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Heavy snowfall in upper parts of Hazara division and Shangla blocked roads, including the Karakoram Highway, it was learnt yesterday. While the upper reaches of Mansehra, Torghar, Upper and Lower Kohistan, and Kolai-Palas districts received snowfall, rain continued to lash the plains throughout Saturday, starting on Friday evening. The Karakoram Highway was blocked in Sharkool and Chaterplan areas for over two hours after snowfall made the  strategically-important artery slippery. The Kaghan, Siren and Konsh valleys in Mansehra district and Kandia and Spat valleys in Upper Kohistan received snowfall, blocking many link roads. The road linking the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road with the Shogran tourist hub was also blocked because of snowfall. The snowfall and landslides blocked the Jabori-Nawaz Abad Road in Siren valley. Meanwhile, heavy snowfall blanketed the upper parts of Shangla district, while rain lashed the plains on Saturday. The new spell of snowfall starting on Friday night continued on Saturday, covering the Shangla Top, Yakhtangay, Ajmeer, Kapar Banda, Bahadar Sar, Pir Abad, Jaba, Lilonai, Kandaw and other areas with white sheet. Heavy snowfall blocked the main Yakhtangay-Puran Road, and link roads in Kandaw and Martung Chakesar areas, causing problems to the commuters. Bisham, Alpuri, Puran, Chakesar, Shahpur, Karora and other areas received rain. Power supply to several areas also remained suspended.

Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday said that by 2030, 60% of all energy produced in Pakistan will be “clean” and through renewable resources. He also declared that 30% of all the country’s vehicles will use electricity. Khan made the remarks at the Climate Ambition Summit 2020, a high-level virtual event, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the Paris agreement on climate change. He began his address by stating that Pakistan contributes less than 1% to global emissions. “Sadly, we are the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change. We have decided, firstly, that we will have nature-based solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change.This includes planting 10 billion trees in the next three years,” he said.  Khan disclosed that Pakistan had increased the number of national parks and protected areas from 30 to 45. “At the same time, we have decided we will not have power based on coal. We have already scrapped two coal power projects that were supposed to produce 2,600MW of energy, and replaced [them] with hydro-electricity.” “As far as indigenous coal is concerned, the government has decided to produce energy either by ‘coal to liquid’ or by ‘coal to gas’ so that coal doesn’t have to be burned,” he pointed out. He maintained that Pakistan will be doing its best to mitigate the effects of climate change. Apart from Khan, who was the 7th speaker, co-conveners UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to address the summit. The conference is aimed at highlighting the fast-growing coalition of countries, cities, regions, businesses and investors, committing to net-zero emissions and boosting ambition in climate finance, and resilience and adaptation. More than 110 countries have already committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. “The summit is a major step on the road to the next UN Climate Conference, COP26, which will be hosted by Britain next November in Glasgow,” read an official statement, adding that it will provide leaders with a global platform to showcase commitments to tackle climate change. The summit will also be giving a platform to business, sub-national governments and civil society, including youth, indigenous and faith-based climate champions. The Paris accord, adopted in 2015 and signed a year later, is designed to boost greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation worldwide. Its main goals include keeping the global average temperature to well below 2C (3.6F), and efforts to limit warming to 1.5C in a bid to reduce the impact and risks of climate change. The last five years have been the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation, a UN agency, with concern at rising numbers of wildfires, storms and flooding. The UN has said the drop in emissions due to the global coronavirus pandemic is too small to halt the rising temperatures. The United States, the world’s second-largest polluter after China, left the Paris Agreement under President Donald Trump who questioned the accepted science behind climate change. Incoming US climate envoy John Kerry plans immediately to re-enter the accord and President-elect Joe Biden has set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Citing the breathtaking and untouched tourist sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Northern Areas of Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan has underlined the need to explore and promote the huge untapped tourism potential, including mountain tourism. Switzerland, which is just half of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province in terms of area, is earning $80 billion per annum through skiing alone, whereas Pakistan’s annual exports are of around $25 billion, the PM said at the launching and partnership signing ceremony of ‘Travel Responsibility for Experiencing Eco Tourism (TREK)’ here between the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, World Bank and Nestle Pakistan.  The TREK initiative includes collaboration for awareness campaigns on responsible tourism, waste collection, management and recycling activities. The initiative is aimed at promoting ecotourism whereby environmental protection of tourism sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be ensured.  Congratulating KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan for taking the lead, the PM said the promotion of tourism especially ecotourism would not only help the country achieve enhanced economic development but also create more employment opportunities for local population.  He said unfortunately the country’s tourist sites, including those of Naran and Nathiagali, were damaged due to unplanned tourism and construction. The prime minister, however said that he believed that the TREK initiative, under byelaws for environmental protection, would help protect the beautiful tourist sites like the Kumrat Valley. The installation of a cable car at the Kumrat Valley would not only add to the beauty of area but would also help attract more tourists, he added. Khan said unlike Pakistan, where permanent concrete structures were built at beautiful tourist locations, moveable structures were made at various tourist resorts in the world, including Kenya Safari Park to protect the environment. The prime minister said initiatives like TREK would also encourage locals to take care of the tourist areas in terms of cleanliness and protection of natural beauty from pollution. He referred to the government’s initiative of protecting the wildlife habitat, including ibex in Chitral, and said due to the government’s efforts the preservation of ibex had been ensured for the protection of wildlife habitat as well as for the benefit of local community. The prime minister said owing to the government’s policy of promoting tourism, there was a historic increase in tourism, especially local tourism and a large number of people were seen rushing to the KP and Northern Areas in summer and winter seasons alike. He said mobile phones were contributing a lot in promoting tourism in the country, as tourists often used the social media, including Facebook and Instagram, to post pictures at beautiful scenic and tourist sites. The prime minister said while constructing roads, hotels or any other buildings in the country’s tourist sites and areas, the protection of environment should be specially taken care of. Speaking on the occasion, Najy Benhassine, Country Director for World Bank Group (WBG), Pakistan said: “The WBG is keen to continue supporting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in their efforts to provide employment opportunities to the youth in the tourism sector. “Today, marks the beginning of an important partnership with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and private sector and we expect to see more corporates stepping forward to contribute towards responsible tourism across the country. The growth and job creation potential of this sector is massive”. Highlighting Nestlé’s initiative in the project, Samer Chedid, CEO, Nestlé Pakistan said, “As part of our vision for a waste-free future, we are accelerating our actions to tackle plastic waste and our partnership with WBG and KP government is a step in that direction. We will be driving new behaviour and understanding through community engagement, cleanup activities, trainings and connecting waste recycling companies with the local administration.” Earlier, KITE and Economic Revitalisation of KP (ERKP) project contributed 2 excavators, 6 garbage compactors, 4 dumper trucks, more than 300 dustbins for disposing, collecting and removing waste in the jurisdiction of the Galyat Development Authority, Kaghan Development Authority and Kalam’s relevant authority.

