fl ash appeal as pakistaN
ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t
The unusual y strong monsoon rains have caused devastating floods in large swathes of the countr y, affecting more than 30 mil ion people and killing more than 1 000 and strain ng official relief and rescue efforts Mir Abdul Qudoos bizenjo, the ch ef min ster of balochistan, told reporters the province had suffered more than Rs200 bi lion ($900 million) worth of damage from the more than two months of flooding we are fac ng a lack of financial resources tents and other re ief goods and connectivity as all major highways are badly damaged [ ] hampering our re ief efforts he said adding that his prov nce needed more he p from federal government departments to cope The foreign minister told Reuters on Sunday the countr y needs financial help to deal with “over whe m ng ” floods, adding that he hoped f nanc a institutions such as the International Monetar y Fund (IMF) would take the economic fallout nto account Some in tial analyses by economists have put the cost of the damage at $4 b llion though the foreign minister said it was likely h gher b r i t a n s Q u e e n E l i z a b e t h o n M o n d a y s a i d n a m e s s a g e o f s u p p o r t t o Pr i m e M i n s t e r S h e h b a z S h a r i f : M y t h o u g h t s a r e w i t h a t h o s e w h o h a v e b e e n a f f e c t e d, a s w e l l a s t h o s e w o r k n g i n d i f f i c u l t c i r c u m s t a n c e s t o s u p p o r t t h e r e c o v e r y e f f o r t s ” In kyber Pakhtunkhwa the Swat val ey home to mi lions of peop e was largely cut off from the rest of the countr y due to damaged infrastructure and flood waters loca residents said food and medicine was runn ng out and they had little access to power Pakistan has appea ed for international support and some countr es including Turkey have sent supplies and a rescue team cost at least $10b in losses, says planning minister30 MIllIon PEoPlE In 72 DISTRIcTS oF coUnTRy ADvERSEly AFFEcTED, SAyS bIlAwAl
g PAkISTAn wIll Soon REcEIvE $1.17b AFTER IMF’S ExEcUTIvE boARD APPRovAl oF SEvEnTh AnD EIGhTh TRAnchE
The Pak stani rupee appreciated by al most three rupees against the US dollar in the interbank market on Tuesday morning ma nly because the Interna tiona Monetar y Fund (IMF) revived the much awaited bailout programme According to details, the rupee ap preciated to 219 aga nst the US dollar compared to the previous close of 221 92 per USD The rupee’s recover y comes after the International Monetar y Fund (IMF) approved the seventh and eighth re views of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Faci ity Programme (EFF) The Fund announced that the exec utive board completed the combined seventh and eighth rev ews of the ex tended arrangement under the Ex tended Fund Facil ty (EFF) for Pakistan The board s dec sion al ows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 894 mil ion (about $1 1 b llion), br nging tota purchases for budget support under the arrangement to about $3 9 billion the statement read The economic growth rate of Pak istan in th s f scal year is expected to be 3 5 per cent, unemployment in the countr y is likely to be 6 percent and government expend ture during this f s cal year are estimated at 17 1 per cent of GDP Rupee recoups losses against greenback
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PESHAWAR/QUETTA r e u t e r s balochistan has suffered hundreds of mil ions of dollars in economic damage due to devastation from flooding as damage to h ghways hampers relief efforts the chief minister said on Monday
Floods
ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t
t hE United nations (Un) on Tuesday appealed to the internationa com mun ty for $160 mil ion in emergency a d to provide rel ef to the vict ms of floods in Pakistan Un Secretar y General Antonio Guterres, speaking through a video link during the 2022 Pakistan Floods Response Plan (FRP) event said infrastructure in the affected areas of Pak istan was destroyed by the floods and the countr y was in d re need of help from the in ternational commun ty to help those affected he said Pakistan s in need of $160 m llion in aid for the f ood vict ms, adding that green house gases are causing an ncrease in globa warming During the ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs bilawa bhutto Zardari also appealed for emergency assistance to Pakistan during these times of distress he added that due to climate change heat waves have broken all records in Pak istan and now the countr y is facing heavy rainfa l and f ood ng The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co chair person said more than 30 mi lion people in 72 d stricts of the countr y are current y af fected by the catastrophe while systems of commun cation and crops have been de stroyed and the economy has taken a s gnif cant h t Providing food a roof and rehab litation to the victims is a big chal enge,” bilawal sa d, adding that the benaz r Income Support Programme has a so been helping the affected families Federal M nister for Planning Develop ment and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal also spoke at the event as he is the cha rperson of the Relief coordinat on comm ttee consti tuted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Un high commissioner for Refugees, Un Resident coord nator n Islamabad and the Ass stant Secretar y General of the Interna tional Federation of Red cross and Red cres cent Societies (IFRc) were a so in attendance “ The launch event will be attended by all Un Member States as we as various Un agencies and humanitarian organizations working in the area of d saster relief The FRP will acknowledge the Government ’s overa l humanitarian response to the recent floods caused by unprecedented rains in Pakistan the Fo had stated earlier In tially, authorit es in Pakistan were slow to react but the latest re ports from the troubled regions ind cate the damage caused by current floods is far greater than the super floods of 2010 Unprecedented flash floods caused by h storic monsoon rains have washed away roads crops infrastructure and br dges k lling at least 1,000 peop e n recent weeks and af fecting more than 33 mill on on Monday, c imate Minister Sherr y Rehman and meteorologists told the AP that new monsoons were expected in September Monsoons have hit ear ier and more heavily than usual since the start of summer offic a s say most recently with massive rains last week that affected nearly the entire countr y Pak stan is accustomed to monsoon rains and f ood ng, Rehman said, but not like th s Several scientists say the record breaking flood ng in Pakistan has all the hallmarks of a catastrophe juiced by climate change, but it is too early to formally assign b ame to global warm ng This year Pakistan has received the highest rainfal n at least three decades So far this year the rain is runn ng at more than 780 percent above average leve s sa d Abid Qa yum Suleri, execut ve director of the Sustain able Development Pol cy Institute and a mem ber of Pakistan’s climate change council Extreme weather patterns are turn ng more frequent in the region and Pakistan s not an except on ” Pak stan saw s m lar flooding and devas tat on in 2010 that ki led nearly 2 000 people but the government didn’t implement plans to prevent future f ood ng by prevent ng con struction and homes n flood prone areas and river beds, said Suleri of the climate change council F oods and monsoon ra ns have dam aged one m lion houses and affected 33 mill on people It ref ects how poorer countr es often pay the price for c imate change largely caused by more industrialised nations Since 1959, Pakistan is responsible for on y 0 4 percent of the wor d s historic co2 em ssions The US s responsible for 21 5 percent, ch na for 16 5 percent and the EU for 15 percent
floods iN history
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UN issUes $160m grapples with worst
In the north residents and officials sa d villages were almost entirely cut off from the rest of the countr y due to destruction wrought by heavy ra ns
af ter IMF deal C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 05 P M s t r e s s e s m a k i n g Pa k i s t a n s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t t h r o u g h e c o n o m i c r e f o r m s
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ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t Pr me M nister Muhammad She hbaz Shar f on Tuesday while link ing the rev va of International Monetar y Fund (IMF) programme crit cal to Pakistan’s economy, stressed upon breaking of eco nomic straitjacket through struc tural reforms on his Twitter hand e the prime minister said that the IMF programme offered a pathway to re orient Pakistan s economy and underlined that they would have to work hard to become self sufficient “ Rev va of IMF program, though critical to our economy is not an end n itself It offers a pathway to reorient our econ omy we will have to work hard to make it self sufficient Pakistan must break out of econom c straitjacket which is only possible through structural reforms,” the pr me minister posted n tweet
C o U r t t U r n S d o w n G I l l ’ S b A I l r E q U E S t
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IHC asks interior secretar y to explain travel ban on civil ser vant
Nearly 1,200 people have lost their lives, while more than a million houses have been destroyed or damaged since mid June, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Constant rains and raging floods have also destroyed a large chunk of the infrastructure and agricultural lands, including hundreds of roads and bridges, and washed away nearly a million animals According to the Meteorological Department of Pakistan, the country, which is among the top 10 nations in the world vulnerable to climate change, has received over 200 percent more rains this year than average monsoon showers
The United States (US) on Tuesday announced an additional $30 million in life saving humanitarian assistance for Pakistan following severe rains and flooding The United States, through the U S Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced an additional $30 million in life saving humanitarian assistance to support people and communities affected by severe flooding in Pakistan ” the US embassy in Islamabad announced in a statement Pakistan s government has declared the floods a national emergency with 66 districts declared to be “calamity hit”, said a press release issued by the US Embassy in Pakistan In response to the Pakistani government’s request for assistance the United States will prioritize urgently needed food support, safe water, sanitation and hygiene improvements financial help and shelter assistance the statement read The United States will continue to monitor the crisis in close coordination with local partners and Pakistani authorities it added The United States remains steadfast in its support for affected communities throughout Pakistan ”
Wednesday 31 August 2022 ISLAMABAD 02 NEWS ISLaMaBaD s ta f f R e P o R t
Two more Turkish planes carrying tents rations medicines, and other relief supplies for flood victims landed in Karachi on Tuesday Turkish Consul General in Karachi, Cemal Sagnu, told Anadolu Agency that another two planes are expected to arrive at Karachi’s Jinnah airport later Tuesday evening With the latest arrivals, a total of seven aircraft loaded with relief items have landed in Karachi over the past three days, the Pakistan Army said in a statement
US announces $30m aid for flood-ravaged Pakistan
Staff RepoRt
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the interior secretary over a plea moved by Azam Khan, a career bureaucrat and former principal secretary to then prime minister Imran Khan against placing his name on a so called stop list Any person placed on the “stop list” is not allowed to leave the country Chief Justice Athar Minallah took up the petition on Tuesday The bench directed the secretary of the interior division to appoint a representative officer The counsel for Khan Qasim Wadood told the court his client’s name was added to the no fly list in April “Is he wanted in any case registered against him,” the bench asked No case is registered against him, he is just being subjected to political victimisation,” Wadood replied “A list of similar nature was earlier declared unlawful by the court Does Khan intend to travel abroad,” Justice Minallah asked “Yes he does, and has already secured leave [from the government],” Wadood said The court adjourned further hearing of the case till 10:00 am Wednesday In his plea, Khan challenged the decision of placing his name on the list and requested to the court to reverse the decision Placing a name on the stop list is unlawful and a violation of the relevant court orders,” Khan pleaded “I sought leave for going abroad and my leave from August 25 to September 25 was approved ” he said “After getting leave I came to know that my name has been added to the stop list again ”
Brent stable as market juggles inflation woes with supply fear
Oil prices were stable on Tuesday as the market balanced supply concerns with fears that an inflation induced weakening of global economies would soften fuel demand Brent crude futures for October settlement fell 9 cents, or 0 09 per cent, to $105 a barrel by 0841 GMT, after climbing 4 1pc on Monday, the biggest increase in more than a month The October contract expires on Wednesday and the more active November contract was at $103 03 a barrel, up 0 1pc US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $97 18 a barrel, up 17 cents, or 0 18pc, following a 4 2pc rise in the previous session Inflation is near double digit territory in many of the world’s biggest economies, a level not seen in close to a half century This could prompt central banks in the United States and Europe to resort to more aggressive interest rate hikes that could curtail economic growth and weigh on fuel demand The price fall was capped by the prospect of tighter supplies Saudi Arabia last week raised the possibility of production cuts from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and allies such as Russia, known as Opec+, which sources said could coincide with a boost in supply from Iran should it clinch a nuclear deal with the West The group is due to meet on Sept 5 “Possible reduction in Opec+ production is the reason why the oil market has thumbed its nose at weakening equities and the strong dollar,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM
Relief and desperation in makeshif t flood c amps
Elahi briefs Imran on measures over calamitous flood
A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Tuesday rejected the request for post arrest bail moved by Shahbaz Gill, chief of staff to former prime minister Imran Khan, in a so called sedition case Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal announced the verdict he’d reserved earlier In Monday s proceedings, the counsel for Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) leader revealed that he was willing to tender an apology He said that the complainant a magistrate has accused the PTI leader of sedition and also nominated five other people in his statement to the police “Gill could never think of committing treason, rather the transcript of his statement was altered to misquote him, he alleged and offered that the PTI leader was ready to address any misunderstanding and will even offer apology to address the confusion The counsel of Gill, however, lamented that no one has the right to alter his remarks to blame him for the treason On August 25, Gill filed a bail petition in the sessions court He is currently in jail on judicial remand on charges of sedition and inciting mutiny in the army following his remarks criticising the military Responding to the development, PTI MP Shireen Mazari said the denial of bail to Gill was “shameful” She alleged the state was hellbent on torturing Gill to try and get to” Khan “His torture is now evident before the world How far will conspirators go in desperation to Get IK! So far they have failed at each turn of their vicious plotting!” she tweeted
Staff RepoRt Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and former federal minister Chaudhry Moonis Elahi on Tuesday called on Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to brief the former premier on the measures taken by the provincial government to provide relief to the people affected by the catastrophic flood In a meeting held in Islamabad, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi briefed Imran Khan about the rehabilitation plan for the flood stricken people In the meeting, the issues of mutual interest, political situation and measures taken for the rehabilitation of flood victims were discussed Both Pervaiz Elahi and Moonis Elahi commended PTI Chairman on the most successful telethon held yesterday for the relief and rehabilitation of flood affected people CM Elahi said that he salutes the nation and especially the spirit of Pakistanis living abroad Saying that the nation responded to the voice of Imran Khan, CM Elahi said that the accumulation of billions of rupees on the appeal of the former premier proves that the people have unwavering faith in his [Imran] leadership Considering the success of the PTI Chairman as the victory of Pakistan, Elahi went on to say that under the leadership of Imran Khan, the Punjab government is determined to resettle the flood stricken people as soon as possible KaRaCHI a n a d o l u ag e n c y
India’s Gautam Adani becomes world’s third-richest person
LAHORE: A large number of citizens gather in a post office at Rang Mahal Chowk to pay electricity bills Photo by zuba R Mehfooz WaSHINGtoN R e u t e R s
peSHaWaR/QUetta a f P Makeshift camps have sprung up all over Pakistan in schools, along motorways and at military bases to give shelter to millions of displaced flood victims But the relief at finding safety can turn to desperation for many In Nowshera, a technical college was turned into a shelter for up to 2,500 flood victims, who sweltered in the summer heat with sporadic food aid and little access to water for bathing “We have been only eating rice for the past three days,” 60 year old Malang Jan told AFP “I never thought that one day we will have to live like this We have lost our heaven and are now forced to live a miserable life ” Jan’s family were rescued by boat when his home was submerged in the floods that have swamped a third of the country, killing more than 1,100 people and affecting tens of millions more The college gardens are lined with tents the classrooms are filled with the families who arrived first and grabbed the chance for privacy Others rest shoulder to shoulder in corridors with their meagre bundles of belongings Goats and chickens salvaged from the rising water graze in the campus courtyard The camp of 2,500 is managed by various charities political parties and administrative officials overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster Volunteers hand out tents mattresses water, daal and naan It s a situation of panic, said Mushfiq ur Rehman a district court official who stepped in to oversee food delivery for the local administration “There is enough food but people are getting desperate because they don’t trust if they will get a meal again or not ‘ W e ’ r e h u m i l i at e d ’: It is particularly difficult for women in this deeply conservative region of the country where the all covering burqa is commonly worn, and women rarely mix with men who are not relatives “We are Pashtun people; we don’t come out of our homes often, but now we are forced to come out,” said Yasmin Shah, 56, who is sheltered in a classroom with her family Young women with burqas pulled up over their heads watch from upper floors I cannot come out of this classroom unless I have to ” added another looking after a blind uncle Older women take their place in queues to ensure they get a share of food handouts The heat is worsened when the few working fans stop working because of power cuts There are no showers and only a few toilets available for the displaced “Our self respect is at stake I stink but there is no place to take a shower, said Fazal i Malik who is staying with seven family members in a tent “Our women are also facing problems and they too feel humiliated When food aid arrives at the college,
DeLHI a f P Indian industrialist Gautam Adani became the world s third richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Tuesday, the first time an Asian has ranked in the top three The self made billionaire has seen his net worth more than double to $137 4 billion in the last year, rising 20 spots on the index to now rank just behind Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, Bloomberg News reported Adani, 60, made his fortune in ports and commodities trading and now operates India s third largest conglomerate with interests ranging from coal mining and edible oils to airports and news media His ballooning net worth reflects a stratospheric rise in the market capitalisation of his publicly listed companies, as investors back the Adani Group s aggressive expansion of old and new businesses Shares in the flagship Adani Enterprises of which the billionaire owns 75 per cent have soared more than 2,400pc since March 2020, and doubled in value in the past six months Stock price surges in other group companies including Adani Transmission, Adani Power, Adani Ports and Adani Green Energy have catapulted Adani past fellow Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani Born in the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat to a middle class family Adani dropped out of college to work briefly in the diamond industry before starting his export business in 1988 In 1995, he won a contract to build and operate a commercial shipping port at Mundra in Gujarat, which has since grown to become India’s largest port At the same time Adani expanded into thermal power generation and coal mining in India and overseas
Two more planeloads of relief goods for flood vic tims arrive
