KARACHI: The top official of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program applauded two professional Pakistani female weightlifters on Thursday for winning gold medals at an ongoing sports championship in South Africa, praising their dedication and describing them as the “pride of the nation.”
The Pakistani sisters, Cybil and Veronica Sohail, competed in the 52- and 57-kilogram categories, winning four gold medals each in the squat, bench press, deadlift, and total categories.
Pakistan is actively promoting various sports fields among male and female athletes amid an environment where cricket is overwhelmingly popular.
Female athletes in Pakistan face significant challenges due to societal norms and limited access to facilities, with sports like wrestling and weightlifting usually not considered ideal for women due to cultural perceptions.
“Our daughters like Cybil and Veronica Sohail are the pride of our nation,” Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program, Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, said in a social media post. “These girls have proven their abilities on the global stage by winning gold medals.”
Mashhood said the Sohail sisters had also participated in the Punjab Youth Festival, adding that the Prime Minister’s Youth Program was trying to provide full support to such athletes.
“To engage the country’s youth in positive activities, we need to revive the sports fields,” he added. “Encouraging young Pakistani athletes will enable our country to win more gold medals.”
The two sisters went to South Africa to participate in the tournament after being sponsored by the Punjab Sports Board.
Their third sibling, Twinkle Sohail, is scheduled to compete in another weightlifting category on July 13.
‘Pride of the nation’: Two Pakistani female weightlifters win eight gold medals in South Africa
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‘Pride of the nation’: Two Pakistani female weightlifters win eight gold medals in South Africa
- Cybil and Veronica Sohail competed in the 52- and 57-kilogram categories, winning four medals each
- Their third sister, Twinkle Sohail, is scheduled to participate in the weightlifting championship on July 13
OGDCL signs agreement with China to develop Pakistan’s unconventional gas potential
- Tight gas is type of unconventional gas that requires advanced extraction methods
- Tight gas is found in reservoir rocks with low permeability, most often sandstone
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and the China Central Depository and Clearing Company (CCDC) have signed a deal to develop Pakistan’s tight gas potential, state media reported on Tuesday, as Islamabad pushes a strategy to boost gas production.
Tight gas refers to a type of unconventional gas — which requires advanced extraction methods — found in reservoir rocks with low permeability, most often sandstone.
State-owned ODGCL in August this year began tight gas production in the southern Sindh province, starting commercial production from the Nur West #01 tight gas well in Jujawal. The well was drilled to a depth of 2,975m and encountered a tight gas formation. Conventional testing did not yield sufficient gas, and the well was hydraulically fractured, the company said.
The well is now currently producing 1.5 MMscfd of gas with 1,050 psi wellhead flowing pressure from the lower Guru formation. The gas has been integrated into the Sui Southern Gas Co. Ltd. (SSGCL) network.
“Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and China Central Depository and Clearing Company (CCDC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop Pakistan’s shale and tight gas potential,” Radio Pakistan said.
“OGDCL has already invested thirty million dollars to tap the shale gas reserves to meet the country’s energy needs.”
Around the world, dominant state energy producers including Aramco have in recent years stepped up development of geologically challenging oil and gas reservoirs, including those holding shale gas, shale oil and coalbed methane.
In a bid to facilitate investment by the oil and gas industry in unconventional hydrocarbons, the Pakistani federal government has also approved the Tight Gas (Exploration & Production) Policy 2024.
As per the document, several national objectives have been set in the policy, including:
-Incentivize oil and gas industry to invest in the exploration of unconventional/tight gas resources that are not being produced due to non-commerciality.
-Provide a policy regime for transparent, effective, and efficient processing of regulatory approvals.
-Address commercial viability issues of existing tight gas reservoirs.
-Open new frontiers for exploration of tight gas which would help increase the exploration activities in the country.
-Enhance indigenous production of hydrocarbons.
-Minimize reliance on imported fuels and regenerate additional revenues for federal and provincial governments.
-Reduce recourse to sovereign debts by saving foreign currency.
-Keep local gas prices at affordable level for the consumers by producing cheaper local gas vis-à-vis imports.
-Create employment opportunities in the gas sector.
