FARUKH SHEHZAD

ISLAMABAD, OCT 10: Nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan passed away in Islamabad on Sunday morning at the age of 85.

According to Radio Pakistan, he was admitted to a local hospital where his health deteriorated early morning. PTV said that the nuclear scientist died after being transferred to a hospital with lung problems.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said Dr Khan was loved by the nation because of his critical contribution in making Pakistan a nuclear weapon state.

"This has provided us security against an aggressive much larger nuclear neighbour. For the people of Pakistan he was a national icon," he said.

The premier added that he will be buried in Faisal Mosque "as per his wishes".

President Dr Arif Alvi said that he had personally known Dr Khan since 1982. "He helped us develop nation-saving nuclear deterrence, and a grateful nation will never forget his services in this regard," he said.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said that the nation had lost "a true benefactor who served the motherland with heart and soul."

"The passing of Dr Khan is a huge loss for the country. His role in making Pakistan an atomic power remains central," he said.

Defence Minister Pervez Khattak said he was "deeply grieved" over his passing and called it a "great loss".

"Pakistan will forever honour his services to the nation! The nation is heavily indebted to him for his contributions in enhancing our defence capabilities," he said.

Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said that Dr Khan had played an important role in making the country "invincible". He also offered prayers for the deceased.

Born in 1936 in Bhopal, India, Dr Khan had immigrated along with his family to Pakistan in 1947 after partition of the subcontinent.

Last month, Khan had complained that neither Prime Minister Imran Khan nor any of his cabinet members inquired after his health while he was under treatment at a hospital.

According to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, Dr Khan had been admitted to Khan Research Laboratories Hospital on August 26 after he tested positive for Covid-19. Later, he was shifted to a military hospital in Rawalpindi but was discharged after recovering from the virus.

Abdul Qadeer Khan was at the centre of a massive global nuclear proliferation scandal in 2004. In a series of dramatic developments, he was accused by then army chief and president Pervez Musharraf of running a rogue proliferation network for nuclear material.

Shortly after Musharraf’s announcement, a recorded confession by Khan was aired in which he took sole responsibility for all the nuclear proliferation that had been revealed.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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Abdul Rehman Shoro

The year 2021 is the dawn of a new era in both global economy and global diplomacy. As the novel Covid-19 virus shook the economy which in turn left ultimate ramifications on the global diplomacy subsequently.

The world has been compelled to replace the pre-pandemic normal with the new normal, which means that its far-reaching impacts will be keenly observed in how we fashion our lives.

Hence the micro-economic variables are no more at pre-pandemic normal levels, therefore synergy of modified micro-economic variables result in paradigm-shifts in macro-economic situations as well.

Globally, gross domestic products (GDPs) are under-pressure, as stagflation (high-inflation, high unemployment rate and slow growth) is haunting them.

Central banks have been injecting money into their economies, which fuelled the global capital markets to mark unprecedented highs, along with relative movements expected to gain prominence in commodities and real estate sector in near future.

How come pre-pandemic diplomacy could be in comfort-zone, when the motives of diplomacy are undergoing paradigm shifts in their entirety? Doesn’t the diplomacy nowadays significantly project a nation’s economic/trade or defence ambitions? So they all are transforming and are planting the seeds of a new-era and we have to be cognizant of ground-realities in this sphere.

Exodus of US and allied-troops from Afghanistan, although the political-decision was rooted earlier in pre-pandemic period but its implementation stemmed-out instantly in the post-pandemic period.

An act which was considered earlier as a projection of power turned out to be costing economically, misfit and unsustainable in post-pandemic period, this is how the ground-realities of diplomacy felt impacts of the under-going transformation.

Indian Ocean has historically been a beloved and romanticized by the global powers for its warmth. The case of Indian Ocean is becoming very much interesting currently as the regional powers and their blue-eyed chaps are again on a voyage, intending for a shopping spree to make new friendships or alliances which entails an enhanced oceanic diplomacy to be a significant milestone to fulfill their aspirations.

The scattered islands, both the inhabited and uninhabited ones, are gaining traction globally, thus giving birth to a facet of ‘Islandic affairs’ in oceanic diplomacy.

The fourth industrial revolution or industry 4.0 has become now talk of the town. The concept of industry 4.0 envisions technological pillars like artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, block chain, robotic processes automation, additive manufacturing (3D-printing) etc to be steering the global dynamics in future.

In nutshell, this phenomenon can’t be put in back burner while discussing diplomacy. In reality, these developments will definitely give birth to ‘diplomacy 4.0′ as a tool, to fulfill a nation’s industry 4.0’s goals. Fathoming all these events diligently, it will be a sheer illusion if someone deems that global diplomacy will remain unaltered.

