FARUKH SHEHZAD

RAWALPINDI, DEC 24 - Ambassador of Turkey to Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yardakul on Thursday inaugurated the Pak-Turkish Friendship Square on Main Murree Road.

On the occasion, the ambassador said that the square would be a symbol of reminding Pak-Turkish friendship, adding that both the brotherly countries enjoyed centuries old religious, cultural and historical relationship.

He said Turkey is working on various projects to bring prosperity in Pakistan. "I am confident that the strong relations between our Nations and close cooperation among our leaderships will further strengthen in the pursuit of our common interests and values,", the ambassador added.

He said the roots of Pakistan and Turkey relationships go back to a very long and this brotherhood was very supportive for problems of both the countries.

Turkey was working on various projects to bring prosperity to Pakistan, he added.

Tariq said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wished to further strengthen relations with Muslim countries and concrete efforts are underway to bring the people of Muslim countries more close to each other.

COURTESY URDU POINT

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ISLAMABAD, DEC 24 - Prime Minister Imran Khan's aide on health Dr Faisal Sultan on Thursday said that no evidence exists to back reports that the new strain of coronavirus in UK has allegedly found its way to Pakistan.

The premier's aide was responding to a question during a webinar, where he said that Dr Atta-ur-Rehman had provided no scientific evidence of the new virus variant's existence in the country.

However, it is pertinent to mention here that Dr Atta, the head of the prime minister’s task-force on science and technology, did not claim that the UK's virus strain was present in the country.

The scientist, speaking in Samaa TV's morning show, had said: "We have found such strains in which there were genetic changes in the spike protein. Some of these are similar to the change seen in UK’s new strain of coronavirus."

Dr Atta further clarified that the changes observed in Pakistan are not located in the same spot on the virus' genetic structure as the UK strain's.

KP begins tracking people who arrived from UK

A day earlier, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government started tracking passengers who have arrived in the province from UK.

According to a report by the provincial health department, authorities have sent letters to deputy commissioners that include the names of at least 101 people.

The passengers arrived from UK and went to 12 districts of the province which include Mardan, Abbottabad, and Swat. "We will test these people after tracing them," the health department officials said.

Those who test positive for the virus will be placed under quarantine, said an official of the health department.

Pakistan updates travel restrictions

Pakistan updated its standard operating procedures (SOPs) for travelers inbound from the UK, after cases of a highly new infectious strain of the coronavirus rose across the European country.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced Tuesday that Pakistani passport holders who have been issued the Business, Visitor or Transit visas by British authorities can return to the country provided they show a negative PCR test.

The test, however, must have been taken 72 hours prior to the start of their travel to Pakistan, said the aviation authority.

The government has also allowed Pakistanis that hold study, family, work and settlement visas in the UK to return to Pakistan "if their visas are expiring within the next 30 days from the issuance of this letter while holding negative PCR Test Reports conducted within the 72 hours prior to commencement of travel to Pakistan".

The new variant

Countries across the globe shut their borders to Britain on Monday due to fears about a new strain of coronavirus, said to be up to 70% more transmissible than the original, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of food shortages days before Britain is set to leave the European Union.

The discovery of the new strain, just months before vaccines are expected to be widely available, renewed fears about the virus, which killed about 1.7 million people worldwide.

The note of calm from the CEO about the UK mutation echoed the sentiments of the World Health Organization (WHO), which cautioned against major alarm, saying this was a normal part of a pandemic’s evolution.

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ISLAMABAD, DEC 24 - Federal Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati said on Thursday Prime Minister Imran Khan will soon sign an agreement for a trilateral railway project connecting Pakistan with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

Swati revealed that the project, which was conceived in 2018, included both passenger and cargo trains going between the three countries. He said the project was made possible through a $4.5 billion initiative under the auspices of the World Bank.

"Prime minister will sign the project in a day or two during the visit of a delegation from Uzbekistan, which will include either the deputy prime minister or the transport minister," said Swati.

Swati termed the expected signing of the agreement the "best news of 2020" for the three countries because of the opportunities it would provide for transport, trade and cargo.

"A whole corridor to the Central Asian republics will be opened up," said Swati, highlighting that the potential connections with parts of Russia also constituted an important aspect of the rail linkages.

Speaking on the routes which Pakistan would operate, the minister said, "Pakistan will do its job from Peshawar to Torkham. Afghanistan and Uzbekistan will operate the project beyond Torkham."

Swati said both passenger and cargo trains would operate, and emphasised that the project would deploy "high speed trains" only.

