FARUKH SHEHZAD

ISLAMABAD, JAN 9: Prime Minister Imran Khan has arrived in Quetta to meet the Hazara community and get a briefing on the law and order situation in the province after the Machh tragedy, Geo News reported Saturday.

According to the TV report, PM Imran will meet with the leaders and religious scholars of the Hazara community to share their grief and condole over the last week incident in which 10 miners were killed by the militants in Balochistan’s remote area.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed is with the prime minister on his daylong visit to the provincial capital.

The concerned authorities will also apprise the prime minister on the progress made in the investigation.

PM Imran had on Friday said that he will not visit Quetta till the miners are buried. His statement that the prime minister can not be blackmailed invited strong criticism from all the major Opposition parties.

Meanwhile, the funeral prayers of the victims were offered in the Hazara Town. SAPM Zulfi Bukhari and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and other provincial ministers were also present.

Sit-ins called off

Earlier, Shuhda Action Committee announced to end protests across the country after the government accepted their demands.

Qasim Suri had said that "right after the burial", PM Imran Khan will leave for Quetta and will be accompanied by Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi who had been spearheading talks in Quetta on behalf of the government had said such incidences of violence must now come to an end. "We are making amends for the last 70 years," he noted.

Zaidi said that a written agreement had been reached with the Shuhda Action Committee. "No such written accord has ever been struck before with any other government," he remarked.

"The demands put before us were difficult," said Zaidi, adding that the "officers that must be removed have been decided".

The minister said that if governance in Pakistan "had not been so poor, poverty like this would not have existed".

"People would not have been massacred like this," he said, adding: "Foreign elements wish to create sectarian division in Pakistan."

Zaidi also announced scholarships on behalf of his ministry for the children of all the victims.

With the agreement reached, the sit-in by the families of the victims of the massacre, which had been staged for the past six days in freezing cold temperatures, came to an end and the bodies were carried away to be buried.

What happened in Machh

Ten colliers were killed and four others were seriously injured on Sunday after armed men attacked them at a coal field in Balochistan's Bolan district.

The coal miners, according to police, were taken to nearby mountains where they were shot.

According to AFP, the 10 miners were kidnapped before dawn on Sunday as they slept near the remote coal mine in the southwestern mountainous Machh area — 60 kilometres southeast of Quetta city, local government official Abid Saleem said.

Security officials who did not want to be named told AFP the attackers first separated the miners before tying their hands and feet and taking them into the hills to kill them. Most were shot, however, some were beheaded, said officials who did not want to be named.

Officials on Monday clarified ten people had died in the attack, revising a previous death toll of 11, AFP reported.

The militant group Daesh claimed the attack, according to SITE Intelligence, which monitors militant activities worldwide.

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ISLAMABAD, JAN 9 - The Finance Division has issued a circular saying that pension payments will only be made through a bank account – either a current account or profit and loss sharing (PLS) – maintained in a pensioner’s name.

Additionally, the transfer of pensions to joint accounts will not be considered valid, the Business Recorder reported on Friday.

The circular by the Finance Division Regulations Wing was issued regarding payments through the direct credit system (DCS). It highlighted that a special pension bank accounts would not be necessary for the withdrawal of pension but that it would have to be in the pensioners’ name.

Also, new retirees have the option to receive their pensions in the bank accounts that they had been receiving their salaries in before retirement, if desired.

Furthermore, the requirement of an indemnity bond from a pensioner has also been discontinued.

The circular also stated that the federal government will launch a system to deal with all the requirements and documentation digitally to further facilitate the pensioners.

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QUETTA, JAN 9 - The federal government and the protesting Hazara community reached a consensus late Friday and the latter decided to end their sit-in.

The protesters have agreed to bury the slain coal ministers.

Thousands of Hazara protesters, including women and children, had staged a sit-in at the Western Bypass in extremely cold weather for the last six days against the brutal execution of 10 Hazara coal miners in Machh.