Air Sial will create competition for other Pakistani airlines, Prime Minister Imran Khan hoped after inaugurating the new airline in Sialkot yesterday. Air Sial is Pakistan’s third private airline. Its first flight via Airbus A320 landed at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi from the United States last month. The airline had to delay from June because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions on air travel. The airline’s operations will initially rely on three Airbus A320-200s, which have been leased from AerCap, the world’s largest independent aircraft leasing company, based in Dublin, Ireland. The premier said he is visiting Sialkot to meet its business community. “The inauguration of Air Sial is just an excuse [for the visit],” the premier said in his address after Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar spoke about the state of Pakistan’s economy. The premier called Sialkot’s business community the “most vibrant” one in the country. “First you established this [private] airport. No-one has done this with such limited resources,” he said, congratulating the business community on launching the Air Sial initiative. The launch of Air Sial, the premier said, is beneficial for all. He said Sialkot is about to become an even bigger export hub of Pakistan. “For this, you need an airline,” he said. This is just the start, but I have no doubt that you will run this just as well as you’ve run your airport, the premier said, adding that Air Sial will give competition to national carrier PIA.  “PIA will see that an airline is being run efficiently, on low funds and giving good service and this will put pressure on it to improve. Other airlines will also feel the pressure to be efficient,” the premier said, adding that Pakistan will benefit. He spoke about the Covid-19 pandemic and the difficulties caused by it. The PM said Pakistan managed to save its people from the virus. He however, criticised the opposition for holding public gatherings. “The same opposition that criticised me for not imposing a complete lockdown and used to give the example of India’s Narendra Modi and its lockdown, is now holding public rallies,” he said. He said coronavirus cases were rising and if people didn’t take precautions, winter will be bad for the country. He gave examples of the United States, UK and Italy and the restrictions they have placed to avoid the spread of the virus..

Helping to lead a mass trial for a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine in Pakistan, a country where anti-vax sentiment can turn lethal and conspiracy theories are endemic, Dr Mohsin Ali has heard all kind of questions from anxious, prospective volunteers. “Is this going to take away my reproductive ability? Is this going to kill me? Is there any 5G chip in this? And, is there a conspiracy to control people en masse?” he said, recounting the sometimes bizarre doubts clouding people’s minds. “I get many questions like this,” he told Reuters at Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital, before adding “I try to answer them with logic and on the level of the individual asking them. Some still refuse.” The hospital is one of a number in Pakistan where phase III trials are underway for Chinese vaccine developer CanSino Biologics’ Ad5-nCoV candidate. The government last week announced it had begun the vaccine procurement process, though it has not said whether it will purchase CanSino’s candidate or an alternative. Worryingly, a Gallup Pakistan poll conducted last month showed 37% of Pakistanis would not get a vaccine once one became available. “Given the history of vaccine resistance this is an alarming number and not just for Pakistan but also for world, which depends on universal vaccine coverage to control spread,” Bilal Gilani, the pollster’s executive director, said. Countering anti-vax sentiments is a worldwide problem, but in Pakistan it is more dangerous than almost anywhere else. Dozens of people have been killed in attacks on polio vaccination teams over the years, and the fear and mistrust that spawns such violence has made Pakistan one of two countries, including neighbouring Afghanistan, where the crippling disease has still to be eradicated. Several times every year, polio vaccination drives aim to inoculate millions of children, but in some areas they are often met with refusals from parents who believe conspiracy theories about the vaccine. In more volatile parts of the country, militancy played a role in attacks on polio immunisation teams, notably after a doctor was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign to help the US Central Intelligence Agency track down Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. Yet the dangers of polio have been well known for decades, whereas Covid-19 is a new disease, and authorities have struggled to communicate the urgent need to stamp it out. “Many people still don’t believe it is a real disease,” said Tauqeer Hussain Mallhi, an Assistant Professor at Al-Jawf University, in Sakakah, Saudi Arabia, who studies vaccine effectiveness in Pakistan. A national lockdown was quickly abandoned a few weeks into the virus’ spread as too many of Pakistan’s more than 207 million people were economically vulnerable, and social distancing remained difficult as the public continued to gather in markets and mosques. Infection numbers have continued their morbid ascent with 2,885 new cases and 89 deaths reported on Monday – taking the total infections to over 423,000 and fatalities close to 8,500. Experts say Pakistan is only doing a fraction of the testing it should be doing. Cleric Qibla Ayaz, the head of the Council of Islamic Ideology, which advises the government on social and legal issues, said many of the conspiracy theories about Covid-19 are coming from Western countries, spread by social media. “For now, the majority of scholars have said the vaccine and other treatments are important... but there are always extremists as there are with polio,” Ayaz told Reuters. “Given the kind of ‘Westphobia’ we have in Pakistan, it might be better to obtain a vaccine from Russia or China, instead of the US or UK.”