The Turkish Relief and Disaster Agency is set to establish a tent village in the Badin district of Sindh for 400 affected families, complete with kitchen and hygiene kits and other facilities
The Turkish Red Crescent is already on the ground in Balochistan, one of the hardest hit provinces, providing clean water and food to thousands of flood affected people The most destructive monsoon spells in Pakistan’s recent history, combined with raging floods, have ripped away mountainsides, ripped building foundations off and inundated over 70 districts turning them into inland rivers
desperate families mob the trucks, and are sometimes pushed back by police armed with long sticks “People send relief goods here but the distribution is not well organised at all, Yasmin said “There are routine scuffles and people have to fight to get some food In the end, some people have a bigger share and others have nothing ” The largest camp in the town was set up at the Pakistan Air Force academy centre sheltering a further 3 000 people in the accommodation usually reserved for training staff Nearby armed members of a local political party have stepped in to protect abandoned homes, using rowing boats to navigate the flooded streets and watch for looters For some fleeing the deluge across the country the only dry areas are elevated roads and railroad tracks, alongside which tens of thousands of poor rural folk have taken shelter with their livestock
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DeRa ISMaIL KHaN s ta f f R e P o R t
BeIJING ag e n c e s Pakistan will continue actively participating in the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) to promote bilateral cooperation in the business sector, said Ghulam Qadir, Commercial Counsellor of Pakistani Embassy According to China Economic Net (CEN) Pakistan will participate in different forums, while Pakistan leading enterprises in China are taking part in CIFTIS as the international forum on development and investment of modern supply chain of food would help Pakistan learn more about China s progress in the field of agriculture and supply chain Pakistani Ambassador Moin ul Haque, and Commercial Counsellor, Ghulam Qadir will participate in the opening ceremony scheduled to be held on August 31 while they will also attend different forums of CIFTIS and sidelines meetings with Chinese officials and enterprises The major enterprises from Pakistan will be displaying Onyx handicrafts, marble products, carpets and handmade wooden antiques while the Ambassador Commercial Counsellor and other officials will visit Pakistan’s pavilion where Pakistani enterprises will set up their stalls Kamil Muhammad CEO of Pak Link enterprises told China Economic Net that they would display marble and wooden handicrafts at CIFTIS and his expectations are very high this year “Our onyx products are very famous not only in China but all over the world We have the largest collection and variety of Rosewood that is famous around the globe, therefore we expected that we could get good buyers this year,” he added ISLaMaBaD s ta f f R e P o R t
ISLaMaBaD s ta f f R e P o R t Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar, Chief of Pakistan Air Force, left for the Islamic Republic of Iran on Tuesday for an official visit at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart The air chief will also other high ranking military officials of the country According to IRNA’s report on Tuesday, the trip is being conducted at the invitation of Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi, Commander of the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran army, which was communicated to his counterpart during the trip of General Vahedi to Pakistan Pakistani chief of Air Staff left for Tehran for a 3 day official visit and in addition to meeting Commander Iranianair force, he is going to meet with other senior military and defense officials of the country Visiting some Air Force centers and Iran’s training and study centers will be among the other plans of the Pakistan Air Force Commander during his official visit This visit takes place less than 2 months after the important visit of the chairman joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan Army to the Islamic Republic of Iran General “Nadeem Reza” during a 4 day trip to Iran in early July of this year, met with senior military officials of Iran and the President of Iran, Ayatollah Dr Raisi wwF-Pak appeals donors for relief, rehabilitation of flood affectees
Air Chief Marshal Zaheer babar leaves for official visit to Iran
NA panel directs stringent measures to control medicine prices
NeWS DeSK N a t i o n a l A s s e m b l y S t a n d i n g C o m m i t t e e o n N a t i o n a l H e a l t h S e r v i c e s , R e g u l a t i o n s & C o o r d i n a t i o n o n Tu e s d a y e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n o v e r p o o r p e r f o r m a n c e o f D r u g R e g u l a t o r y A u t h o r i t y o f P a k i s t a n ( D R A P ) a n d d i r e c t e d s t r i n g e n t m e a s u r e s t o c o n t r o l t h e p r i c e s a n d s h o r t a g e o f m e d i c i n e s f r e q u e n t l y b e i n g u s e d b y t h e p a t i e n t s The committee meeting held in Parliament House under the Chairmanship of Dr Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, MNA directed DRAP to develop proper liaison with all provinces to ensure the quality of drugs especially in rural & far flung areas as people of those areas were suffering badly due to unavailability of quality drugs especially lifesaving drugs The committee discussed various issues pertaining to ministry and its attached departments and expressed grave concern over losses caused by recent floods and offered Fateha for the departed souls of innocent citizens The Committee expressed its resolve to work collectively for rehabilitation of the affectees to enable them to restart their routine life The committee asked the ministry of National Health Services Regulations & Coordination to postpone the upcoming exams of MD, CAT as most of the students were not prepared due to heavy rains and flood in the country The Committee expressed dissatisfaction over the acute shortage of quality Nurses in government and private hospitals of Pakistan and directed the ministry of National Health Services Regulations & Coordination to arrange training courses & workshops for capacity building of Nurses and offer various incentives to Pakistani women so that they prefer to join this noble profession The meeting was attended by National Assembly members including Dr Nisar Ahmed Cheema, Dr Samina Matloob, Ms Zahra Wadood Fatemi, Ayesha Rajab Ali Dr Darshan Mahesh Kumar Malani Dr Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro, Shams un Nisa, Ramesh Lal, & Sajid Mehdi and senior officers of the concerned ministries/departments
Flood killed 20, c aused Rs10b losses in DI K han
ECC orders disbursement of Rs 25,000 per household in c alamit y affec ted distric ts
NeWS DeSK t H E Sindh and Lahore high courts on Tuesday retrained the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from taking action against the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leaders Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry Fawad Chaudhry had moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench against the electoral watchdog’s contempt of commission notice Earlier this month, the ECP had issued contempt notices to PTI leaders Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar for levelling allegations at the electoral body and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja The electoral body had directed the opposition leaders to appear before it in person or submit their response through their lawyers on August 31 As Justice Jawad Hassan heard the case today (Tuesday), Fawad’s counsel Advocate Faisal Farid argued that the ECP is not a court and therefore as per the constitution is not protected by the “contempt of court provisions” Subsequently, the court issued a notice seeking a response from the electoral body on September 7 while restraining it from issuing a final order on the matter Meanwhile on Tuesday the ECP held a hearing on the contempt case against PTI chief Imran Khan, party General Secretary Asad Umar and senior member Fawad Chaudhry Imran’s lawyer Ali Bukhari informed the commission during the proceedings that he was unsure why the notice was served” and requested time to submit a response Bukhari said that the order of the commission has also been challenged in the Sindh High Court (SHC) while the LHC has restrained the ECP from taking a decision Later PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry informed the court that the SHC had also stopped the commission in Asad Umar ’s case The former ruling party s lawyer also claimed that they had “learned of the notice only orally” and requested time to submit the power of attorney letters Upon this the commission adjourned the hearing until September 7 While issuing notices earlier, the ECP spokesperson had said in a statement that notices were issued to the PTI chief Imran Khan for using “insulting and unparliamentary remarks” against the electoral body in various speeches The commission had said it issued notices after reviewing the speeches of the PTI leaders which were provided by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on the electoral body’s request The ECP had sought clarification from the PTI leaders on allegations hurled against it
The unprecedented flooding caused by abnormally heavy monsoon rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s major southern district of Dera Ismail Khan have left trail of destruction with infrastructure shattered crops destroyed, villages submerged and several killed Flanked by Provincial Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Faisal Amin Commissioner Dera Ismail Khan Division Amir Afaq told media persons that the recent heavy rains wrecked havoc with lives and properties in Dera Ismail Khan Division, leaving 20 people killed and 85 injured “Preeminently estimates show that recent flooding in Dera Ismail Khan has caused damages worth Rs 10 billion and it has been shared with the provincial government too,” the commissioner said The mighty flood water also swept away several infrastructure at multiple places and affected about 3900 houses He said the floodwaters also affected 236 villages of Dera Ismail Khan and 70 in Tank district He informed that 31 schools were also damaged by flood waters besides affecting infrastructure and inter provincial highways He said Pak Army, Police, FC, all relevant departments and public representatives extended their full cooperation to the administration for rescue and relief operations Meanwhile, a meeting was held here on Tuesday with Commissioner Dera Ismail Khan Division Amir Afaq in the chair to review issues pertaining to the flood situation including rescue and relief operations besides other relevant issues Provincial Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Faisal Amin Gandapur, Former Federal Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur, Regional Police Officer Shaukat Abbas, Station Commander Brigadier Muhammad Rashid, Deputy Commissioner Dera Ismail Khan Nasrullah Khan and Additional Deputy Commissioner were present in the meeting besides high officials of relevant departments The commissioner underlined the need for utilizing all available resources to successfully tackle the current flood situation by ensuring provision of all facilities such as food, accommodation and medical facilities to the flood affected people in relief camps in addition to monitoring of relief and rescue activities He directed the Deputy Commissioner Dera to immediately take measures for provision of compensation amount to the families of flood victims He directed the Water and Sanitation Services Company(WSSC) to mobilize its staff to ensure smooth flow of sewage by clearing all drainage lines Similarly, the concerned officials of the food authorities were directed to take action against hoarders and profiteers to ensure edible items at affordable prices for the citizens Commissioner Dera appreciated the performance of the emergency service Rescue 1122 and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority(PDMA) for efficiently performing their duties by successfully carrying out rescue and relief activities in the flood hit areas He said that the recent flood wreaked havoc with lives and properties of people and the phase of resettlement would be a major challenge, but it could be successfully met through joint efforts, the commissioner added
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peSHaWaR a P P Mahandri Bazaar was saved from the expected major disaster by changing the direction of the mountain stream which caused destruction in Mahandri and Manoor Bela valleys of Mansehra According to the details following the directives of the provincial government, Kaghan Development Authority (KDA) engineers and technical staff started the operation to restore the previous direction of the rain drain with heavy machinery and changed direction of the water flow to its original route, saving the residential area and Bazaar of Mahandri from potential flood Public Representative Mushtaq Khan Swati, Babu Ashraf, Haji Rashid, Haji Khaqan Khan credited the KDA for timely action in mitigating the possibility of any kind of danger in the coming days Last week’s flash flood, swept away 14 precious human lives, 17 vehicles, dozens of shops and a bridge the heavy stones and mud that came along with the flash in the drain turned the direction of the drain towards the residential area of Mahandri Bazar On the other side, the residents of Manoor valley still await for help after the destruction of the only connecting bridge between the valley and several villages of the area during the last week s heavy downpour and flash flood Due to the non availability of the mobile network and the destruction of the only connecting road, Manor valley s communication with Balakot and Mansehra was cut off People also facing shortage of rations, medicines and other necessities of life demanding the KP government to take immediate measures to rehabilitate the flood victims Minister for ndMA SoPs to aver t human losses in future
WWF Pakistan appeals to the national and international donor agencies, corporates, government organizations, civil society organizations and individuals to contribute towards the rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts currently underway in Pakistan According to a press statement issued here on Tuesday the organization also urges stakeholders to ensure effective coordination and communication so as to support the people adversely impacted by the devastating floods The recent monsoon rains and floods have incurred significant human and livestock casualties, damages to infrastructure and economy and posed serious threat to biodiversity Thousands of families are displaced and shelter less in Balochistan, Sindh, parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
03NEWS Wednesday 31 August, 2022 ISLAMABAD
KdA engineers diver t stream’s flow to save Mahandri
In order to avoid further untoward incidents in wake of the recent floods in the country, Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal o n Tu e s d a y d i r e c t e d N a t i o n a l D i s a s t e r M a n a g e m e n t A u t h o r i t y ( N D M A ) t o p r e p a r e c o m p r e h e n s i v e S O P s i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h p r o v i n c i a l d i s a s t e r m a n a g e m e n t a u t h o r i t i e s t o m i n i m i z e h u m a n l o s s e s T h e M i n i s t e r i s s u e d t h e s e d i r e c t i o n s w h i l e c h a i r i n g a F l o o d R e l i e f C o m m i t t e e m e e t i n g , s a i d p r e s s r e l e a s e i s s u e h e r e o n Tu e s d a y T h e m e e t i n g w a s a t t e n d e d b y o ff i c i a l s o f N D M A w h o b r i e f e d t h e m i n i s t e r o n t h e l a t e s t f l o o d s i t u a t i o n i n t h e c o u n t r y D u r i n g t h e b r i e f i n g , t h e N D M A i n f o r m e d t h e m i n i s t e r t h a t d u r i n g t h e p a s t 2 4 h o u r h e a v y s t o r m w a s r e p o r t e d i n L a h o r e a n d i n o t h e r p a r t s o f P u n j a b w h i l e l e s s r a i n w a s r e p o r t e d i n o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y S i m i l a r l y i t w a s i n f o r m e d t h a t d u r i n g t h e p a s t 2 4 h o u r s t o t a l , 7 5 p e o p l e w e r e k i l l e d d u e t o f l o o d w h i c h i n c l u d e s 5 3 i n S i n d h , 1 6 i n K h y b e r P a k h t u n k h w a , f i v e i n G i l g i t B a l t i s t a n a n d t w o i n B a l o c h i s t a n T h e m i n i s t e r a l s o d i r e c t e d t h e c o n c e r n e d s t a k e h o l d e r s t o i m m e d i a t e l y p r e p a r e m a p s o f e a c h a ff e c t e d d i s t r i c t i n o r d e r t o a s s e s s t h e e x a c t l o c a t i o n a n d n u m b e r o f s h e l t e r l e s s p e o p l e D u r i n g t h e b r i e f i n g , t h e m i n i s t e r d i r e c t e d t h e s e c r e t a r y h e a l t h t o h o l d a m e e t i n g w i t h p r o v i n c e s o v e r t h e l a t e s t h e a l t h s i t u a t i o n i n t h e a ff e c t e d a r e a s a n d t h e n g i v e a detailed briefing to the committee on Wednesday
ECP bArrEd FroM tAKInG ACtIon AGAInSt PtI In ContEMPt CASE
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has directed BISP to disburse PKR 25 000 per household in calamity affected districts The meeting of the ECC was held under the chair of Finance minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday According to the details the Ministry of Poverty alleviation and social safety submitted a summary for emergency cash assistance for affectees of the ongoing flash floods It called attention to the fact that the unprecedented rains and flash floods across the country have resulted in a great loss of lives and properties In view of the above, the ECC approved the summary and directed BISP to disburse a total of PKR 25 000 per household in calamity affected districts with a poverty score of up to 32 In this regard, the Finance Division will consult BISP to discuss the financial implications and required modalities Furthermore, the federal government will ask the provinces to provide a share in the relief for the affectees Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Affairs presented a summary on G 20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) This debt relief termed as DSSI I, for IDA eligible countries to mitigate the socio economic impact of Covid 19 was announced in April 2020 At present six more debt rescheduling agreements have been negotiated and finalised for DSSI III with Italy, Japan and Spain In this regard a summary was presented before the committee by the secretary EAD on behalf of the government After discussion, the ECC agreed to rescheduling the agreement proposed by EAD on account of deferred payments due to Covid 19 The Ministry of National Food, Security and Research presented a summary on increasing national wheat strategic reserves Pa ki s t a n to a
PESHAWAR/NOWSHERA S ta f f R e p o R t
GB cabinet donates one salar y for flood affec tees
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ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t F e d e r a l M i n i s t e r f o r P l a n n i n g D e v e l o p m e n t a n d S p e c i a l i n i t i a t i v e s A h s a n I q b a l o n Tu e s d a y s a i d t h a t P a k i s t a n Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government had f a i l e d t o i m p l e m e n t F l o o d P r o t e c t i o n P r o g r a m m e ( F P P ) m u l t i p l i e d f o l d d a m a g e s i n t h e c o u n t r y Addressing a press conference, the m i n i s t e r s a i d t h a t i n 2 0 1 3 , w h e n t h e P M L N g o v e r n m e n t t o o k c h a rg e t h e c o u n t r y h a d a l r e a d y f a c e d d e v a s t a t e d f l o o d s i n 2 0 1 0 a n d i t l a u n c h e d t h e fourth phase of Pakistan FPP to mini mize the impacts of such floods “In May 2017, we got approved the Programme from Council of Common I n t e r e s t a n d d u l y s i g n e d b y a l l t h e p r o v i n c e s a n d i t w a s a g r e e d t h a t n e w infrastructure would be built under the programme”, the minister said The minister said it was also agreed t h a t R s 1 7 7 b i l l i o n w o u l d b e s p e n t u n d e r t h e p r o g r a m m e a n d t h e provinces would contribute half of the amount However he said despite com pleting the final road map to spend Rs 1 7 7 b i l l i o n u n d e r t h e p r o g r a m m e , t h e c o m i n g P T I g o v e r n m e n t d u m p e d t h i s p r o g r a m m e a n d n o t s p e n t a s i n g l e rupee on it I f t h e g o v e r n m e n t s p e n t R s 1 7 7 billion under the programme, the los s w o u l d b e f a r l e s s t h a n w h a t w e w e r e facing now he added A h s a n I q b a l s a i d a b i g c h a l l e n g e w a s a h e a d a s 3 0 m i l l i o n p e o p l e h a d been affected from devastating floods a n d t h e g o v e r n m e n t h a d t o h e l p t h e m achieve self reliance adding that the re cent floods and torrential rains had de stroyed around 1 million houses The minister said due to the current c a t a s t r o p h i c s i t u a t i o n i n t h e c o u n t r y, P a k i s t a n r e q u i r e s $ 1 0 b i l l i o n t o o v e r c o m e t h e s i t u a t i o n t h a t e v o l v e d a f t e r the flood Ahsan said that yesterday the I n t e r n a t i o n a l M o n e t a r y F u n d ( I M F ) B o a r d h a s a p p r o v e d $ 1 1 7 b i l l i o n through the EFF program H e s a i d t h a t C h a i r m a n P T I I m r a n K h a n a n d f o r m e r f i n a n c e m i n i s t e r Shaukat Tarin performed shameful acts a g a i n s t n a t i o n a l i n t e r e s t s a n d a n a t t e m p t t o p u s h t h e c o u n t r y i n t o e c o nomic default The Minister said that in the outer w o r l d o n l y n e i g h b o r i n g I n d i a a n d i n s i d e P a k i s t a n o n l y t h e P T I l e a d e r s h i p has opposed the IMF program adding t h a t i f t h e p r o g r a m w a s n o t a p p r o v e d yesterday the country would be facing s e v e r a l c h a l l e n g e s i n c l u d i n g i n f l a t i o n and foreign reserves He highlighted that in leadership of P r i m e M i n i s t e r M u h a m m a d S h e h b a z Sharif, the government was committed to reduce the expenses to allocate there resources for flood areas The Minister said that the govern ment has reviewed the Pakistan Devel o p m e n t b u d g e t a n d d i v e r t e d t h e s e f u n d s f o r f l o o d r e h a b i l i t a t i o n a n d r e construction Ahsan said that this was a big chal l e n g e a n d n o w w e a l l a r e r e q u i r e d t o s h o w u n i t y a n d s o c i a l s o l i d a r i t y t o unite against this catastrophe
