Category: Islamabad

ISLAMABAD:In occupied Kashmir, India has planned to set up Nazi type concentration camps for Kashmiri youth to starve, torture and kill them.

According to reports, addressing a conference in New Delhi, warmonger former Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has given a clear indication of plan.

He said that young Kashmiri children are being radicalized and they need to be identified and put in de-radicalization camps.

Meanwhile, All Parties Hurriyat Conference and other liberation organizations in their statements have said that in the name of de- radicalization, the Kashmiri youth would be tortured in new camps.

They also appealed to world human rights organizations to take cognizance of Indian atrocities in Occupied Kashmir and impress upon New Delhi to give Kashmiris their right to self-determination.

ISLAMABAD:Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has appreciated the Indian Muslim woman journalist Rana Ayyub for exposing the fascist agenda of Modi by executing her professional responsibilities with bravery.

In a tweet on Friday, she said when a valiant person raises voice against oppression and persecution, it becomes a bright and commemorative chapter of history.

She said Rana Ayyub has unveiled the false claim by Modi government that “all is well” in the Kashmir and revealed deserted roads and darkness of fear in Srinagar before the word.

The SAPM said an article titled “Blood and Soil in Narendra Modi’s India,” published in a journal of New York, is a splendid acknowledgement of the capabilities of Rana Ayyub.

ISLAMABAD:Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that the government is committed to bring improvement in the living standard of ordinary people.

Addressing Pakistani-American community in Washington, he said foreign exchange has been stabilized owing to the prudent economic policies of the incumbent government.

He said the steps of government have resulted in a boost in the country’s exports. He said the revenue condition has also significantly improved in the country. He said bullish trend has been witnessed in the stock exchange and foreign investment has also increased.

ISLAMABAD:Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the government will meet the financial needs of higher education despite difficult economic situation.

Chairing a meeting on matters pertaining to higher education here on Friday, he said easy access of the youth to education is a priority of the government. He directed the Ministry of Finance to ensure uninterrupted supply of funds for higher education.

Speaking about curriculum, the Prime Minister said it should be ensured in the curriculum that the youth is enlightened about the Islamic and eastern values, particularly our civilization, heritage and Sufis’ philosophy.

He formed a committee under the leadership of the Minister for Education to oversee matters pertaining to financial needs of universities, provision of required resources, and financial rules and regulations.

He directed the Education Minister to ensure establishment and standard of universities and prepare a joint strategy in collaboration with the provincial governments regarding curriculum and other matters of higher education.

ISLAMABAD:The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Balochistan has successfully rescued the buses trapped by snowfall and heavy water in Kan Mehtarzai area of the province.

According to a report, this was stated by an official of the Authority in an interview in Quetta on Friday. The official said the buses were pulled out with the help of heavy machinery two days ago and now the situation is normal in the area.

He said some vehicles have been trapped in snowfall and rain water on Eastern Bypass in Muslim Bagh area and efforts are being made to pull them out. He said a dead body was also recovered form Muslim Bagh area on late Friday.

Islamabad:Private sector of Pakistan has a lot of potential to play its due role for well-being of the society. If encouraged and facilitated, the large businesses and the private sector has the potential and willingness to fight poverty significantly through different community development ventures including in health, education.

Renowned Business Leader, Philanthropist and Former Chief of Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), Sindh said this during a special talk titled “Extended Role of Private Sector in Community Development” organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here at Islamabad.

Chinoy said that no government, particularly in the developing world, can achieve development objectives without the participation and support of the community. He said that community development through philanthropy, charity or corporate social responsibility by the private sector will go a long way to help the government in the social sector.

“Our Memon community, when migrated from India, help resolve their majority issues through establishing their own community-led and community-owned development models”, said Chinoy adding through unity, commitment, trust and enthusiasm the different community groups able to establish model schools, health centers, where, without any discrimination based on creed, class or religion, everyone treated equally. Moreover, many other social work, services and initiatives such as marriages (Shadi-Madad), funerals, and housing etc., are being taken care of by these community development groups, he added.

Chinoy said it is unfortunate that the government failed to provide the education, health and other social services and facilities to the communities which push the people to come forward and help resolve their issues on their own. Lack of trust in the government is the major factor that the private sector is doing their own on community development work, which needs to be bridged for collective efforts to tackle the societal challenges, he added.

While describing the poor public service delivery of the government, Chinoy said that there are only 3882 government schools in 938 premises and only 4 general hospitals in Karachi, which has 18 districts and nearly 2 crore population. He said that the government schools in Karachi have the capacity to enroll around 5 lac students, whereas, only 2 lac and 35 thousand students are enrolled. This shows the level of governance, capacity and public service delivery by the government, he lamented.

On performance and importance of the community development initiatives led by the private sector in Karachi, Chinoy said that his community adopted 2 schools in every 18 districts and transformed to model schools through teachers training, curriculum development and incentivizing students, which resulted in significant increase of enrollments by 4 times. In the health sector, he said that his community establish more than 50 health facilities around Karachi including the Indus hospital, which is now being developed as a network of 14 Indus hospitals around the country and providing health services without discrimination.

While clarifying on terror financing through philanthropy or charity, Chinoy said that there is not a single penny goes to terror financing as their community development model is very transparent and has the mechanism of accountability, which can be monitored or checked.

To a question on regulating the philanthropy, Chinoy said that the government cannot not and should not regulate the philanthropic work, as there is a lot of trust deficit. However, the government should partner with the communities and allow community participation for inclusive decision making and well-being of the society. He urged the need for raising awareness on the community development models in the whole country, especially in the rural areas, to help resolve the societal issues.

Dr. Shafqat Munir, Senior Research Fellow, SDPI said that charity or philanthropy should not be regulated by laws, otherwise, it will undermine the spirit and enthusiasm of the public at large. He said corporate social responsibility (CSR) is, in fact, social impact investment and large businesses should take CSR as their business strategy which will help improve their businesses as well. Considering the potential and volume, the role of the private sector is very significant for the social sector and community development, he added.

ISLAMABAD:Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar has said that the government has set the target of reducing fiscal deficit to four percent in the next one or two years.

Speaking in the Senate on Friday during Question Hour, he said our fiscal deficit for the first quarter of current financial year remained within the target rather according to the IMF we over-performed in this area.

He said the government took difficult decisions to save the country from default.

He said we retired over ten billion dollars of debt in the first year which is the highest made by any government. He said foreign exchange reserves are also on upward trajectory.

He said revenue collection has also witnessed growth during the first half of current fiscal year and efforts are afoot to enhance non-tax revenue.

He said the private sector will be provided with an enabling environment to create job opportunities for the youth.

Hammad Azhar said the government has forecast to gradually reduce the debt to GDP ratio. For this purpose we will enhance our revenues and foreign exchange reserves besides cutting expenditures.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Khan Swati told the House that the process has been started to get approved regulations to ensure safety standards in the vehicles.

Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar said that commerce and finance ministries and the State Bank of Pakistan are in consultation to revive the sick industrial units.

He pointed out that the flawed policies of previous governments adversely damaged these units. He said different proposals including restructuring of their loans are being considered to revive them and enhance the exports.

Speaking on a motion, the Senators stressed the need for women emancipation and empowerment.

They said the political parties need to work together for this purpose.

They said the provincial governments should also come up with legislation to ensure women rights in inheritance as has been done in the federal capital.

They also deplored the incidents of violence against women and demanded those involved in such incidents should be brought to justice.

The House will now meet again on Monday at 3 p.m.