Epaper_22-07-02 ISB

saturday, 2 July, 2022 I 2 Zil Hajj, 1443 I rs 15.00 I vol XII no 363 I 12 Pages I Islamabad edition

SC ruleS eleCtion of CM Punjab to take PlaCe on 22nd

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE

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staff report

HE Supreme Court Friday announced that the election for the Punjab chief minister’s slot would be held on July 22 – after the provincial government, PTI, and PML-Q reached a consensus on the matter.

The PTI had filed a plea in the top court seeking the annulment of Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision that had ordered the governor to hold a vote recount of the Punjab Chief Minister’s election after excluding 25 dissident PTI members.

During today ’s hearing, after much back and forth, Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi – a contender for the CM’s slot – had initially agreed that Hamza Shehbaz could remain the chief minister till July 17, but the PTI disagreed.

In a bid to break the deadlock, the top court directed Elahi to speak to PTI Chairman Imran Khan and come up with a solution – as it adjourned the hearing for the third time.

After the hearing resumed, all the parties agreed that Hamza would remain the chief minister till July 17. In a 4-1 split decision a day earlier, the LHC wrapped up PTI’s case against Hamza’s election to the CM’s slot, while ordering recount of the votes cast during the Punjab chief executive’s election but with the exclusion of 25 PTI dissidents’ votes, in line with the apex court’s interpretation of Article 63(A).

But in its bid to remove Hamza from the post of Punjab chief minister, PTI had earlier in the day approached the SC

to challenge the orders of the LHC to hold a vote recount on the CM poll – which was held on April 16.

The SC accepted the plea for an immediate hearing earlier in the day and formed a three-member bench.

The hearing was headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, while Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.

IMran aCCePTed HaMZa as PunJaB CM unTIL re-eLeCTIOn: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Friday accepted Hamza Shehbaz as Punjab chief minister until re-election.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had summoned Hamza Shehbaz and Speaker of Punjab Assembly Pervaiz Elahi in a plea filed by PTI challenging the Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict for the recount of votes for the election of Chief Minister Punjab.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Jamal Mandokhel heard the petition. At one point, PTI’s counsel Babar Awan said that PTI had reservations against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Justice Bandial, however, said that orders would be issued regarding the implementation of the election code of conduct. He stated that the court would issue a general order and that the parties should not waste time on small matters. “It would be better if you don’t make the case a family dispute,” he told Elahi and Hamza.

The CJP said that both sides had been at odds for three months and the matter had finally been resolved in the

apex court in three hours. He then asked: “CM sahab, do you have any intentions of rigging (the polls)?” To this, Hamza replied that he would compete in the assembly and whoever is the suitable candidate would win.

“I am a political worker. I have spent years in jail. We will ensure free and fair elections are held,” he said. Subsequently, Justice Bandial said that the court would use words acceptable to both parties in its written order. He then announced that the elections for the chief minister would be held on July 22.

‘Likely that Punjab CM election won’t happen today’ Earlier, Justice Ahsan remarked that it was clear the election could not be held today. However, he did not agree with the PTI’s request for a seven-day extension on account of its MPAs being out of the country. He went on to say that if there was no objection to Hamza continuing as CM, the only point of contention was the timeframe.

One of the lawyers present during today’s hearing contended that it would be more appropriate to hold the CM election after the by-elections on 20 Punjab Assembly seats, scheduled for July 17. To this, Justice Ahsan said the argument had weightage.

Justice Ahsan noted that as per the dissenting note in the LHC verdict, one more day could be given for holding the assembly session. “There should be an appropriate time for a revote,” he said.

One of PTI’s lawyers, Imtiaz Siddiqui, pointed out that the ECP had not yet notified PTI lawmakers on the reserved seats in the PA. At this, Justice Ahsan remarked that “the world would not come to an end” if the notification was not issued.

Subsequently, the chief justice summoned Hamza and Elahi, adjourning the hearing till 4pm.

HaMZa, eLaHI aPPear BeFOre sC: When the hearing resumed, CJP Bandial, while addressing Hamza and Elahi, said that the PTI’s stance was that adequate time had not been given for the election. “Another question is who will run the province if the court allows for more time,” the CJP said.

According to the Constitution, a province can’t be run without a chief minister, he said. CJP Bandial also asked Elahi whether he had any objections to Hamza remaining chief minister.

At this, Elahi said that ever since Hamza had been elected CM, police were “in control” of the provincial assembly.

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PTI gets permission for today’s rally from ‘concerned quarters’ ISLAMABAD aGencies

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Friday received permission from the Islamabad district magistrate’s office to hold a rally in the federal capital tonight at Parade Ground here after a nod by the ‘concerned quarters’.

According to a notification from the office, the former ruling party was given “permission to use the venue” of Parade ground by “concerned quarters”.

The notification was also sent to the chief commissioner of Islamabad, the IGP and deputy IGP Islamabad, senior superintendents of police for traffic and operations and the assistant commissioner of the industrial area.

PTI gIves underTakIng: Earlier, the PTI had given an undertaking to the district administration of Islamabad and agreed to 39 conditions for holding a rally on July 2.

PTI Islamabad chapter president of the central secretariat Ali Nawaz Awan signed the undertaking – code of conduct – before Islamabad’s deputy commissioner taking full responsibility for any untoward incident and agreeing to be held responsible in case of violation of the agreement.

However, the no-objection certificate (NOC) for using Parade Groud was subject to the permission of “Staff Duties Directorate, GHQ [General Headquarters], Rawalpindi,” according to the undertaking.

Through the code of conduct, the party has agreed that the gathering shall not disturb or disrupt the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to freedom of movement, trade and busi-

ness, and education, and has assured that it will not block any road – Expressway, Murree Road or service roads.

The former ruling party agreed that the gathering shall end at 12 midnight, stating that it will be the organiser’s duty to ensure the dispersal after the event ends.

It nodded that the participants shall not indulge in violence or clashes.

Under the agreement, the organisers are bound to ensure that the participants are dispersed peacefully, and they do not spend the night or subsequent nights at the Parade ground The PTI also agreed that the participants shall not enter the Red Zone of Islamabad; organisers are responsible for the internal security arrangements of the participants and providing the list of the participants to the local police in advance; and that they will be responsible for any damage caused to the public or private property.

In the code, it signed a condition that no anti-state, religious, and anti-national slogans shall be made; effigy or flag of any party shall not be burnt; weapons would not be allowed, and the law enforcers can search any vehicle or person coming to attend the gathering.

The undertaking also stated that the organisers will respect the fundamental human rights of other stakeholders and the general public.

Separately, PTI Central Secretary General Asad Umar has urged the people to come out of their houses on July 2 to send a strong message that Pakistan was no longer a country where governments were being changed by conspiring behind closed doors.

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Inflation reaches 21.32pc in June, highest in 14 years ISLAMABAD Ghulam abbas

The country’s headline inflation accelerated to a record peak of 21.32 percent last month as compared to the corresponding month of 2021, the data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday shows.

As per officials at PBS, the inflation rate is historic in Pakistan as compared to the past 14 years, as the highest inflation was recorded in June 2008 when it registered at 21.5 percent.

The two highest figures of over 21 percent inflation in the month of June were recorded in 2008 and 2022 as per the available data between 1991 and 2022, the officials claim.

The government, which is trying to meet the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at any cost for availing the stalled bailout package, has pushed the price of fuel, electricity and gas to historic levels.

According to officials, a surge in

global commodity prices, falling value of local currency and rising import bill has contributed to this high level of inflation. The government has raised domestic fuel prices by up to 92 percent in a month to meet the IMF’s requirements.

The current inflation rate reflects the adverse impact of increase in government-administered fuel and energy prices.

It may be mentioned here that the Ministry of Finance through the recently issued monthly Economic Outlook expected the inflation to remain within the range of 14.5 percent to 15.5 percent.

The increase in fuel prices every 15 days is expected to push inflation further up in the coming months.

Earlier in May, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in its bid to tackle economic headwinds, raised the key interest by 150 basis points to 13.75 percent. The central bank back then said that as electricity and fuel subsidies are reversed, inflation is likely to rise temporarily and may remain elevated through FY23

before declining sharply during FY24.

The SBP is currently scheduled to hold its next Monetary Policy Committee meeting on July 7, 2022 to decide the key interest rate.

The PBS data shows the CPI has increased by 21.3 percent on a yearon-year basis in June 2022 as compared to an increase of 13.8 percent in the previous month and 9.7

percent as compared to June 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 6.3 percent in June 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.4 percent in the previous month.

Meanwhile, CPI inflation index in urban areas increased by 19.8 percent on a year-on-year basis in June 2022 as compared to an increase of 12.4 percent in the previous month and 9.6 percent in June 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 6.2 percent in June 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.3 percent in the previous month and decrease of 0.4 percent in June 2021.

CPI inflation in rural areas increased by 23.6 percent on a year-on-year basis in June 2022 as compared to an increase of 15.9 percent in the previous month and 9.7 percent in June 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 6.6 percent in June 2022 as compared to an increase of 0.6 percent in the previous month and decrease of 0.1 percent in June 2021.

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Saturday, 2 July, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

KP govt tAKeS MeASureS For PAKIStAn’S reMovAl FroM FAtF grey lISt PEShAWAr

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azIz BuNeRI

HE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Friday decided to extend the scope of oversight of all financial affairs across the province in a bid to help remove Pakistan from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

According to the details, more than 2 million cash transactions across the province will be monitored, traders will be required to

provide justification and relevant records for suspicious transactions, registration of all real estate and gem traders will be completed while the land transfer process will also be regularly monitored.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by KP chief secretary to discuss the steps taken by different government agencies to curb money laundering. The participants of the urged the need for more steps to comply with the FATF’s recommendations, reminding the meeting that a delegation of the taskforce will visit Pakistan in July.

PM Shehbaz vows to personally promote newly launched Innovation Hub ISLAMABAD INp

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has declared that he would personally promote the newly-launched Innovation Hub and the government would set up special cells for talented youth at all ministries to encourage them work on their innovative ideas for national policy-making. Addressing the participants at the launch ceremony of Innovation Hub here on Friday, Shehbaz Sharif said the step was aimed at encouraging the involvement of youth in national development.

Being set under the Prime Minister’s vision, the Innovation Hub will play an important role in harmonizing policy making with the needs of the country by incorporating the views of all stakeholders particularly country’s talented youth and manpower.

Shehbaz said the innovative project would receive valuable feedback from stakeholders to help the government improve and refine its national policies. He said modern education and technology had immense significance in today’s world, and urged the experts, intellectuals and youth to connect with the government through their suggestions. He stressed the importance of research work to explore the potential of various subjects for the benefit of general public. The prime minister said he would personally promote the Innovation Hub which would act as an effective platform for youth to excel. PM Sharif said the brilliant ideas of youth would be incorporated in policy-making so as to formulate them in a more practical way. Head of PM’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi said the main objective of establishing Innovation Hub under the vision of PM Shehbaz Sharif was “putting the public back in public policy”. Besides himself, he said, the panel of experts comprising Faisal Bari, Mosharraf Zaidi, Shahrukh Wani and Ayesha Raza Farooq would finalize the ideas. He said the selected proposals would be presented to the prime minister, which would later become part of the national policy. This would be the first time that the general public would be involved in national policy-making, he added. The youth present on the occasion gave their input about women development, tourism and hotel management, technology, and the need for improvement in educational curriculum.

President gives assent to finance bill 2022-23 ISLAMABAD app

President Dr Arif Alvi gave his ceremonial assent to Finance Bill 2022-23 under Articles 73 and 75 of the Constitution. According to details, the President gave his approval to the Finance Bill 2022-23 after it was passed by the National Assembly a day earlier. Dr Alvi has assented to the finance bill under Article 75 of the Constitution. Under the said article, the president is bound to give his assent to a money bill within 10 days.

The meeting was told that Directorate of Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions has been set up while work has been initiated on data sharing, liaison and collaboration to curbs money laundering. It was urged that there is a need to create awareness among the officials all the administrative departments and related to all the institutions.

Secretary Minerals informed the meeting that a Grade-19 officer has been appointed as the focal person for the process of registration of dealers involved in the mining industry and especially those

associated with the gemstone industry.

The process of buying and selling of properties will also be monitored and all registered dealers will be required to provide proof of business transactions and other information if the authorities flag any. Meetings have also been held with dealers associated with the jewelry business in this regard.

Similarly, it was decided to lay down procedures for gems and minerals imported from Afghanistan. These gems and antiques are exported from Peshawar to Singapore, Thailand and other parts of the world.

Meanwhile, the meeting was told, that 209 illegal housing societies have also been identified across the province, details of which will be provided to the Directorate of Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions, while it is also proposed to monitor the financial transactions of housing societies in the province.

The meeting also decided to compile a record of transactions in cash of more than Rs2 million for which the task will be handed over to the Director Land Records and Sub-Registrar of the Board of Revenue.

The sub-registrar shall compile record of cash payment of over Rs2 million for sale and purchase of all lands and provide it to the Directorate of Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions.

It may be mentioned here that the provincial chief secretary has appointed the home secretary as focal person for liaison with the Directorate.

Imran Khan blasts govt for burdening poor instead of buying cheaper Russian oil ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan Friday lashed out at the government saying that instead of buying cheaper oil from Russia, the rulers have burdened the poor masses with price hike, besides lambasting them saying they have given themselves a second NRO to the tune of Rs1,100 billion.

In his tweet on Friday, Imran Khan said: “Instead of buying cheaper oil from Russia, (the) Imported govt brought in by US regime change conspiracy, continues to put unbearable burden on people while giving themselves NRO2 worth Rs 1100 bn. Total increase Rs 99 for petrol, Rs 133 for diesel. Join our protest against this tomorrow.”

On the other hand, former interior minister and Awami Muslim League Chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has criticized the government for raising

petrol prices saying that people will be administered more injections of price hike in the month of July.

On his Twitter handle, Sh Rashid wrote: “After an increase of Rs15 in petrol price and Rs14 in diesel rate, there will be more injections of price hike in July. The people will not get any relief, rather they will have to suffer.

People are living by selling their household goods and now the electricity bill is also coming.

The turncoats are being rewarded with party offices and party tickets. Soon the political funeral of the government will come out with a bang.”

“This is a dummy government whose agenda is just to end its corruption cases and dance to the IMF tune. They have no interest in what is happening to the poor. They will depart after putting country in severe economic and political crisis. They will try to steal by-elections,” he concluded.

Pakistan-Bangladesh trade to cross $1b FAISALABAD app

Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh is growing at a rapid pace and it will cross the $1 billion mark by the yearend, Bangladesh High Commissioner Ruhul Alam Siddique said.

Addressing the business community at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) on Thursday, he said that Pakistan was very important for Bangladesh in terms of trade and the two countries must supplement and complement each other, instead of becoming competitors.

“There is enormous trade potential between the two countries and we must harness our skills and capabilities for the benefit of each other,” Siddique said. The envoy expressed Bangladesh’s intention to cooperate with Pakistan in the fields of food

processing, dairy and textile, citing that Bangladesh did not produce even a single bale of cotton, “but we are second in garment exports after China”. He pointed out that a large number of Pakistanis were working in Bangladesh, but his country still needed skilled manpower for its textile sector. “Bangladesh’s development is directly linked with the progress of the region and all regional states must concentrate on reactivating Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and Safta (South Asian Free Trade Area). Furthermore, Bangladesh has signed only one free trade agreement (FTA),” he said. “We have some problems in signing FTA with Pakistan, but we must make collaborative efforts to overcome the emerging challenges,” Siddique stressed, adding that he had good relations with the business community of Karachi and now he would develop similar linkages with the business circles of Punjab.

Pakistan’s Covid-19 positivity ratio jumps to 4pc ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Covid-19 positivity ratio in Pakistan is nearing 4 per cent amid a steady surge in infections across the country, as 694 new cases were reported during the last 24 hours, National Institute of Health (NIH) data showed Friday morning.

According to the National Institute of Health, 17,640 Covid tests were conducted across the

country in past 24 hours, out of which 694 turned out to be positive. The national positivity rate now stands at 3.93 per cent, the data showed.

