In another tweet Imran compared the prices of different commodities dur ing the tenure of PTI and the current government What we eft behind & how the Imported government, brought in through regime change conspiracy, has wreaked havoc with the economy he further said
Separately PPP MPA Pir Mu eebul Haq who was e ected from Dadu s PS 74 constituency, said that the water leve in the Main Nara Valley Drain had dropped by two feet
and support from all quarters across Ch na was touching and a true ref ection of the unique friendship between China and Pakistan
s ta f f r e p o r t
ISLAMABAD
According to the details, the polit cal temperature of the coun tr y s sti l burning up but President Ar f Alvi has entered the f eld and volunteered as a medium for rec onciliation between the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and PTI
In meet wIth XI, Pm l auds CPeC’s transformatIonal ImPaCt S a t u r d a y, 1 7 S e p t e m b e r, 2 0 2 2 I 2 0 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 7 9 I 1 2 Pa g e s I I s l a m a b a d E d i t i o n C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 05 g XI TERMS SHEHBAz ‘A PERSON OF PRAGMATISM AND EFFICIENCy ’ g SCO ENDORSE PM ’S CALL FOR CLIMATE CHANGE PLAN FOR PAKISTAN
The government and the United Nat ons have blamed climate change for the surging waters n the wake of record breaking summer temperatures with Pak stan receiving 391mm of rain or nearly 190 per cent more than the 30 year average, in July and August That c imbed to 466pc for Sindh one of the worst affected areas
Reacting to the President ’s pro
KARACHI s ta f f r e p o r t
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On Fr day, there were s gns of life returning to normal in parts of the prov nce as water levels continued to recede Dadu Deputy Commiss oner (DC) Murtaza Ali Shah told media that the evel of floodwater had dropped by approx mate y two feet at var ous spots including the ring bund in the d strict s Mehar city
In this regard Senator Azam Swati sa d that the only way to im prove the countr y s situation s fair and transparent e ections How
Recent floods, brought by record monsoon rains and glac a melt n northern mountains have also swept away homes, vehicles, crops and livestock in damage estimated at $30 billion
Further, the Nationa Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said 22 flood related deaths were reported over the last 24 hours Since June 14 1 508 peop e have died In ts daily situation report, the NDMA a so said nine individuals were injured in flood re ated inc dents during the last 24 hours, taking the total to 12,758
Noting the enduring nature of China Pak istan bilateral ties the pr me minister under lined that our A l Weather Strategic Cooperat ve Partnership’ and Iron brotherhood had withstood the test of time
Prime M nister Shar f extended his best wishes to President Xi Jinping and the Com munist Party of China for the forthcom ng 20th CPC National Congress
He auded President Xi s vis onar y Be t and Road In tiative (BRI) and Global Development Initiative (GDI), which cal ed for col ective ac tion for sustainable deve opment and w n w n outcomes
The two leaders reaffirmed their resolve to building the Pakistan China Community for Shared Future in the New Era
The pr me minister thanked Pres dent Xi the government and the people of China for the generous and timely support to the flood af fected people in Pakistan
president described Prime Minister Shar f as “a person of pragmat sm and efficiency He a so added that the prime m nister was a leader with “a longstanding commitment to China Pakistan friendship
P
Both the leaders reviewed the entire gamut of b atera re at ons and exchanged views on important regional and nternat onal issues of mutual interest This was the prime min ster ’s first meeting with the Chinese presi dent since assuming office in April 2022
SAMARKAND/ISLAMABAD
He said that the outpouring of sympathy
ISLAMABAD
Both leaders welcomed the sign ng of a Protocol to the Framework Agreement on ML 1 Railway Pro ect
Moreover DC Shah said water evels had a so dropped by the same measure n Khairpur Nathan Shah
Prime Minister Sharif h ghlighted the serious human rights situat on in the Indian Illega y Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and thanked China for ts principled stand on the d spute
The ex premier was forced to step down after los ng a confidence vote in parliament S nce then, he has been campaigning for new elections He has been pushing for fresh elections during his fier y speeches to gatherings across the countr y
s ta f f r e p o r t
The interaction between the two leaders was marked by trad tional warmth as we l as exceptional mutua trust and understanding In his welcoming remarks, the Chinese
The PTI chief said that Pakistan now faces unprecedented inflation hitting ever yone unemp oyment food insecu rity and the rupee in freefa l “
whole nation is asking is: Who s respon sible for this consp racy against Pak istan,” he questioned
He reaffirmed his personal resolve to take their bi ateral relations to greater heights
Shar ng his v ews with President Xi on the n ternational situation the pr me m nister high lighted that challenges like climate change, health pandem cs and growing nequa ities could on y be tackled through cooperat on of all nations n accordance with the UN Charter
P D M w e l c o m e s Pr e s i d e n t A l v i ’ s r e c o n c i l i a t i o n p r o p o s a l I M F, W B ex p o s e d ‘ i m p o r t e d ’ g o v t f i a s c o t o f i x e c o n o m y : I m r a n D ea t h t oll from ca t a s t rop hic flood s cros s es 1 , 5 0 0
Imported Govt has failed to prevent economy going into tailspin desp te in heriting a stabilised economy moving on an upward trajector y Imran wrote
Death tol from catastrophic floods crossed 1 500 on Friday as over 92,000 among displaced citizens in Sindh were treated from nfectious and water borne diseases
Wo r l d B a n k r e p o r t s s h o w t h a t t h e “ i m p o r t e d g o v e r n m e n t h a s f a l e d t o p r e v e n t t h e e c o n o m y f r o m g o i n g i n t o a t a i l s p i n d e s p i t e i n h e r i t n g a s t a b i l i s e d e c o n o m y m o v i n g o n a n u p w a r d t r a j e c t o r y “ IMF & Wor d Bank Reports show this
The representatives of PML N led coalition have welcomed Presi dent Ar f A vi s reconciliation pro posa and recommended to convince the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) eadership
K h a n o n Fr i d a y s a i d t h a t t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l M o n e t a r y F u n d ( M F ) a n d t h e
RIME M nister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday met Chinese President Xi Jinping here wherein he appreciated the transfor mational impact of the Ch na Pak istan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Pakistan’s soc o economic development
The report said that 17,977 cases of diarrhoea and 20,064 skin d sease cases were reported on Thursday alongside 28 cases of dengue A tota of 2 3 mi lion pat ents have been treated since July 1 n the field and mobile hospitals set up in the flooded region
on his offic a Twitter handle
He underscored that the SCO prov ded an exce ent forum to further their shared v sion and mutual values into concrete plans for re gional cooperation and integration
The prime minister briefed President Xi on his government ’s policies for Pakistan’s sus tained growth industrial development agricul tural modernization and regional connectivity
Prime Minister Sharif reiterated Pakistan’s consistent and unwavering support to China on a issues of its core nterest including Tai wan Tibet Xin iang and Hong Kong
He also thanked the Ch nese government for support extended to Pak stan for its sovereignty and territor al integrity FATF nat onal develop ment, COVID 19 pandemic and other areas
Fo r m e r p r m e m i n i s t e r a n d Pa k i s t a n
He condoled with President Xi over the tragic loss of life and devastation caused by the earthquake in Sichuan Province on Sep tember 5 2022 emphasiz ng that the Govern ment and people of Pakistan stood with Ch na in the face of this natural calamity
T h i s w a s r e f l e c t e d i n t h e E c o n o m c S u r v e y w h i c h i d e n t i f i e d o u r e c o n o m c p e r f o r m a n c e a s t h e b e s t i n p a s t 7 0 y e a r s i n t e r m s o f g r o w t h r a t e ( 6 % ) , n d u s t r y, a g r i c u l t u r e, e m p l o y m e n t c o n s t r u c t i o n e x p o r t s r e m i t tances & tax collection at an a time h i g h, ” h e a d d e d
He said there was stil eight to night feet high water in the city s adjoining areas but the level was continuously reduc ng And “ markets in the city have started opening partially ” he added Dadu Assistant Commissioner Mohsin Sheikh said that the residents of Mehar who had shifted to safer locations in the wake of floods, had started returning after the drop in water levels
In Joh MNA Raf que Jamali elected from Dadu s NA 235 constituency, said the water level was around eight to nine feet high in the c ty and that the water level was dropping at the city s ring bund He said markets had started opening partially in Johi PPP MNA Sikandar Ali Rahoupoto, who has been e ected from Jamshoro s NA 233 constituency estimated that the water was standing up to eight to nine feet in Bhan Syedabad and adjoin ng areas after the levels dropped by around two feet “ Bhan Syedebad has partially opened,” he said
ever, Senator Manzoor Kakar sa d whoever takes steps for reconcil ation w ll always be remembered After the exc us ve inter v ew of President Dr Arif Alvi with Dunya News on Wednesday the political leaders are also saying that the results of what is go ng on behind the scenes may come out soon
Imported government is com pletely directionless The only achieve ment of this cabal of crooks has been to get another NRO for the bil ions they looted from Pakistan The question the
Te h r e e k i I n s a f ( P T I ) C h a i r m a n I m r a n
The prime min ster renewed his invitation to President Xi Jinping to undertake a state vis t to Pakistan underlin ng that the people of Pak istan were looking for ward to accord a warm welcome to him
In a report issued on Friday the Sindh D rectorate General Hea th Ser v ces said 92,797 c tizens were treated on September 15 (Thursday) Of these 588 were confirmed to have malar a with another 10 604 cases
posal for reconci iation, the gov ernment members sa d that they have been saying since the first day that the countr y cannot move for ward without reconci iat on
During the bi ateral meeting took place on the side ines of the annual meet ng of the Counc l of Heads of State of Shangha Coop erat on Organizat on here the prime minister also reaffirmed his government ’s commitment to high qua ity development of CPEC
T h e m o t o r c y c l i s t s w h o s n a t c h e d a cellphone and escaped, opened fire on the c h a s e r, i n w h i c h a w o m a n p a s s e r b y w a s k i l l e d i n M i n g o r a C i t y l a s t n i g h t t h e police said A c c o r d i n g t o t h e S H O Ta r i q A l i , l a s t n i g h t t h e m o t o r c y c l e r i d e r s w e r e f l e e i n g
Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case filed by the CDA affectees The CDA chairman couldn t appear before the court as the bench summoned him again in personal capacity on next hearing
“We want to see the center expedite work on this project,” the CM underlined He observed that the federal Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) also included construction of a bridge on River Indus and a 190 kilometers road Shah pointed out that construction of a interchange on M5 Sukkur Multan Motorway at Mirpur Mathelo
a political party who claims to be an educated person
once he returned
the
ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e P o R t
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ISLAMABAD P stressed on rehabilitating and rebuilding the education infrastructure destroyed in the recent floods to minimize learning losses They were addressing during a sectoral on Defending Education Against Climate Change”, organized by the STEAM Policy Unit of Ministry of Federal Education comprehensive remedial and accelerated learning program and international commitment to rebuild t h e d e s t r o y e d e d u c a t i o n a l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e o n w a r footing were some of the solutions put forward by the experts to ensure nimble access to education for t h e d i s p l a c e d c h i l d r e n “ F r o m o u r c o n v e r s a t i o n s with the Punjab Education Department, we came t o k n o w t h a t i t t a k e s a r o u n d R s 1 2 m i l l i o n t o
T h e y d e m a n d e d t h a t p r o v i s i o n o f a peaceful environment was their basic right a n d i t w a s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e s t a t e t o take immediate practical steps to establish lasting peace A woman killed by Mobile Snatchers
The national food secretary on Friday said that Pakistan is not expecting a food shortage as there is a ‘sufficient quantity’ of food stock in the country The secretary made these remarks in a meeting of the National Flood Response Coordination Center (NFRCC) under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairman of the center Ahsan Iqbal All chief secretaries and federating units participated in the meeting in which a detailed review of food security was conducted The secretary informed the NFRCC that measures are being taken at an emergency level to provide essential food items including onions and tomatoes, to the flood victims He said that the quantity of the present stock of food grains is sufficient and if timely measures are taken before the cultivation of the next crop, there will be “no shortage of food in Pakistan The forum was directed to prepare a strategy to ensure not only a sufficient supply of wheat, rice, pulses and other essential commodities but also a plan to deliver these items to people in flood affected areas while also ensuring no shortage of food items for the people in the country The forum specifically issued instructions to avoid any kind of hoarding and requested the provinces to take legal action against all hoarders creating artificial scarcity by hoarding these commodities and causing an increase in prices In an earlier meeting the national food secretary said that Pakistan’s annual requirement of wheat is 30 5 million tonnes whereas two million tonnes are strategic reserves adding that presently 7 07 million tonnes including two million tonnes for seeds are available in the country, which is approximately 153 days of stock He explained that the available stock is sufficient until it is time for the new wheat production to be harvested Moreover, he assured early procurement of seeds for the next season
H O U S A N D S of residents from across Swat district on Friday staged a p r o t e s t a g a i n s t t h e r e c e n t b o m b b l a s t a n d i m m i n e n t t h r e a t s t o p e a c e a n d t r a n q u i l i t y, w h i c h w a s achieved as result of numerous sacrifices
T h O u s A N d s R A l lY F O R P e A C e i N s w AT
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday issued a written order regarding the post arrest bail approval of PTI s leader Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case
OGRA releases annual repor t for F Y21
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday adjourned hearing in a case pertaining to non payment of compensation to affectees of various sectors of Capital Development Authority (CDA)
He recalled that the Sindh government had then contributed Rs7 billion for the project while the remaining funds were supposed to come from the center Shah said Jamshoro Sehwan road witnessed frequent accidents, adding that in 2018 he wrote a letter to former PM Imran Khan and apprised him that 196 innocent lives were lost on that road in a year
Huge funds needed to rebuild schools destroyed in floods; educ ation exper ts
Educationists and experts have
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T h e i n s t i t u t i o n ( t h e a r m e d f o r c e s ) h a d n o t i t s e l f filed a complaint into the matter, the order noted
H o w e v e r, t h e c h i e f j u s t i c e o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e discipline of armed forces was not as weak as it could be affected by a statement of somebody
HYDERABAD
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IHC issues written order regarding Shahbaz Gill’s post arrest bail in sedition case y e d S h A h A b u d d i n
The CM Sindh said M6 Hyderabad Sukkur Motorway was a very important road but it was ignored because it was not included in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects
A six page written order, issued by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, slammed the statement of Shahbaz Gill terming it to be inappropriate and irresponsible which could not be expected from a spokesperson of
They demanded effective measures to b e t a k e n a n d m a d e i t c l e a r t h a t i f t h e government fails then the people of Swat w i l l b e f o r c e d t o s t a g e a s i t i n f o r a n indefinite period
The CDA, he said, had prepared a plan to address the issues of affectees The chief justice observed that the affectees had also done wrong by submitting fake claims The petitioners adopted the stance that the CDA’s machinery was still working on their lands despite the stay order of this court The CDA official contradicted the petitioners and said that the authority was not violating the court orders The court asked the CDA officials to submit report after addressing the issues of affectees The case was then adjourned till September 20
problems in travelling because the motorway project hasn’t been completed,” he told
the rising terror threat in the valley
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The court held the police couldn t prove that the accused had contacted any officer to rebel (against the higher command of the armed forces) before or after giving the statement
virtual conversation
The Chairman NHA Capt (r) Muhammad Khurram Agha expressed sadness over delay in completion of Hyderabad Sukkur Motorway which was 306 Km long
02-03 NEWS 17 SEPTEMBER_Layout 1 9/17/2022 1:21 AM Page 1
C h o w k a f t e r F r i d a y p r a y e r s T h e p r o t e s t o r s w e r e c a r r y i n g w h i t e f l a g s a n d p l a c a r d s i n s c r i b e d w i t h s l o g a n s u c h a s : “ We w a n t p e a c e i n S w a t ” “ We w i l l n o t a l l o w a n y o n e t o c a u s e u n r e s t i n t h e valley ”
He requested the federal government to speed up all those projects The CM said leaving aside Hyderabad Sukkur motorway all other motorway projects had been completed He pointed out that the M6 connected 6 districts of Sindh “The people of Sindh are facing
a f t e r s n a t c h i n g c e l l p h o n e f r o m a y o u t h Z e e s h a n T h e v i c t i m Z e e s h a n a n d o t h e r s r u n a f t e r t h e f l e e i n g r o b b e r s w h o o p e n e d f i r e A s a r e s u l t o f w h i c h a p a s s e r b y woman Mrs Ayesha, wife of Fazal Karim, who was returning home from a relative’s death got seriously injured and later died in Saidu Sharif Hospital
The minister said all the projects executed or to be executed under National Highway Authority (NHA) in Sindh were the government’s priority
S indh CM, M aulana A sad disc uss construc tion of Motor way
The study for building a bypass in Kambar Shahdadkot district, Sukkur Rohri bridge and Lyari Elevated Front Corridor were some other federal projects awaiting execution he said
Food stock in ‘sufficient quantit y’, NFRCC told
KP Tourism Authorit y plans to return rest houses to relevant depts
The Federal Communication Minister Molana Asad Mehmood and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah held a meeting here on Friday at Shahbaz Building to discuss the construction of Hyderabad Sukkur Motorway The federal minister informed that the road was being construct on Built Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis According to him, the cost of the project would be Rs1 37 trillion
