ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP):Quaid Pakistan Muslim League (N) Muhammad Nawaz Sharif felicitated the nation on the beginning of Ramadan ul Mubarak and said Allah Almighty may shower blessings of the holy month and give strength to everybody to follow the right path and teachings of Islam.
In his message, he said Ramadan teaches patience, tolerance, mutual affection and brotherhood.
He said this month is full of blessings and brings positive changes in daily lives of people.
Nawaz Sharif said, “We should bow before Allah and pray for the progress, prosperity and stability of Pakistan.”
Nawaz Sharif said in this month of Ramadan, Pakistan was created and Muslims of the sub-continent achieved independence. “Allah may give us the courage to maintain our independence and make Pakistan a cradle of peace.”

ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP):Federal Minister for Information Technology, Anusha Rehman Khan said Pakistan has entered
in the era of digitization through revolution and not through an evolution.
She said this while chairing the 39th meeting of the Board of Directors of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) here Wednesday. A lot more work, she said, needs to be done to keep up pace with technology including amendments in Rules of business, framework and laws to take full benefits of what technology for development and growth.
Anusha Rehman said that ‘The Digital Pakistan’ policy gives a framework and would be presented
to the cabinet tomorrow for its approval. Due to strenuous efforts of the incumbent government and particularly Ministry of IT and PSEB Board, Pakistan’s IT & ITeS Sector has developed exponentially through the incentives and facilitation granted to the IT & ITeS sector and announced by the Prime Minister last week including cash reward on IT/ ITeS exports, extension of tax holiday on IT/ ITeS exports till 2025, sales tax on IT/ ITeS reduced to 5% in Islamabad Capital Territory, will work with State Bank to ensure long term financing for IT/ ITeS at 5% interest rate and bringing new legislation for Tech SEZ / new IT parks.
Already existing benefits announced in previous couple of years include100% repatriation of capital and dividends, 3-year tax exemption for IT startups, and tax holiday for venture capital funds till June 2024 among others.
She said that it’s our biggest pride that the growth rate of IT & ITeS exports has jumped to 125% over the last five years.
The Minister further said that we always assigned utmost priority to IT sector and adopted all possible measures to enhance growth of the IT Industry of the country. As a result, IT industry is not only growing in terms of the number of companies, revenue, but also in exports and workforce on yearly basis, she added.
She said that these are major achievements however there is much more work to be done to reach the present government’s target of $10 Billion in IT and ITes exports by 2020.
She directed Pakistan Software Export Board authorities to enhance participation in key international trade fairs to increase contribution of IT sector to Pakistan’s economy through foreign exchange earnings and job creation and take all possible measures to brand Pakistan as an ideal IT destination for IT outsourcing and extend maximum possible facilitation to the IT Industry of Pakistan
with particular focus on start-ups.
She appreciated the working of PSEB during last 5years to achieve all the targets, assigned to them by the board. The Board lauded the kind patronage, constant support and vision of the Minister to take this sector forward and also gave their commitment to continue to work to get Pakistan recognized as an IT hub.

ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP):Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar has said that judiciary being one of the important state pillars, is mandated to ensure fundamental rights of the people.
There should be competent judges with authorities to decide cases independently as per their oath to enforce these fundamental rights, he added.
The CJP was taking to the participants of 25th anniversary of the adaptation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, International Conference and VIII St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (STILF) from May 15 to 19 at St Petersburg, Russia, according to a press release issued by SC here Wednesday.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said the earth was unique in universe due to availability of life. There were foundational rights conferred by Allah Almighty on human beings and those rights developed a life.
He said the reasons for developed life were education, good leadership, strong adjudication and rule of law.
The CJP said all the courts, either civil, high or Supreme Court, should have one trait to dispense justice.
Talking in context of Pakistan, he said there were two basic provisions of law in the country, which catered for the enforcement of the fundamental rights.
Article 199 of the Constitution, he said, conferred upon high courts in four provinces with the powers of writ jurisdiction. The high courts had the special jurisdiction to enforce the fundamental rights.
According to another provision in Constitution, if there was breach of fundamental and that matter pertained to direct fundamental rights breach or public importance leaving upon any application having been made by anybody in the public interest litigation, any representative without their locus standi could approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan for the enforcement of that fundamental rights for the others and this exercise was called as suo motu jurisdiction, he added.
He said there were so many cases in which the Supreme Court had recently taken suo motu jurisdiction and effective orders had been passed for the people of the Pakistan, especially the downtrodden segment of the society, who did not have the means to approach of court of law.
The Supreme Court and other superior courts were guardians of the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan and they were duty bound to enforce those rights, he added.

ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP):Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Media Affairs, Senator Dr Musadik Malik Wednesday said former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was the most popular leader among the masses as hundreds of thousands of people were participating in his public gatherings across the country.
Some elements were trying to hatch conspiracies to defame and decrease the popularity graph of Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) but they would fail in their designs, he said talking to a news channel.
He said Nawaz Sharif had who always worked in best national interest, brought stability and strengthened the national economy. The workers and supporters had always shown commitment and sympathies with their cherish leader, he added.
He said Nawaz Sharif had done atomic explosion, launched number of welfare projects including China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which would bring economic revolution in the country and also carried out operations Zarb-e-Azb and Raddul Fasad with an aim to completely eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.
Musadik Malik said the PML-N government wiped out terrorism from the country and achieved many successes in that regard.
To a query, he said today, the National Assembly Committee on Law and Justice directed the Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) (Retd) Justice Javed Iqbal to appear before the committee to explain about issuing a press release regarding allegations of money laundering against Nawaz Sharif but he did not appear.

ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP):The National Assembly Wednesday approved 35 demands for grants worth Rs765,194,682,000 for the next financial year relating to divisions of cabinet, establishment, aviation and capital administration, finance, revenue, economic affairs and associated departments of these division .
The treasury benches rejected all the cut motions moved by opposition members against these demands while cut motions moved for some demands of grants were withdrawn by the opposition members.
The finance minister could not present all the demands of grants due to pointing out the quorum by an opposition member, resulting in adjournment of the NA session till Thursday morning.
The government after rejecting all the cut motions approved Rs263,000,000 demands of grants for Cabinet, Rs6,343,000,000 for Cabinet Division, and also approved Rs276,000,000 for emergency relief and repatriation for which the opposition had withdrawn all the cut motions.
The house also approved Rs6,207,000,000 for other expenditure of Cabinet Division, Rs97,000,000 for Aviation Division, Rs21,294,000,000 for Capital Administration and Development Division, Rs2,734,000,000 for Establishment Division, Rs636,000,000 for Federal Public Service Commission, Rs2,138,000,000  for other expenditure of Establishment Division, Rs986,000,000 for Prime Minister’s Office, Rs272,000,000 for Board of Investment, Rs70,000,000 Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission, Rs9,412,000,000, for Atomic Energy Rs14,741,438,000 for Development Expenditure of Cabinet Division and Rs614,000,000 for Climate Change.
After withdrawal of cut motions, the house approved Rs432,000,000 for Textile Division, Rs7,663,000,000 for Communications Division, Rs14,480,848,000 for development expenditure of Communications Division and Rs1,687,000,000 for Defence Division.
The National Assembly also approved, Rs245,000,000 for Power Division, Rs 377,000,000 for Petroleum Division, Rs98,000,000 for other expenditures of petroleum division, Rs1,809,000,000 for Finance Division, Rs5,887,000,000 for Controller General of Accountant and Rs563,190,000,000 for subsidies and miscellaneous expenditures.
In addition, Rs65,000,000,000 have been approved for Higher Education Commission, Rs5,296,000,000 for Economic Affairs Division, Rs378,000,000 for Revenue Division, Rs4,419,000,000 for Federal Board of Revenue, Rs8,088,000,000 for Customs, Rs120,138,000 for development expenditure of Economic Affairs Division, Rs1,523,999,000 for Foreign Affairs Division and Rs14,457,000,000 for Foreign Affairs, Rs160,000,000, Housing and Works Division, Rs3,800,259,000 for Civil Works, 160,000,000 for Housing and Works Division and Rs3800,259,000 for civil works.

