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SBP receives $500 million from ICBC

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ISLAMABAD, Mar 17 (APP): Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammed Ishaq Dar Friday said that the State Bank of Pakistan has received $500 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), which would strengthen local foreign exchange reserves.

“State Bank of Pakistan has received today in its account from Chinese bank ICBC US$ 500 million. It will shore up forex reserves of Pakistan”, the minister said in a tweet.

ITO Takeshi, Chargé d’ Affaires, Embassy of Japan, in a group photo with the Pakistani students awarded Japan’s MEXT Research scholarships to pursue higher studies in Japan at a send-off reception held at the Embassy of Japan

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ITO Takeshi, Chargé d' Affaires, Embassy of Japan, in a group photo with the Pakistani students awarded Japan’s MEXT Research scholarships to pursue higher studies in Japan at a send-off reception held at the Embassy of Japan
APP36-170323 ISLAMABAD: March 17 - ITO Takeshi, Chargé d' Affaires, Embassy of Japan, in a group photo with the Pakistani students awarded Japan’s MEXT Research scholarships to pursue higher studies in Japan at a send-off reception held at the Embassy of Japan. APP/MAF/ZID
ITO Takeshi, Chargé d' Affaires, Embassy of Japan, in a group photo with the Pakistani students awarded Japan’s MEXT Research scholarships to pursue higher studies in Japan at a send-off reception held at the Embassy of Japan
APP36-170323 ISLAMABAD

Prime Minister Muhammad shehbaz Sharif presents allotment letter to the family of late Qazi Abdul Rehman Amritsari, the School teacher who suggested the name of Islamabad

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Prime Minister Muhammad shehbaz Sharif presents allotment letter to the family of late Qazi Abdul Rehman Amritsari, the School teacher who suggested the name of Islamabad
APP37-170323 ISLAMABAD: March 17 - Prime Minister Muhammad shehbaz Sharif presents allotment letter to the family of late Qazi Abdul Rehman Amritsari, the School teacher who suggested the name of Islamabad. APP/ZID
Prime Minister Muhammad shehbaz Sharif presents allotment letter to the family of late Qazi Abdul Rehman Amritsari, the School teacher who suggested the name of Islamabad
APP37-170323 ISLAMABAD

Law Minister urges all political leaders to sit together for improving economy

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ISLAMABAD, Mar 17 (APP): The economy of Pakistan is facing serious challenges and it is high time that the leaders of all political parties should sit together and discuss ways and means to steer the economy out of crisis situations.

This was stated by Azam Nazeer Tarar, Minister for Law and Justice while addressing a dinner reception hosted by Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in honor of Office Bearers of Pakistan Bar Council, Islamabad Bar Council, Islamabad High Court Bar Association and Islamabad District Bar Association.

Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the political polarization is not good for the country and stressed that all concerned should reconsider their approach to give a better economic future to the posterity.

He said that for how long we will run our economy on foreign loans and urged that we should work hard to make Pakistan a self-reliant country.

He said that the legal community in cooperation with the media and the business community have always played a positive role in difficult times and hoped that they would again join hands to put Pakistan on the path of better growth.

Speaking at the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the burden of cases on courts was increasing and stressed that a mechanism of mediation councils should be promoted to settle out of court trade disputes.

He said that the bar council and association should set up their desks in ICCI to facilitate the business community in the prompt solution of trade disputes.

He urged the government to focus on conducive policies to promote business activities, investment and exports.

He said that ICCI was ready to work with bar councils and associations to serve the cause of business and lawyers’ communities and resolve their key issues.

Haroon Rasheed, Vice Chairman, Pakistan Bar Council said that the business community was the backbone of the economy and close cooperation between business and lawyers’ communities would produce beneficial results for the economy.

Raja Aleem Khan Abbasi, Vice Chairman, Islamabad Bar Council said that the current rent control act should be made more balanced for landlords and tenants to provide quick justice in rent disputes.

He stressed for a charter of economy by all stakeholders to arrest the further downfall of the economy.
Naveed Malik, President, Islamabad High Court Bar Association said that a committee comprising representatives of ICCI and Bar Associations should be constituted to work for solving the issues of business and lawyers’ communities.

Qaiser Imam Gondal, President, Islamabad District Bar Association said that time and investment was important for the business community and the legal system should ensure prompt solution of commercial disputes.

He urged the government to make specific legislation for an efficient and effective alternate dispute resolution system of commercial disputes that would promote local and foreign investment in Pakistan.   

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI said that business and lawyers’ communities were key stakeholders in the development of the country and urged to develop close cooperation to achieve their common goals that would help improve the economy.

Engineer Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar stressed for new laws to promote ease of doing business in order to boost business and economic activities.

Pakistan calls for ‘focused’ efforts to cope with conflicts, climate change to achieve gender equality

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Pakistan calls for 'focused' efforts to cope with conflicts, climate change to achieve gender equality

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 17 (APP): A senior Pakistani official has urged “focused” efforts on part of the world community, governments and individuals in dealing with emergencies ranging from conflicts to climate change which, she said, “disproportionately affect the lives of women and girls”.

“Prioritizing gender-responsive interventions, increasing women’s participation in decision-making, addressing violence against women, investing in women’s economic empowerment, and collecting sex-disaggregated data are key strategies to get back on track towards gender equality,” Nilofar Bakhtiar, Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women, told a panel discussion at the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Participating in an interactive dialogue, ‘Getting back on track: Achieving gender equality in a context of overlapping emergencies’, Ms Bakhtiar said although climate change affected everyone, but women and girls bore the brunt, citing Pakistan where “between 50 to 80 percent of women are food producers and 70 percent of them manage livestock”.

