Epaper_22-07-20 LHR

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 I 20 Zil Hajj, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 379 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

CoalITIon huddlE rESolvES To ComPlETE TEnurE ‘ComE whaT may’ g

ALLIES LASh ouT AT ShEhBAz For FAILurE To CoNTroL INFLATIoN, PrICE hIKE

LAHORE

T

Mian abRaR

hE ruling coalition Tuesday decided not to dissolve the National Assembly (NA) in response to the PTI’s fresh demand for holding early general elections and to continue and complete the stipulated timeframe of the National and Provincial Assemblies.

The decision was taken at a meeting held here and chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by PDM chief Maulana Fa-

g

DAWAr uNhAPPy WITh PM oVEr DELAy IN ‘JuSTICE’ To ALI WAzIr

zlur rehman, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali zardari and other key political leaders. The meeting was held to review the political situation in wake of the PTI’s thumping victory in the crucial Punjab by-elections held on Sunday.

Informed sources in the PML-N told Pakistan Today that during the meeting, PPP leader Asif zardari and Maulana Fazl stressed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other PDM leaders to join hands and make joint efforts continue as any immediate elections would result in landslide victory of the PTI. “Asif zardari also assured the meeting that

he would not only manage the upcoming election of Chief Minister Punjab and provide adequate number of lawmakers to support hamza Shehbaz to stay chief minister but he would also make sure to help Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to continue as premier,” a source told this scribe requesting not being identified.

The source said that after heated debate, majority of the leaders endorsed the views of zardari and Fazlur rehman and it was decided that the incumbent coalition government would not to opt for early elections anytime soon and instead complete their term till August 17, 2023.

The meeting was attended by the top leadership of the coalition allies, including PPP cochairman Asif zardari, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur rehman, JWP leader Shahzain Bugti, MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and a number of other leaders. During the meeting, the allied parties lashed out at the PMLN-led federal government over the rising inflation. The sources told that MQM-P, Awami National Party (ANP), and MNA Mohsin Dawar lambasted the government over its failure to control inflation.

Speaking on the occasion, former Karachi Mayor and MQM-P leader Wasim Akhtar asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take measures against inflation, saying that it was weakening a ‘strong political unity’.

During the meeting, MNA Mohsin Dawar also lashed out at the Prime Minister over failure to give ‘justice’ to Ali Wazir. “Mian Sahab, if you cannot control inflation and cannot give justice to Ali Wazir, so why did you come into power,” he asked PM Shehbaz Sharif.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

SC questions PTI’s move to quit parliament ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) “walk over” to the incumbent government in the parliament. hearing a petition filed by the former ruling party regarding amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) umar Ata Bandial inquired into PTI’s restraint from parliamentary debate on recent amendments to the National Accountability ordinance (NAo) 1999. The CJP implored the PTI Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi, as Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah heard former prime minister and party Chairman Imran Khan’s petition against the amendments to the NAo. Advocate Khawaja haris appeared on behalf of the ousted premier.

The Court also sought a re-

sponse from the government over a petition moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking to declare recent amendments to laws governing National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as unconstitutional.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice umar Ata

Bandial, while conducted the hearing on the petition, recalled that Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the new amendments are as per the rulings of the apex court. however, the counsel for PTI rejected the notion and said the changes were made in a hurry and

are against the ruling of the court.

At this, the judge remarked his court can nullify laws that are enacted to benefit certain individuals but stressed that hurdles should not be created in the functioning of the government as civil servants are hesitant to make decisions out of fear of NAB. The court said anyone who commits corruption should be severally dealt with but an administrative decision taken by him should not also be set aside.

SC adjourned the hearing till July 29 and sought a reply from the government on the petition.

The government passed the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in the National Assembly and the Senate in May. President Arif Alvi rejected the bill and urged further consideration, prompting the government to pass it anew in a joint sitting of Parliament.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Shehbaz urges ECP to announce ‘long delayed’ verdict in PTI funding case ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

A day after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) swept byelections in Punjab, and is likely to form the new government there on July 22, the prime minister told the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that the timing was ripe to announce the “long-delayed” verdict in a 2014 funding case against the party of his chief rival and predecessor Imran Khan.

Filed in November of that year by Akbar S. Babar, a founding member of the party, the complaint has come to be called the prohibited funding case which pertains to allegations the party received funds from dubious, prohibited, illegal and undeclared sources.

In 2017, Supreme Court ruled that political parties could not receive funds from foreign companies.

Since 2014, the commission and its scrutiny committee have heard the case over 150 times, with PTI seeking adjournment on some 54 occasions.

“For long has Imran Niazi [sic] been given a free pass despite his repeated [and] shameless attacks on state institutions,” Shehbaz Sharif, increasingly cornered in his own party which he heads after the dismal results of the by-poll, declared.

“Impunity given to him [Imran] has hurt the country,” he said. Pakistan has some of the strictest laws against the foreign funding of political parties. The Elections Act, 2017, prohibits not only “… any aid, financial or otherwise, from any foreign government or political party of a foreign country …” but also “… any portion of its funds from foreign nationals.”

Besides a very strict definition of a “Foreign-Aided Political Party”, the law prescribes a very severe penalty for a party which is found to be foreign-aided by the ECP and so upheld by the Supreme Court.

Such a party, according to Elections Act, 2017, shall stand dissolved and all its elected members in the national and provincial assemblies and even local governments shall be disqualified from holding their membership.

Also, the head of the party or their designated party official has to certify the statement of accounts to be accurate and that no funds were received by the party from any source prohibited under the law.

This certificate alone can lead to serious consequences for the party head if the information contained in the statement of accounts is not accurate. The tweet comes a day after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz made a similar demand to the electoral agency.

Rupee, PSX plummet to ground as economic meltdown rages on ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRtS

Pakistan’s economic indicators suffered a massive hit on the second consecutive day on Tuesday as the stock market saw a bloodbath in the backdrop of a historic fall in rupee which closed at rs222 against the greenback.

According to the details, the rupee shattered all previous records on Tuesday, falling to a new low of 224 against the dollar in afternoon interbank trade, before closing at 221.99.

According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the local currency fell by rs6.79 in the interbank market, depreciating by

3.06% against yesterday’s close of rs215.20. Meanwhile, intense selling pressure was witnessed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index lost more than 900 points.

The market’s decline coincided with the rupee falling to an all time low against the dollar for a second consecutive day.

Initially according to the PSX website, the KSE-100 Index opened at 41,367.11 points and went up 176 points. however, after 10:30am the bears took control and the market began sliding. At around 3:25pm, the index hit 40,313.78 points — a decline of 1,053.33 points or 2.55 per cent. The index closed at

40,389.07 points, down 978.04 points or 2.36 per cent.

It is pertinent to note that yesterday the benchmark KSE-100 Index dropped into the red zone after shedding over 700 points during the first few hours of intraday trade, with banking, cement, and fertilizer as the top negative contributors on the bourse at the time.

Mettis Global Director Saad Bin Naseer said the rupee was seeing a decline due to “panic buying [of the dollar] by banks in the interbank market”. he said that “panic is setting in the financial markets following fears of change in [the] government in Punjab and Centre” after the by-polls on the

province’s 20 seats.

Alpha Beta Core Chief Executive officer Khurram Schehzad, however, pointed out that to factors beyond the domestic political and economic situation. he attributed the rupee’s rapid decline to Fitch’s downgrading and the global trend. “The dollar is getting stronger in the global market against almost all the world currencies. The Pakistani rupee is not an exception,” he said.

It may be mentioned here that this was the highest day-on-day depreciation after June 26, 2019 when the currency fell by rs6.80.

Meanwhile, the local currency’s shock slide within a matter of a few hours

drew sharp criticism from various corners.

Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that when he was ousted via a vote of no confidence, the dollar stood at rs178. “Today it is rs224 and in free fall despite IMF agreement.

The economic meltdown shows Sharifs never had any expertise in running economy or administration. Their only expertise is looting, money laundering and getting Nros,” he added.

“We need a full time SBP governor and [Minister for Finance] Miftah Ismail to refocus on this issue. Free fall of rupee guarantees economic disaster and free fall of government too,” Journalist Mohammad Malick said.

02-03 NEWS 20 JULY_Layout 1 7/20/2022 1:24 AM Page 1

02

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 | LAHORE

nEWS

Govt to feeD MoRe to ‘INflAtIoN-HIt’ RICH BABus ISLAMABAD

t

Staff RepoRt

HE Federal Government has approved executive allowance for grade 17 to 22 officers working in the federal secretariat and ICT field administration. According to Ministry of Finance Office Memorandum, theFederal government has approved grant of Executive Allowance, in line with the allowance granted by the Provincial governments with effect from July 1, 2022 to officers in BPS 17-22 at the rate of 1.5 times of the running basic pay as on 30.06.2022 and it shall remain frozen at the same level till further orders.

This allowance will be admissible to all officers posted by the Establishment Division against sanctioned posts of Section Officers, DeputySecretaries, Joint

Monsoon: PMD warns authorities against more rains this week ISLAMABAD

Secretaries, Senior Joint Secretaries, AdditionalSecretaries, Additional Secretaries (In-charge), Special Secretaries andSecretaries in the Federal

Secretariat (Ministries/Divisions), Prime Minister’sOffice and President’s Secretariat.

In addition, this allowance will also be admissible to officers posted as Assistant Commissioners, Additional Deputy Commissioners,Deputy Commissioner & Chief Commissioner in Islamabad Capital TerritoryField Administration.

Those officers posted on deputation shall not be entitled to draw deputation allowance as well as any other allowance or emoluments, by whatever name called, specific to their cadre or organization while those drawing Executive Allowance shall not be entitled to draw any of the existingDisparity Reduction Allowance(s), OM stated.

This allowance shall be discontinued upon officers transfer/posting outside the posts identified; besides this allowance will be admissible at 50% of the specified rate during mandatory training.

ECC likely to approve Rs1.6 increase in XWDISCOs tariff ISLAMABAD Shahzad paRacha

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast more monsoon rains in different parts of the country during this week which could cause flash flooding in the urban areas and trigger landslides in vulnerable areas. The strong monsoon currents are likely to penetrate in upper and central parts of the country from today (Wednesday) and likely to spread to the other parts of the country from July 21 (Thursday). Under the influence of this weather system, more rain-wind/thundershower with scattered heavy falls are expected in Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Murree, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Sialkot, Narowal, Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Jhang, Mianwali, Khushab, Sargodha, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Swat, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Haripur, Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Kurram, Kohat from July 20-26 with occasional gaps. More rainwind/thundershower with isolated heavy falls is expected in Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Sahiwal, Okara, Bhakkar, Layyah, Multan, Khanewal, Pakpattan, Vehari, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahimyar Khan and Khanpur from July 21-26 with occasional gaps. More rain-wind/thundershower with few heavy falls are expected in Zhob, Ziarat, Barkhan, Loralai, Bolan, Kohlu, Kalat, Khuzdar, Lasbella, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad and Sibbi from July 22-26 while in all districts of Sindh from July 24-26. About the impacts, the met office said that heavy rains may generate urban flooding in Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Faisalabad, Lahore and Gujranwala from July 20 to July 23. While in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Shaheed Benazirabad, Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, Dadu, Umer Kot, Jaccobabad, Larkana and Sukkur from July 24-26. Flash flooding is also expected in local Nullahs of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Dir and Kashmir from July 20-23 while in Loralai, Barkhan, Kohlu, Mosa Khel, Sherani, Sibbi, Bolan and hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan from July 2225. Rainfall may trigger landslides in Kashmir, Galiyat, Murree, Chillas, Diamir, Gilgit, Hunza, Astore and Skardu during the forecast period.

Travelers and tourists are advised to remain more cautious during the forecast period. Farmers are advised to arrange the watering of the fields accordingly. All concerned authorities are advised to remain alert and to take necessary precautionary measure during the forecast period.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on the Ministry of Power’s proposal is likely to approve a Rs1.5547 per unit increase in tariff for all the consumers of XWDISCOs. Sources said that the meeting of the ECC of Cabinet would be held under the chair of the Minister of Finance on Wednesday which will take up three agenda items including tariff rationalisation as well as the rate of petroleum development levy on LPG. They said that NEPRA, vide its determinations for XWDICOs dated June 16, has determined a periodic adjustment in the tariff for the second quarter of FY22.

In light of this determination, the authority has recommended a uniform rate to be billed to consumers during Q2FY22.

Further, in accordance with the National Electricity Policy, 2021, the government may maintain a uniform consumer-end tariff for K-Electric and state-owned distribution companies even after privatisation, through the incorporation of direct and indirect subsidies.

Accordingly, KE’s applicable uniform variable charge will be required to be modified to maintain a uniform tariff across the country.

Moreover, NEPRA may also be approached to issue a revised schedule of tariff determined for the quarter from January to March Q3FY22.

Such adjustments shall be applicable on the consumption of July, August and September which will be recovered from consumers in August, September and October, respectively.

Indian oppression failed to stop Kashmiris’ resistance: PM ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the Indian oppressive state apparatus had failed to stop the journey of resistance, sacrifice, and defiance. “The Kashmir’s Accession to Pakistan Day is a reflection of Kashmiris’ pledge to continue their struggle till the idea of accession becomes a reality,” he said in his message on Kashmir Accession to Pakistan Day. Kashmiris across the globe are marking the Kashmir Accession to Pakistan on July 19 as a resolution for accession was passed on this historic day in Srinagar. The prime minister paid tributes to the persistent struggle of Kashmiris. “We salute Kashmiris’ courage,” he said and added that after the passage of the resolution for accession to Pakistan, the people of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan fought a big struggle for freedom. “The struggle and sacrifices of Kashmiris initiated in 1947 still continue and the 0.9 million Indian occupational troops have not succeeded in bringing down the passion of Kashmiris,” he said. He said Kashmiris from generation to generation had been rendering immense sacrifices to get their right to self-determination.

He said Pakistan would continue to extend support to Kashmiris till the realization of their dream of holding a plebiscite in accordance with the resolutions of the Untied Nations and as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Registrar raises objections: IHC to take up acting NAB chief’s plea against PAC ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

PTI moves SC against ‘pre-poll rigging’ in Punjab CM election LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has moved the Supreme Court (SC) against the ‘pre-poll rigging’ in the election of Punjab Chief Minister (CM) on July 22.

According to details, the PTI Tuesday moved the Supreme Court to ensure ‘transparent’ election of the Punjab Chief Minister.

The Imran Khan-led party has filed a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court on the ‘official announcement’ of rigging in the Punjab CM election.

In the petition, the PTI noted that on July 1, the apex court had directed the provincial government to ensure transparent election. However, the plea alleged, the government ministers are creating obstacles in compliance with the court orders.

The PTI has requested the Supreme Court to fully implement July 1’s decision and direct the government to ensure transparent Punjab CM poll on July 22.

The political party has also requested the Supreme

Court to hear the contempt petition against the government ministers tomorrow.

It is pertinent to mention here that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) would not let the PML-Q’s Chaudhry Pervez Elahi become the provincial chief executive easily on July 22.

The Registrar Office of Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday raised objections to a petition filed by Acting Chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Zahir Shah against the minutes of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting. The petitioner in his plea claimed that the PAC had exceeded its powers on June 24 and prayed the court to stop any action under minutes of its July 7 meeting. An IHC bench, however, will take up the case for hearing along with the objections raised by the Registrar Office. In petition, the Acting NAB chairman challenged the mandate of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Shah has made National Assembly secretary, Parliamentary Affairs secretary, Chairman PAC and others party in the plea, which states that the notice issued by the PAC was beyond its jurisdiction. The Public Accounts Committee in its proceedings on June 24 went beyond its mandate, the NAB chief said in his petition. He pleaded to the court to declare the minutes of the PAC meeting on July 07 as void and restrain the parliamentary body from any action. Earlier, on July 13, NAB Director General Shahzad Saleem approached the Islamabad High Court against the Public Accounts Committee’s decision to summon him in the wake of sexual harassment allegations levelled by Tayyaba Gul.

