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Tag: Pakistan

  • ‘When in Pakistan, I feel like I am at home,’ Turkish president tells parliament

    ‘When in Pakistan, I feel like I am at home,’ Turkish president tells parliament

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday thanked the people and leadership of Pakistan over the warm welcome he was accorded upon arrival, adding that while in Pakistan, he felt like he was at home.

    “It is my pleasure to speak to you. I am thankful to you for giving me the opportunity to address this house. While in Pakistan, I feel like I am at home,” he said while addressing a joint session of the parliament.

    Vowing unflinching support for Pakistan on the issues related to anti-terror financing and the illegal annexation of occupied Kashmir by India, Erdogan also said that he was thankful and happy to have had the opportunity to address the joint session of the parliament in Pakistan. “I am thankful for this opportunity. I am thankful to each of you individually for allowing me to address this joint session of Parliament,” he said.

    According to Geo, Erdogan also said that Pakistan and Turkey’s relations were admirable for others. “During difficult times, Pakistan has supported Turkey. Our friendship is based on love and respect. Pakistan’s pain is our pain.”

    Speaking about the issue of occupied Kashmir, the Turkish president said that Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) meant to Turkey exactly what it had meant to Pakistan over the years. “The relationship between Pakistan and Turkey will continue in the future as it has in the past,” he added.

  • Pakistan, Turkey sign trade, investment MoUs

    To increase economic engagement and mobilise the untapped potential for trade and investment, Pakistan and Turkey have signed two memorandums of understandings (MoUs), Dawn reported.

    The two MoUs include one on trade facilitation and customs cooperations, while the second pertains to reinforcing cooperation in the field of halal accreditation. The two sides agreed to explore the possibilities of enhancing bilateral trade for the mutually beneficial market access and trade facilitation.

    Read more – Freelancers payment limit raised to Rs. $25,000: State Bank of Pakistan

    Both sides also agreed to encourage their businessmen to establish joint ventures in industrial sectors and cooperate in the field of e-commerce.

    Read more – New survey reveals Pakistani businesses positive about future

    Both have the potential to explore possibilities of investment opportunities in defence industry, food processing and packing, automotive industry and auto-parts, household appliances, construction material, textiles, leather machinery and finished products, sports goods and surgical instruments.

  • ‘Three Pakistanis diagnosed with coronavirus have been cured’

    ‘Three Pakistanis diagnosed with coronavirus have been cured’

    Three Pakistani students diagnosed with coronavirus in China have been cured, the Chinese embassy in Pakistan has said.

    “We are pleased to learn that three Pakistani citizens affected by coronavirus in China have been cured and discharged from hospitals in Guangzhou and Shenzhen of Guangdong province,” the Chinese mission in Pakistan tweeted Wednesday.

    “All the best to them! Thank you, medical team in China,” it added, tagging Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Naghmana Hashmi, and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (PM) on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza.

    No further details of the students, however, were shared by the mission.

    According to The News, Dr Mirza had in January announced that four Pakistani students in China were tested positive for the coronavirus at a press conference in Islamabad. At that time too, the SAPM had refused to share the names of the affected students with the media.

    “The government will take good care of the students who have contracted the virus,” he had said at the presser.

    The death toll from China’s coronavirus epidemic climbed past 1,100 on Wednesday but the number of new cases fell for a second straight day, raising hope the outbreak could peak later this month.

    As Beijing scrambles to contain the outbreak, the number of people infected on a cruise ship off Japan’s coast rose to 174 — the biggest cluster outside the Chinese mainland.

    Another 97 people died in China, raising the national toll to 1,113, while more than 44,600 people have now been infected by newly named COVID-19 virus.

  • Pakistani scientist is working on the world’s first eco-friendly aircraft engine

    Pakistani scientist is working on the world’s first eco-friendly aircraft engine

    A female aerospace engineer from Pakistan is developing a pollution-free engine for airplanes that will reduce global warming and induce artificial rain during flight. It is expected to be ready between mid-to-late 2020.

    The technological marvel’s inventor Dr. Sarah Qureshi has been working on the task since 2018 to eradicate the negative impact of commercial air carriers on the stratosphere (second major layer of Earth’s atmosphere) that adds to global warming.

    In an interview with an international news outlet, the Pakistani scientist explained the contrail phenomenon.

    “You see,” she said, “When an airplane flies; cloud-like contrails are formed. These clouds are water vapors frozen around small particles (aerosols) that exist in aircraft exhaust. These clouds blanket the atmosphere with emissions from planes, contributing to global warming.”

    The engine will have a unique pressure-based condensation system, which will cool the water vapors in the aircraft exhaust. This water will remain on the airplane and can be released as rain as required.

    An environmentalist at heart, Qureshi turned her academic research at Cranfield University, UK, into a save-the-planet attempt and boarded on a mission to build the world’s first pollution-free jet engine.

  • Major win for Shehzad Roy as court bans corporal punishment for kids

    Major win for Shehzad Roy as court bans corporal punishment for kids

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday suspended Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and banned the practice of corporal (physical) punishment by parents, guardians and teachers on children.

