Pakistani aircraft carrying relief items for Gaza arrives in Egypt’s El-Arish city
Pakistani aircraft carrying relief items for Gaza arrives in Egypt’s El-Arish city /node/2455646/pakistan
Pakistani aircraft carrying relief items for Gaza arrives in Egypt’s El-Arish city
A special aircraft carrying hundred tons of relief goods donated by Pakistan for the suffering people of Gaza arrived in Egypt on February 7, 2024. (Radio Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani aircraft carrying relief items for Palestinians in war-torn Gaza arrived in the Egyptian city of El-Arish on Wednesday, the state-run Radio Pakistan said in a report.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said it dispatched the sixth tranche of relief items from the southern port city of Karachi for El-Arish on Tuesday. It said the consignment comprised 100 tons of assistance, including 30 tons of blankets, special winterized family tents and 70 tons of medicines and tinned food items.
“A special aircraft carrying hundred tons of relief goods donated by Pakistan for the suffering people of Gaza arrived in Egypt today,” Radio Pakistan said. “The relief goods were received by the senior diplomatic officials of Pakistan for their onward delivery to Gaza.”
The state-run media said Pakistan’s move to dispatch the assistance underscores the country’s “continued commitment” to addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of Gaza’s people.
Israel has killed over 27,000 Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to official figures shared by the Palestinian health ministry. Thousands more have been injured as the Jewish state continues to ignore calls from peace activists and governments around the world for a ceasefire. UN agencies have repeatedly warned of the outbreak of diseases and starvation in the densely populated territory.
Pakistan, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire and a solution to the Middle East crisis. Islamabad backs the creation of an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
KARACHI: A bespectacled Najam Ara’s eyes light up with pride when the last words of Pakistan’s national anthem play on a vintage gramophone. For millions in Pakistan, the national anthem evokes pride, patriotism and respect. For Ara, a lot more: after all, hers is one of the timeless voices that sang the very first version of the anthem that the world heard.
Ara, 86, was one of eleven singers who recorded Pakistan’s national anthem over seven decades ago. The original musical score was composed by Ahmed Ghulam Ali Chagla in 1949 while its words were penned by renowned Pakistani poet Hafeez Jalandhari in 1952.
Written in the Persian language and comprising several words widely used in Urdu, the anthem was first broadcast on Pakistan’s state broadcaster Radio Pakistan on Aug. 13, 1954, sung by Jalandhari himself.
It was recorded later the same year by eleven singers in total, featuring the likes of legendary playback singer Ahmad Rushdi and others. A 16-year-old Ara was one of them.
“I wasn’t a famous artist so it was a matter of great pride for me to be one of the singers of the national anthem,” Ara told Arab News from her modest apartment in Karachi’s Nazimabad area.
“Everyone was saying, ‘You’ve made it into the national anthem.’”
Veteran Pakistani singer Najam Ara holding an award in Karachi, Pakistan on October 19, 2024. (AN photo)
She was recommended as one of the singers by Zulfikar Ali Bukhari, Radio Pakistan’s first director-general who was also an acclaimed broadcaster and poet. Ara vividly remembers the energy in the room as the excited musicians gathered, nearly 70 years earlier, to record the national anthem.
“It was a very nice atmosphere, everyone was happy that we were participating in the [singing of] anthem,” Ara recalled, adding that rehearsals often continued for several days and Jalandhari would himself witness the sessions.
The singers were finally introduced to the national anthem’s melody when it came time for the recording. Renowned Pakistani poet, musician and radio producer Mehdi Zaheer was responsible for adjusting the melody to suit everyone’s voice.
“The fusion of lyrics and melodies was the brilliance of Mehdi Zaheer, who created it,” Ara explained.
The photograph shows Najam Ara and ten other singers who recorded Pakistan’s national anthem over seven decades ago. (AN photo)
Ara vividly recalled how Zaheer chided her for standing too close to the microphone, repeatedly asking her to step back.
“Despite that, my voice was the loudest,” she said. “He pleaded, ‘For god’s sake, step back; your voice is very prominent.’ Because of this, he made sure to seat me quite far back,” Ara said, laughing.
‘GREAT PRIDE, HONOR’
But once the anthem was released, Ara became an overnight star.
“After that for a long time, everyone continued to talk about it and treated me with great respect,” she said, beaming with pride. “At various functions, everyone would invite me, saying, ‘She has come, she is the artist of our national anthem.’“
Singing the national anthem was such a huge honor for her that Ara did not even take a dime for lending her voice to it.