‘Despotic’ Imran wants CEC to act like ex-NAB chairman: Marriyum LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday said Imran Khan wanted Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja to act like that of former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal in the wake of pending decision in his party’s foreign funding case.

Addressing a news conference, she said Imran Khan had laundered billions of dollars by receiving foreign funding in bank accounts of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) office-bearers, which had caused a huge loss to the national exchequer.

“Imran Khan tried to reach out the incumbent CEC through back door channels as he wanted him to play a role like that of the ex-NAB chairman, but Sikandar Sultan Raja will not become another Javed Iqbal at any cost,” she maintained.

The minister said Tayyaba Gul was held hostage at the Prime Minister’s House to blackmail the former NAB chairman for

victimizing the political opponents by filing false cases. The former Federal Investigation Agency director general was also pressurized to register cases against the then opposition leaders.

Imran Khan, she said, was attacking the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as it had reserved the decision in the PTI’s foreign funding case, which it could announce any time.

She claimed that the PTI chief had a mindset of despotic German dictator Hitler.

It was beyond understanding that he (Imran Khan) had launched a scathing attack against the same CEC, who was appointed by him.

“He (Imran) will take no time to attack the Supreme Court, if it gives a decision against him,” she said. The minister said Imran Khan’s demand for the incumbent CEC’s resignation manifested that he would want the head of any institution to quit whichever gave a decision against him.

She said Imran Khan also attacked every media outlet which had exposed his real face. His autocratic government had gagged the media, made the current affair

programmes of different media channels go off air and imposed restrictions over the print media, she alleged.

He also used to close down the parliament, if questions were raised over his government’s policies, the minister added.

Marriyum alleged that Imran Khan also victimized the political opponents by misusing the power and even abducted the ECP staff on realizing that his party’s candidate was going to lose in the Daska byelection.

She said Imran Khan started targeting the state institutions after his ouster from the Prime Minister’s Office. The institutions should take legal action against Imran Khan who could up the ante if not stopped.

She asked Imran Khan as to why the decision in the PTI’s foreign funding case had been delayed for some eight years.

There had been no change in the State Bank of Pakistan’s record regarding his party’s foreign funding.

“Imran thinks that he is above the law and Constitution,” she said, recalling the transgression of the Constitution by him

while he was being ousted from power.

He, even, attacked the apex court when action was taken against him for violating the Constitution, she added.

The minister said in the Punjab by-polls, the PTI lost five out of the total 20 seats which were won by its candidates in the 2018 general election. The sole objective of Imran Khan was to destabilize the state institutions, and create anarchy and civil war in the country. He attacked the state institutions in his every speech, she added.

“Imran Khan has said in the past that he will set the ECP on fire if his party could not win all the 20 seats in the Punjab by-polls,” she recalled. With regard to the so-called foreign conspiracy, Marriyum asked Imran Khan as to why he did not inform the public same day about the matter (when he came to know about the cypher), set up an inquiry commission and dissolved the assemblies while being into the power.

She said Imran Khan while in power had rendered the people jobless, and ruined the national economy, along with national and foreign policies. He was thrown out of the

Prime Minister’s Office by the people for weakening the national institutions, she added.

The minister said Imran Khan was perturbed by the efficiency of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who had saved the country from default. “Economic stability is not possible without political stability and Imran Khan is deliberately following a strategy which hampers the political stability in the country.

“The general election will be held whenever the government wants,” she said, adding Imran Khan had a chance to announce the fresh election when he was in power, but he, rather, preferred to beg support of different quarters. The coalition government would take every possible to serve and facilitate the citizens, she added.

The minister said it was Imran Khan whose government had signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on tough conditions and then he violated it to save his regime. The incumbent coalition government, however, revived the IMF programme by taking difficult steps which were best in the national interest, she added.

02-03 NEWS 20 JULY_Layout 1 7/20/2022 1:24 AM Page 2

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 | LAHORE

MIftAH, uleMA DIsCuss sHARIAH CoMPlIANt BANKING systeM ISLAMABAD

f

Staff RepoRt

EDERAL Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail on Tuesday held a meeting with renowned Islamic scholars – Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Dr Hussian Akbar, Dr Raghib Naeemi and Shaikh Azhar Iqbal on implementation of Shariah in banking system and elimination of Riba from Pakistan.

Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Secretaries Finance, Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Law & Justice and senior officers attended the meeting.

According to a press statement issued by the finance ministry, the meeting reviewed the current state of Islamic Finance operations in the country, order of the Supreme Court and the Federal Shariat Court’s

decision in the Shariat petition.

The meeting discussed and sought guidance in certain financial areas requiring more clarity for the implementation of Shariah in the financial system of the country.

On this occasion, Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani and others shed light on different aspects of the Islamic financial system and gave their suggestions for designing a framework for handling of public debt through Shariah-compliant financing/debt structure.

Fitch Ratings downgrades Pakistan’s outlook to negative MOnItORIng REpORt Fitch Ratings has revised Pakistan’s Outlook to Negative from Stable while affirming its Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B-‘.

According to the credit rating agency, the Revision of the Outlook to Negative reflects a significant deterioration in Pakistan’s external liquidity position and financing conditions since early 2022.

Fitch said that Pakistan’s ‘B-‘ rating reflected recurring external vulnerability, a narrow fiscal revenue base and low governance indicator scores compared with the ‘B’ median.

Fitch Ratings expects IMF board approval of Pakistan’s new staff-level agreement with IMF but

see considerable risks to its implementation and continued access to financing after the programme’s expiry in June 2023 in a challenging economic and political climate.

Renewed political volatility cannot be excluded and could undermine the authorities’ fiscal and external adjustment, as happened in early 2022 and 2018, particularly in the current environment of slowing growth and high inflation, it added.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote on 10 April, has called on the government to hold early elections and has been organizing large-scale protests in cities around the country. The new government is supported by a coalition of parties with only a slim majority in parliament. Regular elections are due in October 2023, creating the risk of policy

slippage after the conclusion of the IMF programme.

Fitch Ratings stated that limited external funding and large current account deficits (CADs) have drained foreign exchange (FX) reserves, as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has used reserves to slow currency depreciation. Liquid net FX reserves at the SBP declined to about $10 billion or just over one month of current external payments by June 2022, down from about $16 billion a year earlier.

The ratings agency forecast slower economic growth this year, predicting it at 3.5 per cent, compared to the government’s 5 per cent target.

According to Fitch Ratings fiscal and monetary tightening, high imported inflation, and a weaker external demand outlook would all hit household and business confidence in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD NewS deSk

Ambassador of Indonesia in Pakistan, Adam Mulawarman Tugio on Tuesday said the cultural and religious links between Indonesia and Pakistan play an important role in the economic integration of both the brotherly countries.

Indonesia and Pakistan have been linked for centuries by a historical cultural, religious and shared cultural heritage, which is deeply rooted in history, he said. The Indonesian embassy in Islamabad is organizing a five-day cultural exhibition starting from July 20th to strengthen Religio-cultural and civilizational relations between Pakistan and Indonesia, the Ambassador of Indonesia told APP here. The ambassador said the cultural conference will be held under the auspices of the Indonesian Embassy Islamabad and Lok Virsa on the theme of “A Confluence of Civilization between Indonesia and Pakistan”. He said that this fiveday cultural exhibition will be held at Shakarparian, Lok Virsa Islamabad. The Ambassador of Indonesia said the purpose of cultural exhibition was to bring Pakistan and Indonesia closer culturally and to introduce the new generation with their heritage. He said that Pakistan and Indonesia were connected in historical cultural, religious and civilizational ties, which have deep roots in history.

Ambassador Adam said that Islam came to Indonesia through the efforts of South Asian spice traders who have been coming to Indonesia for the purpose of trade for hundreds of years.

PtI issues instructions to MPAs ahead of Punjab CM election LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has issued instructions to its members of Punjab Assembly (MPAs) ahead of the election of new provincial Chief Minister (CM) on July 22. According to details, Mian Mahmoodur-Rashid – on the instructions of former prime minister Imran Khan – has issued instructions to member of provincial assembly (MPAs) ahead of Punjab CM elections. In the notice, Mian Mahmood-ur-Rashid has directed the MPAs to vote for PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in the election of Punjab chief minister after the party has declared the Punjab Assembly Speaker as its candidate. The PTI members of provincial assembly has been directed to ensure their presence in the house of the Punjab Assembly on July 22. “Absence or deviation from voting will be considered a violation of party discipline, which would result in disqualification,” it added. A day earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) stopped their lawmakers from travelling abroad ahead of the election of the new chief minister (CM) on July 22.

Qureshi says his son isn’t a contender for Punjab CM post Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vice chair Shah Mehmood Qureshi dismissed as speculation the rumour about his son Zain Hussain Qureshi’s intention to run for Punjab chief minister office. While addressing the media at the Supreme Court, the former foreign minister clarified his party’s candidate for the post is the province’s incumbent speaker, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Reports claiming Zain wanted the office for himself are incorrect, he added. He further said his son was not interested even in a ministry, his duty was to safeguard the ideology of PTI. Zain had won the by-polls in provincial seat PP-217 from Multan on July 17. He had beaten PML-N candidate Salman Naeem, who had won the election as an independent candidate in 2018 against Qureshi.

MOnItORIng REpORt

Indonesia-Pak enjoying historic religio-cultural ties: envoy

03

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan international bond yields surge to 50.6pc The interest rates for Eurobond maturing on April 15, 2024, for tenor 10 years recorded an increase of 16 per cent to 50.6pc owing to the rising concerns over the deterioration in the country’s external liquidity position and financing conditions since early 2022, according to a report by Mettis Global. Meanwhile, the interest rate on 10 years Eurobonds maturing on September 30, 2025, climbed by 9pc to 35.6pc, the report added, saying that the dismal outlook of Pakistan’s economy portrayed by the renowned rating agencies on the back of rising political and economic uncertainties is the main reason behind the spike in Eurobond yields. The report while quoting experts and analysts said that the continued slump in PKR and increasing political uncertainty could further lower the ratings Fitch Ratings. Experts have raised alarm over the default level yields which they said indicated that investors’ confidence is low even after IMF’s staff level agreement.

nEWS

Punjab by-polls’ result won’t impact general elections: Abbasi LAHORE: Shortage forces nomadic women to fetch drinking water from surroundings in Bhogiwal area along Ring Road. photo by zubaiR Mehfooz

4,000 pilgrims return as post-Hajj flights operation continues ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Over 4,000 pilgrims, who performed the religious obligation under the government scheme, have so far returned Pakistan from Saudi Arabia through various flights. The month-long post Hajj flights operation, started on last Friday, will be completed on August 13, which will bring back nearly 82,000 pilgrims from the holy land, informed Director Hajj Sajid Manzoor Asadi on Tuesday.

In a statement, he said over 1,750 pilgrims were sent to Madina Munawara and the Hajj flights to bring back Pakistani pilgrims from Madina would be started from July 25.

Referring to some complaints on social media

regarding anomalies in flight operation in Sajid Asadi, he said those who have been in trouble had booked the tickets by themselves – bypassing the mechanism of their Maktab and the Saudi government.

“It was true that some people have faced problems, as they were the people, who have booked tickets on their own and obtained no objection certificate (NOC) from Pakistani Hajj mission. Such people have bypassed the teachings and mechanism of Saudi government.

“If a Haji takes NOC from us, then he goes off the radar of the Maktab, after which such problems arise.

The Saudi Hajj ministry has decided that the Maktab would not issue a passport to any such Haji, (who has the NOC) and the Maktab would take him to the airport on its own transport”.

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi insisted the results of the by-poll will have no impact on the outcome of the general elections. Talking to media outside an accountability court, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said the party that wins the vote on July 22 would form the government in Punjab while the loser would sit in the opposition. We would not run off foreseeing our defeat, he added. He reiterated that NAB should be shut down, it has caused severe damage to the country’s progress. No civil servant would work until NAB is operational, he added. He added the controversial NAB chairman has been removed but the circus he initiated continues. He will have to be accountable for the ills he caused to innocent people, he added. The PML-N leader said that PTI has been propagating a false narrative of accountability for four years, he added. If Imran Khan is so serious about accountability then he should public the details of his assets, he added. The 20 seats, the bypolls were contested on, were PTI’s seats, we accept whatever decision the public has made, Abbasi said.

Fault behind closure of 969MW Neelum-Jhelum plant remains unclear ISLAMABAD ahMad ahMadaNi

The 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Plant Project (NJHPP) has now been shut for 13 days due to a malfunction that caused one of its two 3.5km tunnels to get blocked.

In this regard, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Tuesday, while taking notice of the 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Plant Project’s (NJHPP) shutdown due to a technical fault, directed the management to expedite its restoration as early as possible.

It may be mentioned here that the management has not identified the exact technical issue that caused the blockage so far despite the passage of two weeks and was reportedly clueless when questioned during a briefing to NEPRA. According to the details, the plant’s management called on authority on Tuesday and briefed them about the

latest developments regarding the plant which has been non-operational since July 6. They said that their experts are in the process of investigating the fault and will take remedial measures once detected.

Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H. Farooqi and member NEPRA, Engr. Maqsood Anwar Khan directed the chief executive officer (CEO), Neelum-Jhelum HPP to expedite the plant’s restoration for connecting it to the national grid considering its importance as a reliable and cheaper source of renewable power generation.

According to NEPRA, the plant’s closure is putting an additional burden of around Rs350 million per day on power consumers as expensive residual fuel oils (RFO)based power plants are being engaged to generate power.

The 969MW plant’s shutdown comes amid unannounced and prolonged power load-shedding in the country. Sources privy to the development informed Profit that the delay in finding out what caused the blockage is

because the management has limited resources. They said that the NJHPP has two tunnels and the issue which happened in one of the tunnels cannot be solved by local contractors and opined that the services of an international firm should be immediately so that the plant can be made operational as early as possible.

“There is no fault in the hydropower plant or in the tunnel that is used to bring water from the river to the power plant. However, another tunnel that diverts water from the plant to the river has suffered a blockage while efforts are underway to remove the fault,” a source in the Water Resources Ministry said.

Earlier on July 14, Secretary Water Resources Ministry Kazim Niaz while briefing the National Assembly Committee on Water Resources had said that the problem can only be understood by clearing the blocked tunnel whereas it would take a month to clear out the blockage.

04 NEWS 20 JULY_Layout 1 7/20/2022 1:03 AM Page 1

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 | LAHORE

04 NEWS

SuPPly ChAIn effICIenCy, TeChnology generATe fAvourAble buSIneSS envIronmenT: eConomIST ISLAMABAD

S

Xinhua

UPPLY chain efficiency and technology, along with a dynamic zeroCovid policy, enabled China to generate a favourable business environment in its industrial sector, a Pakistan economist said.

The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector came in at 50.2 in June, up from 49.6 in May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China showed.

Despite the pandemic, “China has sustained its global supply stream and enhanced the quality of infrastructure, which enabled

China to fascinate foreign investors to make a greenfield foreign direct investment in a secured financial environment,” said Badiea Shaukat, economic consultant at Islamabadbased Sustainable Development Policy Institute, during a recent interview with Xinhua.

He said China has been a significant contributor to global economic development since the beginning of this century.

Despite the ongoing international crises, China has attracted foreign investors through strengthening the domestic financial environment, lower labour costs, a big market and relaxed policies, Shaukat added.

“The sustainability of the Belt and Road Initiative also allures foreign investors to reap returns from the opportunity.”

ATC extends bail of PTI leaders in long march-linked cases LAHORE staff RepoRt

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore extended the interim bails of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership until July 26 in a case registered against them in connection with the long march on Islamabad. The court also accepted party MP Shafqat Mehmood’s request for exemption from appearence. After former prime minister Imran Khan called off his march on May 26, he and members of his party were booked in cases registered at police stations across Islamabad over allegations of arson and vandalism in the capital.

