JAKARTA, OCT 25 /DNA/ – All the enemies of Islam successfully target us individually and collectively. Despite the fact that Islam bears the message of tolerance and peace, yet the myths and misconceptions, often with hidden geopolitical agendas, continue to dominate the media because we have repeatedly failed to act as a unit.

Chairman Senate Muhammad Saqid Sanjrani said this while addressing the inaugural plenary of World People’s Consultative Assembly Forum in Indonesia. He emphasized that the rising Islamophobia that continues to display dire consequence for Muslims, needs urgent attention.

The Pakistan Senate’s Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani accentuated on the atrocities being committed against Muslims in Palestine and Kashmir in particular, and urged to loudly present solving the Rohingya refugees’, crisis and the Afghan rehabilitation. “We must, in close liaison with the UN Security Council, converge this mission with the help of Forums such as this” he added.

Chairman Senate while addressing the forum also mentioned that the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus which was introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the OIC that proclaimed March 15 as ‘International Day to Combat Islamophobia’.

Sadiq Sanjrani while addressing the parliaments of the Islamic world lamented that some Muslim countries are in conflict with others and questioned why should Muslims be fighting Muslims? And why do we continue to act like puppets in the hands of more powerful nations who may not be acting in our best interests?” he maintained.

Sanjrani said that Pakistan knows the cost of conflicts as we have suffered heavily during the Pakistan’s War against Terrorism in which 83,000 innocent Pakistani lost their lives and the War cost us around US$ 126 billion. But thanks to Pakistan’s strong Armed Forces we were able to overcome the terrorism by defeating the enemies of peace.

He emphasized that Pakistan’s Armed Forces are one of the most Professional Armed Forces in the world, who are always willing to accept any challenges in the world. Sanjrani said that the Pakistan Armed Forces roles in UN peacekeeping missions, during war and peace time, are a clear testimony to it.

Chairman Senate during his address to the Global parliaments brought proposals of constituting a “Conflict Resolution Committee” and a “Trade Promotion Committee”, through an appropriate forum, with which we can work to eliminate all existing conflicts between Muslim nations through peaceful dialogue under impartial arbitration and through which we will be able to explore and utilize a huge trade potential to enhance economic cooperation among OIC members. Chairman Senate also suggested establishing a permanent secretariat of this Forum as well.

Chairman Senate thanked Indonesia for dispatching humanitarian relief aid for the flood affectees in Pakistan. Chairman Senate while addressing the Global Conference said that Pakistan continues to suffer a great humanitarian crisis after the recent floods. The Chairman Senate acknowledged the wonderful contributions by Crown Prince, Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Bin Salman, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar for supporting the youth, and bring about IT revolutions in his country and beyond.

The Chairman Senate also congratulated the People’s Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia for taking the lead in the creation of this synchronized forum with the OIC, the Parliamentary Union of the OIC the Parliamentary Union of the OIC and the Muslim World League to maximize results. 

Messaging app WhatsApp was starting to come back online at 2pm Pakistan time (0900 GMT) and the company said the issue has been fixed after users across the world reported problems earlier on Tuesday.

At around 12:50pm (0750 GMT), outage reporting site Downdetector had shown over 68,000 users had reported problems with the app in the United Kingdom. Problems were reported by 19,000 people in Singapore and 15,000 people in South Africa, Pakistan and other countries as well.

“We know people had trouble sending messages on WhatsApp today. We have fixed the issue and apologise for any inconvenience,” a spokesperson for WhatsApp parent company Meta Platforms said.

The company did not disclose the reason for the outage.

WhatsApp has become a critical means of communication for households and businesses. When WhatsApp had an hours-long outage last October, it hit trading of assets from cryptocurrencies to oil, before traders switched to alternative platforms such as Telegram.

“This highlights the significance of vast hosting companies directing data around the internet along with companies and individuals relying on single points of communication,” said Jack Moore, advisor at Slovakia-based cybersecurity firm ESET.

“Multiple areas will inevitably be significantly impacted as a result of this downtime, along with a predicted financial hit but lessons from other recent prominent times when the internet has gone down will have hopefully taught many to have access to other forms of communication.”

WhatsApp’s latest outage came during the festive season in India — its biggest market by user count — when people use the platform even more than usual to send season’s greetings.

Shares of WhatsApp-parent Meta Platforms fell 0.7% to $128.85 in premarket trading following the outage.