Swati was appointed minister for railways recently as part of a cabinet reshuffle, replacing Sheikh Rashid, who is now the interior minister.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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ISLAMABAD, DEC 24 - A recent news update has revealed that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has imported the first batch of Euro-5 diesel fuel to Pakistan.

PSO is the state-owned Oil Marketing Company (OMC) and was the first to introduce Euro-5 petrol in Pakistan a few months ago.

Reports suggest that PSO has imported 42,000 metric tonnes of fuel in the first batch and that it will be sold in January 2021.

Additionally, the government has instructed all OMCs to import Euro-5 diesel only, starting from next month.

The PSO claims that Euro-5 fuel has a relatively lower sulfur content that will help reduce air pollution and enhance the performance of engines.

Details about what the initial geographical scope of the availability of Euro-5 diesel will be or if it will cost more than the normal Euro-2 diesel are scarce for now.

However, with the government having necessitated its import by all the OMCs from January 2021, a significant shift in the domains of the petroleum industry is highly likely.

COURTESY PRO PAKISTANI

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LAHORE, DEC 24 - In light of the impending rise in the use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) across the country, Pakistan Railways has decided to set up electric charging stations on its land across Pakistan.

Industry experts suggest that following the introduction of the EV Policy in Pakistan, there is a possibility of significant developments in the sector.

Pakistan Railways will offer several of its areas across the country to establish EV charging points. For this purpose, its ministry has suggested the use of its entire network and all of its stations.

According to a media report, Pakistan Railways has prepared a plan under which vacant plots beside its railway stations will be given to the private sector for the construction of EV charging stations. Each station will be able to accommodate three to ten vehicles.

More than 100 spots across Sindh (including Karachi Cantt Station and City Railway Station) have been identified where electric charging points can be set up.

This development will also serve as a viable means of income for the railway sector.

The Ministry of Railways has reportedly invited applications from private companies that are interested in setting up EV power stations.

According to railway officials, the fares for the proposed charging points will be determined after considering suggestions from interested companies and after studying their market value.

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COURTESY PRO PAKISTANI

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• Another bold step of brotherly nation Turkey in favor of Pakistan

ANKARA, DEC 24 - India was once again left embarrassed on Thursday after Turkish authorities closed down a website being operated by India to spread anti-Pakistan propaganda.

He said the website was named after "Hamevasser Hebrew", a weekly published from Constantinople from 1909-1911.

"The website was part of #IndianChronicles, resurrected by India to defame Pakistan in Turkey," wrote Akbar.

EUDisinfoLab report exposes Indian designs to malign Pakistan

A damning report by the EUDisinfoLab had revealed that more than 750 Indian backed websites, covering over 119 countries have been operational for about 15 years with the sole purpose of undermining Pakistan within the European Union and United Nations, a report on investigative research conducted by the EU DisinfoLab.

The operation has been given a name — the Indian Chronicles.

EU DisinfoLab's investigation revealed that the Srivastava Group had backed the operation, while a leading Indian news agency — Asian News International (commonly known as ANI) — was used to boost it.

This campaign was started in 2005 and is still functional.

India's aim? To discredit countries in conflict with it, with a focus on Pakistan and to some extent, China.

The EU DisinfoLab highlighted the operation's long-term objectives, which included promoting content against Pakistan and China and to consolidate power for India at international forums such as the EU and UN.

To pursue their objective, the operation appeared to support minorities, human rights NGOs, and think-tanks. It also created an illusion of institutional support from European institutions to these minority groups against Pakistan and China.

At the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, the operation was used to arrange side-events and demonstrations in support of minority rights, impersonate extinguished UN-accredited NGOs and use speaking slots reserved to various NGOs whose original missions seem unrelated.

Fake media was created in Brussels, Geneva and across the world and then repackaged and disseminated via ANI and obscure local media networks — at least in 97 countries — to multiply the repetition of online negative content about countries in conflict with India.

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The Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation, Ofir Akunis, has denied the news report which alleged that Pakistan has recognized the State of Israel.

While speaking to an Israeli TV channel, Akunis revealed that Israel was working towards formalizing its ties with a fifth Muslim country during American President Donald Trump’s term but that the country in question is not Pakistan.

Akunis said, “There will be an American announcement about another country that is going public with the normalization of relations with Israel and, in essence, with the infrastructure for an accord — a peace accord”.

The Israeli minister declined to name the country but did reveal that there are two possible candidates, one of which is in the Gulf. He did clarify that it is not the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which leaves Oman as a possible candidate.

The other country is further to the east, and it is a “Muslim country that is not small”, indicating that it is not Pakistan.

