GWADAR: Seven regional countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya and Qatar on Monday expressed their commitment for cooperation on the development of Gwadar.
With their respective ambassadors present at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, the regional countries showed their support for the development of Pakistan’s port city.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on the occasion also witnessed the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding with the government of China for carrying out development projects in Gwadar.
The accords included the implementation agreement on setting up of 1.2 MGD desalination plant to resolve the shortage of drinking water for the residents of Gwadar.
Other agreement included China’s grant for solar generators for South Balochistan, and the groundbreaking of North Gwadar Free Zone and Enterprises.
Also on the occasion, the Chinese investors through video-link from Shanghai showed the ‘Expression of Commitment for Investment’. Those who pledged to invest in Balochistan’s different sectors included Huang Weiguo (textile), Huang Daoyuan (prefabricated technology), Fang Hongyan (agriculture), Shen Jian (wool spinning), David Dia and Chen Yi (dairy processing) and Bao Dequan (textile).
Seven countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE commit cooperation for Gwadar’s development
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will take up the issue of India’s terror-financing at international level, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Monday.
Qureshi in a statement said India’s nefarious designs posed a threat to regional security, which needed attention from the international community.
He said Pakistan had earlier submitted a dossier based on clear evidence of the Indian terrorism to the United Nations and would again exploit all important fora to highlight the issue.
As the world stood united against terrorism, he said, “it must take notice of India’s continuous terror-financing to create unrest in Pakistan as witnessed in the recent Lahore’s Johar Town attack”.
He pointed out that checking terror-financing was one of the goals of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and stressed that the international watchdog needed to focus on India’s illegal activities.
Qureshi said Pakistan was taking all possible steps to prevent terrorism and protect its borders.
He mentioned that Pakistan had done border-fencing and had cleared the tribal areas of terrorists to ensure development. Also, the enactment of legislation to curb terror-financing and measures against money laundering were taken, he added.
The foreign minister said Pakistan wanted to promote ties with regional countries to attract investment for the prosperity of the country.
On the Afghanistan situation, he said if the unrest continued, Pakistan would be embroiled in a ‘two front’ situation, which would be contrary to the global goals of achieving peace.
For the repatriation of Afghan refugees, he stressed a well-timed and well-resourced strategy to become part of the Afghan peace process.
On Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), he said the policies of India had failed miserably as the Kashmiri leadership was dissatisfied with the Indian government.
He mentioned that the Kashmiri leaders in a recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanded a review of the unilateral and unconstitutional measures of August 5, 2019.
Pakistan to take up India’s terror-financing issue at int’l level: FM
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad Monday said Indian’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) orchestrated the Johar Twon blast in Lahore.
Addressing a press conference, he said the mastermind behind the Lahore tragedy had links with RAW.
The interior minister appreciated the role of security agencies for exposing the elements allegedly involved in Lahore incident and said a group had also been arrested in Karachi.
He said RAW and its subsidiaries were involved in sabotaging the peace of Pakistan and they were trying to destabilize the country through various tactics.
Sheikh Rashid said the situation in Afghanistan now would not be similar to that in the 90s as the opposition, government and armed forces were on the page over the Afghanistan issue.
He said the fencing with Afghan border would be completed soon while with Iran in a year time. The entry at Chaman border was being linked with the electronic system, he added.
He said overall, three to four million Afghan refugees were currently present in Pakistan.
“We detected a gang comprising 30 NADRA employees from Karachi for their alleged involvement in preparing forged computerized national identity cards (CNICs),” he said adding NADRA would be purged of elements allegedly involved in issuing fake CNICs to the people. He said 19 people had already been suspended.
The interior minister said Pakistan desired peace in Afghanistan as it was interlinked with it.
He informed that Prime Minister Imran Khan would visit Uzbekistan this month to enhance bilateral trade and economic ties.
During his visit, the interior ministry would sign two accords, including visa on arrival for five to seven days as well as the provision of free visa on diplomatic passport, he said adding the flight operations between Lahore and Tashkent had also been restored.
ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi has so far recovered Rs 33.246 billion in Fake Bank Accounts Scam Cases, Director General Irfan Naeem Mangi said while briefing a high level meeting of the bureau chaired by NAB Chairman Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal.
According to NAB Spokesman, the high level meeting reviewed the performance of NAB-Rawalpindi especially the looted amount recovered by bureau in Fake Bank Accounts Scam Cases. Briefing the meeting, DG, Rawalpindi Irfan Naeem Mangi informed that the bureau has recovered Rs 31.906 billion through Plea Bargain and recovery of state land.
