IMF to release tranche on Monday following board meeting: Mif tah
ISLAMABAD a p p Minister for finance and Revenue Miftah ismail on friday said that the international Monetar y fund (iMf) w ll release a oan tranche worth $1 17 bil ion to Pakistan after its board meet ng which is scheduled for Monday Addressing a press conference here, the minister sa d that Pak stan had fu fil ed al the conditions set by the fund in order to secure the loan programme and it is ver y l kely that the board w ll approve the release of tranche on Monday August 29 term ng the PM ’s v sit to Qatar a success, he h ghlighted that Qatar had agreed to make $3 b llion investment in Pak stan s various sectors the $4 b llion funding gap which iMf was concerned about has also been bridged as Qatar and saudi Arab a have assured new investments along w th providing Pakistan with oi on deferred payment he added s m larly, he said uAe had a so announced to invest primarily in government s shares worth $1 bill on dispelling rumours related to Qatar s takeover of major Pak stan a rports, M ftah said that there hadn’t been any discussion or agreement of sel ing Pak stan international A rl nes (PiA) or the Roosevelt hotel to Qatar, and clar fied that Qatar was only interested in getting the management control of Pakistan s big airports further, Miftah informed that Qatar was also interested to nvest in large scale solar firms as well as nvesting in Pak stan s capita market the government intends to insta l so ar power plants with a capacity of 8000 MW, as solar energy will help generate cheaper electricity for consumers ” , he added Addressing pub ic concerns over extra e ectr city bills this month the finance minister said Prime Min ster shehbaz shar f was worried over the hike in e ectr city bills therefore, he had formed a committee to de iberate what relief can be given to sma l consumers us ng between 200 and 300 units of electricity per month he explained that prices had to be increased to fu fil the iMf’s demands, increased demand during peak summer and the subsequent fuel charges adjustment (fcA) We had to raise the prices of electricity for all k nds of consumers due to pressure from the fund then, in May, e ectr city demand was on peak due to unprecedented hot weather condit ons; the government had to run even the most expensive power plants, which are run on furnace o l which costs around Rs59 per un t he said that one a furnace oil p ant act vated in Jamshoro had a variable cost of Rs69 per un t
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday interacted with members of the diplomatic community in Islamabad to sensitize them about the damages caused by floods across the country “As part of efforts to mobilize all resources, I met Islamabad based ambassadors, high commissioners & senior members of diplomatic corps today to sensitize them about scale of human tragedy the prime minister wrote on Twitter During the meeting, the representatives of the Economic Affairs Division and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) briefed about current status of the challenge and response The prime minister said that the ongoing rain spell had caused devastation across the country
The losses, though yet to be documented, are comparable to the flash floods of 2010, he added He thanked the international community for their sympathies, condolences and pledges of support “Together we will build back better,” he commented According to the PM Office, the international organizations and financial institutions had announced an immediate assistance of more than $500 million for the flood victims on the prime minister s appeal
The representatives of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, international financial institutions, development partners and donors attended the meeting
The officials of China the United States and the European Union, agencies of the United Nations and World Health Organization also part of the meeting s ta
We estimate the overal impact of not resolving these issues is actual y to create a Rs100 billion unfunded l ability on the KP budget, the etter states it also invokes the “ monsoonal flooding that we are currently facing that as we speak has wreaked destruction in swat, di Khan and tank but may over the course of the next few hours and day make the damage from this year ’s f ooding greater than the super floods of 2010 the cost of rescue, rel ef, reha bi itation and bu lding back is likely to run into the tens of bil ions “ P l e a s e n o t e t h a t n t h e s e c o n d i tions and without the resolution of the i s s u e s h i g h l i g h t e d p r e v i o u s l y f o r t h e province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa to ac tually leave a surplus wil be next to im poss ble” it concludes in the budget for ongoing f scal year Jhagra had announced a record h gh development budget of Rs418 billion, a 15 percent increase in pensions of provincial government employees and regular zation of 63,000 government employees mostly schoo teachers it is not yet clear how the letter laying out the withdrawal of the commitment to run a fiscal surp us w ll impact Pakistan s case at the iMf executive board which s schedu ed to meet on August 29 but wr tten commitments of this budget sur p us were a key requirement for approval of the program the board might decide to overlook the matter for now in antici pation of a political settlement
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also held a meeting with international donors to sensitize them about the prevailing situation
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P M s e n s i t i ze s d i p l o m at i c c o r p s o n f l o o d l o s s e s
KARACHI K h u r r a m h u s a i n the finance minister of Khyber Pukhtunwa province has withdrawn his comm tment to run a provinc a surp us this f scal year, thereby potent a ly jeop ardizing Pakistan s case for resumption of the iMf program days before the scheduled board meeting A copy of the letter is available with Prof t it is dated August 26, 2022 and addressed to federal finance min ster Miftah ismael in it Jhagra refers to the consent he had g ven back in July, under authority from his chief Minister to run a budget surplus this fiscal year All provinces have to agree to run a surp us wh ch is budgeted at Rs570 b llion total for fY23 As part of the iMf program, each province is expected to del ver a written comm tment to ab de by this budgetar y requirement wh ch they have been doing for years ever since Pakistan has been on an iMf program At the time when these comm t ments were g ven n Ju y KP was the on y province controlled by the oppos tion Pak stan tehreek e insaaf (Pti) back then Jhagra had given the commit ment but attached a note detailing his objections We did this in the greater nat onal interest Jhagra says in the let ter, referr ng to h s original assent to the key condition required by the iMf from all provincial governments in w thdraw ing his commitment, he a so says he has been unable to get time to meet with e ther the M nister or the secretar y even once ” in his latest etter withdrawing the commitment to run a surplus, Jhagra re minds the finance minister Miftah ismael of these objections sts them all and concludes that “ in these condit ons, and without the resolution of the issues h ghlighted previously, for the province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa to actual y leave a surplus wil be next to impossible he lists 4 ssues to resolve the budget allocations for ex fAtA which in the absence of an up dated nfc award, are decided at the discretion of the federal government has asks the government to commit to monthly transfers of net hyde Profits as per terms specified in an Mou s gned between the federal and prov ncial governments in 2016 to revive the national finance com mission Award immediately for the federa government to a so comm t to immediately engage and resolve other f nancial issues with the government of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa
K P f i n a n c e m i n i s t e r Ta i m u r J h a g r a t h r o w s s p a n n e r i n t o I M F t a l k s Govt to reach out to friendly countries, donors as floods hit 33m people: pm S a t u r d a y, 2 7 A u g u s t , 2 0 2 2 I 2 8 M u h a r r a m , 1 4 4 4 I R s 1 5 . 0 0 I Vo l X I I I N o 5 8 I 1 2 Pa g e s I I s l a m a b a d E d i t i o n
ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t p RiMe Minister shehbaz sharif on fri day sa d cons dering the urgency of the challenge the government had decided to reach out to friendly countries and donors as f ash floods and the torrent a rains had bad y h t around 33 million people the prime minister who convened a meeting of select islamabad based ambas sadors, high commissioners and other senior members of the diplomatic corps to br ef them on flood situation sa d the ongo ng monsoon spell has caused unprecedented damage and devastat on in Pakistan he sa d that not just baloch stan, sindh and south Punjab, wh ch were bad y af fected the current spell of torrential rains had led to flooding in the northern regions of the KPK province he said that more than 900 peop e n cluding 300 ch ldren had ost their ives and 1300 were injured so far he said that as per the in tial damage as sessment, the losses caused by the floods were comparable to those Pakistan suffered during the flash floods of 2010 11 the meeting was attended by ambassa dors and high commissioners of Austra a canada, china, Japan, Kuwa t, uAe, turk ye, south Korea usA germany and senior diplo mats of bahrain european union france oman, Qatar, uK, and saudi Arab a the countr y representat ve of World food Pro gramme was also present the prime minister underl ned that 33 m l ion people had been bad y affected by the flash floods and torrent al rainfalls Whi e expressing his government ’s firm re solve to overcome the deleterious impacts of the ongo ng floods n the countr y, shehbaz sharif highl ghted that he had already ssued nstructions to the federal and provincia gov ernments to provide peop e with tents, drink ng water mosquito nets food items medicines and other equipment he sa d that Pak stan’s carbon emission footprint was negl g ble but it was ranked at the 8th position among the countries ex posed to the horrors of climate change noting that the climate change has made flooding worse, the prime minister em phasized rehabilitation and reconstruction of climate resil ent infrastructure in Pakistan the prime m nister ment oned that given the urgency of the challenge the govern ment had decided to reach out to the friendly countr es donors and the interna tional financial institutions for their continued cooperation at this d fficult time the nat onal disaster Management Author ity (ndMA) and the economic Affairs div sion gave brief ngs about the current status of the flood situat on includ ng rescue and rel ef efforts as well as the need for immediate assistance the fore gn office and ndMA are closely working with the united nations Resident co ordinator n islamabad to launch a un flash Appea on August 30 speaking on the occasion, foreign diplo mats expressed condolences and sympa thies to the people and the government of Pakistan on the loss of precious lives and damage to infrastructure in the floods they assured the government of Pakistan of their respective governments ’ continued support to meet the requirements of the res cue and relief operations across the countr y Minister for climate change sherr y Rehman M nister for econom c Affairs division sardarAyazsadiq, Minister for finance Miftah isma Minister for information Marr yum Au rangzeb Minister for P anning and develop ment Ahsaniqbal, Adviser to Pr me M nister Ahadcheema sAPMs syed tar q fatemi and fahd husa n and other senior officials of the government attended the meet ng
Pakistan asks international community to hold India accountable for HR violations in IIOJK
The electricity and gas supply system in the city were also suspended due to heavy rains, while the communication system has also been disrupted in the respective areas of Balochistan including Quetta city The routine life was parlayed in the area and roads were presented sight of floods in Quetta city People were reported to stand in lines at shops of LPG to fill their cylinders of LPG gas in Quetta after gas supply was suspended while 12 inch gas pipeline along with Bibi Nani Bridge washed away in Bolan area Apart from this, due to heavy rains, the mobile phone and internet service are also suspended in Quetta, while the PTCL network of Quetta is also closed and the ground internet is also not working Communication system including mobile internet, PTCL network failed Despite, Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and local administrations are busy to continue rescue and relief operations in rain hit areas of Balochistan including Quetta According to reports, several houses were washed away by floods at Nawan Killi Sariab and other areas of Quetta According to Met Office, rain received respective areas of Balochistan including Quetta, Kalat, Sibi Ziarat Muslim Bagh Usta Muhammad Usta Muhammad and Loralai district Rainfall has been recorded in respective areas including 132mm in Kalat, 104 mm in Quetta, 69 mm in Sibi, 0 8 mm in Loralai, 15 mm in Muslim Bagh and 19 2 mm in Ziarat
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a high level meeting to address the issues faced by the power consumers, also constituted a committee on the matter H e i n s t r u c t e d t h a t t h e s t a ff e r s o f t h e distribution companies should work round t h e c l o c k t o e n s u r e t h e r e v i s i o n o f electricity bills He asked the authorities concerned to c a n c e l t h e l e a v e s o f a l l t h e s t a ff e r s a n d p r e s e n t h i m a c o m p l i a n c e r e p o r t immediately
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Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani urged the nation to step up for the relief and rehabilitation activities in flood affected areas He appealed to the nation to remember the flood stricken people in prayers It is pertinent to mention here that heavy rains triggered flash floods and wreaked havoc across much of Pakistan since mid June leaving 903 dead and about 50,000 people homeless Taking to Twitter, Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman shared that the highest number of deaths and injuries during the time period was recorded in Sindh and Balochistan “Since June, 903 people, including 326 children and 191 women, have died in various incidents of monsoon rains and floods ”
Expressing solidarity with the flood victims, the Senators have decided to donate their salaries for supporting the relief and rehabilitation of the people and infrastructure in flood hit areas on Friday According to details, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani and Deputy Chairman has announced to donate their two month salaries to the flood victims Meanwhile, Senators would donate their one month salary to the flood relief fund Furthermore officers from Grade 16 to 22 would donate four day salary in an effort to lend a helping hand amid this natural disaster
Saturday 27 August 2022 ISLAMABAD 02 newS Islamabad s ta f f r e P o r t P R I M E Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed the power distribution companies to revise the electricity bills of up to 200 consumed units within 24 hours adjusting the relief under the fuel adjustment charge (FAC) announced by the government
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He said we demanded of the Indian government to take immediate and decisive action against the BJP members habitually involved in attacking Islam and targeting the dignity of beloved Prophet (PBUH) Pakistan also calls on the international community to take urgent cognizance of the aggravating situation of Islamophobia and overt espousal of anti Muslim and anti Islam agenda of the BJP RSS combine He drew attention to the recent spate of false terrorism related assertions made by India in which some detached alleged incidents were being distorted and presented as a so called ‘terror ’ plot against India “Pakistan firmly rejects such allegations,” he added Pakistan also urges the international community to take immediate cognizance of the fact that India is yet again resorting to classic ‘false flag’ methods to advance its sinister designs and that this could have serious implications for peace and security in the region The international community must urge India to act responsibly The spokespersons said “We reiterate our demand for release of all illegally detained political prisoners and Hurriyat leaders, particularly Yasin Malik, who are languishing in different jails of IIOJK and India,” He said Pakistan also condemned India’s continued detention of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was not allowed to deliver Friday sermons today Pakistan also reiterated its call to the international community to hold India accountable for its gross and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and ensure that Pakistani and Kashmiri prisoners under Indian custody were not expended as cannon fodder in the execution of India’s nefarious designs in the IIOJK, he stressed
Floods continue to wreak havoc in Balochistan
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The Met Office forecast mainly rainy weather for northern, eastern and central parts while cloudy weather in rest parts of the province thundershower with isolated heavy falls expected in Nasirabad, Jafarabad, Jhal Magsi, Lasbella, Noshki, Lehri, Sohbatpur, Bhag, Harnai, Dera Bugti, Duki, Loralai, Musakhel, Sherani, Zhob, Killa Saifullah, Killa Abdullah, Kalat, Mustung, Khuzdar, Quetta, Chaman, Kharan and Pishin during next 24 hours
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the consumers pay their revised electricity bills T h e m e e t i n g w a s t o l d t h a t t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e r e l i e f p a c k a g e announced
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P M o r d e r S r e v I S I o n o F e l e C t r I C I t y B I l lS w I t H I n 24 H r S
At least 8 people were died during last 24 hours in Tehsil Balakot by drowning in River Kunhar and other streams of the area Keeping in view of the intensity of the rain Deputy Commissioner Mansehra ordered to close down all public and private educational institutions on the 26th of August in Tehsil Blakot as today, heavy downpour was also predicted by the Met Department The administration confirmed 8 deaths in Balakot during last 24 hours where 3 dead bodies have been recovered while the rescue operation is continued to search for other people who have drowned in River Kunhar and streams On the other side, locals have claimed that the number of causalities is more than double as announced by the administration but nobody confirmed it To distract Mansehra Karakorum Highway (KKH) and Mansehra NARAN Jalkhad (MNJ) roads were blocked at several places due to land sliding and floods People of the region were stuck in their homes The district administration has also instructed locals and tourists not to travel from Balakot to Naran as in many areas, the road is closed due to land sliding and floods until the clearance of the roads River Kunhar and streams of Tehsil Balakot were flooded owing to the continuous torrential rain which also destroyed several connecting bridges and roads where the local population and tourists have trapped Yesterday at Mahandri, 9 shops and a mosque were buried under the debris of a hill that caved in due to land sliding