Winding up the discussions on demands of grants and cut motions, Finance Minister, Dr Miftah Ismail said the government had taken many initiatives that had helped enhance exports from the country and reduce imports.
He said due to the government efforts, Pakistan was becoming 8th fastest export growing country, adding that exports of the country witnessed 24 increase in March 2018 and 18 percent in April 2018 while the imports reduced by 2 percent.
He said the exports from the country were likely to grow by 20 percent in next two months as a result of prudent economic policies of the government.
He said the incumbent government had completed many projects which the previous governments failed to do, adding that the Neelum Jhelum Hydro Power Project was initiated during Musharraf government and was left for Pakistan Peoples Party government, which also could not complete it, and was ultimately completed by the incumbent government.
Similarly, he pointed out that the Lowari Tunnel project was initiated by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and no government could complete it, and the credit of its completion also went to the current government.
He said the government had provided about Rs110 billion tax rebates to the salaried and low income segments of the country, while strategy had been made to improve the number of tax filers.
Responding to various points raised by opposition benches on foreign affairs, Foreign Minister Khurram Dastgir said Pakistan had recalibrated its foreign policy framework to further strengthen its relations with regional countries.
He was of the view that it was Pakistan’s biggest achievement that economic relation with its time tested friend China had deepened as a result of China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor project.
He said our relations with the Central Asian States had further improved and projects like CASA-1000 and TAPI would connect Pakistan with these countries.
Dastgir said Pakistan was consistently engaged with Afghanistan to overcome misunderstanding and improve the bilateral relations, adding both the countries had launched an action plan for peace and solidarity.
About Kashmir dispute, the Foreign Minister said Pakistan had strongly advocated the long standing dispute at all international fora.
He said permanent membership of SCO was also a big achievement of Pakistan, adding the country’s relations with Russia had also improved as both the countries had signed the first defense pact and also held joint military exercises.
On this occasion, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed said the incumbent government had taken many measures to overcome load shedding, root out terrorism and stabilize economy.
He said the industry of the country was completely shut due to energy crisis, however, the government added thousands of megawatts electricity into the national transmission system and overcame the power crisis. He said the CNG was also available round the clock, which had closed due to gas shortages.
He rejected claims of opposition members, saying that conditions of educational institutions had been improved while quota was being strictly followed in the Public Service Commission examinations and appointments.
Earlier, speaking on the cut motions, MQM leader Sheikh Sulah-ud-Din said the government should take measures to introduce equal educational system in the country, as 95 percent poor people were facing problems in educating their children.
On another cut motion, MQM legislator Abdul Waseem said energy crisis was worsening. Nikhat Shakeel and S A Iqbal Qadri also spoke on the cut motions and questioned governments performance on many fronts.

ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP):Minister of Sate for Interior Talal Chaudhry Wednesday said Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) would win general elections with majority that would be contested on the narrative of its Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
Talking to a private news channel, he said the PML-N had fulfilled all promises made with the people during the campaign in 2013 and masses were standing behind their leader Nawaz Sharif.
He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was launched besides establishing several power plants to overcome energy shortage in the country by visionary leadership of the PML-N.
Talal Chaudhry said opponents of the PML-N were targeting its leadership as they had nothing to compare when it came to serve the people of the country and they fear defeat in the general election.
He said three time elected prime minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was the most popular leader among the masses.
Former prime minster had presented himself for accountability into Panama Papers case, but no corruption was proved against him so far, he said.

ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP):Speakers at a seminar here Wednesday highlighted the role of social female activists for empowerment of women in Balochistan and bringing change in the rigid and insular approach of society, especially in rural areas of the province.
They paid tribute to two activists Asyah Nasir and Saleha Bibi for becoming a role model in villages by assisting the poor and deserving people to avail livelihood opportunities, get education and access health facilities.
The seminar was organized by Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to share achievements made under the Programme for Poverty Reduction (PPR).
The programme financed by the Italian government through the Agency for Development Cooperation, is being executed in 14 districts of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, focusing on establishing basic health and education services, social mobilization, livelihood enhancement and protection, construction and improvement of small-scale community infrastructures.
Addressing the seminar, Secretary Education Balochistan Noor ul Haq Baloch said both Asyah Nasir and Saleha Bibi were a role model for social activists, who were working for empowerment of the under-privileged segments of society in Balochistan.
He underlined the need for community involvement in improving educational facilities in the province. The government was working to enhance the community role in the education sector by setting up Parents-Teachers Meeting Committees (PTMCs) in schools. “The community involvement is imperative for bringing a change in the society,” he added.
He said the government had planned to establish 500 community schools in phases to end illiteracy in the province.
Saleha Bibi, a resident of Lasbela district and Vice President of Local Support Organizaton, said all 55 households of her village were poor with a little access to education, health and other facilities. Women were particularly the most deprived in the rural areas, unaware of their basic rights and negligible role in decision-making, she added.
Saleha said she made untiring efforts to create awareness among the women of her area about their social rights.She got training under the social mobilization component of PPR, which helped her convincing the village women to make efforts for their own uplift and that of the people in their surroundings.
Asyha Nasir, another braved woman who migrated from Turbat to the port city of Gwadar, said she left her job with Pakistan Navy to teach the children of her area. She established a school in the open in her village with enrollment of 20 students, whose number had now grown to 115 students, she said, adding that the PPR had played an important role in that regard.
She said she also provided midwife services, besides taking part in other projects related to women development.
PPR’s Manager Sarfraz said the Italian government had provided Rs 5.5 billion to the PPR, which established 30 community health centers, 170 community schools and 1340 small infrastructure projects across in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Some 4,200 Community Organizations (CO), 644 Village Organizations (VO) and 42 Local Support Organizations, consisting of 20 to 25 members at community, village and union council levels respectively, were working under the Programme for poverty alleviation through creating sustainable conditions of social and economic development, he added.
The secretary education gave away souvenirs and cash prizes to Asyah Nasir and Saleha Bibi for their services towards women empowerment.