ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP):Cognizant of the basic health needs of the rural population, the District Health Department is working on a comprehensive plan of extending all-possible services to the ailing humanity under which 14 new Community Health Centers (CHCs) and Basic Health Units (BHUs) would be made operational during the next year.
“Around 11 new CHCs and three BHUs, having 515 indoor-bed capacity, are in the final phase of their construction that will be functional during the next year,” Project Director of Health Department Islamabad Sardar Shabbir Ahmed told APP on Tuesday.
Sharing details, he said the new initiatives having indoor facilities included 200-bed King Salman bin Abdulaziz Hospital at Tarlai, 30-bed CHC at Bari Imam, 40-bed CHC at G-13, 25-bed Mother & Neonatal Child Health Centre at I-14 (Badhana Kalan), 20-bed Mother & Child Health Centre at Gohra Shahan, 60-bed Mother & Neonatal Child Health Centre at Bhara Kahu, 40-bed CHC at Bokra (Proposed to be built in I-12 sector), while four BHUs at Tarno, Kirpa, Shah Allah Ditta and Rawat were being upgraded to CHCs with 25-bed capacity each.
Besides, the construction of three new BHUs, with outpatient department (OPD) facility only, are being constructed at Jhangi Syedan, Sara-e-Kharbooza and Golra Sharif.
The project director said the existing BHU at Sohan had been reconstructed with added facilities for mother and child, adding the department also established eight “Well Baby Clinics” at its existing BHUs to facilitate the mother and child.
Sardar Shabbir said the department had also moved a summary for the creation of 359 additional posts of various cadres of healthcare professionals. “The summary is in the last stages of approval. With the joining of these professionals, the department will be able to operate all these facilities round the clock,” he remarked.
Answering a question, he said, currently, the overall all-bed capacity of the existing three Rural Health Centers (RHCs) was 60 only, adding that with the establishment of new health facilities, the indoor bed capacity would reach 575, and patients would be able to get treatment round-the-clock.
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain has purposed a faculty and student exchange programme and scholarships for students with Oxford Pakistan Programme (OPP).
He was talking to a delegation of the Oxford Pakistan Programme who visited his office here on Tuesday. Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, AS Waseem Chaudhry also attended the meeting, a press release said.
Minister said that the Government of Pakistan is putting great emphasis on the promotion of quality education including higher education in the country. There is great potential in Pakistani students, for exceptional Pakistani students to study at Oxford there is a need to establish a number of scholarships, especially for women at Lady Margret Hall which is traditionally a women’s college.
Minister said that there should be faculty and student exchange, scholarships for students, sharing of information and experiences about each other’s academic’s policies and initiatives, organization of seminars and conferences, short-term training, capacity building of staff, and reciprocal visits of officials.
Rana Tanveer was briefed that OPP has three core objectives: to address the under-representation of Pakistani and British Pakistani students at the University of Oxford; to promote academic exchange between Oxford University and Pakistan’s institutions of higher learning and to broaden academic conversations on Pakistan beyond the narrow remits of security and geopolitics.
Rana Tanveer said that Pakistan has around 64% youth with substantial potential to support all key sectors of the economy by developing human capital. The government of Pakistan realizes that it is imperative to provide quality education and opportunities to youth for the socioeconomic development of Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon is arriving in Pakistan on Wednesday on a two-day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Foreign Office in a statement on Tuesday said the two sides would exchange views on further strengthening bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas.
During the visit, a number of bilateral agreements and Memoranda of Understanding are expected to be signed.
“The Tajik President’s visit to Pakistan is expected to impart a renewed impetus to deepening cooperation between the two countries in diverse fields and further strengthen the growing geo-economic partnership,” the FO said.
Pakistan and Tajikistan are brotherly countries linked through longstanding historical, cultural and religious bonds. These ties are marked by mutual respect and exceptional cordiality. The two countries have a commonality of views on various regional and international issues.
Tajikistan is the closest neighbour of Pakistan in Central Asia separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. This proximity makes Tajikistan an important partner of Pakistan in Central Asia.
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): As many as 37 Sri Lankan students arrived in Pakistan the other day to pursue their higher studies under the Pak-Sri Lanka Higher Education Cooperation Programme (HECP).
