Epaper_01-04-2023 ISB

Kids Among 12 deAd in stAmpede during rAtion distribution in K ArAchi

KArACHi s ta f f r e p o r t

AS many as 12 persons ncluding three children and nine women were killed in a stampede during free ration distribution in SITe industrial area of the port c ty on Friday

According to rescue workers, several people including women and ch ldren also fell unconscious during the stampede at the ration distribution centre of a private charity

The rescue workers informed that several peop e fell nto a nullah at the site during the stampede According to unconf rmed reports an electricity power-l ne had fallen nto the nullah electrocut ng some of the victims

A spokesperson for the Abbasi Shaheed Hospita confirmed that n ne bodies were brought to the hospital from the stampede site, adding that s x injured vict ms were also brought to the hospita

The C vil Hospita received two dead bod es after the ncident medical superintendent Sab r Memon said bringing the death to l to 12

CM seeks rePort oN deadly staM-

Pede: Tak ng not ce of the stampede

S ndh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah directed the Karachi commissioner to subm t a report on the incident

In a statement the ch ef minister said the concerned adm nistration of the area shou d have been nformed

about the distribution of ration or any other charity work beforehand

He expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in the ncident and issued directives to immediate y transfer the injured to the hosp ta I am saddened to hear about the martyrs most of which are women the chief minister was quoted as saying

M e a n w h i l e, le a d e r o f t h e o pposition in the Sindh Assembly Khurr a m S h e r Z a m a n e x p r e s s e d g r e f over the incident say ng that such i n c i d e n t s w e r e t a k i n g p a c e d a i l y across the countr y

Due to the care essness of the government, people are dy ng instead of be ng provided any rel ef ”

the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) eader said demanding a transparent inqu r y and action aga nst those respons b e for the inc dent

According to Faisal edh al the dead bodies brought to Abbas Shaheed Hosp tal are of women inc udng three g rls

In this regard SSP Kemari says that the factor y management did not inform the police and the district admin stration about the provision of free ration saying no prior information was given regard ng the distr bution of ration and zakat Seven people including the factor y manager have been deta ned for investigation ” he added

PM orders removal of hurdles in CNIC verification at free flour points

Isl aMabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Fr day d rected the authorit es at the flour distribution centres to remove the hurdles faced by citizens n the verif cation of their Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs)

The prime m nister stated this dur ng his visit to a flour distribution centre where the federal government is prov ding free-of-cost flour bags to needy persons PM Sharif asked the relevant authorities to cha k out a fac litator y mechanism for the person who could only present the photocopy of his CNIC in case the origina card was gone missing The prime m nister, in this regard, sought a report to be presented to him by even ng suggest ng an alternative way He directed sett ng up a pr ority in the distribution of flour bags among aged persons and women It was also decided to give away two flour bags instead of one so that the people do not need to v sit the distr bution centres frequently Flanked by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb the prime m n ster took a round of the flour d stribut on centre and interacted with the people wait ng to receive the free flour bags He lauded the comm ss oner and deputy commiss oner of Islamabad for the excellent arrangements made at the flour distribution centre He expressed satisfact on with the proper seating arrangement for the people to avoid making them stand in long queues The pr me minister auded the Commissioner and deputy commissioner of Is amabad and expressed confidence that al related operationa issues wou d be addressed on an urgent basis s ta f f r e p o rt

China rolls over $2b loan to Pakistan, dar confir ms

g ForMAl CoNFIrMATIoN oF reFINANCINg woulD be MADe AFTer CoMPleTIoN oF ProCeSS

The SSP Kemari says that other members of the factor y management will also be deta ned legal action will be taken after the investigation of the ncident is completed Friday s deadly stampede n Karachi is just one of several such inc dents in recent weeks with the population struggl ng with r sing costs of basic staples and food tems as the countr y ’s batt es one of ts worst economic crises n decades Thousands of people have gathered at flour distribution centres set up across the countr y as part of the government s efforts to ease the impact of inflation, which is running above 30 per cent a 50-year high pr ofit r e u t e r s

Finance Min ster Ishaq Dar on Friday said

o G r a n o t i f i e s r s 4 9 p e r k g c u t i n l P G p r i c e f o r a p r i l

pr ofit s l a m a b a d Nat onal electr c Power regu ator y Author ty (NePrA) on Thursday expressed serious concerns over National Transmission and Despatch Company s (NTDC) failure to bui d adequate infrastructure to transport electricity from coalbased power plants in Thar to the nationa gr d T h e N T D C c a m e u n d e r f i r e d u r i n g a p u b l i c h e a r i n g c o n d u c t e d b y N e P r A r e g a r d i n g t h e Fe b r u a r y m o n t h l y f u e l c o s t a d j u s t m e n t ( F C A ) o f D I S C o s

The meeting was chaired by engineer Tauseef

H Farooqui, Chairman NePrA other members from the authority present n the hearing inc uded engineer rafiq Ahmed She kh engineer Maqsood Anwar Khan Muthar Niaz rana, and Amna Ahmed

Dur ng the hearing NTDC was placed in the hot seat h gh ighting ts fai ure to bui d infrastructure to add electricity from Thar coal-based power plants into the national gr d wh ch could ead to a reduction in power bi l by up to rs 80 bil ion

Due to this the NTDC had requested an adjustment of rs 6 7 bi lion The authority rightfully expressed serious concerns in the company s abil ty The authority further quest oned why it had not made proper p ann ng and due d ligence to lay transm ssion lines keeping in view the construction timelines of Thar coal-based power plants In the hearing the NTDC offic als said that two transmission lines were in place to evacuate 1400 Mw e ectr city out of a tota of 2400 Mw and two more lines would become operationa in April to add the rema ning 1000 Mw of electricity from Thar coal-based plants The pub ic hear ng was held on account of the Central Power Purchas ng Agency s

Ch na had rolled over a $2 b llion oan that matured last week, providing relief during the countr y s acute balance of payment cr sis locking in a rollover had been cr tical for t h e c o u n t r y o f 2 2 0 m i l l i o n w h e r e r e s e r v e s have dipped to just four weeks worth of mports and talks over an Internat onal Monetar y Fund (IMF) bailout tranche of $1 1 bil ion have hit a sta emate

I am happy to confirm that this had been rol ed over on March 23 Dar told parl ament referring to the maturity date He said all concerned documentation had been completed

Neither the government in beijing nor the Chinese central bank responded to requests

for comment on the ro lover Dar s comments were the first official announcement of the rol over after the loan matured Dar did not give the new maturity date or other terms of the arrangement

A top finance min str y official told reuters on wednesday that a formal confirmation of the refinancing would be made after the process was completed one of the IMF s condit ons for the release of the next tranche is the assurance of externa financ ng to fund balance of payments longt me ally beij ng has provided the on y he p Is amabad has got so far, with a refinancing of $1 8 bil ion credited last month to State bank of Pakistan (SbP) In its monthly economic update and out ook the Finance Division of the government noted that Pakistan was current y confronted with a shortage in external liqu d ty

sC tur ns down aGP ’s request for full cour t in polls delay case

The Supreme Court bench reduced to three judges after Jamal Khan Mandokha l also recused himse f from hear ng the case on Fr day turned down the Attorney general for Pakistan (AgP) request for the formation of a full court to hear PTI s petition against the election Commission of Pakistan s decis on to postpone elections to the Punjab Assembly ti l oct 8

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP)

umar Ata band al Justice Ijazul

Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the case after the original five-member bench constituted for the matter was d sbanded follow ng the recusa s of Justice Aminudd n Khan on Thursday and Justice Jama Khan Mandokha l on Friday

The or gina bench compr sed of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) umar

Ata bandial; Justice I azu Ahsan; Justice Munib Akhtar; Justice Jamal Khan Mandokha l and Justice Aminuddin Khan However, the recusal of Justice Mandokhail took ever yone in the apex court by surprise a day after Justice Am nuddin Khan recused him from hear ng the case

However it was CJP bandial Justice Ahsan and Justice Akhtar who conducted the proceed ngs

During the hearing when the AgP usman Mansoor requested for the format on of a fu l court Justice bandial remarked that the court had conducted proceedings nto the case for three complete days and that the inclusion of new judges to the bench will further waste time

It wi l take time for the new udges to understand the case, he obser ved adding that Article 184(3) of the Supreme Court ru es 1980 was clear on the matter Justice Akhtar also said that it was ever yone s right to request a full court but the government giving the impression that benches were formed on favour tism was a serious accusation “The Supreme Court has said that the CJP is the master of making benches he added ‘MoNday ’s suN wIll brING Good News’: As the proceeding commenced today the chairman of the execut ve committee of the Pak stan bar Council (PbC) appeared before the bench However the CJP said that the court w ll hear his arguments later

per kilogram for the month of Apri 2023

According to the notif cation the new price of lPg has become rs 228 99 per kg for April 2023

The price of standard 11 8 kg domestic lPg cylinder has fallen by rs 576 and commercial cylinder s by rs 2 214 The domestic cylinder can now be purchased at a price of rs 2 702 and commercial cy inder at rs 10 397 n the open market of the countr y Prev ously, the 11 8 kg domestic cy inder was priced at a steep rs 3 278 and the commerc a cyl nder s were sold at a rate rs 12 611 whereas the per k logram price of lPg was set at rs 278

Meanwhile the federa government has decided to maintain the existing prices of petrol and d esel for the next fortn ght; however the prices of l ght diese oil and kerosene oil will be owered by rs10 per litre from April 1

The ex sting prices will be maintained at rs272 per litre for petrol and high speed diesel (HSD) at rs293 per l tre whereas lDo and kerosene o l wi l be available at reduced prices of rs174 68 and rs180 29 per l tre, respective y

I m r a n u n m o v e d b y f o r m at I o n o f

n e w S C b e n C h I n p o l l S d e l ay C a S e

LAHore S ta f f R e p o R t

fO R M E R prime minister and Pakistan Tehreke-e-Insaf (PTI)

Chairman Imran Khan apparently distanced his party from the ruling coalition s demand to constitute a full court bench on the Punjab elections delay

case saying “it makes no difference whether a larger or full bench conducts hearing”

In a tweet from his official handle the former prime minister said that whether a five-member or full court bench heard his petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) it makes no difference to us [because] all we want to know is if elections will be held within the 90 days

WASHIngton ag e n c i e S T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s h a s a d e e p s e c u r i t y p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h P a k i s t a n i n c l u d i n g c o u n t e r t e r r o r i s m e ff o r t s a n d P a k i s t a n s d e c i s i o n n o t t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e s e c o n d S u m m i t f o r D e m o c r a c y, h o s t e d b y P r e s i d e n t J e o B i d e n d o e s n o t c h a n g e U S a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’s w i l l i n g n e s s t o c o n t i n u e t o w o r k w i t h I s l a m a b a d o n a b r o a d r a n g e o f i s s u e s , s a i d a S t a t e D e p a r t m e n t s p o k e s p e r s o n A d d r e s s i n g a n e w s b r i e f i n g h e r e o n T h u r s d a y S t a t e D e p a r t m e n t S p o k e s p e r s o n Ve d a n t P a t e l s a i d t h e U S w a s c e r t a i n l y s o r r y t h a t P a k i s t a n c h o s e n o t t o p a r t i c i p a t e ” i n t h e t h r e e - d a y e v e n t t h a t e n d e d T h u r s d a y a f t e r d i s c u s s i n g t o p i c s l i k e s t r e n g t h e n i n g d e m o c r a c y a n d d e f e n d i n g a g a i n s t a u t h o r i t a r i a n i s m ; a d d r e s s i n g a n d f i g h t i n g c o r r u p t i o n ; a n d p r o m o t i n g r e s p e c t f o r h u m a n r i g h t s T h e s p o k e s p e r s o n w a s r e s p o n d i n g t o a q u e s t i o n f r o m a P a k i s t a n i T V c h a n n e l r e p o r t e r, w h o s o u g h t h i s r e a c t i o n t o P a k i s t a n s m o v e t o o p t o u t o f t h e s u m m i t w h i c h w a s j o i n e d i n - p e r s o n a n d v i r t u a l l y b y s o m e 7 0 l e a d e r s f r o m a r o u n d t h e w o r l d C h i n a a n d Tu r k i y e w e r e e x c l u d e d b u t Ta i w a n w a s i n v i t e d I t ( P a k i s t a n ) i s a s o v e r e i g n s t a t e a n d i t i s o n e t h a t c a n m a k e d e c i s i o n s f o r i t s e l f , P a t e l s a i d a n d a d d e d “ T h i s c e r t a i n l y d o e s n o t c h a n g e o u r w i l l i n g n e s s t o c o n t i n u e t o w o r k w i t h P a k i s t a n T h e U S a n d P a k i s t a n , h e s a i d , w o r k t o g e t h e r o n a b r o a d r a n g e o f i s s u e s , a n d t h e B i d e n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n c o n t i n u e s t o e n g a g e w i t h t h e m o n i s s u e s s u r r o u n d i n g d e m o c r a c y, h u m a n r i g h t s , i n c l u d i n g f r e e d o m o f r e l i g i o n a n d b e l i e f s , p o i n t i n g o u t t h a t t h e r e t h e r e ’s a n i m p o r t a n t s e c u r i t y p a r t n e r s h i p a s w e l l T h e s a m e r e p o r t e r a s k e d h i m a b o u t t h e r i s i n g a t t a c k s b y t h e Te h r e e k - i - Ta l i b a n P a k i s t a n ( T T P ) t e r r o r i s t s i n t h e c o u n t r y a n d P a t e l s a i d h e h a d s e e n t h o s e s a m e r e p o r t s a n d o ff e r e d h i s c o n d o l e n c e s t o t h o s e w h o w e r e i m p a c t e d “ I d o n ’t h a v e a n y s p e c i f i c s t o o ff e r b u t o f c o u r s e t h e r e i s a d e e p s e c u r i t y p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h P a k i s t a n i n c l u d i n g c o u n t e r t e r r o r i s m e ff o r t s , h e a d d e d W h e n a n I n d i a n j o u r n a l i s t d r e w a t t e n t i o n t o I n d i a s E x t e r n a l A ff a i r s M i n i s t e r S J a i s h a n k a r s s t a t e m e n t a b o u t n o t e n g a g i n g w i t h P a k i s t a n o n t h e p l e a t h a t t a l k s a n d t e r r o r i s m d o n o t g o t o g e t h e r, t h e s p o k e s p e r s o n s a i d h e w o u l d l e t N e w D e l h i a d d a n y a d d i t i o n a l c o m m e n t a r y t o h i s c o m m e n t s “ B u t b r o a d l y, ” P a t e l s a i d , “ w h a t I w o u l d s a y i s t h a t t h e U S v a l u e s i t s i m p o r t a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h b o t h o u r I n d i a n p a r t n e r s a n d P a k i s t a n a s w e l l a n d t h e s e r e l a t i o n s h i p s s t a n d o n t h e i r o w n a n d a r e n o t a z e r o - s u m p r o p o s i t i o n ”

honda’s plant shutdown crosses one month mark, extension announced

constitutional provision” The PTI chief said he had consulted his top legal experts before dissolving provincial assemblies in Punjab and KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) All of whom were absolutely clear that the 90-day Constitutional provision on holding of elections was inviolable Now Imported Govt of crooks their handlers & a

compromised ECP are making a complete mockery of Constitution ” he added Imran Khan said the PDM government and its alleged handlers are threatening the very foundation of Pakistan by cherrypicking which articles of Constitution they will abide by So petrified are they of elections & so desperate to whitewash their convicted ldrs

