ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (APP): Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Rashad Mahmood paid farewell visit to Baloch Regimental Centre (BRC) at Abbottabad on Thursday.
CJCSC, who was commissioned in Baloch Regiment as a 2nd Lieutenant, is also its Colonel in Chief at present.
Upon arrival at BRC, he was received by Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa, IGT&E, Lieutenant General Malik Zafar Iqbal, Commander Rawalpindi Corps, and Brig Khalid Khan Jadoon, Centre Commandant.
CJCSC interacted with the staff and soldiers and lauded the good standards of training being maintained by the BRC.

KARACHI, Nov 24 (APP): Pakistan Navy Chief, Admiral Zakaullah on Thursday said Pakistan Navy was fully capable to guard the sea waters and no one should be mistaken about our deterrence and capacity.
He was talking to media during his visit to 9th International Defence Exhibition IDEAS 2016.
He said Pakistan Navy including Pakistan Marine Agency was too vigilant of any adventure by an enemy. The detection of Indian submarine proved our efficiency and deterrence, he added.
“Entering Pakistan’s territory by Indian submarine was an usual movement and that Pakistan Navy did its best job,” he remarked.
When his attention was sought to China Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC), he said Pakistan Navy’s role was increasing. PN was preparing itself for the future needs, especially in the light of CPEC.
Pakistan Navy was strengthening its surface and aviation facilities, he said.
He said IDEAS 2016 was the best exhibition and was getting popularity.
It would help boost defence industry.

KARACHI, Nov 24 (APP): The first death anniversary of Flying Officer Marium Mukhriar Shaheed was observed on Thursday.
A PAF contingent led by Air Vice Marshal Salman Ahsan Bukhari, Air Officer Commanding, Southern Air Command, laid wreath at the grave of Flying Officer Marium Mukhtiar on behalf of Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force.
He offered ‘Fateha’ for the martyred soul, who sacrificed her life in line of duty and became the first lady pilot of PAF to attain Shahadat.
Parents and relatives of Flying Officer Marium Mukhriar Shaheed were also present on the occasion.

MIRPUR (AJK), Nov 24 (APP): Prime Minister Azad Kashmir Raja
Farooq Haider Khan on Thursday announced that pacca bunkers will be
constructed along the 640 kilometer long Line of Control in Azad Jammu & Kashmir for the safety and protection of the population dwelling along the forward belt.
Addressing ceremony to distribute cheques of compensatory amounts among the unprovoked Indian firing hit local affectees at Government Girls Degree College in Chowki town in Samahni sector of Bhimbher district Farooq Haider disclosed that government of Pakistan has pledged to provide six billion rupees for construction of bunkers on 640 KM long LOC.
The AJK Premier said PM Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has assured the
AJK government of all out assistance for the people leaving on LOC.
Responding to a demand of the local population Raja Farooq Haider Khan said all the health units along the LOC were being upgraded and equipped with latest instruments. Required medical staff and medicine would be available at these centers to tackle any emergency situation.
He said India has created a war like situation on the LoC through resorting to frequent unprovoked firing.
He said that the people of AJK will fight shoulder to shoulder the valiant armed forces of Pakistan for the defense of motherland if India tried to resort to aggression against Pakistan or AJK.
He strongly condemned Indian firing on passenger bus in which 10 people were martyred and 7 injured. He also paid rich tribute to the Pakistan Army who laid their lives in defense of the mother land.
Prime Minister Farooq Haider Khan gave away cheques to the
heir of martyred and injured. The cheques worth Rs. 3,00,000 each were disbursed among the heirs of all martyrs.
Similarly cheques worth Rs two lack fifty thousand were given to the those who fallen disable and Rs 100,000 each were given to those injured in the recent unprovoked Indian firing on the LoC in
Bhimbher district of Mirpur division.
The prime minister visited the bereaved families of the martyrs besides inquiring about the well being of the injured and offered fateha.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (APP): Minister of State for Water and Power State Abid Sher Ali on Thursday informed the National Assembly that the government is fully committed to end load shedding by March 2018.
