Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Home Blog Page 13571

Governor Punjab calls on PM

By
Irfan Khan
-
0

LAHORE, July 24 (APP): Governor Punjab Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman on Monday called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

During the meeting, the current situation in the country particularly, the administrative matters and law and order situation in Punjab province were discussed, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

Separately, a delegation of renowned political personalities led by Rana Mashood, a former provincial minister, also called on the prime minister.

They discussed the current political situation in the country.

Governor Punjab calls on PM

Senate chairman nominates panel of presiding officers for 331st session

By
NNPS Desk
-
0
Senate chairman nominates panel

ISLAMABAD, Jul 24 (APP): Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani on Monday nominated a ‘panel of presiding officers’ for the upcoming 331st session in a significant move aimed at ensuring the smooth functioning of the upper house of parliament.

This decision came in accordance with Sub-Rule 1 of 14 of the Rule of Procedure and Conduct of Business.

The panel of presiding officers comprises three distinguished members of the Senate: Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Rubina Khalid, and Mohsin Aziz.

Their role will be to efficiently conduct the business of the house in the absence of both the Senate chairman and deputy chairman.

In a poignant moment during the session, Senate Chairman Sanjrani requested Senator Maulana Faiz Muhammad to lead the assembly in offering Fateha for the souls of those who tragically lost their lives in recent terrorist attacks and the devastating rains and floods that have impacted various areas of the country.

Senator Maulana Faiz Muhammad, with heartfelt prayers, sought forgiveness and the highest ranks in Jannah (paradise) for the departed souls.

He also called for patience and strength for the bereaved families to bear the irreparable loss with equanimity.

The 331st session promises to be one of significance as the members come together to address crucial matters concerning the welfare and progress of the country.

PM to formally launch Journalists Health Insurance Card scheme on August 7: Marriyum

By
NNPS Desk
-
0
Journalists Health Insurance Card Marriyum

ISLAMABAD, Jul 24 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Monday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would formally launch Journalists Health Insurance Card Scheme on August 7.

She stated this after launching the registration process for Journalists Health Insurance Scheme by uploading its form on the website of the Press Information Department and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The minister said that the health insurance form was now available online for media workers and journalists and they would be able to register themselves through the online health insurance form.

The minister said that for the first time, the government had allocated Rs 1 billion for the health insurance of working journalists in the federal budget.

Marriyum Aurangzeb uploaded this online registration form along with journalists present there while Principal Information Officer Mubashar Hassan was also present on the occasion.

The minister congratulated Secretary Information and Broadcasting Sohail Ali Khan, PIO Mubasher Hassan and the entire team of the Ministry of Information for launching the scheme.

Talking to the media persons, she said that the Prime Minister had allocated funds worth Rs 1 billion for working journalists.

She said that health insurance for working journalists and artists was the vision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The minister said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had launched the health card scheme in 2013 which continued in the PTI era after the change of its name.

She said said that an online form of health insurance card scheme for journalists was being released.

This registration form would be available on the website of the Press Information Department, she said and added that the process of registration of journalists was being started.

The health insurance form was simple and easy to fill and all details related to health issues were available in the form, the minister said.

She said that all health facilities were being provided to journalists in the health insurance card scheme.

“Health insurance and salaries of journalists have always been an issue in Pakistan”, she remarked.

During 14 months, she added Rs 110 million had been recovered from the platform of ITNE and direct payments had been made to the employees in print media.

The minister said Minimum wage, job security of electronic media had been addressed in the amended PEMRA law, adding it was the Prime Minister’s directive to ensure health insurance to journalists as soon as possible and all working journalists had been included.

This project was for the whole of Pakistan, journalists from all over the country should start registering in it, she maintained.

“Health insurance facilities from the government are for journalists across the country,not for journalists of Islamabad only”, she remarked.

She said during the tenure of the present coalition government, no action had been taken against journalists having critical views about its policies and performance.

In the present government rule no journalists attacked, kidnapped, arrested or fired at as was the practice during the previous government, she added.

Taking a jibe on PTI tenure, regarding the title of media predator given to Imran Khan by Reporters Without Borders, she the current government did not get that title, on the contrary the ranking of freedom of expression in Pakistan improved by seven ranks.

Replying to questions from media persons, she said that the health insurance scheme was not only for press club members, it was for all journalists and media workers.

“It is not mandatory for a journalist to be a member of the Press Club for health insurance registration,” she said.

