ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has finalized arrangements to welcome intending Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, the Pakistani religious affairs ministry said on Tuesday, days before the start of the country’s month-long pre-Hajj flight operation.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and requires every adult Muslim to undertake the journey to the holy Islamic sites in Makkah at least once in their lifetime, if they are financially and physically able.
Pakistan has a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims this year. Of them, 63,805 pilgrims will be performing the pilgrimage under the government scheme, while the rest would be facilitated by private tour operators, according to the Pakistani religious affairs ministry.
“By the grace of Allah Almighty, we are optimistic to a great extent that our pre-Hajj arrangements will ensure a smooth Hajj operation,” said Ahmed Nadeem Khan, joint secretary and director of facilitation and coordination (F&C), at a media briefing.
He said they were making all-out efforts to make the annual Hajj operation hassle-free both in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The ministry has introduced several new initiatives, including discounted long and short packages, complimentary uniform baggage with QR coding, and essential items like head scarf for women and ihraam belts for men, according to the official.
Additionally, a complimentary Hajj SIM card with data and minutes will ensure connectivity throughout the journey, and the mandatory Hujjaj app will help educate, track and assist pilgrims in performing Hajj rituals for a seamless pilgrimage.
Khan urged the Hajj support staff, including assistants, doctors and paramedics, to deliver their best in extending maximum facilities to the pilgrims, saying their performance would be minutely evaluated and no negligence would be tolerated.
He said the religious affairs ministry was gradually taking its Hajj operation to end-to-end automation and the launch of the Hujjaj app was part of it.
“We have completed 70-80 percent automation, and the rest will be done in due course,” the official said, adding that up to 90 percent of intending pilgrims have been communicated through the app information about their flights, accommodation, vaccination and visa approval.
Khan said over 8,000 Pakistanis had so far contacted the ministry through the app to discuss their issues regarding the spiritual journey, which have been cleared within no time and a few were at various stages of resolution.
Pakistan’s month-long pre-Hajj flight operation is slated to begin on May 9 to ferry pilgrims to the revered destinations.
This year’s pilgrimage is expected to run from June 14 till June 19.
Pakistan finalizes arrangements for intending Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
https://arab.news/ck5jx
Pakistan finalizes arrangements for intending Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
- Pakistan’s month-long pre-Hajj flight operation is due to begin on May 9
- This year’s Hajj pilgrimage is expected to run from June 14 till June 19
Pakistan appoints Dubai-based climber Naila Kiani goodwill ambassador for girls education
- Kiani is the first Pakistani woman climber to summit 11 of 14 highest peaks in the world
- As ambassador, she will raise awareness, support government initiatives for girls education
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s education ministry has appointed prominent mountaineer Naila Kiani as its goodwill ambassador for girls education in the country, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Wednesday.
Dubai-based Kiani is the first Pakistani woman and the third climber from the country to summit 11 of the 14 highest peaks in the world. She is also the first Pakistani woman to summit Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I (G-I), Gasherbrum II (G-II), Lhotse, Manaslu, Broad Peak, Annapurna, Makalu, and Cho Oyu mountains.
Pakistan’s government awarded Kiani the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, the highest civilian honor in the country, earlier this year for her notable achievements. It makes Kiani the only Pakistani woman to have received the award so far.
“I am honored to be appointed as the National Goodwill Ambassador for Girls Education,” Kiani was quoted as saying by the APP.
“Education is the only route to women’s empowerment and success for our country. I am committed to using my platform to support and advocate for educational initiatives that ensure every girl in Pakistan has access to quality education,” she added.
As an ambassador, Kiani will work tirelessly to raise awareness about the importance of girls education, APP said. It said Kiani would also support and promote initiatives by the federal and provincial governments aimed at improving educational opportunities for girls.
Earlier this month, she became the first Pakistani woman to summit Mount Makalu in Nepal. The imposing mountain is the fifth-highest one in the world. It stands 8,485 meters (27,838 feet) high.
