Tarin to continue as adviser on finance till Senate election: sources

Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin will continue to work as an adviser to the prime minister on finance till he becomes a senator as his tenure as the finance minister will come to an end on October 16.

The finance minister only has a few days to get elected as a senator — a prerequisite to continue as finance minister — as the six-month time limit to elect him a member of the Parliament is going to expire on October 16, 2021.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had appointed Tarin as the finance minister in a federal cabinet reshuffle, replacing Hammad Azhar — only a few weeks after he was given the portfolio.

Once the finance minister's six-month term ends, as per law, Tarin will not be able to chair the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and other cabinet committees.

To keep Tarin on board, the prime minister has started consultations with party leaders, and sources say that the premier might opt for a seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to get him elected to the Senate.

Once Tarin has been elected as a senator, he will get his finance ministry portfolio back, sources added.

Earlier, commenting on his fate as the time-limit for electing him a member of the Parliament was nearing, Tarin had said that he was going nowhere as he had full faith that PM Imran Khan would elect him as a senator.

The minister had also confirmed that he was scheduled to visit Washington DC to attend the annual meeting of the IMF/World Bank from Oct 12, 2021. Now the government would have to elect him before his departure for attending IMF/WB meetings outside the country.

The government had de-seated Ishaq Dar intending to elect Tarin to this vacant seat but the matter had ended up in the court. Tarin’s close aides had said that he might be elected to the Senate in the first 10 days of October.

It is pertinent to mention here that the finance minister's name was also mentioned in the recent exposé on offshore companies held by powerful individuals across the world, including Pakistani politicians, "Pandora Papers".

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Irresponsible statements being issued against state institutions: Sheikh Rasheed

Lashing out at PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, the interior minister Thursday cautioned Opposition leaders from uttering "irresponsible statements" against state institutions.

"Individuals represent institutions," said Sheikh Rasheed. "You don't become a corps commander without performing duties at tough terrains such as mountains and deserts," he said, speaking of former DG ISI Faiz Hameed.

Reacting to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's earlier statement on reconciling with the PML-N's opponents for maintaining the rule of law in the country, the interior minister said the "ship has sailed".

Speaking about the NAB ordinance approved by the prime minister, Rasheed said it was a "legal step taken to remove objections raised by people and the business community."

He said it was a "calculated step" by the government, reiterating that it had been taken to facilitate people.

When asked why he was kept out of the loop on the government's discussions with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Rasheed said it was Pakistan's wish that Afghanistan's soil would not be used for subversive activities.

"No talks, as per my knowledge, have taken place yet [between the government and the TTP]," he stated.

Speaking about the General Elections 2023, Rasheed said only two years are left in the government's constitutional tenure, adding it plans to spend the six months of its rule in electioneering campaigning.

However, he predicted that a "new alignment between the PPP and the PML-N" would emerge for the next elections.

"I am Imran Khan's companion; I came with him and will also go with him," he added.

In response to a question, Rasheed said it "has been proven" that India had a hand in New Zealand's last-minute withdrawal from Pakistan. "I am saying this to you after a thorough verification. The security personnel that we deployed for the New Zealand team were more in number than the soldiers in their army."

He said 8,000 security personnel were deployed to keep the New Zealand team safe while "they [New Zealand Army] are only 7,800 in number".

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Rabi ul Awal moon sighted, Eid Milad un Nabi to fall on October 19

The moon for the holy month of Rabi ul Awal has been sighted in Pakistan, with the Eid Milad un Nabi (PBUH) falling on October 19.

The development came after Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad chaired the meeting of the zonal committee at the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Kohsar Block, Pak Secretariat in Islamabad.

The rest of the zonal/ district committees met at their respective provincial/ district headquarters. Quoting astronomical considerations, Azad had said the chances of sighting the new crescent Thursday evening were "very bright".

The new crescent was born on crossing conjunction point at 6:06 Pakistan Standard Time (PST) on Wednesday.

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6.1 magnitude earthquake jolts Tokyo and surroundings

Tokyo and its suburbs were jolted by a strong earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.1 late on Thursday, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported.

It registered a tremor of "5 plus" on Japan's own scale of quake intensity, a level that could cause some damage to buildings and cause power cuts. Several bullet train lines were halted due to the quake, the broadcaster said.

Initial information from the JMA put the epicentre of the quake in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, and said it struck at 10:41pm (1341 GMT) with a depth of 80 kilometres. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The quake was comparatively strong compared to recent quakes in Tokyo, which like much of Japan regularly experiences seismic activity.

Newly elected Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a tweet urged residents to "please take action to save lives while checking the latest information."