According to official sources, around 357 more students from Sri Lanka, who won the ‘Allama Iqbal Scholarships for Sri Lankan Students’, will also reach Pakistan soon.
These scholarships are being offered in all major disciplines, including Medicine, Engineering, Business Studies, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, etc, the sources said.
Meanwhile, 272 Sri Lankan students are already studying in top-tier Pakistani public sector universities where they are enrolled in different fields of study.
It is worth mentioning here that there is also a faculty exchange component in this programme that will be launched soon so that Pakistani and Sri Lankan academics can work together on contemporary areas of research.
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): The National Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution with majority votes to extend the Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2022 (No.Vi of 2022) for a further period of 120 days.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javeed Abbasi on behalf of Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Ishaq Dar move the resolution in the House.
The House takes up Calling Attention notice regarding not locating real flood affectees during the survey carried out in flood hit areas of South Punjab. Government assured to address all concerns as it is taking every possible step to mitigate difficulties of flood affectees pic.twitter.com/wiZlLOYDsS
Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali while opposing the resolution said that ordinances culture should be discouraged in the country adding that such ordinances should be brought into the house in form of bills.
Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf responded that Maulana Akbar Chitrali raised a valid point and the ordinance should be brought through a proper bill in the House.
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Ambassador of Nepal to Pakistan Tapas Adhikari said on Tuesday that Nepal and Pakistan are enjoying excellent bilateral relations based on goodwill, mutual trust cooperation and ties between the two countries further strengthened by the high-level interactions and people-to-people contacts.
Talking to media persons here, he said, “The relationship between Nepal and Pakistan have always been cordial and friendly. The establishment of diplomatic relations in 1960 further enriched bilateral engagements and understandings.
The envoy said both countries have similar views on many issues of common interests at various regional and international forums. Bilateral trade, similar cultural and social values based on agrarian economy, tourism and mountaineering, cooperation in education sectors, among others, have further enriched the bilateral cooperation, he added.
Both countries, the ambassador said are founders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and have been working to promote regional cooperation.
He said, melting glaciers, changing agriculture patterns, migration has impacted the livelihood of people and the recent flood in Pakistan is a living testimony of climate change in the region.
“Therefore, Nepal and Pakistan need to work together to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change” he added.
Tapas Adhikari said, “The bilateral trade relations are very limited but it is increasing day by day. We are optimistic about recent positive trends after the Covid-19 pandemic on bilateral economic engagements and hope it will surpass pre-covid level very soon.”
In 2020, Nepal exported goods of 100 million NRs and imported 1.04 billion NRs. from Pakistan he said adding the Embassy is committed to work with the business community in Pakistan towards further enhancing the bilateral trade relations between our countries.
He said that Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers are working together in various expeditions sharing skills, knowledge and techniques of mountaineering and expanding mountaineering in our countries.
“I believe continued cooperation between Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers will make a difference to both countries, making it the center of mountain and adventure tourism” the ambassador said.
He noted that Pakistan has a rich cultural and religious heritage. Pakistan is the place where great religions and philosophy like Hinduism, Buddhism Sikhism and Sufism were established or flourished, he added.
The ambassador said, that there are Buddhists artifacts scattered across Taxila valley, Takhta-i-Bahi and in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other part of Pakistan.
He said, “Taxila used to be a center of learning and propagating Buddhism in different parts of the world. It shows that Buddhism had deeply rooted in these areas.”
The envoy said, “I am happy to see the preservation of the Buddhist heritage in Pakistan despite being an Islamic country and I believe this is something the people of the world should know about.”
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday said boosting trade with Kazakhstan and other Central Asian Republics (CARs) through Karachi and Gwadar was an important element of Pakistan’s ‘Vision Central Asia’ policy.
“There is a great potential for diversifying bilateral trade relations and entering into joint ventures in the fields of agriculture, IT, textile, energy, logistics, housing and construction”, he said while talking to Chairman of the Mazhilis (Lower House) of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Koshanov Yerlan Zhakanovich who led a delegation, here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
President Alvi said Pakistan and Kazakhstan enjoy fraternal brotherly relations rooted in a common heritage and social, cultural and religious values which need to be translated into meaningful business trade, investment and economic relations.
He mentioned that the Vision Central Asia policy focused on five elements including political and diplomatic, trade and investment, energy and connectivity, security and defence, and people-to-people contacts.
