Epaper_05-04-2023 LHR

Profit

punjab polls on may 14 as sC rules

eCp deCision ‘unConstitutional’

g Says nominations be filed till Apr 10, final list be published on Apr 19, with electoral symbols be issued by Apr 20

g Ve r d i c t s a y s n e i t h e r C o n s t i t u t i o n n o r l a w e m p o w e r s E C P t o e x t e n d p o l l s d a t e b e y o n d 9 0 d a y s

cision had wasted 13 days of the electoral process

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

iN what has been billed as a verdict that buried the so-ca led doctr ne of necessity the Supreme Court dec ared the decision of the E ect on Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delay the vote in Punjab unti October 8 as never to have existed and against the Constitution by rev ving the elect on schedule

Restoring the elect on schedule ssued by the tr bunal on March 8 with some modif cations the unanimous verdict by a three- udge bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and consisting of justices Ijaz ulAhsan and Munib Akhtar then set May 14 as the new date for the election in Pakistan s most populous province

However, the court w ll cont nue hearing the case of e ections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

ECP meets to ‘step up’ preparations for Punjab polls

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t Fo l o w i n g t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t v e r d i c t n t h e P u n j a b p o l l s d e l a y c a s e, t h e E l e ct i o n C o m m i s s o n o f Pa k s t a n ( E C P ) Tu e sd a y d i r e c t e d i t s o f f i c i a l c o n c e r n e d t o s p e e d u p t h e p r e p a r a t i o n s f o r t h e c o nd u c t o f g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n s n P u n a b o n M a y 1 4 A c c o r d i n g t o t h e r e p o r t o f a p r v a t e t e l e v i s i o n a n i m p o r t a n t m e e ti n g o f t h e E C P w a s h e l d n I s l a m a b a d t o r e v i e w t h e d e c s i o n o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t o n Tu e s d a y I n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t v e r d c t i m p o r t a n t d e c is i o n s w e r e t a k e n d u r n g t h e m e e t i n g , s o u r c e s s a i d I n t h e m e e t i n g i t w a s d ec i d e d t h a t t h e C o m m i s s i o n w i l l c o n t a c t t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t s o o n t o i m p l em e n t t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t v e r d i c t T h e s o u r c e s s a i d t h e E l e c t i o n C o m m s s i o n ’ s a d v i s o r y m e e t i n g h a s a l s o b e e n c a l l e d f o r We d n e s d a y ( t o d a y ) M e a n w h i l e a n E l e c t i o n C o m m i s s i o n o f Pa k i s t a n ( E C P ) p r e s s r e e a s e s a i d t h a t a ‘ c o n s u l t a t i v e m e e t i n g h a s b e e n c o n v e n e d t o r e v i e w t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t s ( S C ) v e r d c t o n Pu n j a b e l e c t i o n s T h e e l e c t o r a l w a t c hd o g s u m m o n e d t h e m e e t i n g a t 1 1 a m o n We d n e s d a y t o c o n s u l t o v e r t h e S C v e r d i c t o n Pu n j a b e l e c t o n s, d e c l a r i n g t h e w a t c h d o g s o r d e r t o p o s t p o n e p o l l s o f t h e P u n j a b A s s e m b l y t l l O c t 8 u nc o n s t i t u t i o n a l ” T h e m e e t i n g w o u l d b e c h a i r e d b y C h i e f E l e c t i o n C o m m i ss i o n e r ( C E C ) S i k a n d a r R a j a S u l t a n

T h e m p u g n e d [ M a r c h 2 2 ] o r d e r [ o f ] t h e E l e c t i o n C o m m i s s i o n o f Pa ki s t a n [ t o p o s t p o n e e l e c t o n s ] i s d ec l a r e d t o b e u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l w i t h o u t

l a w f u l a u t h o r i t y o r u r s d c t i o n v o i d a b - i n i t i o o f n o e g a l e f f e c t a n d i s h e r e b y q u a s h e d, t h e j u d g e m e n t o n Tu e s d a y r e a d

Ne ther the Const tution nor the aw empowers the Commission to extend the date of e ections beyond the 90 days period as provided in Article 224-2 of the Constitution it added

The ru ng, on a petition moved by Pak stan Tehreek- -Insaf (PTI) to challenge the tribuna s dec sion was reser ved on Monday after the bench heard all the stakeholders including the opposition party election tribunal and members of the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalit on

In its order the court directed the commission to conduct the elect on in Pun ab by May 15 lamenting that its de-

The verd ct nstructed candidates to subm t their nomination papers by Apri 10 and the commiss on to publish the l st of candidates on April 19 with electoral symbo s to be ssued by April 20 T h e u d g e s o b s e r v e d t h a t d u r i n g c o u r t p r o c e e d i n g s t h e c o m m i s s i o n h a d e x p i c i t y s a i d i t c o u l d c o n d u c t t h e g e n e r a l e e c t i o n s w i t h i n t e g r i t y i m p a r t a l i t y a n d f a i r n e s s i f i t w a s g v e n a p p r o p r i a t e s u p p o r t a n d c o o p e r a t o n f r o m t h e e x e c u t i v e a u t h o r i t i e s n Pu nj a b a n d K h y b e r Pa k h t u n k h w a a n d t h e C e n t r e The rul ng sa d the court took note of this statement before ordering the federal and caretaker governments to ass st the agency and release Rs21 b llion for the elections by Apr l 10 It warned that n case of non-provis on of funds an appropriate order would be issued If there is a shortage of funds for the elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa later the ECP can make a request to the court for consideration and appropriate orders the commiss on was told

Govt rejects, PTI hails SC ruling over turning Punjab polls postponement

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The opposit on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party welcomed the Supreme Court verdict overturning the e ection commission s decision to postpone the vote for Punjab Assembly as a mi estone n the nation s political h stor y whi e the federa cabinet declared the court ’s decision as a minority verd ct and non-implementable with its law minister sees the ruling fueling the constitut onal and political crises” in the countr y The decision comes months after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf disso ved the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a (failed) bid to force snap national elections

Since h s ouster last April in a noconfidence vote in Par ament Imran Khan chairman of the party has been demanding early e ections Prime Minster Shehbaz Shar f has d sm ssed the demand and kept to elect ons sched-

uled for later th s year ‘SC buried doctrine of necessity ’:

Speaking to reporters outside the court Shah Mahmood Qureshi deputy cha rman of the party, emphasised that the ruling dist nguishes between democratic and unconstitut onal forces and praised the court for restoring the sanct ty of the Constitution and bur ying the so-called doctrine of necessity

He went on to say that the chief election commissioner S kandar Sultan Ra a, was now free to conduct elections as the court had removed all pressures and provided adequate resources and secur ty personnel for the task He urged Raja to fulfil his constitut ona responsib ity and conduct free, fair and cred ble e ect ons Qureshi said Supreme Court s rul ng was a defeat for followers of [doctr ne of necessity and Justice Munir] He congratu ated Imran Khan and the ent re awyers ’ community

Rupee sinks to historic low of Rs288 against greenback

ISLAMABAD a p p

Prime M nister Muhammad Shehbaz Shar f on Tuesday referred to the jud cial murder of late pr me minster Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and sa d h s murder took p ace on April 4, 1979, and on the same date today, the unfortunate episode was repeated with a dec sion of the Supreme Court in the polls delay case

Taking part in the Nationa Assemb y sess on the prime min ster equating the two dec sions said today, a murder of justice took p ace which was highly regrettable PM equated decision over polls de ay to udicial murder remin scent of ZAB s case He said in the cabnet s meeting they had demanded that a reference over the udicia murder of the late prime minister, wh ch had been pending for the last 12 years should be taken up and dec ded by the full court He sa d the world knew that ZAB s case was a judicial murder One of the former udges who had decided the case, had accepted it n his memor es, he added The prime m nister also auded late ZAB and said he was among the founders of the 1973 Const tution and his histor c contribution would always be remembered He also asked the House to pray for the departed soul of Zulf kar Al Bhutto

against them Nawaz said that the three-member bench had refused the decision of its four fellow judges “ What they cal a verd ct is not a dec sion but a one-man show in the words of the judges themselves and the decision of this case has already come before from four judges he added Nawaz said all of the above was being done in ove for a b ue-eyed [boy] by para ysing the government and destroying ever ything , adding that the current situation the countr y was passing through was ver y sad and highly pa nful

NAWAZ CALLS FOR REFERENCE AGAINST JUDGES:

Meanwh le, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif termed the Supreme Court ’s decision as a “chargesheet ” against the three-member bench that heard it and said a reference should be submitted against its members in the Supreme Jud cial Counc l (SJC)

Addressing a media conference n London

Nawaz said: I think a reference shou d be submitted n the SJC against these three judges for their decision which carries the status of a chargesheet

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t R u p e e h i t a n e w h i s t o r i c l o w o f R s 2 8 8 a g a i n s t t h e U S d o l l a r o n Tu e s d a y i n t h e i n t e r b a n k m a rke t a m i d d e a y s i n t h e r e v i v a l o f t h e I n t e r n at i o n a l M o n e t a r y Fu n d ( I M F ) l o a n p r o g r a m m e a n d h i g h r i s k o f d e f a u l t o n f o r e g n d e b t r e p a ym e n t Lo c a l c u r r e n c y s l i d e 1 % ( o r R s 2 8 6 ) t o R s 2 8 7 9 0 o n Tu e s d a y a g a i n s t t h e d a y e a r l i e r c o s i n g o f R s 2 8 5 0 4 p e r U S d o l l a r La s t m o n t h, t h e r u p e e h a d h i t a r e c o r d l o w c o s i n g a t R s 2 8 5 0 9 p e r U S d o l a r o n Fe b r u a r y 3 2 0 2 3 M a r ke t r e p o r t s s u g g e s t t h a t i m p o r t e r s h a v e r es u m e d t h e p a n i c b u y n g o f U S d o l l a r s, w h i l e t h e s u p p l y o f f o r e i g n c u r r e n c y r e m a i n e d l o w n t h e i n t e r b a n k m a r ke t T h s s i t u a t i o n i s s e e n a f t e r t h e g o v e r n m e n t s a d t h a t F n a n c e M i n i s t e r I s h a q D a r w o u l d v i s i t t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s o n A p r i l 1 0 - 1 6 a n d m a ke e f f o r t s t o r e s u m e t h e I M F l o a n p r og r a m m e w o r t h $ 6 5 b i l l i o n T h e g o v e r n m e n t s a i d t h a t d u r i n g h i s v i s i t, D a r w l b e a t t e n d i n g t h e a n n u a l m e e t i n g s o f t h e I M F a n d Wo r l d B a n k a l o n g w i t h o t h e r h i g h o f f i c i a l s i n Wa s h i n g t o n D C Pa k i s t a n h a s r e m a i n e d i n t a l k s w t h t h e Fu n d s i n c e l a t e J a n u a r y t o r e s u m e t h e p r og r a m m e s t a l l e d s n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 2 T h e d e l a y h a s c a u s e d c h o k i n g n f l o w s o f f o r e i g n fn a n c i n g A c c o r d i n g l y t h e c o u n t r y s f o r e g n e xc h a n g e r e s e r v e s h a v e d e p l e t e d t o a c r t c a l y l o w l e v e l a t $ 4 2 b i l l i o n a t p r e s e n t T h e l o w f o re g n e x c h a n g e r e s e r v e s p o s e a s e r i o u s t h r e a t o f a l ke l y d e f a u l t o n f o r e i g n d e b t r e p a y m e n t i n t h e n e a r f u t u r e T h e g o v e r n m e n t f u r t h e r s a d t h a t S a u d A r a b i a h a s s i g n a l e d a n e w b a i o u t p a c ka g e f o r Pa k i s t a n b u t h o w m u c h a n d w h e n i t w i l l b e r o l l e d o u t r e m a n s u n c e r t a i n

SBP raises policy rate to record high of 21pc to tackle inflation

He alleged that this situation was not of h s or the people s making but the judges for the past 70 years Nawaz a leged that the judges in the threemember bench rewrote the Constitution through their decis on ast year on a presidential reference seeking interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitut on whi e they reproached po iticians for supposed unconstitutional act ons The PML-N supremo questioned why the three-member bench hes tated n mak ng a ful court bench for the Pun ab polls case and was ns stent on hear ng it LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Tuesday that t wi l raise the pol cy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to 21% the highest ever according to a press release issued by the bank s Monetar y Policy Committee (MPC)

The decision comes after the MPC meeting, which took nto account the rise of inflation to 35 4% n March 2023 with the expectation of continued high nflation in the near future However there are early indications of inflation expectations p ateau ng albeit at an e evated leve

The committee believes that this decision s a crucia step towards achieving the objective of price stabilty as it will anchor inflation expectations around the medium-term target

It also noted that Pakistan’s financial

sector remains broad y res ient wh le econom c act vity continues to moderate

The committee noted three important developments that have implications on the macroeconomic outlook

First, the current account deficit has narrowed considerably more than previously anticipated Second sign ficant progress has been made towards the completion of the ninth rev ew under the International Monetar y Fund ’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program Third recent strains in the global banking system have led to further tightening of g obal liqu dity and financia conditions

