Miracle 588, Jan 13th 2023

Donors pledge more than $9bn for Pakistan flood recovery

Pakistan says donors at an international conference in Geneva have pledged to give more than $9bn to help it rebuild following last year’s devastating floods.

Pakistan is hosting the event in Geneva on Monday with the United Nations as it seeks international assistance to cover around half of a total $16.3bn recovery bill.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres kicked off the one-day conference, attended by officials from nearly 40 other countries as well as private donors and international financial institutions.

The unprecedented floods caused by melting glaciers and record monsoon rains last year affected more than 33 million Pakistanis, killing more than 1,700 people and pushing about nine million others into poverty, according to the UN.

Thousands of people are still living in open areas, tents and makeshift homes in Sindh and Balochistan, the two worst-hit provinces, with stagnant water still present in many areas.

Pakistani Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said the final tally came in above a target for the international community.

“Taken as a whole, these commitments total more than $9 billion and from what we know so far, these are all additional commitments from what was already given in terms of humanitarian assistance, etc., from both bilateral and multilateral partners,” she said, adding that a number of delegations had also offered up in-kind support.

Earlier, Guterres praised Pakistan and its people for responding to “this epic tragedy with heroic humanity”.

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Petition seeks to recall B.C. Premier David Eby

The petition will be issued on Jan. 17, at which time canvassers will have until March 20 to secure the signatures of 16,449 voters in Eby’s Vancouver-Point Grey electoral district who were eligible to vote in the last election on Oct. 24, 2020.

Recall petitions are fairly common in B.C., but none of the 27 that have been attempted since the Recall and Initiative Act was adopted in 1995 have been successful.

Elections BC has approved an application for a petition to recall Premier David Eby.

The provincial election agency announced Tuesday that it had received an application that met the requirements of the Recall and Initiative Act.

If the petition receives at least that many signatures – representing 40 per cent of the electorate – Elections BC will have 42 days to determine that the signatures were valid. If enough valid signatures were secured, Eby’s seat would be vacated and a byelection would have to be held.

Canadian Nexus centres to reopen in spring along with U.S. interviews at airports

According to Elections BC, just six of the 27 were returned for verification. Five of those six did not have enough valid signatures, while the sixth was halted during the verification process because the member of the legislature the petition was targeting resigned.

Two of the province’s previous recall petitions have been issued in Vancouver-Point Grey, both of them target-

ing former BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell, one in 1998 and one in 2003. Each time, the petition was not returned by the deadline, according to Elections BC.

The proponent of the petition to recall Eby is Salvatore Vetro.

In his statement explaining why the premier should be recalled, Vetro calls Eby “a dictator,” and writes that his government’s Bill 36 “breaks many existing laws including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the international Nuremberg Code.”

Source: bc.ctvnews.ca

World Bank cuts Pakistan GDP growth projection to 2%

Nexus applicants, who must be interviewed by both Canadian and U.S. authorities, would sit down with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials for that portion of the process prior to travelling to the U.S., provided they are travelling imminently and leaving from an airport where customs preclearance is

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SLAMABAD: The World Bank (WB) has revised Pakistan’s GDP growth projection downward from four percent to two percent for the current fiscal year, saying the country’s precarious economic situation, with low foreign exchange reserves and large fiscal and current account deficits, has further worsened by severe flooding. “Nonetheless, Pakistan faces mounting economic difficulties and Sri Lanka remains in crisis. In all regions, improvements in living standards over the half-decade to 2024 are expected to be slower than from 2010-19,” the World Bank stated in Global Economic Prospects released on Tuesday. In Pakistan, the report stated that an already precarious economic situation, with low foreign exchange reserves and large fiscal and current account deficits, was exacerbated last August by severe

flooding, which cost many lives. About one-third of the country’s land area was affected, damaging infrastructure, and directly affecting about 15 percent of the population.

Pakistan, with low foreign exchange reserves and rising sovereign risk, saw its currency depreciate by 14 percent between June and December and its country risk premium rise by 15 percentage points over this same period.

Source: Dawn.com

B.C. 09 06 11 15 08 09

cess to 03 06 04

nurses Jamia Aulia Allah hosts conference Mansoor Lilla holds book launch BC, CANADA First Muslim Biweekly & Bilingual

Canada and the United States said Tuesday they expect Canadian Nexus enrolment centres to reopen in the spring alongside a new program allowing U.S.led interviews to be conducted at Canadian airports.

The deal, reached on the sidelines of the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City, is intended to further reduce the backlog of applicants for the

Woman in the Light of the Qur’an

Narrated by Hzt Anas(RA)

The Prophet said, “None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself.”

Ask the Imam (Q&A): Acting

Question 5480:

Who can question the vital role played by the mother in a family?

From the moment of conception to birth and to rearing, it is the mother who spends most of her time with and carries most of the burden of the baby. The child’s early development is shaped primarily by the mother.

o acknowledge the mothers’ fundamental role in building the worldwide community of the faithful, the Qur’an uses the word Ummah, a derivative of word Umm meaning mother. And the Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have said that heaven lies under the feet of the mother. The women are honored in the Qur’an by having chapter Al-Nisa (The Women) after them. But misunderstandings and misconceptions about women are abound. Here are a few of them: Did the product of a crooked rib cause man’s fall from paradise?

The Qur’an does not support the story that woman was created from man’s rib. O MANKIND! Be conscious of your Sustainer, who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women. (4:1) [Asad]

Contrary to the popular belief woman was not responsible for man’s first act of disobedience and his subsequent expulsion from the paradise:

But Satan caused them both to stumble therein, and thus brought about the loss of their erstwhile state. (2:36) [Asad, emphasis added]

Equality of man and woman

As a whole, the Qur’an treats man and woman on an equal basis. But the roles assigned to each of them is not the same but rather complementary.

Allah has made one of them to excel the other. (4:34) [Khan & Al-Hilali]

The reality and significance of the above verse has yet to sink in the minds of those men who habitually and traditionally as-

sign an inferior status to women. Based on research we know that men surpass women in mechanical skill and women surpass men in linguistic ability.

How could this be clearer than the following verse of the Qur’an:

Lo! men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere, and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember Allah much and women who remember - Allah hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.(33:35)

[Pickthall]

And according to the Qur’an, the opportunity for good deeds and their reward exists equally for both men and women:

If any do deeds of righteousness, - be they male or female - and have faith, they will enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them. (4:124) [Yusuf Ali]

And on the subject of ownership rights: To men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn. (4:32) [Yusuf Ali]

The Qur’an also tells that women are equal participants in enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong (Amr bil M‘aroofand-Nahya ‘Anil Munkar). Obviously, this implies women’s right to participate in public life.

AND [as for] the believers, both men and women they are close unto one another: they [all] enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong. (9:71)

[Asad]

Polygamy

Only one verse (4:3) in the Qur’an allows polygamy, but that too, in special circumstance

Assalamualaikum I’m curretnly at the stage in school where I shall pick 5 subject courses to learn for a year. Ive chosen Maths, physics, chemistry and biology. I was thinking of taking drama and theatre studies. This subject involves mostly watching plays and anaylising them in essay form. There is also a practical side where i will do a little acting.

I wish to take this subject because it would be a refreshing change from the other four highly acedemic subjects.

I go to a mostly boys school and i doubt there will be any girls in my class. Is it acceptable for me to take this course? thank you massalama

Supervised by Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid Wa ‘Alaykum Assalam Wa Rahmatulahi Wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear brother, we are really pleased to have your question and to have the chance to convey some of the teachings of our religion to our Muslim brothers. Allah says: “and He forbids all shameful deeds(lewdness), and all evil in general and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition.”(HolyQuran 16 AnNahl:90) the late Sheikh Ahmad Ash-Sharabaasi, a prominent Azharite scholar says: According to actors, acting aims at analyzing life experiences. It depicts faults as something to be avoided and highly praises virtue and calls people to adhere to it. It exposes lessons and experiences in a way that makes the message presented indirectly, through inspiration. As long as acting, ei-

when there are a large number of widows and orphans left after war. The context of the verse is to address this situation. The verse is very explicit in that a man may marry more than one from among the orphans/widows (fil-yatama) only on the condition that justice is done among all (up to a total of four) wives. If not, then only one wife is allowed. Thus polygamy is permitted but only under very strict conditions and is more like a sacrifice on the part of both men and women to address a societal issue in a dignified manner. It is not a license for men to marry more women to satisfy their lust and/or to have more children. For this the fault lies with us as interpreters and not with the Qur’an.

Woman as a witness

Another prevailing misconception is that, in Islam, two women’s witnesses are equal to one man’s witness. This is related to verse (2:282) which says that in matters of contracting a loan if one cannot find two men as witnesses then one can bring one man and two women. The Qur’an itself has given the reason for this that if the woman who is giving witness forgets or gets confused (tadilla) then the other woman may remind her. That is, only one woman gives witness. The other woman is just for moral support.