Meanwhile, speaking to the protesters on the occasion, Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi said such incidences of violence must now come to an end.

The minister, who had spearheaded talks on behalf of the government, said  that a written agreement had been reached with the Shuhda Action Committee.

"No such written accord has ever been struck before with any other government," he said.

"The demands put before us were difficult," said Zaidi, adding that the officers who had to be removed have been decided.

The minister said that if governance in Pakistan "had not been so poor, poverty like this would not have existed".

"People would not have been massacred like this," he said, adding: "Foreign elements wish to create sectarian division in Pakistan."

With the agreement reached, the sit-in by the families of the victims of the massacre, which had been staged for the past six days in freezing cold temperatures, came to an end.

Zaidi also announced scholarships on behalf of his ministry for the children of all the victims. 

Moreover, Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan said that he was thankful to the people for ending their protest, adding that no system could prosper where "oppression"  existed.

The chief minister, stressing that the city and the province belonged to the people, said that it was the government's responsibility to provide the citizens with safety.

The chief minister said that the government aimed at a prosperous Balochistan and that his team was striving for it.

The chief minister said that this should be a learning lesson for the rulers of the country, adding that the demands met today should have been met without this sit-in.

"It isn't necessary that a sit-in takes place, every government should meet these requirements," he said.

Concluding his address, the chief minister apologised to the protesters, saying that he was sorry for the inconvenience caused to them. He added that he "felt no shame in apologising to his people."

Meanwhile, Assistant Commisioner Model Town Zeeshan Ranjha said that the sit-in in Lahore had come to an end following succesful talks with the protesters.

Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen has announced to end the sit-in from Chungi Amar Sadhu, Ranjha announced.

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ISLAMABAD, JAN 8: The Higher Education Commission has reminded students who are looking forward to applying for scholarships abroad that three of the programmes deadlines' were right around the corner.

Taking to Twitter, the HEC on Friday said: "These #scholarship programmes are currently open/active for intake of September 2021 batch."

The scholarships include the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarships, Commonwealth PhD Scholarships, and Chinese Government Scholarships, it said.

Deadlines to apply:

Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarships — January 15

Commonwealth PhD Scholarships 2021 — January 18

Chinese Government Scholarships 2021 — January 18 

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ISLAMABAD, JAN 9 - Government figures on Friday said politics is being played over the bodies of the 10 Hazara coal miners who were brutally murdered in Machh on Sunday.

Their statements came as protests spread all over the country, and as the nation grew anxious to see the redressal of the grievances of the Hazara community who have been mourning the massacre for the past six days and have refused to bury their loved ones until Prime Minister Imran Khan visits them.

Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi, who had gone to the protesters camp on Tuesday night, shared a copy of the agreement made between the protesters and the government.

"Attached are demands and the written agreement offered by the government. Although, no one can ever put a value on human life, but for info, the agreed compensation is much higher than what the agreement says," he began by saying.

He then went on to to cryptically say: "If all is agreed, then who is playing politics with bodies of the martyrs?"

Adding further to the confusion, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill made similar remarks, saying that from Hazara Party Chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara's remarks "it is clear that the heirs have been wanting to bury their loved ones since the very next day (of the incident)."

"There are some other elements who wish to create unrest in this matter," he said.

He added that a leader does not make decisions based on emotion or under pressure from the Opposition. "Leaders make decisions that have far-reaching consequences".

The ministers' statements came as Prime Minister Imran Khan, during a ceremony today to launch Special Technology Zones Authority in Islamabad, said: "One does not blackmail the prime minister of any country this way."

His remarks stirred up a storm, with the Opposition criticising the premier for likening just demands to "blackmail" and for "lacking humanity".

Minister for Information Shibli Faraz, in his rebuttal to the Opposition said: "The people who see a tragedy like this one as an opportunity for political point scoring are the ones who do not have any humanity left in them."

He said the prime minister used the word "blackmail" for those very people who "politicise every matter".

