Day: December 7, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Inclusion of women and the youth in the much-needed social dialogue is the need of hour and is prerequisite for ensuring decent work in Pakistan.

This was stated by the experts on Wednesday at a roundtable, ‘Agenda Setting for Social Dialogue on Decent Work in Pakistan,’ on the third day of 25th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and jointly held alongside UNESCAP’s 6th South and Southwest Asia High-level Political Forum and Policy Dialogue on SDGs. The 4-day conference is being held in Islamabad from 5-8 December 2022.

Dr Rabia Razzaque from International Labour Organization (ILO Pakistan) said that social dialogue is an end and means to end in itself to improve decent work conditions. Rubina Jamil, General Secretary of All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF), blamed the absence of trade unions for poor communication between employees and employers thus leading to poor workplace conditions.

She pointed out that the European Union (EU) guidelines pertaining to women under GSP+ are not being implemented despite female labour dominating garments and textile sector. “We’ll have to take chambers of commerce on board on this issue to ensure rights of women workers,” she said, adding that the government, trade unions and civil society will have to work together to promote the rights of labours.

Khalid Mehmood, a labour court lawyer, said the country lacks an enabling environment for masses to organize themselves at different levels, thus hindering social dialogue. He stressed the need for strengthening democratic norms for holding an effective social dialogue. Syed Nazar Ali, Secretary-General of Employer’s Federation of Pakistan (EFP) said social dialogue is the key to consensus development, which is possible by promoting democratic norms and freedom of expression.

Noor Zaman, the Chairman of National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC), said that the establishment of work council is mandatory as per law and is crucial in the absence of trade unions. He further said that NIRC is working to come up with legislation to ensure decent work and ensure registration of informal sector. He stressed the need for ensuring female representation in trade unions.

Zahida Parveen Mughal, Secretary for Women Workers Alliance, said that women participation in workforce is rising with diverse employment opportunities, but there still remains the need to increase awareness on employment opportunities, knowledge of laws and increasing representation of women in federations and unions.

Saad Muhammad, Deputy General Secretary of Pakistan Workers Federation, stressed the need for strengthening youth representation in trade unions. He said lack of awareness among youths on workers’ laws and forums must be focused. He suggested that basic labour laws should be incorporated in the curriculum to improve understanding and awareness. Arooma Shehzad, General Secretary of Domestic Workers Union, said that inclusion and true representation of all stakeholders, which is a prerequisite for social dialogue, must include domestic workers.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the government to form a new joint investigation team (JIT) comprising intelligence officials to probe the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya.

A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial directed this while hearing a suo-motu case on the killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif. The court directed that the JIT should include officials from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the police.

The court directed the government to issue a notification and inform it about the members of the JIT by tomorrow (Thursday), adding that the probe should be conducted by senior officers. The court also directed that the members of the JIT should also be experts in understanding the case and gathering evidence from other countries. The court asked the foreign affairs ministry to assist the JIT in collecting evidence abroad. It said that help of international agencies including the UN should be sought for investigation into the killing.

The CJP said the court has not constituted a judicial commission as it is a criminal case. He said the investigation should begin from Khurram and Waqar, the two men Sharif was in contact with in Kenya. The CJP noted that the court wanted an independent team to investigate the issue, adding that the court did not want any member to have connections with any influential person, who may influence the investigation.

The government on early Wednesday had constituted a five-member JIT to probe the killing of Arshad Sharif following registration of the first information report (FIR) on the court’s Tuesday’s order. Inspector General Police Islamabad constituted the JIT on early Tuesday and named Deputy Inspector General Police (Headquarters) Islamabad as its Chairman. The court, however, rejected this JIT and ordered for new one.

During the hearing, the CJP said that the report of the government’s formed fact-finding committee that visited Kenya was provided to the court at 1:00am by the Interior ministry. The CJP directed the government to seek cooperation from the Kenyan government. He said the journalist was brutally murdered. He said some witnesses of the case were in Pakistan.

Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman read the fact-finding committee’s report on the murder. He stated that the report had been provided to Sharif’s family. Later, the hearing was adjourned till tomorrow (Thursday).

ISLAMABAD: The National Centre for Cyber Security (NCCS) at Air University organized the 3rd International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ICCWS-22) in order to provide a platform for researchers and professionals engaged with contemporary research in the emerging areas of cyber security at national and international levels.

Air University has had the privilege of hosting an IEEE International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security since 2020. Vice Chancellor, Air University Air Marshal (r) Javaid Ahmed, while expressing his viewpoints, highlighted that the cyber world is complicated and constantly evolving, says a statement released by the Air University, Islamabad here on Wednesday.

Certainly, the cybersecurity workforce needs to be trained in a well-defined formal way to meet and exceed national cyber security requirements. He mentioned Air University as one of the pioneer institutions in Pakistan to initiate numerous training programmes in cyber security that are well recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan.

Chairman P@SHA M. Zohaib Khan, while addressing the ceremony emphasized that Cybersecurity is a burning issue not only in Pakistan but across the globe. He was appreciative of Air University’s various efforts and the most recent initiative of the National Cyber Security Academy. He added programmes like these helps in improving Pakistan’s cybersecurity posture, both nationally and internationally.

He strongly recommended the HEC to strengthen the National Centre of Cyber Security further and fully support the Indigenization and commercialization efforts to help NCCS in establishing the Pakistan Cyber Security Industry.

Director, National Center for Cyber Security Prof Dr Kashif Kifayat, in his speech added that he is proud to lead NCCS which has helped Pakistan move up in the global rankings for cyber security. This center is a collaborative platform that welcomes adjunct faculty members and researchers from academic institutions, both locally and internationally, who specialize in industrial cyber security. He emphasized the need to make the future generations of Pakistan better prepared than any of their predecessors to handle fast-evolving cyber threats.

On the occasion, Chief Information Security Officer Asif Meenai and Air Commodore (r) Afzaal Ahmed Khan Director ORIC also signed an MoU between Air University and Habib Bank Limited (HBL). The MoU demonstrates the parties’ intent and willingness to work together in areas of shared interest, particularly in the fields of big data, artificial intelligence, cyber security, and machine learning.

The two-day International Conference includes a number of presentations, keynote speeches, panel discussions, technical hands-on workshops, paper presentations, technical expert talks, and illuminating statements by CEOs and CISOs of prestigious companies.

Several national and international keynote speakers from various countries, including Estonia, Belgium, Qatar, Malaysia, and the USA, are also invited to deliver cyber security talks at the International Conference. Through this, the ICCWS offered students and professionals from all over the world an extraordinary learning opportunity.

Practitioners from all over the world shared their research, ideas, methods, and experiences connected to various aspects of cybersecurity, giving the participants a fantastic opportunity to deepen their understanding and affect real change for Pakistan’s future.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sajid Hussain Turi on Wednesday visited the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham, District Khyber where he was briefed in a meeting about matters related to import, export, trade opportunities, humanitarian relief, e-visa, the border situation and others.

The meeting was attended by officials of the FIA, ANF, NLC, FIA, Nadra, FC, Customs and border management. The Minister was also briefed on the humanitarian relief, Pakistan is providing to brotherly Afghans visiting Pakistan. Member of Provincial Assembly Bilawal Afridi also accompanied the Federal Minister during the visit. On this occasion, Sajid Hussain said Pakistan had always desired sustainable peace in the region to promote trade and stability.

He emphasized on facilitating cross-border trade, promoting economic activities so that the standard of living of the people on both sides of the border could be elevated which is in the interest of both the countries. He said full facilities should be provided to the patients coming to Pakistan for treatment and polio drops must be administered to the children. The Minister advised the authorities to support local population’s engagement in the cross-border trade and maximum employment opportunities should be given to them.