Conclusion

In light of all of the above, do we still need

ther cinematic or theatrical, achieves this aim, presents morality and good taste, does not reveal private parts or provokes sexual instincts , it is deemed lawful as religion does not prohibit this kind of acting. However, it is prohibited to watch x-rated movies or plays, as well as any form of acting that attacks religion and virtue, encourages vices, and presents what is prohibited, for this kind of acting spreads evil and corruption. This is based on the juristic rule that what leads to something prohibited is in itself prohibited, and we are ordered to block all channels of evil. Concerning movie in particular, Al-Azhar scholars consider it a double-edged weapon, as some people use it in proper way to benefit the whole nation, upholding religion and good manners, while others misuse it, by encouraging crimes, vices, and stirring sensual, psychological, ethical and social corruption in the society. What we need now is to employ this sophisticated technology in the service of religion, airing ethical values and spiritual principles, as well as filling the mind of the new generation with patriotism. Al-Azhar scholars urge film directors all over the world to respond to the call of religion, morality, and patriotism and produce pure and serious films that could strengthen principles of good and virtue in man. They also urge the filmmakers to encourage building social relations among people, based on religious principles, for this will help in developing art.” Wassalam and Allah knows best.

(Source: islamicity.org/qa

to believe that woman is inferior to man; that she cannot lead, govern, or decide critical matters in an Islamic government as the proponents of man-made Shariah would have us believe?

During the early period of Islam, men and women enjoyed equal rights in all respects of their lives. Caliph Umar ibn Khattab (R) proudly proclaimed that an old woman taught him the meaning of word Khilafah. But unfortunately the Khilafat was turned into a hereditary kingship by Umayyads and Abbasids who treated women more like objects of pleasure than human beings. As a consequence, women lost their position of dignity and self-respect. For the sorry state that continues to the present day, Muslims alone are responsible, not Islam.

The truth is men and women are like the two wheels of a cart. Each wheel is called Zauj of the other in Arabic. If one wheel dominates the other, the cart will not move properly. This cart of life will move smoothly along the straight path (Sirat almustaqim) only if the two wheels are equal and balanced and one wheel does not try to dominate the other, which means there can be no real Islam until women (constituting half of humanity) regain their God-given human rights of dignity, self-respect, and equality with men in all walks of life.

Source: aljumuah.com

After the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the chronic nursing shortage that has existed for years in British Columbia, the province is overhauling the process to accredit internationally trained nurses.

The province will be streamlining regulatory assessments, removing some financial barriers and adding a “navigation support” tool. Currently, there are significant regulatory barriers for internationally educated nurses due to exam and registration assessments.

“The initiative today addresses the lengthy and costly part of this,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said.

Between 2017 and 2020, the number

of registered nurses providing publicly funded health services increased by 2,259 or 6 per cent.

At the same time the population in the province grew by 200,000 people.

B.C.’s supply is growing faster than other jurisdictions in Canada, as population grows and ages.

Currently, registration and licensing of IENs can take an average of 18 months to two years – with some nurses waiting even longer.

The expectation is the change will reduce waiting times, but it is unclear

how long. The process will provide more frequent assessments so nurses will not have to wait under the current cohort system.

This one change could save one or two months in waits.

“It will potentially allow people to work while they are seeing higher accreditation. Right now it is very difficult. That is an important change,” Dix said.

To be licensed there is a complex process including English Language testing, credential and competency

assessments, document submissions to numerous organizations including National Nursing Assessment Services, Nursing Community Assessment and the BC College of Nurses and Midwives.

The College receives 350 to 400 application annually for nursing professions.

Source: globalnews.ca

Integrated homicide Investigation Team is on scene gathering evidence

Surrey RCMP say they discovered the bodies of three people inside a Surrey home on Monday.

The department says officers attended a home near 112 Avenue and 156 Street shortly after 12 p.m. The bodies were found inside the house.

Police say they believe all three people are related, and the Surrey RCMP says no one else was located on the property.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is now working on the case.

Surrey RCMP says it does not believe there is any ongoing risk to the community.

Police are asking anyone who may have information to give them a call.

Source: cbc.ca

A program designed to compensate Canadians for vaccine injuries has paid out $2.779 million since it started accepting claims 19 months ago.

According to the Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) website, 50 of 1,299 claims submitted so far have been approved, with 18 rejected claims under appeal as of Dec. 1, 2022. Claims are approved when a medical review board determines a probable link between a recent Health Canada-authorized vaccine and “serious and permanent injury.”

Lake Country, B.C.’s Ross Wightman was one of the first claimants approved by the VISP. The 41-year-old was hospitalized with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) — a rare and sometimes fatal condition that affects the nervous system — just days after his first and only dose of an Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

“I’m told by the program that I’m the first person for everything related. So I’m the tip of the sword,” he said.

The VISP covers Canadians who received a vaccine in Canada on or after Dec. 8, 2020, excluding those vaccinated in Quebec, where a provincial program exists.

More than 96 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Canada. Health experts note the risks associated with contracting COVID-19 far outweigh the risks of vaccination.

Claimants frustrated by delays Without giving an exact figure, Wightman said he’s received close to the maximum VISP payout possible of $284,000 for pain and suffering. That means his claim, which was approved in May 2021, accounts for close to 10 per cent of the total money distributed by the program so far.

A major frustration, said Wightman, is the length of time VISP takes to process a claim.

“I know lots of people in the community that I talked to are in a similar boat and are still having trouble,” said Wightman. “Some are being rejected for various reasons, and others are just simply waiting for any sort of payment or communication from VISP about where their case is at.”

According to the VISP website, “timelines for a determination of eligibility and support will depend on the nature and complexity of the claim.”

Summerland, B.C.’s Julian Scholefield is also critical of the pace of VISP. The 45-year-old father of two relies on a wheelchair for mobility after he says he became paralyzed from the waist down, days after getting a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in July 2021.

He filed a claim in October 2021 and has yet to receive notice of approval or denial.

“I was assigned a [VISP] caseworker in December of ‘21, and I sent in all my medical receipts and reviews .. the details they requested in January of ‘22. And since January of 2022, I’ve been following up on a pretty regular basis and you either get no response or a delayed response saying [to] just wait and see.”

Source: cbc.ca

2022 was the fifth-warmest year on record, the European-based climate service Copernicus reported on Tuesday.

It was 0.3 C above the 1991–2020 average, and 1.2 C above the pre-industrial average (1850–1900), making it the eighth consecutive year that global temperatures were more than 1 C above the pre-industrial average. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release their joint findings on Jan. 12, which will likely be the same ranking or similar, as in previous years.

The fact that it was another year in the top 10 likely isn’t a surprise for most people, but experts say it’s concerning that the warming trend continues even in light of a cooling phenomenon called La Nina.

“It is unusual that with La Nina, which should bring cooler temperatures, that we are right now about to be confirmed [as one of the] warmest years,” said Mélie Monnerat, project manager at the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation. “Even if 2022 was maybe not as warm as 2021, it’s still ridiculously high.”

There’s an ocean pattern called the El NinoSouthern Oscillation (ENSO), where temperatures in a particular part of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean either warm or cool by a few degrees. When it’s cooler, it’s a La Nina year. When it’s warmer, it’s an El Nino year.

Both of these patterns have varying effects around the world, depending on where you are. But an El Nino year typically results in a warmer annual global temperature. However, the past three years have been La Nina years — and also some of the warmest years on record, with effects felt across the globe and the country.

In 2021, Lytton, B.C., recorded the highest temperature ever in Canada, at 49.6 C. It was also almost wiped off the map following deadly forest fires. And in 2022, worldwide, there were no shortage of climate disasters, including flooding in Pakistan and Nigeria, drought in Somalia, and record-breaking

heat waves in Europe.

It’s a reminder that, as the planet warms, we will experience more and more climaterelated disasters, and we need to be better prepared, experts say.

Warmest years on record

According to several climate agencies, La Nina is expected to transition to neutral by the summer. After that, it’s possible we could transition to another El Nino, which means we could see one of the warmest years on record, perhaps beating out 2016 when the temperature was roughly 1.01 C above average.

“In our report, we cover that the last eight years have been the warmest eight years on record. Last year, we said that the last seven years have been the seven-warmest years on record,” said Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. “The reality is that the climate that we’re living in right now, our infrastructure is not fit for this purpose.”

She also noted that, without La Nina in place, 2022 would have been even warmer. Burgess said that as greenhouse gases continue to be emitted, it’s likely that the years ahead will get warmer and warmer.

“If we go forward 10 or 15 years into the future, 2022 will probably be looked at as a cooler year than average,” she said.

‘We will hit 1.5 degrees this century’ 2023 has already broken winter temperature records across Europe.

The Copernicus report also noted that both CO2 emissions and methane — two of the leading contributors to global warming — increased in 2022: CO2, by 2.1 parts per million and methane by 12 parts per billion. This isn’t in line with the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s goal of trying to limit global warming to 1.5 C by the end of the century by rapidly cutting emissions.

“We will hit 1.5 degrees this century,” Burgess said. “Worryingly, we’ll probably hit it in the next decade or so.”

Source: cbc.ca

2022 was another record hot year. Experts say we must prepare for more climate-related disasters

Pakistan is in the midst of perhaps the most serious crisis it has faced since 1971. The political economy has been ripped to shreds through self-inflicted wounds, its international stature is down in the dumps, and if the country was listed in the stock market, its stock would be categorised as a penny stock. But crises are opportunities and amidst the doom and gloom, it is important to recognise that societies that have experienced much more turbulence and destruction have not only recovered, but become powerful, influential nations in the international community.

The plethora of challenges faced by Pakistan today do not require rocket science or significant innovation to resolve. The ongoing crisis is a result of years of irrational policies pursued across the political, economic and foreign policy domains.

The solution then is to fundamentally alter the status quo in three key domains: foreign policy, economy, and governance.

Punching above its weight

The first and perhaps most important pivot that must be made is in the domain of foreign policy.

