According to the report Pakistan p ans to achieve a smal primar y surplus in FY2023 which is a welcome step to reduce fiscal and external pressures and bu ld conf dence Contain ng current spending and mobi izing tax revenues are critical to create space for much needed socia protection and strengthen pub ic debt sustainabil ty Efforts to strengthen the viability of the energy sector and reduce unsustainable losses, including by adher ng to the scheduled increases in fuel evies and energy tariffs are a so essential Further efforts to reduce poverty and protect the most vulnerable by enhancing targeted transfers are important espec al y in the current high inf at on environment The tighten ng of monetar y conditions through higher po icy rates was a necessar y step to contain inflat on Going for ward, cont nued tight monetar y po icy would help to reduce nf ation and help address external imbalances Ma ntaining proactive and data driven monetar y policy wou d support these objectives
C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 03
Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has warned the incumbent gov ernment that his “ freedom movement ” wil march towards Is amabad if pol tical victimisat on against his party continues “ I am warning you [PML N ed coali tion government] today our justice movement will come to Islamabad if you continue to do this [polit ca vict m isation] and you will have nowhere to hide,” he said whi e address ng a public gathering n Gujrat on Fr day He lashed out at the government for its alleged use of force on PTI eader Shahbaz Gi saying that he was stripped naked and tortured They also tortured [journal st] Jameel Farooqui Stripped him naked and hu mil ate him as wel Haleem Adil also has many cases against him He is also being tortured in prison,” he lamented Imran wh le addressing the youth said that together they need to work to make the judicial system of the countr y better You al have to come with me for that When I started my journey 26 years ago, we said the judiciar y should be in dependent so it wi l protect the rights of the people I was the only political leader who was put behind bars during the judicial movement We boycotted 2008 elections for the judiciar y ” He condemned the PML N for asking the judiciar y to take act on against him saying that the same party, on the in structions of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, attacked the Supreme Court w th clubs “ They should be ashamed of themse ves while making this demand The PML N should never say anything about my contempt case,” he added The PTI ch ef said that former chief justice Sa jad Ali Shah was removed after money was used by the PML N “If the ju diciar y is not strong who will protect rights of the people he questioned He said that the “ imported govern ment was imposed upon the nation via a foreign consp racy “They did not want Imran Khan because he was saying ab solutely not He was making a foreign policy for the people of Pakistan,” he added He said that if Russia was g ving his government oil at 30 to 40 per cent cheaper rates, why shou d he not buy it as it is better for the peop e? India also taking oil from Russia on 40 per cent cheap rates why can’t we ” he ra sed a question The ousted prem er said that a mi itar y d ctator participated in the US war and sacr ficed 80,000 Pak stan s
RIME M nister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday vis ted the flood affected areas of Gi git Ba tistan and assured the flood stricken peop e that the government would not leave them a one until all of the fami ies were rehab litated In an interact on with the flood affected people of Bobar village in Ghizar, Shehbaz Sharif expressed condolences over the loss of lives and properties n the floods The pr me minister was also briefed about the situation after devastat ng floods in G lgit Baltistan, during which Shehbaz Sharif was told that the f oods had k lled 17 people and dam aged 249 houses in the vi lage Moreover 794 anima s and several orchards were also washed away dur ng the calam ty The pr me m nister assured the vict ms of the government ’s all out support for their re ief and rehab itation He sa d the government was mak ng all out efforts to ease the diff cul ties be ng faced by the peop e in f ood rav aged areas During the visit, the prime min ster also dis tributed cheques among the flood affected peop e of Shisper Glacier of Hunza at a cere mony held at Gilgit A rport He handed over cheques of Rs0 8 million each among nine people whose houses were completely de stroyed during the floods and Rs0 5 mi ion each among six people whose houses were partial y damaged
PM Shehba z PledgeS all-out govt SuPPort
Advisor to PM on Kashmir and G lgit Balt stan Qamar Zaman Kaira Special Ass stant Fahad Hussain and Chairman of Nat onal Dis aster Management Author ty Lt General Akhtar Nawaz accompanied the prime m nister islAmAbAd s tA f f R e p o R t Rescue and re ief operations by the Pakistan Army continued across the countr y on Friday as Sindh braced for yet more flooding A surge of water flowed down the Indus river on Thursday threat ening further devastat on in a countr y already a third inundated, in a growing disaster blamed on climate change However, the Inter Ser vices Public Relat ons (ISPR) said n a statement on Friday that 200 hel icopters sort es have been fly ng in var ous areas of Pakistan to evac uate stranded people and a so transport rat ons and medic nes According to the militar y s media wing, “1,991 stranded indi v dua s have been evacuated and 162 6 tonnes of relief items have been delivered to flood affected people during the last 24 hours “ So far, more than 50,000 indi vidua s have been shifted to safer locations from the calamity hit areas, whereas 147 relief camps are functional round the clock in flood affected areas of Sindh, Southern Punjab, Ba ochistan,= and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for flood affectees t added The ISPR furthered that more than 60 000 patients have been treated and provided with free medicine for three to five days It maintained that 221 co ection points of the flood re ief items have been established across the countr y where more than 1 350 tonnes of food, med c nes and other sustenance items were col ected
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The Internat ona Monetar y Fund (IMF) released it s countr y report on Thursday accord ng to which risks to Pakistan s econom c outlook and implementation of the programme remained high and t lted to the downs de because of what it termed a “ ver y comp ex ” domestic and external env ronment Pakistan s economy has been under adverse external condit ons, due to spillovers from the war in Ukra ne, and domestic cha lenges including from accommodative po icies that resulted in uneven and unba anced growth Steadfast imp ementation of corrective pol cies and reforms remain essential to regain macroeconomic stability, address imbalances and lay the foundation for inc usive and sustainable growth
As per IMF report close oversight of the banking system and decisive action to address undercapita ized financial institutions would he p to support f nanc al stability
islAmAbAd s tA f f R e p o R t P
The army has also established re ief camps n different areas of Karachi for collection of donat ons and essential commod ties to be supplied to the people of the flood h t areas Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had discussed with Ch ef of Army Staff (COA S) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and National D sas ter Management Authority (NDMA) Cha rman Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz the flood situation rescue re ief and rehabil tation operat ons n the affected areas During the telephonic conversa tion the premier and the army chief talked about the situation of flood victims and rel ef and rehab l tation operations n the f ood hit areas On Thursday, the Indus was in high flood with a f ow of 531 000 cusecs water at Guddu; 529,000 cusecs at Sukkur and 408,000 cusecs at Kotri According to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa), so far 16 7 mil ion acre feet of water had been released into the sea Meanwhile, f ood torrents, after devastating Larkana were raging in the Dadu district After n undating the Khairpur Nathan Shah taluka of the Dadu district and Su awal Junejo taluka of Kambar Shahdadkot d strict the Mehar taluka of Dadu came under ser ous threat of flooding The flood is now gushing to wards Shahdadkot town To pre vent the flooding, three cuts were made in Kambar Larkana road and two n Garhi Kha ro road to essen the water pressure but it severed the road link between Shahdadkot and Balochistan to flood victiMS islAmAbAd s tA f f R e p o R t
S a t u r d a y, 3 S e p t e m b e r, 2 0 2 2 I 6 S a f a r, 1 4 4 4 I R s 1 5 . 0 0 I Vo l X I I I N o 6 5 I 1 2 Pa g e s I La h o r e E d i t i o n
Preser ving a market determ ned exchange rate rema ns crucial to absorb external shocks, maintain competitiveness and rebuild nternat onal reser ves IMF believes that acce erating structura reforms to strengthen governance, ncluding of state owned enterprises and improve the business environment would support sustainable growth Reforms that create a fa r and level p aying field for bus ness investment and trade are necessar y for job creation and the development of a strong pr vate sector i s k s t o Pa k i s t a n’ s e c o n o m i c o u t l o o k r e m a i n h i g h : I M F
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Imran threatens to march on Islamabad if ‘political victimisation’ continues Re l i e f o p e r a t i o n s u n d e r w a y a s S i n d h b r a c e s f o r m o r e f l o o d i n g C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 03
GUJRAT Ag e n c i e s
JI blocks canal road against inflated electricit y bills Staff RepoRt Jamat e Islami (JI) has blocked Faisalabad’s Canal Road against inflated electricity bills and demanded withdrawal of all surcharges slapped on the consumers on Friday According to details, the angry JI protesters staged a protest outside Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) headquarters on Canal Road carrying banners and placards demanding that increase in the power tariff should be withdrawn Meanwhile, heavy contingent of anti riot force and district police have been deployed outside FESCO headquarters to avoid any untoward incident The law enforcement agencies have installed barbed wire and barriers outside the headquarters The protesters announced that they would not deposit the bills if the increase in tariff was not withdrawn Earlier on August 31 the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approved another increase in electricity tariff by Rs4 34 per unit on account of monthly fuel adjustment (MFA) for July 2022 The power regulator held a public hearing to consider the monthly fuel adjustment (MFA) The Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee had submitted an application for an increase in electricity tariff by Rs4 69 per unit, Nepra said ta f f R e p o Rt
Staff RepoRt Saira Bano Member of the National Assembly (MNA) and spokesperson for Sindh s Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has refused to donate her one month salary to the Prime Minister ’s Relief Fund set up for the flood affected people saying she does not trust the government In a letter to National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf she said she would rather prefer to give the money to charities like AlKhidmat Foundation or JDC She wrote that these days the country was confronted with worst floods in its history and those affected by the calamity needed urgent relief and rehabilitation “And although different charities are appealing to people for donations only the time will tell whether these amounts were spent in a transparent manner,” she said, and added I have learnt that you Mr Speaker has deducted one month salary of each MNA for depositing it in the prime minister s Fund without consulting him or her And even the Fund was set up in haste; without taking all the parliamentary parties on board This certainly raises questions over the transparency of the whole process ” Saira went on to add that it was up to each parliamentarian to donate money to the organization of his or her choice Therefore, instead of depositing my one month salary in the prime minister ’s Fund, I will ask you to equally distribute it between AlKhidmat and JDC and I be given its receipt she wrote Later talking to a news agency, she confirmed she had written a letter to the NA speaker as well as the NA secretary and the auditor general in which she had asked them not to deposit her one month salary in the Fund set up by the prime minister for the flood victims Secondly, she added, the speaker squandered Rs750 million on Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the country’s independence If the same amount had been spent on the flood affected people, the situation would have been different, she added Saira made it clear that if her salary was spent for some other purpose, she would not remain silent
Saturday 3 September, 2022 | LAHORE 02 NEWS ISLaMaBaD S ta f f R e p o R t P R I M E Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday thanked the government and people of Turkiye for extending timely support to the flood stricken people of Pakistan manifesting the fraternal ties and brotherhood between the two countries H e a d e d b y Tu r k i s h I n t e r i o r M i n i s t e r Suleyman Soylu the delegation is visiting P a k i s t a n t o e x p r e s s s t r o n g f e e l i n g s o f c o n d o l e n c e a n d s o l i d a r i t y o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n d p e o p l e o f Tu r k y i e w i t h the flood affected people of Pakistan B e s i d e s t h e Tu r k i s h i n t e r i o r m i n i s t e r the delegation comprised Turkish Minister f o r E n v i r o n m e n t , U r b a n i s a t i o n a n d Climate Change Murat Kurum Chairman o f Tu r k i s h D i s a s t e r a n d E m e rg e n c y M a n a g e m e n t ( A FA D ) , D i r e c t o r G e n e r a l f o r Tu r k i s h L o w C o s t H o u s i n g A g e n c y (TOKI) and others T h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r w e l c o m e d t h e Tu r k i s h d e l e g a t i o n a n d t h a n k e d t h e m o n b e h a l f o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n d p e o p l e o f Pakistan for their warm gesture He expressed his gratitude to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his phone call to offer sympathies and condolences over the human and material losses due to the floods and reaffirm Turkiye’s commitment to extend all possible support and dealing with this climate induced calamity He said soon after President Erdogan’s c a l l , Tu r k i y e s e n t h u m a n i t a r i a n r e l i e f assistance to Pakistan in the form of tents, f o o d i t e m s m e d i c i n e s a n d e m e rg e n c y relief goods for the flood victims So far, 11 Tu r k i s h m i l i t a r y a i r c r a f t a n d t w o Goodness Trains had been dispatched The prime minister said Pakistan was grateful to the Turkish government, people a n d t h e b u s i n e s s c o m m u n i t y f o r s e n d i n g r e l i e f g o o d s f o r t h e d i s t r e s s e d p e o p l e o f Pakistan within no time He said the relief g o o d s w e r e b e i n g d i s t r i b u t e d a m o n g t h e f l o o d v i c t i m s a c r o s s a l l p r o v i n c e s a n d regions P r i m e M i n i s t e r S h a r i f t o l d t h e delegation that the flash floods had killed over 1000 people including 300 children, besides washing away crops and livestock a n d r e n d e r i n g m i l l i o n s o f t h e p e o p l e homeless H e s a i d h e h a d n e v e r s e e n s u c h a catastrophic situation in his lifetime The prime minister recalled Turkiye s steadfast support and assistance to Pakistan during the 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods He underlined that Turkiye and Pakistan were t w o h e a r t s w i t h o n e s o u l a n d h a d a l w a y s s u p p o r t e d e a c h o t h e r d u r i n g difficult times H e l o o k e d f o r w a r d t o Tu r k i y e s a s s i s t a n c e f o r o v e r c o m e t h e c h a l l e n g e s c a u s e d b y t h e m a s s i v e d e s t r u c t i o n o f c o u n t r y s i n f r a s t r u c t u r e l o s s o f p e o p l e s l i v e l i h o o d s , f o o d s h o r t a g e a n d s o c i o e c o n o m i c i n s e c u r i t y d u r i n g t h e reconstruction and rehabilitation phase T h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r a l s o a s k e d t h e d e l e g a t i o n t o c o n v e y h i s g r a t i t u d e t o Tu r k i s h l e a d e r s h i p a n d p e o p l e f o r t h e i r heartfelt feelings of grief and support for t h e p e o p l e o f P a k i s t a n a t t h a t h o u r o f devastating natural calamity Tu r k i s h I n t e r i o r M i n i s t e r S u l e y m a n Soylu appreciated the hectic relief efforts of the prime minister and his government for the rescue and relief of the people and rehabilitation of infrastructure hit hard by the catastrophic torrential rains and floods i n a l l p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y, e s p e c i a l l y B a l o c h i s t a n , S i n d h , K P K a n d S o u t h e r n Punjab T h e y e s p e c i a l l y p r a i s e d t h e g o v e r n m e n t f o r t h e p r o v i s i o n o f emergency cash transfer of Rs 25000 per affected household under Benazir Income Support Programme T h e d e l e g a t i o n p r o p o s e d t o e x t e n d t h e i r m a x i m u m h e l p t o r u n t h i s c a s h transfer programme on a sustainable basis in order to meet the expectations of flood victims, and to avoid social shocks in the aftermath of the floods
P M T H A N k S T u R k I S H G o v T, P e o P l e f o R T I M e lY S u P P o R T A S D e l e G AT I o N PAY S S o l I D A R I T Y v I S I T
The Turkish minister added that in line w i t h P r e s i d e n t E r d o g a n ’s i n s t r u c t i o n s , Tu r k i y e s r e l e v a n t i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d a g e n c i e s d e a l i n g w i t h n a t u r a l d i s a s t e r s s t o o d r e a d y t o p r o v i d e e n h a n c e d s u p p o r t in line with Pakistan s requirements H e u n d e r s c o r e d t h a t Tu r k i y e i m m e d i a t e l y e s t a b l i s h e d a i r a n d l a n d b r i d g e s a n d f r a t e r n i t y t o p r o v i d e r e l i e f s u p p o r t t o t h e f l o o d a ff e c t e e s H e a d d e d that today, during the Friday prayers, the p e o p l e i n Tu r k i y e w o u l d p r a y f o r t h e i r b r o t h e r s a n d s i s t e r s i n P a k i s t a n a n d mobilize further support T h e Tu r k i s h m i n i s t e r, o n b e h a l f o f t h e Tu r k i s h g o v e r n m e n t a n d p e o p l e e x p r e s s e d t h e i r s t r o n g c o m m i t m e n t t o c o n t r i b u t e f i n a n c i a l l y t o t h e r e l i e f a n d r e h a b i l i t a t i o n e ff o r t s o f t h e G o v e r n m e n t o f P a k i s t a n T h e d e l e g a t i o n i s a l s o s c h e d u l e d t o u n d e r t a k e a n a e r i a l o n s i t e v i s i t o f t h e f l o o d a ff e c t e d a r e a s
ISLaMaBaD S
PTI leader Shahbaz Gill files bail plea in IHC Staff RepoRt
ISLaMaBaD S ta f f R e p o R t
Staff RepoRt
Bilawal briefs S audi counterpar t on flood situation over phone
The Pakistan Army has rescued nearly 2,000 stranded people through 200 helicopter sorties in flood hit areas across the country According to a statement issued by the ISPR on Friday, 200 helicopters sorties have been flown in various areas of Pakistan to evacuate stranded people and also transport rations and medicines during the last 24 hours During last 24 hours 1 991 stranded individuals have been evacuated and 162 6 tons of relief items have been delivered to flood affected people,” the ISPR said The military’s media wing said that so far more than 50,000 individuals have been shifted to safer locations from calamity hit areas during the rescue operations led by Pakistan Army “147 relief camps are functional round the clock in flood affected areas of Sindh Southern Punjab Balochistan and KP for flood affectees ” The ISPR added that more than 60,000 patients have been treated and provided free medicine to patents so far The military also established 221 collection points across the country and have so far collected more than 1350 tons of food medicines and other sustenance items Army rescued 2,000 from flood-hit areas: ISPR
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday fixed for hearing the post arrest bail petition filed by PTI leader Shahbaz Gill in the case of making anti Pakistan Army remarks during a talk show on a private TV channel IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Athar Minallah will take up the petition for the hearing on September 5, 2022 Making SHO Kohsar police station, City Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza and others as respondents in the petition, Gill said that he had been arrested by the police on August 9, 2022 I am a chief staff officer of former prime minister Imran Khan ” he said and added that on August 17 he was examined by senior doctors of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad who later in their report confirmed torture on him “Hence as long as the court decides my case, I be granted post arrest bail,” read the petition
