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Ivorian president Ouattara to run for third term

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Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara has said he will run for a third term in October’s general elections.

The president was last week nominated by his party and said he would announce his decision later.

The ruling party’s previous presidential nominee, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, died of a heart attack on 8 July.

“I am a candidate in the presidential election of October 31,” Mr Ouattara told public broadcaster RTI.

“I have decided to respond favourably to the call of my fellow citizens,” he said.

The president’s decision is likely to spark criticism as the country has a two-term presidential limit.

He has previously argued that a constitutional change in 2016 reset the clock and that his first term did not count.

The opposition party Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) has called the decision “deplorable”, according to Reuters news agency.

The party;s spokesperson Issiaka Sangare said “Ivory Coast could have given another signal that would have allowed democracy to continue,” the agency reports.

FPI is the party of Ivory Coast’s former President Laurent Gbagbo. On Saturday, it named his one-time Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan as its candidate, ending speculation that Mr Gbagbo might return from abroad to vie.

KP govt says Peshawar BRT to operate for public ‘in weeks’

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PESHAWAR : Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance and Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra said the Bus Rapid Transit Peshawar will be opened for public “in weeks” ahead, either in August or September.

The provincial minister said this while speaking during Geo News’ current affairs programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath” on Thursday.

Reacting to a statement by information minister Shibli Faraz regarding the bus project, Jhagra said the federal minister was right when he said that the project has suffered from some problems, and that the same had been stressed by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan.

In a television programme, the federal information minister had admitted that there are mistakes on the part of the government in the project which could have been carried out in a better way.

The finance minister said there is no government in the world that does not make errors, adding that it is wrong when people try to politically defend everything. “The project came under pressure when the six-month deadline was given,” admitted Jhagra.

Describing the overall viability of the transportation project, the finance minister said a mass transit project is the pressing need of a city like Peshawar with over a 5 million population.

The BRT Peshawar project will cost Rs70 billion, including the exchange rates, the minister said, adding that the repayment of the debt depends upon the future value of the money but the terms and conditions of the loan are not an issue.

“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa acted very responsibly not just during last five years as only 2% or less of its budget that amounts to Rs10 billion goes into debt servicing,” said the minister, adding the government has drawn up the debt profiling for the next 40 years.

Replying to a question, Jhagra said, “The project is almost complete as extensive pre-commissioning testing is already well underway and it’s only a matter of weeks when we will open it for the general public either in August or September.”

The mega project, which was launched in October 2017, was to be completed in April 2018. This was the first deadline for the project which was not met. Later on, the provincial government gave several other deadlines, June 30, 2018 and then to Dec 31, 2018 and March 23, 2019. None of them were met.

Michael Holding impressed by Pakistan’s fast bowling against England

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Manchester: West Indies’ legendary pacer and now a renowned commentator, Michael Holding has been dazzled by Pakistan’s fast bowling against England on Day 2 of the Old Trafford Test.

Pakistani bowlers ripped apart England’s top-order early. Opener Rory Burns and Dom Sibley were back to the pavilion inside first over. Mohammad Abbas then produced a beauty to dismiss Ben Stokes. English captain Joe Root (14) was removed by Yasir Shah.

Holding also wished that he was powerful like Naseem Shah when he was his age. “I’m impressed with some of the fast bowling I’m seeing from Pakistan. That 17-year-old, I wish I was as strong as he is when I was 17. He certainly has some good pace and he looks strong. I’m looking forward to seeing him bowl more,” he said.

He also stated that it is hard to play Test cricket at the age of 17 as a pacer but it is good to see that Pakistan have faith in his abilities.

“Test match cricket is not easy and being a fast bowler at that age in Test cricket could be a little stressful. I would hate to see him go under too quickly. Pakistan have faith in his strength, they have faith in his fitness – let’s hope they are right,” he added.

Pakistan continues to record decline in coronavirus cases

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ISLAMABAD : The number of coronavirus cases and fatalities continues to diminish in Pakistan as the country reported 17 new deaths in the last 24 hours.

According to the latest figures released by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 782 confirmed COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in 24 hours.

The active coronavirus cases in the country stands at 18,494. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,052, according to the NCOC.Thus far, 2,079,333 tests have been conducted in the country while 258,099 patients have recuperated from the disease.

122,759 cases have been detected in Sindh so far, 94,040 in Punjab, 34,432 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11,821 in Balochistan, 15,182 in Islamabad, 2124 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 2,287 in Gilgit Baltistan.

