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PR.
96 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has said that Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan, which is just the beginning, would go a long way in addressing the longstanding grievances of the people of Balochistan. The federal government, he said, attaches high priority to the socio-economic development of Balochistan and will utilize all possible resources for the uplift of the province. The Prime Minister said the feeling of brotherhood created among the people of all the four provinces during his meetings in Gwadar would positively impact towards national cohesion and help resolve issues of national importance. The Prime Minister said this while talking to a delegation of Balochistan Cabinet led by Chief Minister, Nawab Aslam Raeesani, which called on him at the PM’s House this morning. During the meeting the Prime Minister directed the Civil Aviation Authority for completion of new Gawadar International Airport within the stipulated period of three years. The Prime Minister directed for immediate convening of a special meeting of CDWP on Balochistan to finalize the development projects in the light of Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan. He said that he will personally chair and monitor the follow up meetings with regards to the implementation of Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balohcistan. Priority area before the government is to fast track the provision of electricity, water and gas to various parts of Balochistan. He said his government has fulfilled the promise made to the people of Balochistan to give them their due rights.
The Prime Minister said the federal government
would ensure provision of committed funds to expand and develop the
strategically located deep sea
port of
Gwadar
which has enormous trade potential, adding that this would not only help
in alleviating poverty and boost the socio-economic uplift of Balochistan
but also contribute to the national economy through transit trade. To
improve Gwadar’s connectivity with other parts of the country, the Prime
Minister directed the
National Highway Authority to complete the Gawadar-Rato Dero
Road at the earliest. He said completion of the remaining 40 per cent road
and rail linkages with the rest of the country will generate economic
activity, create employment and bring about a positive change in the lives
of the locals. Gwadar Port, he said, will serve as a trade gateway not only for the up-country but also for the regional countries including Central Asian States and China. The Prime Minister approved three degree colleges with hostel facilities at Sibbi, Nasirabad and Quetta. Education, he remarked, would help in the uplift of the province and the federal government attaches top priority to this sector. He said graduates of Balochistan would be provided jobs. He said he has fulfilled the promise made to the people of Balochistan to give them their due rights. He also promised technical training and jobs for the students who have completed their matriculation. Regarding exploration and extraction of minerals, it was agreed that preference be accorded to indigenous expertise so that people of Balochistan derive maximum benefit from its natural resources. Renowned scientist, Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, while briefing the meeting in this regard, informed him that Pakistani scientists and Geologists are fully capable of exploiting and developing the mineral resources of the country. Talking to the delegation the Prime Minister expressed the confidence that the recently signed National Finance Commission award at Gwadar will provide more resources to the underdeveloped province and bring better health, education and infrastructure facilities to their area. He termed the consensus award as a dividend of democracy and a reflection of the government’s commitment to the Nation for strengthening the federation. He said that commemorative stamp on NFC reflects the unity and solidarity of the federation. Mr. Raeesani informed the Prime Minister that the people of Balochistan are appreciative of the Prime Minister’s announcement of Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan as well as provision of jobs to the graduates of Balochistan. Other members of the delegation included Sardar Aslam Bizenjo, Balochistan Minister for Irrigation & Power; Mir Asim Kurd, Balochistan Minister for Finance; Mir Muhammad Sadiq Umrani, Balochistan Minister for C&W and Mir Abdur Rahman Mengal, Balochistan Minister for Mines and Minerals. Chief Secretary Balochistan and Dr. Samar Mubarakmand also attended the meeting. **PMMO/Ahmad**
PR No. 97 A delegation of notable forest owners of Kohistan District of NWFP and Diamer District of Gilgit Baltistan met with the Federal Minister for Environment, Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi today. The delegation was led by Mr. Mehboob Ullah Jan, MNA from Gilgit Baltistan. The delegation stressed the need to restore management plans in their areas where the forest are owned privately by the communities to stop illicit felling and destruction of forest. Federal Minister told the delegation that the current National Forest Policy being prepared has been formulated after thorough consultation with all the stakeholders and shall give due consideration to their request. Meeting ended with a vote of thanks by the Afridi.
