ISLAMABAD, Jul 12 (DNA) :The Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission has postponed the August 18 polls for the provincial assembly. The election commission had issued a schedule for the polls after the provincial assembly completed its term on June 24.

However, the election has been postponed in view of the regional situation and pending delimitation in Hunza, Diamer and Ghizer districts, according to the election commission.

President Arif Alvi issued on Sunday a notification regarding postponement of the election.

On July 10, the GB chief election commissioner had summoned a conference of all political parties to discuss the matter.

The participants were informed that the administration was not prepared to hold the election. Another two months were required for preparing voter lists and making other arrangements, they were told.

Political parties have opposed the delay in election. They describe it as pre-poll rigging.DNA

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ISLAMABAD, Jul 12 (DNA) : Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Lt. Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa said on Sunday that the new optical fibre cable had been operationalised from Khunjrab to Islamabad.

In a tweet, Asim Bajwa who is also Chairman China Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority, informed that the next phase of the cable would be laid from Islamabad to Karachi and Islamabad to Gwadar as part of digital highway plan.

The project of laying optical fibre cable from China border to Gwadar is being executed under CPEC.

Bajwa said foundation for digital and Information Technology revolution-project was being processed in conjunction with China. DNA

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MUZAFFARABAD, JULY 12 (DNA) – Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood has vowed to carry forward the mission of Kashmiri martyrs who had offered supreme sacrifice of their life on this day, 89 years ago, at Srinagar to get rid of the most oppressive Dogra rule.

“Today, we are marking the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day in the most tragic circumstances. The occupation authorities have cancelled the commemoration of this day in Srinagar and the entire occupied territory. We strongly condemn this decision by Delhi to muzzle the voices of Kashmiris,” President Masood said in a message on the occasion of Kashmir Martyrs Day.

AJK President vehemently condemned arrest of senior Hurriyat leader and Chariman of Tehreek Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) in Srinagar ahead of Kashmir Martyrs Day.

Tracing the history of the day, AJK President said eighty-nine years ago, on July 13, 1931, the people of Jammu and Kashmir rose to protest against the cruel, autocratic rule of the Maharaja to demand freedom and to get their grievances redressed.

Religious persecution of majority Muslims was at its height at that time and people of state were in fact being treated as slaves and bonded labour. The Holy Quran had been desecrated, he added.

“It was against this backdrop that Abdul Qadeer Khan gave a clarion call at a gathering at Khanqa-i-Mu’alla in Srinagar on June 21, 1931.

Pointing to the Shergarhi Palace of the Maharajah, he inflamed the audience with his words: “Demolish this edifice of injustice, cruelty and subjugation”, AJK President recalled.

Qadeer, Masood Khan said, was arrested and tried on sedition charges. But the words he articulated galvanised and mobilised the people of Jammu and Kashmir. On July 13, during his trial, witnessed by thousands of people, a man who stood to make a call to prayer was shot dead by the Maharajah’s police. In all, twenty-two men rose to compete the azan (call to prayer). All were shot dead. These men gave their life for liberty and human dignity.

Masood went on to say that mission left incomplete by our martyrs has yet to be completed and maintained that today, under a fascist, settler-colonial rule of the BJP-RSS regime, Kashmiris are being killed, blinded, disappeared, illegally detained and tortured.

He regretted that women of IOJK have been raped to impose collective punishment on the besieged population. Nearly 900,000 occupation forces are brutalising Kashmiris. Under New Domicile Rules, thousands of non-native Hindus from India are being settled in the occupied territory to turn Muslim majority to a minority, to pillage Kashmiris’ jobs and livelihoods, and to steal their land. This is the worst instance of brazen colonisation in the 21st century.

In memory of Kashmir Martyrs, AJK President reiterated his strong resolve that to continue the freedom struggle until the people of Jammu and Kashmir realise their right to self-determination. He appealed to the international community to support the just struggle of the Kashmir and dismantle the BJP-RSS machinery of terror.

He said that people of Jammu and Kashmir pin their hopes on world parliaments, civil society and the United Nations.

