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Pakistani Twitter rejoices as archrival India beats Australia in cricket win for the ages

India's players and officials celebrate with the winning trophy at the end of the fourth cricket Test match between Australia and India at The Gabba in Brisbane on January 19, 2021.
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Updated 19 January 2021
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Pakistani Twitter rejoices as archrival India beats Australia in cricket win for the ages

  • Pakistan and India are political foes and have one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world
  • Tuesday’s win by India was unequivocally cheered by Pakistani cricket fans who called it “one of the greatest test match wins of all time”
Updated 19 January 2021
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani social media users rejoiced on Tuesday as India bagged an incredible three-wicket win in the fourth test decider against Australia.

India’s Rishabh Pant timed his innings to perfection, ramping up the aggression in a stellar 89 as India stormed to a record 328-run chase at the Gabba and became the first team to beat the hosts at the Brisbane stronghold since the West Indies in 1988.

Pakistan and India are political archrivals and fierce opponents in the cricket field. But Tuesday’s win was unequivocally cheered by Pakistani cricket fans on Twitter, who called it one of “the greatest test series and test match wins of all time.”

“From 36 all out in the same series to winning it on Australia soil. Wow,” former cricketer and fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar wrote.

“Investing in your players, giving them financial security, protecting them, giving them exposure, having A team tours is eventually bound to pay off. Well done India,” said cricket manager Rehan ulHaq.

“India basically pulled off one of the greatest test series and test match wins of all time,” said Uzair Younus, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “To win Down Under [Australia] is an achievement on its own. But to do it when several first-team players are out injured is a whole new level of achievement. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”

“Given results, their injuries, and lack thereof of the home side, this Indian team is probably the greatest from South Asia to tour Australia,” said Umair Javed, an assistant professor at LUMS, Pakistan’s most prestigious private university.

“Cricket is the winner (and Australia the loser),” Javed said in another tweet.

“What a fight back by Indian cricket team in the series, they’ve played quality cricket. From 36-all out in first test to 2-1 up. Commendable. Love and respect from Pakistan,” Twitter user Taliha said, posting one of thousands of tweets praising the Indian team’s performance.

“Tremendous cricket by Indians,” Haider Rasool wrote. “Love from Pakistan.”

One Indian Twitter user posted: “Thank you Pakistan. Today’s win is ever more special because of support from neighbor.”

Strained relations between the two nations, who were one country before the partition of British India split them into India and Pakistan in 1947, and a decades-long dispute over the Himalayan valley of Kashmir conflict, has laid the foundations of one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world.

Pakistan and Indian have not played a bilateral Test series since 2008 when already brittle ties were shattered by the Mumbai terror attacks.

Topics: Pakistan Asutralia India Twitter

Pakistan PM launches anti-polio drive to vaccinate 44 million children nationwide

Updated 7 sec ago
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Pakistan PM launches anti-polio drive to vaccinate 44 million children nationwide

  • Pakistan is responding to an intense resurgence of poliovirus, with 63 cases reported this year
  • Pakistan, Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where poliovirus remains endemic
Updated 7 sec ago
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday launched an anti-polio vaccination drive that aims to vaccinate 44 million children nationwide, amid an intense resurgence of the virus in the South Asian country.
Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to provide children high immunity against this terrible disease.
Pakistan is responding to an intense resurgence of Wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) this year, with 63 cases reported so far. Of these, 26 are from Balochistan, 18 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
The vaccination drive will formally begin on Monday and continue till Sunday, Dec. 22, during which vaccinators will go house to house in 143 districts to immunize children under the age of five years, according to the Pakistan polio program.
“Polio is a dangerous disease which can cripple your children for life. In fact, it can be life-threatening,” Sharif said at the campaign launch. “Only two drops [of anti-polio vaccine] can save your children from being disabled forever. Come and let’s protect the future of our and the nation’s children.”
He said the federation and all provinces were jointly fighting this epidemic and God willing, they would eliminate the disease through their collective wisdom and efforts, thanking vaccinators for their efforts to eliminate the virus despite harsh weather and terrain in far-flung areas.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world where polio remains an endemic.
Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021. Pakistan’s chief health officer said on Nov. 10 an estimated 500,000 children had missed polio vaccination during the last countrywide inoculation drive.
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.
In July 2019, a vaccination drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thwarted after mass panic was created by rumors that children were fainting or vomiting after being immunized. This month, Pakistani authorities postponed a planned anti-polio vaccination campaign in the northwestern Kurram district, citing a fragile security situation after weeks of deadly sectarian clashes in the region.
Public health studies in Pakistan have shown that a lack of knowledge about vaccines, together with poverty and rural residency, are also factors that commonly influence whether parents vaccinate their children against polio.