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Friday released its annual report for the fiscal year 2020 21, stating that it continued allowing oil and gas companies to carry out activities despite the outbreak of COVID 19 in the fiscal under review The report states that OGRA had resolved to show resilience during the pandemic’s worst period against all odds, highlighting that it continued to grant licences and perform other regulated activities According to the report, OGRA granted a licence to K Electric Limited for the construction and operation of natural gas/RLNG transmission pipeline from Port Qasim to KE’s Bin Qasim Power Complex; it granted a licence to Tabeer Energy Marketing (Private) Limited; similarly a licence was granted to Energas Marketing (Private) Limited; Shell Energy Pakistan (Private) Limited was given a licence to carry out regulated activity for the sale of RLNG to consumers and Energas Terminal (Private) Limited was also given a licence for the construction and operation of a 30 inch diameter and 9 Km long RLNG transmission pipeline from ENERGAS Terminal to SSGC s Custody Transfer Station at Port Qasim In regard to LPG, the report states that the authority, for the first time, also granted five licences for the transportation of LPG through road bowsers During the fiscal year, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) built an additional oil storage of 95,379 MT including 50,019 MT of motor gasoline and 45,360 MT of High Speed Diesel (HSD) in the country On the consumer related activities end, OGRA entertained complaints against natural gas LPG CNG and oil companies free of cost These complaints were resolved expeditiously and in a judicious manner by providing remedial measures the report states To summarise, OGRA resolved 8,272 complaints out of 8 361 during FY21 and provided financial relief of Rs118 31 million as a number of 1 341 gas connections were provided to consumers after they registered complaints
Saturday, 17 September 2022 ISLAMABAD 02 NEWS
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Affec tees c ase: IHC again summons CDA chairman ‘ in person’
r e b u i l d o n e s c h o o l T h i s m e a n s w e n e e d a whopping Rs 216 billion to rebuild 18,000 schools d e s t r o y e d i n t h e r e c e n t f l o o d s T h i s s o b e r i n g reality was shared by senior education expert and author of ‘Teachers, Bureaucracy and Politicians’, Javed Ahmed Malik
He said Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s previous government had called bids but the same process lingered on during Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf ’s government He assured that the project would be completed in 30 months
Member Estate CDA Afnan Alam said that the authority had started payment of compensation to the affectees in line of the court s orders
Focusing on the infrastructural damages and the looming specter of learning losses, international Education Activist, Moiz Hussain shared, From the initial reports over 3 5 million children have been affected by the floods The biggest challenge we faced during the Covid 19 pandemic was the learning losses due to prolonged school closures We are once again facing the same challenge since most school buildings are in no condition to accommodate students anytime soon ” Drawing from past precedents of rehabilitating and rebuilding the education infrastructure after a natural calamity, Head of the STEAM Policy Unit Salman Naveed Khan pointed out that the process was often considerably slow and even staggered
They said that even in this modern era the people of Swat are coming out on the s t r e e t s a n d d e m a n d i n g p e a c e f r o m t h e state The speakers said that they will not tolerate any kind of unrest in Swat, adding t h a t g o v e r n m e n t n e g l i g e n c e w i l l n o t b e tolerated in this regard
He apprised that keeping in view the delay in the project he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif He informed that the Sindh government was executing Malir Expressway project under Public Private Partnership (PPP) at the cost of Rs30 billion
Dozens of rest houses transferred to the Tourism and Culture Authority were closed for the past 03 and now a plan is under consideration to return it relevant Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government departments A total of 138 rest houses were transferred to the authority but now dozens are ready to be returned The authority claimed that several rest houses could not be utilised due to its location as they’re away from tourist destinations and now planning is underway to return it to relevant KP government departments However, according to government sources the authority would have earned millions of revenue annually, if the rest houses were outsourced on time On the directions of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the rest houses from all the administrative departments, including police and Frontier Corps were transferred to the tourism authority to use it for tourism promotion in scenic valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa However, the authority fails to use it accordingly and it is being claimed that most of the rest houses were away from tourism spots As a result, the rest houses are now in dilapidated state due to lack of use for the past three years The KP Tourism and Culture Authority claims that some of the rest houses were already dilapidated when they were handed over to the authority and needed huge resources for its restoration
and Professional Training here Friday S t r o n g p u b l i c p r i v a t e p a r t n e r s h i p m o d e l s , d e v e l o p m e n t a n d i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f a
A d d r e s s i n g t h e g a t h e r i n g K h u r s h i d Kakaji of Pakhtunkhwa MAP, Rahmat Ali Khan of ANP, Mufti Abdur Rahim of JUI, Sardar Yusufzai of Kabal Bar association U s m a n G h a n i o f M u s l i m L e a g u e N a n d other speakers raised questions about the silence of the provincial government over
According to details, a large number of c i v i l s o c i e t y m e m b e r s a n d l e a d e r s , w o r k e r s o f v a r i o u s p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s a n d people from all walks of gathered at Kabal
I t f u r t h e r s t a t e d t h a t t h e c a s e i n v e s t i g a t i o n h a d been completed and the accused couldn’t be kept in j a i l a n y m o r e M e a n w h i l e , t h e t r i a l c o u r t c a n b o u n d t h e a c c u s e d t o e n s u r e h i s a t t e n d a n c e d u r i n g t h e proceedings, according to the written order
T h e p o l i c e s h i f t e d t h e b o d y t o t h e h o s p i t a l f o r p o s t m o r t e m a n d s t a r t e d s e a r c h i n g f o r t h e a c c u s e d T h e o ff i c i a l s h a v e c l a i m e d t h a t t h e a c c u s e d h a s b e e n traced and soon they will be behind bars
ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e P o R t
The counsel for CDA informed the court that Chairman Capt (r) Muhammad Usman was in Karachi to attend a meeting about dengue control The court said that it would hear the CDA s chief
ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e P o R t
The CM also referred to the incomplete Jamshoro Sehwan dual carriageway whose groundbreaking was performed on December 12 2017
SWAt S
The chief justice in his order maintained that there were no grounds before him (a single bench) to reject t h e b a i l p e t i t i o n o f t h e a c c u s e d H o w e v e r, t h e t r i a l c o u r t w o u l d h e a r t h e c a s e a s p e r m e r i t , t h e o r d e r concludes
and connecting the motorway with the National Highway were also approved projects
A c c o r d i n g t o a n o t i f i c a t i o n i s s u e d b y t h e p r o v i n c i a l h e a l t h d e p a r t m e n t 6 0 0 m e d i c a l o ff i c e r s 4 0 0 l a d y d o c t o r s , s t a ff n u r s e s a n d t e c h n i c i a n s e a c h ,
n
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worked out on need basis during deployment period by the respective provincial governments, the notification added
The Foreign Office Spokesperson addressing a press conference in Islamabad, said, “Let me at the outset refer to the continuing grave human rights and humanitarian situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir ”
Hurufiyah artists rejected Western art concepts, and instead searched for a new visual language that reflected their own culture and heritage
f i r
MULtAN S tA f f R e P o R t
calligraphies took place in December 1968
Talking about the recent Amnesty International report he said We have seen the report by Amnesty International and I think it echoes the grave and intensifying human rights abuses in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir by India since 5th August 2019 ” The Organization had previously documented these egregious violations in its three reports published in as many years he added
H E federal government has deployed troops of the Pakistan Army in all four provinces of the country, including Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir on the occasion of Imam Husain’s Chehlum tomorrow (Saturday)
Some 35 years ago the world lost Sadequain, a
p h e n o m e n a l a r t i s t a n d c a l l i g r a p h e r f r o m P a k i s t a n best known for his unmatched skills H e w a s c r e d i t e d f o r t h e r e n a i s s a n c e o f I s l a m i c
“Further, additional Army/CAF troops/assets requirement may also be
In Karachi the central procession would be taken out from Nishtar Park, which would pass through its traditional route and would culminate at Husanian Iranian Imambargah in Kharadar
H u r u f i y a h r e f e r s t o t h e a t t e m p t b y a r t i s t s t o combine traditional art forms, notably calligraphy as
Prior to Sadeqain’s work, only a few painters had experimented with the medium in Pakistan
Pakistan has strongly urged the international community to call upon India to end its gross and systematic violations of human rights in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), revoke its illegal and unilateral actions since 5th August 2019 and free all illegally detained Kashmiri political leaders and activists
g r a p h y i n t o a m a i n s t r e a m a r t f o r m , a n d i n f l u e n c i n g s u b s e q u e n t g e n e r a t i o n s o f P a k i s t a n i artists
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03NEWS Saturday, 17 September 2022 ISLAMABAD
D i s t r i c t a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a l o n g w i t h f o o d d e p a r t m e n t h a v e r e c o v e r e d 1 0 0 0 b a g s o f w h e a t f r o m w a r e h o u s e o f a p r i v a t e p e t r o l p u m p a t M u z a ff a rg a r h r o a d w h i l e t a k i n g a c t i o n a g a i n s t t h e m a f i a i n v o l v e d i n w h e a t s m u g g l i n g a n d h o a r d i n g T h e o p e r a t i o n w a s c a r r i e d o u t l e d b y A s s i s t a n t C o m m i s s i o n e r C i t y K h a w a j a U m a i r a n d t h r e e a c c u s e d w e r e a l s o a r r e s t e d D i s t r i c t F o o d C o n t r o l l e r ( D F C ) A h m e d J a v e d h a s s t a r t e d l e g a l a c t i o n b y s e i z i n g o n e t h o u s a n d b a g s o f 5 0 k i l o g r a m m e w h e a t w h i l e w a r e h o u s e a n d a d j a c e n t s h o p s w e r e a l s o s e i z e d A C C i t y s a i d t h a t t h e s e i z e d w h e a t w i l l b e p r o v i d e d t o t h e p u b l i c a t g o v e r n m e n t r a t e s H e f u r t h e r s a i d t h a t s a m p l e s o f I r a n i a n o i l h a v e a l s o b e e n s e n t t o t h e l a b o r a t o r y a n d s t r i c t a c t i o n w i l l b e t a k e n a g a i n s t t h e o w n e r s o f p e t r o l p u m p a f t e r r e c e i v i n g r e p o r t D F C A h m a d J a v e d s a i d t h a t t h e m a f i a c o n c e r n e d w a s a l s o i n v o l v e d i n w h e a t s m u g g l i n g a n d s t r i c t l e g a l a c t i o n w i l l b e t a k e n a g a i n s t t h e m
1000 wheat bags recovered from warehouse, three held
H R v i o l at i o n s i n I I
“The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as you are aware has also issued two reports in 2018 and 2019 The High Commissioner and several civil society organizations have also consistently raised deep concerns in several sessions of the Human Rights Council over the wide range of human rights crimes being committed by India in the internationally recognized disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir UN experts have publicly characterized the human rights situation in IIOJK, as in ‘free fall’ ”
“The federal government, in excise of powers conferred under Article 245 of the Constitution is pleased to authorise the deployment of Army troops/assets and civil armed forces troops under Section 4(3)(i) of the Anti Terrorism Act 1997 in all provinces including AJK, GB and ICT on Chehlum 2022, the Interior Ministry said in a notification
As per reports the security for Chehlum processions in major cities has been reviewed by authorities
He was part of a broader Islamic art movement that emerged independently across North Africa and p a r t s o f A s i a i n t h e 1 9 5 0 s a n d k n o w n a s t h e Hurufiyya movement
a graphic element within a contemporary artwork
Prices of 30 items went by in the last week while the weekly inflation rate dropped by 0 19%, data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed According to the PBS data, prices of 30 essential items such as tea, pulses and flour went up last week However, prices of 10 items such as onions tomatoes and chicken dropped; the data showed The price of tea went up by Rs18 60 per kg, Moong pulse by Rs8 31, Chickpea pulse by Rs6 20 Maash pulse by Rs6 34 eggs by Rs5 98 per dozen, mutton by Rs3 98, beef by Rs2 41 and prices of milk, rice and yoghurt also went up in the last week However the price of a 20 kg flour bag went up by Rs25 41 to sell at Rs1323 90the PBS data shows However, the prices of 10 essential items dropped in the last week The price for onions dropped by Rs16 36 per kg, tomatoes by Rs16 12, Chicken by Rs5 40, while the price of a domestic LPG cylinder dropped by Rs80 89 The report stated that the prices of sugar ghee and bananas also went down in the last week However, the prices of 11 essential items remained unchanged in the previous week
250 midwives and 500 vaccinators will be recruited o n a t e m p o r a r y b a s i s
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Pa ki s t a n u rg e s wo r l d to h e l p s to p OJ
ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e P o R t Friday
Pakistan once again, urged the United Nations, its human rights machinery as well as States to counsel India to rescind its illegal and unilateral actions taken since 5th August 2019, end forthwith its gross human rights violations of the Kashmiri people, provide access to independent organizations and comply with its international human rights obligations, he maintained
All roads leading to the procession route would be closed for traffic while a ban has been imposed on pillion riding
p e c t a c u l a r m a s t e r p i e c e b y S a d e q u a i n d i s p l a y e d a t
He said that during snap checking, focus should be given to mosques/Imambargahs, shopping centres markets industrial and commercial zones, public places and important installations
He said the growing Indian repression and suppression of fundamental rights in IIOJK had been extensively monitored reported and documented by the UN Human Rights machinery, independent civil society organizations and global media
Balochistan’s problems will be reduced, hopes CM Bizenjo
S a d e q u a i n i s a p i o n e e r o f t h e s t y l e , b r i n g i n g c a l l i
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The Spokesperson reiterated that a just peaceful resolution of the dispute in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people was indispensable for lasting peace in the region
The orders have been forwarded to the heads of all the provincial governments
K A R AC H I S tA f f R e P o R t
AWARAN S tA f f R e P o R t
He said the unabated wanton state terrorism by the Indian forces resulted in martyrdom of three more young Kashmiris in fake encounters in Shopian and Islamabad districts of the occupied territory Today Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir is the world’s most heavily militarized zone, which has in fact been turned into the world’s largest prison where people are not allowed to speak freely; APHC leadership youth journalists civil society and human rights defenders are jailed and silenced This is an unacceptable and
Chief Minister Balochistan Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on Friday expressed hope that the problems of the people of the province will be reduced, saying that the province has suffered a lot due to flood disasters Addressing the public gathering CM Abdul Quddus Bizenjo emphasized that only a nation that respects its institutions can develop Talking about his visit to Awaran, Chief Minister Bizenjo said that the situation in the area was very bad a few years ago He said that the country has been pulled back due to the deteriorating law and order situation “It is my priority that the quality of education in Awaran should be high he added CM Bizenjo announced to build a Cadet College for girls in Quetta, which was the dream of Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali he added Talking about the role of the Pakistan Army, Bizenjo said that the role of the Pak Army is very important for the safety and security of the country Along with announcing projects related to education in Awaran, CM Bizenjo also vowed to start the power projects Expressing his views on the flood situation CM Bizenjo said that his aim is to provide relief to the people, irrespective of whether he is among the flood affected people or not
C a l l i g r a p h y i P a k i s a H i s s t x i b i t i o n o f
For the next 15 16 years, a veritable Niagara of painterly calligraphy flowed from his pen and brush
worshipping places of minorities
The recruitment will be made after consultation w i t h a c o m m i t t e e c o m p r i s i n g d e p u t y c o m m i s s i o n e r o f t h e c o n c e r n e d d i s t r i c t , d i r e c t o r g e n e r a l ( D G ) h e a l t h , a n d o t h e r r e l a t e d o ff i c i a l s S i n d h p r o v i n c e i s a m o n g t h e w o r s t a ff e c t e d i n t h e f l o o d s a n d a r e c e n t r e p o r t h i g h l i g h t e d t h a t o v e r o n e m i l l i o n p e o p l e a r e i n f e c t e d w i t h i n f e c t i o u s d i s e a s e s i n t h e p r o v i n c e
condemnable situation, he added
A large number of people turned up to watch the s the national art gallery
‘Legend of S adequain’ c alligraphic show begins at PNC A
A c c o r d i n g t o t h e s t a t i s t i c s i s s u e d b y S i n d h H e a l t h D e p a r t m e n t , a s m a n y a s 1 , 0 7 9 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e w e r e s u ff e r i n g f r o m i n f e c t i o u s d i s e a s e s a f t e r h e a v y r a i n s a n d s u b s e q u e n t f l o o d s w r e a k e d h a v o c i n t h e p r o v i n c e D u r i n g t h e p a s t 2 4 h o u r s , 1 2 , 8 1 9 c a s e s o f a s t h m a a n d v a r i o u s c h e s t d i s e a s e s w e r e r e p o r t e d a c r o s s t h e p r o v i n c e M o r e o v e r, 1 4 , 3 3 9 c a s e s o f v a r i o u s s k i n d i s e a s e s w e r e r e c o r d e d i n t h e s a m e p e r i o d
ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e P o R t
ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e P o R t
T h e S i n d h g o v e r n m e n t h a s d e c i d e d t o r e c r u i t p a r a m e d i c a l s t a ff o n t e m p o r a r y b a s i s i n 2 3 f l o o d h i t d i s t r i c t s o f t h e p r o v i n c e t o d e a l w i t h t h e o u t b r e a k o f w a t e r b o r n e a n d o t h e r v i r a l d i s e a s e s
n
Separately, the police chief of Sindh said that apart from increasing intelligence gathering, mobile and motorcycle patrolling and picketing at entry and exit points of the city should also be strengthened for protection of Imambargahs, mosques and
The Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) showcased a calligraphic show titled: “The Legend of Sadequain here on
h
Sadequain was widely praised for his calligraphic style, which is considered iconic by many critics of South Asian art
T h e s e a r t i s t s s u c c e s s f u l l y t r a n s f o r m e d calligraphy into a modern aesthetic, which was both contemporary and indigenous
In Islamabad and Rawalpindi snipers will be deployed on rooftops while streets, roads and routes Walk through gates will also be installed at the entry point of the procession and people will be allowed to enter after body search
Sindh decides on paramedical staff hiring in flood-hit areas
Prices of 30 essential items rose last week: PBs inflation repor t
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It stated that the exact number of troops deployed would be worked out by the provincial governments
Meanwhile the Punjab Police have finalised security by deputing 42,000 personnel for 301 processions and 530 Majalis across the province
According to the security plan, 10,000 police personnel will be deputed for three main processions and 40 Majalis of Chehlum Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) Four layered security will be provided to sensitive and A category processions and Majalis across the province A R M Y d e P lO Y e d A C R O s s PA K i s TA N A h e A d O F i M A M h u s s A i N ’ s C h e h l u M
e
“Will the judge also appear as a witness in the case?
