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Strategic implications of China-Iran deal

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By Muhammad Omar Iftikhar

The 25-year strategic deal between China and Iran will be viewed with great interest by key South Asian countries especially Pakistan and India. This USD $400 billion deal will see China and Iran collaborate in telecommunications, banking, infrastructure, and sharing military intelligence. The China-Iran nexus will possibly have positive impacts on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). While India will be witnessing the China-Iran deal with caution, the US and its incoming President and his administration will also diligently observe how this relationship flourishes. China is not using its military might to exercise its influence over the world. It is using economic ambitions to build commercial ties with the world’s leading countries having geopolitical and geostrategic importance. The CPEC, China-Iran deal, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are key examples in this regard.

With the China-Iran deal, the Chabahar Port in Iran will have a renewed importance. It is quite possible that the Chabahar Port and Pakistan’s Gwadar Port will not strive for a one-on-one competition but will work in collaboration. Pakistan-Iran ties may also be bolstered now that Iran has signed a strategic deal with China. It is expected that under the China-Iran deal, China will buy Iran’s oil at a cheap price to help it fuel its growing industries. On the other hand, Iran will receive monetary backing from China. While China and Iran deal will have major effects on China’s ties with the US and India, there is another player – Russia. Recently, Russia-China ties may have become a bit sour. This happened when Russia sold arms to India. Furthermore, reports suggest that India desires Russia to become a part of the US-led Indo-Pacific Initiative. This may be done to counter China’s increasing economic impact in the region and over the West. It is also likely that Iran may be included in the CPEC that will add stimulus to the project while expanding its geographical outlook.

JACINDA ARDERN-A TORCH BEARER

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ALI SUKHANVER

All places of worship must be safe and secure; it is one of the basic human rights of all religious sections of a society. Be it a temple, a mosque, a Buddhist monastery or a Church; all places of worship are sacred and sublime but forceful conversion of a Church into a Buddhist monastery or of a mosque into a temple is however a crime. Mishaps do occur, unpleasant incidents are always in possibility but wise rulers lessen the acidity of such unpleasant incidents with their kind wisdom. Last year the most peaceful land of flowers and fragrances New Zealand witnessed a very heart-rending incident of terrorism when two consecutive mass shootings occurred at mosques in a terrorist attack in Christchurch. That was 15th March 2019. According to the details a single gunman entered the Al Noor Mosque during Friday Prayer and started non-stop firing and then targeted the people in the neighboring Linwood Islamic Centre. Reports say that he killed 51 people and injured 49. It was all very horribly terrifying and no doubt nerve-breaking. At such a critical moment, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern played an exemplary role by providing all support to the victims and by establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry. Jacinda described the day as ‘one of New Zealand’s darkest days’. Her sympathy, kindness and the way she felt and shared the pain and agony of the victims was appreciated and admired all over the world. She simply set a new tradition in taking care of the minorities.

The religious and racial minorities always find them alone with no one to take care of them in some countries though a very few in number. In such countries, the minorities have to fall a victim to the hate crimes. The Muslims and the Sikhs are on the top of the list of those hated ones the basis of their religion. In August 2017, an analysis of A.C. Thompson was published in ProPublica with the title ‘Sikhs in America: A History of Hate’. The analysis says, “In the U.S, the Sikhs are a frequent target for xenophobes and haters. They are often immigrants or the children of immigrants. They tend to have brown skin. And their garb and personal grooming practices set them apart. Following the directives of the gurus, observant male Sikhs do not cut their hair — ever — and many keep their locks covered by a turban whenever they leave the house. They also typically refrain from shaving, often growing robust beards. But in America, the bulk of the populace knows little to nothing about Sikhism, so they see a person with a turban and assume he’s a Hindu or a Muslim.”

This resemblance with the Muslims so many times creates a lot of trouble for the Sikhs particularly in the societies where hatred for the Muslims is a dominating feature. According to the media details, in 2010, in West Sacramento, California, two men assaulted a Sikh cab driver breaking an orbital bone in his face and fracturing a bone in his spinal column. In their rage and fury, the attackers kept on calling the victim ‘Osama bin Laden’ during that violent activity. In short it is very unfortunate that in spite of not being the Muslims, the Sikhs have to face the hatred and disgust which actually is the fate of the Muslims in this ‘frightened’ world of today; just because of a little similarity in appearance with the Muslim community.

