LAHORE: August 10 Train passing through the rain water accumulated on the track due to heavy rain in the provincial capital. APP photo by Ashraf Ch
LAHORE: August 10 A disabled person passing through the rain water accumulated in streets due to heavy rain in the provincial capital. APP photo by Ashraf Ch
LAHORE: August 10 Motorists on their way during the heavy rain in Provincial Capital. APP Photo by Ashraf Ch
LAHORE: August 10 Commuters struggling to cross rainy water during heavy rain in Provincial Capital. APP Photo by Ashraf Ch
Umar Akmal case: PCB to file appeal with CAS
By Sohail Ali
LAHORE, Aug 10 (APP):-: The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday confirmed it will file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), in Lausanne, Switzerland, against
the reduction of Umar Akmal’s ban for breaching the PCB Anti-Corruption Code.
The decision was made following a review of the detailed order of the independent adjudicator, whereby the length of Umar Akmal’s ban has been reduced from 36 months to 18 months (running concurrently) on grounds of taking a compassionate
view, said a spokesman of the PCB here.
Under Article 7.5.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code, an appeal against the decision of the independent adjudicator lies exclusively before the CAS.
“The PCB takes matters relating to anti-corruption very seriously and firmly maintains a zero-tolerance approach. The PCB believes a senior cricketer like Umar Akmal was aware of the consequences when, after having attended
a number of anti-corruption lectures at domestic and international level, having witnessed the consequences of indulging in corrupt conduct, still failed to report
the approaches to the relevant authorities.
He said the PCB doesn’t take any pride in seeing a cricketer of Umar’s stature being banned for corruption, but as a credible and respectable institution, we need to send out a loud and clear message to all our stakeholders that there will be
no sympathy whatsoever for anyone who breaches the regulations.
“The PCB, in its commitment and drive against corruption in sports, has already submitted a draft proposal with the relevant government authorities around legislation
on criminalising corruption in sports and has also reviewed the existing legislation enacted within Pakistan whilst noting that the same fail to adequately target and address corruption/illegal manipulation in sports”, he added.
“In the draft paper, the PCB has proposed severe sanctions pertaining to corruption, illegal manipulation, betting, match and spot-fixing as well as aiding and abetting such
conduct; and proposes the penalties to be imposed on individuals found guilty of engaging in such offenses”, he asserted.
SARGODHA: August 10 Commuters struggling to cross rainy water at Kalma Chowk during rain in the city. APP photo by Hassan Mahmood
China congratulates Mahinda Rajapaksa on election as Sri Lankan PM
BEIJING, Aug 10 (APP): China on Monday congratulated Mahinda Rajapaksa on his election as Sri Lanka’s prime minister, who took oath of office on Sunday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijian, during his regular briefing, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had sent a congratulatory message to the Sri Lankan prime minister after his election.
He said China and Sri Lanka enjoyed a traditional friendship and both the countries had been advancing the strategic cooperative partnership based on sincere mutual assistance and everlasting friendship.
“We have been expanding and deepening our cooperation across the board. Our two governments and people have been helping each other at the time of difficulties and fighting the COVID-19 together,” he added.
Zhao Lijian said the friendship between the two countries had been consolidated and elevated in the process. “Prime Minister Rajapaksa has been promoting the China-SriLlanka friendship,” he added.
He said the Chinese side attached high importance to its relationship with Sri Lanka and would like to work with Sri Lanka to consolidate bilateral traditional friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, move forward the bilateral relations and deliver more benefits to the two countries and the people.
Rajapaksa was sworn in as the prime minister for the fourth time. His party won 145 seats in the August 5 election to elect new legislators in a 225-member parliament.
According to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the new parliament will convene on August 20.
DG Sports Punjab calls on Punjab Minister for Labour and Human Resource
By Sohail Ali
LAHORE, Aug 10 (APP):-: Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh called on Punjab Minister for Labour and Human Resource Ansar Majeed Khan Niazi at Sargodha on Monday.
Divisional Sports Officer Sargodha Manzar Farid Shah, DPD North PMU Aizaz Sherazi and others were also present on the occasion.
PMU officials gave a thorough briefing about the development of our sports work in Sargodha division.
Punjab Minister for Labour and Human Resource Ansar Majeed
Khan Niazi and Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh discussed various ways and means for the growth of sports culture in Punjab.
They also discussed the launching of a football academy at newly-built ground in Company Bagh during their meeting. Besides this, both the leaders also talked about the setting up of a 5-a-side hockey ground in Sargodha and a cricket academy in Mianwali.
Adnan Arshad Aulakh, on this occasion said that Sports Board Punjab has established several top class sports facilities across the province.
“Sports Board Punjab is striving hard to contribute a major share for the regaining of lost sports glory of the country. As many as 155 sports schemes are underway in various tehsils of province”.
