Irshad Ali

ISLAMABAD, AUG 23 /DNA/ – Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman, during her remarks in the briefing on current flood emergency in Pakistan by NDMA, stressed the need for immediate humanitarian and rescue efforts to rehabilitate the aggrieved and flood-hit populations throughout the country. This was an urgent meeting called to reassess damage done by recurring and unprecedented floods and to apprise development partners and donors of the criticality of the crisis.  

Calling attention to the current climate crisis in the country, Minister Rehman said, “Right now we are in 7th spell of a torrential monsoon that has left thousands homeless, 830 dead and 1348 injured. From Balochistan, the monsoon system has moved to Sindh where 30 districts are under water. The magnitude of it can be assessed from the fact that it has rained more than 395% in Sindh and 379% in Balochistan above the average rainfall. It is a climate catastrophe of epic scale, bringing in its wake the humanitarian crisis that could well match the magnitude of the big flood that was witnessed in 2010. At this point both sides of the Indus are flooded in Sindh which is the current epicentre of the calamity. Shelter is dangerously impacted in the 30 districts of Sindh, and even in Balochistan, and now the same kind of speed and velocity of water is being experienced in South Punjab. People are adrift, livestock and crops are damaged. It is a humanitarian disaster of unprecedented monsoon proportions..”

Further apprising on the situation in Sindh, she highlighted, “The torrential rains have been unprecedented in Sindh right now, Balochistan, DG Khan too are at risk. Given the scale of the disaster there is no question of the provinces or even Islamabad being able to cope with this magnitude of climate catastrophe on their own. Lives are at risk,thousands homeless. It is important that international partners mobilise assistance. The Indus is in high floods where flow of over 600,000 cusecs is expected to cross Guddu and then Sukkur Barrages on 23rd and 24th of August, 2022 which will bring all the Katcha area along Indus under water, displacing thousands of families. This is in addition to the current displacement. In terms of precious human lives, 216 lives have been lost to the floods in Sindh. An estimated 1,500,000 katcha houses have been damaged and crops cultivated on 1,989,868 acres have been completely destroyed in Sindh. And with the new monsoon spell setting in, other areas in the country, especially DG Khan will remain vulnerable to hill torrents.”   

Stressing the need for urgent and immediate relief measures, Minister Rehman said, “The current climate catastrophe needs immediate International and national mobilization of humanitarian efforts, not just in the form of food, shelter and basic survival amenities but we need to amplify our rescue efforts. The NDMA, Pakistan Army, along with the provincial governments are tirelessly involved in dealing with this climate crisis. But lack of resources is a huge challenge. It is important to coordinate needs of calamity hit areas and triangulate with development partners and donors. A concerted and well-coordinated effort is required to deal with this climate emergency that our country faces at present.”

KARACHI, AUG 23 (DNA) — To mark Pakistan’s Independence Day, the Pakistan Red Crescent (PRC) Sindh Branch held an inter-school debate competition on climate change at Graceful Grammar High School, Baldia Town, Karachi, on Tuesday.

According to a press release issued by the PRC-Sindh Media and Communication Department, the Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Unit has assigned a topic to four government and four private schools to participate in a debate competition.

The topic of the debate was, “Is Pakistan capable of evolving as a developed country while dealing with the effects of climate change?” More than 250 students and teachers from all the invited schools attended the event.

In a message, the Provincial Secretary PRC-Sindh Kanwar Waseem said that Pakistan has been ranked the fifth most affected country in the world due to extreme weather events between 1999 and 2018. Moreover, Pakistan’s economy relies heavily on agriculture, and any changes in temperature and disruptions in water availability and monsoon patterns can wreak havoc on the livelihoods of millions of people, he added.

In recent years, Pakistan has faced floods, droughts, heatwaves and other stressors; therefore, climate change is now Pakistan’s most emerging and significant issue, and each of us has a responsibility to do our part to mitigate the effects of climate change for our future generations, Provincial Secretary emphasized.

Ms. Iram Ayaz, Program Officer CCA, addressed the participants and stated that the debate competition strengthened the Climate Change Adaptation Program’s goal of contributing to community resilience and raising awareness of climate change and support for climate action.

During the concluding ceremony, the Head of the Graceful Grammar School, Miss Kiran Zehri, applauded the Pakistan Red Crescent for organizing such programs in schools to raise awareness about the critical problem of climate change. The winners also received shields, certificates, and prizes. =DNA

KARACHI, AUG 23 /DNA/ – “The Executive Committee of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) held its meeting on August 23, 2022 at APNS House, Karachi under the chairmanship of its President by Sarmad Ali, President, APNS.