The MPC cons dered the current monetar y pol cy stance as appropriate stressing that the decis on a ong with previous monetar y t ghtening wou d help achieve the medium-term inflat on target over the next e ght quar-

ters However the committee noted that uncerta nties attached with the globa financ al condit ons as well as the domestic political situation pose risks to this assessment

The ncom ng data on economic activ ty continued to reflect a broadbased slowdown There has been a significant dec ine in sa es volumes of automobi es and petroleum products n recent months

The cumulative defic t now stood at $3 9 bill on n Ju -Feb FY23 about 68% ower from the same period last year mainly ref ecting the contraction in mports Workers remittances had slight y recovered on a month-on-month basis n Feb, and the momentum was expected to continue Despite the lower current account def cit higher loan repayments re ative to disbursements are keeping the foreign exchange reser ves under pres-

No ‘secoNd chaNce’ for ImraN to come to power through back door: bIl awal

pA K I S TA N People s Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday said that Imran Khan was brought to power once by rigging but he would not be allowed to get power through the back door for the second time

He was addressing a gathering held on 44th martyrdom anniversary of the country s first elected Prime Minister and Founding Chairman of PPP Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, at Bhutto House Naudero, here on Tuesday evening

He said that former President Asif Ali Zardari had sent a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court regarding the judicial murder of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but it had not been taken for hearing yet

He said the constitution made by him was repeatedly violated the reforms introduced by him were declared unconstitutional and the rights given to the backward classes including women were also revoked he pointed out Bilawal Bhutto Zardari giving a historical reference said that after the seizure of power by dictator Ziaul Haq

phc suspends schedule for by-polls to three Na seats in kp

PESHAWAR

t Lt p

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday suspended the schedule for by-elections to three National Assembly seats on April 30 and issued notice to the respondents The high court announced its short verdict on Tuesday which was reserved on the by-elections to three National Assembly seats Earlier, the PHC had suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notification regarding holding by-elections to 24 NA seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has moved the PHC seeking suspension of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s by-election schedule to 24 NA seats scheduled for March 16 and 19 respectively The byelections were scheduled to be held in the constituencies of NA-4 Swat NA-17 Haripur NA-18 Swabi NA-25 and NA26 Nowshera NA-32 Kohat NA-38 Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan) and NA-43 Khyber Last year in April the PTI had tendered en bloc resignations from the National Assembly after the success of a no-confidence vote brought the PDM against Imran Khan The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf ’s notification regarding the acceptance of PTI MNAs’ resignations from Islamabad The LHC also suspended the order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that denotified the party’s lawmakers elected from Punjab

and another dictator Pervez Musharraf, the Supreme Court (SC) was asked whether these actions were legitimate, then the superior court had declared them “legitimate” He said that after the restoration of democracy in 1988, the government established by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was allowed to run for just 18 months and the government was dissolved on the basis of a newspaper column but this action was endorsed by the SC He also said that even in 1996 the government of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was overthrown and the judiciary did not restore it

Referring to the murder case of Shaheed Mir Murtaza Bhutto he said: The murder also happened to a member of our family and we were blamed for that

The Chairman PPP said that the SC not endorsed Musharraf s seizure of power, but also allowed him to amend the constitution, adding that former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary was also part of the bench that approved Musharraf ’s coup

He said that President Asif Ali Zardari was unjustly imprisoned until 2005 during Musharraf-regime adding that General (Retd) Musharraf had once apologized for keeping President Asif Ali Zardari in jail but this was taken as NRO and a hue and cry was raised

unnecessarily across the country and Justice Chaudhry declared it null and void “Chaudhry Iftikhar ’s action was extremely ridiculous, who after restoration to the post, avoided even to look at the General (retd) Musharraf, who actually ousted him rather removed the elected Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in order not to violate the constitution he added Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that since the time of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary dictatorship has been going on in the judiciary and a one-man show is going on If we do not accept dictatorship in Parliament then we cannot accept dictatorship in judiciary, he added He said that during the Imran Khan regime, ailing Faryal Talpur was dragged from the hospital on the night of Eid and locked up in Rawalpindi jail, but no one bothered about the law and rights at that time

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that if a Chief Justice wants to build a dam, he can collect funds for it “Former Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed was fond of seeing the Karachi of 1950s and the houses of the poor were demolished in the name of encroachment he claimed He emphasized that in order to stop this

constitutional crisis we demanded that the Supreme Court should form a larger bench in which all the judges are part of it

He said that we want the mistakes made in the past not to be repeated, adding that we want Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to be remembered as the judge who saved Pakistan ”

He warned that if this crisis continues, no one would come to power, rather, the people of Pakistan would have to bear the consequences of such situations

“We will try to bury the politics of hatred and division and this is our message for the whole of Pakistan that neither yours nor mine Pakistan belongs to all of us he concluded

Aseefa Bhutto Zardari President PPP Sindh Chapter Senator Nisar Ahmed Khuhro Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah MNA Khursheed Ahmed Junejo Senator Sassui Palejo, MNA Naseebaan Channa, Provincial Ministers, elected representatives as well as the leaders and workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also present on the occasion

Aitzaz hails Justice Bandial for defending democratic principles

ISLAMABAD M o n i to R i n g R e p o R t

Senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and lawyer

Aitzaz Ahsan has voiced his support for holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within the mandated 90-day period, while praising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial for his strong stance against the so-called doctrine of necessity used to justify military coups

Speaking at a lawyers’ convention in Islamabad via video link late on Monday Ahsan cited the Constitution of Pakistan which stipulates that elections must be held within 90 days after the dissolution of an assembly

The convention was held in solidarity with Justice Bandial who presided over a three-judge bench hearing the election delay case in the Supreme Court

The government had attempted to limit the chief justice s powers to form benches and take suo motu notice under Article 184-3, prompting the lawyers to gather in support

After a week-long hearing, Justice Bandial reserved the verdict on Monday, which is scheduled to

be announced on Tuesday

The initial three hearings of the case were conducted by a panel of five judges with Justice Amin ud-Din Khan recusing himself from the proceedings on the fourth hearing and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail on the fifth hearing

Subsequently, a bench comprising the chief justice, Justice Ijaz ul-Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the case on March 31 and April 3

Ahsan praised Justice Bandial for his strong stance against the doctrine of necessity stating that “his fellow judges support him in this cause for the sake of the

PM direc ts for track, trace system in cigarette manufac turing units within two weeks

all the big sectors of the country besides formulation of a comprehensive strategy for supplementing of revenue generation

He chaired a meeting to review installation of track and trace system in cigarette manufacturing industry points of sales and broadening of overall tax volume PM Office Media Wing said in a press release

During the meeting, the prime minister also directed the law enforcement agencies to provide all possible cooperation to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to control smuggling and illegal sale of cigarettes

He also directed for fixing of responsibility against the relevant authorities for their failure to install auto track and trace system on sugar mills and sought an inquiry report in this regard

The meeting was attended by Minister for Finance

Ishaq Dar, Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah, Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Murtaza Mehmood, Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarrar PM’s advisor Ahad Khan Cheema PM’s Special Assistants Jahanzaib Khan Tariq Pasha and other senior officials

The meeting was apprised in detail of the track and trace system The system was installed in majority of the cigarette manufacturing units while the installation work was in progress on the remaining ones The negotiations for installation of the system in the cigarette manufacturing units in Azad Jammu Kashmir were in the final stages

The meeting was further informed about the steps taken by FBR to control smuggling and illegal sale of cigarette The prime minister opined that tenure posting of officers with good repute should be made on border crossings The prime minister was apprised that FBR had brought 0 7 million new tax payers under the tax net and taking further steps to meet its targets in the current year The prime minister stressed that tax evaders and their agents should be brought to book because those elements who embezzled wealth of the country and nation did not deserve any leniency

He also desired that the legal and judicial proceedings over the tax collection matters should be expedited To a pace of progress on the installation of track and trace system in sugar mills the prime minister expressed his displeasure and directed that services of the internationally reputed entities should be hired for the installation of latest technology-based track and trace system in all big sectors of the economy He observed that with these measures, the economic documentation process would be further improved, enhancing country s revenues The prime minister also sought a report within two weeks over the positive steps in this regard

Constitution ” He criticised the legacy of former chief justice Muhammad Munir and his doctrine which he said led to the imposition of martial law in the country

The doctrine of necessity has been deemed an invalid violation of democratic principles by the court of Justice Bandial The doctrine originated from the belief that the military was the only institution capable of managing Pakistan s complex issues and that it was a benevolent protector of the state

However, over the years, it has become clear that the Constitution is the true guardian of the people, and the doctrine of necessity undermines democratic principles Ahsan further added that efforts were being made to prevent the holding of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa despite the constitutional mandate He expressed concern that those responsible for providing security cover for the elections were attempting to undermine the electoral process

He lamented that the Constitution was not being implemented and expressed doubt that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah would allow the Rangers to stand guard for the elections as the paramilitary force falls under his jurisdiction

british boxer khan handed two-year ban over failed drug test

LONDON R e u t e R S

British boxer Amir Khan has been banned from all sport for two years after the prohibited substance ostarine was detected in his sample following his fight against Kell Brook last February the UK Anti-Doping agency said on Tuesday Former light-welterweight world champion Khan 36 announced his retirement in May after his sixth-round stoppage defeat to fellow Briton Brook on February 19 but would be unable to return to the ring until April 2024 The UKAD website states that ostarine is a drug designed to have similar effects to testosterone It is present on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list as an anabolic agent and is prohibited in sport at all times Khan, who had expressed concerns over a lack of drug testing before his fight against Brook accepted that he broke anti-doping rules but said it was not intentional An independent tribunal accepted Khan’s argument and ruled out deliberate or reckless conduct in a written decision dated February 21 2022 and imposed a two-year ban from all sport due to strict liability Strict liability means Athletes are ultimately responsible for what they ingest and for the presence of any prohibited substances in a sample, UKAD chief executive Jane Rumble said Khan s ban began on April 6, 2022 and will expire on April 5 next year

ppp issues notice to gabol for disturbing remarks

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

The PPP on Tuesday has issued a show-cause notice to senior politician Nabil Gabol for making insensitive comments during a recent interview on YouTube His statement sparked a controversy on social media prompting swift condemnation from the wider public Taking serious notice of his remarks PPP Sindh President Nisar Khuhro issued the notice to Nabil Gabol calling on him to explain his remarks within three days In case of non-clarification it added organisational disciplinary action will be taken against him According to a spokesperson for the party Inappropriate conversation and use of un-parliamentary words are not the policy of PPP

proceedings, it concluded

a s I a Y o u t h l e a d e r s f o r u m l a u d s pa k I s ta N ’ s v o c at I o N a l e d u c at I o N

P a k i s t a n s v o i c e h a s b e e n o f p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t t o t h e a t t e n d e e s , a s t h e c o u n t r y s e r v e s a s t h e c r i t i c a l p a r t n e r o f

C P E C , e s p e c i a l l y g i v e n t h a t n e a r l y 7 0 % o f i t s p o p u l a t i o n i s u n d e r t h e a g e o f 3 0 “ T h a n k s t o C P E C P a k i s t a n i s c u r r e n t l y e x p e r i e n c i n g a p h a s e o f h i g hq u a l i t y d e v e l o p m e n t w h i c h i s n o t o n l y f u e l i n g a c c e l e r a t e d e c o n o m i c g r o w t h b u t a l s o g e n e r a t i n g a s t r o n g d e m a n d f o r v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n f r o m C h i n a t o h e l p

gunmen mar t yr two policemen in kohat

PESHAWAR t h e a S S o c i at e d p R e S S

Militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shot at the police force in Kohat district overnight, killing two officers, officials said Tuesday Senior police officer Islam udDin Khan said two officers were on their way on a motorcycle for protection duty at a mosque during the special night prayers in the month of Ramadan Khan said the gunmen opened fire on the officers when they slowed at a turn killing them on the spot He said a search operation to arrest the shooters had begun No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack Two attacks last week in the same province that killed four officers and wounded six were claimed by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) The group is allied with but separate from Afghanistan s Taliban There has been an increase in attacks by the Pakistani Taliban since they unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the government

ppp kicks off election preparations drive in punjab after sc verdict

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan People s Party (PPP) leadership has started the preparations for the elections in Punjab after the verdict of the Supreme Court on Tuesday There are reports that the PPP leadership has decided to field its candidates in the Punjab Assembly elections with full enthusiasm It has been reported that the PPP Women Wing head Faryal Talpur called a Zoom meeting of all seven divisions of Central Punjab tomorrow (Wednesday) The sources claimed the PPP leadership has also issued instructions to the party chapters including Lahore Urban Lahore Rural Sahiwal Gujranwala Sargodha Faisalabad and Rawalpindi divisions to start preparations for the elections The divisional and the district presidents and general secretaries will give a briefing on the election preparations in the Zoom meeting As per the report, the PPP candidates of 202 constituencies of Central Punjab will also be finalized in the Zoom meeting PPP leader Faryal Talpur has called the meeting of Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Faisalabad divisions on Thursday to take the decision about the final candidates

