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PM to announce `Kisan Package’ during ongoing month, says Rana Sanaullah

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 (APP): Minister for Interior Rana Sana Ullah on Wednesday said the government would fulfill all the promises made to the farmers and Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to announce `Kisan Package’ during the ongoing month.

He stated this during a meeting with representatives of `Kisan Ittehad Union’ which was attended by Advisor to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for National Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema and Minister for Energy (Power) Khurram Dastgir.

The groups of `Kisan Ittehad Union’ were represented by Khalid Khokhar and Aamir Watto while Secretary Power and Secretary National Food Security and Additional Secretary Finance were also present during the talks.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah welcomed the representatives of `Kisan Ittehad Union ‘ and thanked them for calling off sit-in. He said the negotiations of Kisan Etihad Union with Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif remained successful.

He said that food security in Pakistan is not possible without prosperous farmers, the Interior Minister said adding that payment of electricity bills of tubewells has already been deferred.

He assured that all the demands of the farmers will be presented to the prime minister while incentives would be announced for agriculture sector and farmers.

The representatives of farmers said that agricultural emergency should be imposed in the country as the food security is the guarantee of prosperity. The Interior Minster assured full cooperation to farmers representatives in resolving their problems.

Senator Dr Musadik Malik addressing a Press Conference at PID

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Senator Dr Musadik Malik addressing a Press Conference at PID
APP69-051022 ISLAMABAD:

Teachers are nation’s pride: Farah Azeem

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QUETTA, Oct 05 (APP):Balochistan government’s spokesperson Farah Azeem Shah on Wednesday said teachers are pride of the nation.

In her message on “Teacher’s Day” she said teaching is a sacred profession that Allah Almighty has given this responsibility to his noble people.

“Teachers have been given the status of spiritual parents by our religion Islam,”

Referring education as the government top most priority, she said that the promotion of education in Balochistan is among the top most priorities of CM Balochistan Mir Abdul Qudous Bizenjo.

“Balochistan government is taking teachers into confidence and solving their legitimate problems to increase the literacy rate, she said and added that “girls Cadet Colleges have been established in Turbat and Quetta.

About recent step taken by the provincial government, she noted that on the directives of CM Balochistan issues of the protesting teachers were resolved amicably.

“Today is a day to pay tribute to our teachers who served the nation with best of their abilities,” spokesperson Balochistan Government further said.

President for developing self-sustaining model for crop insurance

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday urged the insurance companies and other stakeholders to develop a self-sustaining model for insurance of the crops.

He said that the farmers could be educated regarding crop insurance through media.

The President expressed these views while chairing a meeting of stakeholders on the insurance of crops, here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The meeting was attended by Senator Sania Nishtar, Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi, Punjab Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Khawar Jameel, Federal Insurance Ombudsman, representatives from State Bank of Pakistan, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), insurance companies and others, a press release issued by the President’s Media Wing here said. 

The President said that a fully thought-out, practical and friendly comprehensive strategy for farmers should be devised with a timeline after consultation with all stakeholders from the private and government sectors for providing crop insurance facilities to farmers without complicated procedures.

He said that shielding the farmer from crop failure and crop loss due to manmade and natural disasters was very important for ensuring food security for Pakistan as agriculture constituted the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy and a large number of the country’s population was directly or indirectly dependent on this sector.

The President said that Pakistan was among the top ten countries most vulnerable to global warming-induced natural calamities and due to this phenomenon, the farmers had to face cyclic and frequent floods, a prolonged period of drought, unpredictable weather systems and pest attacks which resulted in frequent crop losses in various parts of the country.

He emphasized the need for setting in place a sophisticated satellite imagery-based weather forecasting system capable of providing valuable and authentic data on weather patterns and accurate weather forecasting especially floods which would provide valuable information to forewarn the farmers to take remedial measures for preventing crop destruction due to natural calamities.

It was decided in the meeting that a technical working group of various stakeholders would be formed for proposing workable solutions with regard to crop insurance.

‘India No.1 country in the world likely to witness a genocide’

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 4 (APP): With the multiple video footages of Muslims being publicly flogged by Hindu fanatics surfacing on the internet, analysts believe that India was fast heading toward the much-feared stage of genocide.