Wednesday 31 August 2022 ISLAMABAD 04 NEWS ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t W H I L E paying glowing trib utes to veteran pro freedom Kashmiri leader S y e d A l i S h a h G e e l a n i o n h i s f i r s t d e a t h a n n i v e r s a r y, A l t a f H u s s a i n Wa n i , a s e n i o r l e a d e r o f t h e A l l P a r t i e s H u r r i y a t C o n f e r e n c e ( A P H C ) s a i d h i s l e g a c y c o n t i n u e d t o d o m i n a t e p o l i t i c a l l i f e i n t h e o c c u p i e d r e g i o n I n a s t a t e m e n t i s s u e d o n Tu e s d a y Wa n i s a i d G e e l a n i w a s a t o w e r i n g p e r s o n a l i t y a n d a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y r e c o g n i s e d l e a d e r w h o s p e n t a l l h i s l i f e a d v o c a t i n g the Kashmiris legitimate right the right to s e l f d e t e r m i n a t i o n C a l l i n g G e e l a n i o n e o f K a s h m i r ’s m o s t r e v e r e d a n d t e n a c i o u s H u r r i y a t l e a d e r s h e s a i d : “ G e e l a n i s a h i b w a s r e s p e c t e d f o r t h e r e f i n e m e n t o f h i s p e r s o n a l i t y, d e d i c a t i o n a n d u n w a v e r i n g c o m m i t m e n t t o h i s m i s s i o n ” a d d i n g h e w o n a c c o l a d e s f r o m p e o p l e w i t h i n a n d o u t s i d e K a s h m i r e v e n b y h i s c r i t i c s a n d p o l i t i c a l a d v e r s a r i e s “ T h e d e c e a s e d l e a d e r w a s a n i d e o l o g u e a n d a s t r o n g p r o p o n e n t o f K a s h m i r i s r i g h t t o s e l f d e t e r m i n a t i o n , h i s l i f e l o n g s t r u g g l e a n d s a c r i f i c e s f o r K a s h m i r cause will serve as a beacon light for com i n g g e n e r a t i o n s , w h o b e l i e v e i n t h e p r i n c i p l e o f j u s t i c e f r e e d o m a n d h u m a n r i g h t s , ” Wa n i s a i d Reiterating K as hmiris pledge to take the ongoing movement to its logical end he said the best way to pay the tribute to Geelani was to uphold his mission and fol low the proud legacy he had left behind “ T h e l e g a c y o f G e e l a n i c o n t i n u e s t o d o m i n a t e p o l i t i c a l l i f e i n K a s h m i r ” , Wa n i s a i d H e a d d e d t h a t I n d i a m u s t t a k e a l e a f o u t o f K a s h m i r ’s h i s t o r y a n d k n o w t h a t i t c a n n o t s u p p r e s s t h e i r l e g i t i m a t e p o l i t i c a l s t r u g g l e b y t h e d i n t o f f o r c e o r p u t t i n g t h e m i n j a i l s S t r e s s i n g t h e n e e d f o r r e s o l v i n g t h e d i s p u t e p e a c e f u l l y, h e s a i d i t w a s h i g h t i m e t h a t I n d i a s h o u l d s h u n i t s r e p r e s s i v e p o l i c i e s a n d c r e a t e a c o n g e n i a l a t m o s p h e r e
Eight persons were killed and three others injured due to rain and flood related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the past 24 hours According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), relief operations were ongoing in flood affected districts and all available resources were being utilized to provide relief to the flood affectees The PDMA spokesman said that 116 relief camps had been established for flood victims throughout the province, adding 77 camps were established in Now shera district wherein 25,000 people were being pro vided food and other basic facilities Similarly, 11 camps have been established in Dera Ismail Khan in which basic needs were being provided to 25 000 people while the district administration had established 17 relief camps in Charsadda and seven in Dir Upper, two each in Malakand and Mansehra
MuLtAN a p p Poets and writers have joined relief activities in flood hit areas of south Punjab like people from other walks of life A poet from Dera Isma i l K h a n Makhmoor Jafri was seen on social media platform unloading sacks of w h e a t f l o u r f r o m a r e l i e f g o o d s t r u c k a n d l a t e r h e l p e d i n r e a c h i n g o u t t o t h e a ff e c t e d p e o p l e f o r i t s distribution In flood hit areas of DG Khan and Muzaffargarh, Asghar Gurmani, Tehzeeb Hafi Naeem Naz Qaisarani and their friends were busy in relief activities Amjad Farooq Daha, Imran Rahab and other writers were active in flood hit areas of Rajanpur, Jampur and other areas N o t e d p o e t w h o i s d o c t o r b y p r o f e s s i o n , D r A l i S h a z i f s e t u p medical camp in Muzaffargarh sur rounding areas He told APP that writers and poets can not stay iso lated in such testing times when hun dreds of thousnds of people were facing hardships after floods swept away their homes, belongings and caused deaths of many people Ali Ammar Yasir heaped praise on the people who supported poets and writers in their efforts to extend support to the flood hit people Poets, writers join relief ac tivities in flood hit areas
PESHAWAR S ta f f R e p o R t Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Tuesday issued directives for constitution of a com mittee to conduct fact finding into drowning of five friends in Lower Kohistan district It is to be noted that video of five friends, struck in the middle of a river went viral on social media who waited for help for several hours before being swept away by ferocious flood in Lower Kohistan district The incident took place at Sanagai Dubir area of Lower Kohistan District that attracted a lot of resentment by people over help lessness of stranded friends and their death due to ris ing water tides, which swept away them According to office order, the fact finding committee would com prises of three members including a Retired Civil Ser vant, Retired Judge and a Retired Police Officer
According to PDMA Director General Sharif Hus sain relief operations were ongoing in the flood af fected districts and provincial government was making all out efforts to provide relief to the flood victims A flood emergency and response center had been es tablished in Abbottabad district, in which all the gov ernment agencies will be present round the clock to provide relief to the flood victims Relief camps had been set up at different places in Mansehra, in which the flood victims were being pro vided food and drink items and essential equipment Three people, including two Bulgarian women, have been rescued in a rescue operation by the district administration in Upper Kohistan In Lower Kohistan 600 packages had been delivered to the affected families by helicopter in various villages 178 people were res cued and shifted to safe places by helicopter in Dir Upper, 14 in Chitral Upper and 210 in Dir Upper Medical assistance had been provided to 6,149 peo ple 10 660 food packages had been provided to differ ent people NFI kits had been distributed among 10 families during the last 24 hours in these areas
Another 8 die: Livestock sec tor adversely hit by floods in KP
G e e l a n i ’ s l e G a C y C o n t i n u e s t o d o M i n at e P o l i t i C s i n i i o J K : a P H C l e a d e r
PTI govt failed to implement Flood Protec tion Programme: Ahsan IqbalKP CM sets up body to unfold facts about Kohistan drowning incident
GILGIT: The Gilgit Baltistan Cabinet on Wednesday an nounced donation of their one month salary for the flood relief programs According to details, the GB cabinet members an nounced donating their one month salary for flood relief pro grams while the government would also contribute a 5 day salary of the GB chief secretary and the inspector general; three day salary of grade 19 20 officers, and a day salary of grade 16 18 of government employees S ta f f R e p o R t
05NEWS Wednesday 31 August 2022 | ISLAMABAD
The participants of the rally were holding national flags of Pakistan and banners bearing slogans of full solidarity with the valiant armed forces of Pakistan and all other patriotic forces of the motherland engaged in the relief works to save and rehabilitate the precious lives through lifting the marooned people in the flooded parts of the country KP forest employees donate scale-wise salar y to flood-victims
The employees of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Forest Department have donated scale wise salary as a gesture of solidarity and support with the flood affectees in the province In a circular issued by Chief Conservator of Forests, Region I, Ejaz Qadir here on Tuesday, the donated amount would be deposited to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister ’s Flood Relief Fund It said the employees from BPS 03 to BPS 15 had donated their one day salary, the employees in BPS 16 donated two day salary while officers from BPS 17 to BPS 20 donated their three day salaries to flood relief funds s ta f f r e p o r t
6,000 cops working to assist flood hit brethren across Punjab: IGP UN issues $160m flash appeal as Pakistan grapples with worst floods in histor y
corporate corner U P a i s a e x p a n d s m e a s u r e s t o h e l p f l o o d v i c t i m s a c r o s s P a k i s t a n I s l a m a b a d : In continuing its support during these challenging times, UPaisa is offering flood relief support to vulnerable communities by enabling its subscribers to make direct donations to a host of organizations participating in relief efforts UPaisa customers have the freedom to choose from a list of aid organizations which they can access by logging in to the application or by simply dialing USSD *786*8# Edhi Foundation, Akhuwat, Shifa Foundation, Health and Nutrition Development Society, Rashid Khan Trust, Saylani Welfare International Trust, Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan, Bait us Salam Welfare Trust, Sundas Foundation, Rizq Trust & Prime Minister ’s Flood Relief Fund are some of the causes that users can donate to These NGOs will use the funds donated to offer further assistance to the people affected by floods and provide them essential items such as emergency medical supplies, clothes, shelter, food and more UPaisa provides its customers with a user friendly interface that enables donors to transfer funds in just a few taps Users no longer have to log onto their computers or look for a collection point to make donations Without leaving the comfort of their homes subscribers can also make direct donations to assist families affected by the floods The easy to navigate application will allow subscribers the freedom to make donations from anywhere and anytime Beyond providing essential connectivity, Pakistani telecom company Ufone 4G together with UPaisa are rallying together and taking swift action in expanding their relief efforts across the flood affected areas Their priority is to ensure the people affected by the floods can stay connected to their friends and family Ufone 4G, is a socially responsible Pakistani entity understands the plight of the affected communities and stands ready to assist them The relief measures through the UPaisa App is not only dedicated to bringing positive change but also serve as a commitment towards enabling customers to continue making donations from a secure and trusted platform As part of its purpose, UPaisa is providing a platform for all its subscribers to offer humanitarian support to vulnerable communities in Pakistan p r F a y s a l B a n k L t d t o o p e r a t e a s I s l a m i c b a n k f r o m 2 0 2 3
SU sets up eight relief camps in all campuses
The meeting nominated a full fledged professor Dr Tarique Hassan Umrani as the Director of Sindh University Alumni Asso ciation (SUAA) assigning him the task to reach out to the university’s alumni residing in the country and abroad and draw their at tention towards catastrophe and actuate as well as persuade them for the generous work of donations The meeting decided that the flood af fected hostler students will be registered and finalized by the respective provosts in order to provide them financial aid The vice chancellor directed the Director Finance (DF) of the varsity to transfer the scholarship money to the students having bank accounts without delay He said as many as 2500 eligible students would be given the scholarship cheques amounting to Rs160 mil lion soon after the opening of the university The members agreed to prepare an advi sory and share it with the government propos ing the short and long term strategies regarding rehabilitation of the flood victims and protect people from natural calamities in the future In the meeting, the vice chancellor said that a separate bank account would be opened for receiving donations from the na tional and international philanthropists adding that in Jamshoro, the relief camp will be set up at the main entrance of the Institute of Sindhology, which will be supervised by the Deans Committee while the convener for the relief camp will be Dr Nek Muham mad Shaikh He said that the Principal of Dr NA Baloch Model School Hyderabad Ahsan Shah Rashdi will look after the matters of the camp being established at Elsa Qazi Cam pus, Hyderabad under the supervision of the Dean Faculty of Education Apart from this, relief camps will also be established in Thatta Dadu Mirpurkhas Naushahro Feroze, Badin and Larkana cam puses of the Sindh University from tomorrow which will be supervised by the concerned pro vice chancellors and focal persons The vice chancellor volunteered to do nate his 5 day salary to the fund established by the varsity for the flood victims under the government announce ment while the Dean Faculty of Engineering and Technology Prof Dr Khalilur Rehman Khoumbati announced to donate Rs25 000 for the fund
Punjab Inspector General of Po lice (IGP) Faisal Shahkar on Tuesday visited flood affected DG Khan and suburban areas to review ongoing rescue operations by police force and distributed ra tion to the flood hit people Speaking on the occasion, the IGP said that more than 6,000 Pun jab police personnel were taking part in rescue and relief operation at flood hit areas across the province by using 400 police vehi cles, 288 bikes and 74 motor boats He said that the police have set up 388 relief camps across the province while rescued over 20,000 people and more than 6 000 cattle He said that the po lice department was also mobiliz ing masses to help flood affectees of DG Khan Rajanpur Mianwali Layyah, Bhakkar, Muzaffargarh and other districts of the province Shahkar said that the police utilizing all possible resources to provide relief to flood affectees during this difficult time He main tained that officials deployed on the check posts of riverine areas have been directed to remain alert to deal with any emergency situation He said that all motorboats of the departments were being used for rescue operation in flood hit areas The IGP appreciated the po lice officials performing duties at flood hit areas and awarded com mendatory certificates among them
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), at least 498,000 people in the country are in relief camps after being displaced Many more displaced flood victims are be lieved to be living with relatives friends or out in the open, without shelter Pakistan started receiving international aid this week, and more planes carrying aid from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) landed at an airport near Islamabad on Tuesday according to a statement released by the military It said Chinese planes carrying aid will also ar rive in Pakistan later Tuesday P a k i s t a n h a s a l s o d e p l o y e d a t l e a s t 6 , 5 0 0 s o l d i e r s t o h e l p a u t h o r i t i e s i n r e s c u e a n d r e l i e f o p e r a t i o n s
Faysal Bank Limited will operate as a full fledged Islamic bank from 2023 as its management has converted its more than 90% operations into Islamic banking S p e a k i n g a t t h e m e d i a b r i e f i n g o n Tu e s d ay, C h i e f F i n a n c i a l O f f i c e r Sye d M a j i d A l i s a i d t h a t t h e b a n k i n g c o m p a ny h a s r e c e i ve d a p p r ova l f r o m i t s b o a r d o f d i r e c t o r s t o a p p l y f o r t h e l i c e n s e o f t h e I s l a m i c b a n k w h i c h w i l l b e g ra n t e d b y t h e b a n k i n g r e g u l a t o r b y D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 2 T h e c o nve r s i o n o f Fay s a l B a n k L i m i t e d f r o m t h e c o nve n t i o n a l b a n k i n g s y s t e m t o S h a r i a c o m p l i a n t w i l l b e a u n i q u e e x a m p l e n o t o n l y i n Pa k i s t a n b u t i n w o r l d w i d e c o n s i d e r i n g i t s s i ze o f a s s e t s a n d o p e ra t i o n s , h e a d d e d We h ave b e e n r e q u e s t e d t o s h a r e t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f t h e c o nve r s i o n a s t h e s t u d y b y d i f f e r e n t u n i ve r s i t i e s w h i c h w i l l a l s o b e c o n s i d e r e d a s t h e m o d e l f o r va r i o u s f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s h av i n g p l a n s f o r c o nve r s i o n i n t h e m o d e o f o p e ra t i o n s , t h e C F O f u r t h e r s a i d F r o m 8 % a t t h e e n d o f 2 0 1 5 , w e h ave g r o w n o u r I s l a m i c f i n a n c i n g a n d i nve s t m e n t s b y ove r R s 7 0 0 b i l l i o n t o a c h i e ve 8 6 % c o n c e n t ra t i o n , h e f u r t h e r s a i d H e m e n t i o n e d t h a t t h e S t a t e B a n k o f Pa k i s t a n ( S B P ) h a s b e e n s u p p o r t i n g t h e m a n a g e m e n t o f Fay s a l B a n k L i m i t e d i n i t s p u r s u i t o f c o nve r s i o n t o wa r d s t h e I s l a m i c b a n k i n g s y s t e m M u h a m m a d Fa i s a l S h a i k h , H e a d o f I s l a m i c B a n k i n g , s a i d t h a t t h e g r o w t h o f I s l a m i c b a n k i n g i n Pa k i s t a n h a s o u t p a c e d t h e g r o w t h o f c o nve n t i o n a l b a n k i n g m a i n l y b e c a u s e o f t h e p r e f e r e n c e o f Pa k i s t a n i c u s t o m e r s f o r I s l a m i c b a n k i n g ove r i n t e r e s t b a s e d b a n k i n g H e s a i d t h e h o u s i n g f i n a n c e o f t h e I s l a m i c b a n k c o n s t i t u t e s n e a r l y 6 0 % s h a r e i n t h e ove ra l l b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n s p i t e o f t h e f a c t t h a t I s l a m i c b a n k i n g a t t a i n e d ove r 2 0 p e r c e n t s h a r e i n t h e ove ra l l b a n k i n g s y s t e m o f t h e c o u n t r y H e a l s o s a i d t h a t Fay s a l B a n k L i m i t e d i n t r o d u c e d a w i d e ra n g e o f f i n a n c i a l p r o d u c t s i n Pa k i s t a n w h i c h a r e a l t e r n a t i ve s t o w h a t i n t e r e s t b a s e d b a n k s a r e o f f e r i n g i n Pa k i s t a n , h e n c e t h e b a n k s p r o d u c t s a r e t h e c u s t o m e r s c h o i c e u l t i m a t e l y T h e b a n k i s c u r r e n t l y s e r v i n g m o r e t h a n 0 5 m i l l i o n c u s t o m e r s T h e b a n k i s o p e ra t i n g 6 3 8 I s l a m i c b a n k i n g b ra n c h e s w i t h o n l y o n e b ra n c h l e f t f o r c o nve r s i o n , h e s a i d p r HYderaBad s ta f f r e p o r t
The University of Sindh Jamshoro has estab lished eight relief camps in its all campuses in a bid to help the flood victims of the province In this connection, a meeting of pro vice chancellors, focal persons, deans of faculties and heads of all teaching and administrative departments of all campuses was held with Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Sid dique Kalhoro in the chair on Tuesday After detailed deliberation the meeting de cided to set up eight relief camps on Jamshoro, Hyderabad and other constituent campuses
LaHore/dg KHan s ta f f r e p o r t
The rally was jointly organized by all sections of the civil society which reiterated full solidarity and integrity with the armed forces of Pakistan to encourage, lauding their tremendous role for the safety and protection of the lives and properties of the Pakistani nation in any natural catastrophe, such as earthquakes and floods The rally started from Quaid e Azam stadium as the participants of the rally carried placards and banners bearing slogans, raising the need of generous financial and material relief for the flood affectees, passed through Mian Muhammad Road and Allama Iqbal Road and converged into a public congregation at central shaheed chowk
Speaking on unfavorable financial con ditions of the university, the vice chancellor also imposed a ban on all types of loans, money in advance and payment of remuner ation bills of faculty members Dr Kalhoro informed the members that a department of the federal government had provided sports equipment/ goods, which will be handed over to the students of boys and girls hostels in order to keep them men tally fit through their participation in positive activities of different games The vice chancellor, pro vice chancellors, focal persons deans of faculties and head of departments also appealed to the philanthro pists, all the alumni of the university and their former students living in the country and abroad to come forward generously and con tribute with open arms to the fund established for the relief of the flood affected people
A JK rallies to express solidarit y with flood affectees, rescue workers muZaffaraBad a p p
isLamaBad ag e n c i e s