Topics: anti-polio program polio campaign in Pakistan Polio cases in Pakistan

Thousands rally in Peshawar to protest alleged killings at last month’s pro-Imran Khan protests

Updated 37 min 13 sec ago
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Thousands rally in Peshawar to protest alleged killings at last month’s pro-Imran Khan protests

  • The party remains short of announcing the start of a civil disobedience movement as was anticipated by many
  • A Khan aide says they are awaiting outcome of talks with authorities and will follow whatever the ex-PM says
Updated 37 min 13 sec ago
WASIM SAJJAD

PESHAWAR: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party on Sunday held a rally in Pakistan’s northwest to protest alleged killing of a dozen of its supporters during last month’s protest in Islamabad, but made no announcement regarding a civil disobedience movement Khan had hinted at this month.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Nov. 24 led thousands of supporters to Islamabad, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from jail and order an audit of Feb. 8 national election results. The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government says killed four law enforcers and injured hundreds of others.
The PTI says at least 12 of its supporters were killed and another 37 sustained gunshot injuries due to firing by law enforcers near Islamabad’s Jinnah Avenue on Nov. 26, while 139 of its supporters were still “missing.” Pakistani authorities have denied the deaths, saying security personnel had not been carrying live ammunition during the protest.
On Sunday, the party held a ‘martyrs’ day’ gathering in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, at which the attendees offered prayers for the ones who allegedly died during the Islamabad protest.
“The reason [to hold the gathering] was to offer prayers for those who were killed on [Islamabad’s] D-Chowk on November 26,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Excise and Taxation Minister Khaliq-ur-Rehman told Arab News.
“We had a peaceful protest.”
Last week, the PTI filed a petition in an Islamabad court against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and other officials over “firing” on its supporters during the Islamabad protest. The government has accused the PTI of waging a “propaganda” regarding the Islamabad protest, following statements by several PTI members that gave varied accounts of casualties.
The PTI has staged several protests this year to demand the release of Khan and to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election, which it says were manipulated to favor its opponents. The Pakistani government and election authorities deny this.
Last month’s protests were by far the largest to grip the capital since the poll, while Khan, who remains a popular figure in Pakistan despite being in prison and facing several court cases, on Dec. 6 threatened to launch a civil disobedience movement.
Asked about the movement, Ali Muhammad Khan, a PTI lawmaker, said Khan had formed a committee to hold talks with authorities on their demands for the release all political prisoners and for setting up judicial commissions to investigate the Nov. 24 protest and violence on May 9, 2023, which killed eight people.
“If anything comes out of the negotiations, well and good, otherwise, Khan will announce the next move,” Ali said. “Whatever Khan orders, we will follow.”
Shandana Gulzar, another PTI lawmaker, said they were awaiting detailed instructions from the party founder about the movement.
“Whatever order Khan gives from the prison... we are ready,” she added.

