FARUKH SHEHZAD

ISLAMABAD, MAY 29: CEO Asif Peer has announced a new initiative of Systems Limited where the company will collaborate with The Citizens Foundation (TCF) to provide underprivileged students a chance to attain formal education.

As part of the company’s CSR drive, the initiative is geared towards promoting meaningful educational programs that bring about an empowering social impact for the community.

The first-of-its-kind initiative will see Pakistan’s premier technology organization join hands with one of the largest privately owned networks of low-cost formal schools in Pakistan.

It all started with the exchange of Eid greeting letters between the management of Systems Limited and TCF students.

While the letters exchanged warm, positive messages of staying hopeful during these testing times, one of them revealed a student’s wish to have a secondary school in his hometown of Burewala, Punjab, so that he could pursue his studies further.

This wholesome exchange was picked up by the social media influencers like Dua Amjad, Tasmiah Khan, Hibbah Waqar, Haddiya Azer and Kompal Iqbal, and ultimately resulted in Systems Limited’s management deciding to help these young children fulfill their dreams. 

“I’m committing to you all that we’ll be building a school in Burewala with TCF, who have done wonders in educating masses of needy kids.

We would like to participate in their initiative and this won’t be the only school. We’ll continue doing this because this is our future and as a responsible organization, we will continue to do such CSR activities,” said Asif Peer in a heartfelt video response to Dua Amjad, who is famous on social media for her strong association with the education sector.

Literacy plays a huge role in the development and progress of any country. It strengthens the youth with knowledge, which fuels a culture of innovation and growth.

At just 58%, Pakistan’s literacy rate is low as compared to the neighboring countries China (80%), India (74%), and Iran (85%).

This considerably limits opportunities towards acquiring skills and technical knowledge to achieve higher productivity and financial growth.

Over 60% of Pakistan’s total population resides in rural areas which don’t have proper access to formal education.

Such initiatives are instrumental in promoting education and increasing the country’s overall literacy rate which will result in better employment opportunities and economic growth.

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ISLAMABAD, MAY 29: Experts on Friday approved a single national curriculum for Class VI to VIII which would be introduced from next year.

The curriculum was adopted at the end of a five-day national conference on the single curriculum held at Allama Iqbal Open University.

The single national curriculum for Class I to V will be introduced from the upcoming academic session starting from August this year.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the conference online, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood congratulated the educational units of provincial governments, stakeholders and the National Curriculum Council.

He said according to the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the unanimous approval of the single national curriculum of eight subjects for grades VI to VIII was a step towards national unity.

“All federating units, scholars of all schools of thought, representatives of madressahs and experts from all over the country deserve congratulations,” he said.

The minister said the government was aware of its responsibilities towards national aspirations and international commitments to improve education in Pakistan.

“The single national curriculum will end the class system and all citizens will get equal opportunities to move forward,” he said.

Joint Educational Adviser and National Curriculum Council Chairman Mohammad Rafiq Tahir said the curriculum was a new chapter in the history of Pakistan.

He said ‘one nation: one curriculum’ was a dream that was becoming a reality. He said after the success of the first phase of the single national curriculum for grade 1 to 5, in the second phase the credit for the unanimous approval of eight subjects under the single national curriculum for grade 6 to 8 goes to the federal education. Later, speaking to Dawn, Mr Tahir said around 175 experts took part in the five-day conference.

“Now, the federal government and provinces will go for book publishing followed by teacher training,” he said. From the academic year 2022-23, the SNC based curriculum will be introduced across the country from class six to eight.

He said from upcoming academic session to be started in August, across the country, the SNC will be introduced from Class one to five, adding currently books publishing and teacher training process was in progress in provinces and at the federal level.

Addressing the ceremony, AIOU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Ziaul Qayyum said the Ministry of Education, especially the prime minister, deserved congratulations for their serious efforts to introduce the curriculum. He stressed the importance of training teachers who will teach the new curriculum.

