ISLAMABAD : The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has once again turned down apology of Mirza Iftikharuddin in derogatory video case against the judiciary and judges.

A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan today heard the case.

At the outset of the hearing, the counsel of Mirza Iftikharuddin pleaded the court to accept the apology of his client as he is suffering from coronavirus and had to undergo open-heart surgery.

To this, the CJP remarked, why Iftikharuddin used such language against the judiciary if he is that much sensitive? Justice Ijazul Ahsan said that the accused is currently on bail.
Later, the SC rejected apology plea of Iftikharuddin and adjourned the hearing of the case for a month.

It is pertinent to mention here that Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed had taken suo motu notice of a video clip of Mirza Iftikharuddin on June 25 in which he had used derogatory language against the judiciary and judges.

The wife of Justice Qazi Faiz Isa had filed a petition at the Islamabad Police Station Secretariat regarding the video in which she said that a man in the video had threatened to kill her husband Qazi Faiz Isa, a Supreme Court judge.

Abid Raza

Lahore Sept 24 : President Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Anjum Nisar Thursday said that PIAF Founder alliance is posed to clean sweep the annual election of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry tomorrow consecutively for 18 years.
Anjum Nisar while talking to President SAARC Chamber and Chairman Founder Group Iftikhar Ali Malik said that all major markets and thousands of representatives of traders across the city overwhelmingly extended full fledged support to alliance candidates by reposing confidence in our top leadership which always safeguarded the interests of business community at local provincial and federal levels.
Iftikhar Ali Malik who is also chairman United Business Group in FPCCI and founder chairman Pak US Business Council said that Lahore Chamber, pioneer trade body in the country,always acts as a bridge between the government and the business community. It has always tried to ensure a business-friendly environment through sharing views with the government and by taking all the stakeholders onboard on all the economy related issues. He said alliance has been strong enough for the last 18 years and continue its mission to protect the interests of the business community after sweeping election on Sept 25 and Sept 26 next while remaining committed to the cause of development of the country.
Mian Muhammad Ashraf, Chairman PIAF FOUNDER alliance, chamber,Mian Nauman Kabir, Sh Muhammad Asif, president Irfan Iqbal, SVP Ali Hussam Asghar,VP Mian Zahid Jawaid,Mian Muhammad Ali,Waqar Ahmad Mian, internationally acclaimed SME expert and founder general secretary SAARC Chamber octogenarian Rehmat Ullah Javed and others were also present on the occasion.
Iftikhar Ali Malik thanked the business community for launching successful election campaigns for the alliance candidates. He said that the best of the best educated candidates with integrity representing the different important markets have been fielded with consensus of local trade leaders.

By Muhammad Omar Iftikhar

The need of the hour is to educate the youth. A well-structured approach needs to be implemented in this regard. National policy must be created to develop content for social media, print, and television. While our youth is well-versed in news and information, entertainment and sports, it certainly needs to brush up its knowledge base.

Moreover, the youth needs to develop their cognitive sense to think about their life and career. While some of the youth are busy making TikTok videos, a majority is aspiring to become a TikTok star. To become an overnight success seems to be the mantra the youth of today is pursuing.

The youth needs to be educated on a variety of fronts. These include among many to motivate them to continue learning, to develop their personality, to pursue freelance careers until they graduate, and to develop a habit of reading.

These actions can be pursued only when the youth has a vision of their future. To become a success is a generic statement and will lead to nowhere. A vision must be a statement that shows action and a result.

“To become a successful content writer” is a vision. The youth needs to perceive an action plan of how to do it. Here, professionals and experts in their fields can share pertinent information and experience to help the youth find their true calling.

National policy or a consortium of academicians and professionals can work to guide the youth in the right direction. They can hold webinars and organize physical talks by ensuring social distancing measures.

This consortium could also share their experiences through a Facebook page and connect with the audience. It is imperative for the professionals to give something back to the community and to their country.

They need to facilitate the youth in finding the purpose of their life, ascertain which degree program to pursue, and determine which profession to choose. Experts are very much needed to help the youth find the answers in this regard.

Islamabad; 24 September : Sardar Masood Khan has said that the Pakistan-Kashmir diaspora community in the United States and around the globe has played a very effective and dynamic role in highlighting the human rights violations taking place in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and also in advocating the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris. He added that the diaspora community has reached out to not only the general public but also lawmakers, thinktanks and the civil society.

The AJK President made these remarks during a meeting with a delegation led by Ms. Ghazala Habib, Chairperson Friends of Kashmir-International (FOK), that called on the President here at Jammu and Kashmir House.

Ms. Ghazala Habib informed the AJK President about the initiatives taken by their organization for awareness-raising on Kashmir. She said that FOK has been actively working on the Kashmir issue not only in the State of Texas but all over the USA. She informed that FOK has taken out demonstrations, protest rallies and organised webinars on Kashmir. She said that the cumulative impact of these efforts has led to greater awareness and mustering support for the Kashmir cause.

The AJK President lauded her advocacy efforts for demanding an end to grave human rights violations in IOJK. He also expressed his gratitude to the 14 Democratic and Republican Senators who have written to the US government to consider the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)’s recommendations to designate India a “country of particular concern” and demanded “targeted sanctions” be imposed against Indian agencies and officials responsible for escalating persecution against religious minorities in India.