Roger David, popularly known as Bohemia praised fellow singer Meesha Shafi’s performance in Coke Studio 2020 opener Na Tuttya Ve.  Hailing the show’s ‘great’ start altogether, Bohemia took to Twitter and wrote, “Coke Studio is off to a great start and who knew Meesha Shafi could drop that fire!” The Pakistani-American rapper and record producer will be making his own comeback to Coke Studio after an eight-year hiatus this season. Whereas Coke Studio 2020 unleashed with a bang on Friday, with three tracks including Na Tuttya Ve, Jaag Rahi and Dil Khirki, produced by former Vital Signs star Rohail Hyatt. Shafi’s Na Tuttya Ve, which is also an all-female anthem, was the first to go on air, featuring six female artists including Fariha Pervaiz, Sanam Marvi, Zara Madani, Wajiha Naqvi and Sehar Gul Khan. The five-minute track shared a story of resilience and an unbroken heart. “There’s no aggression in this song,” Shafi had said in the promo video of the aforementioned number. “The song is just from a woman’s perspective. That how can a woman be nothing but an honour, to whom Allah has bestowed such dignity.” In the last minute of the newly released track, we see the singer pitching (in tandem with celebrated musician Shuja Haider) on patriarchy and how social norms usually cause women’s dreams to take a backseat. Is reet riwaaj ne rol ditti har Heer, Sassi, Sohni (These rites and customs have crushed every Heer, Sassi and Sohni), Shafi raps. Heer, Sassi and Sohni are fabled female embodiment of love.

In a move that will fuel further political instability and unrest, the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) yesterday upped the ante by deciding to seek resignations of all its parliamentarians.  Addressing a news conference following an important meeting of the 11-party alliance here, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman also said there would be no dialogue with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government of Prime Minister Imran Khan. “All lawmakers of national and provincial assemblies will submit their resignations by December 31,” Rehman, flanked by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) vice-president Maryam Nawaz, said. Former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and ex-president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari also attended the meeting via video-link. Rehman reiterated that the opposition parties will hold a “historic rally” at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on December 13 and warned the PTI government against creating any hurdles. “Today, we reject Imran Khan’s offer of any dialogue and will not grant him any NRO,” said the PDM chief. NRO — or National Reconciliation Order — implies exemption from any accountability in the Pakistani political lexicon. He said the PDM’s steering committee meeting will be held today to decide the date of anti-government long march on the federal capital Islamabad. Besides, he said, the joint opposition will also hold protest demonstrations and give strike calls across the country. Responding to a question, Rehman said the government has been “shaken” by the PDM’s series of rallies and “now it only needs a final push to collapse”. Talking to the media in Lahore before leaving for Islamabad, Maryam Nawaz said the government was so scared that it had registered thousands of cases against party workers and supporters. The PML-N leader said she was not afraid of getting arrested and warned that even if she was detained the movement would be spearheaded by her supporters. Meanwhile, PTI stalwart and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi yesterday urged the PDM leadership against resigning from the parliament, saying they had become “emotional” and cautioned that the proposed resignations would not benefit democracy. Qureshi recalled that losing parties never accepted election results. “If the results of 2018 elections are unacceptable to you, then the 2013 election results were also not accepted by anyone,” the foreign minister remarked. The PTI itself had launched a popular movement following the elections in 2013, claiming that it had been heavily rigged.

