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ANF recovers over 417 kg drugs; arrests 12

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NNPS Desk
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ANF - drugs
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RAWALPINDI, Mar 02 (APP):Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) in nine operations managed to recover over 417 kg drugs and arrested 12 accused, said an ANF Headquarters spokesman here on Thursday.

He informed that ANF foiled a bid to smuggle drugs from ‘Bara’ to Punjab and recovered 312 kg charras in a raid conducted near Peshawar Ring Road Hayatabad Toll Plaza. Charras was concealed in a car while two accused residents of Mansehra were also rounded up.

In a joint operation, ANF and FC recovered 10.8 kg charras from Karak area.

In third operation, another bid to smuggle drugs from ‘Bara’ to Punjab was also foiled. ANF and FC recovered 3.6 kg charras from the possession of an accused netted near Khyber Tirah check post.

ANF managed to recover four heroin-filled capsules from the possession of a Bahrain-bound passenger resident of Muzaffargarh going on flight no GF-0771.

The spokesman informed that in two operations at International Mail Office Rawalpindi, ANF recovered over 5.9 kg Ice drug absorbed in waistcoats, being sent to Doha and 250 intoxicated tablets being sent to Canada.

ANF while conducting a raid near Sheikhupura Toll Plaza seized 48 kg opium and 33.5 kg charras besides netting five accused.

In an operation ANF recovered over 3.5 kg Ice drug from a parcel booked at Sialkot International Mail Office for New Zealand.

The spokesman informed that in ninth operation, ANF and Punjab Rangers recovered over 1.8 kg heroin from the possession of two accused arrested from Head Sulemanki area.

He said that separate cases have been registered against the accused while further investigations are under process.

IRSA releases 99,300 cusecs water

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NNPS Desk
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IRSA

ISLAMABAD, Mar 02 (APP): The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Thursday released 99,300 cusecs of water from various rim stations with an inflow of 50,200 cusecs.

According to the data released by IRSA, the water level in River Indus at Tarbela Dam was 1455.52 feet and was 57.52 feet higher than its dead level of 1,398 feet. Water inflow in the dam was recorded as 14,300 cusecs while outflow as 50,000 cusecs.

The water level in River Jhelum at Mangla Dam was 1108.60 feet, 58.60 feet higher than its dead level of 1,050 feet. The inflow and outflow of water were recorded 16,600 cusecs and 30,000 cusecs respectively.

The release of water at Kalabagh, Taunsa, Guddu and Sukkur was recorded as 58,900, 41,200, 31,600 and 7,300 cusecs respectively. Similarly, from River Kabul, a total of 8,500 cusecs of water was released at Nowshera and 3,000 cusecs were released from River Chenab at Marala.

Sikhs For Justice asks G20 Foreign Ministers to repudiate India’s claim to territorial integrity

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NNPS Desk
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Sikhs For Justice asks G20 Foreign Ministers to repudiate India’s claim to territorial integrity

ISLAMABAD, Mar 2 (APP): On the heels of G20 Foreign Ministers’ Summit in New Delhi, secessionist group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) has called on the G20 Nations to “repudiate India’s claim to territorial integrity” and support Sikhs’ right to secede from the Union of India through Khalistan Referendum.

The demand has been made by the pro-Khalistan Sikhs For Justice in an open letter to the G20 Foreign Ministers.

India has been urging the G20 nations to ban the SFJ’s pro-Khalistan activities on the grounds that the Khalistan Referendum challenges India’s territorial integrity and thus should be disallowed by other nations of the world.

Challenging India’s stance, the SFJ’s Open Letter states that “India’s claim to territorial integrity is without any merit and basis as India is not a country but a Union of States and like any Union, the validity of the Union of India is conditional upon the continued will of the people of the states. Since 1984, Sikhs who form the majority in the state of Punjab have been demanding the secession of Punjab from India to establish an independent Sikh homeland Khalistan.” Article 1 of the Indian constitution provides that: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of State.

