FARUKH SHEHZAD

LAHORE, JUN 2: The Abu Dhabi Health Ministry has surprisingly raised an objection over the presence of Indian broadcasters to cover the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches despite the fact that the UAE government had issued visas to them along with South African nationals.

Sources said that the PCB, which is determined to start the league matches from June 7, sought special permission for the visas of Indians and South Africans because the UAE government had included both the countries in the red-list due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in both countries.

It is amazing as to why the Abu Dhabi Health Ministry has now raised objections after the Indians and South Africans have already reached Abu Dhabi.

They all landed in Ras-Al’ Khaimah and later reached Abu Dhabi.

All the Indians are now passing through their quarantine period in Dubai. Sources said by Wednesday, the UAE government will take a final decision. If the UAE government allows their stay in Abu Dhabi, the matches may start from June 7. However, if it does not allow them, a grim situation may be confronted by the PCB.

Meanwhile, sources said that the PCB had also informed about the latest development to the PSL franchise owners at a meeting and about the expected new schedule of the matches. It is also learnt that the PCB had delayed the departure of the Pakistan team to England to June 25 instead of June 23.

The two-day delay in departure of the Pakistan team to England will surely help the PCB to reduce the number of double-headers in the league.

Meanwhile, Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed along with six others arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

In another development, Multan Sultans included Blessing Muzarabani in place of Obed McCoy for the remaining 20 matches of the PSL.

Moreover, the players and officials of the franchises owners, who had reached Abu Dhabi from the first chartered flights on May 26 had completed their seven-day quarantine period and now Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars will start training from Wednesday at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

It is learnt that the matches of the PSL now will end on June 24 and the very next day, the Pakistan team will fly to England to play three One-day Internationals and as many T20 matches.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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Munaza Kazmi

In 1972, the UN General Assembly designated 5June as “World Environment Day”. The first celebration, under the slogan “Only One Earth” took place in 1974. 

In the following years, World Environment Day has developed as a platform to raise awareness on the problems facing our environment such as air pollution, plastic pollution, illegal wildlife trade, sustainable consumption, sea-level increase, and food security, among others. 

Furthermore, World Environment Day helps drive change in consumption patterns and in national and international environmental policy.

The theme for World Environment Day 2021 is “Ecosystem Restoration” and will see the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Ecosystem restoration can take many forms: Growing trees, greening cities, rewilding gardens, changing diets or cleaning up rivers and coasts. This is the generation that can make peace with nature.

Ecosystem restoration means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact. Healthier ecosystems, with richer biodiversity, yield greater benefits such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, and larger stores of greenhouse gases.

However, restoration can happen in many ways – for example through actively planting or by removing pressures so that nature can recover on its own.

It is not always possible or desirable to return an ecosystem to its original state. We still need farmland and infrastructure on land that was once forest, for instance, and ecosystems, like societies, need to adapt to a changing climate.

Between now and 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services. 

Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times costlier than ecosystem restoration.

All kinds of ecosystem can be restored, including forests, farmlands, cities, wetlands and oceans. Restoration initiatives can be launched by almost anyone, from governments and development agencies to businesses, communities and individuals. 

That is because the causes of degradation are many and varied and can have an impact at different scales.

Every year World Environment Day is hosted by a different country, in which official celebrations take place, and this year’s host is Pakistan.

The government of Pakistan plans to expand and restore the country’s forests through a 10 Billion Tree Tsunami spread over five years. 

The campaign includes restoring mangroves and forests, as well as planting trees in urban settings, including schools, colleges, public parks and green belts.

Through the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, Pakistan is contributing to the Bonn Challenge, a global effort linked to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Under the challenge, countries are pledging to bring 350 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2030.

World Environment Day is celebrated every once a year, to remind us that we are not alone on this planet.

There is a huge biological ecosystem that exists, and we as a human being survive because of that, since we are all bead of a chain, removing or damaging a bead can disturb the beauty and existence of the whole chain.

Preserving nature is our responsibility, that can be done by adopting simple steps, why it’s the most urgent to throw the peel off out of the car windows? We can keep it in paper and then to throw in dustbin. 

We go to recreational spots in order to pollute them, I believe first educate oneself then others. 

It is only the human that pollutes, damages and harms, can’t we just change this habit. We have taken a lot from this nature, it’s the time to refund, however, its not refund but an investment.

Next, it’s an appeal to the parents and institutions to create awareness among the younger generation, tell them aspects about nature and the significance of birds, animals, ecology, and even the small insects. 

A humble example could be our six-legged friends — bees. The contribution that bees make to food production is astonishing.

