ISLAMABAD, Feb 13 (APP):Pakistan Cricket Board’s employment criterion has raised grave concern for citizens as it was giving undue favour to a specific region, an official said on Tuesday.
An official on request of anonymity disclosed that the board’s anomaly has been discussed and question was raised among members for giving extra favour to Punjab province.
He said the majority of contractual employees hired belong to Punjab while other provinces were denied right to job on merit.
“The major chunk was offered to Punjab i.e.142 out of 190 recruited employees” he said. While from Sindh (21), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (11), Balochistan (8), AJK (6) and one each from Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan were offered appointment, he added.
The official said this appointment criterion would promote nepotism and the performance of the institution would badly be affected.
“There are currently 866 total employees working in PCB,” he said.
PCB recruitmnent criteria questinable : an official
UN rights experts denounce detention of Maldives judges as a “direct attack”
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 13 (APP):Denouncing the detention of two Supreme Court judges in the Maldives, United Nations human rights
experts have warned that the independence of the judiciary is under “serious threat” in the country, as is the principle of separation of powers between the State and the courts.
“It is clear that the rule of law in the Maldives is now under siege,” the experts said in a joint statement issued Monday by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
“We call on the Government to refrain from any threats or interference that may hamper the court’s independence as the supreme guardian of the country’s constitution and legislation,” they added.
In the release, Jose Antonio Guevara Bermudez, the current Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; and Diego Garcia-Sayan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and magistrates, also stressed that judicial independence, enshrined in the national constitution and in international human rights treaties, had to be guaranteed by the State.
Garcia-Sayan also raised concern over the timing of the arrests, five days after the Supreme Court had ordered the release and retrial of nine opposition leaders, including former President Mohamed Nasheed.
Following the arrest of Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Ali Hameed Mohamed “ shortly after the Government declared a state of emergency“ the three remaining Supreme Court judges overturned the order to free the nine leaders.
In the same vein, Bermudez underscored that Judges should be able to decide all matters before them impartially, on the basis of facts, and in accordance with the law free of any intimidation.”This is at best suspicious,” Garcia-Sayan said, adding that the acts constitutes, an intolerable act of intimidation” against the highest judicial authority in the country.
“However, this is not possible when their very liberty and security is threatened,” he stressed.
According to the news release, the UN experts have been in contact with the Government of Maldives regarding their concerns.
One in Four Iraqi children in poverty after war on Da’esh
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 13 (APP):One in four Iraqi children are in poverty and 4 million in need of assistance as a result of the country’s war with ISIS/Da’esh, the United Nations children agency has warned.
There were 150 attacks on education facilities and 50 attacks on health centres and personnel since 2014, UNICEF said in a statement. Half of Iraq’s schools need repairs and more than 3 million children have had their education interrupted, it said.
Iraq is seeking $100 billion in foreign investment in transport, energy and agriculture as part of a plan to rebuild parts of the country and revive the economy after declaring victory over ISIS/Da’esh in December.
The country has now regained all of the territory captured by militants in 2014 and 2015.
“Children are Iraq’s future,” Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said.
He added that a conference in Kuwait about the rebuilding of Iraq was “an opportunity for world leaders to show that we are willing to invest in children, and through investing in children, that we are willing to invest in rebuilding a stable Iraq.”
Across Iraq, UNICEF has supported local authorities to rehabilitate 576 schools and has provided school supplies to 1.7 million children. The organisation recently appealed for $186m to allow it to respond to the needs of Iraqi children throughout 2018.
In a recent statement, Cappelaere said that during last year alone”270 children were killed,” while more than 1 million children had been “forced to leave their homes.”
The United States, which leads an international coalition that provided Iraq with key air support in the fight against ISIS, does not plan to contribute any money at the Kuwait conference, US and Western officials said.
