WASHINGTON, MAR 12 – US President Joe Biden on Friday holds the first-ever four-way summit with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan, ramping up efforts to cement alliances as concerns grow over a rising China.
In a flurry of diplomacy, Japan announced that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga would become the first foreign leader to see Biden in person, a sign of the primacy the new US leader attaches to allies.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin are also paying a joint visit next week to both Japan and South Korea on their first foreign travel, with Austin continuing on to India.
Blinken and the US national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, will then meet later next week in Alaska with top Chinese officials in what the Biden administration has promised to be a blunt airing of US concerns.
Friday’s four-way summit, while virtual, will mark the first time that leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia have met together following more than a decade of meetings at lower levels of the so-called “Quad”.
The summit comes at a time when all four democracies see relations deteriorate with China, which in the past year has engaged in a deadly clash with Indian forces in the Himalayas, has stepped up activity near islands administered by Japan and has imposed sanctions on Australian products following a series of disputes.
The Biden administration, however, has been careful not to link the Quad explicitly to China — a shift in rhetoric after former president Donald Trump’s strident denunciations of Beijing.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the Quad is not focused “on any single issue, to include China”.
“We have shared interests in standing up for universal values and rights. We have shared economic interests. We have shared security interests. We have deep people-to-people ties with all of these countries,” Price said.
LAHORE, MAR 12 – Young pacers Shahnawaz Dhani and Arshad Iqbal have been included in Pakistan’s squad for the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The squad was announced on Friday by chief selector Mohammad Wasim at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
For the T20I and ODI squads, explosive opening batsman Sharjeel Khan, Arshad and young pacer Muhammad Wasim have been included whereas the likes of Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Aamer Yamin, Amad Butt, Zafar Gohar and Zahid Mahmood have missed out.
Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has also been included in the squad after missing out for the series against South Africa after failing to join the bio-secure bubble in time.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who is a regular feature in the five-day format for the national team, will miss the tour as he continues to recover from an injury.
In his place, leg-spinner Zahid, who missed out on a spot in the T20I squad after the arrival of all-rounder Shadab Khan, has been included.
Dhani, who had a really impressive outing for Multan Sultans during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021, has also been selected for the Test series against Zimbabwe.
T20I squad for South Africa and Zimbabwe tours:
Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Wasim Jr., Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal, Usman Qadir
ODI squad for South Africa and Zimbabwe tours:
Babar Azam (captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Wasim Jr., Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir
Test squad for Zimbabwe tour:
Babar Azam (captain), Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Tabish Khan, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dhani, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mahmood, Sajid Khan
ISLAMABAD, MAR 12 (DNA) – Shafaq Hashmi, Administrator, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad assured that she would work with concerned market associations and industry representatives to address the MCI related key issues of the business community so that they could be facilitated in promoting trade and industrial activities. She said this during an interaction with the business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI). Mian Tariq Latif, Director Revenue MCI also accompanied her at the occasion.
Shafaq Hashmi said that many issues highlighted by the business community were related to the CDA, however, she was ready to sit with CDA’s top brass to resolve problems of traders and industrialists for their ease of doing business.
She listened to the various issues of trade and industry including exorbitant hike in property tax, raise in trade license fee and board tax and assured that she would look into these issues to find out their optimum solutions. She said that she would take F-10 Markaz as a pilot project for removal of encroachments and added that things would be taken forward to find solutions with joint efforts.
Speaking at the occasion, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that most of the traders and industrialists of Islamabad were facing common issues and close cooperation of MCI was needed to address them.
He said that parking was a serious issue in markets and parking plots should be auctioned to the private sector for construction of parking plazas or build them on BOT basis. It will also generate sufficient revenue for the civic bodies, he added. He urged that property tax should be reduced to make it affordable while trade license fee and board tax should also be rationalized to save traders from unnecessary problems.
He said that more parks should be made for citizens and a town hall should be constructed in Islamabad for holding meetings and functions. He said that MCI should take measures to generate yearly economic activity including carnivals, food parks, various sporting events.
