Category: Islamabad

ISLAMABAD:Information Minister Shibli Faraz has said Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals are guarantor of the safety and security of the country and its people.

In his tweets on Thursday in connection with Youm-e-Takbeer being marked today, he said it was on this day that the country got the distinction of becoming the first nuclear power of the Islamic world. He said the national dignity and security is supreme for us and the nation is united for the defense and development of the country.

The Information Minister said there are efforts and hard work of a generation behind making Pakistan a nuclear state. He said the PML (N) leader Maryam Nawaz should not link it with his family. He said the nation is fully aware of the party which always left its workers alone whilst taking the escape route. He said the PML (N) leadership has remained loyal only to the wealth not the homeland. Avenfield and other properties are a clear manifestation of it.

ISLAMABAD:Pakistan Navy relief operations continued in various part of the country. The operations are aimed to support deserving families during Corona Virus Pandemic. Pakistan Navy troops reached out to urban, far-flung rural towns/ villages and distributed necessary commodities including safety items to the underprivileged populace. Protective suits were also provided to related authorities/ hospitals.

In Sindh and Balochistan Provinces, thousands of families were provided ration bags, protection masks and disinfectant material. Ration was distributed at various localities in Coastal and Creeks Area, prominently in Ormara Town, Hub Goth, Gaddani, Mirpur Sakro, Sujawal, Saidpur, Goth Shah Abdul Latif Jandani and Goth Muslimabad. Pakistan Navy is also persistently supporting the vulnerable families located at seashores of Karachi including Hawks Bay, Manora, Salahabad, Younisabad Kemari Town, Shanti Nagar, Gonjani, Pehelwan Goth etc.

Wide-reaching relief activities were undertaken in Punjab Province where thousands of ration bags were distributed in various cities including Bahawalpur, Multan, Khanewal, Faisalabad, Chiniot, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Lahore, Daska and Sialkot. Additionally, medical and personal safety equipment including masks, gloves and protective suits were provided to local authorities and district hospitals in various small towns and cities.

Pakistan Navy Women Association (PNWA) also aimed to restore hope, educate community about safety precautions and extended donations to low-income and daily wages personnel. Ration bags were also distributed by PNWA to the distressed families in adjoining villages of Islamabad, Bani Gala, Bhara Kahu and Murree.

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi in his message on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr wished peace, progress and prosperity for the country and urged countrymen to reflect mutual sacrifice and brotherhood in this testing time of COVID-19 pandemic. The Naval Chief expressed solidarity with COVID-19 sufferers and their families. Pakistan Naval authorities also reached out and paid tribute to Shuhada families and ensured their wellbeing. Pakistan Navy midst challenges of corona pandemic is standing together with the nation to reflect commitment, unity and resolve.

Islamabad:The first cohort of 41 IPFP Fellows graduated from the inaugural National Faculty Development Programme (NFDP), a four-week intensive training course, which was conducted online through Microsoft Teams because of the coronavirus.

The graduating scholars are fellows of the Interim Placement of Fresh PhDs (IPFP) programme funded by HEC. This programme supports universities in getting the services of fresh PhDs for a period of one year in anticipation of their recruitment to regular faculty positions.

The NFDP course was organized by the newly established National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE). It aims to provide new faculty with the practical skills and competencies they will need in order to become successful academics. These include courses in teaching effectiveness, including online teaching, research management, and professional practice. This is in keeping with the HEC’s strategy that all higher education programs should be driven by the goal of future student success.

The programme, led by a team of national and international experts, was delivered in accordance with the highest standards online readiness established by HEC in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis. The NFDP 2020 course is to be delivered between now and August 2020 in 12 cohorts of 40 participants each. This is the first cohort of the course.

In his keynote address, Chairman HEC congratulated the graduating IPFP Fellows as well as the organizers and instructors of the programme for their commitment and the success they achieved under difficult conditions, this being NAHE’s first intensive program, which had to be delivered online and during Ramazan.

Mr. Banuri emphasized that the real success of this programme will come from the work of participants in the time to come. Lamenting the deterioration in the quality of higher education in Pakistan, he said that the current focus of HEC is to re-establish the value of our degrees and certifications. “Your success is not in getting this certificate. Your success, and our success, will happen when you provide excellent education to your students, when you do first class research, and when you help solve the problems that the country is facing. That will be the time to congratulate yourselves.”

He said that while the four-week rigorous programme had introduced the participants to a number of tools and techniques, the larger purpose was to learn the habits and practices that will take them towards success. Taking a leaf from Stephen Covey’s famous bestseller, the Chairman asked them to think about seven habits of successful academics, namely reading, writing, judging (or assessing), using scientific doubt, valuing time, pursuing excellence, and building a scholarly community.

Successful academics were avid readers and prolific writers, and it required sustained effort to acquire these habits. All academics are required to express their judgment, about ideas, about papers and books, about exam answers, about journal submissions, about students, and about candidates for selection. It is their fundamental role in society. They have to learn how to do so through constant hard work and practice.

The fourth habit is scientific doubt, without which there can be no science. The role of the academic is to pursue the truth and to separate truth from myths and fairy tales. Do not take things on face value. Today, it is easy to fact-check assertions.

Fifth, we must learn to value our own time and others’ time. Make a calendar, fix a schedule, and stick to it. Respect the time that the students give to you, and make sure that they benefit from it. Respect the time of your colleagues.

The sixth trait that he highlighted was the pursuit of excellence. He underscored that excellence is not a destination but a commitment, a journey. We have to ask ourselves daily if we are doing quality work, and how we could further enhance the quality of this work. We must learn to recognize and appreciate excellence in others, and to let excellence be our reward.

Finally, scholars have to find fellow scholars, others who are interested in similar goals. All knowledge evolves in scholarly communities. Everyone has to try to find kindred spirits, stay in touch with them, exchange ideas and opinions with them, and develop collaborative programs with them.