Secretary Information and Broadcasting Shahera Shahid has said it was duty of the Information Service Academy (ISA) to promote and celebrate books of the indigenous writers for reviving the reading culture in the country
LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t
IHC stops outsourcing of capital’s grounds
Addressing the launching ceremony of a book titled “The Treasure in the Whispering Pines”, she recalled that a lot of talent was discovered through the National Book Centre, which used to celebrate each and every work of the local authors
PESHAWAR: A charred body of a woman reportedly kidnapped and killed in Peshawar s Badaber area was found in the provincial capital on Friday The 24 year old daughter of a man named Israr had gone missing three days ago Relatives of the deceased found the mu tilated body in a graveyard earlier today and reported the police The police have formed a committee to investigate the incident However, residents of the area are protesting against the incident and have closed the Indus Highway for traffic The relatives of the deceased are protesting by keep ing the body on Kohat road and have refused to move until the police take action This is the second such case reported in the area In 2020, a seven year old girl was murdered and her charred body was later found near a graveyard in the Badaber area According to the police the girl had left her home to buy candy from a nearby store After the inci dent, the capital city police officer (CCPO) Peshawar took notice and formed a special team under the supervision of the senior superintendent of police (SSP) investigation, to arrest the accused S ta f f R e p o Rt
H E N a w a f S a e e d A l m a l k i y S a u d i A m b a s s a d o r t o P a k i s t a n a l o n g w i t h D r k h a l i d M A l
SC SerVeS notICeS on Centre, InVeStIgAtorS In gIll’S PleA AgAInSt torture S tA f f R E p O R t K i n g S a l m a n R e l i e f C e n t r e h a s l a u n c h e d c a m p a i g n T h e S a u d i P e o ple’s Campaign for the Relief of Flood Vi c t i m s i n P a k i s t a
o t h m a n i D i r e c t o r K i n g S a l m a n R e l i e f P a k i s t a n o ff i c e v i s i t e d f l o o d h i t a r e a s w h i c h w e r e t o t a l l y c u t o ff s a t ( s e h w a n s h a r e e f ) a n d d i s t r i b u t e d r e l i e f a m o n g a ff e c t e e s w i t h P a k i s t a n A r m y
The secretary termed “The Treasure in the Whisper ing Pines a masterpiece and praised its author S M Ilyas, who also had served as Director in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
S ta f f R e p o R t
LAHORE
Promoting books par t of ISA duty: S hahera S hahid
The newly appointed four Vice Chancellors of public sector universities on Friday called on Punjab Minister for Higher Education Raja Yas sir Humayun Sarfraz Dr Muhammad Kamran, Vice Chancellor of MNS UET; Dr Muhammad Ramzan, Vice Chancellor of Emerson University Multan; Dr Javaid Akhtar, Vice Chancellor of University of Sahiwal and Prof Dr Qaisar Abbas Vice Chancellor of University of Sargodha dis cussed issues pertaining to the higher education sector during the meeting with the minister The minister emphasized the importance of working with zeal and commitment to improve the higher education sector in Punjab by ensuring merit and transparency Reforms in the higher education sector, as well as strategies for promotion of quality education and encouraging a research culture were also discussed in the meeting The minister directed the secretary higher education to resolve the lingering issues of public sector universities at earliest “Liaison between industry and academia is a prerequisite for transforming higher education sector into industry and en abling it to compete at a global level,” said Dr Qaisar Abbas, VC Sargodha University Pakistan can also achieve economic prosperity by strength ening ties between academia and industry ”
Gill also accused police of physically and mentally torturing him and orchestrating a “fake medical checkup” when his “body was full of bruises He further alleged that he was stripped and thrown into a room
S ta f f R e p o R t
mutiny within the armed forces during an in terview with a TV channel
saturday 17 september 2022 IsLAMABAD 04 news
ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t
During the meeting, consultations were held regard ing the future plan of the Women Police Council and other details including making it more active Women members from other districts participated in the meeting through video link and expressed their views
The information officers, serving in any field, were the country’s assets, she remarked
Punjab Inspector General of Police Faisal Shahkar on Fri day declared female officers and officials as an integral part of the police force, saying they are being given equal opportunities for leadership representation includ ing departmental promotion posting on important seats
Faisal Shahkar said that recently it has been decided to include two senior women police officers as members in the Punjab Police Executive Board to ensure adequate rep resentation of the female offi cers in the Executive Board as well as benefit from the opin ions of women officers in de
Gill arrested in the case under Sections 34 (common intention), 109 (abetment), 120 (con cealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), 121 (waging war against state), 124 A (sedition), 131 (abetting mutiny, or attempt to seduce a soldier sailor or airman from his duty), 153 (provoking to cause riot), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC)
Police committed to providing better work ing environment to female officers: IGP
VCs meet minister: Academia-industr y linkage vital to transform higher education
H E Supreme Court (SC) on Friday issued notices to federal government and investigators along with relevant record in a petition filed by PTI leader Shahbaz Gill, seeking to de termine if physical custody was necessary to complete criminal cases A three member SC bench comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Jus tice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel issued the order in a petition filed by Shahbaz Gill through his counsel Barrister Salman Safdar Shahbaz Gill chief of staff to PTI chairman Imran Khan, has been nominated in a case registered on charges of allegedly inciting
partmental decision making He said that women officers are being given commanding roles in field postings in all major cities of the province
Babar and DIG Training Kamran Adil were also pres ent on the occasion
Is this the way you speak to a judge ” Justice Naqvi said Safdar immediately retracted his words and apologised to the court Gill did not make a speech, he gave an interview,”
Charred body of 24 year-old woman found in Peshawar graveyard
S M Ilyas vowed to write more books to contribute to the country’s progress and development
The IGP informed that in recent years, the number of women in Punjab Police has increased significantly which is very plausible The delegation included Execu tive Director Parliamentary Commission on Human Rights Shafiq Chaudhry Country Director USIP Adnan Rafiq and Program Manager Komal Dilshad among oth ers During the meeting, establishment of Women Police Council, it s mobilization, objectives and other profes sional issues were discussed
The United State Institute of Peace (USIP) delega tion was briefed about the aims and objectives of the Wo m e n P o l i c e C o u n c i l a n d t h e f u t u r e p l a n o f a c t i o n D I G O p e r a t i o n s Wa q a s N a z i r, D I G H e a d q u a r t e r s R a i
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Fri day issued a stay order against handing over of capi tal’s cricket grounds to private companies by the Municipal Corporation Islamabad (MCI) Justice Sar dar Ijaz Ishaq heard the case against the custody of cricket grounds Petitioner ’s Lawyer Adil Aziz Qazi adopted the stance that the citizen had to pay the money if the cricket grounds were outsourced He said that the MCI had no authority to outsource the play ground of federal capital However the MCI s lawyer adopted the stance that it was difficult to get the proces sion of these grounds The corporation was handing over these grounds to private companies so that these could be looked after in a good way The court stopped the MCI from outsourcing the cricket grounds and adjourned hear ing of the case till September 25 S ta f f R e p o R t
Justice Naqvi went on saying that the lawyer did not prepare for the case “You don t even know the purpose and process of giving a physical remand
IGP Faisal Shahkar expressed the views during a meeting with a 7 member delegation of the United State Institute of Peace (USIP) at Central Police Office here on Friday The IG Police said that in big cities of the province including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, women are being appointed as SHOs in police stations while the establishment of women police station in Gujranwala will also be implemented soon
The book author also spoke on the occasion and said it was high time for reviving the book reading culture in the country He was grateful to the friends who ap preciated his work
King S alman Relief Centre launches relief campaign for flood vic tims in Pakistan 04 NEWS 17 ISLAMABAD_Layout 1 9/17/2022 12:35 AM Page 1
Mr Shahkar said that women officers can play an ex emplary role in convenience women citizens and solu tion of problems therefore more and more lady officers and personnel are being made part of the police force
Malik Muhammad Ashraf, a former information of ficer congratulated S M Ilyas for writing an excellent novel ISA Director General Saeed Javed delivered the vote of thanks and appreciated Ilyas for launching his first book
The relief items which are received t h r o u g h t h e A i r C a rg o w i l l h e l p a s a n i m m e d i a t e r e l i e f t o
ISLAMABAD
He said that the magistrate was the “guarantor of the prisoner ’s rights” “Don’t you know that? the judge said and asked Safdar if the Criminal Code applied to the apex court The lawyer replied in the affir mative n ” b y e s t a b l i s h i n g Air Bridge to carry out relief operations K i n g S a l m a n H u m a n i t a r i a n A i d a n d R e l i e f C e n t e r ( K S r e l i e f ) h a s s e n t 0 2 A e r o p l a n e s c a r r y i n g Te n t s , B l a n k e t s N F I s F o o d a n d D a t e s w h i c h p r o v i d e u rg e n t a n d i m m e d i a t e r e l i e f t o t h e f l o o d a ff e c t e d people
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The [trial court] judge has clearly written in the order that there were torture marks on Gill s body, Justice Naqvi said
Following the arrest, an Islamabad dis trict and sessions court had granted police a two day physical remand of the PTI leader Subsequently, the police had multi ple times sought an extension in the remand from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) but
She said she was proud of Ilyas for producing a re markable work and encouraged him to write more books
In his response, the lawyer said that the trial court “exceeded its authority” The judge asked again on what basis physical re mand was given The lawyer then asked the judge to explain why the PTI leader was sent into physical custody However his question irked the court “What are you talking about?
the flood affected p e o p l e l i v i n g i n a l l t h e p r o v i n c e s of Pakistan
where he was beaten and kicked for three nights after his arrest on August 9 In the most recent development, the IHC on Thurs day finally granted post arrest bail to the PTI leader and ordered his release against surety bonds of Rs500,000 T H E H E A R I n g : On Friday as hearing began Gill s lawyer Salman Safdar claimed that the trial court “exceeded its authority” in the PTI leader ’s case “There is no example of the torture that was inflicted on Shahbaz Gill,” he said Here, Justice Naqvi inquired about Gill’s statements on which the case was lodged against him He gave a speech on the basis of which 13 provisions were booked [against him],” Safdar replied “What was it? On what basis was the case built Justice Naqvi asked the lawyer
T h i s r e l i e f p a c k a g e w i l l b e b e n e f i c i a l f o r q u i c k a n d e a r l y relief for the Vic t i m s a n d w i l l b e distributed in col l a b o r a t i o n w i t h t h e N a t i o n a l D i s a s t e r Management Authority (NDMA)
the requests were turned down On August 16 the IHC had referred the matter back to the trial court and later that day, a judicial magistrate had approved Gill’s two day physical remand in police custody H o w ever, it was only two hours after the court’s ruling that Islamabad police were able to t a k e G i l l s c u s t o d y D u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n , P T I l e a d e r s , i n c l u d i n g Imran, alleged that Gill had been subjected to torture and abuse in police custody and contended the demand for Gill’s physical remand based on these claims
Tangir Hydropower Project, Chief
They affirmed the commitment to enhance Pak istan Kazakhstan relations in diverse fields partic ularly trade investment and transportation links
Sheikh Rashid, a close ally of Imran Khan’s party, further said that the MQM P’s internal intrigues had put them in danger Time does not wait if decisions are not made on time ”
was willing to hold talks with the incumbent government if it was willing to hold new elections “The country is in extraordinary circumstances [ ] at this time, we must con sider what decisions to make He stated that his life and death were in Pakistan, and thus his interest was in the improvement of the country I m always available to speak if they want to discuss free and fair elections ”
5 : S h e i k h R a s
He underlined that Pakistan was committed to comprehensively upgrade engagement with the Central Asian countries through its “Vision Central Asia” policy He particularly emphasized the impor tance of connectivity and Pakistan s pivotal position in providing the shortest access route to the sea
In meet with X i, PM lauds CPEC ’s transformational impac t
Groundbreaking ceremony of Pak-Kashmir Sweet Home Cadet College held
He claimed that neither Asif Ali Zardari nor Nawaz Sharif met the criteria for ap pointing the new army chief, and that both lacked the moral ground to participate in such an important decision making process
He stressed the dire need for assistance from the international community to help Pakistan over come the problems in the wake of floods, including relief, rehabilitation, and control of water borne dis eases
“I earnestly appeal to all of you that let the SCO stand up and take steps against this devastation through sustainable programmes, he said
“In view of the massive disaster, I would be very honest to urge this forum to extend assistance to Pakistan and chalk out plans regarding climate change for our future generations,” he said k I S TA n , k A z A k h S TA n A g r E E f O r
He mentioned that Pakistan was braving the disaster of floods, where hill torrents and massive rains killed 1,400 people including 400 children while millions of houses were damaged partially or completely
PM Sharif said the country never faced such level of climate induced catastrophe in its history that inflicted disaster upon human lives, infrastruc ture, livestock, and crops
PM Shehbaz Sharif stressed the need for urgent global action to deal with the global threat
The statement came days after ex PM Imran made a dramatic U turn on Monday, saying the process of naming the next army chief should be postponed until after the next general election
mobilink microfinance Bank promotes programmes to drive economic prosperit y
QUETTA: At least one person was killed and 13 others sustained injuries in a blast here at Poodagali Chowk on Friday, police said According to Dr Wasim Baig, Media Coordinator of Health Department Balochsitan, some 13 injured persons and a dead boy were brought to the Civil Hospital, where two of the injured were stated to be in serious condition The deceased was identified as Muhammad Murad while the injured included Qadir Shah, Haseeb, Waleed, Naweed, Hamza, Shakil, Khadim Hussain, Owais Muhammad Ashraf Abdul Rasheed Fraz Sarfraz and a woman Saima The personnel of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) reached the blast site and cordoned off the entire area Investigation was underway about the nature of the blast S
L E A D E r S E n D O r S E C A L L f O r C L I M AT E C h A n g E p L A n f O r pA k I
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The prime minister thanked the Kazakh presi dent for the support and solidarity extended by Kazakhstan He updated him about the colossal losses in terms of human lives and damage to crops, livestock and critical infrastructure caused by cli mate change
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The board members included Chairman BOM Michael Francis Rogers, Member BOM DR Tahir Ma sood, Chief Executive DBCG/Member
Senate summons IGP, interior secy over senator’s house raid case
The suggestion effectively meant giving the incumbent COAS, General Qamar Javed Bajwa another albeit brief extension
DBCG BOarD memBerS revIew wOrK at DIamer-BaSHa Dam
S C
Executive Officer Diamer Basha Dam Company Aamir Bashir Chaudhry, chief engineers of WAPDA consult ants and contractors (Power China, FWO) and senior officials and engi
E M B E R S of the Board of Management of Di amer Basha Consultants Group (DBCG) on Friday visited the dam site to re view ongoing construction activities as well as the diversion canal, tunnels, inlet and outlet, lab and left and right abutments
It is pertinent to mention here that construction activities are going on at 8 different sites of Diamer Bhasha Dam The height of the RCC dam is 272 meters, built for water storage and cheap energy The dam has a total water storage capacity of 8 1 million acre feet The dam will generate 4500MW of cheap and environment friendly electricity
B a c k s t a g e r e c o n c i l i a t i o n e f f o r t s m ay s u c c e e d b y O c t o b e r 1 h d
E A r Ly T TA f I n A L I z AT I O n : Pakistan and Kazakhstan on Friday agreed for early finalization of bilateral Transit Trade Agreement and undertake expert level studies to enhance cooperation in the energy sector
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islamabad
DBCG Deputy Project Manager Maj (r) Ghulam Raza briefed the board members about the ongoing construc tion progress at various sites said a press release
cOntinuEd
neers were present on the occasion
Under the second initiative, Mobilink Microfinance Bank has collaborated with Daraz, Pakistan’s largest e commerce platform, to help incentivise and upskill female entrepreneurs with brick and mortar stores to go digital and expand their customer outreach across the country Under the partnership, female customers will be charged 0% commission for the first three months of their onboarding, giving them ample time to set up their businesses on the digital platform Moreover, female sellers using Daraz will be able to open accounts digitally and apply for Mobilink Microfinance Bank loans at concessional rates
laHORE
This climatic injustice has befallen us despite the fact that our carbon emission is less than one percent,” the prime minister said
m
They said that currently, they are operating only 51 locomotives for this service against the 98 shunting points at various railway stations across the country Additionally the department would discard most old locomotives due to high maintenance costs
Angered by the absence of top officials from a meeting, convened to discuss a raid at the house of a senator, a Senate panel on Thursday asked the secretary interior inspector general of police (IGP) Islamabad and other relevant officers to attend the next meeting in person Members of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior which met here with Senator Mohsin Aziz in the chair to discuss the raid at the house of Senator Saifullah Nyazee said that the committee will use all its authorities including moving a privilege motion against these officials if they do not turn up in the next meeting scheduled for Monday
In addition to criticising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the former interior minister stated that Foreign Minister and PPP Chair man Bilawal Bhutto Zardari did not even opt to fly in Shehbaz’s aircraft to Samarkand He projected that “judo karate” would be practised in the streets if the covert efforts to reconcile did not succeed by October 15
I s l a m a b a d : Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited, VEON’s financial services arm and the largest digital bank in Pakistan, launched three major microfinance initiatives as part of its continuing efforts to financially empower women entrepreneurs and to support small and medium sized farmers in the country The initiatives were formally launched by VEON Group CEO, Kaan Terzioglu, during his recent visit to Pakistan
PM Sharif in his address at the Heads of State meeting of SCO had drawn the attention of the member states to the disaster Pakistan was facing as a result of climate change despite the country s less than one percent contribution to carbon emissions
from the military’s media wing to Imran’s latest statement
The bilateral ties were discussed in a meeting between Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Kazakh President Kassym Jomart Tokayev here on the sidelines of the annual Meet ing of the Council of Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organization
BOM Dr Tahir Mahmood Hayat, Mem ber BOM M Knut Sierotzki, Member BOM M Cem Aker, Representative NESPAK Irfan Ul Haq Representative ACE Munawar Ali, Coordinator Stan tic/ Member BOM Francisco Alberto Tesi Representative POYRY (AFRY) Stephen Moil and Representative DOLSAR M Asad Imran
While acknowledging the invitation, President Xi stated that he was looking forward to Prime Minis ter Sharif ’s visit to China at an early date O S TA n: The presidents of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran and Mongolia on Friday seconded the pro posal of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for an ac tion plan by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) for Pakistan to overcome the impact of climate change
To promote regional integration, the two lead ers also decided to enhance connectivity through land and air routes
The prime minister s call to the SCO members came in the wake of the recent flash floods in Pak istan that wreaked havoc with the livelihood and in frastructure across the country
S tA f f R e P o R t
Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, Iran ian President Ebrahim Raisi, and President of Mon golia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh fully endorsed the suggestion made by Prime Minister Sharif at the SCO platform In his address, Prime Minister She hbaz Sharif called upon the member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to come up with Pakistan specific programmes on climate change as the country faced the devastating impact of the global natural phenomenon
