Epaper_22-09-23 KHI

Gates flood hit pakistan in meetinG with pm

The Prime Minister and Mr Gates also spoke of how the polio program was using its robust infrastructure to support the acute phase of the f ood response includ ng de ploying its sur veil ance system to monitor for ma aria dengue and water borne disease outbreaks as we l as helping to del ver other life saving vacc nes to ch ldren

The polio program with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is current y conducting 1,200 health camps in the worst f ood affected d stricts across Pakistan

They exchanged views on the need to cont nue their close partnership together to ensure Pakistan can continue to make progress on health and deve opment includ ing for enhanc ng agr cultural res lience and rebuilding susta nable infrastructure that can withstand future climate shocks

PM acknowledges empathy of Angelina Jolie for flood vict ms

Foundat on to discuss recent devas tation caused by flooding in Pakistan which has d splaced 33 mi lion peop e, as wel as polio eradication and pr mar y health ser v ices n the countr y

The Prime M nister updated Mr Gates on the impact the f oods on people s lives and livelihoods, and public health in Pakistan, and the work the Government was urgent y under taking to allev ate suffering Bil Gates expressed his concern for the people of Pakistan following the f oods and re iterated the Foundation’s cont nuous support and partnership with Pakistan during this chal leng ng t me

He affirmed that the Gates Foundation wil continue its current support ncluding the dis aster relief efforts in flood affected areas of

Balochistan and S ndh The Pr me Minister and Mr Gates discussed the impact of the floods on immun zation and maternal health ser v ces, and polio eradicat on in part cular

The Prime Minister acknowledged the need to prior tize materna and newborn care n flood affected areas and thanked Mr Gates for the Foundation s support to Pak stan’s rel ef efforts thus far

On polio erad cat on the Prime Minister and Mr Gates discussed that erad cation ef forts were fac ng a challeng ng situation be cause of the floods especial y after a recent rise in the number of wi d pol o cases

The Prime Minister reaff rmed the govern ment s resolve to pursue the campaign relent essly They agreed to continue their col aboration with polio partners to urgently reach vu nerable ch ldren with po io vacc nes through the remainder of 2022 and prevent the disease re establishing itself in Pakistan s major cit es

Mr Gates thanked the Pr me Minister for his continued prior tization of pol o eradication

Prime Min ster Shehbaz Shar f on Thursday acknowledged the empathy and compas sion” of United Nat ons specia envoy Angel na Jolie who is currently on a visit to Pakistan in sol darity with the f ood affected people “ Pakistan thanks Ange ina Jolie, a special UN envoy and other unsung heroes for be coming the voice of m llions of people whose lives and ivel hoods have been destroyed by raging floodwater he said in a tweet

The prime minister said, “ We wi l forever re member their empathy and compassion for suffering human ty Hol ywood actress Angelina Jolie visited the flood hit areas and urged the international community to do more as m llions of people are in trouble in the flood hit areas of Pak stan

During her visit to the National F ood Re sponse Coordination Centre (NFRCC) late Wednesday Jolie said that she has never seen anyth ng like th s disaster before Besides Jolie, renowned Is amic scholar Mufti Menk and Turkish actor Celal Al also vis ited the flood affected areas of Pakistan and extended assistance to the families who suf fered the devastation

ISLAMABAD

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday decided against ndict ng PTI Chief Imran Khan in a contempt of court case after he apologized on his “ threaten ng remarks aga nst a woman judge

The IHC adjourned the hear ng t ll Oct 3, d rect ng Imran Khan to submit an aff dav t regard ng his statement and said that further case would be proceeded n l ght of it (aff dav t) A larger bench of five udges headed by IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah presided over the case

The bench a so included Justice Mohs n Akhtar Kayani Justice M an Gul Hasan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahang ri and Justice Babar Sattar

“ We are, prima facie, satisf ed with the apo ogy rendered by the respondent Let him file an aff dav t for cons deration of this court before the next date fixed Let the matter be adjourned to 03 10 2022 for fram ng of charge against the respondent The proceed ngs w ll be taken up at 02:30pm on the date fixed the court s written order stated

As the hearing begin Imran Khan arr ved at court rostrum and said that he was ready to v sit the woman judge Zeba Chaudhr y to clarify h s posit on and extend apology as he had no intent on to threat the add tiona session judge He assured the bench that he would not do such act again in the future

The PTI chief sa d that he always talk about rule of law and had been strugg ing for 26 years for ndependence of judic ar y in the countr y

If the court thought he had crosses the line then he wanted to exp a n that he had not given the threatening remarks intentionally instead he had ta k about a legal action against the said udge in public rally,” Imran Khan added He sa d that he had realized the seriousness of the matter as the case proceeding moved for ward Chief Justice Athar M nallah remarked that the court appreciated the act of PTI ch ef for withdraw ng his words about the judge He said that the court was not fram ng charges against him today

The chief justice remarked that they did not encourage contempt of court cases but the way PTI chief gave remarks in pub ic gathering was a ser ous matter

The court instructed Imran Khan to submit affidavit regarding his apo ogy and adjourned hearing of the case It may be mentioned here that the IHC had ser ved a show cause notice to Imran Khan on his remarks about the woman judge

The court previously twice expressed d ssatisfaction over the comments subm tted by PTI chief n this case and fixed th s day to frame charges aga nst him

about ‘ piecemeal ’ approval of the resignat ons purported y from its 123 MNAs

He sa d that PTI must not act in haste and the court was offer ing it another opportunity to re cons der its decision

After giving his remarks the CJP adjourned the case ti l indef inite time period

The Supreme Court heard an appeal filed by the PTI against an Islamabad High Court decis on

T h e P T I w a n t s a o f t h e 1 2 3 r e s g n a t i o n s d e c l a r e d a p proved In its original petition be f o r e t h e I H C, i t h a d s o u g h t a n i n j u n c t i o n a g a i n s t N A S p e a ke r Ra j a Pe r v a i z A s h r a f ’ s d e c s o n t o approve resignations after giving p e r s o n a l a u d e n c e t o t h e M N A s s o m e t h i n g t h e P T I h a s t e r m e d a s p i e c e m e a l a p p r o v a o f t h e r e s i g n a t i o n s

After the IHC rejected the PTI petit on earl er this week the party challenged the rul ng before the apex court, which heard the ap

peal on Thursday

During the hearing CJP Ban dial while d rect ng the PTI lawyer Fa sal Chaudhr y to seek fresh in struct ons from the party saying that the verdict of High Court in the acceptance of phase vise resignations s final as speaker en joyed the constitut onal r ght to accept the resignat ons

The court said that do ng inter vention in the order of speaker can lead to the breach of Article 69 the PTI side must convince the court that what was wrong in the High Court s ruling?

CJP Band a said that people had e ected MNAs for five years

and the PTI must play ts role in the Parliament

The top judge said that floods had displaced mil ions of people who do not have potable water and food and holding bye elec tions on 123 seats would incur huge expenses

Lo o k a t t h e c o u n t r y ’ s e c o n o m i c s i t u a t i o n, h e q u e s t i o n n g, s a d i f P T I k n e w h o w m u c h m o n e y w b e s p e n t o n h o l d i n g b y e e l e c t i o n s

The CJP also sa d that t was difficult to inter fere with the work of the speaker and Justice M nal lah had given the verdict after careful consideration

S C a a i n a d v i s e s P T I t o r e t u r n t o N A o c o r r u p t r u l e r s : I m r a n K h a n

Strict security in place

Strict security arrangements were made inside and around the court pr or to the hearing security was increased in various areas of the federa cap tal to deal with any potentia untoward situation The number of personnel deployed at sensit ve places and important routes was increased

The entr y of lawyers, law off cers and journalists in the courtroom was subject to entr y passes while the registrar of the high court also provided the facility to listen to audio cases in the press room and bar room

A 15 member lega team of Imran 15 aw officers from the attorney general and advocate genera off ce, three court assistants and 15 court reporters were allowed to be present in the courtroom

The circular stated that f ve lawyers each from the high court and distr ct bar w ll be allowed n the courtroom

m e n t o f Pa k i s t a n

Former Prime M nister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan Thursday said it was time r pe to rid the countr y of corrupt rulers, saying that he would take mill ons of peop e to the federal Cap tal after fu ly preparing PTI s tigers to f ght the decisive battle for liberating the countr y from the corrupt rulers, once and for all Speaking at an oath taking cere mony of office bearers of the Organ sa tional Adv sor y Council here at Jinnah Convention Centre Imran Khan sa d that they were not fully ready on May 25 when Rana used mass ve teargas and shelling against PTI women and children because they had intended to hold a peacefu long march on the federal cap tal

Reacting to the threats of Interior Minister Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan made it clear that they would come to Is amabad with full preparation now and Rana Sanaullah would not find a p ace to hide n the federal cap tal f he resorted to use bru tality and violence aga nst peaceful marchers this time

He stated that these corrupt rulers would not easi y g ve us freedom as the current system s nourishing them and increas ng their corrupt money mas sively,” he added

H e s a i d t h a t o n e h a s t o s t r u g g l e f o r f r e e d o m a n d s a c r i f i c e s h a v e t o b e m a d e, b e c a u s e t h e c u r r e n t s y s t e m s e r v e d t h e i n t e r e s t o f t h e p o w e r f u l r u i n g e l i t e s, a d d i n g t h a t t h e r e a l f r e e d o m m o v e m e n t w a s t h e b i g g e s t m o v e m e n t a f t e r t h e f r e e d o m m o v e

He maintained that no one gave in dependence in the plate, they would have to sacr fice for it add ng that that a coward person cannot become a great leader and a person, who can contro and end his fear can become a big leader

Imran said that he was tr ying to ex plain to the nation what k nd of Medina welfare state was He urged the party workers to oin his long march when he gave a call as this was a testing time for the PTI workers and the nation

Seeing the preparat on of the PTI t gers and tigresses on Saturday next then he would give a f nal date for a long march Imran added

PTI Chairman went on to say that no nation sacr fices its people to fulfill oth ers wishes but the corrupt rulers of Pak

stan had allowed the West to carr y out around 400 drone attacks in the countr y and brought fore gn war n the mother

pRIMe Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Thursday met Bill Gates co chair of the B l & Me nda Gates

land eaving thousands of Pak stanis martyred and injured

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Jus tice Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday advised the PTI MNAs to return to the National Assembly (NA) by withdrawing the r resignations

PTI chief evades indictment as IHC accepts his apology in contempt case

F I n a n C I a L C r I S I S : K P Fa I L S T O F U n d a d P

P r O j E C T S I n T r I B a L d I S T r I C T S

PESHAWAR a z i z B u n e R i

TH E Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has spent only Rs3 8 billion on the Annual Development Program (ADP) projects in tribal belt during the current financial year According to sources in the finance department, due to the ongoing “cold war” between the federal and provincial governments the province is facing serious financial difficulties and unable to fund ADP projects of the current financial year

PTI moves SC against Oct 16 by-polls

As many as ten departments of the tribal districts Hajj and Auqaf, Environment, Administration, Excise, Information department Labour Minerals

Population Welfare, Relief department and Tehsils could not be provided any funds during the first quarter

The KP government has allocated Rs99 11 bln for the tribal districts in the ADP for the current financial year of which the finance department has released Rs26 5 bln but so far only Rs3 8 bln could be spent on the development projects being executed in tribal districts The sources added that

there was no punching of the funds of most of the projects due to which the work on these projects could not be initiated

The provincial government allocated Rs2 7 bln for the agriculture department of which Rs1 1 billion were released till August Under the National Finance Commission, the provincial government had set aside Rs34 6 bln for the tribal districts but not even a single penny could be released so far

According to the documents, Rs121 million out of Rs262 million has been released for Hajj endowment, Rs198 million

for the Board of Revenue Rs1 4 billion for public health, Rs2 9 billion for the Department of Elementary Education, Rs1 2 billion for Power and Energy Rs5 million for the Department of Environment and Rs10 4 million for the Department of Administration and Establishment have been released but these funds coulod not be spent yet Similarly, Rs11 4 million for Excise Department Rs9 million for Finance Department, Rs35 million for Food Department, Rs134 2 million for Forest Department, Rs2 2 billion for Health Department, Rs661 million for Higher

Education, Rs496 7 million for Interior Department Rs22 5 million for industry Rs602 million for industry, Rs32 3 million for information, Rs506 7 million for law department rs276 5 million for local government, Rs2 4 billion for multi sector development, Rs46 7 million for population welfare Rs713 5 million for departmental relief, Rs6 5 billion for roads, Rs91 2 million for social welfare, Rs1 1 billion for sports tourism youth affairs and 43 million has been released for science and technology department

Not even a single rupee could be released for the development projects of the tribal districts and Tehsil ADP A total of Rs27 million has been released for the transport department, Rs1 3 billion for urban development, and Rs1 9 billion for the irrigation department Efforts were made to take the views of provincial minister of Finance and health Taimur Khan Jhagra but he could not br contacted

No Pakistani delegation visited Israel: MoFA

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

ISLAMABAD the National Assembly on October 16 PTI in its plea submitted by Faisal Chaudhry stated that ECP wants to hold by elections on its own will in selected constituencies which is against the constitution and rule of law PTI pleaded with the court to suspend the by poll schedule until the judgment on the plea related to the resignation of 123 PTI MNAs On September 14, the election commission announced to organise LG polls in all districts of Karachi on October 23, whereas, by elections in eight NA constituencies will be held on October 16 Earlier on September 8, the commission had postponed the scheduled by elections in 13 constituencies The decision was taken by the CEC Sultan Sikandar Raja while chairing a high level session It was decided that the by polls scheduled for September 11, September 25 and October 2 will be postponed and the new dates will be announced soon The election commission said that the by poll was deferred due to the devastating rains and floods

Shehbaz ser ving public but Imran holding rallies: Muqam

LAHORE

S ta f f R

Advisor to Prime Minister on Political Public Affairs National Heritage and Culture (NH&C) Engr Ameer Muqam said on Thursday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was working hard to steer the country out of the current crises, while Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf Chairman Imran Khan was holding public rallies without caring for the flood affected people’s plight Talking to the media here, he regretted that the PTI chief was least interested in national issues He said that former prime minister keeps criticising the national institutions He said it was a pity that Imran Khan, instead of visiting the areas devastated by floods, was doing personal politics Ameer Muqam said the country had to be governed as per the Constitution and not on the wishes of any person To a question, he said that the coalition federal government would complete its constitutional term and the general election would be held on time Earlier, the advisor to prime minister attended the 32nd meeting of the National Assembly s Standing Committee on Federal Education Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture, held under its Chairman Makhdoom Syed Sami ul Hassan Gillani at Aiwan e Iqbal Complex The meeting reviewed performance of attached/ sub ordinate departments of the Division Federal Secretary National Heritage and Culture Fareena Mazhar committee members Mehnaz Akber Aziz, Nisar Ahmed Cheema, Chaudhry Muhammad Hamid Hameed, heads of attached departments and others were present

LG polls in few UCs of four Balochistan districts on

ISLAMABAD

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced holding Local Government (LG) elections in some union councils of four Balochistan districts on September 27 According to an ECP notification, the local bodies elections were postponed in some UCs of Musakhel Mastung Duki and of Loralai districts owing to heavy rains and floods The polls in union councils 04 09,15 and 16 of district Musakhel; UCs no 12,13,14 and 27 of district Mastung; ward no 3 of UC no 13 of district Loralai and UC no 06 and 07 of district Duki, would be held from 8 am to 5 pm on September 27

The Foreign Office on Thursday “categorically rejected” reports of a Pakistani delegation visiting Israel, clarifying that there was no change in the country’s policy on the subject

According to FO spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, the “reported visit in question was organised by a foreign NGO (non government organisation) which is not based in Pakistan”

The statement comes a day after several foreign media outlets reported that a “Pakistani delegation”, including a former government minister, met Israeli Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem

“The trip organiser said on Wednesday that the delegation included representatives from the American Muslims and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council and Sharaka, a

US based non government group founded in the wake of the Abraham Accords, which was brokered by the Trump administration in 2020 and normalised relations between Israel and four Arab countries the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco ” an Associated Press report said It also quoted the head of the delegation Naseem Ashraf as quoting that the delegation was visiting Jerusalem to “promote inter faith harmony”

He refused to give any further details about other members of the delegation Ashraf used to be Pakistan’s development minister and the chairman of the Pakistani Cricket Board,” the report added Pakistan does not recognise Israel and, therefore, doesn’t have diplomatic relations with it The country has been a staunch supporter of a Palestinian state

After the Abraham accords, Pakistan had made clear that it cannot recognise Israel until a “just settlement of the Palestinian issue is found In the statement issued today the FO spokesperson said that Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue was clear and unambiguous “There is no change whatsoever in our policy on which there is a complete national consensus Pakistan steadfastly supports the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self determination,” he clarified Ahmad added that the establishment of an independent, viable, and contiguous Palestinian State with pre 1967 borders and Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital, in accordance with the relevant United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation resolutions, was “imperative for just and lasting peace in the region