Education Secretary South Punjab Dr Ehtesham Anwar and Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Managing Director Dr Farooq Manzoor also spoke on the occasion.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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Two flights carrying 202 passengers reached Abu Dhabi Thursday

LAHORE, MAY 28: Quetta Gladiator captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is among 25 players and staff members of the Pakistan Super League who are yet to receive the United Arab Emirates visas, local media reported Thursday.

Two flights carrying 202 passengers – 145 from Lahore and 57 from Karachi – left for Abu Dhabi on Thursday at 5:00pm after a delay of four hours.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, on the other hand, is confident of receiving visas for the remaining players and staffer soon. Another chartered flight to transport the remaining players and officials to Abu Dhabi will be arranged, the PCB said in a statement.

Mohammad Hasnain, Imran Khan, Asif Afridi, Umar Amin, Muhammad Musa, Zaid Alam, Zeeshan Ashraf, Abrar Ahmed, Imran Randhawa, Mohammad Haris, and Aamir Khan are among the players who have been denied a visa.

The board had also faced issues with the chartered flights from South Africa and India — carrying cricketers and production team members — who were not allowed to land in the UAE. Later, they were granted permission after negotiations with the Abu Dhabi authorities.

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COURTESY SAMAA

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ISLAMABAD, MAY 28: The Supreme Court registrar’s office, while returning the government’s “curative review petition” in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case on Wednesday, ruled that the federation had misconceived the Supreme Court Rules of 1980 when it moved a set of five petitions.

In its order, the institutional branch of the Supreme Court explained that the “curative review petition” was an application which provides information to initiate “suo motu” proceedings under Articles 184(3), 187, 188 and 189 of the Constitution, read with Orders 26 and 33 of the Supreme Court rules.

The president, the prime minister, the law minister, PM’s adviser Shahzad Akbar and the Federal Board of Revenue are among the petitioners.

The objection by the court’s office explained that the present case amounted to a second review petition. It was thus not entertainable under Order 36, Rule 9 of the Supreme Court rules, which states that after the final disposal of the first application for review, no subsequent application for review will lie to the court and consequently will not be entertained by the registry.

Meanwhile, the vice chairman of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Khushdil Khan, and the chairman of PBC’s executive committee, Muhammad Faheem Wali, have cautioned the government against filing another review petitions against the April 26 judgement in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case. “The legal fraternity will not hesitate to launch a countrywide agitation to oppose the government’s attempt tooth and nail.”

Khushdil Khan and Faheem Wali condemned the government’s decision to file the curative review petition, saying the objections raised by the registrar’s office were valid.

In a statement, the Pakistan Bar Council alleged that the role, conduct and activities of the president, the prime minister and the federal law minister were aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary and the democratic process.

The Pakistan Bar Council said it would not allow the government to succeed in its “nefarious design to target the independent judiciary”.

The registrar’s office had stated in its objection that “suo motu case” had been mentioned on the title page of the petitions, but in the subject column it was referred to as the “curative review petition”.

The government, while filing a set of five petitions, had moved a separate application seeking two weeks for filing of paper books, but after an initial scrutiny, the registrar found the petitions to be suffering from a number of deficiencies.

Moreover, the power of attorney of the petitioners, namely the president and others in favour of the advocate on record, were not properly executed, the registrar observed. “Scandalous language was used on five occasions in various pages of the petitions.”

The petitioner failed to issue proper notices to the respondents, including Justice Isa, while filing the petitions and hence the request for more time cannot be granted and the case was being returned in its original form, the registrar’s office stated.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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ISLAMABAD, MAY 27: Easypaisa, Pakistan’s leading digital payments platform, has once again been at the forefront of empowering a shift towards digital payments. The platform facilitated 97,000 transactions amounting to PKR 23 million during the month of Ramadan.

In Ramadan every year, philanthropic efforts reach an all-time high. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic and various restrictions in place, this year it was difficult for people to make their donations in a safe manner.

