Ramazan relief package announced

ISLAMABAD: The relief package for the holy month of Ramazan has announced a reduction of 5-10 per cent in prices of 1500 items and will be applicable from June 23.

The price of oil, ghee and lentils, among 12 consumer items has been decreased by Rs10 per kilo.

The price of flour has been decreased by Rs6 per kilo, resulting in Rs120 decrease in the price of a 20 kilo bag compared to the open market price.

According to the announcement Chana Dal will retail Rs13 cheaper per kilo, while chickpea will retail Rs18 cheaper per kilo when compared to the open market prices.

Dates and Basmati Rice will retail Rs40 cheaper at the Utility Stores, where a 950 gram packet of Tea will retail Rs88 cheaper than the open market.

Moong Dal will retail Rs18 cheaper, Masoor Dal Rs12 cheaper and Mash Dal Rs15 cheaper per kilo.

Price of Tetra Pak milk will decrease by Rs12 per litre while the price of beverages will also decrease by Rs10 on 1.5 litre bottles.

Fresh ODI rankings announced by ICC

DUBAI: International cricket council (ICC) has released fresh ODI rankings according to which Pakistan has maintained its sixth position.

As per the list Australia is number one in ODI rankings where as Sri Lanka has now climbed up to number two and India has gone down to number three.

Virat Kohli remains at the summit of the ODI batsmen’s ranking while S.African AB de Villiers is at number two. Pakistan skipper Misbah ul Haq is at number nine.

Off spinner Saeed Ajmal maintained his number one position amongst the ODI bowlers and speedster Daryl Steyn is at number two.

Operation is operation, announced or otherwise: Samiul Haq

SWAT: Chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S), Maulana Samiul Haq Sunday said an operation is operation whether announced or otherwise.

Interacting with media persons here in Charbagh area, Maulana Samiul Haq said the situation is getting tense due to the military operation being conducted in North Waziristan for the past two-three days.

“Even after carrying out the operation, there will be no other option in the end but to depend on dialogue,” he asserted.

He said any clash between the institutions will prove detrimental for the country. “Shutting down a media group would not be a right move,” he added.

The JUI-S chief said that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan had made many promises before the elections including the one to bring peace but he has so far remained unsuccessful.

Winners of short film contest ‘Heroes of Pakistan’ announced

KARACHI: The winners of much awaited short film competition “Heroes of Pakistan” were announced in a humble ceremony held at the Karachi Press Club on Monday to acknowledge the youths who have demonstrated their film making potential by contesting in the competition organized by the American companies Green Card Capital and SoundView Broadcasting.

While addressing a press conference, Chief Operating Officer of Green Card Capital Abbas Hashmi said that the project aims to provide the youth a convenient and accessible platform to showcase their creativity and help them discover their own hidden potential.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the public enthusiasm for our Heroes of Pakistan film competition and the personal effort and sincerity that went into the making of every entry.”

CEO Green Card Capital Abbas Hashmi told that they had received an over-whelming response from all over the country and received more than 150 entries submitted by the youngsters, mostly students.

The winning documentary films depicted the unique heroes from various walks of life including social workers, teachers, and figures who played an extraordinary role in defeating obstacles in life or to preserve Pakistan’s culture.

The first prize of $1,000 was won by Danish Hashmi, producer of ‘Baadban’ while the second prize of $500 was fetched by Mohammad Ali Hakeem who had produced ‘Guddu’.

Sana Nasir, the producer of ‘Life in the Dark’, stood winner for the third prize of $250 while Umar Tariq received the special peoples’ choice award for ‘The Philanthropist – A kind-hearted soul’, documenting the renowned social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi. He received the fourth and previously unannounced prize of $100.

Along with receiving the cash prizes, the winners have also bagged internships in TV production in Pakistan and USA while they will also make television appearances on Pakistani channels in the USA distributed by the SoundView Broadcasting.

The young achievers, beaming on their success, said that it is a gratifying opportunity and now their ambitions have soared even higher after receiving the acknowledgement. Expressing the significance of such projects, they were of the view that it is a crucial platform to showcase youth talent and to experiment with fresh ideas.

The panel of the judges included noted film and TV directors Mehreen Jabbar and Bilal Lashari, producer and advertising maven Shahzad Nawaz, filmmakers Iram Parveen Bilal, Mumtaz Hussain and Mathew Newton, ethnic marketing expert Stephanie Herold, actor-writer Aizzah Fatima and digital media expert Sarah Khan.