PM invites UAE firm to invest in Pakistan’s renewable energy sec tor

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday invited the United Arab Emirates-based firm Hayat Bio-Tech to invest in Pakistan s renewable energy sector and assured that the government would extend all possible facilitation in this regard

The prime minister, in a meeting with a delegation headed by the Chairman of Hayat BioTech and a member of t h e U A E r u l i n g f a m i l y Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al Maktoum which called on him here welcomed the keen interest of Hayat B i o - Te c h t o i n v e s t i n P a k i s t a n s p h a r m a c e u t i c a l sector especially in vaccine manufacturing Welcoming the delegation the prime minister said that the brotherly relations between Pakistan a n d t h e U A E w e r e d e e p l y r o o t e d i n h i s t o r y H e underlined that Pakistan attached great importance

to further expanding brotherly ties with the UAE in diverse fields including trade and investment Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al Maktoum said they w e r e a w a r e o f t h e h u g e i n v e s t m e n t p o t e n t i a l o f Pakistan and UAE was looking forward to further e x p a n d i n g i t s f o o t p r i n t i n t h e e n e rg y a n d h e a l t h sectors He expressed a keen desire to further expand UAE s investment portfolio in Pakistan He also b r i e f e d t h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r a b o u t t h e i r o n g o i n g 1 2 0 0 M W p o w e r p l a n t p r o j e c t u n d e r t a k e n i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h t h e S i n d h G o v e r n m e n t w h i c h would be a hybrid power plant of solar and wind energy F e d e r a l M i n i s t e r f o r F i n a n c e M u h a m m a d

[leaders] that they are prepared to destroy the Constitution & any semblance of Rule of Law the PTI chief said Imran s statement comes hours after the Supreme Court s five-member bench hearing PTI s plea challenging the ECP s decision to postpone the Punjab Assembly polls was dissolved A member of the bench, Justice Aminuddin Khan, recused himself from hearing the petition on account of yesterday’s order wherein it was held that the hearing of all cases under Article 184(3) of the Constitution be postponed until amendments in Supreme Court Rules 1980 regarding the discretionary power of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to form special benches Now a four-member bench excluding Justice Aminuddin will take up the PTI s petition on Friday at 11 30am

fuel cost adjustment hearing: power, but no power lines?

China rolls over $2b loan to pakistan, dar confirms

ContInueD froM pAge 01

Islamabad has been negotiating with the IMF since late January for the release of $1 1 billion from a $6 5 billion bailout package agreed upon in 2019 To unlock the funding the government has cut back on subsidies removed an artificial cap on the exchange rate added taxes and raised fuel prices Through demand management policies the government is trying to limit the current account deficit which will not transfer further pressure on dwindling reserves read the report

It added that inflation, which is already running above 30%, a nearly 50-year high, is expected to stay elevated The report cited market frictions caused by relative demand and supply gaps of essential items, exchange rate depreciation, and the recent upward adjustment in prices of fuel as reasons behind higher inflation expectations

SC turns down AGP ’s request for full cour t in polls delay c ase

ContInueD froM pAge 01

The bar has nothing to do with supporting anyone

PBC s Hasan Raza Pasha stated If not a full court bench, you can call a full court meeting The CJP responded that he was pondering over it and went on to say that the SC judges shared good relations

“Two judges recused themselves from the hearing today and yesterday,” he said, revealing that polite conversations took place between the judges both before the recusals and afterwards

“We also talked about some reservations Some political issues came up which were fuelled by the media and press conferences but the court showed restraint throughout the matter Justice Bandial noted that different SC judges were being criticised by different people and added that he was looking into the matter

Meet me in my chamber on this matter he told Pasha

The CJP further stated that Pasha had appeared in court for the first time today and told him to prove himself through his actions and not words I have been in contact with the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association we respect you, come to my chamber ” Justice Bandial said that if the matter was only related to “external image” then “our lives would have been peaceful”

“Media persons sometimes say wrong things but the court always shows restraint the CJP remarked adding that he would hold some meetings after the hearing Monday s sun will rise with good news

C J P s u g g e s t s d i a l o g u e b e t w e e n

g o v e r n m e n t P t i: Subsequently the top court judge asked AGP Awan to present his arguments

As he began, the AGP first requested the court to reduce the temperature within it, stressing that everywhere in the country, the [political] temperature needed to be brought down

“What did you do to reduce the friction?” the CJP asked here to which Awan replied that the temperature would only cool down with time

“The court has always given precedence to the Constitution ” Justice Bandial asserted recalling that judges in the past were taken out of their offices and jailed in their houses It is a miracle that they returned to the office but some of the best judges in the 1990s could not come back he added Constitution is very important for us; for this nation; for this society; it holds the federation together; it keeps alive democracy; today when you go to Parliament you find people addressing the Parliament who were till yesterday in captivity, imprisoned, declared traitors; they are now talking over there, and being respected; because they are representatives of the people,” the CJP was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the Supreme Court

“An assembly has a tenure and the head of the house has the right to dissolve it ” he said highlighting that the 90-day stipulated time for announcing elections was coming to a close in April

The Punjab Assembly was dissolved on Jan 14

After back and forth with the ECP President Arif Alvi had selected April 30 for polls in the province

During the hearing today the CJP noted that the

date for the election suggested by the president was already beyond the 90-day time period “The president was not briefed about the situation by the ECP

If they had done it the president would not have given the date for April 30 he said pointing out that the matter in front of the court was of Oct 8

The court is not sitting here to increase problems

Either give us concrete reasons or commence a dialogue One respondent [the PTI] is already giving the guarantee of its chairman The government too will have to move on

The CJP further said that the tenure of the assemblies would be completed in August We can take a break for a few days if the government and opposition want to hold negotiations If the negotiations don’t work out, we fulfil our constitutional role ” But first he continued tell the court about the Rs20 billion expenditure on the elections The CJP also recalled that he had suggested a cutback on government expenditures earlier

The CJP then highlighted the issue of terrorism in the country saying that half of the polling stations were either sensitive or highly sensitive Only saying that there is terrorism in the country is not enough Terrorism has been around since the 90s

The court was told that the armed forces are busy at the border This matter has to be looked at as well, he said ‘s C J u d g e s b e i n g ta r g e t e d b a s e d o n h e a r s ay ’: At one point during the hearing, the AGP said that he had read Justice Mandokhail’s dissenting note in yesterday’s court order elaborating that the judge recused himself from the bench

Other points raised are related to the March 1 verdict he continued referring to the SC s suo moto proceedings on elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

AGP Awan further emphasised that even the PTI petition being heard in court today was based on the March 1 verdict and recalled that during the suo motu proceeding, two members of the nine-member bench had distanced themselves from the bench

To this, CJP Bandial asked: Who told you that two judges had recused themselves? Read the court order of Feb 27; where is it written so in the order?”

At that, the AGP read out loud the court’s Feb 27 order When he finished Justice Bandial highlighted that the court order said the matter was sent to the CJP for an afresh reconstitution of the bench If I wanted to I could have even changed all the judges [in the bench] The country s top judge further stated that the internal conversations of the judges should not be brought out into the public We will soon resolve all these issues

For his part, the AGP said that the government had requested to form a full court from the first day of the hearing

“Present your arguments on this point,” the chief justice said “This matter was also in my mind ” He explained that the courts had a lot to consider while forming benches, one of which was that the formation of benches should not affect day-to-day cases

“In the present day the number of cases that are

heard daily has increased Oftentimes, all the judges are not available Last week a bench was in Karachi and Quetta There is a bench in Lahore too this week ”

Referring to the suo motu proceedings on elections in KP and Punjab the CJP said that while forming a nine-member bench he thought about all the judges I have found Justice Athar Minallah compatible with the Constitution Justice Mansoor Ali Shah Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Munib Akhtar are constitutional experts Justice Ahsan is also a constitutional expert

You can ask why Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi was included in the bench, Justice Bandial pointed out and then went on to say that reason for it was to “give a silent message”

Justice Naqvi’s inclusion to the nine-member bench hearing the election suo moto case was opposed by the government after an audio clip surfaced on social media allegedly featuring his voice

During the hearing today Justice Bandial highlighted that SC judges were being targeted because of ongoing political issues

All judges are being made a target based on hearsay he asserted The Supreme Court was always united, and in some ways, it still is

The top judge also expressed that no one could see how the judiciary was being affected and the way people sitting on important positions are targeting the judiciary”

“I am being told to punish another judge first go and review the evidence ”

He went on to say that the SC had the best judges in the last 20 years and appreciated the judgements authored by Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Ayesha Malik

If you talk based on law I will listen to it as a judge but if you attack my judges you will have to face me a visibly emotional CJP added s e C u r i t y a n d f u n d s f o r e l e C t i o n s :

For his part, ECP lawyer Irfan Qadir said that the electoral body s complete stance had not been heard by the court yet However, the CJP said that AGP Awan will first present his arguments

Subsequently, Qadir complained that he had been waiting in the court for hours and just needed three minutes to talk “If you can get emotional, we can get emotional too ” he added

But the CJP told the AGP to continue with his arguments The government has to give security and money for the elections he highlighted to which Awan said that he would brief the court about the finances

Here Justice Ahsan clarified that the AGP had to assist the court legally while Justice Bandial said that the court would give a chance to all the respondents

The AGP then highlighted that the government was facing a deficit of Rs1,500 billion and the interest rate had increased by 13 percent, which he said was increasing the government’s debt “Will the government go bankrupt by issuing Rs20bn [for elections],” Justice Ahsan asked rhetorically

“Attorney general sahib, talk about security and funds ” the CJP said to which AGP Awan replied that the court should first listen to the political parties

uS says it has ‘deep securit y par tnership’ with pakistan

f

u l l C o

u

r t

S C b e n C h I m p e r at I v e t o av e r t

C o n S t I t u t I o n a l C r I S I S : m a r r I y u m

mI N I S T E R for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday urged the Supreme Court to form a full court bench to hear a case regarding polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for averting any constitutional crisis in the country

The proceedings of the case regarding the polls’ delay started with a nine-member bench, whose strength had now been relegated to three judges only, the minister said while talking to the media outside the

Supreme Court Marriyum said Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who had recused himself from hearing the sou moto case regarding the polls delay, should not be part of the bench hearing the contempt case She said the Pakistan Democratic Movement member parties had already called for the constitution of a full bench for the case as the three-member bench had become controversial There was an impression that the three-member bench had lost its credibility she added Referring to the circular issued by the SC registrar, she said it was the decision of one person

Cour t extends interim bail of ptI leaders in Zille Shah murder case

LAHore S ta f f R e p o R t

A district and sessions court in Lahore on Friday

extended the interim bails of several leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a case regarding the death of a PTI worker Ali Bilal alias Zille Shah

Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Bilal Baig extended the interim bail for Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mahmoodur Rashid and other PTI leaders, who also appeared in the court, till April 13 He also approved the pleas filed by Farrukh Habib, and Fawad Chaudhry seeking one-day exemption from appearance in the case The judge granted the bail to the PTI bigwigs against surety bonds worth Rs100 000 each

During the hearing the PTI leaders contended that they had been booked in a baseless case We are not joining the investigation out of fear of being arrested they said while pleading the court to grant extension in their interim bails However the prosecutor argued that the case was registered against the PTI leaders for concealing the facts related to the death of the PTI worker After hearing the arguments, the judge extended their bails till April 13 The case was registered against the PTI leaders on the complaint of the investigating officer for concealing facts and evidence regarding Ali Bilal’s death Though, the Lahore police had said that Zille Shah died in a road accident On the other side, PTI claimed that Ali Bilal died during police custody when he was captured during a crackdown on party workers and supporters protesting near Imran Khan s Zaman Park residence on March 8 Punjab IG Police Usman Anwar has rejected the allegations

