RAWALPINDI, May 21 (APP):Indian troops initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation along Working Boundary targeting civil population with mortars and heavy weapons in Harpal and Charwah sectors on Monday morning.
Pakistan Rangers Punjab effectively responded and targeted the Indian posts from where the fire was initiated on civil population, an ISPR press release said.
Intermittent firing was continuing till filing of this report.
Indian troops target civil population in Harpal, Charwah sectors
Al-Haramain Train project to be launched for pilgrims, tourists, citizens
JEDDAH, May 21 (APP):The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has geared up arrangements to launch the Al-Haramain Train project, this year, to accommodate the pilgrims, local population and tourists visiting the state.
According to the project management, Al-Haramain Train project is the largest public transportation project in the Middle East. The project is one of the implementation schemes of the mass expansion of the Saudi railway across the country. Before setting the project operational, all of the required arrangements would be made on priority basis for Haj pilgrims, said a message received here on Monday.
The project was need of the hour as the increasing number of pilgrims, visitors, residents and worshipers coming to the country particularly Madinah and Makkah year after year had created serious challenge for the authorities to tackle the huge traffic, pollution and consequent administrative issues.
Interestingly, the train project would widely reduce the congestion on the roads between Makkah and Madinah, in addition to Jeddah governorate. It will also reduce road traffic accidents and pollution levels, resulting from emissions of vehicles. Besides, it will provide job opportunities for Saudi youths after they get the necessary training and qualifications on the operation and maintenance tasks.
According to details, the project consists of 450 km long electric tracks being established between Makkah, passing through Jeddah and reaching Madinah. The tracks would be equipped with signals and advanced communication means.
The project near completion was executed in two important phases while in the first phase state-of-the-art infrastructure has been developed including construction of the overpasses, bridges, underpasses, water channels and the stations; and in the second phase tracks, railways and the trains have been built.
The project consists of four main stations between Makkah, Jeddah, King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Dabiagh and Madianah. An additional fifth station was also part of the project, to facilitate the pilgrims and foreigners to have swift and direct access to the holy cities, at King Abdul Aziz International Airport with the new airport expansion project to link the airport and the station with the whole project.
According to Minister of Transportation and Chairman of the Saudi Railway Organization, Nabil Al-Amoudi claimed that SR60 billion ($16 billion) high-speed Haramain train is on track to be fully operational this year. The service will be functional for the public in 2018, in conformity with all safety measures and operational readiness for high-speed transportation.
The project involves constructing 140 overpasses and 860 water channels to discharge rainwater.
The trains, 35 electrical trains with a speed of 300 km per hour, were manufactured with world class specifications and standards by Talgo, a Spanish manufacturer of intercity, standard, and high speed passenger trains.
Experts in the field said Al-Haramain Train is a unique and one of its kind projects considering that it is the first high speed electrical train in the Middle East.
Seven trains will run within one hour from and to Jeddah, two trains will run between Makkah and Madinah, and 4 trains will run between Makkah and Rabigh and the one train will transport 19,600 passengers per hour.
The project is in its final stages after 35 trains (with a capacity of 417 seats per train) were equipped with all amenities.
The train would managed with a world-class operating system and connect the province of Jeddah to Makkah via a 78-km double-track line.
The Makkah-Madinah high-speed railway will shorten the travel time between Jeddah and Makkah to about 21 minutes, and less than two-and-a-half hours between Makkah and Madinah.
The Makkah station is located at the main entrance to the city in the neighborhood of Al-Rusaifah.
The station is about 3 km away from the Grand Mosque in Makkah, while Al-Madinah station is located in the Knowledge Economic City (KEC) on King Abdul Aziz Road.
There are two train stations in Jeddah; the first is in Sulaymaniyah in the center of the city, and the second is at King Abdul Aziz International Airport.
The Rabigh station is located near King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST).
SBP injects Rs 675 bn into market
KARACHI, May 21 (APP):State Bank of Pakistan on Monday injected Rs 675 billion into money market for four days as reverse repo purchase through its open market operation.
The rate of return accepted is 6.01 percent per annum, said SBP release.
Three-month long Summer Art Classes to start from June 26
ISLAMABAD, May 21 (APP):A three-month long Summer Art Classes would be held here at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) from June 26 to August 9.
Summer Art Camps was a regular feature of PNCA’s programmes arranged to facilitate art lovers, students and amateur artists for boosting their extra skills besides their regular studies.
During three-month art camp, the participants would be trained in painting, music keyboard playing and singing, calligraphy, drama, puppet making, photography and sculpture. “It helps children utilize their vacations in a fruitful and exciting manner and express their potential by giving realisation to ideas through colour and the brush, an official of PNCA said.
He said that the classes will also help the children develop an interest in music and art.
He said that Children of ages five to 15 are invited to learn painting, sculpture, puppetry, and use of different art materials.
