Strong Pakistan, Kazakhstan ties contribute to regional connectivity: Kazakh Ambassador

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Mon, 31 Oct 2022, 6:03 PM

ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (APP): Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan Yerzhan Kistafin on Monday said the boost in Pakistan and Kazakhstan ties was playing critical role in promoting the regional connectivity.

“Both the countries, having strong three decades of bilateral cooperation, are contributing towards shaping the regional future by encouraging peace, dialogue, and trade,” the envoy said while addressing the roundtable on “Day of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Political Reforms in the framework of building a New Kazakhstan”.

It was organized by the Institute of Peace and Diplomacy (IPDS), Embassy of Kazakhstan to Pakistan and Riphah Insitute of Public Policy, Riphah International University.

Yerzhan Kistafin reiterated that Pakistan and Kazakhstan had been supporting each other for three decades, and the two were successfully cooperating in a bilateral and multilateral format. Over the years, this partnership was strengthened through cooperation and outstanding diplomatic, economic, and political consultations, he added.

“Kazakhstan has played its key role as regional peace and dialogue hub and, over the years, has made substantial political, parliamentary, and administrative reforms to move the country forward in peace and progress,” the ambassador maintained.

While highlighting the recent speech by the President of Kazakhstan and the steps taken by the government for the political reforms, Ambassador said that these were meant to create a path for peace, development, and inclusiveness in the society for the people to contribute towards building new and prosperous Kazakhstan.

Scholars from Pakistan and Kazakhstan also spoke on the occasion through online forums.
In her opening remarks, President of IPDS Farhat Asif said the roundtable was organized to revisit the important contours of the relations between Pakistan and Kazakhstan and understand the new Kazakhstan.

While speaking on occasion, Chief Researcher, Eurasian Studies Program Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP), Dr. Lidiya Parkhomchik, enunciated that Kazakhstan has a multivector policy and the country is playing its constructive role in bridging the divide between the east and west. She spoke at length about Pakistan-Kazakhstan’s relations in the international arena.

Former Vice Chancellor of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women’s University Prof. Dr. Razia Sultana highlighted the role of Kazakhstan in playing its humanitarian and peace-building role for regional peace and prosperity. She said that Kazakhstan and Pakistan are collaborating in this regard.

Head of the Political Research Department of Kazakhstan, Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Toktarov Yermek Bauyrzhanovich explained the political reforms and overall process that led to these important steps for the country.

Pro- Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peshawar, Pakistan Prof. Dr. Zahid Anwar, highlighted prospects for scientific and education linkages between Kazakhstan and Pakistan and said there should be deep-rooted knowledge exchanges between people from both sides.

Deputy Director of the Institute of Parliamentary, Kazakhstan Dr. Kaliyeva Elmira Abdykovna, spoke about the constitutional transformations in Kazakhstan and their contribution to changing the role of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Head of the Department of International Relations at Muslim Youth University Dr. Muhammad Munir, spoke about the collaboration between Pakistan and Kazakhstan in regional and international organizations.

Head of the International Relations Department Foreign Policy Research Institute, Kazakhstan Dr. Gauhar Khalilovna Beiseeva, shed light on the current state and prospects of Kazakh-Pakistani cooperation.

HoD, Department of IR, Riphah International University, Islamabad, Dr. Mushab Yousafi, thanked the participants. The event was attended by foreign diplomats, prominent politicians, heads of think tanks and public organizations, universities of Pakistan, businessmen, and local media representatives.

FM to represent Pakistan at virtual SCO-CHG meeting on Tuesday

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Shumaila Andleeb

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Mon, 31 Oct 2022, 5:30 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (APP): Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will represent Pakistan at the SCO Council of Heads of Government (SCO-CHG) meeting scheduled to be held in Beijing on Tuesday.

The SCO-CHG will be held in a virtual format owing to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

The CHG will be chaired by the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Li Keqiang and attended by the heads of government from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The heads of government of SCO observer states, i.e. Belarus, Iran and Mongolia will also attend the meeting.

The Council of Heads of Government is the second highest forum in Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that focuses primarily on the areas of trade, finance, commerce and socio-economic cooperation among SCO Member States.

The SCO’s cardinal objectives include promoting mutual trust and good-neighborly relations among member states, strengthening regional peace, security and stability.

The upcoming CHG meeting will deliberate upon vital regional and global issues of interest, adopt a Joint Communiqué and approve the SCO’s budget for 2023.

It will also discuss a comprehensive matrix for productive cooperation in trade and economy, transportation and connectivity, science & technology, climate change, culture, energy and tourism.

Pakistan attaches great significance to the SCO, an important trans-regional multilateral organization, representing almost half of the world population with over 24 percent of the global GDP.

Pakistan’s membership of SCO reflects our interest for further enhancement of our relations with regional countries, aimed at increasing trade and economic cooperation through enhanced connectivity.

Besides Pakistan, SCO member states include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and India.