A total of 42 cases had been registered against the party’s leadership and workers. Party leaders who secured interim bails include Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Hammad Azhar, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Mian Mahmood ur-Rasheed, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Musarrat Cheema and Andeeb Abbas.

Covid-19 daily report: 459 new cases ISLAMABAD staff RepoRt

Pakistan reported 459 new Covid-19 cases during the last 24 hours, taking the total to 1,547,203, the ministry of health said on Tuesday. A total of 30,445 people died from Covid-19 in Pakistan, with no more deaths recorded on Monday. On Monday, 16,419 tests for Covid-19 were conducted in Pakistan while the positivity rate stood at 2.80 percent. Currently, there are 163 active cases that are in critical condition in the country.

Search for boat tragedy victim resumes at dawn MULTAN staff RepoRt

The rescue operation after a passenger boat carrying nearly 100 members of a wedding party capsized in the fast-flowing Indus river near Rahim Yar Khan resumed on Tuesday to search for survivors and dead.

At least 20 people died, most of them women, and another 30 were missing in the incident which occurred late on Monday, officials said. The overloaded boat was heading to a wedding when it capsized in the Indus river in the district of Sadiqabad, the government said in a statement. Nearly 90 people were rescued by divers, the statement said, adding the passengers were mostly women and children. All those on board belonged to one clan, and they were on their way to a family wedding across the river, it said.

Sadiqabad Assistant Commissioner Saleem Assi said the cause of the accident was not immediately known, but apparently, the boat was overcrowded. In a statement, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his grief and sorrow over the incident and asked authorities to make their best efforts to rescue those passengers who are still missing.

During the first five months of this year, the country’s actual use of foreign direct investment amounted to 564.2 billion yuan, up by 17.3 percent year-on-year. In dollar terms, the inflow went up 22.6 percent year on year to $87.77 billion.

As of the end of May, the number of registered foreign-invested enterprises in China reached 666,000, an increase of 0.3 percent over the end of last year.

Shaukat said a prudent monetary policy is a prerequisite to attaining the growth target of the year due to dropping financials as a result of the recent wave of pandemic in China.

In the current global environment of high inflation, he appreciated China’s

strengthening of cross-cyclical and countercyclical adjustments, saying it’s very important.

The scissors difference between the consumer price index (CPI) and the national industrial producer price index (PPI) has further narrowed in China, down from 7.2 percentage points as of 2021 to 6 percentage points in the first half of this year.

Shaukat said the counter-cyclical approach being implemented would absorb the short-term negative impacts of the Covid preventive measures, through tax cuts and higher government expenditures.

While the cross-cyclical approach would serve the long-term objective of accelerating economic growth through lower interest

rates, higher investment and higher exchange rates, he added.

The accelerated implementation of economic stabilization policies and measures would have two-sided benefits: An increase in the volume of production at a lower cost leads to lower inflation while higher employment would further increase real wages and expand the consumption capacity, Shaukat said.

Lower inflation leads to lower policy rates, further increasing domestic investment that would potentially result in higher economic growth, he added. “This will allow China’s gross domestic product (GDP) to meet its growth target of 5.5 percent for the current year.”

Climate change’s fingerprints on ever hotter heatwaves PARIS afp

Hotter, longer, more frequent. Heatwaves such as the one currently roasting much of Europe, or the recordshattering hot spell endured by Pakistan and India in March, are an unmistakable sign of climate change, experts said Monday.

Humans to blame: “Every heatwave that we are experiencing today has been made hotter and more frequent because of human-induced climate change,” said Friederike Otto, senior lecturer at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute for Climate Change.

“It’s pure physics, we know how greenhouse gas molecules behave, we know there are more in the atmosphere, the atmosphere is getting warmer and that means we are expecting to see more frequent heatwaves and hotter heatwaves.”

In recent years, advances in the discipline known as attribution science have allowed climatologists to calculate how much global heating contributes to individual extreme weather events.

The India-Pakistan heatwave, for example, was calculated to have been 30 times more likely with the more than 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming that human activity has caused since the mid-nineteenth century.

The heatwave that shattered records in North America in June 2021, leaving hundreds dead as temperatures soared to 50C in places, would have been virtually impossible without global heating.

And the last major European heatwave, in 2019, was made 3C hotter by climate change.

“The increase in the frequency, duration, and intensity of these events over recent decades is clearly linked to the observed warming of the planet and can be attributed to human activity,” the World Meteorological Organisation said in a Monday statement.

Worse to come: However unbearable temperatures get this week, scientists are unanimous: there is worse to come.

At 1.5C of warming — the most ambitious Paris climate agreement goal — UN climate scientists calculate that heatwaves will be more than four times more likely than the pre-industrial baseline.

At 2C of warming, that figure reaches 5.6 times more likely, and at 4C heatwaves will be nearly 10 times more likely to occur. Despite three decades of UN-led negotiations, countries’ climate plans currently put Earth on course to warm a “catastrophic” 2.7C, according to the UN. Matthieu Sorel, a climatologist at Meteo-France, said that climate change was already influencing the frequency and severity of heatwaves. “We’re on the way to hotter and hotter summers, where 35C becomes the norm and 40C will be reached regularly,” he said.

Danger of DeatH: The heatwaves of the future depend largely on how rapidly the global economy can decarbonise.

The UN’s climate science panel has calculated that 14 percent of humanity will be hit with dangerous heat every five years on average with 1.5C of warming, compared with 37 percent at 2C. “In all of the places in the world where we have data, there is an increase in mortality risk when we are exposed to high temperatures,” said Eunice Lo, a climate scientist at the University of Bristol’s Cabot Institute for the Environment.

Food festival enthralls tourists in Malam Jabba SWAT syed shahabuddin

A two-day food festival was held at an altitude of 9,200 feet above sea level in the beautiful Malam Jabba Valley of Swat District. Tourists from all over the country enjoyed various types of food while enjoying the fascinating sights of the valley.

“Due to the heatwave in plain areas of the country, people have camped in the cold tourist destinations of Swat district. The management of Malam Jabba Ski Resort organized a colorful food festival for entertainment and enjoyment of the tourists,” said Malik Ashfaq, an organizer of the festival talls of traditional Chapli Kabab, delicious trout fish of the valley and many national and international cuisines were offered to the tourists including children who enjoyed the scrumptious food in the cold weather of Malam Jabba.

Bisma, a tourist from Lahore said that she ate a lot after coming here like kababs, tikka and they were so tasty and delicious, added they all enjoyed a lot.

“These kinds of events are very important for the promotion of our local culture. We should do more such festivals because delicious food in such beautiful places has its own charm and the beautiful weather is also enjoyed,” another tourist Rabia said.

Pakistan’s national qawwali Shahzad Santoo and his team performed the magic of their voice for the entertainment of the audience and tourists. The organizer of the festival, Malik Ashfaq, said that purpose of the festival

Transport start-up Swvl sees more customers ditch cars for buses DUBAI ReuteRs

was to organize such events for entertainment and refreshment of the tourists who come from all over the country.

Some food stalls were set up in this festival and there was also a program of musical night as part of the festival.

Apart from this, all kinds of basic facilities are also available to the tourists.

Tourists who came to attend the food festival took a chairlift tour after the hot food. During the almost one kilometer long chairlift trip, they captured beautiful glimpses of Malam Jabba and did not forget to save their memorable moments in the eye of the camera after reaching top of the valley.

Adventure aficionados made their fun memorable by taking a risky trip on the zip line.

Higher oil prices have helped Dubai-based transport startup Swvl attract customers as people in its bigger markets such as Pakistan and Egypt ditch their cars in favour of buses, Chief Financial Officer Youssef Salem told Reuters.

The Nasdaq-listed company has, however, aggressively cut costs and put some business expansion plans on hold as it steers a path towards profitability next year to appease investors in the wake of higher inflation and interest rates. “For us, there’s two major impacts from the oil price and inflation. One, very positive operationally, and one very challenging from a capital markets perspective,” Salem said in an interview. Bookings have increased 40 percent year on year in the first quarter as commuters park their cars and take a Swvl, he said. But the company slashed its headcount by almost a third in May while scaling back expansion in its consumer business in Jordan, Kenya and Argentina. Swvl has also raised fares between 10 percent and 20 percent in the last four months to keep up with higher commodity prices, he said.

‘My dream came true’: Indian woman revisits Pakistan home after 75 years LAHORE ReuteRs

When 92-year old Indian citizen Reena Varma visits her childhood home in Rawalpindi this week, for the first time in 75 years, she will be the only one of her family to make it back home since they left shortly before partition divided the two nations.

“My dream came true,” she said, adding her sister had died without ever being able to fulfil her wish to return to the home in the city of Rawalpindi they left when Varma was 15 years old.

The family of five siblings fled to the Western Indian state of Pune shortly before partition in August 1947.

Although Varma was able to travel once to Lahore as a young woman, she has never been back to Rawalpindi. Her

parents and siblings have since died.

Crossing into Pakistan by road last week after decades of attempts to get a visa, she felt a wave of emotion.

“When I crossed the Pakistan-India Border and saw the signs for Pakistan and India, I got sentimental,” she said, speaking during a stop in Lahore. “Now, I cannot predict how I will react when I reach Rawalpindi and see my ancestral home in the street.”

Varma’s family was among the millions of people whose lives were disrupted in 1947, when departing British Indian colonial administrators ordered the creation of two countries.

A mass migration followed, marred by violence and bloodshed, as about 15 million Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, fearing discrimination, swapped countries in a political upheaval that cost more than

a million lives.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, and relations remain tense, particularly over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both claim in full.

DecIsIon to leaVe: August 14 will mark 75 years since the partition split the two countries, dividing the province of Punjab roughly down the middle.

Varma remembers those tumultuous days clearly. The family worried as reports of violent incidents reached them and decided to leave, her father quitting his public servant job and Varma leaving her school.

“Initially we could not understand what happened,” she said, adding her mother never wanted to believe that the two countries had been divided.

“She kept saying we will go back to Rawalpindi soon, but ultimately she had to accept the reality that India and Pakistan are two separate countries,” she said.

Varma has been trying since 1965 to get a visa for Pakistan, finally succeeding this year when the Pakistan India Heritage Club and Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar helped with the process.

Varma is being hosted by Imran William, the director of the India Pakistan Heritage Club, which works to highlight the shared heritage of citizens on both sides of the border and reunite family members separated by partition.

“India and Pakistan are two separate countries but we can bring peace between them through love and people-topeople contact,” William said.

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS corporate corner Telenor Pakistan announces results for 2nd quarter 2022 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's volatile macroeconomic situation during the current fiscal year and its exchange rate fluctuations impacted Telenor Pakistan's performance during the second quarter of 2022. Despite the economic challenges, Telenor Pakistan reported a revenue of PKR 26.7 billion, up by PKR 104 million from Q2 last year. The company reported YoY growth of +1.8% in subscription and traffic revenues (S&T), +1.7% in service revenues and +0.4% in total revenues. The reported EBITDA growth stood at -14.9% while EBITDA margin was 47.3% for Q2 2022. During the quarter 289,000 subscriptions, were added to the network with the subscriber base now standing at 49.5 million.

The EBITDA development was majorly attributable to significant hikes in fuel and electricity prices coupled with YoY reduction in mobile termination rates. The rising inflation in the country (June: 21.3%), significant rupee devaluation and the prevailing economic situation also had on impact in the performance.Commenting on the latest financial results, Irfan Wahab Khan, Chief Executive Officer, Telenor Pakistan said, “The last quarter has been challenging for the country, particularly for the telco sector that impacts all segments of society and also relies heavily on its economic environment. However, despite these disruptions we embraced our responsibility of providing access to opportunities. Our commitment to serve Pakistanis and increase in our subscriber base in these testing times is reflective of the strong bond that Telenor Pakistan enjoys with the people and how they value it as a reliable partner.” pr

PakISTan STandS By kaShmIrIS In STruggLe for SeLf-deTermInaTIon: PreSIdenT iSLamaBad

P

staff report

RESIDENT Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday said Pakistan stands in solidarity with the brave Kashmiri brethren in their historic struggle for making come true their dream to accede to Pakistan despite facing brutal atrocities, discrimination and injustice at the hands of heavily armed Indian occupying troops.

In his message on the Jammu and Kashmir’s Accession to Pakistan Day marked on Tuesday, Dr Alvi said, “We mark this day to renew our support for the Kashmiri people in their struggle for the achievement of their right to self-determination and to translate the

idea of accession of the entire Jammu and Kashmir state to Pakistan under the spirit of the historic resolution passed

continued from page 01

SC questions PTI’s move to quit parliament continued from page 01 The president returned this bill unsigned, saying his “conscience” did not permit him to approve it. Following which, the government convened a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate, which approved them. Alvi again refused to sign them, terming them “regressive”, and sent them back.

But procedurally, 10 days after a joint sitting passes a bill, it is considered law even if the president refuses assent. Late last month, former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan approached the Supreme Court to challenge the amendments, contending that they will “virtually eliminate any white-collar crime committed by a public office holder”. Responding to the PTI’s criticism, the government has maintained that it can justify all changes to the law, adding that it is merely trying to ensure NAB can no longer be used for political victimisation.

on this day in 1947.”

President Alvi said Pakistan reiterated its commitment to uphold the fun-

Rapid growth in Pakistan’s population warrants head-on response: UK HC

Coalition huddle resolves to complete tenure ‘come what may’ Following the meeting, PML-N leader and Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique briefed the media over the decisions taken during the PDM leadership. He said that the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz has decided that it will complete its constitutional tenure despite a major setback in the Punjab by-polls. “We came into power in the larger interest of the country… we knew that they [PTI government] had laid economic landmines left for us but we took tough decisions to save the country,” Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said while addressing a joint press conference following an important meeting of PDM alliance parties and government officials held in Model Town, Lahore to deliberate upon the country’s political and economic situation. The railways minister said that Punjab by-polls were not a barometer to gauge popularity of any party and added that his party snatched five provincial assembly seats from the PTI in the by-polls. “Provincial governments also have a right to complete their terms … By-poll is not a barometer of popularity and we snatched their [PTI’s] five seats which shows our vote bank is intact,” he remarked.

Calling PTI Chairman Imran Khan a “misguided and mischievous” man, Rafique said the former had always done politics with the support of ‘umpires’. “He wants chief justice, army chief and other [heads of institutions] of his own choice in a bid to exercise control over them,” he added. The ruling party leader said opposition leaders were put behind bars and subjected to victimisation during the tenure of PTI-led government “but the judiciary was asleep at that time”.

05

iSLamaBad staff report

British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner on Tuesday observed that Pakistan’s population is going to double during the next 30 years, putting a huge burden on its resources, which warrants proper response to address the pressing issue.

The British envoy made these remarks during a ceremony held to commemorate World Population Day. The ceremony was jointly organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Pakistan, British High Commission, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (NHSRC), and Population Programme Wing (PPW), titled: “A world of 8 billion: Towards a Re-

silient Future for All – Harnessing Opportunities and Ensuring Rights and Choices for All,” said a press release issued here.

While addressing the ceremony, Dr Christian Turner said, “The business-as-usual approach needs to stop. It is important to talk about family planning.

The UK is the largest donor on Family Planning in Pakistan and has been supporting the country since 2012. Delivering Accelerated Family Planning in Pakistan (DAFPAK) is a £90 million programme that has so far reached 7 million family planning users mostly from marginalised communities. The UK remains committed to support Pakistan.” While addressing the World Population Day event via a video testimonial, President Dr Arif Alvi expressed concern over the constant population growth and the meager resources available in Pakistan.

He said that the government needs to exercise all options to sensitize the public about negative implications of population growth not only on human health, especially of mother and child, but also on economic as well as social life of people.

Minister for Health, Abdul Qadir Patel remarked that Pakistan’s population is likely to double in the next 30 years. He stressed that all partners and stakeholders including civil society organizations and NGOs should come together and join hands with the government to address this growing issue.