Speaking to the delegation, the President urged FOK and other organizations advocating the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, to create a critical pitch on this longstanding dispute in order to transform it into a global movement, in the same manner, seen during the anti-Vietnam War and apartheid movements which mobilized global support.

ISLAMABAD : Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the appointment of Naveed Kamran Baloch, who is currently serving as Secretary Finance, as Executive Director (ED) to the World Bank (WB).

“Yes, the PM has approved a summary for the nomination of Naveed Kamran Baloch as next Pakistan’s ED to World Bank and he will join his posting next month,” top official sources confirmed to the publication.

Reportedly, there was a close contest among two contenders for the post of ED, including Principal Secretary to PM Azam Khan and incumbent Secretary Finance Naveed Kamran Baloch.

The government, however, has approved the nomination of Secretary Finance who will join as ED to World Bank after the annual meeting of Bretton Wood Institutions (BWIs) such as the IMF and WB.

The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) had moved the summary to PM with four names including Azam Khan, Naveed Kamran Baloch, Secretary Establishment Ijaz Munir, and former Governor State Bank (SBP) Tariq Bajwa.

The newly appointed ED will represent Pakistan at the World Bank for the next three years. The tenure of posting of ED/Alternate ED to World Bank and Asian Development Bank reduced by one year from four years to three years in order to bring tenure of Pakistani representatives in line with election cycles for the appointment of Executive Director along with members of other jurisdictions of the same constituency.

The incumbent ED to WB Shahid Tarar will return to the country after completion of his tenure.

Different names are under consideration for the vacant slot of secretary finance, including Zafar Hasan, Federal Secretary Communication, Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Secretary Cabinet Division, Umar Hameed, Secretary National Food Security, and existing Special Secretary Finance Mohsin Mushtaq Chandna.

Islamabad : Prime Minister Imran Khan will address a high-level panel of the United Nations on International Financial Accountability, Transparency, and Integrity via video link today.

The 15-member panel was launched in March by the Presidents of the UN General Assembly and UN Economic and Social Council.

The international forum was formed to help address the financing gap for implementing the anti-poverty Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The event is being convened to present the interim report of the panel, which identifies the major gaps in implementation and the systemic shortcomings of the existing international frameworks for tax cooperation, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering.

In his capacity as President of the UN Economic and Social Council, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, is also set to speak in the panel’s moderated session.

RAWALPINDI : Foreign diplomats and defence attaches of 24 countries posted in Pakistan will visit the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to get briefing over the continuous ceasefire violations from the Indian side.

Foreign diplomats and defence attaches of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Africa, Palestine, European Union, Bosnia, Azerbaijan,  Greece, Australia, Iran, Iraq, UK, Italy, Poland, Germany, France, Egypt, Switzerland, Libya, Afghanistan and other countries will visit the LoC at the Pakistani side.

Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG-ISPR) Major General Iftikhar Babar will brief the visiting delegation about the ceasefire violations from the Indian side.The visiting delegation will witness the Indian aggression by themselves and will also meet the affectees of the Indian firing.

Pakistan has never denied access of foreign diplomats to the LoC and always welcomed the move, however, India has been denying the access in a bid to hide its false claims.

India has slapped ban over media and foreign diplomats visiting the occupied Kashmir and several arrests have been also made by the Indian authorities over covering the LoC.

Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa met PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair twice in the past two months, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said on Wednesday.

The military’s spokesperson — said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz were formed part of the discussion. The meetings, Gen Babar Iftikhar said, were held at Zubair’s request.

The first of the two meetings took place at the end of August — in which ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed was also present — while the second took place on September 7.

The army chief made it clear during the meetings that legal problems will be solved by the courts and that political problems should be handled by the parliament.

“The army chief had said that the armed forces must be kept away from these talks,” said the DG ISPR.

Neither Nawaz nor Maryam pushed for meeting

Meanwhile, Zubair confirmed that he met the army chief at the end of August and during September.

“The first thing I told him was that I am not seeking relief for myself, the party, Maryam or Nawaz Sharif,” he said. “Neither Maryam nor Nawaz Sharif asked me to hold the meetings [with the army chief].”

Zubair said that he had a long-standing association with Gen Bajwa.

“Such meetings are kept secret,” he added.

No representative of Nawaz met army chief: Maryam

The statement from the DG ISPR came after PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz earlier stated that no representative of her father, Nawaz, had met the army chief.

Read more: No representative of Nawaz Sharif met the army chief, says Maryam

In an informal conversation outside the Islamabad High Court, a journalist had asked Maryam if the “establishment” and the PML-N leadership had come to “an agreement” since Nawaz’s speeches along with hers were aired on television.

“Maybe the media should tell us why our speeches are being broadcast,” she had responded, saying “tyranny and pressure tactics” only work to a certain extent and are not always fruitful.

The PML-N leader had denied knowledge of a dinner being hosted at the General Headquarters (GHQ), adding, however, “I believe the political leadership was called over to discuss the issue of Gilgit-Baltistan”.

She had said that Nawaz has a heart condition and that she was not in favour of such a meeting.

“Gilgit-Baltistan is a political issue,” Maryam had said, adding that “it should be resolved in the parliament, not at the GHQ”.

“Neither should the GHQ summon the political leadership on such matters nor should the political leadership go there,” Maryam said.