Pakistan confirms Mullah Mansour’s death; Body not to be handed over till DNA result

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ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): Minister of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf Thursday said that the life and teachings of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) provides foundation to forge harmony among various sects and overcome internal bickering.

Chairing the inaugural meeting of the newly constituted
National Ulema and Mashaikh Council (NUMC), he said the main aim of constituting National Ulema and Mashaikh Council was to promote harmony among various segments
of society and also to chalk out a joint strategy for promoting interfaith harmony and avoiding bickering among various segments of society.

The basic aim of creating a separate homeland was to live as a coherent and integrated nation, but alas the nation has virtually been divided on secretarian lines instead of transforming ourselves in to a coherent nation, he said.

Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sohail Aamir said the ministry was striving to promote the teachings and Seerah of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH).

The newly constituted Ulema and Mashaikh Council has been assigned a task to persue the recommendations of various Ulema from 1953 onwards and prepare a consensus code of conduct for ulema, sects and media for promoting interfaith harmony.

Islam teaches that everybody should be kind to each other without any discrimination, he said. The basis of spreading of message of Islam was kindness, welfare of others and equality among all the people of the world, he added.

Later, the in camera meeting of National Ulema and Mashaikh Council was held to evolve a consensus strategy for promoting interfaith harmony.

Minister urges youth to be optimist for national growth

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APP57-26Islamabad — APP57-26 ISLAMABAD: May 26 Minister of State for Federal Education & Professional Training, Engr. Muhammad Baligh ur Rehman in a group photograph with winners of 18th All Pakistan Inter University Declamation Contest for the award of Allama Iqbal Shield at HEC. APP photo by Sadia Sehar

ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): Minister of State for Education Engr. Muhammad Baligh ur Rehman on Thursday urged the youth to be optimist for the national growth and social uplift.
Speaking at the final round of 18th All Pakistan Inter-University Declamation Contest organized here by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), he said Islam strongly condemns pessimism, adding that disappointment among people destroys nations.

He said that “Always see both the sides of a picture, as you have to sort out way out of the darkness of problems for your prosperous future,”.

He lamented the fact that deliberate efforts are made to spread pessimism among people under malicious agendas.

He said that declamation contests and speech competitions among students enhance their analytical and critical thinking.

He said such activities create a spirit to come forward and work hard for national growth.

Referring to the role of media, Baligh-ur-Rehman said the media has a major role in the development of a country, so it should not only point out negativities in our social fabric but should also highlight the positive aspects.

He said the incumbent government is paying due attention to promotion of higher education. Recalling the havoc of terrorism and extremism in the past, he said the menace of militancy took the country hostage till 2013, but currently the situation has highly improved as terrorism incidents have marked a visible decline.

He said the country’s capacity in generation of energy is rapidly increasing and it is also meeting its economic goals.

In his welcome address, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC congratulated the position holders and said that holding of the declamation contest is a regular activity organized by HEC every year.

Following the recommendation of the minister, he announced to increase the cash prize for winners from Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 1,00000 for first position holder; while for second position the cash is increased from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 75,000, and from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 50,000 for the third position holder.

He also announced to award Rs. 10,000 to each participant of the contest.

Speaking about the recent QS ranking, the Chairman said that only 50 countries out of around 197 world countries were selected for ranking and it is an honour instead of a discouragement that Pakistan has got place in this race.

He said two Pakistani universities have made their pace in 700 world class universities. He said that educational growth needs hefty investment and Pakistan is in competition with the nations which have been investing in the sector for centuries.

He said that the Global Donors Forum has selected HEC for Three-G Excellence in Higher Education Award for the year 2016.

The Chairman said that Pakistan is confronted with a maze of problems, however solution to all ills lies in education. “We need to rectify the odds through education,” Dr. Mukhtar concluded.

As many as 30 contestants, both in English and Urdu categories, participated in the final round of the contest.

Prof. Dr. Waseema Shehzad, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences Air University, Islamabad chaired the English session, while Prof. Fateh Muhammad Malik, former Rector International Islamic University Islamabad chaired the Urdu session of the contest.

Those who took part in the English category included Fahad Farooq from Army Medical College (National University of Medical Sciences), Habib-ur-Rehman from Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, Quetta, Salika Durrani, Foundation University, Rawalpindi, Maryam Mahsood from Gandhara University Peshawar, Talha bin Azhar from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Topi, Sawabi, Humaira Ahmed from Gomal University Dera Ismail Khan, Abdul Hannan from Government College University, Faisalabad, Sana Murtaza Dayo from Liaqat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro, Anam Noor Ehsan from Aga Khan University, Karachi, Barmsh Khan from Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad, Rafia Noor from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University, Quetta, Maria Esan from University of Balochistan, Quetta, Dua Fatima Faiz Muhammad from University of Sindh, Jamshoro, and Rameesha Khan from University of the Punjab, Lahore.

