FARUKH SHEHZAD

KYIV, FEB 21: Ukraine has imposed sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and leader of Kyiv’s main pro-Russia party.

Announcing the measures imposed by presidential order late on Friday, Ukraine’s national security chief Oleksiy Danilov said Medvedchuk and seven other sanctioned individuals, including his wife Oksana Marchenko, as well as 19 companies associated with the group, were suspected of “financing terrorism” against the Ukrainian state.

“Sanctions are imposed on assets which belong to Mr Medvedchuk,” Danilov said. Property controlled by him and the other associates, who included five Russian citizens, would be seized, Danilov added.

The sanctions threaten to increase tensions between Kyiv and Moscow, which have been high since Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea and subsequent role in a seven-year separatist war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. 

Ivan Bakanov, head of Ukraine’s SBU state security service, said the sanctions were imposed based on intelligence that the individuals and companies were involved in smuggling coal from eastern regions controlled by Russian-backed separatists. The ongoing investigation would “confirm financing of terrorism”, he said.

Their activities also included funding three pro-Russia domestic television channels that were shut down by Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, earlier this month, Danilov said. 

The TV channels — 112, NewsOne and ZIK — are legally owned by businessman Taras Kozak, another pro-Russian MP in Ukraine's parliament and an associate of Medvedchuk. The government imposed sanctions on Kozak himself earlier this month.

Zelensky’s decision to take the channels off Ukrainian airwaves for allegedly spreading pro-Russia “disinformation” was sharply criticised by the Kremlin. But western countries refrained from comment, with the US embassy in Kyiv saying in a statement this month only that “the US supports Ukraine’s efforts . . . to counter Russia’s malign influence”.

Medvedchuk has described the shutdown as an act of censorship intended to reverse Zelensky’s plunging poll ratings. 

Kozak’s wife Natalia Lavrenyuk was among those sanctioned on Friday. Along with Medvedchuk’s wife, she owns several businesses in Ukraine and Russia.

• The UK also welcomes the new International Crimean Platform, which will bring together the international community to support the return of Crimea to Ukraine

ISLAMABAD, FEB 21: Mulana Tariq Jamil doesn’t need any introduction as he is a man with great heart that is full of Islamic teachings. He deliver lectures about Islam including Quranic quotes and Prophet’s sayings to improve public’s knowledge about their religion.

Mulana Tariq Jamil travel to different countries to deliver his lectures and bring people more close to their creator, Allah. The way he talks, share incidents from Prophet’s life and add Quranic quotes makes his statements more effective. The famous Islamic scholar is soon going to start his own clothing line.

MTJ, Mulana Tariq Jamil’s clothing brand will launch shalwar kameez and kurtas soon in Pakistan. The brand introduce itself as, “fashion retail brand strives to learn and exhibit the principles taught by Maulana and break the eroding stereotype”. The launching date is yet not confirmed.

Let’s wait to hear more about Mulana Tariq Jamil’s clothing brand. Till then, share your thoughts about his decision with us in comments section below.

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COURTESY whenwherehow

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ISLAMABAD, FEB 21: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will meet on Monday to discuss and decide whether or not to keep Pakistan on the grey list, Dawn has learned from knowledgeable sources.

The virtual FATF plenary will be held in Paris from February 22 to 25 to consider cases of various countries on the grey list, including Pakistan, and decision will be made at the conclusion of the meetings.

In the last plenary held in October 2020, FATF had announced that Pakistan would continue to remain on its grey list till February 2021 for six out of 27 unmet action plan targets on anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT).

An official source close to these developments told Dawn on Saturday that Pakistan had already complied with the six recommendations and also submitted details to the FATF secretariat. The members would now evaluate Pakistan’s responses during the meeting, the source said, adding that Pakistan had made significant progress in legislation as well as its implementation.

Pakistan had submitted a detailed response in October 2020 to FATF. Even then, it demanded more from Islamabad. It is too early to say if this time again FATF may ask for more actions or the existing ones will be enough to remove Pakistan from the grey list. However, the decision would be taken after a consensus among the members, the source said.

Younus Khan, a senior Pakistani journalist based in Paris, told Dawn on WhatsApp that some European countries, especially the host France, had recommended to FATF to continue to keep Pakistan on the grey list and had taken the position that not all points had been fully implemented by Islamabad. Other European countries are also supporting France.

