HARIPUR: Despite scorching heat all over the country the water inflow in Tarbela Dam on Monday reduced which also decreased the water level of the reservoir to 1434.23 feet. According to the Tarbela Dam officials, today the water inflow was recorded at 109700 cusecs feet while the outflow was 132300 and the water level of the reservoir was 1434.23 feet. Today 10 power generation plants out of 17 have produced 1324 megawatts of electricity while the plants were working with low capacity and seven of them were shut down. It was also disclosed that today 600 cusecs of water were released for Pehur High-Level Canal (PHLC) to supply water, some areas of KP for irrigation. It is also expected that owing to the upcoming rainy season and melting of glaciers the water inflow in the Tarbela dam reservoir would increase and would raise the power generation of the dam. On the other side, the water level of Khanpur lake has also dropped and only 18 feet above the dead level, if the situation persists then water supply to the twin cities Islamabad and Rawalpindi would be suspended. According to the Khanpur dam officials, today the water level of the reservoir was recorded 1928 feet while the dead level of the lake is 1910 feet. It was also disclosed that if dry weather conditions continue in the Hazara division then the Khanpur dam reservoir would be able to supply water to twin cities only for few days and later on it would be suspended.
Category: Pakistan
Pakistan
Delay in Kashmir dispute solution may cause devastation: APHC
ISLAMABAD: In Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference has termed the Kashmir dispute as a great threat to the world peace saying that further deferment of this issue may produce devastating consequences on a wider scale. APHC Secretary General Molvi Bashir Ahmed Irfani in a statement issued in Srinagar expressed deep sorrow over the stubbornness of Indian fascist regime led by Narendra Modi. He advised New Delhi to learn a lesson from the ground situation prevailing in Kashmir where despite the huge presence of its military forces, common people, particularly the youth dare to come out with naked chests against the roaring guns and chant slogans for their freedom from Indian subjugation, KMS reported. Molvi Bashir said, “We have no option but to lead our freedom movement to its logical conclusion. With this unwavering commitment, the people of Kashmir have rendered immense sacrifices to fulfill the dreams of martyrs,” the statement said. The APHC leader condemned the incessant cordon and search operations carried out by the Indian occupation forces and the recent upsurge in the arrest spree of the youth under the draconian law of Public Safety Act and said that India being a police state has no moral right to claim as a democratic country. He urged the UN Secretary General to take cognizance of the random and illegal imprisonment of the people of Kashmir for raising the demand for their inalienable right to self-determination and impress upon India to stop genocide and gross violation of human rights in Kashmir. Molvi Bashir demanded an early resolution of Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
IIOJK women’s anti-India demo over student’s killing
ISLAMABAD: In Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, hundreds of women staged anti-India protest demonstration in Sopore town against the killing of Kashmiri student in Indian city of Chandigarh. The women gathered outside his residence and chanted pro-freedom slogans. The youth identified as of Amir Hassan Mir was among many Kashmiri victims who lost their lives to the fanatic Hindus in India, Kashmir Media Service reported. Amir was pursuing BSC Nursing from GMCH Chandigarh and was found dead mysteriously at Campus. He is believed to have been killed by Hindu fanatics at the campus. Yesterday, thousands of people attended his funeral at Malpora Bomai area of PD Sopore.
Eco-friendly steps to make Pakistan tourist hub: PM
NARAN: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said with an eco-friendly infrastructure in place, Pakistan’s northern areas with their captivating natural beauty could become the world’s top tourist destination. “A strict implementation of bylaws to ensure preservation of green cover and cleanliness of tourist spots can help Pakistan capitalize the true potential of tourism,” the prime minister said in his address to Tiger Force, the volunteer youth of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for community service. The prime minister this afternoon arrived in Naran, a tourist destination of the Kaghan valley of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, on a day-long trip to launch several tourism and environmental protection projects. The projects included launch of emergency response service for tourists, tree plantation along the bank of Kunhar River besides breeding of Trout fish, distribution of 550,000 biodegradable bags, setting up a waste collection system and delivery of motorbikes to Community River Rangers. Imran Khan said promotion of sustainable tourism through laws to check littering and damage to trees in areas with increased influx of visitors could secure the fragile ecosystem.
Growth of digital transactions doubles in Q3 FY21: SBP
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan, Monday, released its Quarterly Payment System Review (QPSR) for the third quarter of fiscal year 2020-21, which showed that value of mobile banking, internet banking and e-commerce transactions, all, more than doubled. The QSPR for January-March 2021 depicts strong growth in the space of digital financial transactions in the country while the numbers of internet and mobile banking users have also been increasing significantly, up 30.5 percent and 20.3 percent respectively during Q3FY21 over the same period last year. During Q3FY21, bank customers performed 309.5 million e-Banking transactions, valuing Rs22.5 trillion and registering growth rates of 31 percent by volume and 29 percent by value over the same quarter last year, the report said adding that most of the uptake in e-banking transactions was seen in internet banking and mobile banking transactions. The report further indicated that the volume of mobile banking transactions reached 51.7 million, (up 144 percent) valuing Rs1.3 trillion up 178 percent compared to 21.2 million transactions valuing 467.5 billion in the same quarter, last year. The number of registered mobile phone banking users reached 9.8 million showing an increase of 20% from the same period last year. Similarly, 24.5 million internet banking transactions valuing Rs 1.5 trillion were recorded during this period compared to Rs 0.75 trillion in the same quarter last year, registering a growth of 74% by volume and 109% by value, it said.