For far too long, Pakistani elites have tried to punch above their weight in the international arena, not recognising that Pakistan is, at the best of times, a middlepower. This bravado has led the country’s elites, particularly its military establishment, to develop and execute a foreign policy that is fundamentally at odds with the hard and soft power capabilities it possesses.

Given the ongoing crisis, Pakistan must adopt strategic patience in foreign policy, where

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the country’s elites accept that they will be unable to, at least for the foreseeable future, achieve core foreign policy and strategic goals.

This policy is similar to what Pakistan’s strategic ally China followed for decades, with the term “hide your strength, bide your time” summing up the country’s foreign policy approach. During this period, Chinese elites focused on building their domestic economic, technological and human capital capabilities, even if it meant building closer ties with Taiwan — a country China does not even formally recognise.

Pakistan must follow a similar approach, focusing on the task at hand at home and adopting a pragmatic posture with India, its archrival. In the near-term, the country must make concerted attempts to normalise ties with Delhi, even as it gets overtaken by a far-right Hindutva ideology. Trade, investment, and integration with India provide significant near-term benefits to Pakistan and while Kashmir remains a core dispute, Pakistan’s elites must recognise that they are in no position to make headway on this issue given the decline of Pakistan’s own capabilities and standing.

Breaking the economic status quo

While Pakistan adopts a policy of strategic patience in foreign policy, it must aggressively pursue a restructuring of its own economy. Patience on the foreign policy front, paired with a slow and steady normalisation of ties with India, is unlikely to yield any positives so long as the economic status quo holds. To survive and thrive for the next

75 years, Pakistan must abandon reckless and irrational economic policies its elites have adopted for decades. This means ending the real estate casino economy, getting rid of policies that distort markets, incentivising investment in productive, exportoriented sectors, and redirecting resources to benefit the many, not the few.

This process must begin first and foremost by getting rid of the disastrous Dar Peg, reforming the energy sector to reduce the cost of electricity, and consistently following a prudent macroeconomic framework that seeks to run balanced budgets, even if that comes at the expense of low, but sustainable levels of economic growth. In addition, the military’s role in the economy, overt and covert, must be systematically reversed, both in terms of its influence in policy making and the plethora of corporations it runs. In addition, the country’s elites must go back to the basics in terms of economic modernisation — improving agricultural productivity and value addition must be priority number one. An example is Gwadar, where the elites have desired to build oil refineries instead of leveraging local fishermen to build a labourintensive, world-class seafood cluster focused on exports. Focus on governance Such a realignment, however, requires governance improvements in Pakistan’s cities, towns, and villages. Systemic decentralisation of governance must be the final pillar of this reorientation. For far too long, Pakistan’s elites have tried to centralise power, believing that a strong central government can deliver

sustainable growth.

Evidence from around the world, including Pakistan, shows that decentralised governance is the most effective way to improve outcomes in terms of security, social welfare, and economic development. While power has been devolved to the provinces, Pakistan continues to lack a robust system of local governance where communities make decisions about their own taxes, development, education, and security.

Decentralisation will not only empower local communities and create competition across the country for better delivery, it will also create a pipeline of talent in the political domain. Over time, such a process would bring to the forefront leaders who have experience in governance from the ground up — this is sorely needed in a country that continues to recycle old faces in new parties, expecting different results.

To most readers, the above suggestions may read as obvious. And that is the whole point. Pakistan’s problems may seem complicated, but the solution to them is actually quite ordinary. The issue at hand is the sustained irrationality of Pakistan’s ruling elites. If they continue to ignore obvious solutions, Pakistan’s survival over the next 75 years will require a miracle. The writer is the director of the Pakistan Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center and host of the podcast Pakistonomy.

What do you think?

Donors pledge more than $9bn for Pakistan flood recovery

“We must match the heroic response of the people of Pakistan with our own efforts and massive investments to strengthen their communities for the future,” he said.

“Pakistan is doubly victimised by climate chaos and a morally bankrupt global financial system,” the UN chief added. “No

country deserves to endure what happened to Pakistan.”

Addressing the summit earlier on Monday, Sharif called for a “new coalition of the willing” among the international community, “one that can save lives and put them on a path to responsible global citizenship”.

Today’s meeting is an attempt to give my people another chance at getting back on their feet,” he said, adding that his government needed at least $8bn from outside donors over the next three years to rebuild the country.

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Contents

IMPORTANT

Source: aljazeera.com an option.

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International airports in Canada that offer preclearance services include those in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa and Winnipeg, as well as Pearson International Airport in Toronto.

“The work reaffirms the cooperative and effective advantages and relationship Canada and the United States share in managing an efficient border between our two countries, to the great benefit of citizens of both countries,” the joint statement said.

The announcement marks the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic that U.S. interviews will be allowed on Canadian

soil. But it remains a far cry from how Nexus interviews have traditionally been conducted in both countries, with applicants sitting down for an in-person interview that’s jointly conducted by officers from the two agencies in the same room.

The U.S. reopened its 13 Nexus centres in April to allow that joint interview process to continue as normal. But CBP has insisted Canada grant its agents the same legal protections they enjoy on U.S. soil before returning to Canadian Nexus centres, which Ottawa has refused to entertain.

As a workaround, Canada and the U.S. began allowing Canadian applicants to be

jointly interviewed at American land border crossings late last year, in order to begin addressing a backlog that reached as high as 350,000 applicants by early fall 2022.

Mendicino and Mayorkas said Tuesday that hours at those centres have been expanded while staff have accelerated approval for over 80 per cent of renewing applicants.

Since October, according to Tuesday’s joint statement, a record-breaking 203,000 enrolments have been completed and the net backlog has been reduced by 100,000 applicants.

Source: globalnews.ca

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Canadian Nexus centres to reopen in spring along with U.S. interviews at airports

The current crisis could be an opportunity for Pakistan — but can it take advantage?

war

Over the past few months, terrorism has been rearing its head again in the country, especially in KP and Balochistan. Pakistan has seen a rise in terrorist attacks across the country, believed to have been planned and directed by the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders based in Afghanistan.

The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban, executed more than 100 attacks last year, most of which happened after August when the group’s peace talks with the Pakistan government began to falter. The ceasefire was formally ended last year on Nov 28 by the TTP.

Addressing a seminar on terrorism on Tuesday, Imran addressed the criticism levelled at the PTI government for leading peace talks with the TTP and said his opponents should not “lie to the people”.

He said that all stakeholders had sat down and were informed about the need for talks with the TTP and the plan to resettle their members. “A military operation can be a part of the overall peace settlement but it is never successful on its own.”

Imran also criticised Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s “irresponsible” statements about Pakistan taking action against TTP hideouts in Afghanistan.

He warned that if the new Afghan government decided to stop cooperating with Pakistan, it could lead to a “never-ending” war against terrorism.

Imran also questioned why recent incidents at the Pak-Afghan border were not taken up with the Afghan government, reiterating that another war against terrorism would become a curse for the country if relations with Afghanistan deteriorated.

He said that the federal government would need to tread carefully and seek KP’s input on the overall terror situation. He said that Pakistan should not seek help from the United States as it would lead to internal discord among locals if drone attacks were carried out.

Wrong to expect KP police to confront ter-

rorism threat’

During his address, Imran — whose party is in power in KP — said it was wrong to expect the provincial police to confront the rising wave of terrorism, adding that the terrorists were much more heavily equipped.

“To expect the police to face them (terrorists) with the kind of weapons they have is not possible. Rangers are present in Karachi and terrorism there is not at the level of KP. There is no comparison between them.”

He said terrorists operating in KP were “battle-hardened” with access to the latest weaponry abandoned by the US when it pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021.

Imran said it would be wrong to assume that the KP police could confront such terrorists, at least until the federal government did not pay full attention to the matter.

The PTI chief said terrorism was a very important issue for the country and could have greater consequences if not properly addressed, “especially at a time when our economic conditions can’t bear it at all”.

The PTI chief alleged that the federal government had withheld funds for the tribal districts and did not pay attention to the resettlement of 30,000-40,000 TTP members from Afghanistan.

Imran said the time immediately after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was a “golden opportunity” to solve the TTP issue since the new Afghan government was “proPakistan” and could exert influence on the TTP.

Source: dawn.com

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for PTI chairman Imran Khan and party leaders Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar in cases related to the contempt of the electoral body.

The decision was made by a four-person ECP bench, which was headed over by Nisar Durrani.

Imran, Umar, Chaudhry, Mian Shabbir Ismail, and Danial Khalid Khokhar received notices from the ECP in August and September of last year for allegedly using “intemperate” language against Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja and the electoral watchdog.

Party leaders repeatedly call the electoral body a “subsidiary of the PML-N” and criticize the commission and Raja for what they consider to be their partisanship.

At the last hearing, the ECP had offered the PTI leaders one more opportunity to come before the panel, admonishing them that failure to do so will result in the issuing of arrest warrants at the subsequent hearing on January 17.

During the hearing today, the ECP rejected the pleas of PTI leaders seeking an exemption from appearing before the commission and issued arrest warrants for them against

surety bonds worth Rs50,000 each.

The hearing was then delayed by the bench until January 17.

Reacting to the development, Umar tweeted that the ECP, instead of fulfilling its responsibilities, had indulged in such actions.

“They themselves are guilty of contempt of court by not holding Islamabad elections,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chaudhry said he would file contempt of court proceedings against the electoral watchdog.