He said that no one was taking the ownership of Islamabad Citizens Club and emphasized that this club should be made operational in cooperation with stakeholders so that the citizens could take benefit from it.
Mian Akram Farid, Chairman, Founder Group apprised the Administrator MCI of the major issues of industrial areas and stressed that the civic body should take steps to address the highlighted issues. He said that the business community was making significant contributions towards various development works for the beautification of the city and it needed close cooperation of MCI and CDA to resolve issues and develop Islamabad on modern lines.
Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI, Zafar Bakhtawari, Ahmed Khan President Traders Association F-10 Markaz, Yousaf Rajput President Traders Association Blue Area, Raja Zulsham from Melody Food Park, Baser Daud, Tahir Abbasi, Nasir Chaudhry, Abbas Hashmi, Khalid Chaudhry and others also highlighted various issues.
They said that parking was a burning issue in markets that should be addressed on top priority basis. They said that repair of footpaths, carpeting of roads, restoration of streetlights, improvement in sewerage and sanitation was needed and urged that steps should be taken by MCI and CDA to address these issues.
They further said that businesses in Melody Food Park should be restored, a cricket ground should be provided for special persons and a graveyard should be provided to the residents of all sectors in Islamabad.=DNA
The largest business community in South Asia and Africa gets their business news updates in Vyapar Samacharproduced by the Television News Network (TNN)
Islamabad, MAR 12 – The Global Memon population consisting of 1.8 millionMemons in South Asia and Africa will be getting their Business News from Pakistan covered in “Vyapar Samachar”. The daily news roundup will be available in Memoni language on RINSTRA’s digital platform.
TNN and RINSTRA are also producing a business show with the community’s business leaders featured in the weekly show “Vyapar Mukhiya”.The weekly one on one show, highlights the professional and personal struggle of business leaders in the Memon community. Vyapar Samachar/Mukhiya include great stories of inspiration for the youth to follow the footsteps of the great minds of our times.
Pakistan’s most prominent entrepreneurial community is the Memon Community. It has been admired for its business acumen, enterprising spirit, grit and patience, honesty and philanthropic inclination. The community is involved in multiple businesses including, Textile, Banking, Shipping, Fertilizer, Chemical, Food, and Power & Oil. The Business News “Vyapar Samachar” aims to represent the Memon community in Pakistan particularly and in South Asia and Africa in general, which plays a key role in business environment of Pakistan.
Sattar Habib, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Television News Network (TNN) said “It was my dream to start the First Memon News Channel in the World and with this partnership we have laid the foundation stone for this unique genre of information to originate from Pakistan.” He further said, “With news in Memoni language, we are serving the global Memon community. This will enhance regional integration, understanding across borders and a sense of belonging with each other. The business news will encourage credible and timely news flow to the global citizens of the community. The initiative of RINSTRA will not only spread the news but will also create better understanding about the business environment among the business communities that want to do business and trade with Pakistan.”
Dr. Adil Akhtar, Co-founder and Chairman of RINSTRA and Vice President DICE Foundation USA said, “the mission of RINSTRA is to promote the entrepreneurial culture in Pakistan, the best way to do so is to engage and showcase of the success stories from Pakistan, depicting the true entrepreneurial spirit of the Pakistani dream, ‘work hard, be consistent, show resilience and move forward’, through Vyapar Smachar and Vyapar Mukhiya, RINSTRA, aims to share stories of these business leader in their own language and culture.”
Amir Jahangir, the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RINSTRA said, “Pakistan has great stories to tell the world, it is not just the politics and the war on terror related issues that occupy the global news space in the context of Pakistan, but a country of more than 220 million people has more to do with its people, culture, business, finance and economic development related issues. We are confident that “Vyopar Samachar” will become to torch bearer of Pakistan’s economic agenda first within the business community and then across the globe.”
Today, a major chunk of the Memon Community is based out of Pakistan and India; apart from significant communities in the United Kingdom, Canada, USA, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Middle East, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Mauritius, Singapore Burma and Australia.