The worst of all are the Sikhs who are facing the same discrimination rather hatred not only in the West but in their own motherland India too. The Minority Rights Group published a report a few months back. The report says, “ Though the Khalistan movement has lost momentum in the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s, the country-wide anti-Sikh riots in 1984 have left a lot of bitterness between the two communities – Hindus and Sikhs-and have left a deep sense of injustice in their wake.” It further states, “Various commissions have been set up since 1984 to investigate the riots by the government but there has been no move to punish the perpetrators of the violence or even to prosecute cases against them.”

Astonishing is the fact that most of the times religious hatred is overcome by racial hatred. The Blacks in the West are facing the same atrocities which the low-caste Hindus are facing in India. Most of the Blacks in the Western countries are the Christians and almost all low-castes are the Hindus in India. The commonality of religion fails in saving them from the racial-wrath. This all needs to be taken care of; things could be brought into a better position with the help of the thinkers, writers, poets, journalists, teachers and politicians. They all could prove a very useful tool in this context but even these tools could prove useless in the countries where the governments are blamed of supervising and patronizing the miscreants involved in racial and religious hatred.

On 5th August 2020, the ever worst example of racial and religious hatred was observed in India when Mr. Modi, in spite of a very tough resentment from the Muslims, inaugurated the construction work on the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The Aljazeera said commenting on the situation, “Justice has eluded those who suffered the loss of life and properties in the nationwide violence that ensued in the wake of the destruction of the mosque – often dubbed the darkest chapter of modern India.” Mr. Modi says that his party is trying to promote communal harmony and inter-religion brotherhood but practically it is very much obvious that his political party is doing its utmost to construct a China-Wall of distrust between the Muslims and the Hindus. Certainly this action of the BJP government would widen the distances between the two majority communities of India. If Jacinda Ardern were the Prime Minister of India, the state of affairs would not have been so depressing, disappointing and horrible. Certainly Mr. Modi must learn a lesson from her.

Fawad defends PTI social media team, condemns PPP for ‘campaigning’ against it

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ISLAMABAD : Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry condemned defended PTI’s social media team, accusing the rival PPP of targeting it in a ‘campaign’.

The minister took to Twitter on Tuesday to defend the ruling party’s social media team, praising them for doing ‘great’ work from the Pulwama to the coronavirus crises.

“From Pulwama to COVID-19, PTI’s social media team has played a great role in every crisis so far. I condemn PPP’s campaign against these young people,” he said.

The minister added that when he had suggested regulating social media and bringing in PMRA, “the same group” was against the move.

Cabinet approves law requiring social media companies to open offices in Pakistan

In February this year, the federal cabinet had approved a new set of rules to regulate social media, requiring companies such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even TikTok to register themselves and open offices in Pakistan.

The rules and regulations had been included in the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 with senior officials in the Ministry of Information Technology confirming to Geo News that the cabinet had given the green light to the legal document.

Further, Federal Secretary IT & Telecommunication Shoaib Siddiqui had confirmed to Geo News that after the Cabinet’s approval, the rules and regulations need not be presented in the Parliament for approval.

The law required digital media companies to appoint a representative in Pakistan to deal with a national coordination authority, which would be responsible to regulate content on social media platforms.

It further required the companies to set up data servers in Pakistan within a year and makes it compulsory for them to provide data of accounts found guilty of various crimes — including targeting state institutions, spreading fake news and hate speech, engaging in harassment, issuing statements that harm national security or uploading blasphemous content — to intelligence and law enforcement agencies (LEAs).

Later, the then Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had confirmed that the government would form an authority to regulate social media websites, saying that these platforms cannot be left “completely unregulated”.

Farooq Sattar slams outgoing mayor over ‘shedding crocodile tears’

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KARACHI : Dr Farooq Sattar, former senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), on Tuesday termed Mayor Wasim Akhtar’s outburst at yesterday’s farewell press conference “crocodile tears”.

He said the Karachi mayor kept mum over four years of his tenure by operating in collusion (muk mukka) with parties he has now been complaining about.