The prime minister said that the should also directed to the enable by the prime minister power supply had been suspended on Thursday night after the torrential rains hit the provincial capital
In a statement
The district administration has sent heavy machinery to open MNJ and other connecting roads where a large number of police were also deputed with them Islamabad s ta f f r e P o r t e r
Chairman US HFAC shows concern over havoc caused by floods
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was being e n s u r e d T h e e l e c t r i c i t y b i l l s o f a r o u n d 1 6 6 m i l l i o n w e r e b e i n g c o r r e c t e d t o p r o v i d e t h e m t h e r e l i e f u n d e r f u e l p r i c e adjustment T h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r i n s t r u c t e d t h e a u t h o r i t i e s c o n c e r n e d t o e n s u r e t h e execution of the relief measures announced by the government RESTORATION OF POWER SUPPLY I N Q U E T TA : P r i m e M i n i s t e r S h e h b a z Sharif on Friday took notice of prolonged p o w e r s h u t d o w n i n Q u e t t a d i r e c t e d t h e authorities concerned for restoration According to media reports, the
Floods and rains in Balochistan have caused havoc everywhere, with most areas of the province plunged into darkness due to power outages from last night while communication systems were damaged while disconnected Balochistan from other parts of country So far 235 people including children and women have been killed in rain incidents of Balochistan Quetta city and its suburbs have been continuously raining for over 28 hours, sometimes heavy sometimes light rain received the respective areas , which made the situation worse, while more than several hundred people, including women and children, were trapped in the flood water in Balochistan including Quetta
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Islamabad s ta f f r e P o r t Pakistan on Friday expressed deep concern over the gravely disturbing developments and increasing intolerance in India and reiterated its call to the international community to hold India accountable for gross and systematic violations of international humanitarian law especially in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) Speaking at a weekly press briefing here, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said Let me reiterate Pakistan s strong condemnation of sacrilegious remarks against the Holy Prophet (PBUH) made by another BJP official This is the second time in the last three months that a senior BJP leader has made disrespectful comments towards our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) denoting the worrying yet unmistakable slide of today s India towards Islamophobia ”
LAHORE: Citizens queue up at GPO to get rectify inflated electricity bills Photo by zubair Mehfooz
Islamabad N e w s D e s k
Chairman US House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) Gregory W Meeks, has conveyed his deepest sympathies to the Government and the people of Pakistan over the devastation caused by the recent floods and offered condolences on the loss of life due to unprecedented monsoon rains in the country He said this during his meeting with Pakistan s Ambassador to the United States Ambassador Masood Khan in Washington Ambassador Masood Khan thanked Chairman Meeks for expressing solidarity with the flood victims as the country was trying to deal with this natural catastrophe He also thanked for US financial assistance for the flood victims and disaster relief activities Gregory Meeks said that adverse effects of erratic climate change call for greater collaboration to overcome this challenge Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had announced $1 million to build resilience against natural disasters in addition to $100,000 in immediate relief for the flood victims of Pakistan Ambassador Masood Khan and Chairman Meeks in their meeting also discussed parliamentary exchanges, security cooperation and economic partnership between the two countries Talking to the Ambassador Congressman Gregory Meeks appreciated Pakistan’s commendable role in helping the United States with safe evacuations after 15th August 2021 Separately, Ambassador Masood Khan also held a meeting with the U S Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain and discussed with him human and religious rights as well as interfaith harmony S enators to donate salaries for relief of flood vic tims
The prime minister directed the Ministry of Power to take immediate measures to relief and address the issues faced by the people
The Islamabad High Court has dismissed a contempt petition filed against PML N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah JUI Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and others declaring it non maintainable The IHC upheld the registrar ’s objection regarding that it was not the relevant forum to file the petition Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani heard the plea with the objection raised by the registrar on Friday Local lawyer Ali Ijaz Buttar requested the court to start the contempt proceedings against the coalition leaders Justice Kiyani asked the lawyer what was his petition? He replied that Maryam, Rana Sanaullah, Fazlur Rehman and others made contemptuous remarks about the judiciary on social media Justice Kiyani asked the lawyer if this court was mentioned in those remarks He advised him to take his petition to either Supreme Court or the Lahore High Court Why the petitioner who belongs to Lahore has filed his plea in the Islamabad High Court, the judge objected saying nobody bothered to take notice of the contemptuous remarks at the time when they were uttered then why the filing of petition now Flood claims 8 lives in Balakot during last 24 hours
IHC turns down contempt plea against yam, Fazl, Sanaullah
Islamabad s ta f f r e P o r t e r
As many as 148 Pakistani students are set to leave for study in Hungarian universities as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) here on Friday held a send off ceremony to award certificates to the scholarship winners under the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain attended the ceremony as chief guest through a video link Chairman HEC, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Executive Director HEC Dr Shaista Sohail and Charge d’Affaires Embassy of Hungary, Tivadar Takacs were present on the occasion
03newS Saturday, 27 August, 2022 | ISLAMABAD Islamabad s ta f f r e P o r t e r P A K I S TA N ’ S Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, has made an impassioned appeal to the Pakistani American community to step forward and help affectees in Pakistan who have been hit by unprecedented monsoon rains and floods The ambassador, in his letter to compatriots residing in the United States said the unprecedented rainfall, widespread flooding and landslides had affected most parts of the country
“I appeal to all of you to send whatever amount you can afford to the ‘Prime Minister ’s Flood Relief Fund 2022’ to help your Pakistani brothers and sisters
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who earlier took an aerial view of the inundated areas of Sukkur, Rohri, Khairpur, FaizGanj, KotDiji, and Thari Mir Wah, expressed serious concern over the loss of lives and infrastructure caused by the floods Shehbaz said the grant by the federal government would help the Sindh government carry out relief and rehabilitation activities He said the coalition government would make collective efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the flood victims, adding that it would leave no stone unturned to facilitate the people who faced unprecedented loss in the wake of floods He mentioned that over 900 people died due to floods in the last few months, while the situation incurred a heavy toll on crops and livestock as well He directed the relief and rescue staff to be available round the clock on duties to help the flood victims
The adviser directed Pesco officials to utilize all available resources for speedy restoration of electricity in the flood affected areas Muqam said that the federal government was utilizing all available resources to provide relief to the flood victims of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Relief activities would continue till the rehabilitation of last affected person, he added FLOOD AFFEcTEES ASSURED OF FULL SUPPORT OF FEDERAL GOVT: Meanwile Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Amir Muqam on Friday visited the flood affected areas of Bajaur met with the flood victims and assured them full support of the federal government in this hour of tragedy Addressing a Jirga in Tehsil Khar, he expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious human lives and properties in different parts of the country due to flash flood and instructed the local administration, NDMA and PDMA authorities to proactively take up the relief and rehabilitation process He said that all means of communication must be used effectively to inform local people as well as tourists of the expected flood devastations, adding that several hotels, bridges, houses and automobile showrooms in Bahrain, Kalam and Mingora have been swept away by flash floods He appreciated efforts of NHA in opening of the roads from Khwaza Khela to Bisham at Ranyal and restoring it to traffic Muqam direc ts Pesco authorities for speedy restoration of elec tricit y in flood-hit areas BLN GRANT FOR SINDh AS FLOOD RELIEF: The federal government will provide a grant of Rs15 billion to the Sindh government to overcome the heavy losses of lives and infrastructure in the wake of the massive destruction caused by flash floods
Islamabad s ta f f r e P o r t e r
First track of thriller ‘Carma’ gets nod of netizens approval k A R A c h I: Dream Station Productions, finally unveiled first soulful track of Pakistan’s new age crime thriller ‘Carma’ featuring Adnan Siddiqui alongside the gorgeous Zhalay Sarhadi According to Dream Station Productions official YouTube channel, “Khamoshiyan is a soulful love ballad from the thriller Carma highlighting the loneliness and longing felt after the loss of a relationship Soon after release, the mesmerizing track by Kashan Admani and Asad Rasheed, grabbed fans as well as celebs’ attention, as audience flooded the YouTube comment section with likes and comments appreciating the captivating track s ta f f r e P o r t
The letter informed the community that under instructions from the State Bank, major commercial banks in Pakistan have displayed specific Account information (IBAN) for wire transfers, transfer through money transfer services and exchanges on their websites The amount donated shall be consolidated at the State Bank in a transparent manner In addition Roshan Digital Account (RDA) holders can make hassle free donation to Flood Relief Fund through Roshan Samaji Khidmat page/portal release
e n v o y M A S o o d U r g e S PA k - A M e r I C A n C o M M U n I t y t o H e l P F lo o d A F F e C t e e S I n PA k I S tA n IMF to
He announced the disbursement of Rs 25 000 per household through Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) starting Friday and onwards and said in one week around Rs 28 billion would be given to the affected people Also, medical camps are on the alert to extend treatment to patients in the flood hit areas he added He said Nestle Pakistan had donated 100 tonnes of clean drinking water, of which 80 tonnes and 20 tonnes were to be supplied to the flood victims of Sindh and Balochistan, respectively
The prime minister mentioned holding a meeting with envoys of various countries this morning, where he urged them to provide assistance to Pakistan in the hour of need He said a joint survey was being conducted by the departments of federal and provincial governments to assess the damages PM Sharif lauded Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah for helping the flood affected people across the province He mentioned that he talked to the army and naval chiefs who assured full support in carrying out relief and rescue operations
The prime minister said the grid stations in the flood hit areas would be again switched on after taking necessary measures The power stations, after getting submerged in water had been turned off keeping in view to avert the incidents of electrocution of people He instructed the Federal Minister for Power to remain available in Sindh to oversee the activities Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah urged the media to properly highlight the plight of the flood affected people so as to apprise the international donor agencies about the true picture of devastation Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the moment was a test for all political parties of Pakistan to help the people of the country in this hour of need He thanked the prime minister for his announcement regarding the disbursement of compensation money to flood victims through BISP He said presently, tents were the most needed commodity and appealed to the philanthropists to come forward for contribution JamiatUlema e Islam s General Secretary Sindh chapter Rashid MehmoodSoomro stressed joint efforts of the federal and provincial governments besides the private sector to help the flood victims The district administration of Sukkur and the representatives of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) briefed the prime minister about the ongoing work for the relief of the flood stricken people and the rehabilitation of the infrastructure The prime minister was apprised that several flood hit areas faced unavailability of communication services after severe damage to infrastructure in urban and rural areas It was told that 43 food relief camps had been set up in Sindh where the people were being given food and medicines Govt to reach out to friendly countries, donors as floods hit 33m people: PM
Talking to reporters flanked by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and federal ministers including Bilawal Bhutto and Syed Khurshid Shah here at Sukkur Barrage the prime minister said the situation demanded rising above politics and helping the flood victims overcome their miseries
A large number of Vice Chancellors faculty members, alumni, and scholarship awardees along with their parents attended the ceremony Congratulating the scholarship awardees the minister said that it was an excellent opportunity for the students to enhance their knowledge and skills and get international exposure He advised the students to fully utilize their potential in their respective areas of study as well as under the cultural diversity to play a role in further improving harmony between Pakistan and Hungary He maintained that the scholarship opportunity put responsibility upon the students to work hard and learn to better serve the country He assured that government of Pakistan was fully supportive of the programmes like Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarships
“There has been tragic loss of life and livestock as well as serious damage to the infrastructure and properties in Pakistan Livelihoods have been disrupted; crops destroyed; and entire neighbourhoods inundated The magnitude of the calamity is too big; the losses enormous,” wrote the ambassador “I urge you to step forward to help communities in distress in Pakistan in this difficult hour to relieve their suffering and meet their needs for shelter, food, healthcare and rehabilitation,” the letter said To date, he said 66 districts in southern Punjab Sindh and Balochistan had been declared calamity hit The rainfall in coming days was likely to wreak havoc in other areas He said the Pakistanis were a resilient nation and had been facing challenges and natural calamities with their characteristic courage and tenacity of purpose “The government and people of Pakistan are mobilizing every resource to provide rescue, relief and recovery service to the flood hit areas Recalling the past calamities of 2005 earthquake and flash floods of 2010, the ambassador said the Pakistani diaspora in the United States had always been at the forefront in helping their brothers and sisters in Pakistan “We haven’t forgotten your timely support and generous philanthropy
Our anticipated charges were Rs6 per unit but actual charges were around Rs100 because coal became very expensive while gas prices were the highest on record May was very hot There was a day when electricity demand rose beyond 30,000 megawatts We generated 25,000MW which was the maximum we can ” However, he informed that after detailed discussions the Power Division has informed the IMF the government would remove FCA on those using less than 200 units whereas the Fund has agreed to the Pakistan s request in this regard “The government will lose Rs20 21 billion from this We have removed FCA on 56% of consumers ” Informing that that 56% or 17 1 million out of around 30 million electricity consumers would be exempted from the fuel adjustment, Miftah asked consumers who used less than 200 units to not pay the current bills as new ones without FCA charges will be issued soon However, those who have paid them will have the amount adjusted in their bills for September
Exactly 6,250 individuals have so far been rescued while another 6,210 persons were provided transportation facility besides transportation of medicines and food to those stranded in flood affected areas he added Dr Aslam said that rescuers would continue to operate with their syed shahabuddIn Adviser to Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs, and National Heritage Engineer Amir Muqam on Friday visited the flood hit areas where he inspected rehabilitation works, traffic flow on various highways, and reviewed the progress on restoration of electricity He appreciated performance and dedication of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) employees at Chakdara, who were trying to restore electricity despite torrential rains and flood situation
The chairman HEC appreciated the support of Hungarian Government for higher studies of the students He said a large number of Nobel Laureates were the graduates of Hungarian institutions, and they provided guidance to Pakistan to continue journey of strengthening higher education institutions He noted that the Hungarian universities welcomed Pakistani students as their education policy was very inclusive and open He urged the Hungarian government to enhance the number of scholarships for Pakistani students He advised the students to utilize their energies for showing exemplary academic performance and character and play role of Pakistani ambassadors in Hungary Shedding light on the background of the scholarship programme, Dr Shaista Sohail said that these scholarships began in 2015 with award of 80 scholarships which was increased to 200 every year in 2017 She highlighted that government of Hungary had shown interest in continuing the cooperation and renew MoU for 200 scholarships annually for the next three years from 2023 2025 She underlined that a total of 772 scholarships including 565 Bachelors, 161 Masters, and 46 Ph D scholarships, were awarded tho the students to study in Hungary from 2016 to 2021