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received Turkish Minister for Interior Suleyman Soylu, Turkish Minister for Environment Urbanisation and Climate Change Murat Kurum, chairman of Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD), director general for Turkish Low Cost Housing Agency (TOKI) and the accompanying delegation in Islamabad A surge of water flowed down the Indus river on Thursday threatening further devastation in a country already a third inundated, in a growing disaster blamed on climate change The Pakistan Army s media wing Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement that 200 helicopters sorties have been flying in various areas of the country to evacuate stranded people and also transport rations and medicines “1,991 stranded individuals have been evacuated and 162 6 tonnes of relief items have been delivered to flood affected people during the last 24 hours,” it added Earlier, PM Shehbaz had discussed with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz rescue relief and rehabilitation operations in the flood affected areas
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed PEMRA to restore transmission of ARY NEWS on cable in an hour and warned action against the chairman of the regulatory authority in case of non compliance Chief Justice IHC Athar Minallah led the proceedings of a petition against the suspension of ARY NEWS transmission on cable The administration of the news channel and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan also appeared before the court A PEMRA official appeared before the court and conveyed that they have not suspended the transmission of the channel and blamed the cable operators for it Stop playing games with the court There are 4,000 employees whose basic rights are being violated with the suspension of the channel,” the judge remarked If you didn t close the channel then why you haven’t resumed its transmission?” CJ Athar Minallah asked The PEMRA official conveyed that they have issued show cause notice to the cable operators Are you trying to say that cable operators are running the country,” the CJ IHC remarked and directed the PEMRA official to restore the channel on its previous position in an hour If ARY NEWS is not restored in an hour then PEMRA chairman will have to appear before the court on Monday, the chief justice warned The IHC also directed secretary information and broadcasting to take actions in this regard and appear before the court in person The court later adjourned the hearing for Monday
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had a telephone call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and briefed him on the magnitude of devastation caused by floods and torrential monsoon rains in Pakistan “Had telephone call with @FaisalbinFarhan, briefed HH on magnitude of devastation caused by floods & torrential monsoon rains in Pakistan Bilawal wrote on his official Twitter handle on Friday He also thanked Saudi Arabia for its strong expression of solidarity and continued assistance for flood affected people Meanwhile, a high level Turkish delegation, sent by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reached Pakistan to express solidarity and extend support after the devastating floods in the country The delegation will also undertake an aerial visit of the flood affected areas of the country
IHC reser ves verdict in DG NAB appointment case
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday reserved its judgment on the petition challenging the appointment of director general NAB Lahore Jamil Ahmed Justice Baber Sattar of IHC reserved the verdict after listening arguments from two sides at the length The petitioner lawyer Muhammad Iqbal had named principal secretary to the prime minister, DG Lahore and others as respondents in the case The petitioner adopted the stance that the appointment was made in violation of the guidelines of the top court He prayed the court to suspend the notification regarding the appointment of DG NAB Lahore and stopped him from working against the post The court reserved the judgment after listening arguments from lawyers IHC directs Pemra to restore ARY news transmission in an hour Staff RepoRt
GDA MNA refuses to donate her salar y to PM Fund for flood vic tims
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P R e S I D e N T f o R PA u S I N G P o l I T I C S , f o C u S I N G o N f lo o D - R e l I e f e f f o R T S T wo more uAe flights with relief goods land at Nur khan base A n o t h e r t w o f l i g h t s f r o m t h e U n i t e d A r a b E m i
He also emphasized the need for launching a nationwide drive for increasing the forest cover in the country, shifting from fossil fuels to alternative means of energy and building delay action and large dams to minimize the effects of climate change Replying to a question he said that although as the President he did not have a constitutional obligation to play a role to defuse the current political polarization however, if all the stakeholders agreed, he would volunteer in his personal capacity to mediate among the stakeholders on major questions faced by the country, including the date of next elections, consensus based economic charter, and the way forward on making key appointments While replying to another question, the President reiterated that all the institutions, including judiciary and the army should not be used for political point scoring, as such comments were not in the greater national interest He said there was a need to understand that any comment, narrative or analysis, having the potential to create division within the institutions or between the institutions and people of Pakistan, could never be in national interest
Furthermore, an amount of Rs 7 million and Rs 5 million have been released for districts Haripur and Torghar respectively According to Director General (DG) PDMA Sharif Hussain a fund of Rs 1 75 billion has been released to the district administrations of various districts since July for combating emergency situations The funds he said would be utilized for payment of compensation and relief activities of the flood victims as per flood policy of the provincial government He said that the provision of relief assistance and rehabilitation is the top priority of the government Staff RepoRt
British MP demands immediate cancellation of Pakistan’s int’l debt
Staff RepoRt
E S I D E N T
The Balochistan government has once again postponed an anti polio drive in the province amid heavy rainfall and floods that have resulted in deaths, loss of infrastructures and displacement of millions of people According to provincial health department, the immunization drive was planned from September 05 in the province, however, it has now been postponed for the second time owing to heavy monsoon rainfall and floods “The new date for the drive will be announced soon, it said The polio drive was postponed last time on August 29 in the province It is pertinent to mention here that the Ministry of Health launched a week long national anti polio campaign across the country on August 22 S ta f f R e p o R t lahore High Cour t strikes down fBR notices in AMl investigations
The President called upon all the political parties, opinion leaders, eminent members of the civil society and the media persons to remain within the confines of Article 19 of the Constitution and relevant laws and regulations while discussing or commenting on institutions He said that almost 90% of social media was providing knowledge, information, education and entertainment to the masses at no or nominal cost which was a healthy trend
The Punjab Home Department on Friday directed to rationalise the security of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif ’s house and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz “The PM house and Maryam Nawaz should be given as much security as they need ” the Home Department ordered “There has been no direction to reduce the security of the PM house and that of Maryam Nawaz Only the Lahore police have been asked to rationalise the security of both of them ” it stated “The Lahore police will decide how much security is required for the PM House and Maryam Nawaz, said the Home Department Relief operations under way as Sindh to expect more flooding
ISLaMaBaD a p p P R Dr Arif Alvi Friday called upon all the governments and political parties to pause politics and urged all stakeholders to launch a nationwide drive to mobilize the people of Pakistan, businesses, civil society and humanitarian organizations to assist civil and military administrations in their rescue and relief efforts to rehabilitate the flood victims and for the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure The President made these remarks during a meeting with senior media persons who called on him here at the Aiwan e Sadr Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami, Suhail Warraich, Gauhar Zahid Malik Awais Rauf and Nawab Kaifee attended the meeting, a press release issued by the President’s Media Wing here said Talking to the senior journalists about his visit to the flood hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Southern Punjab, and the low lying areas of Sindh and Balochistan, the President said that this unprecedented catastrophe had been induced due to global warming and climate change whereas Pakistan contributed less than 1% to the global carbon emissions He further said that the developed world, being the major contributor to global warming and climate change, should proportionally bear the burden of rescue and relief operations, reconstruction of damaged communication infrastructure, rebuilding the destroyed houses and compensating the people for lost property livestock and standing crops The President highlighted that the climate catastrophe had affected more than 33 million people; 1 100 people including over 350 children had lost their lives; more than 1,600 people had been injured; over 1 million houses had been partially or completely destroyed; entire villages had been wiped out; over 735,000 livestock had perished; 2 million acres of crops had been inundated, and the communications infrastructure had been severely damaged
The Lahore High Court (LHC) Friday struck down hundreds of notices issued by the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) to various people in anti money laundering investigations At least 382 petitioners approached the court after they were summoned by the FBR Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza ruled that the FBR could not summon people in an anti money laundering probe without providing a valid justification The court approved the petitions against FBR notices However it rejected the requests to dismiss the cases registered by the bureau The court also declared that failure to provide details of bank accounts in tax returns did not constitute a crime and that the FBR cannot hear cases registered before 2020 The court further said that FBR violated the law by directly issuing notices N
On the directives of Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) released more funds of Rs 902 million for eleven flood affected districts of the province on Friday Out of this fund Rs 500 million were released for D I Khan, Rs 170 million for Tank, Rs 80 million for Kohistan, Rs 50 million for Charsadda and Rs 40 million for Swat respectively Similarly, an amount of Rs 20 million has been released for district Lower Kohistan Rs 10 million each for Mansehra, Peshawar and Battagram
03NEWS Saturday, 3 September, 2022 LAHORE
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P D M A K P re l e a s e s R s. 9 0 2 m i l l i o n m o re fo r fl o o d v i c t i m s Sye d A l i G i l a n i ’s m o n u m e n t to b e b u i l t i n A J K : P M Ta nve e r I l ya s
Punjab Home Dept reviews securit y of PM House, Mar yam Nawaz
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister, Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan has declared the death anniversary of the veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Gilani, September 1, as “Yaum e Syed Tehreek e Takmeel e Pakistan Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan in a statement in Islamabad said it has been decided to build a monument in AJK worthy of his personality and a library will be set up in his name The AJK Prime Minister said from next year, every year September 1 will be observed with fervor and reverence to commemorate the supreme sacrifices rendered by him for the Kashmir cause Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan said that Syed Ali Gilani was a world leader and a great scholar, who was considered as one of the leaders of the world
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Record monsoon rains have triggered floods that have killed at least 1,191 people, including 399 children The floods have swept away homes, businesses, infrastructure and roads Crops over some 2 million acres of farmland have been destroyed The government says 33 million people, or 15% of the 220 million population, have been affected The military said that the troops had evacuated some 50,000 people, including 1,000 by air, since rescue efforts began The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said some 480,030 people have been displaced and were being looked after in camps The World Health Organization said that more than 6 4 million people were in dire need of humanitarian aid ContInueD fRoM page 01 “They will take the orders from their masters abroad They will never take cheap oil from Russia b e c a u s e t h e U S w i l l g e t a n n o y e d I f e a r t h e y w i l l g e t u s i n t o a n o t h e r c o n f l i c t ” W h e n t h e P T I w a s i n p o w e r, h e w e n t o n t o s a y, t h e o p p o s i t i o n ’s c a m p a i g n a g a i n s t t h e g o v e r n m e n t w a s b a s e d o n r i s i n g i n f l a t i o n H o w e v e r, d u r i n g t h e i r o w n t e n u r e , i n f l a t i o n h a s n o w r e a c h e d r e c o r d l e v e l s “ B i l a w a l c a m e t o I s l a m a b a d a n d s a i d I m r a n K h a n k i k a n p e n t a n g e n g i F o r G o d s s a k e i m p r o v e y o u r U r d u f i r s t ” h e s a i d a n d a d d e d t h a t t h e e n t i r e o p p o s i t i o n o f t h a t t i m e u s e d t o s a y t h e g o v e r n m e n t h a d b e c o m e a s l a v e o f t h e I M F I m r a n s a i d t h a t p e t r o l w a s p r i c e d a t R s 1 5 0 p e r l i t r e w h i l e d i e s e l w a s a v a i l a b l e f o r R s 1 4 5 d u r i n g P T I ’s t e n u r e d e s p i t e b e i n g i n t h e I M F p r o g r a m m e , a d d i n g t h a t p e t r o l p r i c e w a s r a i s e d b y R s 8 0 a n d d i e s e l b y R s 1 0 0 i n o n l y f o u r m o n t h s “ N o w, w h e n w e a s k t h e y s a y t h e p r i c e s a r e i n c r e a s i n g b e c a u s e o f t h e I M F We w e r e a l s o i n t h e IMF programme SPI in our tenure was 17 to 18 per c e n t To d a y i t i s 4 5 p e r c e n t M o r e t h a n t h r e e t i m e s W h a t h a p p e n e d d u r i n g t h e s e f o u r m o n t h s h e s a i d P T I c h i e f s a i d t h a t o i l i n t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t d u r i n g h i s t e n u r e w a s $ 1 0 3 t o $ 11 0 a n d today it was $96 but the government has not passed o n t h e r e l i e f t o t h e m a s s e s “ D u r i n g o u r t e n u r e e l e c t r i c i t y w a s R s 1 8 p e r u n i t a n d w e h a d e v e n s u b s i d i s e d R s 5 p e r u n i t To d a y, i t i s R s 3 6 a n d w i t h t a x e s , i t r e a c h e s R s 5 0 T h e y d i d n o t c o m e t o p o w e r t o e l i m i n a t e i n f l a t i o n T h e y c a m e t o c l o s e t h e i r c o r r u p t i o n c a s e s , ” h e i n s i s t e d T h e e x P M a l s o c r i t i c i s e d t h e f o r m e r p r e s i d e n t G e n e r a l ( r e t d ) P e r v e z M u s h a r r a f f o r f o rg i v i n g t h e p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s a l l e g e d l y i n v o l v e d i n c o r r u p t i o n , s a y i n g h e d i d n o t h a v e t h e p o w e r t o d o s o “ C o r r u p t i o n h u r t s t h e c o r e o f a c o u n t r y W h e n t o p l e a d e r s h i p c o m m i t s c o r r u p t i o n , a c o u n t r y g e t s d e s t r o y e d I m r a n a l s o s a i d t h a t t h e e n t i r e n a t i o n w a s w i t h f l o o d v i c t i m s “ E n t i r e P a k i s t a n i s s u b m e r g e d i n f l o o d w a t e r I w i l l u n i t e t h e n a t i o n a n d a l s o g a t h e r f u n d s We c o l l e c t e d R s 5 b i l l i o n I w i l l c o l l e c t m o r e f u n d s We a r e a l l w i t h t h e f l o o d v i c t i m s T h e e n t i r e n a t i o n i s w i t h t h e m Imran threatens to march on Islamabad if ‘politic al vic timisation’ continues
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Staff CoRReSponDent British MP Claudia Webbe has demanded of the international community immediately cancel Pakistan s debt as Islamabad is facing hazards of climate change due to wrongs done by rich countries In her tweet, Claudia Webbe said inflation in Pakistan has reached an all time high at 27% Pakistan s international debt should be immediately canceled they should instead be given reparations for the climate crisis caused,” the British MP said in her tweet Claudia Webbe further said a tragedy is unfolding It’s completely wrong that it has to bear the brunt of climate change On the other hand, the UK government announced providing urgent life saving support of £15 million to Pakistan following devastating floods that have left a third of the country underwater The flooding in Pakistan has affected more than 33 million people, with 1,100 lives lost The latest funding announced by the Foreign Secretary comes after the UK provided £1 5 million to the disaster last weekend
“Certain individuals or groups who are followers of certain political parties or a leader use social media for trolling and starting insulting and derogatory trends against certain individuals and institutions without the knowledge or consent of the political party or the leader but such trends are attributed to them without any evidence he added He said that such unverified attributions add to the existing political polarization, which should be avoided During the discussion on foreign policy of Pakistan, the President said that Pakistan had always pursued friendly and cordial relations with all countries of the world and had been playing its due role in promoting the internationally recognized norms of interstate relations r a t e s ( U A E ) c a r r y i n g f o o d i t e m s , m e d i c a l s u p p l i e s a n d t e n t s a r r i v e d a t t h e N u r K h a n A i r B a s e h e r e o n F r i d a y T h e f l i g h t s w e r e i n c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e h u m a n i t a r i a n a i r b r i d g e e s t a b l i s h e d b e t w e e n P a k i s t a n a n d U A E S o f a r, 11 s u c h f l i g h t s f r o m t h e U A E w i t h r e l i e f g o o d s h a v e b e e n a r r i v e d T h e F o r e i g n O ff i c e i n a s t a t e m e n t t h a n k e d t h e U A E f o r i t s a s s i s t a n c e i n t h e t i m e o f g r a v e c r i s i s S ta f f R e p o R t WHo pledges suppor t for flood-victims in Pakistan Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Ahmed Al Mandhari has pledged to continue supporting flood hit victims in Pakistan Ahmed Al Mandhari said this in a telephonic conversation with the Minister of Health Abdul Qadir Patel The Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) contacted the Minister of Health Abdul Qadir Patel on the telephone and exchanged views on the current prevailing situation after the floods Qadir Patel thanked the World Health Organization for helping the flood victims, the WHO has a key role in the health sector, he added The minister of health informed the Regional Director about the damage caused by the flood in Pakistan, he said that there has been a large scale destruction as a result of the flood in Pakistan N e w S D e S k Balochistan gov t postpones another anti-polio drive amid floods
Staff RepoRt
Similarly, floods caused damages to 13 mini macro power stations in Kohistan having estimated financial losses of Rs 75,600,000, 19 in Chitral with Rs 41 140 000 losses 14 in Dir Upper with 19 646 000 losses and two in Lower Dir with Rs 1,450,000 losses while two in Buner with Rs 3,700,000 losses As per initial flood damages reports the energy de partment official said that total losses to these power sta tions were estimated Rs 481,209,000 ($2,209,002 02)
The present disaster holds fast strong potentiality to carry forth a considerable number of leptospirosis, leading to se vere pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome (PHS), lymphocytic chorio meningitis (LCMV), acute cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome The alert warns of more cases bearing the disease pattern in near future Major indicators have been identified, suggesting the strong potential of pandemic outbreaks such as cholera and diar rheal diseases that are directly linked to cell mediated immu nity (CMI), mal nutrition and mal absorption
