Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain meets with H.E. Hussein Arnous, Prime Minister of Arab Republic of Syria during his visit. His counterpart Dr. Darem Tabbaa is also present. They held extensive discussions on collaboration in scholarships, trainings, exchange visits and Agriculture research
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq witnesses the Signing Ceremony of Financing Agreement worth US$ 100 Million, with the Asian Development Bank for “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Systems Strengthening Program”
Federal Minister for Law & Justice and Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq presenting a Memento to the Ambassador of Turkiye to Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Mehmet Paçaci who called on him at his office
Govt. asks PTI to review security affairs of Imran, other leadership
ISLAMABAD, Nov 04 (APP): The federal government on Friday asked PTI leadership including Imran Khan to review their security issues and make them more effective to avoid any mishap.
Addressing a press conference here, the minister again condemned attack on Imran Khan and other PTI leaders and said that we do not want to scare or stop this long march but it is necessary to bring these matters to notice.
The minister cited the statement PTI leader Asad Omer who told Imran Khan about security threats, but he (Imran Khan) said Allah Almighty would take care. “Ignorance towards security threats by Imran Khan can create unfortunate incidents in future too and we appeal to them to change their attitude and arrange their matters accordingly,” the minister said.
“We have no objection to their protest, and long march, we are not afraid, but these are the issues which we want to bring to their notice as these are very important,” the minister added.
The minister declared it as sad that PTI chairman Imran Khan blamed people for his attempted assassination without any investigation or proof. “Not only the government condemned this incident but prayed for health of all wounded persons including Imran Khan because we consider him as our political opponent not enemy,” he added.
This status of enemy is given by Imran Khan to his opponents not by us and his stubbornness and insistence towards such attitude is really condemnable.
He said that police arrested accused red-handed from the spot and a PTI worker namely Ibtisam assisted in this arrest. In a police station of Gujrat, the statement of accused was recorded but First Information Report (FIR) had not been deliberately registered into this incident as it would be lodged after managing it.
The minister said that first part of the statement of accused was released last day in which the accused told about the reasons behind this attack. The Punjab government and its Chief Minister suspended the entire staff of the police station but second part of the statement was also issued after their suspension. The second part of this statement was aired on media and Imran Khan and PTI leaders would have also watched this video.
The accusation of the assailant are very much condemnable and we tried to stop further dissemination of this video because it describes about certain statement of Imran Khan and a claim of a woman, he added.
The accused termed that he committed this act due to his belief on `Prophethood and Nabuwat’. It could be more damaging if this video got more viral and religious fanatics could get opportunity through it, he said. “Therefore, we appeal PTI leadership including Imran Khan to review their security affairs after considering the importance and seriousness of this issue and amend their behavior”.
He cited the statement of Asad Umer who advised Imran Khan to take threats serious as situation is not good but the latter did not care about it. Such attitude could be more damaging if not amended, the minister said.
The minister said that meeting of senior leadership of party presided over by the Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was held on Friday which expressed sorrow over the tragic incident of last day and strongly condemned it.
The meeting reviewed different measures in the wake of this incident and considered as how hatred, revenge and polarization could be eliminated and reduced which has unfortunately deepened. It was also considered as how such thoughts could be converted into tolerance and patience. He said that meeting reviewed as those forces, promoting intolerance and converting political differences into enmity, could be brought on right path.
He said that those following this path of destruction should understand that they could not remain safe as they are also on same track.
The last day incident, he said, is very much condemnable and sorrowful. There is no compensation to life, however, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has announced compensation amount for family members of four persons who lost their lives during this long march. He said that compensation amount was earlier announced for female journalist while Prime Minister has announced compensation for family members of remaining three persons as a sympathy and relief for them to live an independent life.
He said that attitude of PTI leadership including Imran Khan and second tier leadership is very much painful after this incident. He said that Asad Umer gave a statement on behalf of Imran Khan to name three persons for their alleged involvement in it without any evidence.
Some of PTI leaders incited people and asked them to come out and take revenge through setting fire. They exhibited weapons and used threatened language about not sparing their opponents which is unfair, the minister said.
He said that Imran Khan has been using the same threating language at containers from 2014 to 2022. He said that such attitudes are saddening and these would not lead us towards any right direction. These attitude could drag us from democratic behaviors and not useful to promote democracy.