Of the total coronavirus-related fatalities, 2,245 occurred in Sindh, 2,162 in Punjab, 1215 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 136 in Balochistan, 167 in Islamabad, 55 in Gilgit Baltistan, and 55 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Global coronavirus cases surpass 18.9 million

The number of Coronavirus cases across the world has crossed eighteen point nine million while the pandemic has claimed more than 709,000 lives so far.

More than twelve point one million patients have recovered from the disease across the world.

The United States is the worse hit, where cases have mounted over four point nine million and death toll reached over 161,000.

Daily Islamabad Post Aug 7

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Daily Islamabad Post Aug 7

Japan provides Grant-Aid for The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship

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Islamabad: August 6, 2020

Japan provides Grant-Aid for The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for Fiscal Year 2020 

The Government of Japan today announced grant aid worth around 318 million Japanese Yen for the Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) program in Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

H.E. Mr. Matsuda Kuninori the Ambassador of Japan in Pakistan and H.E. Mr. Noor Ahmed, Secretary of Ministry of Economic Affairs, have signed an Exchange of Notes (E/N) on this program.

A Grant Agreement (G/A) for the aforementioned program was also signed between Mr. Rahman Shah, Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Economic Affairs and Mr. Shigeki Furuta, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Pakistan Office.

JDS is designed to support social and economic development of the country by providing government officials an opportunity to obtain Master’s or Doctoral degree in Japan in order to strengthen the administrative capacity of officials.

The participants of JDS program who are involved in formulation and implementation of policies are expected to learn in partner universities in Japan and acquire knowledge of their specialties as well as the know-hows of how Japan became a country as it is today.

As JDS in Pakistan was started from 2018 and has four batches in consecutive four years, Pakistan is experiencing the third batch of the program this year. For the third batch, the maximum number of the slots for JDS participants in Pakistan are eighteen (18) seats for Master’s degree and two (2) seats for Doctoral degree.

Mr. Shigeki Furuta mentioned ” This program will provide young and promising government officials with significant opportunity to study and obtain master’s or PhD degrees in universities in Japan. Those who attend this program are anticipated to play leading roles of the government in the future in formulating and implementing social and economic policies for the development of Pakistan.

Japan is a unique country with a history of building a liberal nation with advancement in socio-economy and technology from scratch after the World War II. I am quite sure that the JDS fellows will gain public administrative capacity together with wider and deeper knowledge and broad human networks through this program. “

Islamabad: August 6, 2020

Japan provides Grant-Aid for The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for Fiscal Year 2020 

The Government of Japan today announced grant aid worth around 318 million Japanese Yen for the Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) program in Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

H.E. Mr. Matsuda Kuninori the Ambassador of Japan in Pakistan and H.E. Mr. Noor Ahmed, Secretary of Ministry of Economic Affairs, have signed an Exchange of Notes (E/N) on this program.

A Grant Agreement (G/A) for the aforementioned program was also signed between Mr. Rahman Shah, Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Economic Affairs and Mr. Shigeki Furuta, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Pakistan Office.

JDS is designed to support social and economic development of the country by providing government officials an opportunity to obtain Master’s or Doctoral degree in Japan in order to strengthen the administrative capacity of officials.

The participants of JDS program who are involved in formulation and implementation of policies are expected to learn in partner universities in Japan and acquire knowledge of their specialties as well as the know-hows of how Japan became a country as it is today.

As JDS in Pakistan was started from 2018 and has four batches in consecutive four years, Pakistan is experiencing the third batch of the program this year. For the third batch, the maximum number of the slots for JDS participants in Pakistan are eighteen (18) seats for Master’s degree and two (2) seats for Doctoral degree.

Mr. Shigeki Furuta mentioned ” This program will provide young and promising government officials with significant opportunity to study and obtain master’s or PhD degrees in universities in Japan. Those who attend this program are anticipated to play leading roles of the government in the future in formulating and implementing social and economic policies for the development of Pakistan.

Japan is a unique country with a history of building a liberal nation with advancement in socio-economy and technology from scratch after the World War II. I am quite sure that the JDS fellows will gain public administrative capacity together with wider and deeper knowledge and broad human networks through this program. “

H.E Mr. MATSUDA Kuninori, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan has said that JDS scholarship is expected to contribute to capacity building of civil servants, which will augment their skill to formulate and implement socio-economic development plans in Pakistan. Japan will continue to contribute especially for education sector for the prosperous future of Pakistan, said the Ambassador.

FWO and Hashoo Group host Pakistan’s first ever Virtual MOU Signing Ceremony

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Islamabad : FWO and Hashoo Group signed an MoU to promote education projects and skill development programmes especially in the Hospitality sector, for Pakistani youth.

