Day: January 24, 2022

Posted on

LUMS, LGS win GCU Parliamentary Style Debates 

Lahore, January 24, 2022 (PPI-OT):The shining orators from the top 35 educational institutions of the country participated in the three-day 26th GCU Parliamentary Style Debates 2022 hosted by the Debating Society of Government College University Lahore. A team of orators from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Monday lifted the prestigious Prof Dr Khalid Aftab Trophy for the Best English Team, while Lahore Grammar School (LGS) – Johar Town Campus won the Urdu Parliamentary Style Debates.

In the individual category, Arad Shair Chadarh from LGS was declared the Best Urdu Speaker of the contest, while Syed Muhammad Ali Abbas Shield for the Best English Speaker went to Muhammad Asher of LUMS. However, GCU orators as host did not contest for coveted team trophies.

In the under-19 category, a team of LGS-Main Campus won the English Debates, while debators of School of International Science and Arts (SISA) were adjudicated as winners in the Urdu Debates. Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Asghar Zaidi said that debates played vital role in character building and intellectual growth of students and all students should participate in such healthy activities. He congratulated the Debating Society as large number of competing teams, adjudicators and students turned up for the debate competition.

Adjudicators Raza Aftab Gillani, Fahad Mehmood Sokhta, Sarmad Wali Khan, Gohar Shoukat, Haris Ali Virk and Farooq Shah praised the oratorical skills of the competing finalists. Later, the Vice Chancellor gave away trophies to the winners.

For more information, contact:
Public Relations Department,
Government College University (GCU)
Squash Complex, GC University, Lahore, Pakistan
UAN: +92-42-111-000-010 Ext: 296
Tel: +92-42-99213343
Cell: +92-321-8440769
Email: registrar@gcu.edu.pk
Website: http://www.gcu.edu.pk

Posted on

Weekly Seminar will be held on Wednesday, January 26, 2022 (Department of Mathematics) 

Lahore, January 24, 2022 (PPI-OT):All the faculty members and research scholars (MPhil/PhD) of Department of Mathematics, University of the Punjab are invited to attend the seminars to be held on Wednesday, January 26, 2022.

Name of Speakers – Titles of Talks – Time

Dr. Uzma Ahmad – Graph Spectra – 03:00 pm to 03:20 pm

Ms. Ayesha Khan – Complex Spherical Fuzzy MABAC method – 03:20 pm to 03:40 pm

Venue: Computer Lab, Department of Mathematics, University of the Punjab, Lahore.

Dr. Muhammad Riaz, Coordinator Departmental Seminar Series

Dr. Maasoomah Sadaf, Assistant Coordinator Departmental Seminar Series

For more information, contact:
Registrar,
University of the Punjab
Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-99231102
Fax: +92-42-99231103
E-Mail: registrar@pu.edu.pk
Website: http://pu.edu.pk/

Posted on

Itinerant workers’ rights should be guaranteed: HRCP conference 

Lahore, January 24, 2022 (PPI-OT):At a conference organised online by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), speakers agreed that it was critical to help vulnerable groups such as undocumented seasonal workers and nomadic communities gain access to citizenship documents. HRCP has found that such individuals are largely unable to access healthcare, schooling for their children, social security packages, and Covid-19 vaccination, while many are unaware of the benefits of citizenship documents altogether.

NADRA chairperson Muhammad Tariq Malik said that a social contract between the state and its citizens was only possible if all citizens had a legal identity. ‘If the state cannot count you,’ he explained, ‘you cannot count on the state.’ He said that NADRA had launched its ‘inclusive registration drive’ for precisely this purpose, adding that alternative citizenship identity instruments should be made easily available to vulnerable communities such as seasonal workers in cases where they lacked the documentation needed to apply for a CNIC.

HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani said that, while access to a CNIC may be subject to scrutiny for ‘security reasons’, the state had become ‘security-obsessive’ at the cost of protecting people’s right to citizenship. NADRA should partner with community-based organisations to extend its outreach, she added, while the government in turn should value the work of nongovernment organisations rather than targeting them.

