MIRPUR, Mar 19 (APP):Azad Jammu & Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan Monday said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was instrumental in economic prosperity of the region.
The President made these remarks while addressing the one-day seminar on “CPEC and Azad Jammu Kashmir” organized by University of Kotli.
The event was the part of a series of seminars to be
held at public-sector universities of the state for highlighting the
opportunities and challenges of the CPEC.
Sardar Masood Khan said that Kotli University had taken a
positive initiative in arranging this seminar on CPEC and would act as a
catalyst for further research.
The President said that CPEC was not a stand-alone
project but is, in fact, a part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
He said that almost 65 countries, including Pakistan, were a part of BRI which aimed
at global economic connectivity across the continents of Asia, Africa and
Europe.
Highlighting the prospects of CPEC, the President
said that this project was not to be considered a substitute for Pakistan’s overall
economic progress rather a huge channel helping evolve and develop our economy.
Pakistan, he said, was an emerging economy and on its way to become one of the
leading economies in the next three decades.
President Masood Khan said that Azad Jammu and Kashmir
had been included as a key region for CPEC with multiple projects for highway
linkages, energy generation, however developing an industrial estate would help
revive local economy making it into an ideal location for business and tourism
activity.
The AJK President said that with the formal
inclusion of the state in the CPEC; 4 projects had exclusively been earmarked
for this region which includes Karot (720 MW), Kohala (1124 MW) Hydro-power
projects, Special Industrial Zone in Mirpur and the Mansehra-Mirpur Expressway.
The President said that CPEC would generate thousands
of new jobs in specialized fields like logistics, supply chain management,
hydraulics, artificial intelligence and other post-modern subjects.
He urged the students to understand and adapt the upcoming challenges, especially in the
ever-changing job market.
After the event, the President also inaugurated newly built Administration Block at the University campus.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 19 (APP):Ministry of Power Division has submitted reference with National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to bring amendment in Wheeling of Electric Power Regulations, 2016 aimed at removing existing hurdles in sale and purchase of at least 1 MW or more electricity in the country.
According to the reference sent to the power regulator on March 16, hurdles were identified in sale and purchase of the electricity by the all stakeholders after consultation.
The power division in its recommendations has recommended that the Regulation should be limited to wheeling on dedicated feeders of 132 Kv and 11Kv.
The the wheeling should be limited to licence of the distribution company and no inter distribution Company (DISCO) trade be allowed for the time being.
Any interested consumers utilizing this regulation should be allowed to retain utility connection for which relevant charges would be paid to them, the recommendation further said.
It said that in case of non-utilization of the energy by the buyer, banked energy should be allowed for a month after that the seller should either sell the energy to another buyer (other than DISCO) or shut down the plant. It would be mandatory to buy this energy.
“In case the bulk consumers are taken out from the consumer base, of a distribution company the displaced capacity charge should be added to the wheeling charge for a period of one year or new tariff determination whichever is later,” the reference further said.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 19 (APP):Australian High Commissioner, Margaret Adamson Monday launched a photo exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of the opening of Australia’s diplomatic mission in Pakistan.
She said that Australia was quick to establish a High Commission in Karachi in 1948 after recognizing the new country of Pakistan the previous year.
Adamson said, “The photos in this exhibition tell the story of how the relationship has developed since then”, said a press statement issued here.
The images are drawn from a wide range of Australia-Pakistan engagement spanning development cooperation and humanitarian assistance, defence, education, sport, trade and cultural ties, as well as people-to-people linkages.
“I am pleased, the exhibition will be accompanied by performances from Australian Pakistani singer Umer Iftikhar,” High Commissioner Adamson said, adding as an Australian graduate, Umer was a great example of how education could build bridges between nations and across cultures.
She said that Australia was a popular education destination for Pakistani students, with more than 12,000 were studying there this year. She said, “Our thousands of alumni in Pakistan contributing to their nation’s development, and their active connections to Australia, are an asset to both countries.”
“As a friend and a partner of 70 years standing, Australia will continue to support Pakistan in the future through our development partnership, our security cooperation combating terrorism, violent extremism and transnational organised crime, and through growing trade and investment,” High Commissioner Adamson said.
She said that last September, the Gold Coast 2018 Queen’s Baton Relay visited Lahore – the first stop in South Asia on its 388 kilometre journey from London to Australia’s Gold Coast.
“Being two sports-loving nations, I know Australian and Pakistani athletes and sports fans alike will enjoy the competition and spectacle of the Commonwealth Games in April,” she added.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 19 (APP):Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Monday stressed the need for preparing youth to cope with challenges, which would face by the country in future.
He was addressing here the opening ceremony of a two-day International Conference on Professional Development in Higher Education: Trends and Practices, Prospects and Innovations as a Chief Guest.
The conference was arranged by the the Higher Education Commission (HEC), in collaboration with Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Rawalpindi.
Dr Mahmood-ul-Hassan Butt, Consultant HEC presented a keynote address while Dr Samina Amin Qadir, Vice Chancellor, FJWU, Rawalpindi, Mrs. Shaheen Khan, Adviser Learning Innovation, HEC, Fida Hussain, Director General LI, HEC and a large number of faculty members and professionals attended the event.
In his message on this occasion, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed urged teachers to ensure character building of students and teach them social values and ethics.
He added that apart from imparting education, it was also a responsibility of teachers to groom students.
He said HEC took a number of initiatives under its Faculty Development Programme in order to build capacity of universities faculty.
He revealed that HEC envisions 40 per cent of PhD faculty by 2025.
In his keynote address, Dr. Mahmood-ul-Hassan Butt shed light on salient trends and practices, prospects and innovations that had been incorporated in the higher education sector since the inception of HEC.
He also shared the strategic priorities HEC had set for the future to continue the journey of progress and qualitative improvement of an integrated education system in the country.