Earlier this year, a controversy sparked after a number of Pakistani expats and a couple of citizens travelled to Israel as part of a delegation

The trip was organised by the same NGO Its organiser, Anila Ali, had said that they had arranged special permission from the PTI government for one of its members, a Pakistani citizen, to travel to Israel They were also assured she said that he would not be victimised for visiting Israel

The news invited criticism from several quarters including former premier Imran Khan and his party This prompted the PML N led government to clarify that it had not sponsored or backed the delegation’s visit

The issue was discussed at length in parliament press conferences and public meetings where questions were raised on the government’s role vis a vis the delegation s visit to Israel

Growing ex tremism, persec ution of K ashmiris should c ause concern for world, says Ms K har

ISLAMABAD

Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar has pointed out that growing intolerance, rising extremism, and persecution of minorities in India and its continued repression against Kashmiris in IIOJ&K should be a matter of grave concern for international community particularly the US Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar said this when US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain called on her in New York She said, “Pakistan attaches highest

importance to the promotion and protection of the rights of minorities Their rights are protected in the Constitution of Pakistan and upheld by the judiciary The Parliament of Pakistan takes the protection of human rights of all citizens including minorities very seriously The Minister of State said that religious diversity is Pakistan’s strength and religious minorities are playing very important role in socio economic development of Pakistan They are represented in Parliament, judiciary, and services Conscious efforts are being made to integrate them into the political

fabric and to enhance their representatively Minister of State pointed out that growing intolerance, rising extremism, and persecution of minorities in India and its continued repression against Kashmiris in IIOJ&K should be a matter of grave concern for international community particularly the US Rashad Hussain offered his condolences on the loss of precious lives property and infrastructure due to devastating floods in Pakistan He appreciated Pakistan’s continued engagement with the US on issues related to religious freedom

Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the floods in Pakistan are a global disaster and should be understood at the global level

FM Bilawal Bhutto in an interview on French TV in New York and said that an agreement was recently signed with the IMF for economic stability, but all the estimation and figures of the agreement were washed away by the recent flood The floods have caused a loss of $30 billion to Pakistan, he added and said that the situation has changed after the flood, and the IMF should

Earlier, FM Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said Hungary can take advantage of investor friendly climate in Pakistan and enter into joint ventures with Pakistani companies especially in Special Economic Zones He was talking to his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjar on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasized for enhancing bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries Bilawal Bhutto Z ardari urges IMF for new terms amid floods

discuss new terms He said that unfortunately today India has changed, which is no longer secular, its policy is Islamo fascist and Islamophobic, Muslims consider themselves unsafe in India, it has usurped and Occupied Kashmir

LSM posted negative growth in July 2022 af ter Oc t 2020

ISLAMABAD

G h u l a m a B B

As was expected following unabated devaluation of rupee, hike in interest rate, historic rise in inflation and government s initiatives to control imports, the Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) has posted a negative growth of 16 5 percent on a month on month (MoM) in July 2022 as compared with the growth of June 2022 data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday showed

The LSM growth in July 2022 was declined by 1 4 percent year on year (YoY) if compared with the growth registered in the corresponding month of 2021 As per the LSM index developed with base year 2015 16 the LSM commutative growth has posted negative

after almost 21 months as it was last posted 1 4 percent in October 2020 after the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country

The LSM growth remained negative from September 2019 to October 2020 for hampering the economic activities after COVID 19 In Pakistan, LSM contributed 9 2 percent to GDP in FY22 It dominates the overall manufacturing sector accounting for 74 3 percent of the sectoral share followed by small scale m a n u f a c t u r i n g , w h i c h a c c o u n t s f o r 2 0 p e r c e n t o f total GDP and 15 9 percent sectoral share According to the Provisional Quantum Index Numbers of Large S c a l e M a n u f a c t u r i n g I n d u s t r i e s ( Q I M ) t h e Q I M estimated for July 2022 is 110 5 index compared to 112 for July 2021 and 132 3 for June 2022 The LSM data with the base year 2015 16 showed that the main

contributors to the overall growth of 1 4 percent are, garments (4 4) iron & steel products (0 6) furniture ( 2 2 ) , c h e m i c a l p r o d u c t s ( 0 6 ) , c i g a r e t t e s ( 1 7 ) , cement ( 2 8) and fertilizers ( 0 7)

The production in July 2022 as compared to July 2 0 2 1 h a s i n c r e a s e d i n w e a r i n g a p p a r e l , p a p e r & b o a r d , i r o n & s t e e l p r o d u c t s , a n d f u r n i t u r e w h i l e i t d e c r e a s e d i n f o o d t e x t i l e t o b a c c o f e r t i l i z e r s pharmaceuticals, non metallic mineral products, and automobiles The sectors showing growth during July 2022 compared to July 2021 include beverages (0 02 p e r c e n t ) , w e a r i n g a p p a r e l ( 4 4 p e r c e n t ) , l e a t h e r products (0 1 percent), wood products (0), paper & b o a r d ( 0 5 p e r c e n t ) i r o n & s t e e l p r o d u c t s ( 0 6 p e r c e n t), furniture (2 2 percent) and other manufacturing (football) (0 1 percent)

NEW

G O v T T O S U B S I d I S E Pa n a d O L , Pa r a C ETa M O L : P M S h E h B a z

WASHINGTON S ta f f R e p o R t

PR I M E Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the government would provide subsidy to the producers of Panadol and Paracetamol medicines to make them affordable for the people

Shehbaz Sharif was chairing a Zoom meeting of the authorities concerned to review the pace of various flood relief and rehabilitation activities in the flood hit areas across Pakistan on Wednesday

Expressing his views the prime minister apprised that today he held meetings with the president of World Bank and managing director International Monetary Fund and comprehensively discussed the flood

situation in Pakistan They expressed their grief over the losses and assured to extend all possible help and support Pakistan, he added The prime minister said that he had cautioned that millions of vulnerable children were deprived of essential food items and could fall ill with diseases like diarrhea

Due to widespread devastation caused by floods the people in Pakistan could not face the challenge alone with their limited resources, he said and urged the world community international organizations like WB and IMF and other friendly countries to support them and provide the flood victims the much needed relief

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Advisor

Sindh gov t to launch damage assessment sur vey in flood hit areas from Sep 26

KARACHI

Sindh government decided to conduct a comprehensive joint survey of flood affected areas from September 26 for assessment of damages to life, property and crops The decision was taken in a high level meeting held here on Thursday with Chief Secretary Sindh Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput in chair Senior Member Board of Revenue Chairman Planning Board, provincial secretaries of finance and local government departments, representatives of V Corps and NDMA and PDMA officials attended the meeting The CS Sindh said that the survey would be conducted to assess the damage in the flood affected areas by District administration NDMA PDMA and army personnel In the first phase, the survey will start in Sukkur, Ghotki and Kashmore districts and geo tagging of the flood affected areas would be done using modern technology Rajput informed adding that district committees has been formed for the damage assessment in each district while survey committee would also be constituted at union council level to ensure that all the data could be taken into account The CS said that the joint survey was essential for a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for the affected people He directed all the deputy commissioners of affected districts of the province to utilise all resources and carry out micro planning so that comprehensive and detailed data could be acquired for damage assessment

domestic wheat stocks stands at over 8.664m tons

ISLAMABAD

Strategic wheat stocks of the country are recorded at 8 644 million tons, which are sufficient to tackle with the domestic food requirements as well as maintaining smooth demand and supply in local markets during current food year The food year in the country starts from May 1 to April 30 every year and government has also allowed import of 3 million tons of wheat to bridge the gap said Food Security Commissioner in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research Dr Imtiaz Ali Gopang Talking to APP here on Thursday, he said that traditionally government was releasing average 46,300 metric tons per day, including 25,000 metric tons by Punjab 10 000 metric tons by Sindh 5 000 metric tons by Khyber Pakthunkhwa, 1,000 metric tons by Balochistan and average release of 5,300 metric tons by Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supply Corporation Out of the total stocks, about 5 143 million metric tons was available with Punjab whereas Sindh has wheat stocks comprising on 933,006 metric tons, he added He further informed that the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have grains’ reserves of 233,606 metric tons and 29,630 metric tons respectively, adding that over 2 498 metric tons of wheat were available with PASSCO Food Security Commissioner said that besides the public sector sector private sector had also procured over 3 172 million metric tons of wheat, out of which about 2 003 million metric tons have been grinded, adding that private sector reserves were so far recorded at 1 139 million metric tons

to Prime Minister Ahad Cheema and other senior officers concerned Shehbaz Sharif is currently in New York to attend the high level general debate of the 77th Session of UN General Assembly (UNGA77), scheduled from 20 to 26 September

The prime minister reviewed the distribution of food items, tents and medicines in the affected areas He ordered the authorities concerned to make use of all available resources to distribute essential food items, especially baby food in the affected areas on emergency basis

He also took stock of the restoration of roads, rails, bridges and other infrastructure damaged in the devastating floods and ordered the relevant federal and provincial departments to accelerate their efforts in order to make them operational as early as possible The prime minister, who is also the PML N president, congratulated Ahsan Iqbal for his acquittal in a NAB case by Islamabad High Court Terming it good news, the prime minister regretted that the previous government was involved in the witch

hunting of its opponents and tried to implicate them in false cases through awkward manner

President of the World Bank David R Malpass has stressed that Pakistan should be prioritized for reconstruction through the collective support of the international community He was talking to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in New York on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly The President expressed sympathy and condolence over the damage and destruction caused by the flood He also expressed the World Bank Group’s willingness to help Pakistan in its reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts He pledged to immediately re disburse 850 million dollars to help Pakistan in flood relief efforts

Guru Nanak ’s 483rd death anniversar y obser ved

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Three days event of 483rd death anniversary of Baba G u r u N a n a k D e v J i , t h e f o u n d e r o f S i k h i s m a n d t h e f i r s t G u r u o f S i k h s c o n c l u d e d i n K a r t a r p u r S a h i b o n T h u r s d a y T h e d e a t h a n n i v e r s a r y d a y i s m a r k e d a s ‘ J y o t i J o t a n d p r a y e r s a r e o ff e r e d a t K a r t a r p u r S a h i b , w h i c h i s f i n a l r e s t i n g p l a c e o f B a b a G u r u N a n a k D e v J i F e d e r a l M i n i s t e r f o r P l a n n i n g a n d D e v e l o p m e n t A h s a n I q b a l a t t e n d e d t h e c o n c l u d i n g c e r e m o n y o n b e h a l f o f t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r B a b a G u r u N a n a k j i w a s b o r n t o B a b a M e h t a K a l u a n d M a t a Tr i p t a i n N a n k a n a S a h i b a n d d i e d

o n S e p t e m b e r 2 2 , 1 5 3 9 i n t h e a g e o f 7 0 B a b a G u r u N a n a k J i s p r e a d t h e m e s s a g e o f ‘ o n e G o d ’ H e t r a v e l l e d a l l a c r o s s t h e w o r l d i n c l u d i n g M e c c a , Ti b e t , K a s h m i r, B e n g a l , M a n i p u r, a n d R o m e H i s t e a c h i n g s c a n b e f o u n d i n t h e s a c r e d S i k h s c r i p t u r e G u r u G r a n t h S a h i b w h i c h i s a c o l l e c t i o n o f v e r s e s w r i t t e n i n G u r m u k h i S i k h p i l g r i m s f r o m a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d i n c l u d i n g P a k i s t a n , w e r e w e l c o m e d b y S a r d a r A m e e r S i n g h , P a k i s t a n S i k h G u r d w a r a P a r b a n d h a k C o m m i t t e e P r e s i d e n t S a r d a r I n d e r j i t S i n g h m e m b e r o f t h e c o m m i t t e e , M PA S a r d a r R a m e s h S i n g h A r o r a , a n d t h e o ff i c e r s o f t h e E v a c u e e Tr u s t P r o p e r t y B o a r d a n d t h e K a r t a r p u r P r o j e c t M a n a g e m e n t U n i t

Peshawar SIE calls for ban on supply of plastic, rubber slippers scrap to afghanistan

PESHAWAR

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Thursday announced 30,000 new jobs in the province after lifting a ban on recruitment

The recruitments would be made in different departments, and projects in grade BPS 1 to BPS 5 while hiring related to above BPS 5 will be sent to a sub committee for consideration

Earlier, the Punjab government had decided to hire 16 000 teachers across the province and a summary has been moved to Chief Minister

Pervaiz Elahi for the approval

Taking to Twitter, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas said that a summary to hire over 16 000 educators has been initiated signed and moved forward “I thank Allah that he has given us the chance to create these opportunities for our youth he added After approval of the summary from the chief minister, the Punjab government would public advertisement to hire the educators

The announcement came a day after Murad Raas announced from his Twitter handle that the process to regularize 14,000 teachers has been initiated signed and moved forward

ISLAMABAD

Over 55 per cent of Anti Muslim content on the social media platform Twitter originates from India, reveals a new study

A research by the Australian based Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV), about 86% of anti Muslim social media messages originate in the US, the UK, and India It pointed out that between August 28, 2019, and August 27, 2021, there were at least 3,759,180 Islamophobic tweets on Twitter

The report said, among India based Twitter users, researchers says India ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is responsible for the dissemination and amplification of anti Muslim hate, saying, “(the) BJP has actively normalised hatred towards Muslims such that 55 12 percent of anti Muslim hatred tweets now originate in India ”

As per the ICV researchers, India created the most content, with 871,379 Islamophobic tweets, followed by the US (289 248) and the UK

(196,376)

The study also identified four significant themes that frequently appeared on Twitter when it was displaying Islamophobic content The connection between Islam and terrorism, the portrayal of Muslims as sexual assaulters, the conspiracy that makes false claims that Muslim immigrants are displacing white people in the West and Hindus in India, and labeling of Halal as an inhumane practice

“We conclude from this that Twitter is significantly failing to remove anti Muslim information, according to the research This is hardly surprising considering that they do not automatically screen posts for hate, but rather respond only once a report is filed

“However even when Islamophobia is brought to their attention, just about 3% of flagged tweets are removed The ICV also pointed to discriminatory laws that deny Muslims citizenship and other civil rights for the rise of anti Muslim hatred online among Indian Twitter accounts

Small factory owners here on Thursday urged the government to ban on supply/trade of tons of plastic and rubber slippers scrap from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Afghanistan They also demanded the abolition of property tax on Peshawar s Small Industrial Estate (SIE) Kohat Road These demands made by a delegation of Small Industrial Estate Association Kohat Road Peshawar, which was headed by former president Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz and the association’s president Wahid Arif Awan during a meeting with President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad here at the chamber s house Imran Khan Mohmand, senior vice president, vice president Javed Akhtar, small factory owners and other office bearers of the association were present in the meeting The delegation apprised SCCI’s president regarding small manufacturers’ apprehensions regarding collection of property tax from SIE Kohat Road Peshawar, supply of plastic, rubber slippers scrap from KP to Afghanistan and other problems Engr Maqsood Pervaiz said KPEZDMC has abolished property tax from industrial estate, which is a highly laudable step However he demanded the Small Industrial Development Board (SIDB) to follow suit and exempt the small industrial estate Kohat Road Peshawar from such tax in order to make the dream of promotion of industrialization in KP come true in a real sense under the vision of the incumbent provincial government Pervaiz expressed serious concern over the export of tons of plastic and rubber slippers scrap to Afghanistan from KP, saying that the trade isn t in the best interest of the small industrialists, because they have been depriving them of precious raw material He urged customs and relevant authorities to impose a ban on export to Afghanistan forthwith in order to protect interest of local manufacturers and prevent them from huge financial losses Office bearers of the association on the occasion demanded of the SIDB to construct a canteen for staff working in SIE Kohat Road Peshawar Later the SCCI’s president Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad in response to different queries and issues of small industrialists assured that the chamber would take up all these issues with relevant government authorities in a befitting manner

Chairperson of Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) Rina Saeed

Khan on Thursday said the endangered Common Asian Leopards have started strolling in daylight in the protected zone of the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP)