t H E Chinese People s Libera tion Army (PLA) Air Force dis patched two Y 20 cargo planes to provide emergency humani tarian supplies including 3,000 tents to flood hit Pakistan on Tuesday After receiving the order, the PLA Air Force arranged two Y 20 planes to take off at dawn to get to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in the early morning for urgent air transport preparations The planes are scheduled to arrive at Karachi airport at 16:00 Beijing time today, China Economic Net (CEN) reported As Y 20 can perform long range tasks with heavy load and fast flight speed, two such cargo planes have been arranged to send humanitarian aid to Pakistan to help people in the disaster hit areas overcome difficulties and re build their homes at an early date,” said captain Feng Wei Pilot Liu Xiaojun is another captain of this mission The urgent air transport mission to Pakistan is of special signif icance to him as he personally experi enced the relief efforts after Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 “Pakistan rushed to our assistance a f t e r t h e We n c h u a n e a r t h q u a k e i n C h i n a i n 2 0 0 8 A s I c o m e f r o m S i c h u a n , I d e e p l y f e e l t h e b r o t h e r l y friendship between the two countries I also want to express my support for the Pakistani people with the success f u l c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e m i s s i o n s a i d Liu Xiaojun
Thousands of people belonging to all segments of the civil society here on Tuesday staged ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ rally with prime focus to raised awareness among the masses to participate in the country wide including AJK, fund raising drive for the rehabilitation of the country fellows affected by the devastating floods in almost all parts of the country
Meanwhile Punjab IG Police Faisal Shahkar took notice of attempted rape and tongue cutting of a woman during a dacoity in Sialkot He sought a report from RPO Gujranwala The IGP issued orders to DPO Sialkot to trace the ac cused and arrest them as soon as possible and to keep close contact with the victim’s family IG Punjab said that the accused must be ar rested and punished immediately continued fr om page 01
ChInA dePLoys y-20 PL Ane For emergenCy deLIvery mIssIon to PAKIstAn
06 Wednesday, 31 August 2022 COMMENT Lahore Ph: 042 36300938, 042 36375965 I K arachi Ph: 021 35381208 9 I Islamabad Ph: 051 2204545 I Web: www pakistantoday com pk I Email: editorial@pakistantoday com pk
Yousaf Nizami Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami
Joint Editor
At the school level sociology seeds an idea of how to deal with the mob mentality and how to deal with collective crowd structures Sociology helps students to find alternatives to extreme ideolo gies The debates like Social Evolution and Social Dar winism make them aware that society is organic and evolutionary in its growth rather than a rigid structure The economic inflation and rising complexity in the masses to understand the governmental commit ment to drive the country from economic malaise is quite challenging at two levels At one level, it is dif ficult to make people know about the world market global Covid 19, and the Ukraine russia conflict Conversely, it is difficult to control the daily anger and hatred in general masses against institutions The only panacea is transformative education about the values and concepts the subject of economics holds importance in this regard The introduction of eco nomics at the school level can help to educate the coming generation about economic ideas, which will eventually make them enlightened rather than hard liners against the institutions and ruling sovereigns
The writer is a transportation engineer with postgraduations in English literature and political science
F o r five weeks, Pakistan has been gripped by a political showdown between the ruling elite and the former cricket star who was ousted from the Prime Minister office this year, who then turned into a populist politician The drama has laid bare the perilous state of Pakistani pol itics a winner takes all game, in which the forces and the justice system are wielded as weapons to sideline those who have fallen out of favour with the country’s powerful political elite In an echo of political script, a case under anti terrorism law was registered in the Margalla Police Station of Islamabad against the former Prime Min ister Imran Khan for inciting and intimidating the police officials, and esteemed members of the judi ciary during his address at a political gathering Without going into the details of the charges against the former Prime Minister Khan, the matter being sub judice the former Prime Minister faces the prospect of arrest A few weeks ago, his Chief of Staff, Shahbaz Gill was arrested for sedition and inciting the public against state institutions During the course of inves tigation, and after being subjected to torture, it was unveiled that he had handed over his mobile phone to his driver, Izhar, which contains considerable in formation on the matter, while being arrested Few days later the disgruntled opposition sanctioned the arrest of the wife of Shahbaz Gill’s driver, Mehreen, separating her from her 10 year old child on charges of rioting assaulting police officials and theft Among the myriad ways the ruling elite can violate due process through vindictive uses of its law enforce ment powers and through public comments on the purported guilt of a subject that impair the presump tion of innocence and right to a fair trial Meanwhile amid condemnation Mehreen was ordered to be re leased on bail Under the American criminal justice system is a fundamental piecemeal due process of law which requires law enforcement officers and prosecutors to safeguard fundamental fairness in the administration of justice, that is, the presumption of innocence and a fair process by which an individual is investigated, charged, and tried If an investigation or prosecution does not or cannot provide due process for its subjects, the prosecution is duty bound to stop it in its tracks That playbook has been decades in the making, and it has turned the country s political sphere into a brutal playground in which only a few elite leaders dare play It has also rendered the Pakistani public deeply disillusioned with the political system and the handful of family dynasties that have been at the top of it for decades In the past two months, former Prime Minister Khan has managed to parlay his wide spread support into electoral prowess His party Pak istan Tehreek e Insaf, won sweeping victories in local elections in Punjab, a province that has often served as a bellwether for national politics
The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore Literacy in social sciences can embark us on the journey of actual progress and advancement. Without social sciences literacy, no nation spurred sustainable growth
T H E IMF has finally approved the $1 1 billion tranche for Pakistan ending the uncertainty created by the Pakistan Terik e Insaf s last minute attempt to sabotage the deal The IMF’s failure to approve the bailout programme could have led Pakistan to default, with serious economic consequences Pakistan managed in the last six weeks to secure loans, financing, deferred oil payments and investment commitments close to $12 billion from China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE However, much of this would have become available only after the IMF board approved the release of the $1 1 billion payout The bail out will help Pakistan approach multilateral lenders for loans The cash strapped country has got the much needed relief at a time when it grapples with an economic crisis worsened by massive floods The bailout however brings no immediate relief to the common man who is currently grappling with over 44 percent inflation the highest in the history of the country, caused by an increase in the prices of petroleum products and disruption in the supply of commodities due to floods and heavy rains With the IMF advising tight monetary policy and a raise in power rates, the suffering on the part of the man in the street will continue meanwhile It is for the government now to devise policy measures aimed at getting rid of the balance of payments crisis and mounting debt that leads the country to the IMF again and again For this the government needs to cut its coat according to its cloth The government has to avoid political exigencies influencing its economic policies The tendency to allocate huge funds to parliamentarians to ensure their loyalty has to be abandoned Similarly, tax relief provided to large segments of the population for political reasons must end Bringing down regional tensions through better diplomacy can lead to reduction in defence expenditure The country has to increase exports and attract investments to have enough stock of foreign exchange Unless the government sets its house in order, Prime Ministers will continue to carry the begging bowl and knock at the doors of the IMF when unable to pay back the loans
m u h a m m a d Wa j a h at S u lta n
S a r m a d S at ta r W i n n e r t a k e s a l l I m p o r t a n c e o f S o c i a l S c i e n c e s f o r P r o g r e s s T h e r e i s t o o m u c h e m p h a s i s o n m e d i c i n e a n d e n g i n e e r i n g Eve r y t h i n g i s f a i r f o r p o l i t i c a l o p p o n e n t s 06-07 Comments - 31st August 2022_Layout 1 8/30/2022 10:37 PM Page 1
P A K I S TA n I society has descended into po litical polarization and social pathology due to a less developed political consciousness and weak commitment to social ambitions The fading values of social sciences in the academic course have caused the stagnation of the development of mature social and political ambiva lence in the youth Political science, sociology, eco nomics, constitution and history play an important role in making an analytical political and social con sciousness The only focus and priority being on med ical and engineering degrees has ended up in the production of one class rather than multiple classes The homogeneous education of pursuing prevalent degrees can t help transform a country already stuck in a myriad of political instability and social issues In the era of digital accountability, the unfettered access to the Internet with underdeveloped political consciousness halted the institutional harmony in the country People, without analyzing the theory and practice of political complexity, start criticizing or en dorsing one aspect our beliefs are echo chambering in this process where we lose the ability to conceive reality In such a setup, our coming youth must have an acquaintance with political science which is mainly designed to ensure political vitality At the school level, from primary to secondary, the introduc tion of courses like political science can help children to understand the theories and problems of politics to elect their leaders based on democratic progress rather than emotional appeal
The prevalent populist narratives in the country like heated nationalism instead of the global community, the politicization of different re ligious ideologies, and the compromise of the Constitu tion for a single leader, are problematic in this century Social media literacy must be introduced in schools about how to use social media This will also educate coming generations about the delusions and echo chambering of beliefs and how they could navigate the truth out of disinformation Literacy in social sci ences can embark us on the journey of actual progress and advancement Without social sciences literacy, no nation spurred sustainable growth It is time to open the school courses with different new subjects for cultivating a visionary future Social sciences formulate a building block of social secu rity and cultural confidence in society
In the USA the General Will is more powerful than the Sovereign Due to this reason, people are enlight ened about their rights and obligations constitutionally and socially Pakistan can learn that social sciences like educational values of the constitution, economic norms, and sociological and anthropological evolution of so ciety cultivate the informed and enlightened citizens that could contribute to formative progress
A vindictive investigation or prosecution is a due process violation of the most basic sort A few days ago, the Islamabad police asked the high command to issue a search warrant for former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Banigala residence in connection with the case against Dr Shahbaz Gill Perhaps, the acuteness and gravity of the situation stopped further proceedings The magnitude of these violations renders nearly any potential prosecution of the targets of this con duct fatally compromised The apt realization of human rights seems like a remote and unattainable goal These international human rights laws serve as a restraining function but are insufficient to provide adequate human rights protection, as evidenced by the stark reality of abuses perpetrated daily Thou sands are in prison for speaking their minds Torture and politically motivated imprisonment, often with out trial, are commonplace, condoned and practiced They are recognized at least in principle by most modern nations and form the heart of many national constitutions Yet the actual situation in Pakistan is far distant from the ideal Former Prime Minister Khan’s own meteoric rise from the fringes of politics to the office of the Prime Minister in 2018 was a showcase for how hard bitten Pakistan’s politics have become His competitors were winnowed from the electoral field by criminal charges, and by threat and intimidation Certainly, former Prime Minister Khan’s predicament is only the latest salvo as nuclear armed Pakistan lurches from crisis to crisis, with potentially grave implica tions for regional and global security Instability grip ping Pakistan including rumors of splits between pro and anti Khan factions across the corners, which un dermines the invaluable security apparatus
Joint
In a country, where we support a return to a truly democratic dispensation and urge the relevant author ities to adhere to and ensure fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and safeguard from torture, Pakistan faces a disturbing trend of suppression of media free dom and the inhumane means of torture to subdue po litical opponents The actions are nothing less than being fascist in nature and against the basic tenets of any functioning democracy
A central claim of democratic theory is that democracy induces governments to be responsive to the preferences of the people Political parties organize politics in every modern democracy, and some ob servers claim that parties are what induce democracies to be responsive Yet according to others parties give voice to extremists and reduce the responsiveness of governments to the citizenry The debate about parties and democracy takes on renewed importance as new democracies around the globe struggle with issues of representation and governability
To stop knocking at the IMF’s door Let them speak T W o bans were lifted the other day on the television broadcast of two former prime ministers The one on Imran Khan was lifted through a decision of the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, who ruled that PEMrA seemed to have overstepped its bounds when slapping such a ban The ban on nawaz Sharif, on the other hand, went away in as shadowy and arbitrary a manner as it came The lifting of the ban is to be appreciated It was prudent and just for IHC CJ Athar Minallah to give that ruling Meanwhile it isn’t enough to merely lift the ban on nawaz Sharif because as opposed to the other ban, it can come back again Freedom of speech isn’t some patronage that is to be doled out or snatched away as the powers that be please There are no points for guessing what the ruling party’s view on the issue is The ruling party under question being the one that runs two thirds of Pakistan, the PTI That the lifting of the ban on party chairman Imran Khan is justice delayed, but that a similar decision for nawaz Sharif is unfair because the man is an absconder It appears there can’t be a deluge big enough to hit a country that can make some politicians play nice with others The fact of the matter is that freedom of speech barring what the court deems to be an indictment to violence is an inalienable right of citizens in a democracy And Pakistan, despite the intentions of the powers that be, is a democracy We hope the ban on some other representatives, lower on the political pecking order, is also lifted, like those on Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir; a laughable demand, given how the latter is literally incarcerated, what to speak of merely being under a gag order And let the people hear Govt must cut its expenses, raise income
We are a constitutionally poorly performing coun try where people have no consciousness of fundamen tal rights In Pakistan still, people are fearful of approaching the police and police station because they consider that it can harm their existence The introduc tion of constitutional literacy at the school level can enhance the awareness of the rights and duties of a cit izen according to the Constitution It will be difficult for anyone to manipulate them for their vested ulterior motives The approach to constitutional related sub jects will steer the course of the progressive citizenry our school’s history, which is being taught, is ei ther ideological or distorted The true essence of his tory, which is a vital analysis of historical events without any bias or preju dice, can help a nation not repeat those problems being executed in the past The in troduction of history sub jects in the initial studies of school can make it easy for children to comprehend the events of the past and how to link them with the present They can understand how the democratic struggle was made to form a constitution and how the economic whirlpool was solved in the past History is an essential support for the present and perceiving the future Understanding the social structure and norms and mores of any society is the first step to teaching those through primary education Sociology plays a role in making people understand the culture and its values The introduction of sociol ogy as a subject in school education can cause a posi tive change where children will learn about the collective and pluralistic aspirations of a society The rising extremism in Pakistan can be dealt with by in troducing sociological subjects, which can make chil dren aware of the reasonable standards of the community
Founding Editor M A Niazi Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor Aziz ud Din Ahmad
“R e a d (s o m e o n e) t h e R i o t a c t”: In the 18th century King George I and his stalwarts would read the riot Act, to the loyalists of the Stuart Dy nasty, fearful of being overthrown to get the unruly persons to stop what they are doing This idiom most likely comes from the real riot Act, an act passed by the British government in 1714 However, it had to be read out whenever a mob was asked o disperse After that, troops would be ordered o fire The mere fact that the Former Prime Minister of Islamic republic of Pakistan has been charged under the anti terror law sends out an off putting message to the western democracies, that we aspire to be, of our intrinsic democratic values The debate over political parties, are they an inevitable evil? Are they what makes democracy democratic? remains unsettled
Editor
Arif Nizami (Late)
T H E Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) has rescheduled the test for certain positions owing to the ongoing monsoon spells, but the rains are expected to continue till September, making the situation ambiguous for candidates from remote areas of Sindh Last month many candidates managed to reach the test centres in Karachi amid heavy rainfall, but the test was postponed at the last minute The FPSC should have a look at the weather forecast and postpone the tests DR KASHIF MASTOI NAWABSHAH
Western culture
Let us hope for the sake of the country that the genie of Aladdin’s lamp would turn our universities into places of scholarly discourse, centres of excellence and creation of knowledge for the bright future of Pakistan SAAD MALOOK LAHORE
T H E increasing rate of divorce is indicative of the gradual degeneration of social relationships other than the local reasons behind the phenomenon the wave of globalisation in recent years has impacted the very fabric of society Western influences on the local culture are quite visible Inspired by the Western culture through print and electronic media, children make their own decisions and, when the crunch comes, they find it convenient to end the relationship rather than trying to be patient about it
The dysfunctions plaguing the Palestinians result from decades of cruel occupation during which Israel used overwhelming force to crush their resistance de develop their economy and sabotage their political and social underpinnings
The universities need autonomy and they need to be free from political interventions The appointment of VCs in the universities must be on the sole basis of merit If the most senior serving judges can be the chief justice of high courts and the Supreme Court without any political intervention why the same formula should not apply while appointing If the state has any sense of priority regarding the critical domain of education, the political bargaining in the appointing process related to VCs should be shunned Besides, there is an unbridgeable difference between lower education and higher education There is need for some sort of an education commission that may cater to both the streams in the centre and its respective chapters in the provinces We have the Higher Education Commission (HEC), which may be dealing with higher education, but without any coordination with the lower education stream This is illogical
Problems with curriculum
It is unfortunate that corruption, bad governance, nepotism, favouritism and despotism are the underpinning values that have corroded the foundation of our universities Are politicians, vice chancellors (VCs), teachers or students the causes of the poor state of our universities? or is it something else?
