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Lahore motorway gang-rape victim has identified both perpetrators: Chohan

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LAHORE : Punjab information minister Fayyaz-ul-Hasan Chohan on Thursday announced that the Lahore motorway gang-rape victim has identified both perpetrators of the crime.

“The lady has identified both Abid and Shafqat,” Chohan told a press conference in Lahore.

“It was due to Waqar-ul-Hasan’s arrest that we were able to reach Shafqat,” he added.

Abid Ali, the prime suspect in the case, remains at large, while Shafqat Ali was arrested on Monday for his alleged involvement in the case.

The next day, he was remanded into police custody for 14 days by an accountability court.

The incident has drawn nationwide condemnation from human rights activists, politicians and the public in general over a lack of safety over the route as well as the attitude of the lead investigator, Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh.

Sheikh had blamed the victim for going through the route that she chose and said that she should have checked her petrol tank before getting on the said route. He was served a show-cause notice by the Punjab government for what the chief minister termed an “irrelevant” statement.

There have also been protests across the country calling for extreme punishments for rapists.

Furthermore, the incident has laid bare the “failed” police patrolling system of the province, as observed by Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan.

The incident

The two suspects had allegedly robbed and gang-raped a woman in front of her children on September 9 in an area falling within Gujjarpura police station’s jurisdiction.

The woman was driving to Gujranwala along with her two children when she was forced to stop at around 1:30am at the Gujjarpura section of the motorway after reportedly running out of fuel.

She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 in the meanwhile.

In the meantime, the two robbers reportedly approached the car, broke the window, and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they allegedly raped her in front of the children.

They also allegedly snatched her purse carrying Rs100,000 in cash, one bracelet, car registration papers, and three ATM cards.

‘Govt finalises location, design of South Punjab Secretariat’

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MULTAN : Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has announced to establish South Punjab Secretariat on Mattital Road in Multan.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister has visited Circuit House in Multan to chair the first session of secretaries of South Punjab Secretariat.

Usman Buzdar directed secretaries to facilitate citizens raising complaints of their issues. He also ordered concerned officers to inspect the issues by going into the field instead of restricting themselves in their offices.The chief minister said that the provincial government adopted a zero-tolerance policy against corruption and no compromise will be made on the transparency in performing duties.

Moreover, parliamentarians have also called on Punjab CM Usman Buzdar at Circuit House Multan where he apprised him regarding the issues of their respective constituencies.

He vowed that recommendations forwarded by the lawmakers will be implemented by the provincial government besides fulfilling all legal requirements on a priority basis.

Buzdar criticised that the funds allocated for South Punjab had been transferred by the past governments and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is restoring the citizens’ rights in the region.

Later, the chief minister announced for the construction site of South Punjab Secretariat on Mattital Road of Multan on 500 Kanal wide land. A five-storey building will be constructed for the South Punjab Secretariat besides establishing an urban forest.

He said that the issues of the citizens of South Punjab will be resolved on a local basis. The provincial government made the final decision for the construction site and design for the South Punjab Secretariat’s building in Multan.

Moreover, Buzdar also approved the construction of Multan Gymkhana besides releasing orders for making Nishtar Hospital Phase II operational at earliest.

He detailed that a 500-bed hospital will be established in its first phase with the cost of Rs5 billion.

Ambassador Jing calls on Adviser Finance

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Mr. Yao Jing, Ambassador of People’s Republic of China made a farewell call on the Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh here at the Finance Division.

The Adviser appreciated the commitment with which Mr. Jing worked for the progress of the Pak- China relationship. The Adviser acknowledged the contributions of Ambassador Jing and China’s leadership for Pakistan and expressed hope that his predecessor will work on the same lines.

Ambassador Jing thanked the Adviser for his support and expressed desire to further strengthen the two country’s relationship.. He said that CPEC is a project that is an inspiration for the rest of the world. The Ambassador also appreciated the strategy adopted by the government of Pakistan during the covid-19 crisis and said that the rest of the world could follow and learn from Pakistan’s experience.

The Ambassador expressed his confidence that FATF’s October review will go well for Pakistan. At the end the Adviser presented a shield to the outgoing Ambassador as a token of Finance Division’s acknowledgement for his valuable services and said that his successor will be welcomed with the same spirit.

Karot Hydropower station spillway open to traffic: Gwadar Pro

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Islamabad, September 17 : After 867 days of construction, the spillway road bridge for Karot Hydropower Station was completed and officially open to traffic, Gwadar Pro reported on Thursday.