PTI to face defeat in S ept 11 by elec tions, says Gilani Staff RepoRt Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) will face the humiliating defeat in NA 157 by elections to be held on Sept 11 as voters of the constituency consider Ali Musa Gilani the right candidate for their votes, claimed former prime minister, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Friday He stated that public was supporting Mr Musa and were joining the PPP in flocks and PTI was shocked to see the situation He expressed these views in a ceremony wherein PTI for mer Councillor UC 56 Zaheer uddin Babar Minority councillor, Sohail Masih and his family joined Pakistan People s Party PPP is asking for the votes on the basis of its previous performance parliamentary leader in the Sen ate said and added that they had voiced for rights of South Punjab people in the 2008 13 government Senior Vice Chairman PPP hoped that people would vote for Ali Musa on the election day Later, Zaheer uddin and Sohail Masih formally announced to join PPP NAB closes probe against Manzoor Wassan in assets c ase Staff RepoRt Following the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) pros ecutor’s disclosure that the bureau had closed the inquiry against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Manzoor Was san in the assets beyond sources of income case for want of evidence, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday disposed of a petition in the case On January 10, 2022, it has been re ported that the anti corruption watchdog had failed to file references against the PPP stalwart despite the passage of two years At the outset of the hearing, the SHC bench asked the NAB prosecutor that on the last hearing the court was told about closure of the inquiry against Wassan? The prosecutor informed the SHC that no decision had been taken as yet about fate of the inquiry as the matter was still pending at the NAB headquarters C hildren at high risk of contrac ting infec tious disease af ter floods Staff RepoRt Pakistan Development Foundation (PDF) on Friday signed an agreement with Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University (SBBWU), Peshawar to exe cute a project to provide skill based training to the youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chairman of PDF Muhammad Bilal Sethi and Vice Chancellor of SBBWU Professor Dr Safia Ahmad (TI) signed the accord at the university Peshawar said an official release issued here “The project aims at countering vio lent extremism in the youth and other people by empowering them, giving them skill based trainings and improving the standards of their lives , it said Under the banner of this project skill based trainings would be conducted for the students enrolled in undergraduate programmes of all the government col leges of the province, including merged tribal districts (erstwhile FATA) Some major themes of the programme were inter and intra faith harmony, human rights, social inclusivity, de marginaliza tion of marginalized groups women em powerment with emphasis on freelancing, computer literacy, English language, cur riculum vitae writing proposal writing communication skills and social ethics and basic Etiquettes
PDF, SBBWU ink agreement to provide youth skill based training
peSHaWaR A P P T E August 27 devastating floods have inflicted over $2 29 million losses to 105 mini macro hydel power stations in Khyber Pakthunkhwa
According to a press re lease, issued by SAARC ASEAN Post Doctoral Academia, the report, named Aurangzeb Hafi s DESPO Appraisal, warns of the worsening situation in the aftermath of heavy monsoon rains and floods, affecting at least one third areas of Pakistan The floods carry high epidemics, putting the children and the disabled persons at high risks These risks may include lifelong ailments, DESPO’s Principal Investi gator (P I ) Prof Aurangzeb Hafi notifies to the UN agencies, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the authorities concerned in the flood affected areas According to the appraisal, malnutrition and mal ab sorption rates in children particularly those in temporary camps, is becoming thrice the emergency threshold, meas ured as per the UN’s WFP WHO laid parameters The report says parts of the country now stand on verge of bearing the consequential outbreaks of the tetra effect aftermath of floods, in terms of severe health prob lems as well as socio economic issues According to the parameters, adopted in ACAPS
Police forms JIT in girl rape case Staff RepoRt City Police Officer (CPO) has formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) after Additional In spector General South Punjab Dr Ehsan Sadiq took strict notice of rape of a 15 year old girl in Gulgasht area The JIT team headed by SP Cantt Hassan Raza besides SP Rab Nawaz Tulla and SP Gulgasht Qazi Ali Raza were team members DSP Gulgasht, SHO Gulgasht and in charge JTT Multan and other compe tent and hardworking officers also part of the team JIT has started a regular investigation and raids were being conducted to arrest the criminals involved in the incident Police have raided at Sheikh Hameed farm house and the main accused of the case namely Amina man aged to escape with the help of Safdar and Yasir, on which Gulgasht police have regis tered a case and arrested both accused Later, the Joint Investigation Team visited the farm house, which was hub of other immoral activi ties including dance parties, and recovered DVR cameras photographs narcotics and other items from there on the identification of the victim girl Additional IG South Dr Ehsan Sadiq said that a regular operation has been started against organized gangs involved in criminal activities and the criminals will be held accountable
“The devastations caused by unprecedented floods to energy and power infrastructure was immense and as per our initial damage assessment report, 105 mini macro hydel power stations in nine districts of Malakand and Hazara divisions were either damaged or destroyed, said Faisal Dawar, Project Director, Mini Macro Hydel Power Stations Provincial Energy Devel opment Organization (PEDO) while talking to APP Nine power stations were damaged in Batagram with an estimated financial losses of Rs 9 825 000 eight in Manshera with Rs 89,800,000 losses, 25 in Swat with Rs 184,000,000 losses and 13 in Shangla with Rs 56 000 000 losses according to a senior official of the KP Energy Department
More than three million children are in need of humanitarian assistance and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the most severe flooding in Pakistan s recent history, UNICEF warned on Friday UNICEF is working with govern ment and non government partners to re spond to the urgent needs of children and families in affected areas, said a news re lease issued here Some 33 million people including approximately 16 million children have been affected by this year s heavy mon soon rains in Pakistan which have brought devastating rains, floods and landslides Over 1,100 people including over 350 children have lost their lives and a further 1,600 have been injured Over 287,000 houses have been fully and 662 000 partially destroyed
hit The perilous humanitarian situation is expected to continue to worsen in the days and weeks ahead as heavy rains continue in regions already underwater As part of the UN flash appeal to support the response, led by the Government of Pakistan launched this week UNICEF is appealing for US$37 million, and aims to reach children and families in the com ing months with support including life saving medical equipment, essential medicines, vaccines and safe delivery kits safe drinking water sanitation sup plies, nutrition supplies and temporary learning centres and learning kits
The ruthless flash floods on one side had affected over 30 million people in the country by destroying their prop erties, livestock and standing crops, besides damaging mini macro hydel power stations in nine northern districts of Malakand and Hazara divisions on other side thus caus ing immense problems for electricity consumers Destroying expansive hotels roads and bridges es pecially in Kalam, Bahrian Swat and Kohistan, livestock, standing crops and orchards in Nowshera, Charadda and DI Khan, the merciless record breaking floods in River Swat along with unprecedented high torrential rains dur ing July and August had also damaged infrastructure and power houses of majority of these mini macro hydel power stations affecting thousands The project director said reports of far flung and re mote power stations were awaited especially from Kalam and Upper Kohistan due to destruction of roads and bridges by the flash floods and heavy torrential rains recorded in July and August this year According to Met Office highest rain of 753 milime ters was recorded in Badian in Sindh province followed by 576mm in Kakol Abbottabad and 509mm by Malam Jabba Swat and Balakot Manshera during July 1 to Au gust 31, 2022 which resulted an increasing flow of water in rivers and caused flash floods “As result of highest floods the imported machinery purchased during 2017 18 for these stations were also destroyed and federal government would be approached for allocation of funds to reconstruct these damaged/de stroyed power stations on priority basis due to immense economic and power generation potential for benefits of local population the project director said Faisal Dawar said power houses of these stations in Dubair valley in Lower Kohistan and Kalam, Bahrian in Upper Swat were badly damaged due to highest velocity of the flash floods in these areas Besides severe damage to 400 kilowatt (KW) Bahrian power station 500KW Atror and 15 KW Bal gary in Swat, the devastated floods also caused damages to 300KW Ronalia and 40KW Shishal Kiyal power sta tions in Kohistan and 300KW Bala Ajmir power station in Shangla
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$2.29mn losses To 105 mInI hydel Power sTaTIons In KP
Some major rivers have breached their banks and dams overflowed, destroying homes, farms and critical infrastructure including roads, bridges, schools, hospi tals and public health facilities When disasters hit, children are al ways among the most vulnerable ” said Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan These floods have already taken a devastating toll on children and families, and the situation could become even worse UNICEF is working closely with the Government and other partners to ensure that children affected get the critical support they need as soon as pos sible ” In affected areas, 30 per cent of water systems are estimated to have been dam aged further increasing the risk of dis ease outbreaks with people resorting to open defecation and drinking unsafe water There are reports of significant dam age to education infrastructure as 17,566 schools have been damaged, further jeopardizing the education of children After two years of school closures due to pandemic in the last few years, children once again risk further disruption to their learning, in areas where one third of girls and boys were already out of school be fore the crisis The rainfall nearly three times the national 30 year average and more than five times the 30 year average in some provinces, has led to the government de claring a national emergency with 72 districts declared ‘calamity hit’ mostly in Balochistan and Sindh, the two worst affected provinces as well as in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab Cases of diarrhoea and water borne diseases respiratory infection and skin diseases have already been reported They affect populations which are very vulnerable 40 per cent of children al ready suffered from stunting, caused by chronic undernutrition, before the floods
O ver three million children at risk as devastating floods hit Pakistan Staff RepoRt A pandemic outbreak assessment report has warned that children and the disabled persons are at high risks of con tracting an infectious disease, leptospirosis, in the regions affected by severe floods in the country Leptospirosis is caused by leptospira and transmitted to humans from domestic animals, and characterised by jaun dice and fever explains the report
Summary Sheet of Global Emergency the DESPO Dis aster Impact Measurement System (DIMS), as well as in view of the updated data analysis of the 2022 floods, all the core indicators suggest that Pakistan bears the emer gency zone’s hallmarks “The UN agencies, the rights groups and others are required to remain vigilant in order to save the precious lives of the desperate and lonely children,” adds the re port In many hard hit areas of Pakistan, poorly main tained sewers are overflowing carrying along heavy toxins and remnant industrial waste, thus contaminating the drinking water supplies The floodwater in many areas bears high toxicity concentrations and strong indications suggest the presence of arsenic, along with a considerable number of other toxins, coming from industrial sewers And if the situation prevails for another 10 15 days it would be emerging as a host to a number of hazardous ailments, especially among pregnant women and children
These training programmes would be conducted in different phases in all male and female government colleges of Khy ber Pakhtunkhwa 27 districts, including District Peshawar, Charsadda, Now shera Mardan Swabi Abbottabad Battagram, Swat, Haripur, Shabqadar, would be part in phase 1 These trainings would be certified and participants would be granted small projects to continue ac tivities in their respective college to ben efit larger audience “Peace Club” would be initiated in these colleges to sensitize and mobilize youth in the peace building process Muhammad Bilal said that approxi mately 5,000 students and professional would be direct beneficiaries of the pro gramme, whereas the total potential au dience reach would be between 20 000 to 25,000 He added that in order to distance youth from violent activities it was im portant for them to be engaged in positive activity where besides earning livelihood, they would be mobilized and empowered He said that like other previous pro grammes, this programme would also achieve its objective adding that since universities were engines of change in so ciety, the programme management team would welcome and contact all the uni versities of the province for their invalu able insight and partnership
According to UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), Pakistan is a known climate hotspot , where chil dren are considered at ‘extremely high risk’ to the impacts of climate change, ranking 14th out of 163 CCRI ranked countries and regions placing Pakistan in the ‘Extremely high risk’ classifica tion category in the Index
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Saturday 3 September 2022 | LAHORE 04 NEWS
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The monsoon rains and glacial melt have also damaged communi cations infrastructure and road net works Affected people told UNHCR staff about their traumatic and scarring experiences as rain and flood waters swept away their pos sessions in minutes Those who could rushed to safety on higher ground without being able to rescue belongings Shelter, clean drinking water and food are among the most urgently needed items in the aftermath of the floods As part of UN humanitarian efforts, UNHCR has been conducting rapid needs assessments which are led by the Government with UN sup port We are mobilizing female na tional staff to ensure there is support for women and children among the flood affected populations a p p
t o f e m a l e c a n d i d a t e s U K a n n o u n ce s 7 5 s c h o l a r s h i p s fo r Pa k i s t a n ICCI sets up camp to collect donations for flood affected people
Fauji Fer tilizer Company Goth Machhi Initiates Relief Campaign for Flood Affectees
Faisalabad M i a n a b R a R k O R E A N Ambassador to Pakistan Suh Sangpyo said on Friday that Pak Korea Nu trition Centre (PKNC), established at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) in collaboration with the Korea In ternational Cooperation Agency (KOICA), is a great step to address the issue of malnutrition with a special focus on mothers and children He along with UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmed Khan, KOICA Country Head Je Ho Yeon, Special Technology Zone Authority Executive Director Amir Salemi, Food, Nutrition and Home Sci ences Dean Dr Masood Sadiq Butt and other notables performed the groundbreaking of the building of PKNC He said that there was deep friendship between the Republic of Korea and Pakistan, and in this con nection KOICA was taking vigorous measures to fur ther strengthen these relations He said that the UAF was one of the most important university of Pakistan especially in agriculture sector He congratulated the UAF over the declaration of Agri Tech Park by Special Technology Zone Author ity that would prove a milestone step He said that due to climate change, it is extremely sad to see the dam age that Pakistan has suffered due to severe floods He said that in this hour of catastrophe, the govern ment and people of Korea express solidarity with the suffering families of Pakistan He said there was a need for concerted efforts to improve maternal and child malnutrition so that a healthy and energetic young generation can be given to the society for the future UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqar Ahmad Khan said that the Pak Korea Nutrition Center would be established with a total cost of $9 659 mil lion of which 7 million dollars will be provided by KOICA and 2 659 million dollars will be provided under the Public Sector Development Program of the Planning Commission, Government of Pakistan He said that under this center Agricultural Uni versity Peshawar, Balochistan University of Medical and Health Sciences Quetta, Faisalabad Medical Uni versity, Children Hospital Faisalabad, Sindh Agricul tural University Tandojam and Karakoram International University Gilgit Baltistan will also partner universities He said fifty percent of our population is suffering from malnutrition among mothers and children He said that we are grateful for the cooperation of the Korean government and KOICA authorities to solve this most important issue S i n d A g r i c u l t u r e U n i v e r s i t y Ta n d o j a m Vi c e C h a n c e l l o r P r o f D r F a t e h M o h a m m a d s a i d t h a t t h e m a l n u t r i t i o n h a d b e c o m e a n a r e a o f g r a v e c o n c e r n s i n w h i c h c o l l a b o r a t e d e ff o r t s w i l l b r i n g t a n g i b l e r e s u l t s
The British High Commission, in collaboration with the British Council hosted a reception in Lahore to announce 75 scholarships for Pakistanis to study in the United Kingdom The event was held with the celebrations of 75 years of UK Pakistan diplomatic relations The scholarships will provide future Pakistani leaders with the skills necessary to tackle global challenges Minister for School Education, Punjab, Dr Murad Raas and UK Representative to Punjab Alex Ballinger attended as chief guests along with British alumni Chevening, Commonwealth and GREAT scholars, For eign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials and dignitaries from across Pakistan Alex Ballinger, in his address, acknowledged the signifi cant contribution of Pakistan’s Chevening alumni in the flood relief efforts, from fundraising to distribut ing essential items While addressing the audience, he also reiter ated the UK’s commitment to support Pakistan, and he said, “We are with the people of Pakistan at this terrible time We have all witnessed the devastating impact of these floods which have displaced mil pleased that on the same day the UK has pledged a total of £16 5m in flood relief fund ing we can also announce 75 new UK scholarships which will play a vital part in allowing Pakistan to rebuild by investing in its people ” H e f u r t h e r s t a t e d t h a t t h i s y e a r i n t h e U K , w e w i l l b e a w a r d i n g 6 3 C h e v e n i n g s c h o l a r s h i p s a n d f e l l o w s h i p s a l o n g w i t h 1 2 G R E AT s c h o l a r s h i p s A s w i t h a l l U K s c h o l a r s h i p p r o g r a m m e s , t h e B r i t i s h H i g h C o m m i s s i o n w i l l a i m f o r g e n d e r p a r i t y w i t h a t l e a s t 5 0 % o f t h e s c h o l a r s h i p s a w a r d e d islamabad S ta f f R e p o R t The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Friday set up a Flood Relief Camp to collect donations in cash and kind from the members of the business community that would be delivered to the flood affected people in various parts of the country ICCI has opened a new bank Account No PK86ALFH0403001004080135 in Bank Al Falah, here at G 8 Branch, in which the members of the business community can deposit their cash donations for the flood affected persons, said a ICCI press release issued here Former Presidents, Khalid Iqbal Malik, Tariq Sadiq, Zubair Ahmed Malik, Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, Baser Daud, Sheikh Amir Waheed, Chairman Federation of Realtors Association, Ejaz Mussarat Khan, Azhar ul Islam Zafar Akhtar Hussain Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, Hafiz Bilal Munir, Ch Ashraf Farzand, Khalid Mehmood and others were present at the occasion The participants announced cash donations for the flood affectees and assured that they would continue to cooperate with ICCI Flood Relief Camp
Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) Goth Machhi has started its relief campaign for the flood victims The company strongly believes that in this hour of hardship and distress it is very important for the entire nation, FFC and all industrial and business organizations to come together In this respect, a ration distribution was conducted where the Admin Officers of Goth Machhi distributed ration and goods amongst the victims FFC Management pledged their commitment towards the noble cause of community uplift in these distraught times and ensured that FFC stands shoulder to shoulder with flood affected brethren Col Muhammad Yasin while talking to the journalists said that FFC Goth Machi is well aware of its responsibilities and will extend all possible support to help the flood victims in Sadiqabad, Rojhan, Kandhkot The management was of the view that FFC had greatly helped flood victims of 2010 and will still continue the efforts and service to make food and other items (including camps, medicines etc) to the flood victims Lt Col Ehtisham Gul Deputy Manager Admin, Mahmood Iqbal Waraich Deputy Manager CSR, Lt Col Ejaz Hussain Deputy Manager HR, Lt Col Pervez Anwar Deputy Manager Management Club and other officers were also present at the flood relief camp p R United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been mobilizing resources and staff to scale up its assistance in Pakistan to support local communities and refugees in areas devastated by the catastrophic floods
05NEWS Saturday 3 September 2022 | LAHORE
UNHCR scales up response to catastrophic floods in Pakistan
corporate corner Nestlé Pakistan donates recycled classroom furniture Nestlé Pakistan has donated furniture made of recycled plastic to Syedanwala Primary School This donation supports the company’s vision that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in the environment Nestlé supports the development of well functioning collection, sorting and recycling schemes This way, Nestlé has not just provided these students with a better platform to learn but also highlighted the issue of waste management and the importance of a circular economy through recycling of plastic waste, Nestlé brings hope of prosperity; a future where post consumer use plastic is no longer waste but becomes an avenue for a better future for the students Pakistan alone produced an estimated 250 million tons of garbage in 2020, according to a WWF report Studies indicate that due to lack of proper collection and recycling infrastructure, approximately 5 million tons of plastic waste finds its way into landfills, waterbodies, or unmanaged dumps across the country In addition the company introduced its Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) program at Syedanwala School through capacity building of teachers on nutrition The company has also developed an N4HK Room for students The ambience of the room provides an opportunity for teachers to reinforce importance of health and wellbeing, good nutrition, and healthy habits through engaging activities N4HK is Nestlé s global initiative which supports teachers and caregivers on their journey to raise healthier kids through a curriculum based education program promoting healthy nutrition, hydration, hygiene and active lifestyle “Nestlé BUNYAD has remained true to its essence, of building a stronger foundation for a better future, by providing furniture made from recycled plastic waste This furniture not only provides students with better facilities but also highlights how waste can become value, if managed properly ” Samer Chedid, CEO Nestlé Pakistan “I want to thank Nestle for bringing this message to Syedanwala and we will do everything we can to take their objective of a healthy Pakistan forward” Syed Babar Ali p R
l i o n s o f p e o p l e a n d l e f t m u c h o f P a k i s t a n s u b merged I’m
Many are living under the open skies waiting for help as the local authorities and the humanitarian community rush to reach more peo ple Others are cramming into relief camps or staying with hosts, said a press release here Friday Some 33 million people have been affected by the weeks long torrential monsoon rains and flooding in vast areas that have killed more than 1,100 people, injuring nearly 1,600 and bringing devastation not seen in decades Working with Pakistan’s disas ter management authorities, UNHCR is quickly releasing thou sands of tents, as well as blankets, plastic sheets, buckets and other household items in the badly af fected Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Balochistan provinces where we have distributed 10,000 tents and other aid items Relief is also being rushed to flood hit areas in southern Sindh province We plan to assist some 50,000 households in the worst affected areas with over a mil lion relief items Nearly 300,000 houses have been completely destroyed and more than 650,000 have been dam aged by rains and floods Livelihoods have been deci mated as crops have been devastated 2 million acres have been ad versely impacted and some 735,000 livestock have perished
PAk , koReA CooPeRAtIoN to helP AddRess MAlNutRItIoN Issue: AMbAssAdoR suh sANGPyo
Te n d e r a n a p o l o g y
D r Q a i s a r r a s h i D
There is no doubt that the Prime Minister and the coalition partners have made several attempts but the people are not listening to them as the government loses its credibility When the government loses its credibility, the people start solving their own prob lems The workers of Jamaat e Islami s Alkhidmat Foundation and other religious parties are working tirelessly in the flood affected areas These people are rendering valuable services despite having no re sources while the majority of the political parties that the people have been giving the mandate to rule, are nowhere to be seen It seems that the work of po litical parties has remained only to promote chaos, revenge and disorder in the country This is the time for unity and disunity instead of political confrontation The people will remember whoever works for the people at this time This is what the people will remember, when the political leadership is not helping the flood victims so the peo ple should also reject them in electoral politics
T h e overall situation of the country is very alarming The lives of 220 million people have fallen into confusion and there is not a single problem in front of the people; rather the pile of problems is increasing instead of decreasing On the one hand, daily rising inflation has made the life of the people a torment, on the other hand, ordinary people are dying in the flood Accord ing to the report of the National Disaster Manage ment Authority, the number of people who died in the flood has reached close to 1000 while social media reports are showing colossal destruction All the in stitutions that were responsible for the relief opera tions, including the NDMA, were not only paralyzed for several weeks but all the loopholes in their func tioning are coming in front of everyone Sadly, the government and the relevant institu tions sat and watched the spectacle for a while after the floods hit and when half the country was sub merged, the institutions, including the government, thought of starting a relief operation In this rescue operation, nothing would be found after so long ex cept the dead bodies The government should have announced emergency measures earlier because the torrential rains and floods did not start today, they started more or less a month ago and the Meteoro logical Department has declared an unusual danger of rains and flash floods had been predicted long ago Was it not the responsibility of the rulers and the relevant departments to take timely measures to save the lives and property of the people? If our rulers realized their responsibilities towards the cit izens and made advance arrangements to protect them from floods, the loss of lives and property of the people and national property could have been substantially reduced It is an undeniable truth that when the govern ment machinery was busy making cases against the p o l i t i c a l o p p o n e n t s a n d t e a c h i n g t h e m a l e s s o n , a t t h a t t i m e t h e f l a s h f l o o d s were destroying the houses o f t h e d e s t i t u t e p u b l i c y e t t h e p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s h i p never helped the people in t i m e s o f t r o u b l e O n t h e c o n t r a r y, t h e p u b l i c h a s b e e n m a d e a s c a p e g o a t a t e v e r y o p p o r t u n i t y O n o n e s i d e , t h e p e o p l e a r e d y i n g d u e t o r i s i n g i n f l a t i o n a n d on the other side, they have b e e n d e l i b e r a t e l y a b a n d o n e d t o f l a s h f l o o d s e v e r y t h i n g i s b e i n g s w e p t a w a y i n t h e f l o o d a n d t h e g o v e r n m e n t M i n i s t e r s a r e also engaged in politics on t h e f l o o d I n l i g h t o f a l l this, people are getting ex hausted and one can judge h o w d i s a p p o i n t e d p e o p l e are with the political lead e r s h i p b y t h e f a c t t h a t t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r l a u n c h e d the Flood Relief Fund two w e e k s a g o a n d p e o p l e a r e n o t i n t e r e s t e d i n d o n a t i n g in this fund
Punjab local body polls
The province must move towards the loc al government polls Creating 37 provinces Yousaf Nizami Editor Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor M A Niazi Joint Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor Aziz ud Din Ahmad Joint Editor
It is surprising that the coalition leadership is re peatedly appealing to the people for donations while they themselves are the owners of large assets and riches Why do they not reduce the weight of their coffers? Instead of pointing towards the people, they should go ahead and help the flood victims but they will probably be reluctant to do such a good venture as their voracious eyes are fixed on the aid given to the flood victims When will the people be able to combat flood dis asters, the people have tried many times to inflict the government attention on structuring dams and bar rages yet every time politi cians do nothing but slogans under the guise of public welfare and services how ever, their insensitivity on this matter shows that they don t limit doing business even on every natural calamity Massive donations de posited by people all over the world once again will transfer to the undeniable people’s hands and nothing came to the hands of the people as before, nor will anything come to them this time because it is written in the fate of the people to die without death
Presently Pakistan comprises four provinces and two autonomous territories that is, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan with a combined total of 37 divisions The PTI had promised to carve out a Seraiki entity out of Punjab province but failed due to lack of support from the two thirds majority in Parliament required for passing a constitutional amendment
The
@AttiyaMunawer
Humanit y dies in floods
06-07 Comments - 3rd September 2022_Layout 1 9/2/2022 11:28 PM Page 1
The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo com
O N e wonders if Imran Khan was talking offhand when he suggested turning every administrative division in the country into a province, claiming that it would make governance more effective According to former PM the country’s problems can be tackled more effectively if every division is treated as a province
06 Saturday 3 September 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
The scheme has serious political implications Breaking up provinces and obliterating their centuries old nomenclatures that generations have identified themselves with, will cause a shock In Sindh this will be interpreted as the success of a conspiracy that Sindhis have long resisted In other provinces too it will be interpreted as an attempt to deprive people of their historical identities The proposed scheme will strengthen parochial tendencies Keeping the country’s economic situation in view, the scheme is simply impracticable Whatever the supposed benefits of the plan the creation of 37 provinces is financially unaffordable The new provinces will require the construction of provincial facilities like Assembly halls, Secretariats, housing facilities for governors, ministers and bureaucrats along with fleets of cars for their use Provincial high Courts too will have to be set up Funds will have to be allocated to keep the massive administrative set up functioning The suggestion as untimely as it is divisive bizarre proposal
Sometimes the people are dying due to rising in flation and sometimes due to floods, even though every day a new story of brutality and cruelty is heard and seen but the sky does not fall on the elite nor does the earth explode however, through natural disasters, it is imperative that all these people must come to the right path and if they are still not interested in resolv ing the general public problems then the day is not far when all come to the same position of destruction writer tweets
A
A T a meeting with the Punjab administration, whose team was headed by the chief secretary, the election Commission of Pakistan commanded that the remaining obstacles be removed so that the province could go ahead with local government elections Rules have to be notified by the new Local Government Act, and marked maps have to be provided to the eCP, so that it may carry out its constitutional mandate to conduct local government polls A somewhat paradoxical situation prevails as for once it is Punjab that lags behind the other provinces in holding local body polls to the extent that it has conducted polls when other provinces have not, but this time around, Punjab is the only province which has not conducted any polls Sindh has postponed its remaining polls because of the floods, but though the southern part of the province is affected, there does not seem any reason why polls should not be conducted in northern districts, where flood damage, while considerable, has not been as great These polls, which would not elect anybody beyond a district council, or metropolitan corporation, have a particular political significance at this juncture Both the PML(N) and the PTI claim to have a pulse on the province Polls have been formally partyless until the last, when the usual trend of the government winning through was maintained The PML(N) in particular has used local bodies as a sort of grassroots for the party One result has been that while the PPP was always competitive at the national or provincial level it was hapless at the local level The Punjab local body polls would therefore be a double test: first, of which party would perform best, and to what extent could the PTI extend on its showing in the last election, in which it was a loser, but an honourable one Another interesting factor will be Ch Pervez elahi Though Chief Minister and thus expected to deliver for the PTI, as he can well do, having remained twice Chairman of the Gujrat District Council, and having held the Local Government portfolio as a member of the Punjab Cabinet, he will look out to the main chance and whatever advantage he can gain for his own PML(Q) faction
A bill for the creation of the hazara province was also tabled in Parliament in 2019 where it lies in limbo for lack of enthusiasm on the part of the proposers What Imran Khan has suggested is much more radical and controversial The words Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan will disappear from Pakistan’s map and be replaced with the names of the administrative divisions
O N August 31, the Islamabad high Court (IhC) was the focus of all political atten tion A five member larger bench was fu rious at the contempt of court committed by the Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, who had also enjoyed a stint in power as prime minister for around three years On August 20, during a public rally in Islamabad, Khan had publicly threatened an Additional Sessions Judge, Zeba Chaudhry, of consequences Khan also said that the judge should be ashamed of her decision to over look the police torture inflicted on Shahbaz Gill and that she should have granted bail to Shahbaz Gill It is not known how Khan came to know that Gill was tortured in the police custody despite the fact that the medical report said otherwise Khan’s Chief of Staff, Gill, was accused of instigating a mutiny in the ranks of the Pakistan Army Khan’s effort to raise a hue and cry was to deny the police the physical re mand of Gill, who had been booked on sedition charges As the medical report had not spoken of any physical torture, Khan went ahead with a new accu sation that the torture was sexual That is, sexual tor ture is a kind of torture not visible apparently but existed organically on detailed internal examination Khan carved out the new excuse to serve the pur pose of Gill who took a few days to hide his embar rassment and to redefine what Khan meant by sexual torture Unfortunately, the new excuse failed to serve the purpose Gill who had perfected the skill of feigning respiratory distress (such as an attack of asthma), is now free of asthma, and has been spend ing his days in jail under judicial custody That Gill was tortured and that too sexually was known only to Khan who unleashed all hell loose on the judiciary publicly to denigrate it for not letting Gill go scot free In the meantime, Khan had also been denied a meeting with Gill at Islamabad s hos pital where Gill had taken refuge in the name of seeking medical aid The consequent situation for Khan was a double whammy Khan vented his anger through the speech of August 20 threatening both the judge and the Islamabad police with consequences Precisely, it was the Gill episode that brought Khan to the IhC under the charge of contempt of court In his written reply, Khan constructed an excuse that he did not know that Judge Chaudhry was a judi cial officer he thought she was just an executive mag istrate defying his orders The misjudgment extended him all authority to repri mand her publicly Khan ad mitted that it was his miscalculation At the time of vocalizing the threat and con demning the female judge publicly, Khan was shorn of any option to ask his cohort about the exact status of the judge Khan did not bother about that Now it has been revealed to him that she was a judge to protect whom the IhC could come into action In his written reply, Khan was ingenious to offer a choice That is as the cri sis emerged out of his igno rance to know about the exact status of the female judge, he was ready to with draw his words, if they were inappropriate Interestingly Khan shied away from declaring his voiced words inappropriate On August 31, putting the previous ferocity aside, the IhC took a lenient view and permitted Khan to submit a second response to the show cause notice, before proceedings started for contempt of court Chief Justice Athar Minallah declared the submitted reply “disappointing”, destitute of any option of tak ing the uttered words back, and asked Khan to resub mit the reply to be heard on September 8 The hearing of August 31 threw open two implied demands of the bench: first, seek an apology from the court of Judge Chaudhry, and second submit an un conditional apology to the IhC The forgiveness sought from the female judge would be a prerequisite for seeking forgiveness from the IhC It means that the IhC adopted a two step approach to resolve the matter A one step resolution is not possible This is the point where lies the rub Khan is shorn of the habit of submitting an apology, especially to a woman Nevertheless the situation has come to naught: tender an apology or perish The saga of the contempt of court has diverted the media’s attention from the case of Gill who is left to his own devices to carve out a path of coming out of judicial custody The police have recovered an un licensed pistol from his room in Parliament Lodges Gill has failed to produce the license It is like adding insult to injury Gill has run out of excuses to evade the police, which are patiently dealing with the case and pushing it to its logical end Generally speaking, Khan and his cohorts as sume that all state institu tions have turned against them at the behest of the rul ing coalition the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Challenging institu tions needlessly and under a false assumption is the PTI’s hallmark What the PDM could not do Khan and his cohort have been doing for themselves: sens ing enemies all around (fighting against imaginary enemies) and inviting all unnecessary (otherwise avoidable) troubles Khan and his cohort have also perfected the art of creating new excuses and expect that the rest of the world would fall in line with them to embrace the excuses Any defiance is considered condemnable In short, Gill’s incarceration and Khan’s gaffes have radiated a message to the rest of the PTI: change behaviour towards the judiciary To elucidate, the higher judiciary is intolerant of any insult to the lower judiciary Further without seeking an apology from Judge Chaudhry, Khan cannot be pardoned by the IhC
at t i ya M u n aw e r K h a n a n d h i s c o h o r t h av e a l s o p e r f e c t e d t h e a r t o f c r e a t i n g n ew ex c u s e s a n d ex p e c t t h a t t h e r e s t o f t h e wo r l d wo u l d f a l l i n l i n e w i t h t h e m t o e m b r a c e t h e ex c u s e s . A ny d e f i a n c e i s c o n s i d e r e d c o n d e m n a b l e M a s s i v e d o n a t i o n s d e p o s i t e d by p e o p l e a l l ov e r t h e wo r l d o n c e ag a i n w i l l t r a n s fe r t o t h e u n d e n i a bl e p e o p l e ’s h a n d s a n d n o t h i n g c a m e t o t h e h a n d s o f t h e p e o p l e a s b e fo r e , n o r w i l l a ny t h i n g c o m e t o t h e m t h i s t i m e b e c a u s e i t i s w r i t t e n i n t h e f a t e o f t h e p e o p l e t o d i e w i t h o u t d e a t h
