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Pakistan says 79,000 Hajj applicants received in government scheme as submission deadline expires

Pakistan says 79,000 Hajj applicants received in government scheme as submission deadline expires
An official of Makkah Route checks the passport of a pilgrim at immigration as he leaves for Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage from Pakistan on May 20, 2024. (SPA/File)
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Updated 1 min 21 sec ago
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Pakistan says 79,000 Hajj applicants received in government scheme as submission deadline expires

Pakistan says 79,000 Hajj applicants received in government scheme as submission deadline expires
  • With 79,000 Hajj applications received so far, 10,605 slots remain vacant under the government scheme
  • Last year, Pakistan surrendered 21,000 Hajj seats to Saudi Arabia due to a shortage of applications
Updated 1 min 21 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry said on Tuesday all 79,000 applicants who had filed to perform the Hajj 2025 pilgrimage under the federal government scheme were “successful,” as the deadline for submissions expired. 
Saudi Arabia has allotted Pakistan a total quota of 179,210 pilgrims for the upcoming Hajj, to be divided equally between the government and private schemes. The government last week extended the deadline for the submission of Hajj applications for government scheme slots from Dec. 3 to Dec. 10.
“The ministry of religious affairs has given great news to Hajj applicants, all 79,000 Hajj pilgrims who submitted applications till Dec. 10 have been declared successful,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday evening. 
With 79,000 Hajj applications received so far, 10,605 slots remain vacant under the government scheme. Last year, Pakistan surrendered 21,000 Hajj seats to Saudi Arabia due to a shortage of applications, but this year the government hopes all slots can be filled.
“Decision taken to continue receiving applications on a first-come, first-served basis for a few thousand vacant seats,” the ministry added, saying the application process would close as soon as the Hajj quota was met.
The religious affairs ministry announced this year’s Hajj policy last month, allowing pilgrims to pay Hajj fees in installments for the first time. The first installment of Rs200,000 ($717) must be deposited along with the application while the second installment of Rs400,000 ($1,435) has to be submitted within ten days of balloting. The remaining amount has to be deposited by Feb. 10 next year.
Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry has launched the ‘Pak Hajj 2025’ mobile application to guide and facilitate pilgrims. The app is available for both Android and iPhone users.
The Pakistan government has also announced a reduction in airfare for Hajj 2025, with a Rs14,000 ($50) drop in ticket prices. Pilgrims enrolled in the federal program will now pay Rs220,000 for airfare, down from last year’s Rs234,000. 
The national flag carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Saudi Airlines and other private airlines have agreed to the relief package, according to the Pakistan government.

Topics: Hajj 2025 Pakistan Hajj mission Pakistani Hajj pilgrims

Pakistan to work with US to bring main federal investigation agency to FBI standards

Pakistan to work with US to bring main federal investigation agency to FBI standards
Updated 10 December 2024
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Pakistan to work with US to bring main federal investigation agency to FBI standards

Pakistan to work with US to bring main federal investigation agency to FBI standards
  • Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi discusses modernizing Federal Investigation Agency with US Deputy Mission Chief Natalie Baker
  • FIA is tasked with investigations into terrorism, espionage, smuggling, trafficking, intellectual property rights, other crimes
Updated 10 December 2024
Muhammad Ibrahim

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met US Deputy Chief of Mission Natalie A. Baker in Islamabad on Tuesday and discussed modernizing Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency to bring it at par with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FIA is a border control, criminal investigation, counterintelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with probing terrorism, espionage, smuggling, trafficking, intellectual property rights and other crimes.
The FIA’s main goal and priority is to protect national interests as well as defend Pakistan’s interests locally and uphold and ensure law enforcement in the country.
“The United States has agreed to assist Pakistan in modernizing FIA along the lines of FBI,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said in a report after Naqvi’s meeting with Baker.
“The United States will also provide assistance in making the National Forensic Agency more effective as per the modern requirements.”
Quoting Naqvi, Radio Pakistan said the minister underscored the importance of US collaboration in enhancing the capabilities of Pakistani law enforcement agencies.
“He stressed the urgent need for providing modern equipment and tools to the Civil Armed Forces to effectively deal with terrorism and emergency situations, calling it a top priority,” the state broadcaster added. 
The FBI is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. As a leading counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes. Although many of the FBI’s functions are unique, its activities in support of national security are comparable to those of the British MI5 and NCA, the New Zealand GCSB and the Russian FSB. 
Despite its domestic focus, the FBI also maintains a significant international footprint, operating offices in US embassies and consulates around the world.

