A view of the 3rd cricket test match played between Pakistan and England teams at the National Cricket Stadium
Spectators enjoy during the 3rd cricket test match played between Pakistan and England teams at the National Cricket Stadium
‘Coward Imran’ does not need to give dates but should have courage to dissolve Punjab & KP assemblies: Marriyum
ISLAMABAD, Dec 17 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said Imran Khan would never dissolve the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which gave protection to him, his wife Bushra Bibi and her friend Farah Gogi against their corruption, loot and plunder.
“The coalition government is not afraid of Imran Khan who is a coward, liar and hypocrite person and does not have courage to dissolve the assemblies which he believes will help him save his skin in foreign funding, Toshakhana and other cases,” she said while addressing a news conference here.
She dared Imran Khan to dissolve the assemblies of both the provinces instead of just giving dates just like the 2014 sit-in when he only kept himself limited to giving dates of toppling the then Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.
“We have all the options before us and have every right to exercise them as the country does not and cannot afford political instability at this time,” Marriyum said, reiterating that the coalition government would complete its constitutional term and the general elections would be held in October 2023.
She said it was out of question that Imran Khan would dissolve the assemblies which helped him run his kitchen and arrange the public gatherings with pomp.
Imran Khan just had one point agenda which was to get an NRO like concession from the coalition government, she said, adding these tactics would not help him pressurize those who had faced his brutalities during his “fascist” and “autocratic” regime.
“He believes that he can blackmail or put pressure on us with such threats, but he should know that we did not bow to his pressure at that time when he put us in the death cells,” Marriyum remarked.
At the outset of her presser, the minister said Imran Khan again wasted time of media and nation today by repeating his old speech which proved that his mental condition was not good. The faces of the chief ministers of Punjab and KP, who sat beside him, clearly showed that they lacked interest in what he was saying during his address to the PTI workers.
She said Imran Khan seemed confused and frustrated which showed that the loss of power had badly impacted his mental health. “The National Assembly has been vacated from the propaganda group through the vote of no confidence motion and days are not far when Imran Khan’s governments in provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will also fall,” she added.
The minister said it had been proven that Imran Khan did not care about the democracy, politics, national interest, foreign policy and economy. He harmed the national interests and foreign policy by creating drama of cipher on realizing his imminent ouster from the power.
When his power ended, she said he ordered the PTI government’s finance minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to write a letter to International Monetary Fund to sabotage the deal which was signed by his own government before its ouster.
Marriyum said Imran Khan started making noise on realizing that he, his wife and her friend Farah Gogi would have to answer about their corruptions after the removal of his government which was marred by incompetency, corruption and bad governance.
She feared that Imran Khan could attack the masses, democracy, political and economic stability as he violated the Constitution when he realized that the no-confidence motion was going to succeed against him.
This entire noise and distraction of Imran Khan was only aimed at saving himself and his wife from the accountability, she said, adding the nation asked from him today that what had happened if he was ousted from the power in a democratic way.
She said Imran Khan’s clamoring was only meant to suppress the voices which was being raised for his accountability in the foreign funding and Toshakhana case, and against his loot and plunder of four year rule, and for harming the national interests and foreign policy.
Marriyum said Imran Khan was a “shameless” person who claimed that his predecessor inherited him a fragile economy which contradicted the official statistics which spoke volume about the performance of the PML-N’s previous government.
Nawaz Sharif, she said, left the government with 6.1 per cent economic growth, 3.6 per cent inflation, zero load shedding, motorways and major infrastructure projects, health insurance schemes and the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. However, when Imran Khan was ousted from the power, the country had low economic growth, extreme inflation, loadshedding, unemployment and foreign debt at the highest level, she added.
She said Imran Khan destroyed economy and industry, and now bent on bringing political instability in the country under a plan which he devised to comply the funding received by his party from abroad to damage the country.
The minister said Imran Khan should have informed the nation about the interference of institutions in the government affairs when he was in power. He should have dissolved the National Assembly at that time, but ironically, he lacked such courage.
On the contrary, she said Nawaz Sharif himself write a letter to the Supreme Court for the investigation of the allegations levelled against him. “The Sharif family had given answer of their 40 years, no family in the political history has done so “she added.
Maryam Nawaz did not get any relief from the courts under the NAB amendment, she said, adding the PML-N vice president was acquitted on merit.