The MoU was signed by Director Operations FWO Brigadier Ghazi Shameel Haider and Chief Operating Officer Hashoo Group Mr Haseeb Gardezi. Director General FWO, was also present at the signing ceremony.

Hashoo Group will cooperate with FWO to develop new courses and diplomas, to be delivered at FWO training institutions. FWO has been providing technical education for more than 30 years, making it the most trusted and functional establishment in the construction technology sector.

Mr. Murtaza Hashwani, Deputy Chairman and CEO of Hashoo Group participating in the ceremony through online teleconferencing facility, cited, “I would like to thank the Chief of Army Staff and DG FWO for giving Hashoo Group an opportunity to join their Vision for educating and empowering the youth of Pakistan”.

The programmes, to be run jointly by both organizations, will be firmly built on practical application to ensure that students enrolling in these specially designed and drafted courses, taught by the best faculty, are enabled to acquire good jobs in various fields of Hospitality and Hotel Management besides certain other emerging areas such as Tourism, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain etc. In addition to the education sector, both organizations also plan to collaborate on other opportunities and ventures of common interest.

Punjab govt unveils austerity policy for FY2020-21

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LAHORE: Punjab government on Thursday unveiled its austerity policy for the new fiscal year 2020-21.

According to the policy, unnecessary expenses will be avoided while purchase of new vehicles and foreign trips of ministers and officials will be banned.

The ministers and the officials can only go on foreign tours after prior permission from CM Punjab Usman Buzdar.Expenditure on decoration of houses of provincial ministers will not be allowed.

During his visit to US, last year, PM Imran Khan had set an example of austerity and simplicity which visibly cost lesser as a visit of a head of the state over expenditures of national exchequer.

Details of expenditures made during the visit of PM Khan to the US, which was compared with the visits of previous rulers including former president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

The details become an eye-opener for all as the previous visits by the then heads of the state had put a heavy financial burden on the national exchequer.

According to the details, the former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, had paid a six-day official visit to the US in 2009. Approximately $752,688 spent on his visit to the US.

Anti-polio campaign to kick off in Punjab from Aug 15

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LAHORE: A polio vaccination drive will be carried out in different cities of Punjab province from August 15 to 19, according to the Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department.

According to details, the Secretary Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department, Captain (R) Muhammad Usman has written a letter to security coordination committee seeking security for polio vaccination teams.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), hand gloves and surgical masks will be provided to polio team for vaccination drive.It is pertinent to mention here that the government of Pakistan resumed polio vaccination activities on July 20 with a campaign in selected districts after a four-month suspension of all vaccination activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Districts covered in the first round were Faisalabad, Attock, South Waziristan, and parts of Karachi and Quetta. Almost 800,000 children under the age of five vaccinated during the campaign.

It was learnt that the first polio immunization campaign in the country during COVID-19 pandemic has achieved desired results as 94 percent of the targeted children were administered polio drops during the drive.

The campaign came to an end in a peaceful manner without witnessing any violent incident as law enforcement authorities provided adequate security to the volunteers during the immunization process.

The Pakistan Polio Eradication programme had suspended all Polio related activities in the last week of March, except surveillance.

Pakistan plans coronavirus vaccine clinical trials in next two weeks

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LAHORE : The University of Health Sciences (UHS) Punjab, in collaboration with Australia’s Flinders University, has begun preparations for a coronavirus vaccine trials in Pakistan to combat the novel coronavirus.

According to UHS Vice-Chancellor Dr Javed, the preliminary clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine produced by Australia will begin in two weeks in Pakistan.

Giving details about the pilot project in a video link session held in UHS, Lahore, Dr Javed said that 25 people will be given the vaccine. “If the vaccine produced promising results, the trial will be expanded to more people.”

Karachi’s Jinnah Sindh Medical University will also be made part of the project.
Dr Javed said that vaccine will reach Pakistan in coming days and clinical trials will begin after approval from Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). He further said that commercial-scale manufacturing of vaccine is likely to start in the next three months.

The vaccine, known as COVAX-19, was developed by Flinders University and Australian firm Vaxine Pty Ltd and had produced promising results in trials in Australia. All participants developed antibodies to the new coronavirus.

Phase I clinical trials for the vaccine started on July 2 at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in south Australia.

It must be noted that countries around the world are engaged in efforts to develop an effective vaccine against the contagious disease, but so far scientists have not been able to achieve complete triumph in this regard.

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