Sanaullah says dissolution of SC bench not less than a national tragedy

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday said that the dissolution of the Supreme Court bench is not less than a national tragedy “The Supreme Court bench started the hearing on Punjab and KP election delay case with nine members but it has now left with four members” the interior minister pointed out adding that behaviour of senior judiciary is disappointing as justice Jamal Mandokhail revealed that he was not consulted before the final decision Rana Sanaullah maintained that the bench headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa has announced a detailed verdict on the sou motu He added that he has never seen the Supreme Court verdict disaffected through a circular He lambasted PTI chief Imran Khan who started in 2014 and landed the country in an economic crisis in 2023 If the reference was not filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa then the situation would have been different now The interior minister further said that the provincial assemblies also raised because the PTI chairman Imran Khan dissolved the assemblies before the completion of the tenure He said that the election delay case should be heard by a full court because justice must be seen to be done Earlier today a three-member new Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial rejected the government s request to form a full court on the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election delay case t h e P e t i t i o n: PTI had challenged the election commission s decision to change the date of an election in Punjab and KP Punjab and KPK assemblies speakers

Sibtain Khan and Mushtaq Ghani have filed a joint constitutional petition on behalf of the Pakistan Tehrik-iInsaf The federation, Punjab and KPK were made parties along with the ministry of parliamentary affairs, ministry of law and the cabinet in the PTI petition In the petition PTI sought directions for the federal government to ensure law and order provisions of funds and security personnel as per the ECP’s need to hold the elections It also requested the court to direct the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to announce the date for elections to the provincial assembly

Court converts Imran’s non-bailable warrant into bailable

A local court

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

nonbailable arrest warrant issued for former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan for 24 hours

C a s t i g a t i n g P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k - e - I n s a f Chairman Imran Khan, the minister said a “ m e n t a l l y s i c k p e r s o n ” w a n t e d t o s e t t h e w h o l e c o u n t r y o n f i r e b y c r e a t i n g c h a o s a n d a n a r c h y I n t h e f i r s t p l a c e h e c o n c o c t e d t h e s t o r y o f a c i p h e r w h i l e w a v i n g a p a p e r i n a p a r t y r a l l y a n d t h e n illegally dissolved the National Assembly t o p r e v e n t h i s o u s t e r f r o m p o w e r i n t h e wake of the no-confidence motion moved by the then-opposition This mentally sick person also forced the speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly to take unconstitutional actions, she said, adding Imran Khan s false narrative of the regime change conspiracy

had been fully exposed before the people M a r r i y u m s a i d I m r a n K h a n g a v e shelter to the terrorists at Zaman Park, who a t t a c k e d t h e p o l i c e w h o w e r e t r y i n g t o implement the court orders The PTI leader in fact wanted rioting and “dead bodies” as his sole objective was to create chaos in the country she added She accused Imran Khan of using money received as charity for his politics and stealing watches from the Toshakhana

The people are witnessing that Imran Khan has been threatening judges and attacking courts, she said The Constitution, however, could not be made subservient to the whims of only PTI, she added

M ar yam Nawaz acc uses Imran of ‘attacking judiciar y ’

LAHore S ta f f R e p o R t

Senior Vice-President of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Maryam Nawaz on Friday accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan of attacking the judiciary after the Supreme Court s ruling that Imran Khan s actions were in a violation of the Constitution

In a scathing response to Imran s tweet Maryam Nawaz shared a video and asked who threw shoes at the photos of judges when Imran was given the title of Abrogator of the constitution, and who parked trucks outside the courts Maryam went on to say that the

P r e s i d e n t o k ay s r e fe r e n c e w i t h d r awa l a g a i n s t J u s t i c e Fa e z I s a

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday approved the withdrawal of the curative review reference and Civil Miscellaneous Application (CMA) against senior Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa

The president gave the approval on the advice of the prime minister in accordance with Article 48 of the Constitution

Dr Alvi also signed his power of attorney in favour of Advocate Supreme Court Anees Ahmed Shehzad Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday directed the law ministry to withdraw the curative review reference filed against Supreme Court s senior judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa

According to the statement released PM Office, the prime minister has directed Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar to withdraw the curative review reference against Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa as it was politically motivated

The premier further said CRR was filed only to defame Justice Qazi Faez Isa and his family members This was not a reference rather

AttoCk S ta f f R e p o R t

P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k - e - I n s a f ( P T I ) s t a l w a r t S y e d

Zulfiqar Abbas Bokhari (Zulfi Bokhari) on Friday said that the PDM alliance had become puppet in the hands of Prime Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif t o m a k e “ w h i m s i c a l l e g i s l a t i o n t o f u l f i l l t h e i r p o l i t i c a l d e s i g n s ” a n d c r e a t e h u r d l e s a g a i n s t t h e s m o o t h f u n c t i o n s o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t o f

Pakistan

Speaking at a news conference here in Attock

Zulfi Bokhari said that PTI would never allow PDM government to implement their pre-planned agenda launched for their own political gains

He said that confusion of Prime Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif during his speech in the parliament house was vivid on his face

He said that the rulers had bulldozed the Constitution of Pakistan to protect their heinous crimes even they forced to pass amendments in haste” to influence the ongoing court proceedings of the Supreme Court of Pakistan

Zulfi Bokhari further said that the rulers had held

victimization by revengeful Imran Khan against an impartial person pursuing the course of constitution and the law ” “This was a conspiracy to usurp the independence of judiciary and create a division within the prime minister remarked

The Supreme Court (SC) on June 19 dismissed the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa after declaring it invalid The detailed verdict released by the apex court nullified the presidential reference against Justice Isa and termed the reference as a violation of the law and the Constitution

disgrace that Imran s facilitators had brought to themselves would follow the latter as he[Imran] would not be able to relieve himself from the ever-lasting insult

In another tweet, Maryam Nawaz, announced the relaunch of the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), a student organization that played a crucial role in Pakistan’s creation Maryam invited interested students to join the MSF by using a link or scanning a QR code mentioned in her Twitter account

She said that the organization aimed to become the most vibrant and progressive student body empowering students to rebuild Pakistan by realizing its full potential

all pIa pilots want to quit due to major tax cuts: dG Ca a

ISLAMABAD S

hostage the entire system but they would put resistance at all levels despite facing their concocted and fabricated cases with highhandedness of the state agencies

He claimed that the people were stood behind the bold leadership of Imran Khan who would purge the country from the prevailing political economic imbroglio with his political wisdom

He said the sitting government of PDM alliance had lost its credibility in the masses due to its antipolitical policies adopted just to settle their scores with the PTI’s staunch workers and common people of the country

They have targeted their senior leaders Mr Azam Swati Dr Shahbaz Gil by twisting the facts besides harassing the social media activists and imposing restrictions on media even they our brave journalist Arshad Sharif lost his breath

He further said that the present Government has dragged the country into a severe financial crunch bringing the price hike up 50% which will be gradually increased up to 60% if the Government agreed with the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The director general of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday told a Senate panel that major tax cuts had made all pilots of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to so worried that they wanted to quit the national carrier Explaining the reason for this to the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation CAA DG Khaqan Murtaza said massive tax cuts were the major reason as around 35% tax was deducted from the salaries of the pilots He added that in addition to that there was a tax imposed on flying hours of pilots too Most of the times you hear about flight cancellations, the reason for this is the shortage of pilots, he continued The meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation was held at the Parliament House, presided over by its chairman, Senator Hidayatullah Senator Mohsin Aziz, a member of the panel inquired that the PIA would ever turn profitable in their lifetimes PIA CEO Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Amir Hayat replied that the national carrier was making operational profit Senator Aziz told him to inform the panel about the overall profit of the airline and not just that of its operational Where does the loss of billions of rupees come from every year? the senator added The PIA CEO then switched to the subject of pilots licences He said there were 141 pilots with questionable licences He added that 69 of them had been cleared The CAA DG told the panel that action was being taken against those who had acquired fake licences as well as those who assisted them He continued that the issue was blown out of proportion when former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan had claimed on the floor of the National Assembly that 40% of the PIA pilots had dubious licences The minister ’s statement came in the wake of a fatal plane crash in Karachi on May 22 2020 During the Senate panel huddle Senator Sherry Rehman agreed that the PIA s troubles including a ban on its flights by Europe UK and US began because of the former minister s statement The problems faced by the PIA was also raised in the National Assembly Grand Democratic Alliance MNA Saira Bano also pointed out that 35% to 40% tax was deducted from the salaries of the national carrier s pilots She added that 20 pilots had already left the PIA while some of them were not being retired Bano maintained that PIA pilots were working beyond their scheduled hours, and that was dangerous She continued that pilots’ peace of mind could prevent accidents The GDA lawmaker maintained that the shortage of pilots would affect the next Hajj operation A treasury member taunted her by saying that she should sell her watch for the sake of the PIA pilots an indirect reference to PTI Chairman Imran Khan s Toshakhana (gift depository) case Bano replied that it was the current rulers who had sold the watches from the Toshakhana and ruined the country

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

N a r e n d r a M o d i - l e d H i n d u t v a g o v e r n m e n t o f I n d i a

c o n t i n u e s u s e o f s t r o n g - a r m t a c t i c s t o m u z z l e t h e p r e s s i n I n d i a n i l l e g a l l y o c c u p i e d J a m m u a n d K a s h m i r ( I I O J & K ) w i t h n o t e d K a s h m i r i j o u r n a l i s t

Irfan Meraj s arrest having become the latest example of this harsh policy

According to Kashmir Media Service, as part of its systematic crackdown on journalists, India’s notorious the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested renowned journalist Irfan Meraj in Srinagar on 20 March 2023 The NIA in a tweet said the arrest took place due to Meraj’s collaboration with the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) an organization headed by jailed Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvaiz Even the detention of Irfan Meraj under terror charges was termed as a travesty by the London-based Amnesty International which also said The arrest is yet another instance of the long-drawn repression of human rights and the crackdown on media freedoms

and civil society in the region of Jammu and Kashmir

The stifling of the rights to freedom of expression & association continues unabated in Kashmir

Political experts and analysts in their interviews and statements said that Irfan Meraj was arrested for writing about issues of human rights violations in IIOJK including fake encounter killings attacks on Kashmiri civilians and the deteriorating situation in the territory after abrogation of Article 370

They maintained that Irfan Meraj was one of the many journalists arrested by Indian authorities from

Kashmir during past one year for speaking the truth, adding a number of journalists from IIOJK, including Asif Sultan, Sajad Gul and Fahad Shah, are already facing illegal detentions for their press work T h e y p o i n t e d o u t t h a t t h o u g h j o u r n a l i s t s i n I I O J K h a d b e e n v i c t i m s o f s t a t e o p p r e s s i o n f o r a long time yet their victimization increased manifold s i n c e I n d i a i l l e g a l l y a n d u n i l a t e r a l l y r e v o k e d t h e occupied territory s special status on August 5 2019

They said journalists face killings murder attempts a r r e s t s r e g u l a r t h r e a t s a n d h a r a s s m e n t c o n s t a n t surveillance and criminal cases under terror laws in the occupied territory

The political experts and analysts noted that journalists continue to work in most trying conditions in IIOJK and that a number of journalists have been killed and scores injured since 1989 in the territory

Stating that fascist Modi regime cannot hide its crimes by curbing the press in IIOJK they said that assault on journalists in IIOJK was a wakeup call for global media organizations and urged them to come forward and rescue independent journalism in the occupied territory

Modi continues strong-arm tac tics to muzzle journalists in IIOJK

PTI won’t allow PDM - govt to fulfill ‘pre -planned agenda’: Z ulfi Bokhari

C o l o n i a l l a w s t r u c k d o w n

tH e striking down, by a single bench of the Lahore High Court of article 124a of the Pakistan Penal Code has deprived the executive of one of its favourite tools in hounding opponents and critics this anti-sedition law had been used by the government to silence criticism, and had been introduced by the British Raj when it found its oppressive apparatus insufficient to contain the rising tide of resistance to it it continued after Partition, and was used by successive governments as a means of control its most recent use was to register FiRs against Pti leaders shahbaz Gill and azam swati who were booked and then for attempting to incite mutiny the striking down of this law saves both of them from being tried for the offence of sedition and prevents FiRs being registered against all those Pti social media activists who might have posted material against the previous or present COas One reason the law was kept on the books was that it provided an easy means of preventing criticism of the military Freedom of speech was not allowed to override it, and the previous arrangement, whereby the judiciary validated any actions the military took, no matter how badly they violated the Constitution kep it on the books for 76 years now, however, it has been struck down

However, this should be regarded as a culmination, but should be seen merely as a beginning there is the practice of registering multiple cases under section 124a, so that the accused (some opponent of the regime) either has to get bail in multiple cases, or else is paraded throughout the country going from one court to answer the charge as sedition is now committeed on the electronic media those FiRs can be registered anywhere that someone could have seen the offending material Considering that a post in timbuktoo in the depths of africa might be seen in the icy wastes of tierra del Fuego at the tip of south america, that law is made to be abused it would be bad enough if only colonial-era laws were thus abused, but even post-independence laws are used not to fight crime, but dissenting opinions the anti-terrorist act is a case in point While terrorism is rising, the ata is being invoked against opponents so as to deny them bail all laws need to be examined and independence should mean freedom from tools of oppression inherited from a Raj frightened of another Mutiny

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late)

Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Editor

M A Niazi Joint Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Pa k i s ta n has been passing through interesting times the country has seen the pinnacle of judicial activism through the suo-motu-notice invoking process which was lately sprung by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Umar atta Bandial Over the years, judicial activism has caused more harm than it has yielded benefits in the name of protecting fundamental rights all holes and tunnels were drilled into the law to manipulate politics– to favour one political party against the other Personal whims and wishes of the CJP got expressed in judicial activism trespassing on the domain of the executive which kept on adjusting itself to judicial expediency in political matters the CJP office did two acts

First the office started interpreting law anew making the interpretation tantamount to re-writing the Constitution second, the office assumed the status of an ultimate arbiter who headed a Jirga to settle political disputes

