Islamabad, June 04: Rising fuel prices have taken a toll on the general public. Similarly, a man from neighboring Pakistan has made a shocking demand over rising fuel prices that everyone is upset.
Apart from cars and bikes, this person has asked permission from his boss to use donkey to travel to office. The post of this Pakistani man on social media has gone viral.
According to the information that has come to light, the person to make such a demand is an employee of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. As petrol and diesel prices have skyrocketed in the country, the employees have demanded to come to the office in a donkey cart. He has also said that he will set a new example in this regard.
A government official has written to the head of the civil aviation department asking for permission to come to the office on a donkey rather than a private vehicle. “We can’t afford any other type of vehicle now,” he said. He has also asked for permission to use a donkey cart at the airport. The letter went viral on social media and soon after it came to light. Users also started giving different reactions to it. Some have opened their minds to say that it is now impossible to use private vehicles due to rising petrol and diesel prices. Some have praised the employee’s idea, while others have said it was just a stunt.
According to Pakistani media, the employee concerned is identified as Raja Asif Iqbal and works at Islamabad International Airport. In his letter, he said that inflation has broken the backbone not only of the poor but also of the middle class. He has said that it is difficult to use his private vehicle now. He has asked for permission to use a donkey cart at the airport. Petrol price in Pakistan has gone up to Rs 200 per liter. Diesel is also on the verge of reaching Rs 200.
MAKKAH: Following the official beginning of Hajj 1443 / 2022 season from June 1st, 2022, countries are completing preparations to begin sending Hujjaj for this years’ Hajj.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced earlier that up to 1 million pilgrims will participate in the annual pilgrimage from around the world after a hiatus of 2 years.
Indonesia and Malaysia will be the first countries to send Hujjaj starting on June 4th followed by India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Flight operations are expected to be continued until early Dhul Hijjah 1443.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is yet announce the mechanism of registration for Hujjaj from many countries including the US, UK and several others. The Ministry began the registration of Pilgrims from within the Kingdom on Friday (June 3rd).
United Nations: A change in the name of the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) magazine “suggests a refocusing” of the militant group from Afghanistan to Kashmir, a UN report has said. The 13th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2611 (2021) concerning the Taliban and other associated individuals and entities constituting a threat to the peace stability and security of Afghanistan was released on Saturday. The report said that being subordinate to the Al-Qaeda core, the AQIS is maintaining a low profile in Afghanistan, where the majority of its fighters are located. AQIS is reported to have 180 to 400 fighters, with estimates by member states inclining toward the lower figure. “Fighters included nationals from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan and were located in Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimruz, Paktika and Zabul Provinces. It also added that AQIS capabilities are assessed as “still weakened from losses as a result of the October 2015 joint United States-Afghan raid in Kandahar’s Shorabak district. AQIS has also been forced by financial constraints to adopt a less aggressive posture. As with Al-Qaeda core, new circumstances in Afghanistan may allow the group to reorganise itself. The 2020 name change of the AQIS magazine from Nawa-i Afghan Jihad to Nawa-e-Gazwah-e-Hind suggests a refocusing of AQIS from Afghanistan to Kashmir. The magazine reminded its readers that al-Zawahiri had called for jihad in Kashmir following the Da’esh Sri Lanka attacks of April 2019, the report said, nine months after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August last year. In the report, member states also reported that interdictions of Afghan-origin drugs have increased significantly in the second half of 2021, suggesting less effective counter-narcotics efforts within Afghanistan or heightened activity in anticipation of a ban. “Three tonnes of Afghan-origin heroin were seized in India in September 2021. One member state reported that smuggling via the Islamic Republic of Iran to Turkey and Europe has increased by up to 50 per cent since the Taliban assumed power. It said the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) concentrated their attacks on the Taliban after the August 15 takeover of Afghanistan but their activity declined towards the end of 2021, possibly because of the winter weather. Neither ISIL-K nor Al-Qaeda is believed to be capable of mounting international attacks before 2023 at the earliest, regardless of their intent or of whether the Taliban acts to restrain them. But their presence, and the presence of many other terrorist groups and fighters on Afghan soil, gives cause for concern to the neighbouring member states and the wider international community, the report said. It added that the larger strategic direction of ISIL-K whether they mean to focus on Afghanistan or prioritize the revival of an external operational capability is unclear. Regardless of ISIL-K (and Al-Qaeda) intent, it will take time to achieve such a capability. Member States expect no attacks directed from Afghanistan until 2023 at the earliest, although cross-border attacks remain a possibility. The 13th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the Taliban Sanctions Committee is the first one since the August 15 takeover of Kabul by the Taliban. It notes that the period between then and April 2022 has seen the Taliban consolidate control over Afghanistan, appointing 41 United Nations-sanctioned individuals to the Cabinet and other senior-level positions in their de facto administration. They have favoured loyalty and seniority over competence, and their decision-making has been opaque and inconsistent. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti, in his capacity as Chair of the Taliban Sanctions Committee, also known as the 1988 Sanctions Committee, transmitted the report to be “brought to the attention of the members of the Security Council and issued as a document of the Council.” The report notes that the relationship between Al-Qaeda and the Taliban remains close and is underscored by the presence, both in Afghanistan and the region, of Al-Qaeda’s core leadership and affiliated groups, such as Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. The report notes that the core Al-Qaeda leadership under Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri is reported to remain in Afghanistan, more specifically, the eastern region from Zabul Province north towards Kunar and along the border with Pakistan. Since August 2021, al-Zawahiri has appeared in eight videos. Alluding to the hijab row in India, the report said that in the most recent such video of al-Zawahiri, released on April 5, by Al-Qaeda’s As-Sahab Media Foundation, al-Zawahiri references the defiance of an Indian Muslim female in front of men protesting the hijab, an event that went viral in early February 2022. The video provided the first conclusive current proof of life for al-Zawahiri in recent years. The pace of recent communications suggests that he may be able to lead more effectively than was possible before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, it said. Member State estimates of ISIL-K strength range between 1,500 and 4,000 fighters, concentrated in remote areas of Kunar, Nangarhar and possibly Nuristan Province. Smaller covert cells are thought to be present in the northern provinces of Badakhshan, Faryab, Jowzjan, Kunduz and Takhar. Geographical distance and ethnic differences (Afghan and Pakistani Pashtuns in the east and ethnic Tajik and Uzbeks in the north) may mean that various ISIL-K presences around Afghanistan struggle to coordinate with each other, as has been the case historically. PTI
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India have been engaged in “back channel” talks in order to break the stalemate in the relationship between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, according to official sources familiar with the development.
Relations between the two countries have remained strained for years now and taken a turn for the worse in August 2019, when India unilaterally revoked the special status of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region.
Since then the diplomatic ties have been downgraded, bilateral trade suspended and there has been no structured dialogue. But even before the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took charge, the two countries were talking to each other, albeit quietly.
Those contacts have led to the renewal of the ceasefire understanding in February 2021 and since then the truce is holding, with no major incident of ceasefire violation. But the process could not lead to a breakthrough in terms of resumption of dialogue between the two countries.
Since the new government came to power in Islamabad, there has been a renewed push by the two sides to find some way out. “Call it back channels, Track-II or behind-the-scene talks, I can only confirm that relevant people in both countries are in touch with each other,” an official source said.
The source, however, said that he did not have the exact details of those contacts, adding that it was precisely the purpose of “back channels” to keep the discussions under wraps, until something tangible had been decided.
Chances of an immediate breakthrough are slim given the political uncertainty in Pakistan and tough preconditions attached by both sides for any resumption of dialogue.
Prime Minister Shehbaz in his maiden address to the nation on Friday asked India to reverse the August 5, 2019 actions so that both sides could engage in talks for the resolution of all outstanding issues, including Kashmir.
India, the sources said, is inclined to the re-engagement but reluctant to offer something that would help Pakistan resume the dialogue.
“Our policy is clear. We want to engage with everyone, including India,” said a senior member of the coalition government, while requesting anonymity. The government functionary, however, was sceptical if the hardline Narendra Modi government could show any flexibility on the issue of Kashmir.
The sources said that the Western powers, including the United States and the UK, were also pushing for defusing tension and opening some formal channels of communications between the two South Asian neighbours.
India is said to be eager to first resume trade and then other ties with Pakistan. New Delhi is willing to meet wheat shortage of Pakistan by entering into a government-to-government agreement.
India is one of the top 3 wheat producers in the world and Pakistan this season plans to import 4 million metric tons of wheat to meet its domestic shortage. Pakistan could import wheat from India on a much lower cost, given the less transportation and other logistic charges.
Pakistan is currently talking to Russia to import at least 2 million tons of wheat. The commodity price in the global market has shot due to Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, Pakistani officials are ruling out the possibility of importing wheat from India given the current status of bilateral ties.
In March 2021 Pakistan was about to partially restore trade ties with India, when the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved the import of sugar and cotton from India. However, the proposal was shot down by the federal cabinet later, stating that no normal business with India would be conducted unless New Delhi restored the special status of Kashmir.
