ISLAMABAD, NOV 5: Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said ‘nation won’t remain silent’ in wake of armed attack on Imran Khan.
PBF says armed forces of the country played pivotal role in the stability of Pakistan
DNA
Lahore: Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) on Saturday unanimously expressing complete solidarity with Pakistan armed forces and law enforcing agencies, said that entire business community stands united against war on terror and any external threat besides creating business-friendly environment fully ensuring durable security for economic growth across the country.
PBF President Mian Usman Zulfiqar said “We are proud of our armed forces for successfully flushing out terrorists from their hideouts and stamping out the menace of terrorism in the region paving way for complete restoration of peace in the country, a pre-requisite for economic growth and development in the country. PBF Central Vice Presidents Ahmad Jawad, Jahanara Wattoo, Chairman Balochistan Daroo Khan Achakzai, Vice Chairperson Sana Durrani, EC Member Shah Wali , PBF Sindh Chairman Mir Murad Ali Talpur, General Secretary Sindh Mustafa Abdullah Baloch, PBF Punjab Chairman Naseer Malik and other PBF officials were also present on the occasion of the joint statement.
PBF President said that business community expressed their satisfaction on the commitment and determination of the army chief for attaching top priority to security to strengthen the national economy and his guidelines will give impetus to accelerate the pace of economic growth. He said that conspiracies hatched by foreign elements would be fizzled out adding that with the grace of Allah Almighty the country would emerge strongest in the comity of nations. He lauded the services of armed forces personnel who sacrificed their lives while fighting with terrorists. “In the prevailing critical situation, we should stand united as a nation to brave internal and external challenges,” he added.
Vice President Ahmad Jawad greeted the ISPR for successfully organising different short stories of the sacrifices of armed forces and played a tremendous role to cope up the challenges of the hybrid war. Jawad said the sacrifices of armed forces have started yielding a positive impact on national economy and foreign investors once again pouring in different sectors. He said that now the economy is gradually picking up after the restoration of peace and security. He said that political stability without any vibration and peace are pre-requisites for a compatible economy. CPEC, a mega project will also contribute towards accelerating the economic activities not only in Pakistan but also in the region. He said that now it is a high time to ensure business friendly and growth-oriented environment for boosting export and rapid industrialisation to meet the future challenges.
Mean while, Vice President Jahanara Wattoo vowed unity of Pakistanis as one nation, under one flag to protect the dignity and integrity of darling motherland Pakistan and full support to the valiant armed forces of the country. she even stressed the need for taking full benefits of modern hybrid techniques in the agriculture sector with the co-operation of China for a bumper crop and better yield and strengthening of the wealth of livestock besides fully exploiting the potential of tourism especially in hilly areas which can help earn foreign exchange.
PBF Additional Secretary General, Dr Urwa Elahi said that US President Joe Biden should adopt realistic approach towards ground realities in the region and sacrifices of Pakistan for the war on terror and durable peace is not possible in Afghanistan without the participation of Pakistan. She said the US in return should give market access to Pak products to strengthen its national economy which pocketed heavy loss in the wake of terror. She said that the US also promised, “reconstruction of economic zones” in Pakistan which is still awaited.
She also suggested PBF must be taken into confidence before finalisation of economic policies and made part of the process of policy decision making in all sectors.
ICCI urges businesses to focus on healthy lifestyle of workers
Islamabad, NOV 5 /DNA/ – Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has called upon the private sector to focus on the healthy lifestyle of workers to achieve sustainable business growth. He said this while speaking as Guest of Honor at the 3rd International Lifestyle Medicine Conference 2022 organized by the Rifah Institute of Lifestyle Medicine.
Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said that many people at workplaces normally suffer from some common diseases including sugar, high blood pressure and stress, the main cause of which is their inactive lifestyle as most of them remain sitting for hours without any physical activity. He stressed on the employers to focus on adopting the principles of workplace wellness to keep their employees fit and healthy. He emphasized that the employers should develop health protection, health promotion and disease prevention programs and policies to reduce health risks and improve the quality of life of their workers that would reduce direct and indirect costs such as absenteeism and improve the productivity of workers for companies. He said that employers should provide their workers easy access to health fitness facilities, organize for them seminars and workshops on health education besides arranging health insurance coverage for appropriate preventive screenings. He said that healthy workers would contribute more effectively to the growth of businesses and organizations by enhancing productivity and reducing healthcare costs.
Hassan Muhammad Khan Chancellor Rifah International University, Dr. Shagufta Feroz Director Riphah Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, Prof. Dr. Anis Ahmed and many local and international speakers also addressed the 3rd International Lifestyle Medicine Conference 2022 and highlighted the benefits of lifestyle medicines to lead a healthy life. The theme of the Conference was “Science of Preventing, Arresting and Reversing Disease”.