Norway keen to cement ties with Pakistan further iSLamaBad news desk

Norwegian Ambassador in Pakistan, Per Albert Ilsaas on Tuesday said that Pakistan and Norway were enjoying excellent relations, which needed to be further promoted, especially on economic fronts.

The ambassador was talking to Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail during a call on meeting, according to press statement issued by finance ministry.

The federal minister exchanged views on matters of mutual interest and highlighted Pakistan’s friendly relations with Norway. He said both the coun-

tries enjoy admirable bilateral relations.

The minister shared about the economic policies and priorities of the present government for sustainable and inclusive

damental human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and pay homage to Kashmiris’ just struggle spanning more than seven decades.

“We will continue to provide our political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris for their inherent right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

He said, “We remind the world community to use their influence to reverse India’s illegal and unilateral actions of scraping Article 35A to alter the domicile rules and land ownership laws aimed at changing the demographic structure of IIOJK and converting the Kashmiris into a minority in their own land and scraping of Article 370 to deprive Kashmir of its special status”.

Public decries stinking solid waste dumping station near Liaquat Bagh raWaLpindi app

The dumping site of Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) Albayrak near Liaquat Bagh has turned the ambiance filthy and full of stink making it difficult to breath after Eidul Azha.

The pedestrians, motorists on Murree Road particularly have to inhale bad air full of foul smell and filth particles while driving on the road.

The people and offices in Arya Mohallah, Gawalmandi, Raja Bazaar, Chamanzar, Mareer Chowk, Moti Mehal, College Road, China Market, Rawalpindi Press Club (RPC) Water and Sanitation Agency, Rawalpindi Development Authority, Punjab Horticulture Authority, Rescue 15, Sports Complex, National College of Arts (NCA), TMA and several other offices have to face unbearable smell as the vicinity has been massively used for dumping offal of sacrificial animals.

A Journalist Zaheer Sheikh told APP that despite repeated complaints and protests the concerned civic body has not moved an inch to settle the issue, fearing that this would spread multiple diseases and emerge as a safe haven for the mosquitoes would spread dengue fever.

The Ladies and Children Park, situated in the heart of the city was a source of recreational activities where the greenery was destroyed after converting it into a massive dumping site.

The park which spreads over two acres was constructed in 2005 at a cost of Rs4.5 million and was turned into a makeshift transfer station by the local administration.

The residents of the city have appealed to authorities concerned to remove garbage transfer station to another place because nearby residents were facing different kinds of diseases. The masses urged the civic authorities to establish a proper scientific landfill site which is the need of the hour to cater for rising solid waste management needs of the city.

growth.

He extended full support and cooperation of the present government to enhance the economic relations between both the countries, the statement added.

Pakistan urges for response to economic challenges confronting developing nations united nationS staff report

Pakistan has called for building a “coherent and effective” response to the immediate challenges of food, fuel and finance that have adversely impacted the poorest countries and people, extending inequality among and within nations.

Participating in a discussion on the objective of preserving multilateralism, Ambassador Munir Akram said that the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and conflicts were the “greatest challenges” the

world was confronted with.

“It is time to utilise the international mechanisms of the UN system to build a coherent and effective response to the immediate challenges of food, fuel and finance and revive the hopes for the realisation of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals),” the envoy told a high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Elaborating on the impact of those challenges on poor countries, he said poverty has grown — for the first time in decades; millions of jobs lost; inflation is rampant; the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda are receding

from reach, adding that sixty countries are close to economic collapse.

“We are facing an existential economic emergency in the global South,” Ambassador Akram said.

The UN, under the leadership of the Secretary-General — and of ECOSOC — did make valiant efforts, during the pandemic and after, to mobilise an effective international response, citing some debt relief and funding through IFIs (International Financial Institutions).

“Yet,” Ambassador Akram said, “international solidarity has proved lacking.”

Noting that vaccine inequity had prolonged the pandemic, he said the developing countries were not offered the financial space and liquidity to recover from the economic impacts of the Covid crisis.

They have become the principal victims of the supply chain shocks and of runaway inflation, as their plight has been exacerbated by the food and fuel disruptions of the Ukraine war and related restrictions.

“Now,” he added, “they will also pay for the rise in global interest rates.”

Insufficient political attention has been paid to building effective coherent actions to

provide better living standards to all through international cooperation, the Pakistani envoy said. “Multilateralism cannot be ‘proofed’ for the future if it is unable to respond to the current existential crises confronting the global South,” Ambassador Akram said, pointing out the actions needed to meet the situation had been identified in the declarations adopted at the just-concluded High-Level Political Forum (HLPF).

“What we need is international solidarity to implement the objectives and commitments which ECOSOC has adopted in these important Declarations,” he added.

06-07 Comments - 20th July 2022_Layout 1 7/20/2022 12:11 AM Page 1

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022

06 COMMENT

Farewell to the Parliamentary System

Stop point scoring Care for the common man

O

The by-elections on the grand chessboard

ne had hoped that with the PTI securing a spectacular victory in Punjab its chief, Imran Khan, would congratulate the election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) for holding peaceful and fair and free bye-polls. One had also expected that he would show readiness to hold talks with his political opponents on the dire issues facing the county. What happened is the opposite. Mr Khan branded the Chief election Commissioner irresponsible and incompetent despite the fact that the CeC had managed to maintain peace in a highly charged election and there were no significant reports of violations of the code of conduct like stamping of ballot papers at secret places or snatching of ballot paper bags or entry of the ruling party lawmakers inside voting booths.

Sensing that public opinion is in his favour in Punjab Mr Khan is keen to have snap elections. The decision about the timing of the elections is however to be taken by the government. While the dominant view in the ruling alliance does not support snap polls, there are voices in the PML(n) that favour them. Showing readiness to hold talks with the ruling alliance could have resolved the issue through give-and- take. But in case Mr Khan tries to force the decision of his liking on the government, this would cause further bitterness and increase polarization.

Mr Khan’s confrontationist policy has added to the state of uncertainty prevailing in the country. This has had the most damaging impact on the economy. When economic decisions are taken to gain political victories, the economy suffers. Mr Khan’s cut of petrol and diesel prices as well as of the power tariff forced the succeeding government to accept the IMF’s harsh conditionalities. The rupee has consequently fallen to a historic low, power shortages are on the increase as Pakistan cannot buy costly gas. The shortages are negatively impacting industrial and agricultural production. Fitch has downgraded Pakistan’s rating from stable to negative while Moody’s has wondered whether the government could afford to keep raising petroleum taxes and electricity tariffs in the run-up to the 2023 general elections. Instead of continuing their wrangling, political parties should care for the common man and enter into talks to resolve the political and economic issues.

shaZia anwer cheema

M

any people believe that former Prime Minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan was manufactured by the top breed of privileged engineers (establishment), and I do not find reasons not to believe this. I have described many times in my articles that the triggering point for a need to manufacture a leader, such as the already available ones were not serving the purpose and administering the country smoothly, had become difficult.

Running this country with the parliamentary system is always considered a hurdle among top brass privileged engineers. I always believe that part of their plan was to craft a leader who could later provide the required facilitation for the alternative governing system such as the presidential form of government. The effort of almost one decade of leader construction was to fulfill the agenda to discredit the parliamentary system. Leader manufacturing was completed and the product was launched with full efficiency and perfect marketing, part of marketing was to establish parallel media in the form of social media, a ready-made well orated narrative of the product being a saviour, and last hope, a salvage and refuge. all other products were systematically discredited and discarded. During the course of experimentation, the product started showing its flaws, which I, by the way, would have seen from the very first stage with a simple sample testing named “profiling”.

When the engineered leader showed his true colours, the top brass decided to put the change in the form of government on the back burner and proposed that it was time to get rid of the lethal experiment.

Big words But they’re all empty

washington watch Dr James J Zogby

T

He Biden administration’s approach and media coverage given to the president’s visits to Israel/Palestine and Saudi arabia were starkly contradictory. While Biden gushed romantically with the Israelis, he was vague and hesitant with the Palestinians; and with the leaders of the Gulf arab countries, he was so cautious that he almost undercut his message.

The president arrived in Israel declaring, as he has in the past, that he is a “Zionist,” and that he felt “at home.” He received an Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor and sign ed what is called “The Jerusalem Declaration” with Israeli Prime Minister yair Lapid. This document, heralded by an Israeli newspaper for its “intimacy,” was embarrassingly effusive, including virtually every over-the-top expression of affection in the lexicon of such terms used by american politicians.

On just the first page, the declaration affirms that the US commitment to Israel is “unbreakable,” “unwavering,” “unshakable,” “sacrosanct,” “enduring,” and is a “moral commitment” based on a “bedrock of shared values.”

Palestinians aren’t mentioned until near the end of the statement where it notes that both countries “condemn the deplorable series of terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens” and pledge to “improve the quality of life of Palestinians.” It’s intriguing that the declaration departs from its “both leaders” frame to note that only “President Biden reaffirms his…support for a two-state solution.”

Biden’s meeting with Palestinian authority Pres-

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The writer Shazia Cheema is an analyst writing for national and international media outlets. She heads the DND Thought Center. She did her MA in Cognitive Semiotics from Aarhus University Denmark and is currently registered as a Ph.D. Scholar of Semiotics and Philosophy of Communication at Charles University Prague

ing the Saudi leader “a free pass.” a prominent editorial in The Washington Post denounced the greeting as “selling out american values for votes.” and another weirdly decried the meeting with “despotic regimes subsidized by US taxpayers” and failing to live up to the values of an “american-led world ident Mahmoud abbas was, as expected, stiff and un- order,” and “an insult to human rights.”

In the first place, it’s important to note that no eventful. Because they couldn’t agree on a joint statement, each delivered their own readouts on the arab Gulf state is “subsidized by US taxpayers.” Secmeeting— both of which included expected, tired for- ondly, after the excessive pandering that took place mulas making it clear that nothing had happened to in Jerusalem, it strains credulity to suggest that move the needle on Palestinians achieving their rights Biden’s behaving in a statesman-like manner with or the US playing a more aggressive role in helping Saudi arabian leaders is about US domestic politics.

Thirdly, after the Iraq and afghanistan wars and all to advance Palestinian rights.

In his statement following the meeting with abbas, their attendant horrors, it takes more than a bit of hubris and disingenuousness Biden used his now shopto speak of “american valworn “Israelis and Palestiniues” or an “american-led ans [both] deserve to enjoy world order.” and finally, it equal measures of freedom, patently dishonest for the security, prosperity, and At the trip’s end, what we are left issame US press to freely democracy,” and “his belief with is a stark study in contrasts quote from reports by human that the Palestinian people rights groups to make their deserve to live lives of digin how US political leadership case against Saudi arabia, nity and opportunity; to and media sees Israel and the when they have refused to move and travel freely; and even cover these same to give hope to their children Arabs through two different groups’ extensive reports on that they will one day enjoy lenses: one is above criticism, Israeli practices— calling the same freedom and selfthem apartheid. In fact, there determination of their neighthe other is fair game. The impact was nary a mention of ongobors.” The US President not of this double standard is that it ing Israeli violations of only failed to criticize any IsPalestinian rights or the need raeli actions that are impeddistorts our relationships and for the US to take measures ing his hopes for Palestinians undercuts our credibility as we to pressure Israel to cease or provide any assurances and desist. that he would act to rein in struggle to find our way forward In the end, Biden’s meetthese Israeli behaviours, but in the post-Iraq, multipolar world ings with GCC+3 countries also went further to dash and his bilateral meetings Palestinian hopes by twice with each of the leaders constating that the time wasn’t cluded with several signed right for any movement toagreements on mutual deward achieving long-denied Palestinian rights. as Biden left Tel aviv flying to Jeddah, Israelis fense, energy security and clean energy cooperation, were left overwhelmed by the President’s affection and arab-US joint humanitarian assistance to alleviand commitments of billions in aid and political sup- ate hunger, promote health care, and build infrastrucport, and the Palestinians were left underwhelmed by ture in developing countries. These, however, his hollow words of support for their aspirations with- received scant mention in press coverage, which remained focused on “the disgraceful fist bump.” out any commitments to help realize them. at the trip’s end, what we are left with is a stark study Biden’s arrival in Jeddah was described as low key. In contrast to the effusiveness of his engagement in contrasts in how US political leadership and media with Israeli leaders, his initial greeting with Crown sees Israel and the arabs through two different lenses: Prince Muhammed bin Salman was punctuated by a one is above criticism, the other is fair game. The impact fist bump— which was featured on the front pages of of this double standard is that it distorts our relationships US newspapers and played endlessly on US news and undercuts our credibility as we struggle to find our programmes. If intended by the White House as an way forward in the post-Iraq, multipolar world.

Biden’visits to Israel and Saudi Arabia showed the different standard applied

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

M. A. Niazi

Rest we all know, that when Imran Khan had almost lost its popularity and relevance, he was voted out from office to gain momentum. Today people are questioning this move and its timing. I can hypothesize an answer for that; this hasty move was to avoid november, Imran Khan being in office in november 2022. If he is, he will seal the deal with the group B, of his next ten years with the promise of the presidential system still on the table, which group a has decided to put on the backburner, maybe because it is getting harder to lose fame and respect in the general population, or maybe because Imran Khan sold the anti-establishment narrative to the extent that can be considered a betrayal, and group a took that betrayal hard and decide to cut him loose, the greater plan for the greater good along with him.

Group B did not stop manoeuvring, and stuck to to the original plan. november is very important, for if alpha of group B will sit on his desired chair, he will then be able to execute the plan, but how can he be in that chair, if alpha of group a decides otherwise or the winds in democratic fronts are not favourable?

Whoever might be the next alpha of the manufacturing plant, will Group B be so eager to bring their product back on the market and have they a counter plan for the damage its product has done to them? I mean are they planning to stop to buy islands, are they cutting the perks and privileges of their officers, are they ready to face the hatred, crafted by their own product, and do they have a plan for the layman’s questions, which they themselves at the first place and their product at the second place had made a new normal?

I am worried about the damages their experimentation and later egoistic division have done to an esteemed institution; I am worried that this damage is non-rectifiable. Their crafted narrative “Imran Khan the saviour” is ultra-popular but with the added value of “establishment must refrain from stopping their saviour who is the ultimate path to prosperity and fortune”.

Maybe engineers are ready to pay this cost, but I am not, I love this institution and consider it Pakistan’s lifeline, and maybe it is a bigger conspiracy than what I think; maybe it is about making Pakistan geopolitically irrelevant by making our backbone dysfunctional by discrediting our institution. If this is the case, we are all doomed.

A Tale of Two Visits

a

BIT of chutzpah on display in Islamabad. The President of the Republic pledged on nelson Mandela International Day, to “strengthen democratic norms of civility across party lines, tolerance for dissent, inclusive and democratic decisionmaking, freedom of speech, equality before the law and social justice for the empowerment of (the) country and (the) people.”

Big words, coming from a man that has behaved like a petulant child in the aftermath of the vote of no confidence that led to the change of the civil government. yes, the President is usually a member of the ruling coalition, and is elected from both chambers of legislature in the centre and all of them in the provinces. But the office is not supposed to be political; the bearer is the symbol of the federation. When it comes to the President, there is impartiality to be expected between federating units, between the centre and a federating unit, between the centre and all the federating units. Partiality between mere here-today-gone-tomorrow political parties is unthinkable. But that is exactly what President alvi has behaved like in recent times. He has thrown a spanner in the works, so to speak, from the moment his (former, if in name only) party was ousted.

Though there were no such expectations from him when he was a mere political party worker, even then he had violated the basic norms expected of mature workers of political parties, having raided the offices of the PTV headquarters during the infamous dharna of 2014.

Civility across party lines isn’t what they teach at dental school, it seems.

Has the President had a change of heart or was the issuance of the statement something quite mechanical, written up by the diligent bureaucrats in the Presidency, whose thankless job is just to type these statements up whenever there is an international day of some sort?