Addressing a media delegation during visit inside the Leopard Protected Zone of MHNP, the chairperson said that the endangered wildcat was feeling

e n c o u n t e r i n g h u m a n s w h e r e a s a t t h e moment it started enjoying the biome due to thriving prey and ecology S h e a d d e d t h a t t h e p u g m a r k s o f l e o p a r d s w e r e c o n s p i c u o u s i n m a n y m a r s h e s a n d s l u d g e i n t h e n a t i o n a l p a r k due to moisture after heavy monsoon rains T h e I W M B c h a i r u n d e r l i n e d t h a t there was less disturbance at the protected z o n e w h i c h h a d r e v i v e d i t s a q u i f e r a n d w a t e r i n p o n d s a n d s t r e a m s a f t e r m a n y d e c a d e s t h a t c r e a t e d a f a v o u r a b l e e n v i r o n m e n t f o r t h e w i l d c a t s

leopard spotted that was coming from Kalinjar valley (Sector E 9) area which was also a lush green area replete with ecology Deputy Director Research and Planning IWMB Sakhawat Ali informed the media persons that Trail 6 (the Leopard Preserve Zone) has emerged as a permanent habitat of leopards which was earlier a seasonal abode of the wildcats during extreme winter season in the north He said leopard was a nocturnal animal that had started patrolling in daytime as it used to prey and patrol at night or dawn due to its nature protec ted zone star t strolling in daylight

She informed that the Board did a simultaneous study in the MHNP and identified seven different leopards’ presence through camera traps and guessed a dozen in total living in the protected area “We have to hold another study this year to assess and study the leopards presence and behaviour in the Leopard Preserve Zone However fortunately there has been no human wildlife conflict reported in the MHNP so far as reported in Ayubia National Park and AJK ” she said She briefed that there were video evidences available for another leopard

S

O ver 55pc of anti-Muslim content on Twitter comes from India, study reveals

PA k i s tA N ’ s e x P o r t t o C h i N A u P b y N e A r ly 7 P C

Shanghai, and Tofflon Group Shanghai or ganized a webinar on Tuesday

Pakistan’s export to China crossed $2 40 billion in the first eight months of this year, up 6 23 percent year on year, Gwadar Pro reported on Thursday quoting the official data from the General Administration of Customs of China

According to data from GACC overall from January to August 2022, China’s im ports & exports from Pakistan counted $ 18 41billion up 7 28% year on year while in 2021 the same period it was $17 16 billion In the month of August Pakistan s exports to China decreased 25 71 percent year on year due to heavy monsoon caused flood and COVID 19 which destroyed many sectors including agriculture infrastructure and in dustry

Dr Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, Execu tive Director Center for South Asia & Inter national Studies (CSAIS), Islamabad, told Gwadar Pro that China is Pakistan s largest trading partner besides being the second largest export destination and last year, es pecially despite the pandemic, the bilateral trade was growing by a big percentage

“Unfortunately, due to deadly floods, 33 million people have been forced to leave their houses 18 000 square kilometers agri culture has been destroyed Its massive de struction including that of the cotton crop

Women-only bus ser vice to hit roads in Gb

GILGIT S ta f f R e p o R t

In a first of its kind project to facilitate their travel, a women only pink bus service will hit the roads in the capital city of Gilgit and Skardu later this month, the region’s chief secretary said Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani said the free of cost pink bus service will operate on key routes during the peak rush hours This is “great news for our daughters, sisters and mothers of Gilgit Baltistan Now they will be able to travel in a safe and comfortable environment and go freely to their educational institutions, hospitals, and markets ” Wani said

would be disastrous for the country s exports to China

Moreover, the destruction of cashable crops and commodities has entangled the state society economy and common people alike,” he stated

It seems that the devastation of floods will drastically reduce exports to China in the coming months due to flood So far, seafood, pine nuts, sesamum seeds, and rice remain top export products to China

Pakistan s exports to China in 2021 re mained at $3 589 billion and in 2022 the ex port volume can reach $4 billion and with the increase in food products; however, Pak istani exporters must follow the rules and regulations set by the Chinese authorities for imports

In this regard according to Gwadar Pro the Trade Development Authority of Pak istan (TDAP) in collaboration with China Certification and Inspection Group (CCIG)

Besides officials from TDAP and CCIG, a large number of Pakistani exporters and experts participated in the webinar Pakistan has become a major source for the export of food products particularly rice, seafood dried fruits nuts fruits pink salt and processed food

The Chinese officials briefed the partic ipants on key economic indicators of China As per the National Bureau of Statistics China (NBSC), the volume of China s ex ports of goods is $3 36 trillion while the vol ume of China’s imports of goods is $2 69 trillion Pakistan s exports to China are with the passage of time; the volume of exports in 2016 was $1 91 billion, in 2017 $1 83 bil lion, in 2018 $2 18 billion, in 2019 $1 81 bil lion in 2020 $2 12 billion and in 2021 $3 589 billion

“This year, Pakistan exports’ volume can surge up to $4 billion and the space is avail able in food products,” said one of the ex perts from CCIG

According to the General Administration of Customs China’s statistics, the value of Pakistan’s food exports to China in 2021 was $840 million

Of them, $609 million was vegetable products, $179 million was animal products while the value of prepared foodstuff was $52 million Similarly, in 2021, the value of

the export of nuts and dried food from Pak istan to China was $65 million I n 2 0 2 1 , t h e e x p o r t s o f p r o c e s s e d seafood from Pakistan to China 2021 were $ 8 4 m i l l i o n w h i l e t h e v a l u e o f dried $ a k i s t a n i e x p o r t e r s c a n g e t major shares in the imports of these prod ucts; however, they need to know the gen e r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e C h i n e s e Consumer Market

For example, due to an increase in per capita income and consumer expenditure, China is close to becoming an upper income country with increasingly health & fitness conscious consumers

They are spending money on quality and imported food while online buying is be coming an increasingly popular mode of purchase

To get maximum space in China’s mar ket, Pakistan exporters should keep in com pliance with import guidelines; they should develop a brand and build a website in the Chinese language, emphasize on health fea tures of their products prepare attractive and convenient packaging, make use of e com merce platforms like Alibaba and JD, and promote their products through live stream ing and social media platforms

U K A i d h e l p i n g w i t h s h e l te r, e m e rg e n c y h e a l t h c a re to fl o o d - a ffe c te d p e o p l e : B r i t i s h H C

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr Christian Turner on Thursday said that Pakistan is facing a growing flood fuelled public health crisis and UK Aid is helping with shelter, clean water, and emergency healthcare

He made these remarks during his visit to Mirpur Khas where he observed the UK funded aid projects in flood af fected Mirpur Khas District

areas and observed first hand delivery of lifesaving assistance by Concern Worldwide, an NGO funded by the UK Accompanied by the Concern Worldwide Acting Country Director, Sherzada Khan, Dr Christian Turner met with relief workers and community leaders to better understand the scale of the situation in Sindh and ascertain how to further UK assistance could be uti lized, said a press release issued by the British High Commission Islamabad on Thursday

flood crisis

It is pertinent to mention here that the UK has committed a total of £16 5m to support flood relief efforts and the British public have donated over £25m via the Disasters Emer gency Committee s Pakistan Appeal This appeal has notably been sup ported by the England men’s cricket team, who are touring Pakistan for the T20s, with the team making a personal donation which the England Cricket Board then matched

FREE SCHOOL MEALS: Meanwhile, public schools in the picturesque mountainous region have initiated on Wani’s order the provision of free meals to students On Thursday, meals were provided to ninth graders in Sonikot Bala School in Gilgit “The enrollment rate is increasing every day due to this initiative,” his office said

exhibition of haiku Poetr y Ar t illustrations attract crowd

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

T h e E m b a s s y o f J a p a n a n d P a k i s t a n J a p a n C u l t u r a l A s s o c i a t i o n ( P J C A ) i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h P a k i s t a n N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l o f t h e A r t s ( P N C A ) o rg a n i z e d t h e f i r s t e v e r “ H a i k u P o e t r y A r t I l l u s t r a t i o n s E x h i b i t i o n ” a t t h e N a t i o n a l A r t G a l l e r y o n T h u r s d a y T h e o b j e c t i v e o f t h e e x h i b i t i o n w a s t o p r o m o t e c r e a t i v i t y a n d c u l t u r a l a ff i n i t y a b o u t t h e t r a d i t i o n a l J a p a n e s e p o e t i c f o r m o f H a i k u a m o n g t h e y o u t h o f P a k i s t a n , Wa r d a M i t s u h i r o , t h e A m b a s s a d o r o f J a p a n t o P a k i s t a n , t o g e t h e r w i t h J u s t i c e ( r ) A l i N a w a z C h o w h a n , P r e s i d e n t , P J C A I s l a m a b a d , i n a u g u r a t e d t h e H a i k u A r t I l l u s t r a t i o n s E x h i b i t i o n i n t h e p r e s e n c e o f h a i k u p o e t s , a r t i s t s , t e a c h e r s , s t u d e n t s a n d o t h e r d i s t i n g u i s h e d g u e s t s T h e e x h i b i t i o n t h a t f e a t u r e s 11 0 a r t w o r k s t h e m e d o n t h e H a i k u s p a i n t e d b y t h e s t u d e n t s f r o m e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s i n t h e t w i n c i t i e s i n c l u d i n g s o m e a r t o rg a n i z a t i o n s h a v e b e e n p u t o n d i s p l a y d e p i c t i n g t h e i r c r e a t i v e t a l e n t a s w e l l a s t h e i r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f h a i k u T h e e x h i b i t i o n w a s c u r a t e d b y M r J a m a l S h a h , a n e m i n e n t a r t i s t a n d e x e c u t i v e m e m b e r o f P a k i s t a n J a p a n C u l t u r a l A s s o c i a t i o n I s l a m a b a d H a i k u i s a p r e c i s e , c o m p a c t a n d c o n d e n s e d f o r m o f t r a d i t i o n a l J a p a n e s e p o e t r y w r i t t e n i n 5 7 5 s y l l a b i c f o r m u s u a l l y i n t h r e e l i n e s t h a t d a t e s b a c k t o t h e 1 7 t h c e n t u r y a n d s t i l l r e m a i n s p o p u l a r i n m o d e r n J a p a n a n d i s n o w p r a c t i c e d i n m a n y c o u n t r i e s o f t h e w o r l d i n c l u d i n g P a k i s t a n A m b a s s a d o r Wa r d a a p p r e c i a t e d t h e s t u d e n t s a n d o t h e r a r t i s t s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e e x h i b i t i o n f o r t h e i r e y e c a t c h i n g t h e m a t i c a r t w o r k s r e f l e c t i n g t h e i r k e e n i n t e r e s t a n d u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f h a i k u p o e t r y a n d J a p a n e s e c u l t u r e

The envoy stated, “we must rebuild smarter to be resilient against future cli mate disasters ”

During his visit, the High Commis sioner also visited the flood affected

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Ethiopian Ambassador Jemal Beker Abdula Thursday said concerted ef forts were underway to start the fight operations of Ethiopian airlines in Pakistan soon

The envoy informed a delegation of the Federation of Pakistan Cham bers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) which called on him here that he was in constant contact with the Ethiopian Aviation Authority for starting direct flights from Ethiopia to Pakistan and vice versa

Modalities were being finalized in that regard as Pakistan s Minister for Railways and Aviation Khawaja Saad

He also visited a cash assistance programme and primary health care center, which was being funded, in part, by an initial tranche of £1 55m commit ted by the UK right at the start of the

In addition, last week, a UK Royal Air Force flight delivered eight boats and ten portable generators gifted in kind by the UK’s Ministry of Defence for use in flood relief operations

Rafique had agreed to the proposal he added “Ethiopian airlines will be fly ing soon in Pakistan, which will even tually boost tourism and bilateral trades with marked improvement in people to people and business to business ties Jemal Beker remarked

He said Ethiopia had been offer ing online visas to the visitors as its in cumbent government believed in opening up the country to boost its economy with reforms for creating a conducive environment for FDI (for eign direct investment)

T h e a m b a s s a d o r a p p r i s e d t h e d e l e g a t i o n l e d b y F P C C I C o o r d i n a t o r C a p i t a l O ff i c e M i r z a A b d u l R e h m a n , a b o u t t h e v a s t t o u r i s m a n d e c o n o m i c p o t e n t i a l o f h i s c o u n t r y,

i n c l u d i n g i n c e n t i v e s

“We want to establish institu tional linkages here in Pakistan by signing accords with the trade organ izations which will eventually in crease bilateral trade under a legal system he stressed

The envoy said an expo titled “Explore Ethiopia” was being planned by the Ethiopian government and the Pakistani community would be invited through different chambers of com merce and industries

Mirza Abdul Rehman confirmed that he would take a delegation of business community to Ethiopia so that the business to business contacts between the two countries could be taken to the next level

KARACHI

S ta f f R e p o R t

The Anti Narcotic Force (ANF) on Thursday foiled an attempt to smuggle crystal meth to Australia via a local carrier company located on Shahrah e Faisal An ANF spokesperson told that the total weight of the parcel was 49 kg, and the drug was soaked into women s and children s clothes The parcel was booked by a Chaman resident, he told Anti Narcotic Force has filed a case against the smuggler under the anti narcotics act Earlier on August 3, the ANF seized three kg of crystal ice from an Afgha national at the Pak Afghan border in Chaman The Anti Narcotic Force during a routine checking at the Pak Afghan border recovered three kg of crystal ice from an Afghan national named Imaruddin The accused was trying to smuggle nar cotics to Pakistan from Afghanistan via the Chaman border, the Anti Narcotic Force officials said A case was registered against the Afghan national under the anti narcotics act

PESHAWAR S ta f f R e p o R t

In the wake of new scientific evidence suggesting that climate change likely worsened the devastating floods that have led the country to face its worst humani tarian crisis in a decade, WWF Pakistan, in association with the Pakistan Academy of Sciences convened government and relevant development stakeholders to de velop a consensus on the Pakistan Climate Crisis Charter

According to a press release issued here on Thursday, this Charter would serve as a living document to facilitate ac tion on dealing with climate induced dis asters, focusing specifically on flood risk

management

The session involved a thorough dis cussion/consideration of land use plan ning, particularly development in flood prone or vulnerable areas water re source management, the capacity of local authorities, media coverage, and forecast ing and evacuating systems

S t a k e h o l d e r s d e v e l o p e d c o n s e n s u s on shared action points to improve pre paredness and the collective response to future crises

From mid June until the end of Au gust 2022 large parts of Pakistan experi enced record breaking monsoon rainfall The provinces of Sindh and Balochistan w i t n e s s e d t h e i r w e t t e s t A u g u s t e v e r r e c o r d e d , r e c e i v i n g 7 a n d 8 t i m e s t h e i r

usual monthly totals

While much of the recent flooding can be attributed to the effects of climate change, the national disaster also high lighted governance challenges particu larly land use planning, ineffective disaster preparedness, and underlying challenges that pertain to the political economy of the country

Hammad Naqi Khan, Director Gen eral WWF Pakistan said “After the cata strophic floods of 2010, we had over 10 y e a r s t o p r e p a r e o u r s e l v e s Ye t , o u r r e sponse was reactive As we work on pro viding relief and rehabilitation, we must also begin to prepare our actors; includ ing federal provincial and local govern m e n t s , d i s a s t e r m a n a g e m e n t a g e n c i e s ,

non profit and non government entities; t o a d d r e s s g a p s i n o u r g o v e r n a n c e a n d d e v e l o p a h o l i s t i c a n d c o m m u n i t y c e n t e r e d a p p r o a c h t o c l i m a t e a d a p t a t i o n t o limit its impacts ”

The draft Charter built on earlier rec ommendations that were put forward by the government civil society academics and multilateral organizations, in the af t e r m a t h o f e a r l i e r d i s a s t e r s , s u c h a s t h e f l o o d s o f 2 0 1 0 I t a l s o r e c o g n i z e d t h a t P a k i s t a n ’s c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o t h e c l i m a t e crisis were virtually nil, all stakeholders should collectively utilize available av e n u e s , i n c l u d i n g t h r o u g h t h e U N F C C C and the Paris Climate Agreement, to call upon the global north to address our loss and damage initiates dialogue on Pakistan C limate C risis C har ter

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Time ripe to rid country of corrupt rulers: Imran Khan

continued fR om pAge 01

“I want to see that Pakistan never kneels before any other country, and does not sacrifice its people in someone else’s war as 80 000 of our people were martyred in America s war,” he added

He said that the whole tribal areas was destroyed because the two corrupts Nawaz Sharif and Zardari allowed the drone strikes because they could not afford to antagonize their foreign masters since their wealth stashed abroad

He observed that the corrupt government was waiving off their billions of rupees’ corruption cases because they did not impose to serve the people and the country but to protest and safeguard their own thefts and to please their masters

He observed that the rupee was going downwards against the US dollar at alarming pace the economy was shrinking rapidly and inflation was breaking 50 years record due to the imported government’s flawed and wrong economic policy Imran Khan said that as Prime Minister, Rehmatulil Alameen Authority was created so that people can read the biography of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) the youth will know how the Prophet (PBUH) worked hard for the people of Arabia and they became a great nation

