ISLAMABAD
An attractive view of seasonal flowers flourishing and blooming at a greenbelt in G-8 Markaz
ISLAMABAD
A vendor making tea for customers in a local hotel at Aabpara Market in Federal Capital
ISLAMABAD
A vendor arranging and displaying socks to attract the customers at Aabpara
ISLAMABAD
A vendor busy in cleaning almond at Aabpara
ISLAMABAD
A vendor busy in making Kashmiri tea for customers at his roadside setup at Aabpara Market
ISLAMABAD
PM asks terrorists to make ‘unconditional surrender’, says State will not negotiate with them
ISLAMABAD, Dec 11 (APP):Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday warned terrorist groups in the country to make an “unconditional surrender”, saying the State would not negotiate with them.
“The State will not show any leniency towards the terrorists who committed violence and killed innocent citizens,” he said in an interaction with the families of martyrs here at the Interior Ministry, where he earlier launched the country’s new visa policy.
PM Kakar categorically said that no person would be allowed to take the law into his hands, adding that only the State had the legitimate right to use armed power through its security forces.
“No one should have any doubt about the stance of the State against terrorists,” he said. “All organs of the State have the clarity to remain persistent against militancy.”
He said any damage incurred in the past by giving a lenient space to the militants would be mitigated.
The prime minister said if someone wanted to denounce terrorism must seek forgiveness from the families of the martyrs, who had paid the ultimate price.
“We cannot compensate those who lost their loved ones, but can make a gesture to acknowledge and honour their invaluable sacrifices,” he added.
PM Kakar said the reward for the martyrs’ souls rested with Allah Almighty, however, it was the responsibility of the society to honour them with a distinguished status.
“I pay tribute to all the martyrs – an unending list of heroes from all segments of the society, including police, politicians, journalists, soldiers, and even children,” he said.
Earlier, at the launch of the new visa policy, the prime minister congratulated the Ministry of Interior on the achievement of a “good milestone”.
He said the country needed to further rationalize its visa policy with the target of attracting investment.
“Unless we open up to the world, we cannot attract investment and develop connectivity,” he said, adding that a country’s visa policy was the cornerstone of its economic roadmap.
The minister was briefed that the new visa policy includes the introduction of investor visas and the revision of the existing business visa category.
The investor visa has been introduced in line with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) initiative. The hassle-free process allows visa approval within 24 hours with a short-term (1-3 years) and long-term entry visa (5 years).
The process requires minimal documentation with the option of converting the entry business and investor visa into a long-term investor visa.
The prime minister was informed that the business visa category was revised with the introduction of SIFC Business Entry and its extension. The business visa will be issued in 24 hours for a six-month short-term entry visa and a five-year long-term visa.
The National and Database Registration Authority (NADRA) is managing the visa process and has also deployed its staff at the SIFC.
The prime minister inaugurated a memorial gallery where the pictures of martyrs were put on display. He mounted on the wall a photograph of Additional Inspector General of Police Safwat Ghayur who was martyred by the terrorists.
He also visited the social media cell where he was given a briefing about its functioning.
Earlier, Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti received PM Kakar on his arrival at the Ministry of Interior. A contingent of the Islamabad Police presented a salute and guard of honour to the prime minister.
The family members of the martyrs, including veteran politician Mian Iftikhar Hussain, whose son was martyred by the terrorists, expressed gratitude to the caretaker government for recognizing the sacrifices of the martyred heroes.
Police net three robbers after encounter
RAWALPINDI, Dec 11 (APP):Rawalpindi District Police here on Sunday night netted three robbers after an encounter.
According to a police spokesman, Rawalpindi Dolphin team was attacked on Sunday night by three robbers in the jurisdiction of Naseerabad police.
He informed that after encounter, three injured robbers were rounded up and police also recovered weapons from their possession.
He said, Dolphin patrolling team signalled to stop three bikers but they opened indiscriminate firing at the police party. Fortunately, Dolphin team remained unhurt and succeeded to net three injured robbers, he added.