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

The story does not end here; the target-oriented mindset finds it hard to accept that their dream product is unable to facilitate them in any manner. The amount of effort in terms of kind and cash cannot simply go into the drain, they have invested too much in it, and even their prestige and position in the society were shoved into this experiment, and turning back seemed suicide. There is an understanding (or misunderstanding) that the manufacturers got divided into two groups, I will refer to them as group a and group B. Hypothetically group a shouted “retreat” but group B did not agree. Group a tried to reason by showing the bad governance, deteriorating moral values, ruined foreign relations, and slurring and even name calling about them. Group B insisted upon the actual plan.

There is a theory in the market claiming the divide within the institution but I do not buy this theory and believe there is no divide, rather just two teams are assigned to climb the same mountain summit from two different faces (ridges) or an exercise is run in which one group is divided into two groups which assemble against each other.

There are other theories in the market including that the manufactured leader made a few value additions to the already prevailing narrative which was a package deal, and the value addition was to create a narrative against the same institutions that created him. He built up a narrative that “they are a privilege”, he gave the term “billionaire generals”, he reinforced the very term of pushing them to the barracks, which was much hated by his creators. Let me remind you this military accountability narrative was already in the market even before nawaz Sharif demanded “Vote Ko Izzat Do” and met his unfortunate fate, but a manufactured leader not only sells that narrative but also at a much lower price like a onedollar shop. nobody ever touches him for abusing all national institutions including the top leadership of Pakistan army. There is a saying that one has to compromise on minor issues for greater good.

When the crafted leader failed in every front of governance, group a decided to change its marketing strategy. It is scuttlebutt that group a contacted former opposition leaders including asif ali Zardari with the same proposition of ten years of uninterrupted power which eventually shifted to the presidential Form of government; he was also given the option to enjoy it, with the PTI or without it. another hearsay is that Zardari chose to be democratic, God knows why, and instead of locking the deal with group a of the establishment, he decided to gather all the political parties and foretell their future and convinced them to gather together.

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

effort to make clear the President’s continued displeasure with the Crown Prince, it wasn’t read that way by a hostile US press. Biden was accused of giv-

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

I

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

I

The writer is President of the Arab American Institute

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

06-07 Comments - 20th July 2022_Layout 1 7/20/2022 12:11 AM Page 2

Wednesday, 20 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

Impact of power crisis on business sector THe soaring power crisis in the country in this extreme weather and suffocating conditions is making it difficult for the people to manage their everyday living. Loadshedding in the locality where I live is done every other hour, and it is all but impossible to plan anything.

I have an ailing mother at home whose oxygen supply must be ensured continuously. However, owing to the crippling power crisis, I have to keep the generator running as a backup round-the-clock which is adding to the expenses. as for the income, it has gone down by more than 30 per cent. I run a small business of atta chakki. With loadshedding of 12 hours every day, operational hours have been reduced, meaning my income has reduced. Besides, employees in my shop cannot be asked to work 24 hours, and for the eight hours that they spend at work, we do not have power for half that time, which means productivity has gone down drastically. adding to my misery is the ever-increasing power tariff, which is further topped up with fuel price adjustments on a monthly basis. Since I am the lone breadwinner of the family, things are fast moving where they would soon be beyond my control; or anybody’s control, for that matter.

The relevant authorities should handle the matter on a priority basis as it is affecting the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing of the people. The rise in fuel prices, electricity and gas tariffs must be kept in control and subsidised so that the masses may have the capacity to run their households.

NUMRA HASSAN ANSARI LAHORE

The classroom decides the future of the Nation Education is all the more important now

muhammaD waJahat sultan

A

T the end of the Peloponnesian War athens won over Sparta. at the end of the Cold War Capitalism triumphed over Communism. In both cases, David Landes asserted that it was not naval might, soil richness, or economic affluence but the dynamic, versatile and competitive educational system that fostered the national ambitions and quality over the numbers. Many pedagogues and scholars believe in the 21st Century economic confidence and military prowess is an essential characteristic for the rise of great power but it is education and the classroom that decides the prospects of any nation.

In history, the rise, fall, decay, and decline is determined by the education and literacy of states. education seeds the conflict of ideas that are a sine qua non for the sustainable growth and vibrant environment in any social setup.

Certainly the future socio-economic and sociopolitical development of Pakistan lies in education, that creates an informed citizenry, sustainable growth, a culture of inclusivity, green consciousness, and gender normality in the society. education through moderate class infrastructure and an enlightened mechanism of education could foster the seed of competency to deal with wicked problems of malfunctioning virtues in Pakistan. neil Postman computed that education is the integrated matrix to broaden all sectors of society if it is not marred by the economic industry of maximization of profits. Classrooms in Pakistan could bring economic affluence.

Progressive education equips individuals with competitive inheritance. The deficit of the economy can be fulfilled by producing professionals and skilled graduates that can contribute to the economy of the country effectively. For example, Pakistan exports labour to Middle east countries for odd jobs while in comparison the major chunk of european or american professionals belong to India.

It is because of the difference in education.

In Pakistan economic remittance is based on labour capital while in India capital of the economy is based on the remittance of professionals. That puts great strain to advance Pakistan at an equal level to regional forces. yuval noah Hariri regarded irrelevance as the major threat to humanity in the coming century. The incom-

petent classroom produces irrelevant examples of individuals for a world that ultimately declines the relevancy of such individuals in the international arena.

The classroom can determine the social outcomes of the nations. The cultural confidence of any nation builds on the premises of education that provides cultural security in the regional and international realm. China was built from ashes and it was education that addressed the Chinese previous socio-economic grievances and embarked them on the journey of glory and grandeur. Furthermore, this imparted the spirit of competition and confidence to expand their relevance in the region. It was the classroom back in the Deng Xiaoping era that formulated the progressive consciousness. Pakistan can lead as a vibrant nation if it addresses the educational policy with the effective apparatus and national ambition to drive out of the abyss. environmental degradation is more lethal than security vulnerability in the 21st century. In Pakistan, green consciousness is still lagging just like the primary enrolment of students in schools.

Due to lack of consciousness, the sudden vibrational changes, and ill-informed agriculturalists are facing severe soil infertility that all are attributed to climatic change.

The classroom and education can build the consciousness of people to deal with this issue through mass education at schools. The prospects of environmental security are dependent on the citizenry being informed through education.

Coming to other indicators of sustainable development that fiddle the paramount importance in the makeup of any state and their relevance to the classroom, it is education that determines the behaviour of people regarding the deficit of identities in marginalized groups.

Gender ghettoization, cultural marginalization of minorities, lack of pluralism, and establishment of a non-material culture of transformative values and norms can be addressed through education. Contemporary education can install leniency and adaptation to progressive values of enlightenment if the educational system can function with the mastermind paradigm.

The world is facing totalitarian tendencies because of the unfulfilled expectations of many social groups. The rising appeal to emotions and empowerment of demagoguery in the states is due to the rising neoliberal paradigm of edu-

cation. The neoliberal educational system turned the institution of education into the institution of maximization of profits and flow of capital. The educational system was meant to cultivate vision rather than ideology, inform citizens rather than inject citizens with only patriotic instincts and diverse rather than monoculture individuals.

Here the struggle for democratic norms for which we lost millions of lives in the 20th Century was overshadowed by malfunctioning practices of education. The good education and classroom fostered a culture of dissent, rational agency, and transformation that is not complacent in the modern education system The progressive education in Pakistan can address the deficit of democracy by improving the voting turnout, breeding good politicians, and inclusive state institutions that are possible through inclusive education without the lust for maximization of profits but the vision to advance the nation like Singapore.

Democratic peace theory endorsed that education reduces the chances of war because it is the education that constructs the consciousness of people to control the decisions by their will. The wars in history were executed by the ulterior interests of leaders to claim glory for themselves. The general will of the people and the social contract of the subject of the state is never concerned during the war because it is the whims and wishes of impulsive leaders that advance war.

So education expands the consciousness through effective educational institutions that create democratic decision power and people always tend to prioritize peace over war with regional rivalries.

Good education prevents war, peace prevails and growth becomes possible. after the years of war during the 20th century, it was the citizens of europe and the West that decided to end the vicious war and signed up for peace. This all was possible by the General Will of people constructed by education.

History is replicated by the norms of change from one stage to another that was possible in the advancement of modes of learning in every phase. It is education and the classroom that decide the future of states. Pakistan could learn from regional neighbours in asia how they rose from ashes to magnificent powers through education.

History is replicated by the norms of change from one stage to another that was possible in the advancement of modes of learning in every phase. It is education and the classroom that decide the future of states. Pakistan could learn from regional neighbours in Asia how they rose from ashes to magnificent powers through education

The writer is a transportation engineer with postgraduations in English literature and political science

Recent images by NASA

OUR galaxy is so vast with a lot of mysterious objects within it – it is very difficult to find those and tackle their mysteries, but astronomists, scientists and cosmologists are working day and night to find what exactly is our universe and all that is in it. a black hole is a cosmic body of extremely intense gravity from which nothing, not even light, can escape. a black hole can be formed by the death of a massive star. When such a star has exhausted the internal thermonuclear fuels in its core at the end of its life, the core becomes unstable and gravitationally collapses inward upon itself, and the star’s outer layers are blown away. albert einstein, first predicted the existence of black holes in 1916, with his general theory of relativity, but he himself also doubted its existence.

Later, an english Cosmologist tried to explain the existence of the black hole and presented his theory: “The Hawking Radiation.” now it is time for astronomers to capture the picture of the black hole – present in the centre of our galaxy, but it is not an easy task for them. The astronomers combined eighty telescopes on four continents to create a perfect image. In fact, the 2022 nobel Prize was shared between andrea Ghez and Reinhard Genzel for the observation that showed the existence of a supermassive black hole. These eighty telescopes received plane waves from this black hole at different times and angles.

ISRAR LUQMAN KECH

Scarcity of Colleges eDUCaTIOn is the most salient need which depicts the real image of society. One without education is like a bird without wings, a body without soul and a flower without beauty. Women are the most prominent part of our society. Institutions play an essential role in the flowering of education. For a long time, the residents of Kohi Goth (UC 14) Malir, have been highlighting sensitive issues but I want to grab the attention of relevant authorities regarding the aforementioned hypersensitive problem.

The scarcity of girls’ colleges in Kohi Goth has become a grave threat to all girls. after completion of their secondary education, they confront numerous impediments. Some of them do not have permission to get out and most of them are unable to bear the expenditures of education. 20% of girls are enough able to go out in order to achieve education and 80% of girls are deprived of educational rights. The government of Sindh and the Higher education Commission (HeC) is requested to establish a girl college in Kohi Goth district Malir, Karachi.

MUHEEM ABDUL NABI KARACHI

Our Ruling Elite IT is time that the paid and elected ruling elite of this country, who aspire to hold public office, must be seen to have all their stakes in this country, no conflicts of interest, and lead by example in their total commitment to Pakistan. This country was created by politicians with integrity and character, who were not smitten by greed for assets and real estate allotments.

In 1930 Quaid left for London, where he served as a successful barrister, bought a house in Hampstead and was well settled. However, when he was approached by allama Iqbal and others to return to India, he sold that house and returned back to lead the all-India Muslim League, never to return back to england. In his 11th august, 1947 address to the First Constituent assembly MaJ warned about the cancer of corruption, that years of colonial rule had nurtured to buy loyalties of natives, willing to betray their motherland and serve the British Raj. The British used land and titles to lure the paid servants of the state to serve them loyally.

Unfortunately, since 1955, these remnants of the British Raj conspired to derail Jinnah’s vision of a modern democratic welfare state to be replaced by a security state, serving their former colonial masters. We may be amongst the few countries whose paid and elected elite are allowed to own vast assets abroad, settle their families there and yet be eligible to hold sensitive public offices in the civil and uniformed services. Our paid bureaucracy, both civil and uniformed, while in service have no restriction to buy properties abroad, facilitate their families from acquiring immigration and after retirement shift abroad, to live with there.

Individuals holding important sensitive public offices are facilitated to sell their assets in Pakistan, including lands allotted to them, and transfer proceeds of such sales to their foreign bank accounts.

MALIK TARIQ ALI LAHORE

08 WORLD VIEW 20th July 22_Layout 1 7/19/2022 10:56 PM Page 1

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

Why MoScoW and TehRan need each oTheR MoRe Than eveR

MIddle eAst eye

T

FArdin eFteKhAri

HIS week, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Tehran and meet the presidents of Turkey and Iran to discuss the Syrian peace process. But amid a full-scale conflict with the West, Syria does not seem important enough to form the basis of one of a handful of the Russian president’s foreign trips.

Putin’s visit to an ally in the Middle East immediately after US President Joe Biden’s trip to the region should be seen in the context of Russia-Iran relations. Since the eruption of the Ukraine war, Tehran’s role in the strategic chess match between Russia and the West has become crucial for Moscow’s security, energy and geo-economic policies.

In a broader sense, the strategic relations between Moscow and Tehran are the result of a common understanding between Putin and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the need to confront western attempts to impose a regional order that favours the West. This understanding first materialised with their military cooperation in Syria to preserve President Bashar alAssad’s government and prevent regime change from abroad by the US and its European and regional allies.

The position of Iran’s leadership towards the Ukraine war shows that the Syria cooperation was not an isolated case, and the

BY VISITING IRAN, PUTIN WANTS TO SHOW THAT HE IS STILL A POWERFUL LEADER WHO WILL NOT ALLOW REGIONAL ORDERS - FROM EASTERN EUROPE, TO THE SOUTH CAUCASUS, TO CENTRAL ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST - TO CHANGE WITHOUT SECURING RUSSIA’S ROLE AND INTERESTS. AS RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEI LAVROV HAS NOTED, TEHRAN “WILL MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION” TO THE “EMERGING MULTIPOLAR WORLD ORDER” Moscow-Tehran alignment has since become more profound. Putin now views Iran as an important ally against the West, recently describing their bilateral relations as “deep” and “strategic”.

The two states have thus coordinated their attempts to confront western economic unilateralism and sanctions. After Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Russia in January, Tehran and Moscow initiated extensive economic cooperation. The Ukraine war and ensuing sanctions on Russia further increased Tehran’s importance to Moscow, which has steadily opened the doors of the Russian economic sector to the sanctioned Iranian state.

CIRCUMVENTING SANCTIONS In a significant move, Russia recently agreed to transit 10 million tonnes of cargo through the International North-South Transport Corridor, which connects Mumbai to Moscow via Iran and Azerbaijan, and could be a substantial source of revenue for Iran.

Russia also wants to resume contracts for the development of Iran’s oil and gas industry, suspended amid US sanctions after the American withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, and to sell Iran advanced air defence

systems and fighter jets. At the same time, Iran has reportedly offered to help Russia circumvent war-related sanctions, while also seeking to sell Moscow drones and to assist with training military forces in how to use them. This military and economic cooperation suggest that Iran and Russia do not recognise the sanctions against each other and they believe extensive collaboration can lead to mutually beneficial contracts, while relieving the sting of sanctions.

In meetings with the Iranian leadership, in addition to discussing their converging positions on the global economy, the war in Ukraine and the nuclear deal, Putin is also expected to talk about finalising a 20-year strategic agreement between Iran and Russia, the free trade agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, and the completion of Iran’s ascension to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Although the Iranian public might still hold a pessimistic view of Russia’s domestic and foreign policies, state-controlled media are making extensive efforts to change this mindset, delivering programmes that aim to portray Putin’s Russia as different from its predecessor - a country with progressive

economic capabilities that can help combat the western threat.

SENDING A MESSAGE Indeed, Iran needs Russia’s diplomatic and military support in the face of emerging threats. To maintain a credible level of deterrence against the US and its allies in the region, and in the face of collective initiatives such as the “Middle East Air Defence Alliance” and Israeli threats, Iran hopes to receive advanced Russian weaponry, including radars and fighter jets.