Moreover, respect Biodiversity & nature. Biodiversity plays an important role in offering ecological services that make life livable on Earth. Each species, no matter how big or small, has a considerable impact on the ecosystem.

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Munaza Kazmi has recently done Master of Philosophy from Bahria University Islamabad. Her debut novel is Unrequited Love.

She’s an author, columnist writing in different newspapers and a researcher having seven publications till yet, she’s been writing since 2016.

You can connect to Kazmi at twitter @munaza_kazmi or on research gate as munaza kazmi.

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ISLAMABAD, JUN 2: A meeting of women parliamentarians was held within the framework of the Second General Conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Islamabad on Tuesday, June 1. Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova chaired the first session of the meeting of women parliamentarians.

The Press and Public Relations Department of the Milli Majlis told APA that the Speaker spoke about the importance of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization and thanked the Women's Parliamentary Group for providing an important platform to discuss the main challenges and opportunities of women in leadership positions.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova noted that the topic of this event is really important, as issues such as women's rights and gender equality are still on the agenda.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis said he was proud to represent a country in the East that gave women the right to vote and be elected for the first time. He said that this was done in 1918, long before most European countries. The first secular school for girls in the Muslim East, the first ballet and opera were opened in Azerbaijan.

Sahiba Gafarova noted that contacts between parliamentarians, especially women MPs, are an important driving force of inter-parliamentary cooperation. It is important that more women MPs are represented in various parliamentary organizations than in Islamic countries.

Speaking at the first session of the Women's Parliament, Ms. Munazu Hassan, Secretary of the Women's Parliamentary Group, Ms. Begum Sadjida Zulfikar Khan, Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Ms. Andlib Abbas, Secretary of the Parliament, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Ganira Pashayeva, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Culture The role of trade, business, entrepreneurship in development, the future of regional cooperation and other issues.

Summing up the meeting, Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova stressed the importance of the issues discussed at the meeting, wished success to the Women's Parliamentary Group, noting that the views expressed will be discussed at future meetings.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chairman of the Labor and Social Policy Committee of the Milli Majlis Malahat Ibrahimgizi.

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COURTESY apa.az

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ISLAMABAD, JUN 1: The School Education and Literacy Department (SELD) has launched an initiative in partnership with Noon, the leading global online education provider, to provide comprehensive e-learning courses, that includes the live online classes,  recordings,  tests, and social learning, to all students across Sindh for the upcoming Matriculation and Intermediate exams. 

The partnership was announced at a meeting chaired by Sindh Minister of Education, Saeed Ghani, with Secretary Education, Ahmed Bux Narejo, Chief Advisor SELD Dr Fouzia Khan, and the delegation of Noon represented by Abdul Ahad Ayub, Noman Yousuf, and Bilal Musharaf.

Speaking at the occasion, Minister of Education Sindh Saeed Ghani said “SELD is committed to provide quality education to the students and the provision of online classes is need of the hour. Students from grades 9 to 12 can now access interactive class sessions on the Noon app, which is easy to use and have engaging features to help improve their learning outcomes”.

The online class sessions are provided by the best teachers from all over the province, to provide quality education completely free of cost. Since the upcoming exams will have greater focus on MCQs, Noon App has over 5000 MCQs that students can practice. 

This is a great opportunity for everyone to prepare for their upcoming exams especially in the light of disruption of on campus activities due to COVID-19.

Students can download the Noon app from AppStore, PlayStore, or by visiting the Noon website: www.noonacademy.com

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ISLAMABAD, JUN 1: AAA Associates organized Nine holes Night Golf Match in collaboration with Garden City Golf and Country Club, Bahria Town.

The successful event was attended by the notables from Military and different segments of the society. Among Participants are some well-known personalities like Ex-COAS Ashfaq Parvez Kiani (R), Gen Zahirul Islam (R), Gen Hilal (R), Air Marshal Asim Zaheer (R)Ex VCAS PAF, Chairman AAA Associates Mr. Sheikh Fawad Bashir, MD Lt.Col Shahzad Ali kiani (R) and Maj Gen Guftar Shah (R) also graced the event with their esteemed presence. Around 100 local residence and players participated in this night Tournament with display of magnificent lighting array make the event more attractive.

AAA Associate has plan to organized similar Night Golf tournament in other cities of Pakistan to encourage this sport among local community.

Golf is considered an expensive game and associated with elite section of our society. AAA Associates organized this match to put an end to this stereotype by promoting Golf sports among Middleclass community of the twin cities.

