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DNA

Islamabad , AUG 7 –  Lt. Gen (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Chairman CPEC Authority, has said that the second phase of CPEC which has been just begun is all about taking the dividends of the project to the people of Pakistan. He said that unprecedented socio-economic development in Gwadar and other parts of Balochistan have been initiated with a focus on ensuring the participation of local people in all the development projects.

He said this while chairing a special online dialogue titled ‘Gwadar Port, free economic zone’s role in the prosperity of Balochistan & regional connectivity’ organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Friday.

While dispelling the impression of the slowing down of the project, Gen. Bajwa said that we are picking up the momentum to advance the project instead. He said that the good news for industry is that the agreement on establishing Rashakai Special Economic Zone would be signed in the third week of August. He added further that Gwadar port as well as Gwadar airport have become fully functional now and Afghan Transit Trade has started to get diverting towards the Gwadar.

He said that the National Development Council, during its recent meeting has decided to pay special focus on the development of Balochistan. The Gwadar District Economic Zone is being developed in addition to developing Gwadar City. Besides, vocational training is being provided to enable local population to participate and get fully benefitted from the development projects.

H.E Yao Jing, Ambassador of the People Republic of China to Pakistan, while sharing his views with the participants as special guest on the occasion said that Gwadar has huge potential for the development and regional connectivity. He said that the government of Pakistan and all concerned authorities including CPEC Authority have played vital role in moving the project forward. Therefore, several economic initiatives have already been taken by the Chinese government as well as Chinese companies with the help of local partners.

He added further that Gwadar is not just a port but a comprehensive business project and thanks to tax incentives announced by the Government of Pakistan, the area now offers a lot of potential for the trade and investment. He said that Chinese government is committed to provide all the resources that may be required for the future development needs of Gwadar. He said that China wants to expand its cooperation for the development of whole Balochistan and cooperation in agricultural development is being worked upon including testing cotton seed in Balochistan.

Director General (China) at Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), M Muddasir Tipu, highlighted the potential of cooperation between China and Pakistan in various sector of economy and said that fishery and meat packaging areas need to be special focused. The transit trade that has been just started from the Gwadar is a huge milestone for the future economic activities and connectivity in the region.

Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri; Executive Director, SDPI, earlier underpinned the significance of enhancing cooperation in the field of agriculture and food security, said that it was agricultural sector that has been instrumental in ensuring food security in Pakistan during the pandemic.

“Developing Special Economic Zones for agriculture under CPEC would play a key role in linking Pakistani Agri-based commodities to get linked with Chinese food value chain,” Dr Suleri said and added further that corporate agriculture forming is another area that needs to be explored under the mutual cooperation in order to ensure livelihood as well as food security in Pakistan.

Mr Zhang Baozhong, Chairman COPHC, was of view that Gwadar port is ushering the era of economic development in the entire region. Mr Zahid Latif Khan, Chairman ISE (R) and Mr Shakeel Ahmed Ramay, Director Asia Study Centre, SDPI, also shared their views while highlighting diverse aspects of Gwadar port’s contribution in regional connectivity.

ISLAMABAD, AUG 07 (DNA) – Pak-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairman and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan for Information and Broadcasting Lt. Gen (Retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa has said that after the construction of Gwadar port, it has been connected with other areas and will bring prosperity to adjoining areas.

Addressing a seminar of SDP in Islamabad, Chairman CPEC Authority said that the fruits of the project are for all of Pakistan.

He further said that after the construction of Gwadar port, it is being connected to other areas and highways are being constructed to remote areas for expansion of projects.

Asim Bajwa said that construction of highways would bring prosperity even in remote areas of the province. He mentioned that construction work for early completion of CPEC projects is in full swing. = DNA

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A.M. BHATTI

ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Yao Jing, during a webinar organised by SDPI, spoke in appreciation of collaboration and economic partnership between Pakistan and China through CPEC and development of Gwadar Port. Despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, breakthroughs were made in implementation of Gwadar project.

Similarly, Chairperson CPEC Authority, Lt Gen (R) Asim Bajwa, expressed his deep satisfaction over Gwadar port operating at its full potential.

He elaborated that Gwadar East bay expressway and Gwadar airport are under construction and will soon connect the soon to be mega city to rest of Pakistan and the world.

He further added that Gwadar Project exceeds its primary goal of mobilising a deep sea port and extends to encompass development of Gwadar Economic District and socioeconomic progress in South Balochistan.

ISLAMABAD, AUG 7 (DNA) – Senator Shibli Faraz, Federal Minister for Information who attended the Zoom meeting of the Executive Committee of the APNS, assured that the Federal Government would positively respond on the issues raised by the APNS particularly increase in the quantum of advertisements, suspending the process of ABC verification, relief package for newspaper industry, promotion of regional press and regional language publications, immediate payment of refund of Withholding Tax by FBR and enhancement of government advertisement rates.

The Executive Committee of the APNS held it meeting on Zoom wherein Senator Shibli Faraz, Federal Minister for Information, Mr. Akbar Hussain Durrani, Secretary Information and Ms. Shahera Shahid, PIO attended on special invitation. Mr. Sarmad Ali, Secretary General pointed out that the Prime Minister has repeatedly advised the concerned ministries to clear the outstanding dues amounting to Rs.1.048 billion but a substantial amount still remains unpaid.

