Day: September 22, 2021

KARACHI: Today, the steering committee of Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship programme, during its ninth meeting decided to reopen the Ehsaas’ scholarship application portal on September 30, 2021.

To receive new applications for the academic year 2021-22, the online portal will remain open for next two months. Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM and Dr. Shaista Sohail, Executive Director, Higher Education Commission (HEC) co-chaired the meeting. Dr. Sania stressed on the need for timely payments to students so that they do not have to take loans. “This is not a reimbursement model. Students have to be paid on time, to facilitate them”, she said.

She also instructed HEC to strictly reprimand universities who do not pay students on time and those who deduct money from the Ehsaas scholarship stipend amount on account of other expenses. Further, she instructed that full visibility should be made of those universities which have done this and that they should be blacklisted. Dr. Sania also instructed staff to make a visibility dashboard and stressed on the need for each participating university to be transparent about when they receive money from Ehsaas, vis-à-vis, the cheque numbers and dates on which students have been given stipends. “This is very much in line with the transparency policy of Ehsaas where all benefits going to beneficiaries are publicly posted online, as for Ehsaas Kafaalat”, Dr. Sania added.

All students with family income of less than Rs. 45,000 a month studying in the undergraduate programme across any of the 129 public sector universities recognized by HEC will be eligible to apply. In the last two academic years, over 142,000 need-cum-merit based Ehsaas undergraduate scholarships have been awarded.

This year also, 50,000 scholarships will be awarded to deserving students. Students will be able to apply through the online portal: https://ehsaas.hec.gov.pk/. The need cum merit-based undergraduate scholarship of Ehsaas covers hundred percent tuition fee of the university and a living stipend.

Ehsaas undergraduate Scholarship programme will support 200,000 students from low-income backgrounds over four years. Total budget is Rs. 24 Billion. The programme covers all the four provinces, AJK, GB and ICT. As part of the undergraduate scholarship policy of Ehsaas, fifty percent of awardees are girls. For already enrolled awardees, their academic performance will be tracked, and subject to satisfactory academic progress, they will continue to receive the Ehsaas scholarship till the completion of their undergraduate degree.

Lahore: A delegation of the National Commission on the Status of Women led by its chairperson Nelofar Bakhtiar called on Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar at his office on Wednesday and discussed matters of mutual interest.

The CM apprised the delegation about the steps taken for socio-economic empowerment of the womenfolk adding that 18 women workers hostels and 1221 daycare centres have been established across Punjab. Similarly, women development centres have also been established in universities for career planning and capacity building in addition to starting online training programmes for the women, he continued. Meanwhile, a helpline facility is provided to give necessary legal guidance for the solution of women related problems, he said. The government has also strengthened the Violence Against Women Center in Multan and such facilities will also be established in Rawalpindi and other districts to provide prompt institutional support to the women in need, he said.

The CM assured that the chairperson of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women will be appointed soon and the government will also review resolving women related problems through a joint platform. I regularly review the problems of women detainees during field visits and the government is committed to providing facilities to prisoners through holistic reforms, he told. In this regard, necessary amendments will also be introduced to revamp the outdated system; the CM maintained and asserted that any mistreatment of the women prisoners will not be tolerated.

The CM directed Nelofar Bakhtiar and members of the commission to visit different jails. The PTI government is the custodian of the rights of women which are around half of the population, he observed. It has taken practical steps in this regard instead of making tall claims, he maintained. It is committed to giving equal rights as no society can progress without practical participation of the womenfolk in the national development process, the CM observed.

The government has also taken steps to protect women in public places and strict action has been taken against the incidents of harassment. The harassers do not reserve any leniency; he maintained and added that respect given to womenfolk in Quran and Sunnah is a guiding principle for all of us. The Punjab government will fully support the National Commission on the Status of Women, he added.

Nelofar Bakhtiar appreciated the steps taken by the Punjab government and stated that practical work has been done in Punjab to provide facilities to women inmates in jails. Law Minister Raja Basharat and others were also present.

KARACHI: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi met with Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York today. Views were exchanged on the latest developments in Afghanistan and bilateral cooperation between the two sides.