“Words are not enough. Concrete actions must be taken to save Kashmiris. Kashmiri youth is restive and furious at Indian atrocities and the world’s effete attention. The time is of the essence. Let’s save Kashmir and Kashmiris from annihilation, President Khan pleaded. DNA

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MUZAFFARABAD, JULY 12 (DNA) – Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood has vowed to carry forward the mission of Kashmiri martyrs who had offered supreme sacrifice of their life on this day, 89 years ago, at Srinagar to get rid of the most oppressive Dogra rule.

“Today, we are marking the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day in the most tragic circumstances. The occupation authorities have cancelled the commemoration of this day in Srinagar and the entire occupied territory. We strongly condemn this decision by Delhi to muzzle the voices of Kashmiris,” President Masood said in a message on the occasion of Kashmir Martyrs Day.

AJK President vehemently condemned arrest of senior Hurriyat leader and Chariman of Tehreek Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) in Srinagar ahead of Kashmir Martyrs Day.

Tracing the history of the day, AJK President said eighty-nine years ago, on July 13, 1931, the people of Jammu and Kashmir rose to protest against the cruel, autocratic rule of the Maharaja to demand freedom and to get their grievances redressed.

Religious persecution of majority Muslims was at its height at that time and people of state were in fact being treated as slaves and bonded labour. The Holy Quran had been desecrated, he added.

“It was against this backdrop that Abdul Qadeer Khan gave a clarion call at a gathering at Khanqa-i-Mu’alla in Srinagar on June 21, 1931.

Pointing to the Shergarhi Palace of the Maharajah, he inflamed the audience with his words: “Demolish this edifice of injustice, cruelty and subjugation”, AJK President recalled.

Qadeer, Masood Khan said, was arrested and tried on sedition charges. But the words he articulated galvanised and mobilised the people of Jammu and Kashmir. On July 13, during his trial, witnessed by thousands of people, a man who stood to make a call to prayer was shot dead by the Maharajah’s police. In all, twenty-two men rose to compete the azan (call to prayer). All were shot dead. These men gave their life for liberty and human dignity.

Masood went on to say that mission left incomplete by our martyrs has yet to be completed and maintained that today, under a fascist, settler-colonial rule of the BJP-RSS regime, Kashmiris are being killed, blinded, disappeared, illegally detained and tortured.

He regretted that women of IOJK have been raped to impose collective punishment on the besieged population. Nearly 900,000 occupation forces are brutalising Kashmiris. Under New Domicile Rules, thousands of non-native Hindus from India are being settled in the occupied territory to turn Muslim majority to a minority, to pillage Kashmiris’ jobs and livelihoods, and to steal their land. This is the worst instance of brazen colonisation in the 21st century.

In memory of Kashmir Martyrs, AJK President reiterated his strong resolve that to continue the freedom struggle until the people of Jammu and Kashmir realise their right to self-determination. He appealed to the international community to support the just struggle of the Kashmir and dismantle the BJP-RSS machinery of terror.

He said that people of Jammu and Kashmir pin their hopes on world parliaments, civil society and the United Nations.

“Words are not enough. Concrete actions must be taken to save Kashmiris. Kashmiri youth is restive and furious at Indian atrocities and the world’s effete attention. The time is of the essence. Let’s save Kashmir and Kashmiris from annihilation, President Khan pleaded. DNA

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ISLAMABAD, JULY 12 (DNA) –  Day three of the first, fully virtual Beaconhouse School of Tomorrow Conference: A World of Tomorrow: Negotiating a Better Future concluded the conference with all 22 sessions resonating with global audiences over the weekend. A key highlight of day one of the conference was the recognition of the Pakistan government’s comprehensive response to COVID-19 by Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. On day two, Mr Andreas Schleicher, Head of the OECD Directorate of Education & Skills joined for a discussion with Mr Kasim Kasuri, CEO of Beaconhouse on PISA assessment and the future of Education and Learning.

The third day of the conference continued with an insightful discussion on the hope that emerging learning could offer to the world’s 258 million out-of-school children.  This panel discussion featured Stephanie Dobrowolski, co-founder, Rising Academy Network, Africa, Mosharraf Zaidi, leading public policy analyst, Professor Tahir Andrabi, economist & educational leader, and Henry Warren, a specialist in disruptive digital businesses as the moderator.