These activities aim at providing opportunities to children to use their energies and improve their artistic skills.
Registration is offered on first come-first serve basis.
He said that over 100 students from various educational institutions of the twin cities would participate in the classes to get training in different fields of visual and performing arts during the three- month art camp.
He said that PNCA continued to create comprehensive programme of art courses for children and teens to provide artistic skill building and exploration capacity for students.
PM urges provinces to emulate high standard of education of Federal Government
ISLAMABAD, May 21 (APP):Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Monday said the federal government has set high standards
of education in the country by providing modern curriculum and quality education to the students and
asked the provinces to emulate.
Addressing the launch of the new curriculum and text books by the Federal Ministry of Professional
and Technical Training here at the PM Office, he said no country can progress unless it focuses on
provision of quality education to its youth. He said the Islamabad Capital Territory would serve as a
model for other provinces to raise their standards of education.
The Prime Minister also called for setting up a National Testing Service so as to standardize
the level of education, being imparted by different educational boards across the country. He said
at present it was difficult to judge the different standards, being followed by the provinces and hoped
the next government would take up this challenge.
He earlier launched the new curriculum and text books for the federal schools. In the phase-1,
books from Class 1-5 have been upgraded, it will be followed by phase-2 for books from Class 6-8,
while in the last phase books from Class 9-12 would be improved and updated.
He said that following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, education was now a provincial
subject. He said the provinces have huge budgets and equally large responsibilities, however
pointed out they lacked the capacity that needs to be built.
He was appreciative of the federal ministry for education for the initiative and said there
was also the need for improving the training of the teachers to enhance the quality of education
being imparted.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said at present the government was spending Rs 5000 on each
student in the government schools and regretted that still the results were not satisfactory.
He said on the contrary the private schools were getting better results by spending far less
money.
He said the private sector was playing a lead role in all the provinces, particularly in
Punjab.
The Prime Minister said in his earlier days when he entered the politics, there were only
a few graduates in the federal cabinet, however today the things were different and there
were Ph.Ds, Doctors, Engineers and post-graduate degree holders and even Madrassa
qualified people, both in the Cabinet and the Parliament.
He said higher education provides new insights and vision for the people at the helm
of affairs.
The event was attended by Minister of Professional and Technical Training Engr. Muhammad
Baligh Ur Rehman and Secretary Education Akbar Hussain Durrani.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Prime Minister’s 100/100/100 Education Program
that aims at 100 percent enrollment, retention and graduation in the federal area. He expressed
the hope that this initiative would also be emulated by the provinces.
Tripping at 500 KV Rawat, Ghakkar grid stations lead to power suspension in twin cities
ISLAMABAD, May 21 (APP):Power supply to areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Monday remained suspended due to tripping at 500 KV grid Rawat station.
The abruptly suspension also caused tripping to new Ghakkar 500 KV grid station, said the spokesman of the Power Division.
However, he said system sustained the tripping and was safe and running.
He said teams have been mobilized to restore the grid stations. Meanwhile, most of the areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been restored and remaining areas would also be restored shortly.
Ahsan vows to wipe out menace of terrorism
ISLAMABAD, May 21 (APP):Minister for Interior and Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal on Monday
re-affirmed the commitment to wipe out scourge of terrorism from the country, saying
terrorism had been curtailed and war on terror is still continuing to completely eradicate it.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of Pakistan’s first-ever National Center for
Cyber Security here at Air University, he said terrorism had been curtailed to a
large extent in 2018 as compared to five years back, and people are now
witnessing that peace has been restored in the country.
“We made the National Action Plan (NAP) and launched a full-fledged operation
against terrorists in the country, which will continue till complete annihilation of
terrorists and extremists,” he said.
Ahsan Iqbal lauded the role of nation, Armed Forces, police and other law
enforcement agencies (LEAs) in the war against terrorism and said, besides,
sacrificing thousands of precious lives, the country’s economy also suffered
big loss.
“Peace is very much important for development as is oxygen necessary
for human life,” he said and added that the societies having instability and
insurgency could not meet the pace of progress.”
He said “We have to maintain unity and solidarity among our ranks to
achieve the desired results.”
He said some elements are spreading violence and attempting to make
country hostage to their violent agendas but these elements will not succeed
in their nefarious designs.
Ahsan Iqbal said that peace, stability and continuity of policies are the
key elements and of vital importance to achieve fast paced economic development
and prosperity.
He said “There is no country in the world that is free of the challenges and
problems and every nation, when going through a development cycle, faces lot of
challenges.”
He said “Pakistan is poised to takeoff and we should start to celebrate the
success stories of our country.”
Ahsan Iqbal stressed the need to change mindset on national level in a bid to
discard negative perception about the country and called upon the nation to prepare
itself for new challenges in future.
