ICCI president lauds excise to facilitate business community

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Wed, 2 Aug 2023, 6:46 PM

ISLAMABAD, Aug 02 (APP): Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari lauded the reforms initiatives of the Excise and Taxation Department (E&TD) Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to facilitate the people in vehicles registration and make a significant increase in its revenue.

He urged the FBR to emulate the good performance of E&TD to facilitate the taxpayers and improve its tax revenue.

He said this while talking to Bilal Azam, Director, Excise & Taxation Department ICT during his visit to ICCI.

Bakhtawari said that trackers should be embedded in the number plates of vehicles to control their theft.

He said that a penalty should be imposed on those buyers who delay the registration of vehicles to ensure their timely registration.

He urged the Excise Director to set up facilitation desks in ICCI and markets for the convenience of the business community in the registration of vehicles.

He assured that ICCI would fully cooperate with E&TD in raising better awareness about its services in the business community.

Speaking on the occasion, Bilal Azam, Director, Excise & Taxation Department of ICT briefed the business community about various reform initiatives introduced by him due to which the tax revenue of E&TD has increased from Rs.4.6 billion to Rs.19 billion in just 3 years.

He said E&TD is ready to set up vehicle registration desks in markets in collaboration with ICCI. He said that with the introduction of technology, motor vehicle registration has increased to 1.5 million.

He said that a ‘mobile App’ has been launched to facilitate people in payment of token tax.

He said that 400 stolen vehicles have been recovered by integrating E&TD data with the Safe City Project of Islamabad Police and NADRA. He said that vehicle registration facilities have also been provided in various parks in Islamabad including Islamabad Club.

He said that E&TD was also providing vehicle registration service at the doorsteps if called on the helpline.

He said that E&TD would continue introducing more reforms to facilitate the taxpayers.

Lawmakers rally behind four bills, unanimously approved in Upper House

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Wed, 2 Aug 2023, 6:41 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 02 (APP): The Upper House of the Parliament unanimously approved four bills during Wednesday’s session, all introduced with specific objectives and receiving widespread support from the attending members.

Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazir Tarar, introduced The Pakistan Civil Aviation Bill 2023, which proposes a division of the Civil Aviation sector into two separate entities: the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) responsible for regulatory functions, and the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) in charge of commercial and operational aspects of airports.

The primary goal of this division was to enhance efficiency, improve services, and ensure compliance with international standards set by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The bill comes in the wake of the suspension of Pakistan International Airlines’ flight operations in the UK and Europe, triggered by an irresponsible statement made by a former Aviation minister, Ghulam Sarwar Khan.

The Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazir Tarar, successfully had another bill titled The Pakistan Air Safety Investigation Bill, 2023, passed by the House.

Minister for Education and Professional Training, Rana Tanveer Hussain, presented The National Commission for Human Development (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The bill’s objective is to enhance the effectiveness of over 7,000 employees of NCHD (National Commission for Human Development).

Minister for Finance, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, moved The Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Funds Bill, 2023, in the National Assembly. The bill aims to establish Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Funds to promote sustainable economic development through the management of fund assets, following the best international standards, policies, and practices. The objective is to maximize the value of these funds for the benefit of future generations.

The Minister mentioned that Pakistan possesses the largest gas pipeline valued at 40 to 50 billion dollars and has reserves of minerals and mines worth $6000 billion. To start with, seven such valuable assets, amounting to $8 billion, will be placed in the Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Meanwhile, following a heated debate, the Chairman referred Bills, including The Higher Education Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023; The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Hajj and Umrah (Regulation) Bill, 2023 and The Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, to relevant committees.

Senator Raza Rabbani, during a debate on the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (Amendment) Bill, 2023, emphasized the need to refer it to the relevant committee as he had proposed eight amendments.

In a show of protest, Rabbani tore copies of the Bill and expressed his displeasure over its hurried passage. Nevertheless, the Bill was eventually referred to the relevant committee for further refinement and discussions.

Ensuring merit key to transform PIPS into center of excellence: NA Speaker

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Wed, 2 Aug 2023, 6:37 PM

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APP30-020823Islamabad — ISLAMABAD: August 02 – Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf chairing meeting of the PIPS Board of Governors at PIPS. APP

ISLAMABAD, Aug 02 (APP): Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that observance of merit is key to transforming the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Service (PIPS) into a centre of excellence.