‘Missing’ poet in police custody, Pakistan attorney general says in case spotlighting enforced disappearances
- Ahmed Shah Farhad went “missing” from Islamabad residence on May 14 following social media posts critical of army
- His family has accused ISI spy agency of being behind his kidnapping, army says it does not suppress critical voices
ISLAMABAD: A Kashmiri poet and journalist who was reported “missing” by his wife earlier this month is in the custody of police in the Azad Kashmir region, Attorney-General Mansoor Usman Awan told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday.
Ahmed Shah Farhad went missing from his Islamabad residence on May 14, prompting his wife to accuse Pakistan’s top spy agency, the military-backed Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of abducting him and filing a petition with the IHC for her husband to be recovered.
The army has not commented on the development, but it has repeatedly said in the past it does not suppress critical voices. Before his abduction, Farhad had criticized Pakistan’s powerful military in social media posts regarding unprecedented protests held in Azad Kashmir earlier this month.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, Additional Attorney General (AAG) Munawar Iqbal Duggal and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar appeared before the court to present the state’s case.
“AGP Awan informed the court that Shah was in police custody and presented the police report to the court,” the English-language newspaper Dawn reported on comments that were widely reported in Pakistani media.
Farhad’s case has once more put a spotlight on enforced disappearances in Pakistan in which families say people picked up by security forces often disappear for years, and are sometimes found dead, with no official explanation. Pakistani security agencies deny involvement in such disappearances.
A complaint filed by the police at the Dhirkot Police Station in Azad Kashmir and seen by Arab News said Farhad was arrested by police on Wednesday morning as he tried to leave for his ancestral village in Kashmir from Islamabad.
The complaint said police stopped Farhad’s car at 07:00 a.m. near Kohala bridge in Azad Kashmir to ask for identification following which he misbehaved with police officers and abused them. Farhad was subsequently arrested for interfering in the government’s affairs under section 186 of the Pakistan Penal Code, the complaint said, a provision in law that deals with intentionally hampering, misleading, jeopardizing or defeating an investigation, inquiry or prosecution.
Rights organizations have frequently accused Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies of illegally detaining and torturing dissenters without any explanation or following due process of law. The military and intelligence agencies deny involvement in such acts.
Pakistani industrialists urge government to tackle high energy prices, interest rate in budget 2024-25
- Pakistan’s finance minister expected to unveil federal budget next week, shed light on priorities to address fiscal challenges
- Pakistan has hiked fuel and energy prices over past two years in line with reforms recommended by International Monetary Fund
KARACHI: Highlighting exorbitant energy costs, a high interest rate, and multiple taxations as major hurdles to industrial growth, Pakistan’s leading body of industrialists and traders on Wednesday said it hoped the government would address these challenges next week when it unveils the federal budget.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is expected to unveil budget 2024-25 next week in the parliament. The document will outline the government’s financial plans and allocations across various sectors. The budget will also shed light on Pakistan’s economic priorities, potential reforms and strategies to address pressing fiscal challenges.
The development takes place as the South Asian country grapples with an economic crisis that has seen its reserves plummet, national currency decline in value significantly against the US dollar, and inflation surge.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), the apex representative body of Pakistani traders and industrials in the country, said it has submitted budget proposals to the government, adding that it expects 80 percent of its demands to be met.
“We have collected all the information from our trade bodies, from all the chambers and we have made the proposals and we have already sent them to the FBR (Federal Board of Revenue), Ministry of Finance and the other departments,” Atif Ikram Sheikh, the FPCCI’s president, told Arab News on Tuesday.
Sheikh said the FPCCI has invited the government’s attention toward major issues that industrialists and traders in Pakistan encounter, such as exorbitant energy costs, taxation and the prevailing high interest rate.
He said these issues were not making it “bearable” to run industries in Pakistan.
“So we want the government to reduce interest rates, energy costs like fuel prices, gas and electricity and to run the economy in a better way,” Sheikh explained.
Pakistan has hiked prices of fuel and energy as part of reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a $3 billion loan program last year.
Pakistan increased gas charges by 318.74 percent and electricity charges by 71.12 percent since April 2023, as per official data. Surging energy costs took inflation to a historic high of 38 percent in May 202, which gradually eased to 17.3 percent in April 2024.