Given the background of the global Khalistan Referendum and its legality under international law and democratic norms, the SFJ Open Letter draws the attention of G20 nations towards Modi regime’s criminalization of the Khalistan Referendum and use of violence to crush the Sikh peoples’ peaceful movement for the creation of Khalistan.

Prompting the G20 nations to take notice of India’s use of violence against Khalistan Referendum, SFJ General Counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun stated: “While SFJ believes in ballot, not bullet, India’s Modi Regime through constant use of violence is pushing Khalistan movement back into the 1990s when the cycle of violence initiated by Indian Government engulfed the political question of Khalistan and caused thousands of human lives.”

PSF announces research grant in fields of Nanotechnology, Material and Artificial Intelligence

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NNPS Desk
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PSF announces research grant in fields of Nanotechnology, Material and Artificial Intelligence

ISLAMABAD, Mar 2 (APP): Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) has announced a research grant to support scientists and researchers in developing and commercialization of products in the fields of Nanotechnology, Material and Artificial Intelligence under the Competitive Research Programme.

Scientists, engineers, technologists, innovators, academia and entrepreneurs from Research and Development (R&D) institutions, HEC-recognized universities and industries who have already completed the first stage of research and development work and need financial support for the utilization of their research outcomes to develop new products, prototypes, pilot-scale production and commercialization can apply for the grant, an official of PSF informed.

Besides, the “lone” innovators/ startups or Small and Medium Enterprises have launched a new product, technology, technique or process and want to bring value addition or improvement alone or in partnership with scientists, technologists and academic R&D institutes and HEC-recognized universities are also encouraged to apply.

The grants are available for a period of up to two years in the streams including individual researchers/lone innovators/startups (up to 10 million budget), consortium research groups (multidisciplinary research groups up to 20 million budget), and Triple Helix model (collaborative research projects between academia, R&D organizations, and industry up to 20 million budget).

This funding opportunity aims to promote the utilization of R&D outcomes in economic development through export push and import substitution while saving foreign exchange in Pakistan.

Scientists, engineers, technologists, innovators, academia, lone innovators and entrepreneurs from R&D institutes, HEC-recognized universities and industry, start-ups or SMEs.

The Principal Investigator should be from HEC recognized University or a public sector R&D organization/ private industry/start-up/SME that can be taken on board for pilot scale or commercial trials, production and marketing activities.

About the nature of the projects, the official informed that the duration for the execution or completion of the project will be a maximum of up to 2 years with a maximum funding limit of up to Rs. 20.00 Million (Rs. 10 Million for Individual Researchers), the official said.

The Competitive Research Grants will be provided for the Creation of new knowledge through patents, technology transfer and publications, development of new processes, products, prototypes or applications through indigenous skills, and value addition in the existing products/prototypes/ processes according to the needs of the economy and Pilot Plant Studies.

The concept proposals must be submitted online and can be accessed via the PSF website. The foundation only accepts Concept Paper submissions through the RGMS online web portal (https://psf.gov.pk/rgms/)

The applicants can get details about the submission of the concept proposals through https://psf.gov.pk/CRP.aspx.

Summit of NAM Contact Group on post-COVID challenges starts

By
Ishtiaq Rao
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BAKU (Azerbaijan), Mar 2 (APP): The summit of Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group in response to COVID-19 started here Thursday to discuss strategies on overcoming the post-COVID issues, leading to food insecurity, global inflation and other economic challenges.

Being chaired by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as NAM chairman, the summit is attended by representatives from around 70 countries including the presidents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, and Libya; Vice-Presidents of Cuba, Gabon, and Tanzania; prime ministers of Algeria and Kenya, and high-ranking representatives of various countries.

Summit of NAM Contact Group on post-COVID challenges starts
Photo courtesy Azertac

In addition, heads of international organizations, including President of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi, heads of UN World Tourism Organization, International Organization for Migration, UN Office in Geneva and Economic Cooperation Organization also were among the participants besides the ministers, deputy ministers and ambassadors.

