JEDDAH: Driver Tharaa Ali takes her seat at the helm of a high-speed train ferrying pilgrims to Makkah, a beneficiary of Saudi Arabia’s bid to employ its booming female workforce.
Saudi women only gained the right to drive in 2018, and until recently 25-year-old Tharaa Ali’s transportation experience was limited to cruising around her native Jeddah in the family sedan.
But last year she joined some 28,000 applicants vying for just 32 slots for women drivers on the Haramain High Speed Railway, which plies the 450-kilometre route between the holy cities of Makkah and Madina at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour.
To her astonishment, the former English teacher was among the lucky few selected, and she completed her first trip last month.
“The first day working here was like a dream for me — entering the train, entering the cabin,” she said.
“When you are in the cabin, you see things heading towards you at a very high speed. A feeling of fear and dread came over me, but thank God, with time and intensive training, I became confident in myself.”
The proportion of Saudi women in the workforce has more than doubled since 2016, from 17% to 37%.
The statistic feeds a narrative of expanding women’s rights under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, making it a reliable applause line at events like the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Yet unemployment among Saudi women is high — 20.5% last year, compared to 4.3% for Saudi men.
That figure, much like the flood of applicants for the driver positions, highlights an urgent task facing Saudi policymakers: creating jobs for all the women newly interested in participating in a changing economy.
“The challenge has shifted,” said Saudi economist Meshal Alkhowaiter, “from encouraging women to join the workforce, to creating a sufficient number of jobs to employ the thousands of Saudi women entering the workforce every quarter”.
Saudi women have traditionally thrived in select fields like education and medicine.
Yet rules introduced in recent years barring workplace gender discrimination and easing dress code restrictions have created new opportunities.
That includes positions as waiters, baristas and hotel receptionists that were previously dominated by foreigners, a boon to the government’s “Saudisation” agenda.
Social mores don’t always keep up with changing regulations, however, something the women train drivers have seen firsthand.
Raneem Azzouz, a recent recruit, said that at the end of one trip to Madina, a woman passenger explained that she didn’t believe women could do the job until she saw it with her own eyes.
RAWALPINDI: The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) has sealed Lal Haveli, the residence of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed in the wee hours of Monday.
According to initial reports, the ETPB staff along with Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and police personnel reached the residence of Sheikh Rashid and sealed it.
Officials sealed seven units of Lal Haveli. ETPB Deputy Administrator Asif Khan led the operation. According to the deputy administrator, Sheikh Rashid and his brother failed to provide any documents to establish ownership.
On the other hand, Sheikh Rashid said he had yet to receive any notice from the ETPB and that he would approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan in this regard.
Meanwhile, former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman expressed deep concern over the government’s move against the residence of his ally Sheikh Rashid and termed it as an ‘act of revenge’.
During the PTI’s core committee meeting, Imran Khan took notice of ‘government’s illegal action’ against Rashid’s residence and instructed party’s General Secretary Asad Umar to raise voice in this regard.
Taking to Twitter, Asad Umar said that a plan was chalked out to vandalize Sheikh Rashid’s house with ‘government machinery’ and put pressure on the former interior minister.
The former information minister further wrote that PTI strongly condemns this ‘act of terrorism’ and his party stands by Awami Muslim League (AML) chief.
Earlier on January 26, it was reported that the Evacuee Trust Properties Board (ETPB) had prepared a strategy to vacate Lal Haveli, residence of Sheikh Rashid, within 24 hours.
In this regard, the department sought assistance from law enforcement agencies (LEAs) – Rangers, police and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Lal Haveli belonged to a Hindu woman prior to partition and was converted into Sheikh Rashid’s political office in 1980 after he entered parliamentary politics.
This is not the first time Rashid receives ETPB’s notice as he had claimed to receive an eviction notice in October 2016.
ISLAMABAD: United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will reach Islamabad on a two-day official visit today (Monday).
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will receive the UAE President at the Noor Khan Airbase.