Karot Hydropower Station, one of the flagship projects under CPEC, has been contracted to build by China Gezhouba Group Co., (CGGC). According to CGGC, the opening of the spillway road bridge is a milestone in the construction of Karot Hydropower station.

It was formally opened on last Sunday (Sep 13th).

Qian Tu, a Chinese staff of Karot project, has recorded the process of construction. He said, the Karot Hydropower Station embodies the profound friendship between Pakistan and China. Since the start of the project, both Pakistani and Chinese personnel have adhered to construct it with high standards, high requirements and high quality.

“It was a difficult and long journey,” Qian recalled, “in past two years, we have faced the challenge of frequent and fierce flood. During the rainy season, the project site is often suddenly heavy rain. It brought huge difficulties for the construction of the project.”

However, the greater difficulty lies in February 2020. The outbreak of COVID-19 caused a severe dearth of personnel and equipment idled. Therefore, the production schedule of the whole project laged far behind.

In order to finish the construction on time, Pakistani and Chinese staff united, 24 hours to stick to their posts.The project team also continued to optimize the construction plan and use advanced technology and equipment.

Qian said, finally, the Spillway of Karot Hydropower Station was opened successfully, “we are ready to move on to the next stage. And the target of brake reservoir of Karot will be achieved in 2021.”

New domestic cricket structure a better option if PM Imran believes so: Shahid Afridi

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ISLAMABAD : Former Pakistan cricket team captain Shahid Afridi on Thursday said if Prime Minister Imran Khan deems the new domestic cricket structure a good option for the development of the game in the country than it would be a better one to adopt.

The former Pakistan skipper said that every process takes time and it generally takes two to three years for any newly-introduced system to come to fruition.

The veteran cricketer said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not contacted him. “No post has been offered to me yet.”

“Our success is in playing aggressive cricket,” he said, adding that the performance of the team would not improve until and unless we get rid of the habit of playing defensively.

Yesterday, the premier had said that the new domestic cricket structure being introduced in the country would provide an excellent platform for emerging talent to learn and refine skills.

Addressing a Signing of Agreements Ceremony between the Pakistan Cricket Board and the national broadcaster Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), in Islamabad, the prime minister had said: “I have been a witness to the fact that we have always had immense talent and despite a faulty system, our talent managed to stand out internationally.”

“Pakistan can become unbeatable if we manage to mend and improve our mismanaged system,” he added.

The premier said that every newly-introduced system faces problems during the teething stages but the domestic structure is important as it will open doors of opportunity for the young and talented.

Referring to Australia as one of the best performing teams due to effective administration and meritocracy, the prime minister had said that competition leads to a better system and a finer team performance.

“There are two important things [needed in order to stand out in the game]: the first is to introduce healthy competition and secondly, to bring people on merit,” he had added.

ECP orders suspension of delimitation work in Sindh

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KARACHI :The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday ordered suspension of delimitation of constituencies for local councils elections in Sindh .

The ECP heard a petition filed by Peoples Party’s Sindh chief Nisar Khuhro and Taj Haider in the election commission today.

The election commission after hearing of the petition suspended delimitation of constituencies in the province.The ECP had earlier issued a schedule for delimitation of constituencies for local government elections in Sindh from September 09.

The Sindh government has demanded fresh delimitation of constituencies with release of final figures of the population census.

In a previous meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, it was observed, “The data of the population census is a fundamental factor for delimitation of constituencies.”

“Government publication of the population census is necessary for the delimitation process”, the ECP session concluded.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah earlier said that the process of delimitation under the law, could be initiated after approval of the census results by the Council of Common Interest (CCI).

PPP had recently said that local government elections in Sindh could not take place until a final notification of the population census, carried out in 2017, be issued.

Nisar Khuhro after attending a meeting of the ECP on local government elections earlier said that the commission was informed that even carrying out delimitation of constituencies before publication of the final report of the census was unlawful.

BALANCED AND EQUITABLE FTA BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND TURKEY URGED

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Karachi :  The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) and Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchange of Turkey (TOBB) has urged upon the Governments to foster the process of signing equitable and balanced Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to unleash enormous potential available markets.

This was transpired in a joint meeting of the Board of Directors of Pak-Turkey Chamber of Commerce organized via zoom link, which was co-chaired by Mr. Amjad Rafi from Pakistan and Dr. Omar Bolt from Turkish side in presence of Ambassadors of Pakistan to Turkey Syrus Sajjad Qazi and Ambassador of Turkey to Pakistan Mustafa Yardakul who acknowledge the efforts of FPCCI and TOBB towards promotion of bilateral economic cooperation.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Dr. Omer Bolat, Co-Chairman TPC Forum (Turkish chapter) said that the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Turkey is very low and and mutual efforts and initiatives of both Chambers will help us achieve our goal. Mr. Amjad Rafi, Co-Chairman TPC Forum (Pakistan Chapter) emphasized on the need of early implementation of FTA for enhancement of bilateral trade as decided in the recent visit of the Head of the States of both the countries.He however was of the opinion that being competitors in textile and denim fabric, Turkey should consider concession to Pakistani products at far with these availed by EU, so that Pakistani products could made vide and help balance trade gap.