To a question about the government’s intention to visit to inquire health of PTI chairman Imran Khan, Rana Sanaullah said that Mian Nawaz Sharif visited him in such an incident occurred in past.
But this time the response from the PTI leadership is not positive and they are accusing the government for the incident due to which Prime Minister has not yet decided about the visit.
Responding to a question on video leak of the accused of incident, Rana Sanaullah said that non-registration of First Information Report of this serious incident is a matter of great concern but video leak is matter of more concern.
He said that arresting and investigation of the accused is the duty of policy but leaking the recorded statement of accused is a serious lapse on the part of the concerned authorities.
The matter should be investigated that either the video was leaked or released by the police authorities. “The entire responsibility in both cases lies on the Punjab government”, he said.
It is matter of great concern that the second part of the video was leaked after the suspension of the whole staff of the concerned police station on the first video leak.
He mentioned that the second part of the video was highly sensitive in which the accused referred to the claims of prophet hood which is damaging and instigating religious extremism.
Referring to this incident as a clear case of religious extremism, he said that considering the prevailing situation of religious extremism in the country, the video leak of such content becomes more alarming.
He said that the government has tried to remove the content of the second video of the accused from all the social media networks in which he was not only giving statement but arguing on his point of view.
About playing his role for dialogue between government and PTI, he said although the government wanted to have dialogue with the PTI for the peaceful solution of the issue but they responded through abusing language and were not ready to go for dialogue.
The federal government has written to the provincial authorities to form JIT comprising over all senior officials to investigate the incident.
“We are already facing religious extremism and now another challenge is to tackle the political extremism. How can we create a space for dialogue in such a situation”, he asked.
The minister said that we have repeatedly warned the PTI leadership about the threats and asked them to limit their public exposure on container and place bullet proof protection shield during address. But they assumed if the government is afraid of their long march.
He said that providing security to the long march was the responsibility of the concerned provincial government. “If there is a lapse in that security; the responsibility lies on the Punjab government”, he added.
About issuance of Arshad Sharif’s postmortem report, the interior minister said that the issuance of report is the discretion of the investigation team and if the family of martyred needs the copy, they can get through court.
For gaining political mileage, the PTI government is continuously targeting a state institution after their refusal of any support during the no-confidence movement, serving the neighboring country’s interests.
To a question, he said PTI leadership will have no doubt left once the details of the incident will be revealed by Joint Investigation Team.
Parliamentarian unanimously condemn firing on PTI Chief, demand fair investigation
ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (APP): The parliamentarians Friday unanimously condemned the gun attack on Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan in Wazirabad during his Long March in strong words, and called for a transparent probe to unveil the facts behind the incident.
While addressing the National Assembly session, the members National Assembly termed the untoward incident as a conspiracy against the security forces and the country to sabotage peace and stability in the country.
Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Shazia Marri condemning the incident at National Assembly floor said that the protest was the right of every political party in democratic countries.
She stressed that peaceful protests should not be turned into violence and bloodshed as it was the responsibility of the political leaders to make sensible decisions in such situations.
She urged the leaderships of all political parties and especially the PTI to be careful while passing statements about the incident as they should abstain from blaming the national institutions.
She demanded a full-fledged investigation of the incident sans any external influence to ensure transparency.
“We get this country with lots of sacrifices and bloodshed. The political leadership played vital role in that regard. It is incumbent upon all of us to safeguard our motherland,” she added.
She requested PTI Chairman Imran Khan to observe patience over the incident and avoid making any irresponsible statement till the investigation was completed, adding, “You have been the prime minister of Pakistan and now you are also making all-out efforts to regain power through illegal means.”
She took exception to the PTI chair and said, “When you [Imran Khan] are in the government you behave like a proud man but when you are not the prime minister then you desecrate every institution not extending favours to you.”
She said that PPPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had showed patience over the Shahadat (martyrdom) of Mohtarma Benzair Bhutto for the sake of the country.
“Moreover, Bilalwal Bhutto Zardari has also strongly condemned the firing incident,” she added.
On the occasion, MNA Syed Ali Musa Gillani requested the members to also pray for the PTI worker who died in the incident and said that workers were the real asset of political parties.
MNA Mohammad Aslam Bhootani also condemned the incident and requested the federal government to help the provincial government in a transparent investigation.
He also requested the prime minister to release the development funds faster so that the members of the parliament could utilize them in their constituencies.