Those who favour the resumption of trade with India believe that this may lead to dialogue on Kashmir. But others say that normalising trade and commercial ties with India without seeking reversal of August 2019 actions would weaken Pakistani stance. ( The Express Tribune)
Srinagar, May 28: Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday called himself a ‘majnoo’ as he, along with his son, Punjab chief minister Hamza Shehbaz, testified in a special court hearing in connection with a PKR 16 billion (2.6 PKR=1 INR) money laundering case against him and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, the latter of whom resides in the UK, hindustan times reported.
“I have not taken anything from the government in 12.5 years. As chief minister, I used to get the government car refuelled from my own pocket,” the PML-N leader, who served three stints as Punjab CM, said, according to Dawn.
The 70-year-old further said, “God has made me the prime minister of this country. I am a majnoo, and I did not take my legal right, my salary and benefits.”
‘Majnoo’ is an Urdu word that means an insane or foolish person.
Sharif, meanwhile, further remarked that due to his various decisions, his family lost around PKR 2 billion, adding that this was a ‘reality.’
Arguing for the Sharifs, their counsel said the money laundering case against his clients, filed in November 2020 during the premiership of Imran Khan, was ‘politically motivated.’ The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) booked the father and sons under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act.
In its investigation, the FIA detected 28 benami accounts, allegedly belonging to the family. Through these accounts, an amount of PKR 16.3 billion was laundered from 2008 to 2018, the federal agency claimed. Kept in ‘hidden accounts,’ the money was given to Shehbaz in his ‘personal’ capacity, it also charged. With PTI inputs
Islamabad: Pakistan’s federal capital Islamabad is likely to be cut off from the rest of the country on May 25, the day of the proposed ‘Azadi March’ by the Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Dawn reported on Tuesday. Police in Islamabad said that two plans had been made under the direction of the government: either to allow the PTI marchers to enter the capital or intercept them at the entry points. However, so far a final decision has not been taken in this regard. But in either case, Red Zone will be sealed except the lone entry/exit point on Margalla Road. “Plan ‘A’ will be put in place if the government allows the PTI to enter the capital but in this case the marchers will not be allowed to cross Zero Point,” the officials said.Faizabad, Bhara Kahu, Rawat and Golra will be sealed by putting containers and heavy police deployment. Plan ‘B’ will be executed if the government does not allow the PTI to enter the capital. Under this plan, all entry points will be sealed and the marchers will be intercepted on Attock and Jhelum bridges. Besides, the motorways and G T Road will be blocked and PTI’s local leaders, hardcore activists and workers will be detained/arrested. In this regard, a list has been prepared containing the names of over 400 local leaders, activists and workers, the officers said. Their arrests will begin whenever directives are issued by the government. Moreover, they have received intelligence about the places where PTI and its student wing activists are hiding after reaching the capital from other parts of the country. Over 300 activists, most of them from Insaf Student Federation (ISF), are believed to be staying on Kasuri Road near the residence of former prime minister Imran Khan in Banigala.
Riyadh, May 23: In a story closer to fiction, a Saudi girl, after spending 21 years of her life among women, discovered that she is not a female, but rather a male, and the reason for this was a medical error that occurred during her birth that was only discovered late, according to Saudi media.
The person has been identified as Randa Shabeli, whose story began from the moment she was born in a government hospital in Riyadh, after doctors at the time noticed abnormalities in the genital area, so she was registered as female, according to what was published by the Saudi TV channel “Al-Ekhbariya”.
With this identity, Randa, who is currently requesting to change her name to Raed, lived for 21 years, as a female, before her life was turned upside down after learning that she had been the victim of a medical error, and that she was originally a young man and not a girl.
The late discovery came after Randa noticed that she did not develop any signs of female puberty like her peers, so she went to a hospital for a checkup.
The hospital made the shocking discovering and informed Randa that the male genitalia were inside the abdomen.
Randa told Saudi media, “In the beginning, it was a strange feeling, as if they were lying to me, because it was illogical to me, as if I had gone back to zero in my life.
“A new name, a new identity, no friends, no relatives.”
Randa Shabeli’s report shared by Al-Ekhbariya TV.
Randa pointed out that she is supposed to undergo surgery to take out the hidden genitals and another cosmetic surgeries, explaining that a doctor recommended her to travel to Britain to perform it, and submitted papers to do so, but concerned authorities rejected the papers.
The girl explained that she had filed a complaint against the hospital that caused the accident, but the outcome of the investigation has not yet been announced, despite the passage of months.
The father of the victim, Abdullah Shubaili, confirmed that since the beginning of the investigation, he has contacted the health affairs for more than 6 months, and so far they have not found the file, nor the doctors responsible for the delivery.
He added, “They say they travelled or died,” wondering, “Is it possible that the hospital does not keep the archive?”
