Daily News Pakistan

A microfinance pioneer from Pakistan — who developed an interest-free microfinance programme — was among Tuesday's winners of Asia's equivalent to the Nobel Prize. Muhammad Amjad Saqib, 64, won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his “first-of-its-kind” interest- and collateral-free microfinance programme that catalysed scores of poor households. Nearly two decades after its launch, Akhuwat — founded by Dr Saqib — has grown into the nation's largest microfinance institution, distributing the equivalent of $900 million and boasting an almost 100 per cent loan repayment rate, the award foundation said. Saqib, who uses places of worship to hand out money, was cited for “his inspiring belief that human goodness and solidarity will find ways to eradicate poverty.” The Ramon Magsaysay Award — named after a Filipino president killed in a plane crash — was established in 1957 to honour people and groups tackling development problems. Meanwhile, Firdausi Qadri, 70, also won the awa...

The United States expects the Taliban to live up to their commitments now that US troops have pulled out of Afghanistan, but any legitimacy or support will need to be "earned," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday. America's top diplomat, speaking just hours after the final US evacuation flights left Kabul, said Washington has suspended its diplomatic presence in Kabul as of Monday and shifted its operations to Qatar. "Our troops have departed Afghanistan," Blinken said. "A new chapter of America's engagement with Afghanistan has begun. "It's one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission is over; a new diplomatic mission has begun." Blinken said the United States was committed to helping every American who wants to depart Afghanistan to leave the country. He said a small number of US citizens remained in the country -- "under 200" but likely closer to just 100 -- and wanted to leave. Blink...

US Senator Van Hollen on Tuesday acknowledged and thanked Pakistan for supporting the US evacuation efforts from Afghanistan as Washington completed its withdrawal from the war-stricken country. "Even as the last US troops leave Afghanistan I'll continue to do everything in my power to bring home all Americans & provide asylum to our Afghan partners endangered by their support to the US," Sen Hollen posted on Twitter "Also thankful to Qatar, UAE, Pakistan, Kuwait & many others supporting evacuation efforts," he added. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Dr Asad Majeed Khan also called the senator and shared the Islamabad's perspective on the urgency of securing an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan. "Had a good call with Senator @ChrisVanHollen today. Briefed Sen. Van Hollen on Pakistan’s support for evacuations of US, Afghan and other nationals from Afghanistan," said Dr Asad said on the micro-bloggin...

Afghanistan is set to form its own government in a few days, said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday, hours after the last US soldier left Afghanistan. "We expect that a consensus government will be formed in the coming days in Afghanistan," Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference in Islamabad with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas by his side. Qureshi said Pakistan was already hosting three million Afghan refugees, adding that they were being provided all facilities including health, education etc. "Pakistan has kept its borders open. People are travelling between the two countries and trade is also going on," he said. Qureshi called on the international community to provide Afghanistan with every possible help. "Pakistan wishes to see a stable, prosperous and progressive Afghanistan," he added. The German foreign minister, on the other hand, welcomed the Afghan Taliban's recent statements in which they have promised no retribut...

Pakistan has reported 118 more deaths in the last 24 hours by COVID-19. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 25,788. According to the latest figures issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 3,838 persons tested positive for COVID-19, lifting the overall number of infections in the country to 1,160,119. Pakistan has conducted 52,112 tests in the past 24 hours out of which 3,838 persons tested positive for the disease. The COVID Positivity Ratio was recorded at 7.36 per cent as compared to yesterday’s 6.75 percent. The NCOC said 5,542 people are in critical condition. So far, a total of 53,314,628 vaccine doses have been administered to the masses across the country. Out of 53,314,628, the number of fully vaccinated people against the coronavirus is 16,171,867, while 41,477,587 partial doses have been administered to date. On Monday, the Sindh government decided to start COVID-19 vaccination in educational institutions from September. The important...

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday took a jibe at the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) rally in Karachi a day earlier, saying "maybe the rally would have been more effective if they (PDM) gave women permission to participate." Addressing a press conference in Sukkur, he said he could not comment on whether the PDM rally — the alliance's first power show after a months-long lull — was "successful", adding that the PPP believed all democratic parties should play their role. However, it would have been "more effective" if the PDM allowed women to participate in the rally, he said. "This is not Afghanistan. This is Karachi, capital of Sindh," he remarked. He questioned how a country and a city could be run when "even a home cannot be run without a woman", recalling that Pakistan was the first Muslim country to appoint a female prime minister. No society can progress until men and women ar...

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has said that the bloc should provide financial assistance to the countries neighbouring Afghanistan to help them manage refugees fleeing the Taliban. The EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell expressed these views in an interview published by Italy's Corriere Della Sera newspaper on Monday. The return of the group to power in Kabul on August 15 has plunged the future of many Afghans into uncertainty and sparked concern that millions may seek refuge in neighbouring countries and Europe. "We will have to increase cooperation with the neighbouring countries to resolve issues related to Afghanistan. We must help them with the first refugee wave," Borrell told the newspaper. "Afghans fleeing the country are not going to reach Rome in the first place, but maybe in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. We need to help those countries that will be on the front line." Asked if they would receive European financial assistance to ho...

Three parliamentary committees' delegations on Monday were briefed on the country's security environment, including the situation at the borders and the army efforts for peace and stability. The delegation — which visited the GHQ — comprised members from the Senate and National Assembly's Kashmir committee and defence committees, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. The development comes amid the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan, with several people who had fled the war-torn country being allowed transit stay in Pakistan for a month. US anti-missile defences earlier in the day had intercepted rockets fired at Kabul's airport, as the United States flew its core diplomats out of Afghanistan in the final hours of its chaotic withdrawal. US troops are due to pull out of Kabul by Tuesday, after they and their allies mounted the biggest air evacuation in history, bringing 114,000 of their own citizens and Afghans who helped them over 20 ...

President Dr. Arif Alvi will address a joint sitting of both upper and lower houses of Parliament to be convened on September 13, said Adviser to the PM on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan on Monday. The president’s address to the joint sitting of the Senate and National Assembly will mark the start of the new parliamentary year. Mr Awan today met NA Speaker Asad Qaiser and discussed with him the president’s address, legislation and the new parliamentary calendar. He said the new parliamentary year will begin with President Alvi’s address. The PM’s aide was of the view that effective legislation could help overcome the challenges and issues facing the country. He said the fourth parliamentary year would see Parliament passing all pending laws with those concerning public welfare and well-being to be given priority. Speaker Qaiser said Parliament’s performance during its past three years was laudable, giving its credit to both government and opposition.

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight carrying medical essentials from the World Health Organization (WHO) landed in Mazar-i-Sharif Monday. The PK-234 flew from Dubai and landed at the Mazar-i-Sharif Airport – the first international flight to the country’s fourth-largest city after the Taliban swept Afghanistan, according to state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. The national flag carrier is providing air transport for the operation while WHO will be arranging logistics on the ground as part of the humanitarian bridge in the war-torn country. Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Mansoor Ahmed Khan, confirmed that the PIA cargo flight took essential supplies of WHO to Mazar-i-Sharif in line with Pakistan’s role of making a "humanitarian air bridge" in coordination with international agencies. “First PIA Cargo flight with WHO medical supplies from Islamabad to Mazar Sharif today,” the envoy tweeted and thanked PIA for its efforts in ensuring the supplies to Af...

Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said Monday that Pakistan has so far not given the status of refugee to a single person from Afghanistan. "I can confirm as your [the] interior minister that we have not given the status of a refugee to even a single person," he shared during a news conference, a day before the US and other foreign troops complete their pullout from the war-ravaged country. The interior minister's comments came as thousands of Afghans have sought to leave the country since the Taliban took control of the country last month. The US had also requested Pakistan to provide transit facilities after which Islamabad made arrangements at the city's hotels. Rasheed clarified that people from Afghanistan arrive in Pakistan via the Chaman border on a daily basis and then go back to their country, adding that this was "a normal activity." Regarding any possible influx of people from Afghanistan, he said that Pakistan has "made ar...

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has just exhibited a "show" in Karachi as it was "devoid of any power", says Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry. Commenting on PDM’s public rally held Sunday, the information minister said the country had not found a more "incompetent and frivolous" opposition than the PDM. “They [PDM] will continue spending even the next seven years carrying protest banners,” he said, adding that the rally was actually against the PPP.In his comments on the rally, the minister severely criticised the PDM leadership for holding…

Schools in Sindh on Monday (today) reopened with strict standard operating procedures (SOPs).As per the notification issued by the School Education and Literacy Department, last week, the schools have been allowed in-person classes for six days a week. The schools have been allowed to remain open six days a week with 50% attendance of students on alternative days and all heads of educational institutions have been directed to ensure 100% vaccination of their teaching and non-teaching staff. The notification further said all educational institutions will ensure 100% compliance with COVID-19 SOPs and random PCR tests will be conducted by the health department as and when required. The parents and the students have expressed their happiness over the reopening of the schools. On August 23, the government of Sindh and All Pakistan Private Schools’ Federation (APPSF) agreed on reopening schools after a protest was announced by teachers and parents against a delay in allowing in-person ...

Pakistan has reported 66 more deaths in the last 24 hours by COVID-19. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 25,670 on Monday. According to the latest figures issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 3,800 persons tested positive for COVID-19, lifting the overall number of infections in the country to 1,156,281Pakistan has conducted 56,279 tests in the past 24 hours out of which 3,800 persons were tested positive for the disease. The COVID Positivity Ratio was recorded at 6.75 percent. So far, a total of 50,985,184…

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday said that "no one can snatch away jobs given by the parliament", vowing to appeal a Supreme Court verdict that declared a PPP-era law unconstitutional and illegal. Under the PPP-era Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance Act (SERA) 2010 law, a number of people had been employed or given promotions who had been forcibly sacked from various institutions and departments by successive governments during 1996 and 2007. The SC, however, found that the SERA extended undue advantage to a certain class of citizens, thereby violating fundamental rights under Articles 4, 9 and 25 and being void under Article 8 of the Constitution. Earlier this month, PPP had appealed to the Supreme Court to review its verdict that declared SERA 2010 illegal and unconstitutional. In his address today to a worker's convention in the city, Bilawal said that PPP will provide relief to all those people from whom jobs have been snatched. Speaking of the three-ye...

Two Pakistan Army sepoys were martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists from across the Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bajaur district, the military's media wing said in a statement on Sunday. "Terrorists from inside Afghanistan across the international border opened fire on a military post in Bajaur district," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, adding that Pakistani troops had responded in a befitting manner. "As per intelligence reports, due to [the] fire of Pakistan Army troops, two to three terrorists got killed and three to four terrorists got injured," read the statement. The martyred soldiers were identified as Sepoy Jamal, 28, from Mardan, and Sepoy Ayaz, 21, from Chitral. The ISPR said Pakistan "strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and expects that [the] existing and future setup in Afghanistan will not allow such activities". In a similar incident, a param...

The United Arab Emirates has announced it will resume issuing visas to all tourists fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from Monday, a month before Dubai hosts the delayed Expo 2020 trade fair. The move comes amid a drop in coronavirus infections in the oil-rich Gulf country after it reported less than 1,000 cases per day last week for the first time in months. The UAE's decision to reopen its doors to tourists from all countries was taken in order “to achieve sustainable recovery and economic growth”, the official WAM news agency reported on Saturday. Those eligible would have to be fully inoculated with one of the Covid-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation, which include AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Sinopharm and Sinovac. “The decision applies to citizens of all countries, including those arriving from previously banned countries,” WAM said. “Passengers arriving on tourist visas must [undergo] a mandatory PCR test at the airp...

In a bid to control the spread of COVID-19 infection across the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday announced that it has decided to expand the current coronavirus restrictions to 27 cities of the country, that too beyond the earlier deadline of 31 August. The body will review the restrictions on September 13. According to the body, the decision was taken in view of the growing number of COVID-19 positive cases and the ensuing pressure on the country's healthcare system. The NCOC said that considering the situation, the scope of the implementation of the SOPs has been extended to 27 cities of the country. Previously, these SOPs were only applicable to 13 cities. As per the rules, all commercial activities — with the exception of essential services — will be closed by 8pm. Similarly, there will be two safe days each week, which means that markets will remain closed twice a week. However, it will be up to the provinces to decide which days would ...