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PR. No. 26. A collaboration between Rotary club and Jaipur foot which has brought a project of health care and social welfare association (HASWA) and development of an artificial limb center ALC here, is a landmark venture for Indo-Pak Health care exchanges: said Ms Sherry Rehman Federal Minister for health at the inaugural ceremony of Artificial Limb center (ALC) here today. Federal Minister for Information said that Government encourages transfer of technology and practices with India and she takes the ALC project as a ‘ key indicator of such bilateral collaboration between the two countries’. ‘ I highly commend such a great philanthropic effort for the benefit of large population of disadvantaged people’ she said further. The Federal Minister for Health said that she is impressed by the agility by which the staff is rendering its services here. She hoped that such projects should be replicated in other provincial capitals and outline areas of the country as well. The Minister also offered the organizers to visit the federal capital and demonstrate there. She said that any assistance they require such as linking up the services with other relevant departments would be facilitated. The Minister mentioned that ‘Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto was also a silent patron of such section of society’ and recently Minister had distributed wheel chairs at the Pento Nursing House, the birth place of Mohtarma in that connection. Sherry Rehman visited the center and met the patients there, she appreciated Dr Feroz Ismael, President HASWA and the other patrons of the ALC initiative for putting up such effort which is making the disables, able to live almost normal lives. **MS/Ahmad**
PR. No. 27. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the frequent visits by the US Congressional delegations to Pakistan is reflective of the United States’ support for the newly elected government in the country. The Prime Minister said this while talking to the four-member US Congressional delegation led by Ms. Gene Green which called on him at the Prime Minister’s House this morning. The Prime Minister said Pakistan wants to deepen and enhance its strategic relationship with the US in all fields especially in trade, investment and energy sectors. He said that increased cooperation in education, science and technology and cultural fields will also help develop people to people contacts. The Prime Minister said that there is also need to enhance cooperation in counter terrorism efforts by exchange of information and sharing intelligence so as to enable Pakistan to take timely and prompt action against the terrorists. He said that the supply of the sophisticated intelligence assets to Pakistan will enhance Pakistan’s capacity to take action against the terrorists on its own soil. The Prime Minister thanked the delegation for US Congress’s keen interest, support and efforts in returning of democracy in Pakistan. The Prime Minister told the delegation that democratic and progressive forces have formed governments at the federal and provincial levels including NWFP and Balochistan after emerging victorious in the elections. The Prime Minister said that the people of Pakistan have given the coalition government the mandate to effectively tackle with the pressing issues of economic poverty and the threat of terrorism and extremism being faced by the country. The Prime Minister said his government has already taken concrete steps to pave the way for the restoration of the deposed judges first by freeing them and paying their salaries and then by increasing the strength of the Supreme Court from 16 to 29. He said that as soon as the modalities are sorted out, the judges will be restored through this constitutional package. He said that his government in consultation with its coalition partners has adopted a three-pronged strategy to fight terrorism by entering into political dialogue with those elements who have renounced terrorism by laying down arms, accelerating the pace of economic development in the country especially in tribal areas and resorting to military means only if the agreements are violated. Pakistan would never negotiate with militants or terrorists and allow its soil to be used by foreigners against another country, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister told the delegation that being an immediate neighbor of Afghanistan, Pakistan has vital interest and direct stake in the stability and peace in Afghanistan. Without stability in the region, its vast potential of economic development and cooperation will remain untapped and unrealized, the Prime Minister pointed out.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan is making all out efforts to prevent cross border infiltration by installing biometric system on entry points and establishing 900 check posts on the border compared to the 100 check posts on the Afghan side of the border which needs to be increased at least to Pakistan’s level. He said that fencing of the boarder is an other option being considered by the government. The Prime Minister said he is for greater interaction and political dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan so that the two countries can coordinate their strategies to face the common threats. He said the repatriation and resettlement of three million Afghan refugees in Afghanistan will also help reduce illegal movements on the border. He said the international community needs to come forward to help resettle the refugees in their homeland. The Prime Minister said that elimination of poppy from Pakistan was achieved through providing economic alternatives to the people. He said that today 70% of poppy is produced in Afghanistan. He said the same strategy needs to be adopted there to wean people away from extremism. He said reviving the economy, restoring law & order and security are the main priorities of his government. He said it is not often realized that a single incident of terrorism in Pakistan leads to flight of foreign capital from the country besides discouraging the flow of foreign investment. Similarly, it was a terrorist act that claimed the life of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. Pakistan is therefore fighting terrorism and extremism in its own national interest and for the humanity at large and not to serve the objectives of another country. The Prime Minister said that setting up of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in tribal areas can go a long way in reviving economic activity and generating employment for the people by providing assured access to US markets for the products produced in the designated areas. The delegation congratulated the Prime Minister on the induction of democratic government in Pakistan, which they said would strengthen the partnership between the two countries. They said Congress would extend full support to democratic government in all fields. The members of the delegation included Mr. Mike McCaul, Republican Texas, Mr. Henry Cuellar, Democrat Texas and Ms. Anne W. Patterson, US Ambassador in Pakistan. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Mahmud Ali Durrani, Advisor on National Security, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, Special Advisor to Prime Minister and Ms Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Special Advisor to Prime Minister. **Ahmad**