He said that worshiping stone idols was not the only shirk but trading conscience and bowing down to the idol of fear was also a shirk, adding that people of Kufa knew that Imam Hussain was on the right path, but they did not support Imam Hussain in fear of Yazid and allowed a great tragedy in the history of Islam to happen Imran Khan said that now this imported government was talking about taking oil and wheat from Russia, when the people were drowned the ocean of inflation as he had discussed this matter with Russia five months ago

PTI Chairman went on to say that India was also buying oil from Russia at cheap prices, but these thieves were afraid of their masters, as a result, today Pakistan was passing through the worst time of its history, but they never had the courage Imran Khan said that when Fazlur Rehman and Bilawal staged sit ins, they neither put obstacles in their ways, nor filed cases against them but the corrupt junta used teargas and shelling against peaceful PTI marchers However, he made it clear that now Shahbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah should worry because this time we will come with full preparation

“We have a protest on Saturday, I will hold a rally in Rahim Yar Khan and there will be a historic protest across the country,” he added He said that the protest would be litmus test for them and afterward, he would decide when to give the final call because this time around they would march to Islamabad well prepared

GovT HIKes ADjusTABLe FeD oN ToBACCo AT GLT sTAGe

iSLAmABAd S

TH E government has increased the adjustable FED on unman ufactured tobacco from Rs10 per Kg to Rs390 per Kg, appli cable at Green Leaf Threshing (GLT) stage in a bid to enhance revenue from tobacco sector According to de tails, the adjustable excise is applicable to and payable by the cigarette manu facturers The objective of this move is to increase documentation of the to bacco industry and curtail illicit trade

The recent increase in adjustable excise aims at increasing the cost of evasion being done by illicit cigarette manufacturers This excise tax is ad justable at the time of filing of returns by the manufacturer As for export re bates may be claimed at the export stage and for manufacturers

It may be adjusted at the time of fil

ing of the manufacturer s tax returns

While briefing journalists, Pakistan Tobacco Company, reiterated that the adjustable excise duty of Rs390 per kg is not applicable to farmers at all but is a liability on the cigarette manufactur ers at the GLT stage However, the man ufacturers can adjust this in their monthly tax returns The Senate Stand ing Committee on Finance on Wednes day also discussed the issue of Tobacco farmers of KPK who are forced to leave this business due to heavy taxation

Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman claimed that around 0 5 million farmers have been affected by these hefty taxes, however Chairman committee form Sub Committee which will investigate the matter and present its report before senate body

Meanwhile, PTC representatives said that the false narrative being cre ated regarding this adjustable excise having any impact on farmers is com

pletely baseless and false

Illicit manufacturers are trying to influence policies in their favor by pro moting this false narrative Officials further explained that the tobacco farm ers have nothing to do with the GLT stage as threshing is part of the ciga rette manufacturing process It is perti nent to mention here that the PTI government in October 2018 increased adjustable excise duty from Rs10 per Kg to Rs 300 per Kg in the mini budget however, due to pressure from certain quarters it was reversed before the GLTs became operational

Experts believe that adjustable ad vance duty at the GLT stage is a perfect way to control tax evasion as it is the choking point in the process of manu facturing cigarettes

Currently, there are approximately 13 GLTs in Pakistan and AJK, where there are over 40 cigarette manufactur ers With regards to enforcement, it is

PAF medic al assistance, rehab operations for flood vic tims continue

Pakistan Air Force is actively undertaking medical humanitar ian and rehabilitation relief op erations for flood victims of KPK Sindh Balochistan and South Punjab PAF personnel are extending their full support and services for timely provision of basic necessities of food, shelter, drinking water and medical as

sistance to the flood victims PAF Medical Lab Collection Points are operating round the clock for diagnosis of wide spread waterborne diseases like Gastroenteritis, Dengue, Malaria, Cholera and Dysentery in the flood affected zones

Flood affectees are being pro vided free of cost medicines and

medical care at Field Medical Camps of PAF During the last 24 hours, Pakistan Air Force has distributed 17960 cooked food packs 250 water bottles and 1730 ration packs amongst the needy families Moreover, 1407 patients were also attended by the medical teams of Pakistan Air Force p R

administratively more efficient to mon itor 13 GLTs rather than deploying en forcement officials at over 40 cigarette manufacturers or hundreds of thousands of retail outlets The payable adjustable excise at the GLT stage can also be used as a metric to gauge what revenue was received from the manufacturers at this stage and what percentage was adjusted at the time of filing of tax returns

Experts requested the government to carry out strict enforcement across the board for implementation of the ad justable excise duty on unmanufactured tobacco and also for implementation of the Track & Trace regime to help in curbing illicit trade and providing a level playing field to legitimate players in the industry Simultaneously, moni toring of cigarettes being manufactured in AJK and being transported to Pak istan for sales must also be done and the government must set up check posts at all entry/exit points to and from AJK

PTI leader’s brother killed in Bara firing

BARA

Tribal leader Munsif Ali Afridi and a passerby were killed in firing by some unidentified attackers while a constable left badly injured in Bara area of Khyber District on Thursday The incident took place when the tribal leader was returning after attending a jirga on the deteriorating law and order situation in Bara

On his way, some unidentified armed men opened fire on him near Qambar Khel in the jurisdiction of Bara Agency Resultantly, he and a passerby died on the spot while a constable were seriously injured, who was shifted to a hospital for medical treatment

As soon as the information was received, a heavy police contingent led by District Police Officer (DPO) Khyber reached the spot and conducted a search operation in the area It merits to mention here that the deceased was the elder brother of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) leader and candidate of Tehsil Chairman Abid Ali Afridi and had survived several deadly attacks before

CDA reshuffles 25 officers

iSLAmABAd

S ta f f R e p o R t

Three workers of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) were seriously injured after an altercation between them and Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) workers led to firing by the latter in a suburban village of Hafizabad on Thursday

The alleged clash that took place between Riyasat Group of the PTI and Humayun Group of the PML N in Jahad Hassanwala village spread panic in the area as the residents were forced to restrict themselves to their homes

Even schoolchildren and college students preferred to bunk their classes fearing they might fall prey to a stray bullet if they ever dared to step out of their homes

Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in col laboration with The Centaurus Mall, Islamabad has organized a two days exhibition to commemorate the 92nd National day of Saudi Arabia

On this auspicious occasion Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, CEO Centaurus Mall hosted H E Nawaf Saeed Al Malkiy, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to celebrate the everlasting friend ship between the two brotherly countries

Mr Sardar Yasir highlighted the strong bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan He further added that Pakistan accords great impor tance to friendly ties and the warmth existing be tween both the countries He mentioned that KSA has significantly contributed towards economic growth health and education sectors of Pakistan Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan pointed out that over the years, the two countries have succeeded in devel

oping a unique synergy for mutual development Saudi Arabia is home to the largest number of Pak istani expatriates in the region who are contributing significantly in the form of remittances, they remit nearly $6 billion from Saudi Arabia every year Speaking on the occasion HE Ambassador of KSA appreciated the role/contribution of nearly 2 7 million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia in differ ent spheres/sectors He reiterated to further augment the bond between both the nations He stated that we will continue to enhance the bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia which stood at $1 871 billion in 2017 18 with exports amounting to $170 million and imports at $1 7 billion Since 1971, Pakistanis have contributed toward building the Kingdom s infrastructure Also present on the occasion the Federal Minster for Inte rior Rana Sanaullah highlighted the degree of respect the Pakistanis possesses towards Khadmain Harmain Sharifain He added that the present Government is fully committed to strengthening the friendly relation ship between the two great nations i i t i o n b e g i n s t o c o m m e m o r a t f S a u d i A r a b i a

iSLAmABAd S ta f f R e p o R t

The management of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in the second round of reshuffling Thursday ordered transfer and posting of over two dozen senior officers of different cadres On directives of the CDA Chairman Captain (r) Muhammad Usman the Human Resource Directorate issued a notification regarding the transfer of 25 officers of BPS 19 and BPS 18 who were holding the same post for three or more than three years The CDA management also transferred 23 Private Secretaries of Members and Directors along with 19 other officials of different cadres In executive cadre, Secretary CDA Board Syed Safdar Ali has been transferred as Director Coordination Council, Director Law I/DG Law Naeem Akbar Dar is now given charge of Director General Law Director Staff to Chairman Abdul Rauf Khan is posted as Director Computer, Director HRD I Fiaz Ahmed Watto transferred as Director Administration, Director Administration Ejaz Tarar appointed as Secretary CDA Board, Deputy Director Ali Raza has been given charge of Director Law I while Deputy Director HRD I Asia Baig is posted as Director HRD I on looking after basis

In the engineering cadre Director Electrical and Mechanical Development Muhammad Wasim Sabir has been posted as Director Coordination (Parliament House) Director BWB Muhammad Moazzam is posted as Director Electrical and Mechanical (Development), Director Building Control I/ Director Technical

Uch projec t vital to meet ever rising energy demand, OGDCL clarifies

Apropos to a news item published in a sec tion of press regarding Uch Compression Project, the factual position is that the Uch Gas Field is located in Baluchistan and pro viding low BTU gas to Uch Power Limited (UPL), the Oil and Gas Development Com pany Limited (OGDCL) has said in a state ment in response to Profit’s coverage of the subject earlier last week

According to the statement, initially field’s well head pressure was 2100 psi; however, with the passage of time pressure has dropped to around 1200 psi and further decline in pres

sure continues as per reservoir behavior

In order to meet the contractual obliga tions with UPL to provide the low BTU gas at a certain pressure OGDCL engaged inter nationally reputed firms i e Weatherford & Schlumberger to conduct comprehensive in tegrated reservoir simulation study

As a result of the study, installation of compressor station was recommended to continuously supply gas to UPL It is perti nent to mention here that tendering process of Uch Compression Project was also initi ated in the past however due to single bidder

it was annulled The provision of low BTU gas to UPL at required pressure is the cor nerstone for selection of equipment/com pressor Based on available technical information, TORs were prepared and press tendering process was initiated Engineering consultant was hired to prepare tender doc uments for EPC contractor through press tender Various OEMs interacted with OGDCL and consultant during the tendering process and sought further information/clar ifications which were provided to ensure healthy competition

Bids were evaluated in accordance with TORs and technically responsive and finan cially lowest bidder has been determined

The entire process was completed in accor dance with PPRA rules and OGDCL pro curement procedures

It is a vital time bound project that is re quired to be completed well in time to avoid penalty of around $245,000/ per day as any shortfall in contract quantity or pressure would expose OGDCL to liquidated damages As far as factually incorrect and mischievous What sApp message of ex general manager Imran

Shoukat is concerned, he has concocted a story to malign the present MD/CEO who has never interacted with him directly or indi rectly Imran Shoukat has no role in the award of contract for Uch Compression Project

Notwithstanding the intimidation and pressure tactics being relied upon by certain elements, the process will be concluded strictly in accordance with the procedure and rules Elements interested in the outcome of this case will not be allowed to sabotage the project OGDCL team is committed to serve the organization to the best of its abilities p R

L a h o r e: LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir inaugurates 17th IFTECH Exhibition at Expo Centre along with chairman PBIT, Sr Vice President PCJCCI, Consul General of and Consultancy workers injured in firing by rivals in Hafizabad HAfiZABAd

W i l l I m r a n K h a n h e e d g o o d a d v i c e

pti chief imran Khan questioned the relevance of pM shehbaz sharif ’s visit abroad saying his presence was required in the country where millions were suffering due to rains cum flood havoc Within the first two days of his presence in New York, Mr sharif met half a dozen world leaders as well as the iMF MD and World Bank president, explaining to them the gravity of the situation faced by pakistan and seeking their support Despite the worsening of pak France relations under the pti government president Macron agreed to host an international conference aiming at contributing to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood affected areas of pakistan in his speech to the UN General Assembly, Us president Joe Biden made a fervent appeal to the world to help pakistan He also suggested negotiating debts of vulnerable nations to forestall broader economic and political crises around the world, an issue islamabad needs to pursue in days to come One hopes the sentiments would express themselves in deeds

Meanwhile, unconcerned about the plight of the people in affected areas, Mr Khan continues his struggle for power He has announced kick starting his ‘movement for real freedom’ from saturday, calling upon his supporters to reach islamabad What they will be required to do in the capital is still unknown Will it be a single day rally or a longer sit in? Will the participants remain confined to the area allotted to them or they will encroach upon D Chowk to hinder the functioning of the federal government? the government meanwhile must not deprive the pti of basic freedoms ensured by the Constitution the pti on its part must confine its activities to the venue allotted to it the pti leadership needs to heed the supreme Court’s advice to return to the National Assembly to play its due role which is its obligation, particularly at a time when the nation has been badly affected by the catastrophic floods As the court put it, “Consider the country’s economic situation as well ” Mr Khan needs to act on the Chief Justice’s observation that one should conduct oneself in a dignified manner and exercise “tolerance in matters of the state”

The fight over the CCPO

H a i l t o t h e C h i e f

Pti chief imran Khan has engaged in being dangerous the comments he has been making about the Army, particularly its leadership have not only dragged into the public gaze an institution which has avoided it, but has also revealed an ignorance of how the organization ticks the ignorance is so abysmal, especially for a former pM, that the possi bility of his lying to his followers is raised in successive weeks, he has raised two issues First, that pML(N) Rehbar Nawaz sharif and ppp Co Chairman Asif Zardari cannot be trusted to ap point the new COAs because they are looters and plunderers, and would seek to appoint someone who would cover these crimes if, imran argued, a patri otic and strong officer was appointed, he would ex pose their thefts the implication was that prime Minister shehbaz sharif would appoint an unpatriotic and weak officer as COAs this implies that such an officer can be found imran has thus criticized the entire process of selec tion, and then promotion, of the pakistan Army, which would allow an unpatriotic and weak person to reach the rank of lieutenant general, and thus be come eligible for promotion as COAs that was something imran suggested in an ad dress at a rally the second place where he showed ignorance was when, in a tV interview, asked how the new COAs could be appointed by the next gov ernment if there was a gap in between, he refused to say the incumbent could get an extension However, his not rejecting this was taken as a suggestion this also showed not just a misunderstanding of how the military functions, but the place of the COAs in the Army’s scheme of things the COAs has two overt functions, and one po tential He is the chief of staff of the Army, which means carrying responsibility for such responsibili ties as training and equipping (what weapons? Where are they to come from?) He is also the operational commander While the staff function may have a va cancy, the command function cannot As a result, there is a prescribed procedure for the absence of a COAs abroad or any sudden vacancy in the office

is hit in battle, and has to be evacuated to treat his wounds, the senior most unit commander will be called to brigade HQ to take command for the time being, until GHQ appoints a new commander this also applies to senior and junior commanders thus, there is no need to extend the incumbent s tenure Let him go home when the time comes, the senior most among the corps commanders would almost automat ically come to take command if he remained in po sition until a new COAs was appointed, though the Army might be in a sort of interregnum, it would not be without a commander

HAV i N G different parties ruling in the Centre and punjab is showing itself in quarrels over bureaucrats Whereas the president and pM once clashed over the appointment of the punjab Governor, the shahbaz and pervez governments clashed over the Chief secretary, an issue resolved only when the federal nominee went on leave, and handed over charge to the provincial nominee Now, the battle has descended to the squabble over the CCpO Lahore the incumbent has been repatriated by the federal government, but the provincial government is not releasing him there has previously been a problem involving the CCpO Lahore, during the previous government, which deemed the CCpO so important that it transferred the iGp the CCpO Lahore would be of vital importance because he is responsible for the policing of the provincial capital which is also its largest city However, Lahore is also important because the prime Minister sits for a Lahore constituency, and while his predecessor sits for a Mianwali seat, he was brought up in Lahore the icing on the cake is that the Chief Minister, while sitting for a Gujrat constituency, has always had a Lahore residence too the whole business of keeping civil servants on tenterhooks only incentivizes doing nothing Civil servants, already not inclined to work, were scared off by NAB, and now do not have the security of tenure that allows them to settle down to their task of easing the public’s difficulties the laws and rules are meant to facilitate the federal and provincial governments in getting their work done, which is supposed to be the function of civil servants the problem is that politicians have become inured to civil servants serving their political ends and that is at the root of the current unseemly squabbling over who is posted where if there is any legislation needed to create a more transparent process, and one which also irons out any lacunae, then both parties have majorities in the Centre and province, and should not hesitate

When Gen Asif Nawaz suddenly died, the desig nated officer (then the Corps Commander Lahore) flew at once to Rawalpindi and took over as acting Chief (even though two lieutenant generals were sen ior to him, the CGs and the DG isi) this was be cause he was a corps commander this is not a special procedure for the COAs it applies to any commander: if a brigade commander

