BAHAWALPUR, Feb 22 (APP):Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, Government of the Punjab, Ali Jan visited several hospitals in Hasilpur, Ahmedpur Sharqia and Yazman tehsils of Bahawalpur district and inspected facilities being provided to patients there.
According to a press release issued here, Secretary
Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department arrived in Bahawalpur and he visited state-run hospitals in Ahmedpur Sharqia, Yazman and Hasilpur teshils. He inspected facilities being provided to patients at these hospitals.
He also made surprise visits to few rural health centers located in these tehsils. During the briefing, he was told that registration
of 3387 people including men, women and children had been done during second day of ‘Health Week Campaign’.
He was informed that according to blood screening reports of registered people conducted during the health week drive, 353
persons were found suffering from diabetics and 400 infected with hepatitis-C and 67 with hepatitis-B.
Speaking on the occasion, the secretary health said
that on the directives of Chief Minister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, efforts to provide maximum health facilities at hospitals continued.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Pakistan Muslim League (N) Chairman Raja Zafar ul Haq Thursday issued party tickets to the candidates for contesting Senate elections being held in March.
Talking to media persons, he said the chairman held the authority for issuing party tickets.
The PML (N) was following directives as per decisions of the court, he said.
“We are executing the decision of the court and there was no ambiguity in that regard, ” he added.
To a question about party president, he said that the matter of interim president would be discussed in consultation with the party’s members.
To another question, he said it was written in the document that central working committee or party president could authorize the concerned person for party tickets.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunications Anusha Rehman Thursday said that ministry had launched the projects of Rs 20 billion for providing broadband services in Balochistan.
Speaking in the National Assembly during question hour session, the minister said that through these projects, a massive broadband coverage was being given to different areas of the province.
She said that many of these projects were near completion adding, the broadband services was a gift for the people of Balochistan.
She said that now the 3G services were being provided in those areas of the province where even PTCL was not providing its services.
Now all cellular companies were ready to provide their services in Balochistan on the demand of people of the area, she added.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Minister for Interior, Ahsan Iqbal Thursday launched the groundbreaking of Model Jail here at H-16, and said the model jail would act as a correction center for the prisoners.
Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony, Ahsan Iqbal said start of work on establishment of model correction center in the federal capital was a welcoming sign for which he as a minister had allocated a hefty amount to ensure early completion of the project.
He said the correction sector would help accomplishing the criminal justice system and it would also help character building of the criminals to ensure that after completing the jail terms, the prisoners should not indulge in criminal activities again.
He said this model jail should be named as correction center as it would not only a place to jail the criminals but would also be a center for their character building.
He said that keeping in view the grave issue of water in the federal capital, the Council of Common Interest (CCI) had accorded approval to use water of Sindh river for the federal capital and very soon a project in this regard would be materialized and the government was also reviewing to include this project under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
He also stressed the need to make the people aware of scarcity of water in the federal capital and measures to stop them from wasting the natural resource.
Ahsan Iqbal informed that the government was considering the Metro Bus project on Islamabad Expressway and work on the project would be initiated by next year.
He said the government will introduce mass transport system in the federal capital and in this regard air conditioned buses would be deployed in Islamabad.
He said keeping in view the extra load on the existing hospitals in Islamabad, a project for construction of district hospital in the federal capital had been approved to provide quality health services to the masses.
He said work on the project would be initiated soon.
Stressing the need to expedite work on development projects, the minister also stressed that stability of democratic system and continuity of government policies in the country was vital for continuity of development process in the country.
Earlier briefing the minister, Chief Commissioner Islamabad said that the project of model jail would be completed in 2019 at a cost of Rs 3.9 billion and for the current fiscal year, an amount of Rs 8 million was allocated for the project.
He said initially, the model jail would have capacity of 2000 prisoners while the capacity would be enhanced afterwards.
He said more than 1500 prisoners were brought to different courts in Islamabad which was wastage of time and resources besides creating security risks.
He said in the model jail state of the art educational and health facilities would be provided to the prisoners.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani Thursday said he had been saying for long time that the supremacy of the parliament and political structure in the country was in danger.
Institutional dialogue were need of the hour, he said while speaking with regard to a point raised by Farhatullah Babar.
Raza Rabbani opined that the decision announced by the Supreme Court Tuesday would not affect the Senate elections.
Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq said no one could deny to accept the apex court’s decision. He met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and gave him the new forms of the candidates for the Senate election signed by his as the chairman of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The CEC, he said, had sought time for consultation, but now he came to know that the CEC had rejected the forms.
Speaking on the point of order, Farhatullah Babar said he had already expressed his reservations that something ultra vires to the Constitution was being planned to set up a government of technocrats.
He said he feared in case the Senate elections were postponed then a technocrats’ government would be set up for a long period. Both the political structure and supremacy of the parliament would be in danger which would have serious repercussions, he added.
Sardar Azam Musakhel, Barrister Saif Ali and Ghaux Bakhs Niazi also expressed similar concern.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):The newly appointed Ambassador of Turkey Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul to Pakistan Thursday called on President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan to discuss matters of mutual interest.
Extending his best wishes to Ambassador Yurdakul on assuming his new appointment, the president hoped that Ambassador Yurdakul’s tenure will prove to be productive in furthering the friendly relations between Turkey, Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, a press release said.
Ambassador Yurdakul expressed his pleasure on assuming his new assignment and said he will use his position in promoting the already close and cordial diplomatic relations between Turkey and Pakistan, as well as Azad Kashmir, particularly in the spheres of economic and cultural ties.
President Masood paid tribute to Turkey saying that it inherits a rich history of Muslim civilization. Today, he said, Turkey’s initiatives were connecting the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa by building new diplomatic junctions and concourses.