While Chairing the Board of Governors’ Meeting of PIPS in Islamabad, he said that purpose of PIPS was to provide qualitative legislative support to Parliamentarians across the country. Moreover, he stated that qualitative research is key to ensuring the promotion of public-friendly legislation.

The Members of the Board of Governors PIPS unanimously emphasized ensuring merit while making appointments, particularly in PIPS and all other parliamentary institutions. The Members also stressed the need to create strong links among provincial legislators and federal legislators.

The Members also urged the need to enhance the research capacity of PIPS in order to provide detailed research-based inputs to legislators.

The Board of Governors’ meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Speaker of Provincial Assembly Balochistan Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, MNAs Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Murtaza Javed Abbasi and senior officers of National Assembly Secretariat and PIPS.

Minister urges students to learn IT skills to compete across globe

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Wed, 2 Aug 2023, 6:35 PM

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APP47-020823Karachi — APP47-020823 KARACHI: August 02 - Federal Minister for IT &Telecom Syed Amin-ul-Haq addressing during inaugurating Ceremony of Free Digital IT Lab at Ibrahim Ali Bhai Government Girls Secondary School Orangi Town. APP/AMH/ABB/FHA

KARACHI, Aug 02 (APP): Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque on Wednesday urged youth especially the students to enhance their Information Technology skills so as to cope with the fast-changing trends in the globe.

He was addressing to the inauguration ceremony of a Digital IT Laboratory at Ebrahim Ali Bhai Government Girls and Boys School at Orangi Town no 9 here.

The Minister said that a modern Digital IT Lab equipped with the latest desktop computers, printers and fast internet connection is established at Ebrahim Ali Bhai Government Girls and Boys School, to facilitate the students learn IT skills.

He added that training in 15 different modern IT fields will be imparted to the students in the facility free of cost, enabling them to learn IT skills including data analysis, freelancing, E-Commerce, Graphic Designing, Video Animation, Content Writing, online marketing, and advance data analysis, Artificial Intelligence and other modern skills and practices in the IT fields.

He said that the students of 9th and 10th classes as well as those who successfully passed out from the school should also learn and get training in the IT Lab.

He said that our youth has great potential and talent, it just needs to be nurtured, expressing hope that by the time of matriculation, the students will become the best IT professionals and every student who completes the training will appear as bread earners for his family.

This skilled young generation will also provide stronger support to Pakistan’s economy, the Federal IT Minister added.

He said that measures to provide such training facilities at the level of schools and colleges is a step aimed to boost IT exports up to US $ 15 billion.

Syed Aminul Haque further said that his ministry has taken revolutionary steps for the further promotion of information and communication technology across the country.

He maintained that steps were underway to take IT exports to a record level through the provision of maximum incentives and facilities and the freelancing policy.

He said that the Ministry has established IT laboratories in the schools and now it is the responsibility of the students to take the maximum possible advantage of these.

The Federal IT Minister said that the successful students will also be issued certificates of the courses from the IT Lab. These types of labs will help students, especially girls, to learn modern IT skills at ease and earn by working even from their homes.

He said the Principal of the Ebrahim Ali Bhai School had been informed that the school management was now responsible for the sustainability and maintenance of this facility at least for the next five years.

On the occasion, Syed Aminul Haque also inspected the lab and also exchanged views with the students regarding Digital Pakistan Vision.

He also paid a glowing tribute to the students and teachers of Ebrahim Ali Bhai School for participating in national-level competitions and securing prominent positions in the examinations.

Syed Aminul Haque said the Ministry had formulated the cellular phones manufacturing policy and now around 28 to 29 mobile manufacturing companies including prominent international brands are working in the country with this result we are getting smartphones at affordable prices.

He recalled that around one-and-a-half-year ago the campus of a virtual university was also established in the Orangi town. Besides graduate and post-graduate degrees in various disciplines, the varsity is also offering 3-month and 6-month diploma courses, he added.

Speaking about development works in Orangi, the Federal Minister said that we are going to inaugurate a medical complex soon in UC-19 Orangi. Besides, healthcare facilities, ambulance and coffin carrier bus services will also be available in the medical complex, he added.