The Urdu category contestants included Ahmad Cheema from Army Medical College (National University of Medical Sciences), Rawalpindi, Ammad Shakeel from Al-Hamd Islamic University, Quetta, Shaista Gul Khan from Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, Quetta, Inam-ur-Rehman from Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Hafsa Abdul Ghafar from Government College for Women University, Islamabad, Adeela Batool from International Islamic University, Islamabad, Hareem Zafar from Islamia College University Peshawar, Umm-e-Farwa from Jinnah Sindh Medical College, Karachi, Makhdoom Shahab-ud-Din from National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Muhammad Taqi Jawad from Preston University, Kohat Campus, Ruqia Khan from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University, Quetta, Kanwal Iqbal from Sindh Madressatul Islam University, Karachi, Muhammad Ehtisham Akbar from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Abdullah Imran from University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, and Ms. Mahrukh Baloch from University of Sindh, Jamshoro.

Ms. Noor Amina Malik, former Director General, Learning Innovation, HEC, Mr. S. Munawwar H. Naqvi, senior journalist from Financial Daily International, Islamabad, Dr. Najeeba Arif, Assistant Professor, Department of Urdu, IIUI, and Dr. Shaheena Ayyub Bhatti, Associate Professor, English Department, NUML performed the responsibilities of judges of the contest.

At the end, the Chief Guest distributed certificates and cash prizes among the participants.

Vice Chancellors as well as students of different universities were also present on the occasion.

Ministry to fund, support establishment of dry port at Sargodha: Engr. Khurram

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Ministry to fund, support establishment of dry port at Sargodha: Engr. Khurram

ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): Ministry of Commerce would fund and support the establishment of dry port in Sargodha to facilitate the export of fruits and minerals, produced in the region directly to other countries.

This was decided in the 71st meeting of the Board of
Administrators of the Export Development Fund (EDF) held here under the chairmanship of Minister for Commerce, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan here Thursday

The Board authorized to conduct a business and technical
feasibility study of the proposed dry port for detailed designing and cost estimation of the dry port project from a well reputed consultant, according to a statement issued by the Ministry.

The details presented in the Board meeting, informed that
citrus was major exportable item of the region and there were about 250 kinnow processing units operating in the region.

“All the export consignments of the region have to be
cleared at Karachi due to the unavailability of the dry port in the area”, it said.

According to the statement, the construction of dry port
would greatly facilitate the export process as all the consignments would be cleared and sealed at the dry port and dispatched to the destination country without having to bother for clearance at the sea port.

“This will provide great convenience to the exporters, save
considerable amount of time and encourage the exporters to export more”, it said.

It said that the dry port would also facilitate the exporters
of minerals such as gypsum, rock salt and iron ore which are found in the adjoining area.

This would also bring extra premium to the artisans associated with the cottage industry of wooden handicrafts which are exported to China, Malaysia and Italy.

The Minister for Commerce on the occasion said that one of the reasons that SMEs to stay away from exporting their products, was due to the cumbersome procedures involved in the exporting.

The dry port will provide them all the clearance facilities at
their door step, thus resulting in an attractive incentive to export their products, he added.

The Board approved the establishment of a fruit packaging and processing plant in Quetta.

The plant would provide modern value addition facilities which would help thousands of fruit farmers of Baluchistan to get extra value of the produce.

This would help the farmers to export their fruits to western
countries.

The Board also approved a project for the expansion of
Effluent Treatment Plant established in Korangi, Karachi which
produces electricity using the bio gas produced in the tanneries. Availability of bio gas generators save 70% of the energy already supplied through the grid.

Technical experts noted that this plant would cut the
operational cost and reduce the methane gas emission in the air considerably.

UK Govt cooperating with KP for promotion of education: UK High Commissioner

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PESHAWAR, May 26 (APP): High Commissioner of United Kingdom in Pakistan Thoms Drew on Thursday said UK Government was cooperating with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in the field of education in the province to attract maximum number of students towards education in conducive atmosphere.

He said that in KP 47 per cent of students were under the age of 15 and could be a great asset for the province if provided with quality education.