'Govt in touch with protesters'

Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, meanwhile, said that the government is in touch with the protesters and the Hazara community leaders and hoped that the matter would see an amicable resolution today.

He said that there are certain reasons due to which PM Imran Khan's visit to Quetta has been delayed "which cannot be made public".

Sheikh Rasheed said that the prime minister will depart for Quetta "as soon as the deceased are buried".

We have sought help from the religious leaders of Ahl-e-Tashee, scholars, and Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) to convince the families to bury the martyred, the minister said.

“It is a sad state of affairs that some sections are politicising this matter while there is a lot of time for politics in the future,” he lamented.

He said Special Assistant to Prime Minister, Zulfi Bukhari and Federal Minister Ali Zaidi are already present in Quetta to condole with the bereaved families.

PM Imran Khan has always shown great sympathy and love for the Hazara community and is pursuing his approach of rooting out sectarianism and terrorism from the country, said the minister.

'New wave of terrorism'

Sheikh Rasheed said international elements were involved in targeting the Hazara community.

Four such criminal groups have been caught from Sargodha, Bhara Kahu and Karachi which were involved in instigating sectarian violence and intended to kill religious scholars.

The minister also confirmed that a new wave of terrorism exists in the country including Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar which are on high alert.

The incident

The 10 coal miners were kidnapped before dawn on January 3 as they slept near a remote coal mine in the town of Machh, some 60 kilometres southeast of Quetta city.

Security officials who did not want to be named told AFP that the attackers first separated the miners before tying their hands and feet and taking them into the hills to kill them.

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ISLAMABAD: Former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif met here in London on Thursday, Geo News reported citing sources.

Abbasi arrived in London last night after a visit to the US where he met his ailing sister. He would be staying in the city for at least two days before returning to Pakistan on January 12.

The PML-N leader had left for the US on December 24 to visit his sister after the PTI government gave him a one-time permission to go abroad.

In his meeting with former PM Nawaz Sharif, who is in London for medical treatment, Abbasi conveyed PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif's message to his elder brother, the sources said.

They added that the two would likely have another meeting wherein they would discuss issues pertaining to the Opposition's anti-government campaign under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) banner. The coalition comprises 11 parties that aim to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan's regime.

Abbasi would also discuss the PML-N's strategy for the upcoming Senate session in his next meeting with Nawaz Sharif, the sources said.

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DHAKA, JAN 7: Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Imran Ahmed Siddiqui called on Thursday had a meeting with the Bangladesh Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam to discuss several matters of mutual interest.

As reported by Geo.tv, the two sides also agreed to work further for the promotion of bilateral relations.

Pakistan's High Commissioner handed over a signed copy of the Tripartite Agreement of 1974 to minister Shahriar Alam in which all the outstanding issues between the two countries were addressed.

Envoy Imran Ahmed Siddiqui said that the agreement should "serve as a foundation for further strengthening of the existing fraternal relations between the two states," the statement read.

The High Commissioner further underlined that in order to establish productive commercial relations, there was a need to address all non-trade barriers, adding that efforts need to be employed to facilitate frequent interaction between the business sectors of the two countries.

In this connection, the High Commissioner further informed the minister that Pakistan had already removed all restrictions on Pakistani visa for Bangladeshi citizens.

The two sides agreed to intensify bilateral contacts at all levels.

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KARACHI, JAN 7: K-Electric on Thursday announced that the  Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has approved its application for a license which will allow it to construct and operate a gas pipeline.

According to KE, the pipeline will supply Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) to the upcoming RLNG-based 900 MW BQPS-III power plant and supplement fuel requirement of the power plants located at its Bin Qasim Power Complex.

As reported by Geo.tv,   the development is a "positive one" for KE as it would be the "first-ever license obtained by the company from the oil and gas sector.

The move, per KE, is a "key step in ensuring that the upcoming BQPS-III power plant receives the right amount of gas, at the right pressure."

"This milestone will go a long way in helping bridge the supply-demand gap in Karachi in the years to come," the statement said.

