ISLAMABAD, Apr 9 (APP):Mishal Malik the Wife of Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik Monday urged collaborated efforts of students, lawyers, politicians and intellectuals for highlighting the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir in the world besides, setting aside internal disputes.
Addressing a seminar titled ‘Human Rights Violations in Occupied Kashmir, to act now,’ arranged by Sustainable
Development Policy Institute (SDPI), she said the collaborated efforts could yield positive results. Pakistan should devise a proper policy and highlight it by sending various delegations to capitals of leading world powers.
She said in Kashmir the land is being allocated to businessmen and other non Kashmiris to ensure demographic changes in the valley. The sole purpose of these efforts is to convert Muslim majority into minority in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Executive Director SDPI Dr Abid Qaiyum Sulehri said Kashmir dispute should be resolved as per United Nations resolutions.
Former Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel said Kashmiris must be taken on board in any effort to resolve the issue. World leading Human Rights organizations are keeping mum over Indian atrocities in the occupied Kashmir.
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry for Climate Change, Ms Romina Khurshid Alam said Indian forces were targeting Kashmir
youth in the occupied valley. She stressed highlighting Indian atrocities on social media.
Former AJK Minister, Farzana Yaqub said Kashmiris were sacrificing for their motherland through an indigenous movement.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 9 (APP):The Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan Mr. Sherali Jononov said here on Monday that the project of CASA-1000 will
help in mitigating acute energy deficit of Pakistan besides, replacing fuel-based power generation to clean hydropower generation.
Speaking on “CASA – 1000 and Perspective of the Cooperation of Tajikistan” in a daylong conference organized by the
Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS) on “Pakistan-Tajikistan: Exploring New Dimensions of Cooperation”, the
Ambassador said that his country has surplus electricity; therefore, it will export electricity to Pakistan to overcome its energy requirements.
He said that CASA-1000 is a landmark project which will provide 1000 MW of electricity to Pakistan to mitigate its energy deficit. Tajikistan and Pakistan have established joint commission for development of energy cooperation and are
currently taking efforts to prepare important documents for signing, he added.
Chairman CGSS Lieutenant General (Retd) Muhammad Zahir Ul Islam HI(M) in his opening remarks said that Tajikistan is
a leading country in energy production. Pakistan and Tajikistan can work together on “Energy Corridor” which can benefit the entire region thus, bringing prosperity to the region. However, several practical steps are required for the development
of this energy corridor, he added.
Head of the Department on Analysis and Foreign Policy Perspectives (Vision) of the Center for Strategic Researchers
under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Dr. Hakim Abdullohi Rahnamo presented his expert paper on Tajikistan’s Foreign Policy and its relations with regional countries. He stated that Tajikistan supports this activity of warm relations with Pakistan.
Dr Rahnamo said that Tajikistan wanted to keep geo-political balance in its Foreign Policy. Tajikistan’s priority is to
develop brotherly relations with all the Central Asian states, Pakistan, China and Russia, he added.
He said that regional security is one of the most significant elements of Tajikistan’s Foreign Policy and Pakistan can be a
key player in regional security. “We welcome the partners of Afghan conflict to rethink on the strategy and devise a solution as
the future of all mega projects including CASA 1000 and TAPI depend on the security and stability of Afghanistan” he added.
Former Federal Secretary of Information, Government of Pakistan Mr Ashfaq Ahmed Gondal deliberated on Pakistan-Tajikistan Media Cooperation. He said if we have a common past then we must have a common future also. Pakistan and
Tajikistan must use its media to promote bilateral national interest. The national news agencies of Tajikistan and Pakistan must
sign agreements with each other and increase interaction for the exchange of information and documentaries so that positive
image of both the countries can be portrayed.
Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Mr Abdurahmonov Marufjon presented his speech on 25 years of Tajikistan-Pakistan Diplomatic Relations. In the last 25 years, the relations between Pakistan and
Tajikistan have evolved and more than 50 agreements have been signed to institutionalized the relations with Pakistan. “We
believe that Joint Commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation between Tajikistan and Pakistan, the
sixth session of which is planned to be held at Dushanbe this year, is very important for expansion of our relations.”
He said that Tajikistan is interested in the participation of Pakistan in the implementation of energy projects including the construction of Hydroelectric power stations and power transmission lines.
Head of the Department on Social Sciences Problem Studies of the Center for Strategic Research under the President of
the Republic of Tajikistan Dr. Kurbonov Abdurahmon Sherovich deliberated on “Historical and Cultural Ties between Tajikistan and Pakistan”.