State-aligned media have vowed that if the regional joint air defence network threatens Iran’s security, it “will respond decisively to the closest and most accessible targets”. This vow surely hinges on hopes of Russian diplomatic or hardware support. Iran’s leaders see the delivery of these weapons in the framework of their mutual strategic security exchanges with Russia.

From this perspective, Moscow must provide Tehran with the requested arms in exchange for Iran’s assistance with keeping and managing Russian bases in Syria (where Russian troops have left to fight in Ukraine), or for strengthening the tactical aerial com-

Russia and Iran are ready to create a strategic partnership WE ARE NOW MOVING TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC COOPERATION TREATY - ONE THAT CAN LAST FOR 20 OR 25 YEARS. IT COULD BE SIGNED AS EARLY AS THIS YEAR: IN JANUARY, THE NEW PRESIDENT, EBRAHIM RAISI, PRESENTED THE IRANIAN DRAFT TO VLADIMIR PUTIN IN MOSCOW, AND LAST MONTH SERGEY LAVROV BROUGHT THE RUSSIAN VERSION TO TEHRAN RIA NoVostI/Rt

R

Petr AKoPov

USSIAN President Vladimir Putin is visiting Iran for a fifth time. Is it a lot or a little? Well, if you count back to 2000, when he first became the leader of Russia, it doesn’t seem much. However, if you look at the dates of the visits, a very different picture emerges. It turns out that this trip is the fourth in the last seven years.

Yes, Putin first came to Tehran in 2007, but his regular trips did not start until 2015. At the same time, all of Putin's visits have been of a working nature. He has never been to the Islamic Republic on an official tour. Each time his arrival was linked to a multilateral event held in the Iranian capital: Such as The Caspian Forum, a summit of gas-exporting countries.

Or, as in this case, a meeting in the Astana format, i.e., a trilateral summit of Russia, Turkey, and Iran. This “big three” emerged five years ago in connection with the search for a solution to the conflict in Syria, but it has long outgrown that single issue. Because all three countries are truly sovereign states - they have a lot to discuss.

Moreover, while Turkey's importance in both regional and global affairs is well understood (by both supporters and opponents of strengthening bilateral relations), the role of Iran has been underestimated for many years. More precisely, it has been completely misjudged. The reason is simple: our Western-oriented expert community looked at Iran mainly through the American-led prism: a rogue country, mullahs with missiles and a desire for a nuclear bomb, theocracy, a repressive regime, a security threat to the Middle East and the world, Islamic fanatics, etc.

In general, it has been perceived as some kind of eastern hole, incomparable to the advanced, enlightened and wealthy West.

The political leadership looked at Iran with different eyes, but what did our people know about the Islamic Republic? At worst a retelling of Western propaganda, at best some echoes of Traveler’s Club (a TV show once popular in Russia and the

USSR). Even our pivot to the East after 2014 has not changed that perception: the real Iran is still very poorly known in Russia.

However, we are now moving towards a comprehensive strategic cooperation treaty - one that can last for 20 or 25 years. It could be signed as early as this year: in January, the new president, Ebrahim Raisi, presented the Iranian draft to Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and last month Sergey Lavrov brought the Russian version to Tehran.

Russia and Iran will not become military allies (although military-technical cooperation is increasingly complemented by joint exercises), but our relationship will develop very seriously.

Iran is increasingly involved in the multilateral format of cooperation with Russia - it has already joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) – the accession procedure will be completed in autumn – and Tehran wants to join BRICS. In other words, we are talking about a full-fledged course towards strategic cooperation between the two countries, both bilaterally and on the global stage. Russia and Iran have enormous potential for cooperation, from trade to the North-South transport corridor linking the Baltic Sea to Iranian ports in the Arabian Sea. That is, the European Union to India via the Caspian Sea. There is no need to think that Russia’s conflict with the West has made it irrelevant - the potential for North-South trade is still enormous. Even if the war of sanctions between Russia and the EU lasts for a long time, the corridor will be needed for Russia’s trade with the Middle East and Asia.

And most importantly, rapprochement with Iran is in Russia's strategic interests. Because we are not simply dealing with the heir to great civilizations, with an 86-million-strong country, but with one of the strongest nations in the world in spirit. Iran is truly a sovereign country, going its own way, looking for its own forms of state and societal organization, standing up for its national interests and not bowing to any external pressure.

This is exactly what Russia is doing, but we have yet to fully complete the process. And it is not even about the Iranian experience of living and developing under decades of Western sanctions -

that too will come in handy, although the old world, in which the West could significantly hamper countries undesirable to it (and threaten to destroy them), is a thing of the past. More importantly, Iran has managed to find its own formula of state structure and social relations, a formula expressing exactly its national identity and aspirations.

The Islamic Republic is not a carbon copy of foreign models, Western or Eastern - it is a unique Iranian invention. It is complex, based on both tradition (religious and national) and the notion of the correct form of popular representation and the application of Islamic law. With its problems, mistakes, and lessons, but surviving in the most difficult external conditions. None of the great powers - and Iran is undoubtedly among them - has demonstrated anything like this kind of creativity in building a new kind of state in recent decades.

The last one to have a similar experience was the Soviet Union.

Now we are again facing a huge challenge we need to invent a new form of existence for our people and our state. Not only to withstand a confrontation with the West, but because we have long needed it ourselves.

The Iranian experience is not directly applicable to Russia, but their aspiration for an ideal social structure is close to Russians as well as the dream that the state must stand for justice, embody, and protect people's ideals, that the leaders must be honest, strong in spirit and feel their responsibility before the people and God. And that is why Putin's fifth meeting with Rahbar Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is not just a conversation between two very influential and very experienced statesmen - it is also a meeting between two people who have something to talk about, besides global issues and challenges. Because if two countries such as Russia and Iran go their own spiritual and national way, then they will go together. And each will become stronger - no longer just responding to challenges from the West, but together building a new world where traditionalist peoples can live by their own ways and their own laws.

bat power of Russian forces with Iranianmade drones.

The Raisi government, whose foreign policy strategy entails developing relations with Russia, China and neighbouring countries, will present Putin’s visit to Iran as a symbolic result of diplomacy with non-western powers.

Putin’s presence in Iran will also significantly strengthen the position of the conservatives against the moderates, who widely criticised Raisi’s visit to Russia earlier this year. This is part of the same message Putin wants to convey. By visiting Iran, he wants to show that he is still a powerful leader who will not allow regional orders - from Eastern Europe, to the South Caucasus, to Central Asia and the Middle East - to change without securing Russia’s role and interests. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has noted, Tehran “will make a significant contribution” to the “emerging multipolar world order”.

Fardin Eftekhari is a PhD candidate in the Department of Regional Studies at the University of Tehran. His research interests focus on Iranian national security and foreign policymaking.

Sri Lanka’s protests are just the beginning of global instability WHY RISING COSTS OF FOOD AND OTHER ESSENTIALS ARE LEADING TO PROTESTS AROUND THE WORLD Vox

S

Jen Kirby

ri Lanka’s president finally resigned. Protesters celebrated, and they had reason to: Their mass demonstrations — including a takeover of the presidential mansion — drove President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office. Sri Lanka’s economy is in free fall. The country doesn’t have enough money to buy essentials: food, medicine, and especially fuel.

Buses can’t run, schools can’t open. The economic crisis was years in the making because of mismanagement, but terror attacks in 2019, and later the Covid-19 pandemic, which shriveled Sri Lanka’s tourist economy, pushed it to the brink. But the domestic political turmoil unfolding in Sri Lanka also links back to the instability across the globe, including the war in Ukraine and all of its consequences. It may seem strange to link street protests against the Sri Lankan government to a war in Europe, but food and oil markets are global. A shock in one place ripples everywhere. The Ukraine war compounded supply chain pressure in the wake of Covid-19, and Moscow’s war in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia have squeezed agricultural exports — critical supplies like grain and sunflower oil — from the entire Black Sea region. These products can be replaced on the global market, but at a cost. Fuel prices are also up, and if it costs more to buy diesel for a tractor or to transport cargo, food becomes more expensive still. Food becomes all that much harder to afford for poor countries, and for poor people in rich countries. The United States and Europe are seeing these price shocks. So are people in Ghana and Mozambique and Mexico and Ecuador and Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Food, fuel, and other essentials are getting more expensive, everywhere. Many of these governments want to intervene, but their economies were already pummeled by the Covid-19 pandemic, and so they don’t have the funds to respond to these crises. That means standards of living will fall in many countries, and that more people will slip into poverty. The United Nation’s World Food Program has warned that the number of food-insecure people has risen to 345 million; nearly 50 million people in more than 45 countries are at risk of falling into famine conditions. But the global instability that causes prices to rise also creates more instability. Food prices, for example, are rarely the only reason that a government falls, but they can help crystallize simmering discontent in a country. “If you can point to rising food prices, it is a sign that something is failing in the implicit contract between the government and the governed,” said Cullen Hendrix, a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS corporate corner

NHA INCREASES TOLL COLLECTION BOOTHS AT HAKLA TOLL PLAZA ON PM’S DIRECTIONS ISLAMABAD pr

A

P&G Pakistan signed an MoU with Akhuwat, a not-for-profit organization, to lend interest-free microloans to women entrepreneurs to enable them to create sustainable streams of income. The MoU was signed by Adil Farhat, Chief Executive Officer P&G Pakistan and Dr. Amjad Saqib, Founder Akhuwat. pr

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi exchanging views with Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Mr Mehmet PACACI at Naval Headquarters Islamabad. pr

S per directive of Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, Ministry of Communications and National Highway Authority undertook immediate measures and established additional toll collection booths at Hakla Toll Plaza on HaklaD.I.Khan Motorway.

It is to recall that Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Shahbaz Sharif took serious notice of reports regarding traffic rush at Hakla Toll Plaza, and issued orders to ensure smooth flow of traffic at this point by increasing the number of toll collection booths.

Making practical advancement to this effect, National Highway Author-

ity (NHA) and Frontier Works Organization (FWO) arranged additional booths within two days which has

ISLAMABAD pr

AIOU provides free education in Baluchistan, merged districts, GB Islamabad: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) is providing free matriculation education to the regions with a low rate of literacy including Baluchistan, merged districts and Gilgit Baltistan to improve the situation by providing quality educational services.

Prof. Dr. Zia Ul-Qauyum, Vice-Chancellor AIOU has said that AIOU is providing all possible assistance in the provision of quality education to the poor social stratum of population, especially people belonging to Balochistan, merged districts region and Gilgit Baltistan. He has instructed all regional directors to initiate massive awareness campaigns throughout the country about university scholarships, fee concessions and financial assistance schemes so that no one is deprived of education owing to a lack of financial resources.

It is pertinent to mention here that university is playing its due role in the process of national progress and development by providing free matriculation education to the people of Baluchistan, merged districts and GB. Moreover, scholarships and fee concession schemes have been launched to provide financial assistance to the poor and the needy. Furthermore, prisoners, transgenders and children of martyrs are also provided free educational facilities to secure their bright future. AIOU has framed a comprehensive policy to provide financial assistance to the poor and deserving yet brilliant students. Application assessment committees have been established at the regional offices to recommend deserving cases after necessary verification. Fee concession will be provided from the funds allocated for this purpose. In order to utilize these schemes, deserving candidates are required to contact their respective regional offices to get admission in the programs offered during the ongoing first phase of autumn 2022 semester. pr

paved the way to overcome traffic rush at Hakla Toll Plaza.Federal Minister for Communications Mr. Asad Mah-

mood and Federal Secretary Communications/Chairman NHA Capt ️ ® Muhammad Khurram Agha visited Hakla Toll Plaza today.

On this occasion Federal Minister for Communications Mr. Asad Mahmood expressed deep sense of gratitude to Chairman NHA and his team and officials of the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) for setting up additional booths in a limited time of 48 hours. The Federal Minister for Communications Mr. Asad Mahmood was of the view to introduce e-Tolling on Hakla-D.I.Khan motorway to facilitate the traffic. He said, all possible steps will be ensured to provide travelling and civic amenities to the travelers on all the motorways and national highways throughout the country.

Polish Oil and Gas Company is committed to contributing to Pakistan's energy security: Envoy

Easypaisa launches credit score visibility feature for customers KarachI: In a move that will reshape the way consumers get access to digital financial services, Easypaisa, Pakistan’s leading digital payments app has launched an industry first Credit Score Visibility feature for its users. This innovative product will eventually open a plethora of exciting opportunities for customers and educate them on the best financial management practices. Only customers eligible for Easycash loans will be able to view their Easypaisa Credit Score from within the app. Through this new feature, consumers can learn about their credit score and the impact of their digital payment behavior, credit profile if visible, their savings and subscriptions. pr

09

Ambassador of Poland to Pakistan Maciej Pisarski, along with a delegation of Polish Oil and Gas Company (POGC) headed

by Mr. Robert Perkowski, vice president & chief operating offi-

cer and Mr. Artur Cieślik, vice president of Management board, called on Minister of state for Petroleum Dr. Musadik Malik at Petroleum Division.

The Minister welcomed the Polish ambassador and discussed areas of mutual interest.

He further highlighted Pakistan's

interest in benefitting from Poland's technical expertise in oil and gas sector. Poland is among the pioneers of petroleum exploration in Europe.

Ambassador termed the oil and gas partnership as jewel in the crown of Pak-Polish relationship. He expressed his high hopes for this visit and reiterated Poland's interest in investing and developing oil and gas sector in Pakistan. Minister committed to provide all possible assistance and facilitation to Polish company for smooth operation and to ensure continued investment from Poland. The delegation expressed gratitude for the Minister's support. PGNiG Group's management has always recognized Government of Pakistan as well as its officials' support for its operations in Pakistan, said Mr Robert.

Housing secretary briefed on pace of work on Green Enclave Project Bhara Kahu ISLAMABAD pr

Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Federal Secretary Ministry of Housing and Works, visited Green Enclave 1 & 2, Bhara Kahu and Kashmir Avenue Apartments, Sector G-13 Islamabad along with Tariq Rashid, Director General Federal Government Employees Housing Authority.

During the visit, Iftikhar Ali Shallwani was briefed about the progress of work in Green Enclave project that is situated in Bhara Kahu. Secretary Housing emphasized to complete the project in the shortest possible time and accelerate the pace of work on the project as people are wait-

ing for their plots. Moreover, their trust and hopes in the department need to be maintained through efficacy and following deadlines. He also directed that special attention shall be paid to gardening activities to create a more conducive environment in the Green Enclave.

While visiting Kashmir Avenue Apartments, Sector G-13,

Islamabad, Secretary Housing was apprised about the work done so far. Iftikhar Ali Shallwani has shown keen interest and concern over the work being suspended by the contractor due to the steep escalation in the prices of the raw materials which as per the directions of Shallwani must be verified from bureau of statistics.

Constitution guarantees fundamental rights of all citizens irrespective of caste or religion: Pirzada ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada has said that the constitution of Pakistan guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens irrespective of caste, creed and religion. “It is our constitutional obligation to protect and promote rights of minorities by discouraging and preventing all forms of religious discrimination,’’ Pirzada said during a meeting with the delegation of National Lobbying for Minority Rights led by Anthony Naveed Member Provincial Assembly of Sindh here at Ministry of Human Rights Islamabad.

Delegates apprised the minister about the data collected through recent studies that have been conducted on the issues faced by various minority communities in country. They presented a fourpoint agenda for furthering the protection of minority rights that was: provision of social security benefits to sanitary workers throughout the country; resolving the issues of regularization of their jobs; devising mechanism for providing necessary safety trainings, tools and equipment by employers; displaying a code of conduct in all public and private hospitals to prevent discriminatory treatment with patients on the basis of religion. Minister for Human Rights assured the members to extend all his efforts to safeguard minority rights. He gave directions to the concerning wings of the ministry to write to the provincial authorities, particularly labor and health departments, to get reports with recommendations to address the aforesaid grievances of minorities.