S tA f f R e P o R t
Both the leaders emphasized facilitating peo ple to people contacts through liberalized visa poli cies to boost trade, educational links, and investments They also exchanged views on key re gional and international issues
The prime minister highlighted the significance of trans Afghan railway project connecting Uzbek istan to Pakistan through Afghanistan He expressed the desire to link up the existing Kazakhstan Turk menistan Iran railway line to Pakistan
The PTI chief recently accused the Pak istan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz of pushing for the appoint ment of army chief of their choosing in an effort to protect their reputations from cor ruption allegations which elicited a sharp re sponse from the military
One dies, 13 injured in Quetta blast
According to Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the leader of the Awami Muslim League (AML), behind the scenes attempts at reconciliation can be successful by October 15; otherwise, there would be ‘judo karate’ on the streets Former prime minister and PTI Chair man Imran Khan has separated with a lovely swinging delivery, Sheikh Rashid said in a statement on the social media platform Twit ter on Friday “Now PPP and Shehbaz must deal with the issue of [army chief s] appoint
General Qamar ’s six year term expires in late November, and the chief military spokesperson has already stated that the cur rent army chief has no plans to seek an ex tension So far, there has been no reaction
corporate corner
ISLAMABAD: The groundbreaking ceremony of first free Pak Kashmir Sweet Home Cadet College was performed in Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir aiming at providing free education and other facilities to orphans of Pakistan Sweet Home and others Speaking on the occasion, Patron in Chief of Pakistan Sweet Home (PSH) Zamurrad Khan said it was his dream to establish a free cadet college for orphans in Azad Jammu and Kashmir for preparing them to join Pakistan Army All facilities including education uniform meal and other basic amenities of life would be provided to the talented orphan students free of charge Former prime minister and president of AJK Sardar Yaqoob Khan lauded the services of Zamurrad Khan for orphans and other poor families A free Pakistan Sweet Home Cadet College was already working near Sohawa A P P
Federal Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique on Friday claimed that the recent floods caused unprecedented damages to railways, especially in Balochistan and Sindh since the partition of the sub continent The Federal Minister for Railways said that the department has been striving hard to restore normal operation of trains Taftan to Dalbadin track has cleared while Dera Allah Yar to Jacobabad track is still underwater Khwaja added
The purpose of the visit was to achieve the construction targets while maintaining high quality of work dur ing the construction progress
The parliament was given six months by the Supreme Court to change the army act to make way for expansion With the backing of the current ruling parties, the parliament unan imously approved the amending measure
He added that they are coordinating with Sindh’s irrigation department to dewater the tracks to restore the train operation Railway has not suffered such infrastructural damage since partition, he claimed Earlier on September 11 the Pakistan Railways announced to procure as many as 25 diesel electric locomotives for various shunting points across the country that would help to replace outdated locomotives Sources in the Ministry of Railways told state owned APP that they will procure the 25 shunting locomotives in three years at an estimated cost of Rs 14 billion
The board members of DBCG also visited the under construction 21MW Hydropower Project site in Tangir Val ley, and received a briefing on the on going construction progress at the site
P R 05NEWS Saturday 17 September 2022 | ISLAMABAD islamabad S tA f f R e P o R t
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed that the proposal of the prime minister of Pakistan needed to be taken up at the level of the Organization
Mirziyoyev, who hosted the SCO summit, urged the member states to help Pakistan overcome the catastrophic damage caused by flash floods
ment,” he added
The PTI chief stated once more that he
As part of the first initiative, Mobilink Microfinance Bank (MMBL) has launched low cost 4G handsets for customers, especially female entrepreneurs, aimed at driving participation in the digital economy among marginalized groups within the population The substantially discounted Digit 4G handsets will be available across Mobilink Microfinance Bank's vast branch network and will come pre loaded with the bank’s digital banking application, MMBL DOST, that will enable customers to obtain quick financial assistance, pay bills, make money transfers and use a vast array of digital banking services Going forward Mobilink Microfinance Bank will be offering these subsidized 4G handsets as part of its loan portfolio
S tA f f R e P o R t
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President Tokayev conveyed sympathies and con dolences over the devastation caused by the unprece dented climate change induced floods in Pakistan
Floods caused unprecedented losses to railways: Kh Saad
islamabad
offer
Yousaf Nizami Editor
T j t o y o f d e m o c r a c y i n P a k i s t a n h a s faced many challenges but the music of democracy s u r v i v e d a s a r e c o g n i z e d p o l i t i c a l s y s t e m b y t h e m a s s e s T h e r o a d t o e n s u r i n g t h e p r o b a b i l i t y o f d e m o c r a c y i n P a k i s t a n i s d i ff i c u l t d u e t o i n s t i t u tional imbalance and undemocratic forces Still, the future of democracy in Pakistan is feasible due to the rising consciousness of the middle class urban i s m , c o n s t i t u t i o n a l v a l u e s , t r u s t , a n d d i g i t a l a c t i v i s m t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t r y T h e e m e rg i n g m i d d l e c l a s s i n P a k i s t a n i s d e m a n d i n g p o l i t i c a l space, which is one way forward to achieving dem ocratic ideals in the country
Khan is not realizing that the option of being heard through protest calls is almost over The current coali tion government at the centre is determined to com plete its term General elections may not be held before time on mere protest staged by the PTI
h e t r a
Khan had to appear at last A d e m o c rat i c f u t u re i s q u i te p ro b a b l e 06-07 Comments - 17th September 2022_Layout 1 9/17/2022 1:04 AM Page 1
H e dis cover y of tents meant fo r floo d af fectees in the rice mill o f a S in d h m Pa br in gs to the fore o ne o f th e p rob lems as s oci ated w ith relief o f floo d affectees , th at of pilfer ag e by the po w erfu l P ilferag e b y the p o o r (w h ether o r n ot affected by th e floo ds ) an d p rofiteerin g b y th o s e w ho can co rner th e s u pp ly o f relief goo d s is to b e expected, bu t th e dis covery o f the p ilfered ten ts s how s to th e w orld that theft, plain an d s imple, is als o to be prev ented
police officials to the public which, after getting incited, could also resort to any act of vandalism and terrorism Here, the application of Section 7 of the anti terrorism act is meant for forestalling any untoward act The de terrence facility offered by Section 7 is what enmeshes Khan, who stands debarred from issuing any such state ment of intimidation in the future or infuriating his fol lowers into unsettling life in the streets
K h a n ’ s s u b m i s s i o n t o t h e l a w
The globalization exchange of ideas and knowl edge also paved the way to celebrate the democratic
M A Niazi Joint Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor Aziz ud Din Ahmad Joint Editor
The government, which has been making claims of sympathy with the flood affected, must take immediate action in this case, and determine whether this is merely the tip of the iceberg In this case, the tents have to be traced to the actual donors, and where the logistics trail leads Somewhere along the line, at least some goods were diverted The offending mPa cannot be the only person involved; those guilty must be un covered and punished one problem pilferers are prob ably exploiting is that while Pakistanis are generous enough, the informal sector (which is substantial, if not the majority) is bad at keeping records Without proper records, investigations will not generate the kind of ev idence required by that the courts
Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
The rise of media literacy in people and digital accountability ensured the prosperous, democratic probability in Pakistan In the past, the grievances be tween the citizens and institutions were significant With the emergence of digital platforms like Pm's Performance Delivery Unit (PcP) and Pakistan citi zen Portal the direct access of the citizens to any in stitution expanded This institutional approachability bolstered the trust of citizens in the state
I N a L Ly, on September 14, in compliance with the orders of the anti terrorism court chairman Pakistan Tehreke Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan had to appear before the Islamabad Po lice’s Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in a terror case for threatening additional Sessions Judge Zeba chaudhry during a public rally in Islamabad on august 20 Khan had also threatened the police officials of con sequences on September 12, the anti terrorism court had extended his pre arrest bail for the second time Khan had to answer the questions and record his statement before the JIT at the office of the Senior Su perintendent of Police (investigation), Islamabad The submission came after all dilly dallying However the police had persisted with the demand and served the third notice for his appearance Section 7 of the anti Terrorism act governed the case Khan s appearance before the JIT was the first step towards submitting to the rule of law one can also say that the law has started asserting itself With that Khan s assumed de facto sta tus of “exemption” is over Though Khan has not performed any act of terror ism per se the allegation (or the charge) revolves around his intent to do so Khan is also guilty of vocal izing his intent of retaliation against the judge and the
Social media facilitated people in recent years to interact with new ideas, knowledge, and values These values played a role in formulating a general perception of people about democracy and consti tutional norms The interaction with different cul t u r e s a n d i d e a s t h r o u g h s o c i a l m e d i a c r e a t e d a p o s i t i v e i m a g e o f c h e r i s h e d d e m o c r a t i c i d e a l s , which was absent in the last decades from the gen eral acceptance in people People used to celebrate u n d e m o c r a t i c i d e a l s t o o I n t h e 2 1 s t c e n t u r y, t h e changing paradigm of a psychological shift in Pak istani society is the hallmark of probable democ racy in Pakistan In his book The man on Horseback, Samuel
The floods have also frustrated Khan’s efforts to contest by elections on September 8 the election commission of Pakistan announced the postponement of the by elections which were to be held in 13 con stituencies of Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The announcement shook the PTI’s hubris to be an all time winner by sentimentalizing the masses Neverthe less, outside the JIT office, Khan also said that he was ready to negotiate with the government but only on the topic of free and fair elections It means that no negoti ations are possible apparently, Khan has got entangled in one law or the other His submission to the law is belated He also seeks refuge in ignorance of the law He has yet to sub mit an unconditional apology to the Islamabad High court Before that he has to seek mercy from Judge Zeba chaudhry
M u h a M M a D Wa j a h at s u lta n D r Q a i s a r r a s h i D
Twitter can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo com
Trust plays a pivotal role in any democratic coun try Now citizens can show their grievances through the internet by registering a simple complaint on such digital platforms The gap between the state and its subjects shrank This rising digital accountability and access is the way toward an inevitable democratic transition in Pakistan
The whole case assumes gravity when seen against the statements of the PTI leaders who had been threat ening the repeat of Sri Lanka like mayhem in Pakistan since april 10 Khan’s statement was also taken as an attempt to provoke violence and hooliganism imitating Sri Lanka The objective was to bring the sitting central government to its knees and get general elections an nounced Khan’s appearance before the JIT meant that not only the dream of constructing Sri Lanka in Pak istan was over but also the demand of securing general elections was frustrated Khan has now realized that he cannot make Pak istan act like Sri Lanka and that he has to deal with the police by presenting himself before it Similarly, he has realized that general elections are not round the corner after coming out of the JIT’s demesne, Khan told the media that free and fair elections were the only so lution to the economic crisis However, his genius could not tell the relationship between the two He still con siders that the loan amounting to $52 billion that the PTI led government secured during its three year stint in power was not the reason for overburdening the economy Similarly, he thinks that the way the PTI led government violated the terms of its agreement with the International monetary Fund (ImF) in February this year was not the reason for the economic crisis the country has been passing through Khan’s willful ignorance to the ImF’s report on Pakistan issued on September 2 is awful The report in dicated that for the current financial year, the fiscal deficit mounted by more than 1 5 percent of GDP which missed the end June fiscal target by a wide mar gin This happened because of incorrect economic poli cies adopted by the PTI led government The consequences are faced by common people The recent floods have offered a double whammy Khan has developed an interesting knack for fas tening everything to the call for general elections He stands short of saying that the floods can be controlled if the general elections are announced outside the JIT’s realm, Khan also warned that the government could not withstand his protest call
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values among the masses It is not deniable that democracy is a continuous evolutionary process that stays in constant struggle Democracy in Pakistan re mained in shackles, but the recent changing and transforming trends established the probability of a democratic polity in Pakistan Democracy has a fu ture in Pakistan with the dawn of new values and vi brant social forces to establish democracy as a political force in power
Probabilit y of democracy in Pakistan
Heterogeneous norms and celebrating differences are the essence of democracy Dissent and positive non conformism is the building block of any democracy
T h e r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n r u s s i a a n d P a k i s t a n h a d a l r e a d y s t a r t e d w a r m i n g u p u n d e r t h e l a s t P m L ( N ) g o v e r n m e n t w h e n P a k i s t a n s o u g h t r u s s i a n a s s i s t a n c e t o b u i l d t h e P a k i s t a n S t r e a m G a s P i p e l i n e ( P S G P ) m e a n t t o d e l i v e r n a t u r a l g a s f r o m c o a s t a l r e g i o n s t o i n d u s t r i a l a r e a s i n t h e n o r t h , e n h a n c i n g P a k i s t a n ’s c a p a c i t y t o t r a n s p o r t i m p o r t e d l i q u e f i e d n a t u r a l g a s ( L N G ) i n t e r n a l l y P ak ru s s ia ties w er e fu rther s treng then ed d u ring the P TI ru le after the tw o d ay vis it to Is lamabad b y ru s s ian F oreig n m inis ter S ergey Lav rov in a p r il 20 21 follow ed b y P m Imran K han s v is it to ru s s ia a year later Tw o months later P ak is tan an d rus s ia s igned a pr otocol on the amen dmen ts to the ag r ee ment on the G as P ip eline P ro ject
D e m o c r a c y is sustained in a country with a democratic process and cultural ac ceptance Democracy in any culture and civilization is sustained through mutual commitment to democratic norms and val ues and the evolutionary process of replicating dem ocratic ideals like constitutional supremacy and inclusive pluralism With the advent of the coinage system in recent centuries, the extent of wealth expanded, which caused political dominance for the middle class Likewise with the dawn of the Internet and social media, democratic ideals have become the cultural norms of society because it is the only system that recognizes the identity and fundamental rights of human beings
North-South gas pipeline
It is known that the trump card Khan is holding fast is the protest call Perhaps he has realized that the long march was an arduous task especially when the help of neither allama Tahirul Qadri nor the intelligence agen cies was available as it was in 2014 in the azadi march This time Khan thinks that the PTI workers are charged enough to choke the main arteries of every big city and that the PTI workers can resort to the kind of protest insurmountable by the sitting central govern ment Khan is heavily relying on the volatile status of his party s workers though Khan overlooks that on may 25, his party workers in Punjab failed to cross even the river ravi in the face of resistance offered by the police Section 144 dissipated all efforts of the PTI to initiate a long march on Islamabad from Lahore
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Beneath open skies
The apparent pilfering of flood relief goods by a Sindh MPA highlights a danger
06 Saturday 17 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 W H I L e details o f talks held an d ag ree ments reach ed at the S co s u mmit h av e y et to be made pub lic, the meeting b e tw een P m S hehb az S har if and ru s s ian P res iden t V ladimir P u tin on th e s id elines of th e co nference has as s umed s p ecial s ignifican ce It indicates th at P akis tan is not turnin g its b ack o n rus s ia and co n tin ues to main tain a b alance in its ties w ith Was hin g ton and m os cow rus s ia is n ot o nly a major po w er and a fou nding memb er of the S co , it als o s hares
e Finer explained five levels of undemocratic forces to intervene in the civil politics of any society He ar gued that level 4 and level 5 are against democratic ideals It directly halts the democratic journey of any country In the Post 2010 community there is no di rect intervention by undemocratic institutions in Pak istan, which is level 4, and level 5 is martial Law contemporary undemocratic forces only influence or blackmail civilian governments through operational tactics, which is disturbing but acceptable for the fu ture scope of democracy The declining influence of undemocratic forces and the absence of direct inter vention with force is an optimistic sign about the probability of democracy in Pakistan
The continuous democratic transition in Pakistan is an excellent sign to argue that democracy has a fu ture in Pakistan From PPP to PmL(N) From PmL(N) to PTI, and From PTI to PDm, all the tran sitions in governance were attained through the dem ocratic process This democratic transition and the declining role of other institutions in influencing the democratic transition are significant in the polity of Pakistan Such vibrant changes in the political struc ture of Pakistani society depict the sanguine direction and scope of democracy in Pakistan
The writer and can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail com
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In march this year the Petroleum Division had re portedly stopped talks on a shareholding agreement and decided to first seek the legal opinion of an inter national firm about the impact of sanctions imposed on russia by the USa and the UK in the wake of mil itary action in Ukraine Pakistan needs to tell the USa and its western allies that after going through the covid 19 pandemic followed by the choking of the international supply chain and now with floods and rains on a biblical scale, caused by climate change, Pakistan needs investment as well as access to cheap energy There is a need on the part of the USa to abandon double standards like allowing India to buy russian oil and barring others from making deals of the sort Pakistan and many other countries in the re gion can have access to cheaper gas only when the USa lifts sanctions imposed on Iran The sooner it does the better for the world
The democratic deficit in Pakistan exists because dis sent is systematically sidelined through different in stitutional mechanisms Democracy in Pakistan will sustain maturity if dissent and different ideals from various strata of society are celebrated
another aspect that the government should not lose sight of, is the effect of this incident on foreign donations already, the world’s aid response has not been what is needed It is bad enough that this event will be bruited abroad by Pakistan’s enemies, but at least condign action would give foreign donors the se curity that their donations will reach the affectees It would also provide domestic NGos and donors the se curity that their donations would not be diverted by local influentials
Francis Fukuyama argued in his book Political order and Political Decay that a vibrant middle class and urbanism have a considerable impact on implant ing democracy in any state The Wall Street Journal asserted that Pakistan has 42 percent of its population as middle class When the middle class emerges in any country, economic participation, and political consciousness increase The economically self suffi cient class demands political space With the rising incentives of political spaces and the middle class as pressure, the groups build rhetoric of democracy with propensity
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P ak is tan ’s co ncerns regard ing terro ris t netw o rk s an d is keen to hav e peace in a f gh an is tan Wh at is mo r e, it is in ves tin g 2 6 percent of the $3 b illio n need ed to cons tru ct th e p ip eline w ith an ad d ed promis e o f pr o viding rus s ian gas
A watering
mouth
The major challenge before the central govern ment is not Khan (or his party) but the economy which stood in tatters on april 10, the day the coalition government assumed power In the meantime, the government would appoint the next army chief This is the act that would disappoint and disillusion the PTI, both leaders and workers, of the prospects of coming back to the National asembly with a thump ing majority with the help of Khalai makhlooq (the angels who cast votes for the PTI)
