Important to 'dream big', says PM Imran at ground-breaking of Lahore waterfront project

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that it was important to "dream big" to achieve great things in life.

The prime minister was addressing the ground-breaking ceremony in Lahore of the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project.

"Standing here, I feel like the Naya Pakistan that we dream of, I can see it today," he said.

PM Imran said people are always questioning where the Naya Pakistan they were promised is, but it must be understood that when past rulers leave a country deep in debt, belt-tightening measures have to be pursued and tough times as a consequence are only natural.

"This does not mean that you diminish the scope of your dreams.

"Anyone who every accomplished anything was not because of his capabilities, or how educated he was, or how rich, but because he dreamt big," the premier told the gathering.

Referring to Edmund Hillary — the first man to scale Mount Everest — he said that it is the dream that takes people far.

He further quoted the saying: "Do not judge a person by what he is but what he aspires to be."

The prime minister said we do not recognise our full potential because we have a very limited view of things.

"Our thinking is such that when we come into power, we make our sugar mills, put up factories, make money and purchase homes in London and that's the extent of it.

"Big thinkers are like Mahathir Mohammad. He has made a new city in Malaysia and it worth seeing. Their capital was made by Mahathir Mohammad. When he was starting out, people told him he would fail. Look at what he has achieved. Any big achievement always starts out as a dream," the prime minister said.

He said when he learnt of the Ravi project and how it had been planned since long before. "I know why it did not succeed. Because the people who had envisioned it, did not have their country as their number one priority. Their number one priority was amassing their own wealth."

 

 

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Islamic finance important to end exploitation: Alvi

President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday said Islamic banking and finance offered a broad-based platform to end economic exploitation and stressed its implementation to uplift underprivileged segments of society.

Addressing at the 10th ceremony of Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA), he said fairness, equality, transparency and pursuit of social harmony constituted the principles of Islamic financing.

He also called for focusing on Islamic principles to prevent concentration of wealth in the society and eliminate exploitation by discouraging elitism.

Dr Alvi said Islamic finance contributed $2.7 trillion globally, however the size of the sector was much much less than conventional banking.

He appreciated that 17 per cent of Pakistan’s banks had turned to Shariah-compliant instruments and commended the role of the State Bank of Pakistan and Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan in this regard.

He stressed the need for raising public awareness about Islamic finance, particularly the spirit leading towards its positive impact on society due to far bigger scope than just being limited to money lending.

He said a justified profit-making and setting a suitable limit to avoid exploitation was a real challenge for banks.

President Alvi called for keeping in view the factors such as inflation while lending money to consumers, and mentioned the example of China which promoted white money through simplified system based on transparent scientific modules.

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UN begins annual meetings with Kashmir on agenda

The annual meetings of the United Nations began in New York on Monday with Kashmir on the agenda as an unresolved dispute.

In doing so, the world body ignored India’s efforts to remove the 72-year old issue from the UN Security Council’s agenda for this year. The council’s Resolution 47, which calls for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, was adopted on April 21, 1948.

In his speech to the 75th UN General Assembly (UNGA), Prime Minister Imran Khan “will once again project the cause of the Kashmiri people and call for international action to end India’s massive human rights violations,” said Munir Akram, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN.

The prime minister will also seek the undoing of illegal measures that India has imposed in Kashmir since Aug 5, 2019, when it forcibly merged the occupied territory with the union, he added.

Mr Khan will address the UNGA on Sept 25 and will also participate in a high-level meeting on Illicit Financing and the Summit on Biodiversity. All these are virtual events as the Covid-19 pandemic has prevented world leaders from physically attending the 75th UNGA.

Since the illegal merger, India has been continuously trying to get the Kashmir issue removed from the council’s agenda, but Pakistan has successfully thwarted its moves.

The Security Council’s agenda is set in accordance with the established rules and procedures and can only be changed by a consensus. A member state cannot change the agenda unilaterally.

“We hope the General Assembly will uphold the right of self-determination and that human rights bodies will demand access to investigate India’s violations,” Ambassador Akram said.

Besides Kashmir, Pakistan will also work with other Muslim countries to get decisions that denounce Islamophobia and protect Islamic religious sites.

Pakistan will also join other developing nations to promote their objectives in finance, debt relief, infrastructure investment and science and technology, Ambassador Akram said. Pakistan presently holds the Presidency of the UN Economic and Social Council.

