Pakistan’s T20I skipper has said players are slowly getting used to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) put in place for the side during their tour of England.

“There are some changes that we have to deal with,” said the star batsman during a virtual video conference from England. “The players have to stay at a distance from each other even during training and we go to the gym in groups of six. We have to follow the rules set here and can’t go outside either.”

The biggest change though is getting used to the banning of the application of saliva on the duke ball. “The ball can’t be shined [with saliva] and only sweat can be used,” he said. “So when you come from normal conditions to these new rules then you need some time to adjust. We have been here for 2-3 days now and are trying to adjust.”

The old ball may not retain its shine but Babar is rightly wary of the firepower that England’s pacers have. “They have the advantage [over our bowlers] since they are the hosts and they know these conditions really well, with the likes of Stuart Broad and James Anderson,” said Babar, but believes that Pakistan have bowlers who will trouble the England batsmen too. “We have a really good combination of youth in Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah alongside the experience of Muhammad Abbas, who has experience of playing in these conditions since he has played county cricket.”

England are set to play three Tests against the West Indies before the games against Pakistan, but Babar believes that those matches may not necessarily give the hosts the advantage.

“The advantage that we have is that we will be watching them to see how they take care of the ball, what kind of cricket they play and how do they follow the new rules set in place due to covid-19,” he said. “We also have a few practice matches lined up, which of course are necessary since they will help us get into match fitness so that we are good to go when the Tests come around.”

Six neighbourhoods in Karachi’s District West and five in District South are being sealed from today (Friday) as part of the Sindh government’s smart lockdown.

These are:

District West

• Gadap’s UC-5 Songal (Gulshan-e-Maymar Blocks X, Y and Z)
• Keamari’s UC-3 Keamari (Docks and Majeed Colony)
• Baldia UC-5 Saeedabad (Block 5G, 5J and A3)
• SITE UC-4 Metroville (Blocks 1,2,3,4 and 5)
• Orangi’s UC-11 Data Nagar (Area A/B)
• Orangi’s UC-12 Mujahid Colony (Millatabad and Gullamabad Aligarh Colony)

District South

• Civil Lines (Khayaban-e-Rahat, Clifton Block 4, 5 and Bath Island localities)
• Arambagh (Khori Garden and Machi Miyani market in Kharadar)
• Garden (Jeelani Masjid Road, Hari Masjid Road, Shoe Market and Doli Khata)
• Lyari (Madni Road Moosa Lane)
• Saddar (Bizerta Line)

Neighbourhoods of the District West will be sealed from midnight on July 3 till 7pm on July 17. Meanwhile, the mentioned areas of District South will be under lockdown till 12am on July 16.

The government has been imposing ‘smart lockdowns’ in areas where more coronavirus cases are reported.

During the smart lockdown, movement is restricted and masks are necessary. Pillion riding and all sorts of public transport including ride-hailing services will also remain suspended.

Only grocery stores and pharmacies will be allowed to remain open and only one person per household can leave to buy food or medicine.
The notification read that the government will try to set up mobile dispensaries and mobile utility stores in these areas.

All other businesses and industrial units in these areas will be closed. There will also be no home delivery or takeaway.

No private/family get-togethers are allowed either.

DNA

Islamabad, July 03: Missing Persons Commission has disposed of 4593 cases upto June 30, 2020 as per monthly progress report released by Farid Ahmed Khan, Secretary (ColoED) on cases of alleged enforced disappearances for the month of June 2020.

A total number of 6674 cases were received by the Missing Persons Commission upto May 2020. During June 2020, 12 more cases were received by the commission and total numbers of cases reached to 6686. The Missing Persons Commission disposed of 49 cases in June 2020 and thus total disposal of Missing Persons upto June 30, 2020 is 4593 and balance as on June 30, 2020 is 2093.

The Missing Persons Commission will resume its hearings soon after review of Lock down policies announced by Federal Government and Provincial Governments in order to prevent from COVID-19 as per law.

Honorable Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman, Missing Persons Commission and other Honorable members have disposed of 4593 cases upto June 30, 2020. The relatives of missing persons have lauded the efforts of Honorable Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal Chairman Missing Persons Commission and other Honorable members of Missing Persons Commission for taking personal interest in locating their near and dear ones. Honorable Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman, Missing Persons Commission is serving Missing Persons Commission in an honorary capacity and is drawing no salary and availing other faculties which are admissible as per law.

DNA

BEIJING, July 3 : Ambassador of Pakistan to China Ms. Naghmana Alamgir Hashmi was accorded farewell after one-year tenure in Beijing, China Economic Net reported on Friday.

Moin-ul-Haque, currently serving as Ambassador of Pakistan to Paris will replace Hashmi as the new envoy to Beijing.