He stated that the quantum of advertisements released by the Federal Government, has decreased by over 50% whereas in the pandemic situation, the media expected support from the government to brave the financial crunch. He suggested that the quantum of ads be restored, if not increased, to the level of 2018, so that the newspaper industry would be able to survive in the present conditions. It was pointed out that 8th Wage Board has recommended payment of outstanding dues, and increase in the government rates as per increase in the CPI to build the capacity of newspapers to implement the salary increase by the 8th Wage Board. He asserted that if the above recommendations are not implemented forthwith it would be difficult for establishments to implement the Wage Board.

The members also pointed out that the ABC has started raids on the premises of newspapers and presses to verify circulations which is causing harassment. They pointed out that in the present pandemic situation, economic standstill and lockdowns, the newspapers distribution system has broken down and they are unable to maintain their normal circulations. It was suggested that the verification process be deferred for 06 months till the economic activity comes to normalcy.

The Minister was apprised that with the implementation of the New Advertising Policy from April, 2020 the invoices for ads released by the PID, have not yet been processed and no mechanism of payment has been evolved which would further aggravate the financial crunch in the industry and publications would not be able to meet their obligations especially for timely payment of salaries to their employees. The members also pointed out that the Prime Minister at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, had advised the FBR to immediately effect the payment of refunds of Withholding Tax but the refunds pertaining to newspapers, have not been paid despite various communications.

The members raised the issue of the continuous incarceration of Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman on unfounded charges and termed his arrest as an attack on the freedom of press. They asked the Minister to himself look at the charges framed against Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman to understand how baseless the case is. In fact, the frivolity of the case reminds one of the charges of stealing buffalos against Ch. Zahoor Elahi in the seven-tees.

The Federal Minister gave a patient hearing to the members of the Executive Committee and announced that the Federal Government acknowledges the importance of print media and was keen to address the issues confronted by the newspaper industry. He appreciated that the quantum of advertisements needs to be increased and priority be accorded to the promotion of regional press in the country. In this respect, the Ministry has evolved a policy of ads release to regional publications which will be shared with the APNS. He also stated that the newspaper industry deserves a relief package as given to other sectors for which, he will talk to the Prime Minister. On the issue of the refund of Withholding Tax, he assured to take up the matter with the Finance Advisor, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and other concerned authorities. The Minister also agreed in principle with the APNS request to suspend ABC verification process and assured to revert back after consultation within the Ministry.

The meeting was attended on Zoom by following members at APNS House Karachi, PC Hotel Lahore and Marriot Islamabad :

Mumtaz A. Tahir, Vice President, Sarmad Ali, Secretary General,  Shahab  Zuberi, Finance Secretary,  Syed Sajjad Bokhari (Daily Abtak), Bilal Farooqi (Daily Aghaz), Mukhtar Ahmed Aaqil (Weekly Al Akhbar), Mohsin Bilal (Daily Ausaf), Waseem Ahmed (Daily Awam), Ansar Mahmood Bhatti (Monthly Centre Line), Naveed Chaudhry (Daily City 42), Hasan Akbar (Dawn), Fauzia Shaheen (Monthly Dastak), Najamuddin Sheikh (D/Deynat), Kazi Asad Abid (Fortnightly Ibrat), Faisal Shahjehan (Daily Jiddat, Karachi), Mustansar Javed (Daily Mashriq, Quetta), Mushtaq Ahmed Qureshi (Monthly Naey Ufaq), Inayat ullah Khan (Monthly Naya Rukh), Rukhsana Saulat Saleemi (Weekly Nikhar), Umer Mujib Shami (D/Pakistan, Lahore) Faisal Zahid Malik (D/Pakistan Observer), Jamil Athar (Daily Tijarat) and Syed Haroon Shah (Daily Wahdat).

Mr. Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami attended on special invitation. DNA

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DNA

ISLAMABAD, AUG 7 – Popular folk singers duo Javed Naizi and Babar Naizi performed in a musical show arranged by Pakistan National Council of the Arts to celebrate Independence Day of the mother land.

This was part of PNCA programmes of Independence Day celebrations to be presented online due to the COVID- 19 pandemic.

The brothers presented national songs “Watan Ki Mitti Govha Rahna”, “Sadaay Des Di Shan Vakri Ha” and “Shamaa Pey Gaiyan” and their popular track, “Tut Gai Trakh Kar Ky”.They also presented Baba Bulay Shah poetry, Kafi and geet. 

Director General, PNCA Dr. Fouzia Saeed commented that Independence Day should be celebrated with commitment to work for promotion of peace, fraternity and brotherhood. Young generation should work for progress and prosperity of the country.

The compere shared information about the Pakistan Movement and its heroes to educate the youth about the importance of Independence. Under this series of programmes potohari folk singer Azhar Awan Azhar will perform online today 8.00 pm.

ISLAMABAD : Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that saving unarmed Kashmiris from the oppression of Indian forces is a challenge posed by the Modi government to the whole world.

“Modi has challenged the world, the way he has aggressively taken over control of Kashmir,” Shehbaz said, while addressing the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

He said Pakistan will have to move past “empty rhetoric” and fight for Kashmir with practical steps.

“We will have to expose India before the world at the diplomatic level,” he added.

The PML-N leader said that the abrogation of Article 370 by India on August 5, 2019, was a “tragedy” for the region.

Earlier in his speech, Shehbaz thanked the AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider for inviting the opposition to Muzaffarabad.

The visit comes two days after Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the region’s capital to show solidarity with Kashmiris on Youm-e-Istehsal.

Youm-e-Istehsal was marked in Pakistan and all over the world on Wednesday to observe the one-year anniversary of August 5, 2019, when the Indian government illegally annexed occupied Kashmir into two union territories by revoking Article 370 of its constitution.