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PR. No. 49. Federal Minister for Housing and Works, Mr. Rehmatullah Kakar has expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in a suicidal attack near Melody Chowk, Islamabad yesterday. In a statement, the Minister strongly condemned the destardly act of terrorism and said that those playing with the innocent lives will not escape the wrath of Allah and the law of the land. The Minister prayed to Almightily Allah to shower His blessing upon the departed souls and grant courage to the bereaved families to bear this imminence loss with fortitude. The Minister prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. **EH/Ahmad**
PR. No. 50. Chairman Senate, Mr. Mohammedmian Soomro has strongly condemned the bomb blast which took place near Melody Market here yesterday and observed that no sane person would like such acts as a result of which either the lives and properties of innocent people are lost or are in danger. He reiterated Government’s firm commitment to deal with such elements sternly to safeguard the lives of the people. Deputy Chairman Senate, Mr. Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali has also condemned the bomb blast and termed it as a terrorist act. Both Mr. Mohammedmian Soomro and Mr. Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali prayed Allah Almighty to bless the departed souls in eternal peace and grant fortitude and perseverance to the members of bereaved families to bear the loss with equanimity. **SM/Ahmad**
PR. NO. 51. The Ministry of Environment and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote Clean Development Mechanism (COM) activities in Pakistan here today. The Federal Minister for Environment Mr. Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The MoU recognize the vast potential for collaboration between Pakistan and Japan which have both ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol. The agreements commit to the sharing of knowledge and environmental and technological cooperation on Clean Development Mechanism (COM), low carbon technologies and emission trading projects. Under this MoU the JBIC Ministry of Environment and Japan Carbon Finance (JCF) will share information and knowledge on Kyoto Mechanism and COM candidate projects in Pakistan. The JBIC and JCF will consider support to finalize such COM projects through technical and financial assistance. Speaking on the occasion the Federal Minister said that Ministry of Environment has already initiated five projects in forestry sectors from its own resources and we welcome the assistance of JBIC to make these projects more effective. He said that the MoU will open new avenues of opportunity for the benefit of global community in general and Pakistan in particular. He expressed the hope that this MoU will provide an opportunity to enhance the technological capacity for CDM activities in Pakistan and help seek new markets for selling Carbon Credits to Japanese investors. In order to combat adverse effects of Climate Change, the international community adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the World Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Pakistan ratified the Convention on 30th August. 1994 and became a party to this Convention. The parties to this Convention signed Kyoto Protocol in order to reduce Green House Gases (GHGs) concentration below 1990 level by 2012 through Clean Development (COM). Pakistan acceded to Kyoto Protocol in January, 2005. The Clean Development Mechanism (COM) introduced under the Kyoto Protocol, being a market based mechanism, helps the developing countries in achieving the goal of sustainable development, while at the same time mitigate climate change by reducing Green House Gases (GHGs) and earn foreign exchange by sale of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) generated through COM projects. **DKK/Ahmad**
PR. No. 52. Federal Minister for Food , Agriculture & Livestock, Mr. Nazar Muhammad Gondal has urged upon the agri-scientists and experts to equip with the emerging technologies in the world with a view to attain high agricultural yields and minimizing the input cost of the farmers. He expressed these views while presiding over a meeting of agri-scientists and experts at the National Agricultural Research Centre here today. The Minister said that the agriculture is the back bone of our economy and it was the prime responsibility of our agricultural scientists and experts to educate the farmers about the ways and means to boost the agricultural production as well as minimizing the input cost. He said that research on high bred seeds technology must be intensified with a view to introduce new varieties of agriculture crops pre-requisite for increasing the agricultural production. He appreciated the efforts of National Agricultural Research Centre for promoting the research and development activities in the country and emphasized to utilize their expertise in agricultural fields. Director General NARC , Dr. Muhammad Iftikhar gave a detail ed presentation on the research and development activities being undertaking by the organization to enhance agricultural production in the country. He informed that NARC is playing a vital role for promoting the research and development activities as well as providing training to the scientists and experts of foreign countries in agriculture field. He said that NARC has four data banks pertaining to agricultural research and development activities benefiting the scientists and experts across the world. Chairman, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council Dr. M.E.Tasleem was also present during the briefing. Later, the Minister went round various sections of the agricultural laboratory of the NARC. EH/ank