“The case was supposed to be heard on Jan 17 but it was fixed today in violation of the rules. This is another biased verdict issued

Saudi Arabia mulls increasing deposit in SBP to $5bn

“His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has directed to study augmenting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s investments in the sisterly Islamic Republic of Pakistan which have previously been announced on August 25, 2022, to reach $10 billion,” it said.

“The crown prince also directed the Saudi Development Fund to study increasing the amount of the deposit provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in favour of the Central Bank of Pakistan which have previously been extended on December 2, 2022 to hit a $5 billion ceiling,” the report said.

The move, SPA stated, confirmed Saudi Arabia’s position on supporting the economy of Pakistan and its “sisterly people”. The development was reached within the framework of the existing communication between Prince Salman and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, it added.

Today’s announcement comes a day after Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir — who was on a week-long official visit to Saudi Arabia and UAE — held a meeting with Prince Salman in Madina and discussed ways to improve bilateral ties between the two countries.

In 2021, the SBP had signed an agreement with the SFD to receive $3bn, which would be placed in the central bank’s account with an aim to improve its foreign exchange reserves.

Subsequently, in September last year, the SFD had confirmed the rollover of a $3bn deposit for one more year. The deposit was set to mature on Dec 5, however, on Dec 2 Saudi Arabia had extended its term.

In the last week of October 2021, Saudi Arabia had agreed to revive its financial support to Pakistan, including about $3bn in safe deposits and $1.2bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payments.

The agreement was reached during the visit of former prime minister Imran Khan to the kingdom the same month.

The Saudi king had in August last year directed his government to invest $1bn in Pakistan “in confirmation of the kingdom’s support of the Pakistani economy” and its people.

The directive from King Salman bin Abdulaziz had come a day after the Qatari government said it would invest $3bn in Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE had earlier indicated to provide $1bn each in oil purchase financing.

Later in October, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud would soon be visiting Pakistan during which he would announce a $10bn investment for establishing an oil refinery in the country. However, the planned visit was later postponed for unexplained reasons.

Cash crunch

The country is currently in the midst of a severe cash crunch, with foreign exchange reserves in the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) depleting to an eight-year low of $5.576 billion during the week ended on Dec 30, 2022. This decline left no space for the government to pay back its foreign debts without borrowing more from friendly countries.

During the week the SBP foreign exchange reserves saw an outflow of $245 million for external debt repayments.

Foreign debt servicing is the most troubling question for the PMLN-led coalition government facing a serious threat of default. Several attempts to restart talks with the IMF for the release of the next tranche have so far remained unfruitful.

The falling reserves have already deeply devalued the local currency against the US dollar and other major currencies. The SBP’s foreign exchange reserves dipped $11bn to $5.6bn from $16.6bn in January 2022.

Source: dawn.com

states that the “election commission may exercise the same power as the high court to punish any person for contempt of court and the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003 (V of 2003), or any other law pertaining to contempt of court shall have effect accordingly.

The PTI leaders had also sought the high courts for a declaratory dismissal of the charges.

by the ECP members,” he added.

Contempt cases

Last year, when the ECP issued PTI leaders with notices of contempt, it told them to come before the commission in person or through counsel to defend their position.

The PTI leaders said that Section 10 of the Elections Act of 2017, which is the statute pertaining to the commission’s jurisdiction to penalize for contempt, violates the Constitution, but instead of appearing before the ECP, they disputed the ECP notices and contempt proceedings in several high courts.

According to the Election Act 2017, Section 10 titled “Power to punish for contempt”

Later, a petition was submitted in the Supreme Court on behalf of the ECP by Advocate Sajeel Sheryar Swati, requesting that the six cases be consolidated before one high court rather than the commission’s position about the issuing of contempt notices against PTI leaders in various high courts.

The apex court had said last week that the objections to ECP power had to be heard and decided by ECP before issuing a final judgment on the subject because they had been filed by the respondents in the ongoing proceedings under Section 10.

The top court accepted ECP’s argument that it would be satisfied if the high courts were instructed to direct the outstanding petitions to be decided as soon as possible in response to ECP’s request to group together all cases pending against it before the high courts.

Source: economy.pk

Deterioration in Afghan ties could lead to ‘never-ending’

against terrorism: Imran Khan

ECP issues arrest warrants for Imran, other PTI leaders in contempt cases

Canada to purchase U.S. missile defence system for Ukraine

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has announced that Canada will buy a U.S.-made missile defence system for Ukraine and will welcome U.S. President Joe Biden for a visit in March.

The news came during the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City on Tuesday, following a meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Biden.

A PMO readout of the meeting said Trudeau informed Biden that Canada will purchase a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine.

The Department of National Defence (DND) confirmed the purchase in a news release later Tuesday.

“Canada’s NASAMS donation will help Ukraine strengthen its air defence systems against destructive air attacks on military sites, civilian critical infrastructure and population centres,” DND said in the news release.

The release said the donation would cost approximately $406 million and would come from $500 million in aid to Ukraine that Trudeau announced in November 2022. The release did not say when the system is expected to arrive in Ukraine.

In an interview airing Tuesday on CBC’s Power & Politics, Defence Minister Anita Anand told guest host Catherine Cullen the government is “working with the United States to get it to Ukraine as soon as possible.”

“All options will always be on the table in terms of our support for Ukraine,” Anand

said.

The missile defence system was designed and developed jointly by the American defence company Raytheon and Norway-based Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

“NASAMS provides air defenders with a tailorable, state-of-the-art defence system that can maximize their ability to identify, engage and destroy current and evolving enemy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and emerging cruise missile threats,” Raytheon says on an online information page.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for air defence systems in his requests for military aid.

Zelenskyy thanked Trudeau for the donation in a tweet Tuesday.

“Dear @JustinTrudeau, your true leadership in standing for democracy and human rights has been vividly proven again,” Zelenskyy said in the tweet.

“Thank you for helping us to protect our sky.

NASAMS procured for us by Canada will be a strong shield for our cities and citizens.”

Anand said she spoke with her Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov earlier Tuesday about Ukraine’s defence needs.

“I spoke with Ukrainian Defence Minister @ OleksiiReznikov this morning and heard it directly: air defence systems are Ukraine’s top priority,” Anand said in a tweet.

“That’s why Canada is purchasing a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) from the United States to donate to Ukraine.”

Anand said in a followup tweet that this is the first air defence system Canada has purchased for Ukraine.

“In the face of Russia’s brutal airstrikes on Ukraine, this air defence system will help to protect Ukrainian population centres and critical infrastructure against drone, missile and aircraft attacks,” she said.

In November of last year, the United States

government awarded Raytheon a $1.2 billion contract to supply Ukraine with six NASAMS units.

Canada has provided over $3.4 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an intensified invasion of the country in February of 2022.

Alexandra Chyczij, national president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), said the UCC welcomes the purchase.

“Assisting Ukraine with the weapons Ukraine requires to defeat Russia is the best investment in the future peace, stability and prosperity of all Europe,” Chyczij said in a statement.

“Ukraine needs assistance defending its cities, its hospitals, its schools, its infrastructure from vicious Russian air and missile attacks.” Biden to make first visit to Canada

The readout said Trudeau invited Biden to Canada and that the president will visit in March. It did not give a location or date.

It will be Biden’s first official trip to Canada since he became president in January 2021.

A readout from the White House on the meeting confirmed the March visit.

“During the meeting, the President also stated he looks forward to traveling to Canada in March of this year,” the readout said.

The PMO readout said Trudeau and Biden discussed trade issues between the two countries, including the Biden administration’s “Buy America” policy and the softwood lumber dispute.

Source: cbc.ca

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Tuesday he wants a Commons committee to probe the Liberal government’s relationship with McKinsey & Company after a report revealed that the value of federal contracts held by the consulting firm has increased dramatically since 2015.

Radio-Canada reported recently that the cost of McKinsey’s federal contracts has increased 30-fold under the current Liberal government.

“It’s time for Canadians to get answers,” Poilievre said. “We need to know what this money was for, what influence McKinsey has had in our government, and it is time for Canadian taxpayers to have answers to these questions.”

According to public accounts data from Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), McKinsey was awarded $2.2 million in federal contracts during the Harper years. Over Trudeau’s seven years in office, the company has received $66 million from the federal government.

McKinsey, an American firm with 30,000 consultants in 130 offices in 65 countries, provides advice to both private and public entities — which sometimes have conflicting interests — and does not disclose its business ties.

McKinsey has advised many national governments on their COVID-19 pandemic response in recent years, including those in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Mexico.

Radio-Canada’s analysis showed that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) account for 44 per cent of federal contracts issued to the consultancy since 2015.

IRCC alone has given McKinsey $24.5 million in contracts for management advice

since 2015.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada also hired the firm for management advice, science and research services, while the Department of National Defence paid McKinsey several million dollars for leadership development.

Since the start of 2021, PSPC has called upon McKinsey on behalf of various federal entities for contracts worth more than $45 million. All of those contracts were sole-source, according to documents obtained by RadioCanada.

Poilievre said that he is not calling for a full public inquiry. He said a Conservative MP will propose a motion before a parliamentary committee calling for a probe into the firm’s relationship with the Liberal government.

“We want to know what all this money was for,” Poilievre said. “We also want to know about the outsized influence of this company in the operation of our government, our democracy.”

The Conservative leader said his MPs will be requesting copies of all contracts the Liberal government has with McKinsey as well as all text messages, emails and other communications between officials regarding the firm’s work.