What imran does not seem to have calculated, is that the COAs may seem to control the military, but is actually just an expression of his service the COAs has an indefinite constituency to satisfy, con sisting of his officer corps that officer corps gives the COAs total obedience, but in turn expects him to keep it out of politics this has applied even during military rule, when a number of officers also have civilian roles the COAs is seen as the key but he is also a weak link, as this is the only appointment made by a civilian All other promo tions are made by the Army promotion Boards the COAs makes no promo tions alone, but only as the Chairman of a board He does what he wants but this will not be the first time he chairs a board He will have chaired boards as a divi sional and corps com mander, and been a member even earlier the pM is not obliged to consult anyone as the COAs is thus, there is a murmur that seniority should be the deciding factor Violating seniority it seems has not got either the ppp or the pML(N) anywhere, and there is no reason why the pDM should be any dif ferent that would leave the decision effectively to the board promoting major generals to lieutenant generals if seniority is to determine who will be come COAs then all a lieutenant general could do is to ensure that he does a staff job, and commands a corps if he is of the right seniority, he will automat ically become COAs if not nothing he will do will make him COAs in a way, that will bring the three services (be cause the Air Force and Navy will follow the Army) into line with the judiciary, which has become inde pendent and autonomous in respect of the politicians, even though theoretically judges are elevated by the president the mechanism there has been the Judicial Commission of pakistan, which consists of the Chief

Justice of pakistan, four senior supreme court judges, a retired judge, the federal law minister, the Attorney General and a nominee of the Bar Council However the CJp thinks he should get his nominees in, and his speech at the beginning of the new judicial year indi cated that he felt the government s opposition to his choices was because of certain judgements made by the supreme Court there has been a writing of letters to the CJp by other judges, and it seems that the issue is whether the CJp should make decisions, or should there be a collective decision, or should there be only one it also has transpired that there is no set criteria for judges’ appointments or elevations the seniority principle has the advantage of cer tainty, but there is the danger of the Buggins’ turn syndrome, where a sort of sclerosis sets in, in the serv ice A brilliant officer might not win promotion be cause he had the wrong seniority the danger is a little exaggerated that brilliant officer would have risen at least to lieutenant general, commanded a corps and done a psO’s job and thus contributed to the Army the officer promoted in his stead would probably be up to the job true a diamond may have been retired as a major, but he would not have ever been made COAs from that rank He would first make lieutenant colonel But he didn’t

However, the seniority principle was tried in the UK after the end of the commis sion purchase system (whereby an officer would have to buy the next higher rank from someone who had the commission for it; otherwise, it was not un known for officers to retire as lieutenants, having bought a commission initially but not being able to buy promotion) the result was a geriatric lot of offi cers it could be argued that that was the lot with which the empire was won and maintained that is a useful reminder that the COAs is essen tially a military assignment, and his primary function is to prepare the Army to perform its functions his sec ondary to be ready to command it in the event of con flict Any political role is tertiary, and comes from his control of two intelligence agencies the isi and the Mi imran is committing the mistake of giving too much importance to the tertiary role As a matter of fact the pDM politicians are probably doing the same Because of this, it is not possible for the mili tary to completely withdraw from politics the very act of resisting these attempts is itself political

The writer is a member of staff

De s p i t e several explosive attacks on Chinese pakistan still hopes for strength ening its relationship with China for the strategic economic development pak istan s future economy hinges on the China pakistan economic Corridor (CpeC) which has attracted attention all over the world However, pakistan and China signed the $46 billion CpeC project related to economy and industrialization in April 2016 and aimed that the game changing proj ect bring unprecedented economic growth and pros perity for both countries

However, the official message of Mian shahbaz sharif, pM of pakistan states, pakistan China friendship is deep rooted and eternal this friendship is rooted in the hearts of people of the two countries the all weather close relationship has stood the test of time We are hugely grateful to H e president Xi Jinping and H e prime Minister Li Keqiang for their continued support to pakistan We will implement China pakistan economic Corridor (CpeC) with ‘pakistan speed’ and take it forward to new heights ”

the pM believes that the associated projects bring regional peace, security, prosperity and eco nomic development in entire country

Balochistan, the home of CpeC flagship project, seems left out greatly and it continues to suffer de spite CpeC Balochistan is pakistan s most undevel oped and ignored province which lags behind in more ways than one However, the heart of the mega proj ect, Gwadar, suffers from major challenging issues which include severe shortage of water electricity il legal fishing, poverty, insecurity, among others

Actually, Gwadar s residents never considered the project a success since project has not given ben efits to local residents and their expectations have never been met the residents held multiple peaceful and conflicting protests chanting slogans and de manding their basic facilities, claiming that their de mands have never been paid heed attentions by the provincial and central government though issues were democratically highlighted to them

Reportedly, Chinese nationals and pakistani se curity forces have continued to suffer from dangerous suicidal attacks from the inception of CpeC project the Baloch separatist group (Baloch Liberation Army) claimed responsibilities of different attacks in Gwadar and Karachi on Chinese considering that they plunder and exploit Balochistan’s resources by the name of CpeC in December 2020, due to security challenges, the pakistan Army started fencing the port city in the name of safe City project but all in vain the res idents of Gwadar and entire Balochistan rejected the fencing of Gwadar city and protested under the ban ner of pakistan Democratic Movement to stop fenc ing Gwadar, as it was a clear plan for division of the population and restricting them from free movement in the port city slogan stop Fencing Gwadar was everyone’s raised voice and petitions were filed in the court about the unlawful act of fencing Gwadar Munir Kakar the Vice Chairman Balochistan Bar Council, stated that fencing Gwadar was a violation of the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed under

the Constitution As for the safe City project was concerned, no country had fenced the areas dividing half of its population out and half in by imposing un lawful restrictions, rather with the new technology like cameras, radars and drones, the issue of insecu rity could be addressed easily What happened was that the project to fence Gwadar city was made re jected by its residents and it was stopped later so fencing Gwadar city wasn t the only issue for its residents, rather in December 2021, Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman, (Balochistan general secretary o f J a m a a t i i s l a m i ) l e d t h e G w a d a r k o h a q d o movement in which many thousands of people par ticipated in marching on the main roads, chanting s l o g a n s a g a i n s t p r o v i n c i a l g o v e r n m e n t a n d d e m a n d i n g t h e i r f u n d a m e n t a l r i g h t s t h e p r o t e s t lasted for a month having several demands to be ac cepted and implemented for the prosperity of local residents of Gwadar Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, the provincial Minister for planning and Development visited the protesters for negotiation to end the Dharna As he tweeted, “Negotiations with Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, in the presence of the chief minister have been success ful the government has accepted all the demands of Maulana sahib and the dharna is to be called off ” the CpeC project should have benefited the local residents to have a standardized livelihood and get their basic rights including proper education, health pure water electricity and ending illegal fish ing and other abuses Unfortunately, they have been unheard and neglected greatly even though the gov ernment promised fulfilling all their 16 demands Gwadar has been undergoing from several problem atic issues, yet they are not eradicated from the roots the central and provincial governments always ex pect CpeC to be a road map of economic prosperity and development, but they never thought how ig nored and deprived the residents of Gwadar are from their fundamental rights prosperity must have begun from where the CpeC projects are initiated, not from outside, be cause it is the local residents’ basic right to get the benefits from ongoing projects CpeC may remain an unsuccessful project if the people of Balochistan including Gwadar become neglected from their fun damental rights and livelihood

The tweets

At the expense of an already sluggish bureaucrac y and police force

Imran impor tance to the tiar y role [of the COAS].

I s r a e l i s t r i k e s o n P a l e s t i n i a n s a n d t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l r e s p o n s e

Model Bazaar

t H e management of Johar town Model Bazaar has increased the rent of stalls twice within a year the unlawful raise has affected the business of stallholders adversely the management first increased Rs1,000 in January, and another Rs750 in August leaving the businesses destabilised the decision is made at a time when inflation is at its peak and the purchasing power of the people is already affected A yearly bond (stamp paper) that bars the management from increasing the rent twice in a year was signed and was submitted by the shopkeepers last month while depositing Rs700 as the fee for a stamp paper worth Rs100

Before collecting the bonds and increasing the rent the management switched the deposited money from the bank to an outside shopkeeper who charged Rs40 extra for the bank service since the establishment of Model Bazaar the management has taken the services of more than four banks stallholders like me are unable to earn stability due to the casual attitude and manipulative actions of the management We only have sundays to run our business as we receive customers from the adjacent sunday Bazaar

the management has not put any effort with respect to marketing or promoting the place it turns the power off during rains and hardly changes the filters of water coolers the condition of washrooms is pathetic

High inflation has affected customers and shopkeepers equally those who have enough money run grocery shops in such bazaars and are also given shops for storage, but other ordinary stallholders are left to suffer the provincial chief minister and other relevant authorities need to intervene and maintain the rent of stalls at the old rate of Rs3,500 the stallholders are poor people and need relief to run their businesses the government should help them and stop the management from increasing the rent time and again

HUSSAIN KHAN LAHORE

Floods and health crisis

W H e N it rains it pours goes the saying and it holds true for pakistan

While the country was trying to fight off an economic crisis, massive floods ravaged huge areas across the country, especially the southern provinces the flood related losses have been estimated to the tune of billions of dollars

IN the third week of August israeli forces raided and forcibly closed the offices of six palestinian non governmental organi zations (NGOs) including three leading human rights organizations in the occu pied West Bank tensions often arise between israel and the palestinians living in east Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank

Gaza is ruled by the palestinian militant group Hamas which has fought israel on several occasions israel and egypt tightly control Gaza’s borders to prevent the flow of arms to Hamas palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank say they are suffering from israeli actions and sanctions israel says it is only acting to protect itself from palestinian violence the threat of evictions from some palestinian families in east Jerusalem has also fueled anger the move follows israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Gantz’s decision to designate six civil society groups as “terrorist” organizations in Oc tober last year these groups include the oldest and the most prominent human rights NGO in palestine and one of the oldest in the Arab world, along with the Adamir prisoner support and Human Rights Association, Defense for Chil dren international, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees as well as Center for Re search and Development, and the Union of palestinian Women’s Committees was included

All six organizations, several of which have been at the forefront of advancing ongoing cases against israel at the international Criminal Court, are respected and have strong ties to for eign NGOs and governments these groups re ceive foreign financial support, including from many european governments this move has also been seen as an attempt to shut down organ izations by cutting off their funding the moves were seen with shock and outrage by palestini ans who described the move as a brazen attempt to stifle criticism of israeli policies

Representatives of european governments, many of which have funded the named groups for years, expressed similar concerns and asked israel to provide evidence of the allegations the Biden Administration’s response to this has been largely muted, only asking that israel should

provide reasons for the raids the permanent closure of these NGOs by such actions will have dire consequences for their problems and the constituencies they serve including the possi bility of severe repression by both israel and the palestinian Authority, there will be far reaching implications for palestinian civil society in response to the international criticism, is rael promised to provide evidence, including a secret document containing evidence of the groups’ alleged terrorist ties, but has so far failed to convince a single government or donor the european Union investigation concluded that is rael’s evidence did not meet the required stan dard of proof A group of United Nations human rights experts similarly said israel had failed to provide any public concrete and credible evi dence against the groups in July, the eU s nine donor countries Bel gium Denmark France, Germany, ire land, italy, the Nether lands spain and sweden issued a joint statement categorically rejecting the israeli al legations and citing a lack of evidence they announced their inten tion to continue fund ing to six palestinian NGOs though report edly the Us CiA had found nothing to back up the israeli allega tions, and the Biden Administration has largely avoided com menting on the matter

U n t i l t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m mu n i t y, a n d p a r t i c u l a r ly t h e U S A , i s prepared to pressure Israel to chang e the course of incursion, such g estures may force Israeli authorities for some pause

I n s h o r t , t h e s i t u a t i o n w i l l n o t b e r e s o l v e d s o o n .

At the same time, the region has seen iranian support in crease Hezbollah’s ca pabilities to the point of deterring israel and al lowing the Houthis to attack saudi Arabia and the United Arab emi rates, with significant results iran has a strong relation with the piJ and its collaboration with Hamas continues the siege has not stopped Gaza s armed groups from bolstering their capabilities and it is ex pected that iranian may continue their support despite obstacles there are many speculations in the region that the upcoming israeli elections played a role in recent decisions regarding attacks on both the Gaza strip and the West Bank prime Minister Yair Lapid may have felt the need to show his credentials to right wing voters due to his lack of military experience Defence Minister Benny Gantz was also seen as eager to improve the chances to win the election

A ny f u t u r e p e a c e a g r e e m e n t w i l l r e q u i r e b e i n g a g r e e d by b o t h s i d e s o n c o m p l ex i s s u e s

military confrontation allowed the piJ to demon strate its military capabilities on its own there will no doubt be tension between Hamas and the piJ, which has lost two key leaders and expects more support from Hamas egypt also has actively sought to reach a ceasefire in all of the above wars and military disputes this time it tried to de escalate the sit uation between israel and the piJ in order to stop the attack and continue its efforts once it had started until a ceasefire was reached, in which Qatar was instrumental egypt indicated in the ceasefire agreement that it would seek to comply with the piJ’s request that two prison ers held by israel be released However, De fence Miniser Gantz has indicated that israel will not release them the military crackdown on NGOs has drawn even more outcry from the international community the United Nations Human Rights Office has de scribed this move by israel as completely il logical in a public show of solidarity on the day of the raids, representatives of eU diplomatic missions in cluding Germany, poland, the UK and others met with repre sentatives of the six targeted groups, even forcing the UsA to break its silence they were forced to publi cize that it was con cerned” about israel’s closure of organiza tions and for the first time expressed that the evidence provided by israel did not support any justification that civil society take action against organizations Until the interna tional community, and particularly the UsA is prepared to pressure is rael to change the course of incursion, such ges tures may force israeli authorities for some pause in short, the situation will not be resolved soon Any future peace agreement will require being agreed by both sides on complex issues the May 2021 violence was the fourth major war between Hamas and israel since 2008, said Jeremy Bowen, the BBC s Middle east editor He has seen previous wars end this way, that both the sides claimed victory and then basically sowed the seeds of the next battle At this time if the status quo does not change posi tively, it will have another round

But even worse is the short term forecast because, in addition to the food crisis there is a serious health crisis in the offing Diseases like malaria and dengue usually spread during this time of the year the number of infected people is feared to be more due to standing floodwater Besides other infectious and waterborne diseases may also increase the big question is about our ability to control the looming health crisis it basically needs collective effort of every institution and the active participation of all the stakeholders the federal, provincial and local governments, the armed forces and the non governmental organisations (NGOs) should start providing mosquito protection nets to the flood affectees without any delay and then to continue doing it consistently for months at least it would be nice if the political opposition may join the effort

Medical students and doctors should volunteer and while doing their medical stuff, they should spread awareness about infectious diseases among those living in the crisis zones the provision of clean drinking water and proper toilets at all relief camps and sites is another critical factor We cannot stop the floods, but we can minimise the devastation caused by them through practical preventive measures

MAHEER JEHANGIR CHAUDHARY LAHORE

Dadu crisis

D A D U city is in a crisis these days owing to floodwater that has left it inundated the threat was felt many days before the actual crisis began the trouble started with the close by town of Khairpur Nathan shah then came the rising water pressure in the Main Nara Valley (MNV) drain, also called the Right Bank Outfall Drain 1 (RBOD i) near Johi Within no time, Mehar and areas around the Manchhar Lake got flooded and then the indus River burst its banks, causing massive inundation, destruction and devastation On their own people tried their level best to protect the cities but it was a fight they never had any chance of winning Where were the administrators when the threat was rising? the question begs an answer

Although it is not the first time sindh has found itself facing floods no adequate measures were in place once water started flowing down from up north it would take decades for the people of the province to recover from the disaster caused by recent floods there is no end in sight to the misery of the impoverished SOOMRO HYDERABAD

Salar y deduction

On the palestinian side, Hamas supported the piJ rhetorically but not militarily it also helped egypt broker a ceasefire However, this

The writer has a PhD in Political Science and can be reached at akramzaheer86@yahoo com

R e C e N t rains have wreaked havoc on my city, shikarpur Many have lost their lives and thousands have been displaced with houses and crops having been washed away Due to flooding, water about five feet deep is standing for a couple of weeks, and the consequences are not too hard to imagine even for those living in the big cities in order to help out the millions of affectees, the provincial government has established a flood relief fund, and has deducted salaries of all government employees this deduction does not make any sense as most of the poor government employees have suffered themselves during the rains and floods in my case the deducted amount is Rs17 000 the roof of my house has caved in, damaging electrical appliances, furniture and just about everything else in the household i wonder how to deal with this unjustified deduction What is it that makes the decision makers assume that government employees have not been affected? Do they think natural calamities practise some kind of discrimination based on people’s employment status? the sindh government has received funds from the federal government as well as from other sources it must review its arbitrary decision of salary deduction, just like it has already done in certain

