24-06-21 (ISB)

GOVT BRINGING REFORMS IN ENERGY SECTOR TO REDUCE ELECTRICIT Y TARIFF: PM

PM directs Power Division to resolve K-Electric’s payment issues

g SECP WA S DIRECTED TO EXAMINE LEGALITY OF KE'S SHAREHOLDING AND REPORT BACK TO SIFC

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed the Power Division to develop a comprehensive solution for settling the long-standing receivables and payments between K-Electric (KE) and various government entities This directive was issued during a recent meeting focused on power sector issues According to a news report the Power Division and the Cabinet Division, which oversees NEPRA, will collaborate to expedite the resolution of KE’s tariff and claims issues NEPRA has announced hearing dates for KE’s tariffs Regarding shareholding matters the Prime Minister directed the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to examine the legality of KE’s shareholding and report back to the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) It was also decided to conduct competitive bidding for Category-III wind Letter of Interest (LoI) holders to procure 300 MW for KE The Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) prepared draft RFP documents and sent them to KE in March with approval timelines set for June and August 2024 At the meeting NEPRA s Chairman stated that KE s write-off claims are under evaluation and efforts are being made to resolve these issues promptly Recovery losses, common in other distribution companies, are managed through circular debt or consumer surcharges KE s CEO informed that the company s Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) expired on June 30 2023 and new tariff petitions have been filed with NEPRA On this matter, the Chairman of NEPRA assured that the tariff determination process for the postJune 2023 period would be expedited The Secretary of Power Rashid Langrial presented KE s Indicative Generation Plan, which includes several projects converting units to 100% Thar Coal These projects involve JPCL Coal Units a new Thar Coal Power Project and the conversion of HUBCO and Port Qasim Electric Power Company Limited units to Thar Coal The Secretary of Power also requested changes to the Government of Pakistan’s board members in KE’s Board of Directors noting that a stay order from the Sindh High Court does not apply to government board members Key decisions from the meeting included NEPRA resolving KE’s issues, approving the conversion of JPCL Unit-I to Thar Coal and KE assisting in changing the government board members in its Board of Directors

GWADAR

S TA F F R E P O R T President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday called for enhancing the capacity of the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), posting competent officers in Balochistan, and improving the prosecution mechanism to effectively counter terrorist elements in Balochistan The president expressed these views while chairing a meeting on the security/law and order situation in Balochistan, in Gwadar, on Thursday Minister for Interior Mohsin Raza Naqvi Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, MNA Malik Shah Gorgaij, Home Minister, Mir Ziaullah Langov, MPA Maulana Hidayat-urRehman, senior civil and military officials attended the meeting

The president was briefed about the overall security situation of the province as well as the role of LEAs in successfully countering terrorist attacks in various districts of Balochistan

phasized that the prosecution system needed to be improved so that the terrorist elements could not escape justice He said that compensation for the families of martyrs of LEAs in Balochistan should be enhanced bringing it at par with the rest of the provinces The president said that competent and brave police officials needed to be posted in Balochistan that would help improve the lawand-order situation of the province President Zardari for enhanced capacity of LEAs to counter terror in Balochistan

It was further apprised that the initiatives taken by the LEAs had resulted in improving the security situation in the province The president was informed that the provincial government was taking steps to provide fool-proof security to Chinese and foreign nationals He appreciated the efforts of the provincial government as well as the sacrifices of the LEAs in combatting terrorism The president em-

It was informed that the provincial government had adopted a targeted approach to improve the security and law-and-order situation in Balochistan

ects in the PPP-led Sindh

the PPP has not become part of the federal cabinet the party supported the PML-N-led in forming government after the February 8 elections The prime minister highlighted that the macroeconomic indicators with regard to the country’s economy were showing encouraging growth while historic boom in the stock market was the endorsement of the government s budget by the business community He said all political parties should work together for the country’s development prosperity and public welfare He said that in the budget 2024-25 steps were taken to provide maximum relief to the people It was agreed in the meeting that further consultation would continue through parliamentary committees

During the meeting the insiders said Bilawal voiced his reservations over the federal government s nonseriousness towards different proj-