Replying to questions during Question Hour, the minister said that 8,000MW to 10,000MW electricity would be added to the system, which would be sufficient to meet country’s needs.
“The government is working on generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to achieve zero load shedding and is spending billion of dollars for the up gradation of transmission system,” he added.
He said that during previous governments, there was 14 to 16 hours load shedding which had crippled the life of common man.
“The present government is committed to generate adequate electricity on affordable rates. All of the government’s policies, initiatives and developments are aimed at eliminating load shedding in order to facilitate a comfortable lifestyle for the people and uninterrupted progress of the industrial sector in the country,” he added.
The minister said that due to sincere and hectic efforts of the government, the generating capacity of electricity is continuously increasing and the duration of load shedding has also decreased gradually.
He said the industry is already exempted from load shedding whereas in the month of November 2016, the government has reduced its duration for domestic consumers by 50 percent.
Abid Sher Ali said that previous governments did not spend even a single penny on transmission system while the present government was not only constructing power plants but also improving the transmission lines across the country.
The minister requested the Sindh government to refund arrears as soon as possible and help the Ministry of Water and Power to control electricity theft in the province.
Abid Sher Ali proposed a committee of the National Assembly headed by Syed Naveed Qamar to clear all the outstanding issue with the Sindh Government.
Deputy Speaker National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abbasi referred the matter to the government assurance committee and directed to submit report within 30 days.
The minister expressed hope that work on Munda Dam Project will be started by 2017 after the approval of Planning Commission and ‘Study Phase’ which comprises of detailed Engineering Design, preparation of Tender Documents and PC I.
The minister said that total cost of these projects is estimated as Rs. 1097.760 million, out of which 87 percent will be soft loan whereas remaining Rs. 138.706 million are being provided through PSDP.
Abid Sher Ali said that so far 79 percent of the detailed design study has been completed. For construction phase of the project, about Rs. 251.683 billion are required.
Answering another question, he said out of 37419 acres land required for the construction of the Diamar Bhasha Dam project and 28247 acres have been acquired.
He said the government is providing funds for land acquisition through PSDP, adding that installed capacity of Diamer Bhasha Dam will be 4500 MW and average annual generation of 19208 Gwh.
The minister said that at present there is no proposal under consideration for construction of Aladand Grid station. However,
electricity is being provided to village Aladand through 11 KV Aladand Feeder emanating from 132 KV Chakdara.
Abid Sher Ali said that 132 KV Grid Station Barikot is under construction and is expected to be completed by October, 2017.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (APP): Australian High Commissioner on
Thursday launched the Australia Awards Women in Leadership Network
to support Pakistani women in leadership roles.
The network will engage women alumni of the Australia Awards
scholarship program in Pakistan, a press release of the Australian High Commission issued here said.
The Women in Leadership Network is an Australian government regional initiative involving Australia Awards Alumni from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
High Commissioner Margaret Adamson observed that gender
equality was essential for successful economic and social development globally and noted that gender equality was at the core of Australia’s foreign policy.
Adamson added that the network would support the Pakistan government’s commitment to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in regard to the empowerment of women.
“This leadership network initiative will provide Australia Awards alumni in Pakistan with opportunities to connect and learn from other inspiring women in the South Asia region,” Adamson said.
Australia Awards are an integral part of the Australian Government’s development assistance to Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD Nov 24 (APP): Minister of State for Interior Baleeghur Rehman on Thursday said a 14 years old boy entered Shah Noorani shrine from women section to carry out blast that killed 36 faithful injuring 59 when visitors were performing ‘Dhamal.’
Winding up discussion on the incident, the minister said, relief activities were delayed due to difficult terrain as relievers had to tread five kilometers through a rough passage to reach the shrine.
