ISLAMABAD, Dec 30 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain Wednesday advised the students to concentrate on their medical studies through research and hard work, so that they could equip themselves with the best knowledge
and passion to serve the humanity.
Speaking at a convocation of Shifa Tameer-i-Milat University, the President told the students to consider their sublime profession as motivation to serve humanity.
The students must feel obliged to their teachers and parents who enabled them to adopt a noble profession, he said, adding that they should not use their profession for merely earning.
The President expressed his pleasure over the female students’ ratio of excelling in various fields of the country.
“They should become identity for Pakistan,”  he said, advising the students to prefer the core settled values of humanity.
He said that there should be special package for those medical professionals and practitioners serving in the most backward and remote areas of the country.
Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal was also present in the event.
The President urged the students to play their due role in elimination of corruption and other social evils.
“The youth of the country should know that a better future awaits them and the issues being faced by the country would linger no more due to the prudent economic policies of the government,” he added.
The President also reiterated that the operation against terrorism would continue.

ZHOB, Dec 30 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif laid foundation stone of western route of China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC), Zhob-Mughal Kot (N-50) and Qila Saifullah-Wagum Road (N-70), here on Wednesday.

Earlier, he was accorded a warm welcome by Governor Balochistan, Muhammad Khan Achakzai, Chief Minister Balochistan, Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri, Chief Secretary Balochistan, Saifullah Chathha, Inspector General
Police Balochistan, Ahsan Mehboob and senior officials on his arrival at Zhob Airport.
Prime Minister was accompanied by senior political leaders including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, Pashtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, National Party, President, Mir Hasil Khan Bezinjo, Awami National Party leader, Mian
Iftikhar Hussain, Pakistan Muslim League-Q leader, Mushahid Hussain and Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security, Lt-General.  (retd) Muhammad Nasir Janjua and senior officials.
The Premier laid foundation stones (Up gradation) of Zhob-Mughal Kot (N -50) and Qila Saifullah-Wagum (N-70). The 81 kilometers long Zhob-Mughal Kot road project, a part of CPEC to be completed at the cost of Rs 8.80 billion by 2018.
Qila Saifullah-Wagum (N-70), 126 kilometers long road project will cost Rs 7.50 billion and it would also be completed by 2018.

ISLAMABAD, Dec 30 (APP): Minister for Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafique on Wednesday said work was in progress to introduce an innovative e-ticketing system to facilitate millions of passengers travelling through this mode of communication.
Around 80 percent work on this system has been completed and expected to be operationlized by June next year, he said this at a briefing session, organized here by Pakistan Institute of Legislative and Development and Transparency (PILDAT) in connection with launch of a report entitled Pakistan Railways: A Performance Analysis.
The Session discussed performance of Pakistan Railways where key stakeholders evaluated Railways performance and offered recommendations and a way forward.
Chairman, National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways, Syed Naveed Qamar, Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak and some other legislators shared their perspectives on the occasion.
Obeying the proverb better late than never, he said Pakistan Railway besides taking numerous development measures would introduce e-ticketing system to improve ticketing and reservation through which Railway customers would be able to book seats online.
Short Messaging Service (SMS) to inform passengers about delay in passenger trains would also be introduced.
Highlighting the success story of Railways that had almost come to a halt during previous regime, Saad Rafique said Rs. 18 billion income was generated in financial year 2012-13 that increased to Rs. 23 billion in 2013-14.
In the current year, the department has been given target of Rs. 32 billion but we are expecting to touch Rs. 35 billion mark.
Similarly, he said the losses of Railways have been brought down from Rs. 32 billion to Rs. 27 billion, hoping it would further brought down to Rs. 24 billion.
Saad Rafique said the railways was creating history by launching new services and appreciated its management staff and workers who made it a success. He said though a lot had been done, there was still much more that was yet to be done.
He said work on the upgradation of 21 railway stations was
underway where modern facilities including petrol pumps and shopping malls would be provided and added four station have been given to a Chinese company for the purpose while 17 station are being upgraded by a local company.
The Minister said work has been started from Narowal railway station while Nankana Sahib and Hassan Abdal would also be upgraded.
He said addition of 20 million new passengers in last two years was a proof that people rely on the railway service.
He said there was an improvement in punctuality and the number of engines had increased from 160 to 280 and added not even a ‘marla’ of railways land had been sold, while 3,100 acre land had been recovered from land mafia and added the government of KPK facilitated Pakistan
Railways in releasing its land while other provinces were not
cooperating.
He said railways was not defaulter of any other organization and merit was being strictly adhered to in all affairs.
He specifically lauded the workers union for not interfering in the administrative affairs and for working hard to make their organization a success story.
The Information Technology (IT) and Human Resource areas in Pakistan Railways were also being strengthened through posting of professional staff and to bring improvement in service delivery and staff efficiency.
He further informed that engineering univerisites have been asked to introduce courses in railway specialization while Railways academies were also being upgraded to ensure modern training to employees.
He said the organization was writing a new chapter in its history by launching a new train service with all modern amenities and expressed the hope that it would soon turn into a profitable organization.
The Minister mentioned some freight trains from Karachi to other parts of the country as weekly number of such trains has reached 60 from mere 4 trains few years ago.  He also mentioned Green train between Islamabad and Karachi.
He said laying of double track between Lahore and Karachi, automatic signalling and express freight train would help the department not only in generating more revenues but also improve its capacity and services.
Syed Naveed Qamar and Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak appreciated Saad Rafique for bringing improvement in railway services and also floated recommendations to make it a profitable organization.
President, PILDAT, Ahmad Bilal Mahboob presented analysis on Performance of Pakistan Railways and said while major challenges remain for country’s largest passenger and freight network, the past two years since 2013 have shown improvement in performance of Railways.
Pakistan Railways earnings have increased and its punctuality rate is up from 53 % in 2013 to 70 % in 2015.