PR
No. 98 Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has devised a public awareness and social outreach campaign to promote energy conservation, along with investing it’s all possible efforts for maximizing electricity generation. A plan to conserve energy had been chalked out, in which PEPCO would request consumers to help the company meet the power deficit. PEPCO which has the responsibility to provide electricity in Pakistan to about 18,126,004 consumers, through a vast network of its 8 distribution companies will request every consumer to switch off one light. If each of its around 18 million consumers do so, the company will save more than 1900 megawatts. The company has directed its distribution companies (DISCOs) to use generators and solar energy to power billboards, while advertisement companies have also been urged to switch over to solar energy. PEPCO has also recommended using solar energy for streetlights across the country. The company has directed DISCOs to urge people to install energy savers for domestic and commercial purposes and minimize the use of lights at shopping malls, playgrounds, wedding ceremonies and offices. As a Social outreach program, PEPCO has asked all DISCOs to organize energy conservation campaigns in schools to educate students, who may then ask their elders to adopt these measures. The company has organized meetings with trade and market associations to decide on the closing time of markets with their consent. PEPCO has also decided to request industrial consumers to conduct their energy audits to determine power losses due to substandard wiring. PEPCO has also asked the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority to maintain energy-labeling standards and check the manufacturing of substandard electric equipment and wires. The company has started a mass media campaign in which DISCOs would distribute pamphlets suggesting energy conservation measures, which would also be printed on electricity bills. According to the load situation, total electricity demand rose to 11636 MW on 11 jan 2010 and a deficit of 2742 MW was managed. Electricity export to KESC was 620 MW on 11 Jan 2010.
PR
No. 99 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has welcomed the acceptance of Government of Pakistan’s demand by the Government of Greece for introduction of a legislation in the Greek parliament under which Pakistani immigrants would also be granted the citizenship and voting rights of the country. The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the expected visit of Prime Minister of Greece to Pakistan in 2010 would add to the required impetus to reinvigorate the bilateral relations between the two countries. He called for scheduling of bilateral political consultations and Joint Economic Commission’s meetings before the Greek Prime Minister’s visit to prepare the ground for making the visit a success. He was talking to Mr. Dimitiros Dollis, Ambassador at Large and Personal Envoy of the Greek Prime Minister who called on him at the PM’s House here this afternoon. The Prime Minister assured the Personal Envoy of the Greek Prime Minister that his government will continue to undertake every possible effort to seek the safe release of Mr. Athanasios Lerounis, a Greek national who was kidnapped from Kalash Valley in September 2009 but was immediately shifted to Nooristan Province of Afghanistan. The Prime Minister apprised the Personal Envoy of the Greek Prime Minister that his government, in accordance with the local traditions of the area, had so far arranged visits of five jirjas to negotiate the release of the captor and the next jirga is scheduled to visit Afghanistan this week. He, however, underlined the difficulties being faced by the Pakistan side in this regard because of NATO operations against the militants in the region where the Greek hostage is believed to be kept. While underscoring that Pakistan had taken up this issue at the highest level with NATO and Afghan forces, he urged the Greece side to also seek help of the Afghan and NATO forces for assuring the safety of Mr. Lerounis to facilitate his early release. Mr. Dimitiros Dollis commended Government of Pakistan’s role in the war against terror as a front line state and acknowledged the great sacrifices being made by Pakistan’s security forces to root out the universal threat of militancy and terrorism. He agreed with the Prime Minister that Pakistan urgently needed the support of international community to build the capacity of its law enforcement agencies and bring development in the affected areas to address the root causes of terrorism.
Mr. Dimitiros said that the Government of Greece believes that a stable and democratic Pakistan is essential for the development and stability of the whole region. Greece, he added, as a member of EU would make efforts to help strengthen relations with Pakistan and promote its economic growth. While referring to the abduction of Greek national, Mr. Lerounis, he appreciated the government of Pakistan’s efforts for his release and expressed complete satisfaction over the endeavours undertaken so far. He assured the Prime Minister that in the process of negotiations with the captors of Mr. Lerounis, the Greece government was totally depending on the government of Pakistan’s channels and assured the Prime Minister that his side will not encourage any direct contact by the friends and relatives of Mr. Lerounis with the captors or the captor himself to facilitate smooth and early release. Mr. Petros Mavroidis, Ambassador of Greece in Pakistan and Secretary Foreign affairs were also present in the meeting.