The NIH said that no Covid-19-related death was reported in past 24 hours, while the overall death toll in the country stands at 30,393, adding that 101 people are in critical condition. The National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) yesterday issued new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for government offices amid rising coronavirus cases.

FIA likely to arrest Punjab Assembly secretary: Sources LAhOrE Staff RepoRt

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is likely to arrest Secretary Punjab Assembly Muhammad Khan Bhatti in a case pertaining to a sugar mill ahead of a key session to elect chief minister Punjab on the directives of the Lahore High Court (LHC). According to sources with the FIA privy to the matter, undeniable evidence has been gathered against Muhammad Khan Bhatti, who is the secretary of Punjab Assembly and considered close to Speaker Pervaiz Elahi. The FIA, according to sources, will file a fresh case against him after he secured bail in the sugar mill case against him. “The interior ministry has directed the FIA to make the arrest,” they said adding that Muhammad Khan Bhatti will be arrested on the basis of the statement given by his close relative Nawaz Bhatti. Previously, the Punjab government has hinted at launching a new inquiry against the provincial assembly’s speaker Pervaiz Elahi and secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti. Sources told ARY News that the government has found evidence against PA Speaker Pervaiz Elahi and Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti for taking bribes to approve fake legislation. It was learnt that the approval of the charter of the universities was not presented before the House, sources closer to the Punjab government said. They added that the office-bearers of the provincial assembly of Punjab had received bribes from the universities to illegally legislate the charter while sitting inside their chambers. It is being said that the provincial authorities will also begin a thorough probe into the construction of the Punjab Assembly’s building and illegal appointments.

FBR meets revised revenue target of Rs6.1tr ShAhzAD PArAchA The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected net revenue of Rs6,125 billion during the current fiscal year (July 21-June 22), which has exceeded the upward revised target of Rs6,100 billion by Rs25 billion.

This represents a massive growth of about 29.1% over the collection of Rs4,744 billion during the same period, last year. Likewise, the gross revenue collection increased from Rs4,996 billion last year to Rs6,460 billion this year, showing an increase of 29.3%.

One of the key features of this outstanding performance by FBR is reflected in the significant increase in direct taxes which has registered a growth of 32% over the last year.

This is in line with the policy of the incumbent government to enforce taxation on income earned thereby reducing the indirect incidence of taxation. Furthermore, the net collection from Income Tax during year is Rs2,278 billion against Rs1,731 billion last year whereas the sales tax of Rs2,525 billion has been collected this year against Rs1,983 billion last year.

The net collection from Customs Duty is Rs1,000 billion this year against Rs747 billion last year while the collection from Federal Excise Duty is Rs322 billion this year against Rs284 billion last year.

Similarly, the net collection of Rs1,741 billion during the 4th Quarter of the current financial year against Rs1,351 billion collected in the 4th Quarter last year, represents an increase of 31.7%

despite many challenges.

The net collection for the month of June 2022 is Rs763 billion representing an increase of 28.9% over Rs580 billion collected in June 2021.

On the other hand, the number of refunds of Rs335 billion disbursed during this year compared to Rs251 billion paid last year, reflects an increase of 33.3%.

Likewise, refunds of Rs105 billion issued during the 4th Quarter this year against Rs68 billion issued in the 4th Quarter last year, increased by 55.2%.

Similarly, refunds of Rs39 billion issued during June 2022 against Rs27 billion in June 2021 increased by 43.8%.

In the month of June, the refunds have been issued to more than 5,800 taxpayers as compared to 3,100 in June last year.

This is reflective of FBR’s resolve to

fast-track refunds to prevent liquidity shortages in the industry. The robust revenue performance is even more significant due to effective enforcement by field formations.

It is pertinent to mention that FBR’s POS system to document the retail sector has integrated a total number of 10,611 POS machines of 4,563 Tier-1 retailers across the country. A total of 425 million tax invoices were generated by Tier-1 retailers integrated with POS. A total number of six POS computerized draws have been held in which prize money worth Rs318 million was disbursed among 6,042 lucky winners. It is heartening to inform that the number of FBR invoices is increasing as a result of effective monitoring by FBR despite the resource crunch.

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Saturday, 2 July, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

Petrol PrIce IncreASed Four tIMeS by SHeHbAz-led coAlItIon govt So FAr ISLAMABAD

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ahmaD ahmaDaNI

HE coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif has so far approved four price hikes, totaling a massive Rs99.15 per litre in petrol and Rs132.39/litre increase in the price of high-speed diesel.

As per details, after the ouster of former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no confidence motion in the National Assembly (NA), the incumbent coalition government from the start of its rule on April 11, 2022, till July 1, in the country has so far jacked up the prices of POL products massively.

On Thursday, the coalition government since the inception of its rule increased POL prices the fourth time by up to Rs18.68/litre for the next

15 days as the coalition government decided to ‘partially’ apply the petroleum levy of Rs10/litre in petrol price, and Rs 5/litre in HSD, kerosene oil and LDO prices.

The price of petrol was increased by Rs14.85/liter from Rs233.89 per litre to Rs.248.74 per litre. Similarly, the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) was increased from Rs263.31 to Rs276.54, an increase of Rs13.23 per litre.

Likewise, the price of kerosene oil increased by Rs18.83 per litre, from Rs211.43 to Rs230.26 whereas the price of light diesel oil (LDO) was increased by Rs18.68 per litre, from Rs207.47 to Rs226.15.

It may be pointed out here that the government did not increase the prices initially despite the pressure of International Monetary Funds (IMF) to approve an increase in this regard.

However, later it scumbled to the threat of IMF that the fund will not restore the loan programme and revised the prices of POL products on 26th May and approved up to Rs30 per litre hike in POL prices.

And after this up to Rs30/liter increase in all POL products prices, the petrol price soared to Rs179.86/liter from Rs149.86.

Similarly, HSD prices increased from Rs144.15/litre to Rs174.15/liter.

Likewise, Kerosene oil (SKO) price increased from Rs125.56/litre to Rs155.56/litre whereas LDO price was increased from Rs118.31/litre to Rs148.31/litre.

In another decision of hike in POL prices, oil prices were jacked up by up to Rs30/litre on June 2 under which petrol price was increased from Rs179.86/litre to Rs209.86, an increase

of Rs30/litre. Similarly, HSD price was increased from Rs174.15/litre to Rs204.15/litre, an increase of Rs30/litre, Rs26.38/litre was approved in the price of SKO and resultantly the price of SKO increased from Rs155.56/litre to Rs181.94/litre whereas price of LDO was increased by Rs30/litre from 148.31/litre to Rs178.31/litre.

In a third move on June 15, the government notified an increase in petrol price by Rs24.3/litre and as a result of this petrol price reached at Rs233.89/liter. HSD price was increased

by Rs59/liter from Rs204.15/liter to Rs263.31/litre. The SKO price was increased from 181.94/liter to Rs211.43/liter, an increase of Rs29.49/liter whereas LDO price was increased from Rs178.31/liter to Rs207.47/litre, an increase of Rs29.16/litre.

Honda, Yamaha Motor Pakistan raise prices for new fiscal year LAhOrE ShahaB omeR

Yamaha and Honda Atlas have increased their prices for the 4th and 5th time this year, it emerged on Friday.

The new prices came into effect on the 1st of July 2022 on the commencement of the new fiscal year (FY22). Pakistan Motorcycle Assemblers (APMA) Chairman Association Sabir Sheikh while speaking with a local media outlet cited the price increases as a

Sindh lg polls: MQM seeks postponement of 2nd phase KArAchI

necessity given the increase in manufacturing costs and the rupee’s free-fall.

Profit engaged with various local motorcycle dealers on McLeod Road, Lahore, to investigate the matter further and was told that “the demand for motorcycles has increased after the rise in petrol prices”.

“These companies are already much more expensive than locally made motorcycles. However, local companies will also slightly increase their prices

Court exempts Shehbaz, Hamza from appearance in NAB case LAhOrE

NewS DeSk

Staff RepoRt

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Friday wrote a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the second phase of the Sindh local government elections. In the letter to ECP, MQM wrote that Covid cases are surging in several constituencies and the delimitation in Sindh is also not legally accurate. “The second phase of Sindh LG polls should be postponed till the final voters’ lists and drop in Covid cases,” the letter further stated.

An accountability court on Friday exempted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz from personal appearance for one-day in a reference, filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The court adjourned further hearing till July 26 and sought final arguments from parties on the applications, filed by the prime minister and chief minister for permanent exemption from personal appearance in this

notorious gangster involved in over 500 cases killed: IgP ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan on Friday said notorious gangster Bilal Sabit, involved in over 500 criminal cases, had been killed along with his accomplice during a joint operation by the Islamabad Police and the Intelligence Bureau. The IGP told a press conference that the gangster was wanted by the police in several incidents of robbery, carlifting, attacks on law enforcers and other crimes in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. He had links with terrorist groups and had received training in Afghanistan,and caused a loss of more than Rs 3 billion to the citizens, the IGP added. Dr Akbar said the police were collecting data from Peshawar and Rawalpindi to dismantle the network of gang in coordination with other intelligence agencies. The gangster’s other accomplices would also be arrested soon. He said the gang became more active after 2018 and kept escaping from the police due to use of modern technology. “We are chasing the gang members and its facilitators to recover the looted items,” the IGP remarked. The number of gang members, he said, might vary from 16 to 24, and six of them had been killed in several encounters. “Crime cannot be controlled without the cooperation of masses and law enforcement agencies,” he said and extended his gratitude to those who helped the police in tracing the gang. To a question, he said the security of Islamabad was put on high alert and he himself was monitoring the situation closely to ensure law and order.

now in response to Honda and Yamaha, although there is no reason to,” Mian Shafiq, a local dealer, said.

The entire matter raises questions on the efficacy of the Engineering Development Board’s (EDB) statement to the Ministry of Industry and Production (MoIP) earlier this year regarding the motorcycle industry having achieved 95% localisation. The industry has evidently been unable to decouple from its import reliance given the justifications of these, now constant, price increases.

reference. Accountability Court Judge Qamar-uz-Zaman conducted the reference proceedings.

A legal team, on behalf of the prime minister and Punjab chief minister, submitted exemption applications during the proceedings. The court was apprised that the prime minister could not appear due to his engagements in Islamabad, whereas Hamza Shehbaz was busy in the session of provincial assembly. The court was requested to exempt both in view of their engagements.

At this, the court allowed the exemption applications and exempted both from personal appearance for one-day, while adjourning further hearing till July 26.

PM greets China on Hong Kong’s 25th handover anniversary ISLAMABAD NewS DeSk

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday congratulated the leadership and people of China on 25th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China.

“I extend my heartiest congratulations to H.E. President Xi Jinping, the government & people of China on the 25th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

He said Hong Kong was the perfect example of the successful implementation of “One country, two systems”.

On 1st July 1997, Britain formally handed Hong Kong back to China, ending the British Empire in the Far East.

Under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Hong Kong was to have 50 years of semi-autonomy under ‘one country two systems’, with promises that its democratic rights would be expanded.

10-year-old girl raped by three men in Karachi

KArAchI ageNcIeS

A 10-year-old girl was reportedly raped by three men including a local shopkeeper in the Chanesar Goth area of Karachi.

According to details, the father of the girl has filed

a rape case in the Mehmoodabad Police Station. The girl was taken in a rikshaw to a house forcefully, where the local shopkeeper Kahiru and his two accomplices raped the 10-year-old, the father claims.

The girl’s father said that she had gone to Khairu’s shop to buy something where he made her sit in a rikshaw forcefully and took her to an empty house.

There he called another person who then took her to an unknown location, he added.

He added that the culprits left the girl near the corporation gate at 8:30 pm, and warned her to not tell anyone about what they did to her. The girl was crying when she got home and told everything to her parents.

The police officials, upon filing the complaint, arrested the shopkeeper Khairu, while the search for the two other men is underway.

A lady doctor conducted an initial checkup of the girl, but it could not give any concussive evidence.

A complete medical of the girl will bring clarity to the situation.

NEWS

03

FM invites uS congresswoman to visit Pakistan ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto on Friday addressed Congressional Pakistan Caucus via video link and invited its Chairperson Sheila Jackson Lee to visit Pakistan.

Speaking during the interaction, Bilawal said that the Pakistani diaspora in United States plays an important role in strengthening the relationship between the two countries. US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee said that she would write a letter to the International Monetary Fund for improving economic conditions of the country. The meeting was also attended by Pakistani envoy to US Masood Khan, Democrat leaders Tahir Javed, Asif Riaz Qadir and others. On May 18, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to mend broken ties between the two countries.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto participated in a ministerial meeting and debate at the United Nations Security Council on food security. Bilawal and Blinken vowed to mend ties between Pakistan and America and strengthen bilateral bonds. The American Secretary of State said that the USA is looking forward to encouraging economic and trade ties with Pakistan. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasised the importance of multilateralism and the United Nations in Pakistan’s foreign policy. Antony Blinken also thank the Pakistan Foreign Minister for his participation in the Food security debate at the UN. Bilawal Bhutto assured Blinken that US investors in Pakistan will be provided with maximum assistance.

PtI MnA niazi booked for ‘torturing’ trailer driver LAYYAh ageNcIeS

Four people, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MNA Abdul Majeed Khan Niazi, were booked in the case of torturing a trailer driver in Fatehpur area of Layyah, police said on Friday. However, the PTI MNA claims that the FIR was a part of a campaign to harass him by the Punjab government just to keep him away from a by-election being held in his constituency and he had refused to budge. Police alleges that MNA Niazi and his men beat up the driver when he denied him the way during a road crossing. Following the incident, the driver had blocked the MM Road to register his protest.

MNA’s son, Abdur Raheem Niazi, on the other hand, has said that right now his father is in northern areas but Police was building pressure. “The government is politically victimizing us by registering false and fabricated cases against us,” he alleged. He has asked the police to see the facts before registering false against him and his family.

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Saturday, 2 July, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

04 NEWS

COVID-19 sItuatIOn Can aggraVate In KaraChI after eID, warns MuraD KARACHI

s

Staff RePoRt

INDH Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the COVID-19 cases during the last week of June have shown an upward trend and it needs to be controlled before the advent of major events.

“There is Eidul Azha around the corner besides local government elections and Muharram, otherwise the government would have no option but to take some tough decisions”, he pointed out.

“This situation can easily be

controlled through adopting COVID-19 SOPs such as wearing masks, avoiding handshake, ensuring social distancing and washing hands voluntarily,” he said while presiding over a Coronavirus Task Force meeting called here at CM House to take stock of the situation.

The meeting was attended by Provincial Ministers Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Nasir Shah, Sharjeel Memon (through video link), Advisor Law Murtaza Wahab, Parliamentary Secretary on Health Qasim Soomro, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, IG Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, Home Secretary Saeed Mangnijo, Com-

missioner Karachi Iqbal Memon, Dr Bari, Dr Qaiser Sajjad, DR Sara Khan of World Bank, VC Dow University Dr Saeed Qureshi, Deputy DG Rangers Brig Rauf Shahzad, representatives of Corps Headquarter and intelligence.

The chief minister was told that on June 17, the province had only 38 cases with a 3.6 percent detection ratio while on June 18, the number of cases jumped to 122. After that, the cases went on increasing from 377, to 531 and then 465 on June 30. At this, the chief minister said that the situation was not alarming, but it was worrisome. “We need to control it through mass awareness,”

Balochistan LG polls: re-polling in 8 districts today ISLAMABAD: Stage is set for re-polling of LG polls in eight districts of Balochistan including Sibbi and Ziarat today on Saturday. According to details control room for the re-polling would continue to work till July 3, an ECP spokesperson said. The re-polling will be held in 8 districts including Dakki, Qila Abdullah, Ziarat, Loralai, Panjgor, Sibbi, Noshki and Kech. Polling will continue uninterrupted from 8 am to 5 pm. Re-elections will be held on July 2 in 13 wards of these districts, the notification read. The local body elections were postponed in the aforementioned districts on May 29, 2022, due to law and order and other incidents. In the LG polls in Baloschistan, held on May 29, independent candidates swept the polls with over 1,145 seats in municipal corporations, municipal committees and union councils. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) was the biggest party with 130 seats and the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) secured 72 seats only. Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) bagged 65 seats, National Party 38 (NP), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) 35, and Balochistan National PartyMengal (BNP-M) 20, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) 10 and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) got six seats. 3,552,398 voters were registered for LG polls, whereas 5,226 polling stations, including 576 for men and 562 for women, were established for the Balochistan LG polls. INP

he said.