The members of the Executive Committee pointed out that because of the delay in payments from the Federal and provincial governments, the member publications were facing serious financial crisis.  The Committee asked the Federal and provincial governments to expedite the payments to the print media so that the newspapers can meet their expenses.

The members of the Executive Committee agreed that the press campaign be started to highlight the importance of the print media. The Executive Committee showed its concern on the havoc created by the recent floods and heavy rain and sympathized with the people of Balochistan, Sindh and South Punjab. The Executive Committee asked the member publications to create awareness of the plight of the flood-effectees in national press.

The Executive Committee adopted the report of the Advertising Committee on the applications of various advertising agencies and granted provisional accreditation to M/s. Marshmallow Adverting (Pvt.) Ltd., Lahore, M/s. Focus 360 Marketing (Pvt.) Ltd, Rawalpindi, M/s. Spot On Associates, Karachi and M/s. Commerlance (Pvt.) Ltd., Karachi. The application for restructuring of M/s. Linkers Communications (Pvt.) Ltd.,  Islamabad was also approved.

The following attended the meeting :

Sarmad Ali, President, Shahab Zuberi, Vice President, Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani, Secretary General, Bilal Farooqui (Daily Aghaz), Fauzia Shaheen (Monthly Dastak), Najamuddin Sheikh (Daily Deyanat), Muhammad Waqaruddin (Daily Dunya), Bilal Mahmood (Weekly Family), Muhammad Younus Mehar (Daily Halchal), Kazi Asad Abid (Daily Ibrat), Syed Akbar Tahir (Daily Jasarat), Muhammad Manzoor Rana (Daily Mashriq, Quetta), Zahida Abbasi (Daily Nau Sijj), Salman Qureshi (Monthly Naya Rukh), Mubashir Mir (Daily Pakistan, Lahore), Faisal Zahid Malik (Pakistan Observer) and Dr. Waqar Yousuf Azeemi (Monthly Roohani Digest).

The following attended the meeting on Zoom :

Irfan Athar (Daily Tijarat), Mohsin Bilal, Joint Secretary, Muhammad Awais Khushnood, Finance Secretary, Mumtaz A. Tahir (Daily Aftab), Waseem Ahmed (Daily Awam, Quetta), Ansar Mahmood Bhatti (Monthly Centre Line), Imtinan Shahid (Daily Khabrain)and  Rukhsana Saulat Saleemi (Weekly Nikhar).

DOHA, /DNA/ – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday invited investors from Qatar to invest in Pakistan’s energy, aviation, agriculture, livestock, maritime, tourism and hospitality sectors.

The prime minister, in a meeting with the highest officials of Qatar Investment Authority  (QIA) – one of the largest sovereign wealth funds of the world, highlighted Pakistan’s liberal and business-friendly investment policies in this regard.

He also urged the Qatari investors to explore the opportunities presented by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) aimed at promoting regional connectivity and mutual prosperity.

QIA Chief Executive Officer Mansoor Bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud and Chief Investment Officer of Africa and Asia-Pacific Regions Sheikh Faisal Thani Al-Thani represented the Qatar Investment Authority.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Syed Naveed Qamar, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Ayaz Sadiq, and Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar.

Lauding Qatar’s rapid economic development under the visionary leadership of Qatar’s Emir, the prime minister reiterated that Pakistan attached high importance to its relations with Qatar and wanted to upgrade the traditionally warm political ties between the two countries into a comprehensive economic partnership.

He stressed the need to further enhance bilateral economic and investment engagement, particularly in the renewable energy including solar and wind power generation, aviation, maritime, industrial and infrastructure development, and hospitality sectors.

He underlined Pakistan’s unique geographic and demographic advantages, which combined its strategic location with a huge middle-class market and a large skilled workforce.

PM Shehbaz Sharif assured full facilitation to the QIA through transparent and expeditious processes.

As part of the event, a number of presentations were made by the relevant ministries highlighting the potential of foreign investment in the fields of food security, energy, maritime, aviation, hospitality and tourism sectors.

The prime minister appreciated the QIA’s rejuvenated interest in investing in Pakistan.

It was agreed that designated focal persons on both sides would closely follow-up on the key proposals for investments.

The prime minister invited Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mehmoud and Sheikh Faisal Thani Al-Thani to visit Pakistan at their earliest convenience to build on the momentum generated by the visit.