Gill’s detention caused Imran’s present legal troubles
How p o l i t i c i a n s f a i l e d t h e p e o p l e
A C A D e M I A is a ‘no go area’ for all sorts of genies To wish that Pakistani professors turn into an ethical community is unattainable as all these professors are a product of the same corrupt system where academic achievements are subsidiary to other considerations of pleasing the professors, cheating and intellectual dishonesty Secondly, the wish of keeping abreast of the latest knowledge involves reading habits and thirst for knowledge which they never acquired during their studentship The last wish of thinking for themselves can only come true if they create an environment of freedom ‘as learning does not take place under coercion’ And we all know it is a big ‘if ’ Do you expect graduates of staff colleges and war colleges to create an environment of creative thinking and academic research? So the genie is dead; long live the new universities with impressive buildings, beautiful lawns and zero achievements
Death of academia
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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
GULSHER PANHWER JOHI
e A f
MUSKAN FATIMA KARACHI
KHAYYAM DURRANI KARACHI
T h e Sindh government and the elected representatives from Dadu seem oblivious to the plight of flood affected people The entire province has been facing massive floods, and the situation has become worse with the mixing of sewage with rainwater People in urban areas are in a much better position as they have access to roads howsoever battered they may well be, but they keep complaining about the quality of roads and the national media gives such issues hyped up coverage What about the rural areas where homes and livelihoods have been swept away? In Dadu, the highly vulnerable population in remote areas need immediate support in terms of rescue and relief, and that is nowhere in sight With the first rain shower that was followed by torrential stream flow in mid July, the poorly constructed and already damaged road and irrigation infrastructure got washed away in Kacha area of Dadu The district government s effort as usual was a case of doing too little too late According to the local deputy commissioner, 1,000 affected families have been provided food ration and tents That is wonderful, but what about the remaining 28 000 families who have been left to fend for themselves? heavy rains on Aug 18 and 19 resulted in the collapse of almost all mud houses in the area Gastroenteritis has already consumed scores of lives One of the main reasons for flood devastation caused in Kacha area is the substandard construction and maintenance of infrastructure Accommodating favourites in awarding infrastructure contracts can be termed a crime against humanity because due to peculiar topography of Kacha area, even boats cannot reach most remote villages as they get stuck in sand dunes, or even trees that are hidden beneath floodwater helicopter service is the only thing that can be effective, but, obviously, such facilities are meant for the high and mighty of the land; not for people in remote villages Now that the rescue and relief operations have been initiated by the government, its agencies as well as by humanitarian organisations and philanthropists, it will take several days before anybody can reach the affected families in those villages
A F T e R the 2010 mega floods and heavy rains in 2011, this year once again the people of Sindh and Balochistan have faced disastrous monsoons and are still facing the aftermath in the shape of flooding that has brought in its wake death and misery Almost the entire infra structure in the rural areas has been ravaged According to the authorities, rains this year have been five times the normal, and 23 districts have been declared calamity hit Modern technology has made it simple for even the laypersons to check with a tap on their cellphones weather forecast for upcoming weeks and even months The government, naturally, will have access to much more modern facilities, and yet it completely failed in planning for the impending disaster Whenever there is weather related warning, governments find it convenient to ask people to take precautionary measures on their own, and to be ready to abandon their homes and livelihoods even this the governments do with a margin of hardly a couple of days This surely is an attempt to pass on the responsibility rather than acting responsibly We all knew there will be heavy monsoon rains this year but we waited for the disaster and when the time came, we focussed on divine intervention The government did what it does every time a tragedy happens; collecting data in calamity hit areas and issuing press releases to the media People who have lost their loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods are advised to take shelter on embankments on a self help basis And then comes a helicopter with some VIP onboard who throws down relief packages because all this makes for effective social media posts As for the on ground relief operations, like distribution of tents, shelters, food items and cash amount hardly 10pc reaches the deserved The government should look into such issues; from preparedness to relief distribution Immediate measures should be taken for proper rehabilitation of the affected people Besides, the government should plan well ahead of monsoon Steps should also be taken to improve the performance of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and its provincial versions
07 Saturday, 3 September, 2022 COMMENT
I N the hope of reciprocity the security ap paratus of Pakistan had helped the Afghan Taliban after 9/11 with sanctuaries and other basic requirements in the hope that the Afghan Taliban would assist Pakistan in nipping the scourge of Tehreek e Taliban Pak istan once the imperial forces were gone from Afghanistan however, owing to the Afghan Tal iban’s own predicaments of recognition; rising internecine conflicts; internal struggle for power and disruption in their rank and file, especially within its foot soldiers; and the larger socio eco nomic issues they seem reluctant facilitators vis à vis the TTP Let alone facilitaiton according to some experts on jihadism terrorism and extremism they are trying to counter the hegemonic influ ence of Pakistan over the Pak Afghan border by extending relations to countries such as India, Iran and China Given the changing regional dy namics of power with the Afghan Taliban at the helm of affairs, it is well timed to study the du plicitous role of the Afghan Taliban as a security threat to Pakistan as it is working in cahoots with the TTP Given the admission of the security institu tions of Pakistan that the Afghan Taliban and TTP are the two sides of the same coin in an off the record meeting on the security situation of Pakistan back in the last year while briefing Parliament s National Security and Defense Standing Committees it is clear that there is a deep realization in the security institutions about the deceitful role of the Afghan Taliban This realization becomes even more stronger given the comment of the spokesman of Tal iban, Zabiullah Mujahid, the issue of the TTP is one that Pakistan will have to deal with not Afghanistan It is up to Pakistan, and Pakistani Ulema and religious figures, not the Taliban, to decide on the legitimacy or illegitimacy of their war and to formulate a strategy in response ” It implies the fact that the Afghan Taliban are not on the side of Pakistan as they do not want to give the impression that they are against their ideological twin, the TTP In the same vein Abdul Sayed a researcher on jihadist politics, has given a similar impres sion that the TTP has become emboldened by the Afghan Taliban’s takeover in neighbouring Afghanistan, implying that the TTP is looking ahead to imitate the war strategy of the Afghan Taliban and for that it is reinventing itself by denying its link to transnational jihadist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS This change in po sition is indicative of the fact that the TTP is no longer interested in establishing an Islamic Caliphate all over the world Rather, it reaffirms its focus on the near enemy, that is, Pakistan, instead of the far enemy that is America In so doing it has re duced its animosity towards the western powers so as to organize itself and to build he opera tional capacity that it has lost to operation Zarb e Azab and to recruit new cadres Moreover, this ideological change in narrative occurred after 2018, especially after the Mehsud tribe took over the control of the TTP after the death of Mullah Fazlullah in a drone attack in Kunar province, Afghanistan Beyond the impres sion that the Afghan Taliban are not on the side of Pakistan there is serious indictment of their role across the Pak Afghan border as they are propping up the TTP not only by providing sanctuaries in Afghanistan from where it operates into Pakistan for cross bor der terrorism but also its cadre are involved in attacks on PK army in Tank district of KPK Similarly, there was an other attack on the mil itary convoy in North Waziristan where the Afghan Taliban played their role Owing to these attacks it is understood that Pakistan has misconstrued the Afghan Tal iban They are not on the side of Pakistan for they are ideologically aligned to the TTP By announcing the Pakistan Army is its enemy, the TTP has provided space for the Afghan Taliban to mend its bilateral relations with the USA had the TTP been adamant on its previous position of fighting their far enemy, that is the Western powers in general and the USA in particular, it would not have got the overt support of the Afghan Taliban As a result, the TTP has reinvigorated itself to work towards its agenda of establishing a Sharia compliant po litical state in Pakistan For that end, it has been upping attacks on the military camps and con voys of Pakistan’s Army Reportedly, from Jan uary to March 2022, a total of 97 Pakistani soldiers had been killed at the hands of the TTP even though Pakistan has been pleading to the Afghan Taliban to restrain the TTP from cross border terrorism, they didn’t listen and in stead asked Pakistan to talk to the TTP Resul tantly the talks between the Ulema from Pakistan and the TTP had started; however, given the TTP’s stance of reversal of the merger of the FATA region the talks ended with no sig nificant breakthroughs As a result, terrorist at tacks increased and subsequently the Pakistan Army got frustrated and dismayed at the apa thetic response of the Afghan Taliban Thus, it opted for air strikes inside Afghanistan This was in order to give a message to the Afghan Taliban to nip their brother insurgents in the bud Given this whole episode from negotiations to airstrikes, it is quite clear to Pakistan that the Afghan Taliban cannot restrain the TTP as prom ised in the Doha agreement between the Afghan Taliban and the USA, that no terrorist organi zation would operate from Afghanistan Rather than putting its house in order, the Afghan Taliban are try ing to enhance their bi lateral relations with India, China and Iran to reduce Pakistan’s hege mony over the Pk Af border To improve ties with India the Afghan Taliban have promised to even carry out opera tions if they provided them with intelligence information With China they are negotiat ing the Visa issuance deal to offset their eco nomic predicaments To deter the Influence of ISKP, they want Iran to be on their side Amid all this, the Afghan Tal iban have ignored Pak istan and apposed the fencing across the Du rand Line It seems the Afghan Taliban are un trustworthy allies of Pakistan Despite Pakistan having helped them in their insurgency against the USA they are not ready to reciprocate and assist Pakistan in any way Conclusively, from the impression of the Afghan Taliban that Pakistan has to solve its is sues with the TTP to helping the TTP stealthily in attacks on Pakistan army, to making relation ships with other countries including India proved that Pakistan is really at the crossroad when it comes to the cross border terrorism Thus instead of relying on Afghan Taliban Pak istan should make new counterterrorism policies in alliance with the USA to deter the TTP and other regional terror organizations The writer is a freelance columnist, and can be reached at They6776@gmail com He tweets:@Shahzai02364040 h g h o n cl u s i v e ly, f ro m t h e i m p r e s s i o n o f t h e A f g h a n Ta l i b a n t h a t Pa k i s t a n h a s t o s o l v e i t s i s s u e s w i t h t h e T T P t o h e l p i n g t h e T T P s t e a l t h i ly i n a t t a ck s o n Pa k i s t a n a r my, t o m a k i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h o t h e r c o u n t r i e s , i n cl u d i n g I n d i a , p rov e d t h a t Pa k i s t a n i s r e a l ly a t t h e c ro s s ro a d w h e n i t c o m e s t o t h e c ro s s - b o rd e r t e r ro r i s m . shahzib hassan Co u nte r i n g c ro s s b o rd e r te r ro r i s m o f t h e T T P
The government should provide adequate facilities to the people so that they may not be deprived of their right to live
National disaster
C a n P a k i s t a n r e l y o n t
Doctor’s shor tage D U e to the rising inflation in the country, people are forced to seek treatment at government hospitals but apparently public sector hospitals have never been planned to handle such a situation There is a serious shortage of doctors in major public sector hospitals which are unable to provide treatment to the needy in an efficient manner Besides, there are also issues related to medicines, laboratories, ventilators and even intensive care rooms for patients The lack of these essential facilities in hospitals adds to the illness of the patients and to the worries of their families Political leaders claim to serve the people, and make tall promises, but fail to resolve the various problems afflicting government hospitals
ALI GUL LEGHARI JOHI
a n Ta l i b a n ? C
Miser y of flood victims
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Finally, with energy prices CL00, +2 48% NG00, 4 80% still very high, the fact that the U S is self suffi cient in energy while europe and Japan are huge im porters also benefits the dollar Some would add that the U S is a safer haven than europe and Japan That may be true, despite America being mired in a cold civil war that can have no end as long as former President Donald Trump is in the mix eurozone integration which prom ises to advance whenever there is a crisis, will be sorely tested if global real interest rates ever start rising Infla tion in Germany is on track to hit a 70 year high but more aggressive eCB interest rate hikes could cause spreads on Italian government debt TMBMKIT 10Y, 3 849% to explode The dollar ’s current strength has profound implica tions for the global economy A large share of world trade, perhaps half is denominated in dollars and for many countries, that applies to both imports and exports As such, a rise in the dollar causes much of the world to cut back on imports so much so that researchers have found a statistically significant negative impact on global trade A strong dollar risks having a particularly brutal e ff e c t o n e m e rg i n g m a r k e t s a n d d e v e l o p i n g economies, because private firms and banks in these c o u n t r i e s t h a t b o r r o w f r o m f o r e i g n i n v e s t o r s c a n d o so pretty much only in dollars And higher U S inter e s t r a t e s t e n d t o p u s h u p w e a k e r b o r r o w e r s ’ i n t e r e s t rates disproportionately In fact the broad dollar index would have risen even more had many emerging market central banks not proactively raised interest rates to stem downward pres sure on national currencies But such tightening of course weighs on their domestic economies
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NO ONE C AN PREDIC T CURRENC Y MOVEMENTS WITH CERTAINT Y, BUT ANOTHER 15% DR OP IN THE EUR O AND THE YEN C AN’ T BE RULED OUT 08 WORLD VIEW 3rd September 22_Layout 1 9/2/2022 10:36 PM Page 1
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Steve Coll a staff writer is the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University His latest book is “Directorate S: The C I A and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan ” U CC S H T H O U S E S H AV FA I L E D TO D E F E AT T H E M OV E M E N T M I L I TA R I LY O R TO I N F LU E N C E I T S L E A D E R S TO C H A N G E T H E I R I D E O LO GY THE BIDEN ADMINISTR ATION, SUPPORTING THE AFGHAN PEOPLE WITHOUT EMPOWERING THE TALIB AN IS THE FOREIGN POLIC Y C ASE STUDY FR OM HELL
Pr oject Syndicate K e n n e t h R o g o f f
Saturday 3 September 2022 08 WORLD VIEW new yorker S t e v e C o l l P U B L I C anniversaries mark the meaning of the past in the political present In Washington, one year after the fall of Kabul to the Tal iban, the failure of the United States and its allies is emotive and polarizing This month, house Republicans issued a re port, entitled A Strategic Failure, which is unsparing of the Biden Administration’s decision last year to withdraw all remaining American forces from Afghanistan, and of its conduct of the chaotic evacuation that fol lowed The White house denounced the re port as partisan and demagogic; the National Security Council circulated a memo defending the Administration’s actions There will be more of this, particularly if Republi cans gain control of one or both chambers of Congress in November ’s midterm elections Democrats have reason, in that case, to fear Benghazi inspired election driving hearings and investigations on Afghanistan, although any Republican drive to hang last year s fail ures on Biden will be complicated by the cen tral role played in the dénouement by former President Donald Trump The stark politicization of America s ex perience in Afghanistan threatens to add one more loop of failure and self defeat to a sad record Accountability is vital if it can be achieved impartially and reflectively, yet the urgent question of the moment does not in volve the apportionment of blame Many of the forty million Afghans left behind last summer by evacuating troops and diplomats are being battered by severe crises of hunger and persecution The policy choices faced by the Biden Administration and its nato allies are morally complex and excruciatingly hard If they are fogged by partisan politics in Washington, they will be harder still Richard Bennett the U N s special rap porteur on human rights in Afghanistan, joined by other rights experts from across the world used the anniversary s occasion to de clare, “Nowhere else in the world has there been as wide spread, systematic and all en compassing an attack on the rights of women and girls every aspect of their lives is being restricted under the guise of morality and through the instrumentalization of religion Meanwhile, about half of the population is struggling to eat “We’re looking at near universal poverty, Vicki Aken, the country director of the International Rescue Com mittee (I R C ), an aid and development nonprofit told me from Kabul When Aken arrived in Afghanistan in 2017, she said, the poverty rate was at about fifty per cent; by the end of 2022 it may reach ninety seven per cent “When you go into clinics and you go into hospitals, you see no medicines,” she said You see three people to a bed lines out the door of mothers with malnour ished children ” Governments and nonprofits are navi gating an uncomfortable tension between prioritizing human rights advocacy and working with the Taliban to stabilize the Afghan economy “We want the pressure” on the Taliban over human rights, Fereshta Ab basi an Afghan born researcher at human Rights Watch in London, told me “We need to let the Taliban know that we are standing with the Afghan people and that the regime’s record must change “if they want any recognition ” Simultaneously, she added, On the humanitarian side, we don t want the Afghan people to be victims of this crisis and chaos ” And Taliban repression is worsening, ac cording to researchers, not moderating under outside pressure “There are definitely dif fering views between the humanitarian and human rights communities,” Aken said “I have immense respect for the human rights people, she added, yet the only solution to this crisis is to find a way to make the econ omy function ’’ That requires coöperating or, at least, engaging with the Taliban “One of the things that I find so hard is that there are a lot of Afghan women who stayed behind, women who run their own N G O s, who are attacked by those outside of the coun try for even hinting that it’s even possible to do that, Aken continued About three thousand women work directly for the I R C in Afghanistan “It’s not easy,” she said “There does need to be a light shined on human rights abuses but if we don’t stay engaged the op portunities that remain for women and ethnic minorities might disappear altogether For nato governments the dilemma comes down to whether to release large sums of money to Afghanistan to stabilize the economy even if doing so may