He said the existing level of trade of US$219.12 million in 2021-22 needed to be substantially increased keeping in view the immense potential that existed between the two countries by building new and improving existing linkages through roads and railway networks, and through the sea.
The president expressed the hope that with the establishment of complete peace in Afghanistan, trade and investment between Kazakhstan and Pakistan would receive much-needed impetus and hoped that the current leadership in Afghanistan would succeed in establishing sustainable peace.
He hoped that Pakistan and Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Joint Commission (IJC) on trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation scheduled to be held in Islamabad on December 22-23, 2022 would take tangible decisions to further improve and cement the bilateral brotherly and fraternal relations.
President Alvi said the international community should take a strong exception to atrocities being perpetually committed by the Indian Security Forces against innocent Kashmiris who were demanding their legitimate right to self-determination as promised to them by various resolutions of UNSC on Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
“The international community should take notice of harassment, chastisement, and intimidation of minorities, especially Muslims, and desecration of their places of worship with total impunity”, he added.
He emphasized that the world was in flux therefore, Pakistan and Kazakhstan should also try to forge close cooperation to deal with the emerging situations with dignity and respect and should continue to play their part in the resolution of regional and international issues.
Chairman of Mazhilis of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan briefed the President on the aims and objectives of the Kazakhstan Parliamentary delegation’s visit to Pakistan and said that during the stay, the delegation would meet with the Chairman Senate, Speaker of the National Assembly and other parliamentarians to discuss ways and means to further improve linkages between the two parliaments and substantially increase people-to-people contacts.
He further said that the delegation would identify avenues and areas to further improve bilateral trade and investment relations, identify common ground to forge meaningful partnerships in cultural and tourism sectors, would explore the possibility of joint ventures in various sectors of mutual interest and discuss matters and issues related to bilateral, regional and international importance.
The president expressed the hope that the visit of the Chairman would further enhance and deepen the understanding between the two brotherly countries.
Speaker National Assembly, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan, Mr Yerzhan Kistafin, and senior officials were also present during the meeting.
SUKKUR/HYDERABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the development of road infrastructure connecting all provinces of the country, particularly the disadvantaged areas, was crucial for strengthening the national economy.
The prime minister, who twice performed the foundation-laying of M-6 motorway – both in Sukkur and Hyderabad cities of Sindh province, said connecting the deprived areas including Balochistan and Sindh would pave the way for economic and social development besides creating new business opportunities.
With its ends in Sukkur and Hyderabad, the 306-km-long M-6 will be completed with Rs 307 billion within 30 months as per international standards. The M-6 portion will complete the North-South Motorway Corridor, also known as the Karachi-Peshawar motorway, and will interconnect major cities of the country.
The prime minister in his address at the two events said it was a matter of satisfaction for the coalition government to restore construction work of the M-6 motorway that faced a prolonged delay due to the inefficiency of the previous government.
He emphasized ensuring the quality and standard of the M-6 motorway no less than rest of the motorway network in the country.
He directed the relevant authorities to complete the public-private project within the stipulated period of time.
The prime minister encouraged Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to promote further projects on public-private projects so as to achieve the goals of development and prosperity.
He also called for improving road connectivity from Balochistan to the up country in order to connect the significant Gwadar port and mainstream the province in the national economy.
He announced the completion of the Sukkur Rohri bridge, which was earlier announced by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and also directed improvement of Karachi-Hyderabad motorway to avoid traffic congestion and accidents.
Also, he announced that federal government would contribute Rs one billion to Sindh’s development fund to mitigate the sufferings of flood-affected people and urged the provincial government to allocate the same amount from their exchequer. He mentioned that federal and provincial governments, national and provincial disaster management authorities, and international aid agencies were collaborating in rehabilitation efforts.
Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan in the upcoming Donors Conference to be held in Geneva in January would urge the international community to provide assistance in the wake of massive life and infrastructure losses due to recent flash floods.
He criticized former prime minister Imran Khan for instigating public for his personal gains and said that instead, he should have protested over the manipulation of the cartels of sugar and wheat during his tenure. He hoped that public would not fall prey to his negative campaign.
Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah regretted that the apathy of the previous government delayed the construction of M-6 for over three years and emphasized that 25,000 jobs related to the project needed to be given to locals. He requested to allocated an amount for Sehwan Bypass in next budget.
