Author: Say Sajjadi

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country’s role as the G20 host this year would focus on highlighting the concerns of the developing world, and has proposed the African Union to become permanent members of the forum. “We have a vision of inclusiveness and with that vision, we have invited the African Union to become permanent members of the G20,” Modi said on Sunday as he addressed the Business 20 Summit in New Delhi. The B20 is an industry event and part of the summit of the 20 leading rich and developing nations, which will be hosted in…

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had a busy day on Friday. The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Aid Coordinator, Julien Harneis met the Chair PPP at Zardari House Islamabad. During the meeting, the issues of rehabilitation of the flood victims were discussed. Chairman PPP informed the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Aid Coordinator that the Sindh government has started a project to build 20 lakh houses for the flood affected homeless people. The flood victims and homeless people are not only being given houses but they are also being made the owners of the land. Chairman PPP…

The visiting Chinese delegation led by Yuan Jiajun, a politburo member of the Communist Party of China, has pledged Rs145 million (eight million yuan) to carry out various agriculture-related projects in all seven provinces of Nepal. The projects will be funded through the China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Centre, headquartered in Chongqing, China. Yuan, who is tipped as a future leader of China, however, did not discuss BRI projects in Nepal during his meeting with party leaders. The Rs145 million aid was announced through a statement issued after Yuan’s meeting with Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Monday. The…

It has been six years since Nepal and China signed a contract to collaborate on six projects under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But the Himalayan nation has little to show. And to add to its woes, China has started unilaterally claiming infrastructure projects under the rubric of BRI. China’s BRI, the New Silk Road, is a colossal infrastructure project ever conceived. It was launched in 2013 by President Jinping and comprises a vast collection of development and investment initiatives originally to connect East Asia and Europe. However, it has expanded to Africa, Oceania, and Latin…

Dozens of Kosovo Albanians protested a EU-backed deal Saturday to normalize ties with Serbia and the prime minister’s plan to establish the Union of Serbian Municipalities. The EU’s proposal to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia which will lead to the formation of the Union of Serbian Municipalities was protested in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital, Pristina. Demonstrators carried pictures of Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca with long noses implying that they are “liars like Pinocchio.” Instead of state flags, demonstrators hung white flags on government buildings, symbolizing the surrender of the…

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1730520 KARACHI / ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has called upon the government to make the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) an autonomous, democratic, transparent and independent body to improve medical education and produce competent doctors in the country. At an urgent meeting held at the PMA House on Saturday, the association’s members discussed the issues related to the reconstitution of PMDC and shared concern over the situation that had developed after a related bill was approved by the Senate. The participants were of the view that the government should stop controlling the regulatory body. The council…

World leaders, representatives of international development and humanitarian organizations, and UN delegations gathered in Geneva on Monday to rally financial support for Pakistan’s recovery from the devastating floods that hammered the country last year. Pakistan has appealed for $16.3 billion to assist it to rebuild the country, and almost half this amount had been pledged by countries attending the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan by Monday evening. The United States committed an additional $100 million in recovery funding for flood-hit areas, while the European Union raised its total contribution to Pakistan to $500 million. The Islamic Development Bank’s pledge of…