    The decision was announced after singer-activist Shehzad Roy filed a petition in court to ban the use of violence to discipline children. A division bench of the IHC presided by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, suspended the PPC section until further notice.

    Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 (No XLV) allows parents, teachers and other guardians to use moderate and reasonable corporal punishment as a means to correct the behaviour of children below 12 years of age.

    In his petition, Roy claimed that Section 89 is contradictory to the Constitution as it violates basic human rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

    “Punishing children is being considered as essential for improving learning. News of torture and punishment of children have been reported every day in the media” read the petition.

    Justice Minallah, during the hearing, remarked that the country’s parliament had adopted a bill barring corporal punishment for children in 2013. The bill was not passed into law due to a technicality.

    Roy’s lawyer maintained that his client wanted the High Court to prevent violence against children until relevant legislation is passed.

    “Corporal punishment affects a child’s mental and physical health,” he asserted.

    After hearing the arguments, Justice Minallah directed the interior ministry to take immediate steps to protect the rights of children and asked for a reply from the federal government on the matter by March 5.

    Roy took to Twitter to express his gratitude over the IHC decision.

    Earlier, while speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court, Roy had said, “When a child is born, parents hit him, when he goes to school, teachers hit him, when he grows older and goes out in the society, police hits him to make him a better person. Research shows that the use of violence only increases violence.”

    Journalists, actors and members of the civil society lauded Roy for his initiative and hailed the court’s decision.

  • ‘Neutral’ Switzerland helped CIA spy on Pakistan, others?

    ‘Neutral’ Switzerland helped CIA spy on Pakistan, others?

    Outraged commentators warned on Wednesday that the CIA and Germany’s intelligence service had for decades used a Swiss encryption company for spying, seriously damaging Switzerland’s cherished reputation for neutrality, AFP reported.

    Critics voiced particular concern that Bern may have been at least tacitly complicit in the secret operation. Switzerland, which takes pride in its neutral and non-aligned status, “was hosting a quasi ally intelligence agency,” the Tribune de Geneve daily said in an editorial.

    Swiss officials “very likely” knew what was going on but “closed their eyes” in the name of neutrality, it added. Home to the United Nations European headquarters and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Switzerland is recognised worldwide for its standing as an honest broker.

    But media revelations on Tuesday told how for decades the US and West German intelligence services raked in the top-secret communications of governments around the world. The Trojan horse they used was their hidden control of Swiss encryption company Crypto AG.

    The company supplied devices for encoded communications to some 120 countries from after World War II to the beginning of this century, including Iran, South American governments, and India and Pakistan.

    Unknown to those governments, Crypto was secretly acquired in 1970 by the US Central Intelligence Agency together with the then West Germany’s BND Federal Intelligence Service.

    Together they rigged Crypto’s equipment to be able to easily break the codes and read the government’s messages, according to reports by the Washington Post, German television ZTE and Swiss state media SRF.

    Citing a classified internal CIA history of what was originally called operation “Thesaurus” and later “Rubicon,” the reports said that in the 1980s the harvest from the Crypto machines supplied roughly 40 percent of all the foreign communications US code-breakers processed for intelligence.

    The spy agencies were thus able to gather precious information during major crises such as the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 the 1982 Falklands War between Argentina and Britain. They also got information on several political assassinations in Latin America.

    The Swiss government said on Tuesday it had named a retired federal judge to look into the matter, with his findings due out in June. But Carolina Bohren, a Swiss defence ministry spokeswoman, stressed the difficulties ahead. “The events in question began in 1945 and are difficult to reconstruct and interpret today,” she said.

    Bern also announced it had suspended export licenses for Crypto’s successor companies, until the situation has been “clarified”. But a number of political parties, insisting that far more needed to be done, on Wednesday called for a full-blown investigation.

    The Swiss Socialist Party wondered in a tweet whether the country’s own intelligence service was a “victim or an accomplice”, demanding “clarifications and a full investigation”. The Greens and Christian Democrats also suggested a parliamentary commission might be called for.

    Amnesty International’s Swiss chapter meanwhile raised questions about the Swiss authorities’ responsibility both for the espionage and for how the information gathered had been used.

    “Were our intelligence services and the government aware of the torture and the murders committed by military dictatorships in Chile and Argentina?” it asked in a tweet. “Did they take any measures? A full investigation must be carried out.”

    Switzerland has a centuries-old tradition of neutrality. It avoided being drawn into either of the World Wars and has stayed outside political and military alliances such as NATO.

    Several media reports noted on Wednesday that this reputation ended up providing excellent cover for the United States and Germany when they set up their spying operation there.

    Whether this was done “out of incompetence, because of a desire to cover for foreign secret service agents, or to profit from the information they uncovered, must now be clarified,” the Tages-Anzeiger daily insisted. “That is the only way to get out of this mess.”

  • American woman comes to Pakistan to marry a man from Sialkot

    American woman comes to Pakistan to marry a man from Sialkot

    After becoming friends on Facebook four years ago, Zohaib Butt and Marjory have tied the knot and the Virginia citizen recently flew to Sialkot from the States to be with Butt.