Pakistan’s central bank has projected the annual average inflation in the range of 23– 25 percent for the current fiscal year against a target of 21 percent.
The country’s finance minister expects inflation to decrease to 13.5-14.5 percent range in May 2024 and decline further to 12.5-13.5 percent by June 24.
Industrialists want the government to slash the interest rate, which has made the cost of borrowing high in Pakistan. The central bank has cumulatively raised the policy rate by 1,500 basis points during FY22 and FY23 and has maintained it at 22 percent at present.
Pakistan’s finance ministry said on Wednesday it expects a “promising” economic outlook amid improving industrial activities.
“The economic outlook is promising as industrial activities are gradually improving, inflation is on a downward trajectory and the external sector is stable,” the finance ministry said in its monthly economic report for May 2024.
The ministry observed that as the fiscal year is about to end, the economic indicators reflect that stability is gaining strength in the real, fiscal and external sectors.
It said Pakistan’s GDP growth is increasing while the inflation rate is on a decline, reflecting the effectiveness of recent fiscal consolidation efforts. The report said the country’s economic performance also reveals that agriculture has been a major contributor to this fiscal year’s economic upswing, attributed to government-led initiatives that enhanced input supply and credit disbursements.
The FPCCI has demanded a reduction in import duties and sales tax on various items. The body has also demanded a revival of the zero rating of sales tax for five export-oriented sectors, namely sports, surgical, leather, textiles, and carpets.
“We are sure and expecting what we are sending, what we have requested to the government, they will consider the FPCCI’s proposals,” Sheikh said.
“And I am sure 80 percent of our demands will be fulfilled.”
Pakistan’s oil and gas regulator denies report of impending gas system collapse due to pressure issues
- OGRA chief says the gas transmission across the country is monitored and controlled through real-time management system
- A local media report said Pakistan’s gas transmission system was on the verge of collapse due to line pack pressure
ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) of Pakistan on Wednesday dismissed a media report claiming the country’s gas transmission system was on the verge of collapse due to excessive pressure that has crossed the critical threshold of 4.07 billion cubic feet (bcf) for a host of technical reasons.
According to a report in The News International, the line pack pressure, which reflects the volume of gas within the pipeline, remains dangerously high at 5.08 bcf, warning that Pakistan’s gas transmission system could burst at any time, creating a major gas availability crisis.
However, the top OGRA official called the report “exaggerated,” saying the authorities had been using an effective Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor and control the gas flow across the country.
“Media reports are exaggerated as the system was put in place to save the distribution lines from any damage by real-time management of the flow of gas,” OGRA Chairman Masroor Ahmed told Arab News.
“We have the SCADA system installed for the distribution which works on a real-time basis and it keeps on recording the situation of distribution which is managed accordingly,” he added.
SCADA systems enable industries to monitor and control equipment to improve their operational efficiency. In the distribution network, the function of a SCADA system is to monitor and control distribution sectors, optimize overall network efficiency and enhance system reliability and sustainability.
Ahmed said gas inflow into the pipeline could never be random or unchecked, adding it was also kept within the capacity limits as a principle.
“Molecules are put in the pipelines with calculations,” he informed. “They cannot be random without any system and measurement of the capacity.”
He added if the line cannot sustain a certain pressure, it is not given transmission volume above that.
“That is also the whole idea of having a SCADA system,” he said.
Suspected militants burn girls’ school in northwest Pakistan in third such attack this month
- Kerosine used to set fire to a girls’ school in North Waziristan district
- Suspects destroyed furniture, computers and books in latest attack
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A group of militants used kerosine to set fire to a girls’ school in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold, destroying furniture, computers and books, police said Wednesday, in the latest in a surge in such attacks.
No one was hurt in the overnight attack in North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police official Rehmat Ullah said. Two other girls’ schools in the region were bombed earlier this month.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but authorities suspect Islamic militants, who targeted girls’ schools years ago, saying that women should not be educated.
North Waziristan is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, who are also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. It is a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.