The company had not sent any fresh updates as users in Asia, India and the United Kingdom started seeing some connections come back online.

#whatsappdown was trending on Twitter, with more than 142000 tweets and hundreds of memes flooding the internet.

“Everyone who noticed #whatsapp is down have come to twitter to confirm it,” says one Twitter user.

In the past, rival apps like Telegram, Snap or even Meta’s Instagram have seen temporary spikes in users when WhatsApp has been down.

While WhatsApp boasts of over two billion monthly active users and have become a mainstay for messaging in most countries, Telegram has taken up the challenger role with about 700 million users. 

OTTAWA, OCT 25 /DNA/ – Pakistan High Commissioner to Canada Zaheer A. Janjua met the Canadian Minister of Housing and Diversity & Inclusion Mr. Ahmed Hussen in the Canadian capital today.

During the meeting held in Ottawa, issues of mutual interest came up for discussion during the meeting. Ahmed Hussen called the meeting with High Commissioner Zaheer Janjua as a productive discussion during which many ways were discussed to strengthen Canada and Pakistan’s friendship and people-to-people ties between both countries.

High Commissioner Zaheer Janjua thanked the Canadian Minister for receiving him in his office and the subsequent productive discussion between them for further strengthening what he called multidimensional partnership between Pakistan and Canada.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (DNA): The brotherly nations of Pakistan, and Turkey on Monday agreed to increase cooperation in various sectors, especially in low-cost housing.

Federal Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Works Iftikhar Ali Shallwani in a meeting with Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Paçaci discussed matters of mutual interest.

Both sides vowed to implement the accords signed between the two brotherly states.

Welcoming the newly appointed ambassador, the secretary of housing expressed his best wishes for his future endeavors.

Shallwani extended his support to the ambassador in all relevant matters.

He reiterated that Pakistan and Turkey enjoy cordial fraternal ties and mutually beneficial bilateral relations.

This very relationship is based on common faith, values, culture, civilization linkages, history, and mutual trust, said Shallwani.

He underscored that Pakistan immensely values its ties with Turkey.

The ambassador expressed similar thoughts for further promoting ties between both the brotherly countries in all domains of mutual interest, particularly in the housing and manufacturing sectors.

The federal secretary extended a cordial invitation to Mehmet Paçaci to attend the upcoming first International Housing Expo-2022.

The envoy supported and expressed his country’s participation in the event and said it will bring mutual dividends to both friendly countries. 

Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority  Chairman, Lieutenant General Anwar Ali Hyder was also present on the occasion.

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD, The lawmakers in the National Assembly on Monday condemned the killing of a journalist, anchorperson Arshad Sharif and demanded for fair investigation into the incident.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, MMAP lawmaker Salah Uddin Ayubi condemned the killing of journalist Ashrad Sharif in Kenya and condoled the bereaved family members to bear this irreparable loss.

He demanded an investigation into this incident.

He congratulated Ali Musa Gilani and Abul Hakim Baloch for winning by-elections Multan and  Karachi, respectively.

He said that the people of Karachi and Multan had exposed those who told lies to them in 2018.

Salahuddin Ayubi said that the financial scams of BRT in Peshwar and Malam Jaba should be investigated.

He said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had given a historical verdict by declaring the person a thief who sold gifts of the state. 

Javeria Zafar also condemned the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif and appealed  the people especially social media users to avoid speculations on the issue.

She said that fair investigations should be ensured in the case. She also demanded the chair to ensure the presence of ministers in the House and the interest of lawmakers in the proceedings of the lowe house.

MNA Nisar Ahmed Cheema said that the killing of a renowned journalist was a tragic incident and demanded a fair investigation into the incident.

He also congratulated two new MNAs who took oath over winning by-elections in Multan and Karachi.

Cheema said that Yusuf Raza Gilani was known as a decent politician and his son Ali Musa Gilani would follow his father in politics.

He said that Abdul Hakeem Baloch was a seasoned politician and the members of the house welcomed him in the lower house.

He said all rehabilitation in flood-hit areas should be the priority of provincial and federal governments and all politicians should play their role in that regard.

MNA,  Jamal Uddin also congratulated two MNAs who took the oath and condemned the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif.

Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan, Kishwer Zehra strongly condemned the killing of Arashd Sharif and demanded the government to conduct a transparent investigation into the case.