PR
No. 100 Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Mian Manzoor Ahmad Watto presided over the meeting for Kashmir Solidarity day being observed on 5th February, 2010 here today. The Minister directed the Islamabad administration and CDA authorities to observe the day in befitting manner and facilitate to arrange functions with great pump and show so that everyone should know the importance of the day. The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary Azad Jummun & Kashmir, Joint Secretary AJK council. The high officials of Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence and Foreign Affairs also attended the meeting. RAR/wh
PR No. 101 Joint School Health Program being undertaken by the Ministries of Health, Education, Environment and the One UN will be accelerated. Many decisions were made in meeting chaired by the Federal Minister for Health, Makhdoom Shahabuddin held on Tuesday. The Health Minister said that there was an urgent need to promote health of the students attending the schools. He ensured that the Ministry of Health will push the School Health Program forward with full dedication and commitment. The meeting organized by the Ministry of Health and participated by the representatives of the relevant ministries; the UN and the World Bank reviewed the ongoing School Health Program and agreed to accelerate it. It may be recalled that the Government had signed the Joint Program Component on School Health chalked out jointly by the UN agencies and the Government under the UN Reforms “One UN - One Program”. The Joint Program aims at initiating, strengthening and sustaining of school health program in the selected districts. The meeting decided to chalk out a National Strategy for School Health Program. Based on the strategy a Plan of Action will be drawn up and implemented. Keeping in view the ongoing interventions in the area of school health, model districts will be selected for the program. Training materials which are under preparation will be finalized and printed. Teaches and health care workers will be trained to launch effective school health programs. Prof. Rashid Jooma, Director General Health, Government of Pakistan promised to actualize the decisions taken within one week’s time. He said that all public and private sector schools including religious schools (madrassas) will be included in the School Health Program in the pilot districts. One UN assistance will be sought out on the standard operating procedures for School Health. School Health messages will be included in the ongoing health education programs. Dr. Khalif Bile Mohamud, WHO Representative to Pakistan while speaking on the part of One UN requested the Ministry of Health to provide some seed money by moving a PC1. The Government should help in selection of plot districts. The UN agencies can take some districts through on going programs for example the WHO can provide funds from the Emergency Program for the province of NWFP. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Martin Mongwanja, UNICEF Country Representative elaborated the role of UNICEF in School Health Programme urging the need for leadership role of the Government in this regard. WFP Representative, Mr. Wolfgang and World Bank Health Specialist, Dr. Inam-ul-Haq also spoke on the occasion. It may be mentioned that there has always been a realization of the need for launch of school health on the part of the Government of Pakistan and the UN agencies. Some provinces have already initiated School Health Program in selected districts. School Health is a major program in the Health Sector reforms in Punjab and Sindh. It was decided to mobilize these supports.
PR No. 102 The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) met under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Finance, Mr. Shaukat Tarin at the PM Secretariat here today. The ECC approved the strategy designed for ensuring regular supply of major as well as minor crops in order to sustain food security. The main elements of the strategy include: i. Timely announcement of support price for wheat and intervention/indicative price for major and minor crops. ii. Ensuring timely availability of farm inputs at affordable prices with special emphasis on water conservation and its judicious use. iii. Setting area and production targets of major and minor crops in consultation with stakeholders. iv. Enhancing farmer’s access to modern crop varieties and new technologies and promoting adoption of good agricultural practices for production of major and minor crops. v. Improving marketing systems for various agricultural commodities. vi. In case of shortage of essential food commodities, their supply will be ensured by the public and private sectors through imports and maintenance of buffer stocks. While discussing the subject of disposal of super basmati rice 2008-09 crop, the ECC gave approval to the following measures for disposal of rice lying in PASSCO godowns: i. Export of rice to Middle East, Iran, Europe or any other market on government to government basis. ii. Sales/exports to be done through qualified agents/brokers. iii. US $ 900/ton would be the minimum base price for super basmati within 5% limit of broken rice. The ECC also approved the Standardized Security Agreements for hydro power projects under the Policy for Power Generation 2002. The ECC authorized the Board of PPIB to approve any project specific amendment in the Standardized Security Hydropower Agreements required during negotiations provided GOP obligations or liabilities are not increased. The ECC approved the recommendations of the Committee on Revival of the Risalpur Export Processing Zone which include: i. Allowing export of the manufactured goods from the REPZ as trading items to Afghanistan via land route. ii. Revision of lease rates/annual ground rent will be decided by Export Processing Zone Authority, Board of Directors. iii. 30% Export of manufactured goods to tariff area will be allowed. In view of the acute financial crunch experienced by the Pakistan Steel Mills, the ECC approved the following Bail Out Package for the PSM to meet its requirements for working capital and implementing its business plan: i. Term loan facility of Rs. 8 billion for 5 years in favour of Pakistan Steel based on Government of Pakistan Guarantee by Consortium of Banks led by the NBP. ii. Running Finance Facility of Rs.2.00 billion, renewable on yearly basis, in favour of Pakistan Steel Mills based on Government guarantee by Consortium of Banks led by the National Bank of Pakistan. The meeting was also briefed by Ministry of Industries and Production on progress on implementation of the National Sugar Policy 2009-10. Keeping in view the differential of 10-15% in the market and the Utility Store Corporation (USC) prices, i.e. from Rs. 6-9 per kg, the ECC decided to rationalize the price of sugar to be sold through USC retail outlets by increasing it by Rs.7 per kg i.e. from Rs.38 per kg to Rs.45 per kg. While considering the issue of revision of re-lending policy of foreign loans/credits, the ECC approved that provinces may avail re-lending of the foreign loans on the same terms and conditions on which loans are signed by the GOP. In this regard the provinces would be allowed to issue their own bonds. While considering the issue of passing on the German grant/soft loan to PPAF for livelihood support and promotion of small community infrastructure project, the ECC approved relaxation of following terms before signing the Agreement: i. Passing on of Euro 14,860,399.40 grant to Project Executing Agency (PPAF) as a grant. ii. Passing on of Euro 16,701,660.86 loan to Project Executing Agency (PPAF) as a grant.