Japanese FM says ‘deeply shocked’ on assassination attempt on Imran Khan
ISLAMABAD, NOV 5 /DNA/ – Japanese Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa on the shooting of Former Prime Minister Imran Khan to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
I was deeply shocked and saddened by the shooting on November 3 which left former Prime Minister Imran Khan wounded and others dead and injured, near Gujranwala. I pray for the speedy recovery of Mr. Khan and those who are wounded. I also express my condolences to the victim and the bereaved family.
Japan resolutely condemns this act of violence against democracy and expresses its strong solidarity together with the Government of Pakistan and Pakistani people.
Serena Hotels, Italian Embassy host opera performance for flood relief
ISLAMABAD, NOV 5 /DNA/ – Serena Hotels hosted a fundraising Opera Performance in collaboration with the Italian Embassy. The talented and world-renowned Performing Artist RameLahaj who was accompanied by Mr. Matteo Pais, gave outstanding performances, and engaged the audience with his well-known pieces. He has performed in prestigious Opera houses of the world.
Among his most notable roles are Alfredo (La Traviata), Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) andRodoldo (La Boheme). RameLahaj is the first artist from Kosovo and has won the most prestigious and important prize “Operalia” in 2016 for his extraordinary performances.
He was accompanied byRepetiteurwho is the Artistic Coordinator at Arturo Toscanini Foundation in Parma and is a vocal coach and honored pianistwho is well known for his international masterclasses to upcoming young artists.
Mr. Aziz Boolani, CEO Serena Hotels appreciated the generous support of theAmbassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese for joining hands with Serena Hotels in not only raising funds for the flood reliefbut for strengthening the bonding between Pakistan and Italy through such cultural exchanges, and he expressed, how such cultural exchanges are key in fostering great bonds between the two nations.
This event is the 4th fundraising event organised by Serena Hotels in collaboration with different diplomatic missions and will continue to play the role in supporting the less privileged citizens by utilizing its hotels platform.
It was an evening dedicated to building close cultural ties with the Italian Embassy, while creating an opportunity to generate funds for the relief efforts.
Baseless allegations against senior army officer absolutely unacceptable: ISPR
ISLAMABAD, NOV 4: /DNA/ – The baseless and irresponsible allegations by Chairman PTI against the institution and particularly a senior army officer are absolutely unacceptable and uncalled for.
Pakistan army prides itself for being an extremely professional and well disciplined organisation with a robust and highly effective internal accountability system applicable across the board for unlawful acts, if any, committed by uniformed personnel.
However, if the honour, safety and prestige of its rank and file is being tarnished by vested interests through frivolous allegations, the institution will jealousy safeguard its officers and soldiers no matter what.
The baseless allegations hurled at the institution/officials today are highly regrettable and strongly condemned. No one will be allowed to defame the institution or its soldiers with impunity.
Keeping this in view, government of Pakistan has been requested to investigate the matter and initiate legal action against those responsible for defamation and false accusations against the institution and its officials without any evidence whatsoever.
Palestine condemns assassination attempt on Pakistan’s former PM Imran Khan
DNA
RAMALLAH, NOV 4: Palestine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants condemns in the strongest terms the assassination attempt on former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, and affirms the State of Palestine’s stand with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and its people in confronting terrorism in all its forms, and wishes it and its friendly brotherly people safety, security and prosperity, expressing its warm condolences to the families of the victims and its wishes for a speedy recovery to the President The former Pakistani minister and the wounded.
We cannot put China on a par with Russia – top EU diplomat
Western countries need to reduce their dependence on China but should not put it in the same category as Russia, the European Union‘s top diplomat said on the second day of a meeting of the Group of Seven foreign ministers in Germany.
The talks between top diplomats of the wealthiest democracies coincide with a one-day visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Beijing, the first by a G7 leader since China’s President Xi Jinping cemented his grip on power at a Communist Party Congress.
China hawks have said the trip risks appearing as a stamp of approval for Xi and a sign Germany will continue to prioritize its economic relations with Beijing over security and strategic considerations.
“It is clear that China is .. becoming much more assertive, much more on a self-reliant course,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters.
“We want to reduce our dependence, we want to address our vulnerabilities, to strengthen our resilience,” he added. “But for the time being, many member states have a strong economic relationship with China and I don’t think we can put China and Russia on the same level.”
The G7 foreign ministers were expected to also discuss how to deal with protests in Iran, relations with Central Asian nations and the challenges facing Africa on Friday, with their counterparts from Ghana, Kenya and the African Union as guests.