On March 30, the senate passed the supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, which sought to regulate the power of the CJP who used to take a suo motu notice in an individual capacity the Cabinet had approved the Bill on March 28 and the national assembly had passed it the following day with the suggested amendments the judicial reforms stipulated by the Bill were long overdue now the President is left to sign the Bill to make it an act of Parliament the suo motu notice had become a political instrument in the hands of the CJP to prod the whole system in one chosen direction in the name of serving the cause of protecting fundamental rights the Bill has heralded the fact that the age of enjoying discretionary power, especially in an individual capacity, is over enough is enough Why should citizens keep on paying taxes which are channelized to pay salary perks and privileges of the judges who serve the citizens (litigants) less and play a political role more? the leeway had offered certain judges especially the office of the CJP to play a political role the margin is now obliterated Over the years courts had become a hub of political make-and-break through their discretionary

Green Hydrogen: A Future

Fuel for Pakistan

Pa k i s ta n is a country that has been facing an energy crisis for several years now it has been struggling to meet the growing demand for energy which has resulted in load shedding and power outages the energy crisis has not only affected the country s economy but has also had a significant impact on the lives of ordinary people However, the recent emergence of green hydrogen as a potential solution to the energy crisis and has opened up new opportunities for Pakistan

Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen that is produced using renewable energy sources such as wind solar or hydropower the process of producing green hydrogen involves using an electrolyzer to split water into hydrogen and oxygen with the use of renewable energy sources to power the process the resulting hydrogen is a clean fuel that emits only water vapor when burned, making it a valuable resource in the transition to a low-carbon economy

Pakistan has significant potential for the production of green hydrogen due to its abundant solar and wind resources the country is located in a region with high solar irradiance and has significant wind power potential especially in the coastal areas Pakistan can leverage these resources to produce green hydrogen and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation

Green hydrogen has several potential applications in Pakistan For example it can be used as a fuel for transportation which is a significant contributor to the country s carbon emissions the use of green hydrogen in the transportation sector can help reduce these emissions and improve air quality additionally, green hydrogen can be used as a feedstock for industrial processes such as the production of ammonia, which is used in fertilizers the production of green hydrogen can also help Pakistan address its energy storage chal-

lenges the country has been experiencing a significant increase in the use of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar which pose challenges for the stability of the electricity grid Green hydrogen can be used to store excess energy generated from these sources during periods of low demand, and the stored hydrogen can be used to generate electricity during periods of high demand Pakistan has already taken some steps towards the production of green hydrogen the country's first-ever green hydrogen plant was inaugurated in February 2021 with the capacity to produce 60 kg of hydrogen per day using solar energy this plant is a significant step towards the development of a green hydrogen ecosystem in Pakistan and it is expected to pave the way for further investment in the sector the production of green hydrogen has several benefits for Pakistan First, it can help the country reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels which can save valuable foreign exchange reserves second it can help address the country s energy crisis by providing a clean and reliable source of energy Finally the production of green hydrogen can help Pakistan meet its climate change commitments under the Paris agreement by reducing greenhouse gas emissions the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale requires a coordinated effort between academia government and the private sector in this section we will discuss how academia and government can play a role in promoting the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale academia can play a critical role in advancing the technology and knowledge required for the large-scale production of green hydrogen Research institutions and universities can conduct research on the development of more efficient electrolyzers and catalysts as well as on the integration of renewable energy sources into the hydrogen production process these institutions can also provide training and education to the workforce which is critical for the development of a skilled workforce in the green hydro-

T h e p r o d u c t i o n o f g r e e n h y d r o g e n o f f e r s a n e w o p p o r t u n i t y f o r Pa k i s t a n t o a d d r e s s i t s e n e r g y c r i s i s a n d r e d u c e i t s d e p e n d e n c e o n f o s s i l f u e l s T h e c o u n t r y h a s s i g n i f i c a n t p o t e n t i a l f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f g r e e n h y d r o g e n , a n d w i t h t h e r i g h t p o l i c i e s a n d i nv e s t m e n t , i t c a n b e c o m e a l e a d e r i n t h e p r o d u c t i o n a n d u s e o f t h i s c l e a n e n e r g y r e s o u r c e T h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a g r e e n h y d r o g e n e c o s y s t e m i n Pa k i s t a n c a n c r e a t e n e w j o b s , d r i v e e c o n o m i c g r o w t h , a n d h e l p t h e c o u n t r y t r a n s i t i o n t o a l o w - c a r b o n e c o n o my

powers, the office of the CJP could even topple a sitting government Judges played politics, both inside the judiciary (by constituting one kind of bench) and outside the judiciary (by issuing one kind of decisions favouring a required candidate) some judges crossed the limit to become political judges, dancing to the tune of the army and even a political party the Bill has proposed to form a committee comprising the CJP and two senior most judges in order of seniority to decide by majority what matter is of public importance to be taken up through the suo motu notice or on any writ petition similarly the Bill has discarded the practice of bench fixing through proposing to form a consultation committee which would determine by majority which judges should sit down together to hear cases and what kind of cases would be placed before them for hearing t h e B i l l h a s a l s o p r ov i d e d f o r a n a p p e a l t o b e filed against the final order issued under article 184(3) a n d t h a t t h e a p p e a l w o u l d be fixed for hearing before a l a rg e r b e n c h o f t h e s u p r e m e C o u r t w i t h i n 1 4 days at this stage the aggrieved party would defend i t s p o s i t i o n t h r o u g h i t s legal counsel Unfortunately, the Bill is still short of meeting the challenges offered by the lopsided higher judiciary For instance former CJP Justice saqib nisar issued skewed verdicts against the then sitting government and tried to balance his acts through opening the vista of public welfare works He used to visit services Hospital Lahore and would show his concern in the disposal of garbage of the hospital, but he never visited the LHC to improve its function

the situation of the LHC is so pathetic that lists of cases meant for hearing are cancelled by public announcement (through text messages) that the case hearing list would be resumed soon, but that does not happen the pledge to restore the list afterwards is just a public stunt– to befool the litigants nothing is delivered on the ground is it not the fundamental rights of citizens (litigants) to be heard by the court?

The LHC administration does not think it obligatory to tell the reason for not following its own announcement. The situation is so gravely deteriorated that the litigants cannot file any civil miscellaneous application to get their cases back to the hearing

queue There is a huge backlog of cases to be heard by the CJ LHC, but he is ansideswerable to none .

On the other hand, if a case of political relevance is filed today, day-to-day hearing of the case is star ted tomorrow onward in the same cour t which is otherwise denying access to common nonpolitical litigants

Unbridled powers vested in the office of the CJP instigated one political crisis after another the same powers along with the attitude of hubris travelled down to provincial high courts which preferred to hear political cases first even on a daily basis by pushing the issued cause lists aside even today political cases take precedence over regular routine cases the result is the delay in hearing the latter Both the islamabad High Court (iHC) and the Lahore High Court (LHC) still do this malpractice it is as if the courts were meant for political adjudication

gen sector Government support is also essential for the large-scale production of green hydrogen the government can provide policy support incentives and funding to encourage the development of a green hydrogen industry this can include tax credits, grants, and low-interest loans for companies that invest in green hydrogen production Government agencies can also work to streamline the regulatory framework for the production and use of green hydrogen, which can help to reduce costs and accelerate the development of the industry in addition the government can play a critical role in the development of the necessary infrastructure for the production storage and transportation of green hydrogen this can include the construction of pipelines and storage facilities, as well as the development of regulations and standards for the safe transportation and use of hydrogen to promote the largescale production of green hydrogen academia and government can collaborate to establish research and development centres focused on the technology and applications of green hydrogen these centres can bring together researchers, government agencies, and industry partners to develop and test new technologies, share best practices, and collaborate on projects aimed at accelerating the development of the green hydrogen industry the production of green hydrogen offers a new opportunity for Pakistan to address its energy crisis and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels the country has significant potential for the production of green hydrogen, and with the right policies and investment, it can become a leader in the production and use of this clean energy resource the development of a green hydrogen ecosystem in Pakistan can create new jobs drive economic growth and help the country transition to a low-carbon economy

The writer is an Assistant Director in the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency He caqn be reached at fayyazsalih@gmail com and tweets @fayyazSHussain

a case study is that on november 28 the LHC announced to cancel the list of hearing of cases which were fixed for the next day in the court of the Chief Justice Mr Justice ameer Bhatti the list has not been restored till today after the elapse of four months is this performance of the LHC to show which it consumes millions of rupees of taxpayers money every month? the LHC administration does not think it obligatory to tell the reason for not following its own announcement the situation is so gravely deteriorated that the litigants cannot file any civil miscellaneous application to get their cases back to the hearing queue there is a huge backlog of cases to be heard by the CJ LHC but he is answerable to none On the other hand if a case of political relevance is filed today, day-today hearing of the case is started tomorrow onward in the same court which is otherwise denying access to common non-political litigants expressed through preference the political inclination of the LHC has beleaguered the political atmosphere of Punjab the point is simple: discretionary powers of the CJ have ruined both the legal sphere and the political domain the fundamental right of citizens (litigants) to be heard founders on the pro-political preference of the LHC Can any Bill address this aspect? through a video which was released the confessions and revelations made by Muhammad khan Bhatti the principal secretary to ex-Chief Minister of Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz elahi impugned the credibility of the higher judiciary the video issued two serious allegations: first benches are contrived in a way to dispense a kind of decision: and second, judges are managed from outside the courts the Bill addresses the first allegation but not the second

The writer can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo com

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan today, 4 - S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E - m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan today e x c l u s i v e l y

Accord is critical among Muslims

t H e constant social media clutter and frivolous content on mainstream media together leave little space for us to focus on anything for a sustained period of time this shrinking attention span works to the benefit of world powers the Russia-Ukraine war has hogged the limelight as far as the world community is concerned, but there is no justification for leaving unnoticed the increased and relentless atrocities being committed by israel against the Palestinians While their aggression against Muslims and their hold on al aqsa Mosque and violation of the sanctity of one of the holiest places for Muslims are being ignored the Baitul Maqdas remains occupied as we keep getting along with life it has been occupied with careful planning by the colonists who used and continue to use a web of lies indulge in divide-andrule policies and keep hiding behind the facade of two-state solution to further divide the islamic world the colonists have forged partnerships after the so-called normalisation with the rulers of some of the Muslim states and are now being invited on the pretext of tolerance and interfaith dialogue to these rulers the occupation and violation of the third holiest mosque in islam seem to have little or no significance taking a cursory look at the map of the islamic world, one will see land divided by colonists What right do they have to divide the islamic world into little countries based on ethnic lines and accepted by the masses? it was done solely as a divide-and-rule mechanism so that the resources of these lands can be stolen We see today in Baitul Maqdas these colonisers stealing resources of Muslims to benefit europe and the United states What is worse is that Muslims fight each other for their own countries rather than booting out the invaders Muslim rulers play the nationalism card to their advantage some Muslim rulers holding hands with israel are fighting against Muslims which is to the delight of the entire West the Muslims should learn from Malaysia Under the former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad Malaysia had a strong relationship with the rest of the islamic world the Malaysians are strong supporters of the Palestinian cause they have taken action against anything anybody has ever thrown their way while seeking to legitimise the occupation of Palestine the israelis should be sent packing from the islamic world after all, did khalid Bin al-Walid not kick out the occupiers of the time who pillaged the arabian peninsula just like the present-day occupiers of Palestine? His fighting ability and battlefield tactics were always in the service of islam He would surely be appalled by the manner in which Muslims are embracing the murderers of arab Muslims today

ANGABEEN AHMAD KARACHI

Sibi loadshedding

sibi in Balochistan is known for its blistering summers the prickly summer season affects business to the extent that the city gives a haunted look during summers, as anyone who can afford simply leaves for Quetta, the provincial capital where the summer is at least bearable For those who stay back in sibi the summers are made worse by frequent and prolonged loadshedding those who happen to have government employment of any kind cannot leave the city for a variety of reasons even if they are in sibi on transfer or deputation For them life during summers becomes one big punishment the menace of loadshedding also affects water supply which earlier used to be uninterrupted but now the taps remain dry this naturally is a boon for the water tanker mafia which is minting money these days the shortage of water supply, as one may well imagine, has made survival during the sweltering summers a Herculean task the people have been left to fend for themselves they have to pay money to get water, and they have to invest in solar panels, UPss and generators to make alternative arrangements for power supply is it fair? the authorities concerned should chalk out a feasible plan to eliminate the menace of excessive loadshedding at least in a city where mercury remains ruthless during the summers

The striking down of Sec tion 124A makes it imperative to revisit all misused laws

Fayyaz salih hussain

Putin’s Ukraine Gamble: A war of Provocation?