Summit of NAM Contact Group on post-COVID challenges starts
Photo Courtesy Azertac

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq headed the Pakistani delegation, representing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who would put forward the proposals on how to deal with the post-COVID situation and promote south-south cooperation, besides addressing the regional disputes to pave way for peace.

Before start of the plenary session, the delegates posed for a group photo.

Opening the summit as NAM chair, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed the dignitaries to the summit-level Meeting of the NAM Contact Group.

The participants, observed one-minute of silence in memory of the victims of the earthquake, which hit Turkiye and Syria recently.

Services’ trade deficit shrinks by 88.97% as exports grow by 6.39%

By
Muhammad Ashraf Wani
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ISLAMABAD, Mar 2 (APP):The services trade deficit narrowed by 88.97 per cent as exports witnessed a growth of 6.39 per cent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

According to PBS data, the exports from the country during July-January (2022-23) were recorded at $4,196.76 million against the exports of $3,944.84 million in July-January (2021-22), showing growth of 6.39 per cent.

On the other hand, the services’ imports declined by 32.67 per cent from US$6,681.39 million last year to US$4,498.50 million during the period under review.

Based on the figures, the services trade deficit was recorded at US $301.74 million this year against a deficit of US $2,736.56 million during the last fiscal year, showing a decline of 32.67 per cent.

On a year-on-year basis, the services exports during the month of January 2023 went up by 17.31 per cent to US$601.87 million against the exports of US $513.07 million during January 2022.

On the other hand, the imports decreased by 47.38 per cent from US$1,110.04 million last January to US$584.10 million in January 2023, according to the data.

On a month-on-month basis, the services exports from the country decreased by 18.12 per cent as compared to the exports of US$735.10 million in December 2022. The imports also went down by 10.05 per cent as compared to the imports of US $649.38 million in December 2022, the data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandize trade deficit witnessed a decline of 33.18 percent during the first eight months the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The trade deficit during July-February (2022-23) was recorded at $21.300 billion against the deficit of $31.879 billion in July- February (2021-22), a decline of 33.18 percent.

The exports during the period were recorded at $18.793 billion against $20.573 billion last year, showing a decline of 8.65 percent. On the other hand, the imports witnessed a sharp decline of 23.56 percent falling from $52.452 billion last year to $40.093 billion during the current fiscal year.

Trade deficit narrows by 33.18% in 8 months of FY23

By
NNPS Desk
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Trade deficit narrows by 33.18% in 8 months of FY23

ISLAMABAD, Mar 2 (APP): The trade deficit witnessed a decline of 33.18 percent during the first eight months the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The trade deficit during July-February (2022-23) was recorded at $21.300 billion against the deficit of $31.879 billion in July- February (2021-22), a decline of 33.18 percent.

The exports during the period were recorded at $18.793 billion against $20.573 billion last year, showing a decline of 8.65 percent.

On the other hand, the imports witnessed a sharp decline of 23.56 percent falling from $52.452 billion last year to $40.093 billion during the current fiscal year.

On a year-on-year basis, the exports from the country witnessed a decline of 18.67 percent and were recorded at $2.305 billion in February 2023 against the exports of $2.834 billion in February 2022.

The imports also decreased to $4.009 billion in February 2023 from $5.853 billion in February 2022, showing negative growth of 31.51 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, the exports during February 2023 however increased by 2.72 percent when compared to the exports of $2.244 billion in January 2023.

The imports into the country declined by 17.76 percent in February 2023 when compared to the imports of $4.875 billion in January 2023, according to the data.

PTA with Azerbaijan under discussion to boost bilateral trade: Pak envoy

By
Ishtiaq Rao
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BAKU, Mar 2 (APP): Ambassador of Pakistan in Baku Bilal Hayee on Thursday expressed the hope that the Pakistan-Azerbaijan trade would get a boost from current $30 million after both the countries signed Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) which was currently under discussion.

The ambassador, talking to APP at Baku Congress Hall – the venue of Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group’s summit on fighting against Covid-19 – being held here, said currently the bilateral trade consisted of 90% exports from Pakistan with rice being the major commodity.

