02-03 NEWS 27 JUNE_Layout 1 6/27/2022 1:32 AM Page 2
Monday, 27 June, 2022 | ISLAMABAD
NEWS
nAWAz shArif, PM shehBAz deePly AttAChed to KAshMir CAuse: MArriyuM ISLAMABAD
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EDERAL Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday said both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif have always raised the Kashmir issue at every international forum because of their emotional attachment with the cause. “The government will express solidarity with the Kashmiris on August 5 against the Indian move of revoking the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s special status,” she said in a meeting with Senior Hurriyat leader and Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement President Altaf Ahmed Bhat who arrived at her
residence to congratulate her on assuming the portfolio of Information Ministry. Meanwhile, Pakistani embassies around the world were directed to expose the Indian initiative of unilateral revocation of Kashmir’s autonomous status by nullifying article 370 of the Indian constitution, she added. The government is committed to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris in line with Nawaz Sharif’s vision. She added that the steps taken by India on August 5 were not recognized then by the government of Pakistan and would not be accepted now. “Kashmir is a disputed territory whose future remains to be decided and it can only be resolved by giving its people the right to decide on their future through plebiscite in accordance with the
Men dominate senior positions in first Women Bank limited AhMAD AhMADANI Men have been dominating the senior positions of First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) in contradiction to the vision of the Islamic world’s first woman Prime Minister (PM) Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. According to sources, not a single man was part of the management team of FWBL till December 2021 since the establishment (1989) of the FWBL. However, the former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government inducted men in the bank and currently top eight senior management positions including President of FWBL are occupied by the men. “This is altogether contrary to the basic aim and vision of the then premier Benazir Bhutto (Shaheed) for establishing the FWBL in the country,” said sources. They added that the then PM Benazir Bhutto Shaheed while congratulating the first President of FWBL through a letter dated 03 December 1989 expressed the need of the women staff to foster economic independence of the country’s women. A copy of the letter of former Prime of Pakistan Minister Benazir Bhutto Shaheed available with Pakistan Today/Profit disclosed that the then premier while congratulating Miss Akram Khatoon, the first President of the First Women Bank Limited Karachi, said that the establishment of FWBL is aimed at giving a fillip to career women of the country who at present have little access to institutional credit. “We would also like to see that the women’s bank may employ, other than for security purposes, only women,” said Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. She added that this will not only enable working women to have greater job opportunities but it will encourage ‘pardah nasheen’ ladies to avail of the services of the bank for purposes of account and saving. Benazir Bhutto Shaheed also said that the democratic government would like the women’s bank to come up with saving schemes for women. It is also to encourage women who do not have traditional collateral, to secure loans for employment ventures and it is for the bank to determine what terms of collateral it should offer its women clients, said Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.
United Nation’s resolutions.” she added. The United Nations should implement its resolutions on Kashmir and give Kashmiris their birthright. Former Mayor Rawalpindi Sardar Naseem Khan and Tahira Aurangzeb, mother of the Federal Information Minister were also present on occasion. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Kashmir and Pakistan cannot be separated from each other. “Leaders of Hurriyat and Kashmiri people have made immense sacrifices for their freedom which cannot be ignored,” she added. Talking on the occasion, Chairman J&KSM Altaf Ahmed Bhat said that the measures taken by India on August 5 were illegal, unconstitutional and immoral. India has been busy and brought Israeli-style demographic changes in IIOJ&K and so far more than
four million hardcore Hindus have been issued Kashmiri residency certificates, which was totally illegal and unconstitutional. He said that in order to suppress the Kashmir Independence Movement, India had imprisoned the leaders of Hurriyat in false and baseless cases so that the voice of Kashmiris could not reach the world. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabbir Shah, Yasin Malik, Zafar Akbar Bhat, Qasim Faktoo, Asiya Andrabi, Naeem Khan and many other Hurriyat leaders were behind bars, he lamented. Recently, Indian agencies assassinated Syed Ali Gilani and Ashraf Sahrai in custody, he said, adding India wanted to suppress the voice of Kashmiris by force. “Every day Indian army is killing innocent Kashmiris through fake and baseless crackdowns and encounters,” Bhat remarked.