RIAZ AHMED SOOMRO SHIKARPUR

BriTish diPloMacy in ThE dock

new statesman dav d E d g E r to n

iN 1997, just ten days into office, Labour ’s foreign secretary, Robin Cook, issued a new mission state ment for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office he invited its staff to work with the Blair govern ment in a joint project to make Britain once again a force for good in the world” he had the grace and po litical wit to write “once again” Since then, the phrase stripped of that crucial qualifier has been used repeat edly in official publications as if it represented past pres ent and future reality In the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, for example, the defence secretary, George Robertson noted that: Our forces must also be able to back up our influence as a leading force for good in the world” (the phrase appeared another nine times through out the document) It also appeared in the 2005 Defence Industrial Strategy In 2019 Dominic Raab, then foreign secretary, claimed that “Global Britain is leading the world as a force for good The Integrated Review of 2021 claimed “a renewed commitment to the UK as a force for good in the world”

Arthur Snell a British diplomat between the late 1990s and 2014, who served in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, is contemptuous of the idea and the delusions behind it Put bluntly he writes a lot of the bad stuff happening right now is happening be cause of Britain ” From Kosovo to Brexit, Britain’s role in the world has been a force less for good than for the lamentable and abhorrent It never stops to ask if it could actually “punch above its weight”, or even whether it should be trying to punch at all Snell exaggerates the UK’s status in world affairs, but nonetheless offers a lucid rap sheet of egregious errors and self delusions that have left destruction in their wake

With insight that comes from years of front line diplomacy, he shows that the UK has helped fracture the global order and undermined trust around the world The story that emerges is of a “country that is desperate to show the world that it is still militarily virile” he has no time for the mawkish, infantilised discourse around Britain’s armed services he notes with embarrassment as have others with experience in these theatres that the British army floundered in Iraq and Afghanistan, where self aggrandising nonsense about a special British

aptitude for counter insurgency was humiliatingly ex posed The Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6 “des perate to please, delusional, self important and slapdash” receives similar treatment

Snell also contradicts common assumptions about the interests underpinning UK foreign relations The re lationship with Saudi Arabia, he argues, is not about oil, or the prevention of terrorism but armaments Through decades of corrupt business deals Britain has directly armed the house of Saud, which since 2015 has waged a brutal assault on Yemen often in violation of the laws of war For Snell, the “decades long policy to let Saudi Arabia poison global Islam while supplying it with the weapons and expertise has failed” The UK may stand up to a dictator every now and then, as it did in 2003 against Saddam hussein and 2011 against Muammar al Gaddafi (following years of friendly relations with both) but the truth is that, in the name of lucre, it mostly sup ports and forgives foreign oppressors

The directness of Snell’s book is refreshing and its indictments land harder because it is a view from the in side But it does not tell us anything that alert critics did not already know It may be shocking to the political con sensus to read that the bombing of Kosovo in 1999 caused more humanitarian problems that it was supposed to solve or that the UK has Yemeni blood on its hands but these are hardly grand revelations Nor is the fact that, for all the self glorifying talk of upholding the so called international order the UK has repeatedly disre garded its rules, such as by invading Iraq, deporting Chagos islanders and violating the eU withdrawal agree ment At the very least we can hope that Snell s account embarrasses politicians and journalists from incanting “a force for good in the world” But of course, it won’t Neither will it do much to alter existing policy That is because there is no serious explanation of why the UK behaves as it does What exactly was it in the nature of political and state elites and their policy programmes that made them disregard international laws and norms, arm tyrants, befriend despots, laud the military, indulge the arms industry falsify intelligence and wage illegal wars? There is the standard reference to post imperial hubris, but that is not enough In the 1960s and 1970s the UK pulled its troops back from east of Suez to concentrate on the european theatre What then drove Britain to ex pand eastwards once again, to the Middle east, and now,

with the Indo Pacific tilt , as far as China?

Part of the answer is that the UK armed forces needed an enlarged post Cold War role to justify high military expenditure Limiting Britain s defence to west ern europe would have entailed slashing defence budg ets and contracts Successive governments couldn’t refuse their roles as helpmeets of long range American power: the Chilcot Inquiry in 2016 revealed that the British army was aghast at the initial invasion plans for Iraq in 2003 which did not require a full British division to be deployed Use it or lose it

Snell’s answer to the problem of a serially dysfunc tional and dangerous foreign policy is more spending on better diplomats Recognising the declining quality and potential advantages of the diplomatic service is wel come, but there is no evidence that better diplomats would make any difference to Britain’s new disorder Was it only the second rate and overworked officials who supported government plans over the years? The low quality of foreign and defence policy statements and reviews the ludicrously named “Defence Command Paper , for example suggests this, but there is clearly more to be said

Snell is silent on one crucial factor: the impoverished thinking of the political classes and their advisers What makes them think supporting Saudi Arabia is good eco nomics or politics? Why do they repeatedly fail to ap preciate that the UK is more like a big Canada than a small United States? When will they realise that they oversee a withering economic power?

T h e b i g g e s t p r o b l e m w i t h S n e l l ’s a c c o u n t , h o w ever is that he does not acknowledge that all the dis astrous policies he enumerates were opposed Robin C o o k , k i c k e d o u t o f t h e F o r e i g n O ff i c e i n 2 0 0 1 , r e signed from government over the plans to invade Iraq A minority of Labour MPs also opposed the war, the same minority that criticised nearly every other griev ous policy including the sordid relationship with Saudi Arabia It is striking that the Conservatives, the Liber a l s a n d t h e L a b o u r r i g h t , w i t h f e w e x c e p t i o n s , h a v e been on the wrong side of these debates But there is no accountability for this, and no recognition that those who have got it right have not so much been ignored as condemned for their positions What we have seen unfolding is a general crisis of capability in the British state, and a crisis of political

imagination in Westminster Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Labour is now demanding “unshakeable sup port for Nato from its MPs and members But is it really the case that Labour is supposed to applaud every Nato mission? Why can we criticise the disastrous adventure in Iraq, but not what was done (or not done) in Afghanistan or Libya?

There was a time when Labour leaders mounted some opposition to the state s warmongering, the sale of arms to bad guys and delusions of grandeur: hugh Gaitskell denounced the attack on egypt in 1956; harold Wilson opposed both the sale of warships to General Franco and the supposed British independent nuclear de terrent Were they wrong, or did they not in fact put the interests of the nation first? Surely, they did

The sad reality is that for Britain to have a positive impact on the world, it must undergo a radical transfor mation of its politics, culture and governance And at the heart of such a change should be a critique of what has been done in the past 30 years in the name of doing good

How Britain Broke the World: War Greed and Blunders from Kosovo to Afghanistan 1997 2021 by Arthur Snell, Canbury Press, 416pp, £25

Guardian E d i to r i a l

MY b i g g e s t f e a r i s t h a t w e r e s i t ting with the makings of a human c a t a s t r o p h e , ” a d o c t o r i n S i n d h p r o v i n c e i n t h e s o u t h o f P a k i s t a n , w a r n e d T h e r e m a r k w a s d i s c o n c e r t i n g , a l m o s t b i z a r r e , i n t h e c o n t e x t o f floods that have ravaged a third of the country killed more than 1,500 of its citizens and destroyed 1 8m homes over two months What was that if not a ca tastrophe? Yet while the waters are finally beginning t o r e c e d e , a n d w h i l e i n t e r n a t i o n a l a t t e n t i o n h a s m o v e d o n , t h e m e d i c w a s c o r r e c t t o w a r n t h a t t h e devastation is still unfolding

“There is some debate about whether the disaster is the initial ‘big bang’ or the years that follow,” the re covery expert Prof Lucy easthope writes in her recent book When the Dust Settles “Life after disaster is per petual, chronic, with a pain that ebbs and flows like tides, with initial events followed by a new, long, chronic loss” extreme events rip lives apart The ter rifying force of nature unleashed makes headlines and fills broadcasts with compelling, appalling images: tor rents of water vast lakes where fields once stood But it is the aftermath which determines the true physical, economic, social and psychological cost

This weekend the World health Organization warned of a “second disaster” as waterborne diseases and other illnesses spread by the disruption soar The displaced now living in makeshift camps face rising levels of dengue fever, malaria and diarrhoea Beyond that immediate threat lie the challenges of housing and feeding people In all 33 million people in Pakistan equivalent to half the population of the UK have been

affected experts say it will take months for the waters to fully drain from Sindh, the hardest hit province Agricultural land has been devastated and huge quan tities of livestock lost Roads and railway lines have been washed away

Physical and psychological recovery requires more than simply providing building materials and rice, how ever Meeting the real needs of the population is im possible unless their knowledge and wishes are sought, welcomed and incorporated even well intentioned re construction efforts often go awry: in Banda Aceh, fol lowing the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, universities and factories were built but never used, while women were given sewing machines to start businesses, but not taught to use them Prof easthope also notes the impor tance of preserving communities, so that survivors can support each other and maintain their sense of identity when so much else has been lost

Visiting Sindh earlier this month the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said he had never seen such climate carnage and also warned that we can expect many more such disasters A study by an international team of climate scientists has found that the intense rainfall was made worse by global heating This year alone the country had already experienced a gruelling heatwave, wildfires and drought Climate catastrophes will be disproportionately experienced by developing countries which have made a minimal contribution to global heating As Mr Guterres pointed out, that makes massive financial support for Pakistan a matter of jus tice not generosity So far other governments have pledged only a tiny proportion of the estimated $30bn needed for recovery in a country already in dire eco nomic straits They must do better in funding recon struction as they must in tackling their carbon emissions, and funding vulnerable countries to prepare for future disasters

Th e scary rise of the far right in europe: it’s a familiar theme and one that progressive politi cians and liberal media often rehearse A game changing surge in support for nationalist eurosceptic, culturally intolerant parties was predicted after the 2016 Brexit referendum and Donald Trump s US election victory Yet it never really took off

Last year ’s electoral success of Germany’s centre left Social Democrats, and setbacks for the hard right Alternative for Germany suggested the forces of reac tion were in retreat Then came France’s presidential election run off, when the far right’s Marine Le Pen gained a record 13 3m votes over 41% of the total

The broader lesson to be drawn from such fluctua tions is that efforts to discern distinct, europe wide trends can be misleading Voting behaviour in different countries is influenced by personalities, events, timing, regional issues, party loyalties and electoral systems

In the end all politics is local That said far right pop ulist parties are a pan european problem that concerns all democrats Common ground, and ideological con junctions can be found for example between Sweden in europe’s far north, and Italy in the Mediterranean south In both, radical right parties are on the up Surprising many in Stockholm the Sweden Democ rats, a party with neo Nazi roots and a fierce anti immi grant, law and order stance, won second place in last week s national election backed by one in five voters Its support will be crucial for the new centre right coali tion aiming to replace the Social Democrats If the fact that such a party skewered by opponents as neo fascist brown shirts, will play kingmaker is not alarming enough, then consider this: in the land of Greta Thun berg s birth, 22% of first time voters aged 18 to 21 voted

for the Sweden Democrats, a party that shares the eu ropean far right s scepticism about the climate crisis

Worries about cost of living and energy crises the war in Ukraine, immigration and gun crime a hot but ton issue in Sweden may help explain this phenome non And they are not confined to Swedes Such issues easily translate to Italy, where like minded far right par ties are poised to win power next weekend

Opinion polls suggest Giorgia Meloni s Brothers of Italy, an insurgent populist movement whose lineage traces back to Mussolini, will lead the next government It is backed by two more familiar rightwing figures the ex prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini of the League Both are expert in the politics of division

Like the Sweden Democrats and Le Pen s National Rally (formerly the National Front), the Brothers of Italy have carefully laundered their image and suppressed their wilder urges Meloni has moderated her anti eU stance and distanced herself from Russia In contrast, Berlusconi is known as an old pal of Vladimir Putin

Italy s far right shares other characteristics with eu ropean brethren hostility to “elites”, authoritarian ten dencies, disdain for multiculturalism and gender rights and an obsession with national identity underpinned by racism Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Serbia all have their own versions of the same contagion

The damage the far right can do in power is painfully evident in hungary Its pro Moscow prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and his Fidesz party have ob structed eU action on Ukraine and undercut judicial academic, minority and media freedoms Last week, the european parliament declared hungary was no longer a democracy At a moment of national introspection and not a little self flagellation, the British should be grate ful and proud that far right parties have never gained the significance they have elsewhere Could it happen here? If our affairs are mismanaged badly enough, yes, it could ’ : n t h e a f t e r m a t h T H E I M A G E S O F R A G I N G TO R R E N T S W E R E F R I G H T E N I N G B U T A S T H E WAT E R S B E G I N TO R E T R E AT, T H E T R U E D I S A S T E R I S E M E R G I N G OF THE THAT IS TO h e d a n g e r o u s r i s e o f t h e f a r r i g h t i n E u r o p e

A F O R M E R D I P LO M AT ’ S N E W B O O K R E V E A L S T H AT, F O R 2 5 Y E A R S , U K F O R E I G N P O L I C Y H A S L E F T M A I N LY H A R M A N D D I S O R D E R I N I T S WA K E

“

Observer

corporate corner

P N S C r e f u t e s b a s e l e s s a l l e g a t i o n s

Apropos media release by various sections of the press on 21st and 22nd September 2022, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) refutes the false and baseless allegations The recently acquired Aframax tankers i e Mardan & Sargodha were inducted in PNSC s fleet in August 2022, and are registered with internationally recognized classification society i e American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Sargodha is trading successfully to the satisfaction of its client and is currently at berth to discharge her 2nd cargo at PQA terminal

Moreover, Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) has certified on 6th September 2022, that all machinery including pumping systems of the vessel are fit for service Dry docking is a predefined, cyclical and mandatory activity, performed as per Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and for the renewal of the vessel’s classification certificates confirming the sea worthiness of the vessel All seagoing vessels undergo periodic dry docking irrespective of the date of induction into any fleet PNSC being a strategic organization, considers publication of such baseless news as irresponsible, tarnishing the image of the national flag carrier (PNSC) PNSC reserves its right to initiate appropriate proceedings in this regard pr

J O i N T T E A M S S ET U P AT U C L E v E L T O A S S E S S R A i N S , f LO O D S D A M A G E S : M E M O N

Karachi s ta f f r e p o r t

PR O V I N C I A l Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that Sindh government has formed joint survey committees at the Union Council level to assess the dam ages caused by recent rains and flash flood in affected areas

'Representatives of district admin istration, Pak Army, NDMA, PDMA and the secretary of the concerned union council included in the commit tees, he added

The provincial minister said in a statement on Thursday that more than one committee can be formed in any union council considering the scale of flood damages

H e s a i d t h a t f o r m o n i t o r i n g t h e joint survey committees, a district su p e r v i s o r y c o m m i t t e e h a s a l s o b e e n formed under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner, in which SSP, district military liaison officer, repre s e n t a t i v e s o f N D M A , S PA R C O , PDMA and Assistant Director local G o v e r n m e n t h a s b e e n i n c l u d e d H e said that 17 more deaths has been re ported from the flood affected areas

and the number has reached at 724 He added that 8422 people have been i n j u r e d d u e t o r e c e n t r a i n s a n d floods The minister said that loss of 23312 livestock is reported , the total n u m b e r o f c a t t l e k i l l e d d u e t o r a i n / floods has reached 313,509 Sharjeel M e m o n s a i d t h a t 1 , 0 6 1 , 7 7 6 h o u s e s h a v e b e e n p a r t i a l l y d a m a g e d i n floods and rains, while 720,749 have completely been collapsed ' A total o f 1 0 9 4 6 5 5 3 p o p u l a t i o n a n d 2127311 families have been affected w h i l e 7 2 5 6 9 8 1 p e o p l e h a v e b e e n displaced

He said that the relief activities are

continued in the affected areas, so far the flood affected people have been provided 284625 tents, 247512 plastic tarpaulins, 2254495 mosquito nets, 26740 sleeping mats, 746212 liters of mineral water 34034 kitchen sets 7000 first aid kits, 15430 cattle mos quito nets and other relief items He said that 736,949 families have been given ration bags

He said that the Sindh government will continue the relief operations and Sindh government of the People's Party is committed to it's people and will not relax until the rehabilitation of all displaced people

islamabad p r

At a seminar organized by the Na tional Energy Efficiency and Con servation Authority (NEECA) at Fazaia Education System School

E 9 Islamabad Campus, speakers urged the children to adopt best practices in Energy Conservation and play their role in making Pak istan an energy efficient country

The title of the seminar was “Children’s Role in Energy Effi ciency and Conservation and its purpose was to raise awareness among school students regarding energy efficiency and conserva tion in the country

