ISLAMABAD, April 5 (APP): Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz Tuesday said the all-weather strategic partnership between Pakistan and China was an anchor for the regional peace and stability.The Advisor was talking to Member Political Bureau of Central Committee of Communist Party of China (CPC) and Secretary (CPC) Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Zhang Chunxian, who called on him here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Elimination of corruption essential to rid country of all ills: President
ISLAMABAD, Apr 5 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain Tuesday urged the young generation to wage jihad against corruption to rid the country of quagmire of problems. The President in a meeting with a delegation of the Young Parliamentarian Forum which called on him here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr said eliminating corruption was essential to rid the country of all the ills. The President asked the people for accountability of the corrupt and urged the young parliamentarians to play their role in this regard, a press release said.
PM announces Judicial Commission to probe Panama leaks allegations
ISLAMABAD, April 5 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday rubbished allegations of any wrongdoing and involvement in any off-shore company, and announced to set up a Judicial Commission to probe the matter and ascertain the facts. “I have decided to set up a high level Judicial Commission. This commission will be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court,” the Prime Minister said in an address to the nation aired live following the allegations against some members of his family by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Panama Papers. He said, “This commission will investigate the matter and give its verdict on what are the actual facts and how much weightage these allegations have.”
President urges Saudi investors to explore Pakistan's energy, agriculture sectors
ISLAMABAD, Apr 5 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain on Tuesday urged upon the Saudi investors to invest in Pakistan’s energy, infrastructure and agriculture sectors. In a meeting with Saudi parliamentary delegation led by Dr. Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, Chairman of the Shura Council here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President said business friendly environment in the country had encouraged foreign investment. The President mentioned that the investment-friendly policies included opening up of all sectors of economy for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), equal treatment of foreign and domestic investments, liberal foreign exchange regime and one-window operation.
Pakistan wins 2nd match of Blind Cricket series
FAISALABAD, April 04 (APP): Pakistan has won the second match of Twenty-20 (T-20) Blind Cricket Series after defeating Sri Lanka with 6 wickets at Iqbal Stadium here on Monday. Winning the toss, the Sri Lanka decided to bat first and scored 238 runs during 20 overs with loss of 3 wickets. Desferiya and D-Method Wandara of Sri Lanka scored 54 runs each on 24 and 23 balls respectively whereas Muhammad Ayyaz was the solo bowler of Pakistani team who got one wicket.
40 Italian companies ready to explore Pak economic potential: Envoy
LAHORE, Apr 4 (APP): Italian Ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo said on Monday that more than 40 Italian companies had expressed their willingness to explore the opportunities of the Pakistani market. According to Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) spokesperson, the Italian envoy disclosed this, while speaking at a seminar ‘Investment opportunities in Pakistan’ in Rome, Italy. The Ambassador said, “This is a great occasion for Pakistani business community to have a more structured approach to Italian manufacturers, hoping that some fruitful partnerships will be followed”.
PM chairs high-level meeting on internal, external security
ISLAMABAD, April 4 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Monday chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the matters related to national and internal security. A statement from Prime Minister’s Media Wing said the meeting was held here at the PM House and was attended by Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar and DG ISI Lt. General Rizwan Akhtar.
Govt to provide all resources for education: President
ISLAMABAD, April 4 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain Monday said the government was serious about education and all available resources will be allocated to educational institutions. The President made the remarks while chairing a meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Federal Urdu University at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. The Head of the Advisory Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Federal Urdu University Muhammad Javed Ashraf Hussain presented his report.
State Bank to announce Monetary Policy on Saturday
ISLAMABAD, Apr 4 (APP): The meeting of monetary policy committee (MPC) of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will be held on (Saturday) 2016 in Karachi. The monetary policy decision will be announced through a press release, said a statement issued by the central bank here Monday.
New trade policy to help boost Pakistani exports
ISLAMABAD, Apr 4 (APP): Pakistan has unveiled its new foreign trade policy to push annual exports to $35 billion. The focus markets that the commerce ministry has outlined in the policy include Afghanistan, China and the European Union, in addition to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Middle East, North Africa, and South East Asia regions, UAE’s leading newspaper ‘Khaleej Times’ reported on Monday. The policy shifted its focus to expanding regional trade, principally with landlocked Afghanistan, and the big boom market of Iran, which has a pent up demand for a large number of modern imported goods, including the latest, fine textiles and fashion garments from Pakistan.