Recently an upsurge in lynching and mistreating of Muslim youngsters has been observed in India, especially during the religious festival of Garba. In multiple incidents, the right-wing Hindu extremist mob maltreated Muslims around the said religious festival.

On October 3 and 4, three incidents were reported where state machinery supported Hindu extremists in their anti-Muslim agenda.

“India has all of the preparatory stages for more genocidal massacres,” according to Dr Gregory Stanton, the founder of Genocide Watch.

Dr. Stanton had predicted a genocide in Rwanda years before it took place in 1994. Now he has warned of an impending genocide of Muslims in India, comparing the situation of the country under the Narendra Modi government to events in Myanmar and Rwanda.

In the State of Gujarat, nine Muslim men were publicly flogged by Hindu extremists while the crowd chanted nationalist slogans and the state machinery including police reportedly supervised and supported the torture. The incident happened when a mob of Hindus teased and chanted anti-Islam slogans in the Muslim community area.

In a separate incident in Jharkand, 22 years old Ejaz Ansari was beaten to death by RSS mob with axes and batons.

In Mandsaur city of Madhya Pradesh, 19 Muslim youth were arrested on fake charges of disturbing the Garba festival. The houses of three youths were also bulldozed by the administration.

The International Human Rights Foundation took notice of the incident and asked the Government of India to take notice of the incident.

“Yet another video of a prominent Hindu supremacist singer calling on Hindus to buy weapons and to prepare themselves for a war to turn India into a Hindu nation. The world can no more ignore what’s happening in India. Muslims are at the cusp of genocide,” the Indian American Muslim Council wrote on Twitter.

The analysts believe that India was becoming a Hindu Rashtra where Muslims will be forced to live as second-class citizens and will be persecuted and murdered.

In Narendra Modi’s India, the Hindutva hateful ideology is being propagated and supported by Indian media and state machinery. The Muslims are being demeaned and accused of bogus charges with their houses being demolished.

The saner elements in India have urged international human rights organizations to take notice of the human rights abuses and rising Islamophobia in India.

Ironically, the Indian police and justice system remains complicit with the right-wing Hindu nationalist in their agenda of marginalizing and lynching Muslims.

The backing of the Indian state machinery of the human rights violators is evident from the fact that 11 Hindu men convicted of gang rape of Bilkis Bano were released by the court. They were given a heroic welcome and garlanded after their release.

“A Hindu religious leader asking thousands of his supporters to carry arms to support Modi’s plan to make India a Hindu country. This is why India is the No.1 country in the world that is likely to witness a genocide,” said Ashok Swain, Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at a Swedish university commenting on a video on Twitter.

APP Digital Report by Ishtiaq Ahmed

President urges steps to bring street, out-of-school children into mainstream

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that bringing street children and over 20 million out-of-school children into the formal education stream was of paramount importance for converting them into valuable and productive human resource.

The president made these remarks while talking to the Under-16 Street Children team that would be representing Pakistan in the Street Children World Cup, Qatar 2022 and the officials of Muslim Hands at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The president appreciated the initiative of Muslim Hands for helping unprivileged children by involving them in healthy and constructive activities and giving them proper training, education, social and communication skills, confidence and the opportunity to compete at the international level in football tournaments, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release.

While appreciating the achievements of the team, the president said that such steps must also be taken for the promotion of other games like hockey and kabaddi.

He said although, the government was taking various steps to engage underprivileged children in healthy activities which required support of the private sector, NGOs and civil society.

He emphasized the need for creating enabling environment for unprivileged children by providing them with education, training and necessary skill so that they could realize their full potential.

The president advised that Pakistan Sports Board should engage street children in sports to build their character and confidence and provide them training to become world class players.

He said that Pakistan was a sport-loving nation and football was equally popular in every nook and corner of the country.

He emphasized that the promotion of sports could help youth in reducing stress and leading a healthy life.

He said that 60 percent of the population of the country comprised of youth and they must be equipped with the latest IT tools and training.

The president also called upon the Pakistan Football Federation to set aside their petty differences and inter-federation rivalries and to focus on the development of the game, starting from grass roots level and engaging as many young players as possible from across the country, especially the underprivileged children.

He said that it would help the country in the development of sports ecosystem which would eventually produce world-class players.

Earlier, while briefing the president, Raja Arsalan Nusrat Director Muslims Hands, UK Chapter said that over 1000 children in more than 15 communities across Pakistan were engaged in the sports activities under “Child’s Right to Play” slogan.

