FARUKH SHEHZAD

GAZA CITY, MAY 30: Rafif Ebu Dayir, 11, painted a Turkish flag just before she died in an Israeli attack on Gaza. The girl was having lunch with her family on the lawn of her house when a nearby business center was hit.

The last picture she painted depicted a demolished building near her house. Almost as if she was predicting her death, Dayir drew a Turkish flag along with the flag of a few Arab countries.

Her uncle, Halid Ebu Dayir, told Anadolu Agency that his niece lost her life seven days before her next birthday.

“She was telling her father that she wanted to become a doctor and treat children,” he said.

Recalling that the recent attacks by Israel claimed the lives of 66 children, he said: “For what crimes were these children killed, I’m asking ‘the state of Israel,’ the state which claims to defend human rights.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY Anews

-----------

ISLAMABAD, MAY 30: Kuwait has restored family and business visas for Pakistani citizens after ten years.

This was announced by Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah while talking to Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad in Kuwait today (Sunday).

The Interior Minister handed over a special letter written by Prime Minister Imran Khan to his Kuwaiti Counterpart.  

The meeting also decided to issue technical visas for Pakistani workers in medical and oil field.

Pakistani citizens living in Gulf countries can also get online Kuwaiti visa.

Thanking the Kuwaiti Prime Minister on restoration of Visa for Pakistani citizens, the Interior Minister said that after this decision, huge job opportunities will be available for Pakistanis in Kuwait.

He said by lifting ban on business visa, the trade will also increase between the two countries.

----------------------------------------------------

COURTESY RADIO PAKISTAN

------------

ISLAMABAD, MAY 30: The country’s premier spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has “totally disassociated” itself from the recent attack on a journalist and YouTuber Asad Ali Toor in Islamabad, says a handout issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday.

The statement said that a “high level contact” was established between the ministry and the ISI over the incident in which a digital media journalist was “allegedly attacked” in Islamabad and the ISI had stated that it had nothing to do with the incident.

“Such continued allegations against ISI show that the ISI is being a target of the fifth generation war under an organised conspiracy,” said the statement, issued a day after the journalist organisations held protest demonstrations against the growing incidents of attacks on journalists.

“The ISI believes that when the alleged attackers can clearly be identified in the CCTV footages then investigation should proceed against them and stern action should be taken against those responsible for it,” says the statement.

ISI ‘totally disassociates’ itself from attack on journalist

It says the ISI has assured its cooperation in the investigations.

The information ministry officials are in contact with the Islamabad police and hopefully the accused would soon be arrested.

Mr Toor had been severely beaten up by unidentified assailants outside his residence in Sector F-10 on May 25.

According to the police, some people gathered outside Mr Toor’s residence located in an apartment building. A scuffle took place between him and these people who fled the scene after thrashing him.

Narrating some of the details of the incident, Mr Toor said through video that the attackers had asked him about the source of his funds.

Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had taken notice of the incident and ordered the Islamabad police chief to probe the matter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY DAWN NEWS

------------

ISLAMABAD, MAY 29: CEO Asif Peer has announced a new initiative of Systems Limited where the company will collaborate with The Citizens Foundation (TCF) to provide underprivileged students a chance to attain formal education.

As part of the company’s CSR drive, the initiative is geared towards promoting meaningful educational programs that bring about an empowering social impact for the community.

The first-of-its-kind initiative will see Pakistan’s premier technology organization join hands with one of the largest privately owned networks of low-cost formal schools in Pakistan.

It all started with the exchange of Eid greeting letters between the management of Systems Limited and TCF students.

While the letters exchanged warm, positive messages of staying hopeful during these testing times, one of them revealed a student’s wish to have a secondary school in his hometown of Burewala, Punjab, so that he could pursue his studies further.

This wholesome exchange was picked up by the social media influencers like Dua Amjad, Tasmiah Khan, Hibbah Waqar, Haddiya Azer and Kompal Iqbal, and ultimately resulted in Systems Limited’s management deciding to help these young children fulfill their dreams. 

“I’m committing to you all that we’ll be building a school in Burewala with TCF, who have done wonders in educating masses of needy kids.

