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PR
No. 179 Federal Minister for Industries & Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani has expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the death of a renowned senior journalist Inqilab Matri, who was also member of the Press Council Committee of CPNE. While expressing his sympathies with members of the bereaved family, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, in his condolence message, lauded the meritorious services rendered by Mr. Matri towards print media industry and his dedication & devotion to his assignment throughout his life. He prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and shower His blessings. May Allah grant courage and fortitude to bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss. **MAB/Ahmad**
PR No. 180 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said that controlling inflation and price hike are the priority areas before the government for which all out efforts would be made. He appreciated the efforts of Ministry of Finance towards reviving country’s economy which was severely affected due to militancy and terrorism. The Prime Minister expressed these views during meeting with Federal Minister for Finance, Mr. Shaukat Fayyaz Tarin who called on him at the PM’s House here this afternoon and briefed him on the overall economic situation in the country. The Prime Minister further said that optimum utilization of available economic resources would greatly facilitate in achieving the requisite economic growth targets. The government, he added, despite financial constraints has managed to ensure appropriate allocation of funds for various sectors which would bring about a change in the life of the people. The Prime Minister underscored the importance of maintaining a focused approach and transparency at all levels in the implementation of energy related plans in line with the government’s policy of good governance. He directed the Minister for Finance to take the Parliament into confidence after receiving the report of Asian Development Bank on Rental Power Projects. Mr. Shaukat Tarin informed the Prime Minister that due to timely economic measures undertaken by the Government, most of the economic indicators are showing positive trends. He added that inflation has been brought down significantly and remittances are also on the rise. He further appraised that Forex reserves have also crossed the figure of US $ 15 billion. **PMCO/Ahmad**
PR No. 181 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani chaired a meeting of Strategic Plans Division (SPD) at PM’s House here today. The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Finance Mr. Shaukat Tarin, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Tariq Majid and DG SPD, Lt. General ®, Khalid Ahmed Kidwai. **PMCO/Ahmad**
PR No. 182 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has called for the exploitation of both internal as well as external resources to meet the energy requirements of the country. He emphasized that hydro potential which is in abundance in the country should also be developed on fast track basis. He said that besides a focused approach, an integrated energy plan is needed to ensure energy security of the country. The Prime Minister said this while chairing a meeting to review the energy situation and examine measures to bridge the supply and demand gap, both in the long and short term. As regards LNG project, the Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to place the proposal before the ECC for thorough deliberations and decision. Earlier the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Syed Naveed Qamar apprised the meeting on various options to improve the energy situation including the import of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) from Qatar to meet the needs of the country. The meeting was also attended by the Minister for Finance Mr. Shaukat Fayyaz Ahmad Tarin, Minister for Ports and Shipping Mr. Babar Khan Ghauri and concerned Federal Secretaries. **PMCO/Ahmad**
PR No. 183 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has said that his government believes in serving the people, therefore all its policies are directed towards the well being of the common man. He further said the implementations of policies at various levels are being coordinated to ensure timely completion of development project. However, he added the elected representatives should give their views and opinion for timely implementation of the work. The Prime Minister was talking to a group of MNAs who called on him at his Parliament House Chamber here this afternoon. The MNAs briefed the Prime Minister on the status of the ongoing development projects in their respective areas. The Parliamentarians included MNAs, Shaikh Waqas Akram, Mr. Nadeem Afzal Chan, Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, Mr. Gul Muhammad Jakhrani, Ms. Ghulam Bini Bharwana, Mr. Sher Muhammad Baloch, Mian Abdul Sattar and Sardar Umar Gorgeg. **PMCO/Ahmad**
PR No. 184 Speaker National Assembly, Dr. Fehmida Mirza has said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Turkmenistan and wanted to further strengthen these relations through enhanced parliamentary exchanges and economic cooperation. She said this while talking to Sapar Berdiniyazov, Ambassador of Turkmenistan, who called on her in the Parliament House today. The Speaker said that Pakistan wanted to strengthen relations with Turkmenistan and solidify it through economic cooperation and broad based people to people contact. She underlined the importance of enhanced parliamentary exchanges for bringing the two countries closer. The Speaker said that democracy presented best solution to all our problems and therefore both the countries needed to strengthen their parliaments through sharing experiences. The Speaker said that closer economic ties were also necessary to further solidify our ties and at the same helping progress and prosperity in both the countries. She said that all the commonalities of culture and values between the two countries needed to be encouraged and developed. The Ambassador of Turkmenistan, Sapar Berdiniyazov said that the culture and values of people in Pakistan and Turkmenistan have much commonalities and could be utilized for strengthening mutual relations and for the benefit of the people. He said that much of the surplus gas and electricity of Turkmenistan could be marketed in Pakistan for the benefit of both the countries. He assured the Madam Speaker that his country will do all possible for speeding up the pace of economic development and progress in Pakistan. **MT/Ahmad**
PR