Mr Khan, who regularly follows FATF meetings, said France was not happy with the recent response of Islamabad on the cartoon issue. Pakistan has not even posted a regular ambassador in Paris, he said, adding that diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries were not up to the mark.

The United States has also expressed concern over the acquittal of one of the accused in Daniel Pearl murder case. It is feared that the US may also lobby for continuation of Islamabad on the grey list at least until June this year.

An official, who is not willing to be quoted, told Dawn that Pakistan had submitted a compliance report to FATF. “We can’t say what will be their response to it; let’s wait for the day.”

The official said Pakistan had already done major legislation regarding punishment of terror financing, which was around one year in the old legislation. “We have extended this punishment to five years,” the official said, adding that recently courts had also sentenced people under the new law.

The laws were amended last year to make punishment proportionate to the crime as recommended by FATF.

According to the official, FATF has appreciated the steps taken by Pakistan which has largely complied with the demands of the global watchdog. FATF commended the steps taken by Pakistan and said that progress had been made in terms of money laundering and terror financing, but Islamabad would have to ensure full implementation at all points.

Pakistan was focusing on the implementation of all recently enacted laws to come out of the grey list of FATF. In the last plenary, two action plans given to Pakistan by the watchdog were the “most challenging and comprehensive” ever given to any country.

In 2020, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government had got three laws — the Anti-Money Laundering (second amendment) Bill-2020, Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) (third amendment) Bill-2020 and Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill-2020 — passed in a joint sitting of parliament to fulfil the legal requirements of FATF.

In October 2020, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, who is the government’s point man on FATF, announced that Pakistan had made progress across all action plan items and had now largely addressed 21 of the 27 action items.

When the minister was approached for comments on the implementation status of the remaining six recommendations, he said he would make no comment until the plenary was over and FATF published its statements. “There is a strict confidentiality rule,” he told Dawn via a WhatsApp message.

Background discussions with the relevant officials suggest that Pakistan is confident that it will come out of the grey list since it has taken action against various religious extremist parties and personalities and arrested and punished them. The accounts of various organisations have also been closed and people sentenced. All these actions were taken in the light of FATF’s recommendations.

FATF had placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018.

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COURTESY dawn news

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KARACHI: Karachi Kings won the opening match of the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) against Quetta Gladiators at Karachi’s National Stadium on Saturday.

The Gladiators had managed to score 121 runs in 19.2 overs. The Kings started off strong by dismissing both Sarfaraz Ahmed and Tom Banton early in the game.

Saim Ayub, who made his T20 debut, fell in the eighth over, adding an equal number of runs to the scoreboard. Chris Gayle, dubbed the “T20 superstar”, met his downfall in the ninth over. Gayle scored 39 runs.

In response, the Kings’ run chase was never in trouble. Despite losing the early wicket of Sharjeel Khan, they immediately got back on their feet, reaching their target with more than six overs and seven wickets to spare.

Babar Azam, for once, wasn’t the top performer for the Kings. Joe Clarke’s scintillating 23-ball 46 was the highlight of the port city team’s innings. Later, Mohammad Nabi chipped in with an unbeaten 30 off 14 to get his team home.

Sharing his thoughts in the post-match presentation, Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim stated, “The way we started deserves a round of applause especially Arshad. We have so many options. Nabi didn’t bowl, it is good to have those options and I felt Nabi was not required on this surface.”

Of his part, Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmad said, “The target in our mind was 170-180. But we were not able to execute. I did open in this match but we will analyse where is my best position. The runs were too less and hence attacked with the fast bowlers.”

Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Colin Ingram, Joe Clarke (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Dan Christian, Imad Wasim (capt) Aamer Yamin, Waqas Maqsood, Mohammad Amir, Arshad Iqbal

Quetta Gladiators: Chris Gayle, Tom Banton, Azam Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt &wk(), Saim Ayub, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain, Qais Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Usman Shinwari

OPENING CEREMONY:

PSL kicked off earlier today in Karachi with a star-studded opening ceremony.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani kicked things off by welcoming international players to the country. “We welcome you to Pakistan and know that you will take back very fond memories of your stay here and look forward to seeing you again next year.”

