Epaper_22-09-27 LHR

Dar returns home, vows to take Pakistan ‘out of economic vortex’

ISLAMABAD staff report

PRIMEMinister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday returned to the country after concluding his visit to New York and London in a special plane.

Ishaq Dar, the nominee for the slot of finance minister, accompanied the premier. With his return, the five-year self-exile of Mr Dar comes to an end. The senator-elect is expected to take oath of the Upper House of the Parliament today (Tuesday).

Outgoing finance minister Miftah Ismail and Information

Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, who were part of the PM’s delegation, have also returned home. Talking to the media after landing at Nur Khan Airbase, Dar said he has reached Pakistan on the instructions of the party leader, Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

“We will take this country out of the economic vortex… we will take Pakistan out of the economic vortex like in 1999 and 2013-14, there is a lot of hope that we will go in a positive economic direction,” he added.

Earlier while talking to the media in London, Dar had said that “with the grace of Allah the Almighty is calling me back to the

same office from which I came here for medical treatment”.

PM Shehbaz, who had gone to the UK to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, had met his elder brother in London to discuss key political issues before departing to the US to attend the UN General Assembly session.

After the UNGA session, PM Shehbaz returned to London again and had a long meeting with his brother and Dar, who had left for the UK in October 2017 while he was standing trial in a corruption reference.

A day earlier, Finance Minister Miftah announced stepping down from his post following an important PML-N meeting which

Govt decides to procure safer tablets for cabinet meetings

ISLAMABAD shahzad paracha

Following the emergence of audio leaks of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the government has decided to procure better and safer tablets for cabinet meetings.

Sources have informed Pakistan Today that the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom has floated a summary to the federal cabinet for procurement of new better and safer tablets for cabinet meetings.

“The ministry of IT has proposed to replace NRTC tablets with Samsung or any other company tablets as they are considered more secure and have updated features,” the sources said.

Pakistan Today on September 14, 2022 reported that the sensitive data of the country’s highest decision-making forum, Federal Cabinet, was at risk due to usage of India’s Chennai-based company Zoho’ MDM software to run the portal of the E-Cabinet.

It may be mentioned here that the National Information Technology Board (NITB) had procured tablets with Chennai-based company Zoho’ MDM software and provided them to federal cabinet members in May 2021 after getting from NRTC.

Presently, the Cabinet Division is managing all the matters such regarding tablets as submission of summaries to the Cabinet Members.

Sources said that the high-ups of the Ministry of IT&T and cabinet division, after the PM’s notice, conducted an inquiry into the possible data leak-

age. The team in its initial findings found the platform credentials satisfactory after the re-validation of the e-cabinet system. Sources said that hackers also hacked the server of the Prime Minister secretariat a few months back. An inquiry had been conducted on this matter also but reportedly no initiatives have been taken to curtail the data leakage or improve the system.

Sources said that over 150,000 foreign hacking attempts are made on govt websites daily and recently, they not only hacked the Ministry of commerce’s Export Development Fund (EDF) website but FBR and National Bank of Pakistan websites also. The international hackers have also made public confidential details of companies’ CEO and directors details available with SECP and departments are also probing this matter also.

It is pertinent to note that the Government of Pakistan in every IT related tendering makes sure that no Indian software be purchased. However, despite its precautions, the NITB had purchased MDM solutions from the Indian firm.

As per the information publicly available that National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval in last year appointed Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu as member of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB).

Former ED NITB Shabahat Ali Shah also tweeted that Cabinet Tablets are the most secure devices one can have as part of Fed Govt paperless environment. “Cabinet system has never been on the Internet and accessible only on local Intranet and no one could access tablets through the Internet,” he asserted.

PM Shehbaz convenes NSC meeting to take up audio leaks fiasco

several TV channels also flashed the leaks news.

The audios drew sharp criticism from the opposition, which expressed concerns over the security breach of the Prime Minister Office (PMO). However, several government ministers tried to defend their conduct in the conversations, insisting that the audios pointed to no wrongdoing.

was held under the chairmanship of party supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in London.

Miftah submitted his resignation to the PML-N supreme leader, saying the ministry was entrusted to him by the party.

“I worked to the best of my ability for four months, and remained loyal to the party and the country,” a PML-N statement quoted Miftah as saying during the meeting.

During the huddle, PM Shehbaz and party supremo Nawaz nominated Dar as the new finance minister of the country. The two main targets given to Dar by PML-N supremo Nawaz

are to bring down inflation and decrease the dollar-rupee parity, a source close to the Sharif family told media on the condition of anonymity.

The source said Dar would draw on his vast experience from his previous stints and try to bring market forces under control. He added that the party needed a

finance minister of Dar’s credentials, but some legal barriers had to be overcome first.

The source said Miftah too had made tall claims before the leadership of being capable of driving the country out of the seemingly inextricable maze the party had found the country’s economy in.

ISLAMABAD staff report

In wake of the audio leaks scandal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has summoned the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting on Wednesday to discuss matters related to national security.

The leaks which emerged on the internet late Saturday night featured conversations of PM Shehbaz with his key cabinet members and family triggered a new debate. Though the NSC meeting is yet to be notified, reports suggested that the notification is likely to be issued today.

Soon after the audios surfaced, there was a storm on social media, many bashing the government and expressing shock at the way sensitive audios had purportedly leaked from the PMO. Also

According to an official privy to the development, the NSC meeting will take place at the PM House on Wednesday and would be attended by top military and civilian leadership with Prime Minister in the chair. Besides the military leadership, the meeting would be attended by defence minister, interior minister, information minister, finance minister and other important cabinet members.

The huddle will discuss flood situation, national security and other matters. According to the sources, the NSC meeting is expected to make important decisions in view of the audio leaks. The participants will also be briefed on the law and order situation of the country in the meeting. By Sunday night, the government didn’t order any inquiry into the leaks, however, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb told media that Prime Minister Shehbaz would look into it and might order an inquiry on his return from London.

INdoNeSIAN PreSIdeNt dISPAtCheS hUMANItArIAN AId to PAKIStAN

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

tHEPresident of Indonesia Joko Widodo on Monday dispatched humanitarian aid assistance for the flood victims in Pakistan. The Government of Indonesia has joined the international community in providing humanitarian assistance for the flood victims in Pakistan, said a press release issued here by the Embassy of Indonesia in Islamabad.

The President of Indonesia Joko Widodo has dispatched humanitarian assistance by two special aircrafts, in the form of packages of medicines, tents, clothes, blankets,

sleeping bags, mosquito nets, and generators.

President Joko Widodo also pledged to provide humanitarian grant of USD 1 million and to send a medical team to Pakistan. In his remarks, President Jokowi expressed deepest condolences on his personal behalf and also on behalf of the Indonesian people to Pakistani brothers on the loss of precious human lives caused by heavy floods and landslides. President Joko Widodo also pledged to provide humanitarian grant of USD 1 million and to send a medical team to Pakistan.

The Indonesian Humanitarian Assistance Team is led by the Coordinating

Minister for Human Development and Culture, Prof. Dr. Muhajir Effendi, along with the Chairperson of the eight-member Commission cpof the Indonesian House of Representatives Ashabul