Democracy in Pakistan has specific challenges like passive acceptance of diversity and pluralism Pluralism and diversity play a huge role in the dem ocratic form of the state The prevalent struggle for homogenising culture, values, and art is problematic
D e m o c r a c y i s a p r o c e s s s u s t a i n e d w i t h t i m e w i t h t h e a c c e p t a n c e o f p e o p l e i n s o c i e t y a s t h e Pakistani society is more aware than at any time in history due to media literacy and social media ven tures, democracy probably has a future The equa t i o n o f d e m o c r a c y i s s o l v e d t h r o u g h a r o u g h a n d r u g g e d r o a d T h e r e a r e c h a l l e n g e s i n s u s t a i n i n g valid democratic values, but it is an irrefutable fact that democracy has attained an important place in our society Pakistan has a future in democracy be cause no competent political solution exists other than democracy in Pakistan
COMMENT
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DG ISPr maj Gen Babar Iftikhar on Sep tember 1 stated: chief of army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa made detailed visits to the flood affected areas of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab and reviewed the ongoing relief operations on ground
Sajjad Shaukat writes on international af fairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Danger ous Shift in International Relations and can be reached at: sajjad logic@yahoo
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D U e t o t h e r i s i n g i n f l a t i o n i n t h e c o u n t r y, p e o p l e a r e f o r c e d t o s e e k t r e a t m e n t a t g o v e r n m e n t h o s p i t a l s , b u t a p p a r e n t l y p u b l i c s e c t o r h o s p i t a l s h a v e n e v e r b e e n p l a n n e d t o h a n d l e s u c h a s i t u a t i o n T h e r e i s a s e r i o u s s h o r t a g e o f d o c t o r s i n m a j o r p u b l i c s e c t o r h o s p i t a l s w h i c h a r e u n a b l e t o p r o v i d e t r e a t m e n t t o t h e n e e d y i n a n e f f i c i e n t m a n n e r B e s i d e s , t h e r e a r e a l s o i s s u e s r e l a t e d t o m e d i c i n e s , l a b o r a t o r i e s , v e n t i l a t o r s a n d e v e n i n t e n s i v e c a r e r o o m s f o r p a t i e n t s T h e l a c k o f t h e s e e s s e n t i a l f a c i l i t i e s i n h o s p i t a l s a d d s t o t h e i l l n e s s o f t h e p a t i e n t s a n d t o t h e w o r r i e s o f t h e i r f a m i l i e s P o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s c l a i m t o s e r v e t h e p e o p l e , a n d m a k e t a l l p r o m i s e s , b u t f a i l t o r e s o l v e t h e v a r i o u s p r o b l e m s a ff l i c t i n g g o v e r n m e n t h o s p i t a l s T h e g o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d p r o v i d e a d e q u a t e f a c i l i t i e s t o t h e p e o p l e s o t h a t t h e y m a y n o t b e d e p r i v e d o f t h e i r r i g h t t o l i v e
It is mentionable that on a non official level, donations have poured in Pakistan s flood rav aged regions from some western countries espe cially from British citizens of Pakistani origin and UK based charities
There has been unprecedented hyperinflation and prices of every household item have increased so much that it has become difficult to manage the household budget in a limited salary my husband is an honest government officer and we do not rely on any other illegal source of income and means We are not alone because the families of all such government employees are facing the same situation
sajjaD
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
Whil, the fleet of helicopters of army aviation, the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan air Force were deployed in flood stricken areas, their emergency re sponse teams are also assisting the civil ad ministration in rescue and relief efforts of South Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh Thus these forces have also saved the lives of thousands of individu als
Doctor’s shor tage
ANWAR HUSSAIN KARACHI
During his repeated trips to the flood af fected areas of Sindh on September 10, talking to the media, army chief General Bajwa urged the people of the country to help the flood vic tims generously and stated that the world will help to some extent
For instance based in Lahore asani Trust and Bahria Town Housing Society have col lected basic needs of life, including mosquito nets and sent them to the victims of floods another Lahore based renowned NGo, custom Health care Society led by Dr asif mahmood Jah dispatched various goods as well
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Death of academia
These forces have established relief funds for the victims of the flooding areas In this spirit, all the general officers of the army have also donated one month s salary to help the vic tims apart from this, other officers are also giv ing financial donations on a voluntary basis The Pakistan air Force Women s association (PaFWa) has collected cash donations amount ing to more than rs 14 million and besides monetary assistance all three branches of the country’s defence are distribut ing rations on ground The army has established more than 200 relief collection points across the country and the air Force has also set up camps Donations by various segments of society are
E d i t o r ’ s m a i l
In this respect dur ing a two day visit to Pakistan, the UN Sec retary General an tónio Guterres appealed to the interna tional community on September 9 for mas sive financial sup port flood hit impoverished Pakistan needs about $30 billion to recover from the floods, which he, himself assessed by surveying these areas through helicopter
KHAYYAM DURRANI KARACHI
MRS SADIA QAZI KARACHI
meanwhile, in a live telethon on august 29, former Prime minister Imran Khan raised funds for victims of devastating rains and floods, and received commitments of over rs 5 5 billion do nated by overseas and domestic Pakistanis In a second telethon on September 11 this year Khan collected approximately rs 5 billion for the flood victims
T H e recent monsoon rains have caused death and destruction across the country millions of people in Sindh, Southern Punjab and Balochistan are without shelter The horrible destruction demands rigorous research to find out why we cannot prevent predictable catastrophes every year religious narratives have been embedded so deep in the fabric of our society that we find a safe refuge under them to avoid accountability for our wrongdoings
Notably, whenever the nation of Pakistan faces a major challenge, people look at the armed forces for support It is quite true in case of the current flood circumstances, which have wreaked havoc in almost all provinces of the country The Pakistan army Pakistan Navy and Pakistan air Force are all actively participating in flood rescue and relief operations
However, these three forces have been trans porting and distributing packages basic needs of life such as rations, cooked food packs, fresh drinking water, blankets, clothing items, tents, and son on These forces have also set up med ical camps which are providing medical treat ment and medicine to the flood affected patients
being dispatched to these flood relief camps
MUSKAN FATIMA KARACHI
Climate Change or Wrath of God
Price of honest y
The ruling elite and powerful clergy term excessive rains as divine punishment for our sins and they do so to escape the blame for their inaction in averting the crisis
wo d ay v i s i
K e L e c T r I c (Ke) has been ruthlessly conducting load shedding for the last three months even in zero load shedding areas where there are no illegal connections and no defaulters, there is no electricity for 5 6 hours every day apparently no one in Pakistan is able to control the Ke management Political parties have their own interests to protect; their statements are mere eyewash The people at the helm of affairs should take notice of the misery of the people before it gets too late and creates some law and order situation
as mobile healthcare vehicles with medical equipment to help the deserving persons, while he himself visited the flood destructive places and provided the patients with medical consul tation, including medicines
Power Outage in Karachi
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
The government’s decision to deduct salary is not justified and will create a lot of problems for the officers who are performing their duties honestly It is true that there are black sheep, and officers involved in corruption do make money through illegal means The government decision to deduct salary will hardly make any impact upon them But what about the rest of us?
It is notable that many individuals, NGos, welfare groups, including political and religious entities set up camps in various cities and towns of Pakistan to collect basic necessities of life and have been sending the same to the flood hit areas
Pakistan copes w ith the u nprecedented floods r n a t t t k i s t a n , t h e U N S e c r e t a r y G e n e r a l , A n t ó n i o G u t e r r e s a p p e a l e d t o t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m mu n i t y o n S e p t e m b e r 9 fo r m a s s i v e f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t f l o o d h i t i m p ov e r i s h e d Pa k i s t a n n e e d s a b o u t $ 3 0 b i l l i o n t o r e c ov e r f ro m t h e f l o o d s , w h i ch h e , h i m s e l f a s s e s s e d by s u r v ey i n g t h e s e a r e a s t h ro u g h h e l i c o p t e r shaukat
H e unprecedented deadly floods and extraordinary monsoon rains which began in June, this year have destroyed lives livelihoods and infrastructure in various regions of Pakistan, leaving one third of the country underwater media reported that owing to the floods more than 2000 persons have died; more than 30 million people have been affected more than two million homes two million acres of crops and some 3000 miles of roads have been dam aged Half a million people are in displacement camps and many others are without shelter officials say this year ’s floods are compara ble to 2010 when over 2,000 people died and nearly a fifth of the country was under water Foreign media called Pakistan’s floods as a result of climate change with a serious climate catastrophe
In the meantime many civilian volunteers of Pakistan are working on the front lines to con duct rescue operations and deliver emergency relief For example a journalist of a newspaper spoke with one of them: Dr Imran Lodhi, a cli mate activist and university teacher who led a group of students to deliver tents and food in Punjab province Volunteer groups like his have been helping to mobilize people in communities who are trying to reach the affected areas
But, this financial assistance is not enough, as Islamabad requires $30 billion to respond to the massive losses because of ex traordinary floods and rains
There is enough scientific evidence to prove that the flawed and greed driven economic development model is exacerbating climate change The heavy injection of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere manifests in increased atmospheric temperatures, resulting in increased water carrying capacity of clouds The consequent heavy downpour leads to floods, playing havoc with fragile infrastructure The country’s poor urban planning has resulted in a lack of proper water flood channels that can direct excessive rainwater to its intended destination The excessive water inundates sewage pathways and spreads everywhere, destroying communication networks and residential homes The desperate situation calls to step up efforts to provide immediate relief to the affectees in the form of shelter and food Various NGos and volunteers are working tirelessly to collect funds and provide relief However, political parties seem apathetic to the miseries of the ordinary people while the media is equally worthy of blame for not providing the requisite coverage in vulnerable areas
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The rain spell and floods have negative ef fects on the people in the flood ravaged areas also from the pandemic diseases as some per sons have died
I am shocked to learn that the Sindh government would deduct five days salary of all its employees in grade 17 and above Being a government servant’s wife, who manages domestic affairs, I know how I manage to pay the utility bills, education fees of children, groceries, medicine, etc
Pakistanis’ philanthropist contributions to the flood affected people could also be judged from another instance a woman donated all her gold jewellery to them
Nonetheless, apart from the services of the armed forces, Pakistan has a tradition of volun teer help to cope with a catastrophe This has been seen in case of the current sea like flood waters in the country
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
In fact the country’s three armed forces in cluding civil society and humanitarian organiza tions (NGos) have been assisting in the rescue and relief efforts which continue in the flood af fected regions, while the National Disaster man agement authority (NDma) is also playing its role in this regard
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07 Saturday, 17 September 2022
SHAHZAIN JAFFERY LAHORE
Taking cognisance of large scale devasta tion, the Pakistan Government has declared a state of emergency The government has estab lished a flood relief fund, namely the Prime min ister s Flood relief Fund, 2022 for providing relief and rehabilitation to the flood affected per sons The Fund accepts donations and contribu tions both from domestic and international sources
If the Sindh government thinks that all government employees have illegal sources of income and a deduction of five days’ net salary will not be an issue, it is sadly mistaken This is injustice, and nothing but punishment for being honest
Th e a r m e d f o rce s h ave p l aye d a s te r l i n g ro l e
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Particularly, the Pakistan army is engaged in massive rescue and relief operations in the af fected areas The army has established a relief and rescue organisation under Headquarters army air Defence command to manage these operations army teams rescued a number of people stranded in the flood affected areas, and shifted them to safer places an example of the relentless bravery shown by the army is that of commander 12 corps Lt Gen Sarfaraz ali, Bri adier (approved maj Gen) amjad Hanif Brigadier muhammad Khalid, major Saeed ahmed, major muhammad Talha manan and Naik mudassir Fayyaz who embraced martyr dom after their helicopter crashed during a flight en route from Quetta to Karachi in relation to a rescue operation
Taking note of the drastic effects of the deadly floods UN agencies and many western countries, including china, Japan and Islamic countries like Turkey, have sent several planes loaded with aid while the Uae has been one of the most generous contributors, and sent so far more than 45 flights carrying aid for flood vic tims Numerous rich countries as well as the eU have also an nounced financial sup port For example, the eU is providing €350,000, and the US just will provide $30 million in humanitarian aid to respond to the floods
CountErCurrEnts or g s
u s h A n t K u m A r
Seven Indian states Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand have laws barring couples with more than two children from contesting local body elections and accessing some welfare benefits
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But the public will never know Since 1911 the British royal family has managed to get around UK law, which requires that the wills of British citizens be made public
T H E P O S S I B L E F O R M AT I O N O F A N E A S T A S I A N E CO N O M I C CO M M U N I T Y, I S F U N D A M E N TA L LY A P O L I T I C A L , N OT A N E CO N O M I C , Q U E S T I O N
F r o m c u r s
If anything these regions needed additional assistance to deal with their dilapidated public health infrastructure and poor health indicators Most of these states, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh among them, are still bearing the brunt of this foregone developmental aid They are caught in a spiral of relatively low development high mortality and high fertility compared to states that already had lower fertility rates and benefited from the additional Central aid
n July 2, 1997, the Thai baht col
Ironically, two child policies go against the mandate of national Population Policy, 2000, and India’s own commitments at international forums including the United nations International Conference on Population and development in 1994 in Cairo during which there was an em phasis on target free and voluntary family planning policies After Independence, the Centre decided that 8% of the aid it provided to states would be conditional on them achieving family planning targets As a result, states with higher fertility rates, which reflected the lower socio economic development of the region, were penalised by being deprived of crucial funds
e g e n d h a s i t t h a t a l l t h e m e n who have owned the Koh i noor h a v e f a l l e n f r o m g r a c e A H i n d u t e x t f r o m t h e 1 4 t h c e n t u r y s t a t e s t h a t “ h e w h o o w n s t h i s d i a m o n d w i l l o w n t h e w o r l d b u t w i l l a l s o k n o w a l l i t s m i s f o r t u n e s O n l y g o d o r w o m a n c a n w e a r i t w i t h i m p u n i t y ” n o o n e h a s d a r e d t o c h a l l e n g e t h e p r o p h e c y b u t things could change, as it is a man, King C h a r l e s I I I , w h o h a s j u s t i n h e r i t e d t h e d i a m o n d
The death of Queen elizabeth II, on September 8 has reignited a longstanding dispute Indian authorities believe that the diamond was taken illegally from the coun try and was not a gift as the British royal family maintains They are calling for the Koh i noor to be returned, arguing that its inclusion in the royal crown is a hangover from the days of Britain’s colonization of India These calls have been building on so cial media where #Kohinoor became a trending topic as soon as the monarch’s death was announced The dispute was raised back in 2010 when the then British prime minister, david Cameron, said on In dian television “What tends to happen with these questions is that if you say yes to one then you would suddenly find the British Museum empty,” he told the local ndTV news channel in a statement that quickly went viral
Japanese economists devised a supplemen tary concept: the Asian Monetary Unit whose value would reflect a weighted aver age of east Asian currencies But, while Asian academics welcomed the proposals as possible first steps toward the creation of a common regional currency, neither the ACU nor the AMU has gained traction among pol icymakers
Q u e e n E l i z a b e t h ’s c r o w n j e we l s ? 08 WORLD VIEW 17th September 22_Layout 1 9/16/2022 11:11 PM Page 1
better off saving itself
Unable to service their foreign debt, Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support But the IMF’s rescue packages were too little, too late, and came with excessively harsh conditions east Asia, it increasingly appeared, would be
But research has found that two child policies have disproportionately harmed dalits, tribals and Adivasis, Other Backward Castes, Muslims and most of all women Such policies have re duced the representation of these groups in local politics They have also resulted in sex selective abortions the desertion of wives and female infants and non immunisation of daughters to avoid registration
H e ghost of population control was resurrected yet again last year after Uttar Pradesh and Assam announced policies to promote the two child norm It reinvigorated the popular belief that some people and communities have too many children and impede national development The default solution envisaged under these policies is to penalise people with more than two children through disincentives rather than addressing the root causes of high fertility As research shows, punitive policies of population control have ac tually done more harm than good, especially to people who are already marginalised
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way for the fulfillment of the AMF s prom ise: In 2009 the CMI became the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM), a multilateral reserve pooling scheme totaling $120 billion In 2014 the facility was ex panded to $240 billion
The tradition of blaming overpopulation for hampering development goes back to famines in India in 1876 ’78, which killed more than five million people The misery was blamed on the country’s high population rather than the exploitative colonial policies that exacerbated the situation by limiting funding for relief
Further, as a consequence of the 42nd constitutional amendment in 1976, states whose pop ulation grew more than others are penalised by denying them proportional democratic repre sentation To reward states doing better in family planning efforts, this amendment froze parliamentary representation according to the figures of the 1971 Census for the 25 years This deadline has been extended several times It is now scheduled to be revised in 2026
for the cross border issuance of local cur rency bonds As a result factors like non standardised regulations, inadequate market liquidity and a lack of an effective securities settlement system continue to hinder the de velopment of cross border issuance of local currency bonds in the region
Building on the ACU idea, a group of
In 2005 the Asian development Bank proposed the most ambitious attempt at re gional financial cooperation: the Asian Cur rency Unit A basket of the ASeAn+3 currencies, the ACU was devised as an an chor to which countries in the region could tether their own currencies thereby deterring competitive devaluations and enabling coun tries in the region to float their currencies collectively against the US dollar This would enable faster adjustment of current account imbalances and promote regional trade and financial flows
Less is known about King Charles’ coronation ceremony, which will take place in 2023 (what took place a few days ago was the proclamation) Several British media believe the ceremony will be smaller, shorter and cheaper than his
considered to be the most valuable in the world are filled with stories of curses, palace intrigues and international conflicts
A state funeral and a coronation are two very ceremonial events, so there is much speculation about what jewels will be fea tured during the funeral, the queen’s coffin will be decorated with four objects, as tra dition dictates: the Royal Standard the Sovereign’s Scepter with Cross, the Sover eign’s Orb and the State Crown The latter features more than 3 000 precious stones but it is one in particular that has caught the attention of the press The Cullinan dia mond also known as the great Star of Africa, was found in South Africa in 1905 A Boer general bought the stone and gave it to edward VII King of the United King dom at the time, as a token of the loyalty of the Boer people The gift was made a few years after the Second Boer War in which the British empire fought two Boer Re publics: the South African Republic and the Orange Free State even back then, the ges ture was seen as an act of colonialist servi tude, and today many South Africans are calling for the diamond to be returned
