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US authorizes second vaccine

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WASHINGTON, DEC 19 (DNA) – United States has authorized Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for millions of doses of a second jab to be shipped across the hardest-hit country in the world.

The latest breakthrough came as many governments clamp down on socializing over Christmas and New Year, which is expected to fuel a jump in virus deaths in early 2021.

Italy on Friday announced harsh new restrictions over the holidays with many shops and all bars and restaurants closed, travel between regions banned, and only one daily outside trip per household permitted.

And parts of Sydney were heading into a fresh lockdown on Saturday, with Australian officials saying they hoped the restrictions would be enough to control a growing outbreak in time for Christmas.

With the United States now registering over 2,500 deaths a day from Covid-19, senior US officials including Vice President Mike Pence stepped up to receive early vaccinations on Friday.

Pence’s public inoculation was the most high-profile attempt yet at persuading vaccine-skeptic Americans to join a national effort to halt a pandemic that has killed at least 1.66 million people and infected more than 74 million worldwide.

President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20, announced he would take the vaccine, also in public, on Monday. = DNA

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Cargo handling of soybean ship suspended after health issues in port area

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KARACHI, Dec 19 (DNA): The port authorities have suspended lifting soybean cargo from a ship anchored at Karachi Port after complaints of breathing problems in people, Port and Shipping sources Saturday said.

A ship, Mega Benefit, carrying 67,000 metric tonnes of soybean cargo
from Egypt had anchored yesterday at Karachi Port.

Over complaints of smoke spreading in the area, Chairman of Karachi Port
Trust inspected the port area.

Local MNA Abdul Qadir Patel had in a social media statement said that
eight people were admitted at a hospital due to breathing problems.

In January this year 14 people from different parts of the port area had
reportedly died and over 400 taken to hospitals for treatment after
allegedly inhaling toxic gas.

Dr Iqbal Chaudhry, the Director of International Center for Chemical and
Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi had advised the
government to consider “exposure to soybean dust (aeroallergens)” as a
cause of breathing difficulties being faced by residents of Karachi’s
Keamari area.

Residents complained of symptoms of breathing difficulties, burning
sensation in the nose, watery eyes and itching in throat.

Dr Choudhary said that the findings so far suggested that the symptoms
being experienced by the area residents as a result of “overexposure to
soybean dust”. DNA

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Protesting teachers baton-charged by police in Islamabad

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 19 (DNA): Teachers have staged a protest in Islamabad outside Bani Gala for their contractual employments to be turned permanent.

According to details, teachers in the federal capital Islamabad have
staged a protest, the police had first arrested 14 and now 30 more
teachers and used tear-gas to disperse the protesters. Police blocked
the road leading to Bani Gala and baton charge the demonstrators.

Teachers were arrested after clashes broke out between the police and
teachers, the demonstrators were throwing stones at the police.

Police has been deployed in large numbers while teachers protested on
the route of the Prime Minister Imran Khan. DNA

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CJCSC Gen. Nadeem Raza witnesses Pak-China Joint Air Exercise “Shaheen-IX”

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DNA

RAWALPINDI, DEC 19 – General Nadeem Raza, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee witnessed the conduct of Pak-China Joint Air Exercise “Shaheen-IX” at an Operational Air Base of PAF.The exercise is intended to further enhance interoperability of both Air Forces and has provided an excellent opportunity to learn from each others’ experience.

Upon his arrival, Chairman JCSC was received by Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Chief of the Air Staff, PAF.Chairman JCSC lauded the professionalism of the participants and appreciated the efforts of PAF and People’s Liberation Army Air Force in conducting a bilateral exercise in befitting manner.

CJCSC also said that the exercise would further strengthen and promote the friendship and cooperation between the two great nations as well as Armed Forces of Pakistan and China

Swati vows to run railways on modern lines

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LAHORE, DEC 19 (DNA) – Railways Minister Azam Khan Swati on Saturday vowed to run the department on modern lines without any political or external interference.

He was addressing the officers during his first visit to the Pakistan Railways (PR) Headquarters here. Swati said there were flaws in management, automation system and techniques in the department.

“We will operate the Railways like a commercial enterprise besides enhancing its capacity and performance,” the minister added. He said sectors of the department would immediately be outsourced which were difficult for the railways to run, adding that income was directly linked to efficiency so efficiency would be improved.