He also highlighted that there was enormous opportunities for collaboration in various sectors including tourism, education, construction, infrastructure development, health, entertainment etc. He further said that Pakistan’s exports to Turkey is hampered by the imposition of countervailing duties by Turkey and the recent enhancement of custom duties on various items including textile resulting in further reduction of Pakistan’s exports. He also emphasized on the need of transfer of technology in various sectors and joint ventures under CPEC. He also informed the Turkish businessmen about the low housing scheme introduced by Pakistani PM which open vistas for the construction industry. He also suggested for operational ITI known as Gul Train.

The ambassador of both the countries made comprehensive presentations on economic issues and assured their full support to the BoDs of the forum to enhance the bilateral trade to US$ 5 billion as desired by the heads of the states. They further said that both the countries passing through Covid-19 pandemic which has badly hurt the trade of economy of both the countries reducing their economic activities. They advised to intensify interaction between the business communities of both of countries.

The Board of Directors also exchanged views on various specific sectors including power, solar energy, marble, textile, tourism, education, surgical instruments, construction etc and also discussed the need of organizing business road shows, forums, and trade fairs to explore new avenues of business and investment in both countries.

Sheikh Sultan Rehman, Vice President- FPCCI spoke about collaboration in education and SMEs sector, seeking the support of TOBB in both sectors. Naseer Hayatt Magoo Sr. Vice Chairman of TPCCIF also spoke about the exploration of new sectors and areas for joint ventures and non-traditional items.

Muhammad Iqbal Tabish
Secretary General

Virgin Atlantic Flights from Pakistan on Sale Now

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Islamabad  September 17,2020:-Virgin Atlantic is delighted to announce that flights from Pakistan to London Heathrow and Manchester are on sale now with return Economy fares starting from PKR 103,600/-per person, Premium from PKR 154,500/-and Upper Class from  PKR 353,100/-.

Flying three new routes from Lahore to London Heathrow, Islamabad to London Heathrow, as well as from Islamabad to Manchester, subject to applicable regulatory approvals; these new services will operate on one of Virgin Atlantic’s newest, most fuel efficient aircraft, the 787-9 boasting31 Upper Class suites,35 Premium and 192 Economy seats.

These new services will open up over 290,000 seats between Pakistan and the UK annually whilst also offering seamless, speedy connections and a consistent long-haul onboard experience for customers travelling from Pakistan to onwards destinations throughout North America, including New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston and San Francisco via London Heathrow. Connections to European destinations will also be available through code share and interline partners.

Alex McEwan, Commercial Manager – Pakistan, Virgin Atlantic commented, ‘’ We are excited to open bookings for our first ever flights to Pakistan. This is a great opportunity to offer travellers from Pakistan even more choice when they travel to UK and connect to USA, experiencing our award winning service on one of our newest aircraft –787 Dream liner. Pakistan is one of the largest foreign-born populations within the UK and our flights will offer the opportunity to visit and reunite with friends and relatives. Alongside our Lahore and Islamabad services to London, the Manchester to Islamabad service is very exciting as it is our first route in Asia from Manchester.’’

Virgin Atlantic will also offer a fast, efficient cargo service presenting new opportunities for companies looking to export and import goods such as fresh produce and textiles between prime markets in the UK and US, and Pakistan.

Flights from Pakistan are on sale now. For further information or to book visit www.virginatlantic.com.

Islamabad to Manchester

Frequency:         Four times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat) starting on 11th December 2020

Timings:               ISB – MAN – VS363 – 03:30 / 07:00

MAN – ISB – VS362 –12:35 / 01:00

Fare:                      Return Economy fares start from PKR 103,600/-per person, Premium from PKR 154,500/-, and Upper Class from PKR 353,100/-

Lahore to London Heathrow

Frequency:         Four times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat) starting on 14th December 2020

Timings:               LHE – LHR – VS365 – 13:25 / 17:00

LHR – LHE – VS364 – 21:50 / 10:20

Fare:                      Return Economy fares start from PKR 115,100/-per person, Premium from PKR 184,100/- and Upper Class from  PKR 364,600/-