Farooq Sattar said the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) got Rs4 billion grant from the Sindh government every year for uplift schemes besides funds from the federal government yet the mayor had been griping about lack of funds.

Wasim Akhtar had gotten visibly emotional while addressing the farewell press conference at the KMC head office yesterday, throwing away bundle of letters, he said, he had written to the chief minister, the prime minister and others.

“I wrote several letters to the federal and Sindh governments for resolution of Karachi’s problems, but got no replies”, he said. “The Sindh government considers Karachi an ATM and it now wants to further divide the city.”

He said the people of Karachi were facing severe crises.

Active coronavirus cases fall below 10,000 mark as more recuperate

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ISLAMABAD : The novel coronavirus claimed nine more lives across the country over the past 24 hours, lifting the death toll to 6, 255.

According to latest figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the deadly virus infected 450 more people during this period, raising the tally of cases to 293,711.

As many as 24,231 samples were tested for the presence of Covid-19, out of which 450 turned out to be positive. The number of active cases of the disease has gone down to 9,031 as 278, 425 patients have recuperated.

More than 2.4 million tests have been conducted across the country thus far. Out of 1,128 patients under treatment in 735 hospitals across the country, 117 are on ventilators.

On Aug 24, the NCOC directed the provinces to expedite administrative measures to ensure strict adherence to SOPs regarding coronavirus and security measures during Muharram majalis and processions.

Speaking at a video link meeting of NCOC, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar directed all provincial governments including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to closely monitor the situation of Covid-19 during Muharram.

The forum was informed about gatherings and processions taking place in different parts of the country from 1st Muharram. The provincial chief secretaries briefed the forum through video link about measures taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus during Muharram.

E-PAPER AUG 25

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CLICK FOR E-PAPER AUG 25, 2020

Goodbye Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar

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By Khalid bin Majeed

Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and minds. You don’t come across many of them and when you do, they leave a lasting impression. Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar was one of such very few people I have come across in my life.

I first met him in year 2015 when he joined Pakistan Red Crescent Society to head its National Ambulance Service College in Islamabad. During the last six years, there has not been a single time when I didn’t enjoy speaking to him, listening to his insightful and real-life observations and creative ideas, and feeling upbeat by his inspirational remarks filled with message of hope and optimism.

Sorrow has filled my heart as Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar silently closed the door of life and departed for the final abode on Aug 10. Just days before his death, he called me and expressed his desire to complete his ‘mission’ of setting up a ‘National Disaster Management University’ for the Pakistan Red Crescent Society as well as reviving the National Ambulance Service College. However, the destiny had something else for him in store.

Born in 1945, Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar did his MBBS from King Edward Medical College in 1968 and MRCP and FRCP from UK. He was Fellow National Academy of Medical Sciences, New York Academy of Sciences, American Psychiatric Association and Royal Society of Medicine.

He received Companion of Honour, Council of University of Manchester, Queen’s Anniversary Prizes (UK), in 1999. The Government of Pakistan awarded him with Sitara-i-Imtiaz in recognition of his outstanding research work and achievement in the field of medicine in 1986, and later with Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2002. In recognition of his meritorious services in the field of mental health, he was conferred as Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in Armed Forces of Pakistan in 1987.

During his professional career, Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar has been Vice Chancellor of University of Health Sciences, Lahore; Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Research and Training, Rawalpindi; Chairman, Global Mental Health Network; Member, International Neurosciences Faculty, Copenhagen; Member, WHO Expert Committee on Mental Health & Drug Dependence, WHO Headquarters, Geneva; Dean, Faculty of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan; Visiting Professor, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London; and Advisor, National Institute of Psychology, Islamabad.

Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar also served on Editorial Advisory Board of several reputed journals, like Journal of American Medical Association, New York; Journal of Mental Health, Oxford, United Kingdom; Medicine International, New Zealand and Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal; London. He also has the honour of being author of 28 books related to medical field, like “Mental Health in New Millennium: Freud, Freedom and Future”, “Al-Junun: Mental Illnesses in Islamic World”, “Psychiatry in Developing Countries”, “Common Mental Disorders in Primary Care”, and “Reproductive Health- A Manual for family Physicians”.