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The PM has formed another committee which will deliberate on giving FCA exemption to those consuming 200 to 300 units of electricity, he concluded rescue 1122 rescue over 6,000 in flood-hit rajanpur lahore s ta f f r e P o r t e r Rescue 1122 has so far rescued 6,250 individuals including women and children from flood hit areas of district Rajanpur while another 6 210 persons including those stranded in flooded areas were assisted in different ways to meet their needs District Emergency Officer Rescue 1122, Dr Muhammad Aslam told APP on Friday that water rescue teams from across Punjab including from Lahore Multan Muzaffargarh Lodhran Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan were assisting Rajanpur rescuers in rescuing people day and night at different rescue points set up at Qutub Pul Fazalpur, Miran Pur, Miran Pur Shumali, Bambli, Basti Nizam Abad, Haji Pur, Dajal, Basti Lakha, Murghai tower Mauza Kaan Wala Basti Joiya Mauza Kin, model village Rojhan, and Danda Kot Rojhan
Raising objections to the presence of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) police out side former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s residence at Banigala in Islamabad, the Interior Ministry on Friday directed the heads of these Forces to call back the police personnel deployed there The ministry has made this clear to them that police personnel from other provinces could not be deployed in the jurisdiction of Islamabad without permission and neither the federal capi tal administration has requested any provincial government to send these contingents to the city s territory These police heads have also been told that in case of violation of a law the capital police will swing into action Furthermore, even if the Center has asked for the deployment of these police contingents, the latter will have to comply with the in structions of Islamabad Police N e w S D e S k
enforced disappearances to j u s t i c e s o a s t o p r o v i d e s o m e r e l i e f t o t h e families whose loved ones have gone miss ing The bill has already passed by the Na tional Assembly T h e I n t e r i o r S e c r e t a r y w o u l d b e i n formed the meeting that would be held soon o n t h e p r o p o s e d b i l l u n d e r t h e h e a d s h i p o f the Law Minister He requested
IHC issues showcause notice to Imran Khan
Saturday 27 August 2022 ISLAMABAD 04 NEWS Islamabad S ta f f R e p o R t e R P R e S I D e N T Dr Arif Alvi on Friday appealed to the entire nation, over s e a s P a k i s t a n i s a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m m u n i t y t o s u p p o r t t h e f l o o d victims In a statement, President expressed the hope that Pakistanis would come forward o n c e a g a i n a n d c o n t r i b u t e g e n e r o u s l y i n cash and kind to support the rescue and re l i e f e ff o r t s o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n d o t h e r relevant organizations H e c a l l e d u p o n a l l g o v e r n m e n t s a n d institutions NGOs and volunteers to offer t h e i r e x p e r t i s e a n d l e a d e r s h i p t o r e s c u e , evacuate, and rehabilitate the affected peo p l e b y p r o v i d i n g t h e m s h e l t e r f o o d a n d medical facilities P r e s i d e n t A l v i a l s o c a l l e d u p o n t h e media to motivate the nation to donate the e s s e n t i a l i t e m s i d e n t i f i e d b y t h e g o v e r n ment through formal channels set up or en dorsed by the government in an organized and disciplined manner T h e p r e s i d e n t s a i d t h a t u n p r e c e d e n t e d r a i n s a n d r e s u l t a n t f l o o d s h a d d a m a g e d s t a n d i n g c r o p s , a ff e c t e d r o a d s , b r i d g e s a n d e m b a n k m e n t s a n d d i s r u p t e d c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d t r a n s p o r t a t i o n i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , m a k i n g r e s c u e a n d r e l i e f e ff o r t s a n u p h i l l t a s k He urged the international community to provide their expertise technology and required machinery to the relevant govern ment institutions to help restore infrastruc t u r e a n d p r o v i d e t h e i r l o g i s t i c a n d humanitarian support to help relevant gov ernment agencies cope with the enormous task of aiding the flood victims across the country It is pertinent to mention here that h e a v y r a i n s t r i g g e r e d f l a s h f l o o d s a n d w r e a k e d h a v o c a c r o s s m u c h o f P a k i s t a n s i n c e m i d J u n e , l e a v i n g 9 0 3 d e a d a n d about 50 000 people homeless Taking to Twitter, Federal Minister for C l i m a t e C h a n g e S h e r r y R e h m a n s h a r e d that the highest number of deaths and in juries during the time period was recorded in Sindh and Balochistan “Since June 903 people including 326 children and 191 women, have died in var i o u s i n c i d e n t s o f m o n s o o n r a i n s a n d floods PresIdent urGes natIon, world to suPPort flood vICtIms
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The registrar office Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Fri day formally sent show cause notice to the address of PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan in a contempt case pertain ing his threatening remarks about woman additional ses sion judge According to the notice, Imran Khan gave threatening and disgraceful statement against woman judge in his speech The PTI chief had given the state ment when the case was being heard by IHC It seemed that the PTI head had given this statement to influence the court proceeding and get favorable verdict Imran Khan had tried to create hurdle in way of justice through his speech, it added The show cause notice had asked the PTI chairman to appear before court on August 31 in per sonal capacity and explain that why a contempt of court proceeding shouldn’t be initiated against him It may be mentioned here that a larger bench headed by Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani and comprising of Justice Mian gul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Baber Sattar had or dered to serve a show cause notice to PTI head The former prime minister had given threatening remarks about woman judge and police high up during his speech at F 9 Park Islamabad The judges of IHC after a consul tation had decided to initiate contempt of court proceed ing against him on note of registrar office Gov t asks KP, GB police chiefs to call back their personnel from Banigala
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An assistant session judge has approached the Sindh government against deductions from the salaries of the government employees for flood victims, terming the deductions as unconstitu tional The assistant session judge district west Karachi wrote a letter to the finance secretary saying that even lands of the government em ployees are affected from the ongoing floods “Sindh High Court has already made deduc tions in the month of June,” he said, adding that the government employees rely on their salaries and the harvest He claimed that such deductions without the permission of the employees are against the Constitution and demanded of the finance min istry to halt such deductions and return the money to the employees He warned that if the money is not re turned then they would also approach the Sindh high court It is pertinent to mention here that the government has asked people to donate generously for the flood victims na tionwide after the country suffered from the torrential rains and flash floods that has dis placed millions nationwide
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On Thursday Pakistan Army officers and all federal cabinet members have announced to donate one month s salary to flood victims Ac cording to the statement issued by military’s media wing, army officers have deposited one month s salary in the flood relief fund while others are also giving financial donations on a voluntary basis “All General Officers of the Pakistan Army (all Brigadiers, Major Generals, Lieutenant Generals and Generals) have do nated one month’s pay to go towards relief and humanitarian aid/ration packages for flood af fected families in Pakistan ” the ISPR state ment read
A local court in Islamabad on Friday ad journed the hearing on the bail application of incarcerated PTI leader Shahbaz Gill till tomorrow as police have failed to pro duce record before the court According to a report, Additional Sessions Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra heard the petition filed by Gill seeking his post arrest bail At the outset of hearing, when police did not submit record to the court, the pe titioner’s lawyer requested the court to put off hearing till tomorrow The judge asked the police officer what was his problem and why the record was not submitted The police officer told the court that the investigating officer would reach by tomorrow evening be seeching the judge to adjourn the hearing of the case till Monday But refusing to grant his request, the judge asked the officer to arrange for the IO’s ticket On this, the petitioner ’s lawyers of fered to buy the IO an air ticket The judge then ordered the police to produce the record till tomorrow by 12noon and warned that in case of non compliance, their seniors would get into trouble Senior Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill, who is cur rently in Islamabad Police custody in connection with questioning about his a n t i P a k i s t a n A r m y r e m a r k s d u r i n g a talk show on a private TV channel, on Thursday filed a bail application in the sessions court The PTI leader, in his application, said that those who filed the case against him did so with a mala fide intent and out of political grudge My statement was twisted to implicate me in a false case,” he said, adding, “I am a professor and teach at foreign universities Cour t takes up S hahbaz Gill ’s bail plea today
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The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Friday unanimously approved the Islamabad Capital Territory Maternity Benefits (Amend ment) Bill, 2022 presented by Senator Fawzia Arshad after detailed deliberation The committee which met with Mohsin Aziz in the Chair discussed Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (Addition of new Sections 52B, 512, 513 and 514 to bill aimed at bringing the perpetrators of the heinous crime of the commit tee to postpone consideration of the bill T h L M and there was no need for new legislation in t T c s c s o e month according to the opinion of the com mittee members The Anti Rape (Investigation and Prose c t i ) ( A m e n e ) B i l l 2 0 2 2 ( i n s e r t i o n of new sections 24A, 24B and 24C) moved by Senator Mohsin Aziz was considered The purpose of the bill is to monitor the movement of persons involved in sex crimes within the country Minister of State for Law Senator Shahadat Awan, opposed the approval of the bill without consulting the provinces The com mittee members approved the bill with a ma jority vote Capital Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022 introduced by Senator Fawzia Arshad was also reviewed The pur pose of the bill is to determine the persons re sponsible and punishment for delay in completion of housing projects in different sec tors of the federal capital The CDA officials and Chief Commissioner Islamabad requested to amend several clauses of the bill
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It was decided that other stakeholders like All Pakistan Oil Tankers associations shall be taken on board for use of latest technology in oil tankers for safety IG NHMP also briefed on recent initiatives taken to ensure safety of commuters on national Highways and Motorways He appraised that NHMP has increased safety briefing for oil tankers, LPG bowsers, and other vehicles carrying hazardous material on National Highways and Motorways p R newS DeSK Dr Rashid Ahmad Khan a political analyst and an expert on South Asia, Central Asia and Persian Gulf security issues on Friday stated that “If steps are taken by G7 countries against China, the global economy will be af fected Because the interactions and linkages between G7 countries and China are very strong The disturbance or any rupture in these relations will affect many countries
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Sarah Zeid Friday termed Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) a role model for other countries running social protection initiatives T h e J o r d a n i a n P r i n c e s s s t a t e d t h i s d u r i n g h e r v i s i t t o t h e B I S P H e a d q u a r t e r s a l o n g w i t h t h e C o u n t r y D i r e c t o r World Food Program D u r i n g h e r v i s i t , s h e w a s briefed
Inspector General of Forest, Ministry of Climate Change Ghulam Qadir Shah told the committee that there were 31 crush plants functional as of now in the region and 11 of them were registered and the rest were illegal “We have closed down several crush plants and cases of five crushing plants are also under trial in the Supreme Court He underscored that Afghan mafia was behind the ordeal “We raised our voice at the assembly as young children are suffering 30% hearing loss and the peo ple have been protesting against the plants for the past two years Due to these rains, the crushing waste is going into Khanpur Dam,” he added The Afghans were allowed by the provincial gov ernment and they belonged to an influential mafia whereas the crushing plants were stopped for 30 days at the behest of the Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t f E D E R A L
After Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the G7 group of industrialized nations and the European Union issued a statement full of accusations against China In response, the spokesperson for the Chinese Mission to the EU mentioned that “gone are the days when the Chinese people were bullied and pushed around by foreign powers Taiwan affairs are purely China’s inter nal affairs and are within the scope of China’s sovereignty Today’s world is no longer in an era when Western powers can run amok as they please “It seems that the US has manipulated the G7 into toeing its line As a result, the de veloped countries will suffer if they talk about sanctions or steps against China or they lower the level of cooperation with China, it will affect them more in compari son to China,” said Rashid Now the US is facing difficulties of keeping European lives together In order to keep Europe on its side, America is some how fighting and quarreling with other pow ers It mobilizes and forces Europe on them European powers are constrained be cause Western Europe is still largely depend ent on the United States economically and in terms of security, Rashid said
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“America pressurized European nations to take those steps to support Ukraine for which they were not ready If G7 countries are forced to take steps against China by America, this will not only affect the econ omy of the G7 countries but also the western alliance system How long will these coun tries sacrifice for America or will they re main under its pressure? Already there is resentment among the European countries with the US pressure on them to achieve its strategic objectives,” said Rashid “If we study the history of Chinese rela tionships with European powers in 18th and 19th century, then you will not find a single European country who did not establish its trade centers at the ports of China If we go even more before this and look into the pe riod of old times, then we will come to know that the emergence of the world in the pres ent form was based on the relationships be tween China and Europe
K i f a l a t , B e n a z i r Ta l e e m i Wa z a i
The festival is celebrated in annual harvesting with singing dancing and paying homage to the nature for blessing them with good food and fruits
ISLAMABAD: IG NHMP Khalid Mahmood convened a meeting with Chairman OGRA Masroor Khan and representative from the Department of Explosives at NHMP (HQs) regarding safe movement of oil tankers, LPG bowsers, and other vehicles carrying hazardous material on national highways and motorways Discussions revolved around building a robust policy that ensures that aforementioned vehicles avoid any untoward incident and safely move across the country It was mutually agreed that joint team shall conduct checking on Motorways and Highways to ensure that all such vehicles abide by the safety laws and regulations
delegation calls on CEO railways
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ISLAMABAD S World Food Program’s (WFP) Special Advisor on Mother and Child Nutrition and Jordanian Princess on NSER Benazir f , B e n a z i r N a s h o n u m a and the registration process that how a family can be enrolled to g e t f i n a n c i a l b e n e f i t s f r o m i t s programs S h e w a s i n f o r m e d t h a t BISP had also introduced a spe cial mechanism for the registra tion of transgender community a n d i f d e c l a r e d i n e l i g i b l e t h e y could also have the right to ap p e a l f o r t h e i r i n c l u s i o n i n t h e programme T h e p r i n c e s s a p p r e c i a t e d th e eff o r ts an d co mmitmen t o f B I S P f o r i t s w o r k t o u p l i f t t h e underprivileged segment of the society S h e s a i d t h a t B I S P w a s d o i n g a t r e m e n d o u s j o b a n d t e r m e d t h e p r o g r a m m e a r o l e m o d e l f o r t h e o t h e r c o u n t r i e s She said that the countries run n i n g s o c i a l s a f e t y p r o g r a m s must learn lessons from the ex periences of the BISP S h e a l s o c o m m e n d e d t h e role of BISP in providing edu c a t i o n t o c h i l d r e n s p e c i a l l y girls under Taleemi Waziaf ini t i a t i v e , w h i c h h a d b e e n i m p l e m e n t e d i n t h e 1 6 0 d i s t r i c t s o f Pakistan and currently 8 5 mil lion children had been enrolled in the program S h e w a s a l s o a p p r i s e d t h a t B e n a z i r I n c o m e S u p p o r t P r o gramme had extended the scope o f B e n a z i r N a s h o n u m a p r o g r a m m e , w h i c h a i m e d a t a d d r e s s i n g t h e i s s u e o f s t u n t i n g during the initial 1000 days of child birth U n d e r t h i s p r o g r a m m e pregnant, lactating women and their children less than 2 years of age are provided cash assis tance of Rs 2000 per quarter to boy child and Rs 2500 per quar ter to girl child In return mothers are bound to attend regular awareness ses s i o n s o n h e a l t h d u r i n g p r e g n a n c y a n d c o n s u m i n g specialized nutritious food T h e B I S P i s a l s o p l a n n i n g to increase the duration of ini tial 1000 days to 5000 days for t h e p r o v i s i o n o f c o n d i t i o n a l cash assistance under this pro gram Later in the day Sarah Zeid a l s o v i s i t e d B e n a z i r O n e Wi n dow Center for inspecting vari ous facilities being provided by BISP under the one roof During her visit at one Win d o w C e n t e r t h e P r i n c e s s i n t e r acted with women beneficiaries of BISP who came there for re s o l v i n g i s s u e s r e l a t e d t o t h e i r r e g i s t r a t i o n i n d i ff e r e n t i n i t i a tives of the programme E u r o p e a n c o u n t r i e s t o s u f fe r m o r e f r o m U S m a n i p u l at i o n : D r R a s h i d K h a n S a r a h Z e i d t e APAM
