ISLAMABAD : Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi took to Twitter on Monday to greet the government and the people of Malaysia on the country’s Independence Day.

“Selamat Hari Merdeka to the Government and the people of Malaysia,” he wrote on his official social media account.

FM Qureshi said: “Pakistan looks forward to forging closer cooperation in the days to come and to strengthening the relationship between our two countries.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan had paid a two-day official visit to Malaysia earlier this year, during which the two countries signed a number of pacts to enhance bilateral cooperation and trade in various fields.

The prime minister and his then Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad had also agreed to build a strong economic partnership and work together on issues affecting the Muslim Ummah.

Islamabad-based inter-governmental organization, the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) and its founding member country, China, are cooperating in various fields of science and technology for facilitating socio-economic uplift of the developing countries including Pakistan.

COMSATS and its Centre of Excellence, the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (TIB), are cooperating to establish a Joint Centre on Industrial Biotechnology for COMSATS Member Statesin China, which would provide opportunities of experts-exchange, joint research, and training of scientists/technicians to the developing countries.Having 21 of its Member Countries and 18 Centers of Excellence situated along China’s Belt & Road Initiative, COMSATS is aiming to play an active role in this mega-project in the domains of higher education, S&T and innovation. Being a member of the China-based Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) – an international S&T forum on BRI – COMSATS is collaborating with various Chinese institutions for achieving the mutual objectives.

COMSATS and China are facilitating the Government of Pakistan in establishing the country’s first S&T Park onBiotechnologyin Jhelum. The Torch Hi-tech Industry Development Centre of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and TIB are playing a key role in this initiative being led by the S&T Minister, Mr. Fawad Chaudhry. The planned Biotech Park would be based on public-private partnership, and would bridge industry with academia. Utilizing the broad capability in industrial biotechnology and existing talent pool in the country, the S&T park would realign the country’s research efforts towards innovation and product development. It would house offices of local and foreign universities, research organizations and industries in order to facilitate joint ventures aimed at job creation, facilitating start-ups, enhancing exports, substituting imports, and creation of knowledge economy. President Dr. ArifAlvi, chairing the meeting regarding the establishment of Jhelum Biotechnology Park which was attended by key stakeholders including officials from S&T and Housing Ministries, Forest Department, COMSATS, etc. reviewed the project and future course of action was determined.

Contact: Naeem Uddin Anwar

Consultant HCA

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan on Sunday condemned recent incidents involving the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden and Norway, calling for respect of religious beliefs as “critical for global peace and prosperity.”

“Pakistan strongly condemns the recent incidents of desecration of Holy Quran in Malmo, Sweden and Oslo, Norway. The rise of such Islamophobic occurrences goes against the spirit of any religion. Freedom of speech can’t justify religious hatred,” Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in a post on Twitter.

He added, “Ensuring respect for religious beliefs of others is a collective responsibility and is absolutely critical for global peace and prosperity.”

At least 10 people were arrested and several police officers were injured on Friday after clashes broke out at an anti-Muslim protest in Malmo, Switzerland.

The demonstration of about 300 people was connected to the incident of protesters burning a copy of the Holy Quran.

Rasmus Paludan, leader of the far-right Danish anti-immigration party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), was due to travel to Malmo to speak at Friday’s event, however, authorities pre-empted his arrival by announcing he had been banned from entering Sweden for two years. Police later arrested him near Malmo.

Across the border in Norway, a group held an anti-Muslim demonstration Saturday during which one woman tore pages from the Holy Quran.

Paludan last year attracted media attention for burning a copy of the Holy Quran.

ISLAMABAD : The water level at Rawal Dam has surged to red mark and the reservoir management has decided to open spillways of the dam.

Rawal Dam authorities in a statement announced opening of the spillways at 11:00 am today (Monday).

“Around 6000 cusecs of water will be discharged from the lake,” according to the administration.“Rawal Dam reservoir has maximum capacity of 1752 feet water conservation, while present water level at the dam has been 1751.9 feet,” the dam management said.

“After opening of the spillways the water level at Soan river will rise and water could overflow from the banks of the stream,” the dam administration said.

Soan River is an important stream of the Pothohar region in North Punjab and drains much of the water of the area.

It is pertinent to mention here that monsoon season this year has rained more water over Pakistan filling three major reservoirs in the country to their maximum capacity.

The Water reservoir of Mangla Dam reached to its maximum water conservation capacity of 1242 feet, on Saturday, according to Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) sources.

Earlier, the water reservoir at Tarbela Dam had also reached its maximum capacity of 1,550 feet.

Currently, the cumulative quantum of water available at present in Mangla and Tarbela reservoirs stands at 13.336 million acre-feet (MAF) which is a record for water availability during the last 10 years.

The Hub Dam in the outskirts of Karachi also overflowed on last Thursday evening after a spell of heavy rainfall in Karachi and other parts of Sindh and Balochistan.

The dam’s water level rose close to its maximum capacity of 340 feet after almost 13 years and water had begun to flow outside it.

The dam, located at the Sindh-Balochistan border, supplies water to Karachi and Hub.

The Hub Dam, located 56 km from Karachi with a total capacity of 339 feet, is extended to 24,300 acres with a gross storage capacity of 8,57,000 acre-feet water.

It is Pakistan’s third-largest dam and an important source of water supply to Karachi.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday extended the interim bail of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former petroleum secretary, Arshad Mirza, in an illegal appointment case till September 3.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart and the former petroleum secretary named in the case turned up before the court for the hearing. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Omar Sial heard the illegal appointment case.

The high court extended the interim bail of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart in the illegal appointment case and sought arguments from the counsels in the next hearing.

Last month, the Sindh High Court had extended till Aug 27 the interim pre-arrest bail of the former prime minister and the former petroleum secretary. On May 19, the high court had granted them bail against a surety bond of Rs500,000 each.

The anti-corruption watchdog had filed a reference against ex-PM Abbasi and the then petroleum secretary for allegedly appointing Sheikh Imran-ul-Haq as managing director and Yaqoob Sattar as deputy managing director (finance) of the PSO in violation of rules and regulations.