Easypaisa’s donations feature, with an option to donate to various charitable causes solved this problem. The donations tab was also brought to the main page of the Easypaisa App to make it more accessible for users.

A total of 30,000 unique subscribers sent donations to a wide variety of organizations working on numerous social causes across the country.

Edhi Foundation, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Saylani Welfare, Shahid Afridi Foundation, AlKhidmat and Akhuwat were amongst the ones which received major chunks of the donations.

Easypaisa users donate PKR 23 million during Ramadan

Pakistanis are amongst the most philanthropic nations in the world and Easypaisa’s donations feature is an effort to ensure that daily routines of users are not affected in any way, despite difficult circumstances.

Easypaisa has been continually evolving as a platform over the past few years, adding a diverse range of unique use cases to its portfolio in order to transform Pakistan into a cashless and financially inclusive society.

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Ali Alizada says during the years of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, the Senate and National Assembly of Pakistan adopted several resolutions, Foreign Office and Armed Forces of Pakistan issued many statements condemning the illegal actions and war crimes of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

ISLAMABAD, MAY 27: This year Azerbaijan celebrates the 103rd anniversary of the establishment of Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (ADR), the first democratic republic in the Muslim world, with double and special significance, after the liberation of the internationally recognized territories from almost 30 years of illegal Armenian occupation.

The ADR left an indelible mark and entered forever into the history of the Azerbaijani nation with its rich state building experience and prepared a good basis for the future independence of Azerbaijan.

Relying solely on the support of the Azerbaijani people, H. Aliyev put an end to all negativity in the country, disbanded all illegal armed groups, established safety and order, and began building the state institutions and a regular army of Azerbaijan.

All these years Azerbaijani nation lived with one dream, to liberate the illegaly occupied territories of Azerbaijan and restore peace and justice in the region, which Azerbaijan has sought almost 30 years through all platforms.

If the creation of ADR, on May 28, 1918 was a historic event for the Azerbaijani nation, the restoration of the territorial integrity of modern independent Azerbaijan in 2020 became another glorious historic victory and achievement for Azerbaijan and its nation.

For all 30 years of the conflict, Azerbaijan has suffered a lot from Armenian aggression and Azerbaijan has been delivering the truth about this issue at all international events and forums.

More than 30 thousands of Azerbaijanis have been martyred, all cities, residential buildings, schools, hospitals, public buildings, historical sites and mosques in occupied territories of Azerbaijan have been destroyed.

Armenia insulted the entire Muslim world, kept cows and pigs in our mosques, destroyed all cultural monuments and even plowed up all graves. Despite that all leading international organizations recognized and supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories, Armenia has always showed an unconstructive approach to the resolution of the conflict and at the end the provocative steps, statements and aggressive actions of Armenia have put an end to all negotiations and made war inevitable.

Under the resolute command of the Supreme Commander-in-chief, Azerbaijan has fulfilled its historic mission and defeated Armenia due to the professionalism and heroism of victorious Azerbaijan Army, and of course due to high national spirit and strength.

Glory to, thanks to the dedication of our martyrs, Azerbaijan has again secured its territorial integrity. May grant all our martyrs the highest rank in Jannah!

We have achieved our goal. The 44-day Patriotic war has demonstrated Azerbaijan’s power, resolve and unity. It showed that the Azerbaijani people will never put up with injustice.

We must also mention that Azerbaijan has liberated its lands through development, because development is also the backbone of our victory, and today, Azerbaijan is one of the rapidly developing countries of the world, and under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev continues its dynamic progress and economic growth.

And soon the liberated territories of Azerbaijan will also become one of the developed regions of Azerbaijan and a real paradise.

We are thankful to our brotherly country Pakistan and its nation which constantly stood shoulder to shoulder with Azerbaijan and supported its right of self-defence during Patriotic War of Azerbaijan.