They added that the PPP chief complained to the premier about its administration for not taking his party’s confidence in decision-making, including the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and budget proposals

It also emerged that both sides discussed the PPP s inclusion in the federal cabinet and power-sharing in Punjab during the meeting which was also attended by senior leaders Bilawal also complained that the ruling party failed to implement the agreement reached with his party wherein the former supported the latter in the formation of a coalition government, the sources added

Moreover, the PPP chief also accused Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz-led administration of creating hurdles for his party in Punjab the sources said adding that Premier Shehbaz agreed on most of the concerns raised by Bilawal and formed separate committees to address those complaints The sources said that the committees will hold more rounds of talks tomorrow to take forward the matters

G R I

S TAT I O N S , C I T I N G S E V E R E F I N A N C I A L LO S S E S

PBC warns tax hikes could worsen Pakistan’s ‘brain drain’ crisis

FBR EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR TRANSFERRING

TA X CASES TO APPELL ATE TRIBUNAL

Getting serious

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb seems bent on taking the message of a crackdown on tax evaders far and wide Perhaps that is why he chose Kamalia, a tehsil in Toba Tek Singh district, to address a press conference on the issue of the tax-to-GDP ratio which he said was too low at the current 9 5 percent, and which he vowed to take to 13 percent This seems to be the bottom line with the IMF, as the path out of Pakistan’s financial troubles This also makes a certain sense as the collection at present does not fund the debt servicing needs of the government, It is interesting that Mr Aurangzeb not only wants to tax previously untaxed areas and emd an estimated Rs 3 9 trillion in exemptions He has revealed that 32 000 retailers had been included in the tax net, and would start paying tax from July By going after retailers, he is going after those considered a pillar of his party Mr Aurangzeb forthrightly addressed the concerns retailers have often expressed about the taxation machinery, admitting that people were scared of becoming filers, and then getting stuck in a quagmire While taxmen know they will never win popularity contests so long as their actions justify the impression that they are engaged in enriching themselves rather than the treasury, they will find taxpayers recalcitrant

While Mr Auranzeb was being wise in Kamalia KP CM Zli Amin Gandapur was throwing around his weight in Dera Ismail Khan, where he gave an example of direct action but at a federal installation By having a closed feeder restored he may have won the applause of the crowd, especially those who had been sweltering in the heat, but he was probably acting beyond his jurisdiction as the feeder was a federal installation and nobody in the feeder staff had him in their chain of command As if towing up the federal government further, he threatened to withdraw support for the IMF loan if the federal government did not pay the Rs 600 billion it owed the KP government It is a demand unlikely to be met for two reasons First, the IMF is likely to object to the federal government shelling out such a sum Second, the sum has not been reconciled in the sense that both federal and KP governments agree that that is the sum outstanding Such grandstanding should be eschewed in favour of problem-solving

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

M A Niazi

Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit

THE 2024-25 Budget recently presented to the National Assembly was meant to please the IMF Previous Budgets have been meant to satisfy the IMF that its conditions were being met but this one was being presented during a break in negotiations In short, without any agreement on the next package, the IMF was getting what it wanted At the same time, the chances of the IMF refusing a failure are remote Apart from Pakistan being obedient it is also Too Big To Fail If Pakistan were to default because of lack of ability to repay the loans it has taken from the international banking system there is the risk of the international financial system unravelling While Pakistan is not one of the countries to which the international banking system has one of the largest exposures the system itself is not really robust enough to take a default in its stride One of the most interesting areas of difference to emerge from the Budget process has been the place of solar power in the energy mix of the country The Water and Power Ministry has been pushing for some sort of restriction on its use The reason is that solar energy does not fit into its financial model, which is still essentially that of the Tennessee Valley Authority relying on power production at central locations like hydel dams or thermal power stations and distribution to consumers Solar power is used so far for domestic connections, and there are so far none of the major generation units anywhere However, the model is that WAPDA purchases all the solar energy produced by domestic consumers and that sum is deducted from the cost of consumption It should be noted that the electricity which households consume is entirely supplied by WAPDA In this heat, WAPDA was expecting a bonanza, as electricity demand would shoot up because cooling devices like fans and air-conditioners were turned on However in previous years there were frequent power breakdowns and enforced loadshedding ending in a few cases in public riots and attacks on distribution company offices Is it purely a coincidence that the loadshedding in big cities is more limited? Or has the extra power generated and fed into the system by domestic consumers made a crucial dIffer-

