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No. 1 The Federal Minister for Food & Agriculture, Nazar Muhammad Gondal has said that the present government is sincere in resolving the grievances of the people of Baluchistan. He said that the Baluchistan Package and the historic NFC awards is a proof of giving the provinces their just and constitutional rights. The Federal Minister while meeting fishermen and the local people at the Gawadar Port today listened to their grievances and assured them of quick solution of their problems. The honourable Minister was informed by the locals regarding their problems. Their problems include the non-availability of jetty (small port like places at the sea shore), clean drinking water, emergency boats, boats registration and issuance of licence and provision of employment opportunities for the fishermen sons. The Minister assured the local people that he would communicate their issues to the concerned ministry on his return to Islamabad and would ask for their quick disposal. The Federal Minister checked the unloading of urea at the port. He told the local media that the urea shipped through Gawadar Port will be available at Rs.730 per Bag in the Punjab, where the current price is Rs. 750. The Federal Minister was accompanied by M. Yaqoob Bizenjo (MNA), Secretary agriculture Baluchistan, EDO Agriculture for Turbat & Gawadar and Director General (D.G) Gawadar Port. **DO/Ahmad**
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No. 2 Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, on his visit to Turbat, has reiterated the government’s firm resolve to maximize the available potential of the agriculture sector across the country and to carry out the agricultural uplift projects in Balochistan on priority basis. The Minister said that agriculture is the backbone of Pakistani economy and the government is equally responsive and bent on improving the performance of this sector. While overseeing the construction and developmental work at Mirani Dam, the Minister appreciated the project administration and all the workers for rendering excellent services to the nation by materializing the crucial project. The director of the project apprised the Minister of the minute details of the project and gave a comprehensive presentation on the project. The Minister observed that the ‘’Dams are as much important for the uplift of agriculture sector as the agriculture sector is vital for the economy of the country’’. Later on, the Minister met with some farmers who were working in their fields. The Minister took keen interest in understanding the working and the problems faced by the farmers. The Minister emphasized upon the usage of modern and scientific technology in farming. Moreover, the Minister vowed to extend all-out support to the farmers in resolving their genuine grievances. The Minister pledged to provide a level playing field to the farmers across the country. While talking to the agriculture and irrigation authorities of the area, The Minister instructed them to come up with more forthcoming and responsive attitude. In order to increase per acre yield, the Minister directed the authorities to focus on the land-leveling technology. The technology would save time and energy of the farmers during cultivation of crops besides increasing per acre yield. In this regard, the Minister gave relevant instructions to the authorities to improve agriculture and irrigation system of the area. **DO/Ahmad**
PR No. 3 Federal Secretary for Environment Kamran Lashari approved approximately US$ 2 million for Pakistan Wetlands Programme for the work plan of year 2010, in its meeting here today. He appreciated the conservation efforts of the Pakistan Wetlands Programme made so far and further said that this is one of the best projects of the Ministry of Environment while chairing the meeting. The Ministry of Environment’s Pakistan Wetlands Programme is a seven years initiative aimed at conserving globally significant wetlands and their associated biodiversity while alleviating poverty, with a total cost of approx. US$ 12 million. This is funded by a consortium of national and international donors including Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Global Environment Facility, United Nations Development Programme, WWF global network and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund and others. This meeting was attended by the provincial and territorial secretaries, representatives of the WAPDA, Economic Affairs Division, Planning Commission, Capital Development Authority, United Nations Development Programme’s Deputy Country Director and the senior officials from WWF-Pakistan and IUCN-Pakistan. While presenting the next years work plan, Richard Garstang, the National Programme Manager and the Chief Technical Advisor informed the members of the Project Steering Committee of the progress made so far in achieving the objectives of the project. He further presented the next years work plan which mainly focused on the implementation of recently developed Pakistan’s Wetlands Policy, undertaking wetlands surveys to generate scientific baseline data, enhancing the capacity of the stakeholders in wetlands conservation and management, raising the level of awareness regarding wetlands amongst general public while working in close collaboration with communities and the Provincial and Territorial Wildlife and Forest Departments in order to demonstrate the working examples of wetlands conservation in the country. Several suggestions were put forth by the members of the Project Steering Committee in order to effectively implement the project’s interventions in the field and to assess their impacts for sustainable conservation and management. **DKK/Ahmad**