aphc condemns India for increasing oppression in held kashmir

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) said the people in occupied Kashmir are experiencing increasing discrimination and injustice under the “apartheid” government of Narendra Modi Despite global silence, the spokesman encouraged the international community to listen to the oppressed Kashmiris and support a solution based on internationally accepted norms of justice to end the bloodshed The spokesman argued that military action is not the solution and will not break the resolve of the Kashmiri people The Jammu and Kashmir Political Resistance Movement (JKPRM) also calls for a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir dispute and condemns the occupation regime s fear-mongering tactics to advance its colonisation agenda

m o d e r n i z e t h e c o u n t r y s i n f r a s t r u c t u r e M u h a m m a d A m m a r, Vi c e S e c r e t a r y G e n e r a l o f t h e r e c e n t l y l a u n c h e d C h i n aP a k i s t a n I n t e r n a t i o n a l I n d u s t r y - E d u c a t i o n C o o p e r a t i o n A l l i a n c e ( C P I I E C A ) , s h a r e d h i s o b s e r v a t i o n a s a g u e s t s p e a k e r a t t h e f o r u m “ w e n e e d t o e n h a n c e t h e v o c a t i o n a l s k i l l s p r o f e s s i o n a l e t h i c s a n d e - c o m m e r c e c a p a b i l i t i e s o f P a k i s t a n i y o u t h t o b o o s t l o c a l p r o d u c t i v i t y C h i n e s e a n d P a k i s t a n i e d u c a t i o n

p r o f e s s i o n a l s a r e a c t i v e l y s e e k i n g w a y s t o a d d r e s s t h e d e m a n d f o r h i g h l y s k i l l e d t e c h n i c a l t a l e n t f r o m C h i n e s e i n d u s t r i e s o p e r a t i n g w i t h i n C P E C I n F e b r u a r y t h i s y e a r, C h i n a - P a k i s t a n I n t e r n a t i o n a l I n d u s t r y - E d u c a t i o n C o o p e r a t i o n A l l i a n c e I n i t i a t i v e ( C P I I E C A ) w a s l a u n c h e d i n B e i j i n g C h i n a T h e a l l i a n c e i s a t f u l l s p e e d t o i m p l e m e n t t h e C h i n e s e e x p o r t - o r i e n t e d i n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p m e n t m o d e l a n d d e m o n s t r a t i n g v o c a t i o n a l s k i l l s t r a i n i n g c o u r s e s i n P a k i s t a n s e c o n o m i c z o n e s

Punjab ombudsman aids plaintiffs in receiving Rs25.15m relief

LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

Punjab Ombudsman retired Maj Azam Suleman, on applications of aggrieved persons against government departments, provided Rs25 million financial relief to 19 plaintiffs along with redressal of their issues

According to a spokesman of the Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday the education department paid employment dues worth Rs3 8 million to Lahore’s Farzana Arif whose husband had passed away; Rs2 4 million to the sister of a Sheikhupura-based widow;

and arrears of dues amounting to Rs0 58 million to one Shamim Akhtar by the Khushab municipal committee after they approached the ombudsman office for payment of their long-awaited amounts

Meanwhile the agency resolved the complaints from various districts about the non-provision of different kinds of dues and family pensions and provided a total relief of Rs7 8 million to the plaintiffs, the spokesman added As a result of the action taken by the ombudsman office on the requests for payment of services and work done by business organisations, one Bassam Ahmad

P u n j a b p o l l s o n M ay 1 4 a s S C r u l e s

E C P d e c i s i o n ‘u n c o n s t i

CONtINuED fROM PAgE 01

Earlier in the day the defence secretary submitted a report to the judges in their chamber regarding the availability of security personnel during the elections

He and the finance secretary were instructed by the court to present reports that demonstrate the obstacles preventing the elections from taking place

Pml-n demands full Court:

Following the announcement of the verdict Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar expressed his dissatisfaction saying the Supreme Court should have made a decision based on collective wisdom

Addressing a press conference he said the entire court should have been involved in the case and predicted the ruling would worsen the current political situation and crisis

He said that lawyers representing the commission and other parties involved in the case had argued that the court should have first resolved the March 1 verdict, which he claimed had been “rejected by a margin of 4-3 ”

According to the minister, a full court should have cleared up the confusion surrounding the previous ruling

Shortly before the announcement of the judgement Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan had expressed hope the court would help end the political crisis in the country adding that the government s demand for a full court still stands

He also emphasised that simultaneous elections should be held in the country to avoid further political crises Nazir Tarar, who stood beside Khan, echoed his statements and urged the court to use collective wisdom in handling the matter tHe ProCeedings: During the hearings, which spanned over a week, the case witnessed high drama when two judges of the original five-judge

bench, Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Amin ud-Din Khan recused themselves from the case

Subsequently the chief justice formed a new bench comprising himself Justice Ahsan and Justice Akhtar to proceed with the matter

Over the weekend a meeting of PDM leaders expressed no confidence in the bench leading to a call for a full court to hear the case Chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to devise a future strategy for the government the meeting demanded that present court proceedings be terminated by accepting a different judgment

However, on Monday, the Supreme Court said the formation of a full court to take up the petition was not an option and the government could instead request a larger bench to hear the case B a n d i a l ’s o ff e r o f a l a rg e r b e n c h t o t h e g o v e r n m e n t c a m e a f t e r S h e h b a z S h a r i f t h r o u g h

Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan formally requested the reconstitution of the bench hearing the case In the plea filed on behalf of the federation the S u p r e m e C o u r t w a s r e q u e s t e d t o d i s m i s s t h e e l e c t i o n d e l a y c a s e i n l i g h t o f t h e M a r c h 1 j u d g m e n t r u l i n g t h a t e l e c t i o n s f o r t h e p r o v i n c i a l a s s e m b l i e s i n P u n j a b a n d K h y b e r P a k h t u n k h w a must be held within 90 days

The petition said the proceedings in the current petition should be postponed in light of the observation passed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, postponing all the proceedings in suo motu matters, which the chief justice “disregarded ”

“This [ ] bench in view of submissions made in paragraphs 11 and 12 may graciously recuse from hearing the instant petition and a bench comprising of all remaining [ ] judges of this court who did not hear [the matter previously] may kindly be constituted to decide the questions raised herein it requested

Govt rejec ts, PTI hails SC ruling

CONtINuED fROM PAgE 01

The PTI Vice-Chairman also felicitated the nation on the case victory He said that the apex court had buried the doctrine of necessity while calling for the ECP to fulfill its responsibility and ensure transparent elections

Qureshi extended an invitation to all political parties in Pakistan to come together and collaborate towards defusing tensions and creating a peaceful atmosphere in the country He asked the party leaders and workers to go in their respective constituencies and start preparations for elections

Meanwhile Fawad Chaudhry senior vice president of the party praised Chief Justice Umar

Ata Bandial and his judges calling the former a people s chief justice and commending the respect he has earned through the verdict

He said that no other decision was possible while keeping within the line of law and the Constitution

He also called on members of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition to be a part of the “democratic process”, saying that the political parties don’t quit the field The top court ruling is a blow to the government of Shehbaz Sharif, which wanted national elections and the voting for provincial assemblies held on the same day ‘

C a b i n e t r e j e C t s s C v e r d i C t i n e l e C t i o n s d e l ay C a s e : Following Supreme Court decision Punjab polls case the Federal Cabinet on Tuesday rejected Supreme Court s verdict on election

A federal cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif considered the decision of the apex court for holding elections in Punjab The cabinet declared the court s decision as a minority verdict and non implementable

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court t o d a y d e c l a r e d t h e E C P ’s o r d e r p o s t p o n i n g t h e p r o v i n c i a l a s s e m b l y e l e c t i o n s u n t i l O c t o b e r 8 a s “unconstitutional” and ordered the government to release Rs21 billion funds for elections in Punjab by April 10 s C v e r d i C t w i l l f u e l C o n s t i t u t i o n a l C r i s i s : Reacting to the SC verdict on Punjab polls delay case Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday said the

Supreme Court’s verdict will further fuel constitutional and political crises in the country

After the apex court verdict the law minister in a media talk raised questions over case proceedings

He said that the nation has witnessed a division among judges

The Supreme Court today declared the ECP s order postponing the provincial assembly elections until October 8 as unconstitutional and ordered the government to release Rs21 billion funds for elections in Punjab by April 10

Law Minister Tarar regretted the decision of the three-member bench of the apex court, saying it will further aggravate the constitutional and political crises “Eyebrows are being raised over the six judges’ bench of the court formed today,” the law minister said He appealed to the chief justice to “unite the house none will be able to object over the united decisions” he said

Still we have time to constitute the full court bench for resolution of the matter he added l e g a l f r at e r n i t y t e r m s v e r d i C t

l e g a l ly C o r r e C t’: On the other hand the legal fraternity acknowledged the Supreme Court (SC) verdict in the Punjab polls delay case as legally correct and debated its consequences

In a tweet prominent lawyer and analyst Muhammad Ahmad Pansota responded to his tweet saying “as long as the decision is legally correct, we can ignore the divisions”

“However,” he added, “I still feel what you refer to as division is dissent in the SC I am glad that all seventeen judges think differently ”

To this Mir responded saying “the ‘division’ was not a reference to judicial dissent which I have long been an advocate of We do need more dissent

We ignore the chasms that go beyond political or judicial dissent at our own peril Ignore and pretend it is not happening? Tried that a few times never works he said

Meanwhile, Pansota hailed the SC ruling saying Chief Justice Bandial, as he headed the SC bench, chose to be Justice Cornelius and buried the doctrine of necessity once and for all” “Undoubtedly,” he maintained, “he [CJ Bandial] will go as the greatest chief justice ever in the history of Pakistan”

We a r e s e t t o i n f u s e P a k i s t a n s v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n s y s t e m w i t h 2 1 0 C h i n e s e b r a n c h c a m p u s e s a n d 3 6 S i n oP a k v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n c e n t e r s o f e x c e l l e n c e a c r o s s P a k i s t a n , i n t h e h o p e s o f n u r t u r i n g a t a l e n t e d p o o l o f y o u n g i n d i v i d u a l s ” M u h a m m a d A m m a r s a i d d u r i n g t h e f o r u m , “ a n d w e w i l l p r o v i d e t r a i n i n g f o r m o r e t h a n 3 0 0 0 0 t e a c h e r s f a c i l i t a t e i n t e r n s h i p o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r 5 0 0 0 0 s t u d e n t s a n d o ff e r C h i n e s e l a n g u a g e + v o c a t i o n a l s k i l l s t r a i n i n g f o r u p t o 1 0 0 0 0 0 s t u d e n t s i n P a k i s t a n T h e f o r u m w h i c h s a w t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f a l m o s t 4 0 0 g u e s t s a n d y o u n g r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m d i f f e r e n t A s i a n n a t i o n s t h r o u g h o n l i n e + o f f l i n e c h a n n e l s , h a s i n d e e d p a v e d t h e w a y f o r a d i s t i n c t i v e p l a t f o r m f o r y o u t h s f r o m d i v e r s e A s i a n c o u n t r i e s t o c u l t i v a t e c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d e x c h a n g e i d e a s

Latif has been given Rs0 95 million by the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore; Muhammad Humayun Zaib Malik has been paid Rs0 51 million by the Jhelum municipal committee and Malik Muhammad Imran has been given Rs1 6 million by the PHA Rawalpindi the spokesman noted

Additionally the ombudsman office interceded on requests for the payment of salary arrears and the creation of OSD posts made by Shamim Akhtar and Sidra Javed from Multan and the widow plaintiff of Bhakkar namely Haseena and facilitated them by providing a total relief worth Rs2 36 million the spokesman stated

Further, the local government and community development department paid the financial relief of Rs4 4 million to widows of its deceased employees from Bhakkar and Faisalabad after the involvement of the ombudsman office

Also, the education department has paid six lakh rupees to Waqar Hashim of Sargodha as financial aid amount for his deceased wife the spokesman said

uNsc reform: pakistan proposes 11 new non-permanent seats to increase representation

uNItED NAtIONS

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan has reiterated its stance against adding more permanent members to the UN Security Council and has instead called for equitable representation by adding more elected members to the 15-member body Ambassador Aamir Khan, Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative, said there is common ground among member states regarding expanding seats in the non-permanent category He added that the proposal by Italy- and Pakistan-led Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group to add only nonpermanent members elected periodically by the General Assembly is more democratic and consistent with the UN Charter s prescription that the Security Council acts on behalf of the entire membership of the General Assembly