Islamabad to London Heathrow

Frequency:         Three times a week (Tue, Thu, Sun) starting on 13th December 2020

Timings:               ISB – LHR – VS379 – 03:30 / 07:00

LHR – ISB – VS378 – 12:30 / 01:00

Fare:                      Return Economy fares start from  PKR 115,400/- per person, Premium from  PKR 184,800and Upper Class from  PKR 364,900/-

ENDS

For further press information please contact the Virgin Atlantic press office on [email protected]

Volume of construction work performed in Uzbekistan makes up 55.5 trillion soums

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Tashkent, Uzbekistan  : The volume of construction work performed in Uzbekistan made up 55.5 trillion soums, and the growth rate in relation to the corresponding period of 2019 reached 6.5%.

It is known that the volume of construction work is formed according to their composition, carried out by large construction organizations, small enterprises and micro-firms, as well as by the informal sector.

Construction work is carried out by organizations of state and non-state forms of ownership.

As of 1 September 2020, the number of enterprises and organizations in the construction sector reached 39.5 thousand units and, compared to the same period of last year, it increased by 4,200 units.

The main factor in the growth in the number of construction enterprises and organizations was the increase in specialized works by 6.6% (their share of the total number is 58.0%); in the construction of civilian facilities, the number of enterprises and organizations increased by 21.6% (the share of them of the total number is 9.5%), in the construction of buildings and structures – by 19.4% (the share of their total number reached 32.5%).

The volume of construction work carried out by large construction organizations in January-August 2020 made up 14.88 trillion soums. Compared to 2019, in the period under review, the growth rate of construction work made up 27.2%, and their share in the total volume increased by 4.3% and made up 26.8%.

The volume of construction work performed by small enterprises and microfirms, in comparison with other organizations, decreased in January-August 2020, their share made up 55.7% of the total volume, which is 1.6% less if compared with the same period of last year. Thus, the volume of construction work performed by them made up 30.91 trillion soums and, in relation to January-August 2019, the growth rate reached 3.7%

The share of construction work in the informal sector made up 17.5%, or 9.71 trillion soums.

Construction work in the country as a whole, carried out by state organizations, reached 2.24 trillion soums, the volume of construction work performed by non-governmental organizations made up 53.25 trillion soums, and their share is 4.0% and 96.0% respectively.

A significant part of the work was carried out in January-August 2020 for the construction of new buildings and structures. Thus, 70.7% of the total volume of construction work, or 39.26 trillion soums, were directed to the creation of new production facilities in the economy, housing and communal services and other social facilities.

Large construction organizations carried out construction work on new construction for 13.22 trillion soums, or 33.7% of their total volume.

Small enterprises and micro-firms carried out construction work on new construction for 17.64 trillion soums, or 45.0% of their total volume.

In the informal sector, construction work on new construction was carried out for 8.39 trillion soums, or 21.4% of their total volume.

The share in the total volume of construction work performed by large construction organizations in the total structure of buildings and structures made up 26.2% and, compared to January-August 2019, increased by 6.2% points.

The share of small enterprises and micro-firms in this type of activity, compared to January-August 2019, decreased by 2.1% points and made up 49.8%.

The share of the informal sector, compared to January-August 2019, decreased by 4.1% points and made up 24.0%.

The specific weight of the volume of construction work carried out by large construction organizations for the construction of civil facilities made up 37.7% and increased by 1.9% compared to January-August 2019

Also, the share of small enterprises and micro-firms in the construction of facilities was 62.2% (decrease by 1.7%), and the informal sector – 0.1% (decrease by 0.2%).

In the total volume of specialized construction work, the share of large construction organizations decreased by 2.8 percentage points and made up 17.2%, as a result of which the share of small enterprises and micro-firms reached 82.8% (an increase of 2.8 percentage points).

The highest share in the total volume of work on the construction of buildings and structures in January-August of this year was noted in Jizzakh region (83.0% of the total volume of construction in this region, or 1 622.6 billion soums), Ferghana region (78.4 % of the total volume of construction in this region, or 2 454.5 billion soums), Navoi region (76.7% of the total volume of construction in this region, or 2 039.2 billion soums).

The highest share in the total volume of work on the construction of civilian facilities in January-August of this year was noted in Surkhandarya (26.3% of the total volume of construction in this region, or 789.4 billion soums), Syrdarya (24.3% of total volume of construction in this region, or 331.8 billion soums) and Khorezm (22.0% of the total volume of construction in this region, or 406.9 billion soums) regions.

