Students of the Department of Art and Design, Punjab University participating in wall painting competition on theme “Anti-Corruption” in connection with Annual Anti-Corruption Day at NAB Lahore
Students of the Department of Art and Design, Punjab University participating in wall painting competition on theme “Anti-Corruption” in connection with Annual Anti-Corruption Day at NAB Lahore.
Governor Punjab presides over Iqbal’s poetry recitation competition
LAHORE, Nov 10 (APP):Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman presided over Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal’s poetry recitation competition to mark 145th birth anniversary of the visionary poet at the Darbar Hall of the Governor’s House, here on Thursday.
The poetry recitation competition was held to highlight life, work and philosophy of Dr. Allama Iqbal during the month of November in line with the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Former Governor Sindh Lieutenant General (Retd.) Moinuddin Haider, Vice Chancellor Government College University (GCU) Lahore, Prof. Dr. Asghar Zaidi and students from various universities attended the ceremony.
Students from six universities including Government College University (GCU), Lahore, University of Management and Technology (UMT), King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) and Education University, Lahore participated in the competition.
Addressing the ceremony, Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman said Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the Poet of the East, was epitome of knowledge and wisdom and his poetry and writings were an essence of Islamic teachings, adding, Allama Iqbal gave the message of hope in his writings and poetry.
The Governor Punjab said the students should not only read the writings and poetry of Allama Muhammad Iqbal but also make it the guiding principle of their lives. He said they should focus on positive things and spread hope and inculcate in themselves the qualities of truthfulness, justice and courage as envisioned by Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
GCU Lahore team secured first position in the poetry recitation competition while UMT and KEMU team managed second and third positions respectively.
Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman distributed cash prizes and certificates of appreciation among the students.
Ministries should answer to questions in time or face ruling: NA speaker
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (APP):National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Thursday directed Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi to ensure that the ministries concerned should provide answers to the questions by the respective members of this august house in time.
He said the legislators worked hard in the whole process and when they do not get the proper response, it hurt their feelings and creates hurdles in the smooth flow of business in the lower house of the parliament.
The speaker made it clear that if the situation was not improved, the chair would give its stern ruling to streamline the proceedings of the house.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s legislator Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali also expressed his grievances on the matter and said it was “insult of the house if respective members’ questions were not entertained by the ministries concerned properly”.
In addition, the speaker announced that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had nominated Dr Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla as parliamentary secretary in the NA.
Pakistan to launch 5G technology by July 2023: Amin-ul-Haque
KARACHI, Nov 10 (APP): Federal Minister for Information Technology and Communication Syed Aminul Haque here on Thursday said that manufacturing of smart-phones had been started in Pakistan while 5G technology would be launched in the country by July 2023 and our effort was to make access to technology possible for people in every part of the country.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the UBIT Career Fest 2022 organized by the Department of Computer Science University of Karachi, said a statement. The event was held at the UBIT Garden in which more than 30 software houses participated and short-listed the candidates after conducting tests and interviews.
The minister said that as compared to the exports in other sectors in Pakistan, the highest increase in exports had occurred in the IT and telecommunication sector and other exports had increased by two to three percent only, while the exports of Information Technology and telecommunication had increased by 47.44 percent. He mentioned that future needs could be met with the cooperation of IT industries and universities.
He shared that in the year 2019-20, US$75 million was allocated for the start-ups whereas the next year the amount was increased to US$373 million.
Syed Aminul Haq acknowledged that a large number of female students were enrolled in computer science programs at various universities and said that he was glad to see their role in this regard.
He said the society can progress by empowering women.
He informed the audience that there was no sign of corruption in the Ministry of IT and Communication and that whoever was found involved in corruption would not be left in the Ministry. “When I took over the Ministry’s charge, our exports were US$1.4 billion dollars and today it has increased to US$2.6 billion dollars while our target is US$5 billion dollars”, he expressed.
He also said today is the era of information technology because technology is being embedded very rapidly in every sphere of life, such as architecture, defense systems, space sciences, health, and other sectors. We have to work hard to achieve the goals of 2050, the minister added.
On this occasion, the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood-Iraqi said that universities were usually the centers of developing creative thinking, innovation and research. “There is no lack of intelligence and creative thinking among our youth, but it is necessary to support them and provide facilities to implement their creative thinking and creations”, he added.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Department of Computer Science, Dr Nadeem Mahmood, shed light on the career fest and shared its aims and objectives.
PTI protests, just to disrupt peaceful environment, ahead of foreign dignitary’ visit: Raja Riaz
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (APP):Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Raja Riaz Ahmad on Thursday said the protests of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) were solely meant to disrupt the peaceful environment, ahead of a foreign dignitary’s upcoming visit to the country.
Speaking on the floor of National Assembly, the Opposition Leader pointed out that in the past PTI leader Imran Khan had also opted for protests on the eve of a foreign dignitary’s visit to Pakistan.