A highlight of the day was the conversation on reimaginingthe future of learning, moderated byNassir Kasuri, Executive Director, Beaconhouse, with the featured speakers Dr Roger Schank, AI Researcher & CEO, Socratic Arts, Suzie Boss, iconic US learning advocate & PBLWorks Faculty, Dr Siva Kumari, Director General, International Baccalaureate, and Professor Dr Ger Graus OBE, Global Director of Education, KidZania.

Sessions ran concurrently on topics such as supporting vulnerable & SEN learners during school closures with Professor Maggie Atkinson, former Children’s Commissioner for England, award-winning novelist, Mohsin Hamid, inclusion expert, LaCheyna Sparrow-Adebiyi, and founder ‘Cities for Children’ Madeeha Ansari amongst others, along with a seminar on the International Baccalaureate’s ATL philosophy with Lance King. Transformative values and competencies were explored with Dr Tristian Stobie, Director Curriculum CAIE, Cynthia Guyer, Executive Director, Global Dignity, Dr Umar Saif, technology advisor, and Vikas Pota, education leader & creator of Global Teacher Prize.

Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, cognitive scientist, Munizae Jahangir, journalist, and Lara Rathod, creator/host, Red Sofa Conversations, discussed the ‘Info-demic’ in an attempt to sift fact from fiction, along with Oscar-winning film producer & member, House of Lords, UK, Lord David Puttnam CBE.

The School of Tomorrow conference seeks to understand how Covid-19 is shaping important global conversations about safer and more balanced futures, as well as pushing educators to reimagine the future of education at both school and university levels.

The conference updates are made available on its website (www.sotevents.com) and the social media platforms Facebook and YouTube (Sot Events).

SOT Events are made possible by the generous support of corporate sponsors. The organisers acknowledge the support of United Bank Limited as the Lead Sponsor for SOT Edition XI.

The non-profit School of Tomorrow Event Series was launched in 2000 and is organised by Beaconhouse as part of its ongoing commitment to its social responsibility. DNA

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Tashkent, Uzbekistan  — On 11 July 2020, in a video conference format, a ceremony of signing a loan agreement with the World Bank for a total of US$500 million for the implementation of a project to modernize agriculture in Uzbekistan was held.

On the Uzbek side, the agreement was signed by Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov, and on the part of the World Bank, Lilia Burunciuc, Regional Director for Central Asia.

The signing ceremony was also attended by the head of the World Bank in Uzbekistan M. Mantovanelli, the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan J. Khodjaev and other representatives of the Bank and relevant departments.

The project will be financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association in the amount of US$276 million and US$224 million respectively.

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the economy of Uzbekistan: its share in GDP is 28%, the share of the working-age population employed in this sector is 27% (3.6 million people), and the share of the country’s total exports is 10%. This area demonstrates high economic growth, and is also one of the drivers of private sector growth.

Since 2017, changes in the field of agriculture have become an important component of the broad reform program of the government of Uzbekistan. Their goal is to increase labor productivity in the industry, increase agricultural exports, further modernize and diversify production in order to reduce the share of cotton and wheat in agriculture and increase output of high value-added products, including fruit and vegetable and livestock products.

“Reforms in agriculture will create a large number of well-paid jobs in rural areas, strengthen the country’s food security and increase the export income of farmers and agricultural enterprises of Uzbekistan. The government works closely with the World Bank and other international partners to achieve these goals. The new project, financed by the Bank, will contribute to the further transformation of agriculture into a marketable and competitive industry, as well as significantly improve the provision of public services to our agricultural producers,” Sardor Umurzakov noted during the ceremony of signing loan agreements.

Thanks to the project, farmers and representatives of agricultural enterprises in all regions of Uzbekistan will have access to modern technologies, technical consultations, support services for various stages of production, agrology, phytosanitary, as well as the necessary information resources to increase sales. As a result, by increasing competitiveness and increasing the export potential of local producers, their presence in the domestic and international markets will expand.

Also, thanks to the participation of local commercial banks in the project, domestic producers will have the opportunity to attract long-term credit resources, with the prospect of their use for increasing export-oriented value chains, bearing in mind the development of intensive gardening, the creation of greenhouses, storage facilities for products, packaging and processing facilities, as well as the acquisition of energy and water saving technologies and agricultural machinery.