We would like to participate in their initiative and this won’t be the only school. We’ll continue doing this because this is our future and as a responsible organization, we will continue to do such CSR activities,” said Asif Peer in a heartfelt video response to Dua Amjad, who is famous on social media for her strong association with the education sector.

Literacy plays a huge role in the development and progress of any country. It strengthens the youth with knowledge, which fuels a culture of innovation and growth.

At just 58%, Pakistan’s literacy rate is low as compared to the neighboring countries China (80%), India (74%), and Iran (85%).

This considerably limits opportunities towards acquiring skills and technical knowledge to achieve higher productivity and financial growth.

Over 60% of Pakistan’s total population resides in rural areas which don’t have proper access to formal education.

Such initiatives are instrumental in promoting education and increasing the country’s overall literacy rate which will result in better employment opportunities and economic growth.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

ISLAMABAD, MAY 29: Experts on Friday approved a single national curriculum for Class VI to VIII which would be introduced from next year.

The curriculum was adopted at the end of a five-day national conference on the single curriculum held at Allama Iqbal Open University.

The single national curriculum for Class I to V will be introduced from the upcoming academic session starting from August this year.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the conference online, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood congratulated the educational units of provincial governments, stakeholders and the National Curriculum Council.

He said according to the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the unanimous approval of the single national curriculum of eight subjects for grades VI to VIII was a step towards national unity.

“All federating units, scholars of all schools of thought, representatives of madressahs and experts from all over the country deserve congratulations,” he said.

The minister said the government was aware of its responsibilities towards national aspirations and international commitments to improve education in Pakistan.

“The single national curriculum will end the class system and all citizens will get equal opportunities to move forward,” he said.

Joint Educational Adviser and National Curriculum Council Chairman Mohammad Rafiq Tahir said the curriculum was a new chapter in the history of Pakistan.

He said ‘one nation: one curriculum’ was a dream that was becoming a reality. He said after the success of the first phase of the single national curriculum for grade 1 to 5, in the second phase the credit for the unanimous approval of eight subjects under the single national curriculum for grade 6 to 8 goes to the federal education. Later, speaking to Dawn, Mr Tahir said around 175 experts took part in the five-day conference.

“Now, the federal government and provinces will go for book publishing followed by teacher training,” he said. From the academic year 2022-23, the SNC based curriculum will be introduced across the country from class six to eight.

He said from upcoming academic session to be started in August, across the country, the SNC will be introduced from Class one to five, adding currently books publishing and teacher training process was in progress in provinces and at the federal level.

Addressing the ceremony, AIOU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Ziaul Qayyum said the Ministry of Education, especially the prime minister, deserved congratulations for their serious efforts to introduce the curriculum. He stressed the importance of training teachers who will teach the new curriculum.

Education Secretary South Punjab Dr Ehtesham Anwar and Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Managing Director Dr Farooq Manzoor also spoke on the occasion.

----------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY DAWN NEWS

--------------

Two flights carrying 202 passengers reached Abu Dhabi Thursday

LAHORE, MAY 28: Quetta Gladiator captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is among 25 players and staff members of the Pakistan Super League who are yet to receive the United Arab Emirates visas, local media reported Thursday.

Two flights carrying 202 passengers – 145 from Lahore and 57 from Karachi – left for Abu Dhabi on Thursday at 5:00pm after a delay of four hours.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, on the other hand, is confident of receiving visas for the remaining players and staffer soon. Another chartered flight to transport the remaining players and officials to Abu Dhabi will be arranged, the PCB said in a statement.

Mohammad Hasnain, Imran Khan, Asif Afridi, Umar Amin, Muhammad Musa, Zaid Alam, Zeeshan Ashraf, Abrar Ahmed, Imran Randhawa, Mohammad Haris, and Aamir Khan are among the players who have been denied a visa.

The board had also faced issues with the chartered flights from South Africa and India — carrying cricketers and production team members — who were not allowed to land in the UAE. Later, they were granted permission after negotiations with the Abu Dhabi authorities.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY SAMAA

------------- 

ISLAMABAD, MAY 28: The Supreme Court registrar’s office, while returning the government’s “curative review petition” in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case on Wednesday, ruled that the federation had misconceived the Supreme Court Rules of 1980 when it moved a set of five petitions.