The Security Council currently comprises five permanent members and ten non-permanent members elected to twoyear terms The UfC s proposal is to add 10-11 seats for non-permanent membership, with one of those seats “floating” for the group of Small States and SIDS Pakistan has opposed the G-4 countries’ push for permanent seats, arguing that the concept of permanent membership violates the principle of sovereign equality The Pakistani envoy said that most of the member states did not contribute to the designation of five permanent members in the UN Charter when the organization was established and expanding this inequality by creating additional permanent members would be unacceptable He added that adding new permanent members would multiply the prospects of paralysis in the Council and the UfC s proposal to add 11 non-permanent members would reduce inequality and enlarge the voice and influence of those states that desire decisive action by the Security Council The envoy further argued that the addition of six permanent members, as proposed by G-4, would reduce the prospects for equitable representation on the Council, as 11 states would be permanently represented, and the other 182 member states would have to compete for election to the remaining 15 seats on the Council tilting the balance of power and influence even more heavily towards the permanent members

ace arrests ex-principal secretar y to cm punjab muhammad khan bhatti

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

Former principal secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti has been arrested by the anti-corruption establishment (ACE) after his release from camp jail Muhammad Khan Bhatti was arrested by ACE after he secured bail from the sessions court in a case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Later a team of ACE Gujranwala along with police officials reached the camp jail After his release from jail the ACE Gujranwala arrested the former principal secretary

More drama to follow

U Lt I P L E new fronts have opened up within the superior judiciary following a three-member Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional the 22nd March ECP order postponing Punjab election till October calling for them to be held no later than May 14 A clear division has been witnessed over the past weeks within the apex court where the CJP and his suo motu powers under article 184(3) have been questioned by a collection of brother judges who also hold severe reservations over the latter s unbridled powers to form benches as and when he pleases Additionally Mr Justice Qazi Faez Isa, a vocal critic of the workings of the SC under the current CJP, expressed similar reservations through a judgment of his in another case, calling for a postponement of suo motu cases till amendments are made in the Supreme Court Rules 1980 Shortly after yesterday s election postponement case was wrapped up a six-member bench was abruptly constituted that held a five-minute hearing ‘closing’ justice Isa’s case Clearly the atmosphere within the SC is tumultuous and bound to deteriorate as such a bifurcation in the superior judiciary will lead to more drama and controversy For any workable solution to come out of this current impasse, judges have to find some common ground through dialogue to retain the integrity and credibility of the institution Otherwise utter chaos will prevail the government has been ordered by the CJP-led bench to issue funds for elections in yesterday’s decision that seems unlikely to transpire as the state continues to maintain that both funds and security are insufficient to conduct elections on time It has therefore rejected the decision and is continuing to request that a full court bench hear the case No implementative action, in line with the SC s orders, on part of the government or the ECP is likely to be taken this aggressive and confrontational battle between i the judiciary and the executive will escalate It is hard to say how all of this will unfold in the coming days and weeks but it is certainly going to get uglier, with no immediate improvement in relationships, be it within the judiciary itself among judges or between the state and the SC

Donald Trump vs. America

Th I S article is not about the many pending criminal investigations and indictments facing former President Donald trump on local state and federal levels these include a New York State investigation into tax evasion and the recent indictment charging him with falsifying records to cover up hush money payments to avoid scandal; a Georgia investigation into his efforts to pressure election officials to change the results of the 2020 vote count; and federal investigations into his repeated failure to comply with requests to return classified documents and his efforts to incite violence to subvert and overturn the results of the certification of the 2020 election

Instead what has prompted this column was a recent article in an Israeli newspaper that posed the question “Does Netanyahu hate Israel?” and went on to describe the many ways that the Israeli prime minister, in order to save himself from criminal prosecutions, is attempting to gut the country s judiciary to build the Knesset majority he needed to secure his immunity Netanyahu made concessions to far right and ultra-Orthodox religious parties, causing the societal angst that has brought the country to its knees this description of the Israeli leader putting his personal interests ahead of the country he leads is strikingly similar to Mr trump s behaviour since he began running for the Presidency in 2015 leading me to ask the question: Does Donald trump hate America?

Mr trump’s most fervent followers would answer: Of course he loves America he s going to make America great again ” But after examining his rhetoric and actions, especially those in recent days, one is left wondering exactly what America Mr trump is talking about

While nominally affiliated with and embraced by the Republican Party, Mr trump clearly doesn t share that party s historic respect for law enforcement or the institutions of state For example he held his most recent campaign rally in Waco texas on the 30th anniversary of the deadly Waco shoot-out between federal law enforcement and a weaponized religious cult that event has become a cause celebre for far-right militias nationwide as an example of government overreach the Waco rally began with a video of a choir comprised of inmates imprisoned for participating in the 6 January 2021 violent insurrection at the US Capitol First, they sang Justice for All, followed by the national anthem trump s embrace of the January 6 insurrection and his view that its perpetrators are patriots was made clear when he began his remarks referring to the convicts saying: Our people love those people ” his speech had three main components: a rehash of the claim that the 2020 election was stolen; a violent denunciation of the investigations and charges against him as unjust and part of a “witch hunt” (a point emphasized by the campaign-printed signs carried by the crowds reading Witch hunt ); and a reprise of the apocalyptic themes that dominated his 2016 Republican convention speech In attacking his political opponents Mr trump used the violent rhetoric with which he has become identified he accused Democrats as being “unhinged ” “out of control ” and guilty of “rigging elections the biggest threat to the USA he observed isn t Russia or China, but the Department of Injustice’” and “deep state” of “politicians like Mitch McConnell Nancy Pelosi Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden, likening the Biden Administration to a Stalinist Russia horror show he referred to the NY attorney general who is investigating him as a degenerate psychopath that truly hates the USA And declared that when he wins in 2024: “the thugs and criminals who are corrupting

our justice system will be defeated, discredited, and totally disgraced ”

As he has often done Mr trump described his campaign in ominous end-of-times terms America he said, is being threatened by demonic forces that are out to drive the country into a “lawless abyss ” with his campaign being the only force capable of defeating them and saving America Our opponents have done everything they could to crush our spirit but they failed they’ve only made us stronger and 2024 is the final battle You put me back in the White house and their reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again ” Later he added:

“Either the Deep State destroys America or we destroy the Deep State threads of Mr trump s identification of America’s success with his own success go back to the beginning of his 2016 presidential campaign In his 2016 convention speech, after describing in dark terms the evils facing our country many of them in racialist terms (crime immigration poverty and ruined neighborhoods Islam and terrorism) he proclaimed that I alone can fix it

More than most politicians, Mr trump uses the royal “We ” as in “We will make America great again but the we is merely a transparent substitute for I And so in his campaign rhetoric, Mr trump equates the threats against him his 2020 loss the GOP establishment politicians who oppose him, the media, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the courts as threats to making America great

easy to conclude that Donald Trump doesn’t really love America He hates its foundational institutions that are threatening him He hates the countr y’s aspirational values of tolerance , diversity, and freedom for all. What he loves is Donald Trump. And like his Israeli counterpar t, Benjamin Netanyahu, he’s willing to make any deal necessar y, with any par tners who will suppor t him, and even to incite violence— because the only thing that matters is his own success

The true democrat

however time and again dictators tried to abrogate the constitution with an unfortunate facilitation from the judiciary, but the constitution always recuperated In 1977 Operation Fair Play commenced

pecting things to work out in favour has been the biggest dilemma

It s easy to conclude that Donald trump doesn’t really love America he hates its foundational institutions that are threatening him he hates the country s aspirational values of tolerance diversity and freedom for all What he loves is Donald trump And like his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, he’s willing to make any deal necessary with any partners who will support him, and even to incite violence because the only thing that matters is his own success

The writer is President of the Arab American Institute

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

4t h April will be remembered as the darkest day in Pakistan’s history the after-effects of the black judgment still haunt the nation Pakistan was on its peak of glory and was emerging as a leading Muslim country the successful 1974 OIC Lahore Summit was a great achievement by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto where all the heads of states were determined to work together Pakistan already started off with its nuclear programme under the leadership of Shaheed Bhutto, making Pakistan the first Muslim country to commence a nuclear programme

It was for the first time that Pakistan witnessed a leader of international stature with extensive popularity across the country Shaheed Bhutto was a sharp hardworking and genius politician, he had an exceptional talent in holding dialogues the famous Simla Accord where Prime Minister Bhutto convinced Indra Gandhi on his terms reflected his impeccable skills in diplomacy and dialogue

In the early 1970s, Pakistan needed a cons t i t u t i o n a c c e p t a b l e f o r e v e r y o n e a n d i t w a s t h e n e e d o f t h e h o u r, B h u t t o a l o n g w i t h h i s l e g a l t e a m w o r k e d t h o r o u g h l y o n d r a f t i n g a legal framework It was a tough challenge but h e h a d a l l t h e s k i l l s a n d w i l l t o d o s o a n d m a n a g e d t o b u i l d a c o n s e n s u s b e t w e e n t h e government and opposition of that time so that t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n w a s a d o p t e d u n a n i m o u s l y without any objections

a n d t h e p o p u l a r a n d c o m p e t e n t P r i m e M i ni s t e r o f P a k i s t a n , S h a h e e d Z u l f i k a r A l i B h u t t o w a s o u s t e d b y G e n Z i a u l h a q ; i t w a s i n d e e d a d a r k d a y i n t h e d e m o c r a t i c h i st o r y o f P a k i s t a n Shaheed Bhutto was not just popular but h e w a s a l s o b r a v e e n o u g h t o f a c e t h e h a r s h c r u e l t y a n d c h a l l e n g e s t h e r e w a s i m m e n s e craze about him, people used to cherish him, h i s p u b l i c g a t h e r i n g s w e r e p h e n o m e n a l h i s connection with masses was simply outstanding but he never used his supporters as human s h i e l d s e v e n d u r i n g t h e t o u g h e s t t i m e s h e faced Rather he courageously faced the consequences of martial law on his own; indeed he was brave O n 4 A p r i l 1 9 7 9 a f t e r a l o n g s t r e t c h e d unfair trial the hero of masses was hanged on the orders of a dictator who influenced the jud i c i a r y o f h i s t i m e L i t t l e h e k n e w t h a t t h e l e g a c y o f v a l o u r n e v e r d i e s B h u t t o ’s p a r t y still exists his grandson serves the country as F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r, h i s g i v e n c o n s t i t u t i o n i s still valid and even the current generation acknowledges him for his unprecedented services and especially the atomic programme he launched to d a y a f t e r h a l f a c e n t u r y P a k i s t a n i s standing at the same place in fact a step backward, in terms of progress and economy the s o l e r e a s o n f o r t h e r e g r e s s i s c o n t i n u o u s i nterruption in the democratic system from left and right For decades Pakistan was used by t h e We s t f o r i t s p r o x y w a r s a n d t h a t s w h y d e m o c r a t i c g o v e r n m e n t s w e r e t o p p l e d a n d ways were paved for dictators Losing thousands of human lives damaging the economy with constant adventures, victimizing political leaders depending on loans and then ex-

On 4 April 1979 the dark gallows of Rawalpindi witnessed democracy being hanged, the man who gave his everything for the country was brutally mar tyred because he was the voice of poor people and the hope for peasants But his idea and vision lives on even today; the political par ty he formed was later led by his daughter Shaheed Benazir who did justice to the principles set by her father.

We n e e d t o r e v i s i t o u r h i s t o r y a n d l e a r n from our mistakes it’s not a matter of one person a group of people or one specific political p a r t y b u t i t s a b o u t 2 2 0 m i l l i o n p e o p l e w h o have been struggling for tranquillity and sustainability over the past many decades

Even after so many years why is it so that the generation who has not even seen Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto admire him and respect him? the answer is the commitment determination, service and courage of Shaheed Bhutto; history never forgets the brave heads of various Muslim countries offered an honourable refuge to Shaheed Bhutto but he refused because he preferred to live in the books of history for his principles those who wanted to eliminate Shaheed Bhutto were wrong he still lives in the hearts of millions, his name still echoes from every corner of the country but the schemers are forgotten by history today the legacies of dict a t o r s h a v e f o u n d t h e i r s h e l t e r u n d e r t h e u m b r e l l a o f a c i v i l i a n d i c t a t o r I m r a n K h a n w h o i s h e l l b e n t o n d r a g g i n g t h e n a t i o n t owards anarchy O n 4 A p r i l 1 9 7 9 t h e d a r k g a l l o w s o f R a w a l p i n d i w i t n e s s e d d e m o c r a c y b e i n g hanged the man who gave his everything for the country was brutally martyred because he was the voice of poor people and the hope for p e a s a n t s B u t h i s i d e a a n d v i s i o n l i v e s o n even today; the political party he formed was l a t e r l e d b y h i s d a u g h t e r S h a h e e d B e n a z i r who did justice to the principles set by her father She sacrificed her life but never compromised on her father s mission today her son Bilawal Bhutto is holding the torch of democr a c y a n d t a k i n g t h e c o u n t r y o u t o f d a r k n e s s and isolation

The writer is a columnist and member PPP and tweets at MustafaBaloch

Why is KE punishing the paying consumers even during Ramazan?

