RAWALPINDI, Oct 15 (DNA): National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS)
will simultaneously hold its Medical and Dental College Admission Test
(MDCAT) across the country and overseas in Saudi Arabia and United Arab
Emirates for admission in MBBS/BDS programmes on October 16 (Sunday).
MDCAT for NUMS is being held for admission in 13 medical and Dental
colleges. The students seeking admission in these colleges this year are
no longer required to sit any other test as per the decision of Pakistan
Medical Commission (PMC) last month. The nomenclature of NUMS Entry Test
(NET) has been changed to MDCAT for NUMS 2022.
All the candidates for MBBS and BDS will have to secure 55% and 45 %
passing marks respectively to be successful in the test, said the
University Registrar Brig Muhammed Azhar (Retd) here on Saturday.
Over 70,000 candidates having Pakistani nationality will be taking the
test at their respective Exam Centers to compete for 2075 (two thousand
seventy-five) seats. Of all the contesting candidates, 46,582 girls and
23,641 boys have applied for admission. The result of MDCAT for NUMS is
expected to be announced within two to three weeks, said the Registrar.
MDCAT for NUMS MBBS/BDS Session 2022 will take place at the Examination
Centers, set up in 20 different cities including the Federal Capital
Islamabad, in four provincial capitals, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and
NUMS centers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The University has finalized the arrangements to conduct its MDCAT in a
transparent manner and trained staff has already been deployed at its
examination centers. A special Control Room has been set up at NUMS
Secretariat to monitor and coordinate with all the examination centres
in real time. NUMS has urged the candidates to reach, along with their
required documents, to their respective examination centres two hours
before the start of the test. DNA
Over 70,000 candidates expected to compete for 2,075 seats in MDCAT
Sana Fakhar part ways with husband Fakhar Jaffri
LAHORE, OCT 15: – Pakistani actress Sana Fakhar and her husband Fakhar Jaffri have parted ways. Taking to Instagram to announce their breakup, she said sometimes it is important to let go because though it hurts, it hurts less than holding on. “Breakups hurt but sometimes, breaking a relationship is so mandatory to save yourself from breaking so much. With all due respect, me and Fakhar, after several years of marriage through highs and lows, have decided to take separate paths. It’s heartbreaking but… I strongly believe that God has better plans for both of us. All the best Fakhar Jaffri,” she wrote.
Jaffri updated his Instagram as well with a separate post. Sharing a photo of them together, he wrote, “Life takes us to some point where even two love birds take there own ways ..it won’t b easy without you and never will all I want to say u We’R and u are the best person I ever flew with b God with you all the best Sana Fakhar [sic].”
Many dropped down in Sana’s comment section to send their love and prayers to the Qayamat actor including models Mathira and Nadia Hussain, and actors Azfar Rehman, Saba Faisal, Aslan Faisal and Ushna Shah.
Sana and Jaffri tied the knot in 2008 and have two sons together. They were embroiled in a controversy last year when the “Wrong No.2” actor shared a photo of herself kissing her husband. Many made a married couple’s PDA their personal business and lashed out. In response, Sana laughed off the comments, appearing completely unperturbed by the intrusive commentary on the pictures.
Pakistan has most secure nuclear command and control systems: Imran Khan
Says Biden’s statement belies govt’s claims of a ‘reset’ ties with US
My greatest worry is govt compromising national security: Khan
ISLAMABAD, OCT 15 /DNA/ – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan categorically stated that Pakistan has one of the most secure nuclear command and control systems’ unlike the US which has been involved in wars across the world.
In a tit-for-tat response to the US President Joe Biden’s controversial statement pertaining to Pakistani’s nuclear programme, PTI Chairman on Saturday said that the US President’s controversial statement clearly reflected the failure of the imported government’s claims of a “reset” in relations with the US foreign policy.
Imran Khan asked: “On what information has Biden reached this unwarranted conclusion on our nuclear capability when, having been PM, I know we have one of the most secure nuclear command & control systems.”
“Unlike the US which has been involved in wars across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression especially post-nuclearisation?” he further asked.
Lashing out at the imported government for what he said it has broken all records for incompetence, the PTI Chairman said Biden statement showed the total failure of the imported government’s foreign policy and its claims of reset of relations with the US. “Is this the ‘reset’?”