Later, briefings on several matters and sections of the railways were given to the minister who also visited important places and sections of the department. Earlier, the minister arrived here by a train from Islamabad and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nisar Ahmad

Memon and Divisional Superintendent Amir Nisar Chaudhary welcomed him at the Railway Station. It is pertinent to mention that the minister traveled in the parlour class of the train instead of his special salon.

On his arrival at the PR Headquarters, the brass band of the PR Police saluted him while Chairman Railway Board Habib-ur-Rehman Gilani, PR CEO and PR Police IG Arif Nawaz were also present. = DNA

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Hospital fire kills 9 Covid-19 patients at ICU in Turkey

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ANKARA, DEC 19  – A fire broke out Saturday at an intensive care unit treating Covid-19 patients in southern Turkey after an oxygen cylinder exploded, killing nine people, the health minister said.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said the fire took place at the privately-run Sanko University Hospital unit in Gaziantep, 850 kilometres southeast of Istanbul. It cited a hospital statement identifying the victims as being between 56 and 85. The fire was quickly brought under control.

The statement said 14 patients undergoing intensive care treatment were transferred to other hospitals. An investigation is underway.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that nine people were killed in the fire, raising the earlier estimate of eight dead by the hospital and the Gaziantep governor’s office. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

The governor’s office said 19 patients were in the unit when a “high pressure oxygen device” exploded at 4:45am. Other than the fatalities, no others were injured in the fire, it said.

Intensive care units across Turkey currently have a 74 per cent bed occupancy rate due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to government figures, although medical associations say the figure is higher and their hospitals are overrun with Covid-19 patients.

On Friday evening, Turkey’s Health Ministry reported 26,410 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total since March to 1.98 million. The figure includes asymptomatic cases, which Ankara did not report in the four months up to late November, prompting criticism that the government was trying to hide the extent of the country’s outbreak.

Turkey hit a record daily high of 246 Covid-19-related deaths reported Friday for an overall reported coronavirus death toll of 17,610.

Industrialists demand for full gas pressure in SITE

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DNA

KARACHI: Riaz Uddin, Senior Vice President, Site Association of Industry, has strongly condemned the non-supply of gas with the required pressure to the industries of SITE area and demanded from the government to ensure gas supply at full pressure to industries as promised in various meetings with the industrialists. Otherwise timely shipment of export orders will not be possible due to which there are fears of cancellation of foreign orders.

In an appeal to government, Riaz Uddin said that before the onset of winter, several meetings with the industrialists at the government level, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, had promised that if the industrialists agreed to get gas at a higher tariff than usual, they would be given uninterrupted gas as per production demand. But unfortunately, despite the higher tariff, the promise of gas supply at full pressure to industries has not been fulfilled.

“Production activities were being severely affected due to non-availability of gas to the industries of the SITE. The gas pressure has been zero since Thursday, making it impossible for industries to run”, he pointed out.

SVP further said that Prime Minister Imran Khan on the one hand seeks the cooperation of the industrialists for the promotion of industries and increase in the country’s exports, on the other hand neither gas nor electricity is supplied to the industries as per requirement.

In such a situation, neither industries will run nor exports will increase, if production activities continue to be disrupted then industrialists would be forced to shut down the factories.

Riaz Uddin demanded the government uninterrupted and full pressure supply of gas to industries in the best economic interest of the country and said that issue strict directives should be issued to SSGC in this regard, as disrupting industrial production activities is against Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of promoting industries and country’s exports.

President Alvi to inaugurate int’l conference on Al-Farabi at COMSTECH on DEC 21

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ISLAMABAD, DEC 19 (DNA) – President Arif Alvi will inaugurate on Monday an international conference titled Global Al- Farabi Forum at the COMSTECH Secretariat in Islamabad.

The two-day conference (21-22 December) is being organized jointly by COMSTECH (the OIC Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation) and the Government of Kazakhstan in celebration of the 1150th anniversary of Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, the great Muslim philosopher and scientist who hailed from the lands now included in Kazakhstan. The two-day Conference includes lectures, both in person and online, by leading international experts on early Islamic thought, history and philosophy.

The list of speakers includes Prof. Asad Q. Ahmed of Berkeley, Prof. Peter Adamson from Munich, Prof. Ann Druart from Washington, Prof. Iftikhar Malik from Bath UK, Prof. Galimkir Mutanov of Al- Farabi University of Kazakhstan, and Dr. Darkhan Kydyrali of the International Turkic Academy.

The distinguished guests include Assistant Secretary General of OIC, Ambassador Askar Mussinov, and the Kazakhstan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mr. Berik Aryn. Over 120 scholars from several countries (Pakistan, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Nepal, Somalia and Sudan) are participating in this major international event.