I do not own any company/property abroad': Maryam Nawaz
ISLAMABAD, April 4 (APP): Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday said that she did not own any company/property abroad, and her brother had made her a trustee in one of his corporations, which entitled her to distribute assets to her brother Hussain’s family/children, if needed. “Nothing more than what my brother has already explained,” Maryam Nawaz Sharif stated in her tweet. “The info provided by (Panama) leaks does not say any wrongdoing involved. The distortion is wilful that a couple of media channels (are) using to settle scores,” she added.
PCB announces measures to revamp cricket
LAHORE, April 4 (APP)- Chairman, Pakistan Cricket Board, Shaharyar M Khan has announced a number of short and long term measures to revamp Pakistan Cricket in the back drop of Pak team poor show in the Asia and T20 World Cups.”Following receipt of the report last Friday by the Special Committee on the poor team performance in the Asia Cup 2016 and ICC WT20 2016 the Chairman PCB after having studied the same and considered the findings and recommendations has announced decisions to address the problems in Pakistan cricket,” said a spokesman of PCB here on Monday night.
Govt to provide all resources for education: President
ISLAMABAD, April 4 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain Monday said the government was serious about education and all available resources will be allocated to educational institutions. The President made the remarks while chairing a meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Federal Urdu University at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. The Head of the Advisory Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Federal Urdu University Muhammad Javed Ashraf Hussain presented his report.
Child Psychiatric Department to be established at PIMS: Dr Fazal Tariq
ISLAMABAD April 4, (APP): Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry Monday announced to establish a Child Psychiatric Department at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). He announced this while addressing the inaugural session of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Conference at PIMS here. Dr. Tariq said child psychiatry is an important subject as childhood memories are long lasting.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia enjoying close fraternal relations: NA speaker
ISLAMABAD, Apr 4 (APP): Chairman of the Shura Council of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr Abdullah Bin Mohammad Bin Ibrahim Al-Sheikh along with a delegation called on Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and discussed issues of common interest and ways of strengthening relations between the two brotherly countries. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed close fraternal relations pointing out the two countries stood by each other in testing times. “Close and frequent contacts at the highest level have been the hallmark of these relations,” he added.
Civil servants role critical in economic stabilization: Ahsan Iqbal
ISLAMABAD, Apr 4 (APP): Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Ahsan Iqbal has said that civil servants have to play a key role to keep the growth momentum after country achieved macroeconomic stabilization. He said today, Pakistan has right economic orientation to register higher economic growth to produce surplus wealth and its equitable distribution to end the poverty in the country. “For achieving further economic growth, we need to become a competitive economy by excelling in productivity, quality and innovation”, Ahsan Iqbal expressed these views while addressing the participants of National Management Course (NMC), said a statement issued here on Monday.
Govt determined to achieve 6-7% growth rate by 2018: Dar
ISLAMABAD, Apr 4 (APP): Minister for Finance, Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Monday said the government was determined to achieve 6 to 7 percent growth rate within its tenure. He said all the macro-economic indicators were positive, forex reserves stood at over 20 billion dollars, inflation rate was under 3 percent, there was 18 percent growth in revenue generation during the current fiscal year and it was all set to achieve the revenue target set for 2015-16. He was talking to a delegation of National Management College who called on the Finance Minister here.
Panama documents confirmed Sharif brothers stance of having no foreign assets: Pervaiz Rashid
ISLAMABAD, Apr 4 (APP): Minister for Information, Broadcasting andNational Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid said on Monday that Panamadocuments have confirmed the stance of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif that they have no assets abroad.Talking to media persons after attending the launching of Islamabad travel guide book here, he said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman ImranKhan has been making baseless allegations against the PML-N leadership butthe Panama documents have proved him wrong. He said that he does not ask Imran to quit politics, and if he cannot apologize, at least he should beashamed of for levelling baseless allegations against the PML-N leadership.
I do not own any company/property abroad': Maryam Nawaz
ISLAMABAD, April 4 (APP): Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday said that she did not own any company/property abroad, and her brother had made her a trustee in one of his corporations, which entitled her to distribute assets to her brother Hussain’s family/children, if needed. “Nothing more than what my brother has already explained,” Maryam Nawaz Sharif stated in her tweet. “The info provided by (Panama) leaks does not say any wrongdoing involved. The distortion is wilful that a couple of media channels (are) using to settle scores,” she added.
Maintaining offshore firms a legal option: Hussain Nawaz
ISLAMABAD, Apr 4 (APP): Hussain Nawaz, son of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Monday said that maintaining offshore companies was a legal option available in various countries to avoid paying unnecessary taxes and that there was no need to conceal his assets abroad. Talking to a private television channel, he said there was nothing bad in owning the offshore company. I never concealed my property abroad, he added. He clarified that Panama leaks and The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have made no allegations of wrongdoing against Sharif family and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif owned none of the corporations mentioned in the leaks.