PR No. 4 On the request of Provincial Minister for Health NWFP and Senior Vice President Pakistan Football Federation, Syed Zahir Ali Shah, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has approved allocation of Rs. 30 million for the construction of football stadium at Peshawar. The Prime Minister accorded this approval in a meeting with the Provincial Minister Health NWFP, Syed Zahir Ali Shah, who called on him at PM’s House here this morning. The Minister briefed the Prime Minister on the overall development activities and law and order situation of NWFP. The Prime Minister lauded the role of law enforcement agencies for maintaining excellent security arrangements to thwart any terrorist activities in NWFP during the Ashura-e-Muharram. **PMCO/Ahmad**
PR No. 5 Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting has asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to strengthen the Press Information Department in order to counter the negative perception about Pakistan. The Standing Committee also asked for provision of required manpower and resources to P.I.D so that it could perform up to the mark. The Standing Committee met under the chairpersonship of Mrs. Belum Hussnain, MNA in Press Information Department Building, Islamabad for briefing on working and performance of the P.I.D, today. The Committee appreciated the performance of P.I.D and opined that P.I.D being the principal projection arm of the government, was doing tremendous job despite financial and human resource constraints. The Committee was of the view that it could perform well if the required human resource was provide by the government. The committee appreciated the efforts of P.I.D for pursuing pro-journalist policies and asked to establish a revolving fund under the PID for the welfare of the journalists specially those working in the conflict zones. The Committee also asked the M/o I&B to provide financial assistance for the establishment of Press Clubs at Tehsil level. The Committee recommended that all the vacant post in PID may also be filled in besides enhancing the pay structure of the officers so that they can perform well. Syed Sumsam Ali Bokhari, Minister of State for I&B agreed with the committee and assured his Ministry’s all-out support for fulfilling the requirements of the department to enhance its efficacy. He informed the Committee that the present democratic dispensation in the country believed in freedom of media and that was evident from the criticism being done on the government and its policies. He said that Media supplements the government by objectively criticizing on it which improves governance. He said that government had reserved quotas for media men in government sponsored housing schemes and would also support the establishment of Fund for journalists and press clubs in remote areas of the country. Earlier, the Principal Information Officer, P.I.D briefed the Committee about the organizational structure of the department and scope of its activities. He apprised the committee that being the principal publicity arm of the government, it provides public relations services to all the ministries of the Federal Government, conducts foreign media during visits of VVIPs to Pakistan, acts as focal point for release of government advertisements to newspapers besides extending financial assistance to ailing/handicapped journalists and their families, press clubs all over the country and facilitating electronic and print media during sessions of the parliament. He further informed the committee that P.I.D had maintained record of newspapers since 1947, which was a unique attraction for researchers, historians, scholars, writers and students. He said that however, despite paucity of funds and manpower, it was trying to come up to the expectations of the government. The Members of the Committee said that newspapers record with PID was a unique treasure which should be preserved by using latest techniques so that the future generations could benefit from it. They also recommended for publicizing about it as majority of the people were not aware of that unique treasure. The meeting was attended by Syed Sumsam Ali Bokhari, Minister of State for I&B, MNAs Syed Amir Ali Shah, Mir Amir Ali Khan Magsi, Mrs. Samina Mushtaq Pugganwala, Begum Nuzhat Sadiq, Mrs. Shireen Arshad Khan, Rana Nazir Ahmad Khan, Mrs. Bushra Rehman, Mr. Farhat Muhamamd Khan, Mr. Istiqbal Khan, Principal Information Officer, P.I.D and other officers of the Ministry of I&B. **MT/Ahmad**
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No. 6 National Disaster Management Authority being the national focal agency has been striving for an effective disaster response mechanism in the country at all levels of government. To materialize this idea National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP) was developed and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for disaster response were drafted and after approval of NDMA, the draft Plan and the draft SOPs were forwarded to over 80 key stakeholders including government, non-government, UN and donor organizations for further comments.. For the finalization of the NDRP, four consultation workshops were held at provincial and regional level in Karachi, Lahore, Muzaffarabad and Quetta. The last one was held in Islamabad on 31 December 2009. The participants of the workshop included representatives of concerned federal ministries, departments, divisions, UN agencies, national, international organizations and representatives from NWFP and Gilgit-Baltistan. The consultation process will lead to the formulation of a final draft NDRP document to be presented before the National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) headed by Prime Minister, for final