Director General Sports Punjab informed that the Punjab govt is bringing sports infrastructure at grassroots level throughout the province. “Sports Complexes will be built in 24 tehsils of Punjab under Flagship Programme whereas astro-turf has been laid in 25 tehsils of the province”, he added.
He said the govt is not only focusing on establishing grounds and play-fields in various parts of the province but also coordinating with sports associations and clubs to make these sports facilities functional in a proper way.
“More cricket, hockey and football academies will be set up in different tehsils of the province to promote these three popular sports,” he added.
Adnan Arshad Aulakh also visited the sites of floodlight football academy at Company Bagh, 5-a-side hockey ground in Sargodha and a cricket academy at Mianwali.
During his visit, he also planted saplings at Mianwali and tehsil Isakhel Sports Complexes as part of Prime Minister’s tree plantation drive.
Meanwhile, Director General Sports Punjab also had a meeting with popular folk singer Attaullah Essakhelvi during his visit to tehsil Isakhel.
During the meeting, he said that Sports Board Punjab will take every possible measure for the promotion of sports in tehsil Isakhel.
SARGODHA: August 10 Commuters struggling to cross rainy water at Kalma Chowk during rain in the city. APP photo by Hassan Mahmood
SARGODHA: August 10 – Ladies crossing rainy water in front of DHQ during rain in the city. APP photo by Hassan Mahmood
FAISALABAD: August 10 – Myna birds eating dates from the tree. APP photo by Tasawar Abbas
Khawar Shah Youth Baseball Academy inaugurated in Okara
Sohail Ali
LAHORE, Aug 10 (APP): Pakistan Federation Baseball has established “ Khawar Shah baseball academy” in Okara as a part of its game development plan to provide ideal platform to groom young talent and to motivate aspiring youth to take up baseball as a sport.
President, PFB, Syed Fakhar Ali Shah inaugurated the academy on Monday at a simple but impressive ceremony.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, he said that the PFB is working for the development of youth baseball in the country.
“ In this regard, the Youth Baseball Academy in Bahria Town Lahore is already working in collaboration with the Executive Director of Bahria Town Lahore, Brig. (Retd) Khalil Ullah Butt.
The players of this academy have represented Pakistan in many international competitions. In addition, Syed Muhammad Shah from the academy won the Best Hitter Award at the Under-15 Asian Baseball Championship 2019 in China and Zeeshan Amin won the Best Home Run Award and Best Outfielder Award”.
PFB chief hoped that the players of Okara Baseball Academy would excel in the game to bring good name and glory for the country.
Syed Fakhar Ali Shah thanked Dr. Muhammad Hamood Lakhvi, Vice President, PFB , for setting up the Youth Baseball Academy in Okara.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, PFB Sheikh Mazhar Ahmed said that due to Coronavirus, there are no sports activities in country and this academy will help polish the skills of the aspiring youth of area when government will allow resumption of sports activities .
“ This year Pakistan youth baseball teams are scheduled to participate in the Under-12 and Under-18 Asian Baseball Championships. Due to lack of training of players, the Chairman of the Federation, Shaukat Javed directed to set up youth baseball academies in different cities of the country to engage players in training under the watchful eyes of seasoned national coaches”, he added.
Present at the inauguration ceremony were —Dr Muhammad Hammad Lakhvi (Dean Faculty of Islamic Studies Punjab University Lahore) and Prof, Ijaz Ahmed (Government College Civil Lines Lahore) along with officials of PFB and Punjab baseball association including Sadia Alvi (Chairperson Women Wing PFB), Amir Imdad (Batting Coach), Sohail Ahmad Bhatti (coach), Engineer Muhammad Azam Bhatti (Chairman), Tariq Nadeem (Secretary General), Muhammad Zaid Lakhvi (Finance Secretary), Rahat Abbas Zaheer Dola, Prof. Hamid Yaseen, Ahsan Farid, Imran Majeed Khan, Saleem Haider (Executive Members) from Sahiwal Division Baseball Association, Chaudhry Abdul Qayyum (Divisional Sports Officer Sahiwal), Nisarul Haq (District Sports Officer Okara), Aslam Shah (Tehsil Officer Okara), Umair Imdad (Captain Pakistan Baseball Team), Syed Ali Shah (Captain Pakistan Youth Baseball Team), Fakhar Amir Kazmi (Legal Adviser Pakistan Federation Baseball), Muhammad Aslam, Abdul Aziz (Executive Members District Baseball Association Okara).
Dr Muhammad Hamood Lakhvi, speaking on the occasion, said that there is a lot of talent of baseball in Okara.
“ Two players from the region, Tariq Nadeem and Saleem Haider, are among Pakistan’s most senior baseball players and have won gold, silver and bronze medals for Pakistan in a number of international competitions”, he added.