The CM was further briefed that the data of the last one week (June 24 – 30, 2022) shows that Karachi has the highest ratio of 19.76 percent cases on June 30, 19.09 percent on June 29, 19.24 percent on June 28, 9.21 percent on June 27, 22.65 percent on June 26, 21.71 percent on June 25, and 19.65 percent on June 24.

During the corresponding period, Hyderabad had 11.54 percent cases on June 24, 8.51 percent on June 25, 0.32 percent on June 26, 0.29 percent on 27, 1.09 percent on June 28, 0.15 percent on June 29 and 0.39 percent on June 30. At this

the chief minister said that the ratio of cases in Karachi showed an upward trend between 19 to 21 percent during the said week while trend of the cases showed decline in Hyderabad.

The weekly average of COVID19 cases in Karachi has been recorded at 17.47 percent, 1.01 percent in Hyderabad and 1.05 percent in the rest of the province. In this way, the provincial average ratio during the said week remained at 7.66 percent.

The chief minister was told that during the last 30 days, six deaths were reported, of them five on ventilators and one off vent at hospitals.

Pakistan’s security is linked with strong Pak Army, observe speakers

The province had four deaths in May, 10 in April, and 25 in March.

Minister Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho told the chief minister that currently out of 4122 patients only 63 were in hospitals, of them 47 were in critical condition. She added that only four patients had been shifted to ventilators. At this the chief minister said that it meant the hospitals were not under pressure.

On the advice of the experts and members of the task force, the chief minister urged people of the province to get vaccinated, and if they were already vaccinated they should get booster shots. “I would urge the people of the province to wear masks, ensure social distancing and keep washing or sanitizing your hands and avoid handshakes,” he said, adding if these SOPs were adopted voluntarily, the provincial government would be able to control the situation, otherwise drastic measures would be taken.

Chinese Co keen to invest in wind power projects in Pakistan

BELGIUM

ISLAMABAD

ageNcIeS

Staff RePoRt

Speakers at the Istehqam Pakistan Conference held in Belgium the other day have observed that Pakistan’s security is depended on the stability of the Pakistan Army. The conference, which was held in the Belgian city of Antwerp, was attended by a large number of Pakistanis.

The participants upheld that standing by the institution ‘unconditionally’ would strengthen the institution. The Pakistani community expressed solidarity with the Pakistan Army, the “guarantor for stability” for the country, and chanted slogans praising Pakistan and its Army.

European Union-Pakistan Friendship Federation Europe Chairperson Chaudhry Pervez Iqbal Losar reiterated the direct dependence of stability in Pakistan to the stability in the Army. He added that, “We can proudly say that two superpowers were defeated on our soil, a feat

A delegation of Chinese company NORINCO called on Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and expressed their interest to invest in Pakistan in renewable energy, optical fibre, iron and copper ore mining and infrastructure in major Pak cities. Prime Minister welcomed the Chinese investment in Pakistan and assured of all-out support of the government in this regard, a statement said. The delegation was led by vice-president NORINCO Int’l Wang Xiaobing and CEO NORINCO Int’l (Pakistan) Li Chen.

Federal Ministers Khawaja Saad Rafique, Syed Naveed Qamar, Chauhdary Salik Hussain and senior officials of the relevant ministries were also present on the occasion. The Prime Minister also appreciated the company for its role in Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project, which, he said, is facilitating hundreds of thousands of commuters in Lahore on a daily basis. The NORINCO delegation showed keen interest in investing in a wide spectrum of renewable energy projects, especially in the wind corridor in Thatha, Sindh, where a 100 MWs wind power project was proposed. Investment in fibre optic along railway lines, copper and iron ore mining at proven reserves, and infrastructure development in big cities of the country were among the key investment opportunities highlighted by the company as potential venues for investment. The Prime Minister said that Pakistan is open to investment and that the government is taking steps to remove all impediments for further facilitation of investors.

that was only possible because we stood shoulder-toshoulder with our Army.”

He further stated that the medal given to Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa by Saudi Arabia was not meant for him only, but has also been awarded to the 220 million people of Pakistan and the entire institution guarding the Muslim Ummah.

“We have to promise today that we will challenge the fifth-generation

war, and stop the fake propaganda against the Pakistan Army. We will thwart the enemy’s move,” Losar added. At the end of the event, the participants pledged to stand with the Pakistan Army and vowed to not allow any internal or external conspiracy against the country to succeed. The conference comes shortly after a Canadian parliamentarian’s remarks against Pakistan’s military leadership.

Edible oil production to be raised to 4.8m tons in 10 years: Iqbal ISLAMABAD Staff RePoRt

In an effort to take the country towards self reliance in food commodities, especially in edible oil, the government has planned increasing the annual domestic edible oil production up to 4.793 million tons in 10 years.

Currently, the country produces 0.745 million tons of edible oil annually, which is only 8% of the total domestic demand for the commodity of over 5 million tons.

In a meeting held here, presided over by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, it was informed that in order to meet the demand, Pakistan imports 4.5 million tons of edible oil annually.

The move would help minimizing the

huge import bill of the food group that was recorded at US$7.575 billion during first 11 months (Jul-May) of the year 2021-22.

The import of palm oil was recorded at $3,058 billion while that soyabean oil stood at $217.7 million during the period under review.

The meeting that was held to review the plans with respect to achieving self dependency in the edible oil here today.

It was informed in the meeting that it has been planned that the production would be gradually increased from current 0.745 million to 1.192 million in five years and 4.793 millions in next 10 years.

The meeting was attended by the authorities of ministry of National Food Security and Research, and ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives.

On the occasion, Ahsan Iqbal directed that the plan to take the country towards self reliance in edible oil should be discussed with all provincial stake holders and after taking them in confidence on this issue, a feasible roadmap should be finalized within a week.

The minister said the investors in the edible oil production sector should be given special incentives to boost local production.

He said making the country self dependence in the edible oil was the top priority of the government’s development agenda and in this regard he directed to engage the private sector to expedite the process of achieving the self reliance.

Ahsan Iqbal also directed to ensure the supply of edible oil to the people keeping the basic hygiene rules.

Raise in salaries and pensions notified ISLAMABAD INP

The government notified 15 percent raise in salaries and 5 percent increase in pensions on Friday. The finance ministry issued the notification in this regard on Friday saying that the raise will take effect from July 1, 2022. According to the notification, the increase in salaries was made on the basis of basic salary of 2017.

The ministry has also reviewed the pay scales of government employees. The new pay scales will be applicable from July 1,

2020, the notification said adding that the new pay scales will be applied in place of 2017 pay scales.

The notification elaborated that after the new pay scales, all five ad hoc reliefs will be merged together.

According to the notification, the minimum salary of grade-1 government employee will be Rs13,550 and maximum salary will be Rs26,450. The minimum salary of grade 17 employee will be Rs45,070 and maximum salary will be Rs113,470.

The minimum salary of grade 21 em-

ployee will be Rs113,790 and maximum salary will be Rs217,670. The minimum salary of grade 22 employee will be Rs122,190 and maximum salary will be Rs244,130.

Regarding pensions, the notification further read that previously on April 1, 2022 pensions had been increased by 10%, and now 5% raise was announced. It was added in the notification that retired officials of the armed forces as well as of the civil armed forces would also be entitled to the raise in pensions.

Furthermore, it read, the decision also covered the officials retiring after July 1, 2022.

Saturday, 2 July, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

FWO, PSO TO ESTAblISH PETrOl STATIOnS In nOrTHErn ArEAS

corporate corner

iSLAmAbAd President and CEO MMBL, Ghazanfar Azzam and President and CEO Adamjee Life Assurance sign a strategic partnership to offer Adamjee’s premium insurance products at MMBL’s branch network across the country. Chief Finance and Digital Officer MMBL, Sardar Mohammad Abubakr and senior officials from both organizations are also present at the ceremony. pr

FGEHA call center inaugurated

ISLaMaBaD: Mr. Tariq Rashid, Director General, on Friday inaugurated the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) Call Center for the facilitation of its valuable members and clients.

Syed Kazim Abbas, Director Estate, Muhammad Kashif Director Finance, Ahmed Baksh Sangi Director Admin, Muhammad Irfan Ch, Director Staff, Shahid Nadeem Director Coordination, Basit Khan, Director Law, Rana Muhammad Munir, Deputy Commissioner, Syed Ahmed Ali Deputy Director Estate, Aziz-ul-Shah Deputy Director Estate, Samar Hussnain Miyan Deputy Director Staff, Ahmed Hassan Deputy Director GA, M. Asad Naeem Khan Dy. Director IT and Other officers/officials of FGEHA accompanied the Director General.

FGEHA Call Centers Universal Access Number (UAN) is 111134342 it can be read as 1111FGEHA. Mr. Asim Amir Deputy Director IT gave a briefing on the Call Center. Director General, Director Estate, Director Staff, and Director Admin gave some valuable and motivational instructions to the whole team of Call Center, on how to communicate with the callers.

We are thankful to our Director General who spare time and we are also thankful to our Directors, Dy. Directors, Assistant Directors, and other officers/officials who accompanied Director General for the Inauguration. pr

UMT one of most prestigious universities in Pakistan; Governor Punjab

Lahore: University of Management and Technology (UMT) held its 22nd Convocation 2022 at Expo Centre Lahore. The UMT family adhered to strict COVID-19 SOPs in order to be safe and protect the community. Total 1225 graduates were given degrees in various disciplines on this occasion. According to the details 691 Bachelors, 165 Masters, 341 MS/M.Phil and 29 PhD degrees were conferred.

Furthermore 18 Patron’s Gold Medals, 17 Rector’s Silver Medals, 06 Rector’s Academic Excellence Awards Gold Medal, 06 Certificates of Excellence, 06 Research Publication award for MS/MPhil students were also given away on the occasion of the convocation. pr

F

ahmad ahmadani

RONTIER Works Organisation (FWO), a military civil engineering organisation, has signed two agreements with Pakistan State Oil (PSO) for establishing four petrol pumps in the Northern Areas (NAs) of the country, ostensibly to promote tourism and help motorists as well as the local communities.

As per details, two agreements have been signed between PSO and FWO, under which four fueling facilities will be established on four different locations of NAs including Shangus and Tangush on Jaglot-Skardu Road as well as in the heart of Kaghan valley at Batakundi (Naran Jalkhad Road) and Passu Cones (Karakoram Highway).

The agreements between PSO and FWO were signed on June 24th and June 27th, 2022 while it is expected that the Jaglot Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) facility will start operation within a one-

year period.

According to PSO, it has joined hands with FWO to establish state-ofthe-art fueling facilities with mini rest areas having tuck shops, executive washrooms, service station and mosque to promote tourism in northern areas and help motorists as well as local communities.

Many parts of the northern areas do

pESHAWAR Work is under way on various access roads, which will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs13 billion to ensure easy access to tourist destinations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Similarly, under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development (KITE) project, two important projects including Mankyal to Bada Sehri Road and Thandiani Road are being executed at a brisk pace and will be at an estimated cost of Rs4.6 billion and Rs3.182 billion respectively.

The details were shared at a review meeting organized by the Tourism Department with KPK Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair. Special Assistant to CM Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, MPA Mian Sharaft Ali, Principal Secretary to CM Amjad Ali Khan,

not have proper hotels or rest areas for tourists and this initiative will facilitate commuters by providing them with fueling facilities along with proper rest rooms, executive washrooms, service areas and mosques, said PSO. It added that this is a new road developed by FWO connecting KKR/Jaglot to Skardu. And this road has decreased travel time to Gilgit / Skardu

SC rules election of CM Punjab to take place on 22nd cOntinuEd fROm pAgE 01 Justice Ahsan said that there was no end in sight to the constitutional crisis in the province and called for solving it according to the Constitution.

CJP Bandial observed that the court was informed Elahi did not object to Hamza remaining the CM until the local government polls. However, Elahi contended that he couldn’t trust Hamza in the prevailing situation.

Justice Ahsan said that once the house was complete, the candidate who had the majority would become the CM. “We have summoned both of you (Hamza and Elahi) over this point.”

The second matter at hand is the lack of time in conducting the election, Justice Ahsan continued, adding that time could be provided for members within Pakistan to make it to the session.

Subsequently, Elahi said that if Hamza wanted to stay the CM till July 17, he should “determine his powers”. “He can stay the chief minister but he should not harass [our] assembly members,” he said.

Justice Ahsan replied by saying that the courts were open if any violence took place in the PA. During the hearing, Awan urged the court to give orders for conducting free and fair elections. “It should also give instructions for notifying the reserved seats in the

PA,” he said, adding that Hamza was not acceptable as the CM under any circumstances.

However, Justice Ahsan said that the court didn’t want to create a “constitutional vacuum”.

He remarked that Elahi, the PTI’s ally, said one thing while the party said another.

He also observed that a runoff election would be conducted after two days. “Whoever has the majority in two days will become the chief minister.”

Awan said that a decision should be taken under Article 187 of the Constitution, which empowers the Supreme Court to issue all such directions, orders and decrees, as it deems necessary, and secure the attendance of any person and production of any document for doing complete justice in any matter before it. “The court should give orders for a third person to hold clear and transparent elections,” he said. However, CJP Bandial observed that Article 187 was not applicable in this case. “Three to five days would be appropriate for [holding] the runoff election,” Justice Bandial said.

He went on to say that there were two options on the table: run-off elections in two days or Hamza remaining the CM till July 17.

“You are saying the CM should immediately be removed,” he told Awan. “Alternative arrangements can be made for two or three days, but not for long periods.” Awan sought time from the court to discuss the matter with the PTI’s senior leader-

ship and Chairman Imran. The court, subsequently, adjourned the hearing for half an hour, granting the PTI time for consultation.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that Hamza Shehbaz was not an elected chief minister and they would embrace him as the acting chief minister.

However, the chief justice disagreed with it and said they would use the words which are acceptable to both parties.

Elahi has also requested the court to reschedule the re-election until after the July 17 byelections to 20 PA seats.

However, PTI counsel Babar Awan said that PTI does not agree with the proposal advanced

by Elahi and was not ready to accept Hamza as chief minister until after July 17.

ELAHI SATISFIED WITH SC VERDICT: Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PMLQ) leader and Punjab Assembly speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Friday while expressing satisfaction over Supreme Court’s verdict on the Punjab Chief Minister election said that what we wanted has been accepted by the court.

Talking to the media, Elahi said that a fair decision has come today decision, what we wanted has been accepted by the apex court and the session of the Punjab Assembly will be held as per the rules.

Tourism promotion integral part of uplift agenda: KP CM Staff report

05

administrative secretaries concerned and other relevant officials attended the meeting.

On the occasion, the chief minister termed the promotion of tourism as an integral part of the priorities of his government and directed the authorities concerned to accelerate the pace of work on all feasible projects of access roads to the tourist sites. He further directed to make Special Development Authorities operational as soon as possible, adding that funds and human resources required for the purpose should be provided on priority so as to achieve the goal for which Special Development Authorities were established. He also directed the quarters concerned to ensure Safety measures in boats plying in rivers and dams further directing to impose ban on boating without life jackets.

Sharing progress on different roads projects under the Annual Development Plan, the

participants were informed that work on various approach roads to the tourist destinations in Hazara division has been underway, which would be completed at a cumulative cost of Rs4.6 billion. The important projects include 15km-long Manoor Valley Road in Mansehra; 10km-long Shugran Road in Mansehra; Ghanol Paprang Road Mansehra; Mandi Mali Road Mansehra and 12km-long Nawazabad to Mandi Road Mansehra. Similarly, work on 11 different access road projects in Malakand division has been in progress and would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs4.8 billion cumulatively. Important projects include 78km-long Marghuzar to Elum Road; 6km-long MadianBishigram Road; Areen Daral Road; Bela Bishigram Road; Chail-Bishigram Road; Fazal Banda to Jarogo water fall road and Kafir Banda Road Shangla.

to less than three hours which was around 6-7 hours. Further the road leads to tourists’ locations of the areas including Deosai plains, Shigar Fort, Satpara lake, Khaplu and even K2 base camp.