UAE President during his stay in federal capital will interact with top political leaders including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the economy, trade, and investment, besides the regional and global situation.
Meanwhile, federal government has announced holiday in the capital city on January 30 (Today) ahead of the visit of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) president Shaikh Muhammad Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan to the city.
All schools, colleges, and public offices except CDA, SNGPL, IESCO, hospitals, district administration, and metropolitan corporation will take the day off. His visit to the capital city will underscore important meetings.
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has fixed former prime minister Imran Khan’s plea against proceedings by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to remove him as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman for hearing on Jan 30.
During the previous hearing, the high court issued a stay order on Imran Khan’s removal as the PTI chairman.
In his petition filed before the high court, the former premier maintained that the electoral watchdog was exceeding its powers by trying to remove him as the PTI chairperson. It further said the ECP had issued the notice “illegally”.
The ECP initiated proceedings to strip PTI chief Imran Khan of his party’s chairmanship following his disqualification in the Toshakhana reference.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday filed an appeal in the district and sessions court of Islamabad challenging the judicial magistrate’s ruling that sent the former information minister to Adiala Jail on a 14-day judicial remand.
The development comes hours after the police moved the court challenging Judicial Magistrate Waqas Ahmed Raja’s order rejecting their plea seeking an extension in the PTI leader’s physical remand.
The district and sessions court judge had already ordered the authorities to present Fawad before the court by 12:30pm, however, the police failed to produce him at the given time.
After a delay of over an hour, the police presented the PTI leader before the court. On the orders of the sessions judge, Fawad was uncuffed inside the premises of the court room
While the police requested the sessions judge to “nullify” the judicial magistrate’s decision and extend Fawad’s physical remand for further investigation, Fawad submitted a plea asking the court to discharge him from the case.
The petition submitted by Fawad’s lawyers on his behalf stated that the PTI leader should be discharged from the case instead of being sent on a judicial remand. Sessions Judge Tahir Mehmood Khan has issued notices to the prosecutor and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Fawad was arrested from his Lahore residence on Wednesday after the case was registered at the Kohsar Police Station on the complaint of ECP Secretary Omar Hameed.
He was presented before the court on Friday after the expiry of remand, however, the prosection’s request for an extension was turned down.
LAHORE: The senior vice president of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz will fly to Lahore from Dubai today.
Maryam Nawaz will land in Lahore at 3 pm today (Saturday) on PIA flight 264 from Dubai after spending three and a half months in London. Maryam Nawaz had departed from London on Thursday, spent a day in Dubai. She was bid farewell from Avenfield by her father and party Supremo Nawaz Sharif and party members.
PML-N leaders have finalised preparations for Maryam’s reception and it has been agreed that she will speak to the PML-N supporters while perched atop a container before departing for Jati Umra.
There won t be a rally today in honor of this special event, Dunya News reported.
On her way back from Dubai Maryam Nawaz would be joined by Maryam Aurangzeb. Maryam Nawaz had departed for London on October 6, 2022.
Saif-ul-Mulk Khokhar, the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Lahore, said that millions of workers will attend Maryam Nawaz s welcome.
“Welcoming the party senior vice president will be a rehearsal for Nawaz Sharif s homecoming,” says Khawaja Salman Rafique.
MELBOURNE: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, who bid farewell to the sports earlier this month, was overwhelmed with emotions while giving a speech as she bowed out of her Grand Slam career.
The 36-year-old athlete, who played her first Grand Slam 18 years ago, is in Australia for her last Australian Open event of her career.
Speaking during her tear-jerking farewell speech, Sania couldn’t control her emotions and said: “I just want to start with that if I cry, these are happy tears and not sad tears so that’s just a disclaimer.”
She started off her speech by congratulating her opponents and said: “This is your moment and I really don’t want to take it away, and I really really you know from the bottom of my heart you guys played amazing you deserved to win today, so congratulations and good luck.”
Sania then said that she still going to play a couple of more tournaments.