“Imran Khan is on the agenda to destabilize the economy with persistent protests, apparently against the foreign investment by brotherly and friendly countries”, he added.
He said PTI protests were also causing tension and hardship for masses across the country since they were unable to attend social events, adding it was also a nuisance for the business community.
He urged the federal government to take a serious action against the PTI protests, because Imran Khan was disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in the country and added only around few people were participating in PTI
protests.
In his address, Federal Minister Mian Javed Latif said that it was unfortunate that PTI was using provincial governments’ machinery to hold protests.
He questioned the PTI leadership that what the reason of their protests and why it was causing hardships for the masses.
Replying to Imran Khan’s statement of many secrets, Javed Latif said: “We have also kept many secrets in our heart just for for the sake of country and national interest.”
He said that Imran Khan blamed that culprit of Wazirabad incident was was being monitored from a control room which was totally fake and baseless.
He also lamented over the irresponsible statements of PTI leadership over the Wazirabad incident, stating each day their statements had been changing, just due to their lies and fallacies about the firing incident.
Javed Latif said that Imran Khan was a cricket player, so he also played well with the economy, interior and foreign policies and even with the sacrifices of Shuhada.
“We will not support and grant permission to any unconstitutional step in the country” he added.
People paying no heed to Imran’s allegations: Marriyum
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday said the people were not paying any attention to Imran Khan who had hurled false allegations on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and others to remain relevant in the politics.
“The politics of chaos, anarchy and hatred has been rejected by the people who pay no heed to Imran Khan’s allegations anymore,” she said in a news statement while reacting to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s address to his party workers.
She said Imran Khan’s speeches did not have any effect as the people had stopped listening to his “lies and allegations”.
“Imran Khan is naming the prime minister and other officers just to remain relevant, but it does not bother to anyone,” she added.
The minister said Imran Khan was “frustrated and bent upon creating chaos and anarchy in the country”.
LHC summons district administration over closure of roads
RAWALPINDI, Nov 10 (APP):The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench summoned the district administration over the closure of several roads by the PTI sit-ins on Friday.
Earlier, a citizen, Raja Khalid Mehmood filed a petition in the LHC Rawalpindi bench stating that educational institutions had been closed in Rawalpindi for the last three days while the traffic system in the city had also been badly affected due to protests of the political party.
He added that human rights were being violated while patients were facing difficulty in reaching hospitals.
The LHC Justice Waqas Rauf Mirza, while accepting the petition for hearing, summoned the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and City Police Officer to appear before the Court on November 11 (Friday).
Minister assures Chinese companies of govt’s full support to expedite CPEC projects
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (APP):Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal Thursday assured full cooperation of the government to the Chinese companies by facilitating in Pakistan to further expedite projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
A-six-member delegation of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) led by its President Lin Songtian called on the Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and discussed CPEC projects after the recent visit of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to China.
On the occasion, the Minister said that Pakistan had long-standing historic ties with China and the incumbent government has restarted CPEC under the leadership of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif who recently visited China.
CPAFFC is a Chinese national people organization that engages in people to people diplomacy and the aim of this association is to enhance people’s friendship, international cooperation on development.
Speaking to the delegation, the Minister informed the delegation that CPEC has been revived since the new government came into power under the leadership of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in April this year.
The Minister informed the delegation that the recent Joint Coordination Committee meeting and visit of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to China was clear indication that both the countries have agreed to revive the CPEC project which remained pending by the previous government of PTI.
The Minister further added that during the recent visit, the Chinese President appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to restore CPEC projects and assured to continue cooperation.
The Minister also highlighted significance of ML-1 and KCR projects which were discussed during the recent visit of the PM to China and both the sides have agreed to start these projects without any further delay.
Similarly, the Minister also highlighted the importance of solar and renewable projects in which both the countries have agreed to start projects.
During the meeting, the Minister informed the delegation about the significance of the Agriculture sector as Pakistan has huge potential in the sector and it can export meat, vegetable to China.
The Minister also highlighted Pakistan’s exponential growth and sought cooperation from China as it has expertise in the export sector. The establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) also came under discussion.
The Minister informed the delegation that the incumbent government has also restarted the establishment of SEZs as there was no progress in the last four years.
The delegation was further informed that Gwadar International Airport will be functional next year and there is great potential for tourism as well which Chinese should get advantage.
Lin Songtian said that Chinese market has huge potential, providing profitability, stability and efficiency of business and assured the Minister to cooperate in all the sectors.
Songtian also said that China will send a group of experts to Pakistan so they could exchange their experience to execute several projects. This will increase avenues for multi-faceted cooperation and will add a new leaf in the friendship and cooperation between the countries, he concluded.
A Sikh reciting her religious book at Gurdwara Panja Sahib.