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairperson Com mittee said the people were getting sick from these crushing plants and many diseases, including eye can cer were occurring among the masses of the locality The chairperson summoned the KP Chief Secre tary and directed that the next meeting would be held in the same area and also called the Ministry of Water Resources to participate in the meeting
The CEO, Mr Ghilzai, emphasized that both must develop close interaction to understand each other ’s needs The visiting delegation said that there must be a vendor prequalification mechanism to pannel the vendors of repute CHITRAL S ta f f R e p o R t Uchal Festival the annual religious festival celebrated by the people of Kalash valley, concluded with all its colours and charms on Friday
A large number of foreign and domestic tourists at tended the festival despite bad weather They said that Kalash valley was very beautiful adding that Pakistan was a peaceful country “The freedom that is in Pakistan is not available to the minorities in India,” said the Sikh tourists Kalash and the people here are very beautiful, said the women tourists During the festival, the young boys and girls gath ered at the community hall where they sang songs and danced to the drumbeat The members of Kalash com munity served local dishes to the foreign and domestic tourists as part of the celebrations The Kalash women and girls decorated their houses They were attired in traditional black robes, ornate cowries shelled headdresses and adorned with coloured necklaces They danced in a circle During the festival, prayers and processions were held at a high plateau outside the village
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Minister for Climate Change Sen ator Sherry Rehman on Friday said the abnor mal monsoon torrential rains caused the heaviest floods in the country’s history that submerged many parts of the southern region She was addressing the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change held under the chair of MNA Nuzhat Pathan Sherry said the situation was bad as rains have not been taking any breaks with up to 1,100 millimeters rains in many flood hit areas, adding, “30 districts of Sindh have been submerged and this committee should take notice of that The minister underlined that it was a natural dis aster but the mother nature was brought to this level after unbridled anthropogenic activities She mentioned that the communication link with Balochistan had also ended adding Our helicopters are reaching the affected areas but they are coming back due to unfavourable weather conditions ” There were many people still trapped in the affected areas and the government had no idea about where to draw the accumulated water, Sherry Rehman said Secretary Ministry of Climate Change Asif Haider Shah also briefed the committee on the man date of the ministry in the prevailing scenario and pre sented his suggestions to the forum MNA Murtaza Javed Abbasi raised the issue of crushing plants installed at the Margalla Hills Na tional Park and Khanpur Dam areas
PTI names Zahid Iqbal Ch as Central Deput y Info Secy
ISLAMABAD: Zahid Iqbal Chaudhry has been appointed as Central Deputy Information Secretary of Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf Central Information Secretary Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf, Farrukh Habib has issued a notification of the nomination after consultation with the party leadership It is to be noted that a former student leader, Zahid Iqbal Ch had been served as Vice President Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry He had also been Deputy Chairman Export Processing Zones Authority Zahid Iqbal Chaudhry had participated in the general elections from the PTI platform from Punjab Assembly constituency PP 234 of Vehari Meanwhile, the party leaders have welcomed the appointment of Zahid Iqbal Chaudhry and hoped that he would work hard for better projection of the party image in the public S ta f R e R
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R A I N S C A u S E H E Av I E S T f lO O D S I N PA k I S TA N ’ S H I S T O R y : S H E R R y corporate corner I G N H M P c h a i r s h u d d l e t o r e v i e w s a f e m o v e m e n t o f v e h i c l e s c a r r y i n g h a z a r d o u s m a t e r i a l
A delegation of the Business Development Committee of PAAPAM, led by its convener, Mirza Sikander Ali Baig, met the CEO of the Pakistan Railway, Muhammad Farrukh Taimur Khan Ghilzai, who represented the Federal Minister of Railway Mr Irfan Ahmed Qureshi, Member MC, Haji Muhammad Nazir of Meralastik Rubber and Engineering Mr Ghulam Murtaza SG and Mr Anas Haroon, PM, were part of the delegation Aiming to bridge the gap between the PAAPAM members and the Pakistan Railways and promote localization to contain the dwindling foreign exchange, the delegation gave a comprehensive presentation to the CEO of PR, flanked by his technical experts what the PAAPAM members could do for the PR Mr Baig stressed and explained the necessity of a Public Private Partnership under the Win Win spirit for any long term relationship between the stakeholders It was also suggested that instead of a” no cost, no obligation development program, a trial order doctrine must be introduced at the execution level in PR, empowering the relevant CME office This will create a congenial and conducive environment for import deletion Mr Irfan Ahmed Qureshi detailed the ways and mechanisms that could be adopted to develop a synergistic win win situation Display of some parts produced or can be produced for Pakistan PR was also put on display for inspection The railways’ officials bit amazed that many requirements could be met locally, and they were not below any standard
The Uchal festival is one of the cultural festivals marked by the Kalash community like many other fes tivals around the year It is marked in the barley and wheat harvest season every year in August U c a l s l co n c l s K a l a s h l l
The United States and the European Union are going to work together to take concrete measures to reduce their depend ence on Russian energy This means that a country that imported zero units of Russian natural gas has con vinced the 27 country block which rely on Russia for around 40 % of its gas demand, into cutting back on imports, According to Chinese broadcaster CGTN According to data from the International Energy Agency the month of June has be come the first month in history in which EU had imported more gas via LNG from the US than via pipeline from Russia The EU is struggling with an energy crisis, while the US would certainly benefit from selling every unit of energy to its European allies
at
It is because China was a very big source of commodities since the beginning, which were utilized by Europe and other areas of the world Now, over 170 countries and many inter national organizations have spoken up by reaffirming their commitment to the one China principle and expressing support for China in defending its sovereignty and terri torial integrity, constituting an advantage over the US and its shortsighted alliance countries China US relations have been deteriorat ing in recent years “Considering that both China and the US are major superpowers if there is cooperation between America and China, many problems facing the world, such as climate change, issue of food secu rity and struggle of corona, can be solved,” Rashid analyzed, he added
C o n s t i t u t i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t a n d I n d e p e n d e n c e o f M o d e r n M a l d i v e s
WHILE August is not over yet let us talk about how Pakistan celebrated its 75th anniversary of independence amid political instability and economic crisis Owing to uncontrollable internal and external debts, the value of Pakistani currency is facing severe pressure However due to strict conditions imposed by international lenders and limited resources to repay the external debt, the government is unable to provide relief to the people and stabilise the development process The government has been facing a budget deficit despite ending public subsidies The implementation of fixed tax on the retail sector is in the limbo due to protests by traders In such circumstances, the government has decided to impose more taxes on other sectors
DR SYEDA TEHZEEB ALVI LAHORE
Social Sciences
Visa for Germany
earthquake in which 57 islands were damaged, 14 had to be totally evacuated while six were de stroyed In this misfortune event the total dam age was estimated at around more than $400 million, or some 62 percent of the GDP As it was the later part of Maumoon s pe riod, several independent political movements emerged in the country challenging the ruling Maldivian People s Party (MPP) and a strong demand for democratic reforms was in the fore front under the leadership of dissident journalist and activist Mohamed nasheed who around the time (2003), founded the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), to pressurize the ruling party to move forward in democratic directions speedily
IT was not the flood which drowned Balochistan but the politicians who are out for the count without batting an eye to the matter Lasbella and Jal Magsi have drowned under water, people have become homeless, hundreds of people lost their lives, people suffered from starvation and now our beloved PM, Shehbaz Sharif has woken up to visit the place after they have gotten completely ruined It is more than a shame that MPAs and politicians have set up camps and tents in different areas of the district the night before the visit of the PM just to dodge him that they are trying to help the people Yet, the CM and the ministers have not properly visited the affected areas According to recent news, the flood killed 111 people and washed away 6700 homes Though the government had a very firm prediction of torrential rain in concerned cities, it took no good preventative measures It could have evacuated the places and saved hundreds of lives Why do they care when they have just come to enjoy power not serve the people? Such catastrophes, disasters and hazards need prompt actions at the happening moments I would extend deep appreciation for the people and social workers who are helping the victims with their own efforts They can be the only hope for the affected people The government seems to be sleeping like a log no doubt, the floods are ruinous but also no doubt there are some obligations of government to the people which cannot be seen from the side of the government in Balochistan Such natural disasters create havoc but the governments should have immediate prevention Pakistan Disasters Management Authority’s sole purpose is to get the people out of such catastrophes at that very moment It is the failure of the department that it could not save the now dead people and it is its incapability of it that it could not reach when needed PDMA must have all the facilities to be able to take prompt actions meanwhile such happenings
AMMAR HASSAN KARACHI
The secondary level is an important preparatory and transitory stage which develops the reasoning and logical faculties of the students and marks the terminal stage of the elementary level, preparing them for higher education and practical life Secondary education in Punjab is being delivered by public and private schools as well as seminaries
I n its colonial history, Maldives first came in contact with the Portuguese who estab lished an overseer of a trading post in the country and began controlling the spot from their main centre in Goa where they were fully established in trade and administra tion However, the initial experience of the Por tuguese was not pleasant as the people of Maldives reacted sharply against their move to impose Christianity in the area, and as a result of local revolt, after about 15 years, they were forced to leave the country
The removal of Portuguese from the land was followed by the entry of Dutch who were then in a dominant position in Ceylon, but learn ing from the Portuguese, they established hege mony over the country without involving themselves directly in any local affairs and al lowed the centuries old Islamic customs and tra ditions to continue as usual
Illegal Trade
The 30 year rule of Maumoon Abdul Gay oon began in 1978 and he remained in power despite three attempts of coup in 1980, 1983 and 1988 by nasir support ers In the context the Government of India helped Maldives during the 1988 coup and in getting the situation back to normal About two decades ago Maldives faced a se rious devastation due to the tsunami on 26 De cember 2004 following the Indian Ocean
The new constitution of the country was ap proved and the first direct presidential election took place which gave victory to nasheed The new government formed in 2008 faced chal lenges on many counts including foreign debt, economic downturn overprinting of local money, unemployment, drug use and corrup tion Ultimately it led to anarchy in the coun try and nasheed had to resign in 2012 due to the opposition of armed and police forces At the time, the vice president in the government Mo hammed Waheed Has san, took over the charge as the country s president In line, once again nasheed returned back after the elections held in late 2013 The elections results of 2018 went in favour of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who became president for a year and replaced in 2019 due to conviction on charges of terrorism and cor ruption Thus, the over all system of administration and form of government in Maldives is under progress and likely to move forward in com ing days and years The writer is presently Professor and Head, Department of Political Science and Dean of Social Sciences at B n Man dal University Mad hepura (Bihar), India His 21 books published in addition to 900 articles in national and inter national journals and daily newspapers from 25 foreign countries The writer is a transportation engineer with post graduations in English literature and political science
COMMENT
But the question again comes to the ministers who are behind the whole of the vicious circle of corruption And thereto the public departments are getting worse day after the other As it is said, “A fish rots from the head down ” Until we have sincere ministers, nothing comes to track Surely, when in a democratic country aristocracy is practised the top level people are not going to be compassionate There will be no populists but all feudalists Unfortunately, Balochistan has a CM who seems to have forgotten his province That is intensely wrecking for the people
Another fact is that almost 75 per cent of students at the secondary level specialise in science Among these, more than 60pc are boys, while more than two third of the arts students are girls according to the Report on Annual School Census 2017 18
THE secondary education in Punjab comprises two years of education in class IX and X Students sit a final standardised examination after the completion of 10 year education in Punjab s nine education boards simultaneously After passing this examination they are awarded a secondary school certificate, which is also called matriculation nationally
Drowned Balochistan
JAHANGIR JAMEEL TURBAT
Third and last strong coloniser, the British, entered the fray and ousted the Dutch from Ceylon in 1796 and included Maldives as a British Protectorate, which was officially recognised in 1887 as a result of the agreement between the Sultan Muhammad MueenuddEen II and the British in which the former agreed to accept the British offer in the sphere of Maldivian external relations and defence but retained the home rule that was to be continued with Muslim customs and traditions Dr rajkumar singh
The third and last strong coloniser the British, entered the fray and ousted the Dutch from Ceylon in 1796 and included Maldives as a British Protectorate which was officially recognised in 1887 as a result of the agreement between the sultan Muhammad MueenuddEen II and the British in which the former agreed to accept the British offer in the sphere of Maldi vian external relations and defence but retained the home rule that was to be continued with Muslim customs and traditions, although in ex change of an annual tribute Thus, under the British Maldives got the status equal to Zanz ibar and the Trucial States As a result of the agreement signed in 1887, the power of the Sultan continued to be on de cline while the powers of the British governor general increased gradually and it gave the British an opportunity to encourage constitu tional monarchy in the country Under British the first constitution of Maldives was pro claimed in 1932 which did not the favour ei ther the Sultan or Chief Ministerial system and it created an angry mob in large number which finally managed to ruin the future of the new constitution However, there was a gradual turn of the tide and in 1953 the Sultanate system of the country was suspended under the regime of Muhammad Amin Didi In addition, in the period of Amin Didi in 1940s, in view of implementing large scale reforms in the country s nationalised fish export industry, and it adopted reforms in edu cation and promoted human rights His reforms in various fields were not liked by the public at large and as a result, the beginning of the 1950s witnessed several upheavals and instability in the country with restoration of the earlier Sul tanate and increased British power in the area Despite all efforts, gradually the British be came unable to continue their colonial rule over Maldives and the native people also wanted to get independence It resulted in the agreement of 26 July 1965 signed between the British and Ibrahim nasir, on behalf of the Sultan, and it formally ended the British authority over de fence and external affairs of the Maldives but however, failed to change earlier Sultanate sys tem which continued for three more years under Sir Muhammad Didi who declared himself as a king after getting independence In a further step the country conducted a vote in the parliament on 15 november 1967 to decide whether the nation wanted to con tinue as a constitutional monarchy or become a republic In the 44 member parliament 40 members went in favour of a republic and to confirm it at large, a national refer endum was held on 15 March 1968 and of those who participated, 93 34 percent favoured establishment of the re public in the country Finally, the his toric moment came on 11 november 1968 when the country was declared a republic ending the 853 year old Sultanate, under the presidency of Ibrahim nasir It followed an instability in the coun try as the 1970s wit nessed intense faction fighting which compelled nasir to flee to Singapore in 1978 with lots of govern ment money
06-07 Comments - 27th August 2022_Layout 1 8/27/2022 12:05 AM Page 2
07 Saturday, 27 August, 2022
USAMA GHULAM RASOOL KARACHI