ence? According to the World Bank by January 31 8822 MW of Pakistan s total 46,045 MW generating capacity was solar 28,800 MW was thermal, and 10,600 MW hydel Solar power is thus by far a major component of Pakistan’s energy mix but it is already causing WAPDA difficulties Is it simply a matter of not getting revenue? Another big difference in this model is that the investment in generation is being made by the consumer, not WAPDA Apart from the purchase of the requisite solar panels and inverter, there are ancillary civil works such as setting the panel frames on roofs If WAPDA was handling this this would have meant a tax-free revenue stream Not to mention that one reason panels are priced where they are is because WAPDA is not involved in the purchase process The only point WAPDA is involved in is installing the netmeters There WAPDA men make money, offering a vision of what would have happened if they had been involved in installing solar power Another point at which WAPDA is vulnerable is the provision of electricity to government offices If those offfices were to convert to solar power WAPDA would be in real trouble WAPDA can t live with those offices, and can t live without them One reason WAPDA can’t live with them is because they run up large arrears on the plea that they are essential and WAPDA dare not cut them off Office ACs are run hours before the sahib arrives the bill is not paid and the money used for something else (like biscuits for the sahib s elevenses) One reason WAPDA can t live without them is that

assuring them very tight security If all what had happened at Shenzhen and Beijing during his five-day visit materializes in due course of time then it will augur well for the somewhat staggering national economy besides further strengthening and promoting the existing timetested, all-weather, mutually trustworthy and enviable neighbourly best possible relations This was PM Shehbaz Sharif's second visit to China after the maiden one undertaken in November 2022 and the longest of all his foreign visits so far The visit more importantly also underscored Pakistan s commitment to the existing deepening ties, with the launching of the next phase of great game changer ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), now in the second phase after successful completion of the first phase He had gone to China to pursue the Chinese investors following an appreciable shift in his government s policy though in somewhat delayed manner, of seeking investment and collaboration and no more loans and aid from friendly countries

In the first part of his visit he inaugurated the Pak-China Business Conference in Shenzhen He quite categorically and assertively as-

sured and pledged resources, support to foreign investors like never before and vowed heightened security for Chinese citizens working in his country prioritizing their safety In Beijing itself the visiting Pakistani leader had very useful free in-depth and frank meetings with President Xi Jinping Premier Li Qiqang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples'; Congress Zhao Leji What transpired in these high-level meetings duly reflected the existing warmest, sincerest and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries While Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China principle and reiterated that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China, China reiterated its steadfast support to Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty national independence and territorial integrity in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions and also in its efforts for safeguarding the national security stability, development and prosperity, in firmly combatting terrorism and in playing a bigger role in the regional and international affairs During these meetings, top Chinese and Pakistani leadership agreed that both Pakistan and China are all weather strategic cooperative partners and iron brothers and have always understood trusted and supported each other As regards CPEC, the two sides recognised that it has been a pioneering project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)and after the successful completion of the first phase they were now committed to carrying out the eight major steps for supporting the high quality BRI cooperation forging an upgraded version of CPEC by jointly building a growth corridor, a livelihoodenhancing corridor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor and an open corridor, aligning with Pakistan's SME framework based on exports E-Pakistan Environment Energy and Equity and Empowerment for benefiting both countries and their peoples working together and building CPEC into an exemplary project of BRI cooperation Pakistani and Chinese leaders also dilated upon the mega Railways project Main-Line (ML-1) envisaging rehabilitation and upgradation from Peshawar to Karachi reaffirmed it as an important project under the CPEC frame-

work which was of strategic significance to Pakistan s socio-economic development and agreed to actively explore advancing the project in a phased manner and start working on its financing modalities

Needless to mention here that the ML-I project has been in doldrums for some time mainly due to its financing issue and China s concessional financing Its cost has recently been downwardly revised from $ 10 billion to more than $ 6 billion and three phases have been reduced to two phases