The project will also assist in the modernization of agricultural research institutes in Uzbekistan, conducting applied research and introducing advanced developments in the industry. Project activities will focus on issues of developing seed production, managing land and water resources, introducing agroecological climate-resistant technologies focused on specific regions, as well as preserving the unique genetic materials of plants in Uzbekistan.

“The World Bank is pleased to assist in the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of Agriculture in Uzbekistan for 2020–2030, aimed at increasing the share of the private sector and reducing the state presence in the industry,” M. Mantovanelli said. “This year, unlike other areas affected by the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Uzbekistan, agriculture should show growth. This is due to the steady demand for food. The industry may become one of the engines of the country’s economic recovery. In this difficult time, the new project will help thousands of farmers and representatives of agricultural enterprises increase productivity and increase the export of their products.”

It is worth noting that in the Year of the “Development of science, education and the digital economy”, the signing of documents was carried out by electronic signature, and this was the first World Bank document signed in the region in this format.

The volume of financial and technical assistance from the World Bank has increased significantly with the start of reforms in Uzbekistan in 2017. Today, the country program for Uzbekistan, consisting of 23 projects totaling US$4.4 billion, is its largest operation in the Europe and Central Asia region after Turkey. The Bank provides important support to the government in various areas, including economic reforms, agriculture, healthcare, education, water supply, energy, transport, social protection, urban and rural infrastructure development, as well as in implementing an anti-crisis program to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the health system, economy and well-being of the population.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan — It is planned to save 3.3 billion kWh of electricity and 2.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the economy of Uzbekistan over 2 years due to energy efficiency measures.

Such parameters are provided for by the resolution of the President of the country PP-4779 adopted “On additional measures to reduce the dependence of economic sectors on fuel and energy products by increasing the energy efficiency of the economy and utilizing available resources” on 10 July 2020.

Energy efficiency or, in other words, the rational use of energy resources in economic and social sectors is an important factor in increasing the profitability and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector and energy saving, which in turn has a serious impact on energy security, job creation, the growth of well-being of the population and in general development of the country.

From 1 August, the document establishes a tariff for guaranteed purchase of electricity from newly commissioned solar, wind and biogas power plants, micro and small hydroelectric power stations (HPPs), including surplus electricity produced for own needs.

It is fixed that the determination of investors for the construction and operation of industrial power plants based on renewable energy sources (RES), except for hydropower plants, is carried out only through tenders.

The document for the period from 15 July to 31 December 2020 establishes privileges for manufacturers who organized the third (night) shift in the form of applying a reduction factor in payments for the used electricity.

For enterprises with at least 50% of the state’s share, the possibility of reducing the mandatory requirement for prepayment (up to 30%) for natural gas and electricity will not be used.

The resolution approved the target parameters for saving fuel and energy resources in the sectors of the economy for 2020-2022, envisaging energy savings of 3.3 billion kWh, natural gas – 2.6 billion cubic meters, oil products – 16.3 thousand tonnes.

The document also approved the Roadmap for improving energy efficiency in large enterprises and the schedule for energy audits.

The resolution approved the structure and identified sources of financing, the previously created extrabudgetary Interbranch Energy Saving Fund, which is part of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

It has been established that the funds of this Fund are used for: financing the preparation of feasibility studies for projects to improve energy efficiency, including improving thermal protection of buildings and multi-apartment buildings; the creation of thematic training centers; development of relevant startups and participation in the authorized capital of enterprises for the production of installations of renewable energy sources, heat pumps, capacitor banks and other products aimed at improving energy efficiency.

The resolution gave a number of instructions to the responsible structures, including the Ministry of Energy. In particular, it is prescribed within 2 months to ensure the involvement of leading companies (domestic and international) for energy audits at 285 large industrial enterprises, as well as to make a proposal to expand their list.

The document envisages the creation of the Unified Information System of the Ministry of Energy, commissioning, which is scheduled for the end of 2021. Based on the analytical data obtained from the Unified Information System, a mechanism for mandatory energy audits of enterprises with high energy consumption will be introduced.