FARUKH SHEHZAD

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) began work of development in Park Enclave II after the delay of five years here on Friday.

According to detail, CDA’s work on various residential projects is underway while considering the residential requirements of the city. Park Enclave II is one of these residential projects. The project is on 659 kanal. 

The projected cost of the project is Rs 23,73,00,00. Work on roads of Park Enclave II is underway. In the first phase the work on 9 roads is continued. 2 more roads will be completed in the coming week. Total 28 roads will be constructed under this project. Work on other sides will be started just after the completion of roads.

CDA achieved another milestone after starting the work on the project which was being neglected for last 5 years. Work on basic infrastructure development is continued. People of the city were demanding for increasing to residential facilities. CDA has started working on various projects according to requirements of the citizens. While considering the provision of residential facilities to the masses as its top priority, CDA has announced to open new sectors side by side starting work on delayed projects.

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Muhammad Omar Iftikhar

In an attempt to achieve a competitive advantage in the domain of nuclear technology, China recently launched its nuclear sun. According to sources, the HL-2M Tokamak reactor will provide a source of clean energy. The reactor is run on magnetic fields that combine hot plasma.

It is reported that the temperature of the core of this reactor can reach over 150 million degrees Celsius. China’s ambitions to work on nuclear fusion energy and now making the first successful stride in this regard will gain global attention. China is planning to collaborate with France, where the scientists are already working on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

While China has been striving to produce a smaller-scale nuclear reactor since 2006, the HL-2M Tokamak reactor will be a step forward in China’s plans to create a clean energy source. In the years to come, the world’s natural recourses will be depleted beyond measure. They are already being consumed at a rapid pace. An alternate clean source of energy was required to pursue micro and macro level operations related to trade, commerce, transportation, manufacturing, and other fields.With the mammoth costs of creating and running the  HL-2M Tokamak reactor, China has teamed up with several countries.

They include the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the United States, and India. With nuclear fusion energy, the world will harness another source of energy that may replace natural alternate energy sources.The humans’ dependency on the sun may as well become a secondary concept when most or all of the commercial needs to produce energy will be fulfilled by the HL-2M Tokamak reactor.

This may represent a daunting futuristic reality where humans are capable of producing clean energy that can facilitate them to live on isolated areas on Earth or transfer the same technology to the Moon, in case there is a plan to create a research and residential base on the Moon.

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Attiya Munawer

In a civilized society, the importance of human life in general and in Islam in particular is immense. Islam says, whoever saves the life of one person, it is as if he saved the life of all humanity and whoever kills one person, it is as if he has killed the whole humanity. Our society is very demanding of the implementation of Islamic teachings, but the consciousness of Islam is not common here, that is why human lives are being mistreated in hospitals, and the recent example of which is the tragic incident of Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar where seven patients, including five COVID-19 patients, died due to lack of oxygen in the hospital. The management seems to be negligent in this incident, but the management is placing the entire responsibility on the oxygen supply company to save itself.

It is very unfortunate that irreparable loss of seven precious lives has taken place, but instead of being ashamed, those responsible are blaming each other, it is beyond comprehension that the incident took place in the hospital and the oxygen supply company is being held responsible. While the company’s job is to provide oxygen, it is the job of the hospital administration and doctors to provide oxygen to the patients and take care of them. The incident took place at night and the administration is being informed about it the next day at noon. 

It entirely shows the negligence of the administration, even knowing that the Coronavirus pandemic has engulfed the entire country. How can such shortcomings be tolerated in the treatment of patients? Although the hospital’s board of governors has set up a committee to investigate the incident, there is a need for those found responsible to be severely punished rather than replaced or fired, but we do not have a tradition of punishment.

The management of Khyber Teaching Hospital seems to be clearly responsible for the incident. However, the entire responsibility is being shifted to the oxygen supply company to save itself. According to the preliminary investigation, on December 4, a company called Pakistan Oxygen had supplied 3,700 cubic meters of oxygen, while the hospital tank could store up to 7,000 cubic meters of oxygen. 

In this regard, the General Manager Administration of Oxygen Company has clarified that the same hospital needed 30,000 cubic meters of oxygen in October, which they supplied. While in November, when the hospital asked for more supply, they provided about 60,000 cubic meters, which is about 2,000 cubic meters on a daily basis. The oxygen company had supplied the hospital with excess oxygen on December 4, keeping in view the November average supply, while the hospital management has been claiming after the incident that the company’s vehicle was delayed due to oxygen problem. 

The oxygen company has termed this claim as ‘false’ and said that the hospital administration was saying it to cover up its incompetence. The hospital administration called when the supply ran out and we immediately sent a vehicle, which can be checked from hospital records.

The management of this hospital did not extend the contract of Oxygen Company in a timely manner and did not even inform the company about the timely supply as per its requirement. Due to this irresponsible behavior, seven precious lives were lost but the administration is showing great shamelessness and arrogance. This is not the first case of death of patients in the country. Numerous such incidents have filled the history of government hospitals, which shows how bad the condition of all government hospitals in the country is. From the hospital administration to the staff, their irresponsible attitude towards people has not been hidden from anyone. 

So, the incidents that happen to the patients on a daily basis demand special attention of the government. The same will happen after the investigation into the Teaching Hospital Peshawar incident, as it has been happening before, because in hospitals across the country, from the management to the doctors and staff, there is a mafia wreaking havoc on government hospitals that guarantees the development of private hospitals. Unless this mafia is stopped, there will be no positive change in the condition of government hospitals.

The PTI government is taking most of the steps to provide health facilities to the people, but the common man is deprived of the fruits of the government’s measures. The government ministers seem to be dynamic as far as statements are concerned, but in practice the performance is zero. On the other hand, from the construction of hospitals to the purchase of modern equipment, corruption has reached its peak, but there is no one to hold it accountable. There is an extreme indifference in government hospitals that death is being given instead of giving life and these death dealers are none other than their own Messiah who is depriving the patients of the right to breathe by not giving them oxygen. 

The government will have to take steps to improve the performance of the hospital management. The presence and continuity of oxygen supply in the hospitals is a must, in which case any kind of negligence will result in the said incident. In view of the dangerous situation of the hospital, it should be made possible to provide oxygen to the patients from time to time in the hospitals, so that the patients could not be put to death as a result of any negligence in the future.

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OSLO – British driver’s licenses will still be valid in Norway after Brexit. Norwegians will also be able to drive a car in the UK as usual.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has now decided that Norway will continue to accept British driving licenses, the Ministry of Transport and Communications stated in a press release.

Already in 2018, it became clear that the British would accept Norwegian driving licenses post-Brexit.

Thus, Brexit on December 31 will not have consequences for the current driving license rules. 

The Norwegian authorities will also not require an international driving license in addition to the British one.

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COURTESY NORWAY TODAY

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OSLO – A total of 70 new Norwegian aircraft soldiers and a C-130J Hercules transport aircraft are on their way to Mali to participate in the peacekeeping operation MINUSMA.

The transport aircraft will contribute to the transport of equipment, personnel, and medicines around the country, the Air Force’s Stine Barclay Gaasland wrote in a message to news bureau NTB.

This is the third time Norway has used transport aircraft in the country.

In addition, Norway operates the “Camp Bifrost” camp and has employees at the UN headquarters.

The transport aircraft will be in Mali until May 2021.

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COURTESY NORWAY TODAY

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• Fans were over the moon as the superstar said “Lahore Lahore hai” during his press conference today

Welcoming superstar Engin Altan as one of their own, Ertugrul fans in Pakistan were over the moon when the man himself made his way to Lahore.

ISLAMABAD, DEC 11 – After its phenomenal success during its run, 7th Sky Entertainment’s most hyped drama of the year -Deewangi was also one of the most searched words on Google in the country. Google released its annual ‘Year in Search’ list on Wednesday – and it didn’t come as a surprise that Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi’s drama ‘Deewangi’ was one of the most searched words in Pakistan.

Deewangi did not only garner huge TRPs for Geo, it also continued topping the rating charts and trending on top spots on YouTube throughout its run. With its last episode, the show brought further records for 7th Sky Entertainment, with an excellent rating 15.6 (25.4 peak rating). The finale of the drama managed to get 5 million views in just under 48 hours and continued trending for hours on YouTube and Twitter.

7th Sky Entertainment’s ‘Deewangi’ followed the story of Nageen – a girl who went through a journey of love, betrayals, and hardships – taking on everything that came her way. The drama succeeded in breaking several stereotypes surrounding a ‘bechari’ female lead – and also managed to garner a lot of appraise from critics and audiences.

Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi have continued to put Pakistani entertainment on the global map with their brilliant dramas, and the success of Deewangi, though not surprising, proves their credibility and strength in the entertainment industry.

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LAHORE, DEC 11 – Infinix the number one smartphone brand in Pakistan is celebrating its biggest year with its customers with an opportunity to win big with ‘Infinix Jackpot’ to celebrate the end of a successful year. The jackpot will be live from 11th December 2020 to 7th January 2021 in both retail stores and online. During this period, on purchasing any device from the Zero 8 series, Note 8 series, and Note 7 series, customers will be entitled to participate in the lucky draw and get a chance to win excellent prizes, ranging from a brand new car, home appliances and many exciting gifts.

The premium smartphone brand known for its innovative and state-of-the-art devices is showing appreciation for the brand loyalist by bringing the opportunity to win grand prizes and Infinix phones with this jackpot event. During this time period, Infinix will also be running a weekly contest on all of its social media platforms to give customers a chance to win the Infinix Note 8 by participating in the activities.

The CEO of Infinix Pakistan, Mr. Joe Hu, on this occasion shared his sentiments, “Infinix has been striving to provide consumers with the best of the best ever since its inception back in 2013 with our modern technology. This year, we have managed to grow and evolve with the constant support and appreciation of our customers, and want to give back to the community in whatever way we can.”

Infinix has managed to achieve significant milestones this year alone by coming out as the leading smartphone brand in Pakistan. With constant evolution and adaption to the consumers’ needs, Infinix fulfills far beyond the expectations of the buyers with its trendy and power-packed devices and continues to bring exciting discounts for its consumers too.

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ISLAMABAD, DEC 11 – With many academic models reexamined during 2020, Huawei has previewed a series of digital transformation solutions to support continuous learning and quality education in the Middle East over the coming years. The company’s expanded Smart Education portfolio was unveiled in the Middle East during GITEX Technology Week and has been demonstrated to government and non-governmental organizations throughout the exhibition.

According to Huawei, the education of approximately 1.5 billion students worldwide has been disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic[1]. In response, local authorities have increasingly turned to information and communications technologies (ICT) in an effort to ensure teaching and learning can continue, and that today’s investments create long-term value.

Huawei has focused on five layers of digital transformation in the education sector. These include using ICT solutions to enhance teaching, learning, research, management, and support services. By working across these domains, Huawei is building end-to-end solutions that tap into its expertise across wired and wireless networks—especially 5G—as well as its strengths in connected devices and IoT networks.

“Both teachers and students have had to overcome unique challenges this year, but even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a real pivot happening to embrace converged digital platforms in education,” notes Alaa Elshimy, Managing Director & Senior VP of Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Middle East.  “Increasingly, we see organizations wanting the flexibility to have blended learning and teaching solutions that optimize online and offline time most effectively. New ICT solutions can not only improve learning and teaching experiences, but make it easier to manage academic programs.”

At the core of its education portfolio is the eClassroom for immersive learning environments in-person or remotely. These technologies enable classrooms to have 4K HD whiteboards, support one-click sharing of coursework, more fluent data interactions and annotations, and seamless video sharing. Huawei’s Online Learning solution then supports the publishing of coursework and other shared resources. It includes tools to rank and recommend courses, along with interactive community statistics and reports about how specific resources are being used. Huawei has also designed a National Research and Education Center solution that supports collaborative research, especially at the university level, enabling more education resources to be shared on the cloud and accessible through an ultra-broadband backbone network.

Behind the scenes, Huawei has tailored Wireless Campus solutions for the education field, offering full-scenario coverage so that anything that sits within a physical classroom or building is easily accessible across a designated campus area. That is combined with IP + Optical Network technologies that simplify wired connections and reduce energy cost and space by as much as 80% through the use of fiber.

These and many other industry solutions can be seen at Huawei’s stand at GITEX Technology Week. The company is collaborating with partners to showcase how governments and organizations in the Middle East can create new value through synergy across five tech domains. Located in Zabeel Hall, Stand: Z2-A10, more information on Huawei’s GITEX participation can be found here.

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ISLAMABAD, DEC 11 – President of Pakistan Arif Alvi will inaugurate the 23rd Sustainable Development Conference (SDC 2020), the flagship annual activity of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), on December 14, 2020. The mega event titled ‘Sustainable Development in the Times of COVID-19’ will be concluded on 17 December 2020 with the closing remarks by Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. Conference is being held on a digital platform and interactive sessions can be attended by registering at  www.sdpi.org/sdc.

The four days proceedings of the conference would focus upon cooperation between developed and developing countries for sustainable development, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and human centeredness. The virtual event expects participation of a large number of experts in different sectors both from Pakistan and abroad.

Besides several other panel discussions on some of the most critical issues of sustainable development of the contemporary world, discussion on ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security: Challenges for Women’ and ‘Financial Inclusion of Women in Pakistan – Developing Gender-Responsive Financial Inclusion Models’ that will be held in collaboration with Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pakistan, Economic Growth, Social Protection, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme amid COVID-19’ in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Fatima Jinnah Women University as knowledge partner, ‘Cultural Diplomacy in the Times of COVID-19’ in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, ‘Inclusive Tourism Sector Strategies to Support Post-Pandemic Recovery’ in collaboration with World Bank Pakistan and  ‘Informal Sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities’ in collaboration with World Bank Washington DC would be some of the key highlights of the event.

Likewise, ‘Access to Water and Sanitation in a Post-COVID Pakistan’ in collaboration with WaterAid, ‘Education Methods in COVID-19 Response: Assessing Gendered Impact’ in collaboration with Malala Fund, ‘Future of BRI in the Post-COVID World’ in collaboration the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China,  ‘Setting Pakistan’s Agenda for Universal Social Protection (USP)’ and In collaboration the International Labour Organization’   and ‘Accelerating SDGs Achievement and Building Back Better from COVID-19 Pandemic in South Asia’ in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific: Sub-regional Office for South and South-West Asia, are also the panels expected to generate important knowledge and policy recommendations on related developmental issues of the day.

The researchers, academicians, scientists, policy makers, legislators, and experts from different fields will come up with evidence-based policy interventions during this mega conference.  They will share best practices and present workable solutions to the emerging challenges related to sustainable development in the region.

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ROME, DEC 11 – Waking up this morning in the beautiful city of Rome, it is hard to imagine that in about 400 AD this city experienced a massive famine that ended up killing almost 90% of its population.  Students of history associate something else with that ancient date:  the beginning of the Fall of the Roman Empire.  Now, did the famine cause the fall?  Or did the fall cause the famine?  I think the answer is yes — both.

Waking up in this wealthy, modern, technologically advanced world, it’s hard to imagine us going through a famine like that.  But my tragic duty today is to tell you: famine is at humanity’s doorstep.  For millions and millions of people on earth.

Failure to prevent famine in our day will destroy so many lives and cause the fall of much we hold dear.

On behalf of Secretary-General Guterres of the United Nations, our Board, our sister agencies, our incredible partners and donors and most importantly on  behalf of 19,000 peacemakers at the World Food Programme, and for all those who came before us, especially those who died in the line of duty and their families who carry on, and on behalf of the 100 million hungry people we serve, to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, thank you, for this great honour.

Also, thank you for acknowledging our work of using food to combat hunger, to mitigate againstdestabilization of nations, to prevent mass migration, to end conflict and… to create stability and peace.

We believe food is the pathway to peace.

I wish today that I could speak of how working together we could end world hunger for all the 690 million people who go to bed hungry every night. But, today we have a crisis at hand.

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