Minister condemned the persecution and discrimination of Hindu community in Sindh when they visit public offices and mostly in hospitals merely on the basis of cultural attire. He said that there is a dire need for changing the mindset of people by awareness and education. He added that intolerance had caused an extreme damage to our social fabric that we can only mend with the help of enlightenment and teaching. In his concluding remarks, minister reiterated his commitment to do whatever possible to safeguard and uplift the minority rights. pr

Mastercard partners with MCB to empower SMEs in Pakistan LAhore pr

Mastercard and MCB Bank have entered a strategic partnership to boost financial inclusion in Pakistan and empower small businesses with Simplify Commerce, an all-in-one e-commerce technology solution.

The agreement was signed between Mr. J.K. Khalil, Cluster General Manager, MENA East, Mastercard and Mr. Shoaib Mumtaz, President & CEO, MCB Bank at MCB House, Lahore. Senior members from both organizations were also present at the ceremony.

Simplify Commerce, powered by Mastercard Payment Gateway Services, is specifically designed to be easy to use, making it possible for merchants with only a minimal amount of digital experience to access a convenient and secure acceptance solution and receive payments within a matter of minutes.

The partnership allows businesses to sign up for an innovative and cost-effective application that allows them to quickly embrace electronic acceptance. Extremely easy to set up, the technology enables SMEs with a suite of powerful payments and business

management features that help simplify backend processes, helping MCB partner merchants to focus on core business functions as they enter and thrive in the digital marketplace.

The solution benefits small businesses who want to build their own webstores without coding knowledge, use advance payment options such as e-invoicing, integrate with social media, take informed business decision using the powerful reporting module or build payments into existing websites with hosted payment or shopping cart payment plug-ins.

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 | LAHORE

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Erdogan rEnEwS thrEat to ‘frEEzE’ SwEdiSh, finniSh nato BidS ANKARA

t

AFP

URKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday renewed his threat to “freeze” the NATO membership bids of both Sweden and Finland unless the military alliance complies with Ankara’s conditions.

At a NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June, Erdogan called on the two countries to “do their part” in the fight against terrorism, and accused them of providing a haven for outlawed Kurdish militants.

Speaking Monday, the eve of a three-way summit with Russia and Iran, Erdogan told reporters: “I want to reiterate once again that we will freeze the process if these countries do not take the necessary steps to fulfil our conditions”.

“We particularly note that Sweden does not have a good image on this issue,” the Turkish leader added.

Earlier this month NATO kicked off the accession procedures for Sweden and Finland after a deal was struck

with Turkey, which had blocked the Nordic nations from joining.

Erdogan has accused both countries of being havens for Kurdish militants, specifically highlighting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) he has sought to crush, and for promoting “terrorism”.

In Washington, State Department

Sunak widens lead in race to become Britain’s next PM after latest poll

spokesman Ned Price did not respond directly when asked about Erdogan’s remarks but referred to Turkey’s green light during the NATO summit to the Nordic nations’ NATO membership.

“Turkey, Finland, Sweden — they signed a trilateral memorandum in Madrid to set this process in motion,” Price told reporters.

“The United States will continue to work with those three countries to see to it that this accession process and ratification — here and around the world — is as swift and efficient as it can possibly be,” he said.

Erdogan is due to board a plane to Tehran on Monday evening for talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raissi, from whom he hopes to get the green light for armed intervention in northwest Syria.

Ankara has been threatening since late May to launch an operation to create a 30-kilometre (19-mile) “security zone” along its border to tackle Kurdish fighters waging an insurgency against the Turkish state.

Both Tehran and Moscow have already expressed their opposition to such an offensive.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are all major players in the war that has ravaged Syria since 2011, with Moscow and Tehran supporting the regime of Bashar al-Assad and Ankara supporting rebels.

UK breaks all-time temperature record as heatwave batters Europe LONDON Agencies

LONDON AFP

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak widened his lead in the latest round of voting Monday

by Conservative MPs to decide Britain’s next prime minister, but the race to get in the final two tightened.

Sunak won the support of 115 Tory lawmakers, followed by Penny Mordaunt on 82 votes, Liz Truss on 71, Kemi Badenoch on 58 and Tom Tugendhat on 31, who drops out as the lastplaced candidate, the party announced.

MPs will keep voting until only two candidates remain, the winner then being decided by the party members. Mordaunt had been bookmakers’ favourite before the weekend, but lost votes from the previous round.

Foreign Secretary Truss closed the gap to 11 and can probably expect more support switching to her from Badenoch’s backers, should the insurgent candidate be eliminated in the next round, promising a tense race to make the final cut Wednesday.

Television bosses earlier Monday scrapped a planned debate between the remaining contenders for Tuesday night after Sunak and Truss pulled out, said Sky News, which was due to host it. “Conservative MPs are said to be concerned about the damage the debates are doing to the image of the Conservative party, exposing disagreements and splits within the party,” it added in a statement.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on July 7 that he was quitting as Conservative leader after a government rebellion in protest at his scandal-hit administration.

He is staying on as prime minister until his successor is announced on September 5.

‘Hunger Games’ In the two previous televised debates — on Channel 4 Friday and the ITV network Sunday — the contenders clashed notably on whether to cut taxes to help ease a soaring cost of living crisis.

A fierce heatwave left much of western Europe sweltering on Tuesday, fuelling ferocious wildfires and stretching emergency services, as it pushed north and took temperatures to record levels.

After Britain’s warmest night on record, the country’s Met Office said 39.1 Celsius (102.4 Fahrenheit) was provisionally recorded in Charlwood, near Gatwick Airport, south of London. “If confirmed, this will be the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK,” the Met Office meteorological agency said.

Temperatures are likely to rise further through today,” it added, with predictions that Britain would breach the 40C mark for the first time. Experts blame climate change for the latest heatwave and note the more frequent extreme weather will only worsen in years to come.

The high temperatures have triggered an unprecedented red alert for extreme heat in much of England and Wales, where some rail lines were closed as a precaution and schools shuttered in some areas. “A lot of our infrastructure is just not built for this temperature,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.

“Let record-breaking UK temperatures and tragic deaths in Europe be the wake-up call the world needs to stop climate change from claiming any more lives,” said Tim Wainwright, chief executive of the charity WaterAid. In France, various towns and

cities in the country’s west registered their highest-ever temperatures Monday, the national weather office said.

– Wildfires – The western region of Brittany — normally cool and often wet in summer — set new record highs above 40C. As the heatwave moves northeast Tuesday, replaced by cooler air from the Atlantic offering some respite, weather authorities lifted their top red alert level in 15 departments.

But dozens of departments remained on orange alert, with temperatures still expected to top 40C in the east and south and violent thunderstorms forecast locally.

The heatwave — the second to engulf parts of Europe in recent weeks — has contributed to deadly wildfires in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain, destroying vast tracts of land.

Firefighters in France’s southwest were still struggling to contain two massive fires that have caused widespread destruction and forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.

Nearly 1,700 firefighters from all over the country, supported by significant air resources, are battling the two blazes that have so far burned nearly 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of forest.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Patrick Davet, mayor of La Testede-Buch, the site of one inferno which has prompted mass evacuations. “Economically, it’s going to be very difficult for them and very difficult for the town because we are a tourist town, and we need the (tourist) season.”

In Brittany, a region not typically impacted by forest fires, hundreds of firefighters, specialised vehicles and waterbombing aircraft were tackling blazes in the Finistere region.

Several smaller fires were reported across the region.

– Deaths – Prosecutors in the southwest city of Bordeaux said late Monday a man suspected of having started one of the fires had been taken into custody.

In Spain — nearly 10 days into the latest heatwave — more than a dozen fires continued to rage Tuesday, including in the northwest province of Zamora, which already experienced a huge fire last month. Known as one of the largest wolf reserves in Europe, it saw nearly 30,000 hectares of land reduced to ashes during the June blaze. Nearly 6,000 people had to be evacuated from there this week after flames destroyed several thousand hectares of meadows and forests, regional authorities said.

Train traffic between Madrid and Galicia, in the northwest of the country, remained suspended after fires on either side of the track.

Several people have died in recent days due to the blazes while separately, an office worker in his 50s died from heatstroke in Madrid. In Portugal, more than 1,400 firefighters were fighting fires in the centre and north of the country, despite a clear drop in temperatures in recent days. A couple in their 70s died Monday after they ran off the road while trying to escape the flames in their car.

China asks India to comply with border agreements as military talks end BEIJING Agencies

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Zhao Lijian on Tuesday said that Chinese side always conducted normal activities in the border areas in accordance with the relevant agreements signed between China and India and asked the Indian side to comply with the relevant agreement.

“I would like to stress China always conducts normal activities in the border areas in accordance with the relevant agreements signed between China and India. At the same

time, we always ask the Indian side to comply with the relevant agreements,” he said during his regular briefing held here.

About the military level talks between the two countries, he said during the 16th round China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting the two sides reviewed progress made during the last meeting on March 11 and continued discussion on the relevant issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western in a constructive and forward looking manner.

He said that the two sides had candid and in-depth exchanges of views in this regard

keeping in view with the guidance provided by the state leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest.

“The two sides agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector and to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest,” he added.

Responding to media reports regarding flying of Chinese aircraft close to contested border areas, the spokesperson said he was not aware of the specifics.

Chinese company to operate two units of PtPL thermal power plants in BEIJING Agencies

China Machinery Engineering Corp (CMEC) will operate two units of thermal power plants of Punjab Thermal Power (Pvt) Ltd (PTPL) in Jhang district of Punjab province.

PTPL has signed an operations and maintenance agreement with CMEC) in this regard, CEN reported.

“As we move closer to achieving simple-cycle Commercial Operations Date (COD), we have signed a simple-cycle O&M agreement with CMEC”, the Punjab government-owned company said.

CMEC is also the EPC contractor of the power plant, which has two RLNG-based units of 410MWs each, and a steam unit of 443 megawatts.

On the same day, CMEC put the second gas turbine (GT2) to a 7-day reliability test run, which will conclude on July 22. GT1 has already passed the reliability-run test and is currently undergoing performance tests. The two units are expected to achieve COD on August 1, a CMEC official said. Both units will start contributing 820MWs of electricity to the national grid from next month, he said.

On the other hand, work on the steam unit is also almost complete, but will take around six months in achieving COD, as it involves complicated pre-commissioning procedures including chemical cleaning of the boiler, the official said.

According to PTPL, the power plant has already contributed over 100 million units of electricity during the commissioning and testing phase.

israel army chief lands in Morocco for first visit as ties normalise RABAT AFP

Israel’s army chief arrived in Morocco on Monday for meetings with senior defence officials, military sources said, as cooperation between the countries expands following a normalisation of ties.

Aviv Kohavi’s three-day trip is the first official visit of an Israeli army chief to the North African kingdom.

Kohavi will meet Morocco’s minister delegate in charge of defence administration, Abdellatif Loudiyi, as well as the Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk, and senior defence officials, an Israeli spokesman said.

Morocco had cut relations with Israel in 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, but reestablished ties two decades later in a deal that saw Washington recognise Rabat’s sovereignty over disputed Western Sahara.

Since then, a steady stream of Moroccan and Israeli officials have visited each others’ countries and signed cooperation deals in various fields.

They have included Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz, who on a visit to the kingdom in November last year signed a security agreement making it easier for Rabat to acquire high-tech exports from Israel’s defence industry.

Last month, Israeli military observers for the first time attended the annual “African Lion” military exercise— vast drills involving thousands of personnel from several nations, co-organised by Morocco and the United States.

And in March, an Israeli army delegation met with Moroccan officers in Rabat, in the first visit of its kind since the 2020 normalisation deal, signing a military cooperation agreement.

The North African kingdom’s mending of relations with Israel re-ignited its long-standing rivalry with Algeria, which in August last year cut diplomatic ties with Rabat.

Algiers cited “hostile acts” and Morocco’s relations — including on military and security issues — with “the Zionist entity”, referring to Israel.

Morocco considers Western Sahara an integral part of the kingdom, while the Algeria-backed Polisario Front has long demanded an independence referendum there.

11 Sports 20 JULY_Layout 1 7/19/2022 10:55 PM Page 1

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 | LAHORE

SPORTS 11

ShAFIque SCOreS hundred tO keep pAkIStAn On COurSe In BIG ChASe AGAInSt SrI LAnkA GALLE

p

AgencieS

AKISTAN’S Abdullah Shafique smashed his second Test hundred to put the tourists on course to accomplish a mammoth chase on day four of the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Tuesday. Pakistan finished on 222-3 needing 120 runs to grab the lead in the two-Test series.

Sri Lanka had appeared to have the upper hand in the contest after

they posted 337 in their second innings setting Pakistan a daunting target of 342.

Shafique combined with Imamul-Haq (35) in an opening stand of 87 and later raised 101 with skipper Babar Azam (55) in a vastly improved batting display by the tourists who were skittled out for 218 in the first innings.

Shafique’s unbeaten 112 contained five fours and a six and he had Mohammad Rizwan on seven at the other end.

However, Shafique and Imam

did not look very convincing when Pakistan began their chase. Imam was dropped at cover and had an lbw decision against him reversed, while Shafique survived a strong leg-before appeal.

Imam’s innings ended in a bizarre manner when he let go a ball from spinner Ramesh Mendis but marginally lifted his back foot in the process allowing Niroshan Dickwella to effect a lightning-fast stumping.

Sri Lanka seemed back in charge when Jayasuriya had Azhar Ali

caught in the slip for six. Babar, who smashed a century in the first innings, opened his account with a flicked four off Jayasuriya and hit the spinner over deep midwicket for a six in his next over.

Shafique took a single off Maheesh Theekshana to bring up his hundred and celebrated the milestone by kissing his helmet and embracing his captain Babar.

Jayasuriya bowled Babar around his legs in the final session though Pakistan appear to have their nose ahead in the contest.

England’s Stokes made ‘selfless’ decision to retire from ODIs: Key LONDON AFP

China to host Asian Games in 2023 after Covid postponement KUWAIT CITY AgencieS

China will host the 2022 Asian Games in 2023, organisers said on Tuesday, after postponing the event in Hangzhou because of Covid. The Games will now be held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8 2023, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said.

The event was originally scheduled to be held in September this year, but organisers in May postponed it as China tried to stamp out a large Covid resurgence in several parts of the country. Hangzhou lies less than 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the country’s biggest city Shanghai, which endured a months-long lockdown earlier this year as part of the ruling Communist Party’s zero-tolerance approach to the virus. The OCA said on Tuesday that the new dates were chosen to avoid “conflict with other major international sporting events”. The Asian Games typically attract over 10,000 athletes from across the region. China is the last major economy committed to stamping out domestic spread of the virus through harsh lockdowns, mass testing and strict controls on international travel. But that has hurt the country’s international sporting ambitions, with the world’s most populous nation cancelling or postponing almost all events since the start of the pandemic, with the exception of this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing. The World University Games, scheduled to begin in June in Chengdu and already delayed from last year, have also been postponed again, until 2023.

England managing director of cricket Rob Key has praised Ben Stokes for his “selfless” decision to ignore the “financial implications” of retiring from one-day internationals.

Stokes will make his 105th and final ODI appearance at his Durham home ground against South Africa on Tuesday after taking his shock decision to quit the format 24 hours earlier.

Key’s first act after being appointed was to hire Stokes as England’s Test captain, but he knows the relentless fixture demands on top international players make it hard to feature in all versions of the game.

While the monetary terms of Stokes’ central contract could

come under review, Key feels England’s Test and Twenty20 teams will stand to gain enormously from the all-rounder lightening his workload.

“It may well end up having financial implications to Ben Stokes in terms of his contract,” Key told Sky Sports.

“That’s why it’s a selfless decision, he could easily have said ‘no, no, I’m the key’ and kept getting picked in the 50-over team.

“But he wants to do the Test job as best as he can, he wants to take England’s Test team forward.

