DNA

LAHORE, NOV 13 – The Center for Chinese Legal Studies (CCLS) at the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law, LUMS in collaboration with the Pakistan-China Institute organised a virtual conference on ‘Poverty Alleviation, Covid-19 and CPEC – Connecting the Dots’.

Experts for the panel discussion includedDr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation; Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Chairman Foreign Affairs Committee in Senate of Pakistan; Mr. Masood Khalid, Former Ambassador of Pakistan to China; Professor Xia Qingjie, Peking University, China;Dr.Vaqar Ahmed, Executive Director, SDPI; and Professor Uzair J. Kayani, Faculty, Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law, LUMS.

The moderator, Professor Sikander Ahmed Shah, Director, CCLS, engaged the panel in an insightful conversation on Pakistan’s existing Poverty Alleviation Strategy, the impact of COVID-19 on Pakistan’s deteriorating income poverty, and CPEC’s role vis-à-vis alleviating poverty in the country. The conference also explored the Poverty Alleviation Strategy of China in an attempt to understand how Pakistan may learn from and employ China’s best practices.

Professor Sikander Ahmad Shah, Director CCLS, and Prof. Uzair Kayani, Faculty of Law, at LUMS also extended their pro bono support to Dr. Sania Nishtar on all matters of policy making pertaining to poverty reduction, relief and alleviation, in their collective pursuit to establish a welfare system in Pakistan.

Mr. Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Executive Director, PCI, presented his closing remarks for the conference and urged the audience to also focus their energies on the small and medium enterprises that enhance the vocational potential of our country.

The conference received an active and warm feedback from the participants and served as a constructive discourse of Pakistan in its effort towards welfare reform, strong institutional governance and fighting the poverty trap.

PTCL clarification

ISLAMABAD (DNA) This is with reference to news published in your esteemed blog titled ‘Poor PTCL Services Irk Customers ‘dated October 25, 2020.

PTCL would like to clarify that matter has been investigated and subsequently revealed that customer Anser Mehmood Bhatti was facing issue regarding PTCL services due to cable damage that has been rectified by our technical teams. We are glad to share that all services are working fine and customers are satisfied with the experience. However, we regret any inconvenience caused to our valued customers.

PTCL endeavors to provide convenience to its valuable customers and ensures better experience.

In case of any complaint, PTCL helpline 1218 is available 24/7, where customers can easily talk to our Customer Support Representatives as per their ease and convenience with no restriction placed on Interactive Voice Response (IVR). In addition, customers can also go to PTCL website www.ptcl.com.pk, web chat, and PTCL Touch mobile application or PTCL social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for registration of their complaints.

Zong to provide subsidized AIOU Taleem Bundle facility to AIOU students and employees

ISLAMABAD, NOV 13 (DNA) – Allama Iqbal Open University and Zong signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the main campus of the university yesterday.

According to the agreement, Zong will provide AIOU Taleem Bundle to the students and employees of AIOU on subsidized rates which can be used to access AIOU online services like Aaghi LMS, AIOU Live (FM radio/TV), digital library and university website, etc.

Prof. Dr. Nasir Mehmood, Dean Faculty of Education chaired the MoU signing session. Professors, principal officers of the university, and senior management of Zong telecommunication network participated in the MoU signing ceremony. Sohail Nazir Rana, Registrar AIOU, and Mr. Farhan Zakir, Director Government and Corporate Sales Services, Zong signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.

During his address to the participants, Mr. Moied Javeed, CCO, Zong highly appreciated the role of AIOU in promotion of education. He said that AIOU is one of those national institutions of the country which contribute tremendously to the progress and development of the country. He further said that he was impressed by the infrastructure of the university.

He proposed multiple possibilities of further collaboration between AIOU and Zong including interconnectivity of all 54 regional offices of the university through a single networking operation and collaboration of AIOU with a higher education institution of China specialized in online education for bring further improvements in AIOU’s online education system and delivery mechanism.