He said this while inaugurating the new academic block constructed under “Hamqadam Project” with the cooperation of UK organization DFID in Government High School Mayyar and Government Girls High School Shah Dhand in Mardan.

On this occasion, beside others Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education, Muhammad Atif Khan Deputy Country
Head Judikh, Ubaid Khan Mayyar MPA, Additional Secretary Education Qaiser Alam, authorities concerned of “Hamqadam Project” and DEOs Male and Female Mardan were also present.

The UK high commissioner said that he was feeling great to see the students acquiring education in the newly constructed beautiful block and assured that UK Government would fully support the KP government for promotion of education.

Under “Hamqadam Project”, beside construction of 7000 additional classrooms, examination hall, toilets and other facilities were also being provided to government higher secondary, high, middle and primary schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Expressing his views, the Education Minister Atif Khan maintained that the PTI led Provincial Government was giving top most priority to education sector as progress without education was impossible.

Eulogizing the efforts of UK government and DFID in provision of basic facilities in government schools, he said that the government was not oblivious of its obligation and added that a record budget was earmarked in the history of the province for education sector.

He hoped that students of KP would definitely get benefit from the facilities being provided by “Hamqadam Project” and would bear fruitful results.

Later, the High Commissioner and the Minister visited different classrooms of the schools and asked questions from the students.

Students thanked the UK High Commissioner and the Minister for constructing of beautiful academic block and provision of basic facilities in the school.

Beijing Forum-Islamabad promises global peace, prosperity, stability

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ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): A three-day Beijing Forum-Islamabad on China- Pakistan Economic Corridor was held in National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in collaboration with Peking University.

According to a private news channel, Beijing Forum-Islamabad commemorates the 65 golden years of China-Pakistan iron friendship in a unique way, as reflected in the principle theme “China and Pakistan in the Community of Common Destiny for all Mankind”.

It would be a three-day exercise encompassing three plenary sessions and 11 panel sessions on a diverse range of topics. Beijing Forum-Islamabad offers a promise for global peace, prosperity and stability.

KPT shipping intelligence report

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KARACHI, May 26 (APP): The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) issued the following shipping report for the last 24 hours, ending 0700 hours on Thursday.

ALONG SIDE (Bulk Oil Pier):
OP-I Great White D. Petrol Alpine 22/05/16
OP-II Album D. Crude Oil PNSC 25/05/16
OP-III Torm Atlantic D. Petrol Trans Maritme 25/05/16

UN launches campaign to end illegal wildlife trade

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UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (APP): The United Nations has launched an unprecedented campaign against illegal trade in wildlife, warning that such trade is pushing species to the brink of extinction, robbing countries of their natural heritage and profiting international criminal networks.

“Each year, thousands of wild animals are illegally killed, often by organized criminal networks motivated by profit and greed,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

“I call on all Governments and people everywhere to support the new United Nations campaign, Wild for Life, which aims to mobilize the world to end this destructive trade.

Vice President Turkish Cultural Institute calls on Shehbaz Sharif

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LAHORE, May 26 (APP): Vice President Turkish Cultural Institute, Saban Cobanoglu met Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, here on Thursday.

Matters regarding promotion of cultural activities came under
discussion during the meeting.

Vice President Turkish Cultural Institute informed about the project of setting up of Turk Cultural Institute in Lahore.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that there were historical and brotherly relations between Pakistan and Turkey and hearts of people of both the countries beat together. He said that cultural relations would be promoted with the setting up of Turk Cultural Institute.

He said the Punjab government would extend all out cooperation in the setting up of Turk Cultural Institute.

He said that like Chinese language, learning of Turk language was also need of the hour. He said that with the setting up of Turk Cultural Institute, Pakistani youth would get an opportunity of awareness from Turk culture and language.
Vice President Turkish Cultural Institute Saban Cobanoglu welcomed the cooperation of Punjab government in setting up of Turk Cultural Institute.

Turk Consul General in Karachi Murat Onart, Coordinator Turk Cultural Center Hasan Kocabiyik, Kh. Ahmed Hasaan, former Pakistani Ambassador in Turkey Haroon Shaukat, Secretary Information, Commissioner Lahore Division and concerned officials were also present on the occasion.

Ending power load-shedding by 2018 no more dream; Secretary

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ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): Secretary Ministry Water and Power Muhammad Younus Dagha claimed Thursday the government was taking concrete measures to end power loadshedding by 2018, across the country.

