Wednesday, 17 February 2021
ISLAMABAD, FEB 17 – A meeting was held between Mudassir Tipu, DG, China, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan, and other officers of China Desk with Shabbir Ahmed, Director, Area Study Center, (Russia, China, and Central Asia), University of Peshawar and Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, CGSS at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan, on Tuesday Feb 16.
During the meeting, it was decided that Area Study Center
(Russia, China, and Central Asia) will conduct extensive research regarding
CPEC and its various projects in Pakistan. Moreover, research projects on the
impact of CPEC on different sectors of Pakistan will also be conducted.
Prof. Dr. Shabbir Ahmed highlighted recent projects by Area
Study Center (Russia, China & Central Asia), University of Peshawar. He
also stated that it is essential to connect the academia of China and Pakistan
for including the perspective of both countries in joint research activities.
Mudassir Tipu appreciated the contribution of the Area Study Center. He extended his full support to the institution in their projects related to China Pakistan Economic Corridor. He also emphasized that academic linkages between both countries are crucial for strengthened bilateral connectivity.
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COURTESY cgss
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Tuesday, 16 February 2021
By Farukh Shehzad
Editor-In-Chief / diplomaticnewspk.blog
ISLAMABAD, FEB 2021: Madam Alia Dahroug, Wife of Egypt Ambassador to Pakistan met CGSS Team members on Monday, Feb 15.
During the meeting projects of mutual interests in the fields of entrepreneurship and education were discussed.
Madam Alia Dahroug visited many beautiful places in Pakistan and met friendly people.
Wife of the Egypt Ambassador to Pakistan expressed her love for Pakistani food.
Madam Alia Dahroug also expressed her views with CGSS team members about several important historical places of Egypt during the meeting.
CGSS team members enjoyed spending time with Madam Alia Dahroug, Wife of Egypt Ambassador to Pakistan.
Madam Alia Dahroug thanked CGSS Team for arranging such an interesting and meaningful discussion.
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The writer of this article is Editor-In-Chief of diplomaticnewspk.blog
He has good command over graphic designing as well.
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ISLAMABAD, FEB 16: Pakistani student Zara Naeem has made her country proud after she topped the financial reporting exam given by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) students.
Zara was declared a global prizewinner after she secured the highest marks in the exam conducted in December 2020.
Taking to Instagram, Zara thanked everyone for congratulating her on the achievement.
“Once again a HUGE Thanks to each and every person who’s congratulated me/ is happy for me on my achievement. Sending lots of love and prayers your way!” said Zara.
Zara was also lauded by Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz and the government on her achievement.
“Zara Naeem Dar has become pride of the nation by topping the ACCA exams across the world,” said the minister.
Zara, who was quoted by publication ProPakistani, said that she dreams of starting her own consultancy firm after she obtains her ACCA membership.
ACCA, a global professional accounting body founded in 1904, offers the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA).
ACCA’s headquarters are in London with principal administrative office in Glasgow.
ACCA works through a network of over 104 offices and centres in 52 countries — with 323 Approved Learning Partners (ALP) and more than 7,300 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide employee development.
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COURTESY whenwherehow
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ABUJA, FEB 16: Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Monday became the first woman and first African to head the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The WTO’s 164 members unanimously decided to appoint the 66-year-old development economist to serve a four-year term as director general.
“A strong WTO is vital if we are to recover fully and rapidly from the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ngozi told WTO members after her election at a special meeting of the organization’s General Council in Geneva.
She later told journalists that the WTO needs to work to “accelerate supplies and vaccines to poor countries,” and look at export restrictions and prohibitions from members.
Ngozi, who is Nigeria’s former finance minister, said she looks forward to working with members to shape and implement the policy responses needed to get the global economy going again.
“Our organization faces a great many challenges but working together, we can collectively make the WTO stronger, more agile, and better adapted to the realities of today.”
Ngozi will take up her duties on March 1, and her renewable term will expire on Aug. 31, 2025.