Source: cbc.ca

The 2022 list of appointees to the Order of Canada is far less diverse than the Canadian population and even less diverse than it was in 2021, a new analysis shows.

The Governor General made 184 appointments to the order in 2022. It’s considered one of the country’s highest civilian honours, one which recognizes “people who make extraordinary contributions to the nation,” according to Rideau Hall. Over 7,600 Canadians have joined the order’s ranks since its creation in 1967.

But analysis by retired public servant Andrew Griffith, who served as Canada’s director general of citizenship and multiculturalism, found that last year’s appointees were not representative of the Canadian population.

Women make up about 51 per cent of the population, according to 2021 census data. Griffith’s analysis reported that just 28.7 per cent of the 2022 Order of Canada appointees were women.

And while the 2021 census reported that about 26 per cent of people in Canada come from a racialized group, just 7.4 per cent of 2022 Order of Canada appointees could say the same, according to Griffith’s report.

Griffith’s analysis of the 2021 appointees found that 40.7 per cent were women and 12.6 per cent were “visible minorities.”

Griffith, who has done the analysis every year for a decade, said representation of people of colour in the order has improved broadly over time — but the same can’t be said for women.

“If I look at visible minorities, it’s slow progress, but overall it has increased over the last 10 years,” he told CBC News.

“Women are the ones that seem to vary the most, depending on the year ... You can’t say that women are really making progress.”

Indigenous people made up 8.5 per cent of appointees in 2022 and accounted for 5 per cent of the Canadian population in the 2021 census.

“They’re the one group — along with white men — who are basically more than represented in relation to the size of their population,” Griffith said.

The Governor General makes appointments based on recommendations from the Advisory Council for the Order of Canada. The council advises her based on nomination suggestions from the general public.

Griffith said this process makes it difficult for Rideau Hall to choose a more diverse list of inductees.

“This is a program that depends on nominations from the outside public, and so there’s less control, if any control, over who gets nominated,” he said.

Other award programs may have incentives to highlight and promote young upand-comers, Griffith added, but the Order of Canada prizes accomplishment over the course of a lifetime — meaning its appointees are often older and less diverse than Canada’s population.

“Reflecting Canada’s diversity is a priority when appointments are made to the Order of Canada,” the spokesperson said.

Source: cbc.ca

Poilievre calls for parliamentary probe of Liberals’ relationship with McKinsey consulting firm

Order of Canada appointees far less diverse than the population, analysis shows

President warns of

times as inflation rises in Egypt Iran sentences Belgian national to 40 years in prison, 74 lashes

Egypt continues to battle surging inflation amid a dramatic slide of its currency as many Egyptians struggle with price hikes, the country’s statistics bureau has said.

The state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) released figures on Tuesday showing that the annual inflation was at 21.9 percent last month, up from 19.2 percent in November. That is compared with 6.5 percent in December 2021, before inflation ballooned in 2022, following the outbreak of Russia’s war on Ukraine that rattled the world economy.

Prices in Egypt rose across many sectors, from food items and medical services to housing and furniture.

“Food and beverages were up 4.6 percent month-on-month (adding to the 4.5 percent in November), impacted mainly by bread and cereals, dairy, vegetables and meat,” said Allen Sandeep of Naeem Brokerage.

This goes somewhat towards absorbing a 25 percent devaluation in late October but portends more inflation to come, Sandeep said.

“Now combined monthly inflation has risen by around 7 percent over three months. This is close to a 30 percent pass through to the urban CPI index. With the new round of devaluation ongoing, which we expect to be roughly 15 percent, we can expect annual CPI to touch 25 percent by February.”

The higher inflation has inflicted heavy burdens on consumers, especially lower-income households. Nearly 30 percent of Egyptians live in poverty, according to official figures.

Most of Egypt’s more than 104 million population has suffered due to inflation since the government embarked on an ambitious reform programme in 2016 to overhaul the country’s battered economy. That programme included painful austerity measures like the flotation of the Egyptian pound and

the slashing of subsidies for fuel, water and electricity.

The economy was also hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and the fallout from the war in Ukraine. Egypt is the world’s largest wheat importer, with most of its imports having traditionally come from Eastern Europe.

On Monday, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi described the situation as “very difficult”, urging people to trust his administration.

The government has sought to curb state spending, halted the implementation of costly new projects that consume foreign currency, and ordered state agencies to embark on austerity measures.

Decisions in recent months by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to raise its main interest rate and devalue the pound have set off an economic shock that hit millions who found their savings running low as the cost of living surged.

The measures were meant to fight increasing inflation and meet the requirements of the International Monetary Fund for a bailout loan amid a shortage of foreign currency.

The IMF approved the $3bn support package for Egypt after a series of reforms, including devaluation.

Source: aljazeera.com

Hajj to return to pre-COVID numbers, Saudi Arabia officials say

part in the pilgrimage. However, in 2020, amid the coronavirus lockdowns, the Gulf nation drastically curtailed the Hajj with as few as 1,000 residents of Saudi Arabia permitted to take part. It was an unprecedented move unseen even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide.

Tehran, Iran – A court in Iran has sentenced a Belgian national to a total of 40 years in prison, dozens of lashes, and financial penalties for spying and other charges.

Former aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele received the preliminary sentences, which can later be appealed, on four charges, according to the official news outlet of the Iranian judiciary.

For each of the main two charges, namely spying for foreign intelligence services and “cooperating with the hostile United States government against the Islamic Republic”, he received 12.5 years in prison.

For “professional smuggling of foreign currency” in the amount of $500,000, Vandecasteele was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, 74 lashes, and a $1m fine.

Lastly, he was found guilty of laundering the money he is accused of smuggling, for which the Tehran Revolutionary Court decided on a 12.5-year prison sentence.

Vandecasteele, 41, has been imprisoned in Iran since February. His family said last month that he received a jail sentence of 28 years.

Last week, the semiofficial Tasnim news website quoted an unnamed source claiming he entered Iran “under the cover of humanitarian efforts with the aim of spying for the hostile US government and distributing money to groups active in anti-security fields”.

Vandecasteele denied all the charges. Belgian authorities have previously condemned Vandecasteele’s imprisonment, calling it “illegal”.

Tehran has been accused of imprisoning foreigners and dual nationals to use them as political bargaining chips, a charge it denies. Relations between Iran and Belgium have increasingly soured following the arrest of an Iranian diplomat, Asadollah Assadi, in 2018. He was accused of leading a bombing plot in France.

Iran and the West have also intensified their rhetoric against each other since protests erupted across Iran in mid-September following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the country’s morality police for alleged non-compliance with a mandatory dress code for women and subsequently died in police custody.

Tehran and the European Union have also imposed sanctions against each other.

Source: aljazeera.com

Gabon names first female vice president and new prime minister

Gabon’s President Ali Bongo has appointed the country’s first female Prime Minister Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda to the role of vice president and named a new PM to replace her, his secretary-general said. The announcements were made on Monday.

Former Defence Minister Ossouka Raponda, 59, who had been appointed premier in July 2020 after her predecessor stepped down, will now “assist” the head of state though the position does not allow for an interim role as president. She is the country’s first-ever female vice president.

Islam’s annual Hajj pilgrimage will return to pre-pandemic levels this year after restrictions saw the annual religious commemoration curtailed over coronavirus concerns, Saudi authorities say.

The Hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life, represents one of the world’s largest gatherings of people. Before the pandemic, the pilgrimage drew millions each year to Islam’s holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray towards five times a day.

“I bring you two bits of good news in this meeting. The first: the return of the numbers of pilgrims to what they were before the pandemic without any age restrictions,” Saudi Hajj and Umrah Minister Tawfiq bin Fawzan al-Rabiah said on Monday evening, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

“And the second: allowing any Hajj mission from around the world to deal with any licensed company that meets the requirements of the pilgrims of those countries,” he added.

In 2019, more than 2.4 million people took

In 2021, some 60,000 residents of Saudi Arabia performed the pilgrimage. Last year, nearly 900,000 pilgrims were welcomed to Islam’s holiest cities of Mecca and Medina for the pilgrimage.

However, only those aged below 65 with vaccination against the coronavirus and a negative test could enter the country.

Disease outbreaks have always been a concern surrounding the Hajj. Pilgrims fought off a malaria outbreak in 632, cholera in 1821 killed an estimated 20,000, and another cholera outbreak in 1865 killed 15,000 before spreading worldwide.

More recently, Saudi Arabia faced danger from a different coronavirus, one that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. The kingdom increased its public health measures during the Hajj in 2012 and 2013, urging the sick and the elderly not to take part.

It was not immediately clear what health precautions would be taken for the Hajj, which falls according to the lunar-based Islamic calendar this year at the end of June. While Saudi Arabia has no requirement for coronavirus vaccines or testing, it does require pilgrims to be vaccinated for other maladies.

Source: aljazeera.com

Another former minister, Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, will replace Ossouka Raponda and form a new government, Bongo’s secretary-general Jean-Yves Teale said in a video statement posted on the presidency’s Twitter account.

Bilie-By-Nze, 55, is a close ally of the president and has held several ministerial jobs since 2006. Later on Monday, he announced a government composed of 45 ministers with no reshuffles in the key positions.