approval. Main objectives of the National Disaster Response Plan are:- a). Integrate all disaster management activities from preparedness to response and recovery. b). Provide a framework for emergency response at different levels within government structures. c). Spell out the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders. d). Coordinate activities with the UN, INGOs, civil society, media, public /private sector and local philanthropists. e). Identify types of hazards, levels of vulnerability and its causes as well as the structure, functions and coordination mechanisms of all agencies and stake holders. f). Focus on existing relief system in Pakistan. g). Explain the process of declaring calamity-hit areas, detail the early warning systems and to trace the information flow from national to local level. h). List different relief management functions, lead agencies, relief duties and SOPs. i). Highlight concept of emergency operation centers (EOCs) at national, provincial / regional / state and district / agency level. j.). Lay down SOPs for concerned agencies and authorities. National Disaster Response Plan will provide the framework for responding to disasters, both natural and man-made, of small, medium and large magnitude in the country together with corresponding response mechanisms and procedures. It will also describe structures and mechanisms for providing operational direction to disaster management authorities at federal, provincial, regional, state and district levels. In addition to that it classifies emergencies at all levels (national, provincial, regional and local) and clearly delineates the process of declaring emergency at each level and subsequent response accordingly. The Response Plan will also formulate roles, responsibilities and coordination among various stakeholders and institutions in case of disasters. Addressing the participants of final consultation workshop Mr. Shaukat Nawaz Tahir, senior member NDMA said that the National Disaster Response Plan after approval from the NDMC will be disseminated to key stakeholders. To make the document operational and to ensure its effective implementation, the NDMA will monitor and review each relief operation. Being a dynamic and living document, review of the plan will continue and changes and modification will be made accordingly.
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No. 7 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the suicide blast in Lakki Marwat today. He expressed his deep grief over the killing of innocent people and prayed for the early recovery of the injured. The Prime Minister said such terrorist acts cannot weaken the government’s resolve to fight the menace of terrorism till its complete elimination. He directed the concerned authorities to investigate the matter and provide best possible medical treatment to the injured.
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No. 8 We have seen remarks by the Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry for External Affairs made today in which he has once again emphasized that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, says a press release received from the Office of the Spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad here today. The Government of Pakistan rejects the Indian claim. The Jammu and Kashmir dispute stems from India’s refusal to implement the relevant Security Council Resolutions, which provide for a just solution of the dispute through the democratic method of a free and fair plebiscite.
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No. 9 Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi strongly condemned the suicide blast in Laki Marwat today which resulted in the loss of precious lives, says a press release received from the Office of the Spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad, here today. The Foreign Minister emphasized that terrorism will never be allowed to succeed in its nefarious designs. Such acts only strengthen our resolve to fight terrorism with more vitality. The Government and the people of Pakistan are determined to root out this menace. The Foreign Minister expressed his profound condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for early recovery of those who sustained injuries in the blast.
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No.10 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, in a message on the beginning of New Year 2010, has said “Now that we have entered the New Year we should reconsider our best role to be played in nation-building and make a firm decision to work for the betterment and progress of the country while staying within the letter and spirit of the Constitution and the Law.” The Prime Minister said that looking at our performance we should ensure that in the future we take all decisions keeping in mind our roles and responsibilities following a policy of consensus building and reconciliation. “The government is pursuing its goals with success and determination,” he added. The Prime Minister said that last year had been a challenging one for the entire nation. “While the country was faced with tremendous difficulties, it is worth mentioning that we faced these challenges with courage and determination.” He said keeping in mind our supreme national interest, the government took a number of positive decisions which are now bearing fruit. Some of the important ones are successful operation in Malakand & Swat and return of 2 million IDPs to their homes, Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009, Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package and the consensus 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
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