She said Imran Khan failed to prove a single allegation against his opponents despite abducting Tayyba Gul in the Prime Minister’s House, blackmailing the then NAB chairman and locking up the then DG FIA in the bathroom of PM’s Office.
He used all the state resources to victimize his political opponents, but the entire leadership of PML-N vindicated in those fake cases, she added.
She said that all the political leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League fought their cases in a court of law. No leader of PMLN make hue and cry like Imran Khan and spoke of the division of the country into pieces.
She alleged that Imran Khan and his fellow had no answer for their corruption. “ Imran Khan is responsible for all the problems being faced by the country and the nation,” she said, adding the coalition government under the leadership of prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had made a promise to the people of the country to solve their problems and make the country’s economy stronger.
The minister said the people of the country would not listen to the false narrative of Imran Khan anymore.
She alleged that no mega-development projects were initiated by Imran Khan during his three and half years tenure in his government.
She alleged that wife of Imran Khan was involved in the corruption and selling of Toshakhana gifts. “No first lady in the past was involved in the corruption,” she added.
To a question she said, people were in trouble due to the policies and corruption of the Imran-led government. “Our entire focus is to control price hike, restore CPEC projects, create job opportunities and take the country’s economy in the right direction,” she added.
The minister said that all the coalition partners are unanimous that, Imran Khan is a liar, Fitna, thief and foreign agent.
UN sets 10-year plan to save endangered languages
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (APP): The United Nations on Friday launched the International Decade of Indigenous Languages aimed at helping peoples around the world to keep their mother tongues alive.
Preserving their languages is “not only important for them, but for all humanity,” UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said, marking the occasion.
“With each indigenous language that goes extinct, so too goes the thought: the culture, tradition and knowledge it bears. That matters because we are in dire need of a radical transformation in the way we relate to our environment,” he said.
According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, indigenous people speak more than 4,000 of the world’s roughly 6,700 languages. However, conservative estimates indicate that more than half of all languages will become extinct by the end of this century.
Korosi recently returned from the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal and left convinced that “if we are to successfully protect nature, we must listen to indigenous peoples, and we must do so in their own languages.”
Indigenous peoples are guardians to almost 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, he said, citing data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
“Yet every two weeks, an indigenous language dies,” he remarked. “This should ring our alarms.”
The General Assembly President urged countries to work with indigenous communities to safeguard their rights, such as access to education and resources in their native languages, and to ensure that they and their knowledge are not exploited.
“And perhaps most importantly, meaningfully consult indigenous peoples, engaging with them in every stage of decision-making processes,” he advised.
During the launch, indigenous persons and UN Ambassadors – sometimes one and the same – made the case for protection and preservation.
Language is more than just words, said Mexican Ambassador Juan Ramon de la Fuente, speaking on behalf of the 22-member Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples.
“It is at the essence of the identity of its speakers and the collective soul of its peoples. Languages embody the history, culture and traditions of people, and they are dying at an alarming rate,” he warned.
Leonor Zalabata Torres, an Arhuaco woman and Colombia’s UN Ambassador, drew applause for her address, delivered partly in Ika, one of 65 indigenous languages spoken in her homeland.
“Language is the expression of wisdom and cultural identity, and the instrument that gives meaning to our daily reality that we inherited from our ancestors,” she said, switching to Spanish.
“Unfortunately, linguistic diversity is at risk, and this has been caused by the dramatic reduction of the use and the accelerated replacement of indigenous languages by the languages of the majority societies.”
Ms. Zalabata Torres reported that the Colombian government has underlined its commitment to implementing the 10-year plan on indigenous languages, which is centred around pillars that include strengthening, recognition, documentation and revitalization.
For Arctic indigenous communities, language is critical to political, economic, social, cultural and spiritual rights, said representative Aluki Kotierk.
“In fact, every time an indigenous person utters a word in an indigenous language, it is an act of self-determination,” she added.
However, Ms. Kotierk said native tongues and dialects “are in various levels of vitality”.
She envisions a time where Arctic indigenous peoples “can stand taller in their own homelands with dignity, knowing that they can function in all aspects of their lives, in their own language, receiving essential public services in the areas of health, justice, and education.”
Ms. Mariam Wallet Med Aboubakrine, Indigenous peoples’ representative of the Socio-Cultural Region of Africa, addresses the UN General Assembly at the launch of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
Mariam Wallet Med Aboubakrine, a doctor from Mali, advocates for indigenous peoples in Africa, particularly the Tuareg.