He said Turkey was emerging as a symbol of Islamic community’s glory and unity, as well as a great force of peace and sagacity at the international level.
He thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir during his historic address to the Joint Session of the Pakistani Parliament in Islamabad and for taking up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the former’s visit to India.
Ambassador Yurdakul said Turkey strongly believed that initiatives should be taken to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue through dialogue and diplomacy. President Erdogan, he said, believes that international community must help the people of the Indian occupied Kashmir out of their unending plight and their human rights must be respected under all circumstances.
The president said the people of Jammu and Kashmir believe in a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council’s resolutions and with the support of its friends like Turkey which can talk to India and persuade it to come to the negotiating table.
He conveyed his gratitude to the Turkish ambassador for Turkey’s steadfast support to the Jammu and Kashmir cause in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir and at the United Nations.
Sardar Masood Khan said Turkey and Azad Kashmir enjoyed a new affinity. After the 2005 earthquake, our Turkish brothers helped to reconstruct the dilapidated cities of Azad Kashmir. Because of the Turkish-led reconstruction, Muzaffarabad now has a distinct Turkish imprint and style of architecture, he said.
He expressed his satisfaction over the growing educational ties between Azad Kashmir and Turkey. Students and faculty were enrolling in the Turkish Universities and Turkish Language courses were being promoted in the University of AJK. He also invited the popular Turkish envoy Muzaffarabad to inaugurate Turkish Language courses.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Members of the Pak-China Parliamentary Friendship Group in the Senate and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing Thursday agreed on enhanced parliamentary exchanges between the two countries to further boost their historic bilateral relations.
The meeting of the Friendship Group was held here at the Parliament House with Senator Saleem Mandviwala in the chair and was attended by senators Taj Afridi, Seher Kamran, Daud Achakzai, Kalsoom Parveen and Sassui Palijo, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing and Director General China at Foreign Office Ms Ayesha Ahsan, said a press release.
Both the sides also agreed on the importance of taking parliamentarians into confidence on the developments on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Chinese ambassador appreciated the idea of regular interactions with the members of Friendship Group as well as with senators from the provinces, which were a vital part of the CPEC.
Ayesha Ahsan gave a comprehensive briefing on political system of China, its state organisational structure, Pakistan-China bilateral relations, parliamentary exchanges, economic and trade relations, developments in the free trade agreement between the two countries, foreign direct investment, work on the CPEC and way forward for enhanced interactions.
The briefing was followed by an interactive question answer session in which senators asked pertinent questions, which were responded to by the ambassador.
Senator Mandviwala stressed upon bridging the gap of information that lay among different stakeholders on the development and scope of the CPEC. Regular interaction would diminish the doubts that arose due to uncertainty, he added.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan Thursday said neither carbon tax was currently imposed on any industrial sector in the country not any proposal in that regard was under consideration.
Answering a question in the Senate, the minister said the Ministry of Climate Change would be launching a study with the support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to evaluate application on ‘carbon pricing’ in Pakistan.
He said the study would examine if such a price/tax on carbon suited Pakistan and if the country could benefit from such a tax in terms of climate change mitigation and achievement of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and for attracting international funding/support for climate action.
Replying to another question, he said three major earthquakes had occurred in the country during last five years, two in Mashkhel and Awaran in Balochistan in 2013 and one in October 2015.
He said during the last five years, the federal and provincial governments paid Rs 16,409.40 million to the respective provincial / state / regional authorities for payment of compensation to the earthquake victims.
Replying to another query, the minister said the Emergency Relief Cell (ERC) of the Cabinet Division had been merged into National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) with the approval of the prime minister.
He also informed the Senate that after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) was mandated for protection, conservation and rehabilitation of environment in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
He said the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, Islamabad had recently planned a 30-day survey of ambient air quality monitoring of sectors 1-9 and I-10, and Kahuta Triangle industrial areas.
It had started monitoring from February 1, 2018 by using its state of the art mobile automatic ambient air quality monitoring station and high volume air samplers for suspended particle matter (SPM), he added.
To a question, Mushahidullah said a programme had been approved with an estimated cost of Rs 3.652 billion to plant 100 million trees over a period of five years (2016-17 to 2020-21).
Under the programme, the planting activity was being carried out in all the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in different ecological locations, he added.
The minister said an amount of Rs 605.172 million had been allocated, out of which Rs 242.068 was released and Rs 240.424 million spent during 2017-18 on the tree plantation project.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf Thursday
informed the Senate that his ministry celebrated religious festival of Kalash
community on August 19, 2017 like other minorities communities.
Responding to a Calling Attention Notice raised by Karim Ahmed Khawaja and Mukhtar Ahmed
Dhamrah about difficulties being faced by the Kalash Community, the minister said
an amount of Rs 136,000 was also provided to poor member of the community
on their demand.
He said some small development schemes worth Rs1.5 million were also included on the demand
of the community.
He said the ministry had also written a letter to the Director General Immigration and
Passport to write Kalash in column of religion for the people of community on
their demand.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Chairman of Nazariya Pakistan Council (NPC), Dr Naeem Ghani Thursday underlined the need for adding ‘Water’ as a subject in the curriculum to create awareness among students about the importance of water in our daily lives.
Addressing a conference on “Water Resources Issues and Our Responsibility” he urged the authorities concerned to take immediate steps to ensure appropriate use of water in agriculture, industrial and domestic sectors.
Highlighting the role of water in our lives, he said water shortage was becoming a serious issue with each passing day in the twin cities.
Chairman of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) Dr Muhammad Ashraf while giving a briefing on appropriate usage of water said Pakistan had three major water reservoirs through which the 17 million hector land was being cultivated.
“As the population of Pakistan is growing day by day, the need of water is also increasing for which we should keep our environment including rivers, dams, lakes and canals neat and clean as we do our homes”, he added.