Saturday 17 September 2022 08 WORLD VIEW
nevertheless, regional actors did not give up on cooperation In May 2000 the ten ASeAn countries, Brunei, Cambodia, In donesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines Singapore Thailand and Viet nam, plus China, Japan, and South Korea (ASeAn+3) signed the Chiang Mai Initia tive the region s first currency swap arrangement
mother ’s coronation in 1953 Charles III will receive St edward s Crown, the cen terpiece of the Crown Jewels from the Archbishop of Canterbury It is the most valuable crown in the collection, the one used to crown the monarchs of the United Kingdom It was made for the coronation of King Charles II Camila is expected to wear the Crown of Queen elizabeth with the Koh i noor
lapsed After waves of speculative attacks, the government had run out of foreign currency and be came unable to support its ex change rate peg to the US dollar So, it floated the baht, which went into freefall A wave of financial and non financial Thai corporates that had borrowed heavily in dol lars filed for bankruptcy The Asian financial crisis had begun
By enabling countries to swap their local currencies for US dollars for a fixed period of time, the CMI was supposed to help re gional borrowers overcome short term liq uidity challenges thereby serving as a complement to the IMF This opened the
In 1971, major Lok Sabha constituencies had a population of roughly one million people, with a narrow variation now, while the average parliamentarian from Rajasthan represents about 30 lakh citizens an MP from Tamil nadu represents fewer than 18 lakh people This leads to the “one person one vote” principle being diluted, with huge implications for democratic rep resentation in national policy decisions Freezing parliamentary seats and linking Central assis tance to family planning are products of emergency era policies that do not serve any purpose now Researchers have established that higher fertility rates are a symptom of underdevelopment rather than the cause of it Poverty and resource inequity lead to higher mortality and conse quently higher birth rates This is because the poor try to hedge against high death rates by having more children, who are an economic asset for the family Around the world, these trends have been reversed with an improvement in women’s lives, greater female literacy and employ ment and an overall equitable development process
Further, for democracies founded on the Lockean social contract, which locates sovereignty in we the people the duty of the government is to govern through appropriate policies rather than control the number of the populace itself Most of all, population control no longer needs to be a policy priority since India has achieved the replacement level fertility, according to the latest round of the national Family Health Survey 5 data: the country s fertility rate is 2 0 which means that Indian parents have only two children on average, leading to zero net growth of the population eventually What Indians need, instead, is access to voluntary, safe, accessible, and affordable family planning options, improvement in the socio economic position of women and a strengthening of the public health infrastructure to address the social determinants of health that influence fertility patterns
s t o c o n f l i c t s : W h a t w i l l h a p
T h e r e g i o n c e r t a i n l y h a d r e s o u r c e s T h o u g h s o m e c o u n t r i e s , l i k e T h a i l a n d , w e r e r u n n i n g c u r r e n t a c c o u n t d e f i c i t s , e a s t A s i a a s a w h o l e r a n a n e x t e r n a l s u r p l u s S o , i n S e p t e m b e r 1 9 9 7 , J a p a n p r o p o s e d p o o l i n g t h e r e g i o n s foreign exchange reserves and using them t o r e s c u e a i l i n g c o u n t r i e s T h e “ A s i a n Monetary Fund that would be established t o m a n a g e t h i s f a c i l i t y w o u l d i t w a s p r o m i s e d , m o v e f a s t e r a n d i m p o s e l e s s s t r i n g e n t c o n d i t i o n s t h a n t h e I M F B u t t h e U S a n d t h e I M F o b j e c t e d t o t h e i n i t i a t i v e a n d t h e A M F w a s s t i l l b o r n
More broadly greater economic and fi nancial cooperation is vital to Asia’s long term prosperity Yet, pursuing it, including the possible formation of an east Asian eco nomic Community, is fundamentally a polit ical, not an economic, question
Yu Yongding a former president of the China Society of World Economics and di rector of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of So cial Sciences, served on the Monetary Policy Committee of the People s Bank of China from 2004 to 2006
The imporTance of asian financiaL cooperaTion
More than two million people visit the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London every year The collection belongs to the British monarchy, not to Queen elizabeth herself, meaning they have automatically been passed on to King Charles III The new sov ereign, however, can loan them to different members of the royal family, as his mother did in the past Kate Middleton Prince William’s wife, has worn tiaras, brooches and chokers belonging to the royal family, as has Queen Consort Camila And even Meghan Markle, before she and her hus band Prince Henry distanced themselves from the family wore them to special events, including her wedding Typically, these pieces are only used for the coronation of a monarch in official portraits and on some ceremonial occasions
While it is known what will adorn the queen’s coffin, there is less information about the jewels she will be buried with Lisa Levinson, head of communications for the natural diamond Council jewelers association, told the British outlet Metro that the queen “is unlikely to be laid to rest in anything but her simple Welsh gold wedding band and a pair of pearl earrings Levinson said that the queen’s engagement ring, which belonged to Philip of edin burgh s mother, Princess Alice of Batten berg will probably be given to Princess Anne, although this has not been officially confirmed
As for the jewels bequeathed to the no blewoman Mary of Teck bought them back for around £10,000 ($11,500) and kept them in the family Queen elizabeth II wore them on more than one occasion now she will bequeath them, secretly and perhaps tax free, among her own family e p e n t o
WHAT JEWELS WILL THE QUEEN BE BURIED WITH?
The Koh i noor, also spelled Kohi noor, is one of the largest diamonds in the world Wars have been fought in its name It belonged to Hindu, Mongol, Persian and Afghan monarchs And in 1877, it passed into the hands of the British royal family, when Queen Victoria was named empress of India The jewel was set in the center of the Crown of Queen elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother) in 1937 for her coronation as queen consort And now King Charles III has inherited the crown Many hope that he will not be the one to wear it and that, following family tradition or superstition he will give it to his wife the queen consort Camila Parker Bowles
Pr ojECt syndiCatE Y u Yo n g d i n g
Second, although the Asian bond market has made impressive headway over the past ten years, the development of local currency bond markets is driven by domestic financial needs rather than regional financial cooper ation, and cross border local currency bonds are rarely issued In fact, individual coun tries financial development has significantly outpaced the development of infrastructure
Another milestone came in 2002, when ASeAn+3 launched the Asian Bond Mar kets Initiative (ABMI), in the hope that a re gional bond market would strengthen financial stability reduce vulnerability to capital flow reversals, mitigate currency and maturity mismatches, and counter over banking” In March 2022 emerging east Asia’s local currency bond market was worth $23 5 trillion
Sushant Kumar (he/him) is PhD candidate in Public Policy at the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University in Boston
Third since the Asian financial crisis most east Asian countries have adopted a managed floating exchange rate regime But none of them has pegged their currencies to a basket of east Asian currencies based on the ACU, largely because they are unwilling to accept constraints on their exchange rates for the sake of exchange rate stabilisation among regional currencies
But Lauren Kiehna author of the book The Court Jeweler, disagrees In an inter view with the online magazine Page Six, Kiehna suggests that the queen will be queath everything to her son, for historical and financial reasons “I think it’s very likely that the Queen has followed in the footsteps of her grandmother, Queen Mary, and her mother, Queen elizabeth the Queen Mother and bequeathed all of her jewelry directly to the new monarch, King Charles III,” she said What’s more, direct inheritance between monarchs as is the case with Queen elizabeth and King Charles, is free of the 40% tax that applies to any other inheritance in england that ex ceeds £325,000 ($374,000)
There are also questions about what will happen to Queen elizabeth’s personal jewelry collection, which is not connected to the monarchy, and can be bequeathed freely The 300 piece collection which is worth more than €120 million, is largely made up of jewelry Queen elizabeth inher ited from her grandmother Queen Mary of Teck, and her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria Some British outlets sug gest that the items will be divided between Camilla, Kate Middleton and her daughter Charlotte
Unfortunately, Asian financial cooper ation has been losing momentum in recent y e a r s f o r s e v e r a l r e a s o n s F i r s t , t h e n e e d f o r r e g i o n a l l i q u i d i t y s u p p o r t h a s b e c o m e l e s s u rg e n t M o s t o f t h e A S e A n + 3 c o u n t r i e s r u n c u r r e n t a c c o u n t s u r p l u s e s m o s t o f t h e t i m e , a n d t h e r e g i o n h a d a c c u m u l a t e d s o m e $ 3 7 t r i l l i o n i n f o r e i g n e x c h a n g e r e s e r v e s b y t h e t i m e t h e g l o b a l f i n a n c i a l c r i s i s e r u p t e d i n 2 0 0 8 , a m o r e t h a n s i x f o l d i n c r e a s e f r o m t h e $ 5 4 2 b i l l i o n t h e y h e l d i n 1 9 9 7
It is worth noting that the top 10% of the Indian population owns 57% of national income compared to the bottom 50% which owns merely 13%, according to the latest World Inequality report This massive inequality in resource distribution as well as policy failures must be con sidered before blaming “too many people” for India’s poor economic development
But it is not just the Koh i noor that has a sinister backstory The Crown Jewels a collection of jewels and treasures that is
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Why punitive population control measures are harmful and distract from the real problem inequalit y
The practice of sealing royal wills began with the death of Prince Francis of Teck in 1910 In his will, this well known woman izer bequeathed his family s most valuable jewels to his mistress, a noble and married woman Queen Mary of Teck, Francis’ sis ter, asked the court to make her relative s will secret to avoid a scandal And she suc ceeded, setting a precedent that the Wind sors have clung to every time a family member has died during this time, the family has asked the court to keep 33 wills secret, while assets worth at least £187 million (about $217 million) by today’s standards have been distributed behind the public s back, according to calculations by The guardian The court has never rejected one of these requests
El Pais E n r i q u E A l pA ñ é s
Highway Heavy traffic can't pass due to single track on Mehran Highway as well and light traf fic is also slow due to water It was further told that traffic of Indus Highway has been moved to National Highway (N 5) by using Dadu Moro bridge and Qazi Aamri bridge Federal Minister for Communications issued on spot instructions to NHA to utilize all the available resources for earlier clearance of affected roads with cooper ation of provincial Government and local admin istration Mr Asad Mehmood further said that construction of Sukkur Hyderabad Motorway is an important requirement and priority is being attached for earlier start of construction activi ties on this only missing link of Peshawar Karachi Motorway (PKM) Continuing the Fed eral Minister said , he will meet the Chief Min ister of Sindh to obtain cooperation of the provincial Government for realization of this much awaited project
Concer ted effor ts being made to align syllabus with market needs: Prof Saboor
TURBAT: Prof Dr Abdul Saboor Balooch, Dean Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities University of Turbat (UoT) has said that concerted efforts will be made to cater to the needs of the affiliated colleges and align the colleges' syllabus with market needs as per the policy guidelines of the Higher Education Commission
To help the flood victims, the National University of Technology organized a flood relief camp on its campus from 05 09 September 2022, during which the students, faculty, support staff and all the NUTECH employees participated whole heartedly NUTECH employees donated cash, food items, life saving medicines, baby milk, hygiene items, clothes, clean drinking water and kitchen utensils All these items, approximately 7 tons, were sent from Nur Khan PAF Base Chaklala to Rojahan, Jaffarabad Apart from these items, the NUTECH staff deposited two and a half million rupees into the COAS Flood Relief Account and will further deposit another one million rupees by the end of September 2022 In this noble cause, Panjtan Pak Welfare Trust and Mir Foundation also supported NUTECH and helped in collecting donations Both these organizations donated relief goods worth rupees two million Relief goods so collected, approximately 5 tons, were loaded in five trucks and NUTECH facilitated its distribution in Tehsil Proha, DI Khan on 05 September 2022 through FC KP (south)
brother,
BEIJING s ta f f r e p o r t
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09NEWS Saturday 17 September 2022 | ISLAMABAD
L A H O R E: University of Management and Technology (UMT) President Ibrahim Hasan Murad has announced "Dr Hasan Murad Engineering Scholarship worth 100 million rupees to support the flood affected youth of Pakistan This scholarship is being offered through the collaboration of ILM Fund
He expressed these views while presiding over the meeting of the Affiliation Committee of the University held at UoT Dr Abdul Saboor emphasized to provide ample opportunities to the colleges for the capacity building of their teaching staff The visit report of the affiliated colleges was also presented in the meeting which was appreciated by the members of the forum The Affiliation Committee was informed that during the visit of the affiliated colleges, the administration of some colleges has been advised for taking immediate action to address academic and infrastructural missing facilities of colleges The members of the committee expressed their satisfaction that the academic standards in the colleges were improving The forum also discussed and resolved the matter of the syllabus of AD and BS programs of colleges already affiliated with UoT and the ones still awaiting affiliation Dr Nasir Kiazai, Director Institute of Education and Research (IER) UoB, Ganguzar Baloch, UoT s Registrar, Dr Adeel Ahmed, Dean Academics, Dr Riaz Ahmed, Director Quality Enhancement Cell, Mr Shakeel Ahmed, Controller of Examinations, Professor Sirbuland Khan Ex Principal Tump College
video Link The meeting was joined by Luan Jianzhang, DG FAO, Tianjin Mu Government, Mr Liu Jinsong, DG Affairs Chinese Ministry of For eign Affairs, Ambassador Moin ul Haque, Murtaza Wahab,
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According to an estimate, there are over 178,000 new cases of cancer in Pakistan every year We anticipate continuing our tradition of providing financially supported treatment to over 75% of our patients despite emerging challenges pr
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NUTECH sets up flood relief camp at campus
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Administrator, Karachi Municipal Government and a senior rep resentative from Chinese Peoples Associ ation for Friendship with Foreign Countries Speaking at the occasion, Am bassador Moin appreciated the urgent as sistance offered by Tianjin Municipality Recalling that two countries have always stood together in difficult times in the past, Ambassador Moin said that Chinese as sistance to Pakistan for flood victims has once again proven the unique nature of fraternal ties between the two countries Wo r k o n S u k k u r - H yd e r a b a d M o t o r w ay t o b e s t a r t e d o n p r i o r i t y P TA co n d u c t s Q o S s u r ve y i n Pu n j a b, K hy b e r Pa k ht u n k hwa & B a l o c h i s t a n C hina T ianjin municipality donates relief items to Pakistan
Pakistan Navy is determined to con tinue the rescue and relief operation till the rehabilitation of all distressed countrymen
downpours during ongoing monsoon season had cost human losses and dam aged infrastructure The Naval Chief
CHIEf Of NAvAl STAff vISITS flOOD AffECTED AREAS Of SUJAwAl
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has carried out an independent Quality of Service (QoS) Survey in 14 Cities of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in order to measure the per formance and quality of Cel lular Mobile Operators (CMOs) services being pro vided to their customers Dur ing the survey KPIs enlisted in the Next Generation Mobile Service (NGMS) license and Cellular Mobile Network Quality of Service (QoS) Reg ulations 2021 were checked using state of the art auto mated QoS Monitoring & Benchmarking Tool The checked KPIs pertained to voice, network coverage, SMS and mobile
network latency and webpage loading time was found below the threshold Similarly SMS and voice KPIs have also been found below the licensed threshold in some areas Even tually, necessary instructions have been issued to the opera tors for taking corrective measures so as to ensure im provement in the service qual ity upto the standards The survey results have been placed at PTA s website ( h t t p s : / / p t a g o v p k / e n / c o n s u m e r s u p p o r t / q o s survey/qos survey) for information of the subscribers
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tionsby Pakistan Navy Speaking on the occasion, the Naval Chief underscored that heavy
H I E F of the Naval Staff Ad miral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi visited flood af fected areas of Sujawal to review flood relief opera tions by Pakistan Navy
China stands with the people of Pakistan in this difficult time Expressing his good wishes for the early rehabilitation of the flood victims Li Hongzhong reaffirmed the resolve of Tianjin Municipality to continue to deepen ties with the friendship cities and provinces of Pakistan A formal launch ceremony of the re lief goods was held yesterday through
National University of Technology is deeply grateful to Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and FC KP (South) for its great support in this campaign We are also grateful to our volunteers and donors, especially Panjtan Pak Welfare Trust, Mir Foundation and our entire NUTECH community pr
SKMCH achieves Joint Commission International Enterprise Accreditation
The People Government of China Tian jin Municipality has announced a relief pack of RMB 10 million for relief and re habilitation of flood victims in Pakistan
A comprehensive briefing was given to the Naval Chief regarding on going rescue and relief operations
During the briefing, Chief of the Naval Staff was apprised with detailed review of inundated areas and on ground flood situation as well as on going relief and rehabilitation opera
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Federal Minister for Communications Mr Asad Mehmood is on tour to Sindh Province to review work being carried out by National Highway Authority to restore its rains and flood affected road network falling in Sindh Federal Secretary Communications and Chairman NHA captain (R ) Muhammad Khurram Agha and provincial leader of JUI Karachi Allama Rashid Mahmood Somro are accompanying him At NHA zonal office Karachi, Captain R Muhammad Khurram Agha, NHA's Member south zone Muneer Ahmed Memon gave briefing to the Federal Minister on condition of Indus Highway, Na tional Highway (N 5) and Mehran Highway It was told in the briefing that Indus Highway is affected due to flooding rails where water still stands about up to 11 feet on Sehwan Meher
Sharing his grief and condolences with the bereaved families Li Hongzhong said that as all weather strategic cooperative partner and iron
urged the commitment to overcome the challenges posed by natural disaster with continuous efforts and support The Admiralinteracted with troops deployed in flood affected areas and appreciated their professional prowess and dedication for ensuring timely assistance and help to the flood affectees Chief of the Naval Staff also appreciated the efforts put in by Pak istan Navy along with civil administra tion and various philanthropist organizations providing continuous as sistance to our aggrieved brethren
The relief items include tents food packages and blankets needed urgently in Pakistan The decision was an nounced last week in a special letter ad dressed to Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque by Party Secre tary of Tianjin, Li Hongzhong
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Chief Whip in Senate and Managing Director Pakistan Baitul Mal, Amir Fida Paracha meeting at PBM Head Office in Islamabad on Friday pr
The aim of this scholarship is to make higher education accessible for all, particularly for the young generation students, orphans, handicapped, children of martyrs, minorities and financially constrained from the remote and flood affected areas of Pakistan Elaborating on the scholarship announcement President UMT Ibrahim Hasan Murad said the vision and mission of Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad (shaheed) was to make education accessible in the country so that every underprivileged child could be equipped with the gift of knowledge “Dr Hasan believed that education creates awareness that can play a key role in the development and progress of the country, Mr Murad added that UMT is working day and night for the promotion of higher education in the country pr
UMT President announces ‘Dr Hasan Murad Engineering Scholarship’ wor th Rs100m