The tennis star shed a light on her career, saying that the journey of her professional career started in Melbourne.
“It started in Melbourne in 2005 when I played Serena Williams in the third round here as an 18-year-old, and that was scarily enough 18 years ago,” she said.
“I’ve had the privilege to come back here again and again and win some tournaments here and play some great finals amongst you all and this Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life, and I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my career at in a Grand Slam. Thank you so much for making me feel at home here,” she expressed.
Speaking about her partner, Sania said that Rohan was her first ever mixed doubles partner when she was 14 and won the nationals.
“It wasn’t the same arena like this one, but it was a long time ago. It was 22 years ago, and I couldn’t think of a better person. He’s one of my best friends and one of my best partners to finish my career here and to play the final. Obviously, we couldn’t get over the line but there’s no better place for me and a person for me to finish my Grand Slam career. So thank you, Rohan, for playing,” she said.
Sania said that her family and team is there with her. ” I never thought that I would be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam finals, so it’s truly special for me to have my four-year-old here, and my parents here and Rohan’s wife here, Scotty, everyone, my trainers, my family from Australia, who made me feel like home away from home.”
The star thanked everyone for their support. “Thank you so much for all the support all week guys and all my life, really. It’s been truly, truly special and I wouldn’t have achieved anything without each and every single one of you,” said Sania.
Concluding her speech, she said: “Thank you very much for everything and thank you, Australia for making me feel at home.”
BRUSSELS: Kashmir Council Europe (KC-EU) organized a protest camp on the
occasion of Indian Republic Day (26th January 2023) in front of EU External Action
Service (EU foreign ministry) in Brussels, the capital of Belgium on Thursday to
mark the day as Black Day against the Indian barbarism let loose by Indian
occupational forces.
It is important to mention that Kashmiris, who are suffering from Indian atrocities
for last seven decades, observe the Indian Republic Day falling on 26th January as
black day every year. The peaceful protest camp in Brussels was headed by Chair of
KC-EU Ali Raza Syed.
The participants in the camp holding placards called for freedom of Kashmiris from
Indian occupation. On the occasion, Chairman KC-EU Ali Raza Syed said, India claims of being largest democracy of the world but it refuses the democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as atrocities against the people are continued. He said, peace in Kashmir is connected to the whole region. If Kashmir is witness of peace, the whole region would be witness of peace and prosperity.
Chairman Kashmir Council EU Ali Raza Syed said that Kashmiri nation is not ready
to compromise on their right to self determination.On the Indian republic day, we simply want to convey a message to Indian government that there is no point in glorifying the democracy if people are living in miseries under the might of the gun, he said.
KC-EU’s Chairman Ali Raza Syed demanded New Delhi to give right of self-
determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He emphasized that India should
end brutalities against the Kashmiris and fulfil its promise for right of Self-
determination to the people of Kashmir.
He also called the International community to intervene to stop human rights
violations in occupied Kashmir and play its role for just resolution of Kashmir issue.
He said, India is the so-called “biggest” democracy of the world but in reality, it’s not
a democracy because New Delhi is ruthlessly suppressing the democratic rights of
Kashmiris and continuously killing the innocent Kashmiri people as well.
He called the Indian government to stop violations of human rights in occupied Kashmir and fulfil its promise to give right to self determination to the oppressed people of Jammu
and Kashmir.
PESHAWAR: Alongside poverty and climate change, the developing countries including Pakistan were faced with the monster challenge of overpopulation that was exerting an extraordinary pressure on its socioeconomic resources.
According to the UN population report 2022, the world population had crossed the psychological barrier of eight billion population mark in November last year and is expected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100 courtesy to modern innovations and research in medical and pharmaceuticals sciences that significantly reduced mortality rate.
The experts believed that if the population bomb was not wisely defused, then millions of people especially children and women mostly in SAARC, CARs and underdeveloped states would be exposed to hunger, starvation and malnutrition every year in the wake of global economic recessions and international conflicts including USSR-Ukraine, Kashmir and Palestine that has already put peace of these regions at jeopardy.
The first national population census 1951 had revealed that Pakistan’s total population was only 75 million and 93 million in 1961(Incl East Pakistan), 65.3 million in 1972 (Excl East Pakistan), 80.68 million in 1981, 134.8 million in 1998 and it further jumped to a record 207.9 million in 2017, thus showing a massive increase of 132.9 million during 65 years with a substantial 1.91 percent annual growth rate recorded in 2021.
Being the fifth most populous country and the second largest population in Muslim world after Indonesia, Pakistan’s increasing population has already started exerting tremendous pressure on hospitals, educational institutions, agricultural production, forestry, roads, employment and socioeconomic resources.
Experts opined that food security challenges would be increased in the next few years after the recent devastative flood that caused whopping $40 billion economic and agriculture losses to Pakistan for which an inclusive recovery plan was necessary.
The prices of 80KG and 20KG per flour bag in the open market have swelled to Rs12,000 and Rs2600 respectively while around 300 to 500 hundred patients were regularly being examined in major hospitals of KP having over 30 million population with over 2pc growth rate.
“Overpopulation was the mother of all socioeconomic ills as it leads to poverty, hunger, socioeconomic imbalances, encourages corruption, destroys merit, delay justice and even brings down nations under heavy foreign loans’ burdens,” said Prof Dr. Zilakat Malik, former Chairman, Department of Economics, University of Peshawar said.
Citing a World Bank’s report, he said about six to nine million Pakistanis were likely to be dragged into poverty as a result of last year’s flooding that killed over 1,700 people including women and children, destroyed over two million houses and displaced eight million people besides inflicting around USD 40 billion economic losses to the government kitty. He said the poverty rate was expected to rise between 2.5 and four percentage points as a direct consequence of floods, which caused loss of jobs, livestock, agriculture harvests, houses and an increase in food cost in Pakistan.
He said about 20pc Pakistanis i.e 55 million were reportedly living below the poverty line mostly in underdeveloped districts including merged areas of Pakistan and in the prevailing shabby economic situation and high food requirements in post-flood era, there was a need to make a cut on unnecessary expenditures, development budget, imports bill on luxury goods and ensuring strict implementation of an energy conservation plan.
Dr. Malik said Pakistan produces about 20 percent edible production of its total requirement and was spending approximately US$ 4 billion annually on its import which was very high for an agricultural country. “I have lost my mother in her sixth pregnancy due to my family’s wish for a son,” Nargus Bibi, a resident of Pabbi, Nowshera told the scribe after tears rolled down over her face.
“The desire for a baby boy had deprived my entire family and four sisters from a loving mother, who had worked day and night for our happiness and made us orphans forever,” she said.
Dr. Riaz Khan, Head of the Children Department, Government Hospital Pabbi Nowshera said the chances of mortality of mothers and newborns increase due to lack of spacing among children, inadequate medical checkups and poor nutrition.
He said stunting and malnutrition in children mainly occur in the first three to six months of birth due to an unbalanced diet of lactating mothers.
“The nutritional status of newborns and infants was directly linked with the health and diet of the mother before, during and after pregnancy. I can tell you that about 30 to 40 percent of children were impacted by stunting that could be avoided by adopting contraceptives and reproductive healthcare services in the country including KP.”
Director, the Population Welfare Department, Imran Shah said the KP’s first population welfare policy 2015 had been approved under which the contraceptive prevalence rate would be raised from 28pc in 2013 to 55pc in 2032 while efforts would be made to decrease the fertility rate from 3.9pc to 3.3pc birth per woman and attain replacement level fertility 2.1 births per woman during the said period through the cooperation of relevant stakeholders.
Besides KP reproductive healthcare rights act 2020, he said work on four ongoing development projects worth Rs721.348 million and two new schemes costing Rs54 million was underway focusing on strengthening of social welfare programs.
Rs390. 698 million was being spent on the promotion of social welfare and family planning programs, Rs93.550 million on establishment of adolescents and reproductive healthcare centres, Rs19.041 million on the mobile service unit at Upper Kohistan and Palas Kolai and Rs1161.34 million for the establishment of 260 family welfare centres.
Under the new projects, the regional training Institute at Bannu would be established at a cost Rs 362.782 million while Rs127.767 million to be spent on franchising family planning programs under public-private partnership. He said social-cultural and religious barriers, lack of education, poverty, early child marriages and a desire for baby boys were one of the major constraints making negative effects on family planning program in KP.
Imran Shah informed that 120 family planning centers were approved for merged areas and mobile services were being extended to all those areas where family planning centers were not available.
He said the population bomb was a serious social issue and a collective effort was required especially by media, political leaders, religious scholars and civil society to defuse it before it make our lives miserable.
ISLAMABAD: District and Sessions Court Islamabad on Friday turned down a plea for extension in physical remand of PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry in a sedition case.
Judicial Magistrate Waqas Ahmed Raja has sent the former information minister to the Adiala Jail on 14-day judicial remand. The judge announced the verdict after hearing arguments from Fawad’s lawyer Babar Awan and counsel for the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The PTI bigwig was produced before the court of the judicial magistrate in handcuffs after his two-day remand ended today in the case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for threatening the officers of the electoral body in a speech.
During the hearing, the prosecutor pleaded the court to extend physical remand of the PTI leader as the investigation needed more time to complete the probe. Reading out the content of the FIR, he said the former minister attempted to incite violence against ECP officials and their families.
He said voice-matching test of the suspect had been completed while there was a need to take him to Lahore for photogrammetric test. He also sought permission to search the house of the Imran Khan’s close aide to recover laptop and mobile phone. He said the role of the electoral body was crucial in coming months due to elections but Fawad Chaudhry was trying to put pressure on ECP.
Fawad Chaudhry’s lawyer Babar Awan expressed reservations over treatment meted out to his client, stating that the PTI leader was treated as a “terrorist”. He said the statement of Fawad Chaudhry was reflection of public opinion against the ECP. He also requested the court to discharge his client’s name from the case.
On Wednesday, Duty Magistrate Naveed Khan handed over the PTI stalwart in the custody of Islamabad police on two-day physical remand after he was arrested from his resident in Lahore in a case filed over hurling threats at officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan and their families. The investigating officer had sought eight-day physical remand of the former minister but the request was rejected.
At the outset of the hearing, PTI’s lawyers requested the court to remove the handcuffs of Fawad Chaudhary, Fawad Chaudhary asked the court to tell the Islamabad police not to do this, there are 1500 policemen outside, and he is handcuffed, adding, “I am a lawyer of the Supreme Court, and I want to talk to my family for five minutes and five minutes to my lawyers.”
“It is unfortunate that we are taking revenge against each other in politics,” he said. Fawad requested that the case against him be dismissed, arguing that if the case continued, free speech would end in the country.
The counsel of the ECP, Saad Hassan, read out the text of the FIR. In his arguments, the lawyer said that the ECP is a constitutional institution, and it has all the rights to hold elections. He said that the commission was being targeted under a well-thought-out plan, and the accused tried to provoke the citizens, while they are role models for the public. The purpose of his speech was to provoke the groups.
Saad Hassan told the court that Fawad targeted the families of the ECP members, adding that the PTI leader was promoting hatred against the institution. He went on to say that the people behind the speech also needed to be identified, adding that there was sufficient evidence in the media against the PTI leader.
The ECP lawyer further added that the charges of sedition are also included in the FIR, adding that the members of the Commission are being threatened, the accused has been remanded, and further investigation is to be done.
Saad Hassan, while presenting his arguments, said that the PTI leader called ECP a clerk, to which the former minister again repeated his words, on which the court asked Fawad Chaudhary to come to one side and let the other parties come to the other side.