“Bringing power loadshedding to zero level is not a dream now, given so many power projects in line on the government’s part, it will become a reality by 2018,” the secretary observed while speaking as chief guest at energy conference held here by a group of Energy magazine.

He said a multi-pronged strategy was being pursued to overcome the country’s growing energy needs which would help jack up power generation upto around 20,000 MW in 2018 and around 53000 MW in 2022, the secretary projected.

Similarly, he added Alternative Energy Development Board had been established, which was also making several initiatives to add more power through renewable energy means.

He said 25 schemes were in line to harness wind and solar for power generation, adding around 1700 MW through wind projects and 1000 MW would be available through solar energy-oriented projects by 2018.

He said the government was also pursuing plans to save energy through conservation and austerity measures and provincial governments were being consulted in this regard.
He added energy conservative body was being revived to discourage wastage of energy and fine for not using efficient power devices.

He said the body would recommend energy efficient appliances, which would help a great deal to save energy.

He said transmission infrastructure had been revamped and in past the system could not carry more than 15500 MW and now the system was gradually sustaining as more power was being added to the system, he added.

He said confidence of private sector had been restored and circular debt had been capped at minimum level while in past the intra-corporate debts would add up to Rs 15 billion each month.

He said recovery measures had been launched yielding results and in 2015 Rs 51 billion were recovered, speaking highly volumes about sincerity of the government on this front.

He said line losses had been restricted and dues had been cleared to power generation companies.

Speaking on the occasion, Shah Jehan Mirza, Managing Director Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) said the board served as one window facilitator to promote private sector participation in the power sector of the country.

He said the Board facilitated investors in establishing private power projects and added investment friendly power policy had been introduced which offered a number of incentives for private sectors.

Among others, he said, the policy document featured an attractive return on equity in tariff, which had encouraged investment in the power sector.

Recently, he added, the board recently approved two private sector power projects based on Thar Coal. Hub Power Company Limited would build 330 MW Power Project at Block-II of Thar, Sindh while another 330 MW power project would be completed at the same block of Thar by Thal Power (Private) Limited.

He said the PPIB would also invite proposals for development hydro projects, which add more power to the system.

However, he underlined the need for taking effective measures to overcome certain challenges including making generation mix more sustainable for consumers, evolving medium to long-term integrated planning, expansion and upgradation transmission system and improvement in recovery from consumers to overcome supply and demand gap which had swollen upto 6000MW with annual growth of six to seven percent.

German ambassador to Pakistan Ina Lepel said Pakistan was needed to take lessons from her country which had successfully overcome energy issues.

She was of the view that Pakistan was needed to exploit renewable energy resources for bridging supply and demand gap, which had witnessed rise over the years.

Ex Chairman, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Dr Ansar Parvez expressed the hope that such events will be helpful for having fruitful discussion on different options to overcome energy crisis.

Project Director, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Maj. Gen. ® Dr. Zahir Shah said that the project was not only beneficial for two countries but for entire region, adding, the project was not against any country.

He said that the component of the project including road network, industrial zones, power generation, up-gradation and initiation of work on existing infrastructure of various sectors.

He said that there was consensus on project of all political parties while certain recommendations of Khyber-Pakhtunkha province were also discussed in working group and other forums.

He said that the government will ensure security of Chinese workforce while professionalism will be ensured in the project.

Director General, Pakistan House Rana Athar said that as there was energy deficiency so all sources of energy should be availed including nuclear energy to overcome demand and supply gap.

Coal Technologist- Punjab Mineral Company (Pvt) Ltd, Usman Zafar said that country has enough resources of coal and urged to give more focus on this sector.

CEO K-Electric Tayyab Tareen and Muhammad Naeem Qureshi, Managing Editor-Monthly Energy Update Magazine also spoke on the occasion calling for effective measures to overcome the energy crisis.

US Senator says granting India membership of NSG a ‘dangerous policy’

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WASHINGTON, May 26 (APP): The US efforts to support
India’s membership of the Nuclear Supply Group is a
‘dangerous Policy’ that will lead to a nuclear arms race in
South Asia, a US Senator warned at a hearing on US India relations.

Senator Edward J Markey made these observations at the hearing this week where US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs, Nisha Desai Biswal, gave presentation on the US India relations and defended actions by the Obama administration in supporting India’s quest for membership of the NSG.

Senator Markey warned that this would create an
action reaction chain leading to a never ending escalation that would ultimately bring the battle field nuclear weapons closer to the border of both Pakistan and India.