broadband/data services The Drive test teams selected sur vey routes in such a manner to cover main roads, service roads and majority of sec tors/colonies in the surveyed areas Based upon the compli ance level of each KPI against threshold defined in the re spective licenses and QoS Regulations CMOs have been ranked between 1st to 4th po sition in Mobile Network Coverage and Voice Services as per compliance level in sur veyed cities Similarly, in Mo bile Broadband Speed segment, the ranking has been done with respect to the high est data download and upload speed, network latency and webpage loading time The survey results revealed that CMOs are compliant with re spect to upload and download speed to a great extent, while
The service quality monitor ing activity is being carried out by PTA field teams with the ultimate aim to pursue the operators for provision of bet ter mobile services and to pro mote a healthy competition among the operators
LAHORE: Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospitals and Research Centres have recently completed a comprehensive enterprise wide survey and achieved Joint Commission International (JCI) Enterprise Accreditation It is important to note that Shaukat Khanum is one of the earliest organisations to have achieved this system wide “Enterprise Edition” of the Joint Commission International Accreditation
The Joint Commission International is a USA based global leader for accrediting health care quality and patient safety in hospitals across the world SKMCH&RC, Lahore, first achieved JCI accreditation in 2018 and re accreditation in 2021; while SKMCH&RC, Peshawar was first accredited in 2019 and has undergone re accreditation now in 2022 Shaukat Khanum’s ‘Karachi Diagnostic Center and Clinic has achieved its initial accreditation in September 2022 This is a testament to the excellence of care provided at all locations of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust The recently held enterprise survey evaluated how the Shaukat Khanum healthcare system functions with the ability to deliver consistent and coordinated high quality care across its different facilities in Lahore, Peshawar, and Karachi The process involved a close evaluation of administrative, clinical, and operational domains JCI Enterprise Accreditation confirms that all activities, from patient care to procurement to waste disposal to facility safety, adhere to the same high standards and strict protocols across our network As a result of this accreditation, patients can rest assured that they will receive the best care possible in accordance with international standards They can rely with confidence on the diagnostic services which have been evaluated through rigorous quality checks for the transport and testing of laboratory samples Our pharmacy dispensing services can be used to obtain high quality medications
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Leaders should “work together to promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction,” Xi said Putin hailed the growing influence of countries outside the West, slamming what he called “instruments of protectionism, illegal sanctions and economic selfishness”
Xi criticised zero sum games and bloc politics”, a veiled reference to the United States which Beijing has criti cised in the past for leaning on allies to counter China’s spectacular rise to the status of a superpower in waiting Putin, Russia’s paramount leader since 1999, has repeatedly said that the United States is plotting so called “colour revolutions” similar to those
Putin and Xi met on Thursday for their first face to face talks since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, and on the Chinese leader ’s first trip abroad since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic
Afghan insurgent group leader Ahmad Massoud on Friday urged the diaspora to unite to find a “po litical” solution to end Taliban rule describing his appeal as the beginning of a “new phase”
Xi met with Erdogan on Friday, calling for more “political mutual trust between the two countries and pushing for more cooperation on his signature Belt and Road global trade initiative Xi was also set to have his first face to face discussion with Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Friday after Raisi met Putin on Thursday u s, Ta i wa n r a i s e c o n c e r n s: For Xi, the summit was an opportunity to shore up his credentials as a global statesman ahead of a pivotal congress of the ruling Communist Party in October, where he is widely expected to secure an unprecedented third term as president
On Friday, Xi said what can be drawn upon from the group’s rich practices includes political trust, mu tually beneficial cooperation equality openness and inclusiveness, and equity
“We are in the very beginning of a new phase, he said The Vienna conference brought together some 30 Taliban opponents mostly living in exile
and justice, which fully embodies the Shanghai Spirit
At the summit statements on safe guarding international energy and food security were also adopted Xi pledged that China will provide developing countries in need with emergency hu manitarian assistance of grain and other supplies worth 1 5 billion yuan
During his speech Xi called for the SCO members to strengthen prac tical cooperation among themselves He said that China is ready to work with all other stakeholders to pursue the Global Development Initiative pro posed by China and jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative
10 FOREIGN NEWS Saturday 17 September 2022 ISLAMABAD
The SCO which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan was set up in 2001 as a political, economic and security organisation to rival Western institutions
Recalling a statement made by UN Secretary General Anto nio Guterres during a solidarity visit to Pakistan, PM Shehbaz
Massoud, who heads the Na tional Resistance Front (NRF) an armed group waging an insur gency in Afghanistan’s northern Panjshir Valley, said it was time to try to bring the Taliban back to the negotiating table
Xi told leaders at the summit that it was time to reshape the international system and abandon zero sum games and bloc politics”
said that countries like Pakistan, which “have done almost nothing to contribute to global warming, do not deserve to be amongst the frontline countries impacted the most by climate change ”
China’s stability obsessed Com munist Party, which is next month likely to give Xi a third leadership term and cement his place as the coun try’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has in the past warned against so called colour revolutions T h e s h a n g h a i s p i r i T c a r
Pakistan is witnessing what he called super floods caused by “monsoon on steroids,” a calamity that has affected more than 33 million people, resulted in the death of over 1,500 people, and caused damages to private and public infrastructure worth $30 billion, according to official estimates
The world has entered a new pe riod of turbulent change, we must grasp the trend of the times, strengthen solidarity and cooperation and pro mote the construction of a closer com munity of destiny with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Xi said “We should support each other ’s efforts to safeguard security and devel opment interests, prevent external forces from staging colour revolutions, and jointly oppose interference in the internal affairs of other countries under any pretext ”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that the interna tional community s sustained support in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood ravaged Pakistan is a matter of justice not just solidarity
The growing role of new centres of power who cooperate with each other is becoming more and more clear,”
“It is not just a matter of sol idarity but a matter of justice he emphasised, calling on the indus trialised nations to “meet their climate finance commitments, with a balanced focus on adapta tion and mitigation
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, he proposed debt swaps for climate action,” saying death, devastation, and destruction are “driven by global climate change causes,” despite the fact that Pak istan contributes less than 1% of the global carbon footprint Pakistan is facing a “brunt of natural calamities in the form of heat waves, glacial outbursts, droughts, torrential rains, and un precedented monsoons,” he said,
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“We owe the SCO’s remarkable success to the Shanghai Spirit And we will continue to follow its guidance as we forge ahead,” he pledged B e y o n d s e c u r i T y: At a time when geopolitical conflict and nontra ditional security threats such as ex tremism and terrorism are on the rise, the SCO plays an important role in safeguarding regional security and joint prosperity Yet its role goes be yond security
SAMARKAND
The prime minister also pro posed establishing a “loss and damage financing facility to compensate developing countries most severely impacted by cli mate change
The elder Massoud known as the Lion of Panjshir, was assassi nated in 2001 by Al Qaeda, two days before the September 11 at tacks in the United States
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Besides the national effort to mitigate flood related damages, the premier said that Pakistan is “regularly receiving humanitarian
SAMARKAND Ag e n c i e s
The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro Russian president was toppled in Ukraine s “Maidan” Revolution and Russia an nexed Crimea, with Russian backed forces fighting Ukraine s armed forces
A n A d o l u Ag e n c y
In a sign that the bloc is far from fully united, clashes escalated along the borders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Friday, with both sides accusing the other of responsibility and of using heavy weapons Putin was due later Friday to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been a key broker in deals between Russia and Ukraine on issues like grain shipments Erdogan told leaders at the summit that efforts were being made to finalise the conflict in Ukraine through diplomacy as soon as possible”
China’s Xi, Russia’s Putin challenge world order at regional summit
relief items through air, sea and land routes ”
The summit has been put forward as an alternative to “Western centric organisations”, at a time of increasing pressure on Moscow over Ukraine and growing anger in Beijing over US support for Taiwan
H I N A’s Xi Jinping said on Friday that the world had entered a new period of tur bulence and that partners such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Central Asian lead ers should prevent foreign powers from instigating colour revolutions Xi, on his first trip outside China since early 2020, told a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the ancient Uzbek Silk Road city of Samarkand that they should support each other to deter foreign meddling
“Therefore, the response calls for international solidarity and collective action, Shehbaz said during the interview on the side lines of the Shanghai Coopera tion Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan
The Chinese president also urged the group to fully implement the coop eration documents in such areas as trade and investment, infrastructure, supply chains scientific and techno logical innovation, and artificial intel ligence
which swept established elites from power in places such as Ukraine
The sheer scale of the calamity has stretched our re sources and capacities to the limit, thus necessitating support from the international commu nity he explained adding and we have already seen an outpour ing of that support and solidarity, with a large number of our friends and partners stepping for ward with assistance to buttress the government led relief ef forts ”
C o lo u R R e v o l u t i o n s ’ m u s t b e P R e v e n t e d : X i t e l l s s C o m e m b e R s e h b a z p ro p o s e s d e b t s wa p fo r c l i m ate a c t i o n
His son has since picked up the mantle against Taliban forces, repeatedly denouncing the Is lamist regime as illegitimate
Putin said Ta l k s w i T h T u r k e y: The summit has been Putin’s first major international outing since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February, sparking a conflict that has left thousands dead and seen Russia hit with waves of economic sanctions Xi on Thursday said China was willing to work with Russia to support each other s core interests though Putin admitted that Beijing had “concerns” about the situation in Ukraine that he would address
It has been shown that the Shang hai Spirit is the source of strength for the development of the SCO and also the fundamental guide the SCO mem ber states must continue to follow in the years to come, he said
The Shanghai Spirit, named after the Chinese city in which the group was founded and as its undergirding values and guidelines, features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consul tation, respect for cultural diversity, and pursuit of common development
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The United States denies such claims and says they show the para noid nature of Putin’s Russia
adding that one third of the coun try is underwater
“We want to unify the dias pora and slowly expand the di alogue and reach to the point where we have a roadmap for the future of Afghanistan,” he told a conference in Vienna
“To date, we have received over 100 flights carrying neces sary goods including food, pumps, medicines, tents, hygiene kits, blankets, (and) drinking water he said lauding Türkiye s role in helping the country during difficult times
Afghan insurgent leader c alls for new antiTaliban ‘politic al ’ front
r i e d f o rwa The Samarkand SCO summit takes place at a time when the world is witnessing the com bined impact of a pandemic unseen in a century, a de globalization trend and other complex factors, with the global economic governance system facing challenges
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for a shake up of the world order as they met with Asian leaders Friday for a summit challenging Western influence The meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in ex Soviet Uzbekistan brought Putin and Xi together with the leaders of SCO members India, Pakistan and four Central Asian nations as well as the presidents of Iran and Turkey
Many groups recently formed outside Afghanistan were “not happy” with the current state of af fairs inside the country, Massoud said adding it was time to over come differences and “heal the wounds” The Taliban’s takeover after US led forces withdrew last year has set back women’s rights and created fertile ground for ter rorist groups, he said Massoud is the son of leg endary anti Soviet and anti Tal iban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud
The cricket governing body, however, said in a statement, not directly addressing Shahid, that i t h a s a l w a y s b e e n r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a r r a n g i n g medical care and rehabilitation of all of the play ers and will do so in future too
It goes without saying that the PCB has al ways been and will continue to be responsible for arranging medical care and rehabilitation of all its players requiring any treatment, read a state ment originally issued to share updates on Pak i s t a n b a t t e r F a k h a r Z a m a n a n d S h a h e e n ’s
Speaking to a private TV channel recently, Shahid Afridi had claimed that Shaheen went to England for rehabilitation at his own expense “I arranged a doctor for him there and he contacted him PCB is providing nothing to Shaheen,” Shahid had said Shaheen was ruled out of the T20 Asia Cup 2022 due to a knee injury He travelled to London for his rehabilitation
Djokovic, who is six years younger than Federer and has won Grand Slams as the Swiss player s powers have dimmed, had been conspicuous by his absence among the tributes on Thursday But a day later he said: “Roger,
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A 20 member squad is led by Jos Buttler whereas Moeen Ali will be deputising him as vice captain Five uncapped players have also been included in the Eng l i s h s q u a d f o r t h e t o u r t o P a k i s t a n : b a t s m e n J o r d a n C o x a n d Wi l l J a c k s a l o n g s i d e s e a m e r s To m H e l m , Olly Stone and Luke Wood A l t h o u g h f o r m a n y p l a y e r s i n t h e E n g l i s h s q u a d , i n c l u d i n g c a p t a i n J o s B u t t l e r, t h i s w i l l b e t h e i r f i r s t v i s i t t o P a k i s t a n i n t e r e s t i n g l y 11 o u t o f 2 0 p l a y e r s o f t h e s q u a d h a v e a c t u a l l y p l a y e d i n P a k i s t a n b e f o r e T h i s i s t h a n k s t o t h e P a k i s t a n S u p e r L e a g u e , t h e p r e m i e r e T 2 0 c r i c k e t l e a g u e o f P a k i s t a n a n d a l s o c u r r e n t l y o n e o f t h e t o p l e a g u e s i n t h e w o r l d
Madrid derby doubts over benzema, griezmann
The duo played 17 matches at Grand Slam tourna ments, including five finals, with Djokovic leading that head to head 11 6 “Your career has set the tone for what
Spurs stars aren’t ‘undroppable’, warns Conte
Malan who currently plays for Yorkshire first ap peared in PSL in 2016 in the inaugural edition of the PSL Malan stayed with the Zalmi squad for the fol lowing season too when the team won the tournament for the first time Later that year, Malan made his in
Novak Djokovic paid a warm tribute to his rival Roger Federer on Friday after the Swiss tennis great s an nouncement that he will retire after the Laver Cup this month Djokovic, reacting 24 hours after Federer said he was quitting, said they had over a decade of incredible moments and battles to think back on”
PCB responds to Afridi’s allegations over Shaheen’s treatment
Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever would have dreamt and now I must recognise when it is time to end my competitive career ”
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medical rehabilitation
herschelle gibbs suggests how babar a zam can improve his strike rate
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D jokovic leads Federer tributes as Swiss great prepares to quit the cour t
The statement said that Fakhar who had landed awkwardly on his right knee while fielding during the ACC T20 Asia Cup final in Dubai will depart for London today (Friday) to undergo rehabilitation
it s hard to see this day and put into words all that we ve shared in this sport together
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it means to achieve excellence and lead with integrity and poise,” the Serb said on a social media “It’s an ho nour to know you on and off court, and for many more years to come ”
“As per the protocols, the PCB has scheduled his medical appointments with specialists who will be providing the best medical care for his rehabil itation,” it read
Antonio Conte has warned his Tottenham stars that no one is undroppable in the aftermath of their sloppy Champions League defeat at Sporting Lisbon Conte’s side crashed to their first loss in eight games in all competitions this season as Sporting scored twice in stoppage time to win 2 0 on Tues day Although Tottenham had been in good form before their trip to Portugal there have been concerns over the form of South Korea forward Son Heung min Son has failed to score a single goal this term after finishing as the Premier League s joint top scorer last season Harry Kane also missed several chances in the Sporting defeat and Conte was quick to make it clear he won’t tolerate sustained periods of poor form even from his best players There are no players that are undrop pable This has to be very clear, Conte told reporters on Thursday “If I am telling this it is only to protect my players and to give them the possibility to be, in every moment, at the top “Then you know very well you can play one game well another you can score, another not, but my task is to try to protect my players and to protect the team In the Champions League they are always massive games and for this reason I need to have all my players available “I need all my players available for rotation to be in every moment ready when I call them to play and to play well for the team, for the club, for the fans, for everybody Conte was pleased to see Tottenham s players were so angry after the loss and he called on them to use their frustration to fuel a bounce back result when Leices ter visit north London for Saturday’s Premier League clash
The flamboyant all rounder claimed that the PCB was not providing financial support to Sha heen for rehabilitation and medical treatment
Federer s knee problems restricted him to only three of the 11 Grand Slams played since the start of 2020 and he said his body had sent him “a message”
Atletico Madrid are determined to put a dent in reign ing champions Real Madrid s 100 percent record when the teams meet on Sunday in the derby at the Wanda Metropolitano in La Liga Carlo Ancelotti may be without last season’s top scorer Karim Benzema, who is racing against time to recover from a thigh injury, but that hasn t stopped his team continuing their per fect start “We’ll see if he can train or not we won’t take risks,” said the Italian coach “If he trains well, then he will play ” Last weekend, Real Madrid thrashed Real Mallorca 4 1 with Eden Hazard as a false nine On Wednesday night they fought their way to a 2 0 win over RB Leipzig with Rodrygo operating in the middle Madrid lifted the European Super Cup against Eintra cht Frankfurt and have eight wins from eight games across all competitions Although they are not dominat ing games, there is a certain inevitability about An celotti s side so far I haven t asked the team to play fantastic football ” said Ancelotti after the scrappy win over Leipzig “I asked them to play a simple game, to win ” Benzema’s return would improve the fluidity of Madrid’s attack, while there are question marks over a French striker across town for Atletico too Antoine Griezmann has only been used off the bench so far in this campaign, despite coach Diego Simeone admitting the team is at their best when the forward plays When Griezmann is on the pitch, the team plays better,” said a frustrated Simeone He links well when it comes to building the play with Joao (Felix) With Atletico in volved in a transfer wrangle with Barcelona over Griezmann and trying to avoid paying a 40 million euro clause to make his loan deal permanent if he plays over 50 percent of the time, it has been a frustrating start to the season for the forward
Pa k v S E n g : 1 1 o u t o f 2 0 E n g l a n d C r i C k Et E r S h av E P l ay E d i n Pa k i S ta n b E f o r E , t h a n kS t o P S l
