PESHAWAR, Apr 11 (APP):PML-N President and Chief Minister
Punjab, Mian Shehbaz Sharif here Wednesday arrived to address the workers
convention and met with party leadership.
Upon arrival on his maiden visit to Peshawar after assuming
the office of PML-N President, he was received by PML-N KP President, Engr Amir
Muqam and other elected office holders the party.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Sardar Muhammad
Yousaf, Prime Minister advisor on Aviation, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Engr Amir
Muqam and Punjab Minister for Auqkaf Zaeem Qadari also accompanied the Chief
Minister Punjab.
KP leaders and workers have raised slogans in favour leader Nawaz Sharif and
Chief Minister, Shehbaz Sharif. A large number workers of Peshawar and adjoining attended the convention.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP):The federal government, under its Vision 2025, will equip around 5,000 master degree holders across
the country with the technical training to earn their livelihood in a dignified manner.
In this regard, on the directions of government, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has
initiated a programme “Job market Skills for Unemployed Youth” under which the students are
being imparted skill training as per the vision to enable them to explore job market.
Under the programme, HEC has invited applications from the unemployed people till
April 16, with maximum age limit of upto 30 years, said Ayesha Ikram, spokesperson of the HEC on Wednesday.
She said the applications would be entertained on first come, first serve basis.
Sharing the details of programme, she said the students would be imparted training in the best training institutes of the country, adding, the training programme would have the duration of about four months.
The local students, she said, would be paid stipend of Rs 5,000 per month each,
while out of city students would get Rs 10,000 stipend per month.
She said the students who remained unemployed for the last one year, after
completing 16 years studies in any discipline, arts and humanity subjects were
eligible to apply.
The candidates must undergo aptitude screening test for each training, she added.
The training courses being offered included marketing and sales; business startups
(entrepreneurship); computing skills for office, accounting, communication skills, English
language, journalism language, airline ticketing, Tv program and production media, IT
and leadership skills, hotel management, construction projects management (AutoCAD),
digital marketing skills, Interior design and MS projects.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP):Two young Pakistani innovators are the recipients of a UN Environment grant worth US$10,000 to support their efforts to make lifestyles more sustainable.
As winners of the Asia Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge in the Energy Efficiency and Low Carbon Mobility categories, respectively, Mohammed Saquib and Hassam Ud-din will also receive business and marketing training from global experts, and pitch to win an additional US$10,000 prize to further augment their ideas, a news release said on Wednesday.
UN Environment’s Director for the Asia-Pacific region, Dechen Tsering, said, “Young innovators like Mohammed and Hassam are examples of the ingenuity we need to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems. I am particularly excited to see that both of their solutions are geared toward helping some of the poorest among us. Improving lifestyles across Asia and the Pacific must be an inclusive endeavour, and these both Pakistanis are demonstrating how we can get it done.”
Saquib’s business, Modulus Tech, produces energy efficient, low-cost modular flat-pack housing built from recycled materials. Pakistan’s housing shortage is up to 10 million units, and there is a large market for low-cost housing, including in refugee and displaced persons camps.
Saquib’s houses come with all electrical and plumbing utilities built-in and are meant to be assembled in as little as 3 hours. Built from recyclable materials such as fibre cement composites and wood plastic composites, components have a 30-year lifespan and a carbon footprint up to 52 times lower than traditional concrete homes.
The insulative material also makes the houses energy efficient. Saquib estimates they are 3 times more energy efficient than alternatives on the market.
Saquib said, “We saw one of the worst refugee crises in the world hits its peak in 2016. Millions were displaced, and many were left homeless and exposed to extreme climate and social problems in makeshift camps and shelters. My team and I felt we could use our engineering knowledge to help. We realized an affordable, quick-to-assemble flat-pack shelter could greatly improve the lot of those displaced. I am happy to use this UN Environment grant to bring our technology to more people who
need it.”
Hassam Ud-din is aiming to fix a different scarcity: affordable, efficient transport infrastructure. Despite only 17 percent car ownership, Pakistan’s cities often face acute traffic jams and congestion, generating enormous amounts of pollution.
While higher vehicle ownership is not sustainable, many areas without a high volume of passengers and goods are bypassed altogether by transit lines. At the same time, most cars and trucks on the road operate at 30 percent capacity, leaving 70 percent capacity up for grabs.
Hassam ud-din’s solution comes in the form of an app called RASAI, which allows for peer-to-peer sharing of a vehicle’s extra space and seats, offering inter-city ridesharing and freight-shipping capabilities.
Meanwhile, freight transport vehicles can use the app to provide spare cargo space at low cost, enabling small businesses like farmers to bring their goods to market at lower cost and higher convenience.
Hassam said, “It is often said that mobility is the single most important factor for an individual to escape poverty. I’ve seen people’s opportunities limited by the availability of transit routes that they can use. On the other hand, road congestion is horrendous. Millions of hours and billions of rupees worth of fuel are wasted sitting in traffic, while most vehicles only use 30% of their space capacity. If these inefficiencies can be removed, we could see unprecedented economic benefit for the developing world.”