Vice Foreign Minister of China Luo Zhaohui met with ambassador Naghmana Hashmi on Thursday. On the occasion, Luo conveyed his thankfulness to Hashmi for her great contribution to promoting friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and Pakistan, and expressed the hope that Hashmi would continue to care for and support China-Pakistan relations.
Hashmi thanked the Chinese side for its valuable support during her performance of duties and believed Pakistan-China relations would overcome any difficulties and challenges and constantly achieve greater development.
Hashmi is recognized for her contribution to the cultural understanding between China and Pakistan. As an ambassador in favor of Chinese culture, she depicts the traits of Chinese civilization as peaceful and benevolent.

Meanwhile, she has endeavored to share the core spirit of Pakistan and its people by introducing Sufism to the Chinese audience. Her deep understanding of both Chinese and Pakistani cultures has warranted her achievements in bringing the two peoples closer.

Hashmi is a champion of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). She highlighted the tangible results and benefits to the local people brought about by CPEC and recognized its renewed vitality into Pakistan’s socioeconomic development.

Her signed article “From Khunjerab to Gwadar: 69 years of concord, cooperation, and connectivity” represents part of her efforts in promoting the CPEC project.

Devoted to improving Pakistan’s exports to China as a continuous effort inherited from her predecessor Masood Khalid, the Pakistani Embassy under the leadership of Hashmi has cooperated with China Economic Net (CEN) to hold the Pakistan Mango Festival in Beijing in a bid to attract the Chinese business community to explore the untapped market of Pakistani fruits.

Hashmi also received interviews from CEN several times on the topics of China-Pakistan trade cooperation and mutual support in the fight against COVID-19 between the two countries.
Hashmi has also shown great leadership in the test of the COVID-19 pandemic by managing to deliver large quantities of Chinese donations to Pakistan in order and soothing the nostalgia of Pakistani nationals with tender care when the pandemic first broke out in China.

The incoming successor Moin-ul-Haque joined Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1987, and has served in Sri Lanka, Canada, and Turkey. In 2013, he was appointed Director General (Europe), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and later assumed the position of Chief of Protocol, MoFA.

Moin-ul-Haque was appointed Ambassador of Pakistan to Paris and accredited to Principality of Monaco in 2017.

FPCC president Anjum Nisar calls on world community to hold India accountable for HR abuses in IHK 

ISLAMABAD (DNA) -The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Mian Anjum Nisar has raised serious concerns over continuing human rights abuses and curfew in Indian Held Kashmir for the last more than 9 months, saying successive ceasefire breaches along the Line of Control by the Indian Forces is a serious threat to regional trade and economic prosperity, especially at a time when the whole world economies are highlighting gloomy forecasts.

He urged the United Nations to accord serious attention to blatant violation of human rights in IHK, constituting a high powered human rights committee to visit the valley to see and report the facts. “These egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and are a threat to bilateral trade and regional peace. He added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the Working Boundary, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that the international community must hold India accountable for its human rights abuses in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

FPCCI President appreciated the government, which has summoned senior Indian diplomat to register strong protest over the ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control, killing and seriously injuring several innocent civilians.

Expressing solidarity with the armed forces, struggling against terrorism, he said that operations of Pak Army and security forces against terrorism have made the situation stable in the country.

Mian Anjum Nisar, condemning the militant attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, which was foiled by police within a few minutes, lauded the efforts of the law enforcement agencies and paid tributes to security personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

“The FPCCI pays tribute to the security guards of the PSX, who laid down their lives to thwart the attack and the whole trade and industry is proud of its security personnel, who bravely fought off militants to avert massive casualties.”

The leader of Apex trade body said that the whole Pakistani nation was supporting the Pak army in their struggle against terrorism so that terrorism was fully extirpated from the soil. He said that when there was peace in the region, socio-economic development and prosperity would automatically come.

He said the atrocities by Indian occupation forces were well documented by the United Nations, human rights organizations as well as international media. And a continuing silence in the face of such blatant abuse is against international human rights and humanitarian laws and must be unacceptable, he remarked.

FPCCI, on behalf of the whole business community of Pakistan, calls on the international community to hold India accountable for its human rights abuses in IoJK where women, men and children have faced pellet guns, sexual assault, electrocution, and physical & mental torture, he added.

Mian Anjum Nisar said that the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary had continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons.

In 2020, India has so far committed 1487 ceasefire violations resulting in 13 Shahadats and serious injuries to 106 innocent civilians, he said.

Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, he underscored that such senseless acts were in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and are also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.

Unfortunately, soon after formal identification of India as a violator of Human Rights in IHK, in an act of gross disregard, intimidated the UN and the world, revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in August 2019 and instantly poured in thousands of State Security Forces troops who imposed an instant Curfew, closed down telecommunications and internet services, and indiscriminately arrested innocent political leaders and activists.