ASAD AZIZ KHUSHAB 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
weeks Unlike previous years, this time I cut my self off from work During the past few days, I ve been catching up by reading two weeks of news about depressingly familiar developments unfolding (or not) in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine/Israel, and Iraq Lebanon, still on the brink of collapse, can’t form a fully functioning government because sec tarian elites seem intent on sucking the last bit of marrow from the country’s dying bones Sectarian gridlock, enforced by Hezbollah’s threats, pre vents accountability for past crimes and has re sulted in shortages of basic services, fuel, food, and money Even if the Lebanese succeed in win ning control of gas fields in the Mediterranean, they have legitimate fears of a power grab by sec tarian elites who will drain the proceeds to serve their own interests and not the country’s Syria is still at war with itself with russ ian, Iranian, Turkish, and American interests colliding and some times colluding in dif ferent combinations over the future of the tragic mess they (and the brutal Assad regime) all helped to create While this game of nations continues to be played millions of Syrians remain desti tute, either internally displaced or as refugees fearful of returning to their homes Iraq is paralyzed owing to the “genius” of the Americans whose gift to the Iraqi peo ple was to mimic the French created sectar ian based system of governance that proved so disastrous for Lebanon Despite polling in Iraq (as in Lebanon) makes clear that most want a non sectarian unified country independent of any foreign power, the elites (backed by their militias many Iran supported) are unwilling to surrender control Paralysis and the threat of renewed civil war may be killing Iraq, but Iran and its minions are unwilling to move toward non sectarian governance Speaking of “gifts,” the one that continues to roil the region was Lord Balfour ’s arrogant decision to implant the Zionist movement in Palestine to serve British interests in the Eastern Mediterranean This act and seven decades of political protection and massive military and economic aid from the USA has led the region to where it is today an Israeli state that oper ates with impunity, flouting international law and violating Palestinian rights now in the midst of their fifth election in four years Israel s politics as a result of US cod dling, has moved so far to the right that there is a unique form of gridlock in the country At issue isn t peace with Palestinians but whether the next right wing government will be led by Ben jamin netanyahu
Palestinian also suffer from a lack of leadership capable of developing a strategic vision and the tactics to realize that vision What Palestinians have been left with are repressive patronage sys tems in Gaza and the West Bank that have been reduced to repressive dependencies relying on Israel and international donors for support on reflection, threads tie all these dysfunctions together one is the evil of sec tarian and ethnic divi sions promoted and exploited by external powers It’s tempting to ask how different the region would be today if the British and French had deferred to the will of the people of Arab East and if the Americans had not played this same impe rial game, updating it to serve their interests? This mustn’t be the end of the story Several years ago, I met with a leader of the Syrian re sistance As he was leaving my office, he turned at the door and asked a poignant ques tion: Where will the re gion be in the next 10 20, or 50 years? I urged him to return, and we spoke for another hour about the region’s need for visionary thinking that would ask just that question While it’s true that the West bears responsi bility for dismembering and distorting the po litical development of the Arab East Arabs can’t just continue to blame its failings on the machinations of others It is time for Arabs to take their destiny into their own hands and de velop a vision that unites and inspires citizens to free themselves from the shackles of sectari anism corruption extremism and defeatism otherwise, after next year ’s vacation and those thereafter, I’ll be reading the same articles about the same problems
WaShington Watch d r j a m e S j Z o g b y
07 Wednesday 31 August, 2022
Genuine education is the only key to individual and national progress
The writer is President of the Arab American Institute Arab East move past the mess it’s in? While it’s true that the West bears responsibility for dismembering and distor ting the political development of the Arab East, Arabs can’t just continue to blame its failings on the machinations of others It is time for Arabs to take their destiny into their own hands and develop a vision that unites and inspires citiz ens to free themselves from the shackles of sectarianism, corruption, extremism, and defeatism.
A S someone who polls Arab public opinion, I ve long been a fan of the 1919 King Crane Commission created by President Woodrow Wilson to as sess how the people of the Arab East wanted to be governed in the post World War I era The British and French had designs on the Arab East, but Wilson, though an arch segrega tionist at home declared that the newly liberated Arabs should shape their own destiny and that any post war settlement regarding territory [or] sovereignty [should be determined on] the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned Wilson therefore sent a team headed by two prominent Americans to conduct the first ever survey of Arab public opinion They travelled throughout the Arab East receiving petitions from thousands of organizations and meeting with hundreds of political, religious, cultural, and so cial groups The results were clear: over 80 per cent wanted the entire area to be given independence as a unified state and more than 85 percent rejected the British/Zionist proposal to separate Palestine from “Greater Syria ” King Crane concluded that imposing a settle ment that violated the will of the population would generate massive resistance not only was this the first poll of Arab opinion, but like many polls that would follow its findings about Arab opinion were ignored with disastrous consequences The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour, famously replied to King Crane We do not pro pose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country And so the British and the French old hands at the colonial game were undeterred Instead of independence, the Arab East was dismembered, carved into separate states under British and French control regimes and systems of gover nance were imposed, resistance was violently squashed and a century of instability followed In stead of understanding their paternity, the West blamed their victims, claiming that violence and instability were endemic to the Arab World I’ve been on vacation for the past two
Improving our Universities
Can the
T H E quality of education in Pakistan can be gauged from the decades old curriculum that is being taught in most schools and colleges In this era of technology when students elsewhere are empowered with modern education gadgets and tools, we feed young minds with old facts and obsolete information no nation can move ahead with an old, rusty curriculum We need to come up with fresh ideas and update our curriculum according to international standards to overcome the challenges of quality education in Pakistan There are different curricula followed by different educational systems within the country The national education system comprises matriculation and intermediate level that are further divided into English and Urdu mediums The Cambridge education system includes o and A levels Then we have government and private sectors that follow different types of syllabus and textbook And, finally, we have seminaries that are attended by thousands of children These multiple systems create disparities in society Fresh schools, colleges, institutes and academies keep cropping up at a frequency that is as amazing as it is alarming, because they do not plan to provide quality education but to earn a fortune in the name of education Unfortunately, the approach of the students is not much different They, or at least most of them, only want to pass exam after exam till they get a job There is concern about society at large As for the parents they invest in their children to get a return on their investment later in life MAHPARA TUNIO LARKANA
WITH the national currency losing its value against the American dollar, hyperinflation is an obvious result The worst affected happens to be the social middle class which is feeling the brunt of what looks like a pre default era I wonder what allows our political leaders to expect anyone to support them when all they have given the masses is a serious and constant escalation in the cost of living Taxation has been heavy and unjust and prices have gone through the roof There has been no relief whatsoever The common man has to fend for himself: pay exorbitant utility bills, taxes and then has to fund his own security The state of affairs as well as the affairs of the state are both deplorable, to say the least Furthermore, it is imperative to realise that hardly any politician today has the capability of being a leader: it is naïve to think any of them is sincerely striving for the betterment of the common man Leadership in Pakistan is a game of chess, and we are all pawns at the mercy of higher institutions When you cannot provide opportunities to your optimistic and energetic youth, they will have no choice but to leave the country, contributing further to the brain drain This is something that can be frowned upon but this is the only recourse left for many in the land This is what the absence of leadership can do to a country M ABDULLAH QURESHI KARACHI
I g n o r i n g A r a b o p i n i o n f o r a c e n t u r y h a s n o t h e l p e d 06-07 Comments - 31st August 2022_Layout 1 8/30/2022 10:37 PM Page 2
COMMENT
Absent leadership
Testing times
PA K I S TA n inherited only the University of the Punjab Lahore which was one of the 16 universities in British India in 1947 The university has been an intellectual asset which produced great minds in its golden times
O v E R 20 years after it began as an attempt at cooperation between five Russian led post Soviet states and an emerging China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organiza tion (SCO) has become a major global insti tution, representing close to half of the world’s population From September 15 16, Samarkand, one of the ancient centers of human civilization, will host the annual summit of the group the Uzbek presidency’s priorities include strengthening the SCO s capabilities in as suring regional security and stability; pro moting friendship and good neighborliness; raising its global profile; countering threats in the information and ideological spheres; expanding parliamentary links; energizing economic interaction; enhancing connectiv ity; intensifying cultural and humanitarian contacts; and raising the general effective ness of the collective and its mechanisms all of this looks impressive but quite anodyne, and the documents to be formally approved at the summit do not promise any major sensations beyond the long ex pected admission of Iran as the SCO’s ninth member state Yet the environment in which the Samarkand summit will be held differs greatly even from last year ’s gathering in Dushanbe Russia s military operation in Ukraine has led to a proxy war between Moscow and Washington Meanwhile, Sino US relations already confrontational have become palpably strained over the recent visit to taiwan by US house of Representa tives Speaker Nancy Pelosi NatO’s new strategic concept adopted last June in Madrid describes Russia as the most significant and direct threat and China for the first time as a challenge to West ern interests, security and values as a re sult the international community has moved visibly closer to a Cold War style di vision between two camps in an intensify ing rivalry over the world order that said, the SCO is unlikely to become the non West’s version of NatO While the US led bloc is now more united than ever in its effort to preserve the order built and de veloped in the heyday of its global domi nance, non Western nations do not display anything similar to that sort of unity, hierar chy and internal discipline Russia and China, although they both reject US global hegemony, pursue very different grand strategies and despite their public declara tions of a cooperation that “knows no limits,” and a partnership that is “more than an al liance are careful not to damage their other important connections e g , China’s with the US and EU; and Russia’s with India as they cooperate with each other More over, China and India, not to mention the lat ter and Pakistan, while all members of the SCO, view each other as major security threats Despite such diversity and complexity, however, the SCO, at the start of its third decade is not only still in business but is steadily getting more active and becoming more attractive to others In 2001, it started at six; after 2017 the membership expanded to eight, with another 20 countries or so listed as observers, dialogue partners, or in the process of joining Iran’s accession this year is spurring the interest of turkey and a number of arab countries, notably the United arab Emirates Saudi arabia Egypt and Qatar the SCO community could potentially include much of the Eurasian continent between Be larus and Cambodia Such enlargement carries obvious risks in terms of even wider diversity of interest, conflict, and frictions between the countries that aspire to join Yet the example of China and Russia; India and Pakistan find ing the SCO useful to their interests is a con vincing argument for accession In fact, the SCO’s lack of a single leader; its consensus based decision making proce dures; its emphasis on national sovereignty and non interference is a welcome contrast to the US dominated NatO or like minded groups such as the G7 Being in the SCO does not mean following Beijing’s or Moscow’s guidance So far, so good Yet, to flip the coin what can the SCO actually give its members, observers, and partners? the general answer is, security in their mutual re lations and stability across the continent the organization, after all, originated from talks on border and military security issues be tween China on the one hand and Russia and the Central asian states on the other Mem bership itself does not guarantee that there will be no conflicts but it provides for means to prevent or manage them thus, it provides a unique platform for regular high level and top level contacts between Delhi and Bei jing anti terrorist cooperation for all the differences in defining ‘terrorism’ is an other obvious bonus after last year s US withdrawal from afghanistan, SCO member states have stepped up their efforts to bolster stability in the region Economic development has long fea tured as one of the key areas of SCO cooper ation China s Belt and Road Initiative has been followed by the North South corridor linking Russia, Iran, the arab countries, and India Peace in the South Caucasus could be cemented by restoring connectivity within the region and its links to the north and the south the unraveling of Chimerica and the EU Russia decoupling in the wake of the Ukraine war signal the replacement of glob alization with regionalization asian and Eurasian countries which for the past couple of centuries were much more closely in volved with distant Western powers than with their own neighbors are now focusing on opportunities in their dynamic neighbor hood Western economic sanctions imposed on Russia are also opening doors much wider to asian and Middle Eastern investment in Russia and trade with it a new impetus for Eurasian interaction has been created in the post Ukraine environ ment by the seizure by the West of half of Russia’s currency reserves the central issue that has entered a number of countries’ strate gic calculus is the reliability of the US dol lar based global financial system Increasingly, national currencies of the SCO member states and observers, such as the Chinese yuan the Indian rupee the turkish lira, the Iranian riel, as well as the Russian ruble are being used in trade between these countries In parallel national payment sys tems of these and other countries are becom ing connected, allowing them to conduct transactions directly rather than via Wash ington or its allies at this point, the mecha nisms are still cumbersome, but therein lies the beginning of a new international financial system which is free from diktat by a hege monic outside power the sanctions imposed on Iran and now on Russia could in the fu ture be slapped on other nations that find themselves in conflict with the US the international system as it emerged from the end of the Cold War is going through a deep crisis which will take a long time to resolve the present system is founded on organizations either rooted in or inspired by the Cold War like NatO or aUKUS or heavily dominated by Western powers, like the international financial insti tutions, the OSCE, and the UN system as a whole It is doubtful that the prime benefici aries of the existing situation will do more than budge a little to make room for emerg ing players; they will certainly do their best to retain control over the system that they have devised and operated While the future of the world order is being decided in the on going major power competition, a practical way of altering the situation to better serve the interests of the growing number of au tonomous players is through developing or ganizations such as the SCO independent, non hegemonic, and inclusive Potentially, the SCO could become a model for the 21st century order in the world’s most important regional space Dmitry Trenin is a Research Professor at the Higher School of Economics and a Lead Research Fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations He is also a member of the Russian International Affairs Council
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City Journal J a m e s P i e r e s o n a n d n ao m s c h a e f e r l y
08 WORLD VIEW 31st August 22_Layout 1 8/30/2022 10:15 PM Page 1
W h at happens to philan thropic foundations in a bear market? It’s a ques tion that nonprofit leaders are asking these days For years in some cases, decades the na tion’s largest foundations have been able to count on big returns in the stock market But according to one estimate, during the first half of 2022, U S foundation assets fell by 17 3 percent or about $235 billion and many of their grantees from presti gious university professors to small soup kitchens will soon feel the squeeze the long bull market, which dates back to the 1980s, has spoiled people into thinking that stock values always go up and the Federal Reserve has encouraged that illusion Now that the market is turn ing many foundations will face a rude awakening In 1980, after a decade of in flation and falling stock prices, the Ford Foundation closed offices around the world and cut back its grantmaking substantially Recent losses have shed light on how foundations manage their money ac cording to a group called Foundation Mark that tracks endowments, U S foundations lost an estimated $20 billion by hiring money managers to oversee their assets instead of investing in low cost, stock market index funds that number does not account for the fees managers charge typically between 1 percent and 2 percent of assets value the booming stock market has al lowed foundations to engage in more risky investments, too, socking away hun dreds of millions of dollars into hedge funds whose managers charge substan tially more in fees those decisions may also end up in significant losses to the en dowment interest that foundations use to pay their grantees the bull market has also enabled foundations to make political decisions with their money avoiding large market sectors like fossil fuels or pharmaceutical companies is possible when all stocks are gaining value but is a faulty strategy when only those sectors are experiencing growth Investing solely in companies whose staff you deem sufficiently diverse or whose statements on equity and inclu sion check the boxes on your list is easy in boom times So called socially respon sible investing seems sensible until it means you can’t fulfill your financial ob ligations to the charities you support the Ford Foundation s Mission In vestments portfolio invests in “affordable