As prime minister, Ossouka Raponda had to navigate a delicate political scene after a coup attempt in 2019 while Bongo was on prolonged medical leave following a stroke. The new vice president has had a steady political rise in Gabon which has been ruled by the same family for more than five decades. She was named budget minister in 2012 before being elected mayor of the capital, Libreville, in 2014, becoming the first woman to hold that position since 1956. She is an economist by training who graduated from the Gabonese Institute of Economy and Finance, specialising in public finance. e also imposed sanctions against each other.

Source: aljazeera.com

‘difficult’

By:Asma Shums, Email: asmashums@ gmail.com

We all know what anger is, and we’ve all felt it: whether as a fleeting annoyance or as full-fledged rage. Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion. But when it gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems—problems at work, in your personal relationships, and in the overall quality of your life. Anger can make you feel as though you’re at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion.

Expressing anger

The instinctive, natural way to express anger is to respond aggressively. Anger is a natural, adaptive response to threats; it inspires powerful, often aggressive, feelings and behaviors, which allow us to fight and to defend ourselves when we are attacked. A certain amount of anger, therefore, is necessary to our survival.

On the other hand, we can’t physically lash out at every person or object that irritates or annoys us; laws, social norms, and common sense place limits on how far our anger can take us.

Strategies to keep anger at bay

Relaxation

Simple relaxation tools, such as deep breathing and relaxing imagery, can help calm down angry feelings. There are books and courses that can teach you relaxation techniques, and once you learn the techniques, you can call upon them in any situation. If you are involved in a relationship where both partners are hot-tempered, it might be a good idea for both of you to learn these techniques.

Some simple steps you can try: Breathe deeply, from your diaphragm; breathing from your chest won’t relax you. Picture your breath coming up from your “gut.”Slowly repeat a calm word or phrase such as “relax,” “take it easy.” Repeat it to yourself while breathing deeply.Use imagery; visualize a relaxing experience, from either your memory or your imagination. Nonstrenuous, slow yoga-like exercises can relax your muscles and make you feel much calmer.

Practice these techniques daily. Learn to use them automatically when you’re in a tense situation.

Cognitive restructuring

Simply put, this means changing the way you think. Angry people tend to curse, swear, or speak in highly colorful terms that reflect their inner thoughts. When you’re angry, your thinking can get very exaggerated and overly dramatic. Try replacing these thoughts with more rational ones. For instance, instead of telling yourself, “oh, it’s awful, it’s terrible, everything’s ruined,” tell yourself, “it’s frustrating, and it’s understandable that I’m upset about it, but it’s not the end of the world and getting angry is not going to fix it anyhow.”

Be careful of words like “never” or “always” when talking about yourself or someone else. “This !&*%@ machine never works,” or “you’re always forgetting things” are not just inaccurate, they also serve to make you feel that your anger is justified and that there’s no way to solve the problem. They also alienate and humiliate people who might otherwise be willing to work with you on a solution.

Remind yourself that getting angry is not going to fix anything, that it won’t make you feel better (and may actually make you feel worse).

Control anger before it controls you

Logic defeats anger, because anger, even when it’s justified, can quickly become irrational. So use cold hard logic on yourself. Remind yourself that the world is “not out to get you,” you’re just experiencing some of the rough spots of daily life. Do this each time you feel anger getting the best of you, and it’ll help you get a more balanced perspective. Angry people tend to demand things: fairness, appreciation, agreement, willingness to do things their way. Everyone wants these things, and we are all hurt and disappointed when we don’t get them, but angry people demand them, and when their demands aren’t met, their disappointment becomes anger.

As part of their cognitive restructuring, angry people need to become aware of their demanding nature and translate their expectations into desires. In other words, saying, “I would like” something is healthier than saying, “I demand” or “I must have” something. When you’re unable to get what you want, you will experience the normal reactions—frustration, disappointment, hurt—but not anger. Some angry people use this anger as a way to avoid feeling hurt, but that doesn’t mean the hurt goes away.

Problem solving

Sometimes, our anger and frustration are caused by very real and inescapable problems in our lives. Not all anger is misplaced, and often it’s a healthy, natural response to these difficulties. There is also a cultural belief that every problem has a solution, and it adds to our frustration to find out that this isn’t always the case. The best attitude to bring to such a situation, then, is not to focus on finding the solution, but rather on how you handle and face the problem. Make a plan, and check your progress along the way. Resolve to give it your best, but also not to punish yourself if an answer doesn’t come right away. If you can approach it with your best intentions and efforts and make a serious attempt to face it head-on, you will be less likely to lose patience and fall into all-or-nothing thinking, even if the problem does not get solved right away.

Better communication

Angry people tend to jump to—and act on—conclusions, and some of those conclusions can be very inaccurate. The first thing to do if you’re in a heated discussion is slow down and think through your responses. Don’t say the first thing that comes into your head, but slow down and think carefully about what you want to say. At the same time, listen carefully to what the other person is saying and take your time before answering.

Listen, too, to what is underlying the anger. For instance, you like a certain amount of freedom and personal space, and your “significant other” wants more connection and closeness. If he or she starts complaining about your activities, don’t retaliate by painting your partner as a jailer, a warden, or an albatross around your neck.

It’s natural to get defensive when you’re criticized, but don’t fight back. Instead, listen to what’s underlying the words: the message that this person might feel neglected and unloved. It may take a lot of patient questioning on your part, and it may require some breathing space, but don’t let your anger—or a partner’s—let a discussion spin out of control. Keeping your cool can keep the situation from becoming a disastrous one.

Using humor

“Silly humor” can help defuse rage in a number of ways. For one thing, it can help you get a more balanced perspective. When you get angry and call someone a name or refer to them in some imaginative phrase, stop and picture what that word would lit-

erally look like. If you’re at work and you think of a coworker as a “dirtbag” or a “single-cell life form,” for example, picture a large bag full of dirt (or an amoeba) sitting at your colleague’s desk, talking on the phone, going to meetings. Do this whenever a name comes into your head about another person. If you can, draw a picture of what the actual thing might look like. This will take a lot of the edge off your fury; and humor can always be relied on to help unknot a tense situation.

Changing your environment

Sometimes it’s our immediate surroundings that give us cause for irritation and fury. Problems and responsibilities can weigh on you and make you feel angry at the “trap” you seem to have fallen into and all the people and things that form that trap. Give yourself a break. Make sure you have some “personal time” scheduled for times of the day that you know are particularly stressful. One example is the working mother who has a standing rule that when she comes home from work, for the first 15 minutes “nobody talks to Mom unless the house is on fire.” After this brief quiet time, she feels better prepared to handle demands from her kids without blowing up at them. Some other tips for easing up on yourself

Timing: If you and your spouse tend to fight when you discuss things at night—perhaps you’re tired, or distracted, or maybe it’s just habit—try changing the times when you talk about important matters so these talks don’t turn into arguments.

Avoidance: If your child’s chaotic room makes you furious every time you walk by it, shut the door. Don’t make yourself look at what infuriates you. Don’t say, “well, my child should clean up the room so I won’t have to be angry!” That’s not the point. The point is to keep yourself calm.

Finding alternatives: If your daily commute through traffic leaves you in a state of rage and frustration, give yourself a project— learn or map out a different route, one that’s less congested or more scenic. Or find another alternative, such as a bus or commuter train.

If you feel that your anger is really out of control, if it is having an impact on your relationships and on important parts of your life, you might consider counseling to learn how to handle it better. A psychologist or other licensed mental health professional can work with you in developing a range of techniques for changing your thinking and your behaviour.

Naseem Shah takes five as Pakistan thump New Zealand in first ODI

another 64 with Haris Sohail who made a quick-fire 32. Off-spinner Bracewell was the best New Zealand bowler with 2-44.

Earlier, it was Shah’s fiery bowling that kept New Zealand in check.

The teenager dismissed opener Devon Conway in the first over of the match for nought to kickstart Pakistan.

Players could play at Australian Open with Covid-19: official

MELBOURNE: Players at this month’s Australian Open will not be required to take Covid-19 tests and could play even if they had the virus, tournament director Craig Tiley said on Monday.

The 19-year-old grabbed 5-57 for his second five-wicket haul in just four ODI appearances as New Zealand, sent in to bat, managed 255-9 in their 50 overs at the National Stadium.

Mohammad Rizwan (77 not out), skipper Babar Azam (66) and Fakhar Zaman (56) then helped Pakistan cruise to victory with 11 balls to spare.

The home team took a 1-0 lead in the threematch series.

The remaining matches are on Wednesday and Friday, also in Karachi.

Azam and Zaman put on 78 runs for the second wicket after Imamul Haq (11) fell in the sixth over. Zaman hit seven boundaries in his 74-ball knock before he was bowled by Michael Bracewell, while Azam was stumped off Glenn Phillips after facing 82 deliveries.

Rizwan, who added 60 with Azam, put on

Shah returned for a second spell to account for Phillips (37), Bracewell (43) and Henry Shipley (nought).

Shah, whose first ODI five-wicket haul was against the Netherlands in August, rounded off his night by dismissing Mitchell Santner for 21 in the final over.

Tom Latham (42) and Daryl Mitchell (36) stabilised the innings during a fourth-wicket stand of 56, while Phillips and Bracewell added 66 off 59 balls for the sixth — before Shah dismissed both in successive overs.

Skipper Kane Williamson scored 26 before he was beautifully bowled by debutant legspinner Usama Mir, who finished with 2-42.

Phillips hit a six and a four in his 53-ball knock, while Bracewell cracked four boundaries and a six. Opener Finn Allen smashed six boundaries in his 27-ball 29.