The highest share in the total volume of specialized construction work in January-August 2020 was noted in the city of Tashkent (21.3% of the total volume of construction work in this region, or 2.47 trillion soums), Namangan (18.4% of the total the volume of construction work in this region, or 508.7 billion soums) of the region and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (16.8% of the total volume of construction work in this region, or 427.9 billion soums).

Water-saving technologies to be introduced more extensively

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Tashkent, Uzbekistan : President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a video session on measures for the introduction of water-saving technologies and the implementation of public-private partnership projects in water management.

In our region, water shortage has been gaining in significance. Over the past 10 years, the volume of water resources in Uzbekistan, for example, has decreased by 12%, and by 15% this year compared to last year.

The level of energy and water consumption is rather high in growing cotton and grain crops. In particular, 8 billion kilowatt-hours of power and 2.4 trillion soums of budgetary funds are spent annually to ensure the operation of more than 5 thousand pumps for irrigation of 2.5 million hectares of land. An average of 800 thousand soums is spent for the supply of water by pumps per hectare of land. As a result of furrow irrigation, about 5-6 billion cubic meters or 20% of water is lost in the fields every year.

In these circumstances, water saving and accounting gain in extreme significance. Over the past two years, the President and the government have adopted 11 resolutions in this area, and everything conducive for proper operation of the water industry have been delivered.

Nevertheless, the efforts undertaken so far, as it was noted at the meeting, are still far from satisfactory. Thus, water-saving technologies have been introduced only on 285 thousand hectares, which is 7% of the land. In this regard, the lags are especially noticeable in the Kashkadarya, Bukhara and Khorezm regions. Furkat, Buka, Chinaz, Sardoba, Takhtakupyr, Karauzak, Kasbi, Kyzyryk, Muzrabat districts have not seen a single water saving project implemented.

Therefore, the state of affairs in water resources management in Karakalpakstan, regions and in the context of districts was critically analyzed at the meeting, so were the urgent tasks to address the situation. The President urged, for instance, to expand the area of land with water-saving technologies next year to cover 600 thousand hectares. Directives were voiced on the allocation of necessary funds from the national budget for these purposes, on the provision of subsidies to cover part of the expenses of entrepreneurs, as well as the assignment of loans to farms and clusters through commercial banks with the use of funds from international financial institutions.

The widespread introduction of water-saving technologies will lead to growth in demand for them. Yet the capacities of 13 companies manufacturing such equipment in our country will barely be enough to cover even half of the demand projected for the next year. To this end, responsible executives were tasked with creating such enterprises in Samarkand, Tashkent and Namangan regions.

Thanks to an innovative solution in the sector, the laser leveling of the land, the clusters have managed, when cultivating more than 3 thousand hectares of lands, to cut water consumption by 20-25%, reduce application of fertilizers by 15%, and increase yields by at least 10%. The head of state stressed the importance of spreading this experience, laser leveling of cotton, grain and rice fields. The Ministry of Finance was instructed to assign at least 250 billion soums of loans from the Agricultural Development Fund for the introduction of such technology.

This year, water facilities in Kuyichirchik, Narpai, Bulungur, Sardoba, Nishan, Kasbi districts were given to entrepreneurs on principles of public-private partnership, and a standard project is under implementation. That would allow for the modernization of facilities and significantly lessen operating costs. The President instructed to implement similar schemes in other districts, too.

Another challenge that hinders the rational use of water is that today only 2% of more than 3 thousand water metering stations and 2.5% of 400 major water structures are outfitted with automated control systems. In this respect, the Ministry of Water Resources was instructed to introduce an automated system for monitoring water in real time mode at 150 posts by the end of this year and in all posts starting from next year.

Earlier this year, water tax benefits for agricultural enterprises were canceled. In the meantime, the tax rate for water use has been reduced by 50%. The President stressed the need to uphold this abridged rate next year.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev outlined tasks for bringing the methodology for calculating irrigation rates in line with requirements of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), for stimulating consumers who have installed water meters.

The head of our state urged Uzbekbaliksanoat Association to develop fish farming in collector waters.

Instructions also included those to expand hydrogeological exploration based on the Namangan practice and effectively use underground water resources.

Special attention at the meeting was paid to the development of science and education in the field of water management.

The President pointed out that it is important to engage the scholarly community in the construction and reconstruction of irrigation and reclamation facilities. The scientists will participate in the entire process from the elaboration of pre-project documentation for facilities through to their commissioning, and provide academic and technical support for construction works. Integration of science and practice will allow for more thorough project development.

Heads of ministries and agencies in charge, hokims of regions and districts reported on issues discussed at the video session.

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