housing, diverse fund managers, financial inclusion, quality jobs, and health tech ” according to the foundation s website its “affordable housing fund managers have helped preserve over 23,000 rental units for families across the United States to crit ics skeptical that these investments would generate good returns, the foundation brags that the Mission Investments fund gener ated a compound annual return rate of 28% from its inception in 2017 through 2021 ” Given that the S&P 500 doubled between January 2017 and December 2021, that’s not much of an accomplishment Ford was riding the bull market, but how will its portfolio perform when the market is not doubling every four or five years? and what will its grantees say when the dollars start to disappear? Just as these dismal returns come in, some foundations are supporting projects to undo what they see as capitalism’s harmful effects the Omidyar, hewlett, and Ford Foundations, for instance, are trying in the words of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, “to persuade americans to think anew about ways capitalism can be come more just ” their chosen means in clude “college textbooks, policy journals, documentary films, and podcasts the foundations gave more than $700,000 to start CORE (Curriculum Open access Resources), and to produce an online introductory textbook called the Economy, which “challenges the assump tions of neoliberalism, which favors free markets deregulation and limited govern ment spending ” CORE’s website declares that a “radically transformed economics education can contribute to a more just sustainable, and democratic world ” It’s hard to say whether such education will re sult in contributions to the endowments of more uber wealthy liberal foundations It’s not a new observation to say that america s wealthiest foundations were built thanks to the principles of free mar kets, deregulation, and limited govern ment spending Successful businessmen like henry Ford and John D Rockefeller created nest eggs of billions of dollars for generations of philanthropists who sub sequently turned their backs on these principles But what if, in order to con tinue their generous habits these founda tions still need a strong free market economy, with increasing GDP and sig nificant corporate growth? the leaders of these philanthropies take wealth for granted and assume that good times will continue no matter how much we handi cap the market system they say that their radically trans formed economics education will promote a just, sustainable, and democratic world Maybe But will it produce a wealthier world, one that continues to innovate and make progress in medicine, technology, and higher standards of living? Probably not and a poorer world will likely be less charitable and democratic James Piereson is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute Naomi Schaefer Riley is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior fellow at the Independent Women s Forum
Wednesday, 31 August 2022 08 WORLD VIEW Sydney Morning Herald U r i G a l a few weeks ago, it was leaked that the popular social media app tik tok had been sharing US user data with ByteDance, its Chinese par ent company these revelations led to calls from the american Federal Com munications Commission to have tiktok re moved from Google and apple s app stores Should the government and individual users in australia take heed and reconsider whether tiktok be used here? It s a question that demands serious consideration the social media giant joins apple and amazon in exploring ways to digitise and disrupt the traditional health care industry a recent report exposed just how much data tiktok collects and showed that the app has the capability to trace users’ keyboard in puts, including passwords and credit cards When users click on links within the app they are taken to an in app browser con trolled by tiktok, rather than to a browser of their choice In tiktok s browser every user interaction is monitored in minute detail the scope of data surveillance by tik tok may be even more expansive than other popular social media apps because, unlike other apps, tiktok does not give users the option to open links in their default browser and thus keeps them locked into its digital ecosystems and under its constant gaze the extensive and detailed data col lected in this way is fed to tiktok’s algo rithms that generate highly personalised content designed to grab users attention and keep them within the app for as long as possible this model is not unique to tik tok however tiktok’s tactics are partic ularly concerning because of its uniquely young user base In australia around 72 per cent of the app’s users are under the age of 25 and around 30 per cent are under the age of 15 We are all susceptible to the mind shifting effects of social media due to the prevalence of echo chambers and systematic bias in the information we are shown however young people especially adolescents are partic ularly vulnerable to social media induced psychological stresses which can result in anxiety, depression and self harm It is quite likely that our future prime minister and cab inet members are being surveilled another point to consider is tiktok’s ties with China there have been multiple in dications of the links between tiktok its parent company ByteDance and the Chinese government a recent report found that 300 employees at tiktok and ByteDance were previously employed by Chinese state media publications, and some still are an additional sign of the Chinese gov ernment’s influence over the two companies is that it took a stake and a board seat in a key ByteDance entity last year this move calls into question the independence of ByteDance and tiktok and raises concerns that they may be used to propagate pro China messaging in the West these concerns are particularly pertinent in light of recent revelations that the Chinese government engaged in similar tactics in the past, and that ByteDance increased its US lobbying spending to protect the competi tiveness of Chinese companies against american counterparts, for instance these issues should be considered against the backdrop of China’s mass sur veillance efforts in australia and beyond the american FBI states on its website that “the counterintelligence and economic espi onage efforts emanating from the govern ment of China are a grave threat to the economic wellbeing and democratic values of the United States ” a couple of years ago it emerged that a Chinese company with links to Beijing’s military and intelligence networks had been secretly data profiling 2 4 million people, including at least 35,000 prominent australians Given the strained relationship between China and australia, data surveillance en abled by tiktok is particularly risky It could be used to scoop up sensitive information about australian citizens and leveraged for military or industrial espionage tiktok may also be used to covertly shape australian public opinion in favour of China we know the Chinese government has engaged in sim ilar tactics during the pandemic tiktok’s data can also be used to com pile detailed user profiles of australians at scale Given its large and young australian user base, it is quite likely that our country’s future prime minister and cabinet members are being surveilled and profiled by China Surely, if nothing else, this should give us reason to pause and think whether the app should be used in australia Uri Gal is a Professor of Business Information Systems at the University of Sydney His research focuses on the organisational and ethical aspects of digital technologies a l e s s c h a r i t a b l e w o r l d ShOuld TikTOk be banned in auSTRalia? I N A U S T R A L I A , A R O U N D 7 2 P E R C E N T O F T H E A P P ’ S U S E R S A R E U N D E R T H E A G E O F 2 5 A N D A R O U N D 3 0 P E R C E N T A R E U N D E R T H E A G E O F 1 5 T h i s R u s s i a - C h i n a f o u n d e d b l o c r e p r e s e n t s h a l f t h e w o r l d ’ s p o p u l a t i o n a n d w i l l h e l p f o r g e t h e n e w w o r l d o r d e r rt d m t r y t r e n i n
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BISP takes stric t ac tion over illegal deduc tion of money
Govt facilitating impor ters stabilise supply, prices of onion, tomatoes
LAHORE: Bank of Punjab CEO and President Zafar Masood presents a cheque for Rs10m to Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi for flood relief fund photo by Zubair MehfooZ
KarachI p r
Additionally, 1400 persons have been housed in field camps of Risalpur where they are being provided with free medical treatment, food and shelter Free ration and medical relief camps by Pakistan Air Force have also been established in Naltar valley Air Marshal Hamid Rashid Randhawa, HI(M), Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Administration) and Air Vice Marshal Moeed Khan, SI(M), Director General Air Operations took an aerial view of the flood affected areas The Air Officers also visited the field establishments to inspect flood relief and rehabilitation activities by PAF personnel
Cigarette manufacturers to pay advance excise dut y, not farmers
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi exchanging views with US Ambassador in Pakistan Mr Donald Blome at Naval Headquarters pr Islamabad p r The administration of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has taken strict actions over the complaints received from public on illegal deduction of money from relief cash amount being disbursed at dif ferent payment campsites across the country Taking notice of these complaints, Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety/ Chairperson Benazir In come Support Programme Ms Shazia Marri has directed the administration of BISP that the complaints received with full proof must be addressed imme diately Anyone found involved in illegal deduction of money from relief cash grant will not be tolerated, she added As of Tuesday evening a total of Rs 10,942,031,240 have been dis bursed among 434,742 flood af fected families all across Pakistan under the Flood Relief Cash Assistance program So far, 48,092 affected families of Balochistan have received Rs 1 219 617 776; 257 351 fami lies have received Rs 6,469,511,316 in Sindh; 47,067 families of KP have received Rs 1,183,815,000 and 82,232 flood affected families have re ceived Rs 2,069,087,148 in Punjab The administration of Benazir Income Support Pro gramme is ensuring fair and transparent payment of financial assistance worth Rs 25000 per affected family Affected fami lies can send their CNIC num ber to 8171 for regis tration in F l o o d R e l i e f C a s h A s s i s t a n c e p r o g r a m a n d u p o n r e c e i v i n g p a y m e n t m e s s a g e t h e y c a n v i s i t t h e i r n e a r b y c a m p s i t e t o r e c e i v e t h e i r p a y m e n t A c o n trol Room has also been estab l i s h e d a t B e n a z i r I n c o m e Support Programme headquar t e r s t o e n s u r e s m o o t h p a y ments to flood affectees
Industrial associations bemoan supply of subsidized indigenous gas captive power plants
NEPRA holds sEssioN oN ‘ComPEtitivE tRAdiNg Bil AtERAl CoNtRACt mARkEt’
Pakhtunkhwa were rescued and moved to safety
to
ISLAMABAD: The campaign of Islamabad Capital Police (ICTP) against illegal parking is in full swing and a total of 170 motorists were issued fine tickets during last 24 hours in Bhara Kahu, a police spokesman said on Tuesday According to details, ICTP has launched campaign against those involved in parking their vehicles wrongly and creating problems in smooth flow of traffic by occupying footpath areas Following the directions of IGP Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan, ICTP has launched this campaign and Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Dr Syed Mustafa Tanweer is monitoring it Special squads have been constituted to check illegal parking while addition strength has been also provided to various zones to ensure success of the campaign The SSP (Traffic) has directed all Zonal DSPs to ensure implementation on traffic laws and take action against those involved in creating problems for traffic discipline in the city The SSP (Traffic) said that it is the right of pedestrian to use footpath and no parking would be allowed there During the last 24 hours, ICTP police also issued 170 fine tickets to those involved in wrong parking in Bhara Kahu area while several vehicles were impounded at police station for not vacating footpath areas The SSP (Traffic) Dr Syed Mustafa Tanweer said that it is our top priority to ensure convenience for road users by maintaining traffic discipline and every possible effort would be made for the purpose He said that squads have been constituted for the purpose of removing illegal parking and vacate footpaths while indiscriminate action would be taken against violators He said that this operation would be extended to the other areas of Islamabad and smooth traffic flow to be ensured pr
Pakistan Air Force has expanded rescue operations in KPK in addition to the ongoing relief and rehabilitation operation in flood affected areas of Balochistan, Sindh and South Punjab 800 persons from Kheshki village and Nowshera Kallan of Khyber
In last 24 hours as humanitarian gesture 13960 Cooked Food Packs, 924 Ration Packs carrying basic food items and commodities were distributed amongst the needy families Moreover 804 patients were also attended by the medical teams at PAF field hospitals Pakistan Air Force Emergency Response teams are actively participating in rescue and relief operations which are in full swing all across the flood affected areas p r
PAf expands rescue operations in kPk
09NEWS Wednesday 31 August 2022 | ISLAMABAD corporate corner
NhA restores all road links in Balochistan
K a r a c h i: Newly imposed advance excise duty on tobacco purchase will not impact farmers but manufacturers and would dent the massive tax theft in the tobacco sector Tax evaders are pressurizing the FBR through farmers for withdrawal of this major documentation measure and creating a false impression of farmers being taxed Recently, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Farmers Rights Protection Association (KPFRPA) has opposed the advance excise duty and wrongly associated it with farmers Spokesperson of FBR clarifies that, “FED on un manufactured Tobacco has been enhanced from Rs 10/per kg to Rs 390/per kg w ef 23 08 2022 through promulgation of Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Ordinance,2022, in terms of S No 7 of Table 1 of First Schedule to the Federal Excise Act 2005 ” He added that the FED is chargeable on unmanufactured Tobacco for manufacturers of cigarettes by the Green LEAF Threshing Units (GLT Units) after processing and conversion of tobacco green leaf as defined under sub section (2A) of section 2 of the Federal Excise Act 2005 He said that the amount of FED is adjustable in terms of section 6 of the Federal Excise Act 2005, from the amount of duty collected Therefore, the main purpose of imposition of FED on unmanufactured tobacco is the documentation dormant undocumented segments of Tobacco industry Furthermore, he added that no FED is imposed or chargeable on raw tobacco leaf supplied by the tobacco growers/farmers to the GLT Units Experts believe that the imposition of advance excise duty has been instrumental in documentation of the purchase of tobacco by manufacturers of cigarettes and other tobacco products as all manufacturers who purchase tobacco from farmers must process tobacco through GLT plants It is pertinent to mention that the previous government had increased the tax on tobacco from Rs 10 per kg to Rs 300 per kg, however, it had to retract the decision due to pressure from lobby sitting in power corridors related to illegal cigarette producers p r
It is expected that this will be made effective on immediate basis These steps are taken to ensure a supply of the essential commodity in the market and to stabilize the prices According to the details, the importers will be allowed to import onion and tomatoes Ministry of National Food and Security has directed the De partment of Plant Protection (DPP) to facilitate the import and ensure that there are no hinderance for importers MNFSR has taken on board all the stakeholders with an aim to ensure a supply of the essential commodities to the consumers Furthermore a contact group to facilitate im ports is created, where importers will be able to share their problems While a team at Ministry of National Food Security will monitor the situation and will take necessary action for redressal Ministry of Na tional Food Security and Research has taken the above decisions to ensure that onion and tomatoes are available in the market at reasonable rates to the consumers Pakistan Embassies in Iran, Afghanistan, UAE and other countries have been requested to as sist imports Ministry of National Food Security and Research with stakeholders will continue to take necessary steps to ensure food security in the country in the times when crops have been heavily damaged because of recent floods and rains
Violation of Gas Supply Priority List Results in higher Fuel Charge Adjustments for Residents and Industries of Karachi Eight industrial associations of Karachi collectively denounced the decision to supply Captive Power Plants with subsidized indigenous gas, terming it a violation of the Gas Allocation Policy 2018 They revealed that this was the real reason behind the exorbitant Fuel Charges in electricity bills, as in the face of gas short ages, SSGC was left with no alternative but to supply extremely overpriced RLNG to K Electric Increasing Fuel Charge Adjustments (FCA) are being charged by the Karachi Electric on account of RLNG being used for generation instead of local gas Meanwhile cheaper gas is being diverted towards the in fluential captive power producers who profit at the ex pense of consumers of Karachi This is why electricity has gone beyond the affordability of consumers of Karachi,” explained Rehan Javed, Advisor to various In dustrial associations of Karachi on Power, Chairman of Sind Paper Mills Forum and a keen analyst on the na tional power sector and its challenges He further elaborated, “Per the federal cabinet com mittee decision on energy in 2018, SSGC was directed to provide at least 130 MMCFD of natural gas to KE In contempt of this decision, SSGC is currently supply ing KE with 100 MMCFD RLNG which is 5 times more expensive This is why KE will charge FCA of Rs 11/kWh from the people of Karachi Combined with the Government’s increase in electricity tariff, this means that ordinary people of Karachi will pay Rs 48 per unit of electricity while the rich captive power own ers pay Rs 13 per unit This is a discrimination against the poor masses Members of the other associations concurred with Rehan, calling the violation of the Agreement a com plete disparity and injustice Haroon Shamsi president of the Federal B Area of Trade and Industries further urged the Federal Government to immediately intervene and instruct SSGC to provide the indigenous gas to KE at OGRA approved rates, warning that continued viola tion of the natural gas allocation policy would result in the closure of business, unemployment, and misery among the people
Islamabad p r In a meeting at the Ministry of National Food Se curity and Research (MNFSR) it was decided that the Ministry will issue import permits of onion and tomatoes within 24 hours The Ministry has also proposed to FBR to waive off taxes and levies on import of onion and tomatoes or the next 90 days
N EPRA today held a consulta tive session titled “CTBCM Regulatory Framework and Opportunities for Industries” with All Pakistan Cement Manufacturer Association (APCMA) and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) To purpose of this session was to enhance awareness amongst the potential bulk power consumers espe cially industrialists, about the competi tive wholesale electricity market that commenced in Pakistan on May 31, 2022,The session was attended by large number of top officials of APCMA, FMCGS and power sector profession als Chairman NEPRA, Mr Tauseef H Farooqi inaugurated today’s session Chairman NEPRA in his opening re marks highlighted the importance of CTBCM and how it is going to bring a paradigm shift in the power sector of Pakistan Chairman NEPRA informed the participants that CTBCM will pro vide an opportunity to the Industry and bulk power consumers (1 MW or above) to purchase power from suppli ers of their choice at mutually agreed rates Furthermore, CTBCM includes other institutional and regulatory re forms to bring much needed efficiency transparency and accountability in the power sector He elaborated that the Cement Manufacturers and FMCGs have great opportunities to benefit from the upcoming competitive market and therefore this session will greatly help them in getting fully prepared to partic ipate in it The workshop included de tailed presentation by officers of NEPRA and CPPA G on different pol icy regulatory legal and institutional aspects of the CTBCM followed by a Q&A session p r