The country is regularly hit by quakes and has strict construction regulations intended to ensure buildings can withstand strong tremors.

Last week, a 6.1-magnitude quake struck off Japan´s northwestern coast, also causing no damage.

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NCOC to contact people avoiding Covid vaccination

While over 87 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered across the country, the National Com­mand and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday decided to approach unvaccinated people and convince them to get themselves vaccinated.

Main target will be the districts which are lagging behind others in terms of percentage of vaccinated population.

Meanwhile, it has been observed that the lowest number of Covid-19 cases was reported during the last three months and national positivity rate remained at 2.6 per cent.

In a statement, the NCOC said that it had devised a comprehensive plan with the collaboration of the National Database and Registration Authority and district administrations to target tehsils which were lagging behind others in terms of vaccination.

“By using the information technology, unvaccinated people will be traced and approached to convince them for vaccination. The goal is to ensure that maximum number of people are vaccinated at the earliest,” it stated.

The NCOC urged masses to get themselves vaccinated so that the country would return to normalcy.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services, who is not authorised to speak on record, hoped that majority of people would not avoid vaccination if they were approached by district administrations and maybe by police at a later stage.

“It is psyche of the people that they immediately follow the instructions if they come to know that district administration and police are keeping an eye on them. It will help us increase the number of vaccinated people,” he said.

The data of the NCOC shows that over 62 million people have been partially vaccinated and over 31m fully vaccinated. A number of people were vaccinated out of the country and registered in Pakistan.

The NCOC data shared on Wednesday showed that 1,212 persons were infected and 39 died due to complications caused by infection in a single day.

Moreover, the number of active cases was 44,828 and 3,212 patients were admitted to hospitals across the country as of Oct 6.

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Irresponsible statements being issued against state institutions: Sheikh Rasheed

Lashing out at PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, the interior minister Thursday cautioned Opposition leaders from uttering "irresponsible statements" against state institutions.

"Individuals represent institutions," said Sheikh Rasheed. "You don't become a corps commander without performing duties at tough terrains such as mountains and deserts," he said, speaking of former DG ISI Faiz Hameed.

Reacting to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's earlier statement on reconciling with the PML-N's opponents for maintaining the rule of law in the country, the interior minister said the "ship has sailed".

Speaking about the NAB ordinance approved by the prime minister, Rasheed said it was a "legal step taken to remove objections raised by people and the business community."

He said it was a "calculated step" by the government, reiterating that it had been taken to facilitate people.

When asked why he was kept out of the loop on the government's discussions with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Rasheed said it was Pakistan's wish that Afghanistan's soil would not be used for subversive activities.

"No talks, as per my knowledge, have taken place yet [between the government and the TTP]," he stated.

Speaking about the General Elections 2023, Rasheed said only two years are left in the government's constitutional tenure, adding it plans to spend the six months of its rule in electioneering campaigning.

However, he predicted that a "new alignment between the PPP and the PML-N" would emerge for the next elections.

"I am Imran Khan's companion; I came with him and will also go with him," he added.

In response to a question, Rasheed said it "has been proven" that India had a hand in New Zealand's last-minute withdrawal from Pakistan. "I am saying this to you after a thorough verification. The security personnel that we deployed for the New Zealand team were more in number than the soldiers in their army."

He said 8,000 security personnel were deployed to keep the New Zealand team safe while "they [New Zealand Army] are only 7,800 in number".

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Pinterest to roll out new ad features to drive online shopping

Pinterest will roll out new ad features for brands to promote their products and ideas to users in an effort to grow online shopping on its site, said the digital pinboard company Wednesday.

The features come as social media rivals including Facebook, TikTok and Snap Inc compete for the lucrative e-commerce market with in-app shopping or virtual clothing try-ons.

Brands can now upload their product catalogues and Pinterest will automatically pull items into a slideshow advertisement that will be tailored to users based on their interests, the company said.

The feature will make it easier for advertisers to have video ads, which can be time-consuming to produce, said Julie Towns, global head of ads product marketing at Pinterest.

"We want to drive that attention-grabbing aspect that video has," she said.

Even as other tech giants enter e-commerce, Pinterest's advantage is users come to the app with a shopping mindset and to "plan their future," said Jon Kaplan, Pinterest's chief revenue officer.

The site has become widely known as the place where users can save ideas for topics such as weddings, home decor or recipes.

Pinterest will also introduce an ad format to facilitate companies and content creators working together on paid partnerships. For example, a creator can make a video post about a dessert recipe, and a baking brand can pay to promote that ad to more users.

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