QUETTA: Gunmen ambushed a vehicle carrying a senior government administrator in southwest Pakistan on Monday, killing him and wounding two other people before fleeing, police and government officials said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted deputy commissioner Zakir Baloch in Mastung district of Balochistan province, said Hadahyait Bangulzai, a local police official.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Sarfraz Bugti, the top elected official in Balochistan, denounced the attack in separate statements and ordered authorities to trace and arrest those behind it.
Balochistan has been the scene of frequent militant attacks amid a long-running insurgency by groups seeking independence for the mineral- and gas-rich province bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups also have a presence in the region.
Gunmen kill senior government administrator in an attack on his vehicle in southwest Pakistan
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Gunmen kill senior government administrator in an attack on his vehicle in southwest Pakistan
- No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted Deputy Commissioner Zakir Baloch in Balochistan’s Mastung district
- Balochistan has been the scene of frequent militant attacks amid a long-running insurgency by groups seeking independence from Pakistan
Pakistan extends ‘full’ support as Israel bans UN secretary-general from entering country
- UN envoy commends Antonio Guterres for “principled and courageous stance on situation in Middle East”
- Israel has declared Guterres ‘persona non grata’ for not condemning Iran over Tuesday missile strikes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday condemned Israel for its “unjustified and slanderous” attacks on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and its announcement that it had banned him from entering the country over his failure to condemn Iran’s missile attacks earlier this week.
Iran on Tuesday launched a salvo of missiles at Israel it said wefe in retaliation for Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Lebanon against the Iran-backed armed movement Hezbollah and in Gaza. Fears that Iran and the US would be drawn into a regional war had already risen with Israel’s intensifying assault on Lebanon in the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there on Monday, and its year-old conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Following the Iranian airstrikes, the UN chief had condemned the “broadening” Middle East conflict and slammed “escalation after escalation” in the region but did not name Iran directly. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz lashed out at Guterres, saying someone who could not condemn Iran’s attack on Israel did not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil. He said the UN chief would be remembered as a “stain on the history of the UN for generations to come” for what he described as his support for militant groups.
“Pakistan stands in full solidarity with the UN Secretary-General and commends his principled and courageous stance on the situation in the Middle East, particularly the atrocities in Gaza and the aggression against Lebanon,” Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, said in an interview with state news agency APP.
“We strongly condemn Israel’s unjustified and slanderous attacks against the UN Secretary-General and the UN, which is a pillar of world order. Insult and abuse is the weapon of aggressors and oppressors.”
US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller later stated the US believed Israel’s step to ban Guterres was “not productive at all” due to the UN’s role in the region.
“One of the things we’ve always said that Israel needs to be cognizant of throughout this conflict is its standing in the world, and steps like this are not productive to improve its standing in the world,” Miller added.
In Karachi, hot tiffin lunches, thanks to a centuries-old meal delivery service
- Thousands of tiffin wallahs deliver home- and restaurant-cooked hot lunches daily to Karachi’s office goers
- Tradition comes from Bombay where service was launched in 1800s to cater to needs of growing working population
KARACHI: Muhammad Hussain waited for the traffic light to turn green and then sped ahead into a busy artery in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, with large bags slung from his motorcycle’s handlebars filled with steel lunch boxes called tiffins.
Hussain is among hundreds of tiffin wallahs who daily navigate the crowded port city by motorbike, and sometimes by public transport, to deliver thousands of hot lunches to Karachi’s vast working population.
Tiffins are mostly round, with up to four stainless steel compartments stacked atop one another and sealed together with a tight fitting lid and side clip. The separate compartments are perfect for accommodating multi-dish South Asian lunches, simple but often made of many moving parts: a spicy vegetable or meat curry, lentils, rice, yogurt, pickles, flatbread and sometimes even a sweet.
The delivery of home-cooked tiffin lunches has its origins as a service for British colonial officers in India but turned into a booming business in the late 1800s to cater to a growing number of migrants moving from different parts of the country to Bombay — a crucial center of British imperial rule and bringing with them their distinctive cuisines and tastes. An Indian entrepreneur, Mahadeo Havaji Bacche, launched the tiffin distribution business in Bombay in 1890 to meet the culinary needs of this rapidly growing working population whose members had to leave early in the morning for work and would often go hungry for lunch.
Today, even with the advent of fast food joints and delivery services like FoodPanda, the middle-classes of Karachi, much like Bombay, remain skeptical of “outside” food and prefer their lunches homecooked.
“This started in India, the tiffin service is operating there,” Muhammad Ibrahim Abu, 60, a retired tiffin wallah who was in the business for three decades, told Arab News earlier this month.