Pakistan is a story of successes and development which should be disseminated
to the world to discard negative perception of the country, said Ahsan Iqbal, who
narrowly escaped assassination bid and injured in Narowal gun attack some days ago
was addressing the inauguration ceremony of National Center of Cyber Security here at
Air University.
He said establishment of National Center for Cyber Security was his dream which
had now been fulfilled.
He said before that, the government had also laid foundation of Center of Mathematical
sciences at PIAS while center of excellence for artificial intelligence cyber security and
robotics were also being established in the country to prepare it to cope with future
demands and challenges.
For many years, the country had become weaker economically and plunged into
darkness, he said. Besides, investors were not investing in the country, he added.
He said it happened due to the disturbed security situation and weaker economic
policies.
He said political stability was the basic requirement of economic development,
therefore more focus should be given on the economic development of the country.
He said the 21st century was the century of economic development and only
those nations will survive who will make achievements on the economic front,
rather than on political or defense fronts.
Later, the minister inaugurated the center. The centre is aimed at protecting
Pakistan’s digital assets in cyber space, producing high quality workforce in cyber
security and establishing Pakistan cyber security industry.
ECP proposes to fix general election date
ISLAMABAD, May 21 (APP):The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday sought Presidents’ permission for
fixing the dates for holding the ensuing next general elections 2018 on specific date from
July 25 to 27.
According to a press release, a summery has been sent to the President, proposing that
the election date should be fixed from July 25 to 27 as per clause 57 (1) of the Election
Act 2017.
NCHD enrolls 16,430 students in Balochistan under ‘education for all’
ISLAMABAD, May 21 (APP):National Commission on Human Development (NCHD) has enrolled 16,430 students in Balochistan at primary level to raise literary level in the country under its ‘education for all’ initiative.
NCHD, in the collaboration with provincial education department, was operating 439 schools in 24 districts of Balochistan to ensure right of education for all at their door step.
Director Operation, National Commission for Human development (NCHD), Sikandar Shah, on Wednesday said “We are working closely with education department and also providing the assistance to them for the advancement of Balochistan dwellers’ education”, he told APP.
He informed that NCHD was also providing the equipment and conducting special trainings to teachers aimed at provision of education to disabled children in the less-developed areas of the country.
Thousands attend funeral of Pakistani girl student killed in Texas
NEW YORK, May 21 (APP):More than 3,000 members from the Muslim community in Stafford in the US state of Texas and Houston area attended the funeral of Sabika Sheikh, the Pakistani exchange student killed in the deadly May 18 mass shooting at a high school, according to American media reports.
The solemn ceremony took place on Sunday afternoon at an Islamic center in Stafford, which is not far from Santa Fe High School, where the massacre took place.
A number of Santa Fe students attended to pay respect to their classmate who was only with them for a semester, but left quite an impression.
Her host mother here talked about a shawl given to her by Sabika on Mother’s Day, which was hand made in Pakistan, the reports said.
Local dignitaries honoured her life, from Mayor Sylvester Turner to Congresswoman Shelia Jackson-Lee.
Congressman Al Green presented a boxed American flag with an inscription for her family to Consul General of Pakistan in Houston Aisha Farooqui. It will be presented to her family in Pakistan.
As she did not have family members in Texas to help organize the service, the Islamic Society for Greater Houston planned and organized the funeral, according to reports.
“She doesn’t have any family here, but she has all of us and this whole community that is mourning,” said M.J. Khan, the Pakistani president of the society. “We are all there to be her family.”
Sabika had been staying with a host family in the Santa Fe area. Her host father, Jason Cogburn, said Sabika and his family learned from each other, and his family even fasted with her during Ramadan.
“We loved her and she loved us,” he was quoted as saying. “She will be very missed, but she will always be loved.”
Sabika, 17, was among eight students and two teachers who were killed when a 17-year-old shooter identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis opened fire with a shotgun and a handgun before surrendering to police.
Her funeral was the first one for any of those killed in the shooting.
The girls’ father, Abdul Aziz Sheikh, said at the family home in Karachi that “we are still in a state of denial. It is like a nightmare.”
She was studying in the United States under the State Department’s Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programme, which provides scholarships for students from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend an academic year in the United States.
Her father said Sabika had dreamed of working for Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
He added she was expected to return to Karachi next month for Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The Islamic Society called the shooting “an act of terror” and said such events “remind us as to what world we live in, where sanctity of life is not valued.”
The society said it has also offered to help with the transportation of student’s body back to Pakistan, where her family will also hold a service.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner cited Sabika’s desire to be a diplomat as he mourned the student.
“Even through her death, she will continue to be a diplomat. Even in her death, she is pulling the relationships between Pakistan and the United States, specifically the Houston area, even closer, ” he said.
Sabika’s body will be flown to Karachi today for a final farewell with her family there.
The Houston area — about 55 kilometers from Santa Fe — has some 60,000 people of Pakistani decent.