Air pollution is a long-standing problem in Pakistan, but every October and November contaminates in the air in Punjab province shoot up as farmers burn rice stalks left behind after harvesting to clear their fields to plant wheat. During these cooler months, the provincial capital Lahore, which is surrounded by rice-growing districts, is covered with thick smog. “It is a health emergency — the air quality monitors in Lahore routinely show hazardous levels in November,” said Farah Rashid, a climate and energy programme co-ordinator for green group WWF-Pakistan. Now the Punjab government hopes to tackle the problem by providing 500 rice farmers around Lahore with a set of machines that together eliminate the need to burn crop stubble. The machines include a shredder that breaks down rice stubble and mulches it into the ground and a seed drill — called the Happy Seeder — that follows to sow wheat through the mulch. “It’s a useful technology,” said farmer Aaamer Hayat Bhandara, who has used both machines at a friend’s large farm, and has pushed the government to subsidise them. “These machines used together could really make life much easier for us farmers,” said Bhandara, from Pakpattan in Punjab province. Malik Amin Aslam, climate change adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, called air pollution a “silent killer” and said Lahore’s smog had increased in intensity and frequency over the last five years. He explained that rice farmers traditionally use combine harvesters to cut their rice in October, leaving behind about four inches of stubble. With less than two weeks before they have to ready their fields to sow wheat, burning is the fastest way to clear the land, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In Pakistan, rice is grown on an area of about 2 million hectares (5 million acres), mainly in the Punjab and Sindh provinces. Many of the fields are cleared by burning every year. In October and November, Lahore’s Air Quality Index level can jump to over 300, a number that the US Environmental Protection Agency says corresponds to a “health warning of emergency conditions”. Farmers say the new farm equipment can help combat smog, but note that crop burning produces only a small share of the province’s pollution. “The stubble is burned only for a few weeks in the winter. It is a fact that the problem becomes worse during this short period,” Bhandara said. “But farmers are not the only reason for this pollution,” he added. A 2018 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on the underlying causes of smog in Punjab noted that agriculture — mainly rice residue burning — accounts for 20% of total air pollutant emissions. That puts it behind industry, which produces a quarter of the air pollution in the province, and transport, which contributes more than 40%. Tackling air pollution — and leaving stubble on the soil as mulch, rather than burning it — also has the benefit of reducing carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. In India, where farmers have been using the rice stubble shredder and Happy Seeder for the past few years, a group of scientists published a report last year stating the technology could cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 78%. Ejaz Ahmad, an environmental expert with the Institute of Urbanism in Islamabad, said any efforts to curb air pollution will benefit Pakistanis. “The Happy Seeder seems like a useful machine,” he said. In Mandi Bahauddin district, where famed Basmati rice is grown, Mohamed Afzal, an agriculture officer at Punjab’s Government Agriculture Seed Farm, has been experimenting with the Happy Seeder for the past two years. “Stubble management is a serious issue for farmers,” said Afzal, who helps farmers adopt new farming techniques. Pakistan has penalties for rice stubble burning, including fines of up to Rs20,000  ($125) per acre — but most farmers have little other choice and simply continue the practice and pay the penalty when they are charged. But a growing number are looking for alternative solutions, Afzal said. The total cost for the stubble shredder and Happy Seeder is about Rs637,500 ($4,000), and the government this year is paying about 80% of the price for 500 farmers, he noted. “For those who can’t afford it, bigger farmers are willing to rent out the machines. In the future, more service providers will come up to rent them out,” Afzal said. One drawback to the machines, he noted, is the need to mount them on the back of a tractor — and not just any tractor will do. “It requires a large, 85-horsepower tractor,” he noted, something most rice farmers in Pakistan do not have. Bhandara, the farmer in Pakpattan, said the subsidised machines also are only available in certain districts around Lahore, in the so-called smog “red zone”. “The subsidised machines should be made available to rice farmers in South Punjab and Sindh as well, otherwise they are too expensive for most farmers,” he said. Despite the limitations, the Happy Seeder has proven so popular that the government has had 10 applicants for each of its 500 machines, according to Aslam, the climate change advisor. He said authorities are using a lottery system to decide who gets the subsidised equipment. The government has plans to expand the Happy Seeder programme next year and cover the whole of the Punjab rice belt by 2023, Aslam noted. In the meantime, he added, it is already working on a technology upgrade. “The agriculture extension department has developed a prototype to combine the two shredder (and) seeder machines into one ‘Pak Seeder’, which will be even more effective and efficient” — plus 30% cheaper, he said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan hit the unfollow on 19 Twitter handles on his official account recently.  Before the wipe-out, the last account that the premier had decided to unfollow was of journalist Hamid Mir, with rumoaurs rife among the netizens that the decision was taken amid scathing, and often sarcastic criticism of the government by the anchor. The others handles unfollowed by the PM also include organisations that he is heading himself such as his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital that he built in honour of his mother, and the Namal Institute Mianwali that he pioneered for the less privileged.  He also unfollowed fellow party leaders, including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Federal Education Minster Shafqat Mahmood and Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, as well as Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, former close aide Jahangir Khan Tareen and confidante late Naeem-ul-Haque. The prime minister has 12.9 million followers on the social micro-blogging site, the highest for any Pakistani in the world.

Leaders of the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) yesterday vowed to go ahead with the Lahore public meeting scheduled for December 13 despite the government warning of legal action. The statement comes a day before heads of PDM’s constituent parties meet in Islamabad to review arrangements for the Lahore rally and finalise a strategy for the next phase of its anti-government campaign. The opposition alliance has decided to move forward with the Lahore rally despite the government citing concerns about the risk of Covid-19 spreading and warning of legal action. Addressing a news conference here yesterday, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said the government had changed its tactics to try and stop the opposition from holding the rally. “The premier doesn’t realise that these things don’t stop rallies. Martial law used much harsher tactics but rallies and movements did not stop,” Kaira recalled. He added that the people of Pakistan were “fed up with the government and the country’s state of affairs. The time has come for them to go,” he said, adding that the government was “fascist”. “There used to be some back and forth in politics, but the mud-slinging and culture of swearing that they [government] have brought during their tenure has never been seen before,” he said. He added the PDM had reviewed the situation and formed committees to prepare for the upcoming rally.  Former Punjab law minister and Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah said the heads of the constituent parties will meet today and visit the site of the rally and deliberate over the preparations. “Hundreds of thousands of workers will participate in the Lahore rally. This requires complete arrangements. They cannot be addressed without a proper sound system.” He added it was the job of the Lahore deputy commissioner to talk about administrative measures, not the premier’s. In an interview with a private TV channel on Saturday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said the government would not grant permission to the opposition parties to hold their public meeting, but at the same time declared that it would not stop them from doing so. The PM had said cases would be registered against all those who facilitate the opposition in making arrangements for the public meetings in violation of the standard operating procedures to stop the spread of Covid-19. “We have decided not to give them (the opposition) permission to hold its public meeting. FIRs will be filed against those providing them with a sound system and chairs,” the premier had said during the interview. “They tried to stop us in Multan, but we still held the rally,” Sanaullah recalled. “When the government uses such tactics then the number of people that gather doesn’t matter. What matters is whether the rally was held or not.” He added that the government and its representatives should have felt “ashamed” after the Multan power show. “The jalsa (public meeting) will happen at any cost. People from across the province and the country will gather in Lahore and will express their dissatisfaction with the current government and will vow to put an end to the game that has been played for the last 70 years. The sanctity of the vote will have to be honoured.” Sanaullah stressed that the venue of the jalsa would not be changed at any cost. He added the PDM leadership had decided that at least 500 workers will be tasked with handling security and traffic arrangements. “Now if we give them a specific uniform or a cap, will they become a militia? This is ridiculous and a sign of the government’s panic. Our movement is peaceful,” he said. Meanwhile, addressing a large crowd at Lahore’s NA-128 constituency later in the day, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz called out the premier for saying he will “not provide chairs and tents” for the PDM’s rally. “Tell me, do you need chairs,” she asked a cheering crowd. Maryam also took the opportunity to invite the people of the city to the PDM’s upcoming rally. “The Lahoris will show their true colours. If this fake government stops you, will you stop? If permission for the rally is not given, will it not happen?” She added that she had very “high hopes” for the city of Lahore as it had given Pakistan a “son like Nawaz Sharif”. She said the Lahore rally will show the government that its days in power are numbered.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) of Islamabad is considering converting Pir Sohawa into a tourist spot which would become an alternative to Murree.  A number of restaurants and hotels will be established to attract tourists from within and outside the country as Pir Sohawa is one of the most scenic and peaceful areas of the country.  The decision was taken during a visit to the area by CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari. Ahmed termed Daman-i-Koh, Pir Sohawa and adjoining areas “a rare gift of God” for Islamabad. He issued instructions to various directorates to establish more hotels and restaurants for tourists in the area. He also directed them to pay special attention on the cleanliness of the area besides increasing the number of sanitation staff and installing additional bins.  The CDA chairman said it was the responsibility of the civic agency to take care of the greenery and ensure cleanliness of the area.  “This area has the status of a tourist destination not only for residents of the capital city but also for the whole country and abroad,” he said. Giving instructions to the Road Maintenance Department, he said work on repairing, carpeting and lane marking in Daman-i-Koh should be completed as soon as possible.  Officers of Road Maintenance, Sanitation, Environment, Streetlights and other departments were also present.  An official of the CDA added that Pir Sohawa is one of the most beautiful areas of the federal capital and most of the dignitaries visiting Islamabad were taken there. Pir Sohawa is a rapidly developing resort located on top of Margalla Hills. According to official website of the CDA, the Margallas are a series of hills located in the north of Islamabad. These hills are an excellent site for hiking. The best season to hike here is the mild winter months when there is less rain and the days are extremely pleasant. Interesting places here are Daman-i-Koh, Pir Sohawa, Gokeena, Mount Happiness and Loh-i-Dandi. The area is also home to a number of wild animals such as barking deer, Asiatic leopard, chinkara, red fox, leopard and jackals.

Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday said his government would not interrupt the public gatherings of the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), but warned legal action would be taken against organisers and facilitators as they were endangering lives of people in the face of a sharp spike in coronavirus cases and deaths. During an interview with Hum News, a private television, the PM reiterated that he could leave office but would not give the “looters and plunderers” an “NRO” — or National Reconciliation Order — a term which has gained currency in the Pakistani political lexicon over the last decade or so to signify a free pass over corruption.  “Whenever they (key opposition parties like the Pakistan Muslim League - N and Pakistan People’s Party), talked they tried to blackmail the government over their corruption cases as happened during Financial Action Task Force (FATF) legislation in parliament,” the prime minister said. The Financial Action Task Force is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering and terror financing. Pakistan is currently in the grey list and required to fulfil certain obligations to move out of the list. “I can leave my office, but cannot think of committing any treason with the country’ Khan stressed. To a question, he said the PDM leaders were holding their next public gathering in Lahore where the Covid-19 cases were sharply rising, with dozens of deaths. He said the government would not provide an opportunity to this ‘union of crooks’ to create political drama but strict action would be taken against the organisers who broke the laws. The prime minister said the government had decided against holding of public gatherings after an exponential rise in coronavirus cases. “We had given clear SOPs. Ulema (religious scholars) have been engaged whereas schools were also closed,” he maintained. Khan recalled that from his first day in power, the opposition wanted to blackmail his government by linking the (meeting of international commitments with regard to) FATF legislation with an NRO. “They brought 34 changes in National Accountability Bureau’s law which amounted to burying of the anti-graft law,” he added. For the last, 30 years, these two parties (PML-N and PPP) remained in power and framed cases against each other, he said, adding General (retired) Pervez Musharraf gave them an NRO, recalling how Swiss (corruption) cases were dropped against the PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardrai even after spending billions of rupees in prosecution of these graft cases. Musharraf, who was president back then, had settled for the NRO in exchange for the PPP support to ensure another term in office for himself.  “The country’s debt surged from Rs6,000 billion in 2008 to whopping Rs30,000 billion in 10 years. Musharraf gave them NROs to save his office,” he said. To a question, the prime minister said there should be no two different sets of law for the powerful and the common people. About his cases in the Supreme Court, he said he had submitted replies with all the required documents and money trail but on the other hand, these (past) corrupt rulers failed to even provide a single document to justify the amassing of ill-gotten wealth. About his vision of Naya (new) Pakistan, the prime minister said that he wanted the country to stand on its feet as it was blessed with huge potential and resources. About uniform curriculum in the country, he credited Minister for Federal Education Shafqat Mahmood for developing a consensus for such a system.

