ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (APP):Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal on Monday said putting Pakistan’s name on the watch list of countries funding terrorism would be counter-productive for war against terror.
Talking to media-persons at the launch of Inclusive and Sustainable Development Report here, he said the United States along with its allies – United Kingdom, Germany and France – had forwarded a proposal to global anti-money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for including Pakistan’s name in its watch list and to put pressure for certain reasons.
He said Pakistan was a sovereign country, which was fighting the war against terrorism not only for the security of its own people but also of the region.
Pakistan, he said, had rendered matchless sacrifices and achieved unprecedented successes against terrorists for which it deserved appreciation by the international community. He asked the move to put Pakistan on the FATF’s watch-list would serve whose interest as it would hurt its capability to fight against terrorism.
He said Pakistan was approaching different countries through diplomatic channels to apprise them of the measures taken by it to root out terrorists.
He expressed the confidence that the international community would recognize sacrifices of Pakistan rendered in the war against terror and would not take any step that would hamper its anti-terror strategy.
To a question, he condemned continued unprovoked firing by India along the Line of Control (LoC), which, he said, was aimed at diverting world’s attention from atrocities being committed by its forces against the people of occupied Kashmir.
Replying to another question regarding inclusion of the name of former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in the Exit Control List (ECL), Ahsan Iqbal said there was a set procedure for the purpose and the Interior Ministry was not bound to follow proposals of any institution in that regard.
He said in the past the ECL was misused for political purposes but now all institutions were working according to law. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had not even put names of Dr Asim Hussain and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, members of its opponent party, on the ECL.
To another question, he said deployment of Pakistan Army in the brotherly country of Saudi Arabia was for peaceful purposes and it would not take part in attack on any other country.
Earlier, addressing the report launching ceremony, Ahsan Iqbal said for the last four years the government was giving special focus on sustainable and inclusive growth.
For the first time in country’s history, the government had managed poverty mapping at district level in an effort to find out exact figures of poverty, he added.
He said the report aimed at overcoming social and economic inequalities in the country and it would serve as a focal point for the inequality debate in Pakistan.
The minister said the government has tried its best to mitigate the social and economic inequalities by providing best services in health and education sectors, besides building infrastructure, which had helped connecting the far flung areas of the country to major cities.
Moreover, he said, due to extreme energy crisis in the country, inequalities among rich and the poor were widening. However, due to heavy investment in the energy sector by the government, the power generation had improved with load-shedding duration reduced to only two hours from 20 hours a day.
The report authored by economist Dr Akmal Hussain highlights that there has been a historical shift in the conceptual basis for growth policy and the earlier view that economic inequality is a necessary concomitant to high growth has been overturned by new research which shows that high economic inequality is harmful for growth sustainability.
It includes mechanisms to increase gender equality and development providing entrepreneurship opportunities to youth, women and minorities, building resilience against climate change, addressing water challenges, utilizing hydro power potential and instituting change through which local governments can play an effective role in participatory democracy and inclusive development.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (APP):Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has left for Russia on a four-day official visit at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
During his stay in Moscow, Khawaja Asif is expected to hold talks with Sergey Lavrov on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest, a Foreign Office statement here said on Monday.
“The visit would provide an opportunity to explore ways and means to further strengthen cooperation in political, economic, trade and investment, defense, education and cultural fields,” the statement added.
The Foreign Office said relations between the two countries had been growing steadily in all fields. Regular high level exchanges between the two countries in the last few years were a manifestation of mutual desire for translating political goodwill into a substantive and multidimensional partnership, it added.
Pakistan and Russia are also celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations this year.
The two ministers had earlier met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York in September 2017.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (APP):Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday said that 25 candidates will contest Senate elections from Balochistan province.
According to ECP, Monday was the last day for withdrawal of nomination papers from Balochistan province.
It said that on technocrat seat, National Party’s candidate Nazimudin had withdrawn his nomination papers in favour of National Party’s candidate Tahir Bazenjo.