Topics: PTI protest

Islamabad traffic police investigate alleged issuance of driving license to blind person

Updated 15 December 2024
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Islamabad traffic police investigate alleged issuance of driving license to blind person

  • In a sting operation, local news channel showed the blind person got the license in return for a bribe of Rs30,000 ($107)
  • Traffic police say an investigation, set to conclude in the next few days, will lead to strict action against those involved
Updated 15 December 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad traffic police have been investigating alleged issuance of a driving license to a blind person, a traffic police spokesperson said on Sunday, days after a local news channel made the exposé during a sting operation.
The exposé, led by Iqrarul Hassan who hosts ‘Sar-e-Aam’ show on ARY News channel, this week revealed that driving licenses were being issued in Islamabad without proper theoretical and driving tests, or medical examination in exchange for bribes, which raised serious concerns about public safety on the capital city roads.
For the show, Sar-e-Aam team had contacted through an agent an Islamabad traffic police official, who promised to issue a driving license without any theoretical, medical, or driving test. They successfully obtained the license by paying Rs30,000 ($107) and having someone else undergo the medical test on behalf of the blind applicant.
“The incident is currently under investigation, which will be concluded in the next two days and strict action will be taken against all those involved, including Muhammad Talha, the traffic police officer seen in the video,” Nafees Iqbal, the Islamabad traffic police spokesperson, told Arab News.
He said they were verifying facts regarding the young man, who claimed to be blind.
“Preliminary findings suggest that his condition may not be as portrayed in the media and he may not be entirely blind,” Iqbal added.
Arab News reached out to Sar-e-Aam host Hassan and his team, but they did not respond to calls and messages for a comment on the matter.
The traffic police spokesperson said they would share findings of their probe with media upon completion of the investigation in the next few days.
“Upholding the prestige and integrity of the Islamabad traffic police is of utmost importance to us,” he added.
Additionally, he said, strict measures had been taken to curb agent mafias, who act as intermediaries in such matters, and model police service centers were operating for the facilitation of public, including the issuance of driving licenses.
“Further action will be taken based on the inquiry team’s recommendations,” Iqbal added.
Corruption in public sector organizations is a major concern for the South Asian nation, with Pakistan ranking 133rd out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in 2023.
According to the findings of the National Corruption Perceptions Survey 2023, the police department remained the most corrupt institution, followed by tendering and contracting and the judiciary at third position.

Topics: islamabad police driving license

Pakistani scientist gets prestigious Sheikh Zayed International award in medicine

Updated 15 December 2024
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Pakistani scientist gets prestigious Sheikh Zayed International award in medicine

  • Award recognizes Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhry’s efforts to integrate traditional medicine with modern medical practices
  • He is the recipient of several civil awards such as the Hilal-I-Imtiaz, the Sitara-I-Imtiaz, and the Tamgha-I-Imtiaz
Updated 15 December 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

Islamabad: Distinguished Pakistani scientist and Coordinator-General of the OIC’s Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhry, has been awarded the Sheikh Zayed International award in recognition of his achievements in medicine, COMSTECH said on Sunday. 

The Sheikh Zayed International TCAM (Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine) Award recognizes significant contributions to the field of TCAM. It was established to honor individuals, organizations, and institutions that have made outstanding efforts in promoting TCAM practices, enhancing health care, and integrating traditional medicine with modern medical practices.

Dr. Chaudhry was presented with the award at the Hotel Beach Rotana in Abu Dhabi, COMSTECH said in a press release. It added that he was awarded for his groundbreaking contributions to herbal medicine and academic excellence. 

“This award not only acknowledges his individual accomplishments but also highlights the growing importance of traditional medicine in modern health care,” COMSTECH said. 

A distinguished figure in the scientific community, Dr. Chaudhry is the recipient of numerous prestigious Pakistani awards, including civil awards such as the Hilal-I-Imtiaz, the Sitara-I-Imtiaz, and the Tamgha-I-Imtiaz. 

He has also bagged the Friendship Award from China, and the Golden Silkball Friendship Award.

He serves as vice president of the World Academy Of Sciences For Central & South Asia and is a fellow of several esteemed scientific organizations, including the Royal Society Of Chemistry in London.

In October, Hunan University Of Medicine in China named it’s newly inaugurated research building after Dr. Chaudhry. 
 