“It was my dream to start the First Memon News Channel in the world and this partnership with RINSTRA, we have laid the foundation stone for this unique genre of information to originate from Pakistan.” – Sattar Habib,Founder andChief Executive Officer Television News Network (TNN)
Memoni is the language that Memons speak. The Memons of different regions have slightly different styles of speaking this language, thanks to local influences and years of isolation from each other. However, these dialects remain mutually intelligible. Memoni is believed to have originated as a dialect of Sindhi. It is mutually intelligible with Kutchi with borrowed vocabulary from Gujarati, Hindi-Urdu and lately English. Memoni as a language does not have its own script. However, in the past, there have been attempts to write Memoni using Gujrati and Urdu scripts. Off late, with the increasing popularity of computers and communication mediums such as emails, messages, etc. Memoni has increasingly started being written in the Roman Script too. Across the world, Memons are no longer mere businessmen or industrialists, they are now among the most enlightened and progressive communities in the world.
Television News Network (TNN) is Pakistan’s leading news network, which is a pioneer in multimedia news services. TNN has been fuelled by the desire to fulfill the basic human urge and curiosity for knowledge and information. Sheer truthfulness, credibility, and quality are the guiding principles of TNN. More than 400 professionals, working in different television channels, have been trained and groomed by Television News Network under Mr. Sattar Habib’s personal supervision and now they are occupying prominent positions.
RINSTRA is the outcome of the thought leadership of Dice Foundation USA’s Creative Arts and Media Initiative (DICE CAM). It is part of Dice Foundation’s National Innovation Basket (NIB) program, which aims to create media as a corner stones of Pakistan’s growth strategy. RINSTRA is Pakistan’s first short-form digital media platform for on-demand streaming and for creation of user generated original content on iRINSTRA. The organization provides entrepreneurship opportunities to emerging and established content creators and film makers in Pakistan and beyond. RINSTRA gives content creators access to a large Pakistani community around the globe, and ithas been able to create a unique platform that offers dramas and films, while enabling users to generate their own content on the same platform. It also has a feature for Content Competition where, more than 100 academic institutions in Pakistan are competing on various thematic areas. The Fest feature of the application has provided some of the leading Film Festivals to partner with RINSTRA for digital viewing of their films and documentaries. This has created an unprecedented experience for viewers in the country.
ISLAMABAD, MAR 12 – Voting for electing the Senate chairman and the deputy has begun as the opposition and the government on Friday continued to trade barbs over “hidden” cameras found at the polling booth earlier in the day.
Polling officers are currently calling senators in alphabetical order of their names to cast their votes. Polling will continue until 5pm.
JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri was the first senator to be called to make his choice.
Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, who is presiding over the session and earlier administered the oath to all 48 newly elected members of the Upper House, read out the names of the candidates contesting for the positions as well as the senators sponsoring them.
Shah also directed that a body be formed comprising equal number of senators from the government and the opposition to investigate the matter of “hidden” cameras found earlier in the session.
“Recovered items like cameras and otherwise, will be secured and sealed till the final disposal of the matter,” he said.
He further said a new polling booth had been established and asked representatives from both sides to inspect them.
Who do the numbers favour?
Though the opposition enjoys a clear majority in the Senate to win both the seats, political pundits say it is going to be a close contest and any deviation from party policy and wastage of votes in secret ballot can translate into an upset.
Back in August 2019, Senate Chairman Sanjrani had survived no-confidence vote when only 50 votes were cast in favour of the opposition’s motion against the 53 needed in the 104-member House for the move to succeed. Forty five senators had voted against the motion and five votes were rejected. Interestingly, earlier when the resolution was moved for the no-confidence motion, 64 opposition members had supported it.
After the Senate elections on March 3, the House strength has been reduced to 100 senators and now it consists of 99 senators, as Ishaq Dar is in self-exile and has not taken oath as a senator.
Now, the senators of the ruling coalition include 27 members of the PTI, 12 of Balochistan Awami Party, three of MQM, three independents and one each of PML-Q and PML-F – which is part of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).
