ISLAMABAD : A delegation of Afghanistan’s Hizb-e-Wahdat-e Islami called on Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday to discuss matters of mutual interest including the Afghan peace process.

The delegation, led by Muhammad Karim Khalili, arrived in the country on Monday for a two-day visit during which it is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser.

During the meet today, the foreign minister reiterated Islamabad’s stance that there was no military solution to the Afghan conflict, adding only political dialogue could resolve the matter.

Welcoming the progress made during the intra-Afghan talks, Qureshi expressed optimism about the second round of talks being held in Doha.

He emphasised that the regional peace was linked to the stability in Afghanistan and expressed satisfaction over the progress in intra-Afghan dialogue, saying it provides a unique opportunity to the Afghan leadership which must be seized for peace in the country.

Qureshi regretted that India is acting as a spoiler in Afghanistan and we have presented irrefutable evidence in this regard before the world community.

The foreign minister shared that the government was taking concrete steps for the promotion of bilateral relations between the two countries, adding that Pakistan has also introduced a new visa policy to facilitate the Afghans.

Ustad Khalili thanked the foreign minister for hosting the Afghan refugees over the last many decades and praised Pakistan’s role in the Afghan peace process.

Afghan peace talks: What’s the rush?

Khalili’s visit is part of Pakistan’s ongoing policy to reach out to political leadership in Afghanistan to forge common understanding on the Afghan peace process and deepen people-to-people linkages, the MOFA said in a statement.

“Pakistan’s fraternal ties with Afghanistan are rooted deep in shared history, faith, culture, values and traditions,” read the press release. “Pakistan fully supports all efforts for peace, stability and prosperity of the Afghan people.”

The ministry stressed that Islamabad “remains steadfast in its support for an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political solution of the conflict in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process”.

ISLAMABAD – Seven staff at one of Pakistan’s biggest power plants have been suspended after a technical fault sparked a massive grid breakdown at the weekend, plunging the entire country into darkness.

The blackout hit all of Pakistan’s major cities, including the capital Islamabad, economic hub Karachi and the second-largest city Lahore, lasting around 18 hours in most areas.

The employees at Guddu thermal power plant in Sindh province were suspended “on account of the negligence of duty”, according to the Central Power Generation Company, which operates the facility.

Guddu plant, built in the 1980s, is one of the country’s largest and generates power from furnace oil and natural gas.
The suspended staff included a manager and six junior employees.

The blackout, which started shortly before midnight on Saturday, was caused by an engineering fault which tripped the system and caused power plants across the country to shut down.

Pakistan’s electricity supply system is a complex and delicate web, and a problem in one section of the grid can lead to cascading breakdowns countrywide.

There were no reports of disruption at hospitals, however, which often rely on backup generators. The outage marked Pakistan’s second major power breakdown in less than three years.

In May 2018, power was partially disrupted for more than nine hours, while in 2015 an apparent rebel attack on a key supply line plunged around 80 percent of the country into darkness.

DNA

ISLAMABAD: Budget allocated for the repairing of machinery and vehicles should be spent wisely, said the Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) here on Monday.

Handy machinery which is being used for cutting grass is being replaced by the latest technology, he added.

According to detail, Chairman CDA  Aamir Ali Ahmed visited the department of sanitation, and department of environment yesterday. During his visit to department of environment he inspected 3 tankers, 12 tractors, 01 dumper, 3 Shezors, 01 excavator and one dozer.

Similarly the chairman inspected 3 buckets, 04 lifters, 07 compactors and other vehicles during his visit to the department of sanitation.

The Chairman devised special committee at the occasion to inspect the expense at the repairing and looking after of the vehicle. He directed to restore the machinery which is not in order, he added.=DNA

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ISLAMABAD, JAN 11 (DNA) – Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday launched Pakistan’s first instant payment system – Raast – to enable end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses and government entities instantaneously.

The Prime Minister while addressing the gathering termed the launch a major step forward by the State Bank of Pakistan towards Digital Pakistan and said it would help include the low income groups and make them part of the mainstream economy. He was optimist that it would go a long way in fighting poverty, particularly in the rural areas.

Raast is part of Prime Minister Imran Khan Digital Pakistan vision to include poor segments of the society in formal economy.

The Pakistan’s Faster Payment System, Raast, would be used not only to settle small-value retail payments in real time but also provide cheap and universal access to all players in the financial industry including banks and fintechs.

Imran Khan said the instant payment system would not only document the economy, but also generate more taxes to help build the country. He regretted that only two million people in a country of 220 million paid taxes, which was not enough to build hospitals, schools and provide other basic facilities of life for the common man. He said only 3000 of the tax payers, pay 70% of the tax.

He said Pakistan’s foreign remittances have been constantly on the rise for the past five months, and has helped stabilize the Pakistan Rupee. He said after a gap of 17 years Pakistan’s current account has gone into surplus and, lowered pressure on Pakistan Rupee and played a key role in strengthening the national economy.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said the program would help give a boost to the Ehsaas program; particularly its mobile wallet and extend its reach to the women in the rural areas. He said his government was working for the empowerment of rural women folk and have been included in various economic activities.

Prime Minister Imran Khan extended gratitude to Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and the Pakistan and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their support in the launch of the program.

According to the data available with the State Bank of Pakistan, digital payments only account for 0.2% of Pakistan’s 100 billion transactions today, whereas the share of digital transactions in the peer countries ranges from 1.5% to 7%.

Pakistan has had low electronic transactions due to low banking penetration, lack of trust and awareness of digital payment methods, limited interoperability, difficult accessibility and high cost of transactions. However, Raast, the new Instant Payment System would facilitate retail payment settlements with much great efficiency.

Instantaneous payments: Near real-time digital payments across individuals, merchants, businesses, and government entities

Low-to-no transaction costs for end users: Raast is designed to operate at a cost recovery model  to make digital payments affordable to end users of all socio-economic backgrounds

Full sector-wide interoperability: Raast would allow all financial institutions to seamlessly connect to each other via a single link to the central infrastructure, making digital payments accessible across any channel to customers of any financial institution

Customer-centric innovative products/services: Raast would be built on cutting-edge technological standards, allowing financial institutions to develop innovative and user-friendly digital payment products and services like payment through phone number or email.

Reliability and enhanced security: Raast would introduce more secure payment types, ensure that each transaction was authorized by the payer, and offer enhanced data protection and fraud detection services. =DNA

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