Азия и Тихоокеанский регион находятся не там, где нужно для достижения ЦУР, но есть еще десять лет, чтобы наверстать упущенное время.

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed dedicated his life to social development, establishing practices that will continue to help the poor for decades to come.

Châu Á và Thái Bình Dương chưa có được tiến độ cần thiết để đạt được các Mục tiêu Phát triển Bền vững nhưng vẫn còn một thập niên để bù lại thời gian đã mất.

亚太地区的可持续发展目标进展不及预期，但仍有十年时间来弥补落后进度。

Throughout Asia and the world, digital solutions are being found for urban problems. Policymakers and city leaders should ensure that the poor do not get left behind in this digital transformation of cities.

With key reforms, Pacific states could move toward cleaner, more affordable sources of energy that eventually eliminate fossil fuels completely.

აზიასა და წყნარი ოკეანის რეგიონში მდგრადი განვითარების მიზნების განხორციელება ნელი ტემპით მიდის, მაგრამ დაკარგული დროის ასანაზღაურებლად წინ კიდევ ერთი ათწლეულია.

在整个亚洲乃至全世界，许多城市难题通过数字技术得到了解决。政策制定者和城市领导者应确保贫困人口在城市数字化转型中一个都不能少。

By some estimates, the digital economy now accounts for trillions of dollars. But policymakers and companies still lack the data needed to fully understand it.

Bank-held nonperforming loans in some Asian economies have risen in recent years. Policy makers should address this growing risk now.

In the fragile energy scenario of small Pacific islands, contingency plans are crucial to keep the lights on during a crisis.

For many of Indonesia’s urban poor who work in the informal sector, social distancing is nearly impossible if they want to maintain their income. Two key policies can help.

The pandemic provides an opportunity for regional financial cooperation on reforms to make Asian banks more resilient to crises.

The pandemic has highlighted the shortcomings of the globalized supply chain model.

Trinidad and Tobago loves its "heights" -- and a skilful cyclist on a homemade bike that reaches 10-12 feet in height does not disappoint.

The United States is rallying support to back Taiwan's observer status in the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, leading into its annual meeting May 17-21."Today, I want to call on all nations, including those in Europe, to support Taiwan's participatio...

K-pop boy band Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, will give speeches during a virtual commencement event along with global figures including former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, and pop star Lady Gaga. "Dear Class of 2020," organized by YouTube, will be streamed on June 6 to celeb...

Domestic air passenger numbers bounced back to over 100,000 last weekend for the first time in 10 weeks amid signs that the coronavirus epidemic is easing. Many Koreans chose the long weekend to travel to Jeju and other destinations in the south.According to the Korea Civil Aviation Association on W...

With the Korea Baseball Organization's regular season kicking off with no spectators allowed in the stadium, a large number of baseball fans have turned online to cheer for teams they support. The number of viewers who watched any of the five season opening games streamed online was 1.49 million in ...

"Eight," the new single by singer IU and Suga, a member of boy band Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, swept many global music charts shortly after its release on Wednesday."Eight" reached No. 1 on major music-streaming sites here including Melon. It also topped iTunes charts in some 59 countries.The ...

The Sindh High Court has directed the home department to decide the representation of a proscribed organisation’s activist against his 90 days’ detention under the Maintenance of Public Order within a week.The activist, Abdul Hameed Bugti, had been recently released in the Pakistan...

The Sindh High Court on Friday issued notices to the federal and provincial law ministries on a petition of the Sindh Bar Council seeking direction to the federal and Sindh governments for the provision of an annual grant in aid to the lawyers’ top provincial regulatory body and at least...

Microchip’s Low-Power Radiation-Tolerant (RT) PolarFire FPGA Enables High-Bandwidth Space Systems with Lower Total System Cost

Microchip Announces Industry’s First Space-Qualified COTS-Based Radiation-Tolerant Ethernet Transceiver and Embedded Microcontroller

ADB today approved an additional $500 million loan to bolster the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh to manage the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the country’s economy and the public health.

The Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors is an opportunity to provide guidance on ADB administrative, financial, and operational directions. The meetings provide opportunities for member governments to interact with ADB staff, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), media, and representatives of observer countries, international organizations, academe and the private sector. ADB’s annual meetings have become a premier forum for the discussion of economic and social development issues in Asia and the Pacific.