Bankrupt Sri Lanka seeks discounted Russian oil AgENCIES Cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Sunday announced sending ministers to Russia and Qatar to try and secure cheap oil a day after the government said it had all but run out of fuel. The government meanwhile extended a two-week closure of non-essential state institutions until further notice in order to save fuel, maintaining only a skeleton staff to provide minimum services. Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said two ministers will travel to Russia on Monday to discuss getting more oil following last month’s purchase of 90,000 tonnes of Siberian crude. That shipment was arranged through Coral Energy, a Dubaibased intermediary, but politicians have been urging the authorities to negotiate directly with President Vladimir Putin’s government. “Two ministers are going to Russia and I will go to Qatar tomorrow to see if we can arrange concessionary terms,” Wijesekera told reporters in Colombo. Wijesekera had announced on Saturday that Sri Lanka was virtually out of petrol and diesel after several scheduled shipments were delayed indefinitely due to “banking” reasons. Fuel reserves were sufficient to meet less than two days’ demand and it was being reserved for essential services, Wijesekera said while apologizing for the situation. The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation on Sunday hiked the price for diesel by 15 percent to 460 rupees ($1.27) a liter and petrol by 22 percent to 550 rupees. Since the beginning of the year, diesel prices have gone up nearly four-fold and gasoline has almost
tripled. Wijesekera said there would be an indefinite delay in getting new shipments of oil and urged motorists not to queue up until he introduces a token system to a limited number of vehicles daily. US takes stock: A delegation from the US Treasury and the State Department meanwhile arrived to “explore the most effective ways for the US to support Sri Lankans in need”, the US embassy in Colombo said. “As Sri Lankans endure some of the greatest economic challenges in their history, our efforts to support economic growth and strengthen democratic institutions have never been more critical,” US ambassador Julie Chung said in a statement. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Asia Robert Kaproth and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Kelly Keiderling were in the delegation. The embassy said it had committed $158.75 million in new financing in the past two weeks to help Sri Lankans.
About 1.7 million residents need “life-saving assistance”, according to the United Nations which issued a flash appeal last week. Four out of five people in the nation of 22 million have reduced their food intake due to severe shortages and galloping prices, the UN noted. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned parliament on Wednesday that more hardships were on the way. “Our economy has faced a complete collapse,” Wickremesinghe said. “We are now facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity and food.” Unable to repay its $51 billion foreign debt, the government declared it was defaulting in April and is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a possible bailout. Sri Lanka’s official inflation at the end of May was 45.3 percent, according to official data, but private economists have placed it at 128 percent, the second-highest in the world after Zimbabwe.
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imran forgives employee caught with spying device at Bani Gala ISLAMABAD stAff rePort
Dr Shahbaz Gill, the chief of staff of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, said on Sunday that former premier Imran khan has pardoned the employee who was involved in spying at his Bani Gala residence. Dr Shahbaz Gill produced the Bani Gala employee before the media who was allegedly caught red-handed installing a spying device at Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence. He said that the 23-year-old employee has been caught installing a spying device. He added that the employee is facing life threats and he was pardoned by Khan. “I want to give a message to those who have used the employee for spying on Imran Khan that they should not violate the sanctity of the private residences of the people. This employee was working at Bani Gala for the last six years and he brought a device here but was caught before installing it.” The employee, whose face was covered with a cloth, admitted before the media that he brought the device and was caught before installing it. “I am grateful to Imran Khan for forgiving me. I have made a mistake and everyone should forgive me.” Spying attempt on pti chief: A spying attempt on ex-PM and PTI chief Imran Khan had been foiled yesterday. An employee of Bani Gala was paid to install a device in the former prime minister’s bedroom. However, the spying attempt was foiled after another employee informed the security team about the installation of the device. After receiving information, the security team of Bani Gala detained the employee and handed him over to the federal police. Meanwhile, PTI leader Shehbaz Gill has asserted that the party had pointed out several times that Imran Khan’s life is in danger. “In this regard, we have informed all relevant agencies, including the government,” he added. Talking exclusively to ARY News, Shehbaz Gill claimed: “An employee – who cleans the former premier’s room – was paid to install a spy device,” terming the act ‘heinous and unfortunate’. “Our people are being threatened to get information. Such shameful acts should be avoided,” he added. The PTI leader further said that the ‘arrested’ employee has made several revelations – which he refused to share at the moment.
