Category: Pakistan

WEB DESK—General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been appointed as the 16th Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who will take command of the Pakistan Army from the incumbent Army Chief General Raheel Sharif on November 29.
Meanwhile, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat has been appointed Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC). Incumbent CJCSC General Rashad Mahmood is also set to retire on the same day.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar otherday said after becoming a member of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Pakistan was preparing to become a member of Open Government Partnership (OGP) Forum in order to ensure financial discipline, accountability and transparency.

The OGP Forum, he said, was dedicated to promote transparency, good governance and fighting against corruption. The minister was the seminar cum launching ceremony of Companies Ordinance 2016 here at the head office of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenues Haroon Akhter Khan, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan, SECP Chairman Zafar ul Haq Hijazi and business community attended the event.

Ishaq Dar said Pakistan had recently become a signatory of the OECD Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters aimed at curbing growing tax evasion.

The convention, he said, would facilitate international cooperation on national tax laws and provide administrative cooperation among member countries to combat tax evasion.

The minister said due to prudent economic policies taken by the government during the last three years the economy had been stabilized and the country was now forwarding on the path of sustainable economic growth.

Pakistan, he said, was rising as a sovereign economic power and would become the 18th biggest economy by 2030.

The country needed to achieve target of $30 billion foreign exchange reserves and growth rate of 7 per cent for poverty alleviation and provide employment opportunities to the people, he added.

The minister said the economic growth target for the current financial year was 5.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the government would hopefully achieve that.

He said due to the efforts of the government’s economic team the FBR had achieved 60% growth in revenues during the last three years.

Ishaq Dar said international organizations, including Japan External Trade Trade Organization (JETRO), had also appreciated the government’s economic policies.

He called upon all the political parties to work together for the country’s economic prosperity.

Lauding the efforts and contribution of SECP team in formulation of Companies Ordinance 2016, he urged them to continue playing their vital role in the implementation of law to ensure transparency and good governance in the country.

The law, he said, had been formulated in consultation with all the stakeholders.

Ishaq Dar said the corporate sector was a driving engine for the economic development.

The minister said due to proper property evaluation, the government’s revenue would further increase to five times for the benefit of the country.

Haroon Akhter, in his remarks, appreciated the SECP for Companies Ordinance 2016, saying it would enhance the confidence of investors in Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion, the SECP Chairman thanked the Finance Minister for his full support in the formulation of the Companies Ordinance 2016.

Lahore – Punjab Women Development Department has planned a number of activities as part of a 16-day international awareness campaign for curbing violence against women.

Punjab Women Development Department Secretary Bushra Aman while giving details, said that during the campaign to be launched by Provincial Women Development Department titled ‘hertalk 2016’, public awareness will be promoted about the initiatives taken by provincial government for socio-economic empowerment of women and protection of their legal rights.

The activities planned from November 25 to December 8, include inspirational talks by eminent human rights activists, distinguished entrepreneurs, esteemed academicians and champions of women rights as well as screening of Oscar-winning documentary of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy at leading education institutes of Lahore.

The programme also includes art competition, short film competition and installation of streamers at prominent roads, places in the city. Moreover, the programme comprises walks, dissemination of information through banners and streamers at divisional headquarters under the supervision of respective commissioners.

The inaugural event will take place at PILAC auditorium on November 25 and will be hosted by Provincial Minister for Women Development Hameeda Waheedud Din.

Apart from other guest speakers, UN Women Pakistan Deputy Country Representative Sangeeta Thapa, member UN Panel on Women Economic Empowerment Fiza Farhan, writer, actor and human rights activist Feryal Ali Gauhar, Saleema Hashmi, Mussarat Misbah and others who will share their views with the audience.

LAHORE –  Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on otherday visited the only shipyard of the country, Karachi Shipyard & Engineering works limited, at IDEAS-2016.

Ship Building General Manager Commodore Saleem Iqbal SI(M) informed the prime minister about the ongoing shipbuilding projects. Meanwhile, Commodore Salman Ilyas SI(M), Project Officer Pakistan Navy Fleet Tanker (PNFT), informed the PM about the progress of the fleet tanker and further added that a missile craft was also launched after his visit in August this year. He said that shipyard has laid the keel block of maritime patrol vessel which is being constructed for Pakistan Maritime Security Agency. Later, Shipbuilding general manager presented souvenir to the prime minister.

LAHORE: Award winning photojournalist Azhar Hussain Jafri passed away here on Thursday due to a cardiac arrest. He was 63.

He had been hospitalised for over two months because of the complications he developed as a result of his open-heart surgery. On Thursday his condition deteriorated at home and he breathed his last on way to a nearby hospital.

The recipient of the President’s Pride of Performance Award which was conferred on him two years ago, the celebrated lensman had shot to prominence for his daring pictures of the democratic struggle against the harshest Martial Law of Gen Ziaul Haq imposed in 1977 under challenging conditions.

It was he who took the picture of the late Begum Nusrat Bhutto when a policeman hit her head with a baton during a protest she led at the Qadhafi Stadium soon after the removal of her husband’s government. The picture capturing her blood-smeared face was published on the front page by many world newspapers.

The Zia regime had imprisoned, flogged and rendered journalists jobless who were ideologically against the military rule imposed after overthrowing the PPP government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Mr Jafri stood undeterred, giving voice to the struggle with his lens.

He worked for Dawn as staff photographer till his retirement. Presently he was working for White Star which wires pictures to Dawn.

He has left behind his wife, a son and two daughters.

His funeral prayers will be held at 2:30pm on Friday (today) in front of the Jamia Masjid at the Lahore Press Club Housing Society (Sahafi Colony) where he was living these days.

His work made him a source of pictures from Lahore, the then political hub of Pakistan, for various foreign news agencies. He would never fail them and Dawn.

LAHORE – Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said the iconic producer and director Yawar Hayat would be remembered for a long time for his services in the field of drama production.

Expressing condolences with late Yawar Hayat’s son Tariq Hayat during her visit to his residence, she paid tribute to the legendary director for his services.

She said the country had lost a great asset and creative mind, whose contribution in the field of drama would be remembered forever. Yawar Hayat was a democrat as he had always supported democracy, she added.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said the prime minister was deeply grieved over Yawar Hayat’s death and he had conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family.

She prayed for the departed soul and hoped the Almighty grants courage and strength to the bereaved family to bear the loss with fortitude.

She assured the bereaved family of full support on behalf of the prime minister as well as the PML-N government.

Tariq Hayat said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif were great art-lovers and they felt great pain at social deprivations.

MNA Tahira Aurangzeb and Seema Jillani were also present on the occasion.

IYawar Hayat passed away a few days ago at the age of 73 years. He had been suffering from lungs disease for quite some time.

Among his memorable drama serials were Jhok Siyal, Samandar, Nasheman, Kundi, Dehleez and Sahil-i-Gumshuda. He was considered one of the architects of Pakistan television’s drama serials.

The Hague: Pakistan’s top journalist Hamid Mir on Wednesday won Free Press Award in the “Most Resilient Journalist Award” category.

The award was handed out in a ceremony held in The Hague.   “This award is not an acknowledgement of my courage but this is a reward for whole Pakistani nation and our journalist fraternity,” he said while speaking at the ceremony.  “Perhaps we wouldn’t have been able to show as much courage if people had not backed us”.

Mir said as many as 800 journalists were killed across the world over the last 10 years.

Hamid Mir is an acclaimed and one of the best known television  journalists who has been hosting Pakistan’s most popular talkshow Capital Talk at Geo News for years. He also writes columns for Daily Jang, Pakistan’s leading Urdu daily.   He was the first journalist to interview al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks.Mir survived an assassination attempt in Karachi,  in which he sustained multiple bullet wounds in April 2014.Hamid Mir, however, stayed in Pakistan and continued his struggle for freedom of press in the country.The ‘Most Resilient Journalist Award’ is given to a reporter or media professional who has demonstrated extraordinary courage and perseverance to bring the news. It is a prize for a journalists who, despite threats, abductions and violence continues the journalistic work.

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) urged the authorities on Thursday to halt the imminent execution of a mentally-challenged death row prisoner who is scheduled to be hanged in Vehari on Nov 2.In a communication, the HRCP brought to President Mamnoon Husain’s attention the disposal by the Supreme Court last week of a plea regarding death row prisoner Imdad Husain, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.The court concluded that simply because schizophrenia was a “recoverable disease”, it did not fall within the definition of “mental disorder” under the Mental Health Ordinance, 2001.The HRCP expressed concerns regarding the reasoning of the court in the matter and stated that the decision raised the question whether judges could decide on their own matters which by their very nature needed to be judged on the basis of expert advice.It said that in reaching this conclusion, the Supreme Court had disregarded universally recognised diagnostic tools, including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and jurisprudence under the Pakistani case law on mental health, and instead relied upon Indian case law, in particular on a judgment by the Indian Supreme Court on the Hindu Marriage Act regarding the dissolution of marriage.The HRCP said the court ruling also set a dangerous precedent for the treatment of accused persons with schizophrenia by the criminal justice system. It called upon the president to urgently intervene to ensure that Imdad’s imminent execution is halted and the pursuit of hanging mentally challenged persons is abandoned.