Month: March 2022

Posted on

PECA Ordinance is government’s selective treatment with journalists’ community and people, fully believe in freedom of media: Ch Parvez Elahi 

Lahore, March 01, 2022 (PPI-OT):Leaders of Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) and Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) called on Speaker Punjab Assembly Ch Parvez Elahi at the Assembly Chambers here today (Tuesday).

They included Chairman Pakistan Broadcasters Association Mian Amir Mahmood, Shakeel Masood, Ch Abdul Rahman, Mohsin Naqvi, CPNE’s Kazam Khan, Ejazul Haq, Irshad Arif, Yousuf Nizami, APNS’s President Sarmad Ali, Naz Afreen Saigol, Omar Shami, Shahab Zuneri and AEMEND’s Mohammad Usman, Ayyaz Khan and Mian Tahir.

Fully supporting the demands of the Media Joint Action Committee, Speaker Ch Parvez Elahi demanded immediate withdrawal of amendment ion the PECA Ordinance. He said that the PECA Ordinance is the government’s elective treatment with the journalist’s community and the people of Pakistan, media is the fourth pillar of the State, we fully believe in its freedom.

Ch Parvez Elahi said that freedom of the media is very essential for the progress of Pakistan, imposing any restriction on the freedom of the media is not in our own interest. He said that we have always worked for freedom of the media and welfare of its workers, free media is very essential for security and solidarity of Pakistan.

Ch Parvez Elahi said that during Pakistan Muslim League (PML)’s tenure of government record number of electronic media licenses were issued, during our tenure of government also accepted criticism of the media with open heart, always took reforms aspect from media criticism. Secretary Punjab Assembly Mohammad Khan Bhatti was also present in the meeting.

For more information, contact:
Mediacell, Pakistan Muslim League
30-C, Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi Road,
Gulberg-II, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35878428
Fax: +92-42-35877329
Website: www.pmlmediacell.com

Posted on

Balochistan Assembly refers two bills to committees 

Islamabad, March 01, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Balochistan Assembly witnessed introduction of two government bills on Tuesday which were referred to the relevant committees for further consideration, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during fourth sitting of 50th session:

Members’ Participation

The House met for 49 minutes.

The sitting started at 03:44 pm against the scheduled time of 03:00 pm.

The speaker presided over the sitting for 39 minutes while the remaining sitting was chaired by the deputy speaker.

The leader of the house (chief minister) was not present.

The opposition leader attended the entire sitting.

As many as nine MPAs (14 percent) were present at the outset and 14 (22 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.

The parliamentary leaders of ANP, HDP, MMAP and PkMAP attended the proceedings.

One out three minority lawmakers was present.

Output

Minister for local government withdrew the Balochistan Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and announced to table it again after necessary amendments.

The House referred two government bills to the relevant committees which were the Balochistan Forest Bill, 2022 and the Balochistan Charities Registration, Regulation and Facilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Earlier, the House rejected the motions with majority vote for immediate consideration of the bills for passage after exempting rules.

Representation and Responsiveness

The House neither observed question hour not took up a calling attention appearing on the agenda.

Order and Institutionalization

A BAP lawmaker pointed out the quorum at 03:52 pm following which the chair ordered the bells to be rung till completion of quorum and the proceedings resumed at 04:06 pm.

A lawmaker belonging to ANP walked out from the House at 04:19 pm for not including his resolution on the agenda. He did not return to the House till adjournment of sitting.

Five lawmakers spoke on points of order for 21 minutes.

The House was adjourned to meet again on Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 03:00 pm.

Transparency

‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and others.

The attendance of lawmakers was not available to the observers and media.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org

Posted on

Torch Relay for GCU 121st Annual Sports begins 

Lahore, March 01, 2022 (PPI-OT):Ravians cheered and waved the flag of Government College University Lahore as a torch relay for the 121st Annual Sports kicked off on Tuesday under the University’s Clock Tower. Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Asghar Zaidi lit a spiral-shaped torch and rallied his sportsmen to the University’s Science Block, where he handed over the torch to the members of GCU Sports Board for its onward journey to the University’s New Campus in KSK. The Vice Chancellor also joined the relay in the New Campus and distributed prizes to the winner of inter-departmental games.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Zaidi said the Torch Relay heralds the start of the GCU 121st Annual Games and transmits a message of peace, courage and friendship along its route. He revealed that the relay would conclude at the inaugural ceremony of GCU Annual Sports at the Punjab Stadium on March 03, 2022 where this Torch would be handed over to Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Mr. Usman Dar.