Details of what had transpired and was agreed upon during talks between the Pakistani and Chinese leaderships covering the vast spectrum of bilateral relations and expansion of the great game changer CPEC to more sectors need more space and may be mentioned some other time

As briefly mentioned above, the focus of the prime minister s visit in a major attempt to push for direly needed foreign direct investment was to business-to-business meetings and a determined effort to upgrade the CPEC

Most significantly and importantly it was being pointedly stated here that a record number of as many as 55 agreements and MoUs were signed on two different occasions during the five days of the visit Out of these 23 agreements and MoUs covering cooperation on CPEC agriculture infrastructure industrial cooperation inter-governmental development assistance, market regulation, surveying, media, film, and such like were signed in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the impressive ceremony at the Great People s Hall by the delegation members from both sides

And 32 agreements and memorandum of agreements in the fields of IT, textiles, leather and footwear, minerals, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food processings on the sidelines of the Pakistan Business Conference in Shenzhen following meetings between the visiting Pakistani businessmen and host Chinese businessmen and investors

While the foreign investors and businessmen are quite willing to come and invest in different sectors in Pakistan, are we all ready to efficiently and actively take upon the massive workload that may be accruing in a sincere dedicated and committed manner brushing aside our decades old unwelcome habits of population growth corruption and amassing illgotten wealth by all means?

The writer is Lahore-based Freelance Journalist Columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News) Radio Pakistan Islamabad and can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail com

Driving

Prolonged loadshedding

Pedestrian bridges

Wait continues

College principals

Angr y people

MuhAMMAd

Banning Social Media for children and teenagers

Another plague impor ted from the West

DURING my tenure as Press Minister at the Embassy of Pakistan in France, I once attended a dinner with the Ambassador and several other dignitaries where we dined with members of the French parliament I was seated between two female parliamentarians, and our discussion turned to the impact of social media on families When I mentioned that my 13-year-old daughter had a Facebook account, the ladies reacted with utter disbelief covering their mouths in shock They unanimously believed that children should not be allowed to use social media until they reach adulthood under any circumstances Taking their advice to heart, I made considerable efforts to regulate my children's use of social media, though with limited success Ironically social media invented by the USA and the West was initially promoted to ensure the global permeation of their lifestyle, and political and geopolitical influence However, they did not foresee that this very tool, designed to impose their values, customs, and preferences on the rest of the world would eventually become a significant risk to the lives of millions of children and teenagers

This realization did not come at once but after the office of the Surgeon General of the United States conducted multiple studies and reports including longitudinal studies to track the same individuals over a period providing data on how social media use impacts mental health over time It included cross-sectional studies where comparison of different groups of individuals to identify correlations between social media use and

mental health indicators It also included meta-analyses to identify broader trends and draw more robust conclusions The studies showed that at an individual level there are mental health concerns, such as increased anxiety and depression linked to social media use, and the rise of cyberbullying causing significant emotional distress Additionally excessive screen time especially before bed disrupts sleep patterns affecting overall health and academic performance The addictive nature of social media platforms encourages behaviour that interferes with daily activities and responsibilities, while constant exposure to short, rapid content is believed to reduce attention spans impacting the ability to focus on longer more demanding tasks

In families excessive social media use reduces the amount of quality time family members spend together, weakening family bonds Parents may find it challenging to monitor and regulate their children's social media usage leading to potential exposure to harmful content Families may rely more on digital communication reducing meaningful, in-person interactions and discussions Differences in social media use and content consumption can lead to conflicts between family members

In society widespread social media use leads to decreased face-to-face interactions weakening community ties and social cohesion While social media can connect people

virtually, it can also contribute to feelings of isolation and loneliness in real-life situations Exposure to risky behaviour and content on social media can normalize such actions particularly among impressionable teenagers Social media can create echo chambers where individuals are exposed only to information that reinforces their existing beliefs, reducing exposure to diverse perspectives Based upon these findings, the Surgeon General of the United States issued recommendations emphasizing the need for stricter age verification measures enhanced parental controls and comprehensive education on digital literacy Integrating safe internet use

