Provincial Council Elections

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): Women Affairs Minister Husn Banu Ghazanfar on Sunday promised creating more work opportunities for women in southern Ghazni province. Addressing a gathering titled "We Want Peace" in Ghazni city, the provincial capital, Ghazanfar acknowledged Ghazni women suffered a lot like their sisters in other provinces due to insecurity. The minister called on the Taliban and other insurgent groups to renounce violence and return to a normal life.

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): Local authorities in the southern province of Ghazni on Monday said about 75,000 acres of land had been illegal taken by warlords and powerful people. Most of the warlords seized the land in Ghazni City, the provincial capital and some other districts, according to Abdul Jami Jami, the deputy head of the provincial council. “They then sold the land at a higher price. The land is mostly grabbed by residents of Rauza, Sfanda, Kala Shada and Nawabad as well as by owners of Sultan Mahmood and Hakim Sanayee townships," he said.

KABUL (PAN): The Meshrano Jirga on Sunday said southern Ghazni province would not be ready as the Asian capital of Islamic civilisation by 2013 due to delays in preparatory work and urged relevant authorities to brief the house on the subject next week. Ghazni City, the provincial capital, was selected to serve as the capital next year by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) at a conference held in Tripoli, Libya, in 2007.

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): The process to build the Centre of Islamic Culture in Ghazni city, the capital of southern Ghazni province, has begun, the governor said on Wednesday. Mega projects for 2013, when the city would serve as the Asian capital of the Islamic civilization, included more than 41 schemes, including the construction of the proposed centre. The president, the Ministry of Urban Development and the provincial administration had set aside an amount of $25 million for the projects.

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): The Ministry of Information and Culture has launched reconstruction work on more than a dozen historical monuments in Ghazni City, the capital of southern Ghazni province. A day earlier, Deputy Information and Culture Minister Ghulam Nabi Farahi, who visited the city, inaugurated the rebuilding process as part of preparatory work ahead of 2013 when the city is to serve as the Asian capital of the Islamic civilisation.

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): The final phase of preparations for building the Centre for Islamic Culture in Ghazni City would be launched in March, Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada said on Sunday. Ghazni City was selected to serve as the Asian capital of the Islamic civilisation for 2013 by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation at a conference held in Tripoli, Libya, in 2007. “The first phase of preparations has been completed and the second and last phase will begin in late March,” Akbarzada told Pajhwok Afghan News.

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): Poland on Wednesday announced higher education scholarships for attorneys, judges and students from southern Ghazni province. Addressing a press conference in Ghazni City, new Polish Ambassador Piotr Łukasiewicz promised his country would increase the number of scholarships for Afghan students. "Poland will continue assisting Ghazni beyond 2014 and we are trying to execute more projects in the province, which has been declared the centre of Islamic civilisation for 2013,'' he said.

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): Poland would provide $7 million in aid for infrastructure development projects in southern Ghazni province, an official said on Tuesday. The assistance would be spent on various projects in Ghazni City and districts, the Poland Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) head, Gen. Blazios, told a news conference. He said a major part of the aid would be set aside for projects in the city, which is all set to be named as the culture centre of Islamic countries in 2013.

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): An Iranian delegation on Wednesday visited historic sites in southern Ghazni province, pledging reconstruction and preservation of ancient cultural heritage of the province, which will be declared the capital of Islamic civilization in 2013. The four-member delegation was accompanied by advisers at the Ministry of Information and Culture. Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada thanked the delegation for its visit of Ghazni's historic sites. He urged other Islamic countries to help the Afghan government preserve the historic places.

GHAZNI CITY (PAN): The cleanliness of the historic Bala Hisar Fort in southern Ghazni province got under way on Sunday, a senior official said. The 1.5 million pounds (95,170,000 afghanis) reconstruction would be paid by the Aachen University of Germany, said Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada, who urged aid agencies to help the province. He said the cleanliness would take two months to complete, with the two-year reconstruction of the fort beginning in spring, the governor added. Although it has no known history, antiques found from it show the fort had great strategic importance in the past.