MIRPUR, Feb 19 (APP):Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider Khan said Monday the dream of a welfare and vibrant state could not be materialized without the active support of society, particularly that of women.
“performance of Women University Bagh performance for educating the women around the state is satisfactory”, He said while addressing scholarship and laptops distribution ceremony among Faculty members of Women’s University in Bagh on Monday.
He said that girls should not attend university only for a degree, but to contribute for the development of the state through their academic qualifications.
Haider on the occasion stated that Women University Bagh was for all the women of state and assured that the issue of the university would be addressed soon.
Prime Minister stressed the need for apprising the youth about innovative changes in society to compete with contemporary challenges.
He said, “We have our own textbook board, however it needed to be upgraded by inducting five Ph.D scholars in this textbook board to prepare a compatible curriculum keeping in view latest requirements.
Khan said that the incumbent government was endeavoring to provide employment opportunities to masses on merit basis, saying that the Public Service Commission for Gazette recruitment and NTS for non-gazette recruitment were providing employment opportunities to youth on merit.
Prime Minister on the occasion congratulated the faculty members who had received scholarships. Meanwhile Prime Minister also appreciated the efforts of Chairman Higher Education Comission Dr. Mukhtar for providing laptops and scholarships to the faculty members of Women University Bagh.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (APP):National Commission for Human development (NCHD) in the collaboration with provincial education department is being launching the enrollment campaign “All Children in School 2018”.

Talking to APP here Monday Director Operation NCHD Balochistan Sikandar Shah said Education Enrollment campaign for winter zone of Balochistan will from March in which around 0.5 million non-going children to schools would be enrolled and it would continue till April.

He said, “We will engage tribal figure, social activists, religious scholars, students, teachers and local representatives in the enrollment campaign to motivate children to join classes.” Shah said that they would be mobilizing all people to make the enrollment campaign successful.
He said that basic purpose of the enrollment campaign was to minimize the number of out of school children. He said special focus would also be given in enrollment of girl students.
The education was the only way forward towards a progressive Balochistan, he said and added that serious efforts were needed to increase literacy rate in the province.

Shah said civil societies would help the education department in identifying areas where the ratio of out of school children was highest. Special attention would be given to areas of less enrolment, he added.
He pointed out that to enhance literacy level in the province; NCHD had also initiated adult education programs, adding that NCHD was also running 720 adult education centers in the province.
He said the commission was also offering vocational and professional training of different skills for earning respectable living for their families.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (APP):Minister of State and Chairperson Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) Ms. Marvi Memon on Monday highlighted Pakistan’s efforts in social safety net programmes.
According to press release received here, Marvi Memon at a conference held in Frankfurt, Germany, said that Pakistan was among the top 10 countries which were more vulnerable to climate change and had seen several earthquakes, floods and droughts.
Delegates from 70 countries attended the Conference on Social Protection and Emergency Safety Net Response that was arranged by World Bank and shared her experiences on social protection.
She added that due to militancy crises in FATA, Pakistan also has a large number of Temporarily Displaced Persons who were being supported by the government.
In case of disasters, BISP had already facilitated around 5.4 Million families living below the poverty line, through this social protection program, she added.
“BISP had complete beneficiary database, the Socio Economic Registry that included beneficiary biometrics, a financial instrument used in BISP cash transfers and more than 450 functional offices in the country with 2500 experienced staff members that aimed to respond to beneficiary’s needs more efficiently.”
She said that BISP with updated Socio Economic Registry of the citizens of Pakistan had ability to exclude well-off and embrace vulnerable families including poor, female headed households and families with disable members.
She informed that through BISP, government has empowered females in the country by providing direct support to the female head of families and adding that this had also been appreciated by government of United Kingdom and BISP was awarded with Democracy Award.
She further informed the participants that a National Disaster Response Action Plan (NDRAP) was developed by government of Pakistan to address the natural and man-made catastrophic events.
It would also augment Pakistan’s response to any disaster and address the problems of the affected population. In future both BISP and NADRA would enter into partnership for effective shock responsiveness,she added.
The Chairperson also highlighted the efforts of the government in addressing the emergency needs of Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) of FATA with the help of World Bank through a transparent mechanism.
She also highlighted the steps taken by the Government for the rehabilitation of TDPs by providing houses’ damage compensation to affected families.
Vice President World Bank, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Germany and Minister for Social Protection Egypt and Member from Government of Pakistan also addressed the forum.
The conference would be concluded on 22nd February 2018.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (APP):The National Assembly Monday offered Fateha for the departed soul of the grandmother of Nawabzada Raja Matloob Mehdi MNA, a student of Bajaur Agency killed in Karachi last day and Iranian plane crash victims.
Haji Bismillah Khan MNA from Federally Administered Tribal Areas led the Fateha.
Speaking on a Point of Order, Haji Bismillah Khan said a student from Bajaur Agency had been killed in Karachi so that the FATA MNAs staged walk out from the House to protest the student murder.