    According to the groom, the two started as friends two years ago and decided to get engaged when Marjory visited Pakistan. The American native came back recently and the two tied the knot. Zohaib further revealed that Marjory accepted Islam and changed her name to Fatima.

    Meanwhile, in an interview, the bride said that she flew to Sialkot to marry the “love of her life,” adding that she loved the Pakistani culture as well.

    “I have enjoyed traveling to Pakistan. I’ve been here before and was welcomed by his family. I have enjoyed learning about his traditions, culture, and religion.”

    She continued, “Zohaib and I have talked for a long time over Facebook. This extended to his family where some of the children would take the phone from their parents and ask me for pictures of my dogs and children.”

  • Pakistan’s first manmade island to be built in Gwadar at a cost of $10 billion

    Pakistan’s first manmade island to be built in Gwadar at a cost of $10 billion

    Pakistan’s first manmade island — ‘Chaand Taara’ — will be built in Gwadar at a cost of over $10 billion. Shaped like a moon and star to represent Pakistan’s flag, it will form the cities of the Central Business District in the port city on the southwestern coast of Balochistan opposite Oman.

    According to Daily Times, located on Marine Drive and stretching towards Zero Point on the Coastal Highway, the Central Business District is to include a state-of-the-art amusement park, art and culture museum, grand theatre, concert hall, international expo centre, 5-star hotels and resorts, multiple shopping malls and waterfront walk, and a shopping promenade to name a few.

    The mega-development project that will be built around Gwadar Tower — expected to be Pakistan’s tallest building — has been detailed in the Gwadar Smart City Masterplan. The 75-page detailed report has been under development by a Chinese state-owned enterprise with assets of over $132 billion, China Communications Construction Company, and the Pakistani government as a joint-venture.

    The master plan document, prepared in conjunction with Pakistan’s Minister of Planning, Development & Reform and Gwadar Development Authority, chalks out an elaborate road map and plan on how Gwadar is to become the trade and economic hub of South Asia with a GDP per capita of $15,000 — 10 times that of Pakistan’s average.

    In line with Pakistan and China’s grand development plans for Gwadar, it will be Pakistan’s first weapon-free city. The city is being developed under the highest of international standards to be an economic hub not only for Pakistan but for the region and for this reason a robust security environment will be developed to ensure security for foreigners and expats visiting it. The security plans include the highest levels of urban security mechanisms through CCTV, vehicle management, urban video and alarm networks, and police management programmes.

    The report also quoted Balochistan Governor Amanullah Khan Yasinzai as saying that the project will be a game-changer for the people of the region.

  • Sajjad Ali’s son debuts in father’s new single

    Sajjad Ali’s son debuts in father’s new single

    Renowned singer Sajjad Ali’s son Khubi made his debut in his father’s latest romantic medley Baarish.

    The video also stars Reema and a newcomer Merub. In the music video, Ali looks back at his first love. The video shows the story of two young lovers, played by Khubi and Merub, who part ways on a rainy afternoon. 

    The Teri Yaad singer has not only sung the song but he also directed the video. Sajjad Ali has also done composition and lyrics.

    A few years ago, Khubi and his brother Shabi, had launched a band called SK Champs. Their first song was We Are The Guys.

    Listen to the song here:

  • Did coronavirus reach China from Pakistan?

    Did coronavirus reach China from Pakistan?

    With Chinese scientists saying the endangered pangolin could be the potential link that facilitated the spread of coronavirus across China, a report in Independent Urdu has argued if the novel virus could have reached the neighbouring country from Pakistan, where the scaly anteater is quite commonly found.

    According to the report, the rather expensive pangolin meat is widely consumed by the Chinese, and to meet its demand, China imports the animal from other countries, including Pakistan.

    Although pangolin is found all across the country, its largest population is there in the Potohar region — northern parts of Punjab bordering the western parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

    While it is an environment-friendly animal, there’s been a 90%, 80% and 50% decrease in its population in KP and Sindh, Punjab, and AJK, respectively, amid a spike in pangolin trafficking.

    The pangolin is considered the most trafficked animal on the planet and more than one million have been snatched from Asian and African forests in the past decade, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

    According to a report in DAWN, some officials say that pangolin meat is being sold in the local market, as people coming from China like it. A large number of Chinese people are staying in Karachi, working on projects related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). But these allegations have never been formally investigated or proven.

    China in January ordered a temporary ban on the trade in wild animals until the epidemic is under control. The country has long been accused by conservationists of tolerating a shadowy trade in endangered animals for food or as ingredients in traditional medicines.

    “If we want to do everything in our power to prevent deadly disease outbreaks such as coronavirus, then a permanent ban on wildlife trade, in China, and around the world, is the only solution,” said Neil D’Cruze, global head of wildlife research at World Animal Protection.

    A price list that circulated on China’s internet for business at the Wuhan market showed a menagerie of animals or animal-based products including live foxes, crocodiles, wolf puppies, giant salamanders, snakes, rats, peacocks, porcupines, camel meat and other game — 112 items in all.

    The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus that killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in 2002-03 also has been traced to wild animals, with scientists saying it likely originated in bats, later reaching humans via civets.