“The locations have been strategically selected due to the substantial tourist influx in these areas thereby encouraging tourism, helping local communities and facilitating commuters,” said PSO. Earlier, FWO and Dewan Motors had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to install Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations on the motorways. The first charging station was to be set up on M-2 at Bhera main service area to facilitate the easy movement of EV owners between Lahore and Islamabad.

Commissioned and established in 1966, the FWO includes active duty officers and civilian scientists and engineers. Since its establishment in 1966, it has been credited with the construction of bridges, roads, tunnels, airfields and dams.

Police committed to peaceful conduct of Punjab by-polls: IGP LAHORE Staff report

Punjab Inspector General of Police Rao Sardar Ali Khan on Friday said that every possible step should be taken for peaceful conduct of by-elections to 20 Punjab Assembly constituencies.

“Apolitical role of the Police will be ensured at all costs during the entire election process.”

Punjab IG Police Rao Sardar Ali Khan issued the instructions during a meeting held to review security arrangements for by-elections to 20 constituencies in 14 districts of Punjab.

He said that the officers and personnel would be responsible for their individual action and negligent officers and personnel will be dealt with sternly. The IGP said that effective implementation of the Election Commission code of conduct should be ensured and there should be no delay in taking strict action against violators without any discrimination.

Rao Sardar Ali directed the Lahore police to take special measures in the four constituencies of the provincial capital. He further said that fighting, aerial firing, violation of code of conduct would be unacceptable and there will be a complete ban on display of weapons and use of private guards.

During the meeting, arrangements for deployment of security personnel in the by-elections, provision of security to the staff of the Election Commission and law and order situation were reviewed.

The IGP directed the officers to hold regular meetings with the District Returning Officers and District Administration to devised SOPs for maintaining law and deal with any untoward situation. He also tasked the Special Branch and intelligence agencies to prepare reports of conduct of field officers through monitoring during by-elections. He said that holding of election peacefully is an important responsibility of Punjab Police and any negligence or illegal activity would not be acceptable under any circumstances.

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Saturday, 2 July, 2022

06 COMMENT

Pak-UK Education Gateway

After a number of mishaps Will Imran Khan emerge wiser or more bitter?

The UK’s universities are businesses

T

HInG are not proceeding in accordance with PTI chief Imran Khan’s expectations. The promised two-to-three million crowd turned out to be a gathering of a few thousand. There were threats of selfimmolation, bloody clashes, suicide attacks and civil war if any attempt was made to stop the march. These turned out to be no more than a load of hot air. The promise to announce another march within six days failed to materialize. Today’s gathering in Islamabad, billed as the biggest in the capital’s history, comes after a month. Mr Khan had threatened to become ‘khatarnak’ or dangerous if prematurely removed from office. The threat has largely been contained. Mr Khan’s warning regarding the country turning into another Sri Lanka, where enraged mobs burnt over 50 houses of ruling party leaders, was another fantasy.

Imran Khan had tried to use mobs to deter national Assembly members from participating in the noconfidence move. The Supreme Court however shifted the gathering to another venue. There being fears that the party might again try to use the Islamabad public meeting for creating chaos, the GHQ which controls the Army Parade Ground has made the PTI agree to 39 conditions.

Most important among these require participants not to block any road and end the gathering by midnight. It will be the organizer’s duty to ensure the dispersal after the event ends. There will be no anti-state, anti-religion, and anti-national slogans and no effigy or flag of any party shall be burnt. Participants shall not indulge in violence or clashes. President PTI Islamabad will be held responsible for any violation of the code. Many would have appreciated if the PTI and the coalition government had agreed to sign a similar charter before the Islamabad march.

There is a need on the part of Mr Khan to realize that wishes may not always be realities. Many PTI leaders were shocked when in a majority judgment a Lahore High Court bench did not send Hamza Shehbaz home. Imran Khan claimed he was informed by two PTI candidates that they had received calls from unknown numbers advising them not to accept PTI tickets. This he said amounted to changing the Punjab by-poll results. Mr Khan never took notice of similar complaints by the PML(n) before the 2018 elections. Unless all parties join hands against interferences of the sort, these will continue as before.

dr Qaisar rashid

I

n 2018, the British Council in Pakistan and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan launched a joint program between Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK) called the Pak-UK Education Gateway. The program aimed at enhancing partnership between the higher education sectors of Pakistan and that of the UK in the areas of innovative and collaborative research, higher education leadership, quality assurance and standard setting, distance learning, international mobility and transnational education.

In early September 2021, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and Universities UK International (UUKI) issued a report about the benefits of international students across the UK. On 9 September 2021, Education Editor Richard Adams published the main points of the report in The Guardian. The report said that, from outside the UK, around 272,000 students who began university courses in 2018-19 generated around £26 billion in net economic activity once the costs of teaching support and their use of public services had been accounted for. Further, international students were worth £28.8 billion per year to the UK. The HEPI’s director nick Hillman said: the figures confirmed that higher education was one of the UK’s leading export earners. Both HEPI and UUKI

We not, want not

Gender disparity in education sill unaddressed

Pakistan becomes dumping-ground for hazardous waste from abroad

T

HE members of the Senate Climate Change standing committee were told that the UK, Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia were sending huge quantities of solid waste to Pakistan, including hazardous waste and e-waste. This was stated by the Climate Change Ministry’s Senior Joint Secretary while briefing the members. The Committee was also told that 624 containers of waste were dumped on the coast in 2019 and the private party who had imported the waste could not be traced.

Country is facing a part of a global problem.

Advances in technology have meant that more solid waste is generated than ever before and by advanced countries.

These countries have the problem of dealing with the waste. (As do oil exporting Third World countries.) The solution is to send the waste to the Third World, where recyclers (scavengers) will pick over it, extract what is useful, and dispose of the rest. Pakistan seems to be only at an initial phase while other Third World countries have been through the experience. The real problem is the disposal of the waste left over after the minute quantities of gold, copper and aluminium are extracted from the waste, especially e-waste.

Apart from learning from other countries which have gone through this experience, Pakistan must realize that acting as a dumping-ground merely encourages the kind of behaviour that generated that waste. The waste should be handled by the society that generated it, not merely dump the problem somewhere else. The pity is that the more intractable waste will end up in the air if its burnt, or in the ocean, if it is thrown there. As such ‘exported’ waste usually contains a high proportion of bio-undegradable plastic, the country concerned will end up carrying the can for causing the air pollution, and the pollution of the seas. This means that Pakistan must get out of this particular form of paying for First-World mistakes, and should refuse to be a dumping-ground any longer.

A problem that can no longer be neglected

MehMil Khalid Kunwar

I

n Pakistan, one can see a wide gender gap in literacy rates of men and women living in both rural and urban areas. People who have settled in cities are comparatively more convinced bout sending their girls to schools and the literacy rate in such areas are comparatively higher than rural areas where parents do not consider it a wise idea to spend money on a girl’s education.

The patriarchal norms governing the society has added much loss to the overall development of the society as opposed to any other factor causing the gender gap in education. It is a widely held belief that men are the breadwinners of a family and support the household and expenses of their children, therefore, it is justified if money is spent on their education.

Many parents do not send their daughters to school as they believe that a girl belongs to her husband’s house and her only duty is to raise her children and look after her family where education does not play a vital role in aiding her with such duties. Hence, in numerous villages, people do not support the idea of educating a female let alone making her feel enlightened and independent.

“The perceptions that investing in girls’ education

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called for more to be done to promote the UK as a welcoming, diverse and accessible study destination.

In Pakistan, both British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner and Chief Executive of the British Council Scott McDonald have been making all efforts to promote the interests of the UK’s education sector.

The higher education sector in the UK had been under financial constraints since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003. Then Brexit, which came into force on 31 January 2020, with the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU), posed the next challenge. The report mentioned that after Brexit, the number of EU students dropped to half (from 22,000 in 2020 to 9,800 in 2021) for undergraduate courses, because they were charged the same higher tuition fees as were paid by international students. If the UK universities take overwhelmingly domestic students, whose fee is subsidized by the government, the universities cannot meet their expenditures. International students pay at least three times more tuition fees, along with affording residential expenditures, from their own pockets. Enrolling more international students means more inflow of cash beneficial to both the universities and the economy.

As per the UK’s most trusted University representative since 2012, London-based Boost Education Service proclaims that, after Brexit, the next challenge for the higher education sector is the dwindling international reputation of the UK’s universities. Further, for the same reason, Japan has been supplanting the UK as the second most represented country in the global ranking.

There is also an internal turmoil ravaging budgetary allocation. Scotland has been crying hoarse to seek more funds from England to run its affairs. The pressure is shifted onto the higher education sector of Scotland, which made a botched attempt at a referendum for independence in 2014. Scottish universities enroll more international students than required to garner funds to run their affairs. Compared to England, until recently joblessness has also been higher in Scotland forcing the Scots to resort to unashamed vandalism and blatant racism. Interestingly, on the one hand, the Scots are keen to hound international students out from their land, whereas on the other hand, the Scottish universities try to entice more international students to study in Scotland.

The report compiled by HEPI and UUKI also said that international students in Sheffield, notting-

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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does not result in the economic uplift of families deters parents from sending girls to school,” notes Roshaneh Zafar, the founder of Kashf Foundation.

“When families violate these norms, they can face extreme pressure and hostility from their community and often discontinue their girls’ education when they hit puberty due to fear of harassment, social stigmas and disapproval,” she adds.

Adding more woes to the lives of women who want to be educated, the brunt of poverty and limited resources available to a family are also contributing in diminishing the opportunities of learning at school.

There are a high number of out-of-school children in Pakistan and the situation is worse in some areas as compared to the rest of the country.

Almost 22.5 million children are out of school in which girls’ ratio is mostly higher. It has been reported that 32 percent of primary-school-age girls are out of school in Pakistan, compared to 21 percent of boys. In Balochistan alone where the female literacy rate is lowest in the country (in 2014-15), 81 percent of women had not completed primary school, compared to 52 percent of men. Also, 75 percent of women have never been able to attend school at all.

In other parts of the country where the literacy rate is much more convincing, gender disparities exist.

Considering such limitations, some women are never able to fulfil their dreams that remain buried in their hearts inside the boundaries of their home. “[Even] women who are already in the labour market… have fewer and less diverse job options,” notes analyst Maryam Akmal. “These are concentrated in low-pay sectors, sometimes even when women have completed secondary education.”

The delinquency of the state lays revealed when the gender disparities in education across the country are analyzed. It is true that social constraints do exist and are playing a crucial role in reversing the steps the government takes to promote education of

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

ham, London, Cardiff, Glasgow and newcastle are among those to deliver the greatest financial contributions. Of them, the University of Glasgow is an interesting case study. The university is in the competition of stashing more and more money, but there is a problem. The university does a trick. The modus operandi is that it invites overseas students to attend a post-graduate course. In the middle of the course, the students are informed of some hiccups.

With that, the university’s administration gets disassociated from the students saying that its job was to invite the students and not to ensure that they were delivered what was promised to them when they were in Pakistan.

The university forces Pakistani students to make compromise on the quality of education and research.

That is, in order to save its funds, the university refuses to deliver on its promises. The incentive given to the students is that “you would be given an excellent letter of reference.” Most Pakistani students succumb to the pressure and accept the carrot just because they do not visit the UK for contesting legal cases in the universities or the courts.

Experienced shrewd professors know that international students from developing countries like Pakistan tend not to raise a dissenting voice. At the university, certain professors are notorious for dealing cunningly with international students. Similarly, in its administration, the university has also employed notorious Scottish lawyers who know how to sabotage the credibility of any complaint when it is filed. In case, an overseas student files a complaint, the university discourages the student by taking more than one year to conclude the complaint and even then leaving the student dissatisfied. The university knows that overseas students cannot afford the lawyer’s fee to challenge the highhandedness in the court. Generally, the byelaws of the UK’s universities have plenty of loopholes favouring the universities, and even then these universities do not follow their own bylaws.

The reason is that education is a business in the UK. not many Pakistanis know that the British Council is a charity organization, which acts as just a procurer, to solicit clients to the service provider only. no Pakistani student can hold it answerable for not alerting him or her to the frauds happening in the UK’s universities. The same is true for the British High Commission which exonerates itself from any deception done to any Pakistani student in the UK’s universities. no Pakistani student can hold it answerable either. In this regard, several complaints are still lying pending with both the British Council and the British High Commission. However, they tend not to answer them and prefer to hush up the matter.

The writer can qaisarrashid@yahoo.com

be

reached

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women but there are myriads of areas where the government is lacking in performance and can put more efforts in bringing fruitful results.

For the sake of reference, the government has done nothing about repairing the infrastructure of schools in Khyber Pakhtukhuwa in areas adjoining Balochistan where natural calamities and the Taliban militancy have played havoc with the school buildings and infrastructure. The students in such areas sit under an open sky in informal spaces that generally do not meet the requirements of learning.

A survey was conducted under the Malala fund when it was revealed that the government lacks spending into improving schools, stating 16 percent schools in KPK are without electricity, 12 percent have no clean drinking water facility, five percent are without boundary walls, and four percent do not have toilets.

A PML(n) leader and member of provincial assembly, Ikhtiar Wali Khan, said the PTI government did not do enough to bring significant changes in the provincial education system.

“The PTI government announced an education emergency in the province but despite the education emergency 70 percent of schools have no basic facilities and there is still no uniform education system all over the province as promised by the government,” Wali explained.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2021 has ranked Pakistan 153rd among 156 countries as the World Economic Forum report said that the gender gap widened by 0.7 percent to 55.6, which places the country ahead only of Afghanistan in the region. The dismal state of affairs warrants the immediate change in course of policies to address the widening gender inequality that besets Pakistan.

The gender disparity acts as a curse on the coming generation who will be less fortunate in carving growth and development. It must be remembered that education plays a vital role in the progress and prosperity of a nation and it becomes a treasure for the country where it is imparted to women. An educated man can only build himself as an individual but an educated woman can build herself as someone who serves the entire nation by raising an enlightened generation.

The gender disparity acts as a curse on the coming generation who will be less fortunate in carving growth and development.

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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The writer is a polymer engineer with a profound interest in politics. She works on social issues and gender bias. She can be reached on Twitter @mehmilkhalid

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

06-07 Comments - 2nd July 2022_Layout 1 7/2/2022 12:16 AM Page 2

Saturday, 2 July, 2022

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Eidul Adha and sacrificial animals EIDUL ADHA is around the corner and the influx of sacrificial animals has already started. This is polluting the atmosphere with stink, filthy and offensive smell that will go in our lungs along with billions of viruses and bacteria.

Smell, bad or good, consists of matter of minute invisible particles that go in our lungs and other soft tissues and organs. These, in turn, lead to free radicals, a new emerging medical condition that destroys soft tissues by the process of oxidation.

Various oxidants alter the fundamental structures of tissues and organs which become stiff, dysfunctional and incapable of continuing life processes. This is just like rusting of iron. Exposure to infected animals and their subsequent slaughtering deteriorate the atmosphere with infections that badly affect general health. The animals’ blood and other waste also create a nasty scene with foul smell that persists for weeks.

It is suggested that the selling and slaughtering of sacrificial animals should be prohibited on city roads, streets and pavements. They should even not be allowed to be kept in houses. nowhere in the world is Eidul Azha celebrated the way we celebrate it in Pakistan. Buying, selling and slaughtering of sacrificial animals should entirely be institutionalised. It would be better if this task is assigned to districts of every city to arrange open spaces away from the residential areas. The govern-ment should also enact a law in this regard to keep the cities clean and disease-free.

DR M. QUDRAT-E-KHUDA KARACHI

Do grades really matter?

China recognizes Bangladesh success through praise of BD PM for the Padma bridge FuMiKo YaMada

C

HInA’S envoy to Bangladesh hse applauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s leadership for building the Padma bridge with the country’s own finance and described the Awami League-led government’s achievements in Bangladesh during the last decade as “extraordinary.”

Li Jiming, the Chinese ambassador in Dhaka, has lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s decision to proceed with the Padma Bridge project using local money despite the failure of outside funding, expressing doubts that an average leader of any country could have done so.