“Lodhran bye election is public reaction to cases against me”: Nawaz Sharif
ISLAMABAD, Feb 13 (APP):President Pakistan Muslim League (N) Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Tuesday said the result of the
by-election in Lodhran was an example of the dignity of the vote and a public reaction to the cases
filed against him.
Talking to mediamen outside the Accountability Court here, he said people of Pakistan were
fighting the cases against him. People were responding to the false cases against him, he added.
To a question, he said some elements wanted that he should be convicted one way or
the other otherwise all their activity against him will go waste.
“I know that revenge is being taken but I am not afraid. I will face the cases,” he added.
Nawaz Sharif said no action was taken against those who arrested the judges twice and
violated the constitution and then ran away abroad.
He said he made Pakistan a nuclear power, strengthened the economy, ended loadshedding
and eradicated terrorism but was being treated as a convict.
“Those who served the people were being targetted,” he remarked.
The PMLN chief said that political forces in the country should implement the Charter of
Democracy. He vowed to take the country in the right direction.
Nawaz Sharif said there was no substance in the references filed against him and that was
the reason that supplementary references were prepared.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif said Nawaz Sharif will fulfill the promise of “restoration of justice”
in the country.
PMLN MNA Captain (R) Safdar said the court of the people gave its decision in Lodhran in
favour of Nawaz Sharif. The people of Lodhran gave the verdict in the petition filed by Nawaz
Sharif in the court of the public, he added.
Pakistan for expansion of UN Military Observer Group in India, Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Feb 13 (APP):Pakistan has called for an expansion in the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to counter the rising threats to peace and security in the region.
Speaking in the Special Committee on Peacekeeping, Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN, Maleeha Lodhi said that the UN Mission, UNMOGIP is a critical factor for stability in the region, said a press release received here on Tuesday.
“This needs to be expanded to respond to existing threats and realities”, she stressed. She reiterated Pakistan’s unflinching support to UN peacekeeping, both as one of its largest and consistent contributors and also as host of one of the UN’s oldest peacekeeping missions: UNMOGIP.
The Special Committee on Peacekeeping is a unique forum that brings together all peacekeeping stakeholders, troop and police contributors, financial contributors, Security Council members and the UN Secretariat to discuss every aspect of Peacekeeping.
Ambassador Lodhi emphasized the need to address the root causes of conflict to bring about lasting peace. Peacekeeping, she said, needs to be strengthened through support for political solutions and mediation processes.
“The goal of protection of civilians is best served by preventing the outbreak of armed conflicts in the first place, addressing the root causes of conflicts, and finding inclusive political solutions to disputes”, she added.
Criticizing the recent cuts in the UN peacekeeping budget, Ambassador Lodhi said, “Lack of adequate resources results inevitably in non-implementation of the very mandates that we fashion for our Blue Helmets. We should be talking about enhancing capabilities, not across the board cuts in the peacekeeping budget”.
The Pakistani envoy voiced concern over the growing threat to the safety and security of UN Peacekeepers that were increasingly being deployed in complex and perilous operating environments. She called for concrete steps to be taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and added, “In theaters like Mali and the DRC, Blue Helmets frequently come under direct attack, a phenomenon unheard of just a few years ago”.
She underscored the impact on security of the strategic decisions during the planning and mandate creating phases of peacekeeping operations and said that Security Council mandates, if and when based on political expediency, further compound the situation on ground, increasing avoidable risk. The fundamentals of peacekeeping must be preserved even as we adapt to changing realities, Ambassador Lodhi stressed and warned that blurring the line between peacekeeping and peace enforcement holds high risk as it would impact the neutrality of Blue Helmets, making them even more vulnerable to targeted attacks.
In this context she also referred to the report of the High-Level Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) and the consensus view of practitioners of peacekeeping which agree that UN peace operations “are not the appropriate tool for military counter-terrorism operations”. Arguing that the broad support, legitimacy and credibility that UN peacekeeping has come to enjoy over the years are predicated on these very principles, Ambassador Lodhi said that despite the need for reform, we strongly feel that changing the fundamental principles of peacekeeping is not warranted.