PR. No. 53. The Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production headed by its Chairman Senator Nisar A. Memon had a meeting with an eight member British House of Commons Defence Select Committee led by Mr. James Arbuthnot, M.P. at the Parliament House and held detailed discussion on matters of mutual Interests. Welcoming the British Delegation, Senator Nisar A. Memon highlighted the close and deep-rooted historical ties between Pakistan and UK and observed that the two countries were working closely on different bilateral regional and International issues. He said that regular meetings of Pak-UK Defence Committee Forum (DCF) between the two governments have been helpful in opening up new avenues in Defence Cooperation. He reiterated Pakistan’s firm commitment to Democracy and pointed out that a complete transition to a civil democratic culture has been in place after the February Elections this year. Senator Memon informed that the government and the people of Pakistan are fully committed has fully to fight out terrorism and strengthen the economy for the socio-political development of the country. He said that it was for the first time the Defence Budget has been presented in the Parliament for detailed discussion following last year’s breakdown of the defence expenditure by the last government was presented to the defence committee and the new government presented the details in annual budget statement in the Parliament which his an evolutionary process. He reiterated Pakistan’s firm commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and said that an effective command and control system is in place and there is no threat to the nuclear assets. Senator Memon also
highlighted Pakistan’s active role in the fight against terrorism and
observed that our commitment to fight terrorism was notwithstanding the
threats. He further said that the root causes also need to be addressed to
get rid of this hazard. He pointed out with concern that poppy cultivation
in Afghanistan has increased during the last few years, the income of
which is being utilized by the terrorists to purchase sophisticated
weapons. He informed the UK delegation that steps have been taken to
initiate constructive dialogue with India to resolve various outstanding
issues including the core issue of Kashmir. Both the Committees agreed
that there should be regular exchange of Parliamentary visits to develop
more understanding on issues of mutual significance and underlined the
need for more concrete steps for information, . James Arbuthnot M.P the leader of British House of Commons Defence Committee termed the meeting of the two committees as historic one and observed that both the countries attach very high priority and importance to cordial relations with each other and have shared values and commonality of views on many regional and global issues. Replying to various queries from a number of Senators, Mr. James Arbuthnot Chairman Defence Select Committee recognized that Pakistan has played a commendable role in war against terror and more support was required from the world community to enable it to fight menace. At the outset, the delegation also offered condolences to the government and the people of Pakistan for those who lost their lives in the terrorist activity in Islamabad yesterday and said that it was a serious reminder of the fact that Pakistan is the victim of terrorism. Members of the visiting delegation appreciated recent initiatives to engage India in dialogue process and lauded the steps taken to ensure world peace and stability. The meeting was attended by Senators Prof. Khurshid Ahmed ,Mrs. Rukhsana Zuberi , Ms. Saadia Abbasi, and Asif Jatoi. Secretary Senate Raja Muhammad Amin was also present. SM/ank
PR. No. 54. The Senate Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping which met in the Parliament House today under the Chairpersonship of Senator Mrs. Gulshan Saeed has exhorted the Federal and Provincial authorities to redouble their efforts to ensure that Gwadar Port is made operationally efficient at the earliest as it would bring tremendous benefits and would be of great interest to Pakistan. This observation was made by the Chairperson of the Committee while reviewing the ongoing projects of National Highway Authority, WAPDA, CAA, Pakistan Railways and the plans being envisaged by the Ministry of Ports and Shipping to make the Gwadar Port fully operational. The Chairperson and the Members of the Committee expressed the view that the development of Gwadar Port was very slow and that no significant progress seems to have been made so far. The Members of the Committee were of the view that if we are not doing dredging, the port will not be considered operational. Secretary Ministry of Ports and Shipping informed the Committee that the Port has been completed and operational. He informed the Committee that in order to give a boost to the operational activities at the Gwadar Port, it has been decided in the last ECC meeting that all wheat imported for Balochistan would be routed through Gwadar. He told the Committee that transshipment, transit trade and capital trade were the pre-requisites for a port to be functional. He said that the port has been leased out to Port of Singapore and they are trying to bring business for the said port. It was told that the master plan of Gwader Port has not been finalized so far. The representatives of the QESCO informed the Committee that electricity was available at the port and that it was capable of meeting future requirements of the Port too. Regarding the provision of sweat drinking water, the Committee was told that a desalination plant of 100,000 gallon per day capacity has been installed by the Chinese, final payment has also been made to them and hopefully, the plant would be operational in two months’ time. It was suggested that efforts be made to get water from near by dams like Shadi Kol and Basole. The Committee during a briefing by Pakistan Railways was told that Pakistan Railways in consultation with the Govt. of Balochistan finalized the route between Gwadar and Mastung and that the survey of the 900 km area has been completed. The representatives of the PR informed the Committee that an amount of Rs. 450 million was deposited with Board of Revenue Quetta against their demand of Rs. 465 million as cost of land to be acquired in Gwadar city area. Later on, EDO Revenue/Collector of Gwadar arbitrarily revised the cost to Rs. 924 million. The Committee was informed that GDA wants that underground electricity supply should be carried out instead of overhead