Vowing to continue this project in the coming years, CEO Green Card Capital Abbas Hashmi told that the next programme will be announced in August due to the encouraging feedback.

“It’s our intention to make this a yearly event and to continue to provide a forum for honouring heroic Pakistanis from every strata of society,” Hashmi said.

“We are contacting several notable writers and celebrities for the future projects, aiming to tap the youngsters with potential,” he added.

It may be mentioned here that the sponsors, Green Card Capital and SoundView Broadcasting, had invited the aspiring filmmakers to participate in the competition by submitting an original five-minute video clip and employing any medium to record and produce the film. The choice of the heroes and film style were entirely up to the entrants.

The contenders of the ‘Heroes of Pakistan’ had one month deadline to submit their entries that started from September 1, 2013 and expired on October 31, 2013.

SoundView Broadcasting, the broadcaster and distributor of international TV channels in USA, in collaboration with consulting and investment firm Green Card Capital are determined to improve awareness about the Pakistani cinema and arts among the American audience by offering exposure and opportunities to aspiring filmmakers in Pakistan.

 

Haj policy announced

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has okayed the Haj Policy 2014 according to which 1,43,368 Pakistanis would perform Haj.

Announcing the Haj policy, the Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf told a press conference that the scheduled banks would start receiving Haj applications under the government’s regular scheme from April 21. Under the government’s scheme, a total of 56,600 Pakistanis would be able to perform Haj.

Federal Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs Qamar Ismail and other officials of the ministry were also present on the occasion.There would be no balloting and the applications of intending pilgrims would be entertained on first come first serve basis.

The minister told newsmen there would be reduction of Rs23,000 and Rs33,000 in Haj expenses for people who perform Haj from northern and southern parts respectively of the country.

The Haj expenses for intending pilgrims from these two parts of the country would be Rs2,72,231 and Rs2,62,231 respectively.The payment of expenses of Rs14,500 in respect of sacrificial animals would be optional. The Haj expenses include Rs1,7,700 and Rs97,000 as Haj fare of airlines.

Sardar Yousaf said that reduction in Haj expenses and air fare has been possible with the involvement of the Prime Minister House.He said that training workshops would be organized for intending pilgrims all over country and there would be Islamic dress code (Abaya) for women.The Haj flight operation would start from first of holy month of Zeeqad and half the pilgrims from the regular Haj scheme would reach Madina and half of them would arrive in Jeddah.

New schedule for PTI UK party elections announced

LONDON: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced that the party’s intra-party elections will be held on Sunday 13th April in 12 regions of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

PTI leader Imran Khan had directed the postponement of the elections about two weeks ago to first review structure for its overseas chapters. A ‘Special Committee’ comprising of Asad Umar, Shafqat Mehmood, Saifullah Niazi and Dr Arif Alvi was tasked to review functioning of international chapters and submit recommendations for improvements.

A source in the PTI informed that the ‘Special Committee’ submitted their report to the PTI Central Executive (CEC) and Core Committees (CC) on 17th March in which several recommendations to strengthen Office of International Chapters (OIC) were made as well as recommendations on how to cater to the needs of party’s overseas chapters.

The PTI CEC and CC showed their satisfaction over functioning of the UK chapter and it was agreed that it was already in compliance with all the recommendations made by the committee. It was recommended that no reason existed to further put UK intra-party elections on hold and it was important that new schedule should be announced.

It has been announced that the election voting day will be Sunday 13th April; Monday 31st March will be the membership cut-off deadline; and Sunday 6th April has been set as the candidate panel nomination deadline. The elections will be held in 12 regions which include London, East of England, South East, South West, North East, North West, West Midlands, East Midlands, Wales, Yorkshire and Humber, East of, Scotland, West of Scotland.

Each region will elect a body comprising of president, vice president, information secretary and general secretary. Thereafter, national body for UK consisting of president and general secretary will be elected from amongst regional elected representatives.

These are 3rd intra-party elections in UK and the chapter has become an important overseas arm of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which is contributing financially as well as in policy making of the party. Britain has played an important role in taking the PTI in the top league of Pakistani political parties. Its UK chapter is considered a leading overseas chapter in terms of all organisational aspects. The PTI has the distinction of being the only Pakistani political party that is now holding elections on time in a proper democratic manner. The MQM in the UK has a disciplined chapter like it has in Karachi. The PPP and the PML-N are fast becoming irrelevant because both parties lack any democracy in their ranks and these parties are divided in various factions. PTI has become probably the strongest overseas Pakistani party with more than 3,000 paid-up members, mainly youth. As compared the parties lag far behind.