Parents have a crucial role in regulating their children’s social media use by utilizing parental control software and apps to monitor and limit usage, setting clear rules and boundaries, and maintaining open communication about the potential dangers of social media Modelling responsible social media use and encouraging offline activities, such as family outings, sports, and reading, can help children develop a balanced approach to technology Promoting social and community activities that foster face-toface interaction and physical activity will further mitigate the risks associated with excessive social media use

into school curricula and providing mental health support, such as counselling services and helplines Working with social media companies to enhance content moderation and filter harmful content for minors Promoting community and extracurricular activities as healthy alternatives and advocating for legislation that protects young users In Pakistan, we tend to adopt whatever is imposed on us by the West without a cognitive decision-making process to evaluate its suitability for our individuals families and national fabric As a result social media use has permeated all levels of society without any checks and balances Even children as young as six months old have unrestricted access to social media Young children, some as young as three to five years old, have become social media stars, frequently appearing in social media posts There are no effective regulations in place to govern social media use in Pakistan and even if regulations exist they are not being enforced Consequently, children of all ages are becoming addicted to this

All roads in the Muslim world lead to Beijing

Af ter the Hamas massacre last O c t 7, Chinese polic y shif ted decisively against Israel Chinese commentators and netizens lined up against the Jewish state like iron filings on a sheet of paper with a magnet underneath

and Russia s staying power Again that leaves Israel in the crosshairs: Russia is not a customer of Saudi Arabia like China but a competitor, and stands to benefit from a disruption of oil supplies

Modi: Shed arrogance, rein in your Frankenstein monsters

Huawei s largest foreign market for 5G infrastructure, despite urgent U S warnings against doing business with the Chinese national champion For our part we don t sell telecom infrastructure because we stopped making it a generation ago That is why all roads in the Muslim world lead to Beijing Turkey s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan went to Beijing last week in "the latest effort by Ankara to establish itself at the center of a strategic trade route between Europe and China VOA reported Once the champion of Uyghur rights against alleged Chinese "genocide," Turkey now rounds up Uyghur dissidents in Turkey and sends them back to China Four Arab leaders including Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi attended the China-Arab Forum in Beijing during the last week in May

The $2 trillion Belt and Road Initiative hopes to integrate China with Western Asia and eventually Europe through a new transport grid that crisscrosses the Eurasian continent with Chinese-built railroads and pipelines After the Biden Administration fled Afghanistan in 2022 China has picked up the pieces in Central Asia offering infrastructure and financial support to the fragile economies of the former Soviet Union China and Russia meanwhile have settled most of their differences over primacy in Central Asia and are acting as partners China has just 200 soldiers in the Middle East at its sole overseas base in Djibouti It concentrates its military budget on a massive missile, satellite, air and submarine shield along its coast not on forward deployment China s relations with Israel had been cordial but chilly given China s historic pro-Palestinian position But for a long time, it was still possible to defend Israel in major Chinese media, as I did in December 2022 After the Hamas massacre last Oct 7 Chinese policy shifted decisively against Israel Chinese commentators and netizens lined up against the Jew-

ish state like iron filings on a sheet of paper with a magnet underneath Why? Israel is an American ally and America and China are locked in an adversarial wrangle Israel is in the crosshairs China has no particular fondness for Arabs or Persians, nor any particular animosity toward Jews: It is playing its hand ruthlessly against Washington It gets worse: The Ukraine War has thrown Russia and China together in a de facto alliance against the United States Americans play Monopoly while Russians play chess and they have opened an Iranian fianchetto in the context Ukraine As I warned back in 2008 If Washington chooses to demonize Russia, the likelihood is that Russia will become a spoiler with respect to American strategic interests in general and use the Iranian problem to twist America's tail " Vladimir Putin warned on June 5 that Russia might give weapons to enemies of the West in response to attacks on its soil by Western weapons Presumably, Putin means the Houthis, many of whose officers trained at Russian military academies and have already launched missiles at Israel Washington woefully underestimated the efficacy of its sanctions on Russia