The minister said all stakeholders were involved in the process of preparation of PEMRA (Amendment) Bill 2023 and no one opposed the bill or issued any adverse statement.

She said that the Pakistan Broadcasters Association had issued a statement regarding the PEMRA (Amendment)
Bill.

Only a certain group was indulged in propaganda against PEMRA Amendment Bill 2023, the minister added.

She remarked that these people thought that they would continue spreading propaganda in the country and no one would question them but this would not happen now.

She said that registration of journalists for health insurance would be done through digital form to ensure transparency.

The minister said that the PM’s Health Card and health insurance card for journalists were two separate schemes.

A journalist who is benefiting from the Prime Minister Health Card Scheme would not be eligible for the Journalists’ Health Insurance Scheme, she said in reply to a question.

PSX witnesses bullish trend as index gains 134 points

By
Muhammad Ashraf Wani
-
0

ISLAMABAD, Jul 24 (APP):The 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed bullish trend on Monday, gaining 134.08 points, a positive change of 0.29 percent, closing at 46,054.81 points against 45,920.73 points the previous trading day.

A total of 299,076,070 shares were traded during the day as compared to 504,550,463 shares the previous day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 8.139 billion against Rs 12.012 billion on the last trading day.

As many as 337 companies transacted their shares in the stock market; 147 of them recorded gains and 175 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 15 companies remained unchanged.

PSX witnesses bullish trend as index gains 134 points

The three top-trading companies were WorkdCall Telecom with 35,880,607 shares at Rs 1.41 per share; K-Electric Ltd with 32,402,516 shares at Rs.2.15 per share and Unity Foods Ltd with 31,484,303 shares at Rs.27.40 per share.

Nestle Pakistan witnessed a maximum increase of Rs100.00 per share price, closing at Rs 6,800.00, whereas the runner-up was Bhanero Tex with an Rs 69.00 rise in its per share price to Rs 989.00.

Al-Abbas Sugar witnessed a maximum decrease of Rs 29.40 per share closing at Rs 480.600, followed by Siemens Pak with Rs 18.19 decline to close at Rs 701.50.

Victories in Squash championship, ACC match against India reflect indomitable spirit: Bilawal

By
NNPS Desk
-
0
Squash Bilawal

KARACHI, Jul 24 (APP): Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has extended heartiest congratulations to entire nation on Pakistan’s victory in the World Junior Squash Championship 2023.

He also extended his best wishes to Hamza Khan, the teenager player who led Pakistan to victory in the championship, saying: “Well done, Hamza Khan! You have raised the flag of Pakistan in the world of sports through your brilliant performances.

May you always continue to shine the name of our beloved motherland like this.”

Bilawal said that the victories in the World Junior Squash Championship 2023 and the ACC Men’s Emerging Cup 2023 against India reflected the indomitable spirit and determination of the new generation.

Hello Silk Road Conference on Internet Communication held in Karamay, Xinjiang

By
NNPS Desk
-
0
Hello Silk Road Conference on Internet Communication

BEIJING, July 24 (APP): The first International Conference to envision future cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road in the field of international communication was held in Karamay, northwest China Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Hello, Silk Road International Conference on Internet Communication was attended by over 200 guests, including experts and scholars from more than 20 countries, Chinese and foreign journalists, and online influencers.

Wang Jianxin, director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee in Xinjiang, sincerely invited Chinese and foreign journalists and online influencers to visit Xinjiang, discover a beautiful Xinjiang and tell stories of people-to-people connectivity along the Silk Road well.

The year 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and it is the right time to hold the event this year, said Zheng Jian, director of the General Office of People’s Daily, in a speech he delivered at the conference.

Promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations in countries and regions along the Belt and Road is a great undertaking that needs the participation of all sides, Zheng expressed.

Mederbek Shermetaliev, head of the Kabar News Agency of Kyrgyzstan, said Central Asian countries enjoy a bright prospect of development thanks to BRI cooperation. The media should extensively convey information about the aims and objectives of building high-level strategic partnerships between China and Central Asian countries to the general public in a way which is easy to understand.

We need to stay focused and engage in in-depth exchanges to promote cooperation and win-win results, Argentine Ambassador to China Sabino Vaca Narvaja said in a video speech.

Chen Kai, mayor of Karamay, noted that the city will contribute to the realization of the dream of integration of diverse cultures in the world, the dream of connecting the world and making progress together under the BRI, and the great dream of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

During a roundtable discussion on international communication and value shaping and cultural envoys and common prosperity, the guests shared their views on international communication and other topics.