He apprised that the Football team comprising of street children would participate in street Child Football World Cup going to be held in Doha, Qatar.

The president also handed over National Flag to the team captain.

Musadik blasts Imran Khan over ‘Hitler salute’ from PTI workers

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 (APP):Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik Wednesday lambasted Imran Khan for taking oath, in Nazi style, from his workers for the Hqaeeqi Azad movement.
“Imran Khan opted for Hitler style in taking oath from his workers yesterday at a gathering. How can such a person be called Sadiq and Amin (Honest and truthful),” the minister said while addressing a news conference.
He said ironically, the person (Imran Khan), who was involved in mega corruption scandals like that of Malam Jabba, was declared “Sadiq and “Amin”. “I asked the people today how can a person, who grabbed 450 acres of land from a business tycoon to facilitate him in saving billions of rupees, be called “Sadiq” and “Amin”.
Musadik said the leaked audio of Imran Khan had affirmed that he could not be trusted with the state secrets. He severely damaged the country’s foreign policy by dampening the relations with friendly countries.
He said Imran Khan blamed a foreign country for hatching a conspiracy to oust him from the power, and conversely, he went out for hiring services of the lobbyist — with strong leanings for denuclearisation — eventually for image building in that country .
The minister said Imran Khan was bent upon weakening the country economically and politically and his leaked audios were the living proof that he even manipulated the cipher to achieve his political motives and that too at the cost of national interests.
To a query, he said the action against Imran Khan would be initiated in accordance with the law and ruled out political victimization of opponents under the leadership of Prime Minster Shehbaz Sharif.
Musadik also defended the acquittal of Maryam Nawaz in the Avenfield apartment case and said the National Accountability Bureau failed to produce a single piece of evidence in the court of law.
He said the Almighty Allah was the best planner and the truth eventually came to fore, regardless whatever one conspired.
To another query, he said a comprehensive plan would be unveiled soon to make the country self-sufficient in energy in next three to four years. Innovative steps would also be taken to reduce the prices of gas and electricity, he added.
He said the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz promised to end load shedding and by 2018, it literally installed enough power plants which fulfilled the electricity demand in the country.
The minister said all-out efforts would be made to ensure gas supply to all the households during winter.

ADB to approve $1.5 bn loan for Pakistan this month: Country Director

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 (APP):The Asian Development Band (ADB) will provide flood relief support to Pakistan to the tune of US$ 2.3 to 2.5 billion including US$ 1.5 billion for the BRACE program which will be placed before the ADB Board for approval during this month. Country Director ADB for Pakistan Yong Ye said on Wednesday.

During a meeting with Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar here, Yong Ye also apprised him about the ongoing and future projects of ADB in different sectors including social protection, food security and energy sectors.

On August 31, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also approved $3 million grant for the immediate purchase of relief goods such as food supplies and tents on August 31, 2022.

Furthermore, the ADB is also aiming to mobilize a $500-700 million package for the much needed immediate relief assistance, early recovery and rehabilitation, and reconstruction. The package would be approved by the end of current year.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a meeting with a delegation of Asian Development Bank (ADB) headed by its Country Director Yong Ye here at the Finance Division on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar welcomed the delegation and appreciated ADB’s role and support in promoting sustainable development in Pakistan.

He apprised the delegation of devastation caused by the recent floods in the country and its impact on the economy of Pakistan. He further stated that Pakistan’s economy faced huge challenges.

The present government with its pragmatic policy decisions has not only arrested the decline but has also set the economy in the right direction. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also shared the priorities of the present government.

Country Director ADB, Yong Ye extended felicitations to Finance Minister on assuming the charge of the office and expressed sympathy on the loss of lives and properties in the devastating floods in Pakistan.

Regarding the Country Partnership Strategy for Pakistan 2021-25, he shared that this strategy is in line with the vision of government of Pakistan.

Finance Minister expressed gratitude to ADB delegation for their persistent support and assured them of full cooperation by the government for swift execution of the ongoing and future programs.

Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha, Asad Aleem, Deputy Country Director ADB, Kiyoshi Taniguchi Principal Economist ADB, Laisiasa Tora, Senior Public Management Specialist ADB and senior officers from Finance Division participated in the meeting.

By Najam ul Hassan