The opposition senators include 21 of PPP, 17 of PML-N, excluding Ishaq Dar who has not taken oath of the office, five of JUI-F, two each of ANP, BNP-Mengal, PkMAP and National Party and one of Jamaat-i-Islami. The opposition collectively has 52 members in the House excluding Mr Dar, against 47 senators belonging to the ruling coalition. As the Jamaat-i-Islami has decided to abstain from voting, the difference between the vote bank of the government and the opposition has narrowed down to four.
‘Secret cameras’ controversy
Earlier, the special session got off to a noisy start as the opposition, led by PPP’s Raza Rabbani, claimed that “secret cameras” had been installed at the polling booth. “This is against Article 226 of the Constitution,” he said, as the house resounded with chants of “shame, shame”.
RAWALPINDI, MAR 12 (DNA) – Punjab Arts Council, in collaboration with Pothohar One staged comedy play Dulhay Kay Sau Nakhray. The special guest of the play was Director Arts Council Waqar Ahmed. The play has been written by TV and stage writer M Aslam Bhatti and directed by Shehzad Pappu.
The producers of the play were Zahoor Shah and Rizwana Khan. The cast of the play includes Batin Farooqi, Lubna Shahzadi. Hameed Babar, Rizwana Khan, Shabbir Mirza, Allama Sajjad, Saima Khan, Arshad Khan, Haji Qayyum, Raja Sajjad, Mumtaz Khan, Imran Abbasi and Asif Shad.
While addressing the ceremony Director Waqar Ahmad Said that the play is a positive step against materialism with standard entertainment, which is commendable. He added that the Arts Council has always strived for standard stage plays, Steps are being taken to further improve the production of dramas.
Naheed Mantoor said that plays on corrective themes attract people. He conveyed a good message to the people with fun and finally congratulated the artists for presenting the best play. Hundreds of people were present at the Arts Council to watch the play.
ISLAMABAD, Mar 12 : Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Friday said the opposition parties’ ‘heinous conspiracy’ and malicious attempt to breach secrecy of the ballot, during the election of Senate Chairman and Deputy Chairman, had been exposed after the hidden camera installed by them around the polling booth was unearthed.
Talking to media persons here at the Parliament House, he said the opposition parties had somehow managed to install camera on top of the polling booth, which was timely identified and pointed out to the Presiding Officer before oath-taking of the newly elected members.
He said the opposition itself committed the wrong act and started hue and cry, after getting exposed, and blamed the government.
“Opposition started the drama as they were the master of doing such acts, so they reached the site and gave impression of wrongdoing on the part of the government. We will thoroughly investigate it and expose the culprits,” he said.
Shibli Faraz said the opposition parties’ corrupt practices could be gauged from the fact they managed to win the Senate seat of Yousaf Raza Gillani despite having minority in the National Assembly.
He said Gillani was the person who opted to get disqualified as the Prime Minister just to protect the corruption of his leader Asif Ali Zardari.
The minister was of the view that such elements should have no place in the Parliament who always kept their personal interests supreme, setting aside national interests.
While contrary to it, he said, PM Imran Khan always safeguarded the public interest.
He said the PM wanted to bring transparency in the election process and accordingly the government introduced amendments in the Parliament in the relevant acts and approached the apex court for open ballot, but the opposition parties opposed it.
He said that the opposition had the expertise in the part of rigging and they have always been adopting various methods of manipulating the election process.
To a question he said the opposition’s claim of having a majority in Senate was incorrect as there were certain members who were independent, not part of the PML-N as claimed by the PDM.
Shibli said that they had one formula for the elections of senators and another for the elections of chairman and deputy chairman.
The minister said that the PTI was on the right side of history and would defeat the corrupt mafia with the support of the people of Pakistan.
He said that the PTI would emerge victorious under the leadership of Imran Khan who was known for being an upright person believing in merit and fair play. He said that former rulers were responsible for the backwardness and poverty in the country as they looted and plundered national resources.
The minister said if the government had the intention to manipulate the election it would have done in the Senate elections. He said every Pakistani knew who wanted the open ballot system and who was advocating secret ballot to perpetuate their illegal and unethical tactics.