“Africa is suffering a lot from the war in Ukraine because Russia is blocking food, destroying agricultural transport infrastructures,” said Borrell. “We have to work together with our African partners in order to face jointly the many challenges of this continent.”
Exercising later in the day may reduce insulin resistance, control blood sugar
ISLAMABAD – According to the World Health OrganizationTrusted Source, obesity rates have tripled worldwide since 1975. The connection between obesity and insulin resistance is bidirectional. Insulin resistance often develops due to being overweight or obese, which can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Since type 2 diabetes can be a costly disease to treat, contribute to many health issues, and even be fatal, researchers are interested in learning about different ways to improve insulin resistance.
Exercise is an important aspect of health. Prior studies have shown it can improve insulin resistance. In a new study published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes), researchers found a connection between exercise timing and insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
The beta cells in the pancreas produce insulin, a hormone the body creates that is responsible for regulating blood sugar levels.
Some medical conditions can impact the body’s ability to produce or respond well to insulin, including type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when a person’s body produces little or no insulin. Doctors usually diagnose this form of diabetes earlier in life, and there is no cure.
Someone who develops insulin resistance may be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association, insulin resistance occurs when a person’s body has “built up a tolerance to insulin, making the hormone less effective. As a result, more insulin is needed to persuade fat and muscle cells to take up glucose and the liver to continue to store it.”
This form of diabetes is more common in middle-aged and older people. Type 2 diabetes is also more prevalentTrusted Source in people who are either overweight or have obesity, and they can manage it through medications, diet, and exercise.
Unlike type 1 diabetes, people with type 2 diabetes can go into remission with lifestyle changes in some cases, including substantial weight loss.
Analysis of physical activity
The researchers examined data from the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity cohort study, which collected data from 6,671 individuals ages 45 to 65 between 2008 to 2012.
Some of the collected data included BMI, fasting and after-meal blood glucose and insulin samples, and MRI scans of people who could undergo imaging. Additionally, 955 participants wore activity monitors for 4 days.
From the group that wore activity monitors, the researchers whittled down the participant pool to 775 participants with an average age of 56. The group makeup was 42% male and 58% female, with an average BMI of 26.2.
Through examining data from the activity monitors, the researchers divided up the daily periods into three segments: 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (morning), 12:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. (afternoon); and 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. (evening). They excluded the hours from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.
For each of the 6-hour periods, the researchers looked at the different levels of activity recorded by the heart rate monitors.
Benefits of afternoon or evening exercise
After analyzing the data collected, the researchers did not find a link between breaks in sedentary activity and reduced insulin resistance.
However, they did find an association between insulin resistance and the time of day the participants performed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, as recorded by the activity monitors.
The findings suggest that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in the afternoon led to an 18% reduction in insulin resistance, and the same types of activity in the evening were linked to a 25% reduction — in comparison to physical activity spread throughout the day.
They found no difference in MVPA and reduced insulin resistance in the morning segment of the data.
The researchers also examined the liver fat captured in the MRI scans and noted that the number of breaks in sedentary time did not impact liver fat content.
“Further studies should assess whether timing of physical activity is indeed important for the occurrence of type 2 diabetes,” the authors wrote.
Implications on exercise recommendations
Dr. Michael Sagner, President of the European Society of Preventive Medicine, spoke with Medical News Today about the study’s findings.
“It is certainly timely to investigate chronobiological effects of exercise,” said Dr. Sagner. “Timing of exercise is a relatively unexplored field in human studies and needs more studies.”
Dr. Sagner noted a weakness of the study being the limited 4-day window in which the participants were monitored and said more research is needed “if certain types of activity provide more health benefits when done during specific times of the day.”
“The present study cannot lead to any changes in the current recommendations. Physical activity is essential for health and disease prevention and should be built into the weekly routine, nevertheless the timing throughout the day.”
– Dr. Michael Sagner
Dr. Ishita Patel, a board certified endocrinologist with Texas Diabetes and Endocrinology, also spoke with MNT about the study. Dr. Patel also thought that exercise timing in reducing insulin resistance needs more research.
“The study data analyzed was over a short period – four days” Dr. Patel pointed out. “It would be interesting to assess the liver fat and insulin resistance over a prolonged period of time, and also [its] relevance to populations of concern – such as pre-diabetics and diabetics.”
As Dr. Sagner also mentioned, Dr. Patel thought the important thing about exercise is to make it part of the routine rather than focus on the timing.
“The vast majority of people are so busy that finding any time to exercise regularly is challenging. Similarly to how we counsel on diet, I feel that consistency with exercise should be encouraged more than adding the additional challenge of finding ‘the perfect time’ to exercise.”