“My father had made it clear that there was no question of any payment,” the octogenarian singer said, describing the national anthem as a “treasure.”
The picture taken on October 19, 2024, shows record of Pakistan’s national anthem at Najam Ara's house in Karachi, Pakistan. (AN photo)
Ara migrated with her family to Pakistan in 1948, a year after Pakistan gained independence, and her brother was arrested on charges of treason . She continued to sing for Radio Pakistan, participating in the hit singing program ‘Sargam’ hosted by Shahid Ahmed Dehlvi, an iconic Pakistani author and editor.
Ara credits Dehlvi for teaching her music, saying that she received letters of praise from hundreds of people in India and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) for her performances on the show.
Ara sang for the 1954 film ‘Roohi’ starring actors Mohammad Afzal, Maya Devi, and Santosh Kumar. She sang numerous Punjabi songs but her Urdu ones, such as ‘Muddat Se Hi Armaan’ and ‘Bhaiya Mera Dulha Banega’ won her critical acclaim.
However, for the veteran Pakistani singer, every achievement pales in comparison when it comes to singing Pakistan’s national anthem.
“Participating in the national anthem from which every event starts, was a source of great pride and honor for me,” Ara said wistfully as she gazed at the cover of the decades-old gramophone record.
US imposes curbs on firms over support of Pakistan, Iran weapons programs
Firms on US sanctions list accused of violating export controls, being involved in “weapons programs of concerns“
Nine entities in Pakistan accused of being front companies, procurement agents for blacklisted organization
Updated 22 October 2024
AFP
Washington: The United States added more than two dozen entities to a trade blacklist Monday over alleged support of weapons and drone development programs in Pakistan and Iran, and for other issues including aiding Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
The 26 targets, mostly in Pakistan, China and the United Arab Emirates, were said to have violated export controls, been involved in “weapons programs of concern,” or evaded US sanctions and export controls on Russia and Iran, said the Commerce Department.
Their addition to the so-called “entity list” restricts them from getting US items and technologies without government authorization.
“We are vigilant in defending US national security from bad actors,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez in a statement.
“Our actions today send a message to malicious actors that if they violate our controls, they will pay a price,” he added.
Nine entities in Pakistan were accused of being front companies and procurement agents for the already blacklisted Advanced Engineering Research Organization.
Since 2010, the group was said to have procured US-origin items by disguising their end users, who include a Pakistani entity responsible for the country’s cruise missile and strategic drone program.
“This activity is contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States,” the Commerce Department said.
Six entities in China were added to the list for allegedly acquiring US-origin items to support China’s military modernization or to aid Iran’s weapons and drone programs, among other reasons.
And three entities in the UAE, alongside another in Egypt, were said to have acquired or attempted to obtain US components to avoid sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said the department.
On Monday, the US Commerce Department also removed Canada-based Sandvine from the entity list, after the company took steps to “to address the misuse of its technology that can undermine human rights.”
The company had been added to the list in February 2024 “after its products were used to conduct mass web-monitoring and censorship and target human rights activists and dissidents, including by enabling the misuse of commercial spyware,” the Commerce Department said.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker late Monday notified a 12-member Special Parliamentary Committee that will nominate the new chief justice, a notification from the National Assembly Secretariat stated, days before the incumbent top judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa is set to retire.
The development takes place a day after the government passed a set of contentious constitutional amendments that have generated heated debate in the country, with opposition parties and prominent lawyers alleging the new law aims to curtail the judiciary’s independence. The government rejects these allegations, saying that the amendments are aimed at empowering Pakistan’s parliament and providing speedy justice to the country’s citizens.
The most prominent amendment made by the ruling coalition government is the one that empowers the parliament to establish a 12-member parliamentary committee to nominate the country’s chief justice from a panel of the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court. Pakistan’s incumbent top judge, Justice Isa, is set to retire on Friday.
“In terms of clause (3B) of Article 175A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Honourable Speaker National Assembly has been pleased to notify the Special Parliamentary Committee consisting of the following members as per nominations by the respective Parliamentary Leaders based on their strength in the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) for the nomination of the Chief Justice of Pakistan under clause (3) of Article 175A of the Constitution,” a notification by the NA Secretariat read.
The parliamentary committee comprises eight lawmakers from the National Assembly and four from the upper house of parliament, the Senate. Of these 12 members, eight are from the treasury benches while four are from the opposition.