strengthen the Taliban The alternative would be to tighten sanctions and expand travel bans, and further isolate the regime s leaders even if this accelerates the economy’s free fall, perhaps to the point of widespread famine The Taliban s prideful restoration of gender apartheid in secondary and higher ed ucation and in many sectors of the economy is an outrage of special dimensions as Ben nett and the other rights experts noted For the U S and other nato countries champi ons of a modernization drive in Kabul and other major Afghan cities for two decades the reversal of the status of women is all but impossible to countenance Women and girls have largely been erased from public life,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, in Washington on July 28th It s especially difficult to accept because we all remember how different it was not so very long ago ” On July 31st a U S drone killed the Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri at his hide out in downtown Kabul The Biden Admin istration like its predecessors has identified counterterrorism as a “vital” continuing in terest in Afghanistan That the Afghan capi tal was Zawahiri s haven has only deepened doubts in Washington about the Taliban’s re liability By “hosting and sheltering” Za wahiri in Kabul, Blinken said after the drone strike, the Taliban betrayed “repeated assur ances to the world that they would not allow Afghan territory to be used by terrorists The Taliban insisted that they didn’t know Zawahiri was present even in the face of this record, develop ment experts continue to urge the Biden Ad ministration to release to the Afghan central bank billions of dollars in foreign currency reserves The issue is technically compli cated After the Taliban took Kabul last Au gust, the Biden Administration froze seven billion dollars in reserves held in the U S Lawyers representing families of victims of 9/11 then asked a judge to designate those funds as compensation for their clients (The Taliban, who never lawyered up to defend themselves, have been found liable for the attacks ) Last February Biden issued an ex ecutive order allocating 3 5 billion dollars as potential compensation for the 9/11 families, but reserving the rest for possible future restoration to the Afghan central bank, which is known as Da Afghanistan Bank One im pediment to any future release: the first deputy governor appointed to the bank by the Taliban, Noor Ahmad Agha, has been designated as a terrorist by the U S The Taliban want all of the reserves frozen in the U S back, and they have re spectable allies On August 10th seventy one economists, including the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, wrote to President Biden and the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging them to immediately allow the Afghan cen tral bank to reclaim all of its reserves They argued that the funds are critical to the func tioning of the Afghan economy ” The Afghan private banking system “has nearly ground to a halt salaries are not being paid and businesses and individuals cannot access their savings Repatriating the reserves would allow the central bank to stabilize the national currency and pay for food and energy im ports, the economists wrote William Byrd, a development economist formerly with the World Bank in Kabul, now at the United States Institute of Peace, argued in reply that the Afghan central bank is in no position to manage billions of dollars productively The Biden Administration has handed this foreign policy case study from hell to two well regarded mid level State Depart ment officials: Thomas West, the U S spe cial representative for Afghanistan, and Rina Amiri, the special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights West negotiates di rectly with Taliban leaders on aid, countert errorism, and other subjects he has ruled out releasing the Afghan central bank funds as a near term option Amiri has so far declined to attend bilat eral talks with the Taliban, because of the regime s policies toward the women and girls she is charged to defend a split on diplo matic tactics that is a microcosm of the larger dilemma I support my colleagues engaging the Taliban ” Amiri tweeted recently “en gagement on issues where there’s traction, such as economic stabilization & the human itarian response is necessary ” Yet in the areas her office oversees, she continued, “ro bust international engagement hasn t pro duced meaningful outcomes for Afghan women, girls & at risk populations ” This summer, the Biden Administration announced a one hundred and fifty million dollar contribution to U N agencies assisting Afghanistan slightly more than half of it to address food insecurity the rest targeting the needs of children and women, via unicef and U N Women It is a significant commitment, but it cannot address the downward spiral caused by the collapse of Afghan banking or the inability of the Afghan central bank to pay for commercial food and energy imports Byrd is among those promoting a nascent plan to put frozen Afghan reserves into a trust fund that would be housed in Switzerland perhaps to be overseen by central banking ex perts details to be negotiated with the Tal iban The State Department spokesman Ned Price acknowledged that the U S continues to explore “mechanisms” that would allow the 3 5 billion dollars of the reserves desig nated for possible release by Biden to be used “precisely for the benefit of the Afghan peo ple in a way that doesn’t make them ripe for diversion to terrorist groups or elsewhere hanging over these negotiations is Amer ica’s record of diplomatic failure in the run up to last summer ’s collapse, and during the first Taliban emirate which reigned from the mid nineties to late 2001 eventually, in 1999, Clinton authorized C I A covert action against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan The C I A funded and equipped anti Taliban insurgents, such as those led by the legendary guerrilla commander Ahmed Shah Massoud Today some Afghan opponents of the Taliban and their allies in Washington advocate a rerun of covert action strategies But neither the Biden Administration nor other nato governments appear to have any appetite for fostering more violence in Afghanistan In a Foreign Affairs essay this month, Ali Maisam Nazary, the head of foreign relations for the National Re sistance Front of Afghanistan a movement led by Massoud’s son, acknowledged that its anti Taliban insurgents of 2022 have yet to re ceive a drop of help from any country F o r t h e i r p a r t , t h e Ta l i b a n d e c l a r e d a public holiday to mark the anniversary of Kabul s fall On Twitter and in a round of m e d i a i n t e r v i e w s , A b d u l Q a h a r B a l k h i , a Taliban foreign ministry spokesman, pro moted the emirate s achievements one year on, including the resumption of commer c i a l f l i g h t s t o a n d f r o m K a b u l , e c o n o m i c projects, and the accommodation of about a t h o u s a n d f o r e i g n j o u r n a l i s t s w h o h a v e travelled to report in the country since last s u m m e r h e a l s o c i t e d t h e Ta l i b a n s e n gagement with diplomatic missions and ar g u e d t h a t a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o n s e n s u s h a d taken hold that there is no alternative to [the] current government ” It is certainly true that the Taliban have made themselves an intractable fact of life in international affairs Five successive White houses have failed to defeat the movement militarily or to influence its leaders to change their ideology Yet the hardest and least po litically rewarding problems in foreign policy are sometimes the most important ones For its own failings and those of its pred ecessors, the Biden Administration has a moral obligation to the Afghan population suffering today under Taliban rule The U S and its nato allies also have an interest in preventing a further Afghan economic col lapse that could trigger more mass migration toward europe or foster more violent ex tremism Blessed are the peacemaking, rights promoting mid level special envoys but this is a crisis for Presidents and Prime Ministers Where are they?
PLEASANT SURPRISE: The fact that bigger emerg ing markets have so far largely withstood higher U S in terest rates and the stronger dollar has been something of a pleasant surprise But how long they will continue to do so if the Fed pursues an aggressive tightening path remains to be seen, particularly if commodity prices si multaneously fall further (as my harvard colleague Jef frey Frankel has warned) and the U S and europe slide into recession, on top of the slowdown in China In the near term a buoyant dollar will affect America less severely than its trading partners, mainly because U S trade is almost entirely invoiced in dollars But a persistently stronger dollar will have a longer term do mestic impact, as the U S will become a relatively more expensive place to produce It won’t help foreign tourism still sharply down from 2019 Might the dollar ’s recent surge against other major currencies go into reverse? To be sure, some previous big run ups in the dollar s value including in the mid 1980s and the early 2000s, were eventually followed by sharp declines But, again, exchange rates are notori ously difficult to predict even on a one year horizon A further 15% fall in the euro and the yen against the U S currency is entirely possible, particularly if geopo litical frictions take another turn for the worse The only thing that can be said with certainty is that the period of extraordinarily quiescent major currency exchange rates, beginning back in 2014 is now history Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund is professor of economics and public policy at Harvard University l l t h e d o l l a r ’ s s u r g e e n d i n w h i p l a s h ?
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T h e U S dollar DXY, 0 67% BUXX, 0 46% has been on a tear this summer The Japanese yen USDJPY, 0 07% and the euro eURUSD, +0 78% have fallen to their lowest levels against the dollar in two decades; the euro, long worth more than one dollar is now hovering close to parity The Federal Reserve’s broad trade weighted dollar index has almost reattained the peak it reached in March 2020 amid the panic triggered by the start of the COVID 19 pandemic In fact, if one adjusts for inflation in the United States and its trading partners, it is already higher This is happening despite the U S recording its high est annual inflation rate in four decades and its worst trade balance since the global financial crisis What is going on and is the dollar set to plummet? While acknowledging that exchange rates are ex tremely difficult to explain, much less predict, four major factors seem to be influencing the movements of the world’s major currencies Most important, the Fed has begun hiking interest rates, and with the U S economy seemingly nowhere near a true recession there is still room for it to tighten policy further Despite equally high inflation in europe, the euro pean Central Bank is being more cautious This is partly because the economic outlook for the eurozone is more fragile The eCB is worried about Italy s high debt lev els but also believes that current rates of energy price inflation will not continue Japan, like China, has so far not experienced signif icant inflation The Bank of Japan is unlikely to tighten policy anytime soon, and the People’s Bank of China cut rates in August Geopolitics is also a factor behind the dollar ’s strength The war in Ukraine presents a much more im mediate risk to europe than to the U S , while China s ominous saber rattling toward Taiwan is a huge risk for everyone, but most of all to neighboring Japan Reces sion or not, both europe and Japan will have to restruc ture their defense capabilities significantly with a concomitant rise in long term military expenditures Then there is the ongoing economic slowdown in China which affects europe and Japan far more than America The root causes of China’s decelerating growth including zero COVID lockdowns, the legacy of overbuilding a crackdown on the tech sector and over centralization of economic power are issues I have been commenting on for some time, and I do not see a sharp sustained turnaround
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Iftikhar Shallwani visits FGHS Project Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Works visited project of Federal Government Employees Housing Authority in Sector G 14,Islamabad, today During the course of visit, Iftikhar Ali Shallwani was briefed about the progress of development work He emphasized the need to augment the development work atthe site Secretary Housing further expressed concern with regard to encroachmentand all the built up properties on the site and advised the same needs to be removed away in close consultation with the communities living there He also said that incompliance of the Islamabad High Court orders, survey of G 14/1 to be completedand report may be submitted as soon as possible In order to provide modern residential facilities to the employees, Mr Shallwani emphasized at the quality and timely completion of the sector activities Mr Shahzad Nawaz Cheema, Joint Secretary Housing, Mr Tariq Rashid, DG(FGEHA) and other officials of the Ministry and Authority were present during the visit pr continues
coMSatS believes in growth, development ofinfrastructure: Rector
islamabad p r National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) inaugu rated first Innovation Centre of NUST (ICON) at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce & In dustry (SCCI) the other day This is the first of its kind cen tre established in any chamber of commerce & industry by a university in Pakistan The cen tre will help connect NUST with the industry in Sialkot and jointly undertake R&D activi ties aligned with the needs of industry ICON will also sup port chambers in enabling their members to grow and work with research experts to find so lutions to industrial problems, expand businesses and enhance export potential Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Federal Min ister for Defence graced the oc casion as chief guest The inauguration of ICON w a s o d b R s a h & Innovation Showcase of Excel lence (RISE) i b i t i n g m a r k e t ready innovation, research ca p a b i l i t i e s a n d t e c h n o l o g i e s o f NUST and forging deeper and m e a n i n g f u l N U S T i n d u s t r y p a r t n e r s h i p P r o m i n e n t a m o n g s t t h e a t t e n d e e s w e r e K h a w a j a M u h a m m a d A s i f , F e d e r a l M i n i s t e r f o r D e f e n c e , D r R i z w a n R i a z , P r o R e c t o r R e s e a r c h I n n o v a t i o n & C o m m e r c i a l i s a t i o n ( R I C ) N U S T, M r I m r a n A k b a r, P r e s i d e n t S C C I a n d o v e r 1 0 0 t o p e x porters from Sialkot In his ad d r e s s a t t h e o c c a s i o n , M r K h a w a j a M u h a m m e d A s i f c o m m e n d e d t h e e ff o r t s o f N U S T t o w a r d s d e v e l o p i n g close liaison with the industry and paving the way for sustain able socioeconomic growth of t h e c o u n t r y H e s t r e s s e d t h e need for taking such initiatives t o b r i d g e t h e g a p b e t w e e n i n dustry and academia, and, in so doing, develop indigenous so lutions to current and impend i n g p r o b l e m s P r o R e c t o r N U S T e x p r e s s e d d e e p g r a t i tude to all industry partners in supporting academia based re search and innovation and out l i n e d v a r i o u s a v e n u e s f o r collaboration with NUST Karachi p r Pakistan Navy Diving and Emergency Response teams continued to the rescue and relief opera tions in flood affected areas across the country in cluding Dera Ismail Khan, Rajanpur, Jampur, Fazilpur and various areas of Sindh Pakistan Navy rescue teams having air assets, motorized boats and lifesaving equipments are providing all out support and reaching out to people in far flung remote areas In assistance to civil administration, provision of medical facilities is also being en sured through medical camps and mobile medical teams in the flood affected areas In the continu ation of the rescue operations, 75 people were rescued by helicopter from Gozo area of Dadu 60 other people trapped in flood water in Zahru Goth were also rescued safely More than 50 peo ple rescued from Ladhan Village and four other areas of Dadu were shifted to high safe areas Pakistan Navy resolve to continue support all countrymen in this hour of need t o n Ce nt re o U S T e s t a b l i s h e d at
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Qillla Abdullah and Nowshera Kallan In last 24 hours, 2617 pa tients were treated by the med ical team of Pakistan Air Force PAF is reaching out to the needy families whose houses have been damaged in the nat ural calamity As a humanitar ian gesture 4794 dry ration packs, 8825 cooked food pack ets and 705 water bottles were also distributed amongst the needy families p r
islamabad G h u l a m a b b a s R I M E Minister Shehbaz Sharif who visited Gilgit Baltistan on Friday to review the rescue and relief activities as well as examine the mag nitude of the losses caused by the flash floods, has announced Rs 3 billion re habilitation grant for flood affectees in GB On his arrival in Gilgit the PM vis ited the largely flood affected area of Bubar valley in Ghizer district where he directed concerned authorities to take immediate rehabilitation steps to re store life in the affected area According to Chief Secretary GB Mohiyuddin Ahmed Wani, the PM has given the directive to the Ministry of Fi nance, Government of GB and others concerned to make arrangements for early rehabilitation of the flood affectees
Keeping the tradition of serving the nation during natural calamities, Pakistan Air Force has come to the succour of flood affected families of KPK Sindh, Balochistan and South Punjab PAF Bases are actively participating in relief opera tions in Rojhan, Fazilpur, Thul, Rajanpur, Risalpur, Hayatabad, Talhar, Mirpur Khas, Saeed abad, Nawabshah, Uch, Umer Khoso Alipur Dodapur Sukkur, Sehwan, Jamshoro,
Fi r s
Karachi p r English Biscuit Manufacturers (EBM) has pledged to donate biscuits worth over Rs 100 million and Rs 20 million in cash as an immediate response to the devastating floods that have claimed the lives of over 1,100 people and displaced millions of Pakistanis Rs 20mn will be used for shelter ration medical camps and other essential items, while biscuits worth over Rs 100mn will be distributed to tackle the food shortage crisis EBM is actively assessing the situation and will be pledging more donations in the forthcoming days EBM’s own on ground teams are distributing biscuits and other essential items to people in all flood affected regions and are also volunteering their time and funds EBM employees have also pledged a significant portion of their salaries towards the fund and EBM will be matching every donation that is made by an employee EBM is also working in liaison with several NGOs that are working for flood relief Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of EBM, Dr Zeelaf Munir expressing her commitment to the wellbeing of the nation said: Our thoughts and prayers go out to the flood victims who have lost their lives, homes, and livelihoods As of now, we are working to ensure the provision of food and other necessary items with donations in kind and cash This is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions and EBM is doing all it can to help We would also like to urge others to come forward and play their part ” Any national crisis calls for unity and joint efforts to help rehabilitate the affected people EBM values to stay true to its commitment of nourishing communities
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"COMSATS believes in the growth and development of infrastructure to provide the best facilities to this region's students The best part is that we are developing our campuses with our own resources", said the Rector on his visit to the stone laying ceremony of Site 2 (city campus) of CUI Vehari The Rector laid the foundation stone for the construction of new academic blocks This is a 19 acre campus that will be a valuable addition to the existing campus of CUI Vehari Director, Vehari campus, Prof Dr Saleem Farooq Shaukat, HoDs, and officers warmly welcomed Rector, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Prof Dr Muhammad Tabassam Afzal, along with Registrar, Prof Dr Sajjad A Madani, Treasurer, Muhammad Azam, Dean FoS Prof Dr Sajid Qamar, Dean FoIT ,Prof Dr Sohail Asghar, Director, P,D & HRD, Dr Tahir Naeem, Additional Registrar, Naveed Ahmed Khan Prof Dr Saleem Farooq Shaukat, Director, CUI Vehari, briefed the guests about the achievements of the Vehari Campus He further explained how CUI Vehari is growing day by day and contributing to academia in the underdeveloped area of Vehari Prof Shaukat shared with the delegate that recently, CUI Vehari has offered a new BS program in Biotechnology and Ph D programs in Management Sciences and Mathematics He further added that we are trying to make this campus viable by increasing the number of students and taking austerity measures Rector CUI, Prof Dr Muhammad Tabassam Afzal, also addressed the Heads of the Departments He said that the Vehari campus is working hard and providing quality education He emphasized the need for self sustainability in the present financial scenario of the country A draw to select the names of employees for umrah was also held at the occasion Five lucky employees were selected through the draw to be sent on umrah in the next month The Rector also inaugurated the Glass House growth Chamber Lab for the Environmental Sciences Department The established Lab will be used to elucidate the de effect future climate change scenarios on food crop plants pr