A highly acclaimed psychiatrist, academician, research scholar and medical educationist with over 40-year experience of teaching and practicing psychiatry, Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar was a multifaceted personality and a source of inspiration for many in and outside Pakistan. Being a professional par excellence, he was frequently termed a ‘giant’ in the arena of international psychiatry. It was he who made mental health recognized in Pakistan and it was through his efforts that psychiatry departments were established at many of the government-run hospitals in Pakistan. Today, more than 80 per cent of psychiatrists in Pakistan are his students.

PRCS Chairman Abrar ul Haq had a special place for Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar in his heart. He had recently included him in the Advisory Board of the PRCS to benefit from his professional excellence, commitment and dedication towards humanitarian cause.

Besides being a world-acclaimed psychiatrist, Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubbashar was also a spiritual soul and an extraordinary human being, a very caring father and a humane professional. He wrote his autobiography titled ‘Meem Bashar’, which tells the story of integrity and honesty of a person even in the toughest times of his life. The book is about confronting his demons and his struggle to rediscover himself after a career as a professional psychiatrist and educationist.

He would often describe how much painful for him was to see the poor patients being forced to buy costly medicines and undergoing expensive laboratory tests prescribed by doctors, terming the situation ‘empatho anaemia’ or ‘ethico anaemia’. According to him returning to age-old cultural values and traditions of East could revitalize society though it would result in closure of most of the clinics of medical practitioners.

It was very easy for him to live a comfortable life in England after completing his education yet he decided to come back and dedicate his life to serve his own community and train a whole generation of psychiatrists. With his departure, we have lost a symbol of courage and continuous struggle, who would teach others how to behave even in the most adverse circumstances. He was a lighthouse who always imparted the lesson of honesty to others. By his death, all the people who know him will miss a highly intelligent and vibrant individual with a rare friendliness and charm of personality. Human beings like him are born only once in centuries. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

The writer is Secretary General of Pakistan Red Crescent Society.

Pakistan condemns missile, drone attacks by Houthi militia towards Saudi Arabia

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DNA

ISLAMABAD, AUG 24 – Pakistan strongly condemned recent missile and drone attacks towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by Houthi militia.

Pakistan appreciates the successful interception of the missile and drone, which prevented the loss of innocent lives.

We call for immediate cessation of such attacks. Pakistan reiterates its full support and solidarity with Saudi Arabia against any threats to its security and territorial integrity. DNA

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CCP holds meeting to discuss competition distortions in wheat sector

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ISLAMABAD, AUG 24 (DNA) – The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) held a consultative meeting with the key stakeholders to discuss the competition distortions and consumer protection issues in the wheat sector of Pakistan.

The meeting was attended by Secretary National Food Security & Research (NFS&R) Omar Hamid Khan who was accompanied by his team, CCP Chairperson Rahat, Member Cartel & Trade Abuse Shaista Bano Gilani, Member Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Secretary Policy, Federal Board of Revenue Sajid Iqbal, CCP Secretary Noman Laiq, DG Shehzad Hussain, and Joint Director Cartel & Trade Abuse Qasim Khan.

The purpose of the meeting was to engage the stakeholders on the relevant issues and consult with them on the possible policy interventions to address competition distortions and collusive practices in the wheat sector. The meeting discussed a host of issues pertaining to the wheat sector and deliberated upon the likely solutions to the problems faced by the consumers.

It was decided in the meeting that NFS&R and the CCP will remain in close coordination and continue the policy dialogue to address the competition concerns and provide relief to the consumers through possible policy interventions. DNA

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Shibli to participate in Fateha Khawani of Ahmad Faraz tomorrow

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ISLAMABAD, AUG 24 (DNA) – Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz will participate in Fateha Khawani in the graveyard and prayer session in the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) on the occasion of 12th anniversary of Ahmad Faraz under the auspices of PAL.

On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of Ahmad Faraz, the first head of the PAL and a renowned poet of Pakistan, on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, at 10:00 AM, the officers of the PAL headed by Dr. Yousuf Khushk, Chairman, PAL accompanied by staff members and local writers, the PAL will lay a wreath and offer Fateha at the H-8/1 graveyard at Ahmad Faraz’s grave.

Later, a short prayer session for Ahmad Faraz will be held in the conference hall of the PAL In which writers and others will participate. DNA

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