents believe that CPEC will help economically vulnerable groups such as women, which signals positive segments among the Pakistanis with regard to how CPEC is slowly revolutionizing the economy by improving the socio-economic well-being of the people.
Additionally, 66.9% of the respondents think that investment under CPEC can significantly improve the agricultural industry of Pakistan, and 72.7% of the respondents believe that CPEC has helped develop state-of-the-art infrastructure in the country.
Looking into the future, 54.2% of the respondents think CPEC should focus on business opportunities more, followed by education (13%), health (5.9%), IT (2.3%), etc. Overall, the majority of the respondents perceive CPEC positively as a game-changer for Pakistan economy.
Furthermore, the second highest responses for the questions were ˜neutral which stems from the idea that while CPEC is fast progressing and its fruit is visible some people lack a good understanding of this corridor and its influence regarding different development phases.
Statistics from the Embassy of China in Pakistan exhibit that by the end of 2022, CPEC had brought direct investment of $25.4 billion to Pakistan, creating 2,36,000 jobs, building 510 kilometers of expressways and 886 kilometers of national grid, and adding 8,000 MW of electricity.
APP/asg
APP employees celebrate Christmas with enthusiasm
ISLAMABAD, Dec 21 (APP): The employees of Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), across the board celebrated the upcoming Christmas with enthusiasm, zeal and zest in an impressive ceremony organized here Thursday.
Addressing the cake cutting ceremony, Managing Director (MD) Muhammad Asim said, “We believe in equal human rights among all communities serving in this organization and there will be no discrimination among employees.”
The MD APP also announced “Good will money for all the Christen employees which would be provided to them before the festivity.
Muniba Ifitkhar, Senior Vice President APP Employees Union and General Secretary APP Employees Union Nadeem Iqbal also praised the MD for arranging Christmas festival, saying that all the minority community of Christian were thankful to him for organizing the celebrations.
Christmas tree were decorated with different ornaments including baubles, small bells painted in gold or silver, stars of different shapes and sizes, pine cones, apples, candies, tinsel and balloons made from glass, metal, wood and ceramic.
A flock of pigeons picking food at a local park, F-10 in Federal Capital
ISLAMABAD: December 21 –
Heavy machinery being used to expand road towards F-9 Park during development work in Federal Capital.
ISLAMABAD: December 21 –
Vendors displaying sweet and salty stuff to attract customers at Faisal Masjid
ISLAMABAD: December 21 –
PPP enters into alliance with Miankhel, Makhdoom families in Dera
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Dec 21 (APP): Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) managed to secure support and formed an electoral alliance with the district’s politically influential Miankhel and Makhdoom families to counter its rivals in the general elections 2024 in the district.
In this regard, PPP central information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi, addressing a press conference along with heads of those affluent families here at ‘Miankhel House on Thursday, said that this time PPP would step in election race with backing of the area’s two esteemed political families including Miankhel and Makhdoom families at Dera Ismail Khan to secure stunning victory against opponents.
Recounting development and welfare-oriented measures for the people, he expressed optimism that candidates of the party would grab all seats in the general elections scheduled to be held on Feb 08.
Kundi said he was going to contest election from NA-44 while Fateh Ullah Miankhel would be fielded as candidate for NA-45 on PPP tickets.
However, he said that a candidate for the national assembly seat NA-43 (DI Khan -cum-Tank) would be announced later.
Regarding the provincial assembly seats, he revealed that Makhdoom Aftab Haider representing the Makdhoom family would be in the run for PK-95 Paharpur constituency on PPP ticket.
Former MPA and Faisal Karim Kundi’s brother Ahmed Karim Kundi will contest from PK-96 (City-II) and Qaizar Khan Miankhel from PK-98 (Paroa) for provincial assembly seats. The candidates for constituencies PK 97 (City-I) and PK-99 (Kulachi) would also be finalized soon after mutual consultation, he said.
Referring to issues by farmers of the district, PPP Information Secretary Faisal Kundi underscored the necessity for the district administration to take stern action against elements involved in creating artificial shortage of fertilizers in the open market by hoarding.