PR. No. 28. Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo Advisor to Prime Minister/ Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives (MOIP&SI) has directed officers of the Clean Drinking Water for All (CDWA) Project to speed up their efforts for setting up water filtration plants in each union council of the country so that people all over the country can have access to safe drinking water. He said this while chairing a national steering committee meeting of the CDWA Project. Meeting was also attended by the Shahab Khawaja Secretary MOIP & SI, representatives of provincial governments, AJK, FATA, Planning Commission, NESPAK and Ministry of Science and Technology. Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo said, since it is a project of national importance, concerning health of the people, so every effort should be made to remove all the hurdles and bottlenecks so that clean drinking water is provided to the people as early as possible. Brig ® Javed Sikander Project Director CDWA in his presentation briefed Mr. Wattoo about the current status and future work plan of the project. He told that a total of 6486 water filtration plants will be installed all over the country and each union council will have at least one filtration plant. He further informed that capacity of a filtration plant in rural area is fixed at 2,000 liters per hour while in urban areas it is 4,000 liters per hour keeping in view the population density. It was endorsed in the meeting that filtration plants will be installed only on duly approved sites. Meeting also decided that more contacts will be established with the provincial governments so that implementation is done on fast track basis. In this regard, Mian Manzoor Ahmad said he himself, along with Secretary MOIP & SI and Project Director CDWA, will visit Balochistan in July and hold meeting with Chief Minister to further ease the implementation process. Visits to other provinces will follow. *AUR/Ahmad**
PR. No. 29. The Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that the present government is fully determined to streamline the system in order to provide a feasible and simplified procedure for investors to attract more investment in power sector. He directed the Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) to remove all bottlenecks to facilitate the investors to invest in this sector. He made these observations while chairing a high level meeting to review the procedure of biddings for 1200 MW power projects on fast track basis here today. Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Secretary and Advisor for Ministry of Water and Power, Chairman WAPDA, Managing Directors PPIB & PEPCO, Acting Chairman NEPRA, and additional secretaries of M/O Finance and Petroleum & Natural Resources and AEDB were present in the meeting. The meeting discussed in detail the issue of evaluation and criteria for tariff determination for biddings for generating of 1200 MW power on fast track basis. The meeting decided that the procedure should be simplified for bidders to facilitate them for these fast track projects. The Minister stressed the need to complete the task on war footing basis in order to ensure the operation of these plants within the prescribed time frame to eliminate load shedding. He was of the view that we should create conducive environment and should make more investor’s friendly policies to attract investment in the power sector. The government is committed to end the menace of load shedding in the country by 2009 and will welcome the investors with open arms. Mr. Ashraf said that it is also the priority of the government to provide electricity to all the people of the country and maximum possible steps are being made in this respect. The Minister further informed the meeting that now government has prioritized supply of fuel and gas to power plants which would help generating of more power in the country. He added that in the next one year the government would be able to generate 6000 MW more electricity to be added in the national grid system and the load shedding would be ended from next year, he concluded. **AJM/Ahmad**
PR. No. 30. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government will ensure that there is no shortage of wheat in the country and all necessary measures will be taken to meet the requisite requirements of all provinces. The Prime Minister said this while talking to the Chief Minister Punjab, Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, who called on him at the PM’s House this afternoon. The Prime Minister said that that the import of wheat which is already in progress should be fast tracked to ensure that the entire supplies are received in the country before end of November. The Prime Minister directed the concerned ministries to ensure distribution of provincial share as the supplies of imports are received at the sea ports. The Prime Minister said the Punjab government should relax the movement of wheat to deficient areas in order to reduce their stress to enable the local flour mills to participate in the grinding process and make Atta available to the end consumers. The Prime Minister said that there is need to learn from the policies of the previous year and stressed the need for employing modern technology for assessment of all crops to avoid their shortage in the country. He directed the Food Minister and Secretary to coordinate with the Food department of Punjab and other relevant authorities in this regard. The Prime Minister also said that the