Pakistan People Party Parliament MNA Nawabzada Iftikhar Ahmad Khan congratulated the newly elected member of the Pakistan people’s party.

He also felicitated the Hindu Community in the country on their religious festival of ‘Diwali’.

 He also demanded a fair investigation into the Arahsa Sharif’s murder.

On the eve of 75th foundation day of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), he said the people of Jammu and Kashmir would get their right to self-determination soon for which they had been striving for past years.

He expressed complete solidarity with the people of illegally Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and said the people of Pakistan were supporting firmly Kashmiri brethren in their struggle for their just cause.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla also condemned the killing of Arshad Sharif and demanded the government to unearth the truth behind this incident.

He also congratulated the two newly elected members of the house.

PML-N Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh expressed deep grief and shock over the tragic death of journalist Arshad Sharif.

He also congratulated the Pakistan People’s Party for winning MNA seats in the by-election.

PML-N MNA  Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk condemned the malicious campaign against the Pakistan armed forces and urged the government to take action against them.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (DNA): The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on
Monday approved three names of high court judges for the judgeship of
the Supreme Court.

The commission’s meeting chaired by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar
Ata Bandial was held here in Islamabad on Monday.

In the meeting, the name of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice
(CJ) Athar Minallah, Lahore High Court’s judge Justice Shahid Waheed,
and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi were unanimously approved.

While the JCP sitting did not make any consensus on the name of Justice
Shafi Siddiqui of the Sindh High Court so his recommendation has been
postponed.

The Commission has sent the recommendations to the Parliamentary
Committee for final approval. The report said that the names of three
judges were recommended in the ratio of five to four.

As per the report, the names of Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Hasan
Azhar Rizvi were approved by a majority vote and the name of Justice
Athar Minallah was unanimously approved.

The meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) was held today
(Monday) to elevate the high court judges to the Supreme Court under the
shadows of the strike call given by the Pakistan Bar Council and Sindh
Bar Council.

Supreme Court of Pakistan Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial presided over
the meeting. The meeting considered the nomination of four judges for
their elevation to the apex court.

The names of judges who have been recommended for the elevation by Chief
Justice of Pakistan Bandial include Islamabad High Court Chief Justice
Athar Minallah, Lahore High Court Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Syed
Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Shafi Siddiqui of the Sindh High Court.

It is worth mentioning that the legal fraternity including Pakistan Bar
Council and Sindh Bar Council, and Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez
Isa have expressed their reservations over the nominations of the high
court judges.

The PCB and SBC have resented the CJP’s decision who has nominated
junior judges of the high courts for their elevation to the apex court.
Both the bars have given a strike call.

The lawyers in Karachi shut the doors of main building of the Sindh High
Court today in protest.

In his letter to the CJP a couple of days ago, Justice Isa also
requested Chief Justice of Pakistan Bandial to withdraw the names of
three junior judges who have been rejected by the Judicial Commission of
Pakistan (JCP) in its last meeting of July 28.

It is to be noted that Justice Qazi Faiz Essa and Justice Mansoor Ali
Shah voted against the appointment of Justice Shahid and Justice Hassan
Azhar to the Supreme Court. Representative of the Pakistan Bar Council
Justice Sardar Tariq also voted against the elevation of the two judges.

RIYADH, Oct 24: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif  Monday arrived here on a two-day visit, mainly to attend the Future Investment Initiative Summit being held from October 25-27.

The prime minister is visiting the Kingdom at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.

At the airport, Governor of Riyadh Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received the prime minister who was accompanied by a delegation comprising the federal ministers.

During his stay in Riyadh, the prime minister will hold consultations with the Saudi crown prince to review the longstanding fraternal relations, with a view to further strengthening the multifaceted cooperation, especially in the economic field, according to the Foreign Office.

Prior to his departure, he in a series of tweets said the present state of the global economy needed “new thinking and bold vision to overcome the irritants and forge new paths”.

“The pandemic and climate-induced disasters have already put immense strains on the developing countries,” he said, adding that it was high time the world explored solutions to the deepening challenges through candid dialogue.

The FII summit will convene the world’s foremost CEOs, policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs, and young leaders to shape the future of international investment and the global economy.

The event will include in-depth conversations about new pathways for global investment; analysis of critical industry trends; and unparalleled networking among CEOs, world leaders, and experts.