K-ELECtRIC issues updates from time to time related to the loadshedding schedule and uploads them on its website the latest plan taking effect from March 13 does not differ from the previous version as far as the duration of loadshedding is concerned, even though the previous plan was meant for winter months and the current one is for the peak summer months; March-June

Like its previous version, the current regimen categorises the areas served by the KE into high, medium and low loss zones with the duration of loadshedding varying 2-10 hours depending on the zone in which an area falls however KE rarely follows its own regimen and behaves like an entity not answerable or accountable Some of the areas slated for 10-hour loadshedding have in fact been experiencing a 14-hour outage since November including Sundays With the weather now turning warm and the fasting month of Ramazan having already begun, the suffering of the residents of the affected areas can well be imagined the KE stance is that it has to recover its outstanding dues and its “considerate policy” of loadshedding is in line with the National Power Policy (NPP) Does the NPP authorise the KE or for that matter, any other distribution company, to punish its consumers with no distinction between the defaulters and those who pay the bills regularly? the KE is a commercial organisation and has every right to earn a fair margin of profit on its investments and likewise it is well within its rights to recover the outstanding dues having said that, it should not be done at the cost of those who pay their monthly bills regularly Do the right thing KE AHMAD FAKIR MUHAMMAD KARACHI

The London plan!

I am convinced there are many people in London making plans to make my life miserable It seems they have me under observation through hidden cameras round the clock Recent events appear to prove this

When the dollar reached the level of Rs250 I sold my entire collection of dollars

From the next day onwards, the dollar has been appreciating in value there is no other explanation except that the London chaps got to know of my sale of dollars? With the money I got from the dollar sale I bought shares but again the London people arranged for my shares to depreciate in value Recently, I went to a car showroom to buy a new car It took me a couple of days to arrange for the payment but by that time the value of the car had gone up by 30 per cent Again the Londoners were at it I am considering asking the British premier to take action against these London plan people so that I may live a peaceful life

SHAKIR LAKHANI KARACHI

Real estate illusion

thE government recently announced four housing projects for overseas Pakistanis It is irritating that there is no shortage of housing and real estate opportunities for overseas Pakistanis, but there are none for the flood-affected Pakistanis who are languishing in refugee camps for almost a year now Overseas Pakistanis do not need houses in cities where they do not live the greatest need for housing is in the flood-affected areas of the country the expected foreign exchange inflow from real estate is illusory the amount we spend on importing materials and equipment cancels the benefit the previous government had given immunity and incentives to the sector, with little to no benefit for the overall economy the results of the present schemes are unlikely to be any different

It’s

IN little over 75 years of its existence Pakistan has had three constitutions one after the other Pending framing and promulgation of a constitution, the Government of India Act 1935 was retained with necessary alterations and modifications through the Pakistan (Provisional Constitution) Order 1947 was adopted as the provisional constitution the first constitution was enforced on March 213 1956 when Pakistan also became the Republic of Pakistan Somehow, it proved short-lived and was abrogated in October 1958 when President Maj Gen Iskander Mirza and the first Muslim Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army Gen Muhammad Ayub Khan connived and imposed the first martial law in the country just after seven years of its coming into existence towards the end of the same month General Ayub had kicked out President Iskander Mirza and himself became the President also the second constitution of Pakistan was given by General Ayub in March 1962 and the martial law was lifted on 25 March 1969 however, martial law was again imposed in the country in a couple of days when Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan assumed power forcing General Ayub Khan to step down the third constitution was enforced on 14 August 1973 whose golden jubilee is being celebrated now It has survived many crises over the years and its enforcement has gone down in the annals of history the longest surviving 1973 Constitution has been suspended and held in abeyance twice and by now has been amended as many as 26 times during its 50 years of its existence in the politically chequered history of Pakistan as the Constitution was continuously being talked about in both positive and negative manners by different political and others, concerned or non-concerned, advancing their own vested interests hence it is useful to take a look at their making of the longest sur-

viving Constitution

the nation celebrating the Independence Day every year somehow forgets to mark another anniversary of the Constitution which has so far survived the martial law of the third military ruler Gen Muhammad Ziaul haq and also civil-cum-military rule of fourth dictator, Gen Pervez Musharraf, after it was unanimously passed by the National Assembly on 10 April 1973 authenticated by then President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and was promulgated on 14 August 1973 the promulgation of the new Constitution, framed after dismemberment of following the great tragedy of the Fall of Dacca in December 1971, also marked the stepping down of country s first civilian CMLA and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his becoming the first democratically elected Prime Minister and the then National Assembly Speaker, Fazal Elahi Chaudhry, was elevated to the highest office of the land as President

As the golden jubilee year of the 1973 Constitution is being celebrated by the government and political parties in their own way, due credit need obviously to be paid to Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and also to all 24 mem-

W h i l e c e l e b r a t i n g t h e g o l d e n j u b i l e e o f t h e 1 9 7 3 C o n s t i t u t i o n , w e s h o u l d a l l p l e d g e t o c o n t i n u e , h o n o u r i n g , r e s p e c t i n g , s a f e g u a rd i n g , a n d i m p l e m e n t i n g a l l i t s p rov i s i o n s s i n c e r e l y, f a i t h f u l l y, o b j e c t i v e l y a n d h o n e s t l y a s w e l l a s f u l l y u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d a p p r e c i a t i n g a l l t h a t i s e m b o d i e d i n i t

bers of the Constitution Committee including representatives of all political parties represented in the National Assembly of the remainder Pakistan Mr Bhutto had given due priority to provide a constitution to the country which was like a rudderless ship following the parting of East Pakistan and becoming Bangladesh, as a land without a constitution the remainder of the National Assembly elected in December 1970 had constituted the Constitution Committee through a resolution passed on 17 April 1972 the Committee so constituted and headed by Mian Mehmood Ali Kasuri was given the important task of preparation of the permanent Constitution by 1 August 1972 the Committee members, besides Chairman Mian Mehmood Ali Kasuri included Dr Mubashir haan Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar Malik Meraj Khalid Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, Ghous Bux Bizenjo, Ghulam Mustafa Khan Jatoi, Abdul hafez Pirzada, Syed Qaim Ali Shah Dr Mrs Ashraf Abbasi Dr Ghulam husain Malik Muhammad Akhtar Maulana Kausar Niazi Khurhid hassan Meer, Sheikh Muhammad Rashid, Maulana Mufti Mehmood, Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, Muhammad haneef Khan Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, Professor Ghafoor Ahmad, Amirzada Khan, Sirdar Shaukat hyat Khan, Mian Mumtaz Muhmmad Khan Daultana Niamatullah Khan Shinwari and Begum Nasim Jehan Out of the members so appointed, Dr Mubashir hasan, Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Malik Meraj Khalid and Mumaz Ali Bhutto had resigned from its membership one after the other on account of being entrusted with other assignments and responsibilities connected with their government offices Ghous Nux Bizenjo had also resigned later on they were replaced by Malik Muhammad Jaffer, Ch Jahangir Ali, Ch Barakatullah, Malik Sikander Khan,and Mrs Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa towards finalization of the Constitution Committee deliberations, Mian Mehmood Ali Kasuri also stepped down as the Chairman of the body and was replaced by Abdul hafeez Pirzada as the Chairman the Constitution Committee held its first meeting on April 22,1972 On the whole the Committee held 48 sittings spread over 38 days in all; It deliberated for 170 hours to come up with the draft constitution comprising less than 180 articles and six schedules the younger generation coming into this world after secession of East Pakistan and its becoming

Bangladesh, might have heard about the suspension of the Constitution and its being held in abeyance, and needs to be apprised about the making of the Constitution But not many young ones and middle aged people breathing in the width and breadth of Pakistan would be all that familiar with the makers of the longest surviving 1973 Constitution this longevity of the longest surviving Constitution despite attempts for its abrogation and suspension from left and right is in all fairness humble credit and tribute to the makers and the defenders of the !973 Constitution over the years and those, irrespective of whether they are in the government or in the opposition, who are working within its framework honouring respecting implementing and upholding it no matter which position they hold Continued survival of the 1973 Constitution against all odds and despite all hidden and open challenges mean a strong united prosperous forward looking positive thinking and economically and defence-wise stronger and stable Pakistan While celebrating the golden jubilee of the 1973 Constitution we should all pledge to continue honouring, respecting, safeguarding, and implementing all its provisions sincerely, faithfully, objectively and honestly as well as fully understanding and appreciating all that is embodied in it

The writer can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail com

s a r a at h e r

Ahistoric 16th-century mosque Shahi Masjid, in Prayagraj city in India’s Uttar Pradesh state was demolished by bulldozers on January 9 under a road-widening project the demolition took place even though according to the mosque’s imam a local court was supposed to hear a petition seeking a stay on the city administration s plans on January 16, a week later this incident should have caused public outrage but the matter hardly made any headlines the destruction of structures using bulldozers in India has become a banal occurrence and has already lost its shock value

Shahi Masjid is also not the first ancient mosque to have been sacrificed for a road widening project Last November a 300-year-old mosque in Uttar Pradesh s Muzaffarnagar district that stood in the way of a highway was razed

Another mosque one of the largest and oldest in India, Shamsi Jama Masjid, an 800-year-old national heritage site in Budaun Uttar Pradesh became a matter of dispute last year when a court case was filed on behalf of a local hindu farmer backed by the right-wing hindu nationalist group Akhil Bharat hindu Mahasabha (ABhM) alleging that the mosque is an illegal structure built on a demolished 10th-century temple of Lord Shiva their petition states that hindus have rightful ownership of the land and should be able to pray there the claim of illegality rests on a farright narrative according to which most of the Indian mosques were actually temples at one point in time and were forcefully converted into mosques by Muslim rulers Even though most historians today deny these claims because there is little material evidence to support them, they have enormous popular support the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is increasingly marked by a destructive urgency the party’s attempts to culturally homogenise India began with the renaming of places in an overtly hindu vocabulary and progressed to new strategies such as bulldozing Muslim monuments and archaeological excavations to find hindu roots at Muslim religious sites

In the past few years there have been a number of controversies surrounding Mughal monuments Even the taj Mahal, a monument of global importance, has not been spared Far-right hindu groups claim again without any evidence that it was a hindu temple the fate of Indian Muslims has reached a watershed moment Scores of petitions

have been filed by right-wing hindu groups against mosques across the country the past several years have also seen the activation of an informal apparatus of religious volunteers who use religious processions to establish dominance over Muslim places of worship, including mosques and Muslim shrines During several hindu festival celebrations in 2022, including Ram Navami and hanuman Jayanti, armed hindu mobs led at times by BJP members entered Muslim neighbourhoods and chanted obscene slogans while planting saffron flags on mosques MS Golwalkar one of the founders of hindu nationalist ideology or hindutva claimed in his most renowned text, Bunch of thoughts, that “wherever there is a masjid [mosque] or a Muslim mohalla [colony]

Muslims believe that it is their own separate territory

It is important to remember that the belief in exclusive ownership of Indian land did not emerge with the BJP s election to power, but has always been a central tenet of hindu nationalist thought Golwalkar throughout his writing maintained a definition of nation that kept the natural congruence between a hindu monoculture and territory, excluding from within it all those who the hindu right views as a political or cultural threat

It was no coincidence that it was the destruction of a historical mosque that fuelled the rise of the far-right nationalist politics that dominates India today the illegal destruction of a historical Mughal-era mosque the Babri Masjid on December 6 1992 served as the declaration of a mute war cry against history the mosque was reduced to rubble by religious volunteers who claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood at the same site Images of the demolished mosque gave graphic representation to the idea of a pre- and post-Babri India signalling the beginning of a nationalist project that rejects all possibilities of plurality on Indian land the demolition of Babri Masjid in many ways the most significant single event in post-independence India, triggered a spiral of violence in several cities, culminating in riots the heterogeneous social fabric of Indian cities was violently transformed, with urban spaces reorganised along religious lines the memory of those violent encounters continues to inform the logic of spatial segregation in many Indian cities up to this day

But Babri was not destined to be the only mosque to be demolished; rather, it was only the first of many monumental martyrs that were to follow the slogan Babri to bas jhanki hai, Kashi Mathura baki hai (Babri is only a sneak peek; Kashi and Mathura are yet to happen) attests to the longing that persists even today A list of such Muslim landmarks and monuments marked for demolition has been in broad public circulation for quite some time Meanwhile, in 2019, the Supreme Court of India issued a ruling according to which the land of the Babri Masjid was

hindus as the birthplace of Lord Rama this emboldened the right wing to shift from illegal mob violence to

legal methods

Indeed, hindu groups have challenged the continuing existence of historic mosques in Mathura and Varanasi (also known as Kashi) through court cases And a Mathura court has already ordered a survey based on the claims of the petitioners that the land of the Shahi Idgah Mosque is actually the rightful birthplace of Lord Krishna

Several states in India have gone through their own unique rebranding as hindu religious sites, including Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh the hindutva framework requires the deployment of a spatial imagination where all Indian territory is defined as a sacred landscape in an overtly hindu religious vocabulary the necro-economy of hindu nationalism today invariably relies on making history its most important site, which has to be transformed and moulded to justify its present-day rule Golwalkar also claimed that Muslims have transformed the hindu nationalist homeland into “just a hotel only a land for enjoyment effectively equating the presence of Muslims and mosques with the symbolic violation of the hindu homeland