“This year, matches are only being played in Karachi and Lahore. Only 7,500 people will be able to attend matches in Karachi and 5,500 in Lahore due to the coronavirus,” he said, adding that he was hopeful the situation would improve and allow more fans to attend matches.

He also thanked the fans for making PSL a success, while also expressing his gratitude to the sponsors of the tournament. He added that the tournament would not have been possible without the cooperation of the provincial governments and law enforcement agencies.

He concluded his speech by wishing all six franchises luck in the tournament.

In his address, HBL CEO Mohammad Aurangzeb said: “We missed the fans last year and some would argue the energy associated with having a full stadium. But from my perspective, stadiums are where the fans are, whether they are in the stands or watching from the comfort of their homes.”

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COURTESY Pakistan today

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ISLAMABAD, FEB 20: So far a total of 314,500 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed among the provinces and regions by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC).

As per the NCOC, 118,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed in Punjab, 121,000 in Sindh, 28,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 16,000 in Balochistan, 15,500 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 11,000 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and 5,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Meanwhile, the process of the vaccine administration to the Frontline healthcare workers is in progress across the Country.

The NCOC simultaneously initiated the National Immunization Drive against COVID-19 across the Country on February 3, 2021.

Since February 15, the registering of Citizens aged 65 and above has also started in Pakistan for the vaccination against Coronavirus. Their vaccination will start next month.

It’s worth noting that China gifted Pakistan 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine which arrived from Beijing through a special flight on February 1.

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COURTESY dndnews

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ISLAMABAD, FEB 20: Zamir Kabulov, Russian Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at GHQ.

According to the military media wing ISPR, matters of mutual interest, regional security situation particularly developments in the Afghan Peace Process were discussed during the meeting.

COAS said that peace in both countries is in the greater interest of the region. The visiting dignitary appreciated the positive role being played by Pakistan for Afghan Peace Process and expressed that, Pak-Russia relations will continue to prosper manifolds.

Both sides reiterated the commitment to enhance bilateral relations.

Zamir Kabulov is visiting Islamabad for a one-day visit, which is part of Pakistan's diplomatic outreach in support of the Afghan peace process. The visit will also contribute to further strengthening Pakistan-Russia bilateral cooperation.

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ISLAMABAD, FEB 2021: Goibnazarov Azizullo, Consul, Embassy of Tajikistan to Pakistan visited CGSS office and met with the senior management of Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad, on Feb 18.

During the meeting, areas of cooperation between CGSS and institutions in Tajikistan were discussed. It was also decided that further avenues of cooperation should be explored between Tajikistan and Pakistan to enhance the bilateral ties of both countries.

Academic cooperation and initiatives to connect and engage students of both countries were also brought under consideration.

Goibnazarov Azizullo appreciated the contributions of CGSS in strengthening bilateral ties with Eurasian countries.

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COURTESY CGSS

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ISLAMABAD, FEB 2021: A meeting was held between Aybek Arif Usmanov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan and Management of Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad at Embassy of Uzbekistan, Islamabad.

The newly appointed Ambassador appreciated the efforts of CGSS and University of Punjab, Lahore for organizing successful one day International Event on “Legacy of Zaheer-Ud-Din Mohammad Babur and Its Relevance in Contemporary Bilateral Relations between Pakistan and Uzbekistan” in Lahore.

During the meeting, various areas of future collaboration were discussed with particular emphasis on initiatives related to youth collaboration between both the countries. It was also decided that CGSS and the Embassy will jointly work for women entrepreneurship cooperation.

Furthermore, both the parties vowed to increase the academic cooperation between the scholars of both the countries. It was decided that cooperation in the field of trade and economy will also be enhanced.

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COURTESY CGSS

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ISLAMABAD, FEB 2021: Tolga Sengul, Representative, Ibne Sina Institute, Ankara, Turkey visited Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad on Feb 17 and had a meeting with Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, CGSS.

During the meeting various avenues of cooperation were discussed including cultural exchange programs and joint research projects between students of Pakistan and Turkey.

Tolga appreciated the wide scope of work and activities done by CGSS in various fields and vowed to extend his full support to enhance bilateral ties of Pakistan and Turkey.

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COURTESY CGSS

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