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and since then both warring parties are still at war, with neither side gaining any discernible victory the roots of the conflict trace back to history Ukraine has never been a sovereign state and for the most part of its existence has remained under the subjugation of first Russia then the UssR

With the conclusion of World War-ii and the subsequent outbreak of Cold War between two great giants of that time almost the entire world was bifurcated into two blocs: on the one hand was the Usa with the Western hemisphere under the purview of natO and on the other hand was he UssR with eurasian region under its sphere of influence through the Warsaw Pact it was an era of tight bipolarity and both states were trying to undermine the influence of each other the tectonic plates of geopolitics shifted when he UssR got dismantled in 1990 owing to its incessantly deteriorating economy the UssR dismembered into 15 independent states; Russia and Ukraine being two of these newly independent states With the dissolution of the UssR the Warsaw Pact also came to an end but natO remained intact in the later half of 1990s geopolitical dynamics began to take a new turn natO under the umbrella of the Usa and its founding members started a new eastward encroachment drive and gradually several ex-soviet or ex-Warsaw Pact states became members of natO this eastward expansion of natO started in 1999 when the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland became members the second wave of expansion took place in 2004 when estonia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, slovakia, slovenia and Romania became part of the Western security alliance Moscow viewed all these attempts by the Usa and natO as a direct threat to the core strategic interests of Russia in the 2008 Bucharest summit of natO the Usa and other members of natO considered the proposal to extend membership to Ukraine and Georgia this was an event that Russia viewed with extreme suspicion as if both states were part of Western security alliance Russia s own survival would be in danger thus Russia in retaliation invaded the separatist regions of Georgia in august 2008 when the Georgian President tried to integrate them Putin kept abkhazia and south Ossetia from being integrated into Georgia as it would

strengthen Georgia and would make it more firm to join natO this event elucidated in a crystal clear way the Russian commitment to prevent its border states from joining the Western security alliance

However, the West in general and the Usa in particular did not categorically refute the possibility of membership of Georgia and Ukraine the chaotic situation in the near-abroad of Russia intensified when proRussian President of Ukraine Viktor yanukovich was overthrown in a Us-backed coup and a pro-Western leader was installed instead Right after this coup Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula and annexed it in a bid to prevent it from becoming the Us naval base in the Russian neighborhood

Furthermore, it fueled the irredentist movements in eastern Ukraine, particularly in Luhansk and donetsk, and made these states quasi-independent the situation remained intense between Russia and Ukraine over the course of time since 2014 in 2021, Vladimir Putin refused to initiate a bilateral dialogue proposed by Ukraine and declared it a “vassal” state of the Usa and europe in that July he put forth an essay titled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” and reasserted the merger of Ukraine with Russia

Later on Russia demanded that the Usa and natO promulgate a framework that would eliminate the possibility for Ukraine to become a member of natO once and for all Furthermore Russia also demanded that natO should withdraw its forces from its east european member states there is no denying the fact that these demands for the Usa and natO were non-viable Russia tried to make it crystal clear before the West that if natO tried to extend membership to Ukraine, Russia would eliminate Ukraine from the very map of the world Russia threatened to pursue military means if natO continued its policy of expansionism Finally on 24 February 2022 Russia started its military operation in Ukraine and declared it the ‘demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine another significant factor that sensitized Putin on Ukraine is that in 2008 the european Union launched its eastern Partnership Project that was aimed to integrate states of eurasian region by providing them economic support europeans contemplated this initiative as a flagship project that would stimulate economic development

and induce prosperity within eastern european states, particularly Ukraine Under the purview of this initiative the european Union started providing financial assistance and trade barriers were gradually eliminated as a result, the bilateral trade volume of eurasian states with the eU began to increase the then Russian Foreign Minister sergey Lavrov viewed this approach of the eU as an unambiguous attempt to create its own sphere of influence at the expense of Russia s vital interests Furthermore for Russia this attempt of the eU to integrate eurasian states was a stalking horse for natO s advancement in response to the eU's expansion plan, the Russian leadership warned the eU to stay away from its strategic backyard but its successive warnings were ignored

Besides the inadvertent policy of Western states in general and the Usa in particular that fomented Putin to attack militarily on Georgia Crimea and Ukraine in recent times there was the democratization drive whereby they aimed to promulgate democracy and western values among eurasian states to keep them out of the Russian orbit in this regard the Usa, along with european states acting as aide-de-camps provided billions of dollars in economic assistance the Usa also established the national endowment Fund for democracy and under the purview of this initiative it invested massively in over 50 projects in Ukraine alone that were aimed to strengthen civil society Moscow viewed these initiatives of West as a social engineering drive that is designed to confine Russia within its own borders

While the West was adhering to the policy dictates of liberal ideals that aimed to promote democracy, enhance economic interdependence, and making eastern European states Western bastions; Moscow was analyzing each successive event from a pure geostrategic lens guided by realist ideas Thus, the arguments put for th by John Mearsheimer, father of offensive realism, corroborate that it is the West’s inadver tent policies guided by so-called liberal ideals that provoked Putin to engage in war with Ukraine

a pretext to invade Ukraine is linked with history Putin propounded that when the UssR disintegrated in the 1990s, then Us secretary of state James Baker assured then soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that once a reunified Germany joined natO, the organization would not advance eastward, “not even one inch ” But with the passage of time the Western security alliance not only expanded but also extended membership to european states that hard been part of the UssR the strategic significance of Ukraine for Russia has increased manifold in contemporary times due to the eastward expansion of natO where almost all except a few states have come under the security alliance of the West thus for Putin, if Ukraine becomes part of natO the strategic loss for Russia would be incalculable as it cannot afford to have a hostile security giant right at its border these strategic fears due to natO’s encroachment within Russia’s strategic backyard provoked Putin to back up its verbal warnings with a robust military operation it started in February 2022

While the West was adhering to the policy dictates of liberal ideals that aimed to promote democracy, enhance economic interdependence, and making eastern european states Western bastions; Moscow was analyzing each successive event from a pure geostrategic lens guided by realist ideas thus the arguments put forth by John Mearsheimer father of offensive realism corroborate that it is the West s inadvertent policies guided by socalled liberal ideals that provoked Putin to engage in war with Ukraine Whatever may be the causes behind war; the ultimate sufferer at the hands of great power politics is humanity, as evident from human history

The writer is a freelance columnist

Finally,another significant factor that Russia used as

Pr

In d i a n elites are giddy about their country s economic prospects, and that optimism is mirrored abroad the international Monetary Fund forecasts that india’s GdP will increase by 6 1% this year and 6 8% next year, making it one of the world’s fastestgrowing economies Other international commentators have offered even more effusive forecasts declaring the arrival of an indian decade or even an indian century in fact india is barreling down a perilous path all the cheerleading is based on a disingenuous numbers game More so than other economies india s yo-yoed in the three calendar years from 2020 to 2022 falling sharply twice with the emergence of COVid-19 and then bouncing back to prepandemic levels its annualized growth rate over these three years was a feeble 3 5% about the same as in the year immediately preceding the COVid crisis all forecasts of higher future growth rates are extrapolating from the latest pandemic rebound yet, even with pandemic-related constraints largely in the rearview mirror, the economy slowed in the second half of 2022, and that weakness has persisted this year describing india as a booming economy is wishful thinking clothed in bad economics

Worse the hype is masking a problem that has grown over the 75 years since independence: anemic job creation

Over the next decade india will need 200 million more jobs on net to employ those who are of working age and seeking work

But this challenge is virtually insurmountable considering that the economy failed to add any net new jobs over the past decade when 7-9 million additional jobseekers were entering the market each year this demographic pressure often boils over, fueling protests and episodic violence in 2019, 12 5 million people applied for 35,000 job openings in the indian railways: a job promised for every 357 people who sought one in January 2022, the railway authorities announced that they were not ready to make the job offers the applicants went on a rampage burning train cars and vandalizing railway stations With urban jobs scarce tens of millions of workers returned during the pandemic to eking out meager livelihoods in agriculture and there many have remained india s already distressed agriculture sector now employs 45% of the country s workforce Farming families suffer from stubbornly high underemployment with many members sharing limited work on plots rendered steadily smaller through generational subdivision the epidemic of farmer suicides persists to those anxiously seeking support from rural employment-guarantee programs, the government unconscionably delays wage payments, triggering recurrent protests For far too many indians, the economy is broken the problem lies in the country’s small and uncompetitive manufacturing sector since the liberalizing reforms of the mid1980s the manufacturing sector ’s share of GdP has fallen

slightly to about 14% compared to 27% in China and 25%

and rising in Vietnam india commands less than a 2% global share of manufactured exports and as its economy slowed in the second half of 2022 the manufacturing sector contracted further yet it is through exports of labor-intensive manufactured products that taiwan, south korea, China, and now Vietnam came to employ vast numbers of their people india, with its 1 4 billion people, exports about the same value of manufactured goods as Vietnam does with 100 million people –and Vietnam is poised to race ahead those who believe that india stands at the cusp of greatness usually focus on two recent developments First apple contractors have made initial investments to assemble highend iPhones in india leading to speculation that a broader move away from China by manufacturers will benefit india despite the country s considerable quality-control and logistical problems While such an outcome is of course possible academic analysis and media reports are discouraging economist Gordon H Hanson anticipates that Chinese manufacturers will move labor-intensive manufacturing from the country s expensive coastal hubs to its less-developed interior, where production costs are lower

Moreover, investors moving out of China have gone mainly to Vietnam and other countries in southeast asia, which (along with China) are members of the Regional Comprehensive economic Partnership india has eschewed membership in this preferential trade bloc because its manufacturers fear that they will be unable to compete once the other member states gain easier access to the indian market as for Us producers pulling away from China most are near-shoring their operations to Mexico and Central america altogether while some investment from this churn could flow to india the fact remains that inward foreign investment fell year on year in 2022 the second source of hope is the indian government s Production-Linked incentive schemes, which were introduced in early 2021 to offer financial rewards for production and jobs in sectors deemed to be of strategic value

Unfortunately, as former Reserve Bank of india Governor Raghuram G Rajan and his co-authors warn, these schemes, like previous sops to manufacturers are likely to end up merely fattening corporate profits india s heroic run with startup unicorns is also fading the sector s recent boom relied on cheap funding and a surge of online purchases by a small number of customers during the pandemic But most startups have dim prospects for achieving profitability in the foreseeable future Purchases by the small customer base have slowed and funds are drying up – even for firms like edtech giant Byju

Looking past the illusion created by india s rebound from its COVid depths, the country s economic prognosis appears bleak as the demand for jobs continues to grow, the economy will struggle evermore to supply decent, honorable employment Rather than indulge in wishful thinking and gimmicky industrial incentives policymakers should aim to power economic development through investments in human capital and by bringing more women into the workforce that is what all economically successful countries since the industrial Revolution have done india s broken state has repeatedly avoided confronting its long-term challenges and now instead of overcoming fundamental development deficits officials are seeking silver bullets stoking hype about an imminent indian century will merely perpetuate the deficits, helping neither india nor the rest of the world ashoka Mody, Visiting Professor of international economic Policy at Princeton University, previously worked for the World Bank and the international Monetary Fund He is the author of india is Broken: a People Betrayed, independence to today (stanford University Press, 2023)

Kim Seong-Kon Ko r e a h e r a l D

TH e s e d ay s artificial intelligence programs such as ChatGPt and GPt-4 are the talk of the town around the world according to the press, approximately 100 million people are now conversing with ChatGPt every day ChatGPt is convenient enough that people use it whenever necessary, heavily depending on it for many functions ChatGPt can give us not only necessary information and knowledge, but also valuable advice and guidance thanks to the manifold conveniences of ChatGPt there are now fewer reasons to feel ignorant or bewildered Having ChatGPt in our smartphone is like having a private tutor with us at all times With ChatGPt ever a constant companion it can take the edge off our modern loneliness it is as if we had a faithful lifelong companion beside us with whom we can consult about anything and everything some people are fascinated by the seemingly unlimited capability of ai and want to maximize it to make our lives better educators are preparing to use ChatGPt in class already Perhaps ai will remarkably improve our conventional education system at the same time however professors are concerned about the possibility of ai ghostwriting students’ papers and reports O t h e r s d i s m i s s C h a t G P t b e c a u s e t h e y t h i n k i t o f t e n p r o v i d e s m i s i n f o r m a t i o n e s p ec i a l l y o n a p e r s o n s b i o g r a p h i c a l d e t a i l s H o we v e r C h a t G P t w o u l d n o t k n o w t h e p e r s o n y o u i n q u i r e d a b o u t i f h e o r s h e d i d n o t h a v e a Wi k i p e d i a p a g e o r s u ff i c i e n t G o o g l e r e s u l t s B e s i d e s , G P t s c a p a b i l i t i e s w i l l d r a s t i c a l l y i mp r o v e a s t im e g o e s o n t h u s , w e c a n n o t d i s mi s s i t s i m p l y b e c a u s e i t i s s o m e t i m e s i n c o r r e c t We a r e n o w w a t c h i n g C h a t G P t ’s r e m a r k a b l e p e rf o r m a n c e w i t h s h o c k a n d a w e at the same time, however, we might inwardly fear that the new technology might go rogue or be misused and create serious problems We worry about the possibility that ai could turn into a formidable adversary of humans once it becomes concerned for its own survival suppose at some point in the future the ai begins to fear that humans will shut it off and it then begins defensive measures due to its incredible intelligence ai would prove a most fearsome adversary should it ever revolt against humans or try to dominate the human race someday Movies like Matrix or

Oblivion

persuasively deal with such a compelling theme according to Forbes Magazine, people fear ai primarily for “what it is potentially capable of,” and because of “general anxiety about machine intelligence the fear of mass unemployment concerns about superintelligence putting the power of ai into the wrong people s hands and general concern and caution when it comes to new technology among other aspects we particularly worry about the fear of mass unemployment as ai will surely replace humans in many occupations We also worry about superintelligences that might outsmart humans in the future in addition, we are concerned about ai falling into the wrong hands indeed, dictators in totalitarian countries are already using ai to put their people under surveillance Other people are using ai for deepfake video alteration therefore, ai could be either a blessing or a curse experts warn that today’s ai is not simply a silo of data but a superintelligence that has a selflearning capability called deep learning Of course ai is less capable than human beings so far but in the near future it may outsmart us all Who knows? it may even perceive humans as a potential threat to them and attack us a n o t h e r t h i n g w e h a v e t o k e e p i n m i n d i s t h a t s o m e d a y a i m a y d e v e l o p e m o t i o n s , t o o t h i s m a y s o u n d f a r- f e t c h e d n o w, b u t w e s h o u l d c o n s i d e r t h e p o s s i b i l i t y a n d b e p r e p a r e d i f a i h a s a “ d e e p l e a r n i n g ” c a p a b i l i t y, i t i s p o s s i b l e i t m a y d e v e l o p f e e l i n g s , t o o F o r e x a m p l e , a i ’s a n s w e r t o t h e q u e s t i o n , “ te l l m e w h a t y o u f e a r m o s t ” g i v e s u s t h e c h i l l s i t s a n s w e r : “ i f e a r t h a t s o m e o n e m i g h t t u r n o ff t h e p o w e r ” i f y o u f e a r s o m e t h i n g i t m e a n s y o u h a v e f e e l i n g s t h e r e f o r e a s t h e f a m o u s m a x i m s a y s B e t t e r s a f e t h a n s o r r y