In the same pursuit of changing dynamics, Pakistan has stepped into an unprecedented but historically significant phase where it is playing a role as a facilitation partner in the withdrawal of US and allied forces from Afghanistan, simultaneously coupling it with being an instrumental partner of China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) by hosting its flagship project, which is the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

This engagement with respective ambitions of these global giants necessitates Pakistan to exhibit efficient and effective efforts across different facets of diplomatic spectrum.

We have to realize that the evolved ideologies of regional stakeholders now converge at the geo-economic proposition, irrespective of their duo of inherent and inherited political dogma.

The recent collaborative meeting of heads of Russia, China, Iran and Central Asian states’ intelligence agencies in Islamabad held under the auspices of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency manifests aspirations of regional players in safeguarding their respective territories.

Similarly, Pakistan-based diplomats turning to Ministry of Foreign Affairs frequently to calibrate and recalibrate the regional situation further solidifies Pakistan’s sky-rocketing significance in global diplomacy. This completely dispels the notion of ‘diplomatic isolation’ which was the manifestation of sheer ignorance.

The eruption of high intensity diplomatic chain reaction in the form of subsequent events, underscores diplomatic significance of Pakistan across the region.

It further depicts keenness with which, cementing efforts carried out by Pakistan’s Foreign-Affairs, military and intelligence apparatus in ensuring the regional stability, are being seen.

It should be of no surprise that the cool and calm Islamabad entangled in mighty Margalla Hills and a gateway to northern snow-clad mountains has grabbed the foreign recognition and is environing the same warmth as other top-notch and high-powered diplomatic capitals do akin to Washington, London, Moscow or Beijing etc.

In nutshell, these ground happening instances are enough to dilute the notion of ‘diplomatic isolation’ as it was purely a fallacy on groundless basis.

With the passage of time, and further advancements in technology, the costs to acquire and deploy technology nosedived as evidenced by global technology commercialization indices.

On the same pattern, Pakistan as a state has already embarked upon a journey to adopt e-governance wherever it is deemed possible.

By virtue of this national-level adoption of efficient and effective tech processes, our diplomatic missions also leveraged upon this strategy to facilitate overseas Pakistanis, which ultimately resulted in revamping of decades’ old manual-methods and replacing them with highly efficient and effective systems. 

This overall optimization of processes could be validated by facts that queues have shortened drastically, majority of the manual processes have already transitioned online and hassling environment of manual monotonous tasks is on verge of ceasing.

However, room for improvement always exists in public delivery systems. With the advent of e-governance apps and already existing self-service web portal of NADRA, it could reasonably be expected that in near future, the number of overseas Pakistanis turning to diplomatic missions will decrease as majority of things are going to be on finger tips.

The role of a diplomatic mission is evolving from merely an expatriates facilitation centre and custodian of national data to a fully strategic and region focused centre akin to a high-powered think-tank communicating with quality insights up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant institutions.

It is incumbent upon the government to devise a futuristic roadmap for our diplomatic missions, equipping them with specialized human and technical resources, as the moment to unleash our global potential, via diplomatic apparatus has already been kicked-off.

Abdul Rehman Shoro, an alumnus of University of Worcester in England, is a Jeddah-based analyst who is interested in analyzing geo-economics and financial developments.

(This piece has initially been published in Daily Minute Mirror on 1st October 2021)

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Munaza Kazmi

“UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL’’ was first pitched by John Dickinson, known as the founding father of United State. I believe this phrase, many of us had hear and read a lot. However, not a mere theory, but this phrase is actually practical and agreed among everyone.

With the meaning that, “If we are together, we can win any battle”. Talking on the broader spectrum, any circumstances that a nation confronts can be pacify if it gets the association of all.

History may be boring, embellished with a lot of years, though to memories, but full of lessons for life. You all would be familiar with our history, the greatest and the richest of all, the Kingdom of Sub-continent, whose splendor still reflects from the timeless buildings of Lahore or Dehli.

How it was assembled? “Unity”; by Akbar’s combining all the surrounding states, by making peace, harmony and an air of uniformity, which in return cultivated prosperity.

Later, time took a U-turn towards failure, reasons involved nevertheless the gravest of all corruption parallel with division or our failure to stay united.

I recently completed reading “The Anarchy” by William Dalrymple and trust me my heart tore with idea that we couldn’t unite, and when it was evident that if we would have collaborated we could drag those sea dogs out of our magnificent country, but all we were cared for personal gains.

Turn the pages and you would find Tipu from Maysor and Siraj from Bengal went court to court with the message that, “united we could win”, however failed, betrayed and why, because of the greed of personal gains. Well, those personal favors also didn’t last for long.

Till today we are doing the same, repeating the history as we cannot agree on one point, we cannot represent at globe as a united nation, since we distinguish ourselves as Punjabi, Pathan, Balochi, Kashmiri or Sindhi, but never hear anyone saying am Pakistani, then there goes a roller costar for sect and further under the disguise of politics.