New schedule for PTI UK party elections announced

LONDON: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced that the party’s intra-party elections will be held on Sunday 13th April in 12 regions of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
PTI leader Imran Khan had directed the postponement of the elections about two weeks ago to first review structure for its overseas chapters. A ‘Special Committee’ comprising of Asad Umar, Shafqat Mehmood, Saifullah Niazi and Dr Arif Alvi was tasked to review functioning of international chapters and submit recommendations for improvements.

A source in the PTI informed that the ‘Special Committee’ submitted their report to the PTI Central Executive (CEC) and Core Committees (CC) on 17th March in which several recommendations to strengthen Office of International Chapters (OIC) were made as well as recommendations on how to cater to the needs of party’s overseas chapters.

The PTI CEC and CC showed their satisfaction over functioning of the UK chapter and it was agreed that it was already in compliance with all the recommendations made by the committee. It was recommended that no reason existed to further put UK intra-party elections on hold and it was important that new schedule should be announced.

It has been announced that the election voting day will be Sunday 13th April; Monday 31st March will be the membership cut-off deadline; and Sunday 6th April has been set as the candidate panel nomination deadline. The elections will be held in 12 regions which include London, East of England, South East, South West, North East, North West, West Midlands, East Midlands, Wales, Yorkshire and Humber, East of, Scotland, West of Scotland.

Each region will elect a body comprising of president, vice president, information secretary and general secretary. Thereafter, national body for UK consisting of president and general secretary will be elected from amongst regional elected representatives.

These are 3rd intra-party elections in UK and the chapter has become an important overseas arm of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which is contributing financially as well as in policy making of the party. Britain has played an important role in taking the PTI in the top league of Pakistani political parties. Its UK chapter is considered a leading overseas chapter in terms of all organisational aspects. The PTI has the distinction of being the only Pakistani political party that is now holding elections on time in a proper democratic manner. The MQM in the UK has a disciplined chapter like it has in Karachi. The PPP and the PML-N are fast becoming irrelevant because both parties lack any democracy in their ranks and these parties are divided in various factions. PTI has become probably the strongest overseas Pakistani party with more than 3,000 paid-up members, mainly youth. As compared the parties lag far behind.

China announced the extension of Qinghai-Tibet railway line

China announced on 6 March 2014 to extend the Qinghai-Tibet railway line to Xigaze in Tibet. Xigaze is hometown of Panchen Lama. The proposed extension is the world’s highest railway line.

Panchen Lama is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He holds an important position in the China Buddhist Association.

The 253-km Lhasa-Xigaze railway line will be open before October 2014. It will run at 120 km per hour through valleys and over three bridges that run across the Brahmaputra River or Yarlung Zangbo as it is known in China.
The new extension line will take travelers from Lhasa to Xigaze also known as Shigatse in about two hours over five hours. Shigatse is an important monastery town home to the Tashilhunpo monastery that has been the seat of the Panchen Lamas, and is an important centre of pilgrimage for many Tibetans.

China has also proposed extending the line from Shigatse to the border with Nepal. Through this extension China aimed to meet both political and military goals.

This move is expected to bring more tourists to the China-backed Panchen Lama's hometown in Tibet. The rail network will also boost China's mobilisation capabilities in remote Tibetan areas.

The Xigaze region borders India's Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan. The new extension line will make it easier for the China to carry men and machinery to the Indian border at short notice.

China announced biggest hike of 12.2 percent in defence budget

China announced a biggest hike of 12.2 percent in defence budget on 5 March 2014. The hike of 12.2 percent will make the Chinese government spend 808.2 billion Yuan or 130 billion US dollar in 2014-15 on defence. This is the biggest increase in three years.
The estimated defence budget is 18 billion US dollars more than in 2013-14, when the budget rose by 10.7 percent. China is the second in place after the United States which spends more than 600 billion dollar in 2014.
China has been increasing the expenditure on defence since it seeks to increase its influence in the Asia Pacific. The hike, according to Chinese military, is the need to counter a high risk security environment in the china region which was recently marked by territorial tensions with many neighbours. The hike will comprehensively enhance the revolutionary nature of the Chinese armed forces, further modernize and upgrade and continue to raise their deterrence and combat capabilities.
India in its Interim Union Budget 2014-15 allocated 224000 crore rupees or 37.15 billion dollar for the national defence. The allocation represents 9.98 percent increase over the 2013-14 defence budget.