Topics: Sheikh Zayed International award Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhry

Pakistan eyes olive cultivation as means to boost agricultural growth

Updated 15 December 2024
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Pakistan eyes olive cultivation as means to boost agricultural growth

  • The South Asian country is currently turning its focus to agriculture as a driving force for economic growth, with ambitious plans to enhance cultivation
  • With government backing, investment, and community-driven innovation, Pakistan’s olive industry seems poised to transform the agricultural landscape
Updated 15 December 2024
Falak Mahmood Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been eyeing an increase in olive cultivation to boost its agricultural growth, its national food security minister said this week, adding that it could position the country as a major player in the global olive oil market.

According to the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research from June 2024, Pakistan has 80 million wild and 5 million planted olive trees. Olives are important for their food and nutritional benefits. Cultivating olives on a large scale in Pakistan will help in meeting the local demand for edible oil in the country. 

In 2022, Pakistan became the 19th member of the International Olive Council, the only intergovernmental organization in the world that brings together olive oil and table olive producing and consuming stakeholders. Pakistan exported virgin and extra virgin olive oil worth 1.9 million in 2022. 

The South Asian country, which has been facing an economic crisis, is currently turning its focus to agriculture as a driving force for economic growth, with ambitious plans to enhance cultivation, modernize processing, and expand exports.

Speaking at an event in Islamabad for the promotion of olive cultivation on a commercial scale, Pakistan’s National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain said it would not only boost the gross domestic product, but also generate employment in rural areas.

“We will bring an increase in cultivation. We will definitely put this industry in processing and packing,” he said on Friday. “And God willing, that day will not be far when our olive oil will become popular in other countries. Because it contents, as far as I know, are very good.”

Jars of olive pickles are displayed at a stall at the Grand National Olive Gala 2024 in Islamabad, Pakistan, on December 13, 2024. (AN photo)

Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and accounts for nearly half of the employed labor force in the country, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

“In the last few years, no sector had a contribution in economic growth like agriculture, which accounted for 6.5 percent of GDP,” Hussain said, emphasizing agriculture’s critical role in the country’s economy.

Pakistan’s financial and private sectors are also stepping up to support this momentum.

Muhammad Shoaib Qaisrani, vice president of the National Bank of Pakistan, shared that substantial investments were being made in the agriculture sector to boost production.

“We have disbursed Rs368 billion ($1.33 billion) into agriculture,” he shared. “With the addition of olives, we are expecting to inject another up to Rs40 billion ($144.4 million) to further support this sector.”

A customer is checking a bottle of olive oil at the Grand National Olive Gala 2024 in Islamabad, Pakistan, on December 13, 2024. (AN photo)

The private sector is embracing the potential of olives, with entrepreneurs and women playing a transformative role in the country’s olive oil industry. Women-led initiatives, particularly in rural areas, have been thriving, with many women involved in producing olive-based products like soaps, cosmetics and pickles.

Aiza Imran, brand manager at Loralai Olives that cultivates and processes olives, expressed optimism about Pakistan’s position in the olive oil market.

“When we think of olive oil, we think of Italy or Spain. That’s what we are trying to do with Pakistan, and Loralai specifically, because it’s known to have the best quality oil in the region,” she said.

Participants attend the Grand National Olive Gala 2024 in Islamabad, Pakistan, on December 13, 2024. (AN photo)

These ventures are not only empowering women economically but also contributing to local value addition, driving innovation and inclusivity in the industry, according to Alamgir Khan, an official at Khazana Support Organization, a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-based entity that aims to enhance capacity-building of women.

Entrepreneurs are leveraging modern techniques and creative marketing to expand the industry’s reach, fostering job creation and promoting Pakistan’s olive oil as a high-quality product in global markets. The collaborative efforts are reshaping the narrative around entrepreneurship and gender roles in agriculture.

“We have soaps, cosmetics, pickles. We have made a group of females, and they make these products,” Khan told Arab News. “They have displayed their work, showing how olives contribute to diverse industries.”

Olives are also recognized for their vast health benefits.

“From a nutritional point of view to skin cosmetics, healthy living, longevity, and anti-aging, olives are the best,” said Dr. Daud Qazi, chairman of the World Association for Regenerative Medicine, while emphasizing their versatility.

Topics: Olive cultivation Olive

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