He thanked the President, PFB Syed Fakhar Ali Shah for providing baseball equipment for the training of players in the academy.
OCA announces new dates of Asian Beach Games in China, Secretary POA
Sohail Ali
LAHORE, Aug 10 (APP): The Olympic Council of Asia has announced the new dates of the 6th Asian Beach Games to be held in the City of Sanya, China which will now commence on April 2 , 2021.
Secretary, Pakistan Olympic Association, Muhammad Khalid Mahmood said here on Monday that OCA has officially communicated the new dates of the mega sports event which will conclude on April 10.
“ The name of the Games, i.e. the Sixth Asian Beach Games Sanya 2020, and the logo of the Games will remain unchanged”, said POA official.
He said the decision taken jointly in collaboration with Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) and the Sanya Asian Beach Games Organizing Committee (SABGOC) will ensure the safety of the athletes and officials as well as the spectators in these unprecedented times of COVID-19 pandemic.
China, Pakistan’s universities to promote cooperation in textile under CPEC
BEIJING, Aug 10 (APP): “COVID-19 did affect the on site, face-to-face cooperation between China and Pakistan’s universities,” noted Shanghai University of Engineering Science (SUES), China, but they spared no efforts to”promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation in textile engineering via Internet” with National Textile University (NTU), Pakistan.
According to the agreement jointly signed by SUES and NTU in May, the two universities are to promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation in teaching, scientific research, academic conferences, seminars, symposiums, long-term and short-term student exchange programmes, mutual recognition agreement (MRA) for GPA, double major programmes, summer exchange programmes and industry-university collaborations (IUCs), so as to build a demonstration platform for textile engineering technology exchange between both universities.
The Shanghai University of Engineering Science (SUES) told China Economic Net (CEN) that the 2020 AATCC Sustainability Innovation and Fashion Technology International Conference (AATCC-SIFTIC) will be held in October by School of Fashion Engineering (SFE), SUES in the form of online video conference, in which professors from NTU will participate.
“The majors of NTU and SUES’s School of Fashion Engineering is highly consistent with each other,” said source from SUES, “therefore, through the agreement, we are committed to promoting the international IUCs between the two schools, of which the key step is to enroll NTU students into SUES’s IUC projects.”
SUES added that School of Fashion Engineering (SFE) is a multidisciplinary and coordinated developing school based on textile and fashion engineering technologies. It has built the “Quadra-Cooperative Mode” of “Cooperative Education, Cooperative School-Running, Cooperative Innovation, and Cooperative Employment” with industries. SFE is also equipped with two ministerial and provincial research bases, and a National Engineering Practical Education Centre co-founded with the enterprise in China.
“China and Pakistan are iron-clad brothers that enjoy a profound friendship and mutual cooperation,” SUES to China Economic Net (CEN) adding that the educational exchange and cooperation between the two universities can provide human resources and technical resources for the economic and trade cooperation in fields of textile and apparel under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Pakistan has huge potential to attract BRI investment in renewable energy sector
BEIJING, Aug 10 (APP): A German scholar Dr. Christoph Nedopil Wang, the director of the Green BRI Centre
has stated that despite the decline in total Belt and Road Investment (BRI) investment in 2020 due to COVID-19, Pakistan has great potential to attract BRI investment in the renewable energy sector.
Energy investment maintained a stable trend in the BRI investment in 2020. According to Dr. Wang, BRI’s investment in the first half of 2020 covered all areas. Energy investment accounted for 37.6% of the total investment.
This is a continuation of the infrastructure investment focus on the “Belt and Road” initiative, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Monday.
In the energy sector investment, renewable energy shows a strong performance. The share of renewable energy in BRI energy investment has increased year by year from 19.6% in 2014, and surpassed the share of fossil energy investment in 2020.
Wang said : Looking at BRI energy investments, 2020 saw a relative increase of non-fossil fuel related energy investments. While in the first 6 months of 2019 56% of energy investments were fossil fuel-related, the share dropped to 42%.
The two countries with the highest energy-related investments were Pakistan and Vietnam. Among them, $1.93 billion of China’s energy investment in Pakistan is all hydropower projects, which are invested by Power China.
In an exclusive interview, he said that although Pakistan has a large amount of investment in the renewable energy sector, Pakistan has great potential to attract more investment under the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.
There is a huge need for renewable investments. so far, Pakistan is 30% coal, and only 4.8% truly green
(that is wind and solar), 35% is hydropower.
Wang also suggested that both Pakistan and China should focus on sustainable projects that can bring returns and prepare for a better future, such as renewable energy.
Meanwhile, China will work to appropriately integrate environmental and social safeguards to improve environmental and social outcomes. “CPEC projects can support Pakistan dealing with its debt through bilateral and multilateral forums
as well,” he said.
