WASHINGTON: US is seriously ‘concerned about lockdown, detentions and communication black out by India in occupied Kashmir, said Alice Wells Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, adding that the United States was closely following the recent trip of foreign diplomats to Indian-occupied Kashmir and was looking forward to normalcy in the region.
In a message posted on the social networking platform Twitter by the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the US Department of State, Wells said that the trip was an important step but that the US remained concerned about the detention of leaders and residents in Kashmir.
“Closely following US Ambassador to India and other foreign diplomats’ recent trip to Jammu and Kashmir. Important step. We remain concerned by detention of political leaders and residents, and Internet restrictions. We look forward to a return to normalcy,” she wrote on the microblogging site.
The statement from Wells comes just before she starts a 10-day visit to the region during which she will travel to Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan, from January 13-22. Wells will arrive in Pakistan on January 19 for a three-day visit, the US state department has previously said.
US Congress members reject Indian dictation on occupied Kashmir
In Islamabad, she will meet with senior Pakistani government officials and members of civil society to discuss issues of bilateral and regional concern. Before arriving in Islamabad, Wells will be in Sri Lanka from January 13-14 during which she will interact with high-ranking officials.
Wells will then travel to India, from January 15-18 to meet with senior government officials and to advance the US-India strategic global partnership, according to the US state department.
Wells had last visited Islamabad in August 2019, barely a few days after the Indian government had rushed through a presidential decree to abolish Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that granted special status to Indian occupied Kashmir, formally integrating the valley into India.
Following the revocation, a military curfew and communications blockade had been enforced in the valley and hundreds of thousands of Indian troops deployed to crush dissent. Several political leaders, including two former chief ministers, and thousands others had been arrested.
US envoy to India Kenneth I Juster and other diplomats meets with civil society members during their visit to Kashmir.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has launched country’s largest ever skilled development program ‘Hunermand Pakistan’ aimed at emancipation of youth through quality professional training.
Addressing the launching ceremony of Rs30 billion ‘Hunarmand Pakistan’ program, the premir said that government will concentrate on enhancing job creation opportunities in the country this year, adding that we focused on attaining stability and this year our focus will be on growth.
The prime minister described the youth as the “biggest asset” of the country, saying the Pakistanis were the 2nd youngest population and its skilled youth alone could change the destiny of the country and the nation.
He said the present government was hugely investing in the country’s human resource, particularly the youth, which were neglected in the past through various education systems based on discrimination between the rich and the poor.
Imran Khan said that Pakistan has now embarked on the path as envisioned by its great founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and great philosopher and thinker Allama Muhammad Iqbal. He expressed hope that Pakistan will turn into a great nation due to skills and hard work of its citizens.
The prime minister said our founding fathers in objectives resolution had clearly stated that Pakistan would be transformed into a welfare Islamic state like Madina. He said the state of Madina became a role model for the world due to its golden principles of justice, welfare and compassion.
“Any civilized society prospers because of creating equal opportunities and meritocracy,” the Prime Minister said and added as part of his vision to turn Pakistan into a welfare society, Ehsaas program costing 190 billion rupees has been launched for the uplift of the poor segments of society. 170 shelter homes have been established in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to provide shelter to homeless, he added.
Giving details of the program, Imran Khan said 500,000 youth will be trained in first phase of Hunarmand Pakistan Program. Prime Minister appreciated the proposal of establishing National Accreditation Council as it will streamline the skills education center.
In the first phase, the government had allocated Rs 10 billion for the training of 170,000 youth, he added.
Imran Khan said that under the prgramme 500 technical training centers would be opened across the country, and 70 of them in Madaris (religious seminaries). The present government had adopted 2.5 million children of Madaris – which were never taken care of in the past – and brought them into the national mainstream.
The prime minister said under the Hunarmand Pakistan programme, 300 smart technical centers, affiliated with international quality institutes, would also be opened across the country.
He lauded the establishment of a National Accreditation Institute, which would ensure standardization and certification of the skills and technical training centers, and help the skilled youth in getting jobs.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan will become a great nation and lead the Muslim Ummah. It will spearhead efforts to establish peace in the region and beyond. Imran Khan reiterated that Pakistan will not fight any other s war in future.
He said we will also make efforts to create friendship between Iran and Saudi Arabia. “We will fully strive for the establishment of friendly relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran,” he said while addressing the launching ceremony of Rs 30 billion `Hunarmand Pakistan’ programme here.