He said that many projects of infrastructure development like roads, street lights, sewerage systems and other works were successfully executed in Orangi town during the last 5 years.

In his address, Member of Sindh Assembly, Ali Khursheedi said that the example set by Syed Aminul Haq for serving people without discrimination under the guidance of MQM leadership is praiseworthy.

As the Federal IT Minister, Syed Aminul Haq successfully launched information and communication technology projects worth billions of rupees across the country, the MPA added.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of Ignite National Technology Fund Asim Sheheryar Hussain informed the gathering about the performance and various ongoing, successful and future projects of the company.

He said that on the instructions of the Federal Minister, a Digital IT lab was established a few days ago in the Rashid Minhas Government Boys & Girls School Nazimabad here and now this is second in Orangi Town. We strongly believe that this digital lab will help the students to brighten their future, he added.

Among other notables, MPA, Ali Khursheedi, Chief Executive Pakistan Software Export Board Ali Raza, Principal of the Ebrahim Ali Bhai Government Girls and Boys School Naushad Begum, District Education Officer and teachers and students in large number were also present.

Dr Samuel called on Dar

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Wed, 2 Aug 2023, 6:32 PM

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dar samuel — H.E Dr. Samuel Rizk, Resident Representative UNDP called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at Finance Division, Islamabad on August 02, 2023.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (APP): Dr. Samuel Rizk, Resident Representative UNDP called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at Finance Division.

SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Ammara Durrani, Assistant resident representative UNDP, Special Secretary Finance and senior officers from Finance Division attended the meeting, said a press release issued here.

Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar welcomed Dr Samuel Rizk and shared the economic outlook of the country and measures taken by the Government for achieving economic stability and growth.

He informed that the government has introduced reforms in various sectors for tackling persistent outstanding structural issues with a special focus on sustainable and inclusive growth.

Dr. Samuel Rizk, Resident Representative UNDP discussed the ongoing institutional arrangements by UNDP regarding the Climate Resilient Pakistan and rehabilitation initiatives in flood-affected areas. The UNDP team further extended support to the government for mobilizing SDG investments and climate financing for development.

Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar appreciated the key role of UNDP as a development partner in helping Pakistan to achieve the fast-track Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reiterated the commitment of GoP on the achievement of SDGs.

The Finance Minister also appreciated UNDP in mobilizing global support for rehabilitation work in flood-affected areas in Pakistan.

World University Games: Fizza loses wushu quarterfinal fight

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Wed, 2 Aug 2023, 6:29 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 02 (APP): Pakistan’s Fizza put up a good show at the World University Games but failed to meet the standards of her opponent, conceding defeat in the quarterfinal of 52kg weight category of wushu in Chengdu on Wednesday.

In the quarterfinal, Fizza fought hard against Turkmenistan’s Gurbangeldiyeva Aygozel. But despite her best attempts the promising Pakistani athlete could not get over the line.

Her coach Muhammad Asif told APP that Fizza had all the necessary ingredients to emerge as a formidable wushu athlete but lacked the international exposure.

“The win would have been a great achievement but she lost while fighting hard. I believe lack of international experience is the major reason of her defeat. But this is the beginning of a career. The more exposure she will get, the better she will perform,” he said.

“She is the gold medal winner in the recently-held National Games in Quetta. But there is a big difference between playing at the national level and performing at the international level,” he added.

Asif said he had been closely monitoring Fizza’s performance and technique, and would try to incorporate new things in her training.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has fielded five women athletes – Amtul Rehman, Uzma Azam, Manisha Ali, Maliha Ali and Fizza – to represent Pakistan at the 12-day prestigious Games that began on July 28 in Chengdu.

Amtul Rehman, who is a student of Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), is participating in long jump and triple jump events of the Games. Uzma Azam of Government College Women University Faisalabad will showcase her skills in the hammer throw. Lahore Garrison University’s Manisha and Maliha are vying in the taekwondo event, while Fizza chipped in the wushu event.

The Chengdu 2021 Universiade feature 269 events across 18 sports. The Games suffered two postponements as the COVID-19 pandemic created a significant hurdle that posed substantial challenges for the preparatory work.

Around 6,500 athletes (3,512 men and 2,988 women) from 113 countries and regions are competing in 269 events of 18 sports at World Games, scheduled to conclude on August 8.