Last October, most of the WTO members supported Ngozi. The US was the only nation to oppose her candidacy at that meeting, instead supporting South Korean candidate Yoo Myung-hee, who withdrew her bid last month.
It was the first time two women vied for the top job at the WTO, which has seen the US at loggerheads with China at many of its meetings in recent times, especially under the just-ended Donald Trump administration.
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COURTESY whenwherehow
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LAHORE, FEB 16: The United Arab Emirates will soon open its visa centre in Lahore, according to a report.
UAE’s Ambassador Hamad Obaid Alzaabi said this in a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, the Al-Arabiya Urdu service reported.
The UAE diplomat expressed interest in bilateral cooperation in different sectors, particularly construction and health.
Alzaabi said the UAE government was ready to invest in special economic zones too.
CM Buzdar expressed his hopes that the UAE would invest in the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development and Walton Business Hub projects.
Ambassador Alzaabi later met with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar.
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COURTESY whenwherehow
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ISLAMABAD, FEB 16: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), in collaboration with Huawei Technologies Pakistan Pvt Ltd, launch Smart Cloud Campus Solution for enterprise customers.
This solution includes the services of AI-Enabled WIFI-6 Campus, Software Defined LAN and Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) as a service. The infrastructure of these services employs PTCL’s industry-proven connectivity, capacity and Data Center infrastructure with Huawei’s next-generation autonomous driving network management and control system Cloud platform for enterprise networks.
This is a first-of-its-kind intelligent network automation Cloud platform that integrates management, control and analysis functions, along with providing complete life cycle automation of enterprise networks that implements intelligent fault closure through big data analytics.
Speaking on the occasion, Zarrar Hasham Khan, Chief Business Services Officer, PTCL, said, “PTCL Business Solutions is catering to the ever-growing business needs of our enterprise customers. As software-defined networks are key enabler for providing robust, scalable and secure architecture, it will surely help our enterprise customers to build more agile and reliable networks. Being a significant milestone, PTCL brings technological innovation to accelerate enterprises achieve digital transformation.”
On the occasion, Gaoweijie, Managing Director, Huawei Technologies Pakistan Pvt Ltd, said, “We are glad to collaborate with PTCL, national carrier of Pakistan that has strong corporate presence in the country. With this solution, enterprises will be empowered to run critical applications with complete security and ensure data privacy. Not only that, enhanced performance would be delivered with higher capacity bandwidth, network visibility, and a seamless on-ramp to the cloud with significant application performance.”
Smart Cloud Campus Solution has innovative features that help enterprises reduce OPEX and O&M costs to achieve automation with a more intelligent network operations management.
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COURTESY whenwherehow
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ISLAMABAD, FEB 16: The Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will undertake a three-day visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt from February 16-18 2021 on the invitation of his Egyptian Counterpart Sameh Hassan Shoukry.
His visit is taking place in the backdrop of the meetings between Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi; first on the sidelines of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Makkah Summit in 2019, and then on the sidelines of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2019.
During these meetings, the two leaders agreed to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation and enhance high-level exchanges. Last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan also had a telephone conversation with the Egyptian President regarding his ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’ for developing countries, which was supported by Egypt.
Pakistan and Egypt enjoy close fraternal relations firmly anchored on common faith, culture, and values.
The two Countries have similar perceptions on a range of regional and global issues. Their bilateral cooperation is advanced through strong institutional mechanisms including the Joint Ministerial Commission, Annual Bilateral Consultations, and Joint Business Council.
More than 40 agreements signed between the two sides in diverse fields provide a firm basis for enhanced cooperation.
Pakistan and Egypt also work closely in the multilateral arena, in particular the United Nations, OIC, and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
During the visit, the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will hold detailed consultations with his Egyptian Counterpart and call on other dignitaries. He will also interact with leading Egyptian businessmen and members of the Pakistani Community.
His visit is expected to further strengthen and diversify Pakistan’s bilateral ties with brotherly Egypt.
Egypt is an important Country in the Middle East and Africa. It plays a key role in the Middle East while its deep linkages with the African Continent make it a gateway to Africa.