Zhang Weiwei, director of the China Institute of Fudan University, pointed out that compared to traditional media, the threshold of participating in international communication has been lowered today and thanks to cultural diversity, good stories are told everywhere.

Wang Wen, executive dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, believes that China should open up its own narrative space in the process of promoting international communication.

The first Hello, Silk Road International Conference on Internet Communication was part of a series of communication activities that kicked off on July 18.

During the five-day visit to Karamay, journalists from countries including China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Turkiye and Vietna visited landmarks in Karamay, including the Dushanzi Grand Canyon and the World Mystery Town, a Yardang scenic area, and joined a tour to emerging complexes including an industrial park of cloud computing and Wuerhe Town, a tourism complex that gathers B&B hotels and showcases local folk customs and the only one in China built on the Gobi Desert.

They also joined a thematic discussion on international communication to discover the development achievements Xinjiang has made in all respects.

Members of the delegation said the trip was rewarding and they discovered a different Xinjiang through the trip.
I hope that one day, all fabricated reports on China and Xinjiang can be forcefully refuted, said Fernando Munoz Bernal, an online influencer from Colombia.

The first “Hello, Silk Road” International Conference on Internet Communication was co-hosted by the information office of the government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the government of Karamay and Global Times Online, and supported by the Special Fund for Positive Online Communication of the China Internet Development Foundatio.

NDMA holds special NEOC session with key Stakeholders on Current Monsoon Situation

By
Zaka Ullah Ch
-
0
NDMA NEOC

ISLAMABAD, Jul 24 (APP): Acting Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Brigadier (Approved Major General) Naiknam Muhammad Baig on Monday presided the special National Emergencies Operations Centre (NEOC) session with key stakeholders on current monsoon situation.

The session was attended by DG Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), representatives of Federal Flood Commission (FFC), provincial disaster management authorities (PDMAs), State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), Gilgit Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA), Armed Forces and PCIW, a news release said.

The Acting-Chairman NDMA reviewed restoration of roads and bridges, monsoon-related incidents and rescue & relief operations in parts of country including Chitral, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in the past two days.

He instructed relevant departments to prepare resource contingency plans, implement early warning systems and disaster mitigation interventions in hazard-prone areas by learning from the experiences of Floods 2022. He noted that proactive measures are essential in mitigating disaster impact and called for tangible actions before disaster strikes.

The DG PMD briefed on rainfall data in last 24 hours and upcoming monsoon spell. He informed that next monsoon spell is expected to bring heavy rains in the upper parts of the country from July 31st to August 6th, triggering urban flooding in major cities, flash flooding and landsliding in hilly regions.

He apprised of major reservoirs including Tarbela and Mangla which are nearly full at 79% and 74% respectively. It was mentioned that two Indian dams Pong & Thein are also close to capacity and there is a possibility of flood flow from India into River Indus, which may affect Lahore adversely. The FFC informed that all major rivers are currently within normal limits.

The PDMAs, GBDMA, and SDMA presented details of rescue and relief operations and restoration work of blocked communication infrastructure in their respective regions.

The Acting-Chairman NDMA directed Provincial Authorities to undertake public awareness on all media channels and social media to maximise general public’s knowledge on risk associated with monsoon season and make arrangements for allocation of their resources according to PMD’s weather projections.

Modern technology, alternative energy inevitable to achieve exports competitiveness: PM

By
Ishtiaq Rao
-
0

SHEIKHUPURA, Jul 24 (APP): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that the utilization of modern technology and alternative energy by the industrial sector were inevitable to make exports competitive in the international market.

The prime minister, addressing the soft launching of Ombre Special Economic Zone, Sundar Green Special Economic Zone and Smart Special Economic Zone, said owing to surging oil prices, the only option was to exploit the potential of solar, wind and hydel energy for the cost-effectiveness of local products.

He said the issue of circular debt was required to be addressed on a war-footing basis, which was swelling due to wasting billions of rupees annually because of line and transmission losses as well as power theft.

The prime minister appreciated the private sector for chalking out a plan to establish the three special economic zones and assured all-out support from the federal and Punjab governments.

He said the commitment by the private sector to attract investment worth billions of rupees was also laudable, besides their plans to set up a three-megawatt solar power plant and other allied facilities like the vocational training center.

He hoped that the interim government would also take all possible measures to keep the national economy on track of progress, as the incumbent one was already making necessary legislation to pave the way for future course of action.