In its order, the institutional branch of the Supreme Court explained that the “curative review petition” was an application which provides information to initiate “suo motu” proceedings under Articles 184(3), 187, 188 and 189 of the Constitution, read with Orders 26 and 33 of the Supreme Court rules.

The president, the prime minister, the law minister, PM’s adviser Shahzad Akbar and the Federal Board of Revenue are among the petitioners.

The objection by the court’s office explained that the present case amounted to a second review petition. It was thus not entertainable under Order 36, Rule 9 of the Supreme Court rules, which states that after the final disposal of the first application for review, no subsequent application for review will lie to the court and consequently will not be entertained by the registry.

Meanwhile, the vice chairman of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Khushdil Khan, and the chairman of PBC’s executive committee, Muhammad Faheem Wali, have cautioned the government against filing another review petitions against the April 26 judgement in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case. “The legal fraternity will not hesitate to launch a countrywide agitation to oppose the government’s attempt tooth and nail.”

Khushdil Khan and Faheem Wali condemned the government’s decision to file the curative review petition, saying the objections raised by the registrar’s office were valid.

In a statement, the Pakistan Bar Council alleged that the role, conduct and activities of the president, the prime minister and the federal law minister were aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary and the democratic process.

The Pakistan Bar Council said it would not allow the government to succeed in its “nefarious design to target the independent judiciary”.

The registrar’s office had stated in its objection that “suo motu case” had been mentioned on the title page of the petitions, but in the subject column it was referred to as the “curative review petition”.

The government, while filing a set of five petitions, had moved a separate application seeking two weeks for filing of paper books, but after an initial scrutiny, the registrar found the petitions to be suffering from a number of deficiencies.

Moreover, the power of attorney of the petitioners, namely the president and others in favour of the advocate on record, were not properly executed, the registrar observed. “Scandalous language was used on five occasions in various pages of the petitions.”

The petitioner failed to issue proper notices to the respondents, including Justice Isa, while filing the petitions and hence the request for more time cannot be granted and the case was being returned in its original form, the registrar’s office stated.

-------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY DAWN NEWS

--------------

ISLAMABAD, MAY 27: Easypaisa, Pakistan’s leading digital payments platform, has once again been at the forefront of empowering a shift towards digital payments. The platform facilitated 97,000 transactions amounting to PKR 23 million during the month of Ramadan.

In Ramadan every year, philanthropic efforts reach an all-time high. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic and various restrictions in place, this year it was difficult for people to make their donations in a safe manner.

Easypaisa’s donations feature, with an option to donate to various charitable causes solved this problem. The donations tab was also brought to the main page of the Easypaisa App to make it more accessible for users.

A total of 30,000 unique subscribers sent donations to a wide variety of organizations working on numerous social causes across the country.

Edhi Foundation, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Saylani Welfare, Shahid Afridi Foundation, AlKhidmat and Akhuwat were amongst the ones which received major chunks of the donations.

Easypaisa users donate PKR 23 million during Ramadan

Pakistanis are amongst the most philanthropic nations in the world and Easypaisa’s donations feature is an effort to ensure that daily routines of users are not affected in any way, despite difficult circumstances.

Easypaisa has been continually evolving as a platform over the past few years, adding a diverse range of unique use cases to its portfolio in order to transform Pakistan into a cashless and financially inclusive society.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ali Alizada says during the years of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, the Senate and National Assembly of Pakistan adopted several resolutions, Foreign Office and Armed Forces of Pakistan issued many statements condemning the illegal actions and war crimes of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

ISLAMABAD, MAY 27: This year Azerbaijan celebrates the 103rd anniversary of the establishment of Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (ADR), the first democratic republic in the Muslim world, with double and special significance, after the liberation of the internationally recognized territories from almost 30 years of illegal Armenian occupation.

The ADR left an indelible mark and entered forever into the history of the Azerbaijani nation with its rich state building experience and prepared a good basis for the future independence of Azerbaijan.

