A view of thick fog that engulfs the city during morning time
Enhanced Parliamentary interactions certain to prove beneficial for Pak-Australia ties: NA Speaker
ISLAMABAD, Dec 21 (APP):National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf on Wednesday stressed that persistent parliamentary interactions and economic cooperation between Pakistan and Australia would certainly prove beneficial for the two countries.
Talking to Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Neil Hawkins, he stressed on the need to further develop contact between business communities of both countries to tap the massive economic potential in Pakistan.
He said , “Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Australia especially people-to-people contacts and shared passion for cricket.”
He also said that both countries were members of the Commonwealth and federations with bicameral legislatures.
He also informed Australian High Commissioner that Pakistani Parliamentary delegation would participate 26th Conference of the Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in Canberra from January 3-6, 2023.
While expressing dismay and concern on the rising insurgency and terrorists activities in the country, the speaker said that Pakistani people and government had resolved to eliminate insurgency and rising terrorism at every cost.
He said that Pakistani nation was resolute enough to emerge victorious out of present socio-economic challanges. Pakistan has been tackling sever impacts of recent floods and he appreciated support of Australian people and government in this hour of need.
He also appreciated the support of Australian government to support initiatives of Australian government to support Pakistan for ensuring water and food Security especially in Sindh.
Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Neil Hawkins appreciated the support of Pakistani government and people to Afghanistan refugees in Pakistan.
He said that it was heartening to note that Afghanistan refugees were being provided basic facilities like health and education.
He also reiterated Australian government resolve to support pakistani people and government to eliminate insurgency and tackling food security challenges.
Chief Minister lacking majority in House can’t dissolve Constituent Assembly: Sherry Rehman
ISLAMABAD, Dec 21 (APP):Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday said the Chief Minister who did not have a majority in the House could not dissolve a Constituent Assembly.
In a series of tweets, she said the assembly could only be dissolved by the Speaker who had the confidence of the House.
Senator Sherry Rehman said due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Punjab was suffering from administrative and constitutional crisis for the past four and a half years.
He said the PTI had created political and constitutional crisis one after another in Pakistan’s largest province.
“Now the Speaker is not ready to take the vote of confidence.
He has given a ruling to stop the session called by the Governor,” Sherry Rehman said.
The minister underlined that halting the process of convening the session on the advice of the Governor was a violation of the rules and regulations of the Assembly and Article 109 of the Constitution.
Escaping the constitutional process has become PTI’s strategy, she said, adding, “If the Speaker has the confidence of the House, why not call the session? What is the purpose of using delay tactics?”
Senator Rehman queried, “If Imran Khan has a majority in the Punjab Assembly, take a vote of confidence from the Speaker. What are you afraid of?”
Minister asks youth to play role in country’s reformation
ISLAMABAD, Dec 21 (APP):Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal Wednesday called upon the youth of the country to play their due role in reformation process of the country .
“Let’s become part of the Make Pakistan Movement to ensure reformation of Pakistan”, Ahsan Iqbal said while addressing
the inauguration ceremony of Food, pharma and nutrition conference organised by Riphah University here.
He said today, the world is competing on the economic fronts and gone are the days when countries were having competition on the basis of their political systems. Therefore, he said “We will have to make fast developments on economic front to save Pakistan’s future.
He highlighted that any successful system has the capacity to make proper utilization of knowledge and then take benefits of it.
The minister maintained that there was no scarcity of talent and other resources in Pakistan but the only thing we want is the continuity of policies.
“The only way to fast development is to ensure peace, stability and continuity of policies”, he added.
Ahsan Iqbal reiterated the government’s resolves to provide good base of sustainable development for future generation of the country.
He said the youth must get away with hatred and intolerance to ensure development, cooperation and harmony in the society.
The minister added that promotion of exports was the top priority of the government and pharma industry had immense potential to help increasing the country’s exports. Halal foods, he said had also vast potential especially in the Middle Easter Countries which should be tapped by increasing Halal foods processing.
Ahsan Iqbal pointed out that Pakistan is rich with all kind of natural resources which must be properly utilized by using state of the art technology.
He pointed out that during the tenure of PML-N government, investment was made on a large scale. It added 11,000 MW of electricity to the national grid besides constructing a network of highways and motorways across the country.
He said in 2018, more people were willing to invest in Pakistan, however, Imran Khan’s wrong policies wasted away all the hard work done during the PML-N government.
Ahsan Iqbal said the government is also focusing on launching new development projects in collaboration with the private sector to minimize the burden on the government exchequer.
President asks COMSTECH to offer online, recorded education to students in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD, Dec 21 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi has asked COMSTECH to offer online and recorded education to students in Afghanistan, saying that such lessons and training modules could be a useful instrument to impart education to Afghan students, both male and female.
The President expressed these views while talking to the Coordinator-General of the Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the OIC (COMSTECH), Professor Dr Iqbal Choudhary, who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Talking to the Coordinator-General, the President said that Pakistan could also offer educational modules and online education services through the Virtual University of Pakistan and Allama Iqbal Open University to provide Afghanistan with effective means for imparting higher education.