Source: dawn.com

The health policy, which Tiley said reflected what was happening in the wider community, is a marked change from strict protocols which surrounded the tournament over the past two years.

The 2021 tournament took place in a biosecure bubble with spectators shut out for several days after an outbreak of the virus in the community, while last year nine-times champion Novak Djokovic was deported because of his stance on vaccines.

“We just wanted to follow what’s currently in the community,” Tiley told reporters at Melbourne Park.

“We have gone a step further by making a recommendation around staying away when you’re ill, and that our medical staff will continue to monitor that, with the players individually as well.”

Cricketer Matt Renshaw continued to play for Australia in a five-day Test match against South Africa in Sydney last week despite

testing positive for Covid.

The batsman was isolated from his teammates for the first three days of the match but returned to the home dressing room after several negative tests.

“We’ve made it clear to our players, as well as our staff, if anyone is feeling unwell, stay home,” Tiley added.

“It’s a normalised environment for us and, not dissimilar to the cricket, there will potentially be players that will compete with Covid.” Melbourne endured some of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world at the height of the pandemic but recommendations have long since replaced mandates as the cornerstone of public health policy in the city.

Source: dawn.com

Messi, Ronaldo to meet in friendly between PSG, Saudi select

PARIS: Lionel Messi and Paris St-Germain will play a friendly against a select side made up of players from Cristiano Ronaldo’s new club Al Nassr and their Saudi rivals Al Hilal in Riyadh on Jan 19, the French champions announced on Monday.

Qatar-owned PSG will travel to Doha on Jan 17 before moving on to the Saudi capital for the match at the King Fahd Stadium which will see Messi and Ronaldo renew their rivalry.

Messi returned to training with PSG last week after being given a fortnight off follow-

ing Argentina’s World Cup triumph in Qatar in December.

Meanwhile Ronaldo, who will turn 38 in February, recently joined Al Nassr after agreeing a contract that runs until 2025 and is reportedly worth more than 200 million euros ($214m).The trip comes despite the Ligue 1 leaders having a French Cup tie scheduled for the weekend of Jan 21 and 22 against lower-league opponents yet to be determined.

Source: dawn.com

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Mansoor Lilla honors Canadian Muslim Media Club and other community organizations and presents his biography

Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Ramzan Sialvi at Conference organized by Jamia Masjid Aulia Allah at Surrey

Causes of Hypertension

By :Prerna (An excerpt)

Hypertension is a chronic medical condition that affects one in three adults in the US, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also called the silent killer, it is a condition where the blood pressure is abnormally elevated. In most of the cases, the condition takes years to develop, and people do not notice the symptoms initially. Most people find out about hypertension only when they suffer a heart attack or get a medical check-up done. Clyde Yancy, MD, chief of cardiology in Chicago, Illinois, says that hypertension is simply unavoidable as a person ages. As you hit the 55 age mark, you become 90% susceptible to hypertension. Moreover, sustained hypertension for a long period can put you at risk of coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, stroke, and hypertensive heart disease.

1. High In Salt Consumption

The first culprit that instantly comes to mind when we mention hypertension is overeating salt. A diet high in salt content is responsible for approximately 20% to 40 % of cases of hypertension in the US, according to the Institute of Medicine. It has also been found that Americans consume 10 to 15 times more salt than they actually need. Salt makes your kidneys retain more water. Then, the stored water then builds pressure on your kidneys

and increases the blood pressure. An alteration in sodium intake can work wonders for hypertension patients. Typically, you should limit sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day.

Manage High Blood Pressure

earn steps you can take to lower your risk for health problems from high blood pressure (also called hypertension), such as heart disease and stroke.

Measure Your Blood Pressure on a Regular Basis

Measuring your blood pressure is an important step toward keeping a healthy blood pressure. Because high blood pressure and elevated blood pressure often have no symptoms, checking your blood pressure is the only way to know for sure whether it is too high. You can measure your blood pressure at home with a home blood pressure monitor, or you can visit your doctor or nurse to have your blood pressure checked.

If you learn that you have high blood pressure, you should take steps to control your blood pressure to lower your risk for heart disease and stroke.

Manage Diabetes

Most people with diabetes—about 6 out of 10—also have high blood pressure.1 If your health care professional thinks you have symptoms of diabetes, he or she may recom-

mend that you get tested.

If you have diabetes, monitor your blood glucose (also called blood sugar) levels carefully and talk with your health care team about treatment options. Your doctor or health care professional may recommend certain lifestyle changes to help keep your blood glucose levels under good control. Those actions will also help reduce your risk for high blood pressure.

Take Your Medicine

If you take medicine to treat high blood pressure or other health conditions, follow your doctor’s or health care professional’s instructions carefully. Always ask questions if you do not understand something, and never stop taking your medicine without talking to your doctor or pharmacist first. Stopping

your blood pressure medicine without first talking to your health care team could lead to serious health consequences. Learn more about blood pressure medicines.

Make Lifestyle Changes

If you have high blood pressure, you can help lower it by being physically active, eating a healthy diet, and making other lifestyle changes. Learn more about ways to prevent and manage high blood pressure.

Talk with Your Health Care Team

You and your health care team can work together to prevent or treat the medical conditions that lead to high blood pressure. Discuss your treatment plan regularly and bring a list of questions to your appointments.

Source: cdc.gov/bloodpressure/

An Amazing Book for Your Child

Author: Umer Ijaz

The world in 2020 belongs to smart electronic gadgets and the internet. But social media, games and other online activities are creating serious concerns among the parents for their children. Parents complain that children do not listen to them. Youngsters are getting involved in immoral and even criminal activities more than ever before. Ignoring the value of simplicity, they desire to adopt a luxurious and lavish lifestyle. When they fail to attain it, they get stuck into stress, depression, anxiety disorder etc. They do not give due care and importance to their parents. Disobedience is, unfortunately, a trend. All these behavioural problems start developing from their childhood. What you need to do is to ‘Nip the evil in the bud’. If you want to save your kids from all of this, you need to take a few simple but smart steps. One of these is to build in them a healthy habit of reading. Give the best to your kid. Yes, give your child the best book to study. Sit with him for a while in the evening or at any other time. Read the book together and explain to him the topics or story, where necessary. It will bring you and your kids closer than before. It will help you to impart better moral and social values in your kid. It will strengthen your child-parent relationship.

The question is, which book should be selected for the one you care the most (your kid)? You might think of Harry Potter or some other fiction book. But what if you select a more famous book than Harry Potter?

Or a book that is the most popular of all the times. Yes, go for the best for your dearest. The Holy Quran is the most popular book in the history of man. According to one estimate, when 450 million copies of Harry Potter are published / sold, the number of the Holy Quran publication reaches more than 3 Billion. Yes, you have got it right, 3 Billion! This huge number will definitely excite you to buy one copy for you and your kids. But the number of publication is not the only reason that you should select this book. There are numerous reason to go for this choice. Here you will read about a few of them.

THE MOST FASCINATING TALES

Children love stories. The Holy Quran has many exciting tales and fascinating stories of the people of every rank. Its tales range from the common men and women to the worthy kings and queens. It excites its readers by the description of the oceans, deserts, earth and space. For example; a man is being swallowed by a huge fish. A prophet is being thrown into the fire and coming out of it alive. A worthy king is being killed by a mosquito. Story of a Prophet who understands the language of animals and rules the wind. Nations being killed by super floods and great earthquakes. There are many others to be explored by you and your kid.

TEACHING HIGH MORAL VALUES

Be smart parents. Only fiction will never develop your child’s high moral values and good ethics. The Holy Quran focuses on this aspect as well. It encourages its readers to maintain noble character with high moral grounds. It focuses on simplicity and helping others. Its regular study will assure that your kid plays a positive social role in the future. It is not just a fiction book with fascinating stories. Each incident / story has some moral lesson. It will help you to discuss with your kids, the topics of truthfulness, honesty, helpfulness, righteousness, etc. It will eventually make them a good future guy. And you will be proud parents.

A STRONG PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

If you want to build a strong relationship of respect and responsibilities with your child, this is the perfect book. Why? The Holy Quran discusses the duties and rights in a parent-child relationship. For example, it guides parents about how to treat your children. It motivates the children not to even speak loud with your old parents. A mother is the most important person in a child life. A father is a doorway to success. Isn’t it sound great? Yes, it is. Imagine sitting with your children and discussing all these issues. It will surely create a better sense of harmony. It will strengthen the relationship of love and respect between you and your kid.

VERSATILE TOPICS

Reading the Quran is just like exploring the unveiled secrets of the universe. When other children-books discuss the only specific characters or topic, this book talks over diversified themes. Apart from storytelling, you will see the elements of Science, Discoveries, Ethics, Human Rights, Politics, Religion and many others. So, it will never let you get bore of it. Hundreds of researches and debates on the Holy Quran are easily available on the internet.

A GOOD TIP TO GET BETTER OF IT

The Holy Quran is not like any other book. Its narration is unique in every sense. It does not always narrate the stories or ideas in a sequence. Sometimes only a hint to the whole event is written. So, it will be better to have the Holy Quran with interpretation.

Read the text and consult the interpretation where you need some detail of the text. It will help you to get the most out of this wonderful book.

