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Graana.com, in collaboration with Urban Innovation and Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) partners with Islamabad Cycling Association, ITP, Tobacco Smoke-free Islamabad, Urban Platform, MTB Islamabad, Prime Minister’s Tiger Force, and Critical Mass Islamabad, to host ‘Cycling Sunday’.

The recreational event will be held on December 6, starting at 12 p.m. (noon), with all the SOPs in check.

It is aimed at transforming the Federal Capital into a bicycle-friendly city with better cycling infrastructure, including dedicated cycling lanes and parking spaces and promoting eco-friendly activities in the federal capital.

Apart from leisure cycling, the hosts have organized multiple racing competitions for kids, teenagers, and adults to participate in. The racing contest will start from Jinnah Avenue, and finish at D-Chowk.

The winners of each race will be awarded certificates. Moreover, certificates of participation will also be distributed amongst the contestants. The residents of Islamabad and nearby places are invited to participate in the event.

To further accommodate those who want to participate, the authorities have arranged bicycle registrations.

In case of registration, please contact:

EXO – 0305 5050906
Aero Cycling – 0313 2925478
Riders Zone – 0311 7756982

Venue: Jinnah Avenue (Opposite Graana HQ, Beverly Centre) to D-Chowk
Time: 12 pm – 3 pm
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/813799959468124/

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The European Commission has reportedly announced to retain the ban on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operations in its member countries.

According to the local media reports, the commission has asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to remove the safety deficiency and to improve the issuance of pilot licensing process.

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The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had barred the PIA from operating in EU member countries for six months in July this year.

Similar bans followed from the UK and US aviation authorities, crippling the already suffering national airline due to the worldwide lockdowns due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The European Union Air Safety Committee (ASC) met on November 17 and 18 in Brussels to update the list of airlines that have been banned by the European Commission.

The meeting unanimously reached a conclusion, following which, the European Commission formally adopted a regulation amending the list of air carriers, which are banned from operating within the EU.

The ASC informed the Secretary Aviation, Hasan Nasir Jamy of the development in a letter. It said that the situation of airlines certified in Pakistan was examined during the meeting.

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The letter detailed numerous correspondences received between the end of June and November from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).

During this correspondence, the EU Commission said that the ASC continued to show concerns over the insufficient safety measures taken by the CAA and to identify the reason for the reoccurrence of the same or similar safety deficiencies.

The Commission also recognized the efforts by the aviation authority to enforce corrective measures, however, it said more efforts were required to keep the country’s flag carrier off the ban list.

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Former ISI Chief, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Asad Durrani stated that ‘India is no longer a big threat to Pakistan’ because of the mess it created by illegally revoking the special status of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in August 2019.

In an interview with BBC Urdu, Durrani said, “After what India did to Kashmir, there is no threat to us on the eastern border. We should not lower our guard against a Balakot-like misadventure though, but they are so caught up in their own mess that they have little time to care about Pakistan.”

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Tensions between India and Pakistan spiraled back in February 2019, when Indian warplanes crossed the de facto border in the disputed region of Kashmir and carried out a botched airstrike in the Balakot area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). In retaliation, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) carried out strikes, shooting down two Indian jets.

Durrani revealed, “India has not always been the biggest threat to us.” It is his belief that the inherent internal challenges faced by Pakistan are economic, political, and social.

Furthermore, he said, “There are some areas like Balochistan where there is unrest among people who feel politically alienated and deprived. The economy is in bad shape. The government’s credibility is bad because people believe it has been brought into power by the military.”

Regarding foreign challenges, he stated, “If you ask me [about] challenges from outside, I would say Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey pose new challenges.”

In his interview, the former ISI chief also said that the interference of the military in Pakistan’s political affairs is a damaging reality. However, Durrani said,

Whether it [military’s interference] should or should not be is a debate that has not led us anywhere thus far. Our experience tells us that whenever the military intervened, the political parties ostracized, staged a comeback. [Field Marshal] Ayub Khan was supposed to keep Zulfikar Ali Bhutto out, but he staged a comeback and got elected. After [Gen] Zia ul Haq, Bibi [Benazir Bhutto] came to power.

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A similar thing happened during Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s regime, he said. “The two parties which he thought should be kept out – PPP and PML-N – were elected to power. So, this [political] engineering is harmful [for the country],” the former ISI Chief said.