09NEWS Saturday 3 September 2022 | LAHORE corporate corner
A team of students, doctors and support medical staff from Ziauddin University and Dr Ziauddin Hospitals set up a medical and relief camp in Hilaya Thatta in supervison of Dr Nida Hussain, Pro chancellor, Ziauddin University
an event geared t o w a r d s e x h
PM announceS RS 3 bIllIon ReHabIlItatIon GRant FoR Flood aFFecteeS In Gb
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Ziauddin universit y, Hospital set up medical and relief camp to flood affected in thatta Karachi p r
The PM has announced that an amount of Rs 3 00 billion shall be al located for rehabilitation and recon struction in Gilgit Baltistan Besides an amount of Rs 100 million shall be al located for development of village Bubur, District Ghizer Rs 1 00 Million each shall be dis bursed to the families of the deceased persons immediately as ex gratia com pensation, as per approved policy The amount shall be recouped from NDMA Apart from rehabilitation funds, an endowment, with an amount of Rs 5 million, shall be created in the name of the specially abled girl who lost her six siblings her mother and grandmother during the massive flood in the area Necessary legal arrangements would be made to operate the endowment fund As per the directives from PM, the ministry of Finance shall in consulta tion with stakeholder ministries and GB Government work out modalities for provision of the said additional funds within a week The PM, as per documents, has also directed the re gional government to reconstruct five km of damaged roads in Bubur village The chief secretary GB informed that he has constituted a special team to accelerate the rehabilitation process including restoration of remaining power houses, water supply and irriga tion channels Out of a total 17 deaths in Bubar, Ghizer, legal heirs of seven have been given death compensation Whereas the remaining 10 would be given the compensation cheques by Saturday “We concede that we can’t bring their loved ones back but we will extend maximum support possible with the help of GB and the Federal govern ment We will leave no stone unturned to alleviate sufferings of people of GB and live up to their expectations in this hour of need, he added During the visit of the PM, the au thorities briefed the prime minister in Gilgit about the torrential rains flash floods, and consequent losses Adviser to PM on Kashmir Affairs and GB Qamar Zaman Kaira, former chief min ister GB Hafeezur Rehman, Opposition Leader of GB Assembly Amjad advo cate and other party leaders and offi cials were also present on the occasion Furthermore the PM also inter acted with the flood affected people in Bobar village of Ghizer district
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The purpose of medical and relief camp is to help flood affecteed people in Sindh who are passing through dreadful conditions due to catastrophic floods and are left homeless with no medicines, food and shelter In her visit to the relief camp in Thatta, Dr Nida Hussain said that our relief camp is in full swing where our team consisting of doctors, medical students, paramedics and nursing staff are tirelessly working at the flood relief camp in Hilaya, Thatta "Flood relief camp is consistently providing free check up, medicines, paramedics support, and food supplies to the people who are lying in awful conditions soon after the wave of recent floods in the country has completely shattered the lives of the masses and the routine life of the locals in the rural areas", she further added She said that this is not the first time Dr Ziauddin Hospital and Ziauddin University has played its pivotal role in helping out the countrymen in times of natural calamities but in the past also, such practices were routine norm undertaken by the medical facility at various times ki s t a n N av y re s c u i n g s t r a n d e d p o p u l a c e a m i d fl o o d - h i t a re a s
Pak istani, Indian expat win AED 77,777 each in Emirates Draw C h I n a a d v o C at e S p e a C e at S e a , o p p o S e S S h o w o f f o r C e : wa n g Y I Space
India’s top cour t grants interim bail to Modi critic NEW DELHI Ag e n c e s
India’s Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release on interim bail of a prominent activist and harsh critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than two months after she was arrested on suspicion of faking documents about Hindu Muslim riots in 2002 Teesta Setalvad was detained from her residence in Mumbai on June 25 by police from Modi’s home state of Gujarat, and has since been under arrest in the state “Considering the facts, including that she is a lady and submissions of other accused be considered purely on their merits, this court grants her interim bail,” Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said in his order The interim bail granted by the Supreme Court will stand until a state court decides on Setalvad’s bail plea Setalvad is accused of tutoring witnesses forging documents and fabricating evidence in cases pertaining to the riots in Gujarat when Modi was state chief minister In court, Setalvad s lawyer said all cases against her were malicious and false Opposition politicians and rights activists have criticised Setalvad’s arrest, saying it was political vendetta by Modi’s government Modi was accused of failing to stop the rioting when at least 1,000 people died under his watch He denied the accusations and was exonerated in an Indian Supreme Court inquiry in 2012
BEIJING Ag e n c i e s C H I N A upholds freedom of navigation rather than freedom to sail at will Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday He made the remarks during the opening ceremony of the international symposium to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the signature of the United Na tions Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Wang urged the international community to solve maritime disputes with peaceful ways and to maintain peace in the sea instead of showing off force in the ocean China insists on promoting the sustainable de velopment of the oceans, deepen practical coopera tion at sea, promote the UN sustainable development goals, and make the oceans an inexhaustible driving force for the sustainable development of all coun tries he said Wang advocated international cooperation and guard of the marine ecological environment The international community should adhere to the con cept of green development, promote global cooper ation in marine environmental protection, and jointly build a blue sea and blue sky for future gen erations, he said We must adhere to the international rule of law and improve global ocean governance We should in terpret and apply the Convention completely, accu rately and in good faith and develop and improve international ocean rules that are fair and reasonable and stand the test of history and practice,” Wang said China has always abided by the spirit of the Con vention, strictly fulfilled its obligations, firmly safe guarded the integrity and authority of the Conven tion, and opposed the abuse of the dispute settlement procedures under the Convention he said China has always advocated the settlement of maritime disputes by direct parties through friendly dialogues on the basis of respect for historical facts and international law, including the Convention, Wang added The international symposium to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the signature of the UNC LOS was co organized by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Natural Re sources UN Under Secretary General and Legal Counsel Miguel de serpa Soares also attended the opening ceremony by video UAE Ag e n c i e s
Myanmar ’s deposed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty of electoral fraud on Friday and sentenced by a judge to three years in jail with hard labour, according to a source familiar with the proceedings The Nobel laureate and figurehead of Myanmar s opposition to decades of military rule has been detained since a coup early last year and has already been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison She denies all the allegations against her On Friday, she was judged to have committed fraud in a November 2020 general election that her National League for Democracy (NLD) won with an overwhelming legislative majority, trouncing a party created by the powerful military The source who declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to media, said it was unclear what hard labour would entail Co defendant Win Myint, the deposed president, was given the same sentence, the source said A spokesperson for the ruling military council did not immediately respond to a request for comment The junta has said Suu Kyi is being given due process The military seized power in February 2021 to stop Suu Kyi s NLD from forming a new government after the election that it said had instances of fraud that had not properly been investigated The NLD has denied fraud and said it won fairly Suu Kyi, 76, has been on trial for more than a year on multiple charges, ranging from corruption and incitement to leaks of official secrets, for which the combined maximum sentences is more than 190 years Her trials have been held behind closed doors in the capital Naypyitaw and the junta s statements on the proceedings have been limited A gag order has been imposed on Suu Kyi’s lawyers
The 48th episode of Emirates Draw was followed by many happy faces with over 300 participants winning a collective amount of Dhs616,441, re ported Gulf Today Winners included Pakistani and Indian ex pats like Sajid Noushad from India and Muhammad Kamran from Pakistan They both won Dhs77 777 each Noushad, who is a business owner from India was excited because he was not expecting to win in just his second attempt He said he could not believe it With all this money, Noushad wants to clear his debt and support his employees Kamran too was ecstatic while de scribing his winning moment when the results were shared last Sunday He said he too could not believe his eyes “No way, is that my name?” he described himself as saying He fondly remembered the mo ment saying he thanked God for the blessings He said he had began partic ipating in the Emirate Draw with his uncle only four months ago Kamran plans to support his fam ily back home and share a portion with his uncle He added that he would do nate some amount for the flood af fected Pakistanis The draw came into being 11 months ago and the organisation has distributed Dhs35 million so far Over 25,000 participants have benefitted from the money One of the categories of the Draw, the Dhs7 prize category, allows 10% of the participants to win money in stantly by matching the first number from the right If someone is lucky enough to match all the numbers, they can win Dhs100 Million Grand Prize, the largest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region BEIJING Ag e n c i e s China s Shenzhou 14 astronauts or taiko nauts, successfully completed their first ex travehicular activities (EVAs) at 00:33 (Beijing Time) on Friday which lasted about six hours, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMS) Taikonaut Chen Dong and Liu Yang, who went outside the cabin, returned safely to the Wentian lab module of the space sta tion after completing all the scheduled tasks This was the first time that the taikonauts exited from the airlock cabin of the new Wentian lab module and carried out the EVAs with the help of the small robotic arm, said the CMS Under the coordination between space and Earth, and coordination with taikonaut Cai Xuzhe inside the lab module, Chen and Liu completed a series of tasks, including the installation of the extended pump set of the Wentian lab module, lifting the lab module’s panoramic camera and the verification of capability for independent transfer and emer gency return to the spacecraft The EVAs tested the cooperation ability between taikonauts and the small mechani cal arm, and tested the function and perform ance of Wentian’s airlock cabin and support equipment related to EVAs, the CMS said China launched the Shenzhou 14 space ship on June 5, sending the three taikonauts to its space station combination for a six month mission Screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Sept 1, 2022 shows Shenzhou 14 astronauts Chen Dong (Top), Liu Yang conducting extrave hicular activities (EVAs) out of the space sta tion lab module Wentian /Xinhua This is the fifth spacewalk that has been conducted outside China’s space station Ex perts say it has been one of new people new module, new status ” Yin Rui, Deputy Chief Commander of the Astronaut System with the CMS said the spacewalk was a complete success “It’s like what we’ve said before From the very start we had a plan and we worked across systems to make it happen one con crete step at a time,” he told CGTN Zhang Yuedong, Deputy Chief of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, said Shenzhou 14 crew s first spacewalk is “meaningful for the construction of China’s space station ” This is the first spacewalk from the cur rent two module space station assembly,” Zhang said “From now on, EVAs will mostly be done from the Wentian lab mod ule’s airlock cabin Future preparations for spacewalks will be done more easily Since supportive equipment and the small robotic arm have been tested out this time, we are now in a better place for future spacewalks log: astronauts complete first spacewalk
YANGOON Ag e n c e s
China’s Shenzhou-14
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi gets more jail, hard labour for election fraud
10 ForEIgn nEwS Saturday 3 September 2022 | lAhorE
somerset sign sajid khan for Count y Championship matches stAff RepORt S o m e r s e t C o u n t y C r i c k e t C l u b h a v e a v a i l e d s e r v i c e s o f o n e m o r e P a k i s t a n p l a y e r a f t e r t h e y s i g n e d o p e n e r I m a m u l H a q f o r t h e l a s t f o u r C o u n t y C h a m p i o n s h i p m a t c h e s o f t h e s e a s o n T h e C l u b h a v e s i g n e d P a k i s t a n o ff s p i n n e r S a j i d K h a n a n d h e w i l l j o i n t h e m f o r a h e a d o f n e x t w e e k s l o c a l d e r b y a g a i n s t G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e T h e r i g h t h a n d e r h a s f e a t u r e d i n s e v e n Te s t s f o r P a k i s t a n , c l a i m i n g 2 2 w i c k e t s , w i t h a b e s t o f e i g h t f o r 4 2 H e h a s p l a y e d i n a t o t a l o f 4 9 F i r s t C l a s s m a t c h e s t a k i n g 1 9 0 w i c k e t s a t a n a v e r a g e o f 2 6 9 5 H e h a s c l a i m e d f i v e w i c k e t s i n a m a t c h o n 11 o c c a s i o n s a n d 1 0 w i c k e t s t w i c e A f t e r s i g n i n g f o r S o m e r s e t S a j i d K h a n s a i d : “ I k n o w t h a t i n r e c e n t y e a r s B a b a r A z a m a n d A z h a r A l i h a v e e n j o y e d t h e i r t i m e a t S o m e r s e t , a n d I a m l o o k i n g f o r w a r d t o p l a y i n g a l o n g s i d e I m a m u l H a q a g a i n “ I h o p e t h a t I c a n c o n t r i b u t e t o S o m e r s e t w i n n i n g t h e l a s t f o u r C o u n t y C h a m p i o n s h i p g a m e s o f t h e s e a s o n S o m e r s e t D i r e c t o r o f C r i c k e t A n d y H u r r y s a i d : “ Wi t h J a c k L e a c h u n a v a i l a b l e d u e t o h i s E n g l a n d c o m m i t m e n t s f o r a t l e a s t t w o r o u n d s o f C h a m p i o n s h i p c r i c k e t w e f e l t t h a t i t w a s i m p o r t a n t t o r e c r u i t a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l q u a l i t y s p i n n e r f o r t h e C o u n t y C h a m p i o n s h i p r u n i n “ A f t e r d e t a i l e d c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f a l l t h e o p t i o n s a v a i l a b l e t o u s w e f e l t t h a t S a j i d K h a n w a s t h e s t a n d o u t i n d i v i d u a l H e h a s p r o v e d h i s q u a l i t y a t t h e v e r y h i g h e s t l e v e l , a n d h e i s h u n g r y t o t e s t h i m s e l f i n E n g l i s h c o n d i t i o n s o v e r t h e n e x t f e w w e e k s “ H e i s a p l a y e r w i t h a n o u t s t a n d i n g a t t i t u d e , a n d h e i s w e l l a w a r e o f e x a c t l y w h a t C o u n t y C h a m p i o n s h i p c r i c k e t m e a n s t o t h i s C l u b a n d i t s M e m b e r s a n d s u p p o r t e r s ” sHARJAH s tA f f R e p o R t A M A S T E R C L A S S from Pakistan on a slow turning wicket helped them rout Hong Kong to secure a place in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2022 Pakistan had set a 194 run target for Hong Kong in a must win game for both teams to stay in the tournament However, a bowling masterclass from P a k i s t a n e n s u r e d t h a t H o n g K o n g w e r e dismissed for a meagre 38 runs, ensuring a w i n f o r t h e M e n i n G r e e n b y 1 5 5 r u n s This is the lowest total made by any team against a full member side N a s e e m S h a h ’s d o u b l e w i c k e t i n t h e third over of Hong Kong’s innings helped set the tone After that, the wickets fell like a ten pin The bowlers kept on exerting pressure b y g i v i n g l i t t l e s p a c e t o H o n g K o n g t o s c o r e , w h i l e r e g u l a r w i c k e t s a d d e d m o r e pressure It was in the 11th over that Sha hab Khan took the last wicket to end Hong Kong s misery For Pakistan, Shadab ended with four w i c k e t s , M o h a m m a d N a w a z t o o k t h r e e , w h i l e S h a h n a w a z D a h a n i c l a i m e d o n e wicket Earlier, Pakistan were off to a slow s t a r t a f t e r l o s i n g s k i p p e r B a b a r A z a m i n t h e t h i r d o v e r a n d w i t h 1 3 r u n s o n t h e board H o w e v e r, M o h a m m a d R i z w a n a n d Fakhar Zaman built a 116 run partnership t o s e t t h e s t a g e f o r K h u s h d i l S h a h ’s f i r e works in the last three overs Zaman contributed 53 off 41 balls be fore being dismissed on the first ball of the 17th over But the partnership had built a strong foundation for Khushdil Shah to exploit the Hong Kong bowlers Khushdil’s cameo of 35 off 15 balls propelled Pakistan to 193/2 Mohammad Rizwan carried the bat till the end of the innings and remained un beaten on 78 For Hong Kong, off spinner Ehsan Khan was the only bowler who took wickets by dismissing Babar and Zaman in his four overs at the cost of 28 runs Playing XI Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (capt), Babar Hayat Yasim Murtaza Kinchit Shah Scott McKechnie (wk), Haroon Arshad, Aizaz Khan, Zeeshan Ali, Ehsan Khan, Ayush Shukla Mohammad Ghazanfar Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed Khushdil Shah Asif Ali Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani s tA n o u t H o n g ko n g t o q u A l I f y f o R s u P e R 4 s
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Injured Ravindra Jadeja out of Asia Cup, India bring in A xar Patel Agencies
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Serena Williams closed one chapter on her epic Grand Slam story at the US Open on Thursday while Victoria Azarenka triumphed in a politically charged grudge match For the first time since 2018 Serena and sister Venus revived the partnership which has brought them 14 doubles titles at the majors However, their hopes of collecting a third crown in New York were dashed in a 7 6 (7/5) 6 4 defeat to Czech pairing Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka The loss leaves 40 year old Serena free to focus on what is widely expected to be the final singles campaign of her land mark 27 year career before retirement On Friday, the 23 time Slam singles winner will face Australia s Ajla Toml janovic for a place in the fourth round Serena and her 42 year old sister went down fighting clawing back from 1 4 down in the second set before the Czech pair steadied the ship Im still in shock that we won be cause this is the first time we played to gether,” said Hradecka I m so sorry for you that we beat them but we are so happy that we did it ” Meanwhile, Azarenka triumphed against Marta Kostyuk 6 2, 6 3 in a match dominated by bitter exchanges over the conflict in Ukraine Last week, Belarusian star Azarenka was axed from an exhibition event aimed at raising money for the war ravaged country Ukraine s Kostyuk had refused to take part in protest at the presence of Azarenka who she has criticised for a perceived failure to condemn the inva sion of her home country Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has allowed Moscow to use its territory to launch at tacks into Ukraine The tension between the two was evident at the end of their tie on Court 17 with Kostyuk offering just a touch of racquets instead of the cus tomary post match handshake How did it make me feel? It s not the most important thing in the world right now,” said Azarenka N o h a N d s h a k e: Kostyuk, the 20 year old world number 65, said a hand shake would not have been appropriate I genuinely wanted to warn her that I’m not going to shake her hand,” she said “She never came up to me person ally to tell me her opinion, what she thinks (about the war) ” Away from the controversy, world number one and French Open champion Iga Swiatek cruised into the third round with a 6 3, 6 2 win over 2017 champion Sloane Stephens Paula Badosa, the fourth seed and potential semi final opponent of Swiatek suffered another miserable re turn to the city of her birth The Spaniard’s failure to get beyond the second round will stretch for another year after losing 6 7 (5/7), 6 1, 6 2 to Petra Martic of Croatia Sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka, a semi finalist in 2021, came back from 1 5 down in the second set and saved two match points to defeat Kaia Kanepi, 2 6, 7 6 (10/8), 6 4 China will have four women in the last 32 for the first time at a Slam after Zheng Qinwen defeated Anastasia Potapova and Yuan Yue got the better of Irina Camelia Begu