Constitutional supremacy, electoral reforms to address political, governance crisis: experts
DNA
Islamabad, NOV 4: Constitutional supremacy, electoral reforms to ensure inclusivity, rule of law, focus on public service delivery, leadership development, taking responsibility and ownership, citizenship awareness, participatory governance based on the realities of socio-political culture of Pakistan instead of adopting Western models, and optimum use of technology for creating efficient systems for governance at all levels of the state were the salient ideas put forward and extensively debated by eminent policy practitioners and academics in a seminar jointly organized by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).
The session titled ‘Political System and Governance in Pakistan’ was part of the ‘Grand National Dialogue’ initiated by IPRI recently, aiming to take inputs and ideas from academics, intellectuals and practitioners over a host of national issues, in a bid to convert them into actionable recommendations for policy makers.
Chaired by Chairman IPS Khalid Rahman and co-hosted by Brig (r) Raashid Wali Janjua, director research at IPRI and Ambassador (r) Syed Abrar Hussain, vice chairman at IPS, the seminar was addressed by Syed Abu Ahmad Akif (SI), former federal secretary, Dr Syed Tahir Hijazi, former member governance, Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr Noreen Saher, associate professor/chairperson, Department of Anthropology, International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI), Muhammad Arshad, CEO, Sehat Sahulat Program, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Government of Pakistan, and Jawad Akhtar Khokhar, advisor, maritime affairs, Planning Commission of Pakistan. Naufil Shahrukh, IPS’ GM Operation, moderated the session.
Initiating the discussion, Akif put up a series of questions highlighting several internal and external contributory factors leading to the governance deficit in Pakistan. He underscored economic mismanagement, political disorder, deteriorating civil services, civil-military relations, internal conflicts, lawlessness, extremism, militancy, intolerance, rising debts, external forces, and geo political circumstances as some of the reasons behind the sorry state of affairs in the country.
He urged on the need to change the mindset to a productive and constructive one, stressing that no problem can be solved by the same thinking that generated it in the first place.
Arshad backed Akif’s notions, maintaining that not everything was bad in the country and several success stories can be seen in its journey of seventy-five-years. The development of nuclear weapons and the success against the war on terror were a couple of highlighted examples, but the country has also witnessed commendable progress in some other areas as well and the national capacity to use ICT for governance and public service delivery is at par with the developed nations.
The speaker termed the successful planning and implementation of Sehat Sahulat program no less than an achievement itself, as it was delivering health services to 170 million people through 1036 hospitals across the country. A precedence of such a model with such magnitude and in the face of such insurance challenges, according to him, was not even seen in the G7 countries, and the fact that all this was done with any political conformity makes this achievement even sweeter.
The speaker maintained that this is just another success example that can be replicated in other sectors as well. The only requirement is to channelize the available resources and adopt the real model of inclusive governance where everyone has a specific role to play, for which he takes ownership and becomes responsible and accountable.
Khokhar spoke from the perspective of Gwadar, pointing out challenges in the areas of Gwadar port and city integration, travelling, connectivity and training. On the other hand, he also highlighted some achievements with the help of Chinese institutions in the area and participation of all stakeholders at the federal, provincial and local government levels. He claimed that the genuine, basic demands of the natives were being taken care of now and the past mistakes have been mostly rectified.
Dr Hijazi mentioned NADRA as one of the country’s biggest success stories as a facilitator and catalyst of good governance.
Dr Seher termed negativity and pessimism about our own culture as a disease. She quoted that nations face good and bad times, but ethnocentrism prevents them from going down. We, on the other hand, are facing Xenocentrism, which is the result as well as the target of the fifth-generation warfare.
She pointed out that there exists extensive natural and cultural diversity in Pakistan, but the real problem is the lack of ownership and twisted priorities. With 60 percent youth population, Pakistan is extremely rich in its contemporary resource and only need to bring competence into the mainstream. In the era where proxy war is being waged to divide the country, we need to capitalize on our strengths of collectivism and networking.
Khalid Rahman, concluded the session by advocating for electoral reforms for proportionate democracy, strengthening local body system and student unions as nurseries of healthy democracy, intra-party democracy, use of technology and digitization for governance, smaller administrative units and fiscal devolution.
He also highlighted the Principles of Policy of the Constitution of Pakistan that are a guiding light for the essential morality and value framework for the country’s governance at all levels.
He viewed that there were need for reforms in many areas, but the constitution should always be protected and the parliament should be strengthened. The hybrid model of governance should gradually be eliminated, though not by means of any conflict. Instead of being wasted on finger pointing, the energies should rather be utilized to come out of the problems collectively.
Rahman opined that we need to look through a bifocal lens, through which we could see both our weaknesses and strengths. On the other hand, we must not stay in the mode of denial, and start taking ownership of our own responsibilities while avoiding any blame game.