The seminar was addressed by eminent speakers from the energy sector including representatives from the Fazaia Education System School They highlighted the im portance of energy efficiency and conservation and its relation with innovation and climate change mitigation NEECA team briefed the students with help of animated

series built on the character ‘Cap tain NEECA’ about building inter est amongst the children and Pakistan’s youth, to conserve en ergy in their houses and convince their families to do the same Rep resentative FEES suggested that there is a strong need to change people’s behaviors toward energy consumption and its effect on our environment in the shape of Cli

mate Change In addition, it was suggested that we should reduce the unnecessary consumption of energy in everyday use The NEECA team distributed partici pation certificates among the stu dents and the seminar ended with the pledge from students to save energy in the future NEECA pre sented the commemorative shield to the principal of the school

islamabad s ta f f r e p o r t

T h e S e c u r i t i e s a n d E x c h a n g e Commission of Pakistan's Regu latory Sandbox continues to lead innovation and technological dis r u p t i o n s p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e f i n t e c h s e c t o r T h e t h i r d c o h o r t o f Regulatory Sandbox, will include business models and technology p l a t f o r m s f o r t e l e m a t i c s b a s e d v e h i c l e i n s u r a n c e , d i g i t a l o n l y a s s e t m a n a g e m e n t c o m p a n i e s , b a n k i n g s e c t o r E T F, l i v e s t o c k fund and bond fractionalization

These business models and tech p l a t f o r m s w i l l b e t e s t e d i n t h e c o m i n g 9 1 2 m o n t h s S E C P a p proved eight applicants out of the applications received for testing innovative business solutions for

the financial services market Ap plications under the third cohort were accepted during the months of April May 2022 The third co h o r t r e c e i v e d r e s p o n s e f r o m a wide range of established entities and start ups as well as from for eign companies, proposing inno v a t i v e b u s i n e s s m o d e l s H o w e v e r p r e f e r e n c e w a s g i v e n to innovation in the areas of dig i t a l o n l y A s s e t M a n a g e m e n t c o m p a n i e s , t e l e m a t i c s b a s e d i n surance, digital platforms for pri v a t e p l a c e m e n t o f d e b t i n s t r u m e n t s , A I b a s e d A l g o r i t h m i c Tr a d i n g P l a t f o r m , A I a n d data analytics based credit scor ing and other decision making

National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Pakistan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the prestigious Cranfield University (CU), UK The MoU envisions strong bilateral cooperation that would pave the way for a myriad of collaborative activities in several academic and research domains Rector NUST Engr Javed Mahmood Bukhari, himself a graduate of Cranfield University, led the NUST delegation to CU for signing of the agreement that would have far reaching positive dividends for both sides Other members of the NUST delegation included Pro Rector RIC Dr Rizwan Riaz and Dir Coordination Mr Imran Malik Chief Executive and Vice Chancellor of CU Professor Karen Holford FREng CBE, accompanied by Pro Vice Chancellors Professor Simon Pollard and Professor Dame Helen Atkinson and senior executives from CU, warmly received the delegates Rector NUST condoled with the hosts on passing of the Queen, and thanked them for their hospitality Both chairs pinned high hopes on the success and fruitfulness of the budding cooperation CU specialises in postgraduate studies and research and boasts very strong industrial partnerships and world class expertise NUST holds a high pedestal among universities of Pakistan with a regular inflow of brightest students from across the country The cooperation will go a long way in providing opportunities to NUST students to benefit from CU’s expertise and facilities, while CU will gain access to a large pool of motivated and capable researchers of NUST Under this multi pronged partnership, CU and NUST will collaborate in multiple thematic areas through different initiatives Launches Night beauty feature smartphone camera functionality also features Super Night mode, Sky shop the

The approved participants shall have an initial incubation pe riod of 2 months to align their

business and technology aspects/partners It will be fol lowed by live testing, which can take 6 to 10 months At the end of the testing pe riod, applicants shall submit a comprehensive report to the SECP for sharing overall results and sta tistics This process assists in bringing new and beneficial tech nology products for the end users to the market SECP believes that testing of technology driven solu tions through Regulatory Sandbox can stimulate financial and techno logical innovation and broaden the range of financial products Such initiatives also supplement SECP s vision of enhancing financial in clusion and promotion of FinTech and InsurTech sectors under its regulatory domain

islamabad s

Minister of National Food Security and Research (MoNF&SR)Tariq Bashir Cheema welcomed a delegation led by John A Roome South Asia Regional Director for Sustainable Development World Bank Both discussed the reha bilitation and relief efforts in the floods and rains affected areas with special reference to farmer community and food security Federal Minister Tariq Bashir said that flood and rains have played havoc on the agriculture sector and have devastated the farming com

munity At this critical time we are only focused on rehabilitation activi ties in the flood affected areas to bring back normalcy,” he added Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema said that the Ministry of Na tional Food Security and Research has planned to subsidize seeds and fertilizer to support the flood affected farmers According to the proposal, Federal Government will provide subsidized in puts to flood affected farmers for the up coming Rabi season on a cost sharing basis with the provinces The proposed subsidy may be presented to the Federal Cabinet soon “We plan to provide sub

sidized calamity he said

The disbursement will be through hoped will During

national emergency, Federal Government is supporting agriculture departments of provinces in every way possible, said John A Roome said that the World Bank will help Pakistan, in this time of need, through projects targeted to rehabilitate the affected

PTCL collaborate to provide clean drinking water to flood affectees in Sindh Balochistan in

C h I n a r e j e C T s U s a C C U s aT I o n s o n r I g h T s o f eT h n I C M I n o r I T I e s I n C h I n a

STAff REpoRT

aS E N I O R Chinese diplomat on Wednesday rejected the accusa tions made by the representatives of the U S , UK and EU regarding the rights of ethnic minorities in China

Zhang Jun, China s permanent represen tative to the United Nations made the re marks at the High level Meeting of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly to mark the commemoration of the 30th an niversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Na tional or Ethnic Religious and Linguistic Minorities

Zhang made it clear that China is a uni fied multi ethnic state where 56 ethnic groups remain closely united and together seek common, harmonious development for the building of a community with a shared future of the Chinese nation

Unfortunately, representatives of the U S the UK and the EU in total disregard of facts, are abusing the General Debate of the General Assembly and today’s meeting

to make unfounded accusations against China which we firmly oppose and categor ically reject,” Zhang said

Taking northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as an example Zhang said thanks to the joint efforts of dif ferent ethnic groups, the region has enjoyed sustained economic growth social harmony and stability, continuous improvement in people’s livelihood, cultural prosperity and religious harmony

Mentioning the so called assessment of Xinjiang released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on August 31, Zhang said it “does not have any legal mandate, does not have the consent from the country concerned and does not have any facts to support its claims ”

“The so called assessment is nothing but a perverse product of the U S and other Western forces’ coercive diplomacy and po litical manipulation,” said Zhang “It shows that the Office has been reduced to a political tool for the U S and other Western forces to use Xinjiang related issues to contain China, he added

Noting how countries like the U S and

“What the U S should really do is to

face up to the genocide of Americans ensure accountability and compensation, systematic racial discrimination Asians and other ethnic minorities,

eliminate social injustice, and allow ethnic minorities to breathe freely and develop equally,” Zhang said We call on the Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur on Minorities Is sues to continue to follow the infringement on minorities’ rights by countries like the U S , ” Zhang added

“We urge those few countries to stop the politicization of human rights issues, stop their double standards stop their inter ference in other countries’ internal affairs, and work earnestly to address their own human rights issues ”

Acknowledging there has been positive progress in the implementation of the dec laration Zhang said We cannot ignore the fact that minorities are still facing chal lenges like racism discrimination xeno phobia, violence and hatred ”

We must stay committed to dialogue and cooperation, and oppose the use of human rights issues to provoke division and confrontation for political self interests To gether, we must truly create a peaceful and just environment for minorities to survive and thrive

K a s h m i r i s f a c i n g b i g g e s t t h re at f ro m I n d i a i n r m s o f m i l i t a r y re p re s s i o n : S p e a ke r s

GENEVA

Cour t orders Yasin Malik’s physically production on hearing date

A the the the TADA court has issued the production warrant against Malik and directed the Tihar jail authorities to produce him before it on the next date of the hearing on October 20 Malik had asked the court to allow him to appear physically to cross examine witnesses in the case Muhammad Yasin Malik has been sentenced to life imprisonment in another fake case and is currently lodged in Tihar jail

17 dead in Iran protests, state T V repor ts

Seventeen people have been killed in six straight nights of protests in Iran against the death of a young woman in morality police custody, state tele vision reported in a toll update Thursday Seven teen people, including demonstrators and policemen, have lost their lives in the events of the past few days state television reported without giving a breakdown The previous official toll was seven protesters and four members of the security forces killed Three paramilitaries mobilized to confront the rioters” were shot dead or stabbed in the city of Tabriz, in East Azerbaijan province, Qazvin in the province of the same name and Mashhad, in Razavi Khorasan province, Iranian news agencies reported A member of the security forces was also killed Tuesday during protests in Shiraz, Fars province, the agencies said Officials have denied the security forces had any involvement in the deaths of the protesters

Speakers at a seminar have termed India s military repression demographic engineering and its religious and civi lizational aggression in Kashmir as the biggest threat Kashmiris have ever faced

The seminar titled “Indian Military Repression, Demographic Engineering, religious and civilization aggression in occupied Kashmir” was organized by World Muslim Congress on the sidelines of the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council

It was attended and addressed by in ternational experts rights defenders aca demicians and political activists hailing from different parts of the world, includ ing Ch Muhammad Yasin president PPP AJK chapter, Tehreek e Kashmir leaders Fahim Kiani, Sardar Amjad Yousuf, Ex ecutive Director of Kashmir Institute of International Relations, APHC AJK leaders Syed Faiz Naqashbandi and Altaf Hussain Wani

Highlighting the dangerous dimen sions of the Kashmir dispute, Altaf Hus sain Wani said that Indian belligerent military occupation of the territory cou pled with multi front political, social and religious aggression pose a serious exis tential threat to the region’s indigenous population who happen to be the Muslims

He said that it was quite unfortunate that the world has been blatantly ignor ing the systematic slow motion genocide of Muslims that has been going on in the region for the past several years They said the prolonged military occupation has led to the killings of hundreds and thousands of Kashmiris

The Speakers said in the aftermath of 5th August 2019, the human rights situ

ation in the territory has deteriorated to alarming levels “Suppression of free dom of speech and expression has led to a wholesale imprisonment of thousands of Kashmiris who continue to languish in far off jails as under trials

While on the other a multi front on slaught, which has led to identity ero sion is yet another biggest challenge Kashmiris have been facing since the abrogation of article 370 and 35 A”, they said

In addition to modification of the IIOJK’s age old laws, the speakers pointed out the government of India has introduced hundreds of new laws that

lent impetus to BJP’s settler colonialism campaign to completely erase Kashmir ’s political religious and cultural identity

Referring to delimitations of con stituencies, they said the reorganization of assembly constituencies to favour a particular party was used as a tool to po litically disempower and marginalize in digenous population

Terming the Delimitation Commis sion’s report as a farce, they said, “The criteria of population which is the car dinal principle in this regard, has not been adhered to in the allocation of the assembly seats to Kashmir and Jammu regions” They added that granting addi

tional seats to Jammu was a deliberate move aimed at shifting the center of po litical power in the territory from Srina gar to Jammu besides rendering the Kashmiri Muslims politically weightless and worthless

Referring to a recently released re port by Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir the speakers men tioned that the Delimitation Commis sion’s report would be presented as an example in the political history of the world as how to turn a dominant major ity into a political minority in the guise of democracy through gerrymandering cracking and packing

Will sexual violence against Dalits ever end in India, asks DW

sisters had been lured into a field where they were as saulted and strangled to death with their scarves

There has been a shocking increase in sexual violence committed against Dalit women who languish at the bottom of India’s caste system But the issue is likely worse than it appears because so many crimes go un reported, reported Deutsche Welle, a German state owned international broadcaster

The DW report mentioned that two Dalit sisters aged 15 and 17 were found hanging from a tree in northern Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Lakhimpur Kheri dis trict last week They had been raped and strangled, ac cording to postmortem reports

Police arrested six men accused of gang raping and murdering the girls A local police chief said the

The attack was yet another blot on the widespread sexual violence faced by India’s community of nearly 80 million strong Dalit women traditionally posi tioned on the bottom rung of a centuries old caste sys tem

L a s t w e e k ’s r a p e s a n d k i l l i n g s e v o k e d m e m o r i e s o f a s i m i l a r i n c i d e n t i n 2 0 1 4 w h e n t w o D a l i t g i r l s , who were cousins and both minors were kidnapped g a n g r a p e d a n d h a n g e d f r o m a t r e e i n t h e B a d a u n d i s t r i c t o f U P T h e 2 0 1 4 i n c i d e n t t r i g g e r e d a m a s s i v e o u t r a g e during which the United Nations called for immedi ate action against the perpetrators

In 2020 the gang rape and murder of a 19 year

old Dalit girl by some high caste Hindus in Hathras, a n o t h e r d i s t r i c t i n U t t a r P r a d e s h , a l s o p u t t h e s p o t light on the plight of the community

“ R a p e a g a i n s t D a l i t w o m e n a n d g i r l s i s a w a r a g a i n s t t h e i r b o d i e s a n d d i g n i t y, ” s a i d R u t h Manorama, a prominent Dalit social activist and win ner of the 2006 Right Livelihood Award, a prize often known as the Alternative Nobel M e n f r o m u p p e r H i n d u c a s t e s o f t e n u s e s e x u a l v i o l e n c e a g a i n s t D a l i t w o m e n t o “ a s s e r t t h e i r c a s t e power” and to “humiliate them and treat them as in human, she said

The country’s latest National Crime Records Bu r e a u s h o w e d n e a r l y 7 1 , 0 0 0 c r i m e s a g a i n s t p e o p l e from Dalit castes were pending investigation at the end of 2021

the UK list all sorts of unfounded charges against other countries, Zhang urged them to face their own problems

NEW

SRINAGAR

TEHRAN

t a m m a d Wa s i m s a i d We d n e s d a y Wasim admitted that the Pakistan team is fac i n g p r o b l e m s i n t h e m i d d l e o r d e r a n d t h e y a r e t r y i n g d i ff e r e n t c o m b i n a t i o n s d u r i n g t h e E n g l a n d s e r i e s a h e a d o f t h e m e g a t o u r n a m e n t I n t h e 1 5 p l a y e r s q u a d a n n o u n c e d l a s t w e e k t o p o r d e r b a t t e r S h a n M a s o o d w a s i n c l u d e d i n t h e s i d e f o r t h e s h o r t e s t f o r m a t f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e a l o n g w i t h f a s t b o w l e r s M o h a m m a d Wa s i m J u n i o r a n d S h a h e e n

S h a h A f r i d i , w h i l e F a k h a r Z a m a n , M o h a m m a d H a r i s a n d S h a h n a w a z D a h a n i h a v e b e e n n a m e d a s t h e t h r e e t r a v e l l i n g r e s e r v e s

Wasim Junior was included after recovering com p l e t e l y f r o m t h e s i d e s t r a i n h e s u ff e r e d d u r i n g t h e A C C T 2 0 A s i a C u p , w h e r e a s S h a h e e n , w h o i s u n d e r g o i n g r e h a b i l i t a t i o n f o r a k n e e i n j u r y i n L o n d o n a n d e x p e c t e d t o r e s u m e b o w l i n g e a r l y n e x t m o n t h , w i l l j o i n t h e s q u a d i n B r i s b a n e o n 1 5 O c t o b e r

Changes can be made to the squad till 15 October without needing the Event Technical Committee’s ap p r o v a l M o h a m m a d Wa s i m s a i d t h a t t e a m s p e r f o r m a n c e w a s n o t s a t i s f a c t o r y i n t h e A s i a C u p 2 0 2 2 f i n a l a n d t h e f i r s t T 2 0 a g a i n s t E n g l a n d

The Pakistan team is facing batting problems for

which efforts are being made to solve The team man a g e m e n t i s a l s o m a k i n g d i ff e r e n t c o m b i n a t i o n s i n t h e r e c e n t s e r i e s t o s o l v e i t a n d g i v i n g t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o b e n c h s t r e n g t h T h e Wo r l d C u p i s a r o u n d t h e c o r n e r and we are not too worried about two consecutive de f e a t s R e g a r d i n g t h e c h a n g e s i n t h e Wo r l d C u p s q u a d t h e c h i e f s e l e c t o r s a i d t h a t t h e r e i s n o p l a n t o c h a n g e i t y e t , b u t t h e o p t i o n i s d e f i n i t e l y t h e r e “ I a m n o t s u r e w h a t c h a n g e s c o u l d b e m a d e I a m h o p e f u l t h a t t h e p l a y e r s s e l e c t e d f o r t h e t o u r n a m e n t p e r f o r m w e l l [ i n t h e o n g o i n g s e r i e s ] I n j u r i e s c a n a l s o c a u s e c h a n g e s h e s a i d a d d i n g Fakhar Zaman is part of the squad and we hope he re c o v e r s f r o m i n j u r y s o o n , b u t i f h e i s n o t f i t f o r t h e