After receiving information about the attack on the police party, senior police officers reached the spot and the injured robbers were shifted to hospital for medical treatment.
Police also recovered weapons and ammunition from the possession of the arrested accused.
City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi, Syed Khalid Hamdani appreciating performance of police directed to accelerate operation against the robbers and other lawbreakers.
Pakistan wins two bronze medals in World MMA Championship 2023
ISLAMABAD, Dec 11 (APP): Pakistan Mixed Martial Arts (PMMA) athletes have secured two bronze medals in the World MMA Championship 2023 which concluded in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday.
Pakistani athletes Asim Khan claimed and Shahzeb Khan claimed bronze medals in their respective categories.
It is for the first time in history that Pakistan won two bronze medals in the World Championship in mixed martial arts sports. Athletes from around 38 countries participated in the championship.
President PMMA Federation Zulfiqar Ali in a statement on Monday congratulated the young athletes on winning medals for the country.
He also wished them the best of luck for future events and expressed the hope that they would make the nation proud in future as well.
Dera’s Rescue 1122 provides services in 139 emergencies last week
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Dec 11 (APP):The district’s emergency service Rescue 1122 tackled 139 emergencies during the last week under the supervision of District Emergency Officer Awais Babar.
According to the weekly performance report issued here on Monday, the Rescue 1122 tackled different kinds of emergencies over the week including 100 medical, 33 road accidents, two fire eruptions, one violence and two others.
It says that the control room received a total of 23981 emergency calls including 4975 for information or drop calls and 18850 fake or irrelevant calls.
He said that Rescue 1122 also provided services in 14 referral-related emergencies including 11 within the district while in three emergencies patients were shifted to hospitals in other districts.
The spokesman of Rescue 1122 said that the rescue teams were always fully equipped with all necessary equipment and have been efficiently rendering their services during emergencies.
Wheat sowing completed over 92% areas, crop sown over 20.62 mln acres: Commissioner
ISLAMABAD, Dec 11 (APP):The wheat crop has been sown across more than 20.62 million acres of land in various crop-growing regions during the current Rabi season in order to meet staple food requirements as well as to maintain strategic reserves throughout the year.
The crop sowing targets for the current season (2023-24) were fixed at 22.23 million acres as the cultivation targets achieved by 92.77 per cent, said Food Security Commissioner Imtiaz Ali Gopang.
Talking to APP here on Monday, he said that the crop sowing was in full swing across the wheat-producing areas in the country as Punjab Province has surpassed its wheat sowing targets and completed cultivation of over 101 per cent areas against the set targets.
The Punjab, which is the largest wheat-producing province of the country has completed crop sowing over 16.16 million acres as compared to the fixed targets of 16.00 million acres during the current season, he said adding that more areas to come under crop cultivation during the days to come.
Meanwhile, Sindh Province has achieved 87.54 per cent of its targets as wheat cultivation in different divisions of the province was completed over 2.60 million acres as against the set targets of 2.97 million acres, he added.
So far the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has achieved wheat sowing over 96.87 per cent of its set targets and crop cultivation was completed over 1.86 million acres as compared to the set targets of 1.93 million acres during the current sowing season, he added.
He informed the wheat cultivation data from the Balochistan Province was still awaited, adding that the province was assigned a task to grow wheat over 1.33 million acres during the current season.
The Food Security Commissioner further informed that approximately 729,000 metric tons of high-quality certified wheat seeds would be available to the local farming communities during the current season which comprises over 46 per cent of the total local demand.
In addition to seeds, the government was implementing various strategies to guarantee an ample supply of essential agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers, pesticides and access to finance to achieve the fixed targets of the season, he remarked.
To ensure the smooth supply of fertilizers at affordable prices across the country, the government has launched an anti-hoarding campaign, besides taking stern measures to curb the smuggling of commodities including wheat, sugar and fertilizers, he added.