He stressed the authorities to take measures for the safety and welfare of labourers engaged in loading and uploading at the border. He said all such workers will be registered with the Employees Old Age Benefit Institution, Workers Welfare Fund and Workers Welfare Board so that they can get all the benefits and provide better health and education facilities to their children.

The Minister appreciated officials for their efforts and border management and said that efforts are also underway to provide best facilities and welfare by EOBI, WWF and WWB to the labours of newly merged districts (former FATA). He said he assures his full support to labours and locals of district Khyber.

Mr Turi also held a public hearing in Jamrud and heard the problems of the local community, political leadership, industrial and trade unions representatives and assured that he would convey their grievances to the Prime Minister, his party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and concerned authorities.

He said after the merger of FATA, people are facing numerous problems and it is the responsibility of the government to redress their grievances so as to speed up the process of bringing these areas into the mainstream of the country.

He said that he assures all possible support to provide better facilities to the laborers of Khyber and people working abroad, especially through the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development and its related departments. The Minister announced opening of OPF School, Working Folks Grammar School and Workers Hospital for district Khyber.

ISLAMABAD: Former Convener of Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGs Riaz Fatyana on Wednesday said that Pakistan has excellent legislation and policy frameworks in terms of environment-friendly development and industrialization, but lacks capacity and commitment with the cause of implementing sustainable development goals (SDGs), thus, concerted efforts should be made to address the issues of sustainable development and better environment.

He was speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Review of Selected Goals for HLPF 2023 in South Asia’ on the 3rd day of Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and jointly held alongside UNESCAP’s 6th South and Southwest Asia High-level Political Forum and Policy Dialogue on SDGs. The 4-day conference is being held here in Islamabad from 5-8 December 2022.

Mr Fatyana added that there is a huge funding gap in effective city management, so the capacity of the city governments needs to be improved to make our cities livable places. He was of the view that increasing air pollution and other forms of urban pollution have become serious challenges which require extensive mass awareness campaigns.

Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, Economic Advisor for Ministry of Finance, earlier highlighted the importance of knowledge sharing to address the developmental and environment-related issues in the region. From effective town planning to dealing with issues such as water scarcity, unavailability of clean water, lack of health and education infrastructure, regional countries need to enhance cooperation to learn from each other about their best practices.

Dr Posh Raj Pandey, Chairman, SAWTEE, Nepal, and Mr Kewal Prasad Bhandari, Secretary, National Planning Commission, Nepal, earlier shared the recommendations finalized through a group discussion amongst the panelists.

The experts highlighted that although South Asian countries are somehow making progress to achieve SDGs, especially that are related to provision of basic services to the population, serious issues such us inclusive development, sustainable urbanization, responsible industrialization, and the basic services such as health and education are not available to a majority population in the broader terms. They highlighted the importance of enhancing regional cooperation amongst the South Asia countries, especially to help each other in achieving SDGs for sustainable and inclusive development.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Health Services Abdul Qadir Patel has thanked the United States for its continued support during COVID-19 especially during the recent floods.

He stated this while addressing a ceremony held here in Islamabad on Wednesday to receive the aid of worth seven point five million dollars medical oxygen supplies by the U.S government to Pakistan.

The Minister said these efforts reflect the strong bilateral relations between the two countries. Speaking on the occasion, the US Ambassador Donald Blome said the donation is not just about COVID-19, it is an investment into Pakistan’s long-term health system.

He said the support will also provide training to 163 hospitals throughout Pakistan to increase their capability to treat patients suffering from severe COVID-19 and other lungs issues.

ISLAMABAD: The National Voters’ Day was observed across the country on Wednesday, to highlight the importance of vote and to encourage people, especially youth and women, to participate in the electoral process.

The day is marked in commemoration of the first general elections in Pakistan held on this day in 1970. The main event of the National Voters’ Day was held at the premises of Election Commission of Pakistan in Islamabad, which was addressed by the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), and other organizations also organized seminars and awareness campaigns to observe the Day in a befitting manner.