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday directed the Haryana government not to issue any change of land use (CLU) licence to developers to build colonies in Gurgaon and the National Capital Region till the NCR Planning Board approves a sub-regional plan. The high court also restrained authorities from initiating any process for acquisition of land in these regions till further orders. A division bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul passed these orders while hearing petitions alleging unregulated construction and development around Gurgaon and NCR without the mandatory sub-regional plan from the NCRPB. The petitioners had also challenged the proposed Gurgaon master plan of 2025 and […]

NOIDA: The Noida Authority is set to start work on a six-lane bridge, parallel to the existing Okhla Barrage, this month bringing a sigh of relief to thousands of commuters who travel between Delhi, Noida and Faridabad. Technical bids for the project are to be finalized on February 3, while financial bids will be decided a week later. According to the officials, the construction of the Rs 150 crore bridge is expected to be ready in two years. Officials further revealed that the Central Water & Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune, Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) and IIT-Delhi have already approved the proposed project last year and it is being fast […]

Faridabad, February 3 The newly developed Industrial Model Township (IMT) at Ballabgarh will offer nearly 530 plots to industrialists in a couple of weeks. Welcoming the move, Ramnik Prabhakar, a member of the Manufacturers Association, Faridabad (MAF), said, “We have been demanding much smaller plots, preferably of the size ranging between 50 sq yards and 300 sq yards, so that a majority of the small units operating from non-industrial areas could be adjusted in a developed township.’’ He said over 5,000 small and medium industrial units were operating from the residential and unauthorised areas and the authorities had perhaps ignored the ground realties so far. He said the rates of […]

HC for inclusion of Gurgaon MC Commissioner in panel Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 11 The Punjab and Haryana High Court today expressed dissatisfaction with the nine-member committee constituted by the Cabinet Secretary for looking into the shifting of the ammunition dump at Gurgaon and Faridabad. Directing the reconstitution of the committee, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Arun Palli made it clear that it was in favour of including Gurgaon Municipal Commissioner Praveen Kumar’s name in the committee. As the case came up for resumed hearing, counsel for the Union of India Onkar Singh Batalvi placed before the Bench the details of the committee […]

A total of 34 coronavirus infections was registered by Lebanon’s Health Ministry Thursday, raising the number of detected cases in the country to 784.

Lebanese students stuck in the U.S. arrived in Lebanon Thursday, the state-run National News Agency reported, as the country remains under a coronavirus lockdown.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Thursday dismissed as not useful the meeting held the previous day at Baabda Palace to discuss the economic financial rescue plan which he and his parliamentary Future bloc boycotted.

Lebanon confirms one new coronavirus death, 12 more infections

Lebanon registered one new death due to coronavirus Friday, and 12 new infections, raising the total number of registered cases to 796.

Lebanon’s mosques reopened their doors for Friday prayer as the country gradually scales back its coronavirus containment measures implemented almost two months ago.

Lebanon confirms 13 new COVID-19 cases, total at 809

Lebanon registered 18 new coronavirus infections Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the country up to 809.

Usually the kingdom of water tanks and satellite dishes, Lebanon's rooftops have recently been graced by unlikely scenes of locked-down residents fleeing their flats.

Life returned to normal Saturday in the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp, south of Tyre, after a night of clashes that left one person dead and five others injured.

KARACHI: Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s five properties, estimated to be worth over Rs32 million and purchased by him in Karachi by using fake identities, have been taken over by the anti-terrorism court for auction, sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The FIA had booked Mullah Mansour, aliases Mohammad Wali and Gul Mohammad, Akhtar Mohammad and Amaar in a case lodged under Section 11H (pertaining to fundraising and money laundering) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, read with sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Mullah Mansour, who was killed in a drone strike along the Pakistan-Iran border on May 21, 2016, had purchased five properties, including plots and houses, in Karachi.

This revelation came in a report submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency to the ATC-II in July last year regarding an investigation into a case related to alleged fundraising by the slain Afghan Taliban leader and his accomplices through the purchase of properties on the back of forged identities.

