ISLAMABAD: Dr. Muhammad Tahir Tabassum, President of the Think Tank Institute of Peace and Development (INSPAD) and Secretary General of the International Harmony Council, has said that the extraordinary conference of OIC Foreign Ministers in Islamabad was a commendable initiative.
However, besides Afghanistan, it should have included conflicts facing Kashmir, Palestine, Syria and other issues facing the Muslim world, he added.
Efforts are needed to understand and resolve disputes between Turkey, Iran, Yemen, and other Muslim countries, and progress must be made towards inter-Muslim unity, he said.
Effective measures must be taken against the atrocities, massacres and serious human rights violations committed by Israel and India in Palestine and Kashmir.
He said a policy of hostility between Muslim countries and hypocritical relations with Israel and India also needs to be decided and Saudi Arabia’s growing influence and arbitrary thinking in the OIC should be addressed.
Dr. Tahir Tabassum further said that many issue of Afghanistan needs the sympathy of all humanity. Afghanistan should be included in the global mainstream, he added.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will host an extra-ordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) in Islamabad today on Saturday.
The meeting is being hosted by Pakistan at insistence of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and purpose of the OIC meeting is to address the looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and turn the world’s attention to the people of the war-ravaged country, who are at severe risk of starvation and disease.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver the keynote address at the event. Islamabad is playing an instrumental role in gathering the world and the Taliban on the same platform in hopes to find a lasting solution to the crises faced by Afghanistan.
The Afghan delegation attending the moot is being led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Pakistan has time and again emphasized that the lack of prompt response would lead to food shortages for some 22.8 million people and affect about 3.2 million children with malnutrition.
“The OIC Extraordinary session in Islamabad would prove to be a stepping stone in finding solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and this was also an opportunity for world capitals to know about ground realities from Taliban representatives,” said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi earlier.
“In case of such a crisis, the country’s neighbours, including Pakistan, and European Union states, would have to prepare for another influx of refugees. We are expecting some financial support from the OIC member states.”
Special representatives on Afghanistan from the United States, Russia, China and European Union would also attend the event, the Pakistani foreign minister had said.
Besides the foreign ministers from the OIC member states and observers, participants would also include special invitees from the United Nations system, international financial institutions and some non-member states including the US, UK, France, China, Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan.
“Besides expressing solidarity with the Afghan people, the CFM is expected to explore avenues for containing and reversing the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, especially in terms of food shortages, displacement of people and a potential economic collapse,” said the Foreign Office.
Later a meeting of the Troika Plus – comprising Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States — P5 countries and Germany, Japan, Italy and Australia would also be held in Islamabad to discuss the Afghan situation.
A delegation from Saudi Arabia including Afghan affairs department head Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Saud al-Kabir and Prince Jiluwi bin Turki have arrived. Official sources say that Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan will also attend the conference.
According to the tentative program for Saturday, the conference will include statements from Foreign Minister Qureshi, Saudi Foreign Minister Farhan Al-Saud, who is also the OIC Summit Chair, Hissein Brahim Taha, Secretary-General of the OIC, statements on behalf of OIC Regional Groups (Asia, Africa, Arab) and a final statement by President
KHANEWAL: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) kept its winning stream alive in by-elections and returned victorious in PP-206 Khanewal by-polls with more than 14,000 lead and defeated the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Taking a lead of more than 14,000 votes over ruling PTI candidate Naureen Nishat Daha, who got 33,402 votes, PML-N, candidate Rana Mohammad Saleem with 47,214 votes won the PP-206 Khanewal by-election, according to unofficial results.
The interesting thing about this election is that Rana Muhammad Saleem, who lost the election on the ticket of PTI in 2018, defeated his own old party PTI on the ticket of PML-N in the by-election of 2021.
The husband of current PTI candidate Noorin Nishat Daha was a PML-N candidate in 2018 and won the election. The seat was vacated due to the death of Nishat Daha.
After winning the election, the PML-N workers danced on the drum beats and celebrated. The PML-N workers also distributed sweets to celebrate the victory.
Polling for the by-poll ended at the scheduled time of 5:00 PM and vote count is still underway.
However, according to unofficial and unverified initial results, PML-N’s Rana Muhammad Saleem is leading with 47,214 votes. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Naureen Nishat is currently at second position with 33,402 votes.
The seat fell vacant after the death of disgruntled PML-N MPA Nishat Ahmed Khan Daha.
A total of 183 polling stations had been set up in the constituency for by-elections and 230,698 voters exercised their right to vote, with Rangers providing security along with police at each polling station.
The ECP said that Rangers personnel were deployed along with police at all polling stations in view of law and order situation.
At the polling station 45, a scuffle broke out between the PML-N workers and Tehreek-e-Labbaik workers.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said on Thursday that the final decision regarding suspension of cellular services in Islamabad due to OIC summit would be taken today(Friday).
Taking to Twitter, the interior minister said that consultation with authorities to suspend mobile phone services in the federal capital was still underway, adding that the final decision in this connection would be taken tomorrow.
Earlier, media reports said he mobile services will remain suspended in Islamabad from December 17 to 19 in the wake of the meeting of Council for Foreign Ministers of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Afghanistan.
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has been issued directives in this regard. Moreover, sources privy to the matter said that the foreign ministry has proposed a public holiday in the federal capital on December 20 in order to ensure a safe movement and foolproof security of the dignitaries, foreign ministers, from multiple Muslim and other countries.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, while addressing a press conference, said that the 17th extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers on the Afghanistan situation will be hosted by Pakistan on December 19. He detailed that the senior officers of OIC member countries will arrive in Pakistan on December 18.
The foreign minister said that a session on the Afghanistan situation is being held after 41 years. He added that a disastrous financial crisis will hit Afghanistan that would be detrimental to the whole region and the neighbouring countries if the frozen assets were not released to cope with the burgeoning needs.
ISLAMABAD: Former US Ambassador Robin Raphel, while elucidating what went wrong in Afghanistan, said that Washington’s desire to modernize the war-torn country led to problems.
Speaking at Margalla Dialogue 2021, organized by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), she said the powerful defence lobby in the US made use of the opportunities in Afghanistan, which exacerbated the crisis.
She acknowledged that Taliban is an indigenous movement, and there is a need to work with the militia for normalizing the situation. Robin said the US still wants to retain a robust diplomatic presence in Afghanistan and work for smoothening affairs because the goal still remains the same, i.e. to help Afghans become a modern state. She said humanitarian crisis is most important issue and it should be addressed.
Agreeing with Foreign Minster Qureshi’s contention, she said the world is becoming pluralistic with US and China being two major competitors.
Earlier in his remarks Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said Pakistan has shifted its focus to geo-economics and it is a strategic change.
Diplomats’ Session, of the Margalla Dialogue 2021, was attended by former US ambassador Cameron Munter, former Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Chinese Deputy Ambassador Pang Chunxue, Russian Ambassador Danila Ganich, British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner and Ambassador Robin Raphel.
Former US ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter in his speech said transnational issues are molding the foreign policies of countries worldwide, and said that geopolitics to geo-economics has become a new reality.
He urged the need for redoing the face value of Pakistan, and urged that the entrepreneurs and intellengtsia are the new harbingers. Recalling his days in Islamabad, Munter said the mantra of ‘do more’ was irritating and a bored one. He said the US wants Pakistan as a partner, and there is lot that needs to be done for the region. Munter called for looking from a new prism, and make people as the interacting force in bilateral relations.
Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Danila Ganich said that Moscow appreciates Pakistan’s role in anti-terrorism operations and in Afghanistan. He feared that the world is heading towards an accidental clash, and hoped that it shouldn’t be nuclear. Ganich also called for greater cooperation between the two countries in a new era of collaborations.
The British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr. Christain Turner, highlighted the potential of Pakistan’s populace, and said that it is where the momentum of economics resides. He said a population of 380 million by 2050 is the biggest challenge for Pakistan, and added that 1.5 million jobs creation is a must to stay afloat.
He also called for upping regional trade, and remarked that Pakistan could see a 30 percent rise in GDP if regional trade reaches its capacity. China’s Deputy Ambassador Ms. Pang Chunxue observed that it is unfortunate that some states had politicized pandemic, and called for more collaboration in this regard.
She said more than 265 million people are affected by Covid-19 worldwide, and said that more 2 billion vaccines will be provided by China. The Chinese envoy also underscored the need for high quality development in CPEC, adding that a closer and stronger Pakistan was important for China.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Tuesday said that rapid advancement and spread of technology has increased the importance of information sector manifold.
Addressing the closing session of the Margalla Dialogue 2021, organized by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), he said that a few years back, it seemed that the information domain was becoming less important, but suddenly with ‘huge outbreak of technology’, it turned out that the information was now driving everything in the world.
While citing example of the Viking—member of the Scandinavian seafaring warriors who used to raid different areas in Europe from the 9th to the 11th century, Fawad Chaudhry said the morality of war in the past was nothing more than attacking and plundering a land. He also gave example of Nadir Shah who invaded India and left it after loot and plunder.
While pointing to substantive changes in war morality after the Treaty of Westphalia and Second World War, he said, the East India Company also came to the sub-continent and then had to return [to the United Kingdom] after the World War II, he said.
The information minister said, after 1950s there has been no annexation in the world except of Kuwait when it was invaded by Iraq, but it also had to leave Kuwait due to change in ‘war morality’ resulted from the international law developed in the backdrop of the World Wars I and II.
He said in traditional sense, the United States conquered Afghanistan in three hours when their Air Force entered Kabul and defeated the Taliban [in 2001], but could not deliver replacement in Afghanistan.
Fawad underlined the need for understanding the principals upon which Pakistan was established. Quaid-e-Azam while laying those fundamentals before the Constituent Assembly August 11, 1947 said that Pakistan was established while keeping political interpretation of Islam in the mind.
He cited Allama Iqbal who said that a politically entity would be created in the North Western India which would comprised of Muslims majority. Allama Iqbal envisioned creation of a political entity in North Western India as he foresaw the situation of Muslims in the United India as it was today under the BJP rule, the minister added.
The information minister said Quaid-e-Azam made Resolution of Pakistan in line with the interpretation of political nation state given by Allama Iqbal.
He said some mistakes including expulsion of foreign correspondents from Dhaka were committed at the time of ‘Fall of Dhaka’. It was assumed that the foreign correspondents would narrate our side of story [to the people] while staying at India, he added.
Fawad said, till 1969, Pakistan was the third largest film-maker country in the world having second number of cinemas in the world. In 2005, the country had faced massive decline in the film industry and not a single film was produced. Likewise, this year up to two films were produced, he added.
How the world would know [our] story when the film industry was in crisis and there would be no TV drama, music and culture, the minister noted.
All the mediums have been damaged, he said underscoring the need to strengthen the institutions to ensure effective presentation of the state narrative.
He said when the Taliban regime came to an end in Afghanistan and Hamid Karzai assumed the office, the TV channels of different countries started operations there, but Pakistan did not sponsor a single channel there.
Pakistan should have developed a soft power in Afghanistan at that time, he said while drawing comparison with India which was providing massive aid to TV channels.
Currently, there has been 143 channels in the country, including 50 foreign ones and thousands of YouTube’s, he said adding despite presence of huge media the false propaganda has been launched against Pakistan that media was not free in the country.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Capital will have another recreational project for the people of Islamabad as country’s largest Ferris wheel with a height of about 180 feet will be installed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) at Lake View Park.
The CDA is all set to launch this entertainment initiative for the citizens of the capital, said a spokesman of the CDA.
As Phase-II of development plan of the Lake View Park remained suspended for over a decade is now being developed. People of Islamabad will shortly have this entertainment.
The CDA chairman has directed Environment Wing to bring PC-I of the project for approval at the earliest. Furthermore, Pakistan Movement Park is being developed along Islamabad Highway around the flag in sector H-8.
The park along with landscape features will also have gigantic walls with 2-D images showing the different pictorials of the largest migration of history. Work is going on at a speedy pace and the park will be inaugurated on 23 March 2022. Similarly, a new park has been planned near Bhara Kahu in the National Park area.
The park apart from other features will have an exclusive section for ladies and children. Some of the other salient features include a walking track, kids playing gadgets, exercise units, a water sports area, a mini-golf course, and a forest area. The park will be constructed on the land retrieved from the encroachers.
The CDA chairman has been directed to prepare PC-I of all these projects at the earliest and place it in the upcoming CDADWP for consideration.
ISLAMABAD: The Faculty of Management Sciences (FMS) of International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) in collaboration with the Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) is organizing “Entrepreneurial Drive-2021” in connection with 42nd anniversary of the varsity.
The event will be attended by parliamentarians, academicians, civil society representatives and students of the university.
The opening ceremony of “Entrepreneurial Drive-2021” is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at Quaid-e-Azam Auditorium, Faisal Masjid Campus at 11:00 am.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umer and Khalid Mansoor, Special Assistant to Prime minister (CPEC) are likely to participate in the opening ceremony of the event.
LONDON: British Queen Elizabeth II has approved the award of her gold medal for poetry 2021 to Grace Nichols, a Guyanese poet.
Nichols is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain at the age of 27 and in 1983 her first poetry collection ‘I is a Long Memoried Woman’ won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize.
This was announced by the Buckingham Palace late on Friday.
The Queen approved the choice recommended by the Poetry Medal Committee, chaired by the poet laureate, Simon Armitage.
Through her career Nichols has published nine poetry collections as well as prose and several books for younger readers.
In 2007, she was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Dating back to 1933, the medal is awarded annually for excellence in poetry. Ms Nichols is the 52nd recipient of The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
ISLAMABAD: PTI-led Federal Government is planning to table a mini-budget to meet the conditionalities set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of its $6 billion loan.
Government through a new Finance Bill is expected will seek withdrawal of the General Sales Tax (GST) exemptions and slapping standard rate of 17 per cent on import of mobile phones, computers, silver/ gold, different articles of jewelry, re-meltable scrap, LPG and many other products.
It is not yet clear whether the government will impose a standard GST rate of 17 per cent on POL products or not because if the whole GST rate and petroleum levy were jacked up to Rs30 per litre in phases, the storm of inflationary pressures might touch new heights.
It seems that the government will make last-ditch efforts to protect the POL products from the maximum rate of GST. Currently, it is charging a minimum amount of GST on POL products.
The government has finalized a draft of Tax Laws (Fourth) Amendment Bill 2021 to abolish almost around 100 tax exemptions as a standard rate of 17 per cent GST would become applicable with the approval of Parliament.
The government had agreed with the IMF to abolish GST exemptions of Rs350 billion, but its net impact for the current fiscal year will be on the lower side because the first six months had already passed.
The sales tax on the latest mobile phone sets is under consideration to be imposed. The government has assured the Washington-based lender that they will advance the reforms to the GST system, underpinned by a unified tax base and within the confines of the Constitution.
The government has decided to eliminate all zero-rated goods (Fifth Schedule), except on export and capital machinery goods and move them to the standard sales tax rate; remove reduced rates under the Eighth Schedule and bring all those goods to the standard sales tax rate; eliminate exemptions (Sixth Schedule) excluding a small subset of goods (i.e. basic food, medicines, live animals for human consumption, education and health-related goods) and bring all others to the standard rate; and remove the Ninth Schedule to replace a specific tax rate for mobile phones with the standard rate.
These reforms are expected to yield an estimated 0.7 per cent of the GDP on an annual basis. The Tax Laws (Fourth) Amendment Bill 2021 proposed retaining of a few exemptions under the Sixth Schedule (Exemption) of the Sales Tax Act 1990, such as the import and supply of construction materials, machinery, equipment, and materials to the Gwadar Export Processing Zone’s investors and Export Processing Zone, Gwadar, or other export processing zones.
The tax exemptions available to Chinese companies under CPEC are also proposed to be retained under the draft bill.
Under the Eighth Schedule (Conditional Sales Tax exemption) of the Sales Tax Act 1990, sales tax is proposed to be imposed on LPG; import of re-meltable scrap; silver, in unworked condition; gold, in unworked condition and articles of jewelry, or parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal; incinerators of disposal of waste management, motorized sweepers and snow-plough; plant and machinery not manufactured locally and having no compatible local substitutes; ingredients of poultry feed, cattle feed; re-importation of foreign origin goods which were temporarily exported out of Pakistan; plant, machinery, and equipment used in the production of bio-diesel; secondhand and worn clothing or footwear; agricultural tractors; tillage and seedbed preparation equipment and post-harvest handling and processing and miscellaneous machinery and some other items specified in the Eighth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act 1990.
The GST is proposed on the import of plant, machinery, and production line equipment used for the manufacturing of mobile phones by the local manufacturers of mobile phones; laptop computers, notebooks whether or not incorporating multimedia kit and personal computers; sunflower and canola hybrid seeds meant for sowing and combined harvesters up to five years old, Geo New reported.
Sales tax could be imposed on the import of live animals and live poultry; meat of bovine animals, sheep, and goat; fish and crustaceans; eggs, including eggs for hatching; live plants including bulbs, roots, and the like; edible vegetables including roots and tubers; pulses; edible fruits; red chillies excluding those sold in retail packing bearing brand names and trademarks; ginger, excluding those sold in retail packing bearing brand names and trademarks; turmeric excluding those sold in retail packing bearing brand names and trademarks; cereals and products of the milling industry; seeds, fruit, and spores of a kind used for sowing; Cinchona bark and sugar cane.
The sales tax zero-rating may be abolished on the goods and the raw materials, packing materials, sub-components, components, sub-assemblies, and assemblies imported or purchased locally for the manufacture of preparations suitable for infants, put up for retail sale.