While the teaching faculty at secondary level is called senior school teachers (SSTs), for them 16 years of academic qualification is required and BEd/MEd as professional qualification SSTs are appointed in commerce, technology, computer sciences, science and general or arts groups Data shows that majority of students study in the science group, while social sciences are completely neglected Even SSTs for the general group are supposed to teach all the 36 subjects of arts out of the 46 total subjects taught The statistics also show that majority of our students at the secondary level are in favour of physical sciences, while social sciences, arts and humanities are completely ignored Our overall attitude towards arts is discouraging and we are not interested in investing physical and financial resources for the promotion of social sciences humanities and arts The consequences of such an imbalance are not hard to imagine To promote sciences trained subject wise SSTs with special science allowances are appointed
I am writing this after having failed repeatedly to contact the German consulate in Karachi in connection with the study visa for my son who has been admitted to Deggendorf Institute of Technology in Germany With the deadline looming, we are getting rather desperate There are currently no appointments available for filing visa application, and all my efforts to get in touch with the consulate through phone, email or website have been in vain The semester starts in October, and considering that the process of 4 6 weeks of obtaining visa has not started yet I fear that my son and a lot of other students will not be able to get visa in time This will not only cause great mental stress, but will also result in the loss of precious academic time The authorities concerned need to look into the matter urgently and help us move the required process at the earliest
E d i t o r ’ s m a i l S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan Today 4 S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan Today e x c l u s i v e l y
Above all at this time of extreme dan ger, european leaders should pursue the true source of european security: not US hege mony but european security arrangements that respect the legitimate security interests of all european nations, certainly including Ukraine but also including Russia which continues to resist NATO enlargements into the Black Sea europe should reflect on the fact that the non enlargement of NATO and the implementation of the Minsk II agree ments would have averted this awful war in Ukraine At this stage diplomacy not mili tary escalation, is the true path to european and global security
J e f f r e y d S aC h S
He world is on the edge of nuclear catastrophe in no small part be cause of the failure of Western po litical leaders to be forthright about the causes of the escalating global conflicts
There is only one country whose self de clared fantasy is to be the world s dominant power: the US It’s past time that the US rec ognized the true sources of security: internal social cohesion and responsible cooperation with the rest of the world rather than the il lusion of hegemony With such a revised for eign policy, the US and its allies would avoid war with China and Russia and enable the world to face its myriad environment, en ergy, food and social crises
The overwrought fear of China and Rus sia is sold to a Western public through ma nipulation of the facts
A generation earlier George W Bush Jr sold the public on the idea that America’s greatest threat was Is lamic fundamentalism, without mentioning that it was the CIA with Saudi Arabia and other countries, that had created, funded, and deployed the jihadists in Afghanistan, Syria, and elsewhere to fight America s wars Or consider the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, which was painted in the Western media as an act of unprovoked perfidy Years later, we learned that the Soviet invasion was actually preceded by a CIA op eration designed to provoke the Soviet inva sion! The same misinformation occurred vis à vis Syria
The irony is that since 1980 the US has been in at least 15 overseas wars of choice (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Panama, Serbia, Syria and Yemen just to name a few) while China has been in none, and Russia only in one (Syria) beyond the former Soviet Union The US has military bases in 85 countries China in 3, and Russia in 1 (Syria) beyond the former Soviet Union President Joe Biden has promoted this narrative, declaring that the greatest chal lenge of our time is the competition with the autocracies which seek to advance their own power, export and expand their influ ence around the world, and justify their re pressive policies and practices as a more efficient way to address today’s challenges ” US security strategy is not the work of any single US president but of the US security establishment, which is largely autonomous, and operates behind a wall of secrecy
The essential narrative of the West is built into US national security strategy
The Western press is filled with recriminations against Putin s military assis tance to Syria’s Bashar al Assad beginning in 2015, without mentioning that the US sup ported the overthrow of al Assad beginning in 2011 with the CIA funding a major oper ation (Timber Sycamore) to overthrow Assad years before Russia arrived Or more recently when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recklessly flew to Tai wan despite China’s warnings, no G7 foreign minister criticized Pelosi s provocation yet the G7 ministers together harshly criticized China’s “overreaction” to Pelosi’s trip The Western narrative about the Ukraine war is that it is an unprovoked attack by Putin in the quest to recreate the Russian em pire Yet the real history starts with the West ern promise to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not enlarge to the east followed by four waves of NATO aggrandizement: in 1999, incorporating three Central european countries; in 2004, incorporating 7 more including in the Black Sea and Baltic States; in 2008, committing to enlarge to Ukraine and Georgia; and in 2022 inviting four Asia Pacific leaders to NATO to take aim at China Nor do the Western media mention the US role in the 2014 overthrow of Ukraine s pro Russian president Viktor Yanukovych; the failure of the Governments of france and Germany, guarantors of the Minsk II agree ment to press Ukraine to carry out its com mitments; the vast US armaments sent to Ukraine during the Trump and Biden Ad ministrations in the lead up to war; nor the refusal of the US to negotiate with Putin over NATO enlargement to Ukraine O f c o u r s e N ATO s a y s t h a t i s p u r e l y defensive, so that Putin should have noth i n g t o f e a r I n o t h e r w o r d s , P u t i n s h o u l d t a k e n o n o t i c e o f t h e C I A o p e r a t i o n s i n Afghanistan and Syria; the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999; the NATO overthrow of Moammar Qaddafi in 2011; the NATO oc cupation of Afghanistan for 15 years; nor Biden’s “gaffe” calling for Putin’s ouster (which of course was no gaffe at all); nor US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stating t h a t t h e U S w a r a i m i n U k r a i n e i s t h e weakening of Russia At the core of all of this is the US attempt to remain the world’s hegemonic power, by augmenting military alliances around the world to contain or defeat China and Russia It’s a dangerous, delusional, and outmoded idea The US has a mere 4 2% of the world population, and now a mere 16% of world GDP (measured at international prices) In fact the combined GDP of the G7 is now less than that of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), while the G7 pop ulation is just 6 percent of the world com pared with 41 percent in the BRICS
pany We do three things: We collect con tent publicly available information from alternative social media sites We use machine learning and advanced algo rithms to detect violent threats, hate speech and disinformation that are pop ping up on these platforms And then we display that information for our clients, either through reports or through a plat form that we have We got our start in the human rights community We were a project inside of Human Rights first [a U S based advocacy group] We spun out of HRf as our own company in De cember 2021 and launched our platform earlier this year In general, what are the big extremist threats that you re following these days? What worries you? One is just the death of critical think ing and the amount of evidence free speculation that becomes the truth, small t truth, on these platforms It can be something as innocuous as something done by some celebrity all the way to things that really have impacts on the health of our democracy But it s also just the general lack of confidence in institu tions writ large We’re at an all time low in terms of government trust, based on all the different metrics that are out there [This brings us to] the inherent incoherence of conspiracy theories and these really outlandish ideas about how the world actually works People believe that the government is simultaneously to tally incompetent and also all knowing and all seeing and capable of pulling off a massive effort like helping Bill Gates spread the COVID vaccine through mind control via 5G technology These are diametrically opposed ideas yet folks are simultaneously be lieving both of them and saying, “This is what is happening in the world today I’ve been really immersed in this stuff since 2016, and I’m still routinely
appalled, surprised and taken aback by some of the things I read on these plat forms And maybe the day I become in ured to this stuff is the day I need to leave the biz But I’m still really shocked by the things I read Look at the Pew Research polls that are out there about how many people be lieve the core tenets of QAnon I think we’ve entered a new phase in which so cial media has altered and warped how we encounter information how we process it, how we internalize what counts as the truth It’s having significant impacts on our democracy I really do be lieve that social media is an accelerator An accelerator of societal disintegra tion? Yes, yes, exactly You had an interesting Twitter thread about the disinformation you re seeing around the Jan 6 committee Can you tell me about that? On these alternative social media platforms, the narrative about Jan 6 started getting pushed on Jan 7 People started by saying it was antifa that was responsible That got amplified by more mainstream characters, even Tucker Carlson talked about antifa maybe hav ing a role in Jan 6 Right off the bat they were trying to deflect blame You had card carrying members of the MAGA community like [Jan 6 protester] Ray epps getting falsely accused of being fBI informants and being responsible for pushing people into the Capitol He came out and said, “I was one of them [the pro Trump movement], and they just kind of turned on me ” All it takes is a single user on one of these platforms to write something out landish without any factual basis or evi dence They’re not citing anything, they re not looking at any hardcore piece of information or they’re taking things out of context And that just gets end lessly amplified by other users People who are not sophisticated consumers of information see that on these platforms and they go: “I agree with that That sounds plausible It’s now the truth for me If you ask people, “Who was respon sible for Jan 6?” significant numbers of people will tell you antifa had a role in Jan 6 Multiple credible investigations have shown that antifa had no role in Jan 6 Yet this maintains a consistent nar rative, and that narrative started spinning basically as soon as people were cleared from the Capitol building In the past that’s the kind of thing that would’ve happened on Twitter But now it starts on the smaller platforms It may eventually migrate to Twitter But Twitter and the larger platforms actually do some content moderation making it harder for this stuff to gain traction or get picked up These smaller places either don t have the resources to do content moder ation or don’t have the will to do it They are allowing these narratives to fester and gain traction and eventually jump hosts Out of all the alternative social media apps and sites, which seem to be the most successful? Where is the energy? It’s still 4chan One secret about 4chan is they actually have to do a sig nificant amount of content moderation now where they remove posts because of how bad and violent they are There s a massive amount of people on 4chan on a regular basis, who are frequent flyers on the boards It s still crazy there More than Telegram, an instant mes senger service? Telegram is also huge Right now we track thousands of Telegram channels but that’s just a drop in the bucket Reporter A C Thompson covers hate crimes and racial extremism for ProPublica
Jeffrey D Sachs is a University Profes sor and Director of the Center for Sustain able Development at Columbia University where he directed The Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016 He is also President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Net work and a commissioner of the UN Broad band Commission for Development Pr oPublica a C t h o m p S o n s INCe Donald Trump s elec tion in 2016, an entire ecosys tem of right wing social media platforms has come into exis tence from Gab (where the alleged Pittsburgh synagogue shooter posted hateful screeds) to Parler (a hot spot for insurrectionary activities in the run up to Jan 6) to the former president’s own Truth Social (which was frequented by a fan of his who was recently shot to death after attacking a Cincinnati fBI of fice) This new wave of apps and sites follows in the footsteps of 4chan and 8kun, older internet message boards that continue to attract a sizable audience of conspiracy theorists and violent racists Welton Chang knows this corner of the digital world well A former Army in telligence officer and human rights ac tivist, Chang runs Pyrra, a small tech startup dedicated to identifying and track ing the extremist ideas circulating in these spaces Pyrra, which launched in early 2022 with $1 3 million in funding, moni tors more than 20 alternative social media sites and online forums, scanning some 100 million messages per week Chang, a data scientist says increased content mod eration at major social media platforms including the ouster of figures ranging from Trump to Alex Jones has driven a sizable contingent of users to the spaces Pyrra tracks, which tend toward an abso lutist view of free speech Can you tell me in simple terms what Pyrra does? Pyrra is a threat intelligence com
The relentless Western narrative that the West is noble while Russia and China are evil is simple minded and extraor dinarily dangerous It is an attempt to manip ulate public opinion, not to deal with very real and pressing diplomacy europe should reflect on the fact that the non enlargement of NATO and the imple mentation of the Minsk II agreements would have averted this awful war in Ukraine
How India runs on WhatsApp Vox S h r i n G h a f fa r y a n d a l e x h e at h If you live in the US, chances are you ve at least heard of WhatsApp, the messaging app that Meta acquired in 2014 But if you live in other parts of the world, like India, the service is more than just an app for commu nicating with friends and family “WhatsApp in India is a way of life,” said Rajeev Khera, founder of food tech business Chakki Peesing, which operates outside of New Delhi Khera is one of millions of Indians who run busi nesses mainly through WhatsApp And it s not just businesses: Roughly 400 million people in India use WhatsApp to keep in touch with relatives overseas, send money, access critical medical information, and more WhatsApp’s simple design helped make it a hit internationally, especially in countries where most peo ple don t have iPhones to use iMessage, or affordable cellphone plans to send SMS messages When Meta bought WhatsApp eight years ago in a record $19 bil lion cash and stock deal, it was considered a risky bet Today even though it doesn’t contribute much to Meta’s bottom line, WhatsApp is arguably the com pany s most essential international product At the same time WhatsApp has struggled with some of the same misinformation problems that have plagued facebook But unlike facebook, WhatsApp uses private encrypted communication software that makes it harder for the company to moderate content That problem is especially acute in India, where base less rumors spread on the app have led to grave conse quences Recently, the Indian government has threatened to crack down on one of WhatsApp’s core values user privacy with regulators demanding a way for authorities to access people’s messages when needed Will Meta continue to keep WhatsApp mes sages private even as pressure ramps up? “You have to think about what it means to offer a service where people communicate their most private thoughts most private messages most private calls to the people they care about the most all around the world,” said Will Cathcart, the current head of WhatsApp
THE IRONY IS THAT SINCE 1980 THE US HAS BEEN IN AT LEAST 15 OVERSEAS WARS OF CHOICE (AFGHANISTAN, IR AQ, LIBYA, PANAMA, SERBIA, SYRIA, AND YEMEN JUST TO NAME A FE W), WHILE CHINA HAS BEEN IN NONE, AND RUSSIA ONLY IN ONE (SYRIA) BE YOND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION. THE US HAS MILITARY BASES IN 85 COUNTRIES, CHINA IN 3, AND RUSSIA IN 1 (SYRIA) BE YOND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
The core US idea is that China and Russia are im placable foes that are “attempting to erode American security and prosperity These countries are, according to the US, “deter mined to make economies less free and less fair to grow their militaries and to control information and data to repress their soci eties and expand their influence ”
F O R T H E S I X T H E P I S O D E O F I T S N E W S E A S O N , L A N D O F T H E G I A N T S T E L L S T H E S T O R Y O F H O W T H E M E S S A G I N G A P P B E C A M E I N C R E D I B LY P O P U L A R A N D P O W E R F U L A R O U N D T H E G L O B E What happened when Twitter and other social media platforms cracked down on ex tremists F O R M E R I N T E L L I G E N C E O F F I C E R A N D DATA S C I E N T I S T W E LTO N C H A N G E X P L A I N S H OW CO N S P I R AC Y T H E O R I S T S A N D V I O L E N T R AC I S T S F L E D TO S M A L L E R P L AT F O R M S 08 WORLD VIEW 27 August 22_Layout 1 8/26/2022 11:37 PM Page 1
T H e W e s T ' s d A n g e r o u s ly s I m p l e - m I n d e d n A r r AT I v e A b o u T r u s s I A A n d C H I n A
Saturday, 27 August 2022 08 WORLD VIEW common Dreams
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09NEWS Saturday 27 August 2022 | ISLAMABAD