He emphasized Bangladesh’s progress and development during Hasina’s 12 years as Prime Minister, including economic growth, and infrastructure development such as the Padma Bridge.

‘I wonder, I truly doubt, if any typical leader of any country could have made such a difficult decision as she did,’ he told a small gathering of journalists at the Chinese consulate in Dhaka on June 19.

Without mentioning names, the ambassador stated that several international development partners did not believe the Bangladesh government could ever build such a megastructure with its own funds.

“Despite all the uncertainties, pressures, and claims,” he continued, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opted to build the bridge using Bangladesh’s “own money, 100 percent Bangladesh’s own money.” The decision, according to the ambassador, needed “extreme courage and a great sense of political responsibility” on the part of any government leader.

The ambassador stated that under the leadership of Bangladesh’s prime minister, the bridge became a solid reality arising from a vision, and that “nobody will ever question that Bangladesh can achieve it.”

The Chinese ambassador has uttered and unveiled the truth by showering praise on a reality.

On 4 July 2001, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone for the Padma Bridge, which will benefit more than 30 million people in 21 districts throughout southern Bangladesh.

The 6.15-kilometer bridge, which includes a four-lane highway and a one-lane railway, is now a reality.

PM Sheikh Hasina made it a reality today in the face of hundreds of difficulties, obstructions, bogus claims, and World Bank machinations.

On 8 July 2012, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated unequivocally in the national Assembly that the Padma Bridge would be built with Bangladesh’s own money. Leadership is critical in all areas of life where human resources are utilized, including organizations, entrepreneurship, corporations, politics, societies, and states. Leaders perform the most important function at the state level in setting directions, encouraging people, boosting morale, allocating responsibilities, and improving satisfaction in order to steer a nation forward. The people of Bangladesh are fortunate to have a leader who has nearly all of these characteristics and has

been guiding the country in the path of realizing her father’s dream of making the country ‘Sonar Bangla’ (Golden Bengal). Sheikh Hasina’s imaginative, daring, indomitable, and cautious leadership is exemplified by the construction of the Padma Bridge.

Everyone is familiar with the bridge’s history. Because of the prime minister’s unwavering determination to achieve her objectives, the bridge is now visible. She did not limit herself to giving commands during the entire era, from the planning of the bridge to the present day; rather, she became involved in the megaproject and provided vital counsel when needed, as well as boosting the morale of the project’s workers. now, with the bridge ready to open to the public in a few months, the prime minister has paid a personal visit to the bridge and walked for two hours across it.

Her choice to build the bridge from the country’s own funds gives the Bangladeshi people the muchneeded motivation to overcome obstacles and grow themselves without relying on outside assistance. It has and will continue to assist the country in becoming self-sufficient in all areas. She has successfully instilled in the general public the concept that it can do anything if it has strong will and resolve to do so, which is undoubtedly a significant victory for her as a leader.

At the same time, having a dreamer as a leader is a question of pure luck for a country.

“We know that if Bangladesh claims they’ll do it with your money, they’ll be able to do it... “Do we believe that and that we are correct?” he stated “not everyone is thrilled, but the Chinese people are,” the envoy said, adding that some people may not like seeing Bangladesh’s historic achievement in the shape of the bridge.

The envoy expressed his pride at the bridge, not only because it was built by a Chinese company, but also because it will serve as a watershed moment in China-Bangladesh cooperation and serve as an everlasting connection of brotherhood between China and Bangladesh and two peoples by heart, guiding the route to common prosperity and a shared future. no one can deny it, and everyone recognizes that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s heroic action has transformed the Padma Bridge from a dream to a reality. Sheikh Hasina’s bravery has undoubtedly resulted in the construction of the Padma Bridge. The Padma Bridge is the most significant gift commemorating the birth centenary of Bangabandhu, the Father of the nation.

It is not simply the bridge across the Padma; it has raised the Bengali nation’s confidence to such a level that they can achieve anything. And it was their bold Prime Minister who reawakened this confidence. The father provided independence for the country, while the daughter provided prosperity.

China praised the Premier for successfully completing the much-needed bridge despite all the intrigues. China knows to evaluate the right person. PM Sheikh Hasina announced the construction of the Padma Bridge during the country’s acute image crisis following the World Bank’s loan cancellation due to corruption allegations.

Bangladesh has proven to the world its capacity under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership by building a 6.15-km bridge over the country’s second-toughest river using its own money. Bangladesh’s finance ministry gave the Bangladesh Bridge Authority a credit of $3 billion.

The construction of the bridge is viewed as the most significant achievement of the Awami League government, which has had to deal with “conspiracies” that led to the World Bank canceling a pledged fund in 2012 due to a corruption charge that was eventually proven untrue.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on the other hand, has been able to clear up all of the ambiguity while also overcoming all of the financial and technical obstacles. The Padma Bridge is made of more than just concrete. It combines the people’s love and pride.

It was built with their own money by Sheikh Hasina. She has bravely put it into action for the love of people.

Bangladesh’s dignity in the world has improved as a result of the bridge’s building using its own funds. The bridge has brought the Bengali nation’s dignity and respect to the world’s attention.

True happiness comes from the satisfaction of well-done deeds and the excitement of creating something new. Bangladesh, under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s capable and vibrant leadership deserve congratulation. China’s praise of the Bangladesh PM for building Padma bridge is recognition of the Bangladesh success story.

True happiness comes from the satisfaction of well-done deeds and the excitement of creating something new.

Bangladesh, under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s capable and vibrant leadership deserve congratulation. China’s praise of the Bangladesh PM for building Padma bridge is recognition of the Bangladesh success story.

The writer specializes in Bangladesh Affairs. She is a research fellow in Bangladesh Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is a graduate of South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada. She can be reached at fuyamada14@gmail.com

DURInG our academic life, we are constantly reminded and taught, is the key to success. But what is education? Is education about rote-learning, grades, getting a better job, or is it about the ability to explore new ideas and think critically and independently? Is it about preparing children for a specific career or teaching them lifelong values and discipline?

Unfortunately, our education system, coupled with parental and peer pressure, discourages students from developing problem-solving and analytical skills. Instead, the students are encouraged to focus on grades and getting high-paid jobs. Both parents and teachers convey the same message to the children; getting good grades takes precedence over everything else.

Relatives and neighbours are no different. They constantly ask students about their grades and, when the time comes, when they will acquire a decent job. Another sad aspect is that our education system concentrates more on the institutions’ prestige and reputation rather than a student’s qualities or capabilities. Such an environment shifts students’ focus away from actual learning and obtaining any competency in critical thinking to doing whatever it takes to achieve good marks and stand out in the crowd.

When such students pass out and step into the larger world, they find it difficult to get jobs despite their illustrious educational background. As a result, they either remain unemployed or don’t get suitable jobs and end up accusing the system of partiality and nepotism. Therefore, instead of judging the students based on their grades in examinations, parents and teachers should focus on building character, values and skills so that the young may attain their real goals.

RASHID ALI LARKANA

Turbat and Economy TURBAT is the second largest city of Balochistan. Iran’s border is adjacent to the city. Most goods and even electricity are imported from Iran. For the people living in Turbat, import business from Iran is one of the major sources of earnings. Currently, along with the worsening situation of inflation in other parts of the country, the prices of Iranian products in Turbat have as well been affected. There is a surge in the prices of Iranian products. Iranian Petrol has risen up from 500 to 800 per gallon in some days and it is expected to rise more in the upcoming days. Simultaneously, the prices of other products have abruptly risen. As transportation cost is directly impacted by the prices of fuel, it has risen up almost to 100 percent.

As a reason, almost every single product’s price, in the business, has precipitously increased. It is apprehensive that prices of the Pakistan products are hiking due to the rising inflation. But the question of rising prices for Iranian fuel and products is much worrisome for the residents.

According to local people connected to the business of Iranian products, the rise in the prices is owing to blockage of the Iranian border. If this situation lasts long it can kindle up many hurdles for Turbat. Prolong blockage of the border can be a steep increase in unemployment which can stir up criminal activities. Secondly, for the common masses, it will almost be impossible to sail through this situation of rising inflation. The administration in Turbat, DC, must take prompt action for free cordial trade with Iran. Or the situations will worsen day after the other.

JAHANGIR JAMEEL BALOCHISTAN

GAT I am enrolled in the MS/MPhil in Education programme at the University of Karachi, and my life has been encumbered by a new requirement.

Universities generally conduct an entry test for admission to such programmes, while others conduct interviews as well. But all this happens before the admission, and logically so. However, we, at the University of Karachi, have been recently asked to appear in the Graduate Assessment Test (GAT) while we are already in the second semester of the programme.

This is a nuisance and distraction from our routine studies that entail assignments, presentations, tests and quizzes. All students pursuing the programme have been facing anxiety and depression owing to this new and unnecessary GAT burden in the middle of a semester. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has introduced the policy of mandatory GAT, linking it with the release of the result of the second semester, and the university has to follow this policy. Unfortunately, the HEC is imposing its policies without realising students’ difficulties. The decision will have serious repercussions for the students who can even fail to pass their semester courses, leave alone passing GAT. This means if someone fails to qualify GAT, they have to sit the test again. I know some old students who still are trying to pass their test and paying fee again and again, yet failing to clear GAT even though they were doing well in their main programme of study.

SHABINA YOUNUS KARACHI

08 WORLD VIEW 2nd July_Layout 1 7/1/2022 10:34 PM Page 1

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08 WORLD VIEW

Modi’s burning bridge To The Middle easT INDIA’S ISLAMOPHOBIA THE LONG-TERM PRESENCE OF NEARLY NINE MILLION INDIAN WORKERS IN GULF STATES, WHO IN 2019 PROBLEM IS COSTING IT CONTRIBUTED ABOUT $40 BILLION TO THE INDIAN ECONOMY IN REMITTANCES—ACCOUNTING FOR PARTNERS IN THE GULF ROUGHLY 65 PER CENT OF INDIA’S ANNUAL REMITTANCES, OR ABOUT THREE PERCENT OF INDIA’S GDP in an attempt at damage control, has asserted that the Indian government “accords the highest respect to all religions.” Such anodyne diplomatic statements may not be enough to prevent India’s troubled domestic politics from derailing its bid to forge closer relations with the Gulf and the broader Middle east.

Foreign AFFAirs Sumit GanGuly and nicolaS BlarEl

s

INCe Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, in 2014, India has seen a marked uptick in hate speech and violence directed at its Muslim minority. Western officials, including from the United States, have urged Modi and his BJP government to reaffirm India’s avowed pluralism, but they have exerted little pressure on New Delhi; India remains too important an economic and geopolitical partner in the wider contest with China.

In June, however, the darkening atmosphere of majoritarianism and illiberalism in India earned its strongest international rebuke so far. It came not from liberal Western governments but from a slew of Arab countries. In late May, Nupur Sharma, a BJP spokesperson, made disparaging remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUh) in a television interview. Another BJP official, Naveen Jindal, soon amplified those comments on Twitter. They incensed many Indian Muslims, leading to protests and even riots. But they also upset governments in the Middle east, many of whom lodged formal protests with New Delhi.

The current fracas threatens to upend nearly a decade of deft diplomacy by Modi that had led to cordial relations with most Middle eastern states. Modi is the only prime minister to have visited Iran, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab emirates (UAe) in one term. Under Modi, India has worked to secure its oil and gas requirements from the Middle east, which are critical to its energy security, and to ensure the welfare of the approximately nine million Indians residing in the Gulf states. This more active diplomatic engagement has also furthered trade, investment, and security ties with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Saudi Arabia and the UAe, for instance, are consistently ranked among India’s largest trade partners. These ties are bound to grow following the recent free trade pact signed between India and the UAe, and the ongoing negotiations for a broader trade pact with the GCC. In a break with previous Indian governments, Modi has also promoted cooperation with the Gulf states to address shared concerns such as terrorism and maritime security in the Indian Ocean region. These interests have been reciprocal as Saudi Arabia and the UAe have increasingly seen India as an important emerging market for their energy exports, foreign investments, joint venture opportunities, and security provisions.

But this unprecedented cooperation has been thrown into jeopardy by the free rein that the BJP has given to state-sponsored Islamophobia at home. In the past, much of the Islamic world had expressed misgivings about various adverse developments involving India’s Muslim minority. On occasion, Muslim countries had publicly upbraided India, even if that rhetoric did not lead to any concrete change in policy. This episode, however, has a distinctly different tenor. Caustic remarks about or caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUh) generate strong (and sometimes violent) reactions in many Muslim countries. This episode, to no particular surprise, has elicited the most vehement reactions in Muslim states across the world. New Delhi,

Tribune Editorial

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he government’s case against journalist Mohammed Zubair — a co-founder of leading fact-checking website Alt News — has taken a curious turn: The anonymous Twitter user who had complained against Zubair for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of hindus has deleted the account. This marks an absurd twist in the case that already had farcical elements. Zubair was arrested on the complaint of this individual, who had flagged a four-year-old tweet by Zubair to allege that it had hurt the sentiments of hindus. The tweet was based on a still from a hindi film made in 1983.

Zubair was summoned by the Cyber Crime Unit of

UNDER FIRE: Sharma’s remarks led Iran, Kuwait, and Qatar to summon India’s ambassadors, and led Saudi Arabia, the United Arab emirates, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to issue statements of condemnation.

Chastened, the Modi government was spurred into action. Within 24 hours, the BJP described Sharma and Jindal as “fringe elements,” suspending Sharma and expelling Jindal from the party.

The BJP’s quick and resolute reaction was striking for a number of reasons. Modi and other party leaders have been reluctant to rein in Islamophobic rhetoric from its officials in the past. In 2019, home Minister Amit Shah described Bangladeshi Muslims as “termites.” In 2020, BJP members falsely accused a Muslim religious group of spreading COVID-19 in India.

Just this June, a BJP member of Parliament likened the historical invasions of India by Muslim forces to the holocaust. Those comments attracted no censure. The BJP has also shrugged off criticism from foreign governments about the majoritarian turn in India. In June, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar dismissed the concerns of his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, about the deteriorating environment for religious minorities.

But this time the criticism of Middle eastern Muslim states stung New Delhi. India had seen many moments of troubling communal violence before Modi rose to power, and Arab countries and other Islamic states have denounced the policies of the Indian government and events in India in the past. The difference now, though, is that much more is at stake.

TOEING A BLOODY LINE: Since its independence, India has always been careful to proclaim its commitment to secularism in order to reassure its Middle eastern partners about the well-being of its Muslim minority. India has long been home to many Muslims; its Muslim population, numbering some 200 million people, is the third largest of any country in the world, behind Indonesia and Pakistan. In the 1960s and 1970s, Indian outreach to Muslim countries was designed mainly to counter Pakistani rhetoric about the treatment of Indian Muslims, most notably in the context of the hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 1969. During this period, the Indian government was concerned about the security of key strategic maritime chokepoints such as the Strait of hormuz, in the Persian Gulf, and the Suez Canal, in egypt, and about regular access to oil to support its growing industrial sector. It adjusted its Middle east policy accordingly to preserve and protect these trade and energy interests. It was in this context that India initially sent a delegation to the first meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the OIC’s predecessor, in Rabat in 1969. Because of Pakistani opposition, however, the Indian delegation was forced to leave the conference and India never formally joined the organization.

The late 1980s and early 1990s were a period of mounting hindu-Muslim discord in India, with the Meerut riots of 1986, the insurgency in Indian Occupied Kashmir in 1989, and finally the demolition by a hindu mob of the centuries-old Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya in 1992. Middle eastern states began to express growing concerns about the status of Indian Muslims. The condemnation of India’s behavior in Indian Occupied Kashmir intensified in the early 1990s and went beyond the routine accusations of violation of human rights. The destruction of the Babri Masjid incited communal riots across the country and alarmed many governments of Muslim countries. The OIC meeting in Karachi in 1993 issued a resolution equating Indian human rights violations in Kashmir with atrocities in Bosnia, the Palestinian territories, and South Africa. The resolution also asked all member states to push India to permit the Kashmiris to exercise their right to self-determination. The OIC decided to

grant observer status to the All Parties hurriyat Conference, an alliance of various political, social, and religious organizations in Indian Occupied Kashmir committed to self-determination. The condemnation at the OIC and the perceived animosity of Arab states also encouraged India to reassess its relations with Israel, with which it established diplomatic ties in 1992.