As the second wave of coronavirus pandemic continues to surge in the country, President Dr Arif Alvi has issued a declaration for the revival of the already-agreed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for collective prayers in mosques and imambargahs, it was learnt yesterday. The coronavirus causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease. The joint declaration was issued after a meeting with more than 86 clerics from the four mainstream schools of thought in the country – Barelvi, Shia, Deobandi and Ahle Hadis – who belong to all the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The meeting called upon the federal and provincial governments and the country’s political parties to adopt precautionary measures in view of the growing danger of coronavirus. December 4 (yesterday) was declared a day of prayer and awareness about coronavirus among the masses, with sermons and special prayers seeking forgiveness and protection from the coronavirus. The meeting, arranged by the ministry of religious affairs, asked religious scholars and prayer leaders to play their role effectively, as they did in the first wave of coronavirus, in preventing mass infections during the winter season. The meeting decided that the already-agreed 20-point SOPs would be preferably implemented at all gatherings, including collective prayers. The declaration issued by President Alvi after the meeting said that large gatherings should be avoided in functions at madrassas and shrines, Tableeghi congregations, Urs, Milad, Majalis, etc. The declaration asked religious leaders to forward the message through mosques, madrassas, shrines and imambargahs to the people, to abide by all precautionary and preventative measures regarding Covid-19. The declaration called upon the clerics to hold awareness sessions across the country; however, such forums have to be conducted under the supervision of the relevant officers of district administration, while observing the precautionary measures. Pakistan recorded 55 deaths due to the coronavirus, and 3,262 new cases in the last 24 hours, local media reported yesterday. The total death toll due to the disease has reached 8,260. As per details, 3,262 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours, with 3,354 recoveries. Of the new cases, 2,395 are in critical condition. The total number of infections in the country currently stands at 410,072. So far 350,305 people have recovered from the deadly disease. A total of 5,672,166 samples have been tested thus far. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has stated that cases in the five major cities of the country – Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Hyderabad and Peshawar – make up 70% of the countries caseload.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has proposed a 10-point agenda to the world community towards averting economic collapse in the developing countries due to the coronavirus pandemic. The highly-infectious coronavirus causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease. Addressing a special session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), he called for debt suspension till the end of the pandemic for low-income and most-stressed countries, cancellation of debt of the least-developed countries, restructuring of the public sector debt of developing countries, and a general allocation of special drawing rights of $500bn. The prime minister also proposed concessional financing to lower income countries through multilateral development banks, provision of loans at lower costs, fulfilment of the 0.7% official development assistance commitments, mobilising the required $1.5tn annual investment in sustainable infrastructure, mobilising $100bn per year for climate action in developing countries, and halting of illicit financial outflows from developing to rich countries. Khan stressed on the need for a collective response to recover from the coronavirus crisis and achieve sustainable development goals. Alluding to the effects of the pandemic, the prime minister said that the pandemic has infected more than 65mn people and caused the deaths of close to 1.5mn. He expressed hope that whenever the vaccine is available, it must be offered to everyone. Khan said that the pandemic has caused immense human suffering and the deepest global economic contraction since the great depression of the 1930s. In Pakistan, he said, we had a successful policy of smart lockdowns to control the coronavirus pandemic. The prime minister said that Pakistan’s efforts were aimed at ensuring that not only do are people saved from the coronavirus, but also from dying from hunger. Khan said that the government provided a relief package of around $8bn to support the poor and to keep the economy afloat. He said that so far the strategy has worked, but now the Pakistan government is confronted with a far more aggressive second wave of the coronavirus. The prime minister said that Pakistan is facing now the challenge of maintaining and reviving economic growth while dealing with the rising coronavirus caseload. Meanwhile, Information Minister Shibli Faraz has said that Prime Minister Khan’s proposal of the 10-point agenda at the UNGA speaks volume about his leadership qualities. In tweets yesterday, the minister said the prime minister has proven himself to be a voice for the poor, demanding in unambiguous terms the establishment of a Rs500bn fund and cancellation of loans of the poor countries, as well as recovery of plundered amount from corrupt politicians and criminals. Faraz claimed that Prime Minister Khan is the only world leader demanding equitable provision of vaccine to all the Covid-19-affected countries, adding that the world is emulating Pakistan’s successful strategy against the first wave of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Khan meanwhile had a conversation by telephone with the UK’s Prince Charles, exchanging views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest, including Covid-19, climate change, and biodiversity. Khan expressed condolence on the loss of lives in the UK due to Covid-19. He briefed Charles on steps taken by the Pakistan government to address the challenges of climate change, highlighting the launching of “Eco-System Restoration Initiative”, including the 10bn Tree Planting Project, as well as establishment of national parks under the Protected Areas Initiative. The prime minister extended an invitation to Charles and his wife, the duchess of Cornwall, to visit Pakistan.

Former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who served under military leader Pervez Musharraf, has died, his family announced. The 76-year-old died in Rawalpindi on Wednesday after having recently suffered a heart attack, his son Mir Mohamed Khan Jamali said. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was elected prime minister but with limited powers in November 2002, when then-president Musharraf allowed parliamentary elections to take place after taking power in a bloodless 1999 coup. Musharraf went on to rule the country until 2008, when he was forced to resign after pro-military parties lost parliamentary elections and the country transitioned back to a democracy. Jamali stepped down in the summer of 2004 after developing differences with the party leadership and with Musharraf, paving the way for one of his cabinet ministers, Shaukat Aziz, to fill the post until the parliamentary election in 2008. Hailing from an influential political family, Jamali was the first and only prime minister to come from the oil-and-gas-rich province of Balochistan. He was buried yesterday in his ancestral town of Rojhan Jamali. President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa have expressed their deep grief and sorrow over the Jamali’s death. “Saddened to hear of the passing of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. My condolences and prayers go to his family,” Prime Minister Khan wrote on Twitter. Jamali was a cool-headed politician who, even in the face of hostility, preached peace and avoided confrontation. Born in Rojhan Jamali on January 1, 1944, his early schooling was in Balochistan, followed by Lawrence College in Murree, and Aitchison College and Government College in Lahore. He received a master’s in history from the Government College in Lahore.

Pakistani short film, HOME1947 has won the Best Film [Short Documentary] Award at the South Asian Film Festival of Montréal 2020. The series by SOC Films is a deeply personal exploration of the lives and stories of the millions that were displaced in 1947 during the creation of two new independent states, India and Pakistan. According to a press release, the short recreates the long-lost sights and sounds of what millions once called home and explores this world not through the words of historians and politicians, but through the eyes of those who lived through it. In order to keep their stories alive for coming generations, several very diverse points of view are illuminated through documentary footage, voiceovers, historical archives and nostalgia. The films which are part of HOME1947 series that won the Best Film [Short Documentary] award at SAFFM 2020, include Ghosts of the Past, Midnight Fury, Khamosh Pani (Silent Water), Weaving Memories, Zameen and Dark Secrets.