Foreign Minister Qureshi stressed that Afghanistan was at a cross-roads and that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was of crucial importance for Pakistan and the region. He called for sustained and positive engagement of the international community, particularly of the EU, for supporting stability and socio-economic development in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister conveyed Pakistan’s concern to the High Representative over the unwarranted and negative references to Pakistan in a recent resolution of the EU Parliament on Afghanistan.

He recalled the efforts made by Pakistan for the promotion of peace and stability in Afghanistan, sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, and the assistance of Pakistan to ensure safe evacuation of diplomats and other officials from Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister and EU High Representative discussed the modalities for establishing closer cooperation between the EU and the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan to prevent a humanitarian crisis, avert an economic collapse, and preclude a mass exodus from Afghanistan.

In the bilateral context, the Foreign Minister expressed his satisfaction at the cooperation between Pakistan and the EU and stressed the importance of holding Political as well as Pakistan-EU Strategic Dialogues at the earliest. The Foreign Minister shared a Dossier containing evidence of India’s grave violations of human rights, international humanitarian law and UN Security Council resolutions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the international community to stay engaged with Afghanistan to avert humanitarian and economic crises in the war-torn country.

He was talking to his counterparts from Ireland, Portugal and Egypt in New York. The Foreign Minister stressed that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is of vital importance for Pakistan and the region. He also highlighted Pakistan’s efforts in facilitating evacuation of diplomatic personnel and staff of international organizations from Afghanistan.

The Foreign Minister shared with his Portuguese counterpart the comprehensive Dossier containing evidence of India’s human rights violations, war crimes and illegal attempts to bring about a demographic change in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

He also presented to his Norwegian counterpart a comprehensive Dossier documenting India’s gross and systematic violations of human rights in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He underscored the need for increased collaboration with Norway in the political, economic, clean energy and other areas of mutual interest.

KARACHI: Handing over ceremony of 2 x Tugs built for Pakistan Navy was held at PN Dockyard. Vice Admiral Naveed Ashraf Commander Pakistan Fleet, graced the occasion as chief guest. The ceremony was attended by high ranking officials from Pakistan Navy and engineers/ workers of KS and EW.

The Tugs has a length of 25 m with a displacement of 250 tons. It has maximum speed of 12 knots and is propelled by two diesel engines having azimuth drive propulsion system with automated integrated machinery and tug handling system. These tugs are equipped with two diesel generators, a diesel driven fire pump, navigational radar, firefighting system, deck crane, sewerage treatment plant and towing arrangements.

Chief guest Naveed in his address said that construction of these tugs at Karachi Shipyard is yet another example of sheer hard work and dedication by the engineers and workers of KS and EW. He appreciated the timely delivery of these tugs, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant challenges like non-availability of OEM engineers and Kit-of-Material etc. He congratulated all stakeholders particularly management and workforce of Karachi Shipyard for achieving this important milestone.

Earlier, MD KS and EW, Rear Admiral Ather Saleem, in his welcome address said that workforce of yard was proud to be entrusted with such projects and thanked the valued customers, Pakistan Navy for reposing confidence in KS and EW.

He further highlighted commitments of KS and EW had increased manifolds but his teams were more determined, motivated and geared up to undertake the future challenges. He apprized the august gathering about the recent Inauguration of Ship Lift and Transfer System (SLTS) by Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan which would go a long way in enhancing yards, shipbuilding/ ship repair capabilities.

He further apprised about ongoing projects including, MILGEM Class Corvette, FAC(M) 4, Tugs, GRP Boats for PN and 1500 T MPV for PMSA. He assured that KS and EW is committed to deliver state of the art platforms and services to the utmost satisfaction of the end users.

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office has rejected as baseless and misleading some media posts from Indian journalists attributing the cancellation of the proposed informal SAARC Ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, to Pakistan.

In a statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said this is yet another example of fake news pedaled by India and propagated by its pliant media to mislead the international community.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has said the government is launching ‘track and trace’ system to expand tax network across the country.

Talking to a private news channel, he said the government has details of non-filers and will approach them to pay taxes properly. The Finance Minister said point of sale machine is being installed to streamline business activities.

He said growth rate and revenue collection are increasing due to prudent economic policies of the incumbent government. About inflation, he said the government would provide targeted subsidy to provide relief to deserving people.