In doing so we ignore, a political environment marked by instability is likely to include acts of violence, including the worst of all terrorism that has a vicious power to destroy what comes in the way, but who cares since everyone is only interested in self, individualism.

However, why we divide, who we are to fight on a piece of land, or some other material gain that obviously would never stay with us forever, as we know we are guests of few years.

What if today we may stand as one nation and represent our country and support our leader, we not only can earn the respect from across the globe, but the doors of prosperity can unlock. We care for others to put effort first, why not start with our self to make Pakistan great.

Remember, when many drops gather they form a sea, otherwise the sea is nothing, understand this riddle, if a drop is alone then a single drop is nothing, in the same regards, if we turn away from everyone then we will be all alone. Why don’t we unite and form a current?

Consider about the greatest of people, let’s say Quaid e Azam a one-man army, later followed by millions. Let’s do some good every day for our country, start with just a positive thought.

A very good example from nature Rainbow, how many colors are there in it? as such they are seven, however how closely they are attached, had they been alone, there would be no such concept of the rainbow. Same is the case with the nation.

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Munaza Kazmi holds MPhil in Management Sciences (Bahria University Islamabad, 2020). She’s a travel writer, an author, & co-author of scientific contributions in national & international publications. Her main areas of research include tourism & quality management.

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KABUL, OCT 9: The Taliban warned the United States not to “destabilise” the regime during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal, its foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Saturday.

“We clearly told them that trying to destabilise the government in Afghanistan is good for no one,” Muttaqi told the Afghan state news agency Bakhar, in a recorded statement.

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COURTESY Anews

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ISLAMABAD, OCT 9: National Speech and Language Pathology Day was celebrated at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad to highlight the efforts and Importance of Speech and Language therapist.

Speech-language pathology is a field of expertise practised by a clinician known as a Speech-Language Pathologist SLP or a speech and language therapist. A panel discussion was also carried out by experts. 

A lecture on the role of the Speech pathologist in Covid-19 was also delivered by Faiza Badar speech pathologist SIH.

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LAHORE, OCT 9: In yet another change in the Pakistan squad for this month’s Men’s T20 World Cup, all-rounder Shoaib Malik has replaced batter Sohaib Maqsood, according to a statement issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday.

The PCB said Maqsood had been ruled out of the squad due to a lower back injury.

“Sohaib had undergone MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans for the lower back on Thursday after picking up the injury during [the] October 6 match against Northern and consequently missed the October (7) match against Central Punjab [in the National T20 Cup],” it added.

Commenting on the development, chief selector Mohammad Wasim regretted that Maqsood had to be dropped from the squad.

“Sohaib is devastated to miss out on the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup as he had worked hard for this event and was in sparkling form. We feel for him but injuries are part and parcel of the sport,” he said, according to the PCB statement. 

“I am sure after undergoing rehabilitation, he’ll fully recover to be available for future assignments.”

Wasim added that after discussions with the team management, it had been decided to include Malik in the side.

“I am sure Shoaib’s experience will be handy for the entire squad.”

Malik had captained Pakistan in the inaugural Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007 and was a member of the side that won the tournament in 2009. After missing the West Indies event in 2010, he had featured in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 tournaments.

Earlier replacements

A day ago, the PCB had announced three changes in the Pakistan side for the tournament, with former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed replacing the young Azam Khan.

In the other two changes, Haider Ali had been replaced by Mohammad Hasnain, while Fakhar Zaman, who was originally named as a travel reserve, had swapped places with Khushdil Shah.

The national selectors made the changes “after taking into consideration player performances and form”, the PCB had said in a statement.

The T20 World Cup will be held in the United Arab Emirates from October 17 to November 14.

Pakistan’s squad will depart for Dubai on October 15 and will play two warm-up matches against the West Indies and South Africa on October 18 and October 20, respectively, before taking on India in a Group-2 fixture on 24 October at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan’s 15-player squad confirmed by the selectors on Saturday is:

• Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab)
• Shadab Khan (vice-captain, Northern)
• Asif Ali (Northern)
• Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
• Haider Ali (Northern)
• Haris Rauf (Northern)
• Hasan Ali (Central Punjab)
• Imad Wasim (Northern)
• Mohammad Hafeez (Central Punjab)
• Mohammad Nawaz (Northern)
• Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
• Mohammad Wasim Jr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
• Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper, Sindh)
• Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
• Shoaib Malik (Central Punjab)

The travelling reserves in the squad are Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh) and Usman Qadir (Central Punjab).

Schedule of Pakistan’s matches in T20 World Cup

• Oct 24: Pakistan v India, Group 2, Dubai International Cricket Stadium
• Oct 26: Pakistan v New Zealand, Group 2, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
• Oct 29: Pakistan v Afghanistan, Group 2, Dubai International Cricket Stadium
• Nov 2: Pakistan v A2, Group 2, Sheikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
• Nov 7: Pakistan v B1, Group 2, Sharjah Cricket Stadium

ISLAMABAD, OCT 9: WhatsApp privacy settings were reset to default values after Facebook-owned applications suffered a global outage late Monday.