The federal cabinet yesterday approved the grant of 150 million dollars to procure anti-Covid vaccine. This was announced by Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on National Health Dr Faisal Sultan along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz while giving details about decisions taken by the federal cabinet, which met in Islamabad yesterday. The Special Assistant said, for this purpose, few companies have been shortlisted, contacted and initial discussion has been started with them. He said in first phase of providing the vaccine, our priority will be healthcare workers and old age people who are most vulnerable to the virus. Commenting on the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement’s recent public rally in Multan, Faraz urged the opposition not to play with the lives of people for its personal gains as the second wave of coronavirus was peaking in the country. He said public rallies are banned to protect people from the coronavirus and we will deal with the violators legally instead of placing hard restrictions. The minister said the cabinet was apprised on the latest development of the Ravi and Bundal Island projects. It was informed that investors have expressed their full satisfaction on the steps taken for the development of construction sector by Prime Minister Imran Khan, therefore, they were willing to invest in these mega projects. He said the forum was informed that these projects were planned to keep the environment clean and attract foreign investment. Addressing the cabinet, the prime minister said the country needed to work seriously to contain spread of global pandemic. He felt it was unfortunate that while second wave was affecting the country the opposition was bent on holding rallies and playing with people’s lives. Meanwhile, in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in Islamabad, the city administration has imposed a ban on indoor dining in restaurants and hotels. In a tweet, Deputy Commissioner Mohamed Hamza Shafqaat announced the ban, adding the only dining out in an open area is allowed. He also said that restaurants were allowed to offer takeaway. All assistant commissioners and subdivisional magistrates would remain in the field to ensure the orders issued under the Epidemic Diseases Act in order to prevent further Covid infection, he added. So far, the capital has reported 30,748 coronavirus cases. It has also imposed a smart lockdown in several areas. Last week, Karachi had imposed a ban on indoor dining at restaurants and cafes amid the second wave of Covid-19. Pakistan has recorded 75 deaths due to coronavirus, the highest number of fatalities in last four months, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The NCOC stated that 2,829 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours while the death toll has reached 8,166. At least 2,079 patients have recovered from the virus and 2,244 patients are in critical condition. The total count of active cases increased up to 49,780.  The NCOC said that with fresh inclusion of the infections in the country, the national tally of cases now currently stands at 403,311. A total of 35,197 tests were conducted across the country during this period. 345,365 people have recovered from the deadly disease while 5,584,976 samples have been tested thus far.

Last Friday’s engagement of Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, daughter of late prime minister Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Zardari, was Pakistan’s glitterati event of the year. Of course, it would have invited much more fanfare had it not been for Covid-19 restrictions. To make sure the event was “safer” for most, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — the party of Pakistan’s most illustrious political family, the Bhuttos — conditioned the attendance of the invited guests to a Covid-19-negative certificate 24 hours prior to the function. How much of it was business-like can be gleaned that not even Bakhtawar’s brother, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who is the PPP chairperson, could make it because he himself is in isolation after contracting coronavirus. But this did not detract from the highlight of the show — Bakhtawar, the bride-to-be — and what she would be wearing.  Bakhtawar of course, draws much attention to herself for being the world’s first baby born to a sitting chief executive, her late mother and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in 1990. Daily Dawn reported there was plenty of conjecture surrounding what she would be wearing on her big day given there were no clues, images released from a designer’s atelier and BTS videos. And yet, when Bakhtawar uploaded her engagement portrait with her fiancé, under a glorious pink bougainvillea tree, fashion aficionados were quickly able to discern that her tea pink outfit, with an ornately embroidered shawl draped over it, was the work of designer Nida Azwer. The shawl, particularly, was quintessential Nida. The designer has always had a penchant for luxurious shawls with miniature Mughal scenes etched out on them with the daintiest hand embroideries.  Bakhtawar had her own particular vision regarding how she wanted her engagement shawl to be, taking it beyond Nida’s usual Mughal scenery. “It was all very exciting for me as a designer because I was creating a detailed bespoke piece,” says Nida. “Bakhtawar particularly wanted her mother to be a part of her day and we sat and decided how she wanted the shawl to be. I had to research a lot and look at the pictures that she provided me with, creating detailed sketches before translating them with cloth and thread.” Describing the shawl, Nida says, “The shawl has two pallus, telling two different stories. One side is embroidered with images from Bakhtawar’s past; her parents’ wedding day with her mother sitting on one side and her father on the other, she and her siblings playing in children’s push-cars, an image of her grandmother, a desk with Pakistan’s flag on it, a study with books on the shelves, Bakhtawar with her cellphone and McDonald’s fries and nuggets perhaps because she and her siblings used to like eating them! The other side of the shawl captures Bakhtawar’s current life and her future; how she met her fiancé, how he proposed, her home, her garden, her pet dogs.” “And then, the central panel is etched with the sun and the sky, with beautiful bids flying on it, holding together the two sides to Bakhtawar’s world.” So how did Nida end up dressing Bakhtawar Bhutto on one of the biggest days of her life? “She approached me,” she states simply. “I have dressed her sister before. It takes a certain kind of person to forego bling and opt for a design that is entirely based on craft. I think Bakhtawar is like that, she enjoys fine detailing.”