The Railways was able to exceed its targeted earnings during 2014-2015 and reduce its financial deficit.
These improvements have come about through larger investments in infrastructure development, purchase of new operational locomotives and an increase in quality of services.
However, the sustainability of this trend will depend on the political will of the top political leadership and continued dedication of the Railways team to the mission of turning this crucially-important state institution around.
PILDAT study in analyzing performance of Railways is an attempt to showcase state of affairs at this important institution and present to citizens and policy makers alike some of recommendations that can help ensure improvement.
The briefing session was followed by a discussion session where participants including parliamentarians, government officials, members of media and civil society discussed way forward for Railways.

ZHOB, Dec 30 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Wednesday said that a hefty amount of Rs150 billion to Rs200 billion would be spent in the next three to four years in Balochistan for alleviating its backwardness.
He said there was no precedent in the history of Balochistan that construction work on massive roads network conitinued on such  fast track basis.
The Prime Minister was addressing a huge gathering after performing ground breaking on the upgradation of 81kms Zhob-Mughal Kot road (N-50) and 128 kms Qila Saifullah-Waigam Rud road (N-70).
He said the upgradation of these roads would be completed within the next two years besides, completion of entire 2,428kms roads network linking other provinces with Balochistan.
He said as part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor, 194 kms road from Gwadar to Khushab would be inaugurated next month whereas Khushab-Panjgur -Basima 454kms road be completed by December 16 by the Frontier
Works Organization (FWO).
Khuzdar-Wanguhil-Shahdad Kot, 243kms road would also be completed by the next year, he announced, adding all these projects were being funded by the government of Pakistan out of its Public Sector Development Programmes (PSDP).
He praised the Director General FWO Maj. Gen. Muhammad Afzal and NHA chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarrar for their hard work and commitment.
The Prime Minister also referred to Kalat-Quetta-Chaman and Kharan phase-1 roads which would be completed in the next year while feasibility work on Zhob-Jandola road was being done.
He said uplift of the province was the top priority of his government as it would benefit the entire country.
“The project would open up opportunities of trade and business for the whole region and help in removing backwardness of the province. Soon,
there will be dawn of prosperity of which Balochistan would be the major source of fast track progress, “he added.
The Prime Minister also appreciated the national leaders who were at hand today for jointly laying foundation of the two road projects.
He expressed the hope that all the political parties would collectively work for the national prosperity and against terrorism and play their due part for the durable peace and prosperity.
He said that individually, he could not perform such tasks and thanked the political leaders accompanying him for their support.

ISLAMABAD, Dec 30 (APP): Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid Wednesday said the PML-N government firmly believed in transparency and good governance, so it did not feel shy of any scrutiny to judge its performance.
Addressing the inaugural session of the seminar on “Transparency in Public Sector: An Appraisal” organized by Ministry of IB&NH here the minister said transparency, undoubtedly is an essential ingredient of good governance whose importance could hardly be over-emphasized.
He said that the hallmark of the efforts of the government in reviving the economy had of course been transparency. The fact that no mega-corruption scandal, unlike the past, had been reported and unearthed either by the vigilant media or the transparency monitoring agencies, was a proof of commitment of the PML(N) government to do things in right
direction and in transparent manner.
The minister said that holding of the seminar on this issue by  the government, in itself was a testimony to this fact.
He said that the purpose of convening the seminar was to conduct an appraisal of transparency in public sector with regards to development efforts of the government during the last two and a half years.

He hoped the seminar would prove to be quite informative for the guests and particularly those from the diplomatic community.
The minister said the seminar would also help in disseminating authentic information to the public in regards to the performance of the government and its unwavering commitment and adherence to transparency.
Besides, he added, it would afford an opportunity to the government to further strengthen the process of transparency in  light of the observations of the appraisers, by removing infirmities pointed out by them.
When the PML (N) formed government consequent upon winning the franchise of the people, he said the country was confronted with formidable challenges.
The minister said that undaunted by the permeating situation, the PML(N) government under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif took these challenges head on with determination and dedication. The
minister said it launched necessity-driven policy initiatives in line with the election manifesto of the party in all these areas.