The recent floods, she said, had affected more than 33 million people in Pakistan, half of them were women and girls, millions still remained in need of immediate humanitarian assistance and more than 1.6 million were women of reproductive age, with thousands of pregnant women in need of urgent health services.

“We express concern that the Pakistan Floods Response Plan is only 36% funded more than halfway through its 9-month duration.”

The National Commission on the Status of Women, she said, remained committed to promote and protect rights of women and girls amidst the looming threats posed by climate change.

The action plan coming out of Pakistan’s climate change national report 2022 was implemented during the flood disaster, Ms Bakhtiar told delegates. “Now we are ready with our report on digitalization based on four areas – communication, financial inclusion, online learning tools and gender-based violence.”

“We strongly believe that the fight against climate change emergency shall not be won without truly achieving women empowerment and without mobilizing the political will and necessary resources to take critical decisions,” Ms Bakhtiar said in conclusion.

Amnesty International expresses concern over HR violations in IIOJK

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ISLAMABAD, Mar 17 (APP): Amnesty International Friday expressed concern over the demolition of houses in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and other human rights violations by Indian forces.
Addressing a news conference in Birmingham, Amnesty International officials Ms Astrid Laich and Fahim Kiyani, who is also President of Tehreek-e-Kashmir UK, demanded that the demolitions in the occupied territory must halt.
They said the ongoing demolitions appeared to be an extension of the brutal human rights violations historically witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir.
Secretary Bournville Branch Amnesty International in the United Kingdom Astrid Laic underlined the need for raising awareness about the issue.
She said the Indian authorities were denying basic right of property ownership to the people of Kashmir.
She pointed out that Jammu and Kashmir was the only Muslim-majority region of India.
“These demolitions amount to forced evictions which constitute gross violations of human rights. No one should be made homeless or vulnerable to human rights violations.”
She said the Indian authorities must immediately stop the demolition drive, give adequate compensation to all those affected and ensure that victims of forced evictions had access to remedy.

Seminar held on issues of Balochistan

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ISLAMABAD, Mar 17 (APP): A seminar was held at the University of Turbat on Friday on the issues faced by people of Balochistan.
The theme of the seminar was “Balochistan Reconciliation: Problems, Challenges and Way Forward.”

Seminar held on issues of Balochistan


The speakers at the seminar included Prof Dr Nazir Hussain, Dean Social Sciences University of Wah, Prof Dr Manzoor Ahmed Vice Chancellor University of Gwadar, Saba Aslam, Executive Director Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution, Dr Gul Hassan Principal Law College Turbat and Mir Asghar Rind, a politician belonging to Pakistan Peoples Party. Later a healthy interactive question answer session took place. University students and guests from various segments of society attended the seminar.

185,000 Islamabad families to get free wheat flour by Mar 18

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ISLAMABAD, Mar 17 (APP): The federal government on Friday decided to start the distribution of free wheat flour among 185,000 families of the federal capital by March 18, as part of an initiative to provide relief to inflation-hit poor people during Holy Ramzan.

The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif here who said the government was striving to provide maximum possible relief to the people amid inflation.

As per the decision, the eligible people would be able to get flour from 40 outlets of the Utility Stores.

In order to avoid any inconvenience, the people have been asked to check their eligibility for the free flour by sending an SMS containing their CNIC number to 8717 helpline of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) as the data has been linked with the BISP.

As per the criteria, the families registered with the BISP and having a poverty score of 60 or lesser would be eligible to avail the facility.

The registered families would be entitled to get 30 kilogram of flour in a month.

In case of any complaint, the people may also contact a toll-free helpline 0800-05590.

The prime minister said the government was making efforts to reduce the difficulties faced by the low and middle income groups particularly during the Holy Ramzan.

He instructed the authorities concerned to take measures to avert long queues of people at the flour distribution points.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Advisor to PM Ahad Cheema, ex-MNA Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Capital Development Authority chairman, Utility Stores Corporation managing director and relevant senior officers attended the meeting.

A delegation of the French Agency for Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called on Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel to discuss avenues for cooperation in social protection and health, with a focus on polio eradication

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A delegation of the French Agency for Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called on Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel to discuss avenues for cooperation in social protection and health, with a focus on polio eradication
APP32-170323 ISLAMABAD: March 17 - A delegation of the French Agency for Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called on Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel to discuss avenues for cooperation in social protection and health, with a focus on polio eradication. APP/ZID
A delegation of the French Agency for Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called on Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel to discuss avenues for cooperation in social protection and health, with a focus on polio eradication
APP32-170323 ISLAMABAD

Legendary singer Suria Multanikar along with her daughter Rahat Multanikar performing songs on the stage during the south Punjab literary and cultural festival at the arts council

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Legendary singer Suria Multanikar along with her daughter Rahat Multanikar performing songs on the stage during the south Punjab literary and cultural festival at the arts council
APP31-170323 MULTAN: March 17 - Legendary singer Suria Multanikar along with her daughter Rahat Multanikar performing songs on the stage during the south Punjab literary and cultural festival at the arts council. APP/TVE/MAF/ZID/SSH
Legendary singer Suria Multanikar along with her daughter Rahat Multanikar performing songs on the stage during the south Punjab literary and cultural festival at the arts council
APP31-170323 MULTAN