Topics: Pakistan US Ties

At Pakistan conference, Palestinians call for concrete actions to end Israeli actions in Gaza

At Pakistan conference, Palestinians call for concrete actions to end Israeli actions in Gaza
Updated 10 December 2024
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At Pakistan conference, Palestinians call for concrete actions to end Israeli actions in Gaza

At Pakistan conference, Palestinians call for concrete actions to end Israeli actions in Gaza
  • Palestine Conference, held on occasion of International Human Rights Day, widely attended by politicians, activists, and students
  • Speakers urge Muslim countries to boycott Israel, halt trade, sever diplomatic ties and block Israel’s communication routes
Updated 10 December 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Palestinian leaders and activists at a conference held in Islamabad on Tuesday called on the global community, particularly Muslim nations, to take concrete actions to stop Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, ensure a ceasefire and hold leaders like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to account under international laws.
The Palestine Conference, held on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, was jointly organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Save Gaza Campaign, a civil society movement based in Pakistan. The forum was attended by a large number of Pakistanis, including politicians, rights activists, civil society members, journalists, and students.
The ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people and injured thousands more since the Oct 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas in Isarel. Israel’s 13-month military campaign has displaced an estimated 1.9 million Palestinians, many of them multiple times. Bombings, movement restrictions and evacuations ordered by Israel’s military block access to health care and keep aid workers from reaching people in need, with aid organizations and charities repeatedly warning of crisis-level hunger affecting nearly two million people. A United Nations-backed assessment last month warned that famine is looming in northern Gaza due to a near-halt in food aid. Essential goods such as water, fresh produce, and medicines are also scarce.
Speaking to Arab News, Dr. Khalid Qaddoumi, a spokesperson and head of the West Asia Desk of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, said it was the responsibility of the international community to act on arrest warrants issued by the International Court of Justice (ICC) last month against Netanyahu for alleged crimes against humanity.
The Israeli premier was an “internationally recognized war criminal” and should be held accountable, Qaddoumi said, calling on global powers to stand by the laws which they had themselves drafted at the UN and other human rights forums. 
“Unfortunately, those bottom lines of humanity ... have been violated continuously by the Israeli army and Israeli government, and with the green light from the world powers,” Qaddoumi said in an interview to Arab News on the sidelines of the conference. 
However, Qaddoumi said Israel could not break the Palestinian people or their resistance.
“Today 2.4 million Palestinians are still in their homeland despite the Israelis, aggressions, operations, and crimes and they fail to impose the enforced displacement, even our people in the north, they are in their own destroyed houses without water,” he added.
The Hamas representative said while Pakistan was providing humanitarian assistance to Palestine, it also needed to employ diplomatic and political means to get the borders opened.
“If the borders are not open, those things [humanitarian aid] will not come as we get not more than 40 trucks a day, which is a joke at a time that the minimum need is more than 1,000 trucks a day,” he said. 
“We were expecting for the last 47 years [but] nothing has come, unfortunately, except statements but now is the opportunity for the Muslim Ummah and countries like Pakistan to move forward and develop their action.”
Bilal Al Astal, a Palestinian journalist from Khan Younis and the director general of Friends of Palestine, an advocacy network that aims to raise awareness and foster international support for Palestine, said though Israel had destroyed nearly 88 percent of the Gaza Strip, including schools, hospitals, and all other infrastructure, there were reasons to be hopeful. 
“We need to remain somewhat optimistic about the situation,” he said, adding that the current situation had put a spotlight on Israel, with more and more countries openly recognizing it as “real perpetrators of genocide.”
“Along with these sacrifices, we have seen some advantages, more countries including European nations are now recognizing Palestine,” Astal added. 
Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, a former senator and the patron of the Save Gaza Campaign, demanded that the international community, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and particularly the government of Pakistan “move beyond mere condemnations” and take “concrete actions to stop the Israeli genocide.”
“They [Muslim countries] should boycott Israel, halt trade, sever diplomatic relations, prevent Israel and its supporters from using air, sea, and land routes for communication, and employ oil as a strategic tool against Israel and its allies,” he added.
“As around 430 days have passed since the genocide of Palestinians by Israelis began, we demand human rights for Palestinians and urge the international community to take actionable steps.”