The normalization of ties with Israel helped New Delhi to develop economic and defense ties with Tel Aviv.

Over the span of the last two decades, Israel has emerged as one of India’s key weapons suppliers.

In 2002, bloody riots in Gujarat killed over 700 Muslims when Modi was the state’s chief minister.

India came under scrutiny from Middle eastern states and Modi endured a good deal of criticism. At the time, however, Modi was still not a significant figure in the international arena. Despite the bloodshed, the ambassadors of Gulf states in New Delhi during that period did not demand a briefing from the Ministry of external Affairs on the riots. By 2002, India’s economic growth, rising international influence, and new status as a nuclear weapons state had made it a major destination for exports and a venue for investments for most Middle eastern states, which were no longer as vocal in their condemnation of the treatment of Indian Muslims.

COURTING THE MIDDLE EAST: After becoming prime minister in 2014, Modi sought to boost India’s ties with the Gulf and the Middle east in multiple realms, a process that had been started under his predecessor, Manmohan Singh. This outreach to the Gulf and other Arab countries stemmed from a number of factors: the long-term presence of nearly nine million Indian workers in Gulf states, who in 2019 contributed about $40 billion to the Indian economy in remittances—accounting for roughly 65 per cent of India’s annual remittances, or about three percent of India’s GDP—and the need to ensure a secure flow of commodities, crude oil imports, and investment from the Gulf. A third of India’s oil imports come from the GCC, and Qatar is also India’s leading supplier of natural gas. Beyond India’s energy requirements, bilateral trade with the GCC was estimated at $154 billion in 2021–2022, accounting for 10.4 percent of India’s total exports and 18 percent of India’s total imports. Modi has also sought to work with Gulf countries to crack down on Indian organized crime groups, as well as Indian and Pakistani terrorist organizations that found safe havens in the Gulf. Negotiations held during Modi’s numerous visits to Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have notably led to key agreements ensuring the extradition of Pakistani and Indian terrorists, as well as limiting money laundering activities from these same groups in Saudi Arabia and the UAe. Modi’s persistent diplomatic efforts to engage the Gulf states were also part of an effort to repair his tattered reputation following the Gujarat pogrom in 2002.

Between 2015 and 2019, in an attempt to improve his image, he embarked on a series of high-level diplomatic visits to Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. he also resorted to some symbolic gestures, such as a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque during his Abu Dhabi trip in 2015, a visit that was perceived both as a homage to Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the UAe, and as a conciliatory gesture to the Muslim minority back home.

Ironically, in early June, when the present controversy erupted, Indian Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu was on a similar visit to Qatar designed to burnish India’s image in the Gulf.

For their part, Gulf leaders were willing to embrace Modi no matter his role in the 2002 violence in Gujarat.

Over the past two decades, Saudi Arabia and the UAe had started to strengthen relations with India, fearing a somewhat disengaged United States and an unreliable Pakistan. The 2006 visit of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud to New Delhi was a watershed moment and quietly laid a strong foundation for bolstering ties. Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia and the UAe have been investing in India’s national infrastructure projects, increasing non-oil trade with India, and expanding crucial imports from India ranging from vaccines to wheat.

The case againsT Zubair PLACED NO 150 ON THE INDEX, INDIA IS PERCEIVED TO BE AMONG THE LOWEST 17% RANKED COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF PRESS FREEDOM the Delhi Police for questioning in a 2020 POCSO case in which he had been given protection from arrest by the Delhi high Court in September 2021. examining the facts of the case, it seems that the authorities were determined to nail Zubair over something or the other — why else would he be charged for trying to ‘incite enmity’ among groups

four long years after the tweet had been posted? Over the years, Zubair has been exposing fake news and highlighting hate speech, causing embarrassment not only to the ruling dispensation but also to most major political parties.

It seems plausible that he has been arrested on what are patently flimsy charges — made anony-

Regional leaders, including Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the UAe’s President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, saw their relations with India as essentially transactional; they cared little about the turns of domestic Indian politics. Additionally, the rapprochement between Israel and the Gulf states under the auspices of the Abraham Accords further facilitated the Modi government’s engagement with various regional actors. For decades, India had carefully balanced its ties with Israel and Arab states in the region.

The Abraham Accords enabled the Modi government to openly promote stronger multifaceted economic and security engagement with Israel and the Gulf countries simultaneously. Next month, India will also participate in a virtual summit known as I2U2, involving Israel, the UAe, and the United States.

NO GOING BACK: Out of ruthless pragmatism, Gulf leaders chose to remain mostly silent as the Modi government pushed forward measures that impinged on the rights of the Muslim minority, including a series of controversial laws that for the first time defined Indian citizenship on the basis of religion, threatening to strip many Indian Muslims of their citizenship. But the growth of Islamophobia in India under the BJP has begun to alarm Gulf states more and more. This is evident from the official statements of Saudi Arabia, the UAe, and the OIC condemning the remarks, and other states’ summoning of Indian ambassadors. Faced with this intensifying chorus of disapproval, India’s Ministry of external Affairs sought to emphasize India’s secular credentials. This time, however, the derogatory remarks made against the Prophet Muhammad, rather than policies or actions targeted specifically at Indian Muslims, have inflamed both elite and popular opinion across much of the Muslim world, and not merely the Middle east. The grand mufti of Oman, for instance, termed the BJP’s “obscene rudeness” toward Islam a form of “war” and called for a boycott of Indian goods. This call has been echoed through social media hashtags across the GCC and has put pressure on GCC governments to officially comment on the inflammatory remarks about the Prophet.

The Modi government may hope that it can insulate its bilateral strategic partnerships with the Gulf states from domestic political issues, but that approach may not be sustainable over time. Unlike earlier moments of discord when India was less invested in the Middle east, today it has extensive ties to the region. The growing socioeconomic links through migration and trade, as well the pace of information (and disinformation) shared through social media, have made it more difficult for the BJP and Gulf political elites to control public views of these fraught matters. These latest comments came from party functionaries rather than civilians, and as such have made Modi and the BJP directly accountable for the noticeable rise in Islamophobia in India.

Most important, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, India is in the throes of a resource crisis as it grapples with rising food prices, a growing oil import bill, and a foreign exchange crunch. The welfare of the many members of the Indian diaspora in the Gulf is in question, as expatriates have expressed concerns about possible hostility and boycotts because of the derogatory comments. India is also wary of growing Chinese influence in that part of the Middle east, as China has invested in numerous local infrastructural projects. The Modi government’s insistence that it is committed to secularism is unlikely to mollify the aggrieved sentiments of many across the Muslim world in general, and Muslims in the Middle east in particular. Modi’s deft diplomacy in the Middle east, which had focused on the pursuit of common economic and security interests and sought to downplay events at home, may now have run its course.

SUMIT GANGULY is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and holds the Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at Indiana University, Bloomington.

NICOLAS BLAREL is Associate Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University. mously by a Twitter user with only one tweet and one follower — so that he could be ensnared in a protracted legal tussle.

Zubair’s arrest has been condemned by press organisations, Opposition politicians and free speech advocates. A spokesperson for United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said: ‘Journalists should not be jailed for what they write, what they tweet and what they say.’ Over the last few years, India has been sliding down on the World Press Freedom Index, maintained by the Paris-based Reporters sans Frontieres.

Placed No. 150 on the index, India is perceived to be among the lowest 17% ranked countries in terms of press freedom. The arrest of Zubair — coming close on the heels of PM Modi’s reaffirmation of India’s commitment to free speech at the G-7 summit in Munich — would only enhance that perception.

Saturday, 2 July, 2022 | ISlamabad

NEwS

corporate corner IBA karachi sets new strategic direction at the leadership retreat 2022

WB WArNS PAkISTAN Of MACrOECONOMIC INSTABIlITY: rEPOrT ISLAMABAD staff report

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KARACHI: IBA Karachi, steers into a new direction from being one of the leading business administration institutes to one of the best multidisciplinary institutes of higher learning in the country. IBA’s Retreat was held after the formation of three schools and the appointment of three permanent deans for each school. The IBA Retreat 2022 was organized at Pearl Continental Hotel Karachi from June 28 -29, 2022 under the leadership of Dr. S Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director, IBA Karachi, who invited key stakeholders from IBA, along with prominent experts and strategists from academia, to participate in the development of IBA’s future vision. pr

NAVTTC and Daraz Alibaba Group Envisage Mutual Collaboration for Income Generating Skills and Youth Employment

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ORLD Bank has warned Pakistan of macroeconomic instability, and balance of payment crisis keeping in view the widening current account deficit and other challenges linked with the country’s economy.

WB in its Pakistan-related report “Country Economic Memorandum 2.0” stated that Pakistan has had a current account deficit of 16 to 21 billion-dollar every year since the turn of the century.

As a result, the risk of a balance of payment crisis and macroeconomic instability have increased.

The report also stated that Pakistan’s real GDP per capita growth has been low at around 2 percent Since 2000 which is almost 2.7 percentage points lower than the South Asian average.

On the other hand, the real GDP per capita growth of India and Bangladesh

during the same time remained 5.2 percent and 4.8 percent respectively.

In addition the report also stated that exports and investment demand added on average 1.4 percentage points to aggregate demand growth from 1999 to 2009/10. This contribution fell to an average of 0.7 percentage points

since 2010.

Low growth contributions of investment and exports are associated with productivity stagnation, the report further stated that an average worker in Pakistan in 2018 produced only 38.1 percent more output than in 1991, while one from Vietnam produced

257.6 percent more than in 1991.

The report states that evidence for publicly listed firms shows that firm’s average productivity between 2012 and 2017 has only increased slightly (and has been mildly falling since 2015).

Many firms are not investing enough even to replace their depreciation, “Though exporters invest more than domestic-oriented firms and foreign-owned firms invest more than domestic-owned firms”, the report added.

Pakistani exporters accounted for 0.15 percent of global exports in 2005, in 2019 they accounted for only 0.12 percent and this is suggestive of relative productivity stagnation, and of relatively low scope for future productivity growth.

The report stated that there is a need to focus on unlocking productivity-led growth through better allocation of talent and resources however technology could play a key role in reducing barriers that women face in accessing education and work opportunities.

Riaz Pirzada meets UNICEF country representative ISLAMABAD staff report

ISLAMABAD: The e-commerce giant Daraz Alibaba Group Director Corporate Affairs, Mr. Tony Hulton, met with the Executive Director, National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), Mr. Sajid Baloch and discussed mutual cooperation for income generating skills and employment of youth in e-commerce market place.

The Executive Director NAVTTC said on this occasion that NAVTTC is equipping youth with the latest income generating technical skills such as e-commerce, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Graphic Designing etc.

The Executive Director NAVTTC said that around 63 percent population of the country comprises youth and a greater proportion of young people are considered to be a major economic driver for growth and progress. The Government is committed to empower youth by equipping them with the latest income generating skills and to increase its participation in the national development.Daraz Alibaba Group Director Corporate Affairs, Mr. Tony Hulton offered full support in promoting employment of large number of Pakistani youth in ecommerce market place- digitization on Daraz, and partnering for income generating skills under Prime Minister’s Youth Skill Development Program. pr

Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada had a meeting with Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Country Representative in Pakistan here on Friday.

Both sides reiterated their resolve to further enhance their working collaboration for protection and promotion of child rights, said a press release issued here on Friday.

Government of Pakistan through the Economic Affairs Division has signed Pakistan-UNICEF Country Program 2018-22. Under this program, twoyear Rolling Work Plan (2021-22) has been signed between Ministry of Human Rights and UNICEF. Goals of this work plan are the prevention and protection of children from abuse at ICT level.

Mr. Fadil acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts for realization of child rights. He expressed his satisfaction over the ongoing projects and said that UNICEF would extend its maximum support and assistance towards Ministry of Human Rights for the cause of

Special body to explore avenues for development of mining sector meets child rights. He said that there was a need to engage more and more stakeholders and social mobilisers to create awareness on child rights and prevention of child abuse.

Minister for Human Rights thanked and appreciated UNICEF team for their perpetual support, collaboration and coordination for development activities in the country. He outlined government’s commitment to the promotion of child rights.

Vice Chief of Air Staff addresses course participants of National Defence University ISLAMABAD

IESCO chief urges citizens to take precautions in monsoon rains

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Former MPA Zia Ullah Shah presenting a bouquet to Amir Fida Paracha on assuming charge as MD Pakistan Baitul Mal. pr

Air Marshal Muhammad Zahid Mahmood, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force addressed the NDU course participants at Nur Khan Auditorium, Air Headquarters Islamabad today.

While addressing the audience, Vice Chief of the Air Staff appreciated the quality academic stimulus and level of training imparted at National Defence University. Speaking on prevailing security challenges and technological advancements, Vice Chief

ISLAMABAD: First meeting of the special committee to explore the avenues for development of mining sector was held here today under the convenership of Federal Minister for Power Engr.

Khurram Dastgir Khan The committee was constituted by Prime Minister of Pakistan to address the issues of coal miners. In this context, the committee took into account the concerns raised by mining sector representatives and affirmed full support to address them. The issues touched upon were structural issues of the sector, infrastructure development and security concerns.

Minister for petroleum Dr Musadik Malik, Minister for Housing and Works Maulana Abdul Wasay, secretary petroleum, officials of Ministry of Industries and production, petroleum division,FBR, provincial Mines and Minerals department, representatives of All Pakistan Mines and Minerals Association were present during the meeting. pr

of the Air Staff expressed his confidence in the combat potential of Pakistan Armed Forces. He emphasized that our Armed Forces always remained poised to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation. "PAF is a professional force having capac-

ity to timely respond to any nefarious design against the country", said Vice Chief of the Air Staff.

Later on, Air Marshal Muhammad Zahid Mahmood, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force interacted with the course participants.

ISLAMABAD: During the rainy season, especially in monsoon season ratio of power/lines accidents are increase and the only solution to prevent is to take precautionary and safety measures. In a message, Chief Executive IESCO Dr. Muhammad Amjad Khan urged consumers to keep safer distance from power installation like transformers, electric wires, electric meters etc. pr

Engro Fertilizers releases first-ever sustainability report KArAchI pr

Engro Fertilizers, Pakistan's premier seedto-harvest solutions provider, has released its first-ever Sustainability Report to highlight the Company’s progress toward environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and governance (ESG) goals.

The comprehensive sustainability report is based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and has been externally validated by an independent certification agency. The report details how the core values and governance model of Engro Fertilizers incorporate sustainable practices into

its day-to-day operations, thus, ensuring a sustainable future.

Key hIghLIghtS of the report IncLuDe: • Prioritization of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address education, healthcare, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, climate action and forging partnerships for the realization of SDGs. • Initiatives to lead the agri-industry towards holistic digitization and innovation, ranging from customer and vendor support to digital payment solutions, including online ordering and payments.

• Key measures to safeguard the interests of farmers and national food security through farmer education, free of cost soil testing and timely product delivery through an extensive distribution network of more than 100 warehouses and 4,000 dealers across the country.

• Recognition of the Company as “Industry Stewardship Champion” by the International Fertilizers Association (IFA) for efficient operations and minimizing environmental footprint through DuPont world-class environment management systems, solarization of all warehouses.

• Engro Fertilizers continued to make significant headway in its efforts to

create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. In 2021, women made up 15 percent of new hires, with placements in unconventional roles as trade apprentices, graduate trainee engineers, workshop supervisors, warehouse in-charges and field-sales. The Company secured the first runner up position in the category of "Leadership Commitment" at the prestigious UN Women 2021 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards. It was also recognized for its diverse and inclusive workplace culture at the CFA Society Pakistan Annual Excellence Awards 2021 and the Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Benchmark (GDEIB) Conference and Awards 2021 by

winning ten awards in different categories, including being named as the ‘Most Inclusive Organization’ of Pakistan.

Ghias Khan, President & CEO, Engro Corporation, stated, “Engro Fertilizers sustainability report speaks to the company’s commitment towards building a sustainable future for its stakeholders through robust core values and a governance model that helps incorporate sustainable practices in its day-to-day operations. As one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates, it is our duty to work towards the environmental, social, and economic health of the communities we work with and operate in.