He said the emblem of GCU was inscribed with a torch which means that each student of this great institution has the duty not only to spread the knowledge but also lead others in his respective field. Prof. Zaidi mentioned that the inauguration of Annual Sports by PM’s Special Advisor Mr. Usman Dar will commence GCU’s partnership in the PM’s Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive.

“We wish to establish GCU’s Kamyab Jawan Sports School which will bring about a great change in grooming sports talent in Pakistan,” the Vice Chancellor revealed. He expressed gratitude to Mr. Usman Dar for giving GCU a platform to contribute to the great initiative of Prime Minister to promote sports under the Kamyab Jawan Drive. GCU Director Sports Waseem Akhtar said more than 32 academic departments of the university would participate in the annual sports which included march past, athletics meet and gymkhana events.

For more information, contact:
Public Relations Department,
Government College University (GCU)
Squash Complex, GC University, Lahore, Pakistan
UAN: +92-42-111-000-010 Ext: 296
Tel: +92-42-99213343
Cell: +92-321-8440769
Email: registrar@gcu.edu.pk
Website: http://www.gcu.edu.pk

Posted on

PPP hands over its Report to CEC on rigging in 2018 elections 

Islamabad, March 01, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Pakistan People’s Party today handed over its report on rigging in 2018 elections to the Chief Election Commissioner urging the ECP to “take punitive action under the law against the glaring theft of the entire general election of 2018”.

The 3-member PPP delegation that handed over the Rigging Report to CEC today included Senator Taj Haider head of the Central Election Monitoring Cell of PPP and the two Secretary Generals of the PPP and PPPP Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari and Farhatullah Babar respectively. The Report has been prepared by the PPP Central Election Cell.

“Sir, crimes once committed are never time barred and in the background of the punitive actions that ECP has already taken against violations of Election Act 2017, we look forward to further punitive actions on the theft of general election 2018”, the letter accompanying the Report said. The Report describes in detail the pre-poll, polling day and the post poll rigging committed by persons belonging to the administration and the security institutions, the letter said.

“Unfortunately, the polling staff appointed by the Election Commission miserably failed to stop these crimes. It is also possible that some of the appointed staff became partners in these crimes”, it said. Besides the data collected itself by the PPP Central Election Cell, the Report also includes relevant extracts from the various reports on the General Elections 2018 prepared and published by various national and international observers who covered those elections.

The letter signed by all members of the 3-member PPP delegations said, “Of extreme importance are extracts and references to the forensic study and analysis of data posted by the ECP on their website undertaken by the notable election observers FAFEN. This study brings to light the fact that out of 78, 471 forms 45 (Result of Count) only 128 forms had been signed by polling agents who gave the name of the candidates they were representing. In all there were around 5000 signed Forms 45 on the ECP website, however none except the above mentioned 128 forms bore the names of candidates and their political affiliation. One cannot say with certainty if these signatures were genuine signatures of the polling agents or not. This alone is enough to put the legality of General Elections 2018 in question”.

“There are hundreds of thousands of polling agents, candidates, representatives of print and electronic media, representative of election observers, workers of political parties, members of civil society, election officials and those belonging to the general public who are witnesses to the fact that all polling agents were forcibly thrown out of polling stations at the time of vote count and preparation of results besides other crimes under the Law committed with glaring impunity”, it said.

“In a very high number of constituencies and especially in constituencies where the candidates of PPPP were generally expected to win, the results took days and days to be announced”. Talking to the Chief Election Commissioner on the occasion the PPP delegation expressed the hope that punitive action against those who rigged the 2018 elections is of profound importance for ensuring free and fair elections in the country in the future.