KARACHI: Managing Director Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) Ali J Hamdani briefed the analysts, investors and shareholders about the company’s performance and future prospects during a corporate briefing session held at Pakistan Stock Exchange, Karachi here on Friday While addressing the event, MD SNGPL Ali J Hamdani said that the Company’s profitability has increased from Rs 5 99 billion in FY 2019 20 to Rs 10 99 billion in FY 2020 21 demonstrating 83% growth He cited reduction in UFG and financial charges, operational excellence and technological solutions as the key contributing factors behind it He also informed that the company’s profitability for the first quarter of FY 2021 22 stands at Rs 3 03 billion MD SNGPL Ali J Hamdani acknowledged the role of the management and Board of Directors in the current turnaround and profitability of the Company He also said that technology utilization as well as network upgradation initiatives also greatly contributed to the growth of the Company He briefed the participants on initiatives of SCADA installation, GIS mapping of network, launch of mobile apps to further improve customer services and establishment of kiosks at public places MD SNGPL emphasized on human resource capacity building to achieve sustainable success pr paf ramps up relief effor ts in flood-affected areas
The national food security minister expressed his grief over the loss farm ers are enduring due to extensive rain fall and floods in the country He said that it is a hard time for farmers as the agriculture sector has been affected the most “The ministry of national food security and research will do whatever it can to provide relief to the flood vic tims,” he vowed
ISLAMABAD: Canadian High Commissioner Ms Wendy Gilmour on Friday appreciated the efforts of incumbent government for providing low cost housing to the vulnerable and poor segments of the society She said the Canadian companies would be encouraged to explore low cost housing opportunities in Pakistan
snGpl mD holds corporate briefing session at psX
corporate corner
As per the study details seven of the most popular gig economy plat forms in Pakistan have been rated ac cording to how fairly they treat workers Only three companies were able to earn a score, obtaining one out of 10 each The study found that most of the companies failed to ensure minimum standards of fair work such as ensur ing all workers earn above the national minimum wage This is the first study of its kind in Pakistan, scoring companies on labour standards such as pay, employment conditions, contracts, management and representation Dr Aliya Hashmi Khan, a Labour Economist, Mutaher Khan a Columnist at Dawn News Yaseen Aslam Presi dent ADCU, Zahoor Awan, Member of ILO governing Body, Syed Muham mad Ali a Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, Raja Faiz ul Hassan Faiz,
The meeting estimated that the cost of land preparation for cultivation dur ing the coming rabi season will be higher because of the destruction caused by the recent floods Cheema said that a profitable support price will provide relief to the farmers by helping them recover their losses
Ministry of National Food Security and Research has started a consultative process with the provinces to finalise the wheat support price ahead of the current fiscal year ’s wheat harvesting season According to officials at the min istry, a special meeting was held to dis cuss the availability of wheat stocks and the revised support price The meeting was chaired by Minister NFS&R Tariq Bashir Cheema During the meeting, the minister opined that proposals regarding the support price should be such that farmers are able to make a profit from their crops, adding that the productivity of wheat can only be improved if farmers make a profit for their hard work
The Economic Coordination Com mittee (ECC) of the Cabinet will take a final decision on the minimum wheat support price after proposals from the provinces are received by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research Cheema said that the import of wheat for building strategic reserves is putting unnecessary stress on the coun try’s foreign exchange reserves, there fore, it is imperative that the productivity of farmers and areas under cultivation are enhanced
The contract for four multi role frigates (Type 054 A/P) for Pakistan Navy was signed be tween Pakistan and China in June 2018 PNS Tughril, the lead ship of Type 054 A/P was inducted into PN fleet in January this year The second ship PNS Taimur was commissioned on June 23rd at Shanghai, China During return passage to Pak istan PNS Taimur port called Hong Kong, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and partic ipated in bilateral naval exer cises with various friendly countries While addressing at the cer emony, Chief of the Naval Staff emphasized that Type 054 A/P frigates are state of the art, po tent and multipurpose platforms which will serve Pakistan Navy for years to come The chief guest emphasized that such proj ects are manifestation of the trust and mutual cooperation that exists with our time tested friends Naval Chief also high lighted importance of the devel oping geo strategic environment in Indian Ocean and emphasized the need to have a potent Naval Force in order to counter rising maritime challenges He underlined the impor tance of strong maritime defence and security for Pakistan and re iterated that induction of state of the art ships will significantly enhance Pakistan Navy's capa bility of safeguarding maritime interests of Pakistan Later, the Chief Guest handed over tradi tional Ship's scroll to Com mander Pakistan Fleet followed by prayers from Almighty The ceremony was attended by worthy guests from Embassy of China and serving/ retired of ficers of Tri services
canadian firms to be encouraged to explore low cost housing sector in pakistan: envoy
The envoy was talking to Secretary Ministry of Housing and Works Secretary Iftikhar Ali Shallwani in a meeting here at his office Various bilateral issues especially promoting Pakistan Canada long standing relationship and exploring low cost housing opportunities in Pakistan came under discussion in the meeting The secretary housing extended an invitation to Ms Wendy Gilmour to attend the upcoming first International Housing Expo 2022, which she accepted Ms Wendy said she was glad to know that Canadian companies would attend the expo p r fauji fertilizer undertakes flood relief operation in sindh
PN induc ts 2nd 054 A/P multi role
KARACHI: Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) being a nationalistic business enterprise has always been at the forefront of community service in distressed times Owing to prevailing devastation in the country due to excessive rain spells causing floods, the Company has commenced its humble flood relief program on 24 August 2022 in coordination with civil administration in efforts to reach out to people in remote and neglected / cut off flood hit areas of Sindh (District Ghotki) The crisis warrants mobilization of available resources by all stakeholders including the industrial sector to support the flood victims In this respect, the Company has generously donated Rs 10 million for the affecteeswhile the employees at MirpurMathelo plant site have personally raised additional amount of Rs 1 1 million to empathize with their calamity struck brethren For continual mobilization of resources and extension of flood relief support, FFC team visited Shank Bund area on 25 August 2022 which has become inaccessible due to floods The team traversed the distance on foot anddistributed cooked meals and packs of dry rations amongst the populace of more than one thousand people Pledging to stand shoulder to shoulder with the nation in distraught times, FFC reaffirms its resolve to continue providing all possible assistance to the community in general and flood affectees in particular pr
KARACHI s ta f f r e p o r t
Pakistan’s 2pc labour force engaged in gig economy: Repor t
The meeting unanimously agreed that the announcement of a profitable support price well before the wheat sowing season will encourage wheat growers to increase area under cultiva tion which could result in saving $1 billion of the national exchequer that is being spent on importing the staple
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has ramped up its relief efforts in the flood hit areas as the intense flooding caused by torrential monsoon rains have caused loss of dozens of precious lives and left hundreds homeless across the country Given the rapidly deteriorating situation, the PAF beefed up its relief activities and has come to the succour of flood affected families of Nurwah, Madpur, Kot Magsi, Fazilpur, Basti Jindushah, Hajipur, Basti Dhundi Pull, Basti Lakha, Bigo Kaka, Jageer Gabool and Saeedabad areas which by far have received zero to very limited support, a PAF news release said "The PAF Bases are actively participating in relief operations in Balochistan, Sindh and South Punjab PAF is reaching out to the needy families who have been badly hit in the natural calamity", it added The PAF distributed 785 cooked food packs, some ration packs carrying 2,860 pounds basic food items and commodities amongst the needy families in the last 24 hours Moreover, 158 patients were also attended by its medical teams pr
G o v t, p r o v i n c e s m u l l o v e r w h e at s u p p o r t p r i c e f o r f Y 2 3
The induction ceremony of PNS Taimur, second of four Type 054 A/P multi role frigates was held at PN Dockyard, Karachi Chief of the Naval Staff Ad miral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi graced the occasion as chief guest, said a news release on Friday
ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t
The new report “Pakistan Ratings 2022: Labour Standards in the Plat form Economy” has been conducted by Fairwork Foundation, Oxford Uni versity UK and Centre for Labour Re search, Pakistan which reveals best and worst practices in gig economy
Pakistan has nearly 2 percent of its labour force engaged in the gig econ omy through online and location based services According to a study conducted here recently, an estimated half a mil lion workers in the country work in the location based platform economy, but it has been encouraging a race to the bottom regarding working conditions
Former Central Labour Law Advisor and Azhar Malik, Deputy Secretary HRD, Ministry of OP and HRD were the panelists at the launch event of the Fairwork Report Iftikhar Ahmad, Founder CLR and Principal Investigator of the Fairwork Pakistan said: “For the first time we have looked at companies offering ride hailing services, food delivery and courier and domestic services to rate them on how they treat their workers The report, ranks platforms against five principles of Fairwork giving each company a score out of ten The report finds that the majority of the seven plat forms are failing to meet the basic stan dards of fairness when benchmarked against the Fairwork principles Publishing this study, researchers from Centre for Labour Research, are calling for stronger protections and more robust labour standards in the Pakistan platform economy Dr AliyaKhan elaborated the issue of gender disparity, the gig economy work and important issues like the glaring disparity in the employment of women and men in South Asia Muta her Khan highlighted the possible rea sons behind negative income and how it can be catered through social secu rity Yaseen Aslam talked about land mark ruling against a private company in the UK and its positive impact on the gig workers Zahoor Awan, Member ILO Gov erning Body, discussed provision of workers’ rights through trade unions Syed Muhammad Ali shared his views about casualization of labour over decades Azhar Malik ensured govern ment’s support for the draft legislation on digital platform workers frigate PNS Taimur in fleet
ISLAMABAD G h u l a m a b b a s t H E
It may be noted that during the last fiscal (FY22) the production of wheat declined by nearly 4% to 26 394 mil lion tonnes (MT) as compared to the 27 464 MT production in FY21 The major reasons for the decline were a re duction in the area sown, shortfall in ir rigation water drought conditions at the time of sowing, low fertilizers off take and the heat wave in March and April even though the government in creased the minimum support price to Rs2,200 per 40kg, aligned with the cost of production
The new form removed requirement for information regarding nucleic acid test, previous infections and vaccination dates, Global Times reported The updated form came after dozens of Chinese embassies resumed two types of visa services for foreigners, after it largely suspended issuing visas to foreign students and others more than two years ago at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic
The ninth version of the declaration form also improved or adjusted some items that often raised questions for travelers, making it more convenient to understand and fill in, according to the customs
It also added the function of an online consent letter for sampling to make it more convenient for inbound and outbound passengers to simplify the on site quarantine process, ensuring effective health quarantine work at the front line to protect the health and safety of the Chinese people The eighth version of the health declaration form took effect from July 19, 2021 Compared with the previous versions, the eighth version of the form added items such as whether the person was infected with COVID 19 before “whether the nucleic acid result turned positive after the person recovered” and dates for each vaccine shots This policy adjustment is mainly to facilitate the entry and exit of personnel, because now all entry personnel are subject to the 7+3 policy which means seven days of centralized quarantine followed by three days of home health monitoring, regardless of whether there was a nucleic acid test overseas an expert close to the National Health Commission, who preferred not to be named, told the Global Times Since the new anti COVID playbook was adopted in late June, the quarantine period for international arrivals was shortened to 10 days seven days of centralized quarantine and three days of home quarantine, from the previous 21 days
The rampant cost of living crisis has dominated the race between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to succeed Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson Political opponents have accused him of leading a zombie government and doing nothing to address the problem since his res ignation in July Household and business consumers, en ergy suppliers and opposition politicians said urgent action is needed to avoid putting the most vulnerable in desperate situations
An Ethiopian air strike hit the capital of Tigray on Friday, rebel spokespeople and hu manitarian sources said, as the government vowed to “take ac tion” against military targets in the war torn region Reports of an air strike on Mekele came just days after ground fighting resumed between government forces and rebels after a five month lull, ending a truce and dashing hopes of peace talks
The Tigray People’s Liber ation Front (TPLF) said a resi dential area and a kindergarten were struck in the first air strike on the rebel held terri tory in many months “Civilians are dead and in jured” and a rescue operation was under way, Kindeya Ge brehiwot, a TPLF spokesman, told AFP in a message Two humanitarian sources in Ethiopia told AFP they had been notified of an air strike in Mekele, but no details about targets or casualties were im mediately available Shortly after reports of the strike emerged, the govern ment announced it would “take action against the TPLF and warned civilians to stay away from military targets in the northern region “While the readiness of the federal government to talk un conditionally is preserved it will take action targeting the military forces of the TPLF,” the Government Communica tion Service said in a statement International alarm A truce in March paused the worst of the bloodshed and allowed aid convoys to return slowly to Tigray, where the UN says millions are severely hun gry, and fuel and medicine are in short supply But on Wednesday, the warring sides announced a re turn to the battlefield, with both accusing the other of fir ing first as fresh offensives erupted along Tigray’s south ern border Details remain unclear, but it appears the fighting has not spread outside an area border ing Tigray, Amhara and Afar The return to combat has alarmed the international com munity, which has been push ing both sides to peacefully resolve the brutal 21 month war in Africa’s second most populous nation Since the end of June, Abiy’s government and the rebels have repeatedly stated their willingness to enter peace negotiations but disagreed on the terms of such talks In recent weeks, too, they have accused each other of making preparations for a re turn to battle Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 to topple the TPLF, accusing the re gion’s former ruling party of orchestrating attacks on federal army camps
UK cost- of-living crisis worsens as energy price cap nearly doubles
China no longer requires COVID test info for international arrivals
Starting on Wednesday holders of valid APEC Business Travel Cards or study residence permits were allowed to enter China, according to dozens of Chinese embassies including those in the UK, US, France, India, Pakistan and Japan International passengers need to take two PCR tests for COVID 19 within 48 hours of their departure, the second of which must be within 24 hours of their departure
India killing Kashmiris in fake encounters to malign freedom struggle, Pakistan: APHC SRINAGAR: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference has said that Indian troops are killing innocent Kashmiri youth in fake encounters to malign the Kashmiris’ ongoing freedom struggle as well as Pakistan According to Kashmir Media Service the APHC spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said that the occupation troops pick up Kashmiri youth from their homes take them to areas near the Line of Control and kill them in fake encounters after dubbing them as Pakistani militants He said that in a similar fashion the troops martyred three Kashmiri youth in Uri sector of Baramulla on Thursday The aim of all this, the spokesman maintained is to defame the Kashmiris indigenous freedom movement and Pakistan The spokesman said that killing Kashmiris in staged encounters has become a hobby of Indian forces personnel in IIOJK, adding thousands of youth have been killed by the troops in staged encounters in the last 33 years in the occupied territory He said that the large scale killings in staged encounters is a reflection of culture of impunity under which the Indian troops are operating in IIOJK The spokesman said that Pathribal fake encounter of 2000, Machil fake encounter of 2010, Shopian fake encounter of 2020 Lawaypora fake encounter of 2020 and Hyderpora fake encounter in November 2021 were some glaring examples of the cruel tactics being used by India to subdue the freedom sentiment of the Kashmiri people Ag e n c i e s
