ISLAMABAD, OCT 17 /DNA/ – Pakistan Hotels Association’s annual election results were announced at its 58th annual general meeting, held on September 30, 2022. The following Office Bearers have been elected for the term 2022-23

Mustansir Zakir as Chairman, Mian Akram Farid as Senior Vice Chairman, Mr. Faisal Qayyum Khan as Vice Chairman North, and Mr. Abdul Jabbar Rathod as Vice Chairman South.

Mr. Mustansir Zakir has been elected as Chairman, who is associated with Hashoo Group for more than 25 years, and is the CEO of Hashwani Hotels Limited, the owners and operators of Islamabad & Karachi Marriott Hotels and Zaver Pearl-Continental Hotel Gwadar.

Mr. Zakir is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and Associate Member of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICAM).

He has done his certification in Hospitality and Strategic Management from Cornell University, USA. Mr. Zakir has remained Chairman and Executive Committee Member of PHA in the past as well, playing a vital role in the hospitality sector on behalf of the Pakistan Hotels Association.

ISLAMABAD, OCT 17 /DNA/ – A Saudi Armed Forces delegation led by Major General Hamed Bin Rafei Al Amri, Director Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Saudi Armed Forces, called on Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force in his office today. During the meeting, matters of regional security situation, enhanced bilateral and defence cooperation were discussed.

Major General Hamed Bin Rafei Al Amri expressed his grief over the devastation caused by recent floods in Pakistan and offered sincere condolence to the families of the victims. He praised efforts of PAF personnel for their support to civil administration in relief activities and rehabilitation process of the flood affectees.

 The dignitary also acknowledged the rising indigenous capability of PAF in aviation industry and agreed to further optimize the existing ties between both the air forces particularly in training and operational domains.

Chief of the Air Staff shared broad contours of PAF’s modernization drive to achieve operational capability in the contemporary warfare in air, space and cyber space domains as per the PAF’s operational construct and said that Pakistan Air Force is fully focused in acquisition and development of these technologies.

The Air Chief said that Pakistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoy longstanding religious, cultural and historical bonds which are manifested through strong ties between both the countries. CAS thanked the visiting dignitary for the unflinching support extended by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and reiterated that assistance from our global partners shall be vital for rescue and rehabilitation of the flood victims in Pakistan.

Islamabad, OCT 17 /DNA/ – Hanif Abbasi former Special Assistant to Prime Minister and Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry former Federal Minister along with Senator Ahmed Khan, Zia ullah Shah & Raja Hanif Advocate former MPAs, Sardar Nasim Khan former Mayor Rawalpindi and Farah Naz Akbar President PML-N Women Wing Islamabad visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) to congratulate the new Office Bearers of ICCI.

Addressing the business community, Hanif Abbasi and Dr. Fazal Tariq Chaudhry assured that they would fully support ICCI in its efforts for the establishment of a new industrial zone and representation of sitting President ICCI in CDA Board. They said that 11 new routes for Islamabad have been finalized and very soon the citizens would see electric businesses on the roads of the Capital that would provide quality transport and reduce 50% traffic flow. They said that all dead development projects of the twin cities including Bara Kahu Bypass and Rawal Road Interchange have been revived to address traffic issues and facilitate the growth of business activities. They further assured that they would cooperate in addressing all highlighted issues including expediting work on IJP Road and de-sealing of Centaurus Mall. They also asked the business community to cooperate with the government for providing relief to the flood affectees.

Senator Ahmed Khan also stressed that the government should cooperate with ICCI in materialization of the industrial zone project and representation in the CDA Board.

In his welcome address, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that ICCI has been making efforts since long for the establishment of a new industrial zone in the region to boost industrialization and representation of sitting President in CDA Board to safeguard the interests of business community and requested that both politicians should cooperate with ICCI in these important initiatives. He stressed that the Capital should be made a protests free city and a separate venue may be earmarked for such political activities to save the businesses from any losses. He said that the DC rates for land prices have been hiked by 400-500 percent due to which the business of real estate sector was suffering and emphasized that these rates should be rationalized to facilitate the growth of business activities. He said that work on IJP road may be expedited to save businesses and commuters from problems and a parking plaza in every major market in Capital may be built to address the parking issues.  

Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President, ICCI said that the closure of Centaurus Mall has rendered about 4000 persons unemployed and around 300 families have been made homeless and requested that both politicians should cooperate in resolving this issue amicably.

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI presented a cheque of Rupees one million to Hanif Abbasi for the relief of flood affectees.  

Khalid Javed, Mian Akram Farid, Zubair Ahmed Malik, Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, Baser Daud, Sheikh Amir Waheed, Muhammad Naveed Malik, Khalid Chaudhry and others were also present at the occasion.  

ISLAMABAD, OCT 17: Chairman PTI Imran Khan is addressing a press conference after the party meeting held to chalk out the next line of action in the wake of a landslide victory in Sunday’s by-polls.

Khan alleged that the elections were held in the constituencies where PTI was weak and the ruling coalition fielded joint candidates to ensure his party’s defeat — but they failed.

He said that the government did not wish to hold elections and used floods as an excuse. “They said that there were floods. But in the constituencies where elections were held, floods did not have an effect there.”

Khan claimed that he lost Karachi’s Malir by-polls to a PPP candidate — Abdul Hakeem Baloch — as it was rigged.

“Sindh’s election commissioner was on the provincial government’s payroll. We reject [Malir’s] by-election and demand re-election,” the PTI chairman said.

He said the nation does not accept this legislature and wants new polls across the country.

Khan announces decisions of party’s senior leadership

• PTI to call special session of KP, Punjab assemblies on torture of its leaders, journalists;
• PTI senators to file petition against torture of its leaders;
• Party to write letters to int’l oragnisations — human rights committee in Geneva, UN special rapporteur on torture, EU special representative on human rights, int’l parliamentary union;
• Long march to be held any time soon.

Earlier, PTI leader Faisal Javed said chairman Khan would soon announce the course of action regarding long march after consulting with the PTI leadership.

Javed said the party’s decision on the final long march call would be revealed after the meeting.

Former prime minister Imran Khan won the majority of seats in by-polls on Sunday, building forward momentum in his drive to push the six-month-old Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government into announcing an early general election.

The PTI chairman contested seven of eight seats and secured six, while PPP, part of the ruling coalition, claimed the other two seats.

While Khan will have to quit from all but one of the seats won — and polls will have to follow — the victory indicates his political narrative was popular among voters.

The cricket-turned-politician, who was sent home through a no-confidence vote in April, has been addressing huge public meetings across Pakistan demanding early elections. 

The PTI’s key meeting, chaired by Imran Khan, was primarily held to decide on when to push their strategic envelope for mounting pressure on the government in the shape of a final ultimatum for early elections.

The meeting also consulted on finalising a date for the long march, while the report on the initial results of the by-elections also came under review.  

ISLAMABAD, OCT 17 /DNA/ – Pakistani telecom company, PTCL has signed an agreement with evision – the media and entertainment wing of global telecom services provider, e& – to launch its own video streaming platform in Pakistan.

The new Digital Video Over-The-Top (OTT) platform will host the richest collection of Hollywood and Pakistani entertainment content besides a rich assortment of national and international news and sports channels, thereby catering to the diverse news and entertainment needs of everyone in the family.