ICCI demands Media-cum-Tech City in Islamabad to promote IT exports

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October 16, 2020

ISLAMABAD: President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan has said that Pakistan has abundant IT & media talent and tremendous potential to promote export of content, IT and software products, therefore, he called upon the government to consider establishing a Media-cum-Tech City in Islamabad.

He was speaking to a delegation of National Press Club, Islamabad, that visited ICCI led by Senior Vice President Arshad Waheed and Secretary General Anwar Raza to congratulate the newly elected team of ICCI. Group Leader Afzal Butt, former President Tariq Chaudhry, Finance Secretary Sagheer Chaudhry, Siddique Sajjid Baloch, Azhar Jatoi and others were in the delegation.

Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that Media-cum-Tech City would provide a good platform to our young media and IT professionals even from remote areas to show their creativity for launching new businesses and thus contribute towards better economic development of the country and promotion of exports. He said that the government should also introduce a relief package for start-ups to foster an ecosystem of entrepreneurship in the country.

The ICCI President further said that many countries have made drastic cuts in interest rates with the aim to support businesses to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and urged that SBP should also reduce the policy interest rate bringing it down to 2-3 percent that will give a boost to SMEs and help accelerate economic activity in the country.

Speaking at the occasion, Arshad Waheed Senior Vice President and Anwar Raza, Secretary General, National Press Club, Islamabad said that the business community was playing an important role in the economic development of the country and the government should address its key issues on priority.

They said that Pakistan needed to attract more local and foreign investment for developing many sectors of its economy including tourism, energy, infrastructure development etc. and urged that the government should focus on establishing a one window operation facility to facilitate the potential investors. They said that the current policies of FBR were not supportive in business promotion and FBR should re-orient and re-align its tax policies in a manner that should facilitate the private sector in promoting business activities.

Ms. Fatma Azim Senior Vice President, Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI and Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi former President ICCI appreciated the role of journalistic community for providing updated information to the society and added that they should also cooperate in highlighting the key issues of business community to bring them into the notice of policymakers for redress that would help in improving the economy.

M. Shakeel Munir, Umais Khattak, Khalid Chaudhry, Ch. Ashraf Farzand and others also spoke at the occasion and stressed the need for more close cooperation between ICCI and NPC to promote the common cause of their members.

With input from INP

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President summons NA, Senate sessions on Friday

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Our Correspondent

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October 15, 2020

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has summoned sessions of Senate and National Assembly at the Parliament House in Islamabad on Friday (October 16).

According to details, the Senate session will be held on Friday at 10:30am at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. Legislation, the overall situation in the country and other important issues are likely to be discussed during the session.

On the other hand, National Assembly session will be held at the Parliament House on Friday at 4:30 pm. Sources said that important legislation as well as overall political situation in the country will come under discussion during National Assembly session.

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Asad Umer alerts nation on rising positivity of Corona cases

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Our Correspondent

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October 15, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umer has warned nation about rising positivity of coronavirus cases.

Minister informed people by tweeting today that national positivity of Covid-19 cases was 2.37% yesterday. This is the highest positivity in more than 50 days and last time this level was seen on August 23.

He updated that during first 4 days of this week, coronavirus related deaths average is 11 per day which is highest since week of Aug 10th. These are the unmistakable signs of rise of corona.

Asad Umer revealed that Covid positivity is extremely high in muzaffarabad, remains high in karachi, rising in lahore and Islamabad.

He once asked people to take covid sop’s seriously again. Otherwise, unfortunately government may have to take restrictive actions which have negative effects on people’s livelihoods.

Coronavirus pandemic: Mini smart lockdown imposed in Karachi, Islamabad, Azad Kashmir

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Bilawal supports protesting federal govt employees

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Our Correspondent

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October 15, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman, Pakistan Peoples’ Party has extended support to the protesting employees of the Federal government including young doctors and Lady Health Workers and asked the PTI regime to accept all their genuine demands.

In a statement issued here, the PPP Chairman said that due promotions, adequate pension and equal incentives were the genuine rights of the Federal government employees and PPP supports their demcractic right of peaceful protest in Islamabad.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed solidarity with the Federal government employees, including young doctors and Lady Health workers and others pledging that his Party will raise their issues at every forum for their redressal.

With input from INP

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PTCL Group posts Rs 96 billion revenue for 9 months

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Our Correspondent

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October 14, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s leading telecom and ICT services provider, has announced its financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 at its Board of Directors’ meeting held in Islamabad on October 14, 2020.