The Green BRI Centre is formulating policies and providing financial and economic research to accelerate the green development of BRI, with a focus on green finance.
The Green BRI Centre is part of the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) and Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), independent think tanks
located in Beijing, China.
Taliban prisoners’ release to create favourable conditions for intra-Afghan talks: China
BEIJING, Aug 10 (APP): China on Monday welcomed Afghan Council of the elders and tribal leaders’ approval for release of the last batch of Taliban prisoners and said it would create favourable conditions for the intra-Afghan dialogue in Afghanistan.
“So, releasing prisoners is an important part for the Afghan Government and the Afghan Taliban to establish mutual trust and start Intra-Afghan talks. China welcomes the Afghan government and people following their domestic rules and to discuss and decide these major matters through the Loya Jirga – Grand Assembly, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during his regular briefing held here.
According to media reports, the Council of Afghans elders and tribal leaders have approved the release of last batch of 400 Taliban prisoners, paving way for intra-Afghan dialogue.
He said the approval for the release of Taliban prisoners reflected the principle of Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, adding, “I believe this will create favorable conditions for the Intra Afghan talks.”
Zhao Lijian remarked that now the situation in Afghanistan was at a critical stage and said that the relevant parties should earnestly abide by and implement their commitments and agreements, signed regarding Afghanistan to ensure the steady and orderly development of the situation.
“China would like continue to playing a constructive role for the political settlement of the Afghanistan issue and the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan,” he added.
It may be mentioned that around 400 Afghanistan’s Taliban prisoners’ fate had been a crucial hurdle in launching peace talks between the two sides, which had committed to completing a prisoner exchange before negotiations could start.
The resolution was passed at the end of a three-day Loya Jirga – a traditional Afghan meeting of tribal elders and other stakeholders sometimes held to decide on controversial issues.
“In order to remove the hurdles for the start of peace talks, stopping bloodshed, and for the good of the public, the Jirga approves the release of 400 prisoners as demanded by the Taliban,” Jirga member Atefa Tayeb announced in Kabul on Sunday.
“The decision of the Loya Jirga has removed the last excuse and obstacles on the way to peace talks. We are on the verge of peace talks,” said Abdullah Abdullah, who is leading the government’s peace process and was appointed head of the Loya Jirga.
Pakistan also welcomed the Afghan Loya Jirga’s recommendation to release remaining 400 prisoners, hoping the step would pave way for early commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations.
Punjab health minister calls on PM
ISLAMABAD, Aug 10 (APP): Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid Monday called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and discussed progress achieved on the distribution of Sehat Insaf cards in the province.
According to a press release of PM office media wing, during the meeting, public response over the provision of health facilities through these health cards was also discussed.
The prime minister also summoned a meeting to be held after one month to review cards distribution in Punjab.
The prime minister while expressing satisfaction over positive public response over the Sehat Insaf Card, stressed upon ensuring quality health facilities to the deserving people.
Dr Yasmeen Rashid apprised that a very positive public response was received regarding provision of health facilities through the Sehat Insaf cards. Due to these cards, the deserving people and their families got maximum relief, she added.
PM holds telephonic conversation with Maldivian President; shares Pakistan’s perspective on peace, security situation in South Asia
ISLAMABAD, Aug 10 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday held a telephonic conversation with President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and exchanged views in detail on the challenges posed by COVID-19.
He commended the efforts made by Maldives to contain the spread of the pandemic and efforts to revive the economy, including the tourism sector, a press release issued by the PM Media Office here said.
The Prime Minister briefed the Maldivian President about the latest situation in Pakistan and the steps taken by the Government to contain COVID-19, with focus on saving lives, securing livelihoods, and stimulating the economy.
He added that the ‘smart lockdown’ strategy had worked successfully and that major sectors of the economy were being gradually opened up.
The Prime Minister also apprised the President about his “Global Initiative on Debt Relief” for developing countries to mitigate the severe socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.
He underscored that developing countries were particularly vulnerable due to limited fiscal space and health sector infrastructure constraints and, therefore, required special measures.
The Prime Minister shared Pakistan’s perspective on peace and security situation in South Asia, underlining that the region needed peace and cooperation so that the South Asian nations could realize their true economic potential.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to work with Maldives to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, bilaterally and in the region.
The Prime Minister reiterated his invitation to President Ibrahim Solih to visit Pakistan and stated that he looked forward to welcoming him at the earliest convenience.
Pakistan accords high importance to its fraternal ties with Maldives, a fellow SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) member state, and was committed to further strengthening them in all fields.
FAISALABAD: August 10 – Children enjoying jumping on trampoline at a vendors roadside setup. APP photo by Tasawar Abbas
FAISALABAD: August 10 – A juggler performs monkey show to earn livelihood at Nishatabad. APP photo by Tasawar Abbas