ISLAMABAD: The unprecedented monsoon rainfall has wreaked havoc in Balochistan Basic infrastructure including National Highways have been washed away which has suspended communication link between Quetta Taftan, Quetta Karachi, Quetta Sibi, Quetta Rakhni, Quetta MughalKot at different point in time However, NHA worked day and night to restore the network of all road connections and restored all the highways for traffic in shortest possible time except Quetta Sibi Quetta Sibi link was badly damaged on August 25 26, 2022 at Mach Bibi Nani, Pinjra Pul, Drabbi, Kundlani and Gatani in Bolan area NHA is putting in all out efforts to restore this link at the earliest 105km single track (Quetta to Pinjra Pul) has been cleared whereas Dera Allah Yar Dhadhar section is also opened for traffic It’s expected that remaining 8km length will be made motorable on war footing pr iCtP campaign in full swing to stop illegal parking
BEIJING M i A n A b r A r
Iran delivers 100-ton shipment of relief goods to Pakistan today
SAN FRANCISCO A F P
Iran’s shipment of emergency, biological and humanitarian accommodation supplies, includes 1,000 tents, 2,000 carpets, and 4,000 blankets, which will be sent to Pakistan from the southeastern Chabahar border The IRCS relief and medical team will also be dispatched to the flooded areas if approved by the Pakistani authorities,
Musk calls on T witter whistleblower to speak out on spam accounts
The Tesla boss hopes that allegations made by the former Twitter security chief Peiter Zatko, about major security gaps and problematic practices at the firm, will bolster his case According to court documents made public on Monday, Musk’s attorneys served Zatko with a subpoena Saturday demanding he share any documents or messages regarding the impact of spam and false accounts on Twitter ’s activity, dating back to January 2019 Zatko was also ordered to answer questions on the record for Musk lawyers on September 9
A 100 ton shipment containing the humanitarian aid of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) to the flood victims of Pakistan will be delivered on Wednesday
tire nation embark on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country in all re spects, and advance toward the Second Cen tenary Goal The Congress will hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese character istics, uphold Marxism Leninism, Mao Ze dong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development, and thoroughly im plement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era The Congress will take stock of the Party’s work over the past five years, as well as major achievements and valuable experience of the Party’s Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in uniting and leading the whole Party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era The Congress will thoroughly review the international and domestic situations, com prehensively grasp the new requirements for the development of the cause of the Party and the country on the new journey in the new era, as well as the new expectations of the people The Congress will formulate action plans and major policies, mobilize all Party members and people from all ethnic groups across the country to firm up confidence in history, strengthen historical initiative, inno vate on the basis of what has been done, and bravely charge ahead All Party members and people from all ethnic groups across the country will be mo bilized to continue advancing the Five Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four Pronged Comprehensive Strategy in a coordinated manner, pushing forward com mon prosperity for all, advancing the great new project of Party building and promot ing the building of a community with a shared future for humanity
On Monday, President Ebrahim Raisi telephoned Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced that Iran is prepared to send relief aid to flood victims in the neighboring country Raisi declared that he had given the Iranian authorities the responsibility to provide essential relief as quickly as possible Sympathizing those families who have lost loved ones in the deadly floods the Iranian president also emphasized the significance of fostering friendly ties between Tehran and Islamabad in other fields
The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Tuesday held a meeting on the preparatory work for the seventh plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, and the 20th CPC National Congress Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee presided over the meeting The meeting decided that the seventh plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee is to be convened on October 9 in Beijing The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee will propose to the ple nary session that the 20th CPC National Con gress is convened on October 16 in Beijing It was stressed at the meeting that the 20th CPC National Congress is a congress of great significance to be convened at a cru cial moment, as the whole Party and the en
While Twitter has pointed out that Musk opted not to perform due diligence typically seen in merger deals the billionaire’s attorney Alex Spiro told the Delaware judge he had trusted the firm’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
I N T E N S E fighting was raging on Tuesday across the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson occupied by Russia, Kyiv’s presidency said, as its troops pressed counter offensives in vari ous directions” Most of region of Kherson border ing the Black Sea and its provincial capital of the same name were seized by Moscow s military at the start of the invasion six months ago With the war in the eastern Donbas region largely stalled analysts have said for weeks that combat is likely to shift south to break the stalemate be fore winter comes Also on Tuesday, fresh Russian strikes in the northeast city of Kharkiv killed at least five people, prompting officials to urge people to stay indoors But much of the attention remained on the counter offensive in the south In its morning update the presi dent s office in Kyiv said heavy fight ing is taking place in almost the entire territory of the Kherson region” “Powerful explosions continued throughout the day and throughout the night” and “the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched offensive actions in various directions, it added In his nightly address on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky was coy about Ukraine s overarching strat egy whilst striking a bullish tone “We shouldn’t betray our troops by giving information about any of our plans,” he said You won t hear the specifics from any person in charge because this is war, and that’s how this works ” But the occupiers should know that we will push them to our border line,” he added If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee Go home ” Britain’s defence ministry said starting early Monday “several brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces increased the weight of artillery fires in front line sectors across south ern Ukraine” But it warned that since the start of August, Russia has made “significant efforts” to reinforce troops on the western bank of the Dnipro River which splits Kherson city “It is not yet possible to confirm the extent of Ukrainian advances,” the ministry said on Tuesday In Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, at least five people were killed Tues day as Russian shelling hit the centre of town, the mayor Igor Terekhov said Seven people were also wounded, and regional governor, Oleg Synegubov, gave a slightly lower death toll of four and said another four were injured “The Russian occupiers shelled the central districts of Kharkiv Synegubov said on Telegram, as he warned residents to “stay inside the shelters Moscow’s troops seized Kherson, a town of 280,000 inhabitants, on March 3 It was the first major city to fall following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 In an update on Facebook early Tuesday, Ukraine’s Southern Com mand said the situation remained “tense” in its area of operations “The enemy attacked our positions five times, but was unsuccessful,” it said The city of Mykolaiv, just north west of Kherson, had come under “massive bombardment” from Russian anti aircraft missiles, with two civil ians killed and 24 wounded, it said On Monday, Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had repulsed at tacks in the Kherson and neighbouring Mykolaiv regions and inflicted “heavy losses” on Ukrainian forces The ministry said Ukraine’s troops attempted attacks in three directions but that they lost more than 560 ser vicemen and 26 tanks US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Kyiv’s counter attack was already impacting Russia s capabilities “The Russians have had to pull re sources from the east simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might be going more on the offence in the south Kirby told journalists on Mon day, CNN reported M e a n w h i l e , a s e n i o r P e n t a g o n o ff i c i a l s a i d R u s s i a w a s s t r u g g l i n g t o f i n d s o l d i e r s t o f i g h t i n U k r a i n e a n d t h a t m a n y n e w r e c r u i t s w e r e o l d e r, i n p o o r s h a p e a n d l a c k i n g t r a i n i n g A g e n c i e s
Unprecedented monsoon rains that began in mid June have affected more than 30 million people in Pakistan, killing more than 1,130 people Pakistan has urged the international community to help with relief efforts as it struggles to cope with the aftermath of the flood to compensate for the damages
China warns US lies on Xinjiang will ‘bankrupt its own credibilit y ’
20th CPC National Congress likely to be held on Oc t 16
TEHRAN Ag e n c e s
Mehr reported on Tuesday
F I g H T I n g a c r O s s s O u T H e r n F r O n T a s u k r a I n e Wa g e s c O u n T e r - O F F e n s I v e
BEIJING s tA F F r e P o r t China on Monday refuted a report released by the U S State Depart ment’s Global Engagement Cen ter (GEC) which accused China of creating and spreading disin formation about its Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region The report is “confounding right and wrong and deflecting blames,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on the report, adding that the U S lies about Xinjiang will only bankrupt its own cred ibility at an even faster pace ” Zhao said that the GEC is carrying out “propaganda and in filtration” in the name of “global engagement and has become the origin of disinformation
n c i e s
10 FOREIGN NEWS Wednesday 31 August 2022 ISLAMABAD
Elon Musk has formally subpoenaed a Twitter whistleblower to share information about spam accounts on the social network, as the billionaire fights in court to back out of a massive buyout deal Musk has tried to pull out of the $44 billion agreement by saying Twitter misled him on the number of false accounts, or bots, prompting strong denials and a lawsuit from the social media firm
China has long been a victim of disinformation, and Xinjiang, in particular, has been under heavy attack from the U S worldwide campaign to spread disinformation said Zhao For quite some time, the U S has propagated “lies of the cen tury about Xinjiang to serve its “sinister scheme of using Xin jiang to contain China,” Zhao said, adding that even some U S government officials had admit ted this “In fact, the U S disinforma tion campaign on Xinjiang is nothing new and the methods it uses have been debunked many times,” said Zhao He stressed that the so called scholars and certain media, the cyberspace and government agencies both supply and con sume the raw material of the lies, and the disinformation related to Xinjiang is then used by the U S government as a pretext to sanc tion and pressure China “The manufacturers of lies and propagators of disinforma tion fear most about facts and truth,” Zhao said, adding that Xinjiang is a safe stable place now and enjoys sustainable, sound development, and the peo ple there are living happy, fulfill ing lives This is the best and most powerful rebuttal to the U S dis information campaign against Xinjiang he said No matter how many lies the U S produces, they will not fool the people across the world, nor will they bring down Xinjiang’s harmony and stability or drown out the voice for justice in the in ternational community, said Zhao
His lawyers told AFP that their client would comply with the subpoena but said that his appearance at the deposition would be “involuntary”
GENEVA: The WHO said Tuesday it had sent its number two to step in for its Western Pacific chief, who has been accused by staff of abusive, racist and authoritarian behaviour The World Health Organization has dispatched Deputy Director General Zsuzsanna Jakab from its Geneva global headquarters to temporarily replace Japanese doctor Takeshi Kasai at the regional office in Manila A slew of accusations against Kasai emerged in January from staff past and present Kasai, who denied the allegations, was accused of presiding over a “toxic atmosphere at the WHO s Western Pacific headquarters with a culture of “systemic bullying and public ridiculing” The staff, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation accused him of making “derogatory remarks to staff of certain nationalities”, in particular local Filipinos “The regional director for the Western Pacific region, Dr Takeshi Kasai, is on leave,” the WHO said Tuesday During the regional director’s absence, the WHO’s Deputy Director General Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab will ensure business continuity the UN health agency told AFP confirming a report by the Associated Press news agency Headquartered in the Philippines’ capital Manila, the WHO s Western Pacific region covers almost 1 9 billion people across 37 territories Appointed by the WHO executive board, Kasai has been in the post since February 2019 He was previously the region’s number two and has worked for the WHO for more than 15 years Jakab is the second in command at the WHO in Geneva behind director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
“He did not make his whistleblower disclosures to the appropriate governmental bodies to benefit Musk or to harm Twitter, but rather to protect the American public and Twitter shareholders the lawyers said in a statement Musk’s attempt to back out of buying Twitter has struggled for momentum in court Twitter won some early battles in the case including a fast track trial date, and its stock had risen as analysts predicted the platform would prevail over the mercurial Musk But a US judge last week told Twitter to surrender more data to Musk on the key issue of fake accounts, and the billionaire hopes Zatko s whistleblower complaint could further turn the tide in its favour
All Party members and people from all ethnic groups across the country will be mo bilized to work together for building China into a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts A n e w C P C C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e a n d a n e w C P C C e n t r a l C o m m i s s i o n f o r D i s c i p l i n e I n s p e c t i o n w i l l b e e l e c t e d a t t h e c o n g r e s s
WHO temporarily replaces W. Pacific chief accused of bullying, racism
The Hungarian public health administrator previously ran the WHO’s European regional office from 2010 to 2019, and before that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Ag e
PKR500 When Australia played a T20 here on 5 April, ticket prices ranged from PKR4,000 to PKR500 Usman Waheed, Director Commercial said here: “England is visiting Pakistan for the first time in 17
Ticket prices for the Karachi matches have been fixed from PKR1,500 to PKR250 The PCB has already announced gate proceeds from the first T20 will be donated to the Prime Minister s Flood Relief Fund 2022 Likewise, affordable prices have been fixed for the Lahore T20s which now range from PKR3 000 to
LAHORE s ta f f R e p o R t Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervez Elahi has announced the plans to construct a 5 star complex near Gadaffi Stadium, Lahore This latest develop ment will help the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to accommodate international teams near the stadium, which will improve traffic circulation within the city massively According to the details the 25 story complex will require at least $1 billion to construct and the majority of that cost will be paid by the United Arab Emirates A 25 storey complex will be built near the Gaddafi Stadium with a billion dollars In the new complex, the Punjab government will give 30% and the UAE government will give 70% revealed the CM Punjab CM Punjab revealed that UAE will bare 70 percent of the cost whereas the remainder will be paid by the Punjab government The complex will house a 5 star hotel along with a high performance center for the players Furthermore, there are rumours that a tun nel will also be constructed that will lead from the complex to the stadium; this will help in providing foolproof security to the visiting teams Although the exact location for the complex has not been disclosed but it is expected to be in the Nishtar Park Sports Complex, near to the Gaddafi Stadium argentine romero permanent move to tottenham
PCB optimistic
years and these matches will be a build up to October ’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup To ensure maximum fans can attend these matches and watch live some of the best shortest format cricketers from either side we have de cided to make the tickets affordable, ensuring families also turn up in big numbers to support cricket and both the sides “The first T20I also presents an opportunity to all the Karachi cricket spectators and fans to play their part in supporting all those affected by the catastrophe caused by the monsoon rainfall and floods They can do this by purchasing tickets and helping the PCB to donate a substantial amount in the Prime Minister s Flood Re lief Fund Cricket unites our nation and this is a time to demonstrate that we stand together in these difficult and challenging times Ticket prices of Karachi T20s: Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Javed Miandad (VIP enclosure) PKR1,500 Imran Khan, Quaid, Wasim Akram (premium enclosure) PKR750 Asif Iqbal, Intikhab Alam, Iqbal Qasim, Mohammad Brothers, Nasimul Ghani (first class enclosures) PKR500 Majid Khan, Waqar Hasan, Wasim Bari, Zaheer Abbas (general enclosure) PKR250 Ticket prices for Lahore T20s: Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan (VIP enclosures) PKR3,000 Rajas and Saeed Anwar (premium enclosures) PKR1,500 Abdul Qadir, AH Kardar, Javed Miandad and Sarfraz Nawaz (first class enclosures) PKR750 Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmed, Inzamam ul Haq, Majid Khan, Nazars, Quaid, Saeed Ahmad, Zaheer Abbas (general enclosures) PKR250
of Afridi playing World Cup af ter London rehab 11 Sports 31 AUGUST_Layout 1 8/30/2022 10:17 PM Page 1
punjab cM confirms construction of 5-star complex near gaddafi stadium
LONDON R e u t e R s Tottenham Hotspur have completed the permanent signing of Argentina defender Cristian Romero on a deal until 2027 the Premier League side said on Tuesday The 24 year old centre back had initially joined the London club on a loan deal from Serie A side Atalanta in August 2021 and helped them finish fourth in the English top flight and return to the Champions League A crucial part of manager Anto nio Conte’s back three last season Romero helped Spurs collect 10 wins from 14 league games in the final part of the campaign He has made 32 appear ances for the club and scored in the win over Brighton & Hove Albion in March Romero, who has 11 caps for Argentina, missed Spurs’ last two games against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest with an adductor issue but has begun training ahead of Wednesday’s trip to West Ham United ISLAMABAD s ta f f R e p o R t F O R M E R Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur is not satisfied with skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s opening the match in the T20 format after the team lost against India in the first Asia Cup matches for the sides on Sunday While speaking to ESPNcricinfo after the Pakistan India match Arthur agreed with former Indian player Robin Uthappa and said that the team needs to change their strategy while batting first in T20 matches Uthappa said that the Pakistan team re volves around Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi He said that the Men in Green have a plan when they have to bat in the second innings but they seemed to be “shooting in the dark” while batting first The comments came after India won the thriller by five wickets in the last over, thanks to Hardik Pandya s six off Moham mad Nawaz Pakistan were put into bat first by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma after he won the toss and the decision paid off as the top order of Pakistan failed to live up to expectations and fell cheaply to short balls, putting pressure on the middle order “I think they should [separate Babar and Rizwan] Fakhar hits the ball in different areas it frustrates the bowlers a little bit Arthur told the website “It is the different angles, you’ve got a left hand and a right hand So spread Babar and Rizwan and you put Fakhar Zaman back at the top ” Arthur shared that in terms of blueprint, when he was with Pakistan they used to set themselves to get 160 batting first and then rely on their bowlers to squeeze “We used to build as best we can and that was quite a good recipe for us The dif ference between that team and the team now is that in the middle we had Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik “ I n t h e m i d d l e n o w, t h e y a r e a v e r y young outfit they don t have much expe rience, and when you get them three wick e t s d o w n e a r l y, I t h i n k t h e y a r e g o i n g t o struggle Pakistan will play their second match on September 2 against Hong Kong and may have a second clash against India next Sunday