They offered participants with discounted membership of the Club and inexpensive Golf Kits to encourage local community to take active part in this healthy game. After a fierce competition, the golfer with top 3 score were awarded with Shields and Prizes.

In female category, Amna Kiani scores 42 to become Gross winner and followed by 2nd position secured by Saeeda Akhtar and Manaza with third position in the row.

In men’s Gross category, Umair Saleem scored 39 to secured first position followed by Aslam Raja and Shoaib-ud-din both scored 37 holes each.

Top three Net scores are Zubair Shah 38, Maj Abid and Maj General Suleman score 33 each. Chairman AAA Associates Mr. Sheikh Fawad Bashir and MD Lt. Col Shahzad Ali Kiani (R) distributed the prizes among the winners.

On this occasion Chairman AAA Associate Mr. Sheikh Fawad Bashir shared his View ‘ AAA Associate take pride in organizing First Night Golf tournament of twin cities with the aim to bring out best talent from our local community to be recognized at National level.

We are committed to make this sport accessible for every section of society to end this perception of Richly game.

Similarly in our Business niche, we are striving to revolutionize existing business model by implementing innovative practices to break stereotypes of associating big businesses with rich community” .

MD AAA associate Lt.Col Shahzad Ali Kiani (R) also said ‘  We encourage sports in all form as essential part of our business model to engage our internal and external stakeholder in healthy activity.

AAA Associate always supports local Organization and community in organizing sport related activities. We’ll continue to offer our support for sport related activity that involve local community engagement at large level”.

AAA Associate has been active in supporting various sport activity in the twin city which involves organizing Cricket, Football and other sports tournament that play vital role in encouraging local talent and promoting Healthy environment in the community.

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ISLAMABAD, JUN 1: The Embassy of Japan welcomes that the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO) in Japan and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Pakistan held the first online workshop on May 26, 2021.

Starting from the opening remarks and mutual introductions by FUKAO Kyoji, the President of IDE-JETRO and Abid Q Suleri, the Executive Director of SDPI, experts from both sides have made presentations and discussed about topics such as Labor Force Participation of Women, Geographical Simulation Model of IDE, Financial Inclusion in Pakistan, and Sustainable Recovery from COVID 19 and Pakistan's Fiscal Policy.

The Embassy of Japan has always been committed to promoting think-tank cooperation between Japan and Pakistan, and we assume that this event symbolizes steady development of cooperation between leading institutions in both countries.

MATSUDA Kuninori, Ambassador of Japan believes this kind of events will contribute to enhancing intellectual network between Japan and Pakistan towards the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship between Japan and Pakistan in 2022.

"By accumulating online dialogues, workshops, lectures and etc., we can surely develop interactions between our experts beyond borders despite current COVID-19 circumstances.

I'm really thankful for both organizations to take excellent initiative for development of think-tank cooperation, which we will continue to support in the future.", he said.

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KARACHI, MAY 31: Riscossa, one of the many brands represented in Pakistan by Samrah Enterprises, has just introduced new innovative pasta options.

Riscossa’s latest options include organic whole wheat pasta, Gluten-free pasta, Bronze cut pasta, Tricolore pasta, and Fagionlini pasta.

These different variations help cater to different needs of consumers such as those who follow strict gluten-free diets, whereas the bronze-cut pasta is perfect for those individuals who aim to preserve organoleptic and nutritional values.

These options further consist of various shapes and colors which include, Spaghetti, Spirarlli, Penne Zita Rigate, and Spaghettoni.

“At Samrah Enterprises, it’s our mission to provide innovative choices that serve the individual needs of consumers,” said M. Salman, VP Marketing, Samrah Enterprises.

“Our whole wheat and gluten free are exclusive ranges which highlight our goal to cater to ever-changing consumer wants and needs.”

“Samrah Enterprises is a company that always puts its consumers first. Our objective is to provide consumers with premium quality products with original features, which is why we are thrilled to introduce special options like gluten-free, bronze-cut and organic pasta ranges to Riscossa. These additions would allow us to serve consumers better with different dietary needs.” said, SamrahMunsub, Director, Samrah Enterprises.

Riscossa’s ability to incorporate traditional methods and 100% whole wheat in their production process has been one of the key measures in maintaining their unique taste and quality to help promote a balanced diet. Riscossa brings to the consumers premium quality pasta produced from the best durum wheat of Puglia and Basilicata to allow us to experience the tradition of original Italian Pasta.

All of Riscossa’s products will be available at all the leading stores in Pakistan. They are also available online at naheed.pk, samrahenterprises.com and daraz.pk.