supply. This would increase the cost of project manifold. The Members of the Committee were of the view that the matter should be taken up at appropriate level and got resolved in the next ECC meeting. The Members of the Committee while having a briefing by the National Highway Authority were almost unanimously of the view that work on national highways providing connectivity to Gwadar Port in Balochistan was too slow and needs to be geared up. It was pointed out that the targets set forth by the NHA were too difficult to meet as one of the major contractors was not performing and giving due results. The Members of the Committee suggested that the contractor should be blacklisted and the penalty should be imposed on him, otherwise it would give an impression that NHA was giving protection to the defaulting contractor. The Committee was told that Gwadar Port will be connected to Iran by December, 2008. The Members of the Committee while underlying the need for construction of roads necessary for Gwadar Port on priority basis, pointed out that Bela – Karar, Karar – Wadh, Khuzdar - Rato Dero and Khuzdar - Shahdad Kot road were of poor quality and that NHA should take steps to expedite the work on Sehwan Sharif Rato Dero road. Members of the Committee also expressed serious concern over the grant of land to the Housing Societies despite the fact that the Federal Cabinet had decided that as a sizeable land was required for the port, it will not be given to any other party/individual. Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Mr. Qamar Zaman Kaira informed the Committee that the Government was taking all out steps to ensure that the Gwadar Port is made operational by the end of this year and that next meeting of the ECC is being convened at Gwadar to sort out all the outstanding issues that have cropped up and to take on the spot decisions in consultation with the relevant Federal/Provincial authorities. He categorically assured the Committee that on the issue of connectivity, the development work on the port will not be discontinued. The meeting was attended, besides the Chairperson of the Committee Senator Mrs. Gulshan Saeed and the Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Mr. Qamar Zaman Kaira by Senators Lt. Gen ® Javed Ashraf, Dr. Muhammad Ali Brohi, Maulana Rahat Hussain, Ms. Saadia Abbasi and Dr. Abdul Malik . Secretary Ministry of Ports and Shipping and senior functionaries of the NHA, CAA, WAPDA, Pakistan Railways and the Ministry of Ports and Shipping were also present. SM/ank
PR. No. 55. Dr. Fehmida Mirza Speaker, National Assembly has said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Britain and both the countries have commonalities of views and perceptions on regional and global issues. She said this while talking to 8- member delegation from House of Commons of Britain, headed by Rt.Hon. James Arbuthnot (MP) who called on the Madam Speaker in the Parliament House, today. The Madam Speaker said that Pakistan wanted peace and stability in the region because development and prosperity of the countries in the region depended on stability here. She said that Pakistan wanted good relations with its neighbors through more communication and enhanced exchange of Parliamentary delegations and talks. The Madam Speaker said that Pakistan was committed to fight against terrorism and extremism. She said that extremism and terrorism could be curbed by eliminating the root causes of these evils. She said that generation of economic activities and the construction of opportunities zones in the FATA will bring down and eliminate extremism from the area. She said that such opportunities will also help in uplift of women welfare by providing them educational and job opportunities. The Madam Speaker said that the new democratic Government and Parliament was facing variety of challenges that will be overcome with the help of the masses and support of friendly countries. The Madam Speaker said that people were pinning great hope on the newly elected Parliament and expressed hope that the new Parliament will come upto the expectation of the people. She said that the Parliament and Government needed to be given chance to fulfill its tenure so that it could accomplish and fulfill the aspirations of the masses. The Madam Speaker thanked the delegation for the British Government support to democracy and the new democratic set up in Pakistan and also for its support to Pakistan ’s re-entry into the Commonwealth. The Head of the British Parliamentary delegation Rt.Hon. James Arbuthnot (MP) said that Pakistan was an important country and was playing a vital role in war against terrorism and extremism. He said that Pakistan was also a stabilizing factor in the region for the region’s progress and prosperity. He said that Pakistani Community in UK was playing important role in Britain ’s prosperity and economic development .He appreciated them as the law abiding and hard working citizens. He also invited Madam Speaker to visit UK that she accepted. MT/ank
PR. No. 56. Federal Minister for Defence/Commerce Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar has strongly denounced the Karachi bomb blast in which precious human lives have been lost. The Minister said that hidden hands involved in these gruesome acts would soon be taken and exemplary punishment would be given to them. The Minister further said that anti-Pakistani elements want to destabilize the country but they would not be allowed to succeed in their designs. In his condolence message with the bereaved families, the minister prayed to Allah Almighty to shower His blessings upon them. He urged all the segments of the society to forge unity among their ranks
PR. No. 57. The Speaker National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza and Deputy Speaker National Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday have strongly condemned a series of blasts in Karachi in which dozens of people were wounded. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker asked the nation to remain united and support the democratic government in maintaining law and order in the country.
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