Even worse the United States is hobbling Israel s military response to Hamas to the point of withholding ammunition from the IDF The Pentagon vetoed Israel's plan to flood the Hamas tunnels with seawater an alternative that would have reduced collateral damage among Gazan civilians as Erik Prince revealed in Asia Times A Trump victory in November would restore American support for Israel and if Trump makes good on his promise to end the Ukraine war reduce the threat from the Iranian flank That would be the best outcome But China s influence in the region will grow no matter what the U S does, because its dominant position in broadband, transport, and energy infrastructure enables it to meet Eurasia s development needs In one way or another Israel will have to engage China Ben Gurion s too-often quoted injunction to fight the White Paper as if there were no war, and fight the war as if there were no White Paper, is worth recalling It will have to become Israel's modus operandi going forward

David P Goldman is Deputy Editor of Asia Times a Washington Fellow of the Claremont Institute and a member of the Advisory Board of Sino-Israel org, a think tank dedicated to China-Israel dialogue

Pavan Varma says when Bhagwat spoke about the need to “respect diversity, live together and respect others (and) embrace goodwill to all”, he clearly had in mind the comments made by the BJP and Modi in particular during the recent election campaign

l l ig e n c e h u m a n i n t e l l i g e n c e i ma g e r y a n d o t h e r d a t a T h e a r r a n g e m e n t i s u n p a r a l l e l e d i n h i s t o r y a n d w e a r e f o r t u n a t e t o b e p a r t o f i t B u t f o r h o w m u c

s t a n d what you are reading; 2) We need a national security intelligence adviser with actual operational experience Not h a v i n g t h i s i s a k i n t o h a v i n g a C h i e f o

Qamar Bashir

TROOP SHORTAGES AND PUBLIC OPPOSITION STRAIN IDF AMID PROLONGED GA Z A WAR

Xi Jinping, Trinidad and Tobago president exchange congratulations over 50th anniversar y of diplomatic ties

A s the world continues to warm, C hina and EU meet for climate talks

over a month not over a year, or even over five years, said Ko Barrett, the WMO s Deputy Secretary-General Against this backdrop China and the European Union have held a 5th environment and climate dialogue The two sides last convened

Message of Naval C hief

Naveed A shraf on World Hydrography D ay 2024

ICCI to host ‘All Pakistan C hambers Presidents Conclave’ on June 25

community and put forward proposals to the government for resolving them He said the event aims to discuss important issues share ideas and collaborate on initiatives that promote economic growth and development The conclave will feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, providing a platform for business leaders to engage with each other and with policymakers He said that at the moment the economy of the country is facing multiple challenges, which have slowed down the business activities, therefore, the ICCI felt the

need to bring the leadership of the entire business community at one place and give comprehensive as well as workable proposals to the government for the revival of business and economic activities Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari added that on the occasion the federal ministers concerned would also take the business community into confidence about the government’s measures to promote ease of doing business in the country He expressed optimism that APCPC would prove instrumental in building more confidence between the government and the business community to put the economy of Pakistan on the path of sustainable economic growth

The poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples from Karachi and Peshawar, sourced said on Thursday The sources further said, the poliovirus was detected in sewage samples of Karachi’s Kemari and

Peshawar Sources added, the samples were collected on June 3rd and 4th and the results show the presence of wild poliovirus type 1 and vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2

PM VISITS REVAMPED NEOC, TERMS NDMA SAFET Y

AGAINST IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

validation mechanism at the NMDA assuring the government s support and funding for the staffers training and procurement of equipment “This is not normal This is not usual This is far above normal and usual ” he said and asked the federal ministers and secretaries to follow the role model to make Pakistan a great nation He asked the NDMA to ensure close coordination with the provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and advised the procurement of equipment through coordination to avoid duplication This is not an expenditure This is an investment to save our future

investments he remarked He told the gathering that the Federal Government had allocated Rs80 billion for the promotion of information technology, besides signing an agreement with Huawei for training of 300 000 Pakistani youngsters in IT (Information Technology) annually