Wo r l d C u p , s o m e n a m e s a r e u n d e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n H e s a i d t h a t S a i m Ay u b a n d S h a r j e e l K h a n a r e i n o u r 1 8 p l a y e r s b u t n o t i n 1 5 I t i s n o t n e c e s s a r y t o c h o o s e a n o p e n e r i n p l a c e o f a n o p e n e r T h e r e a r e s o m e n a m e s u n d e r r e v i e w ” Wa s i m s a i d h e w o u l d n ’t m i n d c r i t i c i s m o n h i s s e l e c t i o n o r o n h i m s e l f b u t r e g r e t t e d t a rg e t i n g p l a y e r s squad CaN seLeCtor

S hahnawaz, S aqib to compete at World Corporate Golf C hallenge World Final

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R R

Cristiano ronaldo ‘feels motivated’ to play for Por tugal in euro 2024

StAff RepORt

Star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he wishes to continue playing international football even after the upcoming FIFA World Cup, hoping to represent his country in the European Football Championship 2024 The 37 year old five times Bal lon D’or winner had recently expressed his likeli ness to retire from international football after the World Cup However, he now said that he “still feels motivated” to serve the sport a bit longer in the in ternational arena insisting that his time with the na tional team is far from finished “I hope to be a part of the Federation for a few more years I still feel motivated my ambition is high My path to the na tional team is not over We have many quality youngsters I will be at the World Cup and I want to be at the European Championship the publication quoted Ronaldo as saying in his speech at the annual Quinas de Ouro awards ceremony by the Portuguese Football Federation There Ronaldo received an honorary accolade for being his country’s record goal scorer The Portuguese forward will be 39 by the 2024 European Championship He steered his side to the unlikely European Championship glory in 2016 and scored three goals on Portugal’s way to the decider before being substituted due to an injury only after 25 minutes into the game Portugal is set to start their World Cup campaign in a fixture against Ghana on November 24, and then face the two time world football champions Uruguay later in the month The side will finish its group stage by locking horns with South Korea on December 2

A two member corporate sector team from Pakistan, comprising Shahnawaz Durrani and Saqib Rehman will compete in the World Corporate Golf Challenge (WCGC) World Final, taking place from October 17 21 in Tenerife, Spain made it to the World Final after emerg ing victorious in the National Final of Hashoo Group World Corporate Golf Challenge Pakistan, Wing Cmdr (retd) I N Khokhar Chairman of Loco Services the Pakistan’s official licence holder of WCGC told APP on Thursday

Top corporate sector golfers from around 30 coun tries, will be vying for top honours in the island of Tenerife

Since its inception in 1993 the WCGC has grown to such an extent that over one million golfers have par ticipated from over fifty countries Our corporate sec tor golfers’ first appearance in the event was in 2015 wherein they finished at the 13th position In 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 they got second, third, fourth and eighth position respectively And now after a two year Covid 19 hiatus, they will be competing in the event for the sixth time

According to Khokhar Loco Services profession ally conducted the first qualifier for South Region of

Promising Wazir wants to be first Pakistani boxer to win World Youth title

ISLAMABAD

Top pugilist Usman Wazir is hope ful to become the first Pakistani boxer to bring the World Youth title home and make the whole na tion proud

I m the first Pakistani to fight for the World Youth title I’m training hard for my fight and hopefully I will become the first Pakistani boxer to win the title ” he told APP Wazir, will be facing a Thai boxer on September 28 for the title match in Bangkok, Thailand Wazir, who remains undefeated in international fights will be up against the top ranked Thai boxer Somphot Seesa in the title fight

Though it will be the home ground of the Thai boxer but I’m not at all under pressure I request whole Pakistani nation to remem ber me in their prayers I want to make Pakistan and Gilgit Baltistan proud by winning the title the Asian Boy said Wazir, who was determined to triumph and shine in

the world of boxing had also won the World Boxing Association Asia Welterweight title in June this year

On the other hand he also bagged the World Boxing Council

K A R AC H I s tA

Middle East Champion title last year The 22 year old from Gilgit Baltistan, also grabbed Super Light category competition in Manila, Philippines

Hashoo Group WCGC Challenge 2022 in Karachi the second edition of North Region in Islamabad, while the third edition of Centre Region took place in Lahore on September 17 which was followed by the National Final on September 18

We d selected six teams from Karachi edition, five from Islamabad edition and as many from Lahore edi tion to compete in the National Final “The DCC De velopers Shahnawaz Durrani and Saqib Rehman lifted the title to qualify for World Final in Tenerife ” he said He said the WCGC was the most established global business to business golf tournament opened to top level executives around the world who share a passion for golf

Federer teams up with Nadal at Laver Cup for farewell match

LONDON

Roger Federer will team up with long time rival Rafael Nadal for the final match of his glittering career, Laver Cup organisers announced on Thursday The 20 time Grand Slam champion will play doubles with the Spaniard, who has won 22 majors at the O2 arena in London on Friday Federer, whose most recent competitive match was a loss to Hubert Hurkacz in last year s Wimbledon quarter finals, has been struggling with a knee problem and will not play singles in London The Laver Cup is a team competition that pits Team Europe against Team World The six strong European team, captained by Bjorn Borg, also includes 21 time major winner Novak Djokovic and three time major winner Andy Murray Their opponents Team World skippered by John McEnroe, include Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger Aliassime and Diego Schwartzman Federer 41 announced last week he intended to retire after the three day Laver Cup He said on Wednesday that finishing his career by teaming up with Nadal would be his dream scenario Federer said he and Nadal, 36, had always maintained respect for each other even as they vied for the biggest trophies in the sport “For us as well to go through a career that we both have had and to come out on the other side and being able to have a nice relation ship I think is maybe a great message as well to not just tennis but sports and maybe even beyond he said Ital ian Matteo Berrettini, the first alternate for Europe, will take Federer s place over the weekend

Mount Everest and Lhotse in less than 12 hours

Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila got one step closer to her target of becoming the quickest person to summit all 14 peaks of over 8,000 metres in the world when she s u m m i t e d M o u n t M a n a s l u i n N e p a l , h e r 12th of 14 Harila is aiming to break the record of Nepal s Nirmal Purja who submittedall 14 p e a k s o f 8 0 0 0 m i n s i x m o n t h s a n d s i x days

T h e 3 6 y e a r o l d N o r w e g i a n , w h o started her record expedition in April this y e a r, h a s d o n e 1 2 p e a k s i n l e s s t h a n f i v e months and now needs to summit two more peaks before November 2 In May 2021, she set a world record by b e c o m i n g t h e f a s t e s t w o m a n t o c l i m b

Kristin summited Manaslu (8163 m) the eight highest mountain in the world t o d a y a t 2 : 3 6 p m l o c a l t i m e w i t h P a s dawa Sherpa and Dawa Sherpa as the first team this season ” said a statement by her team

This was hard, but we wanted to sum m i t M a n a s l u n o w t o a v o i d t h e c r o w d o f climbers waiting at the basecamp Heavy snowfall and high risk of avalanches made t h i s a s c e n d c h a l l e n g i n g s o I a m g l a d w e made it”, Harila said in a message from the summit of Manaslu, released by her team Harila now needs to summit two more m o u n t a i n s t o a c h i e v e h e r t a rg e t t o b e t h e fastest to summit all 14 peaks over 8000m However she is still waiting for a permit f r o m t h e C h i n e s e g o v e r n m e n t t o c l i m b

Shishapangma and Cho Oyu

The final deadline is November 2 I have already proved that women can break barriers I hope I get a fair chance to s e t t h e r e c o r d , i t w o u l d m e a n a l o t f o r w o m e n i n m o u n t a i n e e r i n g , s h e h a d s a i d earlier

Kristin Harila’s summits so far:

Annapurna I 28 April

Dhaulagiri I 8 May Kanchenjunga 14 May Mt Everest 22 May Lhotse 22 May Makalu 27 May Nanga I 11 August 22 September

KARACHI

B a B a R a z a m ’ s C e n t u R y h e l p s pa k i s ta n C R u s h e n g l a n d i n 2 n d t 2 0 i

KARACHI f

sK I P P E R Babar Azam smashed an unbeaten century as Pakistan crushed England by 10 wickets on Thursday to register their first win against in the second of the seven match historic T20I series

England’s stand in skipper Moeen Ali struck a rapid half century to lead his team to 199 5 against Pakistan which was easily chased by the batting duo Moeen smashed four sixes and as many fours in his 23

PM, UN S ecretar y General disc uss diverse matters

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) António Guterres on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Thursday The Prime Minister appreci ated the Secretary General’s timely visit, affirming strong solidarity with Pakistan in the wake of the climate induced cata strophic floods He expressed gratitude for the Secretary General’s strong push to mo bilize international support and assistance for the affected people and also empha sized the need for concrete international action to mitigate the impacts of climate change on developing countries

The Prime Minister emphasized Pakistan’s extreme vulnerability to cli matic changes despite its minimal con tribution to global carbon emissions The Prime Minister lauded the Secretary General’s leading role in calling for ur gent climate action

The Secretary General committed to

do everything possible to mobilize sup port for Pakistan He said that Pakistan deserved the full and massive support from the international community

The Prime Minister added that as the current Chair of the Group of 77 and China, Pakistan would work towards a common position on ways to secure accelerated im plementation of the Sustainable Develop ment Goals and environmental agreements and commitments He expressed gratitude for the support extended by the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General in this area In the regional context, the Prime Minister highlighted the dire human rights situation in IIOJK and ex pressed the hope that the Secretary Gen eral will use his good offices to facilitate a just and peaceful solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions

The Prime Minster reaffirmed the im portance attached by Pakistan to a peace ful, stable, and prosperous Afghanistan and stressed the need for the international community to work together to promote shared objectives

ball 55 not out after England opted to bat first after winning the toss at National Stadium

Ben Duckett (43), Harry Brook (31) and Alex Hales (30) also contributed to the run fest as England hammered 119 in the last 10 overs Moeen hit two tow ering sixes off pacer Mohammad Hasnain’s last two deliveries of the innings England, who are on their first tour of Pakistan in 17 years, won the first game by six wickets, also in Karachi on Tuesday, to take a 1 0 lead in the seven match series

The visitors brought in spinner Liam Dawson in place of pacer Richard Gleeson, while Pakistan re

placed fast bowler Naseem Shah with Mohammad Hasnain The remaining matches of the series are in Karachi (September 23 and 25) and Lahore (September 28, 30 and October 2)

T e a m s: Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Shahnawaz Da hani, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Usman Qadir England: Moeen Ali (captain), Alex Hales, Harry Brook Sam Curran Ben Duckett Liam Dawson Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, David Willey, Luke Wood

Regime change caused $5b losses: Fawad Ch

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e p o r t

While reacting to Supreme Court (SC) advice of returning to National Assembly (NA), former information minister and Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said Pakistan has suffered $5 billion due to regime change

Taking to Twitter the former federal minister said that the Supreme Court (SC) has no idea that regime change operation has so far caused $5 billion loss to Pakistan in terms of currency alone

Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Mr Wada Mitsuhiro called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at General Headquarters (GHQ) today, ISPR said on Thursday

During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, regional security sit uation and partnership in humanitar ian measures were discussed COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that Pakistan values Japan’s role in global and regional af fairs and we look forward to enhanc ing our bilateral relationship

The Ambassador expressed his grief over the devastation caused by ongoing floods in Pakistan and of fered sincere condolence to the fami lies of the victims He offered full support to the people of Pakistan

He also appreciated Pakistan Army s efforts for assisting civil ad ministration in rescue and relief ef forts in flood affected areas C O A S B a j w a t h a n k e d J a p a n ’s s u p p o r t a n d s a i d t h a t a s s i s t a n c e f r o m o u r g l o b a l p a r t n e r s s h a l l b e v i t a l i n t h e r e s c u e a n d r e h a b i l i t a t i o n o f t h e f l o o d v i c t i m s Yesterday the Ambassador of the European Union (EU) Dr Riina Kionka met Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and dis cussed enhancing bilateral relations Expressing deep grief over the devastation caused by floods in Pak istan, Dr Kionka extended sincere con dolences to the families of the victims She offered the EU’s full support to the people of Pakistan and appreci ated Pakistan Army s efforts in assist ing civil administration in rescue and relief efforts in flood affected areas

Responding to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial s statement Fawad Chaudhry said that the CJ s observation contradicts with the Constitution “Rather than the expenditure on general elections, we are paying a much higher price for the decision of the Supreme Court which stopped the polls,” he added Mazari challenges sedition clause of PPC in IHC PTI leader and former federal minister for human rights Shireen Mazari has challenged sedition clause 124 A of Pakistan Penal Code in Islamabad High Court (IHC)

Mazari’s counsel Abuzar Salman Niazi has filed petition against clause 124 A of PPC seeking the court to declare it as unlawful T h e s e d i t i o n c l a u s e b e i n g i n v o k e d t o c u r b t h e f r e e d o m o f e x p r e s s i o n , ” a c c o r d i n g t o t h e p e t i t i o n ” S e d i t i o n c l a u s e 1 2 4 A h a s b e e n i n c o n f l i c t w i t h t h e f u n d a m e n t a l h u m a n r i g h t s g i v e n i n t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n , ” p e t i t i o n e r a rg u e d “Sedition cases used to suppress the freedom of expression and criticism,” according to the plea Shireen Mazari has also pleaded to the court to halt registration of sedition cases and issuing a restraining order over sedition cases

P e t i t i o n e r h a s m a d e C h i e f S e c r e t a r i e s , I G s o f f o u r p r o v i n c e s a n d I s l a m a b a d P o l i c e a s r e s p o n d e n t s i n t h e c a s e e l i n a n u d g e s wo rl d to ‘d o m o re’ to h e l p Pa k i s t a n fl o o d a ffe c te e s

KARACHI

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie who is cur rently on Pakistan visit to show solidarity and support for the flood victims visited National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC) on Thursday

The humanitarian activist has come to Pakistan on Sept 20 to divert world s attention towards the large scale destruction wreaked by recent monstrous floods which has put al most one third of the country underwater NFRCC Deputy Chairman Ahsan Iqbal

welcomed Jolie and thanked her for visiting Pakistan during the most catastrophic floods in the history of Pakistan

The Hollywood star who is a special UN envoy for refugees and had previously been in Pakistan as a special UN envoy after a deadly 2005 earthquake and after flooding in 2010, was briefed about flood response and measures taken thus far

Jolie said she was deeply moved to see people s suffering during her yesterday s visit to Dadu in Sindh province where she met flood victims She said that she was with flood affected people and would make her efforts to

let the world know the ‘scale of devastation these climate changes have done and the life saving support they need

The US star was impressed by the Pak istan Army which was busy round the clock in the relief activities

Whatever relief activities I have seen, they are being provided by the Pakistan Army, Jolie said adding that the Army men were sav ing people’s lives

She however said that the people whose lives had been saved, they still were not safe “The destruction which I have seen, the world has no idea of it she maintained

ISLAMABAD G h u l a m a b b s

Following the devastation of flood in Pak istan, the World Bank (WB) has agreed to spend the utilized fund of $ 200 million Lo cust Emergency and Food Security Project (LEAFS) project, for rehabilitation of flood affected farmers According to officials, under the new agreement Pakistan and WB have de cided to utilize $22 2 million of LEAFS proj ect as financial support for the rehabilitation of flood affected farmers

Earlier the WB had announced a loan of $ 200 million (Rs 32 8 billion) as an emergency response to locust attack in Pakistan The proj ect was imperative to ensure food security, poverty alleviation and achievement of zero

hunger goals The project was being executed under National Food Security Policy (MNFS&R) National Action Plan for Surveil lance and Control of Desert Locust (NAP DL Pak) in Pakistan and Sustainable Development Goals According to reliable sources, the WB’s loan was not fully utilized under the same proj ect According to an official, the decision about utilization of the fund for rehabilitation of flood affected farmers was made during a meeting between World Bank South Asia Re gional Director for Sustainable Development John A Roome and Federal Minister for Na tional Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema in Islamabad on Thursday

As per a statement issued by the ministry, while discussing the rehabilitation and relief efforts in flood hit areas with reference to

farmer community and food security, the WB representative said the bank will support the rehabilitation of the farming community in flood affected districts and locus hit areas through the LEAFS project of the World Bank Roome said he will also request the World Bank Group Board to increase support for Pakistan to recover from the devastation caused by unprecedented floods”

The bank is working with provincial agri culture departments to support the farming community, he added

During the meeting Cheema said that floods and rains had played havoc on the agri culture sector and devastated the farming community “At this critical time, we are only focused on rehabilitation activities in the flood affected areas to bring back normalcy ”

UNITED NATIONS