He went on to say that his greatest worry was that apart from leading the country to economic ruin and NRO II for themselves, giving a license to white-collar criminals to plunder the country, this government will also end up completely compromising national security. DNA
Women’s Asia Cup final: India thrash Sri Lanka to win 7th title
SYLHET, OCT 15 – The Indian women’s cricket team has become the Asia Cup 2022 champion for the seventh time as they continued their dominance in the tournament.
The Indian team registered a cakewalk win over Sri Lanka in the final of the 2022 edition by 8 wickets. For her brilliant performance with the ball, Renuka Singh Thakur has won the man of the match award, while Deepti Sharma has been named the Player of the tournament for her all-round show during the tournament.
In the final match, the Sri Lankan side won the toss and chose to bat. SL openers Chamari Athapaththu and Anushka Sanjeewani came out to bat. But they soon inflicted a blow when their captain Athapaththu ran out in the third over itself.
It could not go any well for the Lankan batters and they kept losing wickets. The track assisted the spinners but not to the extent that the scoreboard showed. Renuka Singh scalped three wickets, while Rajaeshwari Gayakwad and Sneh Rana picked two scalps each.
Sri Lanka toiled towards fifty and managed to play the complete 20 overs but the target was too meagre to be a worry for the Indian team. Coming out to bat, the Indian team chased the target inside 9 overs and clinched their seventh title of the continental cup.
Pakistan to summon US envoy for demarche over Biden’s nukes remark: FM Bilawal
ISLAMABAD, OCT 15: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday said that the incumbent government has decided to summon US Ambassador Donald Blome for an official demarche on US President Joe Biden’s remarks on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
At a Democratic congressional campaign committee reception on Thursday, Biden said Pakistan may be “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as the country has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.
A transcript of the address, published on the White House’s website, quoted Biden as saying: “… And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”
In a press conference at the Bilawal House in Karachi today, the foreign minister said that Pakistan’s nuclear assets “meet each and every international standard in accordance with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as far as security and safety is concerned”.
“If there is any question as to nuclear safety, then they should be directed to our neighbor India, who very recently accidentally fired a missile into Pakistani territory.
“This is not only irresponsible and unsafe but raises genuine and serious concerns about the safety of nuclear-capable countries,” he pointed out.
“I am surprised by the remarks of President Biden […] I believe this is exactly the sort of misunderstanding that is created when there is a lack of engagement.”
Bilawal said that Pakistan had embarked on a “journey of engagement” and just marked the 75th anniversary of bilateral engagements with the US.
“If this was such a concern, I imagine it would’ve been raised in that meeting with me, I believe that we have just started our journey of engagement and we will have many more opportunities to engage with the US and address any concerns and misconceptions they might have to this specific question.”
We have called the ambassador for a demarche, he said, adding that an opportunity should be allowed to the US to explain the position.
“I don’t believe it negatively impacts the relations between Pakistan and the US. We will continue on the positive trajectory of engagements we are having so far,” Bilawal highlighted.
He went on to say that Pakistan had nothing to do with Biden’s statement. “We will call their ambassador and issue a demarche, but I don’t think this was an official function […] it wasn’t an address to the parliament or an interview.
“It was a fundraiser […] it was an untraditional conversation in which this sentence was used so it should be [looked at] in this manner, I think we will look at this statement in this way,” he elaborated.
However, at the same time, Bilawal said that the nation should desist from “going into conspiracy theories”.
He clarified that had the government felt any pressure, it would have been brought before the public. “But there is no such issue, we have varying stances on different issues, but when you’re responsible and mature states, you engage.”
There are a lot of opportunities for Pakistan to positively engage with the rest of the word, he added.
‘Is this reset?’: Biden statement failure of govt’s foreign policy, says Imran Khan
ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan held Saturday the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif responsible for US President Joe Biden’s controversial statement regarding the nuclear programme, saying it shows the total failure of the imported government’s foreign policy.
While the Foreign Office mulls an official response to the US president’s comments, the former prime minister took to Twitter and said this government has broken all records for incompetence.
Joe Biden has alleged that Pakistan’s nuclear programme lacks “cohesion” and referred to the country as “one of the most dangerous countries” while he was speaking about the aggressive attitude of Russia and China at a democratic congressional campaign committee reception.
“Did anybody think we would be in a situation where China is trying to figure out its role relative to Russia and relative to India and relative to Pakistan,” Biden said. Terming the US president’s comments as an “unwarranted conclusion” of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, the former premier asked about the information Biden got to make such a statement on the country’s capability, and added: “….having been PM, I know we have one of the most secure nuclear command & control systems”. “Unlike the US which has been involved in wars across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression esp post-nuclearisation?” he further asked.
The PTI chairman also slammed the incumbent government and said this Biden statement shows the total failure of the imported government’s foreign policy and its claims of reset of relations with the US.
“Is this the ‘reset’?”
This govt has broken all records for incompetence, he further said.
The PTI chairman said that his greatest worry is that apart from leading the country to economic ruin and NRO II for themselves, giving a license to white-collar criminals to plunder the country, this government will also end up completely compromising national security.
Entrepreneurs demand single digit interest rate to promote business activities
Islamabad, OCT 15 /DNA/ – Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said that the State Bank of Pakistan has made significant hike in the policy interest rate due to which business activities are shrinking and if this situation continues, our economy will weaken more more in the coming days while the investment will also be discouraged, so he demanded the government to bring the interest rate into single digit so that business can be promoted with ease and the economy can come out of current difficulties. He expressed these views while addressing a delegation of Jhelum Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which visited ICCI led by its President Malik Khawar Shehzad to congratulate the new Office Bearers of ICCI.
Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said that currently the interest rate in Thailand is 1%, Taiwan 1.63%, Malaysia 2.5%, South Korea 3%, China 3.65%, Vietnam 5%, Bangladesh 5.75% and India 5.9%, but the interest rate in Pakistan is 15% which is the highest in the region, which is a major obstacle in the way of promoting business activities. He said that the best way to bring Pakistan’s economy out of trouble is to significantly increase exports, but this is very difficult to do in an environment of high interest rate. Therefore, he strongly demanded that the government should bring down the interest rate to single digit which will increase business and investment activities and help improve the economy.
Malik Khawar Shehzad, President, Jhelum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) said in his address that due to high interest rate, high prices of POL & utility tariffs and other factors, business and industrial activities are facing great difficulties due to which about 1600 textile factories have been closed. Therefore, he demanded the government to take concrete steps to promote ease of doing business and reduce the interest rate significantly, otherwise more businesses would close down. He said that due to the increase in the interest rate, the country’s debt also increases many times. He said that Pakistan’s debt, which was 48 billion dollars in 2008, has now increased to 116 billion dollars, which is alarming.
ICCI Group Leader Khalid Iqbal Malik, JCCI Group Leader Raja Anwar, FPCCI Vice President Qazi Akbar, Zafar Bakhtawari, Zubair Ahmad Malik, Mohammad Ijaz Abbasi, Malik Sohail Hussain and others also spoke at the occasion. They stressed that the government should make a future strategy in consultation with the business community to promote business and economic activities so that Pakistan can be put on the path of better development and growth.
China’s 20th CPC National Congress begins amidst great hopes
Islamabad, OCT 15 /DNA/ – The world seeks out hopes from the 20th CPC National Congress because what is to be hashed out and laid down as blueprints for the future of China will leave a lasting imprint on the world’s geopolitical, geo-economic, and geostrategic landscapes, says a report published by Gwadar Pro on Saturday.
As time draws closer to the convening of the 20th CPC National Congress on October 16, the global audience especially international influencers has been keeping a tab on phase-wise developments even before the announcement of the event.
In the face of deep-rooted challenges relating to economic recession, inflation, climate change, politicization, protectionism, global disharmony, terrorism, war, food security and prejudices of superpowers, people of the world need a beacon of light to forge ahead.
Yasir Habib Khan, President of the Institute of International Relations and Media Research (IIRMR) the author of the report viewed that leaving aside a few that are hell-bent to hold their hegemony with a Zero-sum narrative, the rest of the world is looking toward someone to lead. Someone that works with them as a team. Someone that believes in partnership with the philosophy of co-existence, harmony, peace and a win-win development model for all.
The 20th CPC National Congress is occurring at a specific time when the US midterm elections are about to be held next month. What results come out will set the direction of American’s relations with China. Russia-Ukraine War is also going berserk fueled by International players, especially NATO.
Afghanistan issue is further in limbo. 10 days before the 20th CPC National Congress, the UN Human Rights Council rejected a Western-led motion to hold a debate on China’s alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang as nineteen countries voted against the motion, 17 voted in favor, and 11 abstained. It’s only the second time in the U.N. body’s 16-year history that a motion has been defeated.
Besides all it is fortunate that the world attaches hopes to China, having observed the past five years of China’s epic development implemented by the 19th CPC National Congress that has created global positive ripples in the length and breadth of the world.
During the 13th Five-Year Plan period under stewardship of CPC from 2016 to 2020, China made great strides in improving the economy, people’s livelihood and other fields. China has contributed over 30 percent to global economic growth, with GDP hitting almost 100 trillion yuan ($14.9 trillion).
Over 50 million people have been relieved from poverty, and 53.78 million new urban jobs have been created. New standard bearers in technology emerged, including high-speed trains, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and domestic passenger aircraft C919.
This rapid technological development can be attributed to investment in research and development, which totaled 2.17 trillion yuan in 2019, accounting for 2.19 percent of GDP and up 56.3 percent from 2015. The world had to admire China for becoming the largest number of companies on the world’s top 500 companies list published by Fortune Magazine.
The 20th CPC National Congress is going to shed light on the 14th five-year plan (FYP) covering the years 2021 to 2025, officially endorsed by the National People’s Congress (NPC) on 11 March 2021. The Plan is divided into 19 sections and 65 chapters, touching on all aspects of development over the next five years, as well as showcasing China’s 2035 vision.
Experts believe that the 20th CPC National Congress will focus on the “dual-circulation” Plan which is very significant for the world economy. It is going to put far-reaching results on the international economy. Some have interpreted this to mean that Beijing is turning its back on the outside world, but that’s not what the plan says.
It says policies should help unleash the full potential of the domestic market, facilitating firms to provide higher-quality goods and services to better stimulate domestic demand.
And at the same time, Beijing promised greater access to foreign investors and encouraged Chinese companies to trade more with the outside world. Beijing wants this round of opening-up “to be on a greater scale, across more sectors and on a deeper level.”
The second key point to be looked into during the 20th CPC National Congress is “innovation,” mentioned 47 times in the final 14th Five Year Plan. The new plan really puts innovation at the heart of China’s future plans.
Beijing says it will strive to make major breakthroughs in core technologies in key areas and become a global leader in innovation. Many predict there will be more of a policy push for higher spending in the coming years in emerging sectors, such as biotechnology, semiconductors and new energy vehicles.
Another area of focus is green growth. There are no rigid GDP targets for the next five years and instead “green growth” has been pinpointed 19 times, a sign that Beijing continues to encourage local officials to look beyond GDP as a key performance indicator and instead focus on low-carbon and sustainable growth models.
CPC set two centenary goals: The first was to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2021 when CPC celebrated its centenary. Among second centenary goals, main point is to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects by the middle of the century to celebrate the centenary of the People’s Republic of China.
The 20th CPC National Congress will be a very important event taking place at a crucial moment, with China embarking on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist country, the report added.
Minimum age for marriage of girls should be 18 years PODA conference concludes at Lok Virsa
DNA
ISLAMABAD, Observing International Rural Women’s Day (Saturday) the rural women from 123 districts present the 15th Annual Rural Women Conference by PODA-Pakistan here at Lok Virsa demanded to set minimum age for marriage for girls 18 years. They said that this age limit should be for all beyond race, ethnicity and creed.
The Three-Day Annual Rural Women Conference organized by PODA-Pakistan and supported for European Union Delegation to Pakistan, Election Commission of Pakistan, National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), GIZ and National Endowment for Democracy concluded today (Saturday) on passing a unanimously agreed resolutions highlighting rural women’s issues at the grassroots level to ensure their constitutional rights. PODA-Pakistan has been organizing the Annual Rural Women Conference since 2008 in Islamabad.
Urging the legislators, policy makers and parliamentarians to main the primary principle of gender equality enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan to uphold women’s political, social and economic rights, the gathering passed a set of resolutions unanimously. The resolution focused mainly on the areas of health, education, women’s financial inclusion, climate change, access to basic social services, political participation and women’s constitutional and citizenship rights while highlighting the need to adhere and ensure the principle of equal representation of rural women at all levels, policy, planning and implementation.
The conference participants of four provinces and regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan urged the provincial governments to adopt policies based on the concept of gender-equality which includes all segments of the society from person-with-disabilities, transgender persons, minorities, different ethnicities and indigenous communities to allocate resources for their development, while at the same time recognizing their contributions in the national development. The conference participants reiterated their demand to recognize rural women as “farmers” so that equally to men they could be benefited from the government policies.