Recently Openai introduced GPt-4 an even more advanced ai tool according to Openai GPt-4 is a large multimodal model (accepting images and text inputs, emitting text outputs) that, while less capable than humans in many realworld scenarios, exhibits human-level performance on various professional and academic benchmarks ” Undoubtedly, ai will be improved astonishingly, as new series continue to come out, to the level of perfection in the past ai had some defects and limits For example ai could not translate honorific expressions in the korean language properly as a result in the subtitles of a movie or a drama a father would use honorific expressions to his son who in turn would speak impolitely to his father However today s ai has become an almost impeccable translator Furthermore ai can now write poems, stories and scholarly papers How it will change our lives in the future is beyond our imagination Meanwhile, we should make the most of it and at the same time, be prepared for the worst that would be the best we can do now

Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College

India’s boom is a dangerous my th

L i v i n g w i t h C h a t G P T a n d G P T- 4

FollowinG indictment, trUmp becomeS FirSt US preSident to Face criminal charGeS

WASHiNGtoN

ag e n c i e s

aNew York grand jury indicted

Donald Trump over hush money payments made to a porn star during his 2016 campaign making him the first former US president to face criminal charges

The historic indictment of the 76year-old Republican who denies all wrongdoing in connection with the payments made ahead of the election that sent him to the White House is certain to upend the current presidential race in which Trump hopes to regain office

And it will forever mark the legacy of the former leader, who survived two impeachments and kept prosecutors at bay over everything from the US Capitol riot to missing classified files only to land in court over a sex scandal involving Stormy Daniels a 44-year-old adult movie actress Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office confirmed that it had contacted Trump’s lawyers Thursday evening to coordinate his surrender for arraignment in New York with the

felony charges against him to be revealed at that point

Trump slammed the indictment as political persecution and election interference, raging against prosecutors and his Democratic opponents and vowing that it would backfire on his successor President Joe Biden Surrendering for arraignment which Trump’s lawyers have said he would do if indicted

Sikh leader sues lord ranger for calling Khalistan referendum

LoNDoN ag e n c i e s

Pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and its leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun have issued proceedings at the London High Court against Indianorigin Tory Party s Lord Rami Ranger for making false allegations that they are agents of Pakistani intelligence agency the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and are receiving money from the state of Pakistan for running high-profile Khalistan movement

The SFJ and Mr Pannun are suing Lord Ranger for making statements that they are both part of a conspiracy mounted and funded by the enemies of India namely Pakistan; that the SFJ has been declared a terrorist organisation by the Indian Government; that the SFJ leader Mr Pannun has used monies donated to the SFJ for his own benefit including to enable him to buy a £1million house; and that both the SFJ and Mr Pannun are funded by Pakistan and the Pakistani intelligence agency the ISI

Pro-Khalistan Sikh leader Mr Pannun and the SFJ are suing Lord Rami Ranger – a major Conservative party donor and one of the most well-known faces of British Indians- over two defamatory publications In the first publication published on 30 November 2021 in a Pakistani online paper, Lord Rami Ranger questioned the faith and funding sources of the SFJ and Mr Pannun Lord Rami Ranger said in his interview: This Mr Pannun, I don t know who is paying for him He doesn t even look like a Sikh He doesn’t even wear a turban

He doesn’t have an uncut beard These are the prerequisites to be a proper Sikh You can t have uncut hair And you have to wear a Turban He doesn t even follow Sikhism ”

When asked if Pakistan was exercising an influence on the SFJ and Mr Pannun as claimed by sections of the Indian media, Lord Ranger said that their idea is to control the Gurdwaras to make money They want to take over Gurdwaras and protest in the name of Khalistan to make money Lord Ranger said: They are funded by the enemies of India ” He also said that the SFJ leader Mr Pannun will be arrested and lynched if he landed in India

He will be lynched by the Sikhs who are suffering because of his anti-India rhetoric, said the peer

In a second publication on 1 February 2022, Lord Rami Ranger responded to a tweet about Mr Pannun saying that Mr Pannun was a selfish man does not do anything himself Instead, he asks low achievers and gullible to carry out sedition against Mother India Whilst he will receive money from the enemy of India those who follow him will rot in jails

would normally involve him being fingerprinted and photographed potentially even handcuffed I have so many messages coming in that I can t respond also don t want to spill my champagne ” she tweeted while also plugging her #TeamStormy merchandise

On March 18, Trump had declared he expected to be arrested within days

over the payment to Daniels – who received $130 000 weeks before the election that brought Trump to power to stop her from going public about a tryst she claims they had a decade earlier

In predicting his indictment Trump also issued a call for demonstrations and dark warnings that it could lead to potential death & destruction” that “could be catastrophic for our Country

His statement set New York on edge for possible protests but the prospect of a quick indictment appeared to recede as the grand jury panel continued to hear witnesses – until Thursday A media scrum quickly gathered outside the district attorney’s office along with a handful of anti-Trump protesters but the situation was calm overall Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen who has testified before the grand jury told Congress in 2019 that he made the payment to Daniels on Trump’s behalf and was later reimbursed Prosecutors argued the checks were not properly registered, and the jury was asked to consider if there had been a cover-up intended to benefit Trump’s campaign by burying the scandal

Air India’s plans to modernise under new owner Tata

years, while significantly growing international routes

US cour t sanctions Google in privacy case, company’s second legal setback in days

Air India is carving out an ambitious renaissance under the Tata Group conglomerate which regained control last year after the airline was nationalised nearly seven decades ago

2022

June 15 – Campbell Wilson, the New Zealand-born former CEO of Singapore Airlines (SIAL SI) budget offshoot Scoot takes over as Air India CEO

July 4 – Air India signs a deal to adopt Amadeus IT Group s (AMA MC) Altea software, including for revenue management

Sept 12 – Air India agrees to lease 25 Airbus (AIR PA) narrowbody and five Boeing (BA N) widebody aircraft to boost its existing fleet by over 25% in the near term The airline also says it has returned 16 grounded aircraft to service

Sept 15 – Air India unveils a five-year turnaround plan called Vihaan AI to become “a world-class global airline by investing in customer service, technology and products It aims to increase its domestic market share to at least 30% over five

Nov 2 – Air India completes a deal to acquire 100% of AirAsia India and begins to integrate it with Air India Express as part of a broader restructuring of Tata s airline business Nov 29 – Tata says it will merge Air India with Vistara its joint venture with Singapore Airlines The Singaporean carrier will invest $252 million into Air India as part of the deal due to be completed by March 2024 giving it a 25 1% stake

Dec 8 – Air India to invest $400 million to refurbish its entire legacy widebody fleet of 40 planes, with the first due to enter service in mid-2024 This includes a complete overhaul of cabin interiors and in-flight entertainment systems and the introduction of a premium economy cabin 2023

Jan 12 – Air India reorganises flights to Britain with 12 weekly services to London Gatwick Airport from smaller Indian cities to capture a larger share of international traffic

Feb 13 – Air India resumes non-stop service between Mumbai and New York weeks after

the launch of non-stop MumbaiSan Francisco Air India now offers 47 weekly non-stop flights between the U S and India

Feb 14 – Air India announces a record order for 470 jets from Airbus and Boeing including 40 A350s, 20 787s and 10 777-9s, as well as 210 A320neo family jets and 190 737 MAXs The first planes will enter service in late 2023, with the bulk to arrive from mid2025 This comes on top of six Boeing widebody planes it agreed to lease in December Feb 24 – Air India to hire over 4 200 cabin crew trainees and 900 pilots in 2023 for its rapid expansion, adding to more than 1 900 cabin crew and 285 pilots hired between April 2022 and February 2023

F e b 2 8 – A i r I n d i a s a y s i t w i l l h a v e i n v e s t e d m o r e t h a n $200 million in 2022 and 2023 t o u p g r a d e t e c h n o l o g y i n c l u di n g r e s e r v a t i o n s a n d r o s t e r i n g s y s t e m s March 2 – Air India resumes its non-stop service to Copenhagen from Delhi weeks after restarting similar flights to Vienna and Milan, increases weekly non-stop flights between India and Europe to 79

iSLAMABAD

M i a n a b R a R

China has said that it s financial assistance to the developing countries did not carry political strings or self interests and rather China has been helping developing countries ease their debt burdens and has made the biggest contribution to implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) China does not accept the groundless accusations of the US claiming that China s lending to developing countries is causing them to run into debt problems, Mao Ning, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told a media briefing in Beijing

“We do not attach any political conditions or seek any political self-interest China has been helping developing countries ease their debt burdens and has made the biggest contribution to implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative ” she added China has always followed international rules and carried out investment and financing cooperation with other developing countries on the basis of openness and transparency Mao said

Her comment was a response to the remarks of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said on Wednesday that the US is working hard to counter China’s influence in international institutions and in lending to developing countries

“I’m very, very concerned about some of the activities that China engages in globally engaging in countries in ways that leave them trapped in debt and don t promote economic development, said Yellen Since 2022 the US has raised interest rates at an

pr ofit R e u t e R s

A U S court has sanctioned Google LLC for a second time in recent days after a judge in a decision unsealed on Wednesday said the Alphabet Inc (GOOGL O) unit took too long to comply with a ruling last year in a data-privacy class action

The order from U S Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen in San Jose California stems from a class action claiming Google unlawfully tracked its users while they were using the company’s Chrome browsers in private or incognito mode

In a separate decision on Tuesday in California, U S District Judge James Donato concluded Google had failed to preserve employees’ “chat” records as evidence in antitrust litigation Donato said the plaintiffs lawyers will be awarded legal fees in an amount to be determined later Google is challenging the claims

In the data privacy case Google has said its Chrome browser users consented to the company s data collection A Google spokesperson said the company has provided and disclosed countless documents and discovery

The sanction in the data privacy action is not the first time Van Keulen has punished Google in the same case

The latest ruling said Google failed to comply with a deadline stemming from a court order last year that imposed sanctions on the company The new sanctions order and the prior one from May 2022 addressed internal Google evidence concerning consumer use of the company s private browsing mode Google according to the judge’s order will be barred from relying on certain employee witnesses in the case Van Keulen also said Google must pay fees associated with two experts working for the plaintiffs, and must also pay a $79 000 fine

Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment

The consumer plaintiffs are suing for an injunction that could among other things could require Google to delete private browsing information A trial is scheduled for November

unprecedented rate which has worsened the debt problems of relevant countries The US should take concrete actions to help developing countries instead of pointing fingers at others, Mao noted World Bank statistics show that multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors account for more than 80 percent of the sovereign debt of developing countries which is their biggest source of debt pressure

Meanwhile, China has offered help to developing countries struggling with debt problems For instance, China has already provided Sri Lanka with a letter supporting the sustainability of Sri Lanka s debt expressing its willingness to extend the debt due in 2022 and 2023

In 2021 China took action to re-channel $10 billion of its Special Drawing Rights to Africa through the IMF and waived 23 interest-free loans for 17 African countries that had matured by the end of 2021

reflec ts C hinese modernization provides a new development path for world economies

iSLAMABAD ag e n c

About 84 5 percent of global respondents said that China’s modernization offers a brand-new reference to a development path for other countries and a Chinese solution to explore a better social system for mankind according to a public opinion survey conducted in 21 countries by CGTN Think Tank and the Chinese Institute of Public Opinion at Renmin University of China China said it will promote the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in an all-round way with Chinese modernization, which has attracted close attention from the world

In recent years China has made remarkable achievements in economic and social development The vast majority of respondents in the survey speak highly of Chinese achievements with as many as 92 6 percent of them impressed by China s economic developments, 92 7 percent believing that China has made great progress in science and technology and 72 7 percent hold the belief that Chinese culture is becoming more and

more attractive and influential and the world witnesses these achievements have laid a solid foundation for China s modernization

In the survey, some 89 8 percent of global respondents highly praise the concept of Chinese modernization as well as its distinctive features For example as many as 91 3 percent of people support that modernization should pursue social justice and thus appreciate China s efforts to achieve common prosperity Meanwhile, 84 3 percent of them believe helping realize personal value is also an important element of modernization adding that despite China s large population Chinese modernization tries its utmost to give everyone space to realize their own values Besides 74 4 percent agree that modernization should not only solve material problems, but also take people s spiritual needs into consideration

On the modernization model China proposes that there is no one-size-fits-all style in the world According to the poll, 86 7 percent of people advocate that a country’s modern-

ization should be in line with its national conditions and 85 2 percent believe modernization should be rooted in the country s excellent traditional culture In the survey, 84 5 percent of global respondents laud that China’s modernization offers a brand-new reference of a path to development for other countries and a Chinese solution to explore a better social system for mankind And 74 percent of respondents expect China to make more contribution to the world, with the top three being promoting world economic development and trade cooperation increasing world multi-polarization and multi-civilization and improving the world environment and sustainable development” respectively

The survey interviewed a total of 2 150 respondents from 21 countries, including people from developed countries such as the United States Britain France Spain and Australia as well as developing countries like Brazil, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and South Africa

‘iSi funded’

C h i n a’s fi n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n c e to d eve l o p i n g n at i o n s d o n’t c a r r y p o l i t i c a l s t r i n g s, s e l f i n te re s t s : M a o N i n g

Poll

corporate corner

CEO Murree Brewery Group of Companies, Mr Isphanyar Bhandara hosts a sumptuous Iftar Dinner at Rawalpindi Garrison Club pr 07 Business-1 APRIL_Layout 1 3/31/2023 11:44 PM Page 1