Pakistan even didn’t recognize Armenia due to occupation of Azerbaijani lands and always put its principal position in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

During the years of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, the Senate and National Assembly of Pakistan adopted several resolutions, Foreign Office and Armed Forces of Pakistan issued many statements condemning the illegal actions and war crimes of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

This is a true demonstration of brotherhood. Azerbaijan has also always stood and supported Pakistan in all matters, including the Kashmir issue which also waits implementation of UN SC resolutions for several decades. I am sure our brotherhood and mutual support to each other will be continued and strengthened in the years ahead as well.

Pakistan and Azerbaijan have time tested relations which based on strategic partnership, confidence, mutual respect and trust.

In the last one year Covid-19 pandemic has caused the worldwide slowdown, but even in pandemic time Azerbaijan-Pakistan relations, the political, military, defence, economy, security and energy ties have continued to grow in an upward trajectory.

The leadership of two countries had a regular constructive meetings and telephone conversations where they hailed the importance of further strengthening the efforts to boost cooperation between our countries. Despite the restrictions caused by the pandemic we were able to hold bilateral political consultations, the meeting of Joint Working Group on Trade, online business forum, B2B meetings and as well as the trilateral meeting of FMs of Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey.

During the last year, we were also able to conduct several high level visits of government and military officials, including an official bilateral visit of FM of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, the bilateral official visits of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan and the Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan to Azerbaijan, etc.

Soon an official visit of Speaker of Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan to Pakistan will be conducted, the meeting of the Joint Working Group on Agriculture, the meeting of Intergovernmental Joint Commission will be arranged, the visits of Chief of Naval Staff of Azerbaijan to Pakistan and the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan to Azerbaijan, as well as Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey joint military exercise will be held during this year.

The efforts for strengthening people to people contacts, cultural, media, science, education ties have also increased and the humanitarian-social projects of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan were also continued in Pakistan during this pandemic time.

The establishment of direct flights remains also one of our main aims and the agreement have already reached to start operations of direct flights as soon as Covid -19 situation will be settled down.

All these developments show the commitment of our fraternal nations and Governments to further deepen and strengthen our relations.

I thank the Government, Army and people of brotherly Pakistan for continued cooperation, support and commitment to further deepen our relations. Taking this opportunity, I congratulate Azerbaijani community in Pakistan and all my countrymen on the occasion of National Day, “May 28- Republic Day of Azerbaijan”.

Pakistan-Azerbaijan Dosti Zindabad!

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ISLAMABAD, MAY 26: Mthuthuzeli Madikiza, High Commissioner, South Africa called on Minister for Defence, Pervez Khattak here in his office in Islamabad.

The Minister for Defence said that Pakistan highly values its relations with South Africa and hopes to see them flourish in the times to come.

The Defence Minister expressed his resolve to give fresh impetus to bilateral defence cooperation through high-level exchange visits and the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee forum.

He said that Pakistan and South Africa have enjoyed warm and cordial relations ever since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1994.

The visiting dignitary assured his government's commitment and pledged to work with Pakistan to strengthen their bilateral ties.

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ISLAMABAD, MAY 26: On 25th May 2021 the XVI Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum was held. The forum was conducted virtually and representatives of the SCO Member states participated.

The Sixteenth session of the SCO forum was hosted by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad being an active member of the SCO Think Tank forum participated in the forum.

From Pakistan, representatives of Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) also participated.

The session was commenced with the opening remarks of Amb. Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Director General, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

He extended his gratitude CGSS and SASSI and highlighted that in the contemporary era of globalization, there is a need of regional cooperation to produce sustainable outcomes.

He was of the view that SCO provides its member states with a platform to work and cooperate together on various platforms and sectors.

Ms. Aisha Farooqui, National Coordinator SCO, Islamic Republic of Pakistan mentioned that SCO is successfully operating in the region and more states are applying for its observer status.

She highlighted the contribution of SCO towards the security and economic development of the region, especially during the pandemic.

She stated that collective efforts are required to deal with the rising challenges and Pakistan will continue to play its regional role to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Vladimir Norov, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in his remarks appreciated Pakistan’s role in SCO.