“I was probably surprised at the timing but I’m not surprised that he’s had to give one format away. I think it’s a good decision from Ben that England will benefit from in the long term.”

Key, who spoke to Stokes about his decision last Thursday,

thinks the 31-year-old was also motivated by his desire to continue being a presence in both batting and bowling disciplines in the Test side.

England’s Test form has been revitalised under Stokes and new red-ball coach Brendon McCullum.

Since the pair took charge, England have swept a three-Test series against New Zealand before defeating India in the final match of a Covid-delayed series.

“Him bowling is actually the thing he wants to be able to do, he doesn’t just want to go and be a batter, he wants to be able to contribute as an all-rounder,” Key said.

“To do that he feels this is the best way. I’m hoping and I’m betting that this is what gets him up to 120-plus Test matches.”

Baker-Finch urges Open champion Smith not to join LIV SYDNEY AhmAd SAAd

Former major champion Ian Baker-Finch says LIV Golf Invitational Series are talking to his fellow Australian Cameron Smith but has urged the newly-minted British Open winner to resist the advances of the Saudi-backed circuit. Smith reacted angrily when he was asked about the possibility he might join the breakaway series after he won the Claret Jug at St Andrews on Sunday, saying his management team dealt with “that stuff”.

“I know that they’re talking to him and to many others, I hope he doesn’t because I think he can leave a great legacy by winning major championships and becoming the best player in the world,” Baker-Finch told Melbourne’s 3AW radio. “I don’t think he needs the money, I don’t think it’s going to be something he should do.

It’s his decision, he’ll be a $100 million guy or more if he did go. Does he want to win more majors or does he want the money? “I’m hoping that he stays and leaves a great legacy. I think Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy and a lot of those guys that still compete and play well in majors and want to win majors and want to leave a legacy, they’re the guys I’d be following.” Baker-Finch, who won his only major at the 1991 British Open at Royal Birkdale, also slammed the divisive way the new series had taken on the establishment. While some critics say the new series amounts to blatant “sports washing” by a nation trying to improve its reputation in light of a history of human rights abuses, Baker-Finch was more concerned about the potential impact on young golfers. “The guys who go join LIV are going to miss out on the grind, what it takes to be a champion, to play in the great tournaments against the great players,” he said. “It’s hard work and you’re not going to be a better player by going and playing 54-hole exhibition matches and getting paid 150-grand to finish last.”

Martial scores again as United beat Palace 3-1 in Melbourne MELBOURNE AgencieS

New coach Erik ten Hag said his players’ belief was improving after Anthony Martial scored his third goal in three games as a slick Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 3-1 on Tuesday.

In front of 76,500 fans at Melbourne Cricket Ground, French forward Martial struck in the first half while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho both collected their second goals of the pre-season tour after the restart.

Joel Ward pulled one back for Palace, but they were always chasing a game that saw United reduced to 10 men in the dying minutes after Will Fish was sent off for a deliberate foul. The friendly victory was Ten Hag’s third since taking over after their 4-0 thumping of Liverpool in Bangkok and a 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory.

In contrast, it was a second straight defeat for Patrick Vieira’s young Palace side, who crashed 2-0 to Liverpool in Singapore on Friday.

“We are happy with the improvement we are seeing, but there is also a lot of work to do,” said Ten Hag. “We did score some wonderful goals, that’s true. “We played well and I think the belief is increasing,” he added while praising his forwards in particular.

“They did a lot of running, a lot of work. They have a lot of energy and were rewarded by scoring goals.” The Dutchman is beginning to stamp his mark on the Old Trafford side, with his team — who finished a disappointing sixth last season in the Premier League — producing some fluid, one-touch football.

Goalkeeper David de Gea returned after missing the Victory game with a niggle. New left-back Tyrell Malacia began ahead of Luke Shaw, while Rashford was back in the starting line-up after scoring as a substitute against Victory, partnering a rejuvenated Martial and Sancho in Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence.

Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez, Ten Hag’s other new signings, are not in Australia.

Vieira has a youthful squad in Aus-

tralia, with a number of senior players not making the trip.

Hungry for goals: United made a confident start, dominating early possession, with Palace goalkeeper Jack Butland making a fine stop from Martial after Brazilian Fred’s pass split the defence. But the save ended Butland’s game, forcing him to leave the pitch after treatment on his hand.

The 26-year-old Martial — whose career at United looked over after spending the end of last season on loan at Sevilla — got the breakthrough seven minutes later.

He chested down a wonderful floating delivery from Diogo Dalot to fire past Palace’s third-choice keeper Remi Matthews after a well-worked build-up.

United were hungry for goals, creating plenty of opportunities with Harry Maguire and Rashford both going close.

Against Liverpool and Victory, Ten Hag made wholesale changes at half-time, but this time he made just one, with Donny van de Beek on for Scott McTominay. Van de Beek was involved in the second goal, with a sublime team move finished by

Rashford tapping into an empty net.

Sancho got the third soon after on a counter-attack with Martial providing the through ball. United head to Perth next to

play Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa, who beat Leeds 1-0 to kickstart their pre-season. Palace also travel to Perth, to face Leeds.

Wednesday, 20 July, 2022

pRayeR tiMingS

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

4:10

1:30

5:15

5:00

7:08

9:15

Shahbaz Gill urGeS eStabliShment not to interfere in civilian domain ISLAMABAD

P

Staff RepoRt

TI leader Shahbaz Gill Tuesday urged the establishment to play its constitutional role and stay away from interfering in the civilian domain per the constitutional provisions.

Speaking to media here outside Supreme Court, Shahbaz Gill said that the establishment would have to decide whether it wanted to keep interfering into the civilian domain.

“But it it wants to keep interfering, it would have to amend the Constitution.

However, since its interference in civilian domain is not a constitutional provision, the establishment needs to play its constitutional role and stay away,” he added while responding to a question.

He also alleged that the [diplomatic] cypher was concealed from the then Prime Minister Imran Khan and foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and was only shared when confronted by Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

However, Foreign Office later in the day refuted the claim made by Gill, saying that the cypher was not concealed from the then foreign minister.

Gill urged the apex court to order an investigation into the cypher which was a part of a regime change in Pakistan. He said that the PTI was also bringing a statement, implying that the could not get

economic, political vagueness puts stocks, rupee under massive pressure ISLAMABAD Xinhua

Recent economic and political uncertainty in the country has left negative impacts on stocks and currency, with the key index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) losing over 700 points and the rupee depreciating by 1.97 percent, economic experts said.

Both stocks and rupee landed in the red zone against the backdrop of the by-polls held Sunday in Punjab, home to over half of Pakistan’s population, the experts said.

“In a surprising development, former prime minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won by a considerable margin in by-elections, and Khan had been campaigning for holding early elections since his removal from the office through a vote of no confidence in April,” Maroof Ali Syed, a renowned economic expert and president of the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan, told Xinhua.

Khan’s success reinforced calls for early elections in the country, which stirred political and economic ambiguity at a time when Pakistan is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package amid a financial crisis and depleting forex reserves, putting the rupee and stocks under immense pressure, he said.

The rupee hit a new low on Monday as the dollar continued its relentless upward march, with the greenback gaining more than four rupees in inter-bank trade.

Similarly, the PSX’s benchmark KSE 100-Index dipped by 1.68 percent or 707.80 to close at 41,367.11 on Monday. The trading board presented a red look on Monday as the KSE All-Share Index fell by 1.40 percent or 404.78 to close at 28,491.62, the KSE 30-Index slid by 1.90 percent or 304.49 to end at 15,746.13, the KMI 30-Index lost 1.82 percent or 1,270.57 to conclude at 68,404.35, whereas the Islamic All-Share Index deflated by 1.42 percent or 300.23 to finish at 20,868.61.

Among 337 active scrips on Monday, the prices of 60 issues closed in the green ink, 260 ended down in the bearish lap, whereas the values of 17 other listed companies remained unchanged.

its chief minister elected in Punjab as he could abduct five more PTI lawmakers.

He also criticised the PML-N government for using police against the PTI activists and detaining and torturing them, saying that the PTI would never victimise its opponents. He also alleged that the Punjab government had used its state machinery to rig the recently-held

by-elections in Punjab and despite massive rigging, PTI had defeated the PMLN turncoats. Gill also argued that the handlers of the imported government were equally responsible for economic chaos the country is faced with today. He also criticised IGP Punjab for raiding Punjab Assembly building on orders of an illegal chief minister and bringing the parliamentary supremacy into disrepute.

He said that the party was getting ready lists of bureaucrats especially chief secretary Punjab who had become a tool to target the political workers in violation of the law. He also urged the superior judiciary to take action against the use of brute force against the workers of the PTI. He also said that the PTI lawmakers had tendered resignations from National Assembly and it would not review its decision. He claimed that the PTI had the support of the lawmakers that it can remove Hamza Shehbaz as chief minister Punjab. He said that the PTI would file a contempt of court petition against Rana Sanaullah for his statement about abducting five PTI lawmakers.

IMF agreement ‘credit positive’ for Pakistan: Moody’s Moody’s Investors Service has said that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) staff level agreement with Pakistan will ease pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves, terming the development as a credit positive for the economy.

Last week, IMF staff and Pakistani authorities reached a staff-level agreement on policies to complete the combined seventh and eighth reviews of Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The IMF Board will consider an extension of the EFF until end-June 2023 and an augmentation of access by SDR 720 million that will bring the total access under the EFF

to about $7 billion. “The agreement is credit positive for Pakistan because it paves the way for the release of $1.2 billion in IMF financing at a time when its foreign exchange reserves are under significant pressure,” said Moody’s on Monday.

The credit ratings agency said that completion of the reviews is also likely to unlock additional funding from other multilateral and bilateral partners.

The agency expected Pakistan’s financing needs to remain high in fiscal year 2023 amid continued high global commodity prices and the need to repay external debt. MonitoRing RepoRt

Economic meltdown exposes Sharifs ineptitude: Imran ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Tuesday came down hard on the federal government over massive depreciation in the value of the Pakistani Rupee against the US dollar.

The comments came as the Pakistani rupee hit an all-time low on Tuesday against the US dollar, reaching Rs222 in the interbank market despite an announcement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the resumption of the multi-billiondollar loan programme.

The local currency continued its downward trend today and depreciated further by Rs6.90 against the greenback.

Taking to Twitter, the former premier pointed out: “When US regime conspiracy’s [Vote of NoConfidence] was tabled [dollar] was at Rs 178.”

According to Imran Khan, the Rupee has fallen

to 224 against the US dollar despite the agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The economic meltdown shows Sharifs never had any expertise in running economy or administration. Their only expertise is looting, money laundering [and] getting NROs,” the PTI Chairman added.

He further said that the nation will hold accountable all those responsible for regime change conspiracy and bringing Pakistan to this sorry state of affairs.

elahi accuses ib of ‘tracing location’ of Pti, Pml-Q mPas ahead of Punjab cm’s election LAHORE agencieS

Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Tuesday accused Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of using the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to ‘trace the location’ of the legislators of the PTI and its allied parties with the intent to abduct them ahead of the chief minister’s election on July 22.

The Supreme Court had on July 1 ruled that a new Punjab chief minister election would take place on July 22 and said incumbent Hamza Shehbaz would remain in office till then as it heard the PTI and the PML-Q’s pleas against Hamza’s election and oath-taking.

Addressing a press conference alongside PTI and PML-Q leaders in Lahore, Elahi, who is himself is a candidate for Punjab top slot, said IB Director General Fawad Asadullah “must refrain from such acts as he was monitoring the locations of PML-Q and PTI lawmakers at the behest of Shehbaz Sharif and Sanaullah”.

“I warn the IB head that he must stop doing this,” said Elahi and went on to allege that PM Shehbaz had “formed a cell” specifically for the purpose to keep a watch on rival MPAs as the chief minister’s election approaches.

“They lost the public trust and now they are resorting to such cheap tactics,” Elahi added.

In response to a question on whether any “other forces” were backing the IB, the PML-Q leader said “only the prime minister is backing this move”.

He also claimed that a man associated with the PMLQ who had businesses overseas was also recently picked up by the IB from the Lahore airport “for no reason” and just to pass a message to the PML-Q leadership.

PTI leader Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, who was seated next to Elahi, informed reporters that the PTI had endorsed Elahi as its nominee for the election of Punjab chief minister.

“A letter has been dispatched to all lawmakers at the directives of party chief Imran Khan and the party members will reach Lahore tonight for a meeting which will be held tomorrow,” he said and added that former premier Imran Khan will also reach Lahore on Wednesday and stay in the provincial capital for the next two days to supervise the election of Punjab Chief Minister.

Mehmood-ur-Rasheed was of the view that PTI had the support of 188 MPAs while the PML-N had 173 to 174 lawmakers, emphasising the gap could never be filled.

Rasheed said free and fair polls were the only solution and warned that the political situation would deteriorate further if any “intervention” was made in the elections.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-Q leader Amir Saeed Rawn deplored the manner in which the IB was being used which was “shocking”.

He said the man detained by the IB from the Lahore airport on June 19 “was forced to give a statement that Parvez Elahi is involved in money laundering”. Rawn also warned the police to desist from misusing their authority, saying “a list of Police officers [implementing illegal orders] will be prepared after July 22 and no one will be forgiven”.

Won’t let Pervaiz Elahi become Punjab CM easily, says Rana Sanaullah LAHORE Staff RepoRt

As PTI is set to get its candidate elected as the Punjab chief minister after its triumph in the Punjab by-polls, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah says that the PML-N will not let the PML-Q’s Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi become the provincial chief executive easily on July 22.

The minister gave this statement while speaking on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath Monday night.

He said that the defeat in the Punjab by-elections was a temporary loss which the PMLN will recover from in the next election.

“These 20 seats were of PTI, five of which have been claimed by the PML-N. We will lead with a two-thirds majority when

PML-N and PTI will come face to face,” Sanaullah said.

Earlier in the day, Rana Sana also alleged that former prime minister Imran Khan was trying to put pressure on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by making claims of vote fraud in the Punjab by-election despite the fact that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party swept the poll.

“We will not allow Imran to blackmail the institutions,” he said while addressing a press conference along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb.

He said that no one could question the transparency of the by-elections which he insisted, despite a variety of complaints posted on social media, were held in a free and fair manner. “The elections would also be held

in the same way in the future,” he said.

The interior minister said it was Khan who made records of election rigging in his tenure. “Traditionally, a party that lost elections complained about the rigging, but it was the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that had established a new tradition by expressing full confidence in the results of Punjab by-polls.”

He said the PML-N strongly condemned the “vile onslaught” launched by Khan on Sikandar Sultan Raja, the chief election commissioner. All the political parties, including the PML-N, would not let Khan humiliate the heads of the institutions.

The nation had full confidence in the ECP and all of its members, he claimed, adding: “We believe in the democratic traditions and reject Khan’s allegations regarding

rigging in the Punjab by-polls.”

The PML-N had brought power outages to an end and made the country nuclear power, he said, vowing the ruling party would win the next general election with a thumping majority.

He said it seemed that Khan’s persistent attack on Raja was meant to pressurise him as the decision of the funding case against PTI had already been reserved. He said the institutions should not bow to Khan’s pressure and exercise their powers.

Recalling the episode of the 2021 Daska by-election where the government allegedly abducted the polling staff and attempted to rig the poll in its favour, the minister said no major incident was reported from the Punjab where the by-polls were held in a peaceful way and its results

were accepted by all the candidates.

Sana said there were some 3,140 polling stations in by-polls and with the grace of God, only minor incidents were reported from seven or eight towns.

He said the PML-N did introspection over losing the seats in Punjab and reviewed its overall strategy during the bypolls. It appeared that the constituents were angry with the PML-N’s candidates for not carrying out the development work in the respective constituencies.

Sana said Khan would have dissolved the Punjab and KP assemblies if he really wanted to force a general election.

He said Khan was against Raja because he had ordered re-election in the by-election of Daska after rigging allegations were proved by the then-PTI government.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk