PTI moves IHC against imposition of section 144 in Islamabad
Shaheen Afridi to be fit for World Cup opener, says Raja
Shaheen Afridi to be fit for World Cup opener, says Raja
British High Commissioner calls on Finance Minister Ishaq Dar
ISLAMABAD – British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner on Saturday called on Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar and exchanged views on matters of common interest.
The minister briefed the British High Commissioner about the devastation caused by the recent floods in Pakistan, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Finance.
The minister underscored that Pakistan had long-standing historic ties with the United Kingdom and relations between the two countries needed to be further augmented for the mutual benefit of the two sides.
He also briefed the envoy about the economic agenda and priorities of the government and said that the present government aims to bring about economic and fiscal stability, leading to economic recovery and growth.
Speaking on the occasion, the British High Commissioner extended his felicitations to the Minister on assuming his new responsibilities.
Rawalpindi court issues non-bailable arrest warrants for Rana Sanaullah
A Rawalpindi court on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in a corruption case.
Azerbaijan – a symbol of Resilience & Patriotism
AZERBAIJAN’s Leadership and Nation both became a living symbol of resilience and patriotic approach in recent past during the war imposed by Armenia which was overcome by the brave forces under the leadership of President Illham Aliyev and the great Azeri Nation.
Since its independence from Russia (the then USSR) in 1991, Azerbaijan started its journey for socio-economic development alongside a long battle for maintaining peace to achieve prosperity which was the aim of father of Azerbaijani Nation the great HeydarAliyev and the current President Illham Aliyev. Armenia imposed war on Azerbaijan two years ago however the dark night was finally over and the brave forces of Azerbaijan defeated Armenia in less then 50 days of struggle during ‘Iron Fist’ launched in September 2020. This ended three decades long period of unlawful domination, in which the blood of innocent Azerbaijanis was shed. Despiteall its difficulties, Azerbaijan stands today among the rapidly developing nations.
As Pakistan and Azerbaijan are enjoying exemplary bilateral relations in all fields of daily life specially defense, strategic, cultural and historical trade relations from pre independence time of both countries. This relationship turned closer and became brotherly ties with the passage of time especially due to recent past visits from Mass Media and Business Community representatives.
Recently, I got the chance to travel to Azerbaijan alongwith Mass Media delegation with the courtesy of Azerbaijan Embassy in Pakistanthanks to Ambassador KhazarFarhadov and his efficient team. The purpose of this 5 days visit was to take Pakistani media team to recently liberated areas. The delegation first visited theliberated district known as FUZULI which now under government’s quick re-construction after removing the illegal occupation of Armenia and changing theterritorial status quo. Not only that, the infrastructural model of territories has been well designed by the Azerbaijan Government to which the development programs are in process.
Armenia during its around 30 years illegal occupation kept KARABAKH region despite of 4 United Nation Security Council resolutions clearly demanding immediate, full and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from these territories. Azerbaijan Armed forces launched counter-offensive operation in 2020 in response to Armenian provocations and successfully and honorably liberated KARABAKH region.
FUZULI – a recently liberated district was almost full of minefields which were planted by the then Armenian army during the 1990s in the evasion of the first Karabakh war. While second war in area which broke out in September 2020 ended with the signing of a tripartite agreement betweenAzerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. Subsequently many illegal minefields were discovered that had been planted by the Armenian army which were defused by Azerbaijan’s Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) towards the mine-clearing activities throughout the district. ANAMA is doing great job towards humanity and for successful implementationof rehabilitation process. ANAMA has cleared 5,000 mines on the Fuzuli-Zangilan highway while Baku is convinced that the hidden maps by Armenia could help neutralize 01 million landmines planted in the territory of Azerbaijan and can take almost 12 years.
ZANGILAN was next destination where Azeri Government’s people’s friendly initiative famously known as “Smart village” of Aghali was visited and we were briefed about smart living and people of this area who left during war time. In the area of village‘smart illumination’ of streets, warm and cold resistant houses and installation of solar energy panels. The area during the occupation of Armeniawas having no development of any kind. Now, the Azerbaijan government has focused on providing the best life for its people, especially for those who have been kept deprived of such facilities. As labelled by the President of Azerbaijan IlhamAliyev, “The great return” to attract the sparsely-populated region into the smart village which has focused on high internet speed facility, green economy, and digitalization of many aspects of life.
Next we visited SHUSHA aftervisiting recently completed FUZULI International Airport, which was example of Azerbaijan’s commitment towards the development of cities and this international airport was built in just a mere period of 8 months as a part of the massive infrastructure and organizational engineering of the Azerbaijani Government.
Shusha City & Castle were under the occupation of Armenia but in the 2020 war.Shusha known as the crown of Karabakh was declared“Cultural Capital of Azerbaijan” due to its historical, cultural, and strategic importance by the President of Azerbaijan IlhamAliyevShusha the. In 2021, President ordered the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture to design and plan the work for the reconstruction of Shusha city. The major development occurred when the Fortress Wall of Shusha was successfully reconstructed. Shusha is known for its music and poetry. The City is seeing a massive reconstruction after the liberation. It was pleasant moment when the visiting media team saw three flags (Pakistan-Azerbaijan & Turkey) were in front of a restaurant named QOC.AT, which reflects the heart to heart relationship and respect for each other.
GANJA City witnessed maximum destruction during the war wherein Armenia attacked on the civilian population causing unnecessary damage and casualties which was really very disheartening for all team members. The second largest city of Azerbaijan Ganja, faced the most number of missiles fired during the war. While visiting the places where rockets were fired on the civilian population. The destruction of living apartments and casualties of civilians raises the issue of violating International humanitarian law. As a result of which around many civilians including children and women were killed by brutality of Armenian forces.
AGHDAM City was next destination for the visiting team which had remained a ghost town for nearly 3 decades under the illegal occupation of Armenia. The city was in complete havoc and destruction. Mr. Araz N. Imanov&UmidIsazada, Special Representative Office of the President Azerbaijan in Aghdam, accompanied by the team said that the town was a paradise for the people of Azerbaijan which turned in to Heroshima. The reconstruction of the city has begun already.
No doubt that the havoc done by Armenia is strongly condemnable. During the three decades of occupation of Karabakh, Armenia extremelyfailed to provide any facilities for people. Now, as Azerbaijan took its area back, the struggles to reconstruct for providing a better life have begun. The Azerbaijan Government’s initiatives appreciated by the global community attracting many media representatives across the worldto show the true side of a picture.
The visiting mass media team moved from Aghdam to Baku, witnessed along the shore of the Caspian Sea along with Baku, which is a main hub of oil for Azerbaijan. It holds great significance for the economy of Azerbaijan ranking 20th in the world for producing oil. It has the capacity for producing oil for 200 years and a highly attractive investment destination for global markets. Thanks to its geographical location at the crossroads of several regional and global transport corridors Azerbaijan is an international transport hub. The routes between East and West, North and South are passing through Azerbaijan and goods are being transported through the territory of Azerbaijan from China to Europe.
The friendship between Azerbaijan and Pakistanis rapidly growing stronger as evident from Pakistani flags being waved along with Azerbaijani and Turkish flags in Azerbaijan. After visiting recently liberated areas of Azerbaijan and seeing their love and attachment with Pakistan, there is a need to further strengthen these relations and increace people to people interaction in to further meaningful and result oriented ventures for the betterment of both countries and the region.
At Global stage Azerbaijan appears as a rapidly developing country and is increasing its international presence day by dayby organizing international forums on important topics and issues.It is very important for Pakistan Azerbaijan Relations to further grow. Especially, we, at 30th Anniversary of our diplomatic relations should work bringing both countries closer on all important issues and enhance the brotherly relations.
Gen Bajwa’s US visit seen as part of efforts to reset ties
WASHINGTON: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa left for home on Wednesday evening after a five-day visit to the United States, which is being interpreted by the international media as part of an effort to reset US-Pakistan ties.
While the international media focused on issues like Pakistan-US ties, India-Pakistan and Pakistan-China relations, the media in Pakistan showed more interest on the possible impact of the visit on the country’s internal politics.
Another issue that was in focus was the timing of the visit, with many questioning why the army chief came to Washington towards the end of his tenure.
Tamanna Salikuddin, who worked for the State Department and the US National Security Council for 12 years before joining the US Institute of Peace as the head of their South Asian program, however, disagrees with the speculations about the timing.
‘People in Pakistan are looking for some signals, some dots to connect, that are not there,” she told.
“I think this was a long-planned visit and this visit has been long delayed. It was scheduled and rescheduled many times.”
Commenting on media speculations in Pakistan, she said: “I don’t think it has any connection to his retirement date.”
She said that no one in the US administration would give an endorsement or deny an endorsement” to an extension to his tenure. Absolutely not. Conspiracy theories sell in Pakistan very well, but it so far from the truth.”
Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center, Washington, noted that Gen Bajwa came “during what will likely be the last few weeks of his final term as Pakistan’s army chief” but did not say why.
“The trip can be seen not only as an effort to help build up US-Pakistan relations, but also to help build up his own legacy, as he nears retirement,” he said.
Marvin Weinbaum of the Middle East Institute, Washington, regretted the trend in Pakistan to tag everything to domestic politics.
“In place of the unity needed to deal with Pakistan’s twin humanitarian and economic crises, confrontational politics goes on as usual,” he wrote.
In its report on the visit, Al Jazeera noted that efforts to improve ties began in July and since then several senior US officials and members of Congress have visited the country in the aftermath of the floods. So far, the US has also provided $66m in aid.
ICCI, Ministry of H&W to organize first Int’l Housing Expo
Islamabad, OCT 7 /DNA/ – The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Ministry of Housing & Works have agreed to jointly organize the first International Housing Expo 2022 (IHE-2022) in Islamabad in December this year. This consensus was reached when both sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Secretary Ministry of Housing and Works signed the MoU at a ceremony held in the Ministry.
Speaking at the occasion, Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Works said that all the major international and national developers, builders and real estate enterprises would be invited to display their projects in the Expo. He said that the Expo will help in attracting local and foreign investment to Pakistan and revive the economic development in the urban areas of the country. He said that the government places affordability, sustainability and inclusiveness of the housing sector at the core of the urbanization process to ensure access to adequate housing for all. He said that the main objective of the Expo is to promote urban regeneration schemes, management of rapid urbanization and development of national urban infrastructure to support urban development and promote affordable green energy housing for all. He hoped that the collaboration between the Ministry and the ICCI for the forthcoming IHE-2022 would be helpful in making the Expo a landmark event.
Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his remarks said that ICCI intends to construct Pakistan’s tallest building in Islamabad and its plan would be announced during the International Housing Expo 2022. He said that the tallest tower would attract investors to Pakistan and make Islamabad a hub of financial and investment activities as happened in UAE after the construction of Burj Khalifa. He said that many investors are interested in constructing high rise buildings in Islamabad and urged that the CDA should amend its building byelaws to encourage vertical constructions, which offer the best solution to tackling the affordable housing challenge in the federal capital and across the country. He assured that ICCI would extend full support to the Ministry in organizing the IHE-2022 in a successful manner.
Faad Waheed Senior Vice President, Azhar ul Islam Zafar Vice President ICCI, Khalid Iqbal Malik Group Leader, Khalid Javed, Zafar Bakhtawari, Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, Sheikh Amir Waheed, Ameer Hamza and others were present at the occasion.
Another audio leak drops, this time allegedly of Imran strategising on horse-trading in parliament
ISLAMABAD, OCT 7: Another alleged audio of former prime minister Imran Khan was released on Friday, the latest in a series of leaks from the Prime Minister’s Office, purportedly featuring the PTI chief talking about horse-trading in parliament.
In the audio recording, a voice believed to be Imran’s says: “You have a misunderstanding that now the number game is complete […] don’t think this is over.”
“You see, 48 hours is a long long time. Big things are happening. I am making my own moves that we can’t make public,” Imran purportedly says.
The PTI chief allegedly goes on to say that he “is buying five”.
“I have given the message that those five are very important. And tell them that if they secure these five […] and if he secures 10, then the game will be in our hands. The nation at this moment is alarmed. Across the board, people want us to win somehow.
“Hence, don’t worry about whether this is right or wrong […] even if they break one, it would create a huge difference,” the voice, believed to be Imran’s, adds.
The audio clip released on Friday is the third such featuring the PTI chairman. Last week, an audio clip purportedly revealed a conversation between Imran and then principal secretary Azam Khan about the cipher — shared by Asad Majeed, the then envoy to the US — which Imran has used to peddle his foreign conspiracy narrative.
In the clip, the former prime minister allegedly tells Azam to “play up” the cipher and turn it into a foreign plot to oust his government but adds that there is no need to name any country.
A day later, another clip surfaced — supposedly a continuation of the conversation in the previous recording — purportedly featuring PTI leaders Asad Umar and Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussing the “foreign conspiracy” cipher with the former premier and ex-principal secretary.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry on Friday did not disavow the contents of the latest audio clip but said that “everyone knows where and how the audios are being made”.
In a tweet, the former minister asked: “By joining voices such as these will you prove NRO 2 to be valid?”
Book on effective writing launched
Muhammad Omar Iftikhar
KARACHI, OCT 7 /DNA/ – The awaited book “20 Steps to Writing Articles” authored by Muhammad Omar Iftikhar and published by Daastan, is finally available for aspiring writers and professionals alike. The book guides the readers on how to write articles that get published in renowned print and digital publications.
The strategies and methods mentioned in the book include idea selection, choosing a topic, the significance of researching, preparing an outline and the angle, determining the word count, using ‘show, don’t tell’, editing, among others.
While commenting on the book, Omar said “I envisioned sharing with Pakistan’s aspiring writers the insights, ideas, art, and the craft of developing articles that I learned during my writing career that began in 2004.” Omar has published over 950 articles in Pakistan’s leading print publications. “20 Steps to Writing Articles” is available in print and e-book formats.
The hard copy includes two bonus chapters: Publishing Advice and 20 Key Points to Enhance Your Writing Style. Omar is also the author of a science fiction novel, Divided Species (2020). Its story is set in Karachi and is the only such novel of its kind.
CNNC donates Rs. 200 million to PM Flood Relief Fund
DNA
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 7: China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has donated an amount equivalent to Rs. 200 million to the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund, providing assistance and rehabilitation to the affectees of the monsoon rains and subsequent floods around the country.
A delegation of CNNC headed by its President Overseas Zhang Guoliang held a meeting here with Pakistani Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative (PD&SI) Professor Ahsan Iqbal, according to Gwadar Pro.
Expressing sympathies over the loss of lives, properties, and infrastructure due to the recent devastating floods in Pakistan, Mr. Zhang informed Ahsan Iqbal about CNNC’s donation of around Rs. 200 million to the PM Flood Relief Fund. He also offered his company’s support to further help the flood victims.
Ahsan Iqbal lauded the role of the Chinese Government, companies, and Chinese civilian relief initiatives for flood damages in Pakistan.
It is apt to mention that China’s continuous response efforts for Pakistan have exceeded 644.1 million RMB (equivalent to US$ 90.2 million).
The Chinese Government extended support of RMB 400 million, the Chinese Army RMB 100 million, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries donated RMB 125 million, and the Red Cross Society of China provided RMB 2.1 million.