“The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism,” is the theme for the 75th session of the UN.

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China coronavirus vaccine may be ready for public in November: official

Coronavirus vaccines being developed in China may be ready for use by the general public as early as November, an official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

China has four Covid-19 vaccines in the final stage of clinical trials. At least three of those have already been offered to essential workers under an emergency use programme launched in July.

Phase 3 clinical trials were proceeding smoothly and the vaccines could be ready for the general public in November or December, CDC chief biosafety expert Guizhen Wu said in an interview with state TV late on Monday.

 

Wu, who said she has experienced no abnormal symptoms in recent months after taking an experimental vaccine herself in April, did not specify which vaccines she was referring to.

A unit of state pharmaceutical giant China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and US-listed Sinovac Biotech are developing the three vaccines under the state's emergency use programme. A fourth Covid-19 vaccine being developed by CanSino Biologics was approved for use by the Chinese military in June.

Sinopharm said in July that its vaccine could be ready for public use by the end of this year after the conclusion of Phase 3 trials.

Global vaccine makers are racing to develop an effective vaccine against the virus which has killed more than 928,000 people. Leading Western vaccine makers pledged earlier this month to uphold scientific study standards and reject any political pressure to rush the process.

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Motorway gang-rape suspect Shafqat Ali remanded in police custody

A sessions court on Tuesday granted six-day physical remand of Shafqat Ali, one of the two prime suspects in the Lahore motorway gang rape case.

Additional Sessions Judge Misbah Khan handed over the custody of the suspect to police for six days for investigation. Shafqat, who confessed to his crime, was brought to the court amid tight security with his face covered with a piece of cloth.

The police incorporated Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in the case, which means that it will now be heard by an anti-terrorism court and not an ordinary court.

Shafqat, one of the two men believed to be the culprits of the gang rape on Lahore-Sialkot motorway last week was arrested yesterday and he confessed to his crime. Whereas, Abid Ali is still at large and is expected to be arrested soon.

Read more: Motorway gang rape suspect Waqar surrenders before Lahore police

Earlier today, Police arrested a close associate of Abid Ali, the prime suspect in the Lahore motorway gang-rape case during a raid in Chichawatni. Bala Mistri was the owner of the auto workshop where Shafqat and Abid Ali used to work.

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Motorway gang-rape suspect Shafqat Ali remanded in police custody

A sessions court on Tuesday granted six-day physical remand of Shafqat Ali, one of the two prime suspects in the Lahore motorway gang rape case.

Additional Sessions Judge Misbah Khan handed over the custody of the suspect to police for six days for investigation. Shafqat, who confessed to his crime, was brought to the court amid tight security with his face covered with a piece of cloth.

The police incorporated Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in the case, which means that it will now be heard by an anti-terrorism court and not an ordinary court.

Shafqat, one of the two men believed to be the culprits of the gang rape on Lahore-Sialkot motorway last week was arrested yesterday and he confessed to his crime. Whereas, Abid Ali is still at large and is expected to be arrested soon.

Read more: Motorway gang rape suspect Waqar surrenders before Lahore police

Earlier today, Police arrested a close associate of Abid Ali, the prime suspect in the Lahore motorway gang-rape case during a raid in Chichawatni. Bala Mistri was the owner of the auto workshop where Shafqat and Abid Ali used to work.

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Educational institute in Islamabad sealed after coronavirus cases surface

An educational institute in Islamabad has been sealed after the emergence of novel coronavirus case, confirmed National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday.

As per details shared by the NCOC, the institution was sealed after surfacing of 16 coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, the contact tracing is currently underway to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

Schools, colleges and universities across Pakistan have been reopened today, ending a nearly six-month-long closure due to coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier in the day, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood had said that the federal authorities would assist the educational institutions for conducting coronavirus tests wherever it is required.

Shafqat Mahmood, while talking to journalists during a visit to a government school in the federal capital, had urged the administration of educational centres for strict implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs).

We are monitoring every school while transport services for students would also be monitored. There are around 215 universities in the country and almost every university has a hostel.”

“Such education centres would be closed after a warning over violation of SOPs as it is very important to maintain safety guidelines to stop the spread of the virus.”

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