“Since we migrated from there [to Pakistan], we thought why not start this work in Pakistan? So, we started it in Pakistan and praise be to god, it has been running successfully.”
Indeed, the tiffin wallahs have loyal customers all over Karachi, with many students and office goers preferring the taste of home-prepared meals to takeouts.
“We get home-cooked meals while sitting in the office, and secondly it carries the same homemade taste,” local trader Muhammad Irfan, 42, told Arab News as he unclasped a just-delivered tiffin and poured egg curry into a white plate from one of its containers. A group of four of his colleagues gathered around the food and began the shared meal.
Muhammad Hussain can serve up to 150 customers like Irfan in one day, he told Arab News as he started his deliveries one cool October morning this week.
“Our kitchen, catering work starts after 8:30am or 8:45am and by approximately 11am, we begin filling the tiffins and from 11:00am to around 12:30pm, we head out for deliveries,” the tiffin wallah explained.
By around 330pm, his deliveries are done and he is ready to pick up empty tiffins.
“By the time we have everything settled, it’s evening.”
Hussain charges Rs520 ($1.87) for a regular tiffin, which serves three to four people while a larger tiffin that serves up to six people costs Rs780 ($2.81). The prices are at least three times less than what it would cost to have a simple meal at a street side dhaba.
But what’s on the menu?
“We cook two dishes every day,” Hussain said. “We prepare one meat dish and one vegetable dish.”
A range of items is on offer: chicken korma, chicken roast, chicken karahi, achari chicken, a curry of egg and onions, chickpeas cooked in masalas, lentils, moong dal, mixed vegetables, and fried okra.
“On Tuesdays, we have special lentils and rice and we also serve a separate chicken dish,” Hussain said. “And on Fridays, sometimes we have chicken biryani [rice], sometimes beef biryani, and at times chicken pulao [rice].”
His customers love the offerings.
Muhammad Bashir, 30, an office worker, said there was a “significant difference” between the tiffin meals and those he sometimes ordered from restaurants near his office.
“This is home-cooked food, which is clean and tidy,” Bashir told Arab News. “Secondly, it has fewer spices, and the homemade flavors are great.”
Irfan, who was sharing his tiffin with four colleagues, said it evoked a “powerful feeling” of nostalgia.
“I’ve been seeing this since my childhood because in the school we attended, tiffins used to come for the teachers,” he said.
But time has not been kind to the tiffin business, said Abu, the retired tiffin wallah who closed shop two years ago as surging inflation and a dwindling clientele dampened the business.
“I started with just five or six tiffins and gradually it grew to over a hundred,” Abu told Arab News.
Asif Haroon, 50, who took over the business from his mother 30 years ago, said he was carrying on “just for the sake of the past.”
“One can say that someone working in the tiffin business is merely passing the time,” Haroon said. “It’s not the same as it was before.”
Hussain, who was on his way to start picking up empty tiffins as the afternoon sun went down, agreed.
“Many people have left this work and moved on to other fields,” he said as he revved the engine of his motorcycle. “Only some of us have managed to keep this tradition of the past alive.”
Malaysian PM in Islamabad to attend business forum amid investment push by Pakistan
- In 2023-24, bilateral trade between Pakistan and Malaysia reached $1.5 billion
- Pakistan is seeking foreign investments in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy
ISLAMABAD: Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will attend a joint business forum in Islamabad today, Thursday, as Pakistan pushes for foreign investment in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy while navigating tough reforms mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Ibrahim arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday on a three-day visit accompanied by a delegation of ministers and senior officials. Besides his one-on-one meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and delegation-level talks, Ibrahim will also meet President Asif Ali Zardari and participate in the Pakistan-Malaysia Business Forum which begins at 530pm today. After delegation-level talks, both sides are expected to sign a number of MoUs and agreements, according to the PMO.
“The discussion covered a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest including those being faced by the Muslim Ummah,” the PMO said in a statement after a meeting between Sharif and Ibrahim.
“They also discussed the mechanisms to enhance bilateral cooperation with a view to achieving concrete results in these areas.
“[Both leaders] underlined the importance of the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC), Bilateral Consultations and other mechanisms to enhance engagement at all levels.”
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said discussions between the Pakistani and Malaysian delegations would focus on strengthening ties in areas such as trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture, the halal food industry, tourism, and cultural exchanges.
In 2023-24, bilateral trade between the two nations reached $1.5 billion, with Pakistan exporting rice, oil, textiles, and seafood and importing palm oil, LNG, and electronics. Malaysia is also a major source of visitors to Pakistan.
Around 160,000 Pakistanis live in Malaysia, and more than 3,800 Pakistani students are enrolled in its universities. Pakistan is also a key labor source for Malaysia in sectors like construction and agriculture.