The Senator recalled after the US gave exemptions to India in 2008, New Delhi has continued to process fissile material for its nuclear weapons program virtually unchecked. He said at that time Pakistan had warned that this deal would increase the chances of nuclear arms race in the region.

“Sure enough, since that time, Pakistan has declared its
intention to give control over battlefield nuclear weapons to frontline military commanders and it has declared its intention to use nuclear weapons earlier in a conflict with India,” he observed.

He questioned the Assistant Secretary if
giving state specific exemptions to India with regard to its request for NSG membership would not complicate efforts to refrain Pakistan from undertaking ‘destabilizing’ actions, such as deploying battle field nuclear weapons.

Senator Markey did not agree with the response of
the Assistant Secretary that the Obama administration had separate dialogue with both India and Pakistan to express its concern while supporting New Delhi’s membership. “We are creating an action reaction” chain.

“It’s a dangerous policy, It’s an unnecessary policy,”
he said and added that making such exemptions would infuriate Pakistan and would lead this to increase their own nuclear capacity. “It’s a very dangerous long term trend.”
Earlier, in his opening statement, Senator Markey observed that if given the membership, India would be the only country which not a party to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). He said that despite lack of consensus in the NSG on India’s membership, the Obama administration had decided to forcefully press for vote on the issue in coming months.

The Senator stated that the purpose of the NSG has been
to encourage states to accept full scale IAEA safeguards and prevent the spread of sensitive technology that could be used to build nuclear weapons.

He regretted that instead of strengthening these objectives,
the United States has repeatedly carved out exemptions for India.

The Senator said that NSG has agreed to set a set of factors to be taken into consideration for accepting new member that included signing NPT or any such agreement and accepting full scale IAEA safeguards. He questioned if the US was proposing to set aside these factors or asking for their revision.

He did not agree with the Assistant Secretary that India
was in compliance with these requirements.
The Senator added that in addition to signing NPT and accepting IAEA safeguards, there was also need for extra commitments, such as signing CTBT and halting processing fissile material before pursuing membership of NSG.

Pakistan, Romania call for exploring new avenues of cooperation

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ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): Pakistan and Romania on Thursday stressed the need for exploring new avenues of cooperation, especially in the fields of agriculture, textiles and energy.

A wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues were
discussed during the 8th round of bilateral political
consultations, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two sides expressed satisfaction over the trajectory
of bilateral relations in different areas including economy, defence, parliamentary exchanges, education and culture and stressed the need for expolring new avenues in agriculture, textiles and energy sectors.

The Pakistan side was led by Additional Secretary (Europe)
Rafiuzzaman Siddiqui while the Romanian delegation was headed by Mrs. Daniela Grigore Gitman, State Secretary for Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania.

The Additional Secretary briefed the Romanian delegation on
recent developments in Pakistan including achievements of the government to improve law and order, efforts for improving economy and overcoming the energy shortages.

He also briefed the Romanian delegation on Pakistan’s
contribution in the war against terrorism and the successes achieved during the military operation Zarb e Azb, as well as the comprehensive policy (National Action Plan) to root out the menace of terrorism and extremism from Pakistani soil.

The Additional Secretary also gave an overview of the
government’s policy of peaceful neighborhood, particularly its endeavours to normalize relations with India and to facilitate an Afghan led and Afghan owned peace process in Afghanistan.

The Romanian State Secretary said that “Pakistan is a
very important country and partner of Romania and we are keen to further strengthen bilateral ties with Pakistan.”

She also appreciated Pakistan’s successes in the fight
against terrorism and the policy of peaceful neighborhood, especially its role in facilitating peace process in Afghanistan.

RS 800 bln gas projects underway to meet energy needs: Khaqan

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ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the government had initiated different gas related projects worth Rs 800 billion, including setting up of LNG terminals and gas pipelines to meet energy needs of the country.

“By the grace of Allah Almighty, Pakistan will have surplus
power due to effective policies of the present government by 2018,” he said.

Senate panel on IB&NH to meet on Friday

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ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): Senate Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage (IB&NH) will meet here on Friday to discuss the report on budgetary allocations for current financial year and its utilization.

The updated status on the recommendations made by the committee regarding political use of Press Information Department (PID) and demanded a list of last 10 press conferences by the political parties along with expenses and under which rule the same were granted permission to use the PID platform will also be discussed.

The progress on total amount incurred on advertisements published by the government departments, indicating the channels and news papers along with respective amount during the last three years will also be reviewed.

The committee will be given detailed briefing on the working
and performance of Federal Land Commission (FLC).