As a result of the measures and initiatives taken by the government during the last two years the ambience of gloom has been transformed into vibrant optimism and a real, verifiable and discernible change is evident in all the spheres of the national life.
The economy was on the upward curve signifying the commencement of an era of sustained economic growth, he said adding that the foreign exchange reserves had increased, inflation had been brought down to
single digit to a level of a ten-year low.

He said energy shortages had been overcome to a large extent and the load-shedding had been reduced to a bare minimum.
The enhancement of economic relations with China under the umbrella of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was another testimonial of the success of the new vision.
He said today the PML (N) government could also rightly boast of orchestrating unity among all the political parties and other stakeholders with respect to attaining lasting peace and stability in the country as well as in the region.
Now after two and half years, he said, the PML (N) government could look back with satisfaction in regards to its performance in all the areas that posed threatening challenges to the country, including economy, when the government was installed.
Earlier Secretary IB&NH Saba Mohsin Raza in her speech highlighting the objectives of the seminar said independent experts and analysts at the seminar would review the performance and transparency of the present government.
She said that the government was striving to ensure transparency in the public sector projects but the same was not fully reflected in the media.

ISLAMABAD Dec 30 (APP): Minister for Planning Development Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday assured the Senate that the design and construction of road in the western corridor of CPEC would be as per the specifications adopted
by NHA for its all projects.
During the question-hour, he said that the constructed road would be able to carry the cargo and heavy traffic as per the design specifications standards.
The minister said that decisions taken in the All Parties Conference regarding the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be implemented in letter and spirit.
The northern, eastern and western routes are all among ongoing projects that have been approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council years ago, he said.
The minister said that the project relating to the eastern route had also been mentioned under the communications Division’s portfolio in the Public Sector Development Programme 2015-16.
He said that most of the projects in the eastern route including M-4 motorway and M-9 Hyderabad-Karachi motorway were in progress.
The projects which are included in the eastern route are part of Peshawar-Lahore-Karachi Motorway.

PESHAWAR, Dec 30 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain here Wednesday emphasized upon elimination of terrorism and corruption for sustained progress and development of the country.
Addressing concluding ceremony of the week-long “1st Governor FATA Youth Festival” here at Qayum Sports Complex as Chief Guest, he called upon the youth to play their imperative role for wiping out corruption and
terrorism from the country.
The President said killers of innocent people and perpetrators of brutal terrorists’ attacks like one on Mardan NADRA Office do not deserve any mercy, adding the entire nation was united in the fight against terrorism and operation against them would continue till elimination of the last terrorist.
The President said sports can play a key role in promotion of peace and protecting youth from going into wrong hands, adding the nefarious designs of enemies of peace could be frustrated by promoting sports events in FATA with regular intervals.
I feel immensely happy to see joy on the faces of FATA youth, it clearly indicates that terrorism and unrest has been crushed and peace restored in Fata, he said. The youth is the future of Pakistan and enemies of the country would not be allowed to exploit them for their ulterior motives, he added.
He said that the government is recompiling academic curriculum keeping in view the modern age needs and interests of FATA youth.

Commending the sacrifices, steadfastness of tribal people in fight against terrorism, the President said their sacrifices would be written in golden words in the history and assured to address their genuine problems on priority basis.
He said the dignified repatriation of temporary displaced people to their hometowns would be ensured and all hurdles in their resettlement would be removed with an objective to bring FATA into mainstream.
The President said corruption during the previous regimes had adversely affected process of development in the country and no significant mega energy and power project was launched by previous governments.

He said the present elected Government after coming into power paid full attention to energy sector, revival of economy and launched scores of power projects to address problem of energy shortfall on priority basis.
Together we ought to fight against corruption and socially boycott the corrupt elements besides exposing them, the President said.
He said majority of the well reputed monetary institutions have appreciated the economic policies and success of PML(N) Government for which credit goes to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his team. He said the country was moving in right direction and making progress.

ISLAMABAD, Dec 30 (APP): Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that the PML (N) government under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was fully cognizant of the need for
completely transparent governance and service delivery, besides eliminating corruption from all the government departments.
“The government has, therefore, taken concrete measures to ensure that all its decisions and operations are conducted transparently in the larger interest of good governance”, he said while addressing the concluding session of one day seminar on “Transparency in public sector :an appraisal” here at a hotel.
The seminar was organized by Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage and was attended by ministers, diplomats, senior government officials, experts, academia and journalists.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid inaugurated the morning session and also attended the concluding session.
Ishaq Dar said that the performance of the last two and a half years was in itself a proof that “our government is committed to transparency and good governance at every tier.”
Pakistan’s ranking in the Transparency International Index, he said which was at 127 in 2013, slightly improved to 126 in 2014 and will further improve when the 2015 rankings are announced.
He added that due to prudent policies and austerity measures taken by the government, the fiscal deficit which was 8.8 percent when PML-N government came into power which has been brought down to 5.3 percent and it would further be reduced to 4.3 percent during the current fiscal
year.
He added that tax collection growth rate during the five months of current financial year had witnessed an increase of 16.8 percent.