LAHORE, Nov 30 (APP):By Sohail Ali

Northern – the champions of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 65th edition – outclassed Sindh in the final to hold the trophy along with PKR 10,000,000. Umar Amin-led Northern side achieved this feat here at Gaddafi Stadium on November 29 , Tuesday, the venue that was hosting the premier first-class tournament’s final after 2013-14 season Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final.

Northern have been the finalist twice since the revamp of the domestic system in 2019-20. They were lucky the third time after losing out on the title both in 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons. Meanwhile, Sindh – who won their maiden National T20 title this year – made their first appearance in the final since the domestic structure revamp.

Dominant performance from Northern to clinch their maiden title

Northern were dominant throughout the tournament, having topped the six-team points table with 135 points ahead of the final. Over the course of the double round-robin stage, which started from 27 September, Northern won three matches, lost one and played six drawn games. The charged-up Northern side demonstrated supremacy in all departments of the game in their successful campaign. In the batting charts, Mohammad Huraira topped the table with 1024 runs, while Umar Amin occupied fourth spot with 774 runs. In the bowling charts, Aamir Jamal and Mubasir Khan took 31 wickets apiece and grabbed second and third spots, respectively. In the fielding department, Northern’s Rohail Nazir bagged 43 dismissals behind the stumps and gained the top position

PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday felicitated Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir and Chairman Joint Chief of Army Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza on assuming charge of their office. 

Former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa handed over the command of the Pakistan Army to his successor Gen Munir in a change of command ceremony on Tuesday, while Gen Mirza took charge as the CJCSC on Sunday. 

Khan took to Twitter today to congratulate the two military officials.

“We hope the new military leadership will work to end the prevailing trust deficit that has built up in the last eight months, between the nation and the state. Strength of the state is derived from its people,” the former premier wrote.

He also shared a quote of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah regarding the role and “duty” of armed forces. 

“Do not forget that the armed forces are the servants of the people and you do not make national policy; it is we, the civilians, who decide these issues and it is your duty to carry out these tasks with which you are entrusted,” the quote written in an image tweeted by Khan read.

President Alvi approves PM Shehbaz’s nominees for COAS, CJCSC

President Arif Alvi last week approved the appointment of General Asim Munir as the next chief of army staff and Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza as CJCSC, signing the summary sent by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. 

However, the development came after great speculations as Alvi departed to Lahore to hold a meeting with Khan on the key appointments before finally approving them.

All eyes were on the meeting as the PTI chief had said that he and President Alvi would play “legally and constitutionally” on the matter. 

RAWALPINDI, NOV 29 /DNA/ – An Intelligence Based Operation was conducted to clear a hideout of Terrorists linked with firing incidents targeting security forces and civilians alike besides planting of improvised explosive devices on M-8 in general area Hoshab.

As security forces were in process of establishing blocking positions after identification of 12-14 terrorists location, terrorists opened fire onto the security forces. During ensuing heavy exchange of fire, 10 terrorists have been killed while 1 terrorist has been apprehended in injured condition; while two terrorists managed to escape – the operation to trace them continues in the area.

A heavy cache of arms and ammunition including improvised explosive devices has also been recovered.

Security forces, in step with the nation, remain determined to thwart attempts at sabotaging peace, stability and progress of Balochistan. DNA

ISLAMABAD, NOV 29: Farah Khan, a close aide of PTI chief Imran Khan’s wife, sent a Rs5 billion legal notice on Tuesday to Dubai-based businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor, Geo News and anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada for airing remarks about her alleged involvement in the sale of Toshakhana gifts.

On November 15, Zahoor appeared on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath and claimed that the PTI government had sold an expensive Graff wristwatch — gifted to Imran by Saudi Crown Prince Moham­med Bin Salman — for $2 million, worth approximately Rs280m at the time of sale in 2019.

The Toshakhana case over the sale of state gifts received by Imran became a major sticking point in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified the PTI chief for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.

The matter shot into the spotlight again when Zahoor claimed in the Geo News programme that he had bought the watch through former accoun­ta­bility minister Shahzad Akbar and Farah.

The Dubai-based businessman also claimed that Farah wanted to sell the watch for $4-5m “but after negotiations, I purchased it for $2 million”. The payment, he added, was made in cash on Farah’s insistence.

The claims evoked an outcry from PTI leaders, including Akbar, who denied Zahoor’s allegations while Imran said he would approach international courts against Zahoor and Geo. Farah’s legal notice, dated November 26, alleged that Zahoor had “deliberately uttered various defamatory remarks” against her and “falsely told” the anchor that Akbar had introduced him to Farah who then met him to sell a watch, causing her “sizeable reputational damage.

It said that his statements without any proof were a “sheer denial and broad daylight infringement” of various constitutional rights and had also encouraged her rivals to further “noxious agenda to spread false and negative propaganda” against Farah.

The notice alleged that Zahoor, Geo and Khanzada had deliberately targeted Farah for “evil designs and machinations” to pursue a malafide and personal vendetta of defaming and devastating her name, business and reputation.

It asserted that Farah did not even travel to Dubai in 2019 and attached her travel history as proof.

The notice said that its copies were sent to the interior ministry, Federal Investigation Agency, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to take swift appropriate action against the respondents.

The notice called upon Zahoor, Geo and Khanzada to:

cease and desist (C&D) from all “ongoing defamation” of Farah and her business

tender an unconditional apology and prompt C&D written assurance within seven days of the notice’s receipt

publish a contradiction and tender an unconditional apology together with a prompt and perpetual C&D assurance on Geo News as well as social media within seven days of the notice’s receipt

pay Rs5bn as compensation to Farah

The notice threatened legal action if the stipulations were not met.

DNA

ISLAMABAD/ ISTANBUL, NOV 29: Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety Faisal Karim Kundi has said that “the COVID-19 pandemic” has taken lives and overwhelmed health systems and economies at an unprecedented pace and scale. It has negatively impacted millions of individuals and has disproportionately affected the poor at a large scale. He said this while addressing the COMCEC 38thsession on “Pakistan’s Effective Social Assistance Provision and Socioeconomic Empowerment in the light of COVID-19 Pandemic”.

SAPM highlighted that Government of Pakistan allocated ~USD 1.23 billion to deliver one-time emergency cash to 16.9 million families, which came to over 109 million people, including minorities and transgender citizens. Through Benazir Income Support Program’s Emergency Cash disbursement, each family received USD 75, for immediate subsistence needs, he added.

Faisal Karim Kundi informed the participants that by utilizing BISP’s NSER data, a hybrid targeting approach was adopted, combining emergency assistance for the known vulnerable with demand-based support for the “new poor”. He said that The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on poverty eradication was achieved five years ahead of schedule.

SAPM further said that Pakistan has faced death and destruction because of the recent floods, which has devastated the lives and infrastructure of around 33 million people in the country. Emergency aid of USD 312 million was distributed to 2.7 million families through a targeted mechanism under the Benazir Income Support Programme. Each family received USD 112 as part of this emergency disbursement, he added.

Faisal Kundi said that to address the challenges caused by malnutrition among vulnerable population, the existing BISP Nutrition (Nashonuma) Programme was expanded, and a Blanket Supplementary Food Programme was initiated in flood-affected regions to provide Specialized Nutritious Food (SNF) to over 12000 Pregnant and Lactating mothers and 11,200 children under the age of two. He said that it is a global responsibility to help vulnerable communities  to fight the devastating impact of climate change so that they remain prepared for the future events.