Pakistan strongly condemns terrorism in Somalia

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Shumaila Andleeb

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Mon, 31 Oct 2022, 5:17 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (APP): Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack in Mogadishu, Somalia claiming over 100 innocent lives and injuring many.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased and wounded. The people of Pakistan stand in complete solidarity with the Somali nation in this most tragic hour of grief and mourning.,” the Foreign Office said in a statement issued here.

The statement mentioned that Pakistan attached great value to its fraternal ties with Somalia, and believed that the resilient Somali nation shall emerge from this tragedy stronger.

The twin bombings in Somalia killed at least 100 people and injured around 300 on Sunday.

Vibrant, strong parliament ensures prosperity of nation: NA speaker

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NNPS Desk

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Mon, 31 Oct 2022, 5:12 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (APP): National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has said parliament ensures prosperity of the nation and strong parliament is interlinked with the professionalism and vibrant role of staffers.

Gracing the inaugural ceremony of the ‘9th National Parliamentary Development Course’ (NPDC) organised by the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS) on Monday for the parliamentary staffers of the NA, Senate, provincial assemblies, and legislative assembly of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), the speaker remarked that the objective of this course was to develop and enhance the skills of parliamentary staff so they could work with up-to-date and efficient oversight tools and techniques for the smooth running of the house business.

He also said all parliamentary staff was honoured to serve in the most sacred institution, which also rendered them to be responsible for their work.

The speaker advised the course participants to gain the maximum advantage of this opportunity and work hard with dedication, commitment, and professionalism. He also advised them to follow meritocracy as a core value in all organisations.

He acknowledged PIPS for organising the 9th NPDC and expressed the hope that PIPS would continue to strive for the excellence of humans in provincial and federal legislatures.

The Executive Director of PIPS expressed gratitude to the speaker for gracing the event with his presence.

Briefing the participants about the course, he said the basic goal of the NPDC was to enhance the efficiency of parliamentary staff so that they could assist the parliamentarians professionally.

Bakhtawar, the toughest character I have played so far, says Yumna Zaidi

By

Majid Ali

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Mon, 31 Oct 2022, 5:01 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (APP):Recipient of three Lux Style Awards for Best Actress categories, Yumna Zaidi is shining in television industry with her immense talent and unique style. Recently the actor gained massive praise for her versatile character in an on-going drama serial Bakhtawar.

During the recent interview for Gloss Etc by Maliha Rehman, Zaidi revealed the tricky side of behind the scenes while sharing her experience of performing the very difficult and unique character of Bakhtu & Bakhtawar.

“The transition from Bakhtu to Bakhtawar was really difficult. It was so tricky to be on-screen without makeup and carrying baggy attire while maintaining the tone of a male character but I picked it as a challenge to portray the injustice being faced by women all around the world and to showcase the struggle & a firm stand of a woman during the challenging scenarios of her life which she has to encounter,” stated Zaidi.

The ‘Dar Si Jaati Hai Sila’ actress moved on further and expressed her gratitude towards the strong women out there dealing the stereotypical environment on a daily basis as she reminisced her own experience of the shoot.

“While shooting scenes in the local markets for both the roles as Bakhtu & Bakhtawar, the thing which I realized is the difficult daily life of a women or a girl when she has to move out, travel, work or shop alone as it is really a challenging thing for women to face the prejudiced environment all by herself,” said the actress.

The on-going much-praised drama serial Bakhtawar is a story of a brave girl and her way of dealing with the dual-face society’s cruel behavior towards women.

New Karachi-Hyderabad motorway, ML-1, KCR projects to be signed during PM’s visit to China: Ahsan Iqbal

By

Najam ul Hassan

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Mon, 31 Oct 2022, 5:00 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (APP):Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal Monday said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China would take the bilateral trade relations to new heights as the both countries would sign multiple projects worth billions of dollars.

The PM’s visit to China will help preparing a road map to take the county’s annual exports to $100 billion and beyond, the minister said while addressing a press conference here. He said during the visit, Pakistan would sign an agreement with China to seek first hand technical experience from the all weather friendly country.

He said China, on many occasions have expressed its desire to help Pakistan making industrial economy but unfortunately
previous government of PTI wasted four precious years by suspending the most important mega project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

On October 27, meeting of the JCC was held virtually in which the CPEC projects were reviewed, and both sides agreed to expand the scope of the project and to expedite work of ongoing projects under CPEC. It was also agreed that the final agreement would be signed during visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to China.

Ahsan Iqbal highlighted that Pakistan’s most important project was the railway’s ML-1 as the existing system had become outdated therefore this project would have to be initiated on emergency basis.

Unfortunately, he pointed out that due to the criminal negligence of the previous government, this project witnessed zero progress during last several years which also caused increase in cost by $3 billion from earlier approved cost of $6.8 billion to $9.8 billion.

Further, he informed that a new road project of Karachi-Hyderabad motorway would also be signed during the visit and the work on new motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad would started after the visit.

Similarly Karachi’s KCR project would also be signed during the visit to provide the citizens state of the art transportation facility in line with the orange train in Lahore.

Dera Ismail Khan-Zhob road project and Mirpur-Muzafarabad-Manshehra road project are also likely to be signed under CPEC, he said adding that Babusar tunnel project has also been included in the CPEC.