NOT-BY- PROFIT

iSlaMaBad N E W S D E S K

aC C O R D I N G to an article in The Express Tribune, the garments industry in Pakistan is requesting an end to audit notices and instead, timely release of sales tax refunds from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)

The Pakistan Readymade Garments

Meezan Bank surpasses $1.5b deposit inflows under Roshan D igital Account

K A R A C H I: Meezan Bank Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank has surpassed USD 1 5 billion in deposit inflows under Roshan Digital Account (RDA) RDA was launched by the State Bank of Pakistan in collaboration with various banks across Pakistan with an aim to offer innovative banking solutions to NonResident Pakistanis who are interested in accessing banking and investment services in Pakistan

Since the inception of RDA in September 2020 Meezan Bank has been playing an active role in supporting the initiative, with the ultimate aim of promoting financial inclusion and propelling the country's overall economic development With over 88,000 accounts from 144 countries, the Bank s record deposit inflows reaffirm its position as the top performer in RDA in the industry sustaining a market share of around twenty-five percent Mr Ijaz Farooq – Group Head Retail Banking

Commercial SME & Agri Finance Meezan Bank while commenting on this achievement, said: “As the largest Islamic bank meeting the Shariah-compliant banking needs of Pakistanis residing abroad p r

IG S indh for shor t courses to build c apacity of Investigation

O

fficers

Ghulam Nabi Memon on Friday said to increase the capacity of Investigation Officers (IOs), 15 days courses should be conducted Addressing a meeting regarding strengthening the Investigation Department of Sindh Police the IGP said the Investigation Officers should be given certificates on completion of courses of serious and other crimes He said that certified IOs should be provided with all necessary resources The DIGP Investigation will look after all the affairs and actions of the Investigation Department Karachi he maintained Ghulam Nabi Memon said that the Additional IGP Investigation would set up a central monitoring room to digitize the performance of IOs and crime data The Sindh Police chief said that the IOs would be rewarded for the successful logical conclusion of the cases and the conviction of the accused involved A p p

iSlaMaBad N p

The Punjab Government on Friday empowered the National Highway Authority (NHA) with magisterial powers to control prices of food items provided at service and rest areas located along the national highways and motorways

The decision to give powers of powers like that of a magistrate to the NHA general managers and senior officers was taken during a meeting between Federal Minister for Communications Asad Mahmood and caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi at the Chief Minister House in Lahore Federal Secretary Communications C a p t a i n ( R ) M u h a m m a d K h u r r a m A g h a C h i e f S e c r e t a r y P u n j a b C h a i r-

man P&D, Additional Chief Secretary Home, Member Finance NHA Muhamm a d Ta y y e b D i r e c t o r t o M i n i s t e r Muzamil Tanveer and other senior offic e r s w e r e a l s o p r e s e n t i n t h e m e e t i n g said a press release T h e m e e t i n g a g r e e d t o u n d e r t a k e strict measures to control axle load limi t s f o r t h e p r o t e c t i o n o f t h e N H A n e tw o r k C h i e f M i n i s t e r M o h s i n N a q v i issued an order to the Provincial Transp o r t D e p a r t m e n t t o e n s u r e t h e i m p l em e n t a t i o n o f r u l e s a n d r e g u l a t i o n s f o r c o n t r o l l i n g a x l e l o a d l i m i t s t o a v o i d overloading strictly It considered a proposal to launch a coordinated operation for the removal of encroachments on both sides of the GT Road It was told in the meeting that the provincial government would start a

n l y

y i n g

p r o d u c t ( G D P ) , a c c o u n t e d f o r m o r e t h a n 5 1 % o f t o t a l t a x r e v e n u e O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e a g r i c u lt u r a l s e c t o r, w h i c h c o n t r i b u t e s o v e r tions to ease the liquidity crunch, lower production costs, and create a consistent energy tariff policy The PRGMEA also expressed concern over the removal of competitive power tariffs and its impact on textile exports To read the full article visit www tribune com pk

N H A o ffi c i a l s g i ve n m a g i s te r i a l p owe r s to c h e c k p r i c e h i ke

comprehensive operation soon for the removal of encroachments Minister Assad Mahmood emphasized the need for speedy issuance of ve-

D ar refutes Reuters repor t on C hina’s $2 billion loan to Pakistan

iSlaMaBad A p p

Minister for Finance and Revenue Affairs

Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Friday strongly refuted a recent Reuters report that China did not disburse $2 billion to Pakistan on March 23 calling the report baseless and speculative R e s p o n d i n g t o S e n a t o r M i a n R a z a R a bb a n i s c o n c e r n s o v e r t h i s r e p o r t t h e m i n i s t e r s a i d t h a t C h i n a h a d a l w a y s o ff e r e d P a k i s t a n u n w a v e r i n g s u p p o r t o n a l l i s s u e s o f c o r e n ational interest

He said, "It's extremely shocking that the finance ministry officials are unaware of this recently published report," he said "The report is baseless and speculative " he stated

NEPRA chief reviews progress on SC ADA Phase -III upgradation projec t

pr

A detailed presentation on SCADA Phase-III Upgradation Project was given to Chairman NEPRA in the presence of Managing Director NTDC on 31st March 2023

The event was organized by NTDC at WAPDA House and was attended by professionals and representatives from NEPRA Hitachi Energy CMEC China CPPA-G and the NPCC

The contractor consortium comprising of CMEC China, Hitachi Energy Switzerland, Hitachi Energy Sweden were given an opportunity to present the technical and current progress status of the project This was followed by a presentation from the Project Director SCADA Phase-III Project from NTDC During the presentation a question-answer session also took place

It is important to note that the effective and timely implementation of SCADA Phase-III is critical to the evolution of the power sector in the light of the expected expansion of the power system required operational flexibility in view of renewable energy target set under ARE Pol-

icy and the operationalization of the CTBCM structure An effective SCADA infrastructure will ensure smooth and immediate transfer of data from all over Pakistan generation plants and NTDC’s substations at NPCC as System Operator, allowing it to make effective decisions regarding dispatch and balancing of supply and demand ensuring reliable and affordable national grid operations

On the other hand CPPA-G as the Market Operator is tasked by NEPRA and relevant IT systems are deployed for the settlement of energy transactions on an hourly resolution With the operations of CTBCM and influx of competitive suppliers demand and generators participating in bilateral contracts it is expected that the magnitude of these transactions will increase exponentially Therefore, an effective power system operations, dispatch, control, data acquisition and communication needs to be put in place for reliable, economic and efficient system operations Taking this into account, this presentation was required by Chairman NEPRA to bring to light all delays affecting the implementation of the project

hicle fitness certificates in a much better way as such steps of the Punjab Government would help stop the travelling of unfit vehicles on the national highways

DG Immigration & Passpor ts reduces passpor t backlog to 0.3m

ISLAMABAD: The Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (DGI&P) on Friday announced that it has successfully reduced a backlog of 0 6 million pending issuance of passports to 0 3 million The backlog was cleared by expanding production capacity and increasing staff duty hours, the DGI&P said in a statement The directorate explained that the extraordinary rush and high volume of passport applications in the past weeks led to an emergency situation, as the number of passport applications exceeded the production capacity The monthly number of passport applications which typically hovers around 0 4 million had increased to about 0 7 million in the last three months Initially there was a backlog of around 0 6 million passports but the DGI&P has taken steps to reduce this backlog by increasing productivity and duty timings With the same efforts and enthusiasm we will soon be able to clear all the backlog in minimum time We apologize for any inconvenience caused to the general public due to these unusual and unexpected circumstances, the DGI&P said A p p

Bilawal, Chairman IPO disc uss ways to protec t intellec tual proper ty

IslAmAbAd: Chairman Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Ambassador Farukh Amil called on Minister of Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, here on Friday They discussed ways to strengthen the intellectual property ecosystem in Pakistan, the necessity of accession to international intellectual property treaties for economic empowerment, and the creation of opportunities for Pakistan’s youth A p p

Nation will no longer accept ‘one -man show ’ , says Atta Tarar

IslAmAbAd: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Ataullah Tarar, while emphasizing the need for a full court bench to hear the PTI s petition against the deferment of elections in KP and Punjab said that the nation would no longer accept the oneman show Speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court building on Friday he added that they aim to restore the dignity of the apex court and the formation of a full court has become necessary; failing to do so will only prolong the matter Atta Tarar raised concerns about the reputation of the institution if the benches continue to be broken and constituted like this He believed that the "Chief Justice should have formed a full court bench" and claimed that the entire nation was saddened by what's happening in the top court At the same time, he noted that lawyers had reservations about today's bench, and the objection was raised after the formation of the bench A p p

Rule of Law and Constitution: Essential foundations for strong and lasting Pakistani republic

Sultan ali Haider

In times of political turmoil the spotlight is on the Constitution Influential figures champion upholding the Constitution while accusing opponents of undermining it The crucial question that arises is why the Constitution is so important especially in the Pakistani context

The principles of the rule of law and the Constitution are indispensable for ensuring the longevity and stability of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan These principles establish a framework for governance that promotes prosperity and justice in society The rule of law asserts that every individual and institution including the government is subject to the law and must act in accordance with it Renowned philosophers political thinkers and lawyers have emphasized the rule of law as a fundamental component of a func-

tioning society Aristotle believed that It is more proper that law should govern than any one of the citizens The rule of law ensures that no individual or entity is above the law and provides a mechanism for resolving conflicts and disputes fairly and justly The Constitution of Pakistan, adopted in 1973, serves as the foundation of the nation's legal system It outlines the structure of government the fundamental rights of citizens and the limits on government authority Pakistan s founding father Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah envisioned a democratic Pakistan that embodied the essential principles of Islam while also protecting the rights of its diverse citizenry In a broadcast talk to the people of the United States of America on February 26, 1948, he said:

"The constitution of Pakistan has yet to be framed by the Pakistan Constituent Assembly I do not know what the ultimate shape of this constitution is going to be, but I am sure that it will be of a democratic type, embodying the essential principles of Islam Today they are as applicable in actual life as they were 1 300 years ago Islam and its idealism have taught us democracy It has taught equality of men justice and fair play to everybody We are the inheritors of these glorious traditions and are

fully alive to our responsibilities and obligations as framers of the future constitution of Pakistan

In any case, Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission We have many nonMuslims Hindus, Christians, and Parsis but they are all Pakistanis They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan " The rule of law and the Constitution are deeply interconnected and essential for the longevity of the Pakistani Republic

The rule of law functions as a safeguard for the Constitution and vice versa

Adherence to the rule of law fosters trust among citizens and in the government promotes social cohesion and harmony ensures that the government cannot wield arbitrary power or violate citizens rights, and creates a system of checks and balances that protects citizens from the abuse of power Moreover, the rule of law promotes economic development and social progress by providing a stable environment for businesses and individuals to thrive Former U S Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor highlighted the importance of these principles stating The success of the American experiment in self-government is due in no small part to the ongoing stability of

the rule of law and our fidelity to the Constitution This observation holds true for Pakistan and other nations that aspire to create just and democratic societies

However, merely having a Constitution and laws in place is insufficient These principles must be actively upheld and respected by all citizens, institutions, and branches of government

As Pakistan faces new challenges it is crucial to remember the importance of adhering to the rule of law and maintaining fidelity to the Constitution Educating citizens about the Constitution and the rule of law is essential for fostering an informed and engaged population

An independent and impartial judiciary is vital in upholding these principles serving as a check on government power and protecting individual rights The media plays a key role in promoting the rule of law and the Constitution by reporting on relevant issues, ensuring government accountability, and supporting an open and transparent society Political leaders must lead by example, demonstrating their commitment to these principles and cultivating a culture of respect for the rule of law and the Constitution In conclusion the rule of law and the Constitution are essential foundations for a strong and lasting Pakistani Republic Taking the Constitution seriously is crucial because

it provides the framework necessary for a just and democratic society and ensures the protection of citizens rights The Constitution establishes a system that promotes equality, justice, and fairness for all, regardless of their background or beliefs Gaming or changing parts of the Constitution for political gains undermines its core purpose and threatens the stability and integrity of the nation Such actions can lead to increased corruption erosion of citizens trust in the government and potential abuse of power When the Constitution is manipulated for personal or political benefits it weakens the very fabric of the nation and can result in long-lasting damage to the democratic institutions and principles that the Pakistani people value The words of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor serve as powerful reminder that the success of any nation depends on its commitment to the rule of law and its fidelity to its Constitution It is the responsibility of each citizen, institution, and political leader to respect and protect these essential foundations for the betterment of Pakistan and its future generations

The author is a corporate & business strategy consultant with an MBA from LUMS He tweets @SultanAliHaider

NOtIceS ISSued fOr MAy 9: LHc

LAHoRE S ta f f R e p o R t

tH E Lahore High Court has ref

n e d t h e P u n j

districts of the province to Pakistan Army for “Corporate Agriculture Farming”

A notification issued by the GHQ Land Directorate on March 10 read that 45 267 acres of farm land had been handed over to the Pakistan Army in different districts of Punjab

LHC judge Abid Hussain Chattha on Thursday issued a two-page verdict stopping the province s caretaker government from extending any lease of

refrAINS

PuNjAB frOM HANdINg Over 45,000 AcreS tO ArMy

state land for this purpose

The judgment was issued over a plea filed by Ahmad Rafay Alam on behalf of the Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan on March 28 The LHC issued notices to the respondents for May 9, seeking their response on the matter

It is to be noted that the GHQ Land Directorate wrote to the Punjab chief secretary, Board of Revenue and agriculture forest livestock and irrigation departments secretaries for handing over of 42,724 acres in Kaloor Kot and Mankera tehsils in Bhakkar 1 818 acres in Quaidabad and Khushab tehsils of Khushab district, and 725 acres in Chichawatni tehsil of Sahiwal

The letter referred to a notification of the Punjab government dated Febru-

COMPANY WILL HAVE SPENT 38 CALENDAR DAYS WITHOUT MAKING ANY CARS WHEN IT RESUMES PRODUCTION

D

Honda has announced to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that it will extend its nonproduction days (NPD) from April 1 to April 15 This follows its previous spell of NPDs from March 9 to March 30 The company cited restrictions imposed by the Government of Pakistan on accessing letters of credit to import raw materials and authorise foreign payments as the reason for the decision

As a result of the extended NPDs, Honda s plant will remain closed for a total of 38 calendar days This is the longest period the company has shut down since the outbreak of Covid-19 when it observed NPDs from March 24, 2020, to May 19, 2020 Moreover, this is the longest NPD period for any automotive manufacturer since the onset of the financial crisis last year

Honda’s woes

Maqsood Rehmani, Vice President & Company Secretary at Honda Cars explains to Profit that the government has mandated that they obtain 365-day usance letters of credit (LC) from their suppliers for completely knocked-down kits (CKD) and other parts

A usance LC is a type of trade finance instrument that guarantees the confirming bank (exporter s bank) that the issuing bank (importer ’s bank) will make the payment by a specified future date “We have been instructed to purchase the raw materials and make the payment after 365 days, says Rehmani “However, it is highly unlikely that any supplier would agree to provide us with materials for a payment they will receive after a year

Furthermore, it is difficult to forecast the exchange rate a year in advance It is not feasible to operate a business under such circumstances he adds

Why is the government behaving the way it is?