Any sign of cultural expression in Muslim architecture, under this nationalist vision, is thus seen as a violation of the purity of the holy land or Bharat Mata –Mother India It is this spirit of vengeance that has lived on, violently unfolding its own inner horizon, both temporally and spatially the truth about today’s unrelenting violence on ancient Indian mosques is best understood through its deep roots historically, the cultural cleansing of an entire people has been accompanied by the destruction of monuments and a clear intent to erase their memories to deny a people their future the past is razed first the events of the tragic night of the broken glass Kristallnacht especially shed light on this phenomenon hundreds of synagogues were burned to the ground while many others were damaged on a night that arguably signalled the beginning of the holocaust’s last phases they were not destroyed because they housed Jews but because they stood as a testament to the Jewish presence on that land Monumental architecture by virtue of its perceived permanence and timelessness creates a space for communities to gather and serves as a fixed anchor around which traditions are invented thus its destruction promises not just a rebuilding of spatial relations but also of historical traditions

Spatial violence is therefore not just an aggressive retributive tool for causing terror but a calculated strategy that aims to reinvent cultural meanings associated with territory and redefine them in terms of a nationalist conceptual grammar the political work of the BJP and its far-right hindu allies resembles a war machine stuck in frantic endless attempts to deconstruct the present the failure to find the ghost of the past is compensated by inventing one in the present Monuments have thus become portals for this proxy war

n i z a t i o n s h a v e s i g n e d t h e 2 0 1 9 A l b a n i a D e c l a r a t i o n c a l l i n g f o r a m o r a t o r i u m o n f a c i a l re c o g n i t i o n f o r m a s s s u r v e i l l a n c e

DO you want the government always to know where you are what you are doing, and with whom you are doing it? Why not? After all you’ve nothing to worry about if you re not doing anything wrong Right? that’s the world that artificial intelligence (A I ) coupled with tens of millions of video cameras in public and private spaces, is making possible Not only can A I -amplified surveillance identify you and your associates but it can track you using other biometric characteristics, such as your gait, and even identify clues to your emotional state While advancements in A I certainly promise tremendous benefits as they transform areas such as health care transportation logistics energy production environmental monitoring, and media, serious concerns remain about how to keep these powerful tools out of the hands of state actors who would abuse them

Nowhere to hide: Building safe cities with technology enablers and AI,” a report by the Chinese infotech company huawei explicitly celebrates this vision of pervasive government surveillance Selling A I as “its Safe City solution ” the company brags that by analyzing people s behavior in video footage, and drawing on other government data such as identity, economic status and circle of acquaintances AI could quickly detect indications of crimes and predict potential criminal activity

Already China has installed more than 500 million surveillance cameras to monitor its citizens activities in public spaces Many are facial recognition cameras that automatically identify pedestrians and drivers and compare them against national photo and license tag ID registries and blacklists Such surveillance detects not just crime but political protests For example Chinese police recently used such data to detain and question people who participated in COVID-19 lockdown protests the U S now has an estimated 85 million video cameras installed in public and private spaces San Francisco recently passed an ordinance authorizing police to ask for access to private live feeds Realtime facial recognition technology is being increasingly deployed at American retail stores sports arenas and airports Facial recognition is the perfect tool for oppression, argue Woodrow hartzog,

a professor at Boston University School of Law and Evan Selinger a philosopher at the Rochester Institute of technology It is they write, the most uniquely dangerous surveillance mechanism ever invented ” Real-time facial recognition technologies would essentially turn our faces into ID cards on permanent display to the police “Advances in artificial intelligence widespread video and photo surveillance diminishing costs of storing big data sets in the cloud, and cheap access to sophisticated data analytics systems together make the use of algorithms to identify people perfectly suited to authoritarian and oppressive ends ” they point out M o r e t h a n 11 0 n o n g o v e r n m e n t a l o rganizations have signed the 2019 Albania D e c l a r a t i o n c a l l i n g f o r a m o r a t o r i u m o n f a c i a l r e c o g n i t i o n f o r m a s s s u r v e i l l a n c e U S signatories urging countries to susp e n d t h e f u r t h e r d e p l o y m e n t o f f a c i a l r e c o g n i t i o n t e c h n o l o g y f o r m a s s s u r v e i ll a n c e ” i n c l u d e t h e E l e c t r o n i c F r o n t i e r Foundation the Electronic Privacy Inform a t i o n C e n t e r, F i g h t f o r t h e F u t u r e , a n d Restore the Fourth In 2021 the Office of the United Nations high Commissioner for human Rights issued a report noting that “the widespread use by States and businesses of artificial intelligence including profiling automated decision-making and machine-learning technologies, affects the enjoyment of the right to privacy and associated rights ” the report called on governments to impose moratoriums on the use of potentially high-risk technology such as remote real-time facial recognition until it is ensured that their use cannot violate human rights that’s a good idea So is the Facial Recognition and Biometric technology Moratorium Act introduced in 2021 by Sen Ed Markey (D–Mass ) and others, which would make it “unlawful for any Federal agency or Federal official in an official capacity to acquire possess access use in the United States any biometric surveillance system; or information derived from a biometric surveillance system operated by another entity this year the European Digital Rights network issued a critique of how the European Union s proposed AI Act would regulate remote biometric identification Being tracked in a public space by a facial recognition system (or other biometric system) is fundamentally incompatible with the essence of informed consent, the report points out “If you want or need to enter that public space you are forced to agree to being subjected to biometric processing that is coercive and not compatible with the aims of the EU’s human rights regime (in particular rights to privacy and data protection, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and in many cases non-discrimination) ” If we do not ban A I -enabled real-time facial-recognition surveillance by government agents we run the risk of haplessly drifting into turnkey totalitarianism

RONALD BAILEY is science correspondent at Reason

Don’t trust governments with ar tificial intelligence facial recognition technology

W h y M o d i w a n t s t o d e m o l i s h I n d i a ’ s m o s q u e s

The necro - economy of Hindu nationalism relies on making histor y its most impor tant site. Muslim shrines must suffer

TrUmP faceS day in coUrT in hiSToric US firST

NEW YORK

Ag e n c i e s

donald Trump the ex-president and frontrunner to be Republican nominee in 2024, will appear in court on Tuesday and is set to be formally charged, finger-printed and have a mug shot taken in a watershed moment ahead of next year ’s presidential election

Trump was indicted last week, becoming the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges over a case involving a 2016 hush money payment to porn star

Stormy Daniels He has said he is innocent and is due to plead not guilty Trump will turn himself in on Tuesday amid tight security as demonstrations were expected for and against a man who has riled liberals and some global allies but is lauded by many white blue-collar and conservative Christian voters

“We have to take back our Country and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump wrote on his Truth Social profile shortly after arriving in New York from Florida on Monday, urging supporters to donate to his campaign

The arraignment, where Trump will be in court to hear charges and have a chance to

enter a plea was planned for 2:15 pm on

Tuesday

Trump s lawyers opposed videography, photography and radio coverage saying it would exacerbate an already almost circuslike atmosphere around this case , detracting from dignity and decorum

Judge Juan Merchan late on Monday ruled that five photographers will be admitted before the arraignment starts to take pictures for several minutes until they must stop with cameras allowed in the hallways of the building

The District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who led the investigation will later give a news conference in the afternoon Trump will return to Florida and deliver remarks from Mar-a-Lago at 8:15 pm on Tuesday his office said

The specific charges in the indictment by a grand jury convened are due to be disclosed on Tuesday Trump and his allies have portrayed the charges as politically motivated Yahoo News late on Monday said Trump would face 34 felony counts for falsification of business records Citing a single source briefed on Tuesday s arraignment procedures, Yahoo said none of the charges against Trump were misdemeanors Protests and popularity

chinese premier holds phone talks with russian counterpar t

BEiJiNG

Chinese Premier Li Qiang held a phone conversation with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Tuesday Li said that under the strategic guidance of the two countries heads of state China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era has maintained a high level of development He pointed out that China and Russia are committed to the principles of no-alliance no-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party, mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual benefit, which not only promote respective national development and rejuvenation but also uphold international fairness and justice, he said He noted that during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin jointly drew up a blueprint for the development of bilateral relations and charted a new course for cooperation between the two countries Li expressed China’s willingness to work closely with Russia and urged the government departments of both countries to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state to push forward the practical cooperation between China and Russia to achieve new development For his part, Mishustin said that

australia bans TikTok on government devices due to securit y fears

CANBERRA

A F P

Australia said Tuesday it will ban TikTok on government devices, joining a growing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned app due to national security fears Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the decision followed advice from the country s intelligence agencies and would begin as soon as practicable Australia is the last member of the secretive Five Eyes security alliance to pursue a government TikTok ban joining its allies the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand France, the Netherlands and the European Commission have made similar moves Dreyfus said the government would approve some exemptions on a case-by-case basis with appropriate security mitigations in place” Cyber security experts have warned that the app which boasts more than one billion users could be used to hoover up data that is then shared with

Police over the weekend began erecting barricades near Trump Tower – where Trump arrived on Monday after flying in from Florida – and the Manhattan Criminal Court building with demonstrations expected at both sites on Tuesday the city’s mayor warned potential rabble-

rousers to behave Our message is clear and simple: Control yourselves New York City is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger,”

Eric Adams said Asked if he was worried about unrest, President Joe Biden, a Democrat who is

widely expected to seek re-election and face a potential rematch against Trump, said: No, I have faith in the New York Police Department ”

The case has divided people in New York, where Trump s name is emblazoned on buildings related to his business ventures

“It’s a terrific day I hope it goes well and that he is eventually found guilty said New Jersey resident Robert Hoatson, 71, outside Trump Tower on Monday

But Trump backer Susan Miller leaning against the metal barriers on 5th Avenue just south of Trump Tower on Monday evening, said she hoped the show of support would give him a little strength when he goes down to battle H e ’s h o n e s t a s t h e d a y i s l o n g , ” s h e s a i d a d d i n g s h e p l a n n e d t o r e t u r n o n

Tu e s d a y Trump s lead has widened over rivals in the Republican Party’s presidential nominating contest according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, conducted after news broke that he would face criminal charges

Some 48% of self-described Republicans say they want Trump to be their party s presidential nominee, up from 44% in a March 14-20 poll Second-place Florida Governor Ron Desantis fell from 30% to around 19%

X i for advancing study, implementation

of Thought on S ocialism with C hinese C harac teristics

ChiNA s tA F F c o r r e s P o n d e n t

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has urged solid efforts to carry out the education campaign on the study and implementation of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to enhance cohesion and pool strengths for forging ahead on the new journey Xi also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when delivering an important speech at a working conference on the Party-wide campaign on Monday

The campaign should be an opportunity to further arm all Party members with the Party s new theories and enhance their understanding of Marxism, Xi said calling on Party members to strive together to fully build a modern socialist China and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Qiang Zhao Leji Wang Huning, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Vice President Han Zheng attended the meeting Cai Qi a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chief of a central leading group for the campaign, delivered a concluding speech Noting that the education campaign with officials at and above the county and director level as the focus, is an important measure to implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, Xi said that it is of great importance in uniting Party members in thinking solving prominent problems within the Party, helping the Party maintain a close bond with the people, and advancing the cause of the Party and the country The education campaign should guide Party members and officials in improving their capacity for political judgment thinking and implementation to build the Party into

one piece of adamantine iron that is invincible, said Xi

Through education and guidance

Party members and officials are expected to be more capable of pursuing highquality development serving the people and guarding against and defusing risks

he said

Efforts should also be made to promote a problem-oriented approach among Party organizations members and officials to strengthen the Party s ability to purify, improve, renew, and excel itself ensuring that the Party always remains the strong leadership core in building socialism with Chinese characteristics said Xi

Xi stressed the importance of guiding all work with the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and thoroughly understanding the thought s requirements on tempering the CPC members Party spirit

He urged putting the thought into practice to solve problems in economic and social development and Party build-

ing, prevent and mitigate major risks, and make new progress and breakthroughs in Chinese modernization

Xi called for efforts to enhance the capacity to fulfill duties and responsibilities so that the Party can make solid achievements that stand the test of time and meet the expectations of the people

Xi said the basic task of the campaign is to transform the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into a mighty force for reinforcing the ideals, tempering the Party spirit guiding practice enhancing the work, and to ensure that all Party members have a shared faith, a strong will, coordinated action and great strength

He stressed the necessity to educate and guide all Party members and officials to reinforce their faith in Marxism, belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics and confidence to realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, adding that all Party members must never forget the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission

Finland

joins NATO as Russian

war prompts shif t

BRUSSELS

A F P

Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO, in a historic strategic shift provoked by Moscow’s war in Ukraine which doubles the US-led alliance s border with Russia

Last year, the Kremlin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine upended Europe s security landscape and prompted Finland and its neighbour Sweden to drop decades of non-alignment

Awkward allies Turkey and Hungary, for different reasons of their own delayed Finland’s bid to come under the NATO umbrella and Stockholm s progress remains blocked

But last week the Turkish parliament voted to clear Finland s last hurdle Completing the ratification in well under a year still makes this the fastest membership process in the alliance s recent history All that remained were Tuesday’s highly choreographed formalities at NATO headquarters Finland’s foreign minister will hand over the formal accession papers to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the keeper of NATO’s founding treaty