Pakistani Adventurer Mr Abrar Hassan completed his long journey covering 9000 kms on his motorcycle starting in Germany and ending in the Holy City of Makkah after crossing 5 countries in 50 days
United States became the latest country to detect a case of rare monkeypox virus. Apart from the US, the cases are rising in European countries- United Kingdomas, Spain and Portugal which detected over 40 suspected cases of monkeypox.
WHAT IS THE VIRUS
The monkeypox virus is an orthopoxvirus, which is a genus of viruses that also includes the variola virus, which causes smallpox. Monkeypox is a zoonosis, a disease that is transmitted from infected animals to humans.
According to the WHO, cases occur close to tropical rainforests inhabited by animals that carry the virus. Monkeypox virus infection has been detected in squirrels, Gambian poached rats, dormice, and some species of monkeys.
Human-to-human transmission of the virus is, however, limited. It can be through contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin, the respiratory tract or through the eyes, nose or mouth or by virus-contaminated objects, such as bedding and clothing.
The outbreaks are raising alarm because the viral disease, which spreads through close contact and was first found in monkeys, mostly occurs in west and central Africa, and only very occasionally spreads elsewhere.
‘HIGHLY UNUSUAL’
Monkeypox is a virus that causes fever symptoms as well as a distinctive bumpy rash. It is usually mild, although there are two main strains: the Congo strain, which is more severe – with up to 10% mortality – and the West African strain, which has a fatality rate of more like 1% of cases. The UK cases are least have been reported as the West African strain.
“Historically, there have been very few cases exported. It has only happened eight times in the past before this year,” said Jimmy Whitworth, a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who said it was “highly unusual”.
Portugal has logged five confirmed cases, and Spain is testing 23 potential cases. Neither country has reported cases before.
TRANSMISSION
The virus spreads through close contact, both in spillovers from animal hosts and, less commonly, between humans. It was first found in monkeys in 1958, hence the name, although rodents are now seen as the main source of transmission.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus is transmitted mainly to people from wild animals such as rodents and primates, but human-to-human transmission is also possible.
Human-to-human transmission occurs by contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials such as bedding. Eating inadequately cooked meat and other products of infected animals is also a possible risk factor, the WHO says.
Transmission this time is puzzling experts, because a number of the cases in the United Kingdom – nine as of May 18 – have no known connection with each other. Only the first case reported on May 6 had recently travelled to Nigeria.
As such, experts have warned of wider transmission if cases have gone unreported.
The UK Health Security Agency’s alert also highlighted that the recent cases were predominantly among men who self-identified as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men, and advised those groups to be alert.
Scientists will now sequence the virus to see if they are linked, the World Health Organization (WHO) said this week.
IS MONKEYPOX FATAL?
Monkeypox can kill up to one in ten people who get it but the new cases have the West African variant, which is deadly for around one in 100.
Initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
CAN THE VIRUS LEAD TO ANOTHER PANDEMIC?
Any disease that circulates in animals and can be passed to people has potential to cause a new pandemic, if it mutates to become more deadly or more easily transmissible. Also, Monkeypox virus has no specific treatment nor specific vaccine licensed for use.
WHY NOW?
One likely scenario behind the increase in cases is increased travel as COVID restrictions are lifted.
“My working theory would be that there’s a lot of it about in west and central Africa, travel has resumed, and that’s why we are seeing more cases,” said Whitworth.
Monkeypox puts virologists on the alert because it is in the smallpox family, although it causes less serious illness.
Smallpox was eradicated by vaccination in 1980, and the shot has been phased out. But it also protects against monkeypox, and so the winding down of vaccination campaigns has led to a jump in monkeypox cases, according to Anne Rimoin, an epidemiology professor at UCLA in California.
But experts urged people not to panic.
“This isn’t going to cause a nationwide epidemic like COVID did, but it’s a serious outbreak of a serious disease – and we should take it seriously,” said Whitworth.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The Saudi aviation authorities have banned carrying Aab-e-Zamzam in one’s checked-in luggage ahead of Zil Hajj, the holy month for the Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj.
Saudi General Aviation Authority has issued an official notification for the new guideline, restricting the pilgrims from carrying Zamzam — water from the well of Zamzam back to their countries.
All the airlines have been bound to ensure that none of the passengers travelling through Jeddah or any other airport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have bottles filled with Aab-e-Zamzam.
Action will be taken against the airlines in case of violation of the new orders.
Aab-e-Zamzam is the water from the well of Zamzam, located in Masjid al-Haram, Makkah, which is a miraculously generated source of water as per Islamic history. The water has great religious significance and people take it back to their countries in great amount after performing Hajj or Umrah.