Pakistan has categorically rejected baseless speculations regarding the possibility of it recognizing the State of Israel on multiple occasions.

The Foreign Office said, “The Prime Minister has made it clear that unless a just settlement of the Palestine issue satisfactory to the Palestinian people is found, Pakistan cannot recognize Israel”.

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COURTESY  Pro Pakistani

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LAHORE, DEC 24 - Pakistani players have made significant gains in the recently updated ICC T20I Player Rankings after the conclusion of the series against New Zealand.

The 20-year-old Shaheen Shah Afridi has attained a career-best position among bowlers while veteran Mohammad Hafeez and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan have also improved their rankings.

Shaheen now sits at the 16th spot after he took four wickets in the three-match series. Faheem Ashraf moved to the 13th spot from 35th. He also took four wickets.

Emerging pacer Haris Rauf, who is the second-highest wicket-taker in this format in 2020, climbed to the 62nd spot.

Hafeez, who scored 140 runs in the series including an unbeaten 99 in the second match, jumped 14 places to reach 33rd position.

In team rankings, Pakistan lost three points and New Zealand gained three, but the two retain their fourth and sixth positions, respectively.

COURTESY THE NEWS

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SINGAPORE, DEC 24 - Singapore has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus variant found in the United Kingdom, the city-state said, while 11 others who were already in quarantine had returned preliminary positive results for the new strain.

All the cases, which were imported from Europe, had been placed in 14-day quarantine at dedicated facilities or isolated upon arrival, and their close contacts had been quarantined earlier.

“There is currently no evidence that the B117 strain is circulating in the community,” Singapore’s health ministry said late on Wednesday, referring to the new, potentially more infectious UK strain.

Singapore has been conducting viral genomic sequencing for confirmed Covid-19 cases who arrived from Europe recently.

The strain was found among 31 cases from Europe, who arrived in Singapore between Nov 17 and Dec 17 and were confirmed to have Covid-19 this month.

The patient with the new variant came to Singapore from the UK on Dec 6, had been quarantined on arrival and tested positive on Dec 8. All her close contacts had been placed on quarantine, and had tested negative at the end of their quarantine period.

The health ministry said it had been able to ring-fence the case so that there was no further transmission.

Confirmatory results were pending for the other 11 cases.

Singapore has blocked visitors with recent travel history to the United Kingdom to prevent the new strain from spreading in the city-state that has reported almost zero new local infections daily.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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ISLAMABAD, DEC 23 - The US-Pakistan International Chamber of Commerce (USPICC) has appointed two leading business leaders for their Pakistan chapter.

The Chairman of USPICC Siddique Sheikh and the board of the chamber has approved appointment of Muhammad Ahmed as President of Pakistan Chapter for two years while Malik Sohail has been appointed as Secretary General for five years.

On the occasion, Siddique Sheikh has hoped that both the leaders will strive hard to bring the business community of the US and Pakistan closer and play their due role in promoting the common cause of mutual understanding and prosperity.

He said that we are looking forward to the newly-appointed office bearers to promote trade, commerce, understanding, networking, linkages, exchange of delegations and sectoral exhibitions in the both countries.

Muhammad Ahmed is a renowned businessman based in Islamabad and CEO of a leading group of companies who has also served as ICCI president rendered valuable services in fight against coronavirus, organised many successful events and strived hard to bring business community closer.

Malik Sohail has served in very important positions in FPCCI, SAARC CCI, ICCI, UBG and commands vast experience in holding different events and leading delegations to different countries including the US.

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COURTESY THE NEWS

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RAWALPINDI, DEC 23 - Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has lauded the efforts of National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) in improving medical practices through innovative, creative and ethical approaches in the health sector and medical education.

PMC President Dr. Arshad Taqi stated this during a meeting with NUMS Vice Chancellor Lieutenant General (r) Imran Majeed in his office here on Tuesday.

PMC president particularly praised NUMS for evolving a fool proof system of examination and making extensive arrangements for successful holding of NUMS Entry Test for Session 2020. He also hoped that NUMS would make a significant contribution in the field of medical education, research and delivery of health services in the country and beyond.

During the meeting, the matters relating to existing health infrastructure and the prevailing status of medical education in the country were discussed.

The Vice Chancellor highlighted the achievements and initiatives of the university in medical field since its inception. He particularly gave a comprehensive account of the examination process developed indigenously by the university to ensure merit, high standards and transparency.

This year, he said, around 50,000 candidates appeared for the NUMS Entry Test for MBBS/BDS. The test was simultaneously held in all major cities across the country and in Azad Jammu and Kashmir without involving any outside testing services.

COURTESY THE NEWS

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