In the notification issued on January 6, 2021, OGRA announced that it has granted a license to K-Electric Limited to undertake regulated activity related to the construction and operation of a 14-inch wide and 2.4-kilometre long natural gas pipeline along with ancillary facilities.

The pipeline will ensure the transmission of natural gas and RLNG from the tie-in point, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) Custody Transfer Station located at Bin Qasim to KE Bin Qasim Power Complex."

K-Electric had submitted an application for the license on May 18, 2020, so as to ascertain the pipeline would be built in time for the commissioning of the first unit of BQPS-III.

It is pertinent to note that in the interest of expediting the process, the power utility has agreed to undertake the construction of the pipeline from the nearest SSGC Custody Transfer Station, on a self-finance basis.

The EPC contractor and the owner engineer for this pipeline project are already on-board, the detail design is already completed, and the pipeline material has already been procured, the statement said.

Now, with the issuance of the license by OGRA, K-Electric said it has immediately started the construction of the pipeline for its timely availability for the commissioning of a 900-MW power plant.

The addition of the 900-MW RLNG power plant, along with the proposed decommissioning of older and less efficient units, will ultimately increase the power utility’s generation capacity and lead to improved service delivery.

In the interest of the citizens of Karachi, and ensuring that they face minimal difficulties in the upcoming summer season, work on the BQPS-III power plant is proceeding on a fast-track basis.

Gas turbines and steam generators have arrived and are waiting to be installed so that the first unit of 450 MW can be brought online by summer of 2021, and the second unit by end of 2021.

While the approval of the 900-MW plant is a vital element towards meeting Karachi’s growing power demands, other commitments also need to be fulfilled in a timely manner.

Heads of agreement with Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) for the supply of 150 mmcfd of gas for BQPS-III has already been signed, subsequent to which negotiations on the Gas Sale Agreement (GSA) have reached an advanced stage and any potential hurdles need to be resolved as per past commitments by the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE).

The 900 MW RLNG-based plant and its timely completion is just one step towards keeping Karachi energised," the statement highlighted.

"Even with the commissioning of this plant, NTDC needs to expedite work to upgrade the interconnection facilities at the KDA grid so that power utility can evacuate the promised additional 450-MW from the National grid before summer of 2021."

K-Electric is confident that all concerned stakeholders will continue to lend support in these so that KE achieves its vision of bringing Karachi to a power surplus situation by the year 2022," read the statement.

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ISLAMABAD, JAN 7: The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has postponed all medical examinations that had been scheduled for January 2021.

It barred medical universities from holding examinations due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic via a notification issued on Thursday.

This is the second time in two months that examinations have been postponed. On 26 November 2020, the federal government had closed educational institutes for one and a half months due to the pandemic. Consequently, all the examinations that had been scheduled for December 2020 had been deferred to 10 January 2021.

However, it was decided in a recent meeting chaired by the NHS Secretary, Aamir Ashraf Khawaja, to further delay all medical professional examinations until February.

Concurrently, medical students have been demanding immediate promotions to the next academic semester. They argue that they should be promoted in a manner similar to that of the students of the primary and secondary schools.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the NHS, Sajid Shah, said that a meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) that was attended by stakeholders, had concluded to not hold examinations in January.

Over the last one week, we received thousands of calls as some of the universities had announced the dates of examinations in January despite the fact that they were closed until the end of the current month.

Shah revealed that it had also been decided in the meeting that students seeking professional degrees could not be promoted without examinations, that the examinations would be held after 1 February, and that all the universities would be duly notified about the decisions.

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ISLAMABAD, JAN 7: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Avaya Holdings Corp (NYSE: AVYA) have signed a partnership agreement where PTCL will launch Avaya Spaces, the all-in-one workstream collaboration app for the digital workplace, for the first time in Pakistan. The partnership will enable organizations to implement blended and flexible environment for their employees.

