ISLAMABAD: Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Dr. Muhammad Amjad Saqib has emphasized the significance of leadership, stating that it encompasses vision, knowledge, skills, and traits. He underscored the importance of integrity and humility, highlighting that integrity is the alignment between words and actions, and humility is essential in inspiring others. While addressing the officers of grade 17 and 18 (BISP HQs and BISP field offices) in a training session at Institute of Rural Management (IRM) today, Dr. Amjad Saqib reiterated that it is a collective dream and an apolitical program dedicated to serve 9.3 million poor families across Pakistan, regardless of caste, color, or creed. He stressed that BISP stands as one of the nation's premier institutions, committed to uplifting marginalized communities. The session aimed to enhance the leadership skills and capabilities of BISP officers in effectively serving the community. Dr. Amjad Saqib shared his firsthand observations of extreme poverty among women beneficiaries during his visits from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to Sindh. He urged the importance of serving these deserving individuals, equating it to an act of worship. Addressing BISP employees, Dr. Amjad Saqib urged them to provide comprehensive assistance to needy women visiting BISP centers for registration or to receive their quarterly stipends. He underscored the importance of providing shelter, clean drinking water, and education on social and moral values, including environmental conservation and the significance of education for their children. During the interactive session, Dr. Amjad Saqib engaged with participants, responding to their queries and concerns. Participants expressed their appreciation for the training, noting its significant contribution to their personal and professional growth. They described the training as fruitful, enhancing their fieldwork experience and grooming them both personally and professionally. The training session reflects BISP's commitment to empowering its officers with the necessary skills and knowledge to better serve the community and fulfill its mission of poverty alleviation.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi, in an informal conversation with journalists in Islamabad, expressed his views on various pressing issues, stating that this might be one of his final speeches as president. Addressing concerns about the electoral process, President Dr. Arif Alvi emphasized the importance of overseas Pakistanis' voting rights, highlighting their struggle to secure this fundamental right. Drawing attention to the prevailing doubts surrounding recent election results, President Alvi lamented the absence of election voting machines, suggesting that their presence could have mitigated current challenges. Expressing disillusionment with the accountability process, he indicated a loss of faith and hope in its effectiveness. "Today, the entire country is raising questions over the elections. Had the EVMs been installed, these problems wouldn't have risen," he remarked. President Alvi underscored his commitment to electoral reform, particularly advocating for the introduction of EVMs and comput erized vote counting. He revealed that despite efforts by his party's government to implement EVMs, the proposal faced rejection. Reflecting on the broader leadership deficit in addressing national issues, President Alvi invoked the story of Socrates, highlighting the need for principled decision-making. Drawing parallels to Socrates' sacrifice for his beliefs, President Alvi underscored the importance of integrity and conviction in leadership. He also suggested that the leadership of all political parties to forget about the past conflicts and think about the future, adding that nothing was possible without unity. He also linked political alliances to foreign investment. The president's remarks shed light on critical issues facing Pakistan's electoral system and governance landscape, emphasizing the need for reform and principled leadership to address these challenges effectively.

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has asked the companies associated with the steel industry to prioritize investment for development of new iron ore deposits in the country. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was talking to a delegation of Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers led by Senator Nauman Wazir in Islamabad on Thursday. The Prime Minister said the caretaker government within its short tenure, took all possible measures to restore the economy of Pakistan. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said the government has taken steps to create conducive environment for business by providing facilities to the private and business sector to increase the country's exports, tax revenue employment opportunities. The Prime Minister said all steps taken under the Special Investment Facilitation Council are yielding positive results. He said the business community and investors supported Pakistan in difficult times. The Prime Minister directed the relevant departments to resolve all issues related to the steel in dustry on priority basis. The steel producers' delegation appreciated the efforts of the caretaker government to facilitate investment in the country especially by resolving problems of industrialists and reforming the FBR. They especially lauded the steps to prevent smuggling of steel, due to which the country's industry benefited greatly. Discussing problems faced by the industry, the delegation also presented some proposals and suggestions in this regard. The meeting was briefed about the large-scale industry of steel and copper in Pakistan which recorded copper exports worth 1.35 billion dollars in the last financial year. The meeting was told that there is a vast potential for development in steel sector of the country as its annual per capita consumption is 40 kilograms and contributes a tax revenue of 400 billion rupees to the national economy. It also provides thousands of employment opportunities.