She urged countries “to deliver linguistic cultural justice to indigenous peoples”, which will only contribute to reconciliation and lasting peace.
She expressed hope that the International Decade will culminate with the adoption of a UN Convention “so that every indigenous woman can cradle and comfort her baby in her language; every indigenous child can play in their language; every young person and adult can express themselves and work in security in their language, including in digital spaces, and to ensure that every elder can transmit their experience in their language.”
NA Speaker affirms to develop agricultural sector
ISLAMABAD, Dec 17 (APP): National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday said that resolving farmers’ woes and developing agriculture are among the top priorities of the incumbent government for resolving farmers’ woes.
In a National Farmers’ Day message being celebrated across the country on Sunday (December 18), Raja Pervez Ashraf said that sustainable economic policies can help ameliorate farmer’s problems.
He said the introduction of farmer-friendly policies were imperative to improve the country’s agriculture sector as this sector is the backbone of the country’s development.
He said that the future of Pakistan in terms of food security and economic development depends on modern, sustainable and scientific agriculture through which agricultural production can be maximized.
He said that the increase in agricultural production can improve the condition of the country’s economy.
The Speaker said that historical decisions have to be taken for the improvement of important crops like cotton.
The Special Committee on Agricultural Products of the National Assembly is well aware of the problems of farmers and growers.
He urged all parliamentary parties to devise a plan for improving the agriculture sector.
He said that despite being an agricultural country, Pakistan is forced to import food items including wheat and sugar, which is the main reason for the decrease in agricultural production in the country.
He said that the government has to take emergency measures to increase agricultural production in the country.
Appreciating the services of farmers, he said that farmers are a hardworking nation, whose tireless work provides us with basic facilities like food.
On this occasion, Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani said that the present government needs to take steps on priority basis to solve the problems of farmers.
He urged the government and the opposition to work together for the development of the agriculture sector and formulate a comprehensive policy for the betterment of farmers.
Better facilities to be provided to Hajj pilgrims, organizers: Minister
LAHORE, Dec 17 (APP):Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor has
said that better facilities will be provided to the Hajj pilgrims with good arrangements this year.
Addressing the Hajj Conference organised by the Hajj Organizers Association of Pakistan (HOAP)
and the Ministry of Religious Affairs at a local hotel here on Saturday, he said that he was going
to Saudi Arab in January for arrangements. “I would do my best for pilgrims and Hajj organizers”, he said.
The minister said that corruption would not be ignored at any cost in Hajj arrangements. “Saudi people are very close to us, however, I would talk for more facilities,” he added.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Religious Harmony Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi in his address appealed the federal minister to accept all demands of the organizers. He also congratulated the ministry of Hajj for organizing the conference.
Former prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in his address said that political stability in the country would bring good results. He said that political relationships were stable between PPP and PML-N due to the Charter of Democracy signed by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
He also urged the minister to consider the demands of the Hajj organizers.
Senator Rana Mehmood Ul Hassan, renowned columnist Majeeb Ur Rehman Shami,
Religious Scholar Muhammad Hussain Akbar and Hajj directors were also spoke on the occasion.
Later, Federal Minister Mufti Abdul Shakoor distributed shields among the organizers.
Tanveer designates quality education, teachers training as top priority
ISLAMABAD, Dec 17 (APP): Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain on Saturday said that quality of Education, which largely relates to capacity building of our teaching faculty, is one of the top priority areas set by his ministry.
In a Tweet, the minister said that he has tasked NCC, FDE & FCE for devising a comprehensive Teachers Training Program at FDE schools, which will be launched at the New Year 2023.
Rana Tanveer said that, “he & his team was heavily focusing on teachers’ training challenge”. It is vital to have a trained academic workforce.
Our upcoming Teachers Training Programme will cover all aspects of the National Curriculum of Pakistan (NCP) and it will train/equip our teachers with the latest educational and technological interventions, he said.
A view of the 3rd cricket test match played between Pakistan and England teams at the National Cricket Stadium
Models walk on the ramp during the 1st day of the 20th edition of the Pantene Hum Bridal Couture Week
Models walk on the ramp during the 1st day of the 20th edition of the Pantene Hum Bridal Couture Week