He drew the attention of the government towards the need for the dewatering of flood-hit areas and expressed confidence that the federal government would continue to extend assistance to Sindh in this regard.
Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Shah said the M-6 motorway would prove as a milestone in strengthening the economy by promoting intra-country trade activities.
Federal Minister for Communications Asad Mehmood said the construction of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) was a long-standing demand of the people of Sindh province, which has been fulfilled by the present coalition government.
He expressed satisfaction that Shehbaz Sharif was fulfilling the vision of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif regarding establishing a large network of motorways in the country as a step of development.
Federal Minister for Information Technology Amin ul Haq said M-6 motorway would connect various cities of the country and would promote trade activities.
Federal Secretary for Communications Capt (retd) Khurram Agha said the government would provide only Rs 9.5 billion and the construction would be carried out on a public-private basis.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Sindh chapter Rashid Mehmood Soomro said Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would unitedly work towards carrying out projects of development across the country in the best public interest.
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Dr Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, members of the provincial assembly, and officials of the Sindh government attended the two events.
The six-lane motorway will comprise 15 interchanges, a large bridge over the Sindh river, 82 bridges over canals, 19 underpass bridges, six flyovers, and 10 service areas. The project will create around 25,000 jobs.
The M-6 will pass through the districts of Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matiari, Benazirabad, Nowshero Feroze, Khairpur, and Sukkur. Service areas and rest areas will be provided at every 50 km on both sides of the highway.
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday informed the public that old design large size banknotes could not be exchanged after December 31, 2022.
According to press statement issued by SBP, the federal government vide Gazette Notification F.No.2(1)IF-III/2010 dated December 23, 2021, had extended the last date for exchange of old design large size banknotes of Rs 10, 50, 100 and 1000 by one year.
“The holders of these old design large banknotes have been given the last chance to exchange these old design large size banknotes from the field offices of the SBP Banking Services Corporation (BSC) by 31st December 2022,” the statement added.
It is once again emphasized that this is the last and final deadline for exchange of such banknotes, upon expiry of which, these banknotes would no longer be exchangeable from the counters of the SBP BSC and thus will lose their value.
The general public is therefore, requested to avail this final opportunity and get their holdings of these banknotes exchanged from SBP BSC Field Offices by December 31, 2022 and protect the value of their savings in these banknotes, the statement added.
Bangkok: Delegation led by NDMA Pakistan Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik participating in international panel on disaster risks reduction.
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik on Tuesday underscored the importance of data usage and actionable intelligence’s availability to forewarn communities before a disaster strikes and expand the scope of national alerts to the target audience in affected zones.
The NDMA Chairman participated in thought-provoking panel discussions on climate change, humanitarian crises and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), during his visit to Bangkok, held during Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week (RHPW) 2022, a news release here received said.
The discussions were divided into two sessions; the first session was collectively organized by the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), Asian Disaster Risk Reduction Network (ADRRN), Community World Service Asia (CWSA), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
Chairman NDMA Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik represented Pakistan at the Climate Change Discussions held in Bangkok, Thailand. Panel discussions were held during Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week (RHPW) 2022. pic.twitter.com/IL9EnBYRum
It discussed data challenges at the nexus of DRR, humanitarian crises and climate change adaptation. Besides Chairman NDMA Pakistan, participants from the Global Data Laboratory, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), ADRRN, Green Climate Fund, and the University of Delaware CERD took part in the discussion.
The Chairman NDMA explained the value of archived, upgraded and studied databases that could help enable tangible outcomes of any action plan in the field of DRR. He reiterated the importance of variable and intangible components of data that impact the quality of responses and add further value.
The second session of the discussions was specifically about the Impact of climate change on Pakistan. Organized and hosted by Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF) and National Humanitarian Network (NHN), including representatives from key donor agencies.
The Chairman NDMA apprised the house about the devastating floods experienced by Pakistan this year and the resilience-driveniven national response. Further deliberated upon the need to upgrade the disaster management system and the requirement to invest efforts for national preparedness to deal with climate change.
He shed light on NDMA’s vision to be a futuristic, technology-enabled entity and globally engaged organization committed to ‘Climate Millennium Goals’ and leading for ‘Climate Reversal Initiatives’. All participants appreciated the vision and innovative recommendations of Chairman NDMA.
