ISLAMABAD : Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has said that mini smart lockdown has been re-imposed in Karachi, Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) after surge in the number of coronavirus cases.

Asad Umar in his tweet said that coronavirus cases have been increased by two percent as compared to last week.

Local administrations have been directed to ensure protective measures to curb the spread of this deadly disease, he stated. “Success cannot be achieved without the cooperation of the masses.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan has reported 12 more coronavirus-related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll from the disease to 6,570.

MIRPUR (AJK): Oct 10 (DNA): The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President
Sardar Masood Khan has said that closing eyes like a pigeon will not
avert dangers, we have to prepare at every level to fight the storm
coming from India by realizing the evil intentions of the enemy.

“The followers of Hindutva do not want to eliminate the Muslims in India
and Kashmir alone but are conspiring, what they are publicly saying, to
extend their frontiers up to Kohala, Azad Pattan and Wakhan,” he
insisted.

He expressed these views while addressing a luncheon hosted in honour of
the leaders and workers of the Milli Yakjehti Council (National
Solidarity Council) at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, Muzaffarabad on Saturday, AJK
President office later told.

The event was also addressed by Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan leader Liaquat
Baloch and former Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Kashmir and Chairman of
the Public Accounts Committee of AJK Legislative Assembly, Abdul Rashid
Turabi and other speakers.

The President urged the religious scholars and spiritual leaders to use
the forums of mosques, imambargahs, seminaries, and shrines to caution
the people about the imminent dangers, and tell them that the fascist
Indian rulers have altogether changed the status of occupied Kashmir,
and now they are eyeing on Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The religious scholars besides promoting unity and harmony among
different schools of thought, should mentally prepare the nation to
counter the threats confronting the country,”he added.

About the situation prevailing in occupied Kashmir, the AJK president
said that Indian designs can be gauged from the fact that it had
deployed one million regular troops in the held territory while the
former Soviet Union had deployed 250,000 troops during 20 years war and
later the United States had deployed 150,000 troops to capture
Afghanistan.

He went on to say that India had deployed one million troops to not
fight any terrorism but to salaughter eight million Kashmiri people.

Khan said that after having failed to suppress the Kashmiri people
through inhuman repression, India had decided to change the demography
of Kashmir by settling Indian Hindus in occupied Kashmir so that the
Kashmir issue is buried for good.

Speaking at the function, Jamaat Islami Pakistan leader Liaqat Baloch
said that all tricks and plans of the fascist Indian regime are bound to
fail, and the Kashmir would certainly become independent.

Declaring Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as the first defence lines
of Pakistan, Liaqat Baloch said that the people of both regions must get
the rights equal to their Pakistani compatriots. He warned that the
federal government must not take any action about Gilgit-Baltistan,
which is harmful for the Kashmir liberation movement in any sense, and
said that plebiscite in accordance with the UN Security Council
resolutions was the sole solution to the Kashmir issue.

The Chairman Public Accounts Committee of AJK Legislative Assembly,
Abdul Rashid Turabi lauded the efforts of Azad Kashmir President Sardar
Masood Khan in highlighting the Kashmir issue with full courage, bravery
and wisdom at the national and international level.

He said that President Masood played not only the role of ambassador of
Pakistan and Kashmiris but also represented the entire Muslim Ummah. He
said that the role of Sardar Masood Khan in the field of diplomacy is a
role model for all ambassadors of the country.

He said that as the President of Azad Kashmir, we are both satisfied and
proud of the way he went to every nook and corner of the world and
highlighted the sufferings and plights of oppressed Kashmiris of IOJK.

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DNA

ISLAMABAD, OCT 10  – Justice (R) Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB has said that NAB Rawalpindi is flagship Regional Bureau of NAB which has played a prominent role in contributing towards the overall performance of NAB.

He said that NAB’s top most priority is on cases of mega corruption cases, money laundering, misuse of authority, assets beyond known sources of income, embezzlement of state funds, cheating the public at large, housing/cooperative scams and Modarba/Masharka scandals etc.

Since NAB’s inception, one of NAB’s major achievements has been the recovery of around Rs. 466/- billionof ill-gotten money which was deposited in the national exchequer which is a remarkable achievement of NAB. He appreciated the performance of NAB Rawalpindi under the supervision of Irfan Naeem Mangi, DG NAB Rawalpindi for recovering Rs. 23 billion in fake accounts cases on account of plea bargain which is deemed conviction.

Honorable Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB said that NAB has established its first Forensic Science Lab (FSL) in NAB Rawalpindi which has facilities of Digital Forensics, Questioned Documents and Fingerprint Analysis. The Chairman NAB said that NAB has rationalized its workload and timelines have been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases.

NAB has also introduced a new System of Combine Investigation Team (CIT) in order to benefit from the collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers, a system of CIT comprising of Director, Additional Director, two Investigation Officer, financial expert, land revenue expert and a Senior Legal Consultant has been put in place which lending quality to the work.

Honorable Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB said that NAB had adopted an effective Anti Corruption Strategy i.e.; Enforcement, Awareness and Prevention to eradicate corruption and to aware people about the ill effects of corruption at large.