In line with Pakistan’s desire to forge stronger ties with the Islamic world, as well as the government’s ‘Engage Africa” initiative, Pakistan accords high importance to its partnership with Egypt.
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COURTESY dndnews
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Munaza Kazmi
Swat a valley as green as the emeralds
that lie beneath the mountains. Cold and clear streams and rivers flowing from
the snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Kush. A brilliant blue sky - it's hard to
describe the Swat valley without getting carried away.It feels like one of the
most beautiful and enchanted places on earth.
Many know Swat Valley for its
tranquility and natural beauty. But the valley houses several archaeological and
heritage sites, thatmarked it as a desired destination among the tourist.
Swat Serena Hotel, a magnificent heritage hotel, managed and operated by
Tourism Promotion Services Pakistan (Owner and Operator of Serena Hotels), lies
in the footstep of the Hindukush Mountains in an absolutely secure location in
the capital city of Saidu Sharif, within walking distance of the colorfulbustling
marketsselling brightly embroidered shawls, folk jewelry and locally produced
honeyand ancient Buddhist sites of Mingora.Moreover, it’s easily accessible from
Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and other major cities due to the recently
constructed Motorway.
The beautiful historic building, surrounded by the lush green neatly
tended gardens, with centuries old tress telling the tales of history, the
calming voice of water from the ever-flowing fountains, the welcoming serene
blue pool, the classySuvastu restaurant offering a variety of food, the
immaculate modern rooms decorated with hint of Swati tradition, and on top the
most hospitable staff reflects the true Pakistani culture.
The Hoteltoday is a heritage property, every stone of it tells
fascinating tales of the rich past. The Hotel was in-fact a Prime Minister
House, till today named as Wazir House, constructed in1935 by then king Badshah
ShahibMiangul Abdul Wadud, the Wali of Swat and a descendant of the Akhund of
Swat, for his Prime Minister. After Badshah Shahib death, his descendant
MiangulJahanzebtook charge and in 1949 removed the Prime Minister from the
Wazir House. Later in 1969, when the princely state of Swat merged with
Pakistan, Jahazeb handed over the Wazir House to the government of Pakistan,
that transformed it in to the guest house. From the year 1969-1984 onwards, it
was with PIA as a guest house.
Reasoning the poor maintenance and care, the House was losing its splendor.
Fortunately, in 1984 government of Pakistan leased it to Tourism Promotion Services
Pakistan (Owner and Operator of Serena Hotels) for a better change. Serena
Hotels that come under the umbrella of Tourism Promotion Services, renovated
the hotel and Wazir House with much diligence and converted into a luxury
setting, the project was completed with the assistance of Aga Khan Trust and
Culture, which resulted in adding up of another luxury hotel of Pakistan and
promoting the element of tourism.
Today the Wazir House regained its glory and known worldwide as Swat
Serena Hotel-chain of Serena Hotels. Serena Hotels known fortheir luxury hotels,
resorts, palaces, and fortswith its remarkable hospitality, enjoy history of
promoting tourism, culture and empowering the communities. Many stories can be
related mainly, in the times of unrest in Swat and recent pandemic of COVID-19,
despite the empty rooms all of the uniformed staff have been kept on by the management
of Serena Hotels.
However, recently the government of Pakistan had shown some ambiguity
regarding the managing termsand leasing agreement of Swat property with Serena Hotels.
During my stay at Swat Serena Hotel, which would become a memory of lifetime
reasoning the luxury, comfort and unending hospitality, I have seen the hint of
concern in the eyes of staff about their association of three decades of
services with Serena, where they feel as family. Moreover, they felt the fear
of losing the bread and butter of their family.
Contemporary government of all favorite Prime MinisterImran Khan, that seems keen to promote the tourism industry, must see this matter personally, since not only Pakistan would end up in losing one of its luxury hotels,but also the professional institution who maintained wellbeing of community, product and services. Moreover, it would be a question mark to the tourism industry, that is forecasted as to become blood circulation of the Pakistaneconomy.