He further indicated that SCO states stands firmly against the regional challenges. He mentioned that the recommendations of the forum will contribute the official documents presented to SCO for its future initiatives.

Maj. Gen. Khalid Amir Jaffery, (Retd), President, Centre for Global & Strategic Studies, Pakistan chaired the second session on “SCO and the Geopolitics of Eurasia: Prospects of Security Cooperation between SCO Members”. The session included speakers from Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and India.

Maj. Gen. Khalid Amir Jaffery, (Retd), President, Centre for Global & Strategic Studies, Pakistan also addressed the forum in the second session and shared his views on the topic.

He stated that SCO represents hybrid model of regional organization as it cooperates in the field of agriculture, information and technology, health, environment, climate, economy and security.

He mentioned that the COVID 19 situation has negatively impacted the economic development of many SCO states.

Furthermore, in order to ensure smooth economic cooperation, trade should be carried out with transparence and without any discrimination.

He emphasized that economic plans cannot be implemented smoothly until the security is ensured in the region.

He viewed stability in Afghanistan to be of utmost importance, especially with regards to the illegal trade and cultivation of poppy after the US withdrawal.

He mentioned that SCO holds unique position to help in the development; it sets an example of how intrastate relations can be maintained and improved between the states.

Dr. Maria Sultan, President, South Asian Strategic Stability Institute, Pakistan also addressed the forum.

The forum invited representatives of all the member SCO states including China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, India, and Tajikistan.

The forum had discussions about boosting Socio-Economic Cooperation among SCO Member states and SCO and the Geopolitics of Eurasia: Prospects of Security Cooperation between SCO Members.

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WASHINGTON, MAY 26: The United States Department of Defence has said that it is discussing various options with Pakistan and other states in the region, including the potential for having bases there, but the talks remain inconclusive.

At a recent congressional hearing, US Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Affairs David F. Helvey told the Senate Armed Services Committee that “Pakistan has allowed us to have overflight and access to be able to support our military presence in Afghanistan”.

Following that, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudri later told journalists in Islamabad that “there is no US military or air base in Pakistan, nor was any such proposal envisaged. Any speculation on this account is baseless and irresponsible and should be avoided.”

On Monday, which was the first working day since Friday’s Senate hearing where Helvey claimed having overflight access to Afghanistan, the issue resurfaced at an afternoon news briefing at the Pentagon.

“Is there anything that the US is looking for right now from Pakistan in terms of what happens after the withdrawal (from Afghanistan) is complete? Is there any update on other possible basing agreements in the region for counter-terrorism operations once the Afghan withdrawal is done?” a journalist asked.

“I don't have any specific updates in terms of the potential for overseas bases there, after our withdrawal. These are obviously diplomatic discussions that are ongoing and are clearly not complete,” Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby responded.

“We're exploring a range of options and opportunities to be able to provide a credible and viable over-the-horizon counter-terrorism capability, and there's lots of ways you can do that. Overseas basing is just one of them. So, nothing to report on that front.”

Kirby indicated that the US was also consulting other countries in the region for having access to Afghanistan. “And I certainly wouldn't speak to, in any greater detail, with respect to any one country,” he said.

Earlier, in his opening statement Kirby said that US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin called Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday “to discuss shared regional interests and objectives”.

During the call, “the secretary reiterated his appreciation for Pakistan's support for the Afghanistan peace negotiations and expressed his desire to continue to build on the US-Pakistan bilateral relationship,” he added.

Responding to another question, Kirby said the US secretary's discussion with Gen Bajwa was “very useful and dealt with a range of bilateral opportunities that our two countries have going forward”.

When a journalist asked if Austin discussed “a possible basing agreement” with Pakistan in his call to Gen Bajwa, Kirby said: “I'll just leave it to the readout and the degree of specificity in the readout.”

Another journalist pointed out that Pakistan’s foreign ministry had ruled out the possibility of providing any base to the US military. The Pentagon officials, however, said he would not comment on inconclusive talks.