PTCL Group reported revenue of Rs 96 billion for the nine months ended September 2020; when normalized for the impact of Covid-19 and certain regulatory changes affecting Ufone, Group revenue is 4.2% higher than 2019 on a like-for-like basis. UBank continued its growth momentum and has achieved a double digit growth in its revenue over last year. PTCL standalone revenue for the nine months period is 0.7% lower than last year; when normalized for the impact of Covid-19, the like-for-like revenue is 1.2% higher than the same period of last year.

As the post-Covid situation got better and the markets opened up after the lockdowns, PTCL Group performance has shown signs of improvement. Group’s Q3, 2020 revenue is higher by 3.4% over the same quarter of last year. The topline growth coupled with cost control initiatives translated into 167% and 356% improvement in Group’s operating profit and net profit for the quarter respectively.

During the 3rd Quarter, PTCL wireline segment showed positive trends. PTCL has recorded the highest ever sale in Broadband for any Quarter since Q4 2014. Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) continues to grow with consistent growth in subscriber base during the period with a promising outlook. The positive momentum in wireless (CharJi) segment continued with subscriber base increasing by 21% on YoY basis. Retail business recorded 6% growth in revenue between Q3 2020 vs Q2 2020.

Corporate and Wholesale businesses continued their growth momentum and have achieved a 6% overall revenue growth YoY. Similarly, international revenue has also shown 6% growth as compared to the same period last year. PTCL, in collaboration with SCO has successfully established strategic partnership to monetize CPEC cross border connectivity. PTCL has been successful to maintain its dominant position in the market with reference to IP bandwidth and managed capacity services.

PTCL Customer Care continued its efforts to enhance customer experience through various initiatives taken during this period. Moreover, PTCL undertook a comprehensive Coronavirus relief and support effort, through its various CSR initiatives, standing with the nation in these tough times. Also, PTCL is geared up to increase high-speed internet penetration in the country to support Prime Minister’s vision for Digital Pakistan.

Based on the financial strength and improved performance, VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (VIS) has reaffirmed entity ratings of PTCL at ‘AAA/A-1+’ (Triple A/A-One Plus). The medium to long term rating of ‘AAA’ denotes highest credit quality with negligible risk factors.

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Coronavirus pandemic: Mini smart lockdown imposed in Karachi, Islamabad, Azad Kashmir

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Our Correspondent

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October 11, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Mini smart lockdown on Sunday has been re-imposed in Karachi, Islamabad and Azad Kashmir after surge in number of coronavirus cases.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has said that coronavirus cases have been increased by two percent as compared to last week.

Local administrations have been directed to ensure protective measures to curb the spread of this deadly disease, he stated.

In Islamabad, different streets of three sectors, two schools, 32 restaurants and 47 shops have also been sealed for violating the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Meanwhile, in Lahore, two shopping malls on MM Alam Road have been closed.

On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 12 deaths in last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 318,932. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,570.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 666 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

Till now 140,131 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 100,687 in Punjab, 38,329 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17,296 in Islamabad, 15,520 in Balochistan, 3,045 in Azad Kashmir and 3,924 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Furthermore 2,549 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Sindh, 2,257 in Punjab, 1,263 in KP, 146 in Balochistan, 188 in Islamabad, 89 in GB and 78 in Azad Kashmir.

Pakistan has so far conducted 3,857,845 coronavirus tests and 28,893 in last 24 hours. 303,458 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 483 patients are in critical condition.

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Capital Police all set to introduce ‘street watcher system’ to curtail crime in city

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Our Correspondent

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October 10, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Capital Police is all set to introduce new citizen policing to curtail crime with the help of local people.

The top brass of Islamabad Police decided to introduce ‘street watcher system’ initially in City Zone area of Islamabad, which would help enhance cooperation between police and public and curb crime.

Street watchers would be deputed at streets and sub-sectors which would assist police in its efforts to curb crime, a statement issued here today, reads.

They would inform police in case of any suspicious activity in their respective area and keep a vigilant eye on security guards and domestic servants.

Police and street watchers would remain in contact with each other round the clock through a mobile app.

Moreover, street patrol units/contingents have been constituted comprising 50 motorcyclists which would conduct patrolling and checking in various sectors and markets in peak timings.

Each unit or contingent would comprise four policemen patrolling on two bikes to curb street crime.

Air Patrol Unit has been also set up having four drone cameras to be used during rescue operation, ensure protection to the tourists at walking trails and guide those forgetting their ways.