Relying solely on the support of the Azerbaijani people, H. Aliyev put an end to all negativity in the country, disbanded all illegal armed groups, established safety and order, and began building the state institutions and a regular army of Azerbaijan.

All these years Azerbaijani nation lived with one dream, to liberate the illegaly occupied territories of Azerbaijan and restore peace and justice in the region, which Azerbaijan has sought almost 30 years through all platforms.

If the creation of ADR, on May 28, 1918 was a historic event for the Azerbaijani nation, the restoration of the territorial integrity of modern independent Azerbaijan in 2020 became another glorious historic victory and achievement for Azerbaijan and its nation.

For all 30 years of the conflict, Azerbaijan has suffered a lot from Armenian aggression and Azerbaijan has been delivering the truth about this issue at all international events and forums.

More than 30 thousands of Azerbaijanis have been martyred, all cities, residential buildings, schools, hospitals, public buildings, historical sites and mosques in occupied territories of Azerbaijan have been destroyed.

Armenia insulted the entire Muslim world, kept cows and pigs in our mosques, destroyed all cultural monuments and even plowed up all graves. Despite that all leading international organizations recognized and supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories, Armenia has always showed an unconstructive approach to the resolution of the conflict and at the end the provocative steps, statements and aggressive actions of Armenia have put an end to all negotiations and made war inevitable.

Under the resolute command of the Supreme Commander-in-chief, Azerbaijan has fulfilled its historic mission and defeated Armenia due to the professionalism and heroism of victorious Azerbaijan Army, and of course due to high national spirit and strength.

Glory to, thanks to the dedication of our martyrs, Azerbaijan has again secured its territorial integrity. May grant all our martyrs the highest rank in Jannah!

We have achieved our goal. The 44-day Patriotic war has demonstrated Azerbaijan’s power, resolve and unity. It showed that the Azerbaijani people will never put up with injustice.

We must also mention that Azerbaijan has liberated its lands through development, because development is also the backbone of our victory, and today, Azerbaijan is one of the rapidly developing countries of the world, and under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev continues its dynamic progress and economic growth.

And soon the liberated territories of Azerbaijan will also become one of the developed regions of Azerbaijan and a real paradise.

We are thankful to our brotherly country Pakistan and its nation which constantly stood shoulder to shoulder with Azerbaijan and supported its right of self-defence during Patriotic War of Azerbaijan.

Pakistan even didn’t recognize Armenia due to occupation of Azerbaijani lands and always put its principal position in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

During the years of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, the Senate and National Assembly of Pakistan adopted several resolutions, Foreign Office and Armed Forces of Pakistan issued many statements condemning the illegal actions and war crimes of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

This is a true demonstration of brotherhood. Azerbaijan has also always stood and supported Pakistan in all matters, including the Kashmir issue which also waits implementation of UN SC resolutions for several decades. I am sure our brotherhood and mutual support to each other will be continued and strengthened in the years ahead as well.

Pakistan and Azerbaijan have time tested relations which based on strategic partnership, confidence, mutual respect and trust.

In the last one year Covid-19 pandemic has caused the worldwide slowdown, but even in pandemic time Azerbaijan-Pakistan relations, the political, military, defence, economy, security and energy ties have continued to grow in an upward trajectory.

The leadership of two countries had a regular constructive meetings and telephone conversations where they hailed the importance of further strengthening the efforts to boost cooperation between our countries. Despite the restrictions caused by the pandemic we were able to hold bilateral political consultations, the meeting of Joint Working Group on Trade, online business forum, B2B meetings and as well as the trilateral meeting of FMs of Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey.

During the last year, we were also able to conduct several high level visits of government and military officials, including an official bilateral visit of FM of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, the bilateral official visits of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan and the Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan to Azerbaijan, etc.

Soon an official visit of Speaker of Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan to Pakistan will be conducted, the meeting of the Joint Working Group on Agriculture, the meeting of Intergovernmental Joint Commission will be arranged, the visits of Chief of Naval Staff of Azerbaijan to Pakistan and the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan to Azerbaijan, as well as Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey joint military exercise will be held during this year.