Terming Pakistan a priority country, the QIA officials expressed their keen interest and readiness to actively pursue investment opportunities in the country.

Islamabad: The Environment Wing of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) opened a new hiking trail in Islamabad’s Margalla Hills for hikers and tourists earlier today. The civic authority inaugurated the five-kilometer-long Trail 7, which runs from C-12 to Kainthia, Alexander Well, today at 6 AM, with CDA Chairman, Captain Usman, and DC Islamabad, Irfan Nawaz Memon, present at the occasion.CDA also reopened ‘Trail 1’ and ‘Trail 2’ in the Margalla Hills to hikers and visitors earlier this month after completing necessary restoration work such as the installation of maps, milestones, and benches along the route.

The Asian Leopard Preservation Zone was established earlier this year by the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) to protect and preserve a number of Asian leopards that have recently been spotted along Trail 6 of the Margalla Hills.

In March of this year, Amir Ali Ahmed, Chairman of the Capital Development Authority, inaugurated a new park named the Hill Park on Third Road in Sector G-10/4, Islamabad.

DNA

LAHORE: Ambassador of Nepal to Pakistan Tapas Adhikari met with Former Foreign Minister and Senior Politician of Pakistan Mian Khursid Mahmood Kasuri in Lahore. During the meeting we discussed Nepal-Pakistan bilateral relations, SAARC and South Asia region.

The ambassador thanked him for his contribution to strengthen Nepal-Pakistan relations during his tenure as Foreign Minister of Pakistan. Former Minister Kasuri is from well known political family of Pakistan and is also well versed on political history of South Asia. His family is also deeply engaged in education development of Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, AUG 23 /DNA/  -–  The Pakistan Single Window (PSW) conducted capacity-building sessions in Faisalabad and Gujranwala in collaboration with the All Pakistan Bedsheets & Upholstery Association of Pakistan (APBUMA) and the Seed Importers and Producers Association of Pakistan (SIPAP) as part of its Change Management component. The sessions were attended by a large number of importers and exporters transitioning to the Single Window system for cross-border trade.

During the session, the PSW team gave an overview of the PSW system and explained the various features and services being offered by PSW. The participants in Gujranwala were also given a walkthrough of the PSW e-Trade system integrating the Federal Seed Certification & Registration Department with PSW. The new service enables electronic filing and processing of import permits and release orders pertaining to FSC&RD and is gradually being rolled out across the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Zaheer Abbas, Domain Officer PSW stated “PSW is on a transformational journey for digitizing and realigning cross-border trade procedures with internationally recommended best practices. The integration of the FSC&RD is a big step forward towards facilitating seed imports and will save importers time and cost for imports”. He also acknowledged the active cooperation of FSC&RD for automating and integrating their business processes with PSW. The Chairman of SIPAP Mr. Mian Muhammed Azhar Siddique stated, “FSC&RD has been an important partner and collaborator of PSW and its officials and management have played a key role in achieving this integration”.

A high level of interest and participation was also observed by members of ABPUMA in the Faisalabad session.The PSW presentation by Mr. Salman Afzal, Domain Officer PSW was followed by an interactive Q&A session regarding export procedures and issuance of financial instruments by commercial banks. Representatives from the State Bank of Pakistan and the commercial banks dealing with international trade finance also attended the event.

Change management is an essential component of the PSW implementation strategy.  Accordingly, an extensive change management framework has been developed to support the implementation of the PSW system and its various modules. Thisincludes a series of onsite and virtual learning activities including workshops, training modules, seminars and webinars, and trade shows for internal and external users, with a strong focus on digital engagement and the use of new technologies. The trainings are delivered by the PSW domain and IT teams in collaboration with different government departments and trade associations in various cities.To expand the training network, PSW intends to collaborate with private sector training firms and organizations through launching ‘Trainer Accreditation’ and ‘Training Partner’ programs. 

The PSW system began rolling out in July 2021 and achieved phase 1 completion on June 30, 2022, in line with Pakistan’s commitment under the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. It currently has more than 52,000 registered users. Services currently offered by the system include electronic customs registration, online processing, and issuance of import permits, Phyto-sanitary certificates, release orders and other documents pertaining to the above-mentioned government agencies, and digital payments. In addition to these services, PSW has also launched its Trade Information Portal providing a single access point for all information related to imports, exports, and transit also in compliance with Article 1.2 of the TFA.