Ministry of Interior would be directed to take strict measures to control the smuggling of wheat. The Prime Minister said that the government would ensure that Roti is available to every citizen of the country and asked the provincial governments to take strict action against hoarders. The Prime Minister said that both federal and Punjab governments are taking measures for ensuring sustenance to the poorest of the poor including initiatives for providing social safety nets, establishing Basic Health Units and Utility Stores in every Union Council, increasing the number of Lady Health Worker and controlling Hepatitis and asked for seamless coordination so that the deserving families benefit from these initiatives. The Prime Minister said that federal and provincial governments should coordinate their welfare efforts to ensure that there is no overlapping and wastage of resources. The Prime Minister directed Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistant to the PM on social sector to hold meeting with the Chief Minister of Punjab as well as with other Chief Ministers to coordinate the welfare activities of the federal and provincial governments. The Chief Minster, Punjab thanked the Prime Minister for the timely review of the wheat situation in the country and his assurance to meet the wheat requirements of the Punjab. Federal Minister for Finance, Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr. Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Special Assistant to the PM on Economic Affairs, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Sector, Ms. Shehnaz Wazir Ali, Secretary Finance, Secretary Commerce, Secretary Food and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, MNA also attended the meeting. Punjab Ministers for Food and Finance were also present during the meeting. **Ahmad**
PR. No. 31. 47.27 MILLION SAPLINGS TO BE PLANTED DURING MONSOON TREE PLANTING CAMPAIGN 2008. MEGA FORESTRY SECTOR PROJECTS AT A COST OF RS. 12 MILLION TO BE IMPLEMENTED FROM CURRENT FISCAL YEAR INTER-PROVINCIAL & INTER-MINISTERIAL MEETING ON MONSOON TREE PLANTING CAMPAIGN 2008 Islamabad, July 4, 2008. 47.27 million Saplings will be planted through out the country during the Monsoon Tree Plantation Campaign-2008 which will start from the 2nd week of the current month. This was decided in Inter-Provincial & Inter-Ministerial Meeting on Monsoon Tree Planting Campaign 2008 here today. Federal Minister for Environment, Mr. Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi preside the meeting. During the Monsoon Tree Planting Campaign 2008, 13 million saplings would be planted in Punjab, 10 million in Sindh, 9.5 million in NWFP, 7 million in FATA, 6 million in AJ&K and 0.5 million in Balochistan. The others departments including CDA will plant 1.27 million saplings during this campaign. Speaking on the occasion Federal Minister for Environment said that Mega Forestry Sector Resources Development Projects will be implemented in all four Provinces, AJK, Northern Areas and FATA. The work on these projects would be initiated in the current fiscal year. The Minister said that realistic targets have been set for Tree Plantation and a comprehensive monitoring system has been evolved to ensure maximum survival of the plants. He said that the provision of the funds to the provinces would be based on the efficiency. He said that the provinces showing good performance for development of the forest would be provided more funds whereas, the funds of the provinces not achieving the targets will be shifted to the other provinces. Federal Minister directed to the provinces to launch comprehensive awareness campaign to boost the efforts for tree plantation and protect the forest. He also directed that the provinces should allocate 10 % of nurseries for provision of plants to the schools and other educational institutions free of cost. He also directed to the provinces to furnish their progress reports to the Federal Government on regular basis. He said that third party monitoring evaluation system would be introduced to ensure the transparency and utilization of funds and to evaluate the progress on the forestry sector projects. Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi said that satellite Mentoring System would be introduced from 2010 to check the progress of various tree plantation campaigns, forestry sector development projects and status of the present forest in the country. He said that the forest cover would be increased by 1% by 2015. He said that the development sector of forestry sector resources will not only increase the number of plants in the country but also help earn foreign exchange through carbon credits system. **DDK/Ahmad**
PR. No. 32. Federal Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Division Farooq H. Naik has said that the present government is committed to bring tribal areas at par with the other developed regions of the country. He was heading a meeting of the committee on FATA crimes regulation held here on Friday at his office. There is a dire need to amend the FCR as many of its clauses that has been pointed out by different experts at different times do not conform to the norms of a civilized society, said the minister adding that the committee will look into all reports compiled by different organizations on this issue. Najmuddin Khan, a member of the committee, reiterated that separation between the administrative and judicial functions in FATA, and a pledge to setup a fully empowered and elected tribal council on lines of the Northern Areas Council was the manifesto of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Farhatullah Babar, another member of the committee who also happens to be the official spokesperson of PPP, elaborated on how the issue of amending the FCR was dealt haphazardly by the previous government. He made a chronology of events that led to the worsening of situation in Malakand due to the total abrogation of FCR. He, however, supported the idea of amending the regulations stating that their total abrogation will create a vacuum. The committee pointed out controversial clauses of FCR to the law ministry for preparing detailed proposals for their amendment. Law Minister Farooq H. Naik concluded the meeting, which will meet again on the 18th of this month. In his closing remarks the minister urged JUI-F to send its representative in the next meeting so that the final proposal of this committee might reflect views of all the coalition partners.
MFR/**Ahmad***
PR. No. 33. The National Reconstruction Bureau and the Water and Sanitation Program - South Asia will continue collaboration on decentralization issues. A delegation of the Water and Sanitation Program held a meeting with Dr. Asim Hussain, Chairman, NRB and other senior officers of the Bureau today and suggested that a national incentive program may be developed to ensure greater provisional autonomy and implementation of devolution in letter and spirit. Chairman, NRB appreciated the idea and asked the WSP to workout the details which will be considered in the last week of July, 2008. The WSP delegation led by Mr. Farhan Sami also apprised the Chairman, NRB about the progress made on the Technical Manual for the TMAs. The Manual will be provided to the Provincial Governments and the Local Governments for use during the next six weeks.
PR. No. 34. Donors will continue their support for consolidation o f decentralized system of local governments and improving governance in Pakistan. Dr. Kevin Curnow, Chief of Party of Districts That Work (DTW) Program of the USAID held a meeting with Dr. Asim Hussain, Chairman, NRB today and apprised him of the efforts being made in this direction. Dr. Kevin Curnow also briefed the Chairman, NRB about the agenda and design of the policy dialogue on Local Government Reforms in Pakistan proposed to held on 23rd July 2008. He invited the Chairman NRB to co-chair the policy dialogue along with the Federal Minister Local Government. Accepting the invitation, the Chairman NRB assured him that NRB will provide full support of DTW in their endeavors.
PR. No. 35. Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo Advisor to Prime Minister/ Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives (MOIP&SI) has said that Government is keen to give relief to the poorest of the poor and the mechanism to identify the deserving people is being evolved. He said this while chairing a meeting on giving cash/food subsidy to the targeted population through Benazir Bachat Cards Scheme here today. Meeting was also attended by Secretary MOIP &SI Shahab Khawaja, Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali Special Assistant to PM on Social Sector, Managing Director Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan and representatives of Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Planning Commission and Ministry of Commerce. Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo told the meeting that Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has specially instructed that a mechanism should be evolved to give relief to the poor by issuing Benazir Bachat Cards. Benazir Bachat Cards will allow people to buy essential items of daily use on subsidized rates. “In pursuance of this policy, we are expanding the network of Utility Stores across the country and the number of utility stores will rise to 6,000 by August 14, 2008 from the current 4,500 and each union council will have one utility store where the five essential items of daily use will be available at highly subsidized rates,” said Mr. Wattoo adding that the reach of utility stores will further be increased by allowing and encouraging the private individuals to open franchise utility stores.” Meeting discussed different options to identify the deserving people. It was decided that a sound mechanism will be evolved in the shortest possible time to accumulate data of the needy people and data of NADRA and Pakistan Baitulmal will also be studied in this regard.
PR. No. 36. It is being reported in the media that as a result of any negotiation between the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources and some CNG Associations, the Government has fixed the sales price of CNG at the CNG Stations. The factual position is that the price notified by OGRA effective 01.07.08 for gas supply by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company for the CNG Stations is Rs.388.32 per million Btu. The normal GST and withholding tax is also payable by the CNG Stations. The notified price plus the taxes is the input gas price for CNG Stations. OGRA and the Government is responsible to the extent of the said prescribed price only. The owners of CNG Stations add their own operating expenses, which being deregulated, is entirely their purview to determine the same. The notified price including taxes and the operating expenses etc. of the CNG Station is the ultimate sale price at the CNG outlets. Thus there is no point, as being printed in the media of the Government agreeing to any ultimate sale price, as a result of supposedly meetings with the Associations, the latter being totally independent to work out their costs. Therefore any controversy arising out of the statements by various Associations should stand settled as the Government/ OGRA notifies the input price only being charged by SNGPL/SSGCL from the various CNG Stations.
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