He said that Pakistan and Tajikistan enjoy deep historical ties. The friendship between the poets of Tajikistan and
Pakistan is considered as the friendship between Pakistan and Tajikistan. He said that the poets of Pakistan including Mirza
Ghalib, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Allama Iqbal are very popular in Tajikistan. The poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz have been formulated in Tajik language and will also be published very soon. More than 200 verses of Iqbal have been composed and performed by the artists
of Tajikistan, he added.
Senior Member Advisory Board CGSS, Ambassador Amjad Majid Abbasi presented his speech on “Pakistan – Tajikistan Relationship: A Breakthrough in History” and gave the real life story on the historical breakthrough in the bilateral relations
between the two countries. He traced the historical meeting of the two presidents in April 2002 which proved the ice breaking in
the very tense relations. The Ambassador mentioned about the first trade convoy organized by the Embassy which was sent
through Afghanistan to Central Asian Republic of Tajikistan.
Head of Islamic Banking, SILKBANK Mr Jawad Majid gave a detailed presentation on prospects of socio-economic
relations between Pakistan and Tajikistan.
He said that Pakistan and Tajikistan are brotherly countries which can achieve and collaborate with each other
immediately on mid-term and long term basis. He said that a very significant initiative that binds
Pakistan and Tajikistan together is the CASA-1000 project i.e., the Central Asia-South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Program, one of the direct linkages between South Asia and Central Asia. CASA-1000 is a landmark energy export
agreement between Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said that Pakistan can assist Tajikistan on banking
sector reforms, public sector reforms and worker remittances. Tajikistan can benefit from Pakistan’s experience in these fields.

QUETTA, April 9 (APP):A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Mansoor Ali Monday heard urgent cases regarding situation of health, education and water shortage in Balochistan at the Supreme Court’s Quetta Registry.
Expressing concern over public issues during the hearing, the CJP directed former Balochistan chief ministers Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch to appear before the court Tuesday morning.
The chief justice observed that under the Articles 199 and 184, the apex court had the right to intervene in case of exploitation of fundamental rights
Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo also appeared before court along with Health Minister Mir Majid Abro. Following the hearing, the two accompanied the chief justice during his visit to hospitals in the provincial capital.
The hearing focused on the condition of government hospitals and medical colleges in the province.
Stating that Balochistan was “extremely important”, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar said, “I want to tour some hospitals.”
The CJP along with the chief minister visited Civil Hospital Quetta, where he interacted with patients. He also visited a strike camp of paramedics and young doctors there.
Justice Nisar ordered the authorities to listen to the demands of the protesting doctors and present a report to him. Following the CJP’s visit, the medics called off their strike.
The CJP said he was looking into whether private medical colleges were being run as businesses. “Some private medical colleges charge over Rs 2 million fee,” he said.
Reiterating his commitment to ensure that the medical colleges did not charge exorbitant fees, the CJP said, “We want the money to be returned to the students.” He ordered the private medical colleges to refund any fee they charged above Rs 856,000 annually.

LAHORE, Apr 09 (APP):Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sakib Foric said on Monday that Bosnia was a small but developed country and was a road to European Union.
Speaking here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(LCCI), he added that Pakistan was an amazing country and it had immediately acknowledged Bosnia but cordial and brotherly relations were not seemed in the mutual trade of around just $30 million.
The Bosnian ambassador said, “Pakistan is peace-keeper and
feels us very deeply. Pakistan has done what a brother can do but
these brotherly relations should also be translated into trade
and economic ties, as at present only 37 Pakistani companies are
operating in Bosnia.”
He said that Bosnian government had given immense benefits to the businessmen and there was a tax exemption for five years for new company, while government also helped in establishment of new company that could also do business with European Union. He mentioned that electricity was cheaper and taxes were low in Bosnia as compared to EU.
The Ambassador also invited Pakistani businessmen to join hands with their Bosnian counterparts and explore trade and investment opportunities in Bosnia where they could enjoy number of benefits.
The ambassador, who spent well over an hour at Lahore Chamber, invited Pakistani businessmen to visit the country for having first hand knowledge about the available opportunities and initiating joint ventures with their Bosnian counterparts.
LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid said that Pakistan and Bosnia had good brotherly ties based on common religion and sound diplomatic relations. However, the trade figures of recent years did not represent these relations at all, he said and asserted that LCCI had been taking keen interest in projecting trade potential of Central Asian Republics. China-Central Asia Corridor was one of the five corridors being established under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He said that this initiative included network of connectivity, industrialization, trade promotion, energy generation, and much more. The BRI promised unparalleled economic benefits to all the trading partners, he continued.
Malik Tahir Javaid said it was high time for Pakistan and Bosnia to establish strong linkages that could play instrumental role in materializing trade and investment initiatives expected to emerge due to these developments.