In a nutshell, the modern world has all the superficial splendor and charm to allure your kids and convert them into someone you have never admired. Unless you let this happen. Kids are like melted iron you can mould them the way you want. But if you let your kid grow without proper counselling, he will build his own moral codes, the codes taught by the gadgets, technology. Select the Holy Quran as a book companion for your child. Accompany him to understand it and share your thoughts. Help yourself and your kids to grow into positive, helpful, practical and righteous human being. Always remember the Chinese proverb “A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step”.

Source: backtojannah.com

By Maleeha Lodhi

Just about every aspect of life for Muslims in occupied Jammu and Kashmir is under assault by India’s ruling BJP.The year 2022 saw Indian actions aimed at disempowering its Muslim population by reshaping Kashmir’s demographic landscape and measures to systematically erode Kashmiri culture, language and religious identity. Properties were confiscated and new land laws were introduced that would seize land from locals and give it to outsiders. The media has been muzzled, and journalists jailed and prevented from travelling overseas. Human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and torture, continue with impunity while the entire leadership of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) remains in detention. More paramilitary forces were inducted into the world’s most militarised region. A more egregious example of repression such as that in Kashmir can hardly be found anywhere in the world. Yet this grim situation is met by silence from countries that claim to be standard-bearers of human rights. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s international campaign to expose this is fitful at best, preoccupied as it is with multiple crises at home. Islamabad’s Kashmir diplomacy is now limited to just sending letters to the UN. Although the occupied territory has seen violent oppression for over seven decades, Delhi’s unilateral action on Aug 5, 2019, opened a more brutal chapter in Kashmir’s tortured history. The Indian government illegally annexed the state of Jammu and Kashmir, bifurcated it, and integrated it into the Indian union. This was in blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions. There are 11 resolutions on Kashmir. Specifically, it was a contravention of UNSC Resolution 38, whose para 2 clearly states that neither party to the dispute can bring about a material change in the situation in Kashmir.

A prolonged lockdown and communication

blackout was imposed, the military siege tightened, public assembly was banned, the press silenced and Kashmiri leaders, including pro-Delhi politicians, jailed to prevent a popular upsurge against the move that robbed the Kashmiri people of virtually all their rights. Since then, the BJP government has taken a number of steps —administrative, demographic and electoral — to disempower and disenfranchise Kashmiris and change the Muslim identity of Kashmir. Several actions mimic Israeli settler policies in occupied Palestine. In May 2022, India’s Delimitation Commission announced a plan to carve out new electoral constituencies, aimed at giving Jammu greater representation to reduce the political weight of Muslims in the J&K assembly and shift the balance to Hindus. Muslims constitute over 68 per cent of J&K’s population while Hindus represent around 28pc according to the (last) 2011 census. The BJP government wants through the delimitation plan to turn the Muslim majority into a minority. India’s actions in the occupied region mimic Israeli settler policies in Palestine. Demographic changes have also been set in train by new domicile rules introduced by Delhi. Over 3.4 million so-called domicile certificates have been issued to non-Kashmiri outsiders, who became eligible after abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution in 2019. In July 2022, the chief election officer in the occupied Valley announced granting voting rights to any Indian citizen, even temporary residents, in a brazen effort to change the region’s demography. This would add almost 2.5m additional voters, including non-locals, to the electoral rolls. It represents an increase of 30pc voters to the electorate. Like the delimitation plan, this announcement provoked anger and resentment in Kashmir. APHC leaders denounced it and as did traditionally pro-India former chief ministers and poli-

ticians. Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference said the “inclusion of non-locals” was a “clear-cut ploy to disenfranchise the people of J&K”. None of this has deterred the Modi government from pressing ahead. Nor have its actions been limited to electoral gerrymandering. Last year, BJP authorities seized the J&K Waqf Board and thus all its properties across the region. This marked a drive to take control of all prominent places of religious significance for Muslims in the occupied territory, including shrines. Religious leaders and Islamic scholars were arrested and prayers have been barred in many mosques across Kashmir. In the guise of cracking down on Jamaat-i-Islami, banned in 2019, the authorities have more recently seized properties worth millions of rupees. This includes a home that once belonged to the iconic Hurriyat leader, Syed Ali Geelani, who was denied a proper funeral in 2021. BJP’s attack on Kashmiri culture has also involved eroding the status of Urdu. For over 100 years, Urdu was the official language of J&K. But in 2020, Urdu’s exclusive status was ended by legislation that made Hindi, Kashmiri and Dogri official languages in J&K, in addition to Urdu and English. Moves are now afoot to change the script of the Kashmiri language from Nastaliq to the Devanagri script. None of this has attracted much international attention. What has been denounced by international human rights organisations is the silencing of Kashmir’s me-

dia, the arrest of journalists under sedition and anti-terror laws and the atmosphere of intimidation that has been created especially in the wake of the new, harsh media policy of 2020. In February 2022, Human Rights Watch condemned the intensified crackdown on the independent media and noted the “increasing harassment, threats, and prosecutions of journalists and human rights activists” in Kashmir. In September 2022, Amnesty International detailed the clampdown on the media and sweeping curbs on the freedom of expression, noting that the Kashmir Press Club had been closed down. The BJP government seeks to use intensified repression, demographic changes and changing the electoral map to set the stage for eventual elections in J&K. This aims to consolidate and ‘legitimise’ its August 2019 action and enable Delhi to claim that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has been ‘normalised’. But its efforts to entice and enlist even pro-India Kashmiri leaders to support this plan have failed. In the face of overwhelming Kashmiri opposition to the delimitation plan and new voting rules, it is hard to see how elections can be held, and if they are, whether they will be credible. Delhi’s policies of force and fraud have long failed in Kashmir and only deepened the alienation of its people and strengthened their resolve to resist occupation. There is little reason to think this will change in the future.

Published in Dawn

Kashmir: facing multiple assaults The Importance of Native Language and Why We Should Preserve It

By Shreya Patro

A language is a universal way for a community to communicate with each other. It is developed in due course of time and changes due to certain popular trends. The development of language explains why it is important for communication.To understand the importance of language, we need to understand what it is first. We need to find what comprises a language and how it evolves as a unique medium of communication among a particular community or a population. What is a Language?

If you observe a newborn, it does not know a language but learns to communicate with the family members. The toddler uses the basic method of communicating during the early years. It is discrete sign language. In fact, the only emotion it shows is crying. They start laughing and smiling months later, Hence, there is a need for communication to express our emotions, feelings, thoughts, ideas, etc. We, thus, make unique sounds and use a dialect that another person understands while communicating. It is called a language. A language may or may not have a set of alphabets but will surely have a dialect. You will be surprised to know that there are over 7100 languages spoken in the world. How did those languages evolve and differ from each other? A unique language is developed based on traditions, culture, trends, and practices. In fact, the same language is spoken in a different way. This is how a native language evolves and varies from another one even if the communities live closer.

1. It is the Primary Method of Communication

A language is the easiest way to communicate with others in a community. Sign languages take more time to communicate and they are not clear all the time. Hence, uttering certain sounds that have particular meaning constitutes a proper method of communicating with others. This is why a language is important.

2. Unity in Diversity

As mentioned earlier, there are over 7100 languages spoken across the world. It proves that even if we belong to the same species, we are so different from each other. It also proves that we are united through languages irrespective of our differences.

3.

Cultural Link with Languages

A culture can be defined as the collection of shifting beliefs, trends, practices and traditions. Language thus becomes a vital part of a culture. It is how people transform their beliefs and share their ideas.

4. Weaponising Languages

Languages can be weaponised as they can be used to spread one language or eradicate others. For example, the Canadian Government had once mandated English to be learnt as the prime communication language. If anyone was found practising other languages, they were punished. This step caused the eradication of many native languages.

5. Languages Reflect Significant Cultural Differences

The differences in languages also reflect the differences in cultures and traditions. The effect of other languages can also be seen when a common language is used by people from different communities. We can clearly understand the importance

of language from these points. Let us find out what native languages are and why it is necessary to preserve them. What is Native Language?

A language that a person learns and acquires from his/her surroundings during childhood from the people around him/her is called a native language. It is the language spoken by the native people. It can also be considered as the first language or the mother tongue we learn first. If a person learns and uses two languages at the same time, he is called a linguist. If he knows how to speak more than two languages, he is called a multilinguist.

Why is it Important to Preserve Native Languages?

Why should we preserve languages? What is the benefit of doing so? Languages do go extinct like species in an ecosystem. It is a natural process. Isn’t it better to have one single language and remove the barrier to communication?Languages, as mentioned earlier, are directly linked to the culture of a community. Losing a language has a direct effect on cultural and traditional practices. It is important to preserve indigenous languages to preserve the different forms of such valuable cultures across the world. Imposing a language to eradicate the use of indigenous languages has ill effects on society. It is the diversity in the population that makes us different and sustainable. Languages define who we are and it has a direct impact on the personality of an individual. Hence, someone losing his native language will make him a whole new person. We will certainly lose the old one.

There are various organisations that work to identify endangered languages and define ideas to preserve them. These organisations gather information on such languages. They design educational material to keep the communities aware of their languages. They also cater to raising the awareness of the importance of native languages to the common people.The changes in the economical conditions of a community also lead to the slow eradication of native languages. People migrate from one place to another in search of a better life. They settle down and the generations start assimilating their native language with the local one. It results in the formation of a new language or the eradication of the old one.

In a Nutshell

According to the United Nations, there are more than 6000 languages that fall on that endangered list. To increase awareness regarding native languages, International Mother Language Day has been celebrated on the 21st day of February since 1999. This is how languages are important and why it is necessary to preserve them.