Mr. Ajmal Farooq, Director ICT, AIOU briefed the participants about the ongoing automation and digitalization processes of the university. He said that AIOU is primarily focusing on converting all of its academic and administrative operations and procedures from manual to digital.

He termed the agreement as a landmark achievement in facilitating the students to participate in online academic activities. He further informed that 89 percent of the students were able to connect to Aaghi LMS successfully and attended their online classes in spring 2020 semester.

While speaking on this occasion, Prof. Dr. Nasir Mehmood said, “AIOU is imparting low cost education to almost 1.4 million students and by joining hands with         Zong and other telecom companies AIOU would be able to improve its reach and accessibility”.  He, further, informed that 54 percent of the students enrolled with AIOU are females who come from distant regions of the country. Owing to cultural and financial issues, AIOU remains the only hope of education for them serving as a social welfare enterprise and nearly 36 lac students have so far graduated from the university.

Director Regional Services, Inam Ullah Shaikh, and Treasurer of AIOU, Dr. Aamer Shah, also spoke on this occasion and termed the agreement.

The district health office of Islamabad has requested the district administration to seal six schools in the capital after teachers and students there contracted the coronavirus.

In a letter, the health office stated that these these schools had reported coronavirus cases and therefore should be shut down:

• Islamabad Model College (girls campus) F-6/2
• Islamabad Model College (boys campus) G-7/4
• Islamabad Model College F6/3
• Islamabad Model College (girls campus) 1-10/4
• Islamabad Model College Golra
• Bahali Institute H-8/4

The district health officer has recommend shutting these schools for a week for disinfection and to trace contacts. Seven other schools that were preciously closed down have been allowed to reopen.

Earlier this week, authorities sealed four educational institutes in the city after COVID-19 cases were reported there.

As of Friday morning, Pakistan has reported 352,296 cases of coronavirus, out of which 321,563 people have recovered. In the last 24 hours, over 2,304 new cases were reported and 37 people lost their lives to the virus.

Experts have warned that Pakistan is currently experiencing a second wave of the coronavirus as cases are rising steadily.

DNA

LAHORE, Nov 13  – Pak business community hailed the decision of Iran government for opening another border point to increase volume of bilateral trade between two Muslim countries.

Talking to a high level delegation of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly led by its Senior Vice President Hanif Gohar and Vice President Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal Arain here today ,President SAARC Chamber  of commerce and Chairman United Business Group veteran trade leader Iftikhar Ali Malik said that it’s good decision of Iran to further strengthen and deepen bilateral cooperation in trade with Pakistan.

 
The volume of two-way trade between Pakistan and Iran is negligible and the  mutual trade of two countries does not match their respective potentials,” he said. Currently, the bilateral trade stands at $359 million including exports to Iran amounting to $36 million against its imports at $323 million he added.

 
Iftikhar Ali Malik said In recent times, both countries are making serious efforts to overcome persistent irritants for stronger bilateral relations. Both sides are committed to exploring areas of mutual economic  interests including trade and gas pipeline projects. Iran, being rich in its natural resources of oil and gas, is crucial for an energy deficient country such as Pakistan.

 
Hanif Gohar SVP FPCCI said that increased bilateral cooperation, particularly better trade and economic ties, would be mutually beneficial for the two countries.He said Iranian proposed new  state of the art modern “Rimdan” border crossing point is believed to be suitably located for export and import of fruits,livestock,construction material and petroleum products.

 
Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal Arain said that it’s another good omen that both sides mutually  agreed to set up joint economic commission for steering bilateral trade and economic ties.He said Pakistan faces a serious challenge of trade deficit with exports around $21 billion and imports $48.51 billion. Moreover, given demographic challenges, Pakistan’s latest challenges include; the balance of payment deficit,  development of the energy sector, and increase in foreign investment to reach the optimal economic growth required for the employment of the increasing urban population, particularly those under twenty-five he concluded.