The latest editorial of the party’s mouthpiece, People’s Democracy, crit icised the announcement of the Chief Electoral Officer of IIOJK on August 16 that around 25 lakh voters including outsiders, are likely to be added after the special summary revision of the electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 “Three years after the virtual abro gation of Article 370 and nullifica tionof the special status on August 5, 2019, the Modi government is contin uing its efforts to reorder the electoral system in Jammu and Kashmir to suit its interests by disempowering the Muslim majority population,” it said “In fact, the addition of around 25 lakh voters to the 76 lakh registered voters would alter in a major way the electoral balance in favour of the BJP and bring about a demographic change, it added “This latest measure on giving vot ing rights to non permanent residents is part of the overall plan to reduce the weightage of the Muslim population in the Valley and in the Jammu region for the purpose of representation in the fu ture assembly All the political parties, except the BJP, have rejected this in clusion of non locals in the electoral list,” it said The CPI M also claimed the changes in the electoral rolls are de signed to help the BJP secure a big ma jority in the Jammu region and to form a government with the help of some splinter groups of smaller parties who have emerged in the Valley “All these preparations for holding an assembly election are being under taken with no assurance that statehood will be first granted to Jammu and Kashmir Further all these measures are being pushed through when the Re organisation Act of 2019 has been chal lenged in the Indian Supreme Court and the matter is pending there,” it said It also said that the last three years have seen an unprecedented attack on democracy and democratic rights of citizens in IIOJK KASHMIRI
BUSINESSMAN AR
Ethiopian air raid hit Tigray as govt vows to strike militar y targets
A University of York study recently es timated two thirds of UK households are at risk of fuel poverty by next year But John son, who has been on holiday twice in recent weeks, has promised to leave major fiscal decisions to his successor The winner will not be announced for another 10 days Foreign Secretary Truss says she favours tax cuts over “handouts” but her challenger, former finance minister Sunak, said that will worsen inflation and has instead proposing further direct support The government has so far offered help including £400 being taken off every house hold s energy bill later this year as well as other targeted support to pensioners and those on disability benefits Finance minister Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News of the £37 billion support pack age: We know that s not enough We ve got to do more,” without giving details Leaders of devolved parliaments in Wales and Scotland and opposition parties have called for an immediate freeze on the price increase Catastrophe
NEW DELHI Ag e n c i e s
The near doubling in the energy cap will likely tip millions into fuel poverty, forcing them to choose between heating or eating, anti poverty experts say Some parents are coming to us in tears terrified about how they are going to feed their children,” said Rossanna Trudgian, head of campaigns and public affairs at Ac tion for Children charity
LONDON Ag e n c i e s British households on Friday faced an eye watering 80 percent hike in electricity and gas bills, in a dramatic worsening of the cost of living crisis before winter as the country awaits a new leader Regulator Ofgem said its energy price cap, which sets prices for consumers who are not on a fixed deal with their supplier, will increase from October 1 to an average £3,549 ($4,197) per year from the current £1,971 Worse is expected to come in January when Ofgem next updates its cap, with aver age bills predicted to top £5,000 or more Ofgem blamed the increase on the spike in global wholesale gas prices after the lift ing of Covid restrictions and Russian restric tions on supplies But it sparked outcry about the effect on already financially squeezed households pensioners and the sick and growing calls for people not to pay “Everybody’s gonna have trouble,” said Diane Skidmore, 72, who lives in social housing in south London and makes do on £600 a month She told AFP she would turn off her heat ing in winter and use blankets and jumpers to try to keep her rocketing bills down The chief executive of Marie Curie cancer care charity, Matthew Reed, said terminally ill people it helps need specialist medical equip ment and warned they could freeze to death this winter without further support” UK inflation is already in double digits and forecast to strike 13 percent in the com ing months due to runaway energy bills Inflation is at its highest level since 1982, with industrial action over pay grow ing, and the country is predicted to enter re cession later this year
Ofgem boss Jonathan Brearley acknowl edged the difficulties “I talk to customers regularly and I know that today’s news will be very worrying for many he said ‘Zombie’ government
I n D I A n g O V t s C u t t l I n g e l e C t O r A l D e m O C r A C y I n I I O J K : C P I -m
BEIJING Ag e n c e s
China is moving further to ease anti COVID 19 restrictions on international arrivals, with the new health declaration form issued by the General Administration of Customs scrapping requirements for visitors to report information regarding nucleic acid test results, their infection status and vaccination dates
ADDIS ABABA Ag e n c e s
The latest move followed several recent steps taken by Chinese authorities to make it more convenient for international visitors entering China, including resuming two types of visa services for foreign nationals
10 FOREIGN NEWS Saturday 27 August 2022 ISLAMABAD
t H E Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI M) has said that the Indian govern ment is scuttling electoral democracy in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and is continuing its efforts to disem power the Muslim majority population in the territory
RESTED AT DELHI AIRPORT: The Indian agency arrested a Kashmiri businessman at Indira Gandhi Interna tional Airport in New Delhi Indian State Investigation Agency (SIA) arrested one Farooq Ahmed Naikoo after he reached Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Farooq Ahmed Naikoo, whose fa ther was martyred in custody by Indian troops in the 80s in Baramulla town, was a decade ago also arrested on a fake case by Indian agency under black law in Mumbai The victim was doing a business come job in the UAE for a long time On the other hand, the Indian State Investigation Agency (SIA), Jammu unit, filed a fake charge sheet in Jammu court against Abdul Rashid and martyred Sartaz Ahmed for re cruiting youths for ongoing freedom struggle under the black law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Sartaz Ahmed was martyred by Indian troops in 2009 Meanwhile, the High Court of the territory has upheld the detention and dismissed the petitions of Syed Mo hammad Azhar Amin Shah and Rayees Ahmad Butt The both victims are fac ing illegal detention under black law, Public Safety Act
“However, relaxing requirements does not mean China is abandoning its dynamic zero COVID strategy,” the experts noted The ninth version of the health declaration form will be put into use starting from August 31 and international visitors could report their health status online by filling out a form on the related WeChat account or webpage
More than 115,000 have pledged to protest on October 1, said the Don’t Pay ac tion group, which wants bills reduced to af fordable levels
Saturday 27 August 2022 | ISLAMABAD 11SPORTS IsLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t
More than 140 foreign players registered for Pakistan Junior League Noor, Ashab, Nasir move to semifinals of PSF-Combaxx Int’l Squash Tournament
In the first quarterfinal World No 110 Noor Zaman outwitted compatriot World No 144 Farhan Zaman 11 3, 11 7, 6 11, 11 7 in 32 minutes, while in the second quarterfinal World No 151 Muhammad Ashab Irfan edged passed World No 233 Hafiz Zhafri of Malaysia in a seesaw battle 11 9, 13 11, 7 11, 14 12 in 60 min utes In the third quarterfinal World No 115 Nasir Iqbal of Pakistan defeated compatriot World No 152 Hamaz Khan in a well fought contest 11 6, 11 6, 9 11, 11 6 in 45 minutes
G a b y w a s o n l y 2 1 , b u t i n 2 0 2 2 , s h e c a p t a i n e d h e r n a t i o n a l s i d e i n a s e r i e s against South Africa, becoming
wickets in Tests 53 in ODIs and 35 in T20Is With the bat Gard n e r h a s s c o r e d 1 5 7 r u n s i n Te s t s , 6 6 7 i n ODIs and 916 in T20Is, with 11 fifty plus s c o r e s S h e i s c u r r e n t l y r a n k e d N o 6 a n d N o 2 i n t h e M R F Ty r e s I C C Wo m e n ’s Player
11 Sports 27 AUGUST_Layout 1 8/26/2022 11:40 PM Page 1
Benzema sets sights on Ballon d ’O r and World Cup
P A K I S TA N’S rising sensation Fa tima Sana has been selected by the International Cricket Council (ICC) among four other players as 100% Cricket Superstars This forms part of the ICC s ongoing 100% Cricket movement, which celebrates the abundant talent on offer in the women’s game Following the recent conclusion of the historic inclusion of women’s cricket at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the excitement is growing ahead of another inaugural global event in the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in January, which is followed closely by the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, also in South Africa,” said Wasim Khan, ICC Gen eral Manager Cricket “The players selected today are incredi bly talented and a credit to the countries they represent They are the future of the women’s game Meanwhile, at only 20, Fatima has already emerged as one of the most promising prospects in Pakistan women’s cricket Her contributions have already seen her claim some major honours, being named the 2021 ICC Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year Having made her international debut in 2019, Sana has played 21 ODIs and seven T20Is in a blossoming career, with many memorable performances The pace bowling all rounder has picked up 27 wickets in the 50 over format, with a career best of 5/39, while also aggregating 177 runs In seven T20I matches, she has picked up seven wick ets with best figures of 3/27
T h e v e t e r a n d u o h a d m a d e t h e m o s t o f h e l p f u l , overcast conditions after South Africa captain Dean Elgar ’s decision to bat first backfired Struggling opener Crawley had a lucky break on 24 when after aiming legside against Nortje a leading edge looped safely over point N o r t j e ’s s p e e d e v e n t u a l l y p r o v e d t o o m u c h f o r
The other four rising players include India’s star opener Smriti Mandhana, Aus tralia’s all rounder Ashleigh Gardner, Eng land s Sophia Dunkley and Ireland s ace cricketer Gaby Lewis Still only 26, Smriti was close to com pleting a decade in international cricket Her record speaks for itself, combining aggres sion at the top of the order along with a heavy penchant for scoring some big runs Mandhana has played 74 ODIs, aggregating 2892 runs at an average of 42 52, with five centuries and 23 fifties In T20I cricket she has 2192 runs in 92 games, with 16 half cen turies to her name Mandhana has also played four Tests and has one century and two fifties in the format A s h l e i g h ’s c a r e e r h a s a l r e a d y s e e n a fair share of highs The supremely talented a l l r o u n d e r c a n l a y c l a i m s t o h a v i n g h a d her hands on the ICC Women’s T20 World C u p i n 2 0 2 0 , t h e I C C Wo m e n s C r i c k e t World Cup in 2022 and the Gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in the same year The 25 year old has played three Tests, 4 9 O D I s a n d 6 0 T 2 0 I s a l r e a d y i n a s h o r t career, while excelling in all aspects of the game She has four Rankings for all rounders in ODIs and T20Is respectively Sophia was slowly carving out a career in all three formats, after initially having made her name in T20 cricket Dunkley has played three Tests, 22 ODIs and 33 T20Is for England, aggregating 152, 634 and 305 runs respectively The right hand batter has one century and six fifties in international cricket one of the youngest ff o r d o n F r i d a y England were 308 5 at tea on the second day, 161 runs ahead of South Africa s meagre first innings of 1 5 1 , w i t h a l l r o u n d e r S t o k e s 9 8 n o t o u t a n d w i c k e t keeper Ben Foakes, offering fine support, unbeaten on 61 T h e p a i r h a d s o f a r s h a r e d a n u n b r o k e n s t a n d o f 161, having come together with England still trailing a t 1 4 7 5 a f t e r f a s t b o w l e r A n r i c h N o r t j e r e m o v e d overnight batsmen Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley in a superb burst of two wickets for three runs in seven balls England bidding to level this three match series after a crushing innings and 12 run defeat in the first Te s t a t L o r d ’s t h e i r f i r s t l o s s f o l l o w i n g f o u r s u c cessive wins under the leadership of Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum resumed on 111 3, 40 runs be hind Crawley was 17 not out and Bairstow unbeaten on 38 after a top order collapse had threatened to undo the good work of James Anderson, who took 3 32 on his Lancashire home ground and fellow paceman Stu art Broad (3 37)
ever captain s in women s inter national cricket PA k I S TA N ’ S FAT I m A N A m e D A S 1 0 0 % C r I C k eT S U P e r S TA r S M A N C H e s T e R U N I T e D k I N G D O M a g e n c e S B e n S t o k e s w a s o n t h e v e rg e o f a f i r s t c e n t u r y s i n c e b e i n g a p p o i n t e d E n g l a n d ’s f u l l t i m e c a p t a i n a s t h e h o s t s e s t a b l i s h e d a c o m m a n d i n g a d v a n t a g e o v e r S o u t h A f r i c a i n t h e s e c o n d Te s t a t O l d Tr a
Bairstow out for 49 when he edged a reverse swing ing ball to first slip where Sarel Erwee, who has made a habit of juggling chances this series, clung on at the first attempt to break a stand of 91 with Crawley England then lost their fifth wicket when Crawley was caught behind after edging a fine Nortje delivery that moved late off the seam to end a determined in nings of 38 off 101 balls
T h e P a k i s t a n J u n i o r L e a g u e r e c e i v e d a n o t h e r s h o t i n the arm as more than 140 players completed their reg i s t r a t i o n s f o r t h e t o u r n a m e n t t h r o u g h t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e cricket boards as well as clubs and professional repre sentative submissions The Pakistan Cricket Board has received a great re s p o n s e f r o m c r i c k e t b o a r d s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d w h o w h o l e h e a r t e d l y a p p r e c i a t e d a n d b a c k e d t h i s u n i q u e c o n c e p t o f p r o v i d i n g e m e rg i n g c r i c k e t s t a r s a w o r l d class platform for displaying their talent and skills South Africa and New Zealand cricket boards while offering their support for the PJL were not in a position t o n o m i n a t e p l a y e r s f o r t h e f i r s t s e a s o n a s t h e e v e n t dates clash with the academic examinations of their el igible players PCB has received player entries from eight Test play ing (ICC full member) boards which include Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe Besides the Test playing nations, the PCB has also re ceived player nominations from Austria, Belgium, Canada Denmark Nepal The Netherlands Saudi Arabia Singapore, Scotland and the UAE
LAHORe S ta f f R e p o R t
Meanwhile, through the PJL social media campaign more than 2500 videos were submitted by aspiring crick eters from all over Pakistan The videos are being assessed by PCB coaches and the final list of players selected from the campaign who would be added to the draft will be shared in due course Players born on or after 1 September 2003 are eligible for the PJL 2022 edition The inaugural edition of the PJL will be held at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore from 6 to 21 October The final list of players eligible for the draft including foreign nom inations will be shared before the draft P J L To u r n a m e n t D i r e c t o r N a d e e m K h a n s a i d o n Friday : We want to thank the cricket boards that have backed this unique concept that will potentially rede fine the junior cricket landscape not only in Pakistan but around the world T h e P a k i s t a n C r i c k e t B o a r d i s f u l l y f o c u s s e d o n delivering a quality event that will not only provide a platform to teenage stars but will also inspire millions of children as well as aspiring cricketers in their early to mid teens
IsTANBUL a f p For Karim Benzema, the UEFA men’s player of the year prize is unlikely to be the last recognition he receives for his role in Real Madrid’s memorable run to Champions League glory last season The Ballon d’Or will surely follow in October, before he heads to the World Cup in Qatar with France in November and December with the aim of complet ing a truly remarkable career renais sance It is not long ago that Benzema who will turn 35 the day after the World Cup final in December, was a pariah, frozen out of the France team for five and a half years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sextape involv ing his former teammate Mathieu Val buena The Lyon native went on trial late last year and was handed a one year sus pended prison sentence along with a fine of 75,000 euros ($74,659) In June he decided not to appeal his conviction, eager to turn the page and keep the focus on football
Benzema scored an astonishing 44 goals in 46 games for Real last season including 27 in La Liga as he ended the campaign as the top scorer in Spain s top flight by a distance But his very best form came in the Champions League, in which he was also the leading marksman with 15 goals in just 12 appearances Wearing the captain’s armband, Ben zema scored five times in the group stage for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, but the best was to come in the knockout rounds He scored a stunning hat trick in 17 second half minutes in the spectacular last 16 comeback win over Paris Saint Germain and another away to Chelsea in the quarter final first leg It was also his extra time goal in the return leg of that tie that nipped a Chelsea comeback in the bud, and he then scored three more goals over both legs of the semi final against Manchester City, including an extra time spot kick in the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu which secured Real s spot in the final “Football is difficult, there are mo ments when you are dominated and have to hang in there At Madrid we never give up,” said Benzema He was not the standout player in the final itself, with Vinicius Junior scoring the only goal of the game and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in inspired form at the other end Courtois was also nominated for the UEFA prize, along with Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne but there was little question of anyone other than Ben zema being crowned “What is most important to me is to win collective trophies If you do things well on the field, individual awards will follow,” said Benzema This season has already started with Benzema who was a prodigious young talent at hometown team Lyon before moving to Real aged 21 in 2009 scor ing as Real beat Eintracht Frankfurt to win the UEFA Super Cup in Helsinki The Ballon d’Or should be next, and then Benzema will set his sights on the World Cup a trophy he missed out on winning with France in 2018 during his long international exile
IsLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t Pakistan’s Noor Zaman, Muhammad Ashab Irfan and Nasir Iqbal advanced to the semifinals of PSF Com baxx Men International Squash Tournament after thrashing their respective opponents in the quarterfi nals at Mushaf Squash Complex, Islamabad on Friday