Then the country’s blue-andwhite flag will be raised next to those of its new allies, between those of Estonia and France in front of the gleaming headquarters in Brussels

UK’s Suella Braverman receives backlash over her racist comments about Pakistanis

This is really a historic day It s a great day for the alliance, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said

Joining NATO places Finland under the alliance’s Article Five the collective defence pledge that an attack on one member “shall be considered an attack against them all

This was the guarantee Finnish leaders decided they needed as they watched Russian President Vladimir Putin s devastating assault lay waste to swathes of Ukraine Putin gets more nAto:

President Putin went to war against Ukraine with a clear aim to get less NATO ” Stoltenberg said He s getting the exact opposite

Invaded by its giant neighbour the Soviet Union in 1939, Finland which has a 1 300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Russia stayed out of NATO throughout the Cold War

LONDON

Ag e n c i e s

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been accused of peddling extremist far-right lies about Pakistanis after she singled out British Pakistani men over concerns about grooming gangs as she accused authorities of turning a blind eye to signs of abuse involving young people Braverman s comments tantamount to racist and bigoted generalisation of Pakistanis, have been condemned widely and she has been urged to apologise to Pakistanis for putting their lives in danger and for increasing the threat of racist attacks on them after her unfounded allegations The minister s language was condemned by Robina Qureshi, CEO of the refugee charity Positive Action in Housing (PAiH) She called on the home secretary to apologise for her gross misrepresentation , describing her language around British Pakistani men as “unacceptable” T h e N a t i o n a l S o c i e t y f o r t h e P r e v e n t i o n o f C r ue l t y t o C h i l d r e n ( N S P C C ) a l s o c o n d e m n e d t h e U K h o m e s e c r e t a r y a n d e x p r e s s e d i t s s h o c k a t h e r h a t r e d t o w a r d s P a k i s t a n i s a n d f o r s i n g l i n g o u t P a k i s t a n i s

corporate corner

unity Foods collaborates with nutshell for Communic ations, strategic Engagements

food security system, entered into a Communications and Strategic Engagements partnership with Nutshell Communications (Private) Limited An agreement in this regard was signed by both parties recently at Nutshell Group s Head Office by Farrukh Amin CEO Unity Foods Limited and Muhammad Azfar Ahsan Founder & CEO Nutshell Group Senior officials from both organizations were also present at this ceremony, including Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman (Rtd), Chief Executive Strategic Engagements, Nutshell Group; Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat (Rtd), Chairman, Unity Foods Limited; Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar (Rtd), Adviser Taqatwar Pakistan Program; Maj Gen Shahzad Naeem Khan (Rtd), Chief Public Affairs Officer, Nutshell Group; and Rabia Shoaib Ahmad, Director & Chief Operating Officer, Nutshell Group On the occasion CEO Unity Foods Limited Farrukh Amin said We are committed to ensuring food security in our homeland under our slogan Food for Life through empowering farmers implementing digital disruption and developing an efficient farm-tofork supply chain across Pakistan In this regard our partnership with Nutshell Communications will promote our cause nationwide through its expertise in narrative building, leadership positioning, strategic engagements, media advocacy and creating mass awareness about our ambitions and initiatives ”

Founder & CEO, Nutshell Group, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, said, “The partnership between Unity Foods and Nutshell Communications will aim at creating awareness of the mutual P R

Mastercard, illusions Online team up to reimagine bespoke travel experiences

dE V E L O P I N G Asia will grow faster than previously thought this year underpinned by a stronger-than-projected rebound in China but risks from global banking turmoil could weigh on the outlook the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday

Developing Asia, which groups together 46 economies in the Asia-Pacific, is forecast to grow 4 8% in 2023, the ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook report, more than its previous estimate of 4 6% in December, and following 4 2% growth in 2022

Driving the region’s growth this year is China’s recovery after it ended its zero-COVID policy in December with the world’s second-biggest economy seen expanding 5 0% this year the ADB said above its earlier estimate of 4 3%

China s reopening is really going to create the strongest kind of support for growth in the region this year,” ADB Chief Economist Albert Park told Reuters And while China’s embattled property sector “remains a point of concern”, Park said the upside risks to China’s growth outlook outweigh downside risks

“If life really returns to normal quickly and confidence comes back growth could even be higher than 5% which would be obviously even better for the region Park said

Excluding China the region is expected to grow 4 6% this year slower than the previous year s 5 4% pace By subregion South Asia is expected to record the fastest expansion of 5 5% this year, buoyed by India s projected growth of 6 4% this year, followed by Southeast Asia, which is forecast to grow 4 7% this year

Even as growth in developing Asia gathers pace, the ADB warned challenges remain, including turbulence in the global banking sector and an escalation in

the Ukraine war, which could cause a surge in commodity prices

But for now, turmoil in the global banking sector, triggered by the collapse of two mid-sized U S lenders, will not turn into “a bigger crisis of the financial system in the U S ” , Park said even as he urged policymakers to stay vigilant

Working in the region’s favor is the expected easing in inflation which would reduce the need for freq u e n t a n d s i z e a b l e i n t e r e s t r a t e h i k e s t h a t c o u l d dampen consumption

From 4 4% in 2022 inflation is forecast to decelerate to 4 2% this year and 3 3% next year the ADB said but it warned that core inflation remained high in some economies and required close monitoring

In a separate media briefing, Park said a surprise announcement by OPEC+ to cut production introduces another challenge for the region as this could drive oil prices higher Currently, the ADB forecasts oil prices to average $88 a barrel this year and $90 next year

iraq, Kurdish region sign accord to resume oil expor ts

pr ofit

A F P

Iraq s federal government and the Kurdistan autonomous region signed an accord Tuesday to allow Kurdish oil exports to resume through Turkey after they were halted 10 days ago, officials said

The agreement, signed in Baghdad in the presence of Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani and Kurdish premier Masrour Barzani, was to be implemented

“today”, a Kurdish regional government official told AFP

The deal comes two days after Iraq, Saudi Arabia and several other major oil exporters announced a sharp reduction in their production from May that has sent up oil prices

Barzani said on Twitter that the deal is temporary until parliament agrees a new oil and gas law but he called it a crucial step towards ending the long-standing dispute between Arbil and Baghdad

The deal thrashed out in talks between federal and regional officials spells the end of independent oil ex-

ports by the Kurdish regional government and marks a clear limit to its autonomy Ankara had stopped handling Iraqi Kurdish oil last month after an international tribunal ruled in a nineyear-old dispute that Baghdad was right to insist on overseeing all Iraqi oil exports Sales of Kurdistan crude will be managed from now on by the State Oil Marketing Organization, a f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t o ff i c i a l a n d a K u r d i s h o ff i c i a l t o l d A F P A j o i n t c o m m i t t e e f o r m e d b y t h e f e d e r a l and regional governments will supervise the export process, they added

richard Branson’s virgin O rbit files for bankruptc y, to seek buyer

Revenues will be paid into an account under the control of the Kurdish government which will be overseen by Baghdad they said

The halt to exports through a pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan had left foreign oil firms with nowhere to pump Kurdish oil Norway s DNO one of the main firms operating in Iraqi Kurdistan announced it was halting production at its wells Prior to Ankara s action on March 25 the autonomous region was exporting roughly 450 000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude Oil exports are the key revenue source for both the federal and regional governments and their management has long been a sensitive topic in relations

The Kurdistan government sees Baghdad as trying to profit from the region’s resources, while the Iraqi government argues it should enjoy sovereign control over all of the country’s oil production Iraq the second largest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) exports an average of 3 3 million bpd

CDa gives owners of c anceled proper ties given personal hearing

ISLAMABAD: For the first time in the history of the Capital Development Authority, the owners of canceled properties were given a personal hearing

According to the details, more than 100 affectees presented their problems before the Chairman CDA

Captain Noor ul Amin Mengal In the personal hearing, the legal wing of CDA was also present to assist the Chairman CDA Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain Noor ul Amin Mengal expressed his displeasure over not resolution of issue of allottees of Park Enclave Phase III

Chairman CDA issued instructions to the Estate Wing and said that the issue of allotments of Park Enclave Phase-III should be resolved within a month in accordance with rules

On this occasion, the Chairman Capital Development Authority further said that the issue of allotments should be resolved according to the rules and laws He further said that to promote business and economic activities, CDA should play the role of facilitator Chairman CDA Captain Noor ul Amin Mengal said that the officers who are obstructing the legitimate work should mend their behaviour Chairman CDA further said that the approval of building plans of commercial buildings should be ensured within one month by fulfilling the rules and regulations and the process of approval of maps will be supervised by the chairman office Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain Noor ul Amin Mengal further said that the commercial plots of Sector I-14, I-15, I-16 should be offered in the upcoming auction to be held next month for the promotion of economic activities P R

Richard Branson s Virgin Orbit Holdings (VORB O) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday after the satellite launch company failed to secure the longterm funding needed to help it recover from a January rocket failure

The Long Beach, California-based company lodged the filing in the U S Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking a sale of its assets after announcing the layoff of roughly 85% of its 750 employees last week

We believe that the Chapter 11 process represents the best path forward to identify and finalize a n e ff i c i e n t a n d v a l u e - m a x i m i z i n g s a l e Vi rg i n Orbit CEO Dan Hart said in a statement

The company listed assets of about $243 million and total debt at $153 5 million as of Sept 30 i n t h e f i l i n g Virgin Orbit went public in 2021 through a blank-check deal, raising $255 million less than expected Spun off from Branson’s space tourism firm Virgin Galactic in 2017, Virgin Orbit air-launches rockets from beneath a modified Boeing (BA N) 747 plane to send satellites into orbit

Virgin Orbit’s strategy has been that launching small rockets from a 747 in flight would allow for short-notice launches from anywhere

But a shift in demand toward larger launch rockets and more cost-effective shared rides to space on SpaceX s Falcon 9 rocket over the past two years raised the competitive stakes for Virgin Orbit analysts and industry executives have said Virgin Orbit s sixth mission in January with its centerpiece LauncherOne rocket, the first rocket launch out of Britain, failed to reach orbit and sent its payload of U S and UK intelligence satellites plunging into the ocean

The company scrambled to find new funding after the rocket failure halting operations and furloughing nearly all its employees on March 15 to conserve cash

V I R G I N G R O U P F U N D I N G

Richard Branson founder of Virgin Group poses for a photograph on board of his new cruise liner the Scarlet Lady at Dover Port in Dover

Richard Branson founder of Virgin Group poses for a photograph on board of his new cruise liner, the Scarlet Lady at Dover Port in Dover, Britain, February 21, 2020

Branson’s Virgin Group, which owned roughly

75% of the launch company, said it had invested over $1 billion in the unit, including $60 million in secured loans since November Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala was the second-biggest investor in Virgin Orbit with a 17 9% stake Virgin Investments a unit of Virgin Group will provide $31 6 million in new money to Virgin Orbit through debtor-in-possession financing to fund operations while it looks for a buyer in bankruptcy the companies said

Despite the success of his travel and telecommunications businesses billionaire Branson has also been associated with a number of high-profile business failures in an entrepreneurial career that dates back to the 1970s Reuters reported last month that Texas-based Matthew Brown had been in talks to invest $200 million in the company Those talks collapsed, sources told Reuters last week Virgin Orbit had a market value of $65 million based on Monday’s closing price down from more than $3 billion two years ago Shares fell 12% in pre-market trading on Tuesday

Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy filing showed its largest creditor as London-based Arqit Ltd which was owed almost $10 million for services and as a customer deposit Arqit declined to comment when contacted by Reuters In 2021 Arqit Quantum (ARQQ O) and Virgin Orbit announced a deal for two satellite launches intended to provide encryption services to the Five Eyes nations: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand Arqit Quantum said in December it would abandon its satellite development efforts and had found a way to provide secure encryption through an unspecified “ground infrastructure ” Virgin Orbit’s second-largest creditor was the United States Space Force which had a deposit of almost $6 8 million for future launches according

ishaq dar directs authorities to resolve issues faced by aptMa

islamabad

s tA F F R e P o R t

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Tuesday held a meeting with the delegation of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) headed by its Patron-in-Chief Dr Gohar Ejaz Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Pasha, Governor SBP, Chairman FBR, Secretary Power, Additional Secretary Commerce and senior officers from relevant ministries attended the meeting, said a press release issued here Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar welcomed the delegation, highlighted the economic and financial outlook of the country and expressed the resolve of the government to overcome these challenges and set the economy towards growth The delegation briefed the finance minister about its contribution to the revenues, employment generation and exports of Pakistan despite the challenges being faced by the APTMA members The delegation further apprised the finance minister about the issues being faced by the textile industry in terms of gas and electricity supply and their prices, and regarding imports and exports The major issues being faced by APTMA members included liquidity crunch due to hold-up sales tax refunds, stuck import of raw materials due to LC opening issues and regionally competitive energy tariff The APTMA delegation extended their all-out support to the government in the economic development of the country and stated that they realize the tough situation being faced by the Finance Ministry The finance minister acknowledged the contribution of APTMA to the economic growth of the country and committed to providing maximum support of the government to the textile industry in order to boost the export-led growth of Pakistan Moreover, the finance minister directed the relevant authorities to address and resolve their issues on a priority basis

gvot extends date for completion of 7th Population and Housing Census

Mastercard and Illusions Online a global leader in enterprise solutions for hospitality industry have partnered to launch a unique online platform to bring tailored travel offers to Mastercard cardholders The new offering from Mastercard and Illusions Online will feature curated and exclusive offers from the best hotel chains around the world with discounts of up to 30% The offer will also include bespoke travel experiences, such as early check-in, late checkout, room and status upgrades, and F&B credits Bookings are made seamlessly via the platform, which is due to be launched in the coming months and accessible via priceless com P R islamabad s tA F F R e P o R t Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has been executing the 7th Population and Housing Census digitally for the first time in the history country with census field operations commencing from 1st March 2023 and have continued till 4th April 2023 without any interruption