He said the founding fathers of HEC believed that the higher education systems led in the relentless pursuit of quality of instruction, utilizing available knowledge and discovery of new knowledge, competencies and skills by preparing creative, critical, constructive and communicative scholars.
He said the HEC policies guided towards numerical expansion of institutions from 59 universities in 2002 to 188 universities currently.
Informing the audience about the highlights of roadmap outlined under the Higher Education Vision 2025, Dr Butt said a three-tier integrated system of tertiary education had been devised.
He maintained that this system would have clear identification and differentiation of roles of Tier-I research universities, Tier-II comprehensive universities, and Tier-III affiliated colleges.
Addressing the conference, Dr Samina Amin Qadir observed that new pedagogical paradigms had changed the educational landscape across the world.
This, she stressed, required academicians and reformers to ensure professional development of faculty and teaching staff equipping them with effective teaching methodologies.
She noted that technological advancement had brought information about the whole world to the palm of one’s hand, however the abundance of information sources created influx of actual as well as fake information.
“Be careful in using technology,” she cautioned.
She regretted that the developing countries borrowed policies successful from the developed world without examining their utility in the light of their domestic ground realities. Local scenarios must be in view while evolving higher education policies, she underlined.
She also admired HEC for its key initiatives for holistic development of higher education sector in the country.
In her welcome address earlier, Mrs Shaheen Khan said the purpose of international conference was to refresh the knowledge base of faculty and explore novel innovations for their professional development. She said HEC was committed to empowering the universities teaching faculty in order to meet the Higher Education Vision 2025.
She maintained that HEC, while realizing need for improving teachers’ pedagogies and professional competencies, had taken major initiatives under different programmes to reform professional development which aimed to develop teachers as professionally competent and capable to engage students in their learning.
On the first day of conference, three sessions were held which covered a number of topics including a Repertoire for Learning in Outcome based Education Paradigm; Improving Students’ Learning in Distance Education by Learning Style based Teaching; Courageous Fellowship in Higher Education Commission; Pedagogical Skill Development in Teachers’ Preparation; Faculty Development at Tertiary Level; and From Banking Model to Critical Pedagogy: Challenges and Constraints in University Classrooms.
The speakers also expressed their views on Quality Teachers for Quality Education; Prospects and Insufficiency of B.Ed (Honours) Curriculum for New Teachers; Conceptualising Core Practices for Professional Development of Novice; Professional Development of Academics in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions; Effect of Metacognitive Instructional Strategies on Prospective Teachers Comprehension in Physics; Neuro-linguistic Programming and Effective Language Teaching in Pakistani Academe; Understanding the Epistemological Beliefs and Metacognition of Science Teachers; Articulating and Operationalising Pedagogic Messages; Teachers Attitude towards Need for Reflective Practice; Situating Teachers Professional Development; Problems and Challenges Faced at University Level; and Microteaching in Professional Development of Novice Teachers in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 19 (APP):Growth momentum of the telecommunication sector in the country has grown at a rapid pace and undergone an impressive transformation over the last four years.
Introduction of Mobile Broadband Services (3G / 4G/LTE) in Pakistan is one of the biggest achievements of information Technology and Telecommunication Ministry.
While talking To APP, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rehman said, in the first there years of the tenure ministry of IT has been determinately working on IT infrastructure and still working on it as only strong infrastructure could take the IT sector to the next level.
She said, computers and smart phones could do nothing with internet so for that the Through the Broadband for Sustainable Development Programme, (USF)  Ministry of IT & Telecom  has been aggressively working to provide telecom services to the unserved Mauzas across the country after the issuance of 3G/4G licenses.
In 2014 Award of Four 3G Licenses awarded to Jazz (Mobilink), Telenor, Ufone, and Zong and One 4G Licenses to Zong, in 2016- Award of 4G License awarded to Telenor and in 2017 Award of 4G License to Jazz.
Acording to official of Ministry,Telecom Policy 2015 has been Review and Integration of multiple telecom sector policies into one National Telecom Policy and Abolishment of ICH regime – Measures to curb Grey Traffic.
In the campaign lunched by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) biometric verification of SIMs and Re-verification of Existing SIMS, total 114.9 million SIMs were verified against 44.7 million  CNICs ,98.3 million SIMs were blocked (including 26.1 million active SIMs).
Incentive Package has been given to Local Manufacturing of Smart Phones
Telecom sector has Secured 100 MHz for mobile broadband and 300 MHz for fixed satellite service at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015for the country.
Telecenter Program – A community resource center that provides broadband internet and e-services access to citizens in under servedareas.
Contract for establishing 10 initial Telecenters has been signed with M/s Pakistan Mobile Communication Ltd. (Jazz).

BAHAWALPUR, Mar 19 (APP):Ambassador of Switzerland to Pakistan,Thomas Kolly visited Bahawalpur where he was presented memorial shield by Punjab Emergency Service Rescue, 1122 Bahawalpur.
Briefing the Ambassador, Divisional Emergency Officer, Bahawalpur, Dr.
Malik Aasif Raheem Channar said that Bahawalpur has been enjoying status of a
historical and ancient region. “Bahawalpur is a historical and ancient region
that has its own cultural, geographical and economic diversified values,” he
said.
He told the Swiss envoy that Bahawalpur had great potential for foreign
investment in different sectors. “Agro-economy and livestock sectors of
Bahawalpur have great potential for foreign investment,” he said and added that
Bahawalpur has also become famous as education city. “Having several colleges and
universities imparting modern education, Bahawalpur has been receiving a large
number of students even from other parts of the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, a ceremony was organized by former chairman, Pakistan Cricket
Board, Chaudhary Zaka Ashraf in honor of Swiss envoy that was attended by elders
and nobles of the city.