The lectures cover different aspects of the multi-faceted contributions of Al-Farabi as the pioneer who served as a bridge between the ancient Greek thought of Aristotle and others and the early Islamic civilization.

For his seminal and profound contributions in developing the foundations of Islamic philosophy Al-Farabi came to be known as the Second Master, the ultimate authority in philosophy after Aristotle.

Besides the opening session, inaugurated by the President, the conference has five working sessions with lectures, followed by a closing session with a panel discussion titled “Science and the Islamic World-A philosophical assessment”, with a focus on identifying the intellectual and physical impetus required for scientific uplift in the Islamic world of today. The objective of the event is to highlight the great scholarly traditions of Muslims.=DNA

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Pak spotlights struggle of Kashmiris, Palestinians for self-determination

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NEW YORK, Dec 19 (DNA): Pakistan highlighted the struggle of peoples in occupied Palestine and Kashmir for their right of self-determination at an event organized by Russia, South Africa and Vietnam on Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of the landmark UN Declaration on Decolonization.

The commemorative meeting, held on the sidelines of the 75th session of
UN General Assembly, was attended by nearly 100 member states.

Adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 1960, the Declaration on
the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, called
for the immediate cessation of “all armed action or repressive measures
of all kinds directed against dependent peoples” to enable them to
exercise peacefully and freely their freedom of choice.

“Today, this declaration has become an epitome of freedom struggle from
colonial oppression, alien domination and foreign occupation,” Aamir
Khan, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the
meeting.

But sixty years on, he said millions of people in the “non-governing
territories” and under occupation in Palestine, Kashmir as well as other
situations continue to yearn for their inalienable right to
self-determination.

“The ongoing oppression of Kashmiris for the last seven decades.
especially since 5 August 2019, is regrettable, illegal and in violation
of the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions and international law,”
Aamir Khan said, noting that the UN and its various bodies had
frequently denounced these measures and policies.

“The use of brute force – including naked military force, demographic
changes amounting to genocide, extra judicial killings, arbitrary
arrests, enforced disappearances, curfews and lockdowns, communications
and economic blackouts and illegal settlements — are outlawed under
international law, and are in violations of human rights and other
related laws,” the Pakistani delegate said.

“Another concern is using the canard of portraying the legitimate
freedom struggles as ‘terrorism’,” he said.

“The misuse of counter-terrorism laws is most rampant today in
situations of foreign occupation and alien domination, including by
discretionary legal tools to deny the right of self-determination
through imposition of digital and physical lockdowns and indefinite
curfews.”

Pakistan, he said, had always remained a staunch supporter of
decolonization, and played a leading role in helping many countries in
Africa and Asia to secure independence from their colonial occupiers.

“We also continue to promote the universal realization for the right of
self-determination of all peoples living under alien domination and
foreign occupation,” pointing to Wednesday’s resolution adopted by the
193-member Assembly. DNA

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FO summons Indian Chargé d’Affaires to register protest

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DNA

ISLAMABAD, DEC 19 – The Indian Chargé d’Affaires was summoned to the Foreign Office to register Pakistan’s strong protest at the deliberate targeting of Observers belonging to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). The UN Observers were on their way to Polas village in Azad Jammu & Kashmir to meet with the victims of the Indian ceasefire violations in Chirikot Sector of the Line of Control (LOC).

Both the Observers present in the vehicle thankfully remained unharmed and were safely rescued and evacuated to Rawalakot by the Pakistan Army. However, their vehicle sustained damage. The attack was unambiguously premeditated as UN vehicles are clearly recognizable even from long distances due to their distinctive marking and blue flag.

The deliberate targeting of a UN vehicle, engaged in discharging the mandate of the UN Security Council, constitutes a grave violation of India’s obligations, under the Council’s resolutions and the UN Charter, which includes the obligation to ensure the safety and security of the UNMOGIP Observers. It appears to be a new coercive and reckless Indian ploy to hinder the observers’ work.

It was communicated to the Indian side that the brazen act was a flagrant violation of established international norms and represented a complete disregard for principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

It was also conveyed that the reprehensible act also represented a new low in the conduct of Indian occupation forces which target not only innocent civilians residing along the Line of Control but United Nations Observers as well.

The Indian side was called upon to desist from such blatant violations of international law; respect the 2003 ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan; and let the UNMOGIP perform its role mandated by the UN Security Council.

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