The efforts for strengthening people to people contacts, cultural, media, science, education ties have also increased and the humanitarian-social projects of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan were also continued in Pakistan during this pandemic time.

The establishment of direct flights remains also one of our main aims and the agreement have already reached to start operations of direct flights as soon as Covid -19 situation will be settled down.

All these developments show the commitment of our fraternal nations and Governments to further deepen and strengthen our relations.

I thank the Government, Army and people of brotherly Pakistan for continued cooperation, support and commitment to further deepen our relations. Taking this opportunity, I congratulate Azerbaijani community in Pakistan and all my countrymen on the occasion of National Day, “May 28- Republic Day of Azerbaijan”.

Pakistan-Azerbaijan Dosti Zindabad!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ISLAMABAD, MAY 26: Mthuthuzeli Madikiza, High Commissioner, South Africa called on Minister for Defence, Pervez Khattak here in his office in Islamabad.

The Minister for Defence said that Pakistan highly values its relations with South Africa and hopes to see them flourish in the times to come.

The Defence Minister expressed his resolve to give fresh impetus to bilateral defence cooperation through high-level exchange visits and the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee forum.

He said that Pakistan and South Africa have enjoyed warm and cordial relations ever since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1994.

The visiting dignitary assured his government's commitment and pledged to work with Pakistan to strengthen their bilateral ties.

------------------------------------------------------------

ISLAMABAD, MAY 26: On 25th May 2021 the XVI Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum was held. The forum was conducted virtually and representatives of the SCO Member states participated.

The Sixteenth session of the SCO forum was hosted by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad being an active member of the SCO Think Tank forum participated in the forum.

From Pakistan, representatives of Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) also participated.

The session was commenced with the opening remarks of Amb. Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Director General, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

He extended his gratitude CGSS and SASSI and highlighted that in the contemporary era of globalization, there is a need of regional cooperation to produce sustainable outcomes.

He was of the view that SCO provides its member states with a platform to work and cooperate together on various platforms and sectors.

Ms. Aisha Farooqui, National Coordinator SCO, Islamic Republic of Pakistan mentioned that SCO is successfully operating in the region and more states are applying for its observer status.

She highlighted the contribution of SCO towards the security and economic development of the region, especially during the pandemic.

She stated that collective efforts are required to deal with the rising challenges and Pakistan will continue to play its regional role to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Vladimir Norov, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in his remarks appreciated Pakistan’s role in SCO.

He further indicated that SCO states stands firmly against the regional challenges. He mentioned that the recommendations of the forum will contribute the official documents presented to SCO for its future initiatives.

Maj. Gen. Khalid Amir Jaffery, (Retd), President, Centre for Global & Strategic Studies, Pakistan chaired the second session on “SCO and the Geopolitics of Eurasia: Prospects of Security Cooperation between SCO Members”. The session included speakers from Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and India.

Maj. Gen. Khalid Amir Jaffery, (Retd), President, Centre for Global & Strategic Studies, Pakistan also addressed the forum in the second session and shared his views on the topic.

He stated that SCO represents hybrid model of regional organization as it cooperates in the field of agriculture, information and technology, health, environment, climate, economy and security.

He mentioned that the COVID 19 situation has negatively impacted the economic development of many SCO states.

Furthermore, in order to ensure smooth economic cooperation, trade should be carried out with transparence and without any discrimination.

He emphasized that economic plans cannot be implemented smoothly until the security is ensured in the region.

He viewed stability in Afghanistan to be of utmost importance, especially with regards to the illegal trade and cultivation of poppy after the US withdrawal.

He mentioned that SCO holds unique position to help in the development; it sets an example of how intrastate relations can be maintained and improved between the states.

Dr. Maria Sultan, President, South Asian Strategic Stability Institute, Pakistan also addressed the forum.

The forum invited representatives of all the member SCO states including China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, India, and Tajikistan.

The forum had discussions about boosting Socio-Economic Cooperation among SCO Member states and SCO and the Geopolitics of Eurasia: Prospects of Security Cooperation between SCO Members.

-------------------------------------------------------

COURTEYS CGSS

-----------