Day: October 8, 2021

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar has said the flow of country’s circular debt in the power sector has reduced significantly.

In a tweet on Friday, he said it has declined to thirteen billion rupees during the first two months of current fiscal year as compared to eighty-six billion rupees in the corresponding period last year.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi will be undertaking a visit to the United Arab Emirates on 9-10 October 2021.

During the visit, the President will meet the UAE dignitaries and formally inaugurate the Pakistan Pavilion in Dubai Expo 2020. Dubai Expo 2020 is the largest and most diverse exhibition in the region with participation from 192 countries, multilateral organizations and businesses.

The Expo commenced on 1 October and will last till 31 March 2022. Pakistan Pavilion in the Expo 2020 is located at one of the prime areas of the Expo site and is considered the largest Pavilion of Pakistan outside the country.

The Pavilion, with the theme “Hidden Treasure”, showcases the unexplored and undiscovered riches of Pakistan. During his stay, the President will also meet leading businessmen, investors, entrepreneurs, senior representatives of IT companies and media, and also interact with members of the Pakistani community in the UAE. The visit coincides with the 50 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the UAE. Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates have enjoyed close fraternal relations, rooted deep in common faith, shared history and cultural affinities.

The UAE is Pakistan’s largest trading partner in the Middle East and a major source of investments. The UAE is also among Pakistan’s prime development partners in education, health and energy sectors. Around 1.6 million Pakistani expatriates in the UAE contributed remittances of more than US$ 6 billion in the last financial year. Frequent exchange of high-level visits between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates play a pivotal role in enhancing bilateral ties and close cooperation.

ROME: Politicians from the G20 countries have a key role in tackling global challenges such as worsening hunger and the climate crisis, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) seeks deeper cooperation with them to accelerate progress, Director-General QU Dongyu said in a statement today.

“This meeting is possibly one of the most critical gatherings held under the Italian G20 Presidency. It brings together the officials that can develop policies and legal instruments to address the pressing challenges that we face together, globally,” Qu told a meeting of parliamentary presidents from the G20 nations focused on Food Security and Resilience in the face of COVID-19

“FAO recognizes that Parliamentarians are strategic partners as they provide the legal frameworks, approve public budget allocations and ensure government accountability on international commitments,” he added. Under Italy’s Presidency, the G20 has renewed and strengthened its political commitment to global food security and improved nutrition. In June, a first-ever joint meeting of Foreign Affairs and Development Ministers was convened and the Matera Declaration was adopted.

The declaration, named after the southern Italian town in which it was signed, also boosted the Food Coalition in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Food Coalition, conceived by the Italian Government and led by FAO, is working to leverage high-level political, financial and technical expertise supporting countries’ needs.

In the meeting with the parliamentarians, Qu highlighted the potential for collaboration with both the Food Coalition and also FAO’s flagship match-making Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which aims to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty and end hunger.

The Food Coalition and the Hand-in-Hand initiative are both uniquely positioned to achieve the agri-food systems transformation the world needs, the FAO Director-General said in a session also addressed via video by UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina J. Mohammed.

Even before the pandemic, the world was off track to end global hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030, with 811 million people in the world facing hunger last year. Efforts to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels, were also off track.

“Agri-food systems are both a victim of and a contributor to the climate crisis, and therefore must be part of the solution,” Qu said. FAO has been supporting the role of parliamentarians in the fight against hunger and malnutrition for many years and has helped to create Parliamentary alliances in every region of the world, including in the European Parliament. These alliances have already passed more than 35 laws on school feeding, family farming, climate change, small scale fisheries, food loss and waste and many other relevant topics.

Technical support from FAO to more than 45 parliamentary alliances against hunger all over the world was crucial during the pandemic. It contributed, for example, to the passing of several laws to mitigate the impact of restrictions on trade and movement on smallholders.

“Your policy choices guide and influence non-G20 countries,” Qu added, noting that the meeting was an important venue for policy dialogue and the conception of novel initiatives and mechanisms. Qu reaffirmed the commitment of FAO to continue supporting national and regional parliaments in their efforts to promote food security through national legislation.

Facilitating access to technical knowledge and data and promoting the exchange of good practices, experiences, and approaches, FAO stands ready to cooperate to achieve MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life – leaving no one behind, Qu said.

PANJGUR: Collectorate of Customs, Balochistan claimed to have foiled a bid to smuggle foreign gears worth millions of rupees in two different operations conducted in Panjgur area of the province on Friday.

According to a statement issued by the media cell of Collectorate of Customs, Balochistan, foreign gears, including dried Iranian milk, engine oil, 15000 litre Irani diesel worth millions of rupees, were seized in two different operations conducted at Customs Check Post, Panjgur.

Mazda and Hino Truck, used for smuggling, were also impounded in the operation. Praising the performance of staff of Customs to have taken part in the operations, Collector Customs, Gwadar, Chaudry Javed and Additional Collector, Shahid Abbas said that operations against the menace of smuggling would continue.

Meanwhile, Meeran Khan, Special Magistrate, Quetta, has been transferred and posted as Acting Deputy Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, according to a notification issued by the Government of Balochistan, Services and General Administration Department.

Karachi, ICC Industries Limited informed Pakistan Stock Exchange that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company scheduled to be held on October 08, 2021 at Lahore to consider approval of Annual Audited Accounts of the Company for the year ended June 30, 2021 is in progress.

ICC Industries Limited, previously ICC Textiles Limited, manufactures and sells grey fabric and rents out vacant buildings and / or open area of the company’s premises.