He added that this arrangement was the cheapest, most cost-effective and high-quality, and could help fill the shortage of education facilities currently being faced by Afghanistan.
The president underlined the need to benchmark best practices in science and agriculture sectors in other Islamic countries and replicate them in Pakistan.
He said that Prime Minister’s Digital Skills Programme in Pakistan was a successful model of imparting digital skills to youth, irrespective of their educational backgrounds and skill level, and enabling them to earn gainful employment.
He stated that this programme could be replicated in other Muslim countries where there was a demand for such skill development programmes.
The president said that the proposal to hold the 16th General Assembly Meeting of COMSTECH in the second half of 2023 should be explored.
He appreciated various initiatives taken by COMSTECH in many Muslim countries for the provision of skills to the students and providing health facilities in less developed countries.
The president appreciated the award of 20 fellowships/scholarships to students of Kazakhstan through the Association of Private Sector Higher Education Institutions and Universities in Social Sciences of Pakistan in collaboration with COMSTECH.
He also appreciated that COMSTECH had launched 500 exclusive scholarships/fellowships (undergraduate, graduate, research visits, workshop participations etc.) for the students of the State of Palestine.
The president also appreciated COMSTECH for the establishment of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences, Amman, Jordan, the establishment of 13 COMSTECH Inter-Islamic S&T Networks in various fields of Science and Technology, the establishment of Network of Academies of Sciences in the countries of the OIC (NASIC), Islamabad, Pakistan, the establishment of Computer Training Centre, Khartoum, Sudan, the establishment of Computer Training Centre, Male, Maldives, the establishment of COMSTECH-ISESCO National Computer Training Centre, Freetown, Sierra Leone and the establishment of COMSTECH-COMSATS-MTM Information Technology Centre, Karachi.
SAPM/Mos for Industries and Production Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi cutting cake in the honour of Christian employees of the ministry
Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Neil Hawkins called on Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf at Parliament House
Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf welcomes Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Neil Hawkins at Parliament House
Centre to fully support Sindh for post-flood rehabilitation: PM
KHAIRPUR, Dec 21 (APP): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said the Federal Government would not leave the flood-affected people of Sindh in distress and would continue to take measures to mitigate their sufferings.
The prime minister, during his visit to Pir Guddu and Kot Diji towns of the flood-affected Khairpur district, inspected the post-flood rehabilitation work.
PM Shehbaz, in his address to the flood victims, said the people of Sindh suffered from loss of life and property as the floods had wreaked havoc in the province. The Federal Government, he added, provided the utmost resources to the provincial government to overcome the massive problem.
Under the Benazir Income Support Programme, the Federal Government disbursed Rs 70 billion to the flood victims, he added. Serving the masses and their welfare was the priority of the government, the prime minister said.
Shehbaz Sharif said the rehabilitation and reconstruction work had been completed to a large extent, however, stressed that the de-watering of the inundated areas of Dadu required immediate attention.
He said in the wake of floods, some 20 million people, including nine million children, were in dire need of assistance from the government, and it required billions of rupees to address the challenges of food and medicine.
PM Shehbaz mentioned that Pakistan was facing the brunt of climate change despite minimal contribution to the global carbon emissions.
He lauded the overseas Pakistanis for contributing Rs 2.75 billion donations to the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund, which, he said, would be spent transparently for the welfare of flood-hit people.
He assured the flood-struck people that the government would construct houses for their proper accommodation. He also announced the establishment of a campus of COMSATS University in Khairpur.
The prime minister also met the flood-affected people at makeshift camps and inquired about the availability of facilities being provided to them by the government.
Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tissori said the coordination between federal and provincial governments was important in providing facilities to the flood-affected people who were facing the challenges of food security and accommodation.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah mentioned the need for the availability of funds for redefining and clearing the natural water courses so as to minimize the chances of floods. He also sought the Federal Government’s assistance to help the province rectify its drainage system.
Prime Minister Shehbaz was given a briefing on the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction projects being carried out in the flood-affected areas. It was highlighted that the areas be restored in line with the feasibility study following a rainfall of 2011-12 that outlined the natural water courses.
It was emphasized that most of the flood-hit areas had been de-watered, with electricity fully restored.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman, National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik and senior officials of the provincial government were present.
Court dismisses Swati’s bail petition
ISLAMABAD, Dec 21 (APP): A lower court on Islamabad on Wednesday dismissed the post-arrest bail petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Senator Azam Khan Swati in a controversial tweet case.
Special Judge Central Muhammad Azam Khan heard the bail plea.
During the course of the proceedings, Special Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi said there was a blue tick on the Twitter account of Swati, which was followed by famous personalities, including politicians and journalists.
He said the specific account belonged to Mr Swati as he had never denied it. The accused had tried to make a narrative against the state institutions.
The prosecutor opposed Swati’s bail petition and requested the judge to dismiss the same.
Swati’s counsel Sohail Khan Swati argued that a cyber crime case could not be prepared on the screen shorts of his alleged tweets.
After listening to the arguments from both sides, the court reserved the verdict and later announced it dismissing the bail petition with the observation that Azam Swati had repeatedly committed the same crime .