Saturday, 2 July, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

10 FOREIGN NEWS

IndIA on tHe edGe As CALLs mAde for ‘vIoLent retrIbutIon’ AGAInst musLIms

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HE gruesome killing of a Hindu tailor has inflamed religious tensions in India and sparked a furious response on social media, including calls for reprisal attacks against the country’s Muslim minority.

Two men have been arrested over Tuesday’s attack, committed in apparent retaliation for inflammatory comments about the Holy Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) made by a spokeswoman for India’s ruling BJP party weeks earlier.

Footage of the murder and attempted beheading of Kanhaiya Lal, which went viral online, also showed his attackers brandishing large knives and threatening to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India has a long history of communal violence and authorities have shut down internet connections and imposed a curfew in the city where the attack took place to prevent unrest.

But social media platforms have been consumed by angry reactions to the killing, with some users demanding “violent retribution” against both the accused murderers and other Muslims.

Members of public Telegram groups dedicated to promoting and defending Hinduism called on each other to pick up weapons and attack Muslims or discussed the virtues of storming a police station to attack the two accused men.

The far-right Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) used social media to issue a nationwide protest

call against Islamist terrorism and complain that Muslims had routinely upset the religious sentiments of India’s majority religion.

“You should be afraid of the day when Hindus too start giving reply to the insult,” senior VHP figure Surendra Kumar Jain said in a video posted online, and watched nearly 75,000 times across Twitter and Facebook.

Though many prominent voices said the killing was an indictment of Islam, many of the loudest voices condemning the attack came from Muslim religious groups.

“There is no room for justification of violence in Islam,” wrote the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, one of at least half a dozen prominent India-based Muslim groups to condemn the attack while also calling for calm.

“Peace should not be disturbed.

Nobody should try to take advantage

Xi asks PLA garrison to better safeguard national security of Hong Kong HONG KONG

of this ugly crime.”

‘Hindu lives matter’ goes viral: A day after his murder, Lal’s name had been mentioned more than 200,000 times on Twitter, along with a grab bag of hashtags condemning the attack.

The hashtag “Hindu lives matter” was being posted more than 2,000 times an hour on Thursday.

Lal had been targeted after a Facebook post expressing support for Nupur Sharma, a BJP spokeswoman who last month made blasphemous remarks during a TV debate.

Her comments led to violent protests in India and embroiled the country in a diplomatic row, with nearly 20 countries calling in their Indian ambassadors for an explanation.

The BJP went into damage control after Sharma’s comments, suspending her from the party and

Taliban supreme leader makes rare appearance in Kabul KABUL

Agencies

Agencies

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Garrison in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to make greater contributions to safeguarding national security and maintaining longterm prosperity and stability in Hong Kong.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when inspecting the garrison’s camp at Central, Hong Kong. He extended sincere greetings to all the staff at the garrison. Xi attended the meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the HKSAR. Over the past 25 years, the garrison has strove to implement the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, the HKSAR Basic Law and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Garrisoning of the HKSAR, he said, hailing its performance in fulfilling various defense duties as excellent.

Facing “profound and complex changes” in the situation in Hong Kong in recent years, the garrison has played an important role in the city’s transition from chaos to order, Xi said.

Noting that Hong Kong is in a crucial stage of transitioning from order to greater prosperity, Xi called on the garrison to enhance capabilities in fulfilling missions and make greater contributions to safeguarding national security, maintaining longterm prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, and the steady and sustained implementation of “One Country, Two Systems” in the HKSAR.

issuing a statement to insist that it respected all religions.

But since coming to power nationally in 2014, Modi’s party has been accused by rights groups and foreign governments of championing discriminatory policies towards India’s 200million strong Muslim minority.

Amnesty this month said authorities had waged a “vicious” crackdown on Muslims who took to the streets to protest Sharma’s remarks, including by demolishing homes with bulldozers.

Since the attack on Lal, party members have taken to social media to criticise Muslim nations that had complained about Sharma’s comments for remaining silent on the killing.

Several also took aim at Indian journalist Mohammed Zubair, who had helped draw attention to the remarks by Sharma that eventually saw her suspended from the BJP. In one tweet, Kapil Mishra, a BJP politician, accused Zubair and his supporters of being “responsible” for the tailor’s death.

Zubair, who has drawn frequent attention to hate speech by Hindu fringe groups, was arrested on Monday.

He remains in custody, with police citing a four-year-old tweet about a Hindu god they said had been the subject of complaints by Hindu groups.

Police opened an investigation into Sharma this month after a complaint by a member of the public about her remarks, but she has not been arrested and her current whereabouts are unknown. Agencies

The supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban, Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada, on Friday arrived in the capital, Kabul, for the first time since the group took control of Afghanistan in August last year.

Akhundzada, who has not been filmed or photographed in public since the Taliban’s return, spoke at a grand meeting of religious scholars and tribal elders on the second day that is discussing important issues.

Organisers said that over 3,000 scholars and influential personalities from across Afghanistan were taking part in the moot which would continue till Saturday (July 2).

During his speech, which was delivered in Pashto, the Taliban supreme leader defended his government’s policies and said that the Taliban had the right to fully implement the Islamic system.

“The establishment of an Islamic system is not only good news for the people of Afghanistan but for Muslims across the world. I had received

messages of congratulations from Muslims across the world.”

Akhundzada said it had never been the objective of the Taliban to target Afghans during its resistance against foreign invaders. But those Afghans who were guarding foreign occupation, he continued, “we had no option but to fight them”.

“When the Americans left Afghanistan, we declared a general amnesty for all and told them that they were pardoned despite their brutalities against the Mujahideen,” the Taliban chief said.

He urged officials to end corruption in all government departments and avoid giving positions on the basis of favouritism and friendship.

“If such ills are part of our government, then it will be totally against the struggle we waged for the establishment of an Islamic system,” Akhundzada said.

He further went on to defend the policies of the Islamic Emirate and said the government was facing challenges from the international community.

“There would be more opposition to our government when

we start implementing decisions of Islamic courts,” he said, adding that “we should not care about the world’s criticism but try to enforce the Islamic system.”

Earlier, speakers at the gathering vowed to defend their country despite external and internal challenges.

Afghan Prime Minister Mullah Hasan, in his address, urged the delegates to question those who were against the Islamic administration.

“Now, the Islamic system has been established, we must do all we can to strengthen it,” the state’s Bakhtar News Agency quoted the premier as saying.

“You are well aware that under the rule of the Islamic system, all those who used to fight the Mujahideen have been pardoned, but they still create troubles for our country from abroad,” he said.

Meanwhile, Afghan Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob sought a religious decree from the participants for the solution to some problems. He asked the scholars to identify weaknesses in the implementation of the Islamic Sharia and urged them to suggest solutions.

‘Cut out alcohol, do more sport’, Putin responds to G7 slurs Russian President Vladimir Putin has hit back at Western leaders who mocked his macho image this week, saying it would be “disgusting” to see them strip off, New York Post reported. At a press conference during a visit to Turkmenistan, Putin suggested his counterparts needed to “cut out alcohol and do more sport”.

Putin, who prizes his sporty image, has been pictured shirtless several times in photos released by Russian state media, including one set in which he rode a brown horse while wearing wrap-around sunglasses, a gold chain and army trousers. “I don’t know whether they wanted to strip down to the waist or below the waist, but I think that it would be a disgusting sight in any case,” he said.

Asked about the comments of G7 leaders, Putin replied: Referencing the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, he added: “You can be a smart person and think about the beauty of your nails.” He continued: “I certainly agree with this: everything in a person should be harmoniously developed, both soul and body.

“But in order for everything to be so harmonious, you need to give up alcohol abuse, other bad habits, work out, do sport”. “The colleagues you mentioned, I know all of them personally – we are not having the best period in our relations, this is understandable.

“But nevertheless, they are all leaders, which means they have character. And if they want, they will certainly achieve the desired progress.

“But you need to work on yourself. And the fact that they are talking about it is already good, I will praise them for this,” he added.

Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations had earlier mocked the macho image of their absent adversary Putin, at a meeting in Germany dominated by the Russian President’s invasion of Ukraine.

As the besuited leaders sat down for their first meeting of the three-day G7 summit in the sweltering Bavarian Alps, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked if their jackets should come off – or if they should even disrobe further.

“We all have to show that we’re tougher than Putin,” Johnson said, to laughter from some of his colleagues.

“Bare-chested horseback riding,” shot back Canada’s Justin Trudeau. “Oh yes,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Horseback riding is the best.”

Putin was also asked about Johnson’s remarks this week that the Russian president would not have invaded Ukraine if he were female.

Putin pointed to former British leader Margaret Thatcher’s decision to send troops into the Falklands as a rebuttal of Johnson’s theory.

Putin told reporters: “I just want to recall the events of recent history, when Margaret Thatcher decided to launch military operations against Argentina for the Falkland Islands. So, a woman took the decision to launch military action.

“Therefore it’s not an entirely accurate reference from the British Prime Minister to what is happening today.”

The Russian leader went on to criticise Britain’s move, 40 years ago, to respond militarily to Argentina’s attempt to seize the sparsely populated British-run islands in the South Atlantic.

“Where are the Falkland Islands and where is Britain?”

Putin asked. “Thatcher’s actions were dictated by nothing less than imperial ambitions and (a desire to) confirm their imperial status Moscow repeatedly rails against Western military interventions in the likes of the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq as examples of Western imperialism and hypocrisy. Agencies

China urges US to respond positively to reasonable demands of Iran New YOrK Agencies

A senior Chinese diplomat on Thursday urged the United States, as the party responsible for the Iranian nuclear crisis, to respond positively to the reasonable demands of Iran.

“The United States should face up to its responsibility, correct its mistake once and for all, make a political decision as soon as possible, and take concrete measures to respond positively to the reasonable demands of Iran,” Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said while addressing a Security Council briefing on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran and the United States held indirect

talks on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Qatari capital of Doha to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which started to fall apart after Washington’s pullout from the deal in May 2018.

“The previous U.S. administration, in disregard of objections from the international community, unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA, and launched a maximum pressure campaign against Iran. We must admit that is the root cause of the current Iranian nuclear crisis,” Zhang said.

He noted that the United States, while repeatedly stating its readiness to seek a return to compliance, is nevertheless escalating sanctions against Iran and third parties even during the process of resumed talks.

“Doing so is obviously detrimental to any positive progress in the talks. The United States should live up to its words and lift all relevant unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction measures against Iran, so that Iran can fully partake of the economic dividends of the JCPOA,” he said.

There is no better alternative to the JCPOA agreement, as dialogue and consultation is the only right way forward in the resolution of the Iranian nuclear crisis, Zhang noted.

He said that China welcomes and supports all efforts conducive to the peaceful resolution of the crisis, welcomes the relaunch of indirect talks between the United States and Iran in Doha, and appreciates the recent good offices by the EU.

11 Sports 2 JULY_Layout 1 7/1/2022 11:53 PM Page 1

Saturday, 2 July, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

SPORTS 11

Female spinner Tuba Hassan earns cenTral conTracT LAHoRE

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staff RepoRt

ROMISING 21-year-old leg-spinner Tuba Hassan was one of the three firsttime women cricketers who were awarded central contracts for the 2022-23 season, which came into effect here on Friday.

The other two first-timers are Gul Feroza and Sadaf Shamas, who have been identified as future prospects.

Tuba was adjudged ICC Women’s Player of the Month for May 2022 for her impressive debut series against Sri Lanka. She took five wickets in three T20Is, including three for eight in her debut match. Tuba was part of the Pakistan women’s team for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 as a travelling reserve.

Tuba Hassan said : “I am absolutely thrilled and excited at being given the prestigious central contract for the first time. Hard work has slowly started to pay off, but this is just the beginning. My focus remains on producing strong performances and contributing in my team’s success, rest I am sure will take care of itself as we have seen in this case.

“I want to thank all my seniors, teammates, support staff and family members who have backed me in this journey to date. Playing and performing for Pakistan and my team remains my only objective, and with the support of a strong group of people around me, I remain

confident that I will improve and live up to their expectations.”

Apart from the three firsttimers, Ghulam Fatima, Iram Javed and Sidra Amin have regained their central contracts, which see a 15 per cent increase in retainers across all categories.

Ghulam Fatima had last earned a contract for the 2018-19 season, Iram was last awarded a contract in 2016-17 and Sidra Amin was last given a contract in the 2019-20 season.

The six players who have failed to retain contracts include Kaynat Hafeez, Nahida Khan, Najiha Alvi, Rameen Shamim, Saba Nazir and Syeda Aroob Shah.

As many as eight star performers have been promoted in the Women’s Central Contracts 202223. Aliya Riaz and Nida Dar have been promoted to Category A where they join national team captain Bismah Maroof. Anam Amin, Fatima Sana, Nashra Sandhu and Omaima Sohail have been elevated to Category B, while Muneeba Ali and Ayesha Naseem have been upgraded to Category C. Javeria Khan, who had an ordinary 2021-22 season by her own standards when she managed 141 runs in 10 ODIs, has been demoted to Category C along with allrounder Kainat Imtiaz, who scored 61 runs in three ODIs and failed to take a wicket. In her only T20I in the previous season, she took one wicket and scored four runs.

Asmavia Iqbal, Chair of Women’s Selection Committee said

: “Eight players receiving enhanced contracts and three players being offered contracts for the first time is an indicator that we are heading in the right direction, though we still have a long road ahead to narrow the gap with the leading sides. We have made progress in the 2021-22 season and I am sure with the amount of cricket that lies ahead, we will emerge as an improved side at the end of the season.

“Central contracts are not only a way to incentivise, appreciate and reward players for their contributions in the previous season, it is also a method to challenge the players to either reclaim or earn better contracts next season, which is only possible through on-field performances. With the investment being made and the opportunities that are presently available, I am optimistic that we will have more good news to

share next year.

“I want to thank all the players for their contributions, determination and commitment in the past season and hope they will produce good results in the coming season in which we will feature in the Commonwealth Games, ICC Women’s Championship and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.” Women’s Central Contracts 2022-23:

Category A (3) – Aliya Riaz, Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar Category B (5) – Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Nashra Sandhu and Omaima Sohail Category C (5) – Ayesha Naseem, Muneeba Ali, Javeria Khan, Sidra Amin and Sidra Nawaz Category D (7) – Ghulam Fatima, Gul Feroza, Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Sadia Iqbal, Sadaf Shamas and Tuba Hassan.

Pakistan Junior League mentors to earn over Rs10m each LAHoRE web Desk

charsadda King wins Dc charsadda Football league PESHAWAR staff RepoRt

King Stars Charsadda clinched the trophy after defeating Charsadda Bulls in the final of the DC Charsadda Football League played at Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex Football ground on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner Charsadda was the chief guest on this occasion, District Sports Officer Charsadda Tehseen Ullah, Administrator Imran Khan, former footballers, officials and match commissioner Syed Imtiaz Ali Shah and a large number of spectators were also present on this occasion.

King Stars clinched the trophy after a thrilling contest in the final match, defeating Charsadda Bulls by 3-0 in a thrilling match. King Stars goal-keeper Nadeem was declared as best goal-keeper of the tournament as he did key efforts for his team first to reach the final and then thwarted four easy goalfetching chances of Bulls on striking forwards. The final match was played between Kings Stars Charsadda and Charsadda Bulls. Zaid, Nasir and Furqan scored a goal each to give their team the victory. The special guest of the final match was Deputy Commissioner Charsadda Captain (Retd) Abdul Rehman who distributed medals and prizes among the players. Addressing the gathering, Abdul Rehman said that the provincial government has taken practical steps for the promotion of sports due to which the players of the province were performing well at national and international levels. He said that there was no shortage of talent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The enthusiasm and level of scale of the players was evident in the match.

More practice and determination of players could enable them to represent the country at the international level. Eight teams from Charsadda district participated in the Charsadda Football League, including three teams from Shabqadar and Charsadda Tehsils and two teams from Tangi Tehsil. Earlier in the first semi-final, Charsadda Bulls defeated Shabqadar Shark 1-0 while in the second semifinal, Charsadda Kings Stars defeated Shabqadar Dragon 2-1 to reach the final.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has offered $50,000 (Rs. 1 crore) to the mentors for the Pakistan Junior League (PJL) including Javed Miandad, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, and Daren Sammy.