It will also discuss progress on commitment of secretary
information on the issue of Lok Virsa pensioners and appointment of officials on contract basis.

PNCA promoting cultural heritage

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ISLAMABAD, May 26 (APP): Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) has always played its due role to promote the cultural heritage of the country and preserving national heritage for next generations as well.

Talking to APP Drama Art Director and Producer Waqar Azeem said that the manifesto of PNCA is to promote arts in youngsters, as they were the future of the country.

“PNCA team is working hard to revive the art and culture in the country, surprisingly the response of public is more encouraging than anything else, keeping us going at a better pace,” he said.

He believed that PNCA should be far more active in promoting art and culture so that it could get international recognition and people from various parts of the world visit Pakistan just to catch a glance of this paradise of the artists.

US hopes new Taliban leader will chose peace

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jhon kirby — US says Travel Warning against Pakistan a routine advisory, not based on specific threats

WASHINGTON, May 26 (APP): The United States hopes new Taliban leader, Mullah Habatullah Akhundzada will choose peace and work towards a negotiated solution to bring an end to violence in Afghanistan, a US State department spokesman said on Wednesday.

“We would hope that he would seize the opportunity. He does have an opportunity in front of him to choose peace and work towards a negotiated solution,” spokesman Mark Toner told a regular briefing at the US State Department.

Forthcoming budget should facilitate filers: Dar

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ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): Finance Minister,Senator
Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said that Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) strategy for the forthcoming budget should be to facilitate the filers while taking strict measures against non-filers and tax evaders.

Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar
stated this while chairing a meeting which reviewed the latest
position of revenue collection and budget related proposals of the FBR.

Chairman FBR Nisar Muhammad Khan updated the meeting on the state of revenue collection, a statement issued by the
Ministry of Finance issued here said.

He said in line with the instructions given by the Finance Minister, all out efforts are being made to achieve
the target of Rs. 3104 billion for the current fiscal year.

He said the revenue collection so far was very encouraging and makes FBR confident that the target for FY 2015-16 would be met.

The meeting was given a briefing about the FBR proposals
for the budget 2016-17.

Chairman FBR on the occasion said that different
stakeholders including chambers of commerce and industries, traders, businessmen, professionals, experts and think tanks have been thoroughly consulted before formulating the proposals.

He said the exercise has been very fruitful in obtaining
inputs for the budget 2016-17.

The Finance Minister said that FBR strategy for the
budget should be to facilitate the filers while taking strict
measures against non-filers and tax evaders.

He appreciated the hard work put in by FBR team for
formulating budget proposals and interaction with
stakeholders. He added that while finalizing the proposals the
government’s drive for economic growth must be kept in mind.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue, Haroon
Akhtar Khan and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance and FBR attended the meeting.

Imran dreaming to become PM through ‘dharna’ politics: Pervaiz

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ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): Minister for Information,
Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Wednesday said Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was elected Prime Minister through the constitutional process but Imran Khan was dreaming to become prime minister through politics of ‘dharna’.

The minister, in a statement here, said after lapse of three
years Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was now inaugurating a very small power plant. On the other hand, the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had already arranged more than 10,000 MW electricity to meet power needs of the country, he added.

Pervaiz Rashid said drone attacks were started during the
dictatorial regime and Imran Khan had supported that dictator who conducted a fake referendum.

Pervaiz urges Japan to further invest in Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): Federal Minister for Information,
Broadcasting and National Heritage on Wednesday said Japan, which had contributed a lot to the progress of industrial sector in Pakistan, should further invest in energy, infrastructure and development sectors.

Pakistan enjoyed cordial relations with Japan as it was one of its largest trading partners, he said while talking to Japanese Ambassador Takashi Kurai, who called on him here.

He said that Pakistan highly valued its ties with Japan and
and stressed the need to take the same to further heights by enhancing cooperation in the areas mutually beneficial to each other.

The minister said frequent high level bilateral visits and contacts would further deepen existing relationship in diverse fields.

He also underscored the need to enhance people-to-people
exchanges by collaborating in the fields of media, information and culture. Cooperation in the field of media and bilateral cultural exchanges would play a pivotal role in understanding each other’s values and cultures, he added.

The Information Minister also emphasised on media cooperation between the two states and said media could be an effective tool in promoting and strengthening bilateral ties with Pakistan and Japan.

He also appreciated the contribution of Japan for the flood relief and rehabilitation efforts for Pakistan in the recent past.

Pervaiz Rashid chairs meeting to review PEMRA laws

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