He also lauded the prime minister for approving the funds for the opposition parties for the first time in the country’s history.
MNA Noor Alam Khan said that PTI leadership was criticizing the security forces while linking the firing incident to them for their political gains.
He said that Pakistan Army personnel were performing their duties on the borders to protect their homeland and the people.
“PTI Leadership is dragging the Pakistan Army into the incident because they refused to interfere in the political matters of the country,” he added.
He also urged the political parties and Speaker National Assembly to bring a resolution in the Parliament House to support security forces in this difficult time.
He lauded the patience showed by Pakistan Army in this situation in the country’s interest.
He also requested the Supreme Court to intervene into the matter and ban such political leaders and parties who were giving controversial statements against the national institutions.
Newly restored MNA Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti from Sargodha said that PTI government had registered fake cases against the opposition leaders.
He said that PTI government came into power by vote theft in a controversial election.
MNA Slahuddin Ayubi said that political chauvinism was at its peak in the country.
“Imran Khan is a political leader and he does not have any link to religion. Khan is using religion card to motivate the youth for his political interests. We have to run this country through the Parliament,” he stated.
Imran Khan wanted to destroy all institutions if they would not help him to regain power through illicit means, Ayubi said.
“It is the history of PTI that whenever they come to Islamabad, their protests become violent and they attack the national institutions. Now again they are coming with arms to destabilize the country,” he said.
Right mix of education in social sciences, marketable skills essential to get gainful employment: President
ISLAMABAD, Nov 04 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday urged the universities and educational institutions to deliberate on creating a curriculum of the right mix of social sciences and market-oriented subjects to equip the students with social sciences and marketable skills.
The president, during a meeting with a high-level delegation of the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), said the right mix of education was also essential to enable the students to get gainful employment and also pursue their interest in writing, literature other disciplines of social sciences.
The delegation was led by the PAL Chairman Dr Yousaf Khushk, and members of the Board of Governors of the Academy at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
The president appreciated the PAL for promoting arts and literature in society and underlined the need to increase its subscribers and beneficiaries by increasing the reach of PAL’s literary products by pursuing a cogent, effective and efficient marketing strategy.
He said that digitalization could help spread and enlarge the reach of PAL’s literary products and services through web-based and cell phone-based applications which coupled with a marketing plan would help enhance its reach.
President Alvi appreciated the PAL for its efforts in preserving different regional languages of Pakistan, especially those which were neglected and were facing extinction.
He said that every language was a reservoir of distinctive knowledge, wisdom and heritage which needed to be preserved effectively and made available to the current and future generations as well as for the betterment of society.
The president said that Academy should double up its efforts to increase its networking by engaging relevant stakeholders, both local and international, to benefit from their experiences, and benchmark best practices and innovation to improve its efficacy and efficiency.
He also advised the PAL to ensure judicious and prudent spending of its budget to achieve its core aims and objective.
The PAL chairman informed the meeting that the organization paid monthly honoraria to indigenous writers and poets and bereaved families of deceased writers, who were facing hardships or were in economic distress.
He added that 1000 families of living writers and bereaved families of deceased writers were benefitting from the scheme.
He further informed that the Academy also maintained a library to provide necessary reference material to research scholars, poets, writers and students of literature and more than 30,000 books and journals were available in the Academy’s Library at the head office.
The Academy is an autonomous body which administers and coordinates all government systems for the promotion of Pakistani languages, literature and the welfare of the writers’ community in the country.
It is also producing literary periodicals in Urdu, English and other Pakistani languages, and recommending recipients for various literary awards and distinctions.
ECP revises ICT LG elections schedule
ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (APP): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has revised the already notified poll day for the conduct of Local Government (LG) elections in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), fixing December 31, 2022 (Saturday) as poll day.
According to ECP notification, the commission issued this in exercise of the power conferred upon it under Articles 140 (A) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Section 58 and 229 of the Election Act, 2017, read with Section 17 of the Islamabad Capital Territory, Local Government Act, 2015 and all other powers.
Religious fanaticism led to attack on PTI chief Imran Khan: Khawaja Asif
ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (APP):Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told the National Assembly on Friday that Imran Khan’s some statements had hurt religious sentiments of an accused Naveed who attacked Imran Khan during his march.
The minister said that it was evident from the videos of an accused that his religious sentiments were hurt because of the language, former Prime Minster used time to time or crossed the red line of religion which compelled him to attack on him.
The entire duty staff of the police station including the Station House Officer (SHO) was suspended only for recording the statement of the accused and the Chief Minister transferred the case to the Police Station Kunja which falls in his constituency, said the minister.
He said at the very initial level of investigation, the issue is being politicized for political gain which is a mockery of the system.
So far, four people from Lahore to Gujranwala have lost their lives in the long march, they were either crushed by the container or they died after falling from the container, said the minister adding that Imran Khan had already predicted that his march would be bloody.
He said Imran Khan used to call Chief Minister Punjab Pervez Elahi, the biggest criminal of Punjab and today this incident happened under the same biggest criminal.
He said the government is interested to expose the real motive or a culprit behind this incident but the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is not interested in fair investigations and politicizing this incident.
He asked to constitute a joint investigation team (JIT) consisting of credible bureaucrats or judges.
He regretted the statements of PTI leadership for leveling baseless allegations against the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Interior Minister and Director General (C) for the incident and advised to avoid such statements.
The entire world is keeping an eye on the fast changing situation of an atomic country, therefore we all have act and speak responsibly, said the minister.
Murad approves Rs 46.3 bn for construction of 71 damaged roads by floods
KARACHI, Nov 04 (APP):Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved the overhauling and reconstruction of 71 roads damaged by heavy rains/floods at Rs 46.3 billion so that works could start at the earliest.
“The overhauling of the damaged roads, particularly the small ones connecting farms to market, villages to the main roads are important for the easy access of the people for the revival of the economy.”
This he said while presiding over a meeting here at CM House on Friday. The meeting was attended by Minister Works Zia Abbas Shah, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, Secretary Works Imran Atta, and chief engineer roads.
The chief minister was told that 71 roads in 23 districts with an overall length of 1473.38 kilometers have been damaged by the heavy rains and floods. They include six roads of 157.7 km in district Jamshoro, five roads of 149.27 km in Dadu, three of 106.6 km in Shaheed Benazirabad, nine of 137 km Naushehroferoze, two of 20.4 km in Hyderabad, six of 93.8 km in Tando Allahyar, one of 19 kilometers of TM Khan, four of 65 km in Thatta, two of 55.5 km in Sujawal, on of 71 km in Badin, two of 80 km in Mirpurkhas, one of 20 km in Umrkot, three of 46 km in Sanghar, one of 35 km in Tharparkar, fine of 58 km in Sukkur, one of 9 km in Ghotki, two of 23 km in Khairpur, three of 67 km Shikarpur, three of 45.45 km in Jacobabad, three of 52.29 km Kashmore-Kandhkot, five of 92.65 km Larkana, and three of 67.2 km in Kamber-Shahdadkot.
Minister Works Zia Abbas Shah told the chief minister that the estimated cost of the roads has been worked out at Rs 46.32 billion.
The chief minister approved the scheme and directed the chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi to finalize the formalities and get the work started at the earliest.
It was also pointed out that the Asian Development Bank 9ADB) has also agreed to finance the repair of some major roads of the province for which necessary documentation was being completed.
Sub-national polio immunization campaign concludes
ISLAMABAD, Nov 04 (APP):A five-day sub-national anti-polio vaccination campaign concluded on Friday during which polio drops were administered to children under the age of five years.
According to spokesperson of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, during the campaign, over 25 million children under five years of age were vaccinated in 83 districts of Pakistan, including southern Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KP) where the current outbreak was reported.
He said that out of total 83 districts, the children were vaccinated in 21 districts of Sindh, 14 districts of Punjab, 28 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18 districts of Balochistan and two areas of Islamabad.
Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Abdul Qadir Patel appreciated the efforts of front line workers and security organizations during the drive. He said that recent polio cases have made Pakistan more determined to fight the virus till its complete elimination.
Qadir Patel said, Pakistan’s Polio Programme continues to work hard to reach zero polio cases, and the recent cases in Pakistan have made us more determined to fight this virus till the end.
He said that Wild Polio Virus Type-1 (WPV1) was detected in environmental samples collected from 11 districts of the country including Bannu, Peshawar, Swat, Nowshera, South Waziristan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Islamabad and Landhi in Karachi.
He said that the next polio immunization drive would be launched from November 21 at national level. The government is making sincere efforts in controlling the disease with the support of its frontline polio workers, he added.