It is expected that the remaining mentors will also take home the same amount of money for mentoring their respective PJL teams. Thus, mentors alone will earn more than Rs. 7 crore from a 2-week event.

When inquired about this, PCB Media Director Sami Ul Hasan said that the fees being paid to the mentors is a matter which should be only kept between PCB and the mentors. Sami refused to comment further on the

matter. According to the details, PCB chairman Ramiz Raja’s dream project PJL will start from October 1. Javed Miandad has been appointed as league’s mentor whereas Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, and Daren Sammy have been appointed as the mentors of the teams.

The PCB, however, is finding it difficult to find foreign mentors due to ICC T20 World Cup being held in the same time window as the PJL. The decision to bring in big names as mentors was to make the PJL more commerically viable. It will be used as a selling point to generate more interest.

In addition to serving as the mentors, Miandad, Afridi, Malik, and Sammy will also act as event ambassadors to help promote the game and help the youngsters along the way.

The PJL project is a brainchild of Ramiz Raja and it is expected that the league will continue to blossom under

his guidance but if he is replaced as PCB chairman, the league’s future might hang in balance.

Ammad clinches U19 title of PSF Jr Squash Circuit ISLAMABAd staff RepoRt

Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) Muhammad Ammad clinched the Under19 title of the PSF Junior Squash Circuit No 2 at Mushaf Squash Complex on Friday.

In Boys U-19 category, Muhammad Ammad from PAF won the title by beating Anas Ali Shah from Punjab with a game score of 11-4, 11-5 and 118.

As part of Juniors’ Development Programme & Talent Hunt at grass root level, Pakistan Squash Federation organized PSF Junior Squash Circuit No 2.

Earlier in March, 22, first event of the Junior Circuit-2022 was organized wherein, a group of 198 players participated. Squash Legend and Vice President, PSF Qamar Zaman graced the closing ceremony as Chief Guest and distributed prizes and trophies to the

players.

In Girls U-19 category, Ms Sana Bhadur from Pak Army won the title by beating Ms Mehwish Ali from KP with a game score of 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (3-1).

In Boys U-11 category, Faizan Khan from Punjab won the title by beating Syed Muhammad Hussain from Punjab with a game score of 11-3, 112, 7-0 (Retd Hurt).

In Boys U-13 category, Ahmed

Rayyan Khalil from PAF won the title by beating Shahzaib, also from PAF with a game score of 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (3-1).

In Boys U-15 category, Azan Ali from Pak Army won the title by beating Umair Arif from KP with a game score of 2-11, 12-10, 11-8, 14-12 (3-1).

In Boys U-17 category, Abdullah Nawaz from PAF won the title by beating Huraira Khan, also from PAF with a game score of 11-4, 11-9, 11-6.

Djokovic eyes Wimbledon last 16 as Isner targets aces record London News Desk

Novak Djokovic faces fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic for a place in the Wimbledon last 16 on Friday as John Isner targets becoming the sport’s king of aces.

Kecmanovic, 22, has lost both his previous two meetings against the man he describes as his “idol”.

However, with 2002 Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian in his coaching team, he is enjoying a breakout season.

Kecmanovic enjoyed career-best runs to the last 16 at the Australian Open and third round at Roland Garros.

He has also broken into the top 30 for the first time.

Djokovic, bidding to join Pete Sampras as a seven-time

Wimbledon champion, is in the third round at the All England Club for the 16th time.

Second-round victim Thanasi Kokkinakis took just seven games off the 35-year-old and admitted: “I got chopped.”

Waiting in the fourth round will be Dutch wild card Tim van Rijthoven.

Playing in his debut Grand Slam main draw, the world number 104 defeated 22nd seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. The 25-year-old Van Rijthoven proved his prowess on grass by winning the ‘s-Hertogenbosch title last month, defeating world number one Daniil Medvedev in the final.

“My serve is working fantastic, I have only dropped serve a couple of times in my last eight matches,” said the Dutchman. “If I play Djokovic, it will be a dream.”

Saturday, 2 July, 2022

prayer timings

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

4:10

1:30

5:15

5:00

7:08

9:15

PM ShEhBAz, COAS BAJwA diSCuSS SECuRiTy SiTuATiOn ISLAMABAD

C

agencies

HIEF of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and held a discussion with him on country’s security situation.

However, no official handout was released by the ISPR. Reportedly, Army Chief Bajwa and Prime Minister Shehbaz held a one-on-one meeting here at Prime Minister House.

The duo discussed matters related to Army’s professional preparedness. They

also held consultation regarding internal affairs of country’s security situation.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister also congratulated the Army Chief on receiving the Saudi Civil Award.

It is pertinent to mention here that Chief of Army Staff Gen Bajwa was on an official visit to Qatar on Thursday. He called on Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of State for Defence Affairs, the State of Qatar Doctor Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah.

During his meetings with Qatari royalty and political leadership, they discussed matters of mutual interests,

Body to finalize Journalist Protection (Amend) Bill: Marriyum ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Friday that a special committee, comprising representatives from the ministries and media organizations concerned, had been formed to finalize the Journalist and Media Professionals Protection (Amendment) Bill 2022. She informed the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist’s (Dastoor) delegation, which called on her, about the committee and its formation. The delegation, led by its President Nawaz Raza, apprised the minister about the problems and professional issues faced by the journalists. She said the draft of amendment bill had been received by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on her special directives.

Regarding the formation of the committee, the Minister said it comprised of representatives from different ministries including Information and Broadcasting, Human Rights, and Law and Justice.

Federal Secretary Shahera Shahid was also made part of the body so that the journalists’ issues resolved at the earliest. staff report

Transporters to shut service on Eid amid rising POL prices ISLAMABAD: Angry over the unprecedented hike in the petrol and diesel prices, the transporters in Pakistan announced on Friday to fully close the transport after Eidul Azha, stating that only 30 per cent of transport would be operated due to Eid holidays. All Pakistan Public Transport Owners Federation (APPTOF) said that the rising petrol and diesel prices, coupled with high taxes and other charges, crippled the resources of the transporters to operate transport in the country. They said that there was already a low number of passengers opting for private transport due to rising fares.

“If the government cannot reduce the price of diesel, it should abolish taxes,” they demanded.

It is to be noted here that the government made a whopping Rs14.85 per litre increase in the petrol price on Thursday. The government also imposed a levy of Rs10 per litre on petrol, whereas, a levy of Rs5 had been imposed on High Speed Diesel, Light Diesel and Kerosene Oil. Similarly, the government had increased the price of High Speed Diesel by Rs13.23 per lire.

The rate of Kerosene Oil also increased by Rs18.83, whereas, the price of Light Diesel went up by Rs18.68. agencies

defence & security cooperation and regional environment.

The COAS said that both countries shared a great history of cordial relations and a deep spirit of brotherhood, which were being transformed into an enduring partnership.

Both sides underscored the importance of further enhancing cooperation in all fields.

It may also be recalled that Pakistan is currently facing energy crunch and has failed to find a bidder for liquefied natural gas (LNG) slots. The government is in discussion for increased deliveries of LNG from Qatar to help ease the crip-

pling fuel crisis.

But on June 24, Pakistan had received the most expensive bid for a single cargo shipment from Qatar which had added to the list of its growing challenges.

The LNG bids were invited to deliver natural gas by July 3, July 8, July 25, and July 30, 2022, according to the delivery schedule. However, amid global fuel shortage, the country’s tender to buy four July cargoes had received a single bid, and at a staggering high price.

At a record high price of around $40 per million British thermal units, only Qatar Energy offered the LNG.

PM, US envoy discuss bilateral ties

ISLAMABAD app

Ambassador of the United States to Pakistan Donald Blome called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif here on Friday and discussed bilateral ties.

The Prime Minister congratulated the ambassador on his presentation of credentials and expressed the hope that the ambassador would devote his efforts to deepening and enhancing bilateral ties between the US and Pakistan.

In this context, the Prime Minister highlighted the historic, longstanding ties between the two countries and underscored Pakistan’s desire to further develop this relationship on the basis of mutual respect, trust, and interest.

Recalling the depth and breadth of Pakistan-US relationship, the Prime Minister underscored that various dialogues established between Pakistan and US have been playing a critical role in strengthening the bi-

lateral ties in the areas of trade, investment, IT, climate change, health, and energy.

The Prime Minister emphasized that, given Pakistan’s economic and demographic potential, US companies needed to be encouraged by the Development Finance Corporation of the US to invest in Pakistan’s large market.

The Prime Minister also stressed the need to have the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Ministerial meeting take place later this year, besides holding of the Business Opportunities Conference this year.

This year marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and the United States.

The Prime Minister hoped that both countries would celebrate this historic occasion in a befitting manner, which would further deepen bilateral and people-to-people ties. He also stressed the need to have more exchanges at high-level between the two countries.

Ambassador Blome thanked Pakistan for its prompt and effective assistance in facilitating evacuation from Afghanistan. In this context, the Prime Minister emphasized that the deepening of cooperation between Pakistan and the United States would promote peace and stability in Afghanistan and contribute to averting the humanitarian crisis in that country, which had been further aggravated by the recent earthquake.

While highlighting the rising wave of Islamophobia in India, he condemned the sacrilegious remarks by the two BJP officials about the revered personality of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) that had deeply hurt the sentiments of Muslims.

The Prime Minister also underlined that India was committing grave violations of human rights in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). While reiterating Pakistan’s commitment towards promotion of peace in the region, he stressed the importance of peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. In this context, he called upon the international community to discharge its moral and normative obligations, while also calling upon India to adhere to the UN resolutions.

The Prime Minister also conveyed his sincere good wishes to the people and Government of the United States on their 246th Independence Day. Ambassador Blome thanked the Prime Minister for receiving him and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to further strengthen and reinforce Pakistan-US ties.

OGRA notifies Rs1.66/kg hike in LPG price for July ISLAMABAD: After a massive hike in the prices of petroleum products, the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has also been raised by Rs1.66 per kilogram for the month of July. Following the issuance LPG price hike notification by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Friday in this regard, a domestic cylinder of 11.8kg will be sold for Rs2,600 while a commercial cylinder with 45.4kg capacity will be available at Rs10,000 in the open market. It is relevant to note that the authority had earlier fixed LPG price at Rs2,581.35 per 11.8kg cylinder for June. Earlier on Thursday, the coalition government announced an increase of Rs14.85 per liter in the price of petrol effective from July 1, 2022. The price was increased from Rs233.89 per liter to Rs.248.74 per liter.

Similarly, the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) was increased from Rs263.31 to Rs276.54, an increase of Rs13.23 per liter. Likewise, the price of kerosene oil increased by Rs18.83 per liter, from Rs211.43 to Rs230.26 whereas the price of light diesel oil (LDO) increased by Rs18.68 per liter, from Rs207.47 to Rs226.15. staff report

Senior journalist attacked, tortured in Lahore LAHORE saleem Jadoon

Unidentified assailants attacked senior journalist Ayaz Amir when he was returning home from office on Abbot Road here Friday night.

According to details, the senior journalist was on his way back home from his office on Abbot Road when six unidentified assailants came in a car, stopped Ayaz Amir’s car and started beating the senior journalist and his driver. The assailants also snatched his wallet and mobile phone. After torturing the senior journalist, the accused fled the scene in the vehicle.

Journalist Tariq Habib shared a picture of Ayaz Amir on Twitter and wrote: “On his return after program on Dunya TV, senior analyst Ayaz Amir Sahib and his driver were assaulted by unknown people.”

“As soon as we left the office, a car blocked our vehicle and six people tortured us,” the journalist wrote while quoting Ayaz Amir. It is pertinent to mention here that he had given a speech in former prime minister Imran Khan’s regime change seminar.

Meanwhile, former Information Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry condemned the attack on Ayaz Amir, demanding an investigation into the incident.

In his tweet, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said: “I condemn in strongest terms the violence against senior journalist Ayaz Amir today.” He regretted that Pakistan is descending into the worst kind of fascism with violence & fake FIRs against journalists, opposition politicians and citizens. “When the State loses all moral authority it resorts to violence”, he wrote.

On the other hand, PTI leader Fayyaz Chohan also condemned the incident, saying that the police and other institutions should trace and arrest the accused involved in the incident. Meanwhile, Punjab IG Police Rao Sardar Ali took notice of the attack on senior journalist Ayaz Amir and sought a report from Lahore CCPO. In a statement, the IG police said that the accused responsible for the incident will be brought to the justice.

Rao Sardar said the assailants will be traced with the help of safe city’s camera footage and asked the senior police officers to contact the victim journalist immediately. Moreover, Karachi Press Club officebearers vehemently condemned the attack on Ayaz Amir, saying that the attack reflects the fast growing intolerance in the society. In a statement, the KPC office-bearers said that voice of the media could not be silenced through such cowardly act. They also demanded arrest of the accused immediately.

MARRIYUM TAKES NOTICE OF ATTACK ON AYAZ AMIR: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday took notice of an attack on senior journalist and analyst Ayaz Amir by unidentified assailants in Lahore.

She contacted Punjab Home Minister Attaullah Tarar, who told her that an inquiry had been ordered into the incident on the directives of PM Shehbaz Sharif and CM Hamza Shehbaz. Condemning the incident in the strongest words, the minister said the attack on Ayaz Amir was an attack on freedom of press. The government would fully investigate the matter and provide justice to the journalist, she added.

“Cheap tactics are being used against the journalists who raise questions in his presence,” the minister said in an apparent reference to PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

She said reality could not be changed by attacking the dissenting voices and critics. When Imran Khan was in power, he sent the journalists to jails, she added.

Marriyum sympathized with Ayaz Amir and said the attackers would be arrested at all costs.

Refineries respond to questions on importing Russian oil KARACHI asad Ullah Kamran & ahmad ahmadani

In separate letters on Friday, oil refineries responded to the Ministry of Energy on the question whether it is possible to import Russian crude, Profit has learnt.

In a letter written by the Ministry of Energy on the 27th of June, managing directors of four refineries were asked to conduct a detailed analysis into the option of importing Russian crude oil along with recommendations and submit responses in this regard by June 28.

The companies responded in a letter of

their own addressing the issues and processes involved in importing Russian oil.

The Ministry of Energy had highlighted five key parameters, cover the basic elements involved in importing oil, to be covered in the analysis by the refineries.

TEChNICAL SUITABILITY: The most fundamental question that has been asked before as well, is whether or not Russian oil is technically suitable to be refined.

According to the letter written by PRL in response to the Ministry of Energy, it evaluated major Russian blends and summarised that only three blends were suitable given the configurations of refineries.

According to PRL Sokol, which is essentially a light and sweet crude, Sokol has a larger proportion of intermediate distillates and a lower proportion of fuel oil. If Sokol were to be compared to other available grades, it would be PRL’s first choice of crude.

Espo is a medium-light mix with a somewhat sweeter crude. The only drawback is the increased amount of fuel oil it requires, and getting rid of it will always be a difficult chore.The Ural blend, however, is a combination of heavy, light, and sour crudes. It will be challenging for the refiner to fulfil the required product sulphur standard due to the higher sulphur content. Ad-

ditionally, this crude has greater levels of fuel oil, which will always make product disposal challenging.

According to PARCO’s answer, preliminary technical evaluations show that some Russian crude grades are technically appropriate for processing at MCR in the region of 15% to 30% of the crude oil mix by substituting some of the existing grades.

The structure of National Refinery Ltd. lubricant refineries limits the range of feedstock, according to the letter sent to the Ministry of energy. They have occasionally tried in vain to find an alternative feedstock to Arabian light crude, which works with the

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

refinery’s design.

Cynergyco analysed various blends based upon the refinery configuration, and provided a table that gives detailed information. The table is provided below ranked based on most suitable to least suitable.

QUANTITY AND GRADES: With regards to the quantity and grades of the crude, given the information and other accessible data, as well as the fact that Urals has a sulphur content of no more than 1.4– 1.6%, all of the aforementioned Russian crudes may be processed in PRL at a blend ratio of 75% Sokol, 50% ESPO, and 35% Urals, respectively.