Saturday 3 September 2022 LAHORE 11SPORTS
A s I A C u P 2 0 2 2 : PA k I
The World Cup squad includes Chris Jordan (fin ger) and Liam Livingstone (ankle) who will skip the Pakistan tour to continue their rehabilitation the Eng land and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement
neW YORK Ag e n c e s
Serena in doubles loss at US Open as Azarenka wins grudge match
neW YORK Ag e n c i e s Zheng Qinwen and Yuan Yue joined compatriots Wang Xiyu and Zhang Shuai in the third round of the US Open on Thursday the first time in history four women from China have reached the last 32 of a single Grand Slam event Rising star Zheng held her nerve to defeat Russia’s Anastasia Potapova in straight sets, winning 7 6 (7/4), 7 6 (7/3) to set up a third round clash with Germany s Jule Niemeier Qualifier Yuan meanwhile matched Zheng’s achievement with a hard fought 6 3 7 6 (8/6) defeat of Romania’s Irina Camelia Begu Yuan will now face Jessica Pegula of the United States on Saturday for a place in the last 16 On Wednes day, Wang produced a stunning upset to send third seed Maria Sakkari of Greece tumbling out of the tourna ment winning 3 6 7 5 7 5 While Chinese women’s tennis has enjoyed increas ing success over the past decade, with Li Na famously becoming the first player from Asia to win Grand Slam singles at the French Open in 2011 and Australian Open in 2014, never before have so many women from China advanced to the third round of the same tournament China has also celebrated a US Open first in the men’s draw, with 22 year old Wu Yibing advancing to the third round on Wednesday The 19 year old Zheng has emerged as one of the brightest talents of Chinese tennis her ranking rising to 39th in the world after a series of assured tournament performances The youngster has flourished in her first season playing Grand Slam tennis, reaching the second round of the Australian Open before advancing to the fourth round of the French Open and the third round at Wim bledon Zheng said on Thursday that China’s contingent in New York is feeding off the energy of each other s suc cesses “This is so positive It means in China the tennis starts to go up Zheng said “Between each other we have really good competi tion When you have someone to compete, you always can perform better “I think with this energy, I hope all of us, we can going as far as we can Such good performance here, I m happy for all of them stAff RepORt England dropped out of form opener Jason Roy and welcomed back fit again seamers Chris Woakes and Mark Wood in their squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia beginning next month Roy has been an integral part of England’s white ball squad and his explosive batting at the top of the order embodied the team s aggressive approach as they won their maiden 50 overs World Cup title in 2019 The 32 year old has struggled for runs this summer and hit 76 runs in total in his last six Twenty20 Internationals which made his position un tenable for the World Cup and the preceding seven match Twenty20 series in Pakistan Woakes and Wood both of whom last played for England during the test tour of the West Indies in March, have recovered from their respective injuries to be in both squads
All rounder Ravin dra Jadeja has been ruled out of the re mainder of the Asia Cup with a knee injury and will be replaced by Axar Patel, holders India said on Fri day Jadeja, who played both India’s matches in the tournament, suf fered a right knee injury, Indian cricket board secretary Jay Shah said in a statement His replacement, Axar Patel was earlier named as one of the standbys in the squad and will join the team in Dubai soon India sailed into the Super Four stage of the Twenty20 tournament with victories against Pakistan and Hong Kong India will hope Jadeja will be fit before they begin their Twenty20 World Cup cam paign with an October 23 blockbuster against arch rivals Pakistan in Melbourne India’s squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket keeper) Dinesh Karthik (wicket keeper) Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Cha hal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan
Jonny Bairstow and Test captain Ben Stokes will also miss the Pakistan T20Is Captain Jos Buttler, who is recovering from a calf injury, will tour Pakistan but will be available to play only in the later stages of the series “In Buttler ’s absence, Moeen Ali will captain the side,” the ECB said Jordan Cox Tom Helm Will Jacks Olly Stone and Luke Wood are the five uncapped players named in the England squad for the Pakistan series T20 World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood Reserves: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills Pakistan tour squad: Jos Buttler (cptain), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Luke Wood, Mark Wood i n a’s f a b fo u r m a ke h i s to r y i n U S O p e n No Stokes, Bairstow, Livingstone as England announce squad for Pakistan T20Is
ISLAMABAD G h u l A m A b b A s Cement sales in August declined by 23 98% as construction activities slowed down fol lowing the hike in energy, fuel and trans portation costs According to the details total cement despatches during August 2022 were 3 296 million tonnes against 4 336 million tonnes despatches during the same month of last fiscal year, data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers As sociation (APCMA) on Friday showed As per the cement manufacturers, the massive reduction in cement demand was due to economic instability day by day increasing energy costs coupled with the currency de valuation, which are having serious implica tions on the industry Officials of the association are of the view that the govern ment needed to make a viable policy for the construction industry keeping in view the huge damages to infrastructure of the coun try after massive flood The floods, that have hit major parts of the country are yet another challenge for the government as restoration of damaged infrastructure and rehabilitation of masses need to be ad dressed on top priority to bring the country out of the difficult situation According to the data local cement shipments by the in dustry during the month of August 2022 were 2 90 million tonnes compared to 3 81 million tons in August 2021 showing a de cline of 23 75% Exports despatches also declined by 25 70% as the volumes reduced from 521 468 tonnes in August 2021 to 387,440 tonnes in August 2022 In August 2022, North based cement mills despatches 2 59 million tonnes cement showing a de cline of 20 93 percent against 3 28 million tons despatches in August 2021 South based mills despatches 700 436 tonnes ce ment during August 2022 that was 33 50% less compared to the despatches of 1 05 mil lion tonnes during August 2021 North based cement mills despatched 2 50 million tonnes cement in domestic markets in Au gust 2022 showing a decline of 20 29% against 3 14 million tonnes despatches in August 2021 South based mills despatched 404,959 tonnes of cement in local markets during August 2022 that was 39 88% less compared to the despatches of 673,572 tonnes during August 2021 Exports from North based mills also declined by 35 15% as the quantities reduced from 141,804 tonnes in August 2021 to 91,963 tonnes in August 2022 Exports from South also re duced by 22 17% to 295,477 tonnes in Au gust 2022 from 379,664 tonnes during the same month last year
The seventh and eighth review reports released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have disclosed that the present Pakistan government has taken some steps for the restoration of the loan programme it surfaced on Friday T h e I M F s a i d o v e r a l l P a k i s t a n h a s f a i l e d t o m e e t t h r e e p e r f o r m a n c e c o n d i t i o n s
Saturday 3 September 2022 newS Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press 4 Queens Road Lahore for PT Print (Pvt) Limited Ph: 042 36300938 042 36375965 Email: newsroom@pakistantoday com pk 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 4:15 5:39 12:02 4 37 6 25 7 49 ISLAMABAD A P P F EDERAL Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail on Thurs day said, the current devastation of flood in Pakistan is estimated to cost $10 billion D u r i n g f l o o d , r a i l w a y l i n e s , r o a d s , b r i d g e s g r i d s t a t i o n s p o w e r l i n e s a n d h o u s e s e t c w e r e b a d l y d a m a g e d , w h i c h h a s t o b e r e h a b i l i t a t e d , t h e m i n i s t e r s a i d t h i s w h i l e t a l k i n g t o B B C Wo r l d S e r v i c e
He said that this amount will be dis bursed to 4 2 million women across the country Miftah said that the federal and provin cial governments and National Disaster Management Authority are currently busy helping the flood victims and the govern ment is delivering food packets mosquito nets, tents and medicines to the flood af fected areas He said that there is no shortage of food, but there is a shortage of onions and tomatoes He said that “we are importing tomatoes and onions by reducing the im port duty The Minister said that apart from this several million tons of wheat are being im ported and the duties on it are being re duced and are being ordered at subsidy rates He said that the goods which will have shortages will be imported so that there is no shortage of essential goods He said that this is a very challenging situation, crops have been damaged due to flood in Sindh province M i f t a h s a i d t h a t c o t t o n c r o p s h a v e b e e n d a m a g e d u p t o 3 0 % i n S i n d h p r o v i n c e a n d s u g a r c a n e c r o p h a s b e e n damaged up to 20% He said that wheat will be sown in the next two months and water draining out is a big challenge but it will be resolved so that the farmers can sow their crops In response to a question, he said that the government is considering g i v i n g i n c e n t i v e s t o f a r m e r s a n d b a n k s will relax the loans of farmers so that they can cover their losses
ISLAMABAD A h In a strange sequence of events, Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) suspended official operations and took along entire OGRA staff for a weekend joy trip on a working day This all happened while the country is battling devastation caused by worst floods of its history while the world is not ready to commit much help to flood affectees Amid high inflation and unprecedented power and petroleum prices, the OGRA chief went on joy trip and directed his staff to inform anybody asking that OGRA staff was on a team building session in Murree at the cost of tax payers money As per details OGRA chairman Mas roor Khan without getting prior approval from the Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif or from the Secretary Cabinet Divi sion on Friday morning at 8:30 a m took all officials and staff of OGRA to Murree for recreation/get together and suspended all official work of oil and gas sector regu lator on a working day Upon contacting, OGRA chairman confirmed that he along with his team was visiting Murree However the Chairman preferred not to answer questions raised by this correspondent regarding this OGRA team’s trip to Murree on a working day without prior approval of the PM and Cab inet division Later, a spokesman of OGRA told Pakistan Today that such activities are planned to “enhance efficiency and produc tivity of the team members as a strategic team building plan” Terming the trip as one among healthy initiatives, OGRA official said the budget of this activity is negligible which is al ready budgeted And, when asked if OGRA obtained prior approval from the premier or Secretary Cabinet Division for arranging this trip to Murree suspending the official work on a working day, the spokesperson said OGRA is an independent regulator According to sources the OGRA team was dressed up in sports/casual outfit dur ing this get together in Murree The offi cials reached the tourist resort at 11:00 a m and started walking from Ayubia to Donga Gali s 3 5 kilometer scenic track The OGRA team enjoyed lunch at 12p m in Donga Gali and took group pho tos The OGRA team arrived back to OGRA office at 5p m said the sources Though the country’s oil and gas sector is showing poor performance and it has been experiencing a severe energy crisis the oil and gas regulator has become a plat form of entertainment, sources added In a later night rejoinder OGRA clari fication said that it is continuing its tradi tion of contributing to good causes
Le av i n g co u nt r y m e n f i g ht i n g f l o o d s, O G R A C h i e f t a ke s s t a f f to M u r re e o n ‘ j oy t r i p’ Flood losses amount to be around Rs100b: KP govt S U C H AC T I V I T I E S A R E P L A N N E DTO ' E N H A N C E E F F I C I E N C Y A N D P R O D U C T I V I T Y O F T E A M M E M B E R S A S A S T R AT E G I C T E A M B U I L D I N G P L A N : O G R A S P O K E S P E R S O N BACK PAGE 03 September 2022_Layout 1 9/3/2022 12:32 AM Page 1
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IMF ack nowledges Shehbaz govt ’s steps to fix economy StAff RepoRt At least 264 people have lost their lives to heavy rains and floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K P) province, raising the estimated damage of the province to possibly be around Rs 100 billion According to government esti mates 106 children 122 men and 36 women were among the dead, and an additional 237 have been injured with nearly 0 6 million affected The unusually heavy showers had turned the small mountain streams and ravines into swollen rivers that washed away everything on their way including human beings, herds of cattle, standing crops, trees and houses The government’s preliminary sur vey report also stated that over 73,000 houses were affected of which 30,233 were completely destroyed and 42 965 were partially damaged by the natural disaster Another 754 schools were also said to have been affected of these at least 72 were completely swept away by the floods while 682 were partially damaged Health centers were also badly hit, with a total of 82 estimated to have been affected Well over 60,000 acres of crop and 477 irrigation systems were also destroyed by the floods
‘Foreign agent’ Imran Khan hell-bent on spreading anarchy: Marriyum ISLAMABAD
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Cement despatches fall 24pc in August
Cour t does not believe in contempt laws: CJ Minallah StAff RepoRt Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah on Friday said, while hearing a case concerning harassment of journalists, that the court does not believe in con tempt of court laws “I am myself unaware of the things the respectable journalists are saying said the chief justice Urging the journalists to come forward “if there is truth to anything”, the judge also said say what you will for the past three years criticism has been the strength of this court but no one can be influenced [in the court]” Everyone is free to speak their mind this court grants you the freedom for it,” he added “This court is not afraid of anything,” added Justice Mi nallah You may understand it as freedom of ex pression but I assert once again that this is the accountability of this court,” he lamented Dis missing rumours against the court, he said that “this court has neither allowed anyone to approach it nor has it been in contact with anyone” CJ Mi nallah also said that he felt happy that despite “everyone running campaigns, nobody can influ ence this court” “The truth reveals itself over time itself, he said as he urged the journalists to do some soul searching themselves “A court is al ways known by the decisions it makes,” said the chief justice, narratives are made, do what you want to; [but] the court will do [its job] as it has been” “Ask yourself this, however, where are we taking this state? retorted the judge This court does not believe in contempt of court laws; even if someone is saying something wrong, let them say it, he added saying that the only rebuttal to fake news is more speech”
OGRA is contributing to the PM s flood relief fund and sent a consignment of necessities for the people affected by this calamity The first shipment was sent to Ra janpur Few more consignments will be dis patched to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the statement said OGRA also has a tradition of arranging WALK FOR A CAUSE events On 5th February, OGRA had arranged a walk to express solidarity with Kashmiris The OGRA team has also arranged a pipeline walk today,” the state ment said
A P P Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday regretted Imran Khan s politics of polarisation and anarchy” amid flash floods which had wreaked havoc in different parts of the country Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are under water but Imran Khan is bent on creating anarchy and divi sion in the country, she said in a news statement while reacting the Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf chairman’s address to a public gathering in Gujrat She said people knew reality of Imran Khan who was a” foreign agent, liar, thief and plotter” It were the people who ousted Imran Khan from the Prime Minister s Office and the “cartels and mafias” from the Parliament, she added She said the country was in the grip of climate change phenomenon after flash floods, but ironically, Imran Khan was thinking of himself and his politics only Imran Khan should steer clear of his narcissism , and avoid thoughts of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif if he wanted to think about the people she remarked Mar riyum said the inflation would have been under control if Imran Khan had not signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on weak grounds and ruined the economy in four year tenure of his government If Imran Khan had not taken a historic loan of 20 thou sand billion, there would have been no un employment today she added She said Imran Khan had hired services of a US based firm to improve his imageISLAMABAD i n P
The minister said that the United Na tion has made a commitment of $160 mil lion and USAID has announced the provision of 30 million dollars Miftah added that in addition to this friendly countries including the United Kingdom, European countries, Australia and Arab countries has provided financial support and also delivered aid materials He said that rehabilitation is a long process which Pakistan will try to complete with the help of its own resources and friendly countries The Minister said that the devastating magnitude of the flood was very high and it is a big challenge for us which we will try our best to tackle In response to a question, he said that the federal and provincial governments are helping the flood victims and adding that the central government is disbursing money, for which a woman in every house is being given an amount of up to Rs2 500
The summary of the seventh and eighth reviews of the extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility said the economic activity re mained robust in FY22, fuelled by loose fiscal policy and a delayed mon etary response to inflationary pres sures These combined with the international food and fuel price shocks led to a marked deterioration of the external position with an unsus tainable current account deficit a sig nificant decline in reserves, and a marked depreciation of the rupee At the same time, inflation has increased considerably, putting pressure particu larly on the more vulnerable The reports said that the country has failed to meet the conditions relat ing to the foreign exchange reserves and primary surplus Besides that, they informed, the country has also failed to meet seven structural conditions as well The Fund admits that the present government has taken some steps for the restoration of the loan programme such as abolishing the fuel subsidy in creasing the policy rate and fixing the market exchange rate Likewise, Pak istan has also set new goals for the so cial sector say these reports Furthermore, the reports inform, in flation rate in the country is expected to remain 20 per cent this year which may lead to protests, which may become problematic for the ‘unstable’ coalition government On the loans borrowed by the coun try, the IMF says that these are ex pected to make up 72 1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to wards the end of this fiscal year (FY), while the economic growth rate is likely to remain 3 5 per cent Similarly, the Fund forecasts the budget deficit to be 4 4 per cent of the GDP this FY