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ATHENS, MAY 30: Greece should avoid using the EU as a trump card against Turkey and embrace the current positive momentum, Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday.

"Only Turkey and Greece can solve the outstanding problems, not the EU," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in an interview to Greek daily To Vima.

The foreign minister is on a two-day visit to Greece, with meetings scheduled in Western Thrace and Athens.

Çavuşoğlu expressed his satisfaction at reviving most of the channels for dialogue.

He said that he is always optimistic about good neighborly relations between Turkey and Greece.

"As two neighbors, we are destined to live in the same geography. Therefore, we should define our relationship with cooperation rather than conflict. It is in our hands to determine our destiny and the way forward," he said.

He stressed the talks he holds in Greece will serve to prepare the ground for a meeting to be held at the NATO Summit between Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and drew attention to the importance of sustainable constructive dialogue in bilateral relations.

The minister said that Turkey is ready to discuss any controversial issue with Greece.

"However, Greece should give up the 'Map of Seville'. Neither the US nor the EU endorses this map. I must reiterate that it is a mistake made by the Greeks to think that Turkey will be limited to the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts only."

Under the so-called Seville map the small Greek islands near the Turkish shore are seen as having huge continental shelves, supposedly superseding the shelf of the large Turkish mainland.

It represents Greek and Greek Cypriots' maximalist maritime jurisdiction claims in the Eastern Mediterranean, which has no legal validity, and was declared legally invalid both by the US and EU.

'POLITICAL WILL ON EU SIDE'

Çavuşoğlu underlined that his country is willing to develop a trust-based positive agenda in Turkey-EU relations.

"Yes, there are grounds for such an agenda. We see political will on the EU side, with the exception of some member states that tend to abuse membership solidarity and veto power," he asserted.

Noting that this momentum should not be lost, Çavuşoğlu said: "The positive agenda should be based on concrete and meaningful steps that are mutually agreed upon."

Pointing to the need to adopt a more holistic geopolitical perspective on this issue, he said that Turkey's accession to the EU is the "most important geopolitical investment" that the EU can make for Europe and beyond.

ORUÇ REIS VESSEL ACTIVITIES

Çavuşoğlu highlighted that Turkish seismic research vessel Oruç Reis carries out its activities at locations within the continental shelf of Turkey.

"We are determined to protect the rights of both Turkey and Turkish Cypriots in the face of the unilateral and maximalist claims of Greece and Greek Cypriots."

Recalling their calls for dialogue to alleviate the tense situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, Çavuşoğlu emphasized that these calls were ignored by Greece.

Ankara has sent several drill ships to explore for energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting its own rights in the region, as well as those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration and stressed that the excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.

Noting that the Turkey-Libya agreement on maritime boundaries signed in 2019 was signed by two sovereign states based on international law, Çavuşoğlu stressed that this agreement was also approved by the Libyan Government of National Accord.

In November 2019, Turkey and Libya signed pacts on security cooperation and maritime boundaries. Turkey has also aided Libya's UN-recognized government against attacks by militias loyal to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar.

AEGEAN SEA

Çavuşoğlu stated that they respect the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the sovereign rights of each country.

"The Aegean Sea has its own features. The delimitation of the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone are not the only problems between the two countries. The reality is that in a theoretical situation where we would only confine the continental shelf and the EEZ, we would not be able to solve all the outstanding problems and we would continue to have problems. That's what we want to avoid," he said.

He went on to say that the breadth of territorial waters in the Aegean is a prominent issue, adding that Turkey does not categorically reject territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles "where conditions allow."

The Black Sea or the Ionian Sea is an example of such an approach, he said.

"However, with 12 nautical miles of territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, freedom of navigation will be seriously affected from the outset. We cannot allow such an extension.

"The dispute over the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty and the 1947 Peace Treaty over the legal status of islands, islets and reefs and demilitarized Greek islands cannot be isolated or ignored," he added.

"As I said, our ultimate goal is to solve all the problems with Greece and not just save the day, but reach a permanent solution."

CYPRUS ISSUE

Speaking on the Cyprus issue, Çavuşoğlu said that the vision of the Turkish side is to establish a working relationship between the two states on the Island on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status.

"We should all learn from the failures of the past. Insisting on old UN Security Council resolutions can only get us into a vicious circle," he said.

He stressed that therefore the parties need to "chart a new path forward" with a realistic, constructive and open-minded approach.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long struggle between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the EU in 2004, although most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum that year, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.

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COURTESY Anews

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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.”

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COURTESY Anews

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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.

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COURTESY RADIO PAKISTAN

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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.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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