Topics: Pakistan Palestine International Human Rights Day

Pakistani among team of researchers to win prestigious Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling

Pakistani among team of researchers to win prestigious Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling
Updated 10 December 2024
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Pakistani among team of researchers to win prestigious Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling

Pakistani among team of researchers to win prestigious Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling
  • LUMS associate professor Dr. Zubair Khalid becomes first Pakistani to win prize for high-performance computing applications
  • Award honors innovation in using supercomputers to solve complex problems in science, engineering and other fields
Updated 10 December 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: A multi-institutional team of researchers, including a Pakistani academic, has won the Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling by creating an advanced predictive model for climate analysis, a statement from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) said.
LUMS Associate Professor Dr. Zubair Khalid was part of the 12-member team that won the award, which recognizes innovative parallel computing contributions toward solving the global climate crisis. 
The team presented the project, titled, “Boosting Earth System Model Outputs and Saving PetaBytes in Their Storage Using Exascale Climate Emulators,” at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conference that was held in Atlanta earlier this November.
“The university has been instrumental in supporting my contributions to this endeavour by fostering an environment that encourages interdisciplinary research and collaboration,” LUMS said in a statement, quoting Dr. Khalid.

In this photo, released by the Lahore University of Management Sciences on November 27, 2024, Pakistani professor Dr. Zubair Khalid gestures with a group of multi-institutional team of researchers (3R) during the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conference in Atlanta. (Photo courtesy: LUMS)

“Through my Center for Urban Informatics, Technology, and Policy, the university facilitated my engagement with global research networks and positioned me to contribute to high-impact international projects.”
Dean of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering at LUMS, Dr. Walther Schwarzacher, congratulated Dr. Khalid for winning the prestigious award.
“This remarkable achievement highlights the outstanding contributions that the School’s faculty are making to address some of the greatest scientific challenges facing our society,” the statement quoted Schwarzacher as saying.
The Gordon Bell Prize is presented by the Association for Computing Machinery each year in conjunction with the SC Conference series, formerly known as the Supercomputing Conference. The prize was established in 1987. A cash award of $10,000 (since 2011) accompanies the recognition, funded by Gordon Bell, a pioneer in high-performance and parallel computing.

Topics: pakistan climate change LUMS

Pakistan ex-spy chief formally arraigned for ‘engaging in political activities’ — military

Pakistan ex-spy chief formally arraigned for ‘engaging in political activities’ — military
Updated 10 December 2024
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Pakistan ex-spy chief formally arraigned for ‘engaging in political activities’ — military

Pakistan ex-spy chief formally arraigned for ‘engaging in political activities’ — military
  • Retired general Faiz Hameed was arrested in August on charges of land grabbing, snatching valuables from housing society developer
  • The army said at the time multiple instances of violation of Pakistan Army Act post-retirement had been established against Hameed
Updated 10 December 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Tuesday former spymaster Lt. Gen. (retired) Faiz Hameed, against whom court martial proceedings began in August, had been formally arraigned on a number of charges, including engaging in political activities and violating a law on official secrets. 
Hameed, who served as the director-general of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency from June 2019 until October 2021, was arrested this August over accusations he was involved in land grabbing and snatching valuables and property from the owner of a housing society. The military said at the time multiple instances of violations of the Pakistan Army Act post-retirement had also been established against Hameed, court martial proceedings had been initiated and he was in the army’s custody.
The former general is widely seen to have been close to former prime minister Imran Khan, who has also been in jail since last year on a slew of charges that he says are politically motivated.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the army’s media wing said Field General Court Martial proceedings had started against Hameed on Aug. 12 under the Pakistan Army Act.
“In first place, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd) has been formally arraigned on charges of engaging in political activities, violations of Official Secret Act detrimental to safety and interest of the state, misuse of authority & government resources and causing wrongful loss to a person(s),” the military said. 
The statement added that Hameed was also being investigated for “creating agitation and unrest,” which had led to multiple incidents of “instability,” including but not limited to riots by alleged pro-Imran Khan protesters on May 9, 2023, in which government and military buildings were attacked and damaged. This was done, the military said, at “the behest of and in collusion with vested political interests.”
“Hameed is being afforded with all legal rights as per the law,” the statement concluded. 
Investigations against senior officers of the all-powerful army are extremely rare in Pakistan, where the military has ruled for almost half of the country’s history and wields extraordinary power even during periods of civilian rule.
In the past, Hameed, who retired from the army in December 2022, was widely accused by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of bringing down the government of his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif, in 2017. The PML-N alleges Hameed worked with then opposition leader Imran Khan to plot Nawaz’s ouster through a series of court cases, culminating in the Supreme Court’s disqualifying of him from office in 2017 for failing to disclose income and ordering a criminal investigation into his family over corruption allegations.
Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, is widely believed to have been propelled to power with the backing of the military in 2018. However, since his ouster in a parliamentary no-trust vote, which he blames on the generals, he has waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the military establishment. The military has denied any involvement in his ouster but Khan has been public about the clash, which has led to the worst political turmoil in the South Asian nation in decades. 
Many independent analysts say the unprecedented arrest and court-martial of Hameed could raise the heat on Khan and be the precursor to prosecuting the jailed former prime minister before a military court on charges of treason and attempting to incite a mutiny in the military.
ARREST
At the time of Hameed’s arrest in August, the army said it had held a detailed inquiry against him in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court on a petition filed by the management of the Top City housing society.
The petition, filed by the owner of Top City, Moeez Ahmed Khan (applicant), says the former ISI chief “misused” his office and under his direction, crimes were committed against Moeez and his family, including raids on his residence and business offices and arrests of him and his family members.
The petition says the applicant and his family members were robbed of their properties, the applicant was robbed of his business properties and compelled to transfer his businesses into the names of those nominated by Hameed, and false cases were registered against the applicant, his family and employees.
“Complying with the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan, a detailed court of inquiry, was undertaken by Pakistan Army, to ascertain correctness of complaints in Top City Case made against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd),” the army’s media wing said in a statement after Hameed’s arrest. 
“Consequently, appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd), under provisions of Pakistan Army Act.”
Days after Hameed’s arrest, the Pakistani military said it had arrested three more retired officers in connection with the proceedings against the ex-spy chief. 
Political parties and critics often accuse that the ISI spy agency interferes in politics and government in Pakistan.