On
recent visit to Hassanabdal while speaking at the inauguration of renovated Railway
Station on 6th November 2020, Pakistan’s
Prime Minister Imran Khan quoted, we have to consider Tourism as a backbone
of Pakistan economy and livelihood “If
we improve tourism, there would be no need for taking debt from IMF or any
other country. The opportunities are there we just need to take the first step
to cash that”.
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Monday, 15 February 2021
More than 26 million U.S. dollars were allocated to maintain Turkmenistan’s embassies and consulates abroad in 2020. These figures are given in documents from Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs which are in turkmen.news’ possession.
ASHGABAT, FEB 15: Of this sum, $18,408,286 were allocated to the upkeep of diplomatic missions in the CIS countries, Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran, India, Pakistan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and the USA. Embassies in Europe were allocated 5,100,686 euros ($6.1 million), and 1,267,856 pound sterling ($1.7 million) went to the embassy in London. We give a more detailed breakdown by country below.
Most expensive was the embassy in Moscow, which received
almost $1,768,464 in 2020. The consulates in the Russian cities of Kazan and
Astrakhan received $399,640 and $267,056 respectively.
Turkmenistan’s permanent mission to the UN in New York
received $1,372,208. The permanent mission to the UN in Geneva received 931,874
euros ($1.1 million).
Over $1.1 million were allocated to the General Consulate in
Dubai and the embassy in Tokyo respectively. Turkmenistan’s embassy in the USA
received more than $1 million, as did the embassy in Germany more or less —
886,024 euros. Slightly less was spent on maintaining the embassies in Belgium
(768,200 euros) and France (629,500 euros).
According to documents of Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs which are in the possession of turkmen.news
One of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s sons-in-law is
the current consul general in Dubai, and another son-in-law is counselor at the
embassy in London. The counselor in London, Dovlet Atabayev, and his wife,
embassy first secretary Oguljahan Atabayeva, were caught on camera in autumn
2019 breaking traffic regulations in the British capital. The consul general in
Dubai, Ykhlasgeldy Amanov, is married to the president’s youngest daughter –
Guljahan.
Diplomats in Turkey, which is the most popular destination
for Turkmen labor migrants, manage with more modest funds. A total of $637,248
was allocated to the embassy in Ankara in 2020 and almost $531,000 to the
consulate in Istanbul.
The lowest sum of all went to the general consulate in the Iranian city of Mashad ($238,000) and the embassy in Bishkek (almost $279,000). Two consulates in Afghanistan (in Herat and Mazar-i Sharif) received $226,000 and $212,000 respectively. The consulate in the Kazakh city of Aktau can also be included in the “poor” list as it received $265,000. But the Turkmen embassy in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan received a larger sum — almost $499,000.
According to documents of Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs which are in the possession of turkmen.news
The documents also reveal that $2.5 million was allocated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cover fees to international organizations and expenditure on relations with the foreign media. In 2020, $15,800 was spent on cooperation with the Russia Today TV channel, $11,700 on the Russian Interfax agency, $5,000 on ITAR-TASS, and $4,800 on both the Factiva analytical agency (which gathers news from 157 countries in 23 languages) and Azerbaijani agency Trend.
It’s worth mentioning that Turkmenistan’s citizens frequently complain about the unsatisfactory work of diplomats. Embassies and consulates do not replace citizens’ expired passports, which turns them into undocumented migrants (they have good reason to think that if they return to Turkmenistan to renew their passports they will not be allowed to leave the country again). The evacuation of citizens stranded abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic is badly organized. There are very few evacuation flights, and money is sometimes extorted from travelers for a seat. Turkmen citizens who get into difficulties abroad cannot usually rely on help from diplomats. Moreover, embassy staff work with the special services, helping them to follow and persecute migrants who criticize the ruling regime.
