ISLAMABAD, APR 6 (DNA) – One hundred and twenty-eight stranded Pakistanis in Uzbekistan were brought back to the country through a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday.According to a press release issued by the embassy, as a humanitarian gesture, the same flight also brought back 22 Uzbek nationals from Pakistan.These stranded Pakistani nationals included tourists who came to Republic of Uzbekistan on short-term visa and could not return to Pakistan due to suspension of international flights following COVID-19 outbreak.

ISLAMABAD, APR 6 (DNA) – Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a telephone conversation with the Secretary General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Mr. Vladimir Norov.Both leaders exchanged views on adopting an effective strategy to contain the COVID-19 Pandemic and facing the challenges posed by it.The Foreign Minister briefed the Secretary General on the measures being taken by Pakistan to contain Covid-19 Pandemic.

ISLAMABAD, APR 6 (DNA) – Ambassador of Japan, Kuninori Matsuda said that the Japanese government was ready to provide its expertise and any sort of assistance to the government of Pakistan if required in the current hard times.“Japanese Government supports the people of Pakistan in these trying times and is ready to offer its expertise and any sort of assistance to the government of Pakistan if the situation so requires,” the Ambassador told Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh during a call on meeting.

KARACHI, APR 6 (DNA) – The APNS has expressed its reservations on the notification issued by the Ministry of Information on  April 3 2020 wherein new procedure of release of government advertisements and payment of advertisement bills has been notified. Mr Hameed Haroon President and Sarmad Ali Secretary General APNS have stated that the mechanism was proposed in the Draft Centralised Advertising Policy which has not yet been finalised through the  consultations with the stake holders namely APNS , PBA and PAA as assured by the Ministry of Information. The APNS , PBA and PAA  have already submitted their position papers but so far no consultation meeting has been convened by the Ministry. 

Mariam Javed Asghar

Alan Turing, a genius British mathematician widely regarded as the intellectual father of modern computer science and artificial intelligence, he once said in 1949, when only handful computers existed in the world that, “This is only a foretaste of what is to comeand only the shadow of what is going to be”.Turing remarks remain true today. Most of the technological promises of future have somehow come true as ‘Internet of Things’(IoT) permeated everyday life.

When rich, developed countries like the US struggle to cope with epicenter numbers, policy leaders in the two nuclear countries of South Asia need to reassess strategic priorities. Regional competition and the failure of markets to distribute resources or to provide public goods such as health services is teaching global leaders harsh lessons in social justice and the wages of growing inequality. We must learn them too.