Talking about trade between two countries, he said that recent years showed dismal trade performance since their bilateral trade flow was as low as US$196,000 in 2016 which elaborated the whole account, and special efforts must be made to turn around this situation. Bosnia was the 74th largest export economy of the world and out of its total imports amounting to US$9 billion, the share of Pakistan was insignificant.
“We expect that things will soon get better. During OIC summit on Science and Technology in Astana, the Presidents of two countries met in September last year and agreed to enhance bilateral trade and withdrawal of double taxation system. We need to identify some products to trade with and also make the trading arrangements much safer and efficient. We in close coordination with Bosnian Embassy can improve the situation. We will certainly welcome to have trade related information from your embassy for onward circulation among our members,” he suggested.
LCCI Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid, Honorary Consul of Bosnia Danish Iqbal, Honorary Consul of Spain Zaheer Islam and other members were also present.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 09 (APP):An eight-member delegation of Hazara community, headed by Abdul Khaliq Hazara, called on Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar at the Supreme Court Branch Registry, Quetta.
The meeting was held on the special request of the Hazara community, said a press release issued here on Monday.
The delegation informed the CJP about the hardships being faced by them in Quetta. They said they were facing difficulties in everyday life as they were being denied fundamental rights, right to life, security and education etc. Moreover, they were being isolated in the name of security, they claimed.
The CJP assured the delegation that their issues would be addressed according to law.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 09 (APP):The Senate on Monday adopted four resolutions, rejected one and dropped two private members’
resolutions due to absence of the movers.
Moved by the Leader of the Opposition Sherry Rehman, the House unanimously adopted a
supplementary resolution condemning the state-sponsored violence in Indian-occupied Kashmir. The House demanded the government to appoint a special envoy to raise the Kashmir issue at international forums.
The House adopted three other resolutions recommending the government to allocate funds in the PSDP for opening of new Passport Offices in the provinces, reduce prices of life saving drugs and implement Aaghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package in letter and spirit.
A resolution sponsored by PTI lawmaker Azam Swati regarding provision of development funds to
parliamentarians was rejected after voice voting while two private members’ resolutions were dropped
due to absence of their movers.

LAHORE, Apr 09 (APP):Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif
on Monday congratulated the nation on the eve of Constitution Day of Pakistan and said that consensus Constitution of 1973 was a major achievement of country’s parliamentary history.
In his message in this regard, he said that democratically elected leadership gave a gift of consensus Constitution to the nation 45 years ago. It was sanguine that this constitution was a
harbinger of human rights as well as establishment of an Islamic welfare state, he said and asserted
that the nation paid rich tributes to the efforts of the then parliamentarians and constitutional experts today.
Shehbaz Sharif said that national leadership unified the nation by setting aside their temporal political differences. Constitution of Pakistan, he said, had kept the nation united by setting aside cultural
and ethno-linguistic differences. This constitution, he opined, had
also guaranteed democracy, equality, tolerance and civil liberties.
The Chief Minister said that Constitution of 1973 had given new dimension to important issues like federal as well as provincial autonomies and socio-economic development was only possible due to complete implementation of the constitution. The 1973 Constitution also protected the rights, social justice and equality of people of different religions. Similarly, it had also accorded an opportunity to the federating units to live in peace and enjoy autonomy.
The sanctity of the constitution required that it must be implemented in its true spirit and this was the day to reiterate the commitment that they would always upheld the constitution supreme. “We will have to re-affirm our commitment that Pakistan will be moved forward by following the Constitution,” he added.
He said that Punjab government also re-affirmed its strong commitment to protect the rights of the people in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan and added that all such efforts would be defeated aiming at damaging the democratic spirit of the constitution.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 09 (APP):Minister of State for Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Darshan Monday said the federal government had devised National
Health Vision Programme, which would be implemented with the collaboration of provinces.
Winding-up discussion on a motion moved by Leader of the Opposition Sherry Rehman regarding the healthcare system, the minister said primary and secondary health system had already been in place and there was need to further improve it.
He said health had been devolved to the provinces after the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment and the federal government now had only to play regulatory duty.
He said former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had also launched a health insurance programme to provide free healthcare facilities to the poor. Free healthcare facilities were also being provided to registered beneficiaries of Benazir Income Support Programme, he added.
Earlier, speaking on the motion, the senators urged the government to devise a concrete strategy for the provision of healthcare facilities to the masses.
They also called for enhancing the health budget and complete devolution of health to the provinces. The government was spending less than 2 per cent of the gross domestic product on healthcare facilities, which needed to be enhanced, they added.
Those who spoke on the motion included mover Sherry Rehman, Muhammad Azam Swati, Mir Kabeer Shahi, Sitara Ayaz,
Dr Mehar Taj, Muhammad Ali Saif, Sardar Azam Musakhel and Sikandar Mandhro.