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- PMO takes action against officers for failing to respond to Citizen’s Portal complaints
- PMDU report says 263 officers given warning letters, seven show-cause notices, 833 asked to be careful
ISLAMABAD, FEB 15: Bureaucrats in Punjab have once again come under fire for ignoring public complaints or delaying action on them, with many senior officials receiving show-cause notices from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
According to the PMO, show-cause notices and warning letters were issued to derelict officers for their lacklustre response or inaction towards public complaints registered on the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal.
Punjab information, agriculture, excise and irrigation secretaries have been asked to improve their performance, said an official press release issued on Sunday. Action was initiated after Prime Minister Imran Khan, during a cabinet meeting, took notice of the government officers’ inefficiency that some federal ministers had also pointed out, it added.
Punjab Chief Secretary Jawwad Rafiq meanwhile completed scrutiny of 1,586 officers’ dashboards and a PM’s Delivery Unit (PMDU) report was submitted to the prime minister.
According to the report, 263 officers were issued warning letters, seven were given show-cause notices and 833 officers were directed to be careful in future, while explanations were sought from 111 officers.
Performance of 403 officers was also appreciated in the report.
Letters have been written to 20 deputy commissioners, including those in Lahore, Gujrat and Sheikhupura, while show-cause notices were served on 43 assistant commissioners, including those of Raiwind, Jhang, Burewala, Sadiqabad, Nankana Sahib and Pindigheb.
Directing the officers to improve their performance, the PM Office said the purpose of issuing warning letters was to caution them. “Steps are being taken to extend facilities to the people as per the prime minister’s vision,” the PM Office said.
According to the PMDU, more than 50 briefing sessions for the nominated focal persons had been arranged both at the PM Office and at the level of the organisations. Besides, circulation of a well-drafted ‘User’s Guidelines Manual for Complaints & Suggestions Handling’ and a number of advisories have also been issued from time to time.
However, preliminary report revealed that complaints were neither handled according to the laid-down instructions in the manual nor decided at an appropriate level.
The report pointed out that quality of response to the citizens’ complaints showed that the system was left in the hands of subordinates, with majority of the decisions taken by them.
It identified that many resolved complaints were lacking letter/notification/picture, some were dropped on wrong pleas, many were decided at an unauthorised level and unnecessary time was wasted in submission of just a response to the complainant.
Absence of any cogent reason for no relief, assertion of relief or partial relief in contrast to actual situation and no reopening of complaints with negative feedback was also highlighted in the report.
The PMDU had asked the chief secretaries and inspectors general of police to initially conduct performance evaluation of the targeted officers’ dashboards through constitution of a dedicated committee under the chairmanship of an officer not below BPS-20. The committee had been asked to conduct performance evaluation of the assigned officers’ dashboard, identify loopholes and officers responsible for poor as well as best performance.
The unit has been directed to consider complaints as an instrument to bring improvement in any system. “It helps in identification of under-performing areas of service delivery that can be otherwise addressed timely. Complaints can also be useful in supervision and performance accountability of the concerned officers/officials,” said a document issued by the PMO.
It said Pakistan Citizen’s Portal had completed its one year and during this period, every effort had been made to improve the capacity of the ministries/divisions, provincial departments and organisations to properly handle complaints.
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COURTESY DAWN NEWS
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BUCHAREST, FEB 15: The Romanian Police's Dog Center in Sibiu, in central Romania, is training dogs to detect people infected with the SARS-Cov-2 virus, interior minister Lucian Bode announced. According to him, the project started last year, and the dogs will mainly be used by the border and transport police units.
"It is an ongoing process, and I am convinced that we will soon present concrete results of our colleagues' work in this center," minister Bode said.
In the 70 years of the institution's existence, remarkable results have been obtained in the fight against drugs, in counterterrorism intervention, forensic investigation, restricting illegal migration, rescuing victims, and carrying out public order actions.
And soon, the dogs trained here will also contribute to the fight against the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, the minister also said.
Interior minister Bode and defense minister Nicolae Ciuca visited the Romanian Police's Dog Center in Sibiu on Thursday, February 11.
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COURTESY romania-insider.com
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