ISLAMABAD: The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has expressed its deep concern over the worsening health condition of its incarcerated party chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, and strongly condemned Indian government's inhumane behavior towards him. JKLF appealed International human rights institutions to intervene so that the precious life of the most popular pro-freedom political leader of the people of the state of Jammu Kashmir is saved. The chief spokesperson of the JKLF Muhammad Rafiq Dar while giving details to media said that the health of JKLF incarcerated chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, was deteriorating speedily due to lack of his proper medical treatment in Tihar Jail for which his mother, just two weeks ago, had approached a court in Delhi. According to the spokesman, Yasin Malik's health deteriorated to an alarming level when he in protest stopped taking medicines against the inhuman approach of authorities for making use of delaying tactics despite court orders of taking him to the hospit al for proper medical treatment. According to the spokesman, however, Yasin Malik was later taken to a government hospital in Delhi on February 13 only after his condition deteriorated to alarming level. He said that his worsening health condition and court orders demanded that Yasin Malik should have been immediately transferred to the hospital and kept there under the supervision of doctors until he recovers, but on the contrary, the authorities brought him back to the jail after just a routinely held medical checkup. The spokesman said that the expired and outdated pacemaker implanted in him has now gone ineffective, hence endangers his life. He said that while approaching the court, Yasin Malik's mother tried to drew the judge's attention towards the deteriorating health condition of her son and while expressing her concern over the lack of interest of the authorities, she requested the court to issue orders for shifting of Yasin Malik to the hospital so that he receives proper medical treatment. Yasin Malik's mother in her plea to court had also stated that if allowed she is ready to bear the expenses of her son's treatment, the spokesman added. According to the spokesman, in addition to heart, Yasin Malik is also suffering from kidney ailment, and according to confirmed reports his body weight has also dropped to a great extent, which is a great cause of concern not only for his family members and the JKLF but also for the entire nation. He said that the Indian government, on the pretext of false and fabricated cases, cannot intimidate and subdue the Kashmiri leadership with the use of high-handed tactics of pursuing death sentence after life imprisonment of leaders like Yasin Malik. He said that due to unprecedented sacrifices rendered by the people of Jammu Kashmir, the complete independence has now become the destiny of the people of the state.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi has called for providing an enabling environment for youth to nurture their intellectual abilities and benefit from their innovative ideas for the country's prosperity. He said that Pakistani youth were blessed with enormous potential, brilliant minds, and bright ideas, however, they needed an appropriate platform to transform their ideas into competitive and quality products to increase the country's exports and reduce imports. President Dr. Arif Alvi gave these remarks while addressing the season finale of the National Idea Bank (NIB)' Third Edition, organized by the National University of Technology (NUTECH) in collaboration with ASPIRE Pakistan, at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday. The event was attended by members of the academia and business community. Highlighting the importance of innovative and emerging technologies, the President said that he was a staunch supporter of promoting a knowledge-based economy and stressed the need for talent hunting through forums like the NI B for socio-economic development. He appreciated the role being played by NIB as a repository of innovative ideas that would serve as a catalyst for the country's transformation to a brighter and prosperous future. President Dr. Arif Alvi said that innovative and technological solutions needed to be timely adopted for the country's development. He remarked that he had been advocating for internet voting for granting the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis as well as using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in Pakistan's electoral process. He further said that EVMs, if adopted, could have streamlined the electoral process, adding that the mandate, given by the people and youth, should be recognized. The President also voiced concern over the elite capture of the system, which only safeguarded the interests of the elite and failed to address vital socio-economic challenges, particularly educating over 26 million out-of-school children. He also stressed the need to focus on issues such as malnutrition and stun ting as well as neonatal mortality rate. The President criticized the existing world order, based on vested interests, that failed to stop the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza. Chairperson ASPIRE, Hassan Syed, briefed the audience about NIB as a platform for fostering innovation, creativity and collaboration to bring together leading minds, entrepreneurs and visionaries to explore ground-breaking ideas and initiatives aimed at shaping the future of Pakistan. Rector NUTECH, Lt Gen (Retd) Moazzam Ejaz, said that NIB was providing an excellent platform for youth to transform their innovative ideas into successful products. He added that the support of universities, markets, businesses and local industries was essential for providing youth with a launching pad and mentorship. Project Director, Ms Shahzana Memon, apprised that since NIB's inception, it had promoted more than 6000 business ideas and consequently, over 40 local start-ups had been established. She informed that in the 3rd Season of NIB, almost 2400 ideas were received out of which 67 ideas were selected as the national-level winners. The President also awarded recognition shields to the participants who came up with top-15 novel ideas in the NIB Season III finale.

Washington: The United States has called the efforts being made to form a coalition government in Pakistan in the wake of general elections as the country's internal matter. Talking to reporters during his daily press briefing in Washington today, the State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller said that the United States will work closely with the government elected by the people of Pakistan. He said that it is usual in parliamentary systems of government to form coalition government and run the affairs of the state.