“It was the afternoon when this boy entered the shrine in a ‘burqa’ through the women section as he first sprayed bullet with a 9 mm gun and then blasted himself. At the time of blast around 5000 visitors were present in the compound of shrine,” he stated.
Among the dead, the minister said, 34 people belonged to Sindh especially Karachi and two were from Balochistan.
“This place is situated far off from the road in the midst of mountains
and one to tread five kilometers on foot to reach it. This delayed relief activists to reach the place.”
He said it is a private shrine and is not managed by either Auqaf department of the provincial government or the district government. Although it is situated in Khuzdar district jurisdiction, the only way to reach leads through Lasbela district.
He said usually a ten member section of Levies is deployed at shrine but at the time of blast only one personnel was on duty.
About linkages of the blast with CPEC, he said, there can be a possibility because it occurred just a day before the departure of first convoy of containers to world destinations through Gwadar Port.
“Since parts of CPEC highway is properly guarded, this was the soft target to strike.”
He said the terrorists might have tried to create an impression that Pakistan was not safe for business and investment.
“It was a desperate attempt. They are on the run and targeting soft
targets.”
He reiterated the resolve of the government to fight terrorism till this menace is rooted out and said with the implementation of National Action Plan terrorist incidents have declined visibly as compared four years back.
“We shall continue this fight for safety and security of our people and bring peace to society,” he added.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (APP): Two young Pakistani women Gulalai Ismail and Saba Ismail, cofounder of NGO Aware Girls have been conferred with the prestigious Chirac Prize for Conflict Prevention in recognition of their contributions toward development of a culture of peace and non violence through the action of women and youth in Pakistan.
The prize was awarded by the Former French Minister for Culture Chirstine Albanel in an impressive ceremony held in Quai Branly Museum, Paris on Thursday, a press release issued here said.
The ceremony was attended amongst others by French President Francois Hollande, the ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin ul Haque, intellectuals, members of civil society, diplomats and media persons in large number.
Gulalai Ismail cofounder of NGO Aware Girls after receiving the prize said their NGO with the help of young women is working successfully for empowerment of the women especially in the conflict zones to bring about qualitative changes in their way of life.
The French president while speaking on the occasion paid rich tribute to Aware Girls for empowerment of the women in the conflict zone.
He said Aware Girls is giving the women the possibility to participate in and monitor elections, to provide education to women and economically empowering them by providing micro credit.
The ambassador congratulated the recipients on receiving the Chirac prize and appreciated their work towards empowerment of women
in the conflict prone areas.
The Chirac Foundation was launched by the former French President Jacques Chirac, who served two terms in office between 1995 and 2007.
Since 2008, this foundation strives for peace through five advocacy programmes which include conflict prevention. The prize for conflict prevention has been awarded every year since 2009.
The Aware Girls is a young women led Organization, established in 2002 with the aim of strengthening leadership skills of young people  specially young women and girls enabling them to act as agents of change for women empowerment and peace building.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (APP): Minister for Defence Nigeria Dan Ali Mansur along with a delegation held a meeting with Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain and Secretary Defence Production Lt Gen ® Syed Muhammad Owais at Expo Centre Karachi and discussed matters of mutual interest.
Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain said that Pakistan considers Nigeria as a close, friendly and important country in the region and desires that existing cordial relations between the two countries get converted into active interaction in defence field.
The minister expressed his pleasure regarding recent sale of SMK aircraft by the PAC to Nigerian air force.
The minister apprised the delegation that PAC is geared up to meet the production targets defined in the contract. The minister also briefed the delegates about the JF 17 aircraft.
The minister proposed a Joint Committee on Defence Technical Cooperation in order to enhance defence industrial cooperation.
The minister expressed that Pakistan Defence Establishments can extend their expertise to Nigeria in order to develop their industry.
Defence delegation from Poland headed by Deputy Minister for Defence Production also had a meeting with Minister for Defence  Production Rana Tanveer Hussain at Expo Centre Karachi.
The minister thanked all the delegates for their participation in IDEAS 2016.