No. 185 Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf has asked Wapda and all other concerned departments to finalize all the matters relating to diamer basha dam at the earliest and stressed the need for well coordinated efforts for timely completion of this important project. He said this while presiding over a 2nd meeting of Ministerial Committee constituted by the Prime Minister on diamer-basha dam project held here today. Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination, Pir Aftab Shah Jillani, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Secretary Ministry of Water and Power, Secretary Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan, Additional Secretary Water and Power, Chief Secretary Gilgit Baltistan, Chairman Wapda, Member Wapda, representatives of Planning Commission, Kashmir Affairs and other senior officials of Ministry and Wapda attended the meeting. The Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the government will take all possible steps for betterment of the area and funds have been allocated in this respect. He said that the construction of dam will also generate thousands of job opportunities and the local population will be given priority in this regard. He said that the federal government has earmarked funds to start the construction of dam and it’s a major breakthrough in the history of Pakistan . He said that the Asian Development Bank has already assured financing of the project. The government is also working on other dams like Akhori Dam, Munda Dam and Kurram Tangi dam for storage of water for irrigation and to generate electricity. The feasibility studies of 14 hydel power projects have been completed to generate cheaper electricity to meet the future needs, he added. The committee asked Wapda to submit a detailed progress report of the project and also directed the Gilgit Baltistan administration to present a plan for social uplift, upgradation of KKH and betterment of the area. The meeting will be held next week. **MY/Ahmad**
PR
No. 186 The privatisation process of mega units is underway on fast track basis to make them attractive prior to their privatisation; therefore, presently no deadline can be given. Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan Federal Minister for Privatisation said while talking to media representatives after chairing high-level separate meetings of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL), Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) at Lahore today. Prior to the privatisation of 80 State Owned Entities (SOEs) their financial remodeling would be conducted to double their assets and balance sheets and to improve their management structure for making them attractive for multinational companies for taking part in their privatisation process, he said. The Minister said that the propose of today’s meetings was to consider strategy for improving the financial matters and conditions of these entities. These units would be first made financially stronger and then they would be offered for privatisation, he added. Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan further stated that not even a single employee would be retrenched as a result of privatisation of SoEs, “the government who is making the employees owners of their respective entities under Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme (BESOS) how it can even think to make them jobless”. The present government was the true representative government of the people and to work for the peoples welfare was our prime objective, he said. He further said that the interests of the employees of units being privatised would be fully safeguarded. Replying to a question the Minister said that to meet with the energy demands work was in progress on alternate resources. It was the endeavor of the President Asif Ali Zardari and the Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to make Pakistan self sufficient in energy requirements and also to reduce the prices. Mr. Rashid Loan, MD, SNGPL, Mr. Azeem Siddiqi, MD, SSGC and Brig; Khalid Mehmood Khokhar also participated in the meeting. TP/wh
PR
No. 187
President Asif Ali Zardari has said that poverty alleviation
and empowerment of women was a central plank of the Party and the
government and the Benazir Income Support Program was the vehicle to
extricate the poor from abject poverty and “end the generational poverty
trap of the poor”.
The event in governor House Lahore today was also witnessed
by ministers, senior government officials, representatives of NGOs and the
poor families. He said that it was an unprecedented program that gave the poor people a lifetime chance to come out of the poverty traps. The BISP has been designed to be a comprehensive social protection scheme, and a platform for women empowerment, health and accident insurance, vocational training and interest free financing for self employment for the poor, he said. The Benazir Support Programme will be the vehicle for banishing poverty and emancipation of the poor and the downtrodden, the President said. The President also directed the government to complete the nationwide survey of the poorest of the poor in a transparent manner. He said that 34 billion rupees were allocated for the BISP in the budget for 2008-09 which has been enhanced to Rs. 70 billion for the year 2009-10 to give cash assistance to 5 million families. The coverage of the Program will be increased to 7 million families over the medium term by the year 2010-11.
President Zardari said that the program was aimed at
empowering women as benefits under it are available only to the female
head of the family. Transparency will make the Benazir Income Support Program truly BENAZIR, he said. The President also thanked the international community for their support to the Program which he said was vital to bring about a revolutionary change in the lives of the poor and underprivileged.
She also read out the names of twenty women from different areas of the country who were selected randomly out of over seven hundred beneficiaries of the Waseela-e-Haq Programme. The list of eligible beneficiaries is communicated to Pakistan Post in electronic form and money orders of two thousand rupees are distributed every alternate month at the door steps of the poor families. Financial reconciliation is received from the Pakistan Post and beneficiary payment details are made available on web.
To guard against misuse and leakage, the management is done by
the BISP Implementation Unit, verification of eligible families by NADRA
and cash disbursement by the Pakistan Post at the door step through Money
Orders. The transparency in cash grants component is being ensured through functional separation mechanism and individual payment mechanism details are available on BISP website.
It may also be recalled that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton also announced a contribution of $85 million to BISP during her
recent visit to Pakistan. “Negotiations are already under way with the international community and donors to help create and sustain a Special Fund for institutionalizing the rehabilitation and assistance to the families of victims of terror on a permanent basis”. SAK/wh
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