Another journalist reminded Kirby that the Trump administration had stopped security aid to Pakistan because of its alleged non-cooperation in the fight against terrorism. “Is this new administration reviewing that policy — where do you stand on that?” the journalist asked.

“At this time, US security assistance to Pakistan is still suspended, and I won't get into speculating one way or another about if or whether that will change going forward,” the Pentagon official said.

“At least, can you say that there is a discussion about the security assistance to Pakistan to be resumed or it is on the table or not?” asked another journalist.

“I won't go beyond what I said in the question previous,” Kirby responded.

The US has increased its consultations with Pakistan after President Joe Biden announced his plan to pull out all 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan by Sept 11.

The US and Pakistan also resumed high-level security talks on Sunday when US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met his Pakistani counterpart Moeed Yusuf in Geneva. A joint statement issued after the talks said, “both sides discussed a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest and discussed ways to advance practical cooperation”.

Since 2011, when relations between the two countries began to strain, the US and Pakistan have had several summit level meetings, but Washington avoided high level engagement with Pakistani security officials.

Relations started to improve after 2018, when Washington launched a new push for peace in Doha, holding direct talks with the Taliban. Pakistan supported the talks and played a key role in persuading Taliban leaders to participate in the Afghan peace process. Washington publicly acknowledged Islamabad’s “positive role” in these talks.

The meeting between the two national security advisors followed back-to-back congressional hearings in Washington on the planned US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The discussions focused on how to maintain peace and stability in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal.

At the Senate Armed Services hearing, Helvey told the lawmakers that the US will continue its conversation with Pakistan “because their support and contribution to the future of Afghanistan, to future peace in Afghanistan, is going to be critical”.

At another hearing, US chief negotiator for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said he believed Pakistan’s civilian and military leaderships recognised the economic benefit of having peace in Afghanistan and Washington was working on a plan to create “the potential (economic) connectivity”.

Last week in New York, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also held a series of virtual meetings with US lawmakers, telling them that Pakistan was seeking a broad-based, strategic partnership with America, which would also cover Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, Gen Bajwa visited Kabul where he offered support for the Afghan peace process in a meeting with President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.

While reporting the visit, the US media noted that Pakistan “remains a key player in efforts to resolve the conflict between the Taliban and the Kabul government”.

The reports noted that in the past Washington accused Islamabad of harbouring militants, but in recent statements “Washington and other Western powers have acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts to push the militant group to take part in peace talks”.

At one of the congressional hearings, Ambassador Khalilzad described Gen Bajwa’s visit to Kabul as “positive,” adding that both sides had “discussed some steps” for bringing peace to Afghanistan and for improving relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

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ISLAMABAD, MAY 26: “Pakistan is in dire need of a national political dialogue to mitigate the key issues plaguing the country’s education system in the aftermath of the pandemic.” 

These views were expressed by senior journalist ZarrarKhuhrowhile moderating a national dialogue aimed at generating discourse around Pakistan’s education priorities.

The virtual dialogue was organized by Education Champions Network (ECN), a platform of 12 civil society organizations advocating for 12 years of free, equitable, quality education for every girl in Pakistan.

Senior political representatives from across the country who participated in this event included Senator Mr. Mushahid Hussain and MPAs Madiha Nisar and Zeenat Bibi from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Shamim Aftab from Punjab and Rabia Azfar from Sindh.

Public Financial Management expert, Mr. Asim Bashir Khan while speaking at the forum pointed at the urgent need for an increase in the country’s education budgets. “An estimated investment of Rs. 12 trillion is needed over the next 10 years to ensure every out-of-school child in Pakistan is finally in schools. 

At the current rate of investment, it will take Pakistan 45 years to merely overcome the backlog of the 22.8 million children who were out of school prior to the pandemic.”

Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed felt that a lack of political will rather than resources was primarily responsible for the persistently low priority accorded to education.

“The feudal mindset that continues to dominate the political landscape in Pakistan needs immediate redressal if we are serious about honouring the constitutional promise of providing free and quality education to every Pakistani child.” 