-Promote transfer of technology and collaboration between local and foreign equipment manufacturers.
-Increase dependability and security of supply and its sustained availability.
Pakistan calls for disaster preparedness, better infrastructure on 19th anniversary of deadly 2005 earthquake
- Over 86,000 people were killed, 69,000 injured on Oct. 8, 2005 in Pakistan after 7.6-magnitude quake
- Pakistan is recognized as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change effects in the world
KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stressed the need for improved disaster preparedness and safer infrastructure in the country to deal with natural disasters, including those that stem from climate change effects, state-run media reported on Tuesday as Pakistan marks the 19th anniversary of the 2005 deadly earthquake that killed thousands across the country.
At least 86,000 people were killed and more than 69,000 injured in northern Pakistan on Oct. 8, 2005, when a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the country, razing thousands of buildings to the ground. It is considered the deadliest earthquake in South Asia, surpassing the 1935 Quetta earthquake which killed up to 60,000 people.
Pakistan is regarded as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change effects. Heavy monsoon rains and melting of glaciers triggered flash floods in June 2022 that killed at least 1,700 people and washed away large swathes of crops. Pakistan says it suffered losses of over $30 billion due to the floods.
“PM Sharif said the government’s policy initiatives should encompass various sectors, including safe infrastructure development, improved disaster preparedness, poverty alleviation, safer spatial land use planning, adherence to building codes, efficient water resource management, sound agricultural practices, and increased afforestation nationwide including coastal areas,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
Sharif urged all stakeholders to form synergy by understanding each other’s strengths and limitations, and by achieving interoperability among national, global, public and private sectors, the APP said.
The prime minister stressed the need for “efficient and effective” coordination and the development of contingency plans to protect communities living in Pakistan’s remote areas. He lamented how Pakistan was facing the worst impacts of climate change despite being responsible for only 0.88 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“Frequent recurrence of unpredictable extreme events have given a devastating blow to our struggling economy,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the APP.
Pakistani journalists in Karachi march in solidarity with media workers killed in Gaza
- Israel’s military campaign has killed 175 journalists since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office
- Over 100 journalists demand end to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, “fair coverage” of war from Western media
KARACHI: Over a hundred Pakistani journalists took part in a march this week in Karachi to express solidarity with media workers killed in Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s military campaigns in the Middle East.
Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in the killing of 175 journalists, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office, while the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said that at least 128 journalists and media workers are among over 41,000 killed in the densely populated area since Israel launched its ruthless war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
A large number of journalists marched from the Karachi Press Club in the city to the Governor House on Monday, holding banners denouncing Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and expressing support for the Palestinian people. Rallies in various parts of the country on Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of Israel’s war on Gaza.
“This is actually an attempt to raise that voice for the Palestinian journalists, the people of Palestine, those unarmed people, who are being subjected to extreme brutalities, to stand with them and to make them realize that during such times, when you are being subjected to extreme brutalities, you are not alone,” journalist Nayyar Ali told a crowd of journalists at the march.
“The entire Muslim world is with you.”
Reporter Aamir Latif said through extensive coverage, journalists have exposed “Israeli brutalities” in Gaza and Lebanon.
“So, it is not something which we can say [is] the coincidence,” Latif told Arab News. “They are deliberately targeting journalists. Two days before, they have targeted the 175th journalist in Gaza since Oct. 7.”
Latif was referring to Palestinian journalist Hassan Hamad who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza on Oct. 6. Days earlier, the journalist had said he was warned by an Israeli officer to stop filming in Gaza.
Veteran Karachi-based journalist and analyst Mazhar Abbas called on the Western media to provide “fair coverage” to Gaza and the Israeli military campaign in Beirut.
“The policymakers of the Western media should revisit their policy, should give more respect to journalism, should give more respect to the fair coverage,” he said.
Pakistan says seeking long-term trade, defense partnership with Russia amid investment push
- Islamabad and Moscoe, once bitter rivals, have held regular trade interactions in recent months
- Islamabad has bought crude oil on discount from Moscow as well as liquefied natural gas last year
ISLAMABAD: Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said Pakistan is seeking a long-term partnership with Russia in the fields of defense, trade and energy, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday amid a push by Islamabad to secure foreign investment to shore up its struggling economy.