It is a great pleasure for the nation and a tremendous achievement that data of 95% listed households has been successfully collected within the stipulated timeframe through tablets across the country with only 5% census field work left either in bigblocks, blocks where census work started with some delay due to logistic arrangements or was withheld for a couple of days

due to some technical glitches In order to complete the leftover census work a proposal from Provincial Census Commissioners was solicited requesting for more time to complete the leftover work Keeping in view the proposal of the PCCs, Chief Census Commissioner has extended the date to complete the remaining work to ensure 100% coverage by 10th April, 2023 In case enumerators have not visited, all citizens of Pakistan are being requested to inform PBS using the toll free number is 0800-57574 which will be functional 24/7

The citizen can also send their complete address through SMS on 9727 for lodging complaints of non-coverage They can also visit or contact PBS Reginal Offices or the 495 Census Support Center established at the tehsil level for registering their com-

plaints regarding non-coverage Simultaneously the quality of data is being ensured through Post Enumeration Survey by using Computer Assisted Telephonic Interview (CATI) and the respected citizens are urged to extend cooperation with our team to verify their data through randomly generated calls through CATI It is pertinent to mention that all the structures, buildings have been listed across the country from 1st March to 10th March 2023 During the listing phase all the residential and economic units have also been geo tagged along-with categorization/classification of economic activities as per international standards As per data received the total numbers of listed households to date are over 39 62 Million in the country Self-enumeration portal was launched

by PBS from 20th February 2023 to 10th March 2023 whereby the citizens enumerated themselves by using the portal launched and this method was optional

The citizens of Pakistan being the most important stakeholders and beneficiary of the census are urged to ensure their full participation and cooperation with field staff visiting them and the call center officials who may call them for data verification for quality control along with as well as lodge complaints of non-coverage if any Participation in the census is not only our moral and legal obligation but also provides the opportunity for the government to develop evidence based policy planning for ensuring our rights and better service delivery at our doorstep Pakistan Bureau of Statistics is thankful to the nation and all the stakehold-

ers for their tireless efforts and unwavering support to accomplish 95% census field operation of this gigantic task of paramount importance for the informed and prudent policy and planning for a prosperous nation The first ever digital census of Pakistan is being executed with great success and it is a moment of great pride for the nation as it is the largest South Asian digital census to date The final phase of the census i e enumeration commenced from 12th March 2023 which remained continue till 4th April 2023 In this phase the data about household members and their demographic characteristics various

has been reported except few minor issues

C h i n a ’ s r e o p e n i n g b r i g h t e n s d e v e lo p i n g

a s i a ’ s 2 0 2 3 g r o w t h o u t lo o k : a d b

A D B f o r e C A S T S PA k I S TA n ’ S G r o w T H T o r I S e T o 2 P C I n f Y 24

ISLAMABAD a p p

ASIA Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said Pakistan s growth is forecast to rise to 2% in FY24 assuming the resumption of macroeconomic stability implementation of reforms, post-flood recovery, and improving external conditions Country Director ADB Yong Ye in a news release while issuing the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) April 2023 said that Pakistan’s economy continued to face strong headwinds but it had the potential to bounce back with robust macroeconomic

and structural reforms Ye t , w i t h a h i s t o r y o f r e s i l i e n c e i n the face of adversity and depending on a fast return to stability twinned with robust m a c r o e c o n o m i c a n d s t r u c t u r a l r e f o r m s , Pakistan can bounce back ADB is committed to continuing to support Pakistan’s e c o n o m i c r e c o v e r y a n d d e v e l o p m e n t plans, he added The country economic growth is expected to slow in FY23 in the w a k e o f l a s t y e a r ’s d e v a s t a t i n g f l o o d s

b a l l o o n i n g i n f l a t i o n a c u r r e n t a c c o u n t deficit, and an ongoing foreign exchange crisis ADB report said Pakistan s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected to slow to 0 6% in FY23 from 6% last fiscal year as the economy struggles to recover ADO April 2023 noted that climate change poses a grave challenge to Pakistan’s economic, social, and environmental development

According to the Global Climate Risk Index the country has ranked among the 10 most vulnerable nations worldwide in the past 2 decades

Climate-induced extreme weather has led to thousands of fatalities and colossal losses in agriculture, infrastructure, and the economy

In FY23 industrial growth is

Govt to move SC for hearing of Bhutto’s ‘ judicial murder ’ reference by full cour t

StAff RepoRt

Minister for Law and Justice Azam

Nazeer Tarar Tuesday said the government his ministry in particular would write to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to hear the presidential reference regarding the “judicial murder” of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by a full court bench

The development came after the feeral cabinet decided to approach the country’s top court on Bhutto’s 44th death anniversary observed today

When addressing the National Assembly session the minister said that the former premier had given the country a unanimous Constitution, but his judicial murder” reference had been pending in the apex court for the past 12 years

Tarar added that as per the cabinet s decision, his ministry would write to the apex court to form a full court bench to hear the reference so that it can rectify the historic mistake in judicial history

Then-president Asif Ali Zardari sent the reference under Article 186 on April 2 2011 to the Supreme Court The law minister said he was sad over the threemember bench’s judgement as the apex court was requested multiple times to constitute a full court bench to decide the polls delay case

“Collective wisdom was needed to

avert the constitutional crisis and stop further deteriorating the prevailing ones ” he said adding that the Parliament had also passed a resolution in that regard

“The division in the apex court was pointed out which was requested not to make any decision in haste, he mentioned

The Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP)

Tarar said had also requested the top court during the last day s hearing to form a seven-member bench but the same was rejected Another request for a 13-member bench was also turned down

The legal team would decide about the future course of action on the matter

Gas supply for consumers better this year, Senate told

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The Senate was informed on Tuesday that gas supply situation for the consumers is better this year as compared to the previous years Speaking in the House during Question Hour, Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan said it is because of the timely steps taken by the government The Minister of State said the prices of gas are determined by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority He said there was some increase in the gas price recently due to one percent increase in General Sales Tax The Senate also passed Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Amendment Bill, 2023 It was moved by Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan Responding to a calling attention notice Minister for Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain said significant reforms have been made in the boards of intermediate and secondary education He said we have also developed consensus of all the provinces on the national curriculum and they are now signatory to it The Minister for Education assured that steps would be taken to get removed inappropriate material in O-Level syllabus Earlier the House offered fateha for the security personnel martyred in a recent act of terrorism in Balochistan The House will now meet on Friday

ATC discharges 91

PTI workers from judicial complex vandalism case

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has discharged 91 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers from the case pertaining to vandalism outside judicial complex during Imran Khan’s court appearance As per details the anti-terrorism court judge Raja Jawad Abbas announced the verdict and discharged the PTI workers against surety bonds worth Rs 50,000 each Earlier, an anti-terrorism court granted interim bail to PTI leaders Asad Umar Raja Khurram Ali Nawaz Murad Saeed, Zulfi Bukhari and Shehzad Waseem in vandalism at the judicial complex during Imran Khan’s court appearance These cases were registered against the PTI leaders Asad Umar, Raja Khurram, Ali Nawaz, Murad Saeed and Shehzad Waseem in CTD police station while Zulfi Bukhari was booked in Golra police station case

the minister said during the NA session

The Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) politician also said the coalition parties which are part of the incumbent government, were not made parties in the case and their lawyers did not get even a single chance to speak during the last six days of the hearing He spoke about feeling dejected over “the creation of such a crisis”

Tarar maintained that it was also meaningful that a six-member bench had been formed to review the judgement of Justice Qazi Faez Isa who had ordered to stop the proceedings of cases initiated under Article 184/3 of the Constitution until the formation of the SC rules The matter related to Justice

Isa s verdict seemed to have not been addressed with an executive order, he added “There should not be any environment of conflicts in institutions and the impression of political engineering through institutions should also be avoided ”

Azam Tarar further said the government wanted free and fair elections across the country simultaneously He cited that according to Article 224 of the Constitution, general elections should be held at the same time across the country, while as per Article 254 polls could be postponed due to some extraordinary situation The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had the mandate to adjust the schedule of the election keeping in view the ground realities but the Supreme Court had itself given the date in its verdict now, he added

The minister said the two provincial assemblies were dissolved by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government in January just to satisfy the ego of PTI Chairman Imran Khan The three-member SC bench s verdict regarding elections in Punjab, he claimed would further deepen the constitutional and political crises in the country We have reservations about the decision and our legal team will decide about the future course of action after consultations, he said

Nawaz urges Parliament to asser t its supremac y

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz’s (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday called the Parliament to establish its supremacy following the recent Punjab poll verdict issued by the Supreme Court which he said to have virtually incapacitated the legislature making it redundant

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday in London Sharif argued that the survival of the country depended on the strength of its democratic institutions and criticized the ongoing drama of ousting elected governments

According to Sharif, the current verdict in the Punjab polls case was purportedly to give benefit to “one pampered person while incapacitating the state This is a pity, Sharif said “This is the result of over 70 years of mismanagement and corruption in our political system It is time for us to re-evaluate the way we run our country,” he asserted Sharif highlighted the “doctrine of necessity which had been invoked numerous times in Pakistan’s history to legitimize military coups and other unconstitutional actions He argued that this doctrine was only applied to elected governments while dictators had enjoyed immu-

nity from prosecution This double standard had weakened Pakistan s democratic institutions he added The former prime minister also expressed dismay over the rejection of the demand to constitute a full court stating that he believed there may have been ulterior motives behind the decision H e s a i d t h a t t h e d e c i s i o n a g a i n s t h i m i n t h e P a n a m a P ap e r s c a s e w a s i n c o r r e c t a n d s h o u l d h a v e b e e n r e v i e w e d b y a n e w - c o n s t i t u t e d b e n c h S h a r i f a l s o a l l e g e d t h a t h i s d i s q u a l i f ic a t i o n w a s t h e r e s u l t o f a c o ll a b o r a t i o n b e t w e e n t h r e e f o r m e r i n d i v i d u a l s o c c u p y i n g k e y p o s i t i o n s

fiscal year on higher domestic energy prices, a weaker currency, flood-related disruptions to supply and restraint on imports caused by the balance of payment crisis As a net importer of oil and gas, Pakistan will continue experiencing strong inflationary pressures for the rest of FY23

Judge sends plea seeking Imran’s removal as par t y chief to LHC CJ

LAHoRe

S ta f f R e p o R t

Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabir of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday referred a petition, seeking removal of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan as party s chairman, to the LHC chief justice to fix the matter before another bench for hearing

The judge argued that Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi had already heard an identical petition and therefore it would be appropriate to fix the petition before him The petitioner, Muhammad Junaid, had submitted that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified Imran Khan in Toshakhana case and he had no legal standing to continue as PTI chairman He submitted that he approached the ECP for removal of Imran Khan as the party chairman but to no avail He requested the court to issue directives for removing Imran Khan from the office of PTI chairman

Imran, others summoned by JIT in cases against PTI

LAHoRe

S ta f f R e p o R t

Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has summoned ex- prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and other party leaders in cases registered against PTI leaders The JIT was formed by the government to probe the cases registered against the PTI chief and workers over vandalism and attacks on police PTI leaders were booked at Civil Lines Shadman and Race Course police stations As per details Imran Khan Fawad Chaudhry Hammad Azhar, Ejaz Chaudhry, Musarrat Cheema, Farrukh Habib and other PTI leaders have been directed to appear before JIT at CCPO Office tomorrow The former premier and other PTI leaders are asked to appear before the JIT at 1pm on Wednesday (tomorrow) It may be noted that only Asad Umar appeared before the JIT after being summoned while other PTI leaders did not show up Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan filed a plea with the Lahore High Court (LHC) for quashing cases registered against party workers The federal government the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), prime minister, interior minister, caretaker Punjab minister IG Punjab anti-corruption National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and PEMRA have been made respondents by Imran Khan

WB cuts Pak istan’s GDP forecast on rising rates, limited fiscal space

WASHINGtoN R e

remesinghe said Sri Lanka’s economy could contract by 3 5% or 4 0% in 2023 after shrinking by 11% last year Inflation in South Asia is set to fall to 8 9% this year and to below 7% in 2024 the World Bank said The World Bank also lowered its forecast for India’s economic growth in the current fiscal year that started on April 1 to 6 3% from 6 6% as it expects higher borrowing costs to hurt consumption