The volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan under Afghan transit trade stood around $2.55 billion during the year 2014-15. Ministry of Commerce informed the Senate about it on Friday in response to a question asked by Senator Muhammad Daud Achakzai. "Afghanistan is a landlocked country; therefore it is dependent on Pakistan for its trade," the written reply said. The Afghan transit trade agreement was signed between both the countries in 2010.
Earlier, the Senate also approved a report of a special committee on the issue of lapse of various foreign scholarships offered by different countries for the students of Pakistan. Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed said that there has been no transparency in awarding of the scholarships and that's why he had raised the issue on floor of the House.
He urged the government to come up with a one window operation for all the foreign scholarships for the students besides creating a specific website for students to facilitate them for their higher studies. Senators also urged the government to allocate a separate quota of foreign scholarships for students from the underprivileged areas like Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Leader of the House Senator Raja Zafarul Haq admitted that there were loopholes in the system of awarding foreign scholarships that need to be addressed at the earliest.
He said the students from war-torn areas like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan should get preference in the foreign scholarships. Chairman Senate, however, said that it is not an issue of the political governments rather the bureaucrats who keep awarding the scholarships to their relatives only. Recommendations of the committee will help improve the system, he said. The special committee has recommended an oversight of the Education Ministry over the scholarships awarding system as Higher Education Commission also comes under its purview.
During the question-hour, Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanveer informed the House that a subsidy of Rs 36.71 billion till September 2015 has been utilised for USF projects all over Pakistan. During last three years, Rs 20.33 billion worth of new projects have been undertaken in the Broadband and RTeS Categories, he said. Responding to a calling attention notice regarding postponement of the OIC summit on science and technology in Islamabad, Minister for Industrial Production Rana Tanveer Hussain said the government has postponed the summit following terrorist attack on Badaber airbase in Peshawar. He, however, dismissed rumours that COMSTECH office was being shifted to another country. "We are trying to hold the summit at the earliest and are in touch with the relevant organisations," he said.
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