Replying to a question, he said that it was imperative to introduce open balloting and electronic voting to end the allegations of rigging and manipulations in the electoral process.
He said that the opposition candidate for chairmanship Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was destined to be defeated despite using every unfair tactic.
Senator Faisal Javed said that those who traced the cameras themselves had installed them. He said that it was the opposition which believed in the malpractices and manipulation of elections and they got the cameras installed.
ISLAMABAD : The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has begun an action against the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri over accusations of misuse of power and corruption.The anti-corruption watchdog accused HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri of misusing power, illegal appointments and corruption.
Dr Tariq Banuri has been asked to provide details of expenditures of the university at the PM House, as well as particulars of the National Academy of Higher Education.
The NAB sought Dr Banuri’s reply regarding the illegal appointments of consultations on the basis of favouritism. Moreover, the bureau also sought a response from the HEC chairman regarding the appointments of Legal Officer Advocate Tariq Mansoor, Nadia Tahir, Azhar Lateef and Noor Amna Malik.
The HEC officials had received the notice issued by NAB last week.
Beijing, March 12 : China denied on Friday it was planning to hit e-commerce giant Alibaba with a fine of almost $1 billion for allegedly flouting monopoly rules, as authorities put the screws on the firm as part of a crackdown on the technology sector.
Officials are considering a hefty penalty that could top the $975 million paid by US chipmaker Qualcomm in 2015 — the biggest known for anticompetitive practices in China — the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing unnamed “people with knowledge of the matter”.
But the regulator in charge of the case there was no truth to the story. “If it’s not there (on our website), it’s not (true),” a spokeswoman for the State Administration for Market Regulation said.
Alibaba, China’s largest online shopping portal, has been in the crosshairs of authorities in recent months over concerns of its reach into the daily finances of ordinary Chinese people.
Its legal troubles began after comments in October by billionaire founder Jack Ma in which he laid into China’s convoluted regulatory system.
In November, financial regulators pulled the plug on the record $35 billion Hong Kong-Shanghai initial public offering of Alibaba’s online payment subsidiary Ant Group.
A month later, officials opened an investigation into Alibaba’s business practices, deemed anti-competitive, and Ma disappeared from public view until mid-January.
The company based in the eastern city of Hangzhou said it was “fully cooperating” with the investigation by the State Administration for Market Regulation last month.
Regulators are also investigating whether the conglomerate should divest assets unrelated to its main online retail business, the Journal reported without offering details.
The company has come under fire in the past for allegedly forbidding its merchants from listing on rival e-commerce platforms.
Once finalised, measures against Alibaba will need to be approved by China’s top leadership.
The squeeze on one of China’s most influential companies is the latest sign that the leadership is ready to deflate the ambitions of big tech firms in a runaway internet sector.
In a speech last week Premier Li Keqiang warned big businesses that the government would “strengthen anti-monopoly laws and prevent the disorderly expansion of capital, and resolutely maintain a fair competitive market environment”.
Regulators have already told Ant Group to change its business model and hack back its lending, insurance and wealth management services.
They were considering a softer treatment for Alibaba, provided the company distances itself from its outspoken founder, the Journal said, citing unnamed officials.
Ma — one of Asia’s richest people with a fortune estimated around $58 billion — was dropped from a list of business tycoons published by state media last month.
Alibaba saw profits jump 52 percent to $12.2 billion over the last three months of 2020, despite the official crackdown
PESHAWAR, Mar 12 : At least nine more people have died from coronavirus during the last 24 hours taking the number of total deaths to 2138 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the pandemic.
A report of the Health Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Friday said 330 new cases of the coronavirus have been reported from the province during the last 24 hours which has taken the number of total cases to 75,052.
The report further said that a total of 70,245 people have recovered from the infection as 201 more patients gained recovery from the infection during the same period.
In Peshawar district, 161 new cases have been reported during the same period taking the number of total cases to 30,567, the report said adding a total of 1126 deaths have been reported so far in the district from coronavirus.