Mullah Akhtar Mansour bought Rs32m properties in Karachi using fake identities

Since January, the court had been directing the investigation officer (IO) to complete the process of attachment of Mullah Mansour’s properties and proclamation of his two alleged absconding accomplices — Akhtar Mohammad and Amaar — under sections 87 and 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

On April 24, the court had ordered the Nazir (a court official) to take over the properties of Mullah Mansour after the IO submitted a compliance report regarding completion of the attachment process of the properties by the Federal Investigation Agency.

The court had ordered the Nazir to auction those properties and get advertisements published in newspapers.

When the matter came up before the ATC-II judge recently, the court’s Nazir filed a report regarding seizure of property owned by Mullah Akhtar Mansour on behalf of the court.

The judge asked the Nazir to file a report about publication of the auction advertisement in newspapers on the next date of hearing.

The judge granted a request by Rehmatullah Domki, the investigation officer, to hear the case next month. She scheduled a hearing from June 11.

During a previous hearing, the IO had informed the court that the FIA had unearthed five properties purchased by the Taliban leader before his death. An estimated value of the properties is Rs32 million.

The court had already called for reports from the commissioners of Peshawar and Quetta regarding the process of proclamation of Mullah Mansour’s alleged absconding accomplices and attachment of their properties.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Former Senate chairman Mian Raza Rabbani on Friday said that the National Council for Minorities nominated through a notification after a considerable delay was illegal because it had been formed in violation of a judgement announced by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Tasaduq Hussain Jilani on June 19, 2014.

“The said act of violating the judgement of the Supreme Court is condemned,” the PPP leader said in a statement.

Mr Rabbani said that the Supreme Court’s judgement had come in the wake of a bomb blast in a Peshawar church in 2013 which left over a hundred members of the Christian community dead.

In a suo motu case, the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, in paragraph 37(iv) of the judgement, had ordered the setting up of the National Council for Minorities to monitor practical realisation of the rights and safeguards of members of minority communities provided in the 1973 Constitution.

The council was supposed to be mandated to frame policy recommendations for safeguarding and protecting minorities’ rights by the federal and provincial governments.

The judgement clearly mentioned eight steps that the governments were to take, including (i) reservation of quota in services, (ii) a special police force to protect places of worship, (iii) steps to discourage hate speeches, and (iv) revision of school curriculum to promote cultural and religious tolerance.

The PPP leader said that none of the steps had been taken so far by the governments.

He said that the federal government had, after the approval of the cabinet, constituted the council through a notification and the body had become controversial even before its birth and as a result the religious affairs ministry had to amend its summary.

The PPP leader said that the council should be constituted through an act of parliament.

Mr Rabbani said that the importance given to safeguarding the rights of the minorities in the country was evident from the fact that the white colour portion of the national flag represented minorities and in over 20 Articles of the Constitution, 1973, the rights of minorities had been guaranteed.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has said Pakistan’s support for the Afghan reconciliation process is a proof of its sincerity for peace in Afghanistan.

Talking to US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Dr Zalmay Khalilzad on Friday, the army chief said: “Our support towards peace process is a manifestation of our goodwill towards the cause.”

Dr Khalilzad was visiting Pakis­tan after a meeting with Taliban leaders in Doha and a stopover in Delhi, where he met Indian Exter­nal Affairs Minister Subrahman­yam Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

The Indian leaders, according to reports in Indian media, blamed a recent spike in violence in Afghanistan to alleged “sanctuaries” on Pakistani soil and emphasised their elimination. The Indian allegations have come in the backdrop of renewed terror accusations against Pakistan in India-held Kashmir.

Pakistan has strongly rejected all Indian allegations and has asked the United Nations to seek proofs from India about the alleged “launch pads” and “infiltration bids” at the Line of Control.

Khalilzad scheduled to return to Doha for resumption of negotiations with Taliban

Dr Khalilzad, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), praised continuing Pakistani efforts for peace and stability in the region.

India, despite the special envoy’s recent visits to Delhi, is uneasy because its viewpoint on Afghanistan is getting little weightage in Washington.

Pakistan had facilitated long-drawn US-Taliban talks, which culminated with the signing of a landmark peace deal in Doha in February between the two adversaries that have been at war for 19 years. Under the deal, the Afghan Taliban gave counterterrorism assurances and agreed to engage in dialogue with the Afghan government for ending war. The peace agreement was expected to pave the way for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

However, the progress towards start of intra-Afghan peace talks have been sluggish because of trust deficit between the Afghan factions and slow release of prisoners by both sides. Intra-Afghan talks were, according to the original plan, to commence on March 10 after release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners by Kabul, while the militant group was to set free 1,000 government personnel. So far the Afghan government has released 933 of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners, while the Taliban have freed 155 captives.