The committee includes the names of Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, ruling party lawmaker Shaista Pervaiz, Pakistan Peoples Party lawmakers Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Syed Naveed Qamar and Senator Farooq H Naek, and Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Rana Ansar.
From the opposition benches, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members Gohar Ali Khan and Senator Ali Zafar were notified to the committee. Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza and Jamiat Ulama-e-Pakistan Fazl’s Senator Kamran Murtaza were the other opposition lawmakers named to the committee.
TENSIONS WITH THE TOP COURT
Khan’s PTI has accused Justice Isa of being aligned with the government and says the amendment was passed to grant him an extension in office. The government has rejected these allegations.
Under the previous law, Justice Isa would have been automatically replaced by the most senior judge behind him, currently Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who has consistently issued verdicts deemed favorable to Khan and the PTI.
Sharif’s government has passed the bill, which it says ensures the parliament will not remain a rubber stamp one, in the wake of its tensions with the judiciary that have been on the rise since the February national election.
In July, Pakistan’s top court ruled that the country’s election commission was wrong to have sidelined Khan’s party in the election campaign by forcing its lawmakers to stand as independents due to a technical violation. It also awarded Khan’s party a handful of non-elected reserved parliamentary seats for women and religious minorities, which would give Khan’s party a majority in parliament, angering the government.
Khan, who was ousted from office after a parliamentary vote in April 2022, remains popular among the masses. He has since waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the country’s powerful military, which is thought to be aligned with the government. Khan has been languishing in prison since August 2023 after being convicted on several charges ranging from corruption to treason that he says are politically motivated.
ISLAMABAD: A group of fellows, working with a United Nations (UN) program on disarmament, have arrived in Pakistan on an international study tour, the Pakistani foreign office said on Monday.
The visit, organized by the Pakistani government in collaboration with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), aims to familiarize international diplomats with Pakistan’s policies and institutional frameworks in arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation.
The fellows will tour the Pakistan Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security (PCENS), the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology (PINSTECH), the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) in Wah Cantt, the Heavy Mechanical Complex (HMC) in Taxila, the National Center for Physics (NCP), and the Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS).
“At PCENS, the participants will receive detailed briefings on Pakistan’s nuclear safety and security architecture, regulatory frameworks, and the safeguards adopted in line with international standards, which have been recognized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” the foreign office said in a statement.
“At PINSTECH, they will observe the Pakistan Atomic Research Reactor and the peaceful applications of nuclear technology in health, industry, agriculture, food security, and power generation.”
Established in 1978, the United Nations Program of Fellowships on Disarmament is a prestigious initiative of UNODA and offers valuable training and exposure to young professionals. This is the second time Pakistan is hosting the international study tour for the UN disarmament fellows.
On Monday, the UN fellows visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they were briefed on Pakistan’s stance on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation.
Ambassador Tahir Andrabi, Pakistan’s director-general for arms control and disarmament, emphasized the importance of unrestricted access to dual-use technologies for peaceful socio-economic applications.
Italy arrests 13 Pakistani, Afghan and Iraqi suspects in ‘people trafficking ring’
The suspects were picked up in several Italian cities including Bologna, Rome and Milan on Sunday
Investigators uncovered a ‘criminal organization rooted in Turkiye and Iraq,” with branches elsewhere
Updated 21 October 2024
AFP
ROME: Italian police said Monday they had arrested 13 suspected members of a smuggling ring transporting migrants from the Middle East and South Asia into Italy and onto France.
The suspects, from Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, were picked up in several Italian cities including Bologna, Rome and Milan on Sunday, prosecutors in Catanzaro in the southern region of Calabria said.
They are accused of criminal association and money laundering.
Investigators had gathered evidence of a “criminal organization rooted in Turkiye and Iraq, with branches in Italy, France and Greece, dedicated to managing the sea transport of irregular migrants,” prosecutors said in a statement.
These migrants came from countries including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Lebanon, and were brought onto the coasts of Calabria.
The organization had a network of compatriots who housed the arrivals in the Crotone area and bought train or bus tickets to the Italian border with France, where smugglers helped them pass via the Ventimiglia area.
Three commercial premises in Ventimiglia, Rome and Milan were also seized during the operation, the suspected locations of illegal money transfers using the “hawala” system, an informal method of payment based on trust that is far more difficult to trace than bank transfers.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has made clamping down on irregular migration a priority, hailed the arrests, saying her government was “determined to dismantle these criminal networks and to eradicate illegal human trafficking.”
