Day: December 31, 2021

KARACHI:Pakistan Navy Fleet Annual Efficiency Competition Parade held at Pakistan Navy Dockyard, Karachi. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi graced the occasion as Chief Guest. Upon his arrival, the Chief Guest was received by Commander Pakistan Fleet, Vice Admiral Ovais Ahmed Bilgrami and Guard of Honour was presented by a smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Navy Fleet, according to a PN statement issued on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff expressed complete satisfaction over operational readiness of Pakistan Navy Fleet and lauded the dedication and professionalism of officers and men for successfully achieving significant operational objectives and milestones. The Admiral commended PN Fleet efforts and contributions towards regional maritime security and protection of Pakistan’s Sea Lines of Communication. He highlighted Pakistan Navy endeavours to ensure seaward security of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Gwadar Port and maritime related projects of CPEC.

Naval Chief reiterated that Pakistan Navy is fully cognizant of changing geopolitical realities in the region and stands resolute to defend country’s sea frontiers. The Admiral also underscored that prevalent global and regional geostrategic environment demands Pakistan Navy to remain ever vigilant and battle to safeguard Pakistan maritime interests.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Commander Pakistan Fleet highlighted achievements during the outgoing year making particular mention of the conduct of a number of Live Weapon Firings, Multinational Exercise AMAN-21, HADR missions, various bilateral exercises with friendly countries, Overseas Deployments, and Regional Maritime Security Patrols undertaken by Fleet units. Later, Chief of the Naval Staff gave away Efficiency Award shields to best performing units of various Squadrons of Pakistan Navy Fleet.

KARACHI:Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday declared that every family in Punjab will get the “revolutionary” Sehat Card.

Imran Khan launched the distribution of Naya Pakistan National Sehat Card among the entire population of Punjab province enabling every family to avail medical treatment of up to Rs1 million a year at both government and private hospitals.

Calling it a “revolutionary step”, the prime minister said “Neither everyone can take, nor any of the governments in the past took such a bold decision of providing Rs1 million health insurance to the entire population.”

Addressing the ceremony, Imran Khan lauded the Punjab chief minister, health minister and the whole team involved and said the Punjab government had moved on the course which would uplift the country, in pursuance of the forefathers’ vision to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state.

He said under the program 30 million families would benefit from the health insurance facility which would cost Rs 400 billion to the government. He said our forefathers had dreamed to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state but unfortunately it could not be developed on that course.

Citing Madinah State as first welfare state which fulfilled all basic responsibilities of its citizens, the prime minister said unfortunately, no such state was found in the Muslim world rather the Scandinavian states were close to that model.

Naming Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the prime minister said a state always believed in inclusive growth and had compassion for the weaker segment. He said any individual or nation abiding by the teachings of Allah Almighty would get His blessings.

He said all the Scandinavian countries did not have more resources than Pakistan but they were more prosperous by having adopted the model of a welfare state. “Today, the Punjab government took such a step to put the country on the course of uplifting this nation… We want to make Pakistan for which it was established. If we don’t opt that course, it will be great treachery with the Indian Muslims who had voted for it,” he remarked.

He said some leaders in the past claimed to make Pakistan an Asian Tiger which could in no way be greater than the idea of a welfare state like Madinah. The prime minister told the gathering that the time would prove that initiative of Sehat Card, involving almost equal funding, would have far better outcomes than the Metro Buses or Orange Train.

He said all families across the province would get the Sehat Card by March and also resolved to replicate the model in Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. He said the Sehat Card would lead towards the development of health infrastructure across the province as it would attract the private sector to build hospitals even in remote areas.

He said the government would close down the government hospitals in far-flung areas where the doctors did not want to be posted, to save the cost. He said the government would incentivize the private sector by allowing duty-free import of their equipment to expand the network of private hospitals.

The prime minister told the gathering that a silent revolution was in the making through the government’s initiative of housing construction loans by banks for the salaried class after the government removed all the impediments. He said the people had applied for loans worth Rs 260 billion out of which Rs 110 billion worth loans had been approved and Rs 34 billion disbursed already.

He said under Kamyab Pakistan Program, around 2 million people had been given interest-free loans for house building. Moreover, under the same program, a loan of Rs 0.5 million was also being given to the farmers and others to establish their own businesses. Through the Ehsaas Ration scheme, almost 54% of the population was being given a 30% subsidy on the purchase of ghee, flour and pulses.

Earlier, the prime minister also distributed Sehat Cards among the beneficiaries. In his address, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar said the provincial government had allocated Rs 399 billion health budget compared to Rs 169 billion from 2013-18.