Former senator and HRCP Council member Farhatullah Babar suggested that a Senate Committee of the Whole be established to address the status of undocumented workers and stateless persons, adding that all persons resident in Pakistan should be provided some form of documentation that enabled access to at least some benefits, fundamentally to healthcare.

Punjab Assembly member Bushra Butt, KP Assembly member Ikhtiar Wali Khan, and Sindh Assembly member Rana Ansar agreed that all four provinces should work together to develop recommendations to facilitate people’s access to citizenship documents. Deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly Rehana Laghari pointed out that the process was especially cumbersome for orphans, children born out of wedlock, and rural women whose mobility was restricted.

Tahera Hasan, director of Imkaan Welfare Organisation, pointed out that frontline workers were often unaware of changes in NADRA policy, such as when documentation requirements were simplified. Activist Usman Ghani explained that, for ethnic minorities such as the Bengali community in Karachi, obtaining a CNIC – even when possible – could take up to two years. Senior journalist Talat Hussain said that people who were not considered ‘relevant’ were not counted in the debate over access to citizenship.

For more information, contact:
Chairperson,
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)
Aiwan-i-Jamhoor, 107-Tipu Block,
New Garden Town, Lahore-54600
Tel: +92-42-35864994
Fax: +92-42-35883582
Email: hrcp@hrcp-web.org
Website: www.hrcp-web.org

Posted on

Balochistan Assembly passes two bills, adopts one resolution 

Islamabad, January 24, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Balochistan Assembly passed two government bills and adopted one resolution on Monday, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during third sitting of 49th session:

Members’ Participation

The House met for an hour and nine minutes.

The sitting started at 05:02 pm against the scheduled time of 03:00 pm.

The deputy speaker presided over the entire sitting in the absence of speaker.

The leader of the house (chief minister) was not present.

The opposition leader attended the entire sitting.

As many as 10 MPAs (15 percent) were present at the outset and 16 (24 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.

The parliamentary leaders of JWP, HDP, BAP, MMAP, BNP-A, BNP-M and PkMAP attended the proceedings.

One out of three minority lawmakers were present.

Output

The House passed two government bills including the Balochistan Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Bill, 2022 and the Balochistan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Another bill- the Balochistan Universities Bill, 2022 – was not taken up.

The House adopted a resolution recommending the provincial government to contact federal government for decrease in fare of various airlines including PIA operating from Quetta to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

Representation and Responsiveness

The House took up four out of eight starred questions while remaining questions were deferred due to absence of relevant lawmakers. In addition, one lawmaker asked one supplementary question.

Minister for education responded to a calling attention notice regarding non-issuance of appointment letters of female teachers under Balochistan Education Support Program.

Order and Institutionalization

Nine lawmakers belonging to various consistencies of Quetta walked out from the proceedings for ten minutes against violation of merit during appointments in various government departments.

MMAP and BNP-M lawmakers staged a token walkout from the House against non-consultation of the government with them on a legislative proposal.

Ten lawmakers spoke on points of order for 38 minutes.

The House was adjourned to meet again on Thursday, January 27, 2022 at 03:00 pm.

Transparency

‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.

The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org

Posted on

Pakistan’s farmers, agriculture and economy can only be protected after the puppet Prime Minister is ousted: Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Hyderabad, January 24, 2022 (PPI-OT):Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Pakistan’s farmers, agriculture and economy can only be protected after the puppet Prime Minister Imran Khan is all set to leave for home. He has ruined the country. However, his removal should be quite through lawful and democratic measures.

He was addressing to the participants of the country’s longest “Tractor March” in history which was organised by farmers on the ongoing fertilizer crisis in the country over non-receipt of fair and equitable prices of crops and PPP’s appeal against inflation. The PPP chairman said that people’s rule has to be established by removing the selected government. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the ineligible government that lacks everything to run the country has left country’s agricultural economy in a devastated condition while the people especially the crops growers are pinned to wall.

