MULTAN
Extension work of head Muhammad Wala Road is in process
MULTAN
Vehicles passing through rainwater during heavy rain in the city
MULTAN
MULTAN
MULTAN
A significant group of individuals is traveling on tricycle carts along Railway Station Road
LARKANA
LARKANA
WASA directed to remain alert to avoid urban flooding
RAWALPINDI, Aug 26 (APP):Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi has directed the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Rawalpindi to remain alert to cope with urban flooding, particularly in low-lying areas near Nullah Lai.
According to a WASA spokesman, Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Law and Parliamentary Affairs Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad during a visit on Saturday inspected the heavy machinery of WASA at Liaquat Bagh Office.
The Advisor also visited Nullah Lai and checked the ongoing cleanliness operation being conducted to clear Nullah Lai.
He expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made for the upcoming rain spell.
He appreciated all the arrangements of the agency to avoid urban flooding in the city during the Monsoon.
Kanwar Dilshad said that due to the best possible arrangements made before the start of Monsoon rains, this year, there was no emergency and the situation remained under control, particularly during heavy rains.
Managing Director, WASA Muhammad Tanveer informed that all the obstacles in the flow of water developed due to the last heavy rain spell were being removed utilizing heavy machinery.
It’s our social responsibility to protect minorities: Ashrafi
SARGODHA, Aug 26 (APP):A conference on ‘Religious Harmony’ was organized by the district Peace Committee on Saturday.
Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Maulana Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi participated in the conference as the chief guest while Commissioner Muhammad Ajmal Bhatti, RPO Shariq Kamal Siddiqui, Deputy Commissioner Captain (Retired) Shoaib Ali, DPO Faisal Kamran, spokesperson for the Church of Pakistan Amael Khokhar, and former MPA Tahir Naveed Chaudhry were present along with members of the Christian community. Scholars from different sects, professors and people from various walks of life also attended.
Addressing the conference, Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said that Islam teaches love and peace and respect for all religions. He said the Jaranwala violence was a sad incident and condemned it on behalf of ulema belonging to all schools of thoughts. The accused of the Jaranwala incident have been arrested and they would face the law, he said and added, “Our society and religion do not allow punishing any individual without fulfilling legal requirements.” He said, “it is our social responsibility to protect lives and properties of minorities”.
The Commissioner said, “Sargodha is a peaceful division, and we all work together to maintain this atmosphere of peace.”
Speaking at the conference, RPO Shariq Kamal Siddiqui said that in the past five days, 64 phone calls had been received against controversial content on social media in different districts of Punjab. He said that the purpose of such actions was to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere and spread discord among Pakistanis.
The RPO stated that the police, along with other security agencies, were vigilant and actively engaged in suppressing such enemies in the country.
Spokesman for Churches Pakistan Amail Khokhar said that the killing of one person is the killing of entire humanity. He said, “We have to obey God, end differences and increase love so that there is no unrest anywhere in our country.”
Earlier, Deputy Commissioner Shoaib Ali welcomed all the guests while delivering the opening speech.
Various religious scholars also addressed the conference and condemned the Jaranwala incident and vowed to play their role in creating peaceful atmosphere. The conference concluded with a prayer for the peace and safety of the country.
PM reviews irrigation projects of Balochistan
QUETTA, Aug 26 (APP): Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar here on Saturday chaired a meeting to review the pace of progress on the irrigation and water supply projects of Balochistan.
During the meeting, he said despite the economic difficulties of the country, all assistance would be provided for the completion of these projects.
The meeting was briefed on ongoing projects of irrigation in Balochistan including the Kachhi Canal, Pat Feeder Canal, Awaran Dam, Gashkor Dam and Winder Dam.
The prime minister said Balochistan had huge potential for agriculture but complete advantage was not taken from it.
He said issues related to the provision of clean drinking water should be resolved on a priority basis.
