All publications of Hira Khan . اسلام آباد , Pākistān
On Wednesday, ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced that Indian leader Navjot Singh Sidhu would attend the Kartarpur Corridor's inaugural ceremony on November 9.
A report released by party went on to say Senator Faisal Javed Khan had a telephone conversation with Sidhu about Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's leadership and on November 9 invited him to the country.
"Pakistan has managed to send an invitation to the ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor to Navjot Singh Sidhu. Senator Faisal Javed Khan had a telephone conversation on PM Imran Khan with Navjot Singh Sidhu and invited him to Pakistan on November 9," read the statement.
Sidhu attended the Kartarpur Corridor's groundbreaking ceremony previously this year. Nevertheless, he is not part of the delegation of the Congress, which also will visit the gurdwara on November 9.
The committee involves former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Captain Amarinder Singh, Jyoraditya Scindia, RPN Singh, Asha Kumari, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Deepender Singh Hooda, chief spokesperson for the party, and Jitin Prasad.
India and Pakistan signed an agreement last week on how to run the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, paving the way for its inauguration next month before Guru Nanak Dev's 550th birthday. The hallway attaches the shrine of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur in India with the gurdwara of Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
Four officers affiliated with the National Counter Terrorism Authority have been inducted into the unit, according to a notification released on Monday.
Recently, Nacta Director-General Munir Masood, Director Dur-e-Maqnoon, Deputy Director Habibur Rehman and Assistant Director Mufti Mohammad Yaqoob became members of the committee, while it is headed by an additional ministry secretary.
The Federal Revenue Board (FBR) also set up a similar FATF cell earlier in July to ensure that anti-terrorism financing measures were implemented through currency smuggling.
The FBR cell seeks the required information for FATF-related work. This acts as a focal point for all FATF customs enforcement activities.
Earlier this month, the FATF, a global watchdog on money laundering and terrorist financing, provided Pakistan with a four-month lifeline, urging Islamabad to meet its commitments by February 2020.
On Friday, a Senate committee expressed its reservations about the fate of some 220 Pakistan Medical and Dental Council staff who had been disbanded by the federal government by an ordinance earlier this week.
The issue came up at the meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights that was chaired by Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar at the Parliament House on Friday with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
The federal health secretary briefed the Pakistan Medical Commission Ordinance 2019 committee during the meeting. He guaranteed the committee that 98 basic pay scale workers (BPS) grade 1-4 will be rehired for the newly formed Pakistan Medical Commission— which replaces PMDC — out of the 212 employees of the now defunct Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).
He concluded by saying that the commission would decide the fate of the remaining officials after hearing certain employees.
RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Development Authority, including all housing societies and residential colonies, has approved a drastic increase in transfer fees for residential properties in the city. RDA maintains that the deputy commissioner's land prices have been raised in Punjab, according to documents seen by The Express Tribune.
However, according to RDA, since 1999 it has not increasing its charges, so the latest hike is justified. Nevertheless, the authority remained unchanged at Rs1,400 for the transfer of ownership of residential properties from one marla to five marla.
Furthermore, transfer fees have been increased from Rs 1,400 to Rs 2,800 per marla for housing units between five and 10 marla, while properties over 10 marlas are charged at Rs 3,000 per marla. Similarly, transfer fees were increased to Rs 2,500 for one channel home at Rs 1,500
Irked by Minister Murad Saeed's absence from the Postal Services, a Senate panel postponed its meeting on Friday without any proceedings. The Senate Standing Committee on Postal Services ' opposition members requested that a resolution against the minister be submitted.
In the chair, the committee sat with Senator Mian Muhammad Atiq. Its members also expressed disappointment with the federal minister's absence. The chairman further expressed disappointment about the postal ministry's deputy secretary, who was supposed to come in place of the senior joint secretary, not appearing.
Shaikh managed to maintain that at the session there was a grade-20 officer of the postal service, while at the meeting there should have been an office of at least 21 grades. "According to rule 198, at the committee's meeting, the federal minister for postal services must also be here," he added.
ISLAMABAD: On Friday, the Federal Revenue Board (FBR) temporarily attached hundreds of millions of rupees of alleged benami properties on suspicion that the real owners were political persons who kept the assets in other people's names.
The Zone-I Islamabad has provisionally linked 3,141 channels of land in six Rawalpindi Division jurisdictions in compliance with 12 separate interim attachment orders issued by the FBR on Friday.
Such properties are in the hands of twelve men, three of whom are close relatives. But perhaps the FBR believes that one Tausif Ahmad is the real owner. In accordance with provisional attachment orders, the Benamidar are Tahir Rauf, M Sadiq, M Anas, Ijaz Ahmad, Abdul Shakoor, Syed Fayaz Gilani, Faisal Ahmad, Waqas Nasim Akram, Ahmad Yar, Sana Hussain Gilani and Sikandar Husain Gilani.
ISLAMABAD: On Friday, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan tried to quash any idea of an arrangement between the government and Nawaz Sharif, stressing that the relief provided to the ex-prime minister was on humanitarian ground.
The minister said the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted bail to Nawaz on medical grounds, which had nothing to do with the government, addressing a press conference in Islamabad. "Any negotiation is out of the question with Nawaz Sharif," he told reporters.
"A deal's perception is wrong. Prime Minister Imran Khan has told [ the authorities concerned ] to send him [ Nawaz ] all medical facilities, he said." We're not doing somebody's health politics. We have provided the Sharif family with all resources, and we acknowledge the decision of the court.
In the current fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday, the government may not achieve most of its targets set in the medium-term debt reduction strategy due to current high levels of public debt in the midst of adding $14 billion to the external public debt.
This stressed, however, that the country would make significant progress towards achieving the goals set for the 2019-24 period, including putting the country's debt downward.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, headed by former Finance Minister Asad Umar of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), briefed on the debt management policy of the government.
"Because of the current high debt levels, we may not be able to meet all of the medium-term debt strategy goals, but we will make significant progress towards achieving these targets," the Ministry of Finance's, Abdul Rehman stated.
On Friday, Pakistan, China and Russia urged the US to resume the stalled peace talks with the Taliban immediately as they agreed that the 18-year-long Afghan war could only end through negotiations.
As part of renewed efforts to find a peaceful solution to the lingering conflict in Afghanistan, representatives of Pakistan, China, Russia and the US met in Moscow.
Senior officials, including U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, attended the four-party talks, holding a series of meetings in Doha with Taliban leaders for over nine months to reach a peace agreement.
He [ Khalilzad ] was nearly able to conclude the settlement, but last month President Donald Trump at the last minute pulled out of the peace process, citing Taliban's continued assaults on American soldiers.
Efforts have been made to restore the peace process since then. In general, Pakistan had played a constructive role in breaking the deadlock. A meeting between Khalilzad and the Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was hosted by Islamabad earlier this month.
On Wednesday at Lok Virsa, Islamabad, the two-day 62nd Children's Literature Festival (CLF), a flagship initiative of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) civil society group, kicked off with a variety of engaging sessions and events.
A large number of students and their parents, teachers, academics, educators and the public attended the festival, which was sponsored by Oxford University Press (OUP) Pakistan, Oxfam, British Council, Ittihad Steel Mills, Female Education Trust Balochistan, Sightsavers and Millennium Education.
The two-day event was inaugurated by Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood. He praised the efforts of CLF to provide children with an inclusive learning platform. The festival started in such a jam-packed hall with National Anthem sung by Al Maktoon and Pehli Kiran School students.
A joint singing of the CLF anthem ' Humein Kitab Chahiye ' by Zehra Nigah and by Rakae Jamil followed.
