Day: November 20, 2021

Islamabad, November 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):Secretary General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), Ms. Deemah AlYayha, visited National Incubation Center (NIC) Islamabad, a project funded by Ignite National Technology Fund. Ms. Deemah, an expert of digital economy and innovation, was on a three-day visit to Pakistan.

She took a keen interest in the startups from NIC Islamabad and Peshawar and appreciated the initiative of Ignite and Ministry of IT and Telecom for establishing a network of govt-backed incubators across Pakistan. She said that it is heartening to see that Pakistan is enabling policies for the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the country. She was impressed with the new ideas of the presenting startups and mentioned that DCO plans on taking selected startups from its different member countries to an international pitching event next year which will be attended by investors also.

Hence, it will be a good opportunity for startups to raise funding through the event. Earlier in his address, CEO Ignite, Asim Shahryar Husain, apprised the DCO delegation about various initiatives of Ignite. He said, over the past 4 years, a network of 5 National incubation centers has been established by Ignite through public-private partnerships in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta and Ignite is planning two more incubators in Faisalabad and Hyderabad by next summer Inshallah.

To date, 864 start-ups have been incubated at these NICs out of which 469 startups have graduated so far. Within a short span of time, an estimated $57 million dollars have been raised by NIC startups, which demonstrates the significant impact these NICs are creating on Pakistan’s startup ecosystem. He further stated that 2021 has been a remarkable year for Pakistani startups! In the whole of 2020, Pakistani startups had raised $77 million dollars last year.

But in the first 10 months of this year, 55 Pakistani startups have raised $330 million which is a growth of 4.3 times over last year! The hot sectors for investment in Pakistani startups have been ecommerce, logistics, fintech, retailtech, EdTech, and healthtech.

Later, Project Director NIC Islamabad, Parvez Abbasi while shedding the light on various aspects of the incubator said, NIC Islamabad is the first of its kind. A shared space providing state-of-the-art facilities, a bridge between entrepreneurs, innovators and investors and a hub for innovation. He said this place is born to nurture and grow talent from across Pakistan, powered by Jazz and Teamup, under the umbrella of Ignite and Ministry of IT and Telecom.

Dilating further, Mr. Abbasi mentioned various free of cost facilities provided to the incubated startups that include, co-working space, mentorship and coaching, startup training, custom designed curriculum, commercialization support, networking opportunities, access to investor and grants, inclusivity and diversity. Member IT, Syed Junaid Imam, Member International Coordination, Ajmal Awan, and officials from Ignite and NIC were also present on the occasion.

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Islamabad, November 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says Government has made history by giving the right of franchise to overseas Pakistanis. Talking to notables in Multan today [Saturday], he said overseas Pakistanis play a role of backbone in the development of the country.

He said it was the fundamental right of the expatriates to vote. Shah Mahmood Qureshi said PTI Government wants to hold next elections through Electronic Voting Machines to bury the issue of rigging in the elections forever.

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Srinagar, November 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President, Mehbooba Mufti, has said that Indian government’s decision to repeal three contentious farm laws was a welcome step and expressed hope that the Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party government “course corrects” and “reverses the illegal changes” made in Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Mehbooba Mufti in a tweet said, “Decision to repeal farm laws and an apology is a welcome step, even though it stems from electoral compulsions and fear of drubbing in elections.”

She said it is ironical that while BJP needs to please people in India for votes, punishing and humiliating Kashmiris satisfies their major vote bank. The PDP chief said that the decision on 05 August 2019 to abrogate the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was taken by the ruling BJP only to please its voters.

“Desecrating the Indian constitution to dismember and disempower J and K was done only to please their voters. I hope they course correct here too and reverse the illegal changes made in J and K since August 2019,” Mehbooba said.

Meanwhile, National Conference leader, Hasnain Masoodi, in a statement in Srinagar while commenting on Narendra Modi’s announcement of repealing three farm laws in India called for the revocation of the August 5, 2019 decision under which special status was abrogated.

He added that the August 5, 2019 decisions, like farm laws, have resulted in death and destruction, uncertainty, and large-scale discontent. He also called upon the political parties and civil society groups of India to support the just cause and political aspirations of the people of J and K and Ladakh like they extended unwavering support to the farmer’s struggle, and support the demand for undoing August 5, 2019 decisions.

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New Delhi, November 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):Days after a Hindu businessman, Akshay Yadav, gave his place and five Gurdwaras opened their doors for Namaz in Gurgaon, Muslim community representatives on Friday visited a Gurdwara in Sector 17 to greet Sikhs on the occasion of Gurupurb and also facilitate Yadav as well as Sikh community leader Sherdil Singh Sidhu “for their generous gesture of offering space to Muslims of Gurgaon to offer Juma Namaz”.

Mohammad Adeeb, former member of parliament, and Altaf Ahmad, co-founder of Gurgaon Ekta Manch, met the Sikh community leaders at the Gurdwara. The representatives from both the communities exchanged hugs and smiles amidst the glare of cameras.