He pledged to raise the issue of the country’s lukewarm funding to the education sector in the Senate.

Despite the pandemic and the fairly recent merger of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with erstwhile FATA, KP was able to increase its education development budget by 43% during the fiscal year 2020-21. 

At the same time Punjab and Balochistan introduced cuts worth 19% and 27% respectively. 

In the same vein, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also been allocating 70% of its education development expenditure to improve girls’ access to education for the last two consecutive years while other provinces are yet to follow suit.

Highlighting the province’s exceptional performance, Chairperson of the Provincial Standing Committee for higher Education, Madiha Nisar shared, “We have been closely following reports by the international donors according to which close to 1 million children have already dropped-out of schools during the pandemic and an estimated 700,000 are further feared to drop-out. 

We, in Khyber Pakhtunhwaare very mindful of this alarming situation and are hopeful to introduce a healthy increase in the province’s education development budget to mitigate this impending crisis.”

During the past decade Sindh has been successful in allocating a significant chunk of its annual budget for education; its education portfolio standing second only to Punjab. 

However, despite this huge investment, Sindh’s performance vis-à-vis enrolment and retention rates, teacher training, construction and upgradation of schools and addressing the issue of missing facilities has remained among the bottom 3 regions of the country. 

Commenting on this dichotomy, MPA Rabia Azfar said, “To begin with a very small portion of Sindh’s overall education budget is earmarked for development initiatives; over 80% of it is consumed in salaries and other administrative expenses. 

No meaningful change in the province’s education indicators can be introduced without increasing its education development budget.”

Enhanced investment in the underfunded education sector is urgently required to make education accessible to the country’s most marginalized learners including girls and children with disabilities. 

This would include enhancing the current ambit of scholarship, stipend and/or conditional cash transfer programs for out-of-school children in addition to building new infrastructure and teachers’ training, especially at the secondary level. 

It is also needed to pilot and mainstream blended and alternate learning solutions to make Pakistan’s education system resilient against future shocks such as the ongoing pandemic.

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ISLAMABAD, MAY 25: The International Conference on Digital Futures and Transformative Technologies (ICoDT2) is an international forum for sharing knowledge and results in theory, methodology, and applications of Intelligence Systems. 

Held in collaboration with (SEECS, NUST) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recently. 

The opening remarks of the conference were given by Pro-Rector RIC NUST, Dr Rizwan Riaz.

Also in attendance;Chair IEEE Islamabad Chapter Dr. Uzair Khan, General chair of the conference was Dr. Osman Hasan (Principal SEECS) and Mr. Shahzad Rasheed, CTO Huawei Pakistan.

Speakers were invited from 6 countries to participate in the conference where 47 researchers presented their research papers during the 2-day session. 

The total number of research papers submitted was 177, 23 of which were presented by students in the Huawei Poster Competition where the winners and runner-ups were awarded prizes by company.

In the post graduate category, Muhammad Usama Sardar, Sobia Ashraf and Sadaf Iftikhar won 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Usman Siddiqui grabbed the 1st spot in the under graduate category. 

Dr. Osman Hasan, Principle SEECS during the closing ceremony, “This is the first flagship and international conference on digital future and transformative technologies. 

The conference was focused on intelligent systems and have brought together industry-academia to have the open discussion about the industrial needs and how academia can play its role.”

Mr. Shahzad Rasheed, CTO, Huawei Pakistan who was invited as a chief guest, “NUST is contributing a lot in terms of enabling the future of this country with digital transformative skills. These technologies are the future and Huawei is trying to make sure that we transform this world to a much safer place and make life easier for people.

9 invited talks and 6 workshops were also arranged where over 800 participants attended the conference online, despite the hurdle of COVID-19.

The conference covered significant contributions to all major fields of Intelligence Systems in theoretical and practical aspects. The aim was to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners from both academia as well as industry to meet and share cutting-edge developments in the field.

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