The prime minister said he had also offered US President Donald Trump that Pakistan was ready to play a role in promoting friendly relations between the United States and Iran. “No one wins the war, and the one that wins, also loses,” Imran Khan remarked, adding Pakistan had paid a high price in the war against terrorism.
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday reviewed matters pertaining to new amendment in NAB Ordinance and legal issues of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).
The federal cabinet meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s office in Islamabad. Sources said that the cabinet discussed 9-point agenda, economic and political situation of the country. The economic team also briefed the cabinet on financial statistics. The meeting deferred the bill for the National College of Arts (NCA).
The meeting approved various matters including the issuance of the State Bank’s financial statement for fiscal year 2018, the extradition of the Norwegian citizen, request of the Ministry of Interior to hand over Sohail Ahmed to the UK and the appointment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) CEO. (With additional input from INP)
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) in collaboration with ICT Administration on Wednesday launched a Go Green Islamabad Campaign to plant one million trees in federal capital in 2020.
Hamza Shafqaat, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad and Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President ICCI formally inaugurated the campaign by planting a tree in front of ICCI building. Waseem Ahmed Additional Deputy Commissioner, Gohar Wazir, Danish Zakir, Mahreen Baloch Assistant Commissioners and others were also present at the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, Hamza Shafqaat Deputy Commissioner Islamabad said that ICCI has always actively participated in good works and launching Go Green Islamabad campaign was another positive step of Chamber that was laudable.
He assured that ICT Administration would fully cooperate with ICCI in making this campaign successful. He said that ICCI was the first Chamber of the country to have planned to plant one million trees in Islamabad that would support the PM’s initiative of Green Pakistan.
He said that ICT Administration would identify places for ICCI to plant trees to make the environment of Islamabad healthier. He said that the survival rate of plants was 50 percent as animals and termite damaged planted trees and stressed that good care should be taken of the planted trees to improve their survival rate.
Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had set a target of planting 10 billion trees in five years and launching Go Green Islamabad campaign was to support his initiative. He said that CDA, MCI, Islamabad Police, diplomats, schools and others institutions would be involved in this noble cause to make Islamabad green and beautiful. He said that ICCI would welcome any institution that wanted to become part of this campaign.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan-sponsored resolution on strengthening the role of parliaments in preventing and combating corruption was unanimously adopted at the Eighth Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) of the UN Convention against Corruption.
The conference was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, from December 16-20, 2019, said a press release received here Saturday.
In line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan’s initiative is to eliminate corruption and his focus on the issue in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2019.
The unanimous adoption of the resolution is manifestation of the trust reposed by the international community in Pakistan’s leading role in the fight against corruption, the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.
The resolution, inter alia, calls upon States parties to enhance exchanges among parliamentary institutions for promoting good practices to strengthen the role of parliaments in their respective countries in enacting legislation and ensuring effective oversight.
In this regard, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been mandated to organize a thematic dialogue in collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on strengthening the role of parliaments in combating corruption in all its forms. The UNODC will also develop a compendium of good practices on the role of parliaments in combating corruption.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Pakistan Mission in Vienna steered the process of consultations to achieve consensus on the Resolution. A wide range of developing and developed countries from all geographical regions co-sponsored the resolution, including Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Indonesia, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland.
Pakistan’s initiative has brought focus of the international community on the important role parliaments can play in the campaign against corruption and would be useful in pushing for concerted action worldwide.
The United Nations Convention against Corruption is the only universal legal framework at the international level to prevent and combat corruption in all its forms. There are 186 States Parties to the Convention, including Pakistan, which joined the Convention in 2007. (With additional input from INP)
LODHRAN: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jahangir Tareen on Friday said that his party will fulfill promise of creating South Punjab province.
Talking to journalists in Lodhran, Jahangir Tareen said efforts are underway for the creation of South Punjab province despite tough conditions in the constitution.
He said heavy debts were taken in the past tenures, which are being paid by the PTI government. “Those who looted national money will not be spared.”, he added
Replying to a question, Tareen said the verdict of the special court in former president Pervez Musharraf high treason case has created disappointment amongst the people of Pakistan.
The judges should refrain from using such words in the verdicts, he said and added that “This is a court verdict, nothing more he can say about it.” (With input from INP)
ISLAMABAD: In a full-court reference held at the Supreme Court to bid him farewell, Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa said, “I always did what I thought was right and was worth doing.”