100,000 male,female trained under Youth Skill Development Programme
ISLAMABAD, Feb 13 (APP):Under Prime Minister Youth Skill Development Programme 100,000 male and female has so far been trained in more than 100 demand-driven trades across Pakistan.
Talking to APP,Chaiperson Leila Khan said ” 25-30 per cent of the total seats were reserved for female students, Seminaries’ students and disabled youth were also part of this scheme.
100,000 youth would be trained during 2018-19 under Phase-IV and Rs.6.2 billion was approved by Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2017, she added.
Under the PMYP different schemes , Leila Khan said were meant to enabling poor to get good employment, opportunities, secure economic empowerment and probability of getting a productive job.
Prime Minister Youth Programme is a revolutionary programme of the Government for the socio-economic development of youth in a bid to combat soaring unemployment in the country ,she said.
It has a broad canvas of schemes aimed at enabling youth and poor segments of population, to get good employment opportunities, secure economic empowerment, acquire skills needed for gainful employment, have access to higher education and IT tools, access to on-the-job training/internship for young graduates to improve the probability of getting a productive job she added.
PM’s Youth Programme is running six different schemes, namely PM’s Youth Business Loans Scheme, PM’s Interest Free Loan Scheme, PM’s Youth Skill Development Programme, PM’s Laptop Scheme, PM’s Fee reimbursement Scheme, PM’s’ Youth Training Scheme, she added.
COAS reaches Kabul to attend CHOD Conference
RAWALPINDI, Feb 13 (APP):Chief Of Army Staff (COAS),General Qamar Javed Bajwa has reached in Kabul, Afghanistan to attend Chief of Defence (CHOD) Conference, a statement issued here by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday.
Commander US CENTCOM, Commander Resolute Support Mission (RSM) and Afghan Army Chief are also attending the conference.
Commander 4 Corps inaugurates boarding campus of Rising Sun Institute
LAHORE, Feb 13 (APP):Lieutenant General Aamer Riaz, Commander 4 Corps inaugurated Boarding Campus/Hostel of
Rising Sun Institute and welfare society here in DHA, said a statement issued
here by Inter-Services Public Relations on Tuesday.
The institute is working as a premier training and educational facility for special
children to groom them in an effective and vital organ of the society. Over 650
children are getting mostly free education.
Initially, the campus will board/lodge homeless special children of over 18 years.
Lieutenant General Aamer Riaz, in his concluding remarks appreciated the dedicated efforts
of management of the institute and assured Army’s full support for the future
initiatives, the ISPR statement added.
NA passes bill to regulate recruitment, condition of service of NA’s employees
ISLAMABAD, Feb 13 (APP):The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to regulate the recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed in the National Assembly Secretariat.
MNA Nighat Parveen has moved the bill before the House.
MNA of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), Dr Arif Alvi has proposed amendments in the bill which were accepted by the government. Arif Alvi said that appointments from BPS 16 to 19 should be made in National Assembly through Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC)
Akram thanks PM for approval of funds for up-gradation of Bannu airport
ISLAMABAD, Feb 13 (APP):Minister for Housing and Works Akram Khan Durrani here on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abassi for approval of Rs.715 million for the up-gradation of Bannu airport project.
The CDWP approved to release Rs.715 million for up-gradation and extension of Bannu Airport for A-320/B-737 Aircraft operations, said a press release.
The Minister said that the release of Rs. 715 million for the aforesaid airport will be a gift for the people of Bannu and adjacent areas.
The airport he said will also facilitate the trade route of CPEC by providing faster way of communication and transportation with the neighboring countries.
“It will open new avenues and opportunities for the local people” he said.
Akram Khan Durrani said that the government is committed to provide every facility to the people of Bannu.
Former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had announced in a Public gathering to establish airport in Bannu to facilitate the local people.