“Imran Khan’s biggest problem is the impression that he did not come to power by himself and that he came with a khaki burden. Some people don’t learn from history because they say we will create our own history.”

Durrani believes that changing Gilgit-Baltistan’s status will be a setback to the Kashmir cause.

He stated,

When I was looking after the affairs of Kashmir, a close friend of mine, Yusuf, explained to me that the day we made the mistake of changing Gilgit-Baltistan status, it would be a big blow to our Kashmir cause. You may give more rights to GB if you want to, but it should not be forcibly made a province of Pakistan.

Regarding the Balochistan issue, he believes it can be “better handled in three ways: politically, economically, and socially. But we took it and made it a province, and it is not being handled till date.”

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The Federal Minister for Education, Shafqat Mahmood, has instructed the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) to take measures to ensure the uninterrupted progression of the academic year from August 2021 onwards, and to hold the SSC and HSSC examinations in May and June 2021.

The minister issued these directives during a visit to the IBCC Secretariat in Islamabad. Parliamentary Secretary Education, Wajiha Akram, Federal Secretary Education, Farah Hamid Khan, and Additional Secretary Education, Mohyuddin Wani, accompanied the minister on the visit.

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The Secretary IBCC, Dr. Ghulam Ali Mallah, apprised the minister about the functions, activities, priorities, and future plans of the IBCC.

During the briefing, Shafqat Mahmood suggested that Secretary IBCC should consider conducting all the examinations as MCQs and technology-based assessments.

He also stressed for minimization of rote learning and fostering a culture of analytical thinking and reasoning among the students.

The minister also suggested inviting the SSC and HSSC high-achievers to Islamabad to meet with the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan.

He also praised the IBCC’s proposal to introduce Alternative to Practical (ATP) along with theory examinations for the SSC and HSSC, adding that the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) will train the officers of all the boards for the enhancement of their evaluation skills.

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Furthermore, Dr. Mallah informed Shafqat Mahmood that the IBCC had recently initiated online verification of equivalency certificates and attestation of certificates. It has also partnered with a courier company to collect and return the applications for equivalence and the attestation of certificates from the homes of the students.

Dr. Mallah added that the IBCC is making efforts to print QR codes on equivalence certificates to ensure that their quality remains uncompromised.

He concluded that the IBCC is also working to automate all of its processes to increase transparency and improve its delivery of services.

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China has appreciated the progress made in the infrastructure and energy projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework.

“CPEC is an important pilot program in the joint efforts of China and Pakistan to build the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and there has been a major progress recently especially in infrastructure and energy projects,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said in response to a question about the speech of Chairman of CPEC, Authority, Asim Saleem Bajwa at the 11th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum (IIICF) in Macau Special Administrative Region.

“Many roads were built creating job opportunities and boosting economic development in the relevant area and benefiting the people there. It has been applauded by people in Pakistan,” she added.

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Hua Chunying said that after COVID-19 broke out, the CPEC projects went on, as usual, playing an important role in Pakistan’s presumption of economic growth. The recent meeting of the ‘14th Five Year Plan’ blueprinted future development.

“The two sides attach importance to this project and work together to implement our leaders’ consensus and vow to carry out good jobs with existing projects, focus more on livelihood, industrial and agriculture cooperation,” she added.

The spokesperson remarked that both China and Pakistan were committed to turn the CPEC into a demonstration project for the BRI and bring greater benefits to both countries and the region.

Speaking at the forum, the chairman of the CPEC Authority said that the CPEC was a major pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Over the past five years, there were 22 construction projects under the framework of CPEC, covering roads, railways, airports, thermal power, hydropower, renewable energy, special economic zones, and other areas.

“In face of the novel coronavirus, all CPEC projects have been moving forward, bringing hope for a future of peace and economic growth,” he added.

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He said that infrastructure investment and construction would be a key to reviving the jobs market and national economies.

“Under CPEC, no project has been suspended for construction, and no worker has been laid off,” he told the gathering via video from Islamabad.

Later at the forum, Moin ul Haque, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, invited members of the audience to applaud Chinese officials who made it possible for projects such as Lahore’s Orange Metro Line subway system to be completed.

The 11th IIICF brings together ambassadors from 32 countries, senior executives from over 20 financial institutions, and representatives of top contractors and engineering equipment companies, international consulting firms, and engineering and construction services. More than 1,000 people attended the first day of the conference, the largest public event in Macau so far this year.

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