He said that NAB’s performance has been appreciated by reputed national and international organizations which are proud of Pakistan due to NAB’s efforts. Honorable Justice Mr. Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB said that our success as country’s biggest apex anti-corruption agency inspires us to redouble our efforts in performance of our national duty with more dedication and commitment to eradicate the menace of corruption from our beloved motherland Pakistan in all its forms and manifestations. He said that our overall conviction rate in the trial court is about 68.8 percent which is one of the best conviction ratios as compared to other any corruption organizations.

He said that today NAB’s about 1230 corruption references are under trial and their approximate amount is Rs. 943 billion. He said that NAB is the first chairman of SAARC Anti-Corruption Forum. NAB is the only Organization in the world to whom China has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to streamline cooperation in the field of anti-corruption and oversee projects being undertaken China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

DNA

BAKU, OCT 10  –  A telephone conversation took place between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

During the telephone conversation, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov briefed his Turkish counterpart about the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia held in Moscow with the mediation of the Russian Foreign Minister.

The Minister noted that a temporary truce had been declared between Azerbaijan and Armenia for humanitarian purposes, and that the occupying country had been given one last chance to negotiate and withdraw Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Mevlüt Çavusoglu said that the truce declared to exchange prisoners and dead bodies was an important step, but it is not a permanent solution, and Turkey would only support solutions that Azerbaijan agrees with.

Referring to the principled position of Azerbaijan, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stressed the need to implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions to ensure peace in the region.

ISLAMABAD, OCT 10 (DNA) – The experts have urged the federal government to avoid construction projects in the two islands Bundaal and Bundu that are habitats of the local biodiversity and the habitats of the migratory birds too. Under the Ramsar Convention and Convention on Biological Diversity and many other international and multilateral treaties signed by the Pakistan government, we need to fulfil our national and international commitments that are more important for us as a nation than obliging a few influential elites.

Speaking at a webinar on “Migratory Birds: where we stand now”, the experts urged the provincial governments to take necessary measures to protect the ‘guest birds’ from overhunting, ensuring safe flying through Pakistan and resting on the lakes and ponds.

The webinar was organized by the Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) on Saturday to mark the World Migratory Bird Day that falls on October 10. The experts included EV-K2 CNR Scientific Representative on Biosphere and Climate Change Ashiq ahmed Khan, IUCN Pakistan Country Head Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, WWF Pakistan Director Sindh and Balochistan Programme Dr Tahir Rasheed, Secretary Agriculture and Wildlife (Sindh) Abdul Rahim Soomro, Biodiversity and Habitat expert and former staff of the Ministry of Climate Change Umeed Khalid, Project Manager Biodiversity (Gilgit-Baltistan) IUCN Pakistan Saeed Abbas, Cholistan Institute of Desert Development Shazia Anjum and Prof Saleem Azam, a longtime hunter. The webinar was hosted and conducted by Devcom-Pakistan and DTN Executive Director Munir Ahmed.

Ashiq Ahmed Khan, Ev-K2-CNR Scientific Representative on Biospheres and Climate Change, said the migratory birds connect the world in one ecological order. But 60 percent of them lose their life on the journey to several hazards including storms, hunting, collisions with man-made objects such as wind turbines, and starvation. The risk of starvation is increased when stopover sites are lost through climate change or loss of habitat to development or agriculture.

In Pakistan, he said, they face massive licensed overhunting while their habitats have been destroyed due to criminal negligence by the authorities. All the Ramsar sites are in the worst condition despite Pakistan having signed all the international treaties very eagerly. Unfortunately we see no action accordingly. After devolution it is the responsibility of the provinces but they lack capacity and political will.

Mahmood Aktar Cheema said rapid population growth and ill-planned change in the land-use are the core challenges for Pakistan that has created most of the critical issues facing the nation. We handle the issue of migratory birds despite all policy frameworks available.

We need a 10-year integrated sustainable development plan starting off from 2021 while preparing ourselves for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) next year. He said the federal government should have a fresh look on the National Policy on Wetlands pending for the last eight years.

Tahir Rasheed said we have no source to collect data on the migratory birds though we are one the eight most important routes for the migratory birds.

A huge percentage of the migratory birds lose their lives to overhunting and lack of habitats in Pakistan. The migratory birds help in ecosystem balance by eating up the crops’ enemy insects. Many influential people have developed their own ponds and lakes with toy-ducks to attract the guest birds for their illegal hunting. Unfortunately the district management and local authorities play blind on these criminal activities.

Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director Munir Ahmed said devolution of the environment after the 18th Amendment in the Constitution has played havoc to all the social sectors including environment, habitats and community health. Provincial governments need to take care of their mandate and responsibilities by allocating sufficient resources and investing in the capacity of districts to face the challenges of sustainable development and environment.

Federal government shall take inclusive and participatory measures to fulfil its national and international obligations for the best environmental, economic interests and community health.

Sindh Secretary Wildlife Abdul Halim Soomro said that the Sindh government has taken several steps for the protection of lakes, habitats, biodiversity and wildlife.

Hale Je Lake has been rehabilitated while work is in progress on other lakes too. Restoration of habitats for biodiversity is also in progress besides planting a million saplings and initiating urban forestation.=DNA

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