In recent weeks, the Taliban finally intensified attacks against government forces. On Thursday, Khost police chief Ahmad Babazai was killed in a landmine attack.

Dr Khalilzad said he had in his “lengthy” overnight meeting with the head of Taliban political office in Doha emphasised “reduction in violence, humanitarian ceasefire as demanded by the international community to allow for better cooperation on managing Covid-19 pandemic in Afghanistan, acceleration of prisoner releases by both sides, actions necessary to secure the freedom of US citizen Mark Frerichs, regional and international support for the peace process, and movement to intra-Afghan negotiations ASAP”.

The special envoy will travel back to Doha from Islamabad for continuing his discussions with Taliban leaders.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will appear on Saturday (today) before the commission of inquiry investigating the recent shortage and price hike of sugar in the country.

Mr Abbasi told Dawn on Friday he would inform the commission how sugar scandals develop, in the light of his experience as a former chief executive of the country.

He said he had written a letter to the commission, offering his services to it by sharing his experiences in probing scams. “I wrote the letter to the commission, as under the Commission of Inquiry Act any citizen can assist such commissions in investigating such scams,” he said.

Upon receiving the letter, Mr Abbasi said, the commission asked him to provide a written statement, or any other document, that would help in investigating the scandal. “I told the commission that I will not give any written statement or document, but will assist it on the basis of my experience, I being a former member of the Economic Coordination Committee (of the cabinet) and former head of the federal cabinet,” he said.

Mr Abbasi, who served as the prime minister in the last PML-N government, said he would explain to the commission how the sugar crisis occurred.

When asked to share some of the reasons behind the crisis, the former premier said allowing export of the commodity was one of the main reasons. “The commission has to ascertain who gave the approval for export of sugar when its local demand had not been taken care of.”

He said he would request the commission to keep his meeting with its members open to all. Another PML-N leader and former defence minister Khurram Dastagir Khan would be accompanying Mr Abbasi to the meeting.

The commission is investigating the recent shortage of sugar and wheat in the country, in which some key members and allies of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf were allegedly involved.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

LAHORE: Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq says being confined to home due to the coronavirus-forced lockdown can become depressing and wants some cricket activities to resume soon even if the matches have to take place behind closed doors with proper safety barriers.

There are reports that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was contemplating rescheduling and organising the three Test matches against Pakistan in August behind closed doors at Old Trafford, Manchester and Southampton.

Misbah said he would love to see some cricket activities resume at the international level, and has no problems in playing in empty stadiums.

“It is not an ideal situation for anyone because of this coronavirus pandemic and obviously the health and well being of everyone should be our top priority. But if matches can be held even in empty stadiums with the right safety barriers...I would have no problems,” Misbah was quoted as saying in a Press Trust of India report that appeared on The New Indian Express website on Friday.

The former Pakistan skipper said that the players have had nothing much to do except stay indoors for the last two months since the Pakistan Super League (PSL) was called off due to the global health crisis in March.

“Everyone is confined and I just think that if even if it can be made possible to bring some live cricket action to people sitting at home it would do them a lot of good,” Misbah said.

“It becomes depressing when you have nothing to do and hear about mostly Covid-19 news all the time. In this situation if sports can be resumed and if cricket can be started at least it will allow the people to watch cricket at home.”

Misbah, who took charge last year in September, said if the right safety barriers and precautions are put in place for players, match officials and other stake holders, cricket boards can move forward.

He, however, reminded that boards will have to follow their government instructions on the coronavirus.

German football league Bundesliga is set to resume on May 16 and Misbah said it was a positive development.

“But even they first got clearance from their government. Cricket boards also will have to do that,” he insisted.

The 45-year-old said the players were responsible for maintaining fitness standards during these testing times and he expects them to be in top condition whenever cricket resumes.

“I told them as cricket professionals it is their individual responsibility to take care of themselves and their fitness. Because they can be called on duty anytime,” he said.