The ineligibility of this incumbent poor government has brought multiple crises and each only inflicted irreparable loss to country’s backbone sectors. He said that the cash crops are not getting a fair price while the farmers have been left on mercy of the nature. In addition, cash crops are being damaged due to unfair distribution of water. He further said that the wrong policies of the government have not only ruined the agricultural economy but also endangered food security.

He said that a few days ago farmers staged protests in districts of Punjab and Sindh as in Sahiwal, Layyah and Larkana. We are leaving the villages and standing in the city center to convince the rulers to solve the problems of the farmers. He was of the view that that the prosperity of the farmers is equal to the prosperity of the entire nation. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reminded that when PPP was in power, it worked positively for the betterment of all sectors especially the agriculture. However, farmers are anxious to get a bag of fertilizer by standing in long queues for fertilizer today.

The PPP chairman pointed out that the country was suffering from problems even under President Pervez Musharraf. The crisis was overcome and we were able to export surplus wheat abroad. “Farmers are being killed economically today, which we will not tolerate,” he said.

Today the farmer goes to bed empty stomy, and it is feared that the food insecurity will drive the entire nation to devastation. At present, inflation and unemployment in the country have reached historic levels. We are tired of pointing out problems in the National Assembly but no action is being taken by the government. The selected government has no concern for the farmers.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that if any government had any sympathy towards the farmers and the people in the country, it was the PPP leadership. Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, and former President Asif Ali Zardari had deep concern of the people. Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto rebelled against the system of the country and gave rights to farmers, carried out historic land reforms, gave land ownership rights to farmers, while Shaheed Benazir Bhutto also loved farmers immensely.

The PPP chairman said that if Pakistan’s economy is to be saved then Imran Khan has to be ousted peacefully, lawfully and by all democratic norms and values. We have decided that we will leave Karachi on February 27. The people of Hyderabad will also join us and the people there. We will send this government home in a democratic, legal and constitutional way with the support of the nation.

He while criticising the ruling coalition said that the facilitators of the selected government belonging to Sindh are conspiring to harm Sindh. They are trying to harm the peace of Sindh. The ethnicity-based artificial conflicts deeply impede our struggle for the rights. “I will not allow any injustice to be done to any Sindhi speaker, Urdu speaker or Pashto speaker.” “Let the people thwart the conspiracy of these ethnic groups by maintaining their unity.

The PPP chairman said that those who call the new local body system introduced by Sindh Chief Minister a black law will have a remorseful impacts on minds. The people of Sindh will reject these rejected elements. Addressing the people, he said that he wants the mayor of Hyderabad from PPP, a Jiayala. He promised that he will work with the Jiala mayor to resolve the problems of the people.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that those who could not be faithful to their leader would not be faithful to anyone else. Those who used to applaud slogans against Pakistan are the enemies of this city. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, provincial ministers, lawmakers and party dignitaries were present.

For more information, contact:
PPP Media Cell (Sindh)
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,
Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan
Cell: +92-305-3370383
Email: contact@ppp-tu.com
Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Posted on

Marais Erasmus is ICC Umpire of the Year 2021 

Dubai, January 24, 2022 (PPI-OT):As part of the 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Marais Erasmus as the ICC Umpire of the Year 2021.

Officiating in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand, Marais Erasmus has led the way in his officiating, earning the respect of his peers and the international cricket fraternity.

The 2021 ICC Umpire of the Year Award sits alongside his successive Dave Shepherd Trophies, won in 2016 and 2017. On top of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final, Erasmus has overseen 20 international fixtures across all the three formats in 2021.

Erasmus, a member of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires, recently officiated in his 100th ODI, when he took the field in the first ODI between South Africa and India in Paarl last week.

Commenting on receiving the honour Marais Erasmus, a member of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires, said: “Real honour to win the ICC Umpire of the year award. To be honoured by the ICC Match Referees and International test captains is recognition for a year of hard work and I’m pleased to have performed under difficult circumstances with Covid bubbles and long periods away from home. A massive thanks to my wife Adele and boys Chris and Geo for their unwavering support as well as ICC Umpire coach Karl Hurter for his support of me and many other umpires.

For all information on the ICC Awards 2021 please refer to the https://www.icc-cricket.com/awards page.

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com