The move is seen as a significant step towards restoration of communal harmony in the area and a defeat to the anti-Muslim elements who have been opposing Namaz in the open for more than two months. The weekly Muslim prayer could not be held at the Gurdwara on Friday, November 19, as there was a rush of Sikh devotees observing Gurupurb.

A note of thanks presented to the Gurdwara committee by the representatives of Muslims said: “compassion, love and oneness are the basic tenets of all religions and your effort draws us closer to that truth. Your commitment to this truth shines in this darkness and enables all of us to retain our faith in the goodness that resides in our social fabric.”

Altaf said that the Muslim community appreciates the kind gesture of individuals and the committee to open their space for Juma Namaz. “It is a true example of brotherhood,” said Altaf. Meanwhile, Yadav, the Hindu businessman, hosted Friday prayer at his place in Sector 12. This was the second straight week that nearly two dozen Muslims offered namaz at his place. Sector 12 is the area where Hindutva groups held a puja at the designated site of Namaz two weeks back and did not allow Namaz even last week.

Speaking with media, Yadav said that he opened the doors for Muslims to “do my bit for humanity and country”. “I felt bad that people were being stopped from worshipping when it is a right given by our constitution. This was happening outside my home in Sector 12. So I told my Muslim tenants that they can come and offer their prayer at my shop which is lying vacant. I told them not to confront those opposing Namaz,” Yadav said.

After he stepped up to offer his space in a show of communal harmony, a number of people are now coming forward to ensure that the attempts to create hatred and violence are defeated. The Muslim community, however, reiterated its demand for allotment of land to construct mosques in the area. “I hope that the Government of Haryana takes cognisance of these events and allocates land to Muslims at the earliest so they can build mosques and could pray with dignity,” said Altaf.

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Islamabad, November 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):APHC-AJK leaders Abdul Majeed Mir and Imtiyaz Wani have said that the Kashmiri children, living in presence of more than one million Indian troops in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), deserve special attention of the international community, especially the United Nations.

APHC-AJK leader and Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Mass Movement (JKMM), Abdul Majeed Mir, in a statement issued in Islamabad said, today, when the World Children’s Day is being observed in the world, it is very unfortunate that the orphan children of IIOJK have been completely ignored.

He said the Indian troops are committing the worst kind of atrocities on innocent Kashmiri children as they have, so far, blinded many Kashmiri children and deprived them of their basic rights like education and health. Abdul Majeed Mir said that the plight of more than one lac Kashmiri children, orphaned as a result of Indian state terrorism, could not be forgotten and appealed to the world community and international human rights organizations to take notice of the Indian brutalities against them.

APHC leader and Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Employees Movement (JKEM), Imtiyaz Wani in a statement in Islamabad said the World Children’s Day is being observed across the globe, today, but the brutalities of Indian forces on children in IIOJK are still going on. Indian forces are also inflicting all kinds of atrocities on Kashmiri children, he deplored.

He said that a large number of Kashmiri children were currently lodged in Indian jails, which should be an eye-opener for the international community. He added that the people of Kashmir are rendering unprecedented sacrifices for freedom from India which will not be allowed go waste. Imtiaz Wani appealed to the United Nations to take cognizance of the Indian state terrorism in IIOJK and play a role in settling the lingering Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

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Srinagar, November 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian police, today, arrested five youth in Pulwama district. The police arrested the youth during raids in Lelhar area of the district. The police spokesman said, “They have been identified as Showkat Islam Dar, Aijaz Ahmad Lone, Aijaz Gulzar Lone, Manzoor Ahmad Butt and Nasser Ahmad Shah.” The police have claimed that the arrested youth were Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of militants.

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New Delhi, November 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has surrendered before the demands of protesting farmers and scraped the farm laws but reaction to the shock U-turn in India’s rural north has been less than positive.

In the village of Mohr Aniya, some 500 km by road east of the capital New Delhi and located in Uttar Pradesh, farmer Guru Sevak Singh said that he and others like him lost faith in Modi and his party.

“Today Prime Minister Modi realised that he was committing blunder, but it took him a year to recognise this and only because he now knows farmers will not vote for his party ever again,” said Singh.

For the young farmer, the matter is deeply personal. Singh’s 19-year-old brother Gurvinder was killed in October when a car ran over the demonstrators protesting against the farm laws.

In 2020, Modi government passed three farm laws in a bid to overhaul the agriculture sector that employs about 60% of India’s workforce but is deeply inefficient, in debt and prone to pricing wars. Angry farmers took to the streets, saying the reforms put their jobs at risk and handed control over crops and prices to private corporations. The resulting protest movement became one of the India’s biggest and most protracted.

Leaders of six farmer unions who spearheaded the movement in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab states said they would not forgive a government that labelled protesting farmers as terrorists and anti-nationals.

“Farmers were beaten with sticks, rods and detained for demanding legitimate rights, farmers were mowed down by a speeding car belonging to a minister’s family, tell me how can we forget it all?” said Sudhakar Rai, a senior member of a farmers’ union in Uttar Pradesh.

But farmers like Singh warned that the Modi government could pay a price for its treatment of farmers. “We are the backbone of the country and Modi has today accepted that his policies were against farmers,” said Singh. “I lost my brother in this mess and no one can bring him back.”

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