He said 23 big hospitals were nearing completion, the up-gradation of 158 health facilities had been completed while 78 projects were in the pipeline. He said the provincial government was spending Rs 37.5 billion on the purchase of medicines. Moreover, he said the government would soon fulfill its commitment by filling 100,000 vacancies.

KARACHI:Sindh Information and Labour Minister, Saeed Ghani, has said the Pakistan People’s Party and people of Karachi reserve the right to stage a protest sit-in outside Sindh Governor House as the place symbolizes the federal government in the city against whose incompetence and anti-people policies the PPP has been doing agitation. The Sindh Information and Labour Minister stated this on Friday while talking to media persons here at the Sindh Assembly building.

Ghani mentioned on the occasion that the People’s Party had been holding protests all over the country against natural gas crisis, hike in the prices of essential products, incompetence, ill-advised and anti-people economic policies of the present federal government.

He said that the activists of the PPP had as much the right to do protest outside Governor House in Karachi as much the Opposition political parties in the province possessed the right to do agitation at the Sindh Assembly or Chief Minister against the new local government amendment bill. He hoped that the Opposition in the province would not object if the PPP chose to do protest at Sindh Governor House as part of its series of agitation against the unjust policies of the federal government.

He reminded the Opposition parties in the province that the Sindh Assembly was the only appropriate forum, which should be approached by them to duly present amendments to improve the provincial local government law. He said the Opposition parties instead of using the forum of legislature had done agitation and staged the walkout as per their usual practice in the house when provincial local government amendment bill was presented in the Sindh Assembly.

The Sindh Information Minister said that the taxation burden on the masses in the country would be increased by Rs 160 billion because of the newly presented mini budget of the federal government.

He said the federal government had wrongly claimed that the people of the country had to merely bear an additional burden of Rs two billion as the result of the mini budget. He said the withdrawal of exemption earlier given to raw material imported for medicine manufacturing in the country would further increase inflation in the country. He also condemned the federal government’s decision to impose taxes to the tune of billions of rupees on the machinery used by the industries in the country as this act would further the process of retardation of the national economy.

He said the people of the country were directly affected due to unprecedented hikes in the prices of electricity, gas, dollar, sugar, wheat flour, petrol, and other essential products. He hoped that a small minority of the concerned lawmakers of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf would do agitation and would not vote to pass the newly presented budget as they had to face the public to seek their votes in the next general elections. Ghani said that he was not hopeful about Muttahida Quami Movement being an ally of the present federal government to take such an usual step to prove their loyalty and commitment to the people. He said the MQM had the plans to disturb situation of peace in the city.

KARACHI:Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the Public Health Engineering department (PHE) to complete 151 on-going water supply and sanitation schemes launched for Rs11.428 billion so that people of different villages could take benefit out of them.

The PHE dept has a portfolio of 301 schemes worth Rs15.5 billion, of them 151 are on-going, therefore must be completed by the end of current financial year. This he said on Friday while presiding over a meeting to review progress of development schemes launched by PHE dept here at CM House. The meeting was attended by Minister Local Govt Nasir Shah, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Secretary PHE Saeed Awan, Secretary Finance Asif Jahangir, Special Secretary Local Govt Mustafa Suhaq and engineers of the PHE dept.

Minister Local Govt Nasir Shah briefing the chief minister said that the scheme of installation of Desalination plant at Manora, Karachi scheme was launched for Rs427.648 million and it would be made functional in July 2021. He said that similarly the water supply scheme for 48 villages of Union Council Kathore, malir Karachi of Rs140.2 million, water supply scheme for Allah Bux Jokhio, UC Darsano Channo, Malir of Rs20 million, water supply scheme of Mohammad Brohi Goth, UC -30 Chashma, Bin Qasim Malir of Rs20 million, Rs144.337 million water supply scheme from Hub Dam to 42 villages of Distt West, laying of water supply line of Murad Goth UC-5 District West for RS14.323 million, schemes of ultra-filtration water supply plant scheme, Tando Jam of Rs617.441 million and various others would be completed by July 2023.

The chief minister directed the minister to depute his team to visit each on-going schemes to monitor their pace, quality and completion in time. “We are going to complete 151 schemes of Rs11 billion this year, therefore their benefit must be taken by the villagers,” he said.

Rural Development dept (RDD): The minister also said that the Rural Development department has also launched 74 schemes of Rs1 billion in the village of various districts. He added that these schemes include construct of link roads, repair and maintenance of small metaled and brick roads. The CM was told that out of 74 schemes of RDD 27 would be completed by July 2022.