Monthly Archives: January 2023

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has said PTI leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain was arrested on hurling threats at the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday evening, she said ECP Secretary Omar Hameed has lodged an First Information Report with the Islamabad Police against the PTI leader for threating ECP members and their families.

She said it is not a political arrest and Fawad Chaudhry was detained on the complaint of a constitutional body.

The Information Minister made it clear that the government does not believe in political vendetta.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said the people, the media, and the state institutions should draw a line between vendetta and criminal offences.

Answering a question, the Minister ruled out any deadlock in country’s political system.

She said the government is determined to steer the country out of economic crises.

She said it is agenda of the coalition government to put the country back on the path of development and progress.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Pakistan and Uzbekistan have resolved to further promote their cooperation in trade, energy and connectivity.

This resolution came at a meeting between Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his Uzbek counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov in Tashkent on the sidelines of the 26th meeting of ECO Council of Ministers.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari thanked the Uzbek minister for participating at Pakistan Climate Resilient Conference in Geneva.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met his Turkish counterpart of on the sidelines of 26th ECO-COM on Tuesday.

Reaffirming the close fraternal ties between the two countries, the two Foreign Ministers resolved to further strengthen the entire spectrum of bilateral relations.

Issues of global and regional importance were also discussed.

The Foreign Minister also met his Iranian counterpart Amir Abdollahian on the sidelines of 26th ECO, on Tuesday.

The Foreign Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthen brotherly relations with Iran.

The two Foreign Ministers also discussed important global and regional developments.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and Tajikistan have agreed to work together to increase cooperation in trade and economy.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and  his Tajik counterpart Sirojiddin Muhriddin in Tashkent.

In a tweet, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed his pleasure over upward trajectory in the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and Tajikistan.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir says the government will overhaul the power transmission system to avert any future power breakdown.

He was briefing newsmen in Islamabad on Tuesday about the steps taken by the government in the aftermath of power breakdown in the country yesterday.

The Minister said we are working on a mechanism under which complete power shutdown can be avoided by insulating the main point of breakdown from the network of transmission lines spread across the country.

He said a proposal will soon be moved to set up a black start facility in the centre of the country for this purpose so that all burden is not placed on Tarbela and Mangla dams.

Khurram Dastgir said that the nuclear power plants in Karachi and Chashma would require forty eight to seventy two hours to come to the system and that process has been started.

He said the coal power plants also require forty eight hours. He said Sahiwal and Engro Thar coal units have been synchronized and soon they will start producing electricity.

The Minister said there may be a limited load shedding in the next forty eight hours but the industrial sector will be exempted from it.

Source: Radio Pakistan

The Federal Cabinet has directed to prepare a comprehensive strategy for preventing incidents of power breakdown in future.

The Federal Cabinet which met in Islamabad on Tuesday with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair also approved first-of-its-kind nationwide public awareness campaign to adopt energy-saving habits.

The forum also decided that energy saving habits should be based on common and universal practices and will be included in the curriculum.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister expressed displeasure over the recent incident of power breakdown and directed to fix responsibility of the incident.

The cabinet was briefed that import bill of petroleum products has doubled in last seven years.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb presented a detailed briefing on national awareness and communication strategy for energy conservation.

The Prime Minister directed that the caretaker governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab should also be taken on board with regard to energy conservation projects.

A comprehensive report based on the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee formed regarding Tosha Khana was presented to the federal cabinet. The federal cabinet presented its recommendations on the new Tosha Khana policy.

The Prime Minister directed that in the light of these suggestions, the inter-ministerial committee should amend its report and submit it for approval in the next cabinet meeting.

Source: Radio Pakistan