Giving details of Pea Bargain recoveries in Fake Bank Accounts Scam Cases, he said a sum of Rs 2.13 billion was recovered from Syed Arif Ali and Syed Asif Mahmood; Rs 20.352 million recovered from Harish son of Kalumal; Rs 20.206 billion from Hammad Shahid, Abdul Ghani, Tariq Baig, Muhammad Iqbal, Mohammad Touseef, Aamir, Siraj Shahid and Ehsaan Elahi; Rs. 299.27 million from Nadeem Younas, CEO M/s Zafar Enterprises, Abdul Sattar Qureshi, Aslam Pervaiz Memon, Ex- Executive Engineer, RDD, Baldev, Ex- Director Technical, RDD, Uzair Tahsin, Director Wadood Eng. Services Pvt Ltd, Muhammad Jaffar, Director Wadood Eng. Pvt Ltd, Abdul Rasheed Channa, Ex-Divisional Accounts Officer, Ayaz Ahmed Siddiqui; Rs. 50 million from Shahzaib Mahmood, Zulfiqal Ali and Arshad Iqbal; Rs. 11.884 million from Shafqat Mumtaz and Muhammad Abdullah; Rs. 2,129.78955 million from Zain Malik Director of M/s Bahria Town Pvt Ltd; Rs. 200 million Zain Malik authorized Director of M/s Bahria Town Pvt Ltd; Rs 1,563.01992 million from Zain Malik; Rs. 1,563.01992 million Zain Malik; Rs. 31.79456 million Zain Malik; another Rs. 170 million recovered from Zain Malik; Rs. 4955.95 million from Zain Malik; Rs. 82.9535 million Tara Chand, Ahmed Mastoi and Ghulam Sarwar. All the plea bargain was approved by the relevant accountability courts.
The DG, Rawalpindi informed the meeting that NAB Rawalpindi has recovered Rs. 1,005.72 million through pardon in Fake Bank Accounts Scam Cases.
The details of the pardon recoveries in Fake Bank Accounts Scam Cases included an accused Nadeem Ahmed Khan had surrendered Plot No. St 28 & St 28/A, Block-1, Scheme-5, Clifton Karachi to the concerned department in Reference No. 03/2019 regarding Illegal allotment of amenity plots ST-28 & ST-28/A Block-01, Scheme-5 Clifton Karachi; Accused Sajawal Khan through legal heirs Yousaf Eidhi surrendered illegally allotted 30.03 Acres land valuing Rs. 494.78 million in Investigation regarding Misappropriation of Land owned by Govt. of Sindh and Pakistan Steel Mills by public functionaries of BOR, Manzoor Qadir Kaka and others and Rs. 10.94 million was recovered from accused Amjad Hussain in a case of extending illegal favors to M/s Technomen Kinetic (Pvt) Ltd and others in projects of Sindh Nooriabad Power Company & Sindh transmission and dispatch Company (STDC).
NAB Rawalpindi recovers Rs 33 bln in Fake Accounts scams
ISLAMABAD: Chairman China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Lt. Gen. (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa Monday said that work for Iran’s trade through the Gwadar Port (in and out) was in progress and the trade would start soon through the port.
“The Ramadan-Gabd crossing point near Gwadar is active and fully functional now, fencing work with Pakistan-Iran border is going on rapidly and new border markets are being established at the crossing points,” he said adding the smuggling to and from Iran is decreasing due to increase in regulated trade.
In his video message here, the Chairman said after completion of development works of Gwadar Port and first phase of Gwadar Free Zone, Prime Minister Imran Khan was going to perform the ground breaking of second phase of the Zone.
He said as compared to the first phase which comprised of 60 acres of land, the second phase would be a huge project comprising of 2200 acres of land.
Chairman Bajwa said around 7 to 8 big Chinese investors from Shanghai would also participate in the ground breaking ceremony where they would make commitments in Gwadar Zone and inform about their future plans in Pakistan.
He said some 46 enterprises were engaged in the Free Zone phase-I while 12 factories were being established out of them three were completed.
He informed that the traffic at the port was increasing everyday and last year the trade volume increased by hundreds of times as 60,000 MT of cargo was transported during the year 2020-21 compared to only 1300 MT in the preceding year.
Besides, he said five LPG vessels were berthed at the Gwadar Port.In future, he said the cargo volume would increase with even higher pace as interest for transshipment and industrialization was increasing with every passing day.
ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Monday said that Pakistan’s exports to the United States (US) during fiscal year 2021 increased by 39 percent as compared to last year 2020.
In a tweet, he said that Pakistani exports to US were recorded at $ 5.2 billion as compared the exports of worth $ 3.7 billion of last year, showing increase of $1.45 billion.
“This is the first time in our history that our exports to the US have crossed the $5 billion mark,” he added.
He commended the efforts of exporters and Trade and Investment Officers (TIOs) in the US.
He urged the TIOs at Pakistan’s trade missions in New York and Houston to provide all possible facilitation to the exporters for enhancing exports further.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan and Iranian President-elect Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi Sunday emphasized the need for continuing to facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned inclusive political settlement.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Imran called up Raisi and congratulated him on his victory in the presidential elections. He told Raisi that his election manifested the Iranian people’s trust in his leadership.
Imran also thanked Iran for its steadfast support on the Jammu and Kashmir issue.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction over the upward trajectory of bilateral relations and agreed on further boosting the existing cooperation, in particular in its economic dimension.
It was affirmed that establishment of border sustenance markets along Pakistan-Iran border was an important step, which would yield economic and social benefits for the people of both countries.
In the regional context, Prime Minister Imran expressed concern over the worsening security situation in Afghanistan, and cautioned that the latest developments could lead to serious repercussions for both Pakistan and Iran, resulting in an influx of refugees towards their border areas.
MULTAN: A Islamabad-bound plane carrying PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday made an emergency landing at the airport in Multan, airport officials told media. According to the airport officials, the plane had to land in Multan due to “technical reason”. Later, according to Ali Haider Gilani, Bilawal left for the capital via the motorway. Bilawal is accompanied by Sindh ministers Saeed Ghani and Nasir Hussain Shah.
Plane carrying Bilawal lands in Multan due to tech teason
ISLAMABAD: In a bid to remove controversies over official figures, the government has moved a summary for seeking approval of Prime Minister Imran Khan for the appointment of Chief Statistician at the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), a post that was vacant for the last four years.
The appointment of Chief Statistician has become most important because the government wants to move ahead on holding a fresh population census in the country in 2022, ahead of the next general elections through the use of technology, so its spadework requires an appointment at the top level, which became the top priority of the government.
There are three major contenders for this top MP-1 position, including Naeem Ul Zafar, Malik Allah Baksh Awan and Hashim Populzai but Naeem Ul Zafar is on the top in the race at the moment. Naeem Ul Zafar had served in the Planning Commission as Member Social Sector in the past.
Dr. Ishrat Hussain-led committee interviewed the three candidates and now the summary is lying on the table of Prime Minister Imran Khan for getting his final nod.
“A panel of candidates has been finalized and a summary forwarded to Prime Minister Imran Khan for seeking his approval,” Secretary Planning Hamid Yaqoob confirmed when contacted by media recently. After getting so-called autonomy one decade back in 2011, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics was in a pathetic position as in the last nine years its rules could not be devised. So officers got stuck up when they reached at Grade 20 position. The posts of Members of PBS are also falling vacant at the moment. Sarwar Gondal, who is the Member Services Support, also holds the position of Resource Management (RM) and his tenure is going to be completed on July 17, 2021. “So far, no advertisement has been given for appointment on two posts, including Members Support Services and Resource Management, because lobbying is underway to get the appointment of Gondal through an extension,” said the sources. The extension under the law and Peshawar High Court judgment cannot be granted until the appointment of Chief Statistician.
ISLAMABAD: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) is going to establish four different centres of excellence with varying objectives ranging from countering the growing Islamophobia especially in the Western world, to raise the analytical level of discourse in the Muslim scholarly community; to disseminate the philosophy and thought of Allama Muhammad Iqbal; to produce oral histories and train oral historians; and to promote Sufi thought based on the principles of love, peace, and equality.
Executive Council, the supreme body of the university in its 120th meeting held here the other day under the chairmanship of Prof Dr Zia Ul Qayyum, Vice Chancellor AIOU gave formal approval for the establishment of Centres of Excellence of Seerat Studies, Sufi Studies, Iqbal Chair of Muslim Thoughts, and Creating Achieves Intelligentsia of Pakistan. While explaining the objectives of the Centres of Excellence of Seerat Studies, Prof Dr Zia Ul-Qayyum said that the proposed Centre would help the Pakistani society as well as the Muslims around the world by forming research groups and working as a think tank to provide a logical response to those who are propagating negatively against Islam and the Muslims.