Mohammed Saquib is the Chief Technical Officer of Modulus Tech, with a background in civil engineering and a specialization in Construction Management. He is the structural and architectural designer of the company’s flat-pack house. With expertise in Autocad Revit, Robot Structural Analysis and BIM (Building Information Modeling), he is responsible for product improvement and performance simulation.
Hassam Ud-din is a civil (transportation) engineer and a Silicon Valley-trained tech entrepreneur. He is a self-taught programmer who loves working with maps. Hassam was the youngest speaker at the Vienna Energy Forum, and has had extensive experience working with UNIDO and the startup ecosystem in Pakistan. He also mentors young Startups and is enthusiastic about working to improve the socio-economic condition of the developing world through leveraging technology.
It is worth mentioning here that the Asia-Pacific Low-Carbon Lifestyles Challenge aims to mobilize and support young people with business ideas on how to foster energy-efficient, low-waste and low-carbon lifestyles.
12 winners each receive a US$10,000 to support their business venture focusing on one of three different categories: mobility, plastic waste and energy.
This is an initiative funded by the Ministry of Environment Japan, as part of SWITCH-Asia’s Regional Sustainable Consumption and Production Policy Advocacy Component, the Asia-Pacific Regional Roadmap on Sustainable Consumption and Production and One Planet.
This initiative is carried out together with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, The Thai National Science and Technology Development Agency and Sasin Entrepreneurship Center.

PESHAWAR, Apr 11 (APP):Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, Engr. Iqbal Zafar Jhagra has stressed the need that
the persons attached to the field of medicine and healthcare should make
serving the ailing humanity as core objective of their lives.
In fact, he added, educational institutions
and the people blessed with the quality of wisdom are always judged the sources
of inspiration in the life of nations.
He was addressing as a chief guest at the Convocation ceremony of Peshawar Dental
College and Rafeeda Nursing College at the Convocation Hall of Peshawar Medical College on Wednesday.
He delivered degrees and medals to the graduating doctors and nurses on this occasion wherein
Muhammad Hassan Khan, Ameer ul Jamia Rifah International
University; Prof. Anis Ahmad, Ameer-ul- Jamia as well as Dean of Peshawar Medical College, teachers
and students of the respective institutions were also present.
The Governor congratulated the graduating students and said that indeed becoming
graduate of any educational institution is an honour for the respective
person. However, he added, when it comes to health related subjects, that becomes a matter of extra honour for the
respective scholars since they would be going to take over the responsibility
of securing health and life of human beings.
While serving the ailing humanity, he added, one is honoured with a
respectable employment opportunity and at the same time it is also considered a
dignified status in the society. At the same time, the Governor further reminded the graduates, that serving the ailing
humanity is also like a reverence.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP):National Accoutability Bureau (NAB) has recovered a sum of Rs 296 billion from the corrupt
and deposited the looted money in the national exchequer, reveals in a meeting
of NAB here on Wednesday.
The meeting chaired by Chairman NAB Justice Javed Iqbal
to review the overall performance of the Bureau.
The meeting was told that NAB has so far received 3,67,742 complaints since its
establishment. Out of which 3,65,374 has been disposed off as per law of the
land. NAB has so far authorized the verification of 12,702 complaints. Whereas12,189
complaints has been disposed off after the verification. The meeting was briefed that NAB has authorized to conduct inquiries of 8,084 complaints, out of which 7,425 inquiries have been disposed off as per law. NAB has authorized 4001 investigation since its establishment. Out of which 3,705 investigations have
been disposed off.
The meeting was told that the NAB has authorized to file 3,050 references, out of
which 2,049 references has been disposed off.
Justice Javed Iqbal directed the officials to complete inquiries, investigations and
complaints as per prescribed time frame, so that the corrupt could be punished as per law, said a press release.
As many as 1,200 references are being heard in various accountability
courts.
He said NAB court
would be asked to ensure early hearing and disposing of the cases so that people’s
Rs 970 billion could be recovered and deposited into the national exchequer. He
said elimination of the curse of corruption was his top most priority.
He was using his best abilities and resources for elimination of corruption. He
directed NAB officers to perform their duties with utmost honesty,merit and as
per relevant laws as law violators have no place in NAB. NAB was vigorously
pursuing the policy of indiscriminate accountability. No hurdle in this regard
would be tolerated, he added.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 11 (APP):Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwala Wednesday in a meeting with Japanese Ambassador said that Pakistan and Japan needed to take bilateral business activities to a higher level and increase its volume to the level of Japanese trade with Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
Japanese Ambassador Takashi Kurai made a courtesy call to Deputy Chairman Senate in his chamber at the Parliament House, said a press release received here.
Senator Saleem Mandviwala observed that Pakistan was striving to achieve a good working environment for business investors adding “We are hopeful that Senate of Pakistan will do more than it was doing previously to make the environment more conducive and to attract more businessmen and companies from Japan.”
Japanese Ambassador presented a few queries to the Deputy Chairman regarding new taxation policies and concerns of Japanese businessmen.
Deputy Chairman Senate assured the Ambassador that Senate of Pakistan would take the matter up with the government and would do as much as it could resolve the issues.
The Deputy Chairman Senate stressed the need for exchanges between Committee of Parliaments of both countries.