PR
No. 103 Federal Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education Samina Khalid Ghurki was the chief guest in a ceremony held at Adiala Jail. The ceremony was a sequel to the visit of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Eid-ul-Azha, where he announced that his government would help those prisoners who have completed their punishment but are not in a position to pay the fine. Ghurki also presented a gift of wheel chairs to the disabled prisoners and she resolved that this exercise would extend to other prisons also. Managing Director Pakistan Bait ul Mal and Chairperson Standing Committee for Social Welfare and Special Education Rubina Qaimkhani were also present on the occasion. MS/wh
PR
No. 104
This was stated by Federal Minister for Labour & Manpower Syed
Khursheed Ahmed Shah while speaking at the briefing session for
Parliamentarian on labour laws in Pakistan here today. The Federal Minister said that labour court would be established soon in the capital for the facilitation of the employees and adding that currently 9.8 million work force has been working in the country while only two million are registered. He said that 72 laws have been constituted for the welfare of the labourers but people must help the government for the true implementation of these laws. He further said that house allotment for labour in Pakistan will based on ownership basis, he also highlighted that Government has increased the pension of retired employees after 8 years; the death grant of workers has doubled and balloting for the marriage grant has been removed by the Government. He also announced free education for worker’s children at higher education level. Khursheed Shah said that present Government has reinstated more than 9000 employees, since February 2008. Moreover, he announced that contract workers will also be covered under EOBI facility provided by the Government. Faiz ul Hasan Faiz, Director Law, Central Labour Advisor, Ministry of Labour and Manpower, Dr. Aliya H. Khan, Chairperson, Department of Economic, Quaid-i-University, Islamabad and Zahoor Awan, Deputy General Secretary, Pakistan Workers Federation also addressed the meeting. SG/wh
PR
No. 105 President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the culprits behind the recent incidents of lawlessness in Karachi will be apprehended and brought to justice in accordance with the law. He advised the people to be patient and show restraint and wait for the investigation to be completed so that the guilty ones are identified and punished without fear of favour. He said this while presiding over meetings to review the Karachi situation and another onw with Party workers from Lyari in Bilawal House Karachi this evening. Those attending the review meeting included Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Dr. Farooq Sattar, Babar Ghouri, Provincial Ministers Adil Siddiqui, and Waseem Aftab.PPP: Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Rehman Malik, Pir Mazhar, Agha Siraj Durrani, Murad Ali Shah, Ayaz Soomro, Rafiq Engineer, Jameel Soomro and PPP Karachi Division President Najmi Alam.
Later the President also met a delegation of PPP workers and legislators
from Layari. Those who attended Layari meeting included Spokesperson to President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the package included provision of water supply through a modern desalination plant, upgradation of the Lyari general hospital, a full fledged educational complex with an independent campus for women and a dedicated power plant to meet its power needs.
The President also announced some new projects for Lyari at the meeting
including water supply, Sewerage, Electricity, Road, Parks, and
Cardiovascular Institute The meeting was informed that the University will initially start functioning in the Government Boys Degree College Lyari and offer Bachelors and Masters Programs in social sciences, Commerce, marine science and medicine. The President also inquired about the renovation of the existing building to serve initially as the new university and the faculty raised. The President also reviewed progress on the project of building a separate Campus for the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto University Lyari. Addressing the meeting the President said that the law and order was under control in Karachi and that no one will be allowed to disturb the peace of the mega city. ”Those who were shedding the blood of innocent people must be brought to justice; they will be”
He stressed that law enforcing agencies should ensure that
sanctity of chadar and chardeewari is protected and innocent people were
not harrassed. SAK/wh
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