PPI News Agency

ISLAMABAD:Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib has said the wrong selection of candidates for local bodies elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the real cause of PTI’s defeat.

Talking to a private news channel, he said the party would make analysis about its mistakes regarding loss in the local government elections in the province. Farrukh Habib said victory and defeat in elections are part of the politics. He said it is astonishing that the opposition parties start praising the institutions when they win elections but whenever they lose, they start criticizing them.

ISLAMABAD:Mr Nicolae Goia, Ambassador of Romania to Pakistan called on Muhammad Ayub Afridi, Advisor to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, here in his office on Wednesday and congratulated him on his appointment as Advisor.

Besides, bilateral relations of mutual interests, the Advisor reiterated the Ambassador Signing of Proposed Bilateral Agreement between Pakistan and Romania so as to enhance manpower export between the two countries.

Pakistan has potential manpower to meet Romanian Labour Market requirements. The Advisor to the Prime Minister also urged close coordination between relevant officials of both the countries regarding data sharing of migrant workers in order to ensure protection of migrant workers before and after departure to Romania.

Open visa should be discouraged in order to promote safe, legal and orderly migration to curb illegal channels of migration. The Ambassador of Romania assured that he will take up these proposals with his government. Muhammad Ayub Afridi, thanked the Ambassador of Romania for his gesture and assured him of continued coordination and enhanced cooperation for export of Pakistani workers to Romania.

ISLAMABAD:Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan has said the government is working to bring improvement in health and education sectors to meet the challenge of the health related issues.

Addressing an event here on Wednesday, he said that reforms will be introduced in Drug Regulatory Authority. He said our society, including a large number of children is facing malnutrition challenges and we need to meet them with effective strategy. He said a section of our privileged segment is also facing this problem due to lack of education and information.

ISLAMABAD:Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a soft launch on Wednesday, broke the ground for the new model Panagahs being built in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) with improved standards and structure.

On the special instructions of the Prime Minister, the four new Panagahs are being built in Tarlai, Tarnol, G-9 and Mandi More areas of Islamabad adjacent to the existing facilities. The Prime Minister also unveiled the final plans of these multistoried Panagahs to be constructed.

He lauded Ehsaas team, Capital Development Authority (CDA), National College of Arts (NCA) and all concerned for their collaborative efforts and instructed to ensure the speedy execution of new model Panagahs.

Addressing the occasion, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of provision of quality food and service at the Panagahs. He directed the concerned departments to provide Ehsaas services at the Panagahs and also emphasized upon providing skill development training at the Panagahs enabling the residents to become contributing citizens in the society.

The Prime Minister appreciated the collective efforts of the concerned departments and directed them to replicate the model in the provinces on the same line. Earlier, Senator Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) briefed the PM on the Panagahs’ new strategic plan including construction, furnishing, governance, execution, digital monitoring, capacity building and financing.

She said in addition to ‘bed breakfast and meals’ facilities for labourers, these Panagahs will also have Ehsaas One Window Centers, to enable labourers and the underprivileged class to benefit from the government’s social welfare programs. CDA has given land on concessional rates to the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division for this purpose after Cabinet approval.

Earlier, the Prime Minister also unveiled the plaque and the new model of Panagah. To redesign the structure of model Panagah and furniture, Ehsaas has collaborated with National College of Arts (NCA) Lahore. The new Panagah design incorporates bigger kitchen, cold storage, reception, lobby, waiting areas, and enhanced capacity to offer food and shelter to those in need.

To offer best lodging and quality food to Panagah beneficiaries, Ehsaas and Serena Hotels are already collaborating. In the first phase, staff and occupants of all Panagahs in Islamabad are being trained on hospitality, food safety and hygiene, health safety and environment, and housekeeping, exercising regular monitoring of amenities.

Ehsaas has, so far, opened 27 Panagahs in different areas of the country including 5 in Sindh, 8 in KP, 7 in Balochistan, 5 in Islamabad and 1 each in GB and Punjab. Under the umbrella of Ehsaas, Panagahs offer one star plus bed and breakfast facility with meals, essentials, hygiene, laundry and security standards. Each Panagah serves free meals to around 500 people and offers 100-bed facility for overnight stay.

ISLAMABAD:Pakistan and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed six financing agreements worth 1.543 billion dollars for energy sector reforms, social protection, urban infrastructure, road sector and water resources.

Secretary Economic Affairs Division Mian Asad Hayaud Din from Pakistan and Country Director Asian Development Bank Yong Ye signed the agreements at a ceremony here on Wednesday). Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan also witnessed the signing ceremony.

These agreements include 300 million dollars policy-based loan to support financial, technical and governance reforms to strengthen Pakistan’s energy sector; 385 million dollars financing agreement to improve urban infrastructure in five cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 235 million dollars project loan to dualization of 222-kilomater Shikarpur-Rajanpur Section of Indus Highway and 603 million dollars results-based lending program to strengthen and expand Ehsaas Program.

Two project readiness facilities for preparing Kurram Tangi Integrated Water Resources Development Project of worth 5 million dollars and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Investment Project Phase-II costing 15 million dollars were also signed.

Minister for Economic Affairs expressed his deep appreciation and thanked the President, Senior Management and Board of Directors of Asian Development Bank for their continued and enhanced financial support towards reforming energy sector, improving road networks, enhancing social protection and developing sustainable cities in Pakistan.

Vice President ADB Shixin Chen, on the occasion, said that despite a challenging situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan continues to make progress in implementing comprehensive economic, fiscal and structural reforms.

He appreciated the mass vaccination program for controlling the spread of COVID-19 for which ADB also provided 500 million dollars to Pakistan. Director General, ADB Eugene Zhukov assured that that ADB will continue to support the government’s development priorities and stands committed to support Pakistan for a green, resilient and sustainable recovery.

ISLAMABAD:Prime Minister Imran Khan has said local government (LG) elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the start of modern, devolved local government system as exists in successful democracies.

In a twitter message on Wednesday, he said that amidst the noise over KP LG election, no one realizes this point. He said directly elected Tehsil nazims will improve governance and create future leaders. He said for the first time in our 74-year history we have an empowered local government system.

ISLAMABAD:President Dr Arif Alvi has emphasized the need for accelerating efforts to increase enrolment rates in universities, particularly in the IT and Engineering sectors, so as to fulfill the market demand for skilled graduates.

Chairing a meeting with the Vice-Chancellors, Rectors of federally chartered universities and degree-awarding institutions here on Wednesday, he said regional countries are producing a far-greater number of university graduates than Pakistan and our universities should focus on the promotion of online and distance learning to boost the number of Bachelors and Masters Graduates in the country.

The President urged the universities to equip their students with marketable skills by developing academia-industry linkages for enhancing the graduate employment rate in Pakistan. He also called for making concerted efforts to improve the quality of virtual education through properly designed online courses, and improved content delivery and assessment methods.

In his remarks the Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood underlined the need for producing quality graduates by focusing on skills-based education, faculty development, and making investments in labs and associated educational facilities.

The meeting discussed various proposals for increasing the number of BS and MS graduates, besides exchanging views on Higher Education Commission’s (HEC’s) Online and Distance Learning policy and its criteria for ranking of universities.

Keeping in view the market demand for a skilled workforce, the meeting also discussed the prospects of introducing Associate Degrees (2-year degrees) in different fields and improving the quality and standard of higher education in Pakistan.