Misbah said he had told the players fitness standards are essential nowadays because if they are fit they can also get back to form and match fitness quickly.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

An estimated 29 million babies will be born in South Asia in the nine months after the Covid-19 outbreak was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), while five million births will be reported in Pakistan, according to a report released by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

The report — released on May 6 — has predicted that an estimated 116 million babies will be born across the world in the 40-week period between March 11 and December 16, with almost a quarter of them in South Asia.

India is expected to report 20 million births, the highest in the region, during this period, the report said, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh (2.4 million) and Afghanistan (one million).

The report also warned that lockdown measures imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus may cause disruptions in life-saving health services "putting millions of pregnant mothers and their babies at great risk".

"The continuing rapid spread of Covid-19 across South Asia means new mothers and newborns will be greeted by harsh realities, including global containment measures such as lockdowns and curfews, health centres overwhelmed with response efforts, supply and equipment shortages, and a lack of sufficient skilled birth attendants as health workers [...] are redeployed to treat Covid-19 patients.

"Unicef cautions that although evidence suggests that pregnant mothers are not more affected by Covid-19 than others, countries need to ensure they still have access to antenatal, delivery and post-natal services.

"Likewise, sick newborns need emergency services as they are at high risk of death. New families require care to ensure the health and well-being of mothers, support to start breastfeeding, and to get medicines, vaccines and nutrition to keep their babies healthy," the report said.

The UN body urged governments and healthcare providers to take a few steps to save lives in the coming months by:

• Helping women receive regular checkups during their pregnancy, skilled delivery care and post-delivery care
• Ensuring health workers are provided with the necessary personal protective equipment and priority testing and vaccination for Covid-19 when it becomes available
• Ensuring that all infection prevention and control measures are being followed at health facilities
• Allowing healthcare workers to reach pregnant women through home visits, encouraging women living in rural areas to visit maternal waiting homes, and using mobile health strategies for tele-consultations
• Training, protecting and equipping health workers with kits to attend to home births
• Allocating resources to lifesaving services and supplies for maternal and child health

The report also urged pregnant women to take precautionary measures by practicing social distancing, avoiding physical gatherings and using online health services.

Read: Mothers may pass coronavirus to unborn children, say Chinese doctors

It also advised them to continue breastfeeding their children even if they are infected as "the virus has not been found in samples of breast milk".

"Mothers with Covid-19 should wear a mask when feeding their baby, wash hands before and after touching the baby, and routinely clean and disinfect surfaces," it cautioned.

The government of Pakistan has decided to bring back via special flights its students stuck in Wuhan, China, ground zero of the novel coronavirus.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari tweeted the development on Friday night, referring to those stranded there as "the bravest soldiers".

Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has been tasked to bring the first batch of Pakistanis – mostly students – beginning May 18, when around 250 individuals are expected to return.

Pakistanis who had been studying in Wuhan and other cities in the Chinese province of Hubei – first region in the world to be put under a strict lockdown on Jan 20 after being declared a virus epicenter – had appealed at the time to be evacuated.

Multiple requests for evacuation were made not only by the stranded students but also by their families back home. However, the government said it would not repatriate them immediately and would follow guidelines and processes put in place by China in this regard.

To allay the fears of the students and their families, the Foreign Office in February sent two of its officials from the Beijing embassy to Wuhan while the strict lockdown was still in place. The FO said the staffers were to remain in Wuhan till the lockdown ended and would meet students in different universities to get an update on their well-being and safety.

In March, President Arif Alvi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited China and interacted with Pakistani citizens there via video link.

Upon returning from the trip, both the foreign minister and President Alvi briefed the media and said that the students were in a good condition and had only requested that Pakistani food be provided to them.

On March 28, China began lifting the lockdown in Wuhan. By April 8, the restrictions were completely lifted and some of the the students celebrated by cooking themselves a meal.

This week we’re very fortunate to speak with Rayner Saggers. Rayner is a Senior Systems Engineer on the F-35 Program at BAE Systems in the UK. That’s already pretty cool, but in addition to that, he’s a pillar of the MATLAB community at BAE Systems. He is the editor of... read more >>

In recent months, several Pakistani activists and bloggers living in Europe have claimed to have been targeted for speaking up against human rights violations in Pakistan.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Bangladesh Finance Minister and ADB Governor A H M Mustafa Kamal today discussed ADB’s support to Bangladesh in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.