Topics: Faiz Hameed May 9 protests Top City Housing Society

Pakistani embassy evacuates 100 nationals from Syria via Lebanon border

Pakistani embassy evacuates 100 nationals from Syria via Lebanon border
Updated 10 December 2024
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Pakistani embassy evacuates 100 nationals from Syria via Lebanon border

Pakistani embassy evacuates 100 nationals from Syria via Lebanon border
  • Over 1,300 Pakistanis were stranded in Syria last week, when Syrian opposition forces seized the capital of Damascus
  • Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says the return of Pakistanis stranded in Syria is a ‘matter of concern’ for his government
Updated 10 December 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR & Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s embassy has evacuated 100 Pakistani nationals from Syria through its border with Lebanon, an embassy official said on Tuesday, shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said their return was a “matter of concern” for Islamabad.
More than 1,300 Pakistanis were stranded in Syria last week, when Syrian opposition forces seized the capital of Damascus unopposed following a lightning advance that sent President Bashar Assad fleeing to Russia on Sunday.
Pakistan’s foreign office said these Pakistanis would be evacuated once the Damascus airport reopened, but on Monday, PM Sharif sought his Lebanese counterpart Najib Mikati’s “personal intervention” in evacuating these Pakistani nationals.
“We have evacuated 100 Pakistanis from the Syria-Lebanon border. There are 80 pilgrims and 20 Pakistani residents,” Muhammad Nafees, an official at the Pakistani embassy in Damascus, told Arab News on Tuesday.
“Embassy officials transported them in buses to the Syria-Lebanon border.”
Officials of the Pakistani embassy in Lebanon received these Pakistani nationals at the border, according to Nafees.
“They are returning to Pakistan on two flights” he shared. “The Pakistan embassy in Syria is working to evacuate all remaining Pakistanis within a couple of days.”
The development came shortly after PM Sharif said around 250 Pakistani pilgrims had recently gone to Syria.
“The pilgrims and other Pakistani teachers and students, their return is a matter of concern and we have to rapidly make arrangements,” the premier said in televised comments after a meeting of his cabinet.
“Apart from the 250 pilgrims, 300 more Pakistanis want to go back to Pakistan. We are concerned about this and have to do arrangements.”
Sharif said the Lebanese premier had assured him of helping Pakistan evacuate its nationals in their telephonic conversation on Monday.
“He said ‘it doesn’t matter if there are visas or not, we will look after them and you should begin the process’,” the Pakistan premier said.
Pakistan’s embassy earlier said Syria’s airports and borders with Jordan and Oman were currently closed, posing a “major challenge” to the repatriation effort.
The embassy said it would accommodate Pakistani nationals at a school run by the mission so they could have a secure place to stay while repatriation flights were arranged.

Topics: Pakistan Syria Ties Lebanon border

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