strategic reforms in specialized healthcare in offing: sufi ISLAMABAD stAff rePort
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has decided to initiate strategic research and development reforms in specialized healthcare. Head of Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi, in a press statement on Sunday, said that these reforms would include assisting and enhancing the number of entities for the local development of specialized equipment for cerebral palsy, prosthetics and assistive devices. Moreover, specialized music based learning for patients with cognitive impairment would be introduced, he added. Under the proposed reforms, the low cost special wheel-chairs and other assistive material would be locally manufactured, so that these requisite items could be easily available to the ordinary citizens. The government would also take steps to provide subsidy on these items, Sufi added.
K-12 education and translated work of Pakistani female fiction writers ISLAMABAD syeD AfsAr sAjID
Agents of Change is an in-depth exploration of ‘the problematic landscape of Pakistan’s K-12 education and the people leading it’ by its co-authors Amjad Noorani and Nadeem Hussain. It has been described as ‘an informed commentary on education policies and practice in Pakistan’. Feminine Foot Print on Pakistani Literature comprises a translated version of nineteen Urdu short stories by a mix of old and young female fiction writers from Pakistan, selected and rendered by Amir Rizvi, a seasoned translator and bilingual litterateur. This review is intended to deal with the two publications separately. The book is an incredible story of commitment and resolve placed within the larger historic and material context. It is an
important compendium of informed and reflective commentary on education policies and practice in Pakistan. The authors have successfully initiated a deeply political conversation. However, to borrow from Antonio Gramsci, they promote a ‘politics of consent’ in the realm of education. (Harris Khalique) Renowned fiction writer Muhammad Hanif regards the book as a ‘must read for educators and policy makers’. Physicist/educator Pervez Hoodbhoy opines that it (the book) ‘lays out the enormity of the problem that Pakistan faces in educating its youth’. The book is dedicated to late Abdul Sattar Edhi, the iconic humanist who inter alia introduced the first nation-wide non-profit ambulance service in the country. Apart from the opening prologues, appendices, postscripts, and the index, the book is split into seven chapters, viz. ‘Fixing
the problematic education system’, ‘The incredible story of TCF (The Citizens Foundation)’, ‘The Saleem family of Ibrahim Goth’, ‘Agents of change’, ‘The right to education’, ‘The madrasa as an institution of education’, and ‘Education reform: The essentials’. The concept and methodology of TCF (The Citizens Foundation) forms the core theme of this book. Dr. Shashi Buluswar, from the University of California views it (TCF) as ‘the world’s single most effective NGO in Education.’ It operates a vast network of schools, teachers and students of which a vivid detail is charted in the second chapter of the book. The authors ‘cohesively bring forward the scale of TCF’s 25 years of intervention, that provides both qualitative and quantitative basis to decisively shape the direction of primary and secondary
education in Pakistan, laying the foundation for development of individuals with civic responsibility and consciousness to address challenges humanity is globally facing’. Thus to quote Salman Humayun of the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences, Islamabad, ‘This book holds great value for policy research organizations, think-tanks, and development practitioners globally. It roots the debate on delivering quality education to all children in Pakistan in the context of elite capture, institutional challenges, inequity, and marginalization. It argues that the education challenge is not only technical in nature but also deeply political; and reforms that fail to establish a vibrant interface between the technical and the political are likely to be short-lived. Political yet non-partisan advocacy embedded in robust data and evidence is the key.’
