Day: July 17, 2026

Islamabad: The 34th National Men’s Chess Championship and the 10th National Women’s Chess Championship concluded at the Pakistan Sports Complex, with Zaman Sohail and Fariha Siddiq emerging as the national champions after impressive performances.

The championships, organized by the Chess Federation of Pakistan, featured around 250 male and female players from across the country competing in various categories.

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry attended the closing ceremony as chief guest and distributed trophies, medals, certificates and cash prizes among the winners.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said Pakistan’s international standing was steadily improving and its diplomatic stature had strengthened globally. He highlighted the government’s commitment to promoting sports, identifying young talent and providing greater opportunities for athletes.

Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also praised Chess Federation of Pakistan President Syed Zeeshan Ali Naqvi for his contributions to sports, expressing confidence that the federation would continue to promote chess and enhance Pakistan’s presence in international competitions.

In the men’s championship, Higher Education Commission (HEC) player Zaman Sohail secured the national title with five points. Punjab’s M. Zarwaiz Shabkhaiz finished second with 4.5 points, while HEC’s A.R. Akhtar claimed third place on the basis of a tie-break after also scoring 4.5 points.

In the women’s championship, Punjab’s Fariha Siddiq remained unbeaten throughout the event to win the national title with 10.5 points. Zainobia Wasif finished runner-up with nine points, while Javeria secured third position with eight points.

Federal Secretary for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani congratulated the Chess Federation of Pakistan on successfully organizing the championships and assured continued government support for the promotion of chess.

Member of the National Assembly and Chairperson of the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Heritage and Culture Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar announced a cash award of Rs100,000 for special athlete Saeeba Shah and Rs25,000 for the oldest participant of the championship.

Senator Nuzhat Sadiq and MNA Farah Naz Akbar also appreciated the federation’s efforts in promoting chess and encouraging young talent.

The ceremony concluded with the distribution of awards to the winning players, while Chess Federation of Pakistan President Syed Zeeshan Ali Naqvi thanked the distinguished guests, participants, officials and media representatives for contributing to the successful staging of the national championships.

Islamabad: National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), is set to deliver high-performance Graphics Processing Unit as a Service (GPUaaS) and Model as a Service (MaaS) across its highly secure, state-managed Data Centers.

Serving as foundation of the country’s e-governance infrastructure, NTC’s new sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative is designed to fulfill the state’s expanding computational demands, offering secure, high-speed, and localized alternatives to public clouds while ensuring the required safety of sensitive public sector data.

To bring this vision to life, NTC has signed a landmark three-year contract with DataVault to deploy advanced, enterprise-grade, NVIDIA-licensed GPU hardware including the industry-leading H200, A100, and B200 series. This strategic partnership establishes NTC as Pakistan’s premier local hub for sovereign AI and Machine Learning (ML) services.

The high-performance hardware will power a dedicated platform tailored to host and run state-of-the-art Large Language Models (LLMs) securely within NTC’s managed environment, including top-tier models such as Llama 3.1 (8B, 3.3 70B, and 4 Maverick), GPT-OSS 20B, Qwen3 32B, Kimi K2, and cutting-edge Text-to-Speech (TTS) services.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Managing Director of NTC Major General (R) Ali Farhan, emphasized the critical importance of localized infrastructure: ‘Computing power is the backbone of modern digital infrastructure. By securing high-performance NVIDIA GPUs and hosting advanced AI models locally, NTC is taking a decisive step to protect Pakistan’s digital sovereignty.

This self-hosted, highly secure environment minimizes exposure to public clouds while providing our designated government clients with world-class AI inference and training capabilities’.

The implementation partner, DataVault will work alongside NTC to deliver enterprise-grade performance, targeting an ambitious 99.9% monthly uptime SLA backed by 24/7/365 technical support.

Islamabad: The National Committee of the Pakistan Wildlife Protection Awards (PWPA) has finalized the recipients for the 2026 awards after reviewing nominations from Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The decision was taken in a meeting, chaired by Dr. Syed Moazzam Nizami, here at the Snow Leopard Foundation office on Thursday. Inspector General (Forests), Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination were also present in the meeting.

Awards to the selected candidates would be presented on 31 July at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Islamabad, to mark World Ranger Day.

The award ceremony would be jointly hosted by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, the British High Commission Pakistan and the Snow Leopard Foundation.

The event would bring together government officials, conservation partners, wildlife professionals, and frontline rangers from across Pakistan to recognise their contribution to protecting the country’s wildlife and natural heritage.

Launched in 2024, by the Snow Leopard Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Pakistan Wildlife Protection Awards recognize individuals and organizations making outstanding contributions to wildlife conservation across Pakistan’s mountain landscapes.

The National committee evaluated 26 nominations received from the three snow leopard range regions under an approved scoring system.

Members also approved a new Community Conservation Award to recognize community-led efforts in protecting wildlife and mountain ecosystems.

This is the first time a community award has been included to promote community-based conservation and strengthen local conservation organizations.

This year, the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) received 26 nominations from three regions including AJK (6), GB (8), and KP (12) for seven award categories. Based on the final selection, Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secured three awards each, while Azad Jammu and Kashmir secured one award.

Dr. Shezra Mansab Kharal, Minister of State for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, said, ‘The Pakistan Wildlife Protection Awards celebrated the courage of the people who stand on the frontlines of conservation, often in some of the country’s most challenging landscapes.”

“Their commitment safeguards not only endangered wildlife but also the ecological security and natural heritage of Pakistan. By recognizing their service, we reaffirm our national resolve that protecting biodiversity is a shared responsibility and an investment in the future of generations to come.’

Dr. Syed Moazzam Nizami, Inspector General (Forests), said, ‘Conservation succeeds because of the dedication of people who protect nature every day, far from public attention and often under difficult conditions.”

“The Pakistan Wildlife Protection Awards acknowledge these silent guardians whose vigilance strengthens ecosystems, supports local communities, and preserves Pakistan’s remarkable wildlife.’

Dr. Muhammad Ali Nawaz, Director of the Snow Leopard Foundation, said, ‘Over the years, I have learned that successful conservation depends on people who protect nature every single day. Rangers, wildlife watchers and local communities are the real strength behind Pakistan’s conservation efforts.”

He said the Pakistan Wildlife Protection Awards celebrated these unsung heroes whose dedication keeps our wildlife and ecosystems alive. ” Their work deserves recognition, respect and continued support.’

Ashiq Ahmad Khan, senior wildlife expert and member of the committee, said, ‘Every wildlife ranger, watcher and community guardian represents years of quiet service.”

He said these awards recognize the people whose daily efforts protect Pakistan’s wildlife and inspire others to join the conservation movement.

The committee also agreed to consider introducing a dedicated Research Award in future editions of PWPA to recognize outstanding contributions to wildlife research.

It was decided that each provincial wildlife department would nominate a permanent focal person to ensure continuity in future meetings.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Muhammad Ali Nawaz, Director, Snow Leopard Foundation, Abid Ali, Director, Central Karakoram National Park, Parks and Wildlife Department Gilgit-Baltistan, Muhammad Faique Khan, Conservator, Wildlife Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Naeem Iftikhar Dar, Director, Fisheries and Wildlife Department AJK, Ashiq Ahmad Khan, senior wildlife expert; Abdul Shakoor Khan, Deputy Director, Fisheries and Wildlife Department AJK, and other committee members.