Wasim Jr ruled out of Asia Cup; Hasan named as replacement News Desk
Fast bowler Mohammad Wasim Jr has been ruled out of the ACC T20 Asia Cup due to a left side strain He had picked up the injury while bowling in Pakistan s practice session on Wednesday The bowler was assessed by the team medical staff, and MRI scan in Dubai confirmed the diagnosis The findings were discussed with the PCB Medical Advisory Committee, while an independ ent review by a specialist physiotherapist was also sought The medical team will closely monitor Wasim’s rehabilitation and his return to competi tive cricket will be reassessed before the England tour to Pakistan Meanwhile, Hasan Ali, has been named as Wasim’s replacement, which is subject to the Event Technical Committee s approval As soon as the ETC approves Hasan as a replacement player, the bowler will depart for the UAE Hasan Ali was sought as a replacement player by the team management and the request was accepted by the chief selector Hasan had been working on his bowling in the National High Performance Centre for the past three weeks and is presently in Rawalpindi, preparing for the National T20, which commences on 30 August
“This event is a potential game changer for youth cricket and the strong nominations list received by the P C B i s a n i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e i n t e r e s t o f t h e c r i c k e t i n g world in the PJL ”
In the last quarterfinal World No 188 Abdallah Elmasry of Egypt defeated World No 146 Ahsan Ayaz of Pakistan 11 8, 11 3, 11 9 in 36 minutes The semifinals will be played on Saturday Unvaccinated Djokovic to miss US Open PARIs a f p Novak Djokovic withdrew from the US Open on Thursday as his refusal to get vaccinated means he cannot travel to the United States in a move which had been widely anticipated It is the second Grand Slam the 35 year old Serb will miss due to not being jabbed after he was deported prior to the Australian Open ear lier this year “Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open, tweeted Djokovic, a three time US Open champion “Good luck to my fellow players! I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again See you soon tennis world ” Djokovic’s announcement came just 90 min utes before the draw for the final Slam of the season was made in New York Organisers announced he would be replaced in the draw by a lucky loser from qualifying Stacey Allaster, US Open Tournament Di rector, regretted the absence of a player who has won 21 Grand Slams just one behind the men’s record held by Rafael Nadal “Novak is a great champion and it is very unfortunate that he will be unable to compete at the 2022 US Open as he is unable to enter the country due to the federal government’s vaccination policy for non U S citizens, Allaster said in a statement We look forward to welcoming Novak back at the 2023 US Open ” Tennis legend John McEnroe had blasted the Djokovic ban as a joke At this point, in the pandemic we’re two and a half years in I think peo ple in all parts of the world know more about it, and the idea that he can t travel here to play, to me is a joke ” said McEnroe Ironically during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Djokovic was al lowed to compete at New York where he was cham pion in 2011 2015 and 2018 S tokes eyes centur y as England build large lead over S outh Afric a
Former prime minister and PML N supremo Nawaz Sharif has denied any negative comments attributed to him regarding his sibling and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying there is no truth in such reports He rather wished Shehbaz well for his tireless efforts to bring the country out of mess created by former premier Imran Khan on Friday Taking to his Twitter handle, Nawaz wrote: “The negative comments attributed to me about PM Shahbaz Sharif are misleading and incorrect I remain hopeful that the sincere and tireless efforts by SS under the most challenging circumstances will bear fruit and he will steer the country out of the mess created by Imran Khan ” On the other hand, Shehbaz Sharif is reaching out to international donors for their help to respond to the scale of flood calamity, saying that he would be meeting the ambassadors and high commissioners today (Friday) We have reached out to donors friendly countries & international financial institutions for assistance to respond to the scale of flood calamity I will be meeting Islamabad based ambassadors & high commissioners tomorrow to apprise them of nature of challenge & need for help Nawaz’s clarification comes amid indications of an internal rift within the party Signs of the purported friction were visible as early as May, less than two months into a PML N coalition coming to power following the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan through a no confidence vote PML N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who was once seen as the party supremo’s heir apparent, had openly endorsed at a May 19 rally in Sargodha Imran’s demand for fresh elections while the new coalition setup was struggling in the face of an economic crisis
Pakistan summons Indian diplomat to condemn extrajudicial killing of Pakistani in IIOJK ISLAMABAD s ta f f R e p o R t Pakistan on Friday summoned the Indian Charge d Affaires in Islamabad to foreign ministry to lodge a strong protest on the extra judicial killing of a Pakistani civil prisoner by Indian Occupation Forces in a fake encounter in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir The Indian forces had extra judicially killed Pakistani prisoner, Muhammad Ali Hussain, who had been jailed in Kot Bhalwal Prison in the IIOJK since 2006 The Indian diplomat was told that Hussain s death under mysterious circumstances at a location away from the prison, had once again substantiated Pakistan’s long standing position that Indian Occupation Forces in the IIOJK are routinely involved in undertaking choreographed attacks and extrajudicial killings of Pakistani and Kashmiri prisoners He was also reminded of the case of Zia Mustafa, another Pakistani prisoner, who was murdered by Indian authorities in a similar fake encounter last year It was underscored that the narrative being spun that Muhammad Ali Hussain had allegedly attacked the security forces and attempted to escape when he was being taken to a suspected weapons’ smuggling site was not only fallacious but deceptive, the Foreign Office spokesperson said He said the reality was that Hussain’s death was nothing but cold blooded murder Pakistan s serious concerns over the safety, security and well being of other Pakistani prisoners in Indian custody were also raised While outrightly rejecting the implausible explanation proffered in the case of Muhammed Ali Hussain, Pakistan has demanded that the Indian government must immediately share the details of this particular incident Pakistan sought a credible post mortem report to determine the cause of death and undertake a transparent investigation to bring to account whoever is responsible for the murder of the Pakistani prisoner “Government of India has also been called upon to ensure prompt and expeditious repatriation of the mortal remains of the deceased to Pakistan, as per the wishes of his family,,’ the spokesperson added Pakistan also reiterates its call to the international community to hold India accountable for its gross and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and ensure that Pakistani and Kashmiri prisoners under Indian custody are not expended as cannon fodder in the execution of India s nefarious designs in the IIOJK
The former prime minister said inflation cannot be stopped until economic stability comes to the country Taking a swipe at the coalition government, Imran said that the country is ruled by criminals and one of them is abroad Sharing his views on the up coming by elections, Imran added that his party will make a clean sweep Imran also shared a post on his Twitter and penned, “Went today with CM KP to see the flood devastated areas of DI Khan & Tank today “The level of destruction is massive and have discussed with the CM how to improve scale and speed of the assistance to affectees including preven tive measures against spread of disease, especially in children”, the former premier added Earlier, former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mah mood Khan visited Dera Ismail Khan to review the re lief and rehabilitation activities in the flood hit area
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The Flood Relief Centres being es tablished in various parts of the country would assist collection, transportation and distribution of flood relief goods to flood victims in various provinces The Army troops were shifting people to safer places, providing shelter, meals and busy in medical care to flood affectees In Sindh light rains were reported in the province where Mohenjadaro re ceived the maximum rainfall of 38 mil limeters (mm) It added that some 13 individuals died due to incidents of structure col lapse and drowning in Sanghar, Larkana and Khairpur areas In Qambar Shahdad Kot a local bund west of Warah breached due to excessive water flow due to which 600 people were affected Moreover, the Army Relief efforts continued in the flood hit areas whereas a tent village was established at Thatta for 60 families
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DI KHAN s ta f f R e p o R t Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday said that the only way to avoid disaster and devastation caused by floods is to build dams
F of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday reached Karachi where he was briefed about flood situation in Sindh and Balochistan and response measures to help the flood victims
LONDON s ta f f R e p o R t
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The PTI chairman visited the flood affected areas of the province along with KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, where both Imran and Mahmood inspected the damages and relief activities in the af fected districts While visiting the camp of flood af fected people in Dera Ismail Khan, the former prime minister said that Sindh and Balochistan have faced more destruction due to floods He said that even in 2010, the country did not suffer from floods as much as it is suffering now Emphasizing the importance of construction of dams to prevent floods the PTI chairman said there were plans to build 10 dams across the country dur ing his tenure He appealed to the people of the country to extend their support for the relief and re habilitation of the flood affected people
According to details, the PTI chairman was given a briefing on the damage caused by the un precedented rains and floods as well as relief and re habilitation work in Dera Ismail Khan
Nawaz denies any rift between him and Shehbaz
RAWALPINDI/KARACHI s ta f f R e p o R t C
The forward bases were still func tional at Nagarparker, Badin, Thatta, Su jawal, Sangarh, Jamshoro, Mirpur Khas and Dadu districts for providing ration and relief items among flood affectees As many as three additional forward bases were established at Tando Allah Yar and Matiari The mobile medical teams were providing medical care in far flung areas of the province In Kot Diji the Army teams carried out dewatering operations and also dis tributed ration bags In Khairpur, the evacuation operation was carried out by the army troops and they also carried out distribution of ration packets among the flood affectees In Noshero Feroze, the army troops executed a dewatering oper ation and distributed ration bags in the area amongst the flood affectees
US ‘democratic ’ order in Pakistan Imran K han charged cope
with floods devastation
The COAS would also visit army troops busy in rescue and relief efforts in Sindh and Balochistan, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said According to the ISPR press release, the Army Flood Relief centre was estab lished at Headquarters Army Air Defence Command in Rawalpindi to oversee, co ordinate National Flood Relief efforts across the country in coordination with Military Operations Directorate
The weekly SPI with base year 2015 16 100 covers 17 urban centers and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups It may be noted that the SPI for the lowest consumption group up to Rs17,732 witnessed a 2 66% increase and went up from 219 64 points in last week to 225 48 points during the week under review The items, which recorded decrease in their average prices on WoW basis included pulse masoor which shows a decrease of 1 18%, vegetable ghee 1kg 1 00%, vegetable ghee 2 5kg 0 82% bananas 0 61% cooking oil 5 litre 0 51% sugar 0 28% and mustard oil 0 07% On the other hand, the commodities, which recorded increase in their average prices, tomatoes 43 09%, onions 41 13%, potatoes 6 32%, eggs 3 43%, garlic 2 23%, powdered milk 1 53% and pulse mash 1 12%, non food items, cigarettes 2 26% and LPG 1 95% Commodities that witnessed decrease in prices on a YoY basis include chilies powder for which the price fell 43 42% sugar 16 90% and gur 1 21% whereas commodities that witnessed an increase in prices included tomatoes that saw a surge of 178 10% in prices, onions 155 14%), diesel 108 77%, petrol 94 53%, pulse masoor 90 74%, cooking oil 5 litre 70 61%, washing soap 63 27%, electricity for Q1 63 03%, chicken 55 76% and pulse gram 55 07% Dam construc
The weekly review of the sensitive price index (SPI) has highlighted a record increase in inflation up to 44 58% on a year on year (YoY) basis for the week that ended on August 25, according to data shared by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday According to the PBS, the SPI for the week under review recorded an increase of 1 83, bringing the YoY inflation to an all time high During the week, prices of 23 out of 51 items increased, 7 decreased, while 21 remained stable The SPI for the week under review for the combined consumption group was recorded at 219 97 points against 216 02 points registered in the previous week
reACheS K ArAChI,
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Friday imposed rain emergency in several districts of the province including Swat until August 30, following worst devastation caused by flashfloods and torrential rains with Chief Minister Mahmood directed the PDMA and other department to expedite re lief and rescue activities The decision was taken after flashfloods wreaked havoc in Swat, Shangla, Mingora, Kohistan and other areas Videos circulating on social media show hotels, link roads, sus pension bridges houses hospitals schools mini power stations, and water mills being completely washed away as residents scram ble to find refuge According to a handout issued by the provincial government, the emergency will remain in place in Swat and other areas until August 30 for effective conduct rescue and relief activities in the affected areas According to the PDMA, 251 people have died in the floods across KP since June while over 19,000 houses have been com pletely destroyed In a notification issued on Friday, the KP’s Provincial Emergency Operations Cen tre said that water flows in River Swat at Khawazakhela point and its tributaries/nul lahs had reached high to very high flood lev els 227 899 cusecs which may result in a dangerous situation for communities liv ing in the surroundings of the river It has directed the deputy commissioners of Swat, Lower Dir, Malakand, Mohmand, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera and Pe shawar to immediately identify vulnerable areas and communities at risk to devise mit igation and safety measures
KP govt imposes emergenc y in Swat, other areas to
COAS reCeIveS ON flOOd SItuAtION
ISLAMABAD a p p
tions only way to aver t floods: Imran WASHINGTON ag e n c i e s
& reSPONSe
brIefINg
Weekly inflation surges to record high of 44.6pc on YoY basis
pRayeR timings FA J R S U N R I S E Z U H R A S R M AG H R I B I S H A 4:10 5:00 1:30 5:15 7 08 9:15 saturday 27 August 2022 news Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7 Al Baber Centre F/8 Markaz Islamabad for PT Print (Pvt) Limited Ph: 051 2204545 Email: newsroom@pakistantoday com pk
Maintain enhanced alert level and mon itor the developing situation to reduce reac tion and response times,” the centre said, calling for the sensitisation of people living on the banks of the rivers about the increase in water flows “Make announcements for timely evac uation of the at risk population from low lying/flood prone areas as per evacuation plans it added The PDMA also instructed authorities to evacuate cattle from areas at risk of flooding, as well as restrict vehicle movement there Earlier today, three people drowned in River Indus near Bisham area of Shangla According to the local police, two other men in the Shang area were also swept away dur ing the floods Separately a rural health cen tre in Karora area of Shangla was washed away by floods in the Kana River Moreover, three houses and a mosque were swept away by the roaring floodwater, while roads and bridges leading to Ranolia and Dubair areas had been completely destroyed In Shangla, the Alpuri Puran and Karora Kana roads also suffered several damages at several points creating a sense of panic among the residents as they were re stricted to their houses T h r e e s i s T e r s d i e i n h o u s e c o l l a p s e: Three sisters died when roof of their dilapidated house collapsed due to heavy rains in Shalkanai area of Khal tehsil in Dir on Friday According to police the deceased were identified as Anam Bibi (13), Parera (8) and Aman Bibi (5), daughters of Shah Gee Rehman, who were buried at a local graveyard On the other hand, five brothers were swept away in a hill torrent in Abbottabad, district Lower Kohistan, while the locals succeeded in fishing out one of the siblings alive on Friday
The United States said Thursday that it backed dem ocratic principles in Pakistan after former prime minister Imran Khan, an outspoken critic of Wash ington, was slapped with charges We support the peaceful upholding of demo cratic, constitutional and legal principles,” State De partment spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters “The United States values our longstanding co operation with Pakistan and has always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to US interests,” he said He declined to weigh in more specifically on charges against Imran Khan who was ousted in a parliamentary vote in April but hopes to stage a comeback in elections Imran Khan has staged rallies to rail against his successor Shehbaz Sharif and has alleged a con spiracy against him orchestrated by the United States, allegations repeatedly dismissed in Wash ington as baseless Imran Khan was granted interim bail after being slapped with charges by an anti terror court over comments against a magistrate over the detention of an official in the former prime minister ’s party A c o u p l e o f d a y s a g o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s h a d also declined to comment on the terrorism related c h a rg e s a g a i n s t I m r a n K h a n , s a y i n g i t d o e s n o t side with a political party and it is an internal mat ter of Pakistan