In collaboration with PTCL, Avaya will provide free, full-feature access for a limited time to customers in Pakistan. Avaya Spaces is an all-in-one video meeting and workstream collaboration platform for the digital workplace that changes the way work gets done in nearly 100 countries. It helps businesses, schools, governments and other organizations to bring together distributed groups of people instantly with immersive workspaces where they can message, meet, share content, manage tasks and collaborate in the Cloud.

Speaking on the occasion, Zarrar Hasham Khan, Chief Business Services Officer, PTCL, said, “We are continuously working towards empowering organizations within Pakistan and supporting the vision of a Digital Pakistan. In the present circumstances, where most of the organizations are offering flexible working environment, our partnership with Avaya is the step in the right direction. Not only that, such solutions are much needed in the educational sector as it offers a more blended learning and working model. It will certainly create opportunities to streamline and support schools and universities as it introduces an innovative way to learn and deliver lectures.

Speaking on the collaboration with PTCL, Nour Al Atassi, Director, Service Providers, Middle East, Africa & Asia, Avaya, said, “Globally our customers are leveraging Avaya Spaces to create the future digital workplace and to enable new and innovative education delivery models. With PTCL introducing solutions such as Avaya Spaces, Pakistan will be well on its way to achieving its digitalization goals. PTCL has already invested in an innovative and robust telecommunications network that is serving as an enabler of business continuity across the country. Together, we look forward to supporting the blended delivery of essential services with Avaya Spaces.”

Avaya Spaces has seen significant growth since its introduction and has been an especially important solution for organizations addressing the challenges of COVID-19. At the peak of the pandemic, Avaya Spaces was offered for free to enable companies, schools, governments and organizations of all kinds to adapt to remote work and collaborate, stay connected and be productive while keeping employees safe.

With support being offered by PTCL, one of the country’s leading ICT solution providers, Avaya Spaces will better enable local organizations to choose the right working models for themselves and their customers.

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Ashgabat: On the 6th of January 2021, a press-conference of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Head of the Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia Gherman was held in Ashgabat.

The representatives of the local mass media and the journalists accredited in Turkmenistan participated to the event, including the foreign press that took part in the press-conference through videoconferencing. Among the participants, the representatives of the mass media of Azerbaijan, the Great Britain, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other countries. 

Opening the press-conference, N.Gherman congratulated everyone with the New Year and expressed gratitude for cooperation. She noted that in spite of the challenges faced by the humankind in the previous year, it was full of important events. “We marked the 25th anniversary of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan which has symbolically coincided with the historic 75th jubilee of the United Nations”, noted Ms.Gherman. 

She told to the participants about the important events and achievements of 2020 and highly appraised the level of cooperation between the countries of the Central Asia in political, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres. 

During her speech, Ms.Gherman highlighted the Final Ashgabat Document adopted upon the outcomes of the International Conference “Policy of Neutrality and Its Importance in Ensuring Universal Peace, Security and Sustainable Development” which was held in Ashgabat on December 12 of last year in honor of the 25th anniversary of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan. As known, the given Document was published on the official languages of the UN and circulated as the documents of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. 

“It is vital to note that the role of the neutrality policy in the development of peaceful, friendly and mutually beneficial relations among the countries of the world is comprehensively stated in the Final Document. It contributes to the strengthening of international peace and security on the regional and global levels”, said Ms.Gherman. 

It was also underlined that the policy of neutrality urges to use the mechanisms of preventive diplomacy which is one of main functions of the UN while preventing the conflicts and in the processes of peace building. 

Also, during her speech N.Gherman underlined the importance of the resolution of the UN General Assembly initiated by the President of Turkmenistan on declaring the year 2021 as the International Year of Peace and Trust. “For us, the International Year of Peace and Trust stands as an efficient method of mobilizing the international community for actions aimed at reinforcing peace and trust in the relations among the states, in particular on the basis of political dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation for attaining sustainable peace, solidarity and harmony”, added N.Gherman.

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