Addressing the gathering held on Friday, Khosa maintained: “I gave my hundred per cent to the job, tried to perform beyond the call of duty, never raised my voice, spoke mainly through my pen, never delayed a judgment unduly and after giving the best years of my life to this public service, I lay down my robes today with a conscience which is clear as crystal.”
Justice Khosa, who is set to retire today at midnight, will end a career in the judiciary spanning almost two decades. Justice Gulzar Ahmed will take oath tomorrow as the 27th chief justice of Pakistan.
The outgoing chief justice said that he had always “strived to live up to my oath of office and have tried to dispense justice according to law and without fear or favour, affection or ill-will”.
“It is not for me to lay any claim on correctness of my legal opinions but I only hope that posterity may judge me with kindness and may appreciate the sincerity of the efforts made,” he added.
He went on to list the measures he took in order to bring reforms in the judiciary which include the launch of e-courts, online Supreme Court database, revamped website as well a mobile application. He pointed out that a backlog of pending criminal appeals was wiped out and the practice of asking for adjournments was “effectively discouraged”.
“An all out effort was made to put our own house in order with an approach focusing mainly on improving the justice delivery system,” he said and added that during his tenure as top judge “the image of [the Supreme] Court as a dignified judicial forum sitting at the apex of judicial hierarchy was maintained, the principle of separation of powers was adhered to, judicial restraint was exercised and dignity and respect was ensured for all appearing before the Court as lawyers, litigants or officials.”
Justice Ahmed, during his address, paid a rich tribute to his predecessor and termed the outgoing chief justice as a judge “par excellence” and “a person of extraordinary intellect, unmatched integrity and outstanding erudition”.
Though Justice Ahmed did not lay out a roadmap for his tenure as the top judge, he noted: “Rule of law, protection of Constitution and independence of the judiciary, are the foremost tasks with which this court is constantly confronted with.
“This court has, in the past, addressed these challenges and shall continue to address these challenges with all due dignity and profoundness,” he said. He also insisted that the “state should build and provide for civic infrastructure so also the civil infrastructure”. Justice Ahmed is currently hearing multiple cases pertaining to illegal encroachments and lack of infrastructure in urban cities.
He said that the state must adopt a “humanistic approach” and added: “Corruption and illegalities, in all the departments of the State, need to be seriously addressed and eliminated.”
The reference was attended by all Supreme Court judges with the exception of Justice Qazi Faez Isa who is on holiday. The attendees included vice chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, president of the Supreme Court Bar, additional attorney general and others.
Earlier, speaking on behalf of the attorney general at the reference, Deputy Attorney General Amir Rehman said [Khosa] has been labelled a “poetic judge” because of his observations and judgments.
“As a judge he decided 55,000 criminal cases as well as 10,000 criminal cases. In addition, he also made his stance clear on submitting false testimonies and evidence to courts,” he said.
The deputy attorney general also criticised the special court’s verdict in the high treason case against former dictator Pervez Musharraf. “The special court did not follow Khosa’s principles in deciding cases. Their conduct runs contrary to the conduct of the court’s top judges,” he said.
CJP Khosa extends best wishes to all as he holds career’s last hearing
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa on Friday conducted last hearing of his career and extended best wishes to everyone during the proceedings.
According to details, the outgoing CJP was hearing case of firing on Amna bibi in Murree.
It is to be mentioned here that Asif Saeed Khosa is retiring from the post of Chief Justice of Pakistan after serving 11 months.
A full court reference and dinner will be held today to honour Justice Asif Saeed Khosa.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will be succeeded by Justice Gulzar Ahmed who is the most senior judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan after him. Justice Gulzar Ahmed will take oath as CJP on Saturday.
During his career as judge of the higher judiciary since 1998, Justice Khosa passed many landmark judgements and noted important judicial observations.
The cases that gave him international fame include disqualification of two sitting prime ministers — Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and Mian Nawaz Sharif — and most recently extension case of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. (With additional input from INP)
ISLAMABAD: Earthquake of 6.4 magnitude felt in Islamabad, AJK, Lahore, Peshawar and other cities of district Khyber on Friday.
The tremors struck at 4:39pm measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale.
The earthquake was also felt in the areas surrounding Peshawar, Malakand and Chitral. Tremors jolted Sargodha and its surrounding area.
No loss of life or property have been reported so far. Frightened people rushed out of their homes and offices in different cities of the country after the tremors were felt.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) the epicentre of the earthquake was the Koh-e-Hindukush mountain in Afghanistan and it measured 210 kilometers deep.