Pakistan and Russia, once bitter Cold War rivals, have recently warmed up and held regular business and trade interactions in an effort to boost ties and enhance trade and regional cooperation. Pakistan in particular wants to enhance bilateral trade with landlocked Central Asian countries through Russia.
Last week, Pakistan’s privatization minister led a delegation of over 70 businesspersons to the inaugural trade and investment forum in Moscow and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk was also in Islamabad on a brief visit in September.
“He said Pakistan intends to forge a long-term multidimensional partnership with Russia, especially in the fields of defense, trade, energy and people-to-people contacts,” Radio Pakistan reported after Asif met Russia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Albert P. Khorev in Islamabad.
Apart from economic and defense cooperation, Pakistan has also turned to Russia for cheaper sources of fuel in recent years and started purchasing Russian crude oil at a discounted rate last year. Pakistan also received its first shipment of liquified petroleum gas from Russia in September 2023, marking Islamabad’s second major Russian energy purchase.
Pakistan has increasingly sought trade and investment cooperation with allies and beyond in recent months, as well as help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as it navigates a macroeconomic crisis that has drained its resources.
The South Asian country narrowly avoided a sovereign debt default last year when it secured a last-gasp $3 billion financial assistance package from the IMF. The lender last month approved a $7 billion bailout deal that will require Pakistan to pursue “sound policies and reforms” to strengthen macroeconomic stability and address structural challenges alongside “continued strong financial support from development and bilateral partners.”
Pakistani activist says offloaded from US-bound flight to attend ‘Time100 Next’ gala
- Dr. Mahrang Baloch recognized among world’s 100 emerging leaders for “advocating peacefully for Baloch rights”
- Government and army have questioned Baloch’s motives and called rights movement she leads a “terrorist proxy”
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani doctor and ethnic Baloch rights activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch accused the government of preventing her from attending a Time magazine event this week by illegally offloading her from a New York-bound flight, saying the action reflected the state’s “growing fear and insecurity” toward Baloch voices.
Time magazine last week included Baloch in its prestigious ‘Time100 Next’ list which spotlights 100 personalities that shape the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more. Baloch, 31, was featured in the list for “advocating peacefully for Baloch rights.”
Baloch has been a fierce critic of Pakistan’s powerful military, whom rights activists, politicians and families also blame for enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the impoverished, southwestern Balochistan province. Pakistan’s state has led a crackdown against a separatist insurgency led by ethnic Baloch militants for the past two decades in the province. The military denies these allegations and says it is involved in several development schemes to uplift Balochistan.
In a post on social media platform X, Baloch said she was offloaded from her flight to New York by a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) official “without any valid or legal justification,” adding that her passport was also confiscated by the official when the flight took off.
“I was unjustly stopped at Karachi International Airport with no legal or valid given reason, which is a clear violation of my fundamental right to freedom of movement,” Baloch wrote on Monday. “This action reflects the growing fear and insecurity of the state toward Baloch voices.”
Baloch said the purpose of preventing her from traveling to New York was to silence Baloch voices “from being heard internationally” and to control the flow of information about the situation in Balochistan.
“This arbitrary travel ban is part of the increasing crackdown on Baloch human rights defenders and activists,” she said. “I will fight back against this unjust restriction on my rights to movement.”
Baloch, who leads the Baloch Yakjehti Committee civil rights movement, last December led hundreds of women in a long march to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, demanding justice for their “disappeared” husbands, sons, and brothers. In July, she organized the “Baloch Raji Muchi” gathering in the strategic port city of Gwadar, an event aimed at uniting the Baloch against alleged rights abuses.
Pakistan’s military has rejected the activist’s allegations in the past and questioned her motives.
In August, military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said the purpose of the BYC and the Baloch Raaji Muchi it had convened in the port city of Gwadar, where China is building a deep sea port, was to make development projects and investments “controversial” and incite people against the Pakistan army and other security forces involved in operations against insurgency and crime in Balochistan.