Pakistani rights activist featured on ‘Time100 Next’ 2024 list
- Dr. Mahrang Baloch is a doctor and ethnic Baloch rights defender
- Pakistan army has called the movement Baloch leads a “terrorist proxy”
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani doctor and ethnic Baloch rights activist has been named in Time magazine’s annual list of the world’s 100 emerging leaders for “advocating peacefully for Baloch rights,” the magazine said this week.
In 2019, Time began publishing the Time100 Next list, which “spotlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more.”
Over the past two decades, a state crackdown on a separatist insurgency in Pakistan’s impoverished, southwestern Balochistan province has led to widespread allegations of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings that families, activists and politicians blame on security forces, who deny involvement.
Baloch, 31, became an activist as a teenager after her father, activist Abdul Gaffar Langove, disappeared in 2009. She was 16 at the time and immediately started protesting his abduction — which she blamed on Pakistani security forces — and became known in the student resistance movement in Balochistan. In July 2011, Langove’s body was found bearing signs of torture.
Baloch now leads the Baloch Yakjehti Committee civil rights movement, and last December led hundreds of women in a long march to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, demanding justice for their “disappeared” husbands, sons, and brothers. Earlier this year, she organized the Baloch Raji Muchi gathering in the strategic port city of Gwadar, an event aimed at uniting the Baloch against rights abuses.
“With many of the community’s men missing or dead, women like Mahrang are now at the helm advocating peacefully for Baloch rights,” Time wrote as it announced this year’s Time100 Next.
Baloch’s actions had brought “unprecedented attention to the Baloch struggle,” Time said, and the activist believed the momentum she had built would carry on.
“There is a lot of threat. There is a lot of oppression,” she was quoted as saying by Time. “Still ... we will struggle for humanity.”
Not everyone is a fan of Baloch.
Addressing a press conference in August, the military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said the purpose of the BYC and the Baloch Raaji Muchi it had convened in July in Gwadar, where China is building a deep sea port, was to make development projects and investments “controversial” and incite people against the Pakistan army and other security forces involved in operations against insurgency and crime in Balochistan.
“This Raaji Muchi, this is a proxy of terrorists and criminal mafia that has been exposed,” Chaudhry told reporters.
“This is what the reality is. They are nothing more than proxy of terrorist organizations and illegal smugglers, this is a mafia.”
Gilead licenses HIV-prevention drug to generic drugmakers in India, Pakistan
- Antiretroviral drug has been hailed as a potential game-changer in the fight against HIV
- Early trials finding the treatment 100 percent effective in preventing HIV infection
WASHINGTON: US pharmaceutical giant Gilead said Wednesday it had signed licensing deals with six generic drugmakers to produce and sell its HIV prevention medicine in lower-income countries.
The announcement comes shortly after Gilead faced pressure to open lenacapavir to a patent pool that would allow generics to be sold under license in those countries.
The antiretroviral drug has been hailed as a potential game-changer in the fight against HIV, with early trials finding the treatment 100 percent effective in preventing HIV infection.
With Wednesday’s announcement, generics companies will be able to make a lower-cost version of the HIV prevention regimen, subject to regulatory approvals, in 120 countries.
“Gilead teams have been working with urgency to bring on high-volume generic manufacturers now,” so they can start manufacturing the drug after receiving approvals, said Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day.
In July, researchers estimated that lenacapavir — which costs patients more than $40,000 per person a year in several countries — could be made for as little as $40.
The drug only needs to be injected twice a year, making it much easier to administer than current regimens requiring daily pills.
International health agency Unitaid said Wednesday that it welcomed Gilead’s announcement, adding that it was “prepared to invest immediately and collaborate to fast-track access to lenacapavir.”
“This is a potentially game-changing medication that could dramatically turn the tide against HIV infections, and we must ensure, without delay, global access to lenacapavir for all those who need it,” said Unitaid executive director Philippe Duneton.
There were 1.3 million new HIV infections last year, while 39 million people are living with the virus, according to the World Health Organization.
The licensees announced on Wednesday include companies in India and Pakistan, according to Gilead.
Based on data from its trials, Gilead is beginning a series of regulatory filings by the of end this year, it said.
“The agreements were signed in advance of any global regulatory submissions to enable these countries to quickly introduce generic versions of lenacapavir for HIV prevention, if approved,” it added of the six licensing deals.
The company is also prioritizing registration in 18 high-incidence countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam, to provide Gilead-supplied lenacapavir until generic versions are available.
In July, Liverpool University researcher Andrew Hill told AFP that if the drug was given to people at high risk of contracting HIV, it could “basically shut down HIV transmission.”