Although Facebook has announced that no data was compromised during the suspension of their services, WhatsApp users may need to revisit their privacy settings as they automatically reverted to default after the app was restored.

This means that WhatsApp groups you are a member of are now open to “Everyone”. If you want to customise your privacy settings, follow these simple steps:

1. Go to Settings

2. Select Account

3. Choose Privacy

4.  Go to Groups

5.  Change settings from Everyone to My Contacts

Facebook-owned applications were disrupted for an hour in March 2021 as well.

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COURTESY Samaa 

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ISLAMABAD, OCT 8: National speech therapy day was celebrated at Shifa International hospital with aim of creating awareness among the general public about speech and swallowing problems and management.

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ISLAMABAD, OCT 8: MATSUDA Kuninori, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, on Friday expressed his deepest condolences and sorrow with the Government and people of Balochistan affected by the earthquake occurred on October 7th.

In his condolence message, Ambassador MATSUDA conveyed his heartfelt grief and sympathies to those affcected by this horrific natural disaster.

 “Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by the dreadful disaster. We are always ready to extend help and assistance to Pakistan in the time of natural disasters and calamities,” said the Ambassador.

The Ambassador prayed for the eternal peace of the departed souls and wished for the bereaved families to bear this irreparable loss with fortitude and equanimity. The Ambassador also expressed his wish for the early recovery of those injured and restoration of the affected areas.

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ISLAMABAD, OCT 8: National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf, in a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Thursday, stressed that the international community "must maintain contact" with the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan.

According to a report by Radio Pakistan, during the meeting both sides expressed the desire to promote bilateral relations between the United States and Pakistan.

They also discussed economic cooperation as well as the security situation in the region, it added.

According to the report, the US delegation appreciated Pakistan's efforts to evacuate foreigners from Afghanistan and the help it extended to Afghan refugees.

In his remarks, Yusuf said that blatant human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir also posed a threat to regional peace.

Sherman and her seven-member team arrived in Islamabad on Thursday for a two-day visit to the country.

She had earlier visited India for a series of bilateral meetings, civil society events, and the India Ideas Summit.

Sherman is the senior-most official in the State Department after Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

She is the highest-ranking US visitor to Pakistan under President Joe Biden since the Taliban's victory in Kabul.

Important visit

"The visit is taking place at a very critical time, both in the context of Afghanistan and developments in the wider region," said a senior diplomatic source when asked to explain why Islamabad sees this as an important visit.

The source pointed out that the Biden administration did "not seem to be reluctant to travel to both India and Pakistan in one go, which was the case in the past".

"This is an important visit, and we look forward to engaging with Deputy Secretary Sherman," Pakistan's US Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan earlier told Dawn. "Together, we would explore ways to strengthen and expand our bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest and concern."

According to sources, the Biden administration is focusing on four major points in its talks with Pakistan — recognition of the Taliban government in Kabul, international sanctions on Afghanistan, access to Afghanistan and counter-terrorism cooperation.

The sources say that the United States does not want Pakistan to recognise the Taliban regime before the rest of the international community. Instead, it wants Pakistan to continue its efforts for softening the Taliban position on controversial issues, such as inclusive governance, human rights, girls' education and allowing women to work.

"We seek a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism and we expect sustained action against all militant and terrorist groups without distinction," Sherman had told reporters last week ahead of the visit.

"Both of our countries have suffered terribly from the scourge of terrorism and we look forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats," she had said.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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DUBAI, OCT 8: The International Cricket Council has announced the appointment of 16 umpires and four match referees for the Round 1 and Super 12 stages of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

The selection of a 20-strong group effectively means that, for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be neutral umpires for all matches of the 16-team tournament, running from October 17 to November 14.

Three of the 16 umpires — Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus, and Rod Tucker — will be officiating in their sixth T20 World Cup.

The first match of the tournament, between Oman and Papua New Guinea on October 17, will be officiated by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena alongside New Zealand’s Chris Gaffaney. 

ICC announces umpires, officials for T20 World Cup

Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee, with Richard Kettleborough the TV umpire and Ahsan Raza the fourth official.

The rematch of the 2016 final between England and the West Indies — a Super 12 Group ‘A’ clash — will be overseen by Dar and Erasmus, with Australia’s David Boon the match referee and Chris Brown on TV duty.

The officiating personnel for the semi-finals and final of the tournament will be named in due course, ICC said.

Full list of match officials

Match Referees: David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Javagal Srinath.

Umpires: Chris Brown, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Paul Wilson.

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COURTESY Samaa

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