Estb Div notifies transfer/posting of top level officers
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday notified the transfer and posting of high ranking officers. According to a notification issued by the Establishment Division, Muhammad Usman Chachar, a BS-21 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service, presently posted under Government of Sindh, is transferred and directed to report to Establishment Division, with immediate effect and until further orders. Likewise, Muhammad Humair Karim, a BS-21 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service, presently posted as Additional Secretary, Commerce Division, is transferred and directed to report to Establishment Division, with immediate effect and until further orders. While, Shoaib Sarwar, a BS-20 officer of Foreign Services of Pakistan (FSP), presently posted as Director General, Foreign Affairs Division is transferred and posted as Joint Secretary, Prime Minister”s Office (Public), on deputation basis, on standard terms and conditions, with immediate effect and until further orders.
PM for promoting Pakistaniat, shunning foreign culture
ISLAMABAD: We were fighting for the United States and they were cursing us though we did not need to take part in the war. At that time, it was said Pakistan was a very dangerous place, as there were radicals and extremists, said Prime Minister Imran Khan while addressing the National Amateur Short Film Festival here on Saturday.
Imran said soft image was nothing adding that in the war on terrorism, when Pakistanis were called extremists and fundamentalists, a defensive mindset arose in them that they should promote their soft image.
However, he emphasised that speaking English and wearing English clothes was not the soft image but a feeling of inferiority.
“The world respects the one who respects himself first. People thought if they wore English clothes and spoke English, it would be a soft image of Pakistan. I was called Taliban Khan in those days. The soft image comes automatically. The world respects those who first own it. If you want to promote a soft image, then promote Pakistaniyat,” he said.
Imran advised young Pakistani filmmakers not to be intimidated by failures and opt for original material instead of copying, saying ‘if we want to promote the soft image of our country, we must promote Pakistaniyat’. This is a new beginning in Pakistan. I am very happy to see these short films and now we are moving in the right direction. I have seen the evolution of Pakistan’s film industry and I think we started going in the wrong direction from the beginning because we were so impressed with the Indian film industry that we started imitating them. Instead of creating Pakistaniyat or our own thinking, we adopted a different culture,” he noted.
Imran said, “We started copying the Indian film industry. Only the original thing sells in the world, not copying. Ideas are accepted in the world; we have adopted the culture of others instead of our own thinking in making films. Our TV did the best job that was watched in India: come up with your own idea and don’t be afraid of failure”.
He said in the 60s and 70s, people used to go to Kabul to watch movies and listen to the radio because they thought it was a better industry and if we imitated them, people would see us too. A very different culture was beginning to appear on our TV.
Referring to the instance of late vocalist, musician and composer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the prime minister said he had introduced Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to events around the world, including England and the United States, for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital fund-raising and the big English pop stars started singing his items and became his fans.
Later, many Pakistani pop stars requested him to introduce them too but they didn’t matter because they were copying Western bands.
He said only Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was important and if he had not passed away, he would have become a big name in the West because they respected his skills.
Imran recalled that when he went to England tour for the first time, seniors used to say ‘we can’t win from England, we just came here to learn’.
Punjab Govt still indecisive about summer vacation
LAHORE: The Punjab government has yet to decide about dates of summer vacation in schools of the province.
Earlier, Minister for School Education Murad Raas said the dates for summer vacation would be announced within two weeks in the province.
The Punjab government had already changed the timings for all private and public schools from 7am to 11:30am due to hot weather.
A meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre had suggested the Punjab government to announce summer vacation from July 18 to Aug 1. However, Mr Raas was planning to announce summer vacation from July 2 to Aug 2.
The participants could not decide about the summer vacation and would take up the matter in the next NCOC meeting.
Meanwhile, All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) President Kashif Mirza has said it is impossible to compensate the educational loss of students for 18 months by closing institutions.
He said the schools would remain open between 7am and 11am and students were allowed to attend schools in casual dress rather than uniform.
Solar panels for 42 universities in Punjab
FAISALABAD: The Punjab minister for energy says only renewable energy is a viable solution to meet the demands of electricity and the government has mapped out a plan to install two megawatt solar panel in 42 public sector universities.
Addressing a gathering at groundbreaking of solar plant of 2KW at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, minister Dr Muhammad Akhtar said the government had started working on converting waste into energy in different municipal corporations.
The minister also inaugurated UAF retrofitting at UAF Solar Park worth Rs71.99m under which 7,466 energy efficient fans and 20,723 LED lights have been installed and replaced with conventional inefficient alliances. It will save Rs35m annually.
Shehbaz suggests reserved seats for overseas Pakistanis
LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has proposed a new formula for the representation of overseas Pakistanis by giving them reserved seats in the Parliament.
In a statement here on Saturday, Shehbaz Sharif said this would empower overseas Pakistanis to represent their community and highlight the issues of their importance. He proposed five to seven seats in the National Assembly and two in the Senate of Pakistan for overseas Pakistanis.
The PMLN president proposed that the process and pre-conditions would be decided by all political parties through consensus. He said the required relevant legislation would also be possible with all parties on board.
Shehbaz Sharif pointed out how the same formula for representation works in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Parliament. He said the PMLN endorsed the right of overseas Pakistanis to vote in line with the principles of democratic ideals. He said overseas Pakistanis have every right to register and cast their ballot in Pakistan during elections.
The opposition leader said overseas Pakistanis were a precious asset and pride of the country. He said these eight million Pakistanis were the strength of the nation, who were contributing to the progress and development of the country. He reassured PMLN’s unshakeable love and appreciation for the participation and efforts of overseas Pakistanis for the country. He said PMLN wanted that all issues concerning this community, including land grabbing, must be addressed promptly, legally and justly as a top priority.