unveils ticket prices for Pak-England T20 series L i a m L i v i n g s t o n e d o u b t f u l f o r E n g l a n d ’s T 2 0 I t o u r o f Pa k i s t a n
LAHORE s ta f f R e p o R t
B a B a r - r i z w a n s h o u l d n o t p l ay a s o p e n i n g pa i r , s ay s M i c k e y a r t h u r
ISLAMABAD s ta f f R e p o R t England all rounder Liam Livingstone has been ruled out of the remainder of the Hundred with an ankle in jury The extent of the 29 year old’s injury is still un clear, but they are now just three and a half weeks before England begin a T20 series against Pakistan in Karachi England white ball captain Jos Buttler is also unlikely to feature in all seven fixtures because he has a calf injury which led to him to withdraw from the Hundred Both are now potential doubts for the white ball tour of Pakistan which starts on September 20 England opening batsman Jason Roy withdrew from Oval Invincibles win over London Spirit on Sat urday with a back spasm Fast bowlers Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills have recently suffered finger and toe prob lems, respectively, while their fellow quicks Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Saqib Mah mood are long term absentees through injury England will play seven T20Is on their first tour of Pakistan in 17 years Karachi will stage matches on 20, 22 23 and 25 September while Lahore will be the venue for the remaining three matches on 28 and 30 September, and 2 October England will return in late November for three Tests which will be played in Rawalpindi (1 5 December), Multan (9 13 December) and Karachi (17 21 December)
The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday announced ticket prices for the seven match T20 series between Pakistan and England to be played in Karachi from Sep tember 20 25 and September 28, to 2 October in Lahore Tickets will be available online on Wednesday at 1000 PST at https://pcb bookme pk/ Payments can be made using Easypaisa/Jazzcash/creditcard/Nift options, while helpline number is 03137786888
DUBAI R e u t e R s Pakistan’s pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi has travelled to London to con tinue his recovery from a knee injury but the cricket board is optimistic about his participation in the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year Left arm fast bowler Afridi suffered an injury in Sri Lanka last month and was ruled out of the ongoing Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) despite being named in the preliminary squad by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) “Shaheen Afridi requires uninter rupted, dedicated knee specialist care and London offers some of the best sports medical and rehabilitation facilities in the world, PCB chief medical officer Na jeebullah Soomro said in a statement on Monday “In the best interest of the player we have decided to send him there “The medical department will re ceive daily feedback on his progress [ ] and we are confident Shaheen will re turn to full fitness before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ” A medical panel would determine when the 22 year old would return to competitive cricket, the PCB said Beginning on September 20, Pak istan play seven T20 Internationals at home against England before flying to New Zealand to play a tri series also in volving Bangladesh Former champions Pakistan begin their T20 World Cup campaign with an October 23 blockbuster against arch ri vals India in Melbourne PCB
Wednesday 31 August 2022 ISLAMABAD 11SPORTS
completes
COAS B ajwa visits flood hit areas in Swat
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f O R M E R prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Tuesday said that he will have to take “out of the box solu tions to steer the country out of the crises if his party comes into power again “Now, we have to find out of the box solutions to govern the country like no one ever had We have to take those steps which we never took be fore,” the ousted premier said while addressing a seminar on the economy in Islamabad on Tuesday Imran admitted that his adminis tration was not prepared to run the country when it came into power in 2018, saying; “I spoke to [former fi nance minister] Shaukat Tarin and discussed that we will have to come prepared this time” The PTI chief said his party’s foremost priority will be to protect the vulnerable from inflation and the af termath of devastating floods He said overseas Pakistanis will play an important role in stabilising the country s economy We are de vising strategy as to how we can fa cilitate overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country Imran said during his last stint in power he could not solve many prob lems due to political instability as opposition from the day one wanted to topple my government” He said he started two major proj ects Ravi City and Bundal Island both of which he said had the po tential to attract foreign investment worth billions of dollars
The federal government has decided to merge the Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP) with the Kamyab Jawan Programme (KJP) An announcement in this regard was made by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail in a meeting of the steering committee on KPP at the Finance Division on Tuesday Chairman NAPHDA Lt Gen Anwar Ali Hyder, Chairman Akhuwat Dr Amjad Saqib President BOP Zafar Masood CEO NRSP Dr Rashid Bajwa, representative SAPM Youth Affairs, representative NDMA, member NTC, member SBP and other senior officers participated in the meeting
The quarter wise budget allocation and re leases will also be uploaded on the MoF s website by the Finance Division No payment shall be made above the limits by any account ing organisation unless they have been given a written approval by the Finance Division Earlier on July 7, the Ministry of Finance had directed the Planning Commission to re lease grants and appropriations at the maxi mum level of 20% for Q1FY23, 25% for Q2FY23, 30% for Q3FY23, and 25% for Q4FY23 of the approved budget
“The isolation of the Afghan interim government is not in the interest of either the Afghan people or the international community Ambassador Munir Akram told the UN Security Council on Monday, referring to the disagreement within the 15 member bloc on the resumption of the travel ban exemption for the Taliban leaders “We are disturbed by the disagreement within the Council on the resumption of the travel ban exemption for the 13 Taliban leaders, the envoy said, warning that a geopolitical divergence in Afghanistan between major powers would have serious implications for the war ravaged country and the entire region A short term travel waiver that had been granted to Taliban leadership expired on August 19 because Security Council members did not agree to extend it Since 1999, under Security Council Resolution 1267, 151 Taliban leaders have been banned from traveling abroad because of their alleged links to international terrorism Washington, which fought the Taliban for two decades in Afghanistan and designated several Taliban leaders as international terrorists has been pushing for strictly limited diplomatic engagement with the Taliban In his remarks, Ambassador Akram said: “What could not be imposed by force is unlikely to be secured by sanctions asset freezes or travel bans
The Ministry of Finance on Tuesday amended the strategy for releasing funds for the current fiscal year ’s (FY23) development budget which deals with public sector development According to an office memorandum issued by the ministry in this regard, the fund release strategy will be applied on each demand for a grant and appropriation of the budget, included in the schedule of authorized expenditure for FY23 It shall not be applicable on individual projects, cost centers or detailed object heads in a demand for grant and appropriation Funds for each demand of a grant and ap propriations shall be released and uploaded on the AGPR’s server by the Ministry of Plan ning, Development and Special Initiatives at the maximum level of 10% for the first quarter of the fiscal year, 20% for second quarter, 30% for third quarter and 40% for fourth quarter of the approved budget The release of funds for each approved project shall be through principal accounting officers (PAO) in each quarter within the above stated limits whereas the officer concerned with a project is also responsible for ensuring the availability of sufficient funds for employee re lated expenses incurred in each project
China will provide another batch of emergency humanitarian supplies including 25,000 tents to flood hit Pakistan, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Monday According to China Economic Net (CEN), he pointed out that Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence to his Pakistani counterpart, Arif Alvi, over the severe floods hitting the country On behalf of the Chinese government and people and in his own name, Xi expressed deep condolences over the victims and sincere sympathy to the bereaved families, the injured and the people in the affected areas
UnitEd natiOns s ta f f r e p o r t Pakistan called for “sustained engagement” with the Taliban, and not isolation, to advance the objectives of the international community in Afghanistan with respect to human rights, political inclusivity and counter terrorism
the people of Pakistan as well as the donors He said the country was faced with the worst flood situation in its history that had killed over a thousand people including 300 children, injured thousands more, displaced more than a million people and killed above a million animals He recalled the international commu nity s generous support following the 2010 floods and expected a similar response in wake of the ongoing catastrophic situation He said thought the friendly countries had started sending relief supplies but “much more needed to be done to overcome the situation He said the UN Flash Appeal of $160 million and called for its multiplication to overcome the burgeoning needs The floods also washed away the stand ing crops, the prime minister said and sought the international community’s attention to wards the current needs of the flood hit pop ulation including potable water tents mosquito nets, and medical treatment Prime Minister Sharif said all including the federal and provincial governments, Na tional Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), provincial disaster management authorities and Pakistan Army were in action for rescue and relief of the flood victims He said the relevant authorities were also actively engaged in repair of the road infra structure as the flash floods had damaged thousands kilometer stretch of roads across the country He said owing to the destruction of roads, Quetta had lost connectivity with Sindh He said the damaged road infrastructure also led to the impediments in supply of basic necessities to the flood hit population He said the pervading catastrophic flood sit uation also adversely impacted the economy, adding to the burden on the national kitty He said the government was scraping maximum resources for relief and rehabili tation of the people who were currently being provided with their immediate needs including shelter tents mosquito nets potable water and medical treatment
In another tweet, the ambassador said, “China has responded immediately, and will continue to provide urgently needed assistance to Pakistan and support the country in its disaster relief work President Xi message of condolence to President Alvi for the flood victims ” A d d i t i o n A l f l o o d r e l i e f s u p p l i e s: In light of the situation on the ground and based on Pakistan s needs
“This needs to be done at a much bigger scale he remarked citing the magnitude of the challenge He said a National Flood Re sponse and Coordination Center had been constituted for an effective and speedy relief and rehabilitation operation and coordination with donor agencies To a question, the prime minister said the country had received three to four times more rains this year and assured that the gov ernment would redirect its development spending for the rehabilitation of the people Gov t to merge Kamyab Pakistan, Kamyab Jawan programmes islaMaBad s ta f f r e p o r t
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The Chinese government has decided to provide 100 million yuan (around $14 5 million) of emergency humanitarian assistance, including 25,000 tents and other disaster relief materials urgently needed by flood hit Pakistan, said Zheng Yuandong, an official with the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA)
He added: “While we appreciate the frustration of many governments with the non fulfilment of early promises made by the Taliban on girls and women’s education, human rights, inclusivity and counter terrorism, isolating the Kabul leadership is unlikely to persuade it to change its policies much less its ideology ”
MoF revises strategy for release of development budget
China pledges 100 mln yuan relief assistance package for Pakistan BEiJinG ag e n c i e s
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 Wednesday 31 August 2022 NEWS
The prime minister told the media that the relief operation was going on across the coun try Dozens of helicopters and boats were also in action to rescuing relocate the affected peo ple besides supplying relief items
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday urged the international community to extend maximum support for relief and rehabilita tion of the flood stricken people of Pakistan assuring that every penny would be spent transparently The prime minister in an interaction with the representatives of the foreign media, said, “I want to give my solemn pledge and solemn commitment” that every penny would be spent in a transparent manner Every penny will reach the needy There will be no wastage at all,” he assured
The finance minister said that the government is going to merge the two programmes under one window which will be handled by the Prime Minister (PM) Office under the leadership of the SAPM on Youth Affairs He shared that Kamyab Pakistan Programme conforms to the present government’s vision for the country besides being beneficial for a sustainable reduction in poverty The programme will be supported comprehensively by the Finance Division which will aim at allocating the greater amount of funds for dealing with the current flood crisis in the country under the merged initiative Would snatch ‘due share’ if centre ignores KP: CM Mahmood pEsHawar s ta f f r e p o r t KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Tuesday said that his government will never hesitate to “snatch its due share” if “the province” was ignored While visiting the flood stricken districts of Nowshera and Charsadda, KP CM Mahmood Khan met the flood victims in relief camp Speaking to the media on the occasion, CM Mahmood took a jibe at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying that yesterday he [PM Shehbaz] announced funds of Rs10 billion for Balochistan and Rs15 billion for Sindh, adding KP is also part of Pakistan and has also been affected by flood like other provinces of the country Sharing details about devastation caused by floods in the province, CM Mahmood said that at least 249 people have died and more than 319 have been injured due to torrential rains and flash floods in the province Assuring that the KP government is standing by flood stricken people and will extend its support to them in full capacity Informing that in KP at least 25,000 complete houses have been destroyed completely while 24 000 have been partially damaged CM Mahmood said the data for Nowshera is yet to come Claiming that there was no loss of life in Nowshera due to the calamitous flood, CM Mahmood gave credit to Pervez Khattak, saying that he [Khattak] built a safety wall on the river bank which reduced the damage in the city rawalpindi/swat s ta f f r e p o r t
Indeed a generous and timely support from our Iron brother in this hour of need Thank you!”
They are heart wrenching and staggering China and Pakistan are all weather strategic cooperative partners and true friends and good brothers sharing weal and woe Since Pakistan was hit by the floods, our thoughts have been with the people in the affected areas We feel deeply for the Pakistani side in this difficult time Zhao said China is stepping up its response to severe rains and flooding across Pakistan which have reportedly killed over 1,000 people
IMraN voWs To TaKe ‘oUT of box’ solUTIoNs To sTeer CoUNTry oUT of CrIses
The Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa (COAS) on Tuesday visited flood affected areas of Swat to get an on ground update re garding the evacuation and re lief operations focused on the people stranded in Kumrat Kalam and surrounding areas According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army chief met women children elders and other people who were res cued today by army aviation helicopters from Kumrat and Kalam to Kanju The COAS spent time with evacuated people who thanked the Pakistan Army for reaching out once they needed it the most and bring ing comfort not only to them but their families back home who eagerly awaited their safe return, it added Gen Bajwa also under took aerial reconnaissance of the extent of damage caused by floods and relief efforts of army troops at various loca tions including Kalam Bahrain, Khwazakhela and Matta areas of Swat He appreciated Peshawar Corps for its effective and timely response during crises and for saving precious lives The ISPR said that 82 helicopter sorties have been dispatched to flood affected areas of the country for rescue and relief operations The ISPR added that 27 helicopter sorties have evacu ated 316 stranded individuals and delivered 23 753 tons of ration and relief items over the past 24 hours
In a tweet Pakistan Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque said that the Chinese government had announced a relief assistance package worth RMB 100 million for flood affectees in Pakistan
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
But unfortunately, the Sindh gov ernment cancelled the NOC for Bun dal Island project and “builder mafia” got a stay order which halted the work on Ravi City project for 11 months Hitting out at the incumbent rulers, Imran said they did not take any step to improve the lives of the masses as their only objective is to get “relief in corruption cases” “They mocked me when I started the billion tree tsunami project they [political rivals] did not make any long term plans to protect the country from climate change ”
PM a p p e a l s t o wo r l d t o m u l t i p l y s u p p o r t fo r f l o o d v i c t i m s
islaMaBad s ta f f r e p o r t
“We have seen many news stories about the floods, especially videos of the devastation the floods have caused in Pakistan
Moreover, 3,540 ration packets and 250 tents have been distributed among flood victims during the last 24 hours The military s media wing added that 51 free med ical camps have also been es tablished in which 3 3025 patients have been treated The Army Flood Relief Coordination Center is func tioning under the Army Air Defence Command with a mandate to coordinate rescue and relief efforts in synchro nization with stakeholders at the army level A t o t a l o f 2 1 7 f l o o d r e lief donation collection cen tres have been established all over the country, for the col lection and distribution of re lief goods
Pakistan to UN: Isolating Taliban won’t change group’s attitude