The coronavirus positivity ratio in Pakistan fell to 6% yesterday, according to data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). However, 67 more deaths were reported from coronavirus, which is the highest single-day toll since July. Last week, the positivity rate across the country reached its highest level of 7.46%. The NCOC stated that the highest positivity rate was reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Mirpur district at 20.62%, followed by Peshawar at 19.58%, Hyderabad at 19.3%, Karachi at 13.86%, Abbottabad at 11.21%, Quetta at 10.76% and Multan at 10.66%. On November 30, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said that the NCOC had finalised its recommendations for procurement of coronavirus vaccine. The government allocated initial funds of $150 million to buy a Covid-19 vaccine directly from international manufacturers by the second quarter of 2021. It hopes to start immunising its 220 million population soon.  NCOC data showed that the virus claimed 67 lives in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 8,091. The country’s fatality rate stands at 2% against the global mortality mean rate of 2.3%. With 2,458 new infections, the country’s total climbed to 400,484. There are 49,105 active cases in the country, out of which 2,165 are critically ill and 282 on ventilators. At least 343,286 have recovered from the virus. The number of new cases began trending higher over six weeks, with health experts and authorities warning that the second wave may hit harder than the first if SOPs are not followed. Since the pandemic reached Pakistan earlier this year, a total of 5,549,779 PCR tests have been conducted across the country — 40,969 tests in the past 24 hours only. With the pandemic progressively getting worse in Pakistan, the government has placed fresh restrictions across the country to prevent the spread of the virus during its second wave. Following recommendations by the NCOC, the federal government has made face masks mandatory in public spaces, limited large public gatherings to 300, banned indoor weddings, closed shrines, cinemas, and theatres, and instructed public and private offices to adopt work-from-home policy and 50% occupancy. The federal government also announced that educational institutes will remain closed from November 26 to January 10. The students will study at home or get weekly homework till December 24 and winter vacations will start December 25. The schools will reopen on January 11 subject to coronavirus situation then.

Collaboration in the film industry has the potential to elevate people-to-people co-operation and understanding between Pakistan and China, a Beijing-based Pakistani analyst told Chinese media CGTN Digital after two movies from her country made headlines in China last month. The analyst said the co-operation and understanding between the two sides have already been consolidated by the joint projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), such as the recently completed Orange Line Metro train service in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore. On November 13, Parwaaz Hai Junoon (Flight is Passion) became the first Pakistani movie to be commercially released in the Chinese mainland in over three decades. A Pakistani short film Amity Along the Orange Line was among the entries that were applauded at the Second Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) Short Video Competition award ceremony in Wuhan on November 20. “I think movies are critical and vital. We’ve been talking about it for years. And this is definitely a historic moment,” said Zoon Ahmed Khan, a research scholar at the Institute of Belt and Road Initiative, Tsinghua University. The researcher said following the launch of CPEC, more Pakistanis are living in China, and many Chinese are living in Pakistan but there is still a big scope for both sides to learn about each other through the strengthen people-to-people linkages. “People’s sentiments in both countries are extremely warm and reciprocal but at the same time there exists a lack of awareness about each other’s culture,” said the scholar, adding films are the most effective way to offer a true picture of what normal people go through; what their lives are; about their history, their preferences, food, etc.  Amity Along the Orange Line depicts the joy of Pakistani people at the completion of the Orange Line of Lahore Metro, a project built with Chinese partnership as part of the CPEC under BRI. The Orange Line, which went operational on October 25, is Pakistan’s first metro rail system. “Lahore is the second largest city in the country. The infrastructure projects under CPEC are critical and vital for the overall development of the country,” said Khan, stressing that the metro project will solve the traffic congestion issues of the city besides creating new jobs. Parwaaz Hai Junoon is the first Pakistani movie to be commercially released in the Chinese mainland in over three decades. Khan has already watched Parwaaz Hai Junoon twice with her Chinese and Pakistani friends in Beijing. One of the highlights of the movie is that it features the JF-17 fighter jets jointly manufactured by China and Pakistan. “It is a very patriotic movie. It shows young people who are passionate about making a positive change. This is something that the Chinese people connected with,” Khan said. “The comments on Chinese social media apps, and also my friends who watched it, showed how amazed they were at the beautiful sceneries — the magnificent glaciers, mountains, and even the greenery, etc.,” the Pakistani researcher added. Before Parwaaz Hai Junoon, the 2017 romance film Chalay Thay Saath (We Walked Together) became the first Pakistani film to be screened in Hong Kong, but it never made it to the Chinese mainland. The film features Chinese Canadian actor Kent S Leung as a Chinese traveller who falls in love with a Pakistani girl. Only a handful of Pakistani movies have hit the theatres in China ever. The 1956 film Baaghi (Rebel) — supposedly based on a Chinese folktale — is believed to be the first of the lot. It was screened in China in the 1960s. The 1975 romantic drama Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat (My Name is Love) is another prominent Pakistani movie that saw a limited release in China. Up until the 1970s, Pakistan had a thriving film industry, popularly called Lollywood, a portmanteau of the industry’s hub in Lahore and Hollywood. From the production of 100 films annually in the 1970s, it nosedived sharply to just 20 films in 2018. The Chinese film industry, in contrast, came almost to a standstill from 1967 to 1972 during the Cultural Revolution and took off again after the country embraced liberalisation in 1979. In recent years, China has transformed itself into one of the global hubs of movie production and the world’s largest film market. Access to China’s vast film market can be a game-changer for Pakistan’s fledgling film industry and is key for its revival, said the scholar, pointing out that it is not easy to enter the Chinese market because there is only a limited number of foreign movies that can be released every year. “This is one aspect that we need to focus on,” she said, hoping that joint productions with China may be one way to gain a foothold. Khan is hopeful that future joint productions could be filmed in Pakistan to take advantage of its natural and diverse locations. Khan also felt that the Pakistani people’s inherent interest in China could also make the South Asian country of 212 million a viable market for Chinese movies. “Pakistanis are interested in knowing more about Chinese culture. So, for Chinese films to enter Pakistani cinemas is relatively easier.” She contended that releasing Chinese movies dubbed in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, and vice versa, will be an idea worth a shot as people “are more comfortable in the local languages.”