He said the both countries would also sign a project to establish national forensic laboratory in Islamabad to help the security institutions to cope with the extremism and terrorism by using the modern technology.

Ahsan Iqbal informed that an agreement for exporting agriculture products from Pakistan to China would also be signed besides inking a project to enhance the capacity of Pakistan’s meteorological department in forecasting weather.

This visit of Prime Minister is of utmost importance as it would not only bring the country out of isolation but would also boost economic ties with the world’s strong economy, he added.

Ahsan Iqbal said that through CPEC, the bilateral partnership turned to economic partnership and between the years 2013 and 2018 $29 billion worth of projects were executed with record speed.

More than 5000 MW energy projects were installed by China besides constructing hundreds of kilometers of road infrastructure including Havelian Thahkot and Multan-Sukkur motorways.

The dream of exploiting Thar coal mines has also been fulfilled with the help of China as over 1000 MW of electricity is being generated from local coal.

The minister said immediately after taking over the charge in April 2022, PM Shehbaz Sharif resumed work on the 100 MW transmission line from Iran for Gwadar that is likely to be completed within a month while he also started work on the transmission line between Panjgur and Turbut to link the coastal areas to the national grid. This project would resolve the electricity problem of Gwadar forever, he said adding that this project would also be completed by March next year.

All pending development projects being revived: Khurram Dastgir

By

Zaka Ullah Ch

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Mon, 31 Oct 2022, 4:59 PM

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FAISALABAD, Oct 31 (APP):Federal Minister for Power Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan has said that all development projects, put in cold store during the last 4 years, are being revived.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of 220-KV Lalian grid station, completed with Rs 4 billion, he said on Monday when Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power in 2013, the country was facing the worst-ever load-shedding of 18 to 20 hours per day. Similarly, the country was also experiencing terrorism and killings were continuing in Karachi and other parts of the country.

This situated had discouraged foreign investors, he said, adding that Nawaz Sharif, however, made concerted efforts and he not only overcame shortage of electricity but also restored peace in the country. He also initiated a new chapter in the progress of Pakistan by introducing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He lamented that an anti-development group succeeded in grabbing power and the development process was stopped, which remained suspended for the last four years.

“We will once again restore the same momentum of progress and prosperity which the country experienced during 2013-2018,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would also proceed to China on Nov 1 and the government would restart work on different projects under CPEC with a renewed commitment and zeal.

He said that Nawaz Sharif had a vision for progress of Pakistan. He also had mental and physical capacity to undertake these projects. He said that the PML-N government was committed to starting work on all delayed projects.

In that connection, work on 775-megawatt Karot hydro electric power project had already been started while work on 1,320MW Shanghai Thar coal project would be initiated very soon. He said that the coalition government’s mission was to put Pakistan on road to progress and prosperity.

The minister said that National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC) had finalised different projects in all provinces with an estimated cost of Rs1,000 billion. “We will inaugurate some of these projects while work on the remaining projects would also be started during this year,” he promised.

Later, he also went to Jhang Road near Churagh Abad Interchange where he inaugurated another project of 500-KV Painsara grid station, which was completed with an estimated cost of Rs 16.9 billion.

He said that these projects would help overcome problems of low voltage in the area. These projects would also enable Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) to provide new electricity connections without any delay.

Managing Director NTDC Engineer Dr. Rana Abdul Jabbar Khan said the grid station projects would not only strengthen the transmission network of NTDC in the region but also help tackle increasing demand of electricity of domestic, industrial, commercial and agri consumers of Faisalabad, Jhang, Chiniot, Toba Tek Singh, Samundari, Gojra, Jaranwala, Chenab Nagar, Chiniot Industrial, Sargodha, Ludewala, Narwala Road, Thikriwala, Lalian and their peripheral localities.

A large number of area notables and FESCO officers including its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Engineer Bashir Ahmad were also present.

PSX witnesses bullish trend, gains 124 points

By

Muhammad Ashraf Wani

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Mon, 31 Oct 2022, 4:58 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (APP):The 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed bullish trend on Monday, gaining 124.32 points, a positive change of 0.30 percent, closing at 41,264.66 against 41,140.34 points on the last working day.

A total of 97,476,761 shares were traded during the day as compared to 177,761,063 shares the previous day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 2.502 billion against Rs 4.656 billion on the last trading day.

Some 332 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 167 of them recorded gains, and 135 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 30 companies remained unchanged.

The three top trading companies were WroldCall Telecom with 9,519,000 shares at Rs 1.33 per share, G3 Technologies with 5,952,000 shares at Rs 8.83 per share, and Silk Bank Ltd, 5,894,500 shares at Rs .03 per share.

Bata (Pak) witnessed a maximum increase of Rs 146.88 per share price, closing at Rs 2,106.88 whereas the runner-up was Goodluck Industries with a Rs 41.66 rise in its per share price to Rs 597.21.

Allawasaya TexXD witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs 291.20 per share closing at Rs3,591.55, followed by Nestle PakistanXD with a Rs 195 decline to close at Rs 5,700.