All these units would work under the supervision of SP (City) which was formally inaugurated by Islamabad IG Mohammad Aamir Zulfiqar Khan.

DIG (Operations) Waqaruddin Syed, SSP (CTD), members of Chamber of Commerce and conciliatory committees were also present on the occasion.

IGP Islamabad said that Islamabad police were utilizing all resources to ensure protection to the lives and property of the citizens and adopting modern techniques for effective policing. He expressed the hope that these steps would help a lot to overcome crime and ensure safety to people.

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Woman arrested for defrauding people with fake cheques

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Our Correspondent

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October 10, 2020

ISLAMABAD: A woman was arrested in Islamabad for defrauding people of millions of rupees by issuing fake cheques, the Capital Police said.

According to the spokesperson of the Islamabad Police, the woman, identified as Nadia Nayab, had been named in nine similar cases at police stations across federal capital city.

She was arrested by officers of the Secretariat police station.

“Nayab has escaped from a court hearing once and was also declared ‘wanted’ by the Federal Investigation Agency,” the spokesperson added.

The police have taken her into custody and started interrogating her. Further investigations are under way.

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Youth backbone of any society, play key role in nation-building: Rehman Malik

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Our Correspondent

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October 7, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior, Senator Rehman Malik has said that youth are the backbone of any nation and they play a vital role in nation-building and development of society.

The Chairman Senate Body was addressing a delegation of Student Youth Council that called on him at Parliament House, Islamabad.

The delegation of Youth Council included students from various universities across the country and was led by Muhammad Shahzad, President YCP. The delegation was comprised of Irsa Batool, Ayesha Zafar, Faisal Amin, Rehan Ullah, Farhan Ullah, Attaullah Mohsin, Ziyad Ali Shah, Muhammad Onais, Asad ur Rehman and others.

Senator Rehman Malik said that youth have the power to develop a country and change the fate of the nation. He said that youth help in moving forward and determine the future of the country. He stressed that no country in the world can develop and progress unless it imparts education to the young generation.

He said that Pakistan currently has the largest youth population. He added that more than 64% of the total population of Pakistan is under 30 years of age and more than 29% is between 15 years of age which is huge manpower. Unfortunately, youth in our country is facing a lot of problems nowadays, he added.

The Chairman Senate Body said that we need to give equal opportunities of education to our youth and in every field and the youth should be encouraged to take up and accept the challenges of the 21st-century world. He emphasized, “We need to provide more opportunities to the youth by setting up vocational training institutes.”

Senator Malik advised the students to determine their future and work day and night to achieve the goal. He added that the youth should play their role in the prevention and control of drugs by using their abilities. He said that it would be a huge wastage of human resources if youths are not given an opportunity to exercise their talent. He said that our history has witnessed that the youth had played a very important role in the formation of Pakistan.

On the occasion, the members of the Student Youth Council apprised Senator Rehman Malik of the problems faced by them and they emphasized the necessary legislation to strengthen the youth. The members of the Student Youth Council thanked Senator Rehman Malik for giving them the opportunity to visit Parliament House and discuss issues.

With input from INP

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Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi takes charge as new chief of Pakistan Navy

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Our Correspondent

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October 7, 2020

ISLAMABAD: The change of command ceremony was held at PNS Zafar, Islamabad where Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi symbolically handed over command of the Pakistan Navy to the new naval chief.

Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi was commissioned in the Operations Branch of Pakistan Navy in 1985 and won the coveted Sword of Honour upon completion of initial training at the Pakistan Naval Academy.

The new naval chief has also served on various command and staff appointments.

His command appointments include command of two Type-21 ships, PNS Badr and PNS Tariq; Commander of the 18th Destroyer Squadron; Commandant PNS Bahadur; Commandant Pakistan Navy War College; Commander Central Punjab Lahore; Commander Pakistan Fleet and Commander Karachi.

His distinguished staff appointments include Principal Secretary to Chief of the Naval Staff, Head of F-22P Mission China, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Training & Evaluation) and Director-General Naval Intelligence.

He is a graduate of the Army Command and Staff College, Quetta and the National Defence University Islamabad. The admiral also holds a Master’s Degree in Underwater Acoustics from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China.

Vice Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi is a recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) (the Crescent of Distinction) and the Sitara-e-Basalat (Star of Good Conduct). He has also been conferred the French Medal Chevalier (Knight) by the Government of France.

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