Reiterating European Union Delegation to Pakistan’s commitment for gender equality, present on the occasion, Thomas Seiler, Deputy Head said this conference is a “platform from where you make your voices heard collectively to tackle problems and challenges”.He also recommended the participants to take back their action plan in the form of conference resolutions with them to work on it at union level with their utmost resilience. He said that European Union Delegation to Pakistan has been working closely with the government of Pakistan and with other donors in assessing the needs for rebuilding the flood-hit areas and supporting future recovery efforts. “Women are among the most at risk in flood-affected areas. However, at the same they need to be on the frontline of relief plans ensuring their needs are treated on priority,” Thomas Seiler said.
Thomas Seiler also termed the conference an effective drive in connecting women’s demands raised from this platform with the steps taken and efforts initiated by the state institutions of ECP and NADRA for ensuring women’s equal participation in political processes.
Lauding the efforts of PODA, Farkhanda Naz, Provincial Ombudsperson Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace urged to extend harassment act to protect women working in informal sector. Earlier President, PODA Sameena Nazir presented an over view of the previous annual rural women conferences.
Nuzhat Shirin, Chairperson Sindh Commission on the Status of Women also spoke on the occasion terming conference a unique place for nurturing “a great sense of sisterhood” among women which was in itself a great accomplishment to celebrate.
Deputy Head of EUD to Pakistan, Thomas Seiler, awarded partner organizations and rural women for their contributions taking forward the conference’s agenda into their districts across Pakistan
The solidarity partners who received awards were: Nuzhat Shirin Chairperson Sindh Commission on the Status of Women, Rukhshanda Naz KP Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment at Workplace, Shaheen Farooqi, Bhera Press Club, Zarina Salamat, member PODA board, eminent poet, Kishwar Naheed. Rural Women Leaders who were awarded included: Aqsa Noor, Mirpur, AJK, Shahida Irshad, Quetta, Balochistan, Shazia Fida Gilgit, GB, Rukhsana Jahengir, Swat KPK, Mehwish Majeed, Layyah, Punjab and Azra Memon, Dadu, Sindh.
Chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women, Nilofer Bakhtiar, Reema Aftab, DG Inclusive Registration, NADRA, Moazzma Yousaf, Director Inclusive Registration and Zahid ur Rehman Assistant Director NADRA were also among the award recipients for their contributions to uplift the cause of rural women.
‘One of most dangerous countries’: Biden alleges Pakistan’s nuclear programme lack cohesion
DNA
WASHINGTON: United States President Joe Biden has alleged that Pakistan’s nuclear programme lacks “cohesion” while he was speaking about the aggressive attitude of Russia and China.
The remark came during the US president’s address at a democratic congressional campaign committee reception, where he referred to Pakistan as “one of the most dangerous countries”.
“Did anybody think we would be in a situation where China is trying to figure out its role relative to Russia and relative to India and relative to Pakistan,” Biden said.
The US president said that he has spent more time with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping than any other head of state in the world, 68 hours of which was in person.
Referring to China President Jinping, Biden said that he “understands what he wants but has an enormous array of problems”.
“How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” the US president said, adding that despite a lot going on, the US has a hunk of opportunities to change the dynamic in the second quarter of the 21st century.
Pakistan mulls response
Meanwhile, a virtual meeting is being held at the Foreign Office where the situation arising out of the US president’s controversial statement is being discussed to decide Islamabad’s official response, according to Geo News sources.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Foreign Secretary Sohail Mehmood, Additional Secretary Americas, Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Masood Khan and other officials are attending the huddle.
The sources said that FM Bilawal Bhutto will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the meeting and other stakeholders will also be consulted in this regard before giving a detailed official response.
While speaking to Geo News, a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is difficult to understand the context in which President Biden made these unnecessary remarks.
He said that several US presidents and the government has always declared the security of Pakistan’s nuclear programme and controls effective and according to international standards.
‘Baseless’
Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan — a senior member of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet — has termed the US president’s statement about Pakistan’s nuclear programme “baseless”.
While answering a question about President Joe Biden’s comments regarding Pakistan during a press conference today, the former defence minister said, “Pakistan’s nuclear command and control system is absolutely safe which has been confirmed by international organisations many times”.
He said that the US president’s doubts about Pakistan’s nukes are “completely wrong and the statement is baseless”.