The prime minister highly applauded the genesis of NEOC with the cuttingedge technology and team NDMA for actualizing the first of its kind centre in Pakistan and region which was a testament to Pakistan’s commitment for disaster readiness and mitigation NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik briefed the prime minister about capabilities of the NEOC, enabled by multiple satellite feeds, softwares and artificial intelligence tools, to generate a National Common Operating Picture (NCOP) strengthening digital risk assessment early warning systems and preparedness strategies for Pakistan The briefing also highlighted the NEOC s capability to forecast weather patterns six to ten months in advance not only at national but regional level also The chairman elaborated on the modus operandi of NDMA and highlighted how the NEOC served as a hub for emergency response and coordination among PDMAs, DDMAs, relevant ministries/departments and other pertinent stakeholders including domestic-International humanitarian partners ensuring

KP govt stipulates financial conditions for suppor ting IMF objec tives

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has laid out two conditions for the federal government including the release of outstanding electricity payments and

creased

districts, which are

support

Monetary

(IMF)

for

refusing to meet the said authority, DSJ Abbas alleged that ever since then, he had been encountering various incidents, such as firing outside his ATC and questioning from family members, among others CJ Ahmad had reserved his verdict in the matter on June 13 and announced it on Thursday (today) The written order said: It is unfortunate to note that it is duty of the state to provide protection and pay respect to the courts but perusal of the special reports sent by the learned judge ATC Sargodha and assistant of the said court shows that prima facie the state departments have been causing serious threats/harassment to the courts and its staff and creating hurdles in the court process Furthermore the state departments have denied the constitutional rights of citizens of this country of having the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with the law while restraining them to approach the above-mentioned court The order termed the Punjab police chief ’s report in the matter “highly unsatisfactory” saying that it did not mention whether any ISI official was approached by the police to verify the ATC judge s allegations against the agency In one of many examples cited in the order about police and state departments impeding the work of the judges, LHC chief justice said that 12 transfer applications were filed by the Punjab prosecutor general for the transfer of cases from Rawalpindi ATC1 “In the said transfer applications it was main ground of the prosecution branch that as a reference/complaint has been filed against the judge of the abovementioned court therefore the cases pending in his court may be transferred to any other court of competent jurisdiction

for

Syed Muzammil Aslam emphasized that the

government owes

Rs 158 billion for

ity dues and needs to disburse an additional Rs 144 billion for the development of the merged districts Despite a significant 60% salary increase over two years the allocated Rs 66 billion for these districts remains inadequate, according to Aslam Aslam highlighted that KP is grappling with severe electricity shortages and is willing to aid in meeting

SC rejec ts ECP plea to suspend LHC C J’s decision on elec tion tribunals ’ formation

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday rejected an appeal moved by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the formation of election tribunals by the Lahore High Court

The two-member bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Isa and Justice Naeem Afghan heard the Election Commission s appeal The commission s lawyer, Sikandar Bashir, and PTI lawyer Salman Akram Raja appeared before the court The bench after hearing argument from all parties turned down the ECP s plea and bench forwarded the matter to the SC com-

mittee for formation of a larger bench During proceedings Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa observed that issuing presidential ordinances is an insult to Parliament, saying that if ordinances are to be issued, the House should be suspended In response, the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) lawyer noted that the Constitution does permit the issuance of ordinances During the Supreme Court hearing on the ECP s appeal regarding the formation of eight election tribunals, the Election Commission’s lawyer argued that forming tribunals is within the commission s authority under Article 219(c) of the Constitution

The commission had written to all high courts on February 14 to request lists of judges names for tribunal appointments The Lahore High Court provided two names on February 20, and these judges were notified as election tribunal members On April 26, two more judges were appointed with no disputes arising over the formation of four tribunals

The chief justice questioned why the Chief Election Commissioner and the chief justice of a high court couldn t meet to resolve issues, criticising the tendency to make everything contentious in Pakistan He noted that there had also been a dispute between the president and the ECP over election dates

35 Pak istani pilgrims died during Hajj

bathing [the body], funeral prayers are offered here and burial takes place in Saudi Arabia ” In case the family wants the body back, it said, arrangements are made to send it to Pakistan Media reports suggest that friends and family of missing Hajj pilgrims are searching hospitals and pleading online for news fearing the

Saudi summer