He also came hard on WAPDA officials, saying, it was carrying out unnecessary loadshedding, pushing the entire district into darkness which provided an opportunity to anti-social elements to commit crimes.
He lamented that 40 local Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) employees of the district had been transferred to other stations on pretext of their poor performance in recovery drives.
He demanded of the authorities concerned to immediately cancel transfer orders of those employees in order to extend them relief as it was the issue of 40 families.
He also asked the authorities concerned of the provincial government to immediately release pending salaries of the TMA employees who come on roads on each other day as a protest in this regard.
Speaking on the occasion, Fateh Ullah Khan Miankhel said this alliance would yield effective work, leading to defeat the opponents with big margins.
He regretted that farmers and flood affected people were still awaiting compensation amount to be released despite reassurances by the former prime minister who visited the district three times.
He also lamented that opponents got offended when Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC), which was a key source for irrigating agricultural lands of the district, was inaugurated by Faisal Karim along with another leader of the PPP after its repair.
He said now the people were politically well aware and they would reject opponents who were blackmailing them in the name of religion in upcoming general elections.
On this occasion, PPP local leadership including Farhan Dhap, Aziz Ullah Alizai and a large number of party workers were also present on this occasion.
DIKhan police siezed 2820 litres Iranian Diesel
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Dec 21 (APP): Dera police during successful operations foiled a smuggling attempt, resulting in the seizure of 2820 litres of Iranian Diesel and arrested one accused within the jurisdiction of Yarik police station on Thursday.
According to the police spokesman, following the direction of District Police Officer Dera Abdul Rauf Babar Qaisrani, police station Yarik under the leadership of SDPO Saddar Circle Saleem Baloch along with SHO Khubab Wali Baloch thwarted the attempt of smuggling of NCP diesel. During the checking the vehicle C-4552, police recovered 2820 liters of Iranian diesel from the possession of accused Riffat Ullah son of Sayadat Khan resident of Tank. The police arrested the accused as per the rules.
The estimated worth of the recovered NCP diesel was around Rs.8 lakh.
The police registered the case against the arrested accused as per the rules and later handed over the recovered diesel to the customs authorities for further legal actions.
A view of accident after a vehicle hit to another at Islamabad Expressway.
ISLAMABAD: December 21
ISLAMABAD: December 21 – A view of massive traffic jam after a vehicle hit to another at Islamabad Expressway.
CPDI calls for widely discussing budgetary proposals by key stakeholders
TANK, Dec 21 (APP): Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CDPI), a non-governmental organization in its fourth annual report on the “State of budget transparency in Pakistan, International Best Practices”, released here on Thursday has called for budget proposals to be widely discussed with civic groups, government agencies and key stakeholders.
The report was aimed to present findings and facilitate dialogue between governments, civil society and the citizens at large. It recommended launching of a centralized digital platform dedicated to fostering citizen participation.
The report also recommended separate budget statements for women, minorities, children, and PWDs, outlining specific allocations and strategies tailored to each group’s unique needs and challenges.
The report urged the governments to ensure availability of budget data in widely accepted machine-readable formats like Excel and CSV.
It said that the participation of citizens in the budgeting process should be given legal protection and government agencies should be required to consult with the citizens during the various stages of budget making process. In particular, the role of MPs should be enhanced during budget formulation and its implementation.
While talking to the elected representatives, LG representatives, CSOs and media persons on the occasion, Inayat Ullah Khan of CDPI said that for the past decade, CPDI had been working to improve the budgeting process in Pakistan from the district to the federal level to promote transparency in it. As a result, fourth report based on “State of Budget Transparency in Pakistan 2023” has been released, he said.
He said that the report not only examined budget transparency in Pakistan but also helps to gauge the effectiveness of access to information laws in Pakistan in obtaining budget information.
This report, he said recommends that Instead of fast-tracking the budget, it should be referred to the finance committees in both federal and provincial assemblies well in advance of the fiscal year.
The CPDI report also demands for making all Planning Commission Forms (PC-I to PC-V) available to the public across all federal and provincial levels, not just PC-I documents.
He further added that according to the report, participation of citizens in budgeting, legislature oversight, duration of budget debate in parliaments and equitable budgeting were required to be addressed.