Strike rate of Pakistan’s opening duo, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, has been under radar for quite some time now Pakistan captain Babar Azam is arguably the best all format batter in world cricket right now but the 27 year old had a poor Asia Cup where he only scored 68 runs in six innings Another point of concern for Pakistan in T20Is is the strike rate of the opening duo, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam Former South African opener Herschelle Gibbs who was also the head coach of Karachi Kings in PSL 6, has advised Babar Azam on how he can improve his strike rate While quot ing Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim s opinion on the Rizwan Babar strike rate, Gibbs wrote: “If Babar adds one or two more attacking options to his game, his strike rate will improve and be even more effective Babar mostly relies on classic shots and doesn’t play with a high risk intent Gibbs’ advice might help Babar as if he starts going for a few high risk adventurous strokes it will open up more run scoring avenues for him
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has now re acted to the statement given by Shahid Afridi where he said that pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi is paying for his own rehabilitation in England and is staying in the coun try on his own money Akram said that if this is true then it is indeed shocking as Shaheen Afridi is a top player and is “box office He also said that it would be really unfair if the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is not looking after their main stars
However, late Thursday night, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a clarification, saying the board will always be responsible for arranging medical care for all their players
T w o g r e aT s g o n e: Tennis has now lost two of its greatest names in quick succession, after the 40 year old Williams bowed out following a third round defeat at the US Open this month “I wanted to find the perfect way to say this, as you so eloquently put this game to rest perfectly done just like your career ” Williams who won 23 major titles, said on Instagram “I have al ways looked up to you and admired you Our paths were always so similar so much the same You inspired count less millions and millions of people including me and we will never forget ” Nadal, arguably Federer ’s greatest on court rival said it had been an honour to face him The pair played 40 times, including nine Grand Slam finals, with Nadal holding a 24 16 winning record
In the last few seasons, a record number of Eng lish players have participated in the PSL for various franchises especially in the most recent season where 27 English players ended up featuring in the PSL Flamboyant batters Dawid Malan and Phil Salt are actually among those English players who starred in the PSL in many seasons before making their interna tional debut for England
“For this reason we have to be a bit angry, to try and have a good reaction, because now we have the possibility to play another game in the Premier League and for us it’s important to get a win,” he said “At the same time you know you’re playing against Leicester We are talking about Brendan Rodgers, who is a really good manager, who won a lot in his career, so for this reason we have to pay great attention
Tributes had also came in for the 41 year old from Rafael Nadal while Serena Williams welcomed him to the “retirement club” after the American quit the game this month On Thursday, Federer admitted his battles with a knee problem had forced him to call time on a his toric career that has yielded 20 Grand Slam titles and earned him a reputation as one of the most elegant play ers the game has ever seen His announcement was not a total surprise as he has been out of action since a quar
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was quick to respond to the shocking revelation made by former skipper Shahid Khan Afridi about pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi s knee rehabilitation in London
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Shahid Afridi said that pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi is paying for his own rehabilitation in England and is stay ing in the country on his own money
ter final loss at Wimbledon in 2021 after which he un derwent his third knee surgery in 18 months “The Laver Cup next week in London will be my final ATP event, Federer said in a social media statement in which he de scribed his 24 years on the tour as “an incredible adven ture While it sometimes feels like it went by in 24 hours it has also been so deep and magical that it seems as if I have already lived a lifetime,” the Swiss said
H E England cricket team has reached Pakistan on a historic tour to play a seven match T20I series This is England’s first tour of Pakistan in 17 years the last time England visited Pakistan was in 2005
StAFF REPoRt
ternational T20 debut for England, followed by his Test debut Malan was picked again by Peshawar Zalmi for the PSL’s 2019 edition The last time he featured in the PSL was in 2020 for Islamabad United Lancashire’s Phil Salt first played in the PSL back i n 2 0 1 8 w h e n h e w a s p i c k e d b y L a h o r e Q a l a n d a r s Salt later featured for Islamabad United in the follow i n g f e w s e a s o n s b e f o r e m a k i n g h i s O D I d e b u t a g a i n s t P a k i s t a n i n 2 0 2 1 I n 2 0 2 2 a f t e r m a k i n g h i s i n t e r n a t i o n a l T 2 0 d e b u t f o r E n g l a n d , h e r e t u r n e d t o L a h o r e Q a l a n a d a r s T h i s t i m e L a h o r e Q a l a n d a r s e n d e d t h e tournament as champions by winning the seventh edi t i o n o f t h e P S L
If this is true this is really shocking He is one of our top players, he is box office If PCB do not look after this kid, and if this is true (what Shahid Afridi said), then
“The PCB is also pleased to advise and update that Shaheen Shah Afridi is making excellent progress in his rehabilitation in London and is on track to make a full recovery in time for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Earlier Afridi had said: He has flown out to the UK on his own ticket, he is staying there on his own money, I arranged a doctor for him there, he contacted him there the PCB is not doing anything in all this As far as I know he is doing everything about staying there and coordination with doctors ”
The left arm premium fast bowler is on track to recovery as he keeps on sharing videos from his rehabilitation process
Australia 2022 the PCB said in an official statement
“It goes without saying that the PCB has always been and will continue to be responsible for arranging medical care and rehabilitation of all its players requir ing any treatment,” it added
Wa s i m A kr a m s h o c ke d by Af r i d i ’s
StAFF REPoRt
He has been named in Pakistan’s squad for T20 World Cup 2022 and the tri nation series in New Zealand
Saturday 17 September 2022 ISLAMABAD 11SPORTS
it is unfair He should have straightaway been sent to the best knee surgeon in the world But he is looking after all this himself, I am still shocked about it,” Akram said in an interview with local news channel
The PCB further stated that it will make all relevant logistical arrangements for Fakhar,” who will remain under the supervision of its advisory panel The doctors in the advisory panel are also treating Shaheen and he is making excellent progress with rehabilitation in London and is on his way to full recovery by the time of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia 2022 it added
GENEVA Ag e n c i e s
According to the evaluation uploaded on the company’s website, the consortium comprising SNGPL and PDIL has emerged successful because it is technically qualified and offering the lowest bid the OGDCL spokesman claimed
It is relevant to note that the government had approved the appointment of Zahid Mir as MD OGDCL during the last week Incumbent MD OGDCL Syed Khalid Siraj Subhani will surrender his seat after issuing a notification in this regard
“Such efforts will not succeed as all weather strategic cooperative partners are fully committed to strengthening bilateral cooperation for the benefit of both countries and people the state broadcaster quoted
He highlighted that the massive natural disaster caused by climate change called for urgent action by the international community to address this global threat
The ECP also sent letters to the KP governor and chief minister, asking them not to violate the code of conduct for the by polls during a rally of Imran Khan scheduled to be held in Charsadda on September 17 S ta f f R e p o R t
The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday refuted reports that China has abandoned Neelum Jhelum Hydroelectric Project (NJHP) or stoppage of work on it saying all such re ports are misleading and part of malicious propaganda to hurt Pakistan China relations
1 m f l o o d a f f e c t e d f a m i l i e s
port and solidarity with Pak istan as well as provision of generous financial assistance for the flood affected people
The prime minister said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan had exemplary relations,
He declared that the FO will not let any effort succeed in destabilizing Pakistan
The prime minister also expressed condolences on the recent martyrdom of 71 Azeri servicemen in an unprovoked attack by Armenia
They said that only two bidders, including Presson Descon Int, (Pvt ) Ltd (PDIL) in a joint venture (JV) with Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) and Hong Kong HuiHua Global Tech Ltd in a JV with a local company AJ Corporation have participated in the bidding process for the Uch Front End Compression Facility Project
P M , A ze r b a i j a n p re s i d e nt ex p re s s re s o l ve f o r co o p e rat i o n i n t ra d e, e n e rg y
She also said that the IMF rein stated the program based on the con ditions included tax reforms in the 2022 23 budget, generation of provin cial surplus and increasing the energy prices The condition also included
GOvT TO hOLD TaLks wITh IFIs FOr FLOODs assIsTanCE aFTEr DaMaGE assEssMEnT
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Thursday imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders, including the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, for violating the code of conduct of the upcoming by polls
S ta f f R e p o R t
ECP slaps fine on Imran, others over ‘code breach’
The FO spokesperson informed that the authorities detected a fault in the project and started working to fix the fault in coordina tion with the entity concerned Gezhouba Group of China
ISLAMABAD
And India is once again churning out false and baseless reports regarding Neelum Jhelum hydropower project declared FO spokesperson Asim Iftikhar during a weekly news briefing here on Friday
deeply embedded in common history, faith and culture
“There is no truth in any reports about work stoppage or so called abandonment
B I S P d i s b u r s e s R s 2 5 b t o o ve r
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on Friday expressed their mu tual resolve to enhance bilat eral cooperation in diverse areas including trade, energy and defence
Da n i ya l a h m a D
As per the ECP, PTI leaders, including party chair Imran Khan and KP CM Mehmood Khan attended a rally in Peshawar and used state resources ahead of the by polls Following the violation, District Monitoring Officer (DMO) Peshawar Shahabuddin had served notices to the PTI chair, KP CM and others and sought an explanation The counsels for Imran Khan, Mehmood Khan, and cabinet members appeared before the DMO and submitted written replies
An official of the ECP said the DMO while terming the reply not satisfactory, imposed a fine of Rs50,000 each on Imran Khan, Mehmood Khan, provincial cabinet members Taimur Saleem Jhagra Ishtiaq Urmar Shaukat Yousafzai Kamran Bangash, Anwar Zeb, Muhammad Iqbal, Khaliq ur Rehman, and Wazir Zada They were directed to deposit the fine to the state exchequer by September 18
pRayeR timingS FA J R S U N R I S E Z U H R A S R M AG H R I B I S H A 4:10 5:00 1:30 5:15 7 08 9:15 Saturday 17 September 2022 NEWS Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7 Al Baber Centre F/8 Markaz Islamabad for PT Print (Pvt) Limited Ph: 051 2204545 Email: newsroom@pakistantoday com pk
According to sources, former GM OGDCL, in an alleged connivance with the company’s officials, has been trying hard to ensure that the million dollar project is awarded to a firm of his choice despite the audit department’s opposition
In a meeting held on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooper ation Organization s Heads of State meeting in Samarkand, the two side also emphasized strengthening the links in the fields of education and peo ple to people contacts PM Sharif underlined the importance of unlocking the existing potential in the rela tionship by boosting bilateral engagement in the fields of trade, investment, agriculture, information technology and tourism He expressed his grat itude to Azerbaijan for its sup
Millat Tractors to extend plant shutdown
As per OGDCL’s spokesperson, all procurement cases involving Rs50 million or above are sent for a pre audit as a matter of standard practice and no exception was made in this case either “An internal audit is an obligation wherein files are reviewed clarifications sought and comments added
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s principled support to Azerbai jan on Nagorno Karabakh and congratulated on the his toric success in liberation of its occupied territories
LAHORE
This extends MTL’s production halt by an additional week as it had previously notified the stock exchange that it would halt production from August 30 till September 16
The spokesman also said that the head of internal audit reports of the Board Audit Committee operates independently in the performance of his duties He said the processing of a case within different sections of the company is purely an internal work flow arrangement
The fundamental question here is whether or not applicable processes and procedures have been followed in letter and spirit Evidence shows that the determination of a successful bidder in this case was finalised without any deviation
It would be premature to assess the impact of this prolonged production halt on MTL’s sales However, it will be difficult for them to achieve levels comparable to their August sales of 2 556 units as nearly all of September will pass in this production halt MTL and its shareholders will likely devise a plan going forward to not only recoup lost sales in September but also the amount they will dedicate as a member of the consortium of shareholders that will be bailing out Hyundai Nishat Motors
She said that there are five condi tions for the upcoming 9th review which include increase in electricity prices not giving tax amnesty dis couraging the culture of tax evasion and generating a Rs153 billion pri mary surplus budget The state minis ter also informed that the burden of additional taxes will fall on the rich and the expenditure will be controlled through the austerity program
z
reign, the external resources of the country were so low that they were not able to meet the needs without going into the IMF program, so the restoration of the IMF program was a priority The IMF will conduct the ninth review in late November or early December, she replied She also said that we have made an agreement with the IMF for the impo sition of petroleum levy but the most important was to save a nuclear power from bankruptcy are by making diffi cult decisions If we did not take diffi cult decisions, the country would have gone into a lot of trouble, she added The IMF conditions include giv ing the management plan to reduce the circulating debt, the Public Fi nance Management Act, the Single Treasury Account, the State Bank Act, the law to protect against losses in government institutions, anti money laundering and tax related provisions, she explained
In a move against its audit department’s advice, the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) is all set to award an $85 million worth Uch Front End Compression Facility Project to a firm where high ups are alleged to have personal links Profit has learnt that the tender for the UCH Front End Compression Facility Project was prepared to benefit an industrialist They informed that the bid documents submitted by two bidders participating in the process are also identical According to a spokesman of OGDCL, the contract will be awarded on the basis of the most advantageous bid from technical and financial perspectives whereas the procurement process has been concluded strictly in accordance with the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority’s (PPRA) framework and the company s procurement manual
However, sources informed Profit that former General Manager (GM) OGDCL Imran Shoukat, through a WhatsApp text message sent in a group named OGDCL YOUNG GOLDIES, has already informed group members whom present Managing Director (MD) Syed Khalid Siraj Subhani will award the tender to before leaving office
Profit has also learnt that a multinational company that manufactures similar material that is needed for the project has raised concerns regarding the bidding process The said company has alleged that OGDCL’s bidding process for the procurement is suspicious and will cause a hefty loss worth billions to the national exchequer annually In its complaint the potential vendor has highlighted that it is rather strange that the bidding competition policy of such a huge state owned exploration and production giant is between only the two bidders The vendor has claimed that there will be 20 to 30 per cent saving in the cost of the UCH project if OGDCL adopts a transparent method for awarding the contract
Dr Pasha, while denying the ru mours regarding the promulgation of a mini budget, highlighted that the government hasn’t planned to bring a mini budget as yet However, the gov ernment could revise the Public Sec tor Development Program (PSDP) in case of a surge in expenditures
BISP s budget of Rs 364 billion will not be reduced and the govern ment will not borrow directly from the State Bank, while spending on health and education will not be re duced, she added The federal govern ment has assured to implement the 14 structural benchmarks set by the global lender during 10th and 11th re view talks till June next year
She stated this while briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Com mittee on Finance which met under the chair of Qaiser Ahmad Sheikh Ayesha Pasha said that Pakistan has received $3 9 billion so far under the IMF program while another $2 6 billion would be provided by June next year The chairman committee ques tioned the State minister on what con ditions the IMF agreement was made Committee member Syed Hus sain Tariq questioned those who are making money from rising dollars Another member of committee Burgess Tahir said what are the con ditions due to which the growth of the economy is not increasing State minister for finance replied that when our government took the
s
excuses of local protests over the plant and the failure of the Pakistan police to offer credible security however China s sudden reversal of the project has created a major rift between Pakistan and China over joint hydropower projects
Millat Tractors Limited (MTL) has notified the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that the company will extend its plant shutdown till September 23 on account of damages to road infrastructure because of the floods
SAMARKAND
S ta f f R e p o R t
ISLAMABAD
Contrary to the assurance given to the IMF, the budget deficit exceeded Rs 1 6 trillion during the fiscal year 2022 However, the incumbent gov ernment has committed with the IMF to achieve a primary budget surplus target of Rs 153 billion, she added Member Operation NDMA told the committee that Balochistan has re ceived 436 percent more rains and Sindh 465 percent and the pattern of rains in monsoon has changed
A control room has been established at Be nazir Income Support Program headquarters to ensure smooth payments
Asim Iftikhar pointed out that the Chi
The Water and Power Development Au thority (Wapda), which operates hydropower stations, also confirmed that the project has been blocked and the power station has been closed for safety reasons
They further informed that the company’s audit department has recommended cancelling the tender as the criteria seems to be tailor made, bringing the competition down to only two bidders In addition, both bidders are supplying equipment produced by a single manufacturer despite different vendors being available in the market
TAT E Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha has said that the government will hold talks with International Financial Institutions (IFIs) including the IMF for economic assistance after assessing the damage caused by the flood
withdrawing the petrol subsidy given by the previous government
The reports said Chinese have given the
families have received Rs3,189,175,000; 600,150 families have received Rs15,003,750,000 in Sindh; 122,882 families have received Rs3,072,050,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 151,041 families of Punjab have received Rs4 027 000 000
She mentioned that the coalition government will achieve an annual tax target of more than Rs 7 4 trillion despite the flood situation in the coun try Criticizing the PTI government, the minister highlighted that they had violated agreement with the IMF
nese development group has already attained full mobilisation at the site and work is being carried out smoothly on the project with its completion projected in 2023
ISLAMABAD a h m a D a h m a Da n
An amount of Rs25,000 per family is being provided to the flood affected families of Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab under Flood Relief Cash Assistance
OGDCL to award $85m Uch project to firm against audit dept’s advice
While shedding light on the eco nomic loss caused by the recent floods, Dr Pasha said that the ground realities of Pakistan have changed as a result of the floods and the govern ment is currently estimating the dam age caused by the flood and the government will hold talks with mul tilateral and bilateral international in stitutions including the IMF for economic assistance after assessing the damage caused by the flood
a
The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has so far distributed Rs25,041,000,000 among 1,001,640 flood af fected families in a transparent manner across the country
In Balochistan, 127,567 flood affected
S ta f f R e p o R t
ISLAMABAD S h a h a D pa R ac h
On Friday, 9,120 flood affected families received cash assistance from different camp sites established in flood hit areas of Balochis tan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab
him as saying Earlier, there reports that the contractor of the project China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) abandoned repair to the mega 969 megawatt Neelum Jhelum hydropower proj ect According to these reports the hydropower project was shut down since early July this year Initially, it was shut down due to an en ergy crisis but later, several reasons were cited for the closure, including pending of dues
Thereafter, the concerned department and the Supply Chain Management address the queries or take remedial action if required,” he added
Misleading repor ts on Neelum Jhelum projec t aim to hur t Pak- C hina ties: FO