Attended by the delegates from around 70 states including heads of state from several countries, the summit was aimed at discussing the ways forward to deal with the challenges of the post-COVID new normal featuring food insecurity and economic issues like global inflation.

He said recently, Azerbaijan had exempted customs duty on the export of Pakistani rice which would ultimately increase rice export from $30-40 million.

Highlighting the cultural and bilateral relations, the envoy said Azerbaijan was the only country in Central Asia and South Caucasus having direct flight to Pakistan. Besides, the Pakistani nationals have also the facility of hassle-free online visa to Azerbaijan, he added.

Ambassador Hayee said Pakistan was an active member of the NAM and the summit was being held in a country with whom Pakistan had very “special relations.”

He said Pakistan supported Azerbaijan at every forum throughout its struggle to get rid of foreign occupation from its territory.

“This is very different country, which loves Pakistan and we are trying transform this love into tangible economic relationship with bilateral trade being the most important,” he remarked.

He said being the second largest platform after the United Nations, the ambassador said NAM always sought a peaceful resolution of regional disputes.

He said at NAM, Pakistan always sought a peaceful resolution of the issues particularly those involved foreign occupation, like Jammu and Kashmir impacting a huge chunk of NAM population.

He said the development was always linked to the peace and in case of any conflict, the development was always the first casualty.

He said Economic Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq represented Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the summit which would discuss the south-south cooperation and put forward strategies to overcome the post-COVID challenges remaining no more confined to health rather turned into the economic challenges.

He said NAM always strived for addressing the fundamental rights of the developing countries, instead of indulging into the bloc politics.

Amin, Julian Gorman for collaborations in IT sector

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NNPS Desk
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Amin, Julian Gorman for collaborations in IT sector
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ISLAMABAD, Mar 2 (APP): Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque has met with Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) Asia Pacific leadership headed by Julian Gorman in Barcelona.

The agenda of the meeting was to align policy priorities for 2023 and future collaborations between both parties, said a news release received here on Thursday.

Syed Amin Ul Haque is in Barcelona to attend the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 Ministerial Conference.
The minister informed GSMA about the ongoing broadband projects in the un-served and under-served areas of Pakistan, including the infrastructure and spectrum sharing framework which will be beneficial to the Telcos in reducing their operational costs.

GSMA appreciated the efforts by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication to support the telecom industry and offered to provide further support for enabling “Digital and Financial Inclusion for all”.

The meeting was attended by Member IC Ajmal Awan, CEO of USF Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, DG Wireless Jahanzeb Rahim, Jeanette Whyte Head of Public Policy and Saira Faisal Country Head GSMA Pakistan.

First-ever ‘digital population census’ need of time, to ensure transparency : Spokesperson

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NNPS Desk
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Pakistan’s earns $286 million from IT services' export during July 2024
Pakistan’s earns $286 million from IT services' export during July 2024

ISLAMABAD, Mar 2 (APP): Spokesperson of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Muhammad Sarwar Gondal Thursday said that Pakistan’s first ever digital population census was need of the time which would bring transparency in the process and would help in formulating targeted policies for equal distribution of resources.

“The statistics on the population and housing census would give a true picture of the current population in the country”, he said while talking to a private news channel.

Without digital and timely conduction of population census, the resources’ distribution amongst various areas of the country will not be ensured,” he further mentioned.

In order to make the exercise successful, the media and public cooperation will be of great importance, he stressed.

Replying to a question, he explained the process that the census process is divided into two parts, in the first part the citizens have been given the option to self-enumerate through the specially designed https://self.pbs.gov.pk portal.

While in the second phase, the house-to-house census will be conducted by using tablets and mobiles, in which organizers will make the process more credible, accurate and transparent, he added.

He also appealed to the public to fully cooperate with the census teams to make the census a success.
Self-enumeration is a new concept that gives every resident of the country the option to register in the census, he replied in a question.

To another question, he said any household member can register all members of the family who live and eat together as a household, adding, census teams are visiting houses door to door for the verification of the process.

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