For more information, contact:
PPP Media Cell (Sindh)
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,
Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan
Cell: +92-305-3370383
Email: contact@ppp-tu.com
Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Posted on

Former players delve on who could lift the Trophy on 3 April

Dubai, March 01, 2022 (PPI-OT):As the World Cup fever builds, plenty of fans are predicting who will come out on top at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, and past players are no different.

Former skippers of India and South Africa, alongside a Kiwi World Cup winner, have all had their say on who could be hoisting the trophy aloft, and who are the potential stars of the tournament.

Catherine Campbell remembers what happened last time New Zealand hosted the Women’s Cricket World Cup, it ended with her and her White Ferns teammates as champions. However, 22 years later, she is predicting a different outcome:

“You couldn’t go past Australia probably. They’ve got a lot of depth in every position in the team, they’re unearthing some really talented youngsters,” she said. “But also, the experienced players, when it really counts, they deliver.”

And in the battle for the semi-finals, Campbell added: “You would be foolish to write off, clearly Australia, England, and then I think it is going to be quite tight.

“I would like to see, off the back of what we’ve done over the last few weeks, the White Ferns are there. But I think South Africa, the West Indies, India it’s going to be tough, trying to find potentially those last two places.

“That’s not to say Australia and England are going to have a charmed run either. I think it’s going to be really even. That’s one of the really exciting things about this tournament is that we were trying to squeeze teams into four spots and it’s not going to be easy.”

For former off-spinner Campbell, the players likely to impress the most are the all-rounders with home favourite Amelia Kerr tipped for a big tournament.

She said: “There’s some really good all-rounders playing at the moment, I really like the look of Nat Sciver, Tahlia McGrath has had a fantastic summer for Australia. Amelia Kerr’s batting is really impressive, she’s always been good at batting and her bowling has always been her strength, but I see her as having a really dominant role as an all-rounder at this tournament.

“I like Heather Knight as well, there’s a number of great players. Stafanie Taylor, look if Deandra Dottin gets going, goodness me!”

Someone else who is a fan of the West Indies’ Dottin is Cri-Zelda Brits who represented South Africa at two Cricket World Cups.

Brits said: “Alyssa Healy, she’s always exciting to watch, McGrath, there are so many of them! Dottin is always great to watch in a tournament. I think Suzie Bates, she owes her country a few runs but she is also super experienced in this format, so I reckon she will do well in this tournament.”

Looking at those top four spots, Brits is unsurprisingly backing the Proteas to make it to the semi-finals.

She added: “I have to put South Africa in there, you have to back teams like Australia, and they are not necessarily the best team in that bunch, but some teams are just good at World Cups.

“I want to back South Africa, England, Australia and then the home country because there is always the advantage of playing in your home country in front of the people you love.”

Pramila Bhatt, a former India captain, also picked Australia and England, but chose the Women in Blue as a potential winner.

“I can’t pick one team, but I would say it could be Australia, England and India will be the top three teams for me, one of them could win the World Cup,” Bhatt said.

“Playing as a unit for India will be the key because it’s not going to be an easy task, but they have Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, and Harmanpreet Kaur, those four will definitely play a huge part in determining the results of this Indian team.”

The tournament begins as New Zealand take on the West Indies on 4 March before all eight teams play each other once to decide the top four, with the winner crowned in Christchurch on 3 April.

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Posted on

Naseem Shah added to the Test squad 

Rawalpindi, March 01, 2022 (PPI-OT):Naseem Shah, who was originally a travelling reserve, has been included in the Pakistan squad for the first Test against Australia after Haris Rauf was ruled out after testing positive for Covid-19.

Haris will remain in isolation for five days and will reintegrate with the squad after a negative test at the end of his isolation period.

Following Rauf’s positive test on Tuesday, rest of the squad members and support personnel were retested. All these tests have come out negative.

Squad for first Test: Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab), Nauman Ali (Northern), Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shan Masood (Balochistan) and Zahid Mahmood (Sindh)

Test schedule:

4-8 Mar – 1st Test, Rawalpindi

12-16 Mar – 2nd Test, Karachi

21-25 Mar – 3rd Test, Lahore

For more information, contact:
Media Manager,
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 54600, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-5717231-4
Fax: +92-42-5711860
Website: www.pcb.com.pk