He said inter-provincial concerns regarding irrigation would be removed so that the country could make progress speedily and the federation could get strong.
He directed the relevant authorities to complete the projects in the stipulated time.
The caretaker federal ministers Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Sami Saeed, Caretaker Chief Minister Balochistan Ali Mardan Domki, and provincial ministers and officials attended the meeting.
CM apologies for inconvenience caused during VVIP movement
QUETTA, Aug 26 (APP): Caretaker Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Ali Mardan Khan Domki apologized to the citizens for the inconvenience caused by the road closure during the VVIP movement yesterday.
“During the VVIP movement, the road should be closed for a minimum period of time,” he said in a statement issued here on Saturday..
The chief minister underlined the need for adopting such a strategy so that neither the security can be affected nor the people can face difficulties.
Caretaker CM Balochistan takes notice of highway closure
QUETTA, Aug 26 (APP): Caretaker Chief Minister Balochistan Ali Mardan Domki on Saturday took notice of the closure of Quetta-Karachi highway at Mastung.
The Chief Minister directed the Deputy Commissioner Mastung to immediately open the highway through negotiations with the protestors.
Passengers are facing difficulties due to the closure of the highway, he said directing that the protestors should be persuaded to end the protest by making them aware of the difficulties of the passengers.
Protest is not a solution to any problem, rather it hurts people, he maintained.
ICCI calls for revisiting PPAs with IPPs to save businesses
ISLAMABAD, Aug 26 (APP): Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said that the root cause of the surging circular debt and rising power tariffs was the power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed with the International Power Producers (IPPs). He called upon the government to revisit PPAs with IPPs to pay them in local currency, said a press release issued here on Saturday.
Talking to media at the Chambers House, the President ICCI said that IPPs were earning huge profits in dollars, but the businesses were badly suffering due to exorbitant power tariffs and the rising cost of doing business.
He stressed that the government should change the basic tariff of IPPs in PKR instead of US dollars as this change would save billions of rupees of the national exchequer and provide electricity at affordable cost to the businesses making our export competitive in the international market. Similarly, the profits to the IPPs should also be paid in local currency instead of US dollars, he said.
Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that around 47 IPPs were working in Pakistan’s power sector and they had already earned huge profits as compared to their capital investment. As per Power Policy 1994, 16 IPPs had invested around Rs.60 billion and earned over Rs.400 billion, which shows their huge profits in Pakistan, he said.
He said that PPAs in Pakistan had made energy cost highest in the region and stressed that to save the industry, the government should renegotiate PPAs with IPPs in the best national interest.
Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG said that due to the significant depreciation of rupee, the import of industrial raw materials had become very expensive which was pushing up the production cost.
He stressed that the government should take urgent measures to stabilize the value of rupee in order to save the industry from further troubles.
He said that instead of hiking the power tariffs, the government should focus on controlling the transmission and distribution losses and power theft besides improving the performance of power companies to save the consumers from further burden.
FIA recovers huge quantity of foreign currency, nabs three accused
PESHAWAR, Aug 26 (APP):FIA Commercial Banking Circle Peshawar on Saturday arrested three suspects involved in the illegal exchange of money (hundi) and confiscated huge amount of foreign
On the direction of Deputy Director Afzal Niazi accused Izzatullah was arrested from Torkhum having 51,000 Qatari riyals and 49,000 Saudi riyals.
The arrest of the accused took place as a result of effective coordination between FIA Commercial Banking Circle Peshawar and FIA Immigration Torkhum.
In another operation, an accused Muhammad Mujahid was arrested from Nishtarabad area having 2800 US dollars, 1600 New Zealand dollars and 27,000 Pakistani rupees.
In a third operation, Shafiullah was arrested from Gambit, District Dir having 368000 Pakistani rupees.
The accused could not satisfy the valid reason of holding the recovered currency.
A number of receipts related to Hundi reference were also recovered from them.
FIA registered cases against the accused under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and started investigation.