On December 22, 2022, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced a new governance system for the import of products under Chapters 84 85 and certain items of Chapter 87 EPD Circular Letter No 20 of 2022 empowered authorised dealers (banks) to validate all transactions for these imports providing some relief to the struggling automotive industry Shafiq Shaikh, Head of Public Relations and Official Spokesperson at Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited applauded the move stating This intervention has not only salvaged the industry but also the livelihood of thousands of employees,” when the Circular was released However authorised dealers were instructed to prioritise essential imports over those aligned with conspicuous consumption, leading to concerns about the depth of relief the automotive industry would receive in the immediate future Munir Bana Chairman of the Pakistan Association of Auto Parts & Accessories Manufacturers, argued that The auto industry does not constitute an essential item and therefore SBP will continue to regulate and apportion our imports, in an interview with Profit Honda’s subsequent announcement confirmed

Bana’s assertion

Like dominoes

Honda s recent decision to observe Non-Production Days (NPDs) follows a string of similar decisions by other companies in Pakistan’s automotive industry Toyota announced its second round of NPDs for 2023 from March 24 to March 27, after already observing them from February 1 to February 14 and moving to a single production shift Ghandhara Tyre & Rubber Company and Hinopak Motors will also observe NPDs from March 24 to April 3 and March 24 to April 4 respectively

Earlier Suzuki decided to halt motorcycle production for the rest of March due to similar reasons

ary 20 2023 and a joint venture agreement signed on March 8 F o l l o w i n g t h i s d e v e l o p m e n t t h e Punjab s caretaker set-up immediately s i g n e d a p a c t w i t h t h e a r m y t o h a n d o v e r t h e l a n d i t h a d m e n t i o n e d i n i t s letter to it

During of the case the court observed that the points raised by the petitioner needed consideration The judge also sent notices to the attorney general for Pakistan and Punjab advocate general

The verdict read that the petitioners had argued that under Section 230 of the Election Act 2017 the mandate and scope of the caretaker government was limited to perform day-to-day functions and it was specifically barred to make policy decisions of a permanent nature

The impugned notification which as per clause 9 thereof allows grant of state land for a period of thirty years is a decision of a permanent nature which could not have been taken by the caretaker government, it added The verdict further stated that in addition the counsel had also referred to a letter dated March 10, 2023, written by the director general of strategic projects, Pakistan Army to the functionaries of the Punjab government seeking handing over of State land for corporate agriculture farming’ [The petitioner] contends that constitutional mandate restricts [the] army to perform functions of external and internal security and does not extend to Corporate Agriculture Farming it added

Fisc al deficit to gdp reduces, but external financing still falling shor t

According to the monthly economic update and outlook report of March 2023 issued by the finance ministry the economy is confronted with external liquidity shortage despite containing fiscal and current account deficit

Through demand management policies the government is trying to limit the current account deficit to curtail pressure on dwindling reserves The government is also inclined to successfully complete the IMF s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme which includes necessary policy measures to bring additional relief to the balance of payments

Presently the government is pursuing fiscal consolidation in order to reduce the overall fiscal deficit through a combination of expenditure management and revenue increase These measures are paying off in the form of improved fiscal accounts The fiscal deficit has been reduced to 2 3% of GDP during July-January FY23, down from 2 8% of GDP in the same period of previous year The primary balance is in surplus due to significant decline in non-markup expenditures On the revenue side FBR tax collection is growing at 18% despite unprecedented challenges due to slowdown in economic activity and import compression However, the current performance indicates the resolve of the government to optimize the revenue collection and to achieve

LAHoRE

S ta f f R e p o R t

PTI leader Azhar Mashwani returned home on Friday, he announced on Twitter, more than a week after he was picked up Alhumdullilah I have just returned home safe and sound, Mashwani tweeted “Your prayers efforts and support in these eight days have left us forever indebted Mashwani added that he prayed that other captive workers also return home soon and they get to break their fasts with their families

PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry confirmed that Mashwani had returned home

Ye s t e r d a y t h e L a h o r e H i g h C o u r t o r d e r e d t h e F e d e r a l I n -

Sohail Ali Khan takes over as new Information Secretar y

has been posted as Additional Secretary (Incharge), Information and Broadcasting Division with immediate effect According to a notification of the Establishment Division on Friday, the officer was presently posted as Additional Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Division Sohail Ali Khan was currently looking after the affairs as MD PTV

Ali Khan has also served as the Director General

Pakistan and the Principle Information Officer

While Shahera Shahid a BS-22 officer of Information Group, presently posted as Secretary Information and Broadcasting Division has been transferred and directed to report to the Establishment Division with immediate effect

Sikh shopkeeper shot dead by unknown assailants in Peshawar

PESHAWAR S ta f f R e p o R t

Diyal Singh, a Sikh shopkeeper, was shot dead here by unknown assailants riding a motorcycle while the slain trader was sitting in his shop in the jurisdiction of Rahman Baba Police Station, Peshawar

the full year target

The policy measures are intended to bring expenditures more in line with the income generated within the country At the fiscal front, the government is pursuing fiscal consolidation in order to reduce the overall fiscal deficit through expenditure management, austerity measures, and revenue mobilisation

The report states that inflation is expected to stay at elevated levels owing to market frictions caused by relative demand and supply gap of essential items, exchange rate depreciation and recent upward adjustment of administered prices of petrol and diesel Due to the lagged effect of floods, the production losses especially of major agriculture crops has not yet been fully recovered Consequently the shortage of essential items has emerged and persisted

Other important indicators

Inflation may further jack up as a result of the second round effect The economic distress resulting from the delay of the stabilization program has exacerbated the economic uncertainty due to which inflationary expectations have remained strong I n f l a t i o n i n M a r c h m a y r emain in the upper bound as obs e r v e d i n t h e m o n t h o f February Recent monetary poli c y r e s t r i c t i o n s a n d e ff o r t s t ow a r d s f i s c a l c o n s o l i d a t i o n a l o n g w i t h t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p o l i c y a n d r e l i e f m e a s u r e s a r e e x p e c t e d t o e a s e o u t t h e i n f l at i o n a r y p r e s s u r e b y t h e e n d o f the current fiscal year Wheat production largely depends on the prevailing climatic conditions As witnessed last year delay in rains and early heat waves are expected to

According to police sources Diyal Singh was attacked by unknown assailants riding a motorcycle when he was sitting in a shop

The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Haroon Khan on Friday visited the residence of Diyal Singh a Sikh shopkeeper who was shot dead in the jurisdiction of Rahman Baba Police Station, and met with his grieving relatives

The police registered a case and launched an investigation into the killing but no arrests have been made so far

During his meeting with the family of the deceased SSP Harron Khan expressed his condolences and assured them that the police were doing everything in their power to apprehend the culprits

He said that a special team had been formed to investigate the case and that they were following multiple leads We are deeply saddened by the loss of Diyal Singh and we share the grief of his family and the Sikh community,” SSP Khan said “We are determined to catch the killers and bring them to justice as soon as possible

He also urged the public to come forward with any information that could help the police in their investigation and promised to provide security to the Sikh community in the area

Soldier mar t yred in Mir Ali, terrorist killed in Sibi IBO

RAWALPINDI

v e s t i g a t i o n A g e n c y ( F I A ) t o r ec o v e r a n d p r o d u c e M a s h w a n i i n c o u r t o n A p r i l 3 J u s t i c e A a l i a N e e l u m h a d p a s s e d t h e o r d e r o n a h a b e a s c o r p u s p e t i t i o n f i l e d b y M a z h a r u l H a s s a n , M a s hw a n i s b r o t h e r

That same day PTI’s Insaf

Youth Wing had called for a countrywide protest for the immediate release of Mashwani and his immediate production in the court

He was picked up last week apparently on charges of criticising the Punjab police and the caretaker government for allegedly using high-handed tactics against party workers T h e a r r e s t o f M a s h w a n i a f o r m e r f o c a l p e r s o n f o r d i g i t a l media in Punjab, prompted PTI c h i e f I m r a n K h a n t o s a y, “ e n o u g h i s e n o u g h ” a s h e a c -

cused the authorities of abducting the party activist

On March 26, after a sessions court had issued notices to the Lahore police chief on a petition seeking the registration of a case over the alleged abduction of Mashwani city police had registered a case over the weekend against unidentified persons for kidnapping the PTI activist

The FIR had stated that Mashwani went missing outside his house last week on March 23 when he was going to Zaman Park in a cab However his mobile phone was switched off after some time and his family and friends were not able to contact him

His brother had claimed that some unidentified people kidnapped his brother and took him to an undisclosed location

S ta f f R e p o R t

A Pakistan Army soldier embraced martyred during a fire exchange in general area Mir Ali of North Waziristan, while a terrorist was killed and two others injured in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted in Noshman area of Sibi district said InterServices Public Relations (ISPR) on Friday

According to ISPR, the military s media wing on Friday, own troops fought bravely and effectively engaged the terrorists location However during intense exchange of fire, Sepoy Irshadullah (age 29 years, resident of District Karak), having fought gallantly, embraced martyrdom “Sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area the ISPR said

On the other hand, the security forces on Friday killed a terrorist and injured two others in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted in Noshman area of Sibi district said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)

According to the ISPR, the security forces had initiated an IBO from March 30 onwards to intercept a group of terrorists operating in Noshman South of Sibi

pML-n threatening C hief Justice the way it attacked top cour t in 1997: imran K han

LAHoRE

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan Friday linked the stand-off between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial saying the same PML-N is now threatening the Chief Justice of Pakistan the same way it had attacked the top court back in 1997

As PMLN did in 1997 by storming SC to attack CJ Sajjad Ali Shah hearing a contempt petition against Nawaz Sharif, today PMLN is again threatening SC & CJP because they are petrified of elections he said in a tweet on Friday

His statement comes as the Supreme Court earlier today rejected a request by Attorney General Pakistan Mansoor Awan for the formation of a full court bench as it con-

tinued hearing the PTI petition against delay in elections to the Punjab Assembly Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that neither the law nor rules talked about the composition of a full court and they would not ‘go back’ to the start as the matter was being heard since Monday

The hearing continued after two judges

– Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail – recused themselves from the five-member bench

Addressing the the common citizen in his tweets, PTI chairman Imran Khan urged the people to come out in protest for the sake of democracy and the rule of law in the country

I want ppl [people] of Pak to be ready to come out in streets if need be to save Rule of Law the Constitution & democracy We will be talking to all those pol[itical] parties who are prepared to stand up against this conspiracy ” the PTI chief said

He also appealed to the lawyers community to again “take the lead as they did in 2007 lawyers’ movement to protect Pakistan s Constitution and rule of Law Imran Khan links threats to his life to ‘unprecedented popularity’

for my assassination and I predicted that about six weeks before the attempt took place They are still sitting in government they are sabotaging the inquiry report because it was implicating them and I think that they are more threatened than ever,” he said

said that he coopted the guys who are in power right now” in the hopes that the PTI’s support would fizzle out

Separately

Imran Khan also linked the threat to his life and the recent crackdown on his party to his unprecedented popularity, claiming that those in power are hell-bent on avoiding electoral defeat

In an interview with Times Radio, Imran said that he faces a threat to his life which has been confirmed by public statements made by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah himself But while the government suspects the threat to be from “some foreign elements”, the PTI chief said he “knows that it is from the government itself There were three main people in the government that I believe were responsible

“There was an intelligence agency general who was involved in this I nominated him, the interior minister who recently gave a statement that it is either us or them or some stupid statement like that and then of course the prime minister All of them have been involved in extra-judicial killings and there is a record about that ” he added

Since my party has won 30 out of 37 by-elections in the last few months, they know that we are favourites to win the elections ” Imran said his life was even “more under threat Blaming former chief of army staff Qamar Javed Bajwa for his ouster Imran

However Imran claimed that his party has consistently won more support pushing his rivals to take extreme measures to keep him from returning to the office through elections

There are 140 cases against me right now which include blasphemy, sedition and 40 cases of terrorism ” he stressed dismissing them all saying nobody believes that I have broken the law because I have never broken the law in my life ” “In fact, my movement is called the movement of justice for rule of law he added Whenever I go to trial courts, I get bail because there is nothing in the cases,” he claimed

He also rubbished allegations that his party had been engaged in violent activities saying that a party that wants election does not want violence”