Earlier, in her welcome speech, Rector NAHE, Dr. Shaheen Sardar Ali welcomed the session participants and gave a brief introduction of the NFDP 2020. She congratulated the IPFP fellows and appreciated them for their hard work and commitment during all the sessions. She emphasized that the programme aims to provide a virtual, immersive, and integrated world-class learning experience that will prepare the participants for their academic careers.

The resource persons of the programme, including Dr. Steve Burian, Dr. Shazia Awan, Dr. Hassaan Khan and Dr. Saima Sherazi, also shared their experiences of the four-week programme and hoped that it will go a long way for participants to enhance and develop skills needed to become a good teacher and a successful researcher.

The participants’ representatives said that modules included in the training are valuable in capacity building of teachers and cover almost every aspect of the effective teaching. They appreciated NAHE for introducing this fantastic approach to teaching and research.

ISLAMABAD:National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has started supplying sixth consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the provinces.

A spokesperson of NDMA said 15750 N-95 masks have been dispatched to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 7350 to the Balochistan. The consignment also included 31500 protective suits to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 7300 to Balochistan. Other equipment being provided to the provinces include face shields, shoes covers, protective goggles and glasses and face shields.

The spokesperson said the supply of sixth consignment to all the provinces will be completed shortly.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed grief and sorrow over loss of precious human lives in tragic crash of PIA aircraft in Karachi on Friday.

In a statement, the Prime Minister prayed higher status for the deceased and commiserated with the bereaved families.

He directed concerned authorities and departments to immediately undertake relief and rescue efforts and provide medical aid to the injured.

The Prime Minister also ordered immediate inquiry into the plane crash incident. Imran Khan said he is shocked and saddened by the PIA plane crash.

In a tweet, he said I am in touch with PIA Chief Executive Officer Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi and with the rescue and relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now.

President Dr Arif Alvi expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of precious human lives in PIA plane crash incident. In a message, he commiserated with the bereaved families.

Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmed Shah also expressed grief over the tragic crash of PIA plane and ordered Aircraft Accident Investigation Board for immediate inquiry into the incident.

Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting, Asim Saleem Bajwa in his statement said that all available emergency resources are being utilized on the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan in rescuing operation.

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan too expressed grief over the crash of PIA Airbus 320 aircraft near Karachi airport on Friday. In their separate messages, they said that all out support will be provided to civil administration in rescue and relief operation.

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad incident of plane crash near Karachi airport. In their separate messages, they while expressing their sympathies with the affected families, directed all the concerned officials to provide best possible care to the injured.

They also directed the concerned authorities to carry out the rescue and relief operation in a coordinated manner. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar expressed deep sorrow and grief over tragic accident.

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan expressed grief over the tragic air crash of PIA Airbus, 320 aircraft. According to a press release issued by Pakistan Air Force, the Air Chief said that PAF stands by PIA at this difficult time and extends all out support in Rescue Operation.

ISLAMABAD:Information Minister Shibli Faraz has said the politics of Prime Minister Imran Khan revolves around the rights of the poor people.

In a tweet on Friday, he said the entire nation knows that the Sharif family is the ringleader of sugar mafia. He said they used the politics for business and exploited the masses.

He said the lust for wealth remained the centerpoint of Sharif family’s politics, for which they mercilessly used the institutions.

Washington:The International Monitory Fund said on Friday that Pakistan, on the status of their extended fund facility, which was in place before the crisis hit, remains in effect.

“Discussions were paused due to the outbreak of the pandemic, and there was a focus on the rapid financing instrument to help Pakistan combat COVID-19, and, again, that has been approved; $1.4 billion, our Executive Board has approved for Pakistan,” said Gerry Rice of the IMF’s Communication Department in a press briefing.

Rice said technical discussions continued with the authorities on the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) that’s the other instrument through which we’re supporting Pakistan. This would be the second review. We hope to bring it to a positive conclusion as soon as possible.

Rice said: “What else can I say, on the G20 Initiative and developing countries, including Pakistan? Again, you know, going back to what I said earlier, on this Debt Relief Initiative, you know, it’s important to recognize that developing countries include some very poor and indebted nations, but they also include many countries that have been developing successfully. So, it’s a broad spectrum, and I know many of you know that, but it’s important to keep that in mind. So, for many of these countries, you know, that have been developing successfully, for many of them, attaining creditworthiness, the ability and the willingness to repay their debts, constitutes a hard-fought success.”

The IMF official said: “So, that’s why I said earlier that a few developing countries have said, publicly, that they’re not inclined to take up the G20 Debt Suspension Initiative, you know, partly, because of that reason. What they want is a level playing field, in the form of stable access to finance on affordable terms, and, so, for this reason, the Fund’s priority is to ensure that these countries continue to have that access to appropriate external financing, as they go forward, and we try to contribute to that through our own lending and through initiatives, such as the G20 Debt Service Suspension, but let me be clear. As I said earlier, we also support all developing countries whose debts are unsustainable.”

“We support those countries in fighting for debt relief. Importantly, debt relief to countries whose debts are unsustainable should encompass not only official bilateral debt but also debt to the private sector.”

Rice said they will support their member countries, even whose debts are unsustainable in fighting for appropriate debt relief, and, again, whilst a few countries had indicated that they would not be participating in the initiative, the vast majority have either expressed a formal request to participate, or expressed interest, and we expect many more official requests in the coming days.

“We will support our member countries, even whose debts are unsustainable in fighting for appropriate debt relief, and, again, whilst a few countries have indicated that they would not be participating in the initiative, the vast majority have either expressed a formal request to participate, or expressed interest, and we expect many more official requests in the coming days,” Rice concluded.