The prime minister told the gathering that an agreement between Pakistan and Azerbaijan for the import of LNG was signed earlier in the day under which the latter would provide an LNG shipment per month with the former having the option to purchase it or not, in accordance with the needs and without any penalty.

Similarly, he said, the private sector should also sign the deals with Qatar to import LNG for industrial use – not for sale in the market – and assured that the Federal Government would facilitate them at the Karachi Port.

Prime Minister Shehbaz also called for spreading the network of SEZs across the country. He said during Nawaz Sharif’s last government, the SEZs were planned across the country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, but, despite complete mapping and other formalities, all the projects faced unnecessary delay, except Rashakai.

He said the agreement with International Monetary Fund was signed to ebb away the risk of default and put the country on the course toward progress.

The prime minister said as far as the SEZs by the public sector were concerned, the government would provide land free of charge to the investors, as it had done for the Bahawalpur Solar Park.

However, he said the use of SEZs’ land for non-industrial use would not be tolerated and recalled similar “misconduct” by some parties in Faisalabad and other SEZs where people had been minting money by selling out the land.

President for enhancing trade, economic linkages with Ethiopia

By
Irfan Khan
-
0

ISLAMABAD, July 24 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday asked Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Ethiopia to foster trade and economic linkages with Ethiopia by facilitating and enhancing interactions between business communities of the two countries.  

He also urged the ambassador to work towards increasing trade volume with Ethiopia by reaching out to their businesspersons for the import of Pakistani products.

The president made these remarks while talking to Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Mian Atif Sharif who called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release.

Talking to the ambassador, the president said that Pakistan-Ethiopia bilateral ties were marked by common history, interests, and support for each other on various international fora.

He said that the bilateral relations between the two countries needed to be further cemented by taking the mutual trade volume to its fullest potential.

The president also called for enhancing cooperation in the field of education and people-to-people contacts, adding that students in Ethiopia could benefit from online/video educational materials/courses of the Virtual University of Pakistan and Allama Iqbal Open University to enhance their skill sets.

He said that Pakistan’s offer of training young Ethiopian diplomats at the Foreign Service Academy and scholarships for banking courses would further help improve bilateral ties with Ethiopia.

The president asked the ambassador to create awareness in Ethiopia about the rising tide of Islamophobia in the world and the need for collective efforts to promote inter-faith harmony and mutual respect.

He also urged the newly-appointed envoy to highlight the human rights violations and atrocities being committed by India in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as well as the maltreatment of minorities in India.

CPEC success allures world interest: Secretary Planning

By
NNPS Desk
-
0
CPEC

ISLAMABAD, Jul 24 (APP): Secretary Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Syed Zafar Ali Shah on Monday said the international community was showing keen interest to participate in the projects being executed under CPEC, a strategic principal component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

“. . . CPEC is an enormous success and now the world is showing interest in its projects . . .,” he expressed these views while talking to APP on the sidelines of the two-day international conference that started here.

The conference titled “Decade of China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Belt & Road Initiative (BRI): From Vision To Reality,” is being organized by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan.

The secretary gave all credit to the Chinese and Pakistani leadership for taking CPEC to an unprecedented level of regional connectivity and economic prosperity through a decade-long struggle.

Zafar Ali Shah said the two-day conference had assembled international-level experts from China and Pakistan who would share their expertise, experiences and ideas while discussing all aspects of CPEC in different sessions.

During the last one year, he said, the incumbent government revived a number of projects, especially in Gwadar deep seaport ,including water supply, laying of electricity transmission lines, setting up a university, vocational training centre and an international airport that remained neglected in the tenure of the past regime.

“We have brought a number of development projects in Balochistan and Gwadar near to completion this year,” he added.

He reiterated the government’s firm resolve that priority was being given to locals in the development projects being carried out in parts of Balochistan, including the Gwadar deep seaport, an ultimate destination of CPEC.

Under an initiative for the socioeconomic uplift of local communities, he said, the government had acquired 3200 boat engines for local fishermen aimed at facilitating them in earning their livelihood.

1...13,57013,57113,572...30,978Page 13,571 of 30,978

ABOUT US

Serving the nation since 1947 by providing an accurate, objective, uninterrupted flow of news to the people, the national news service is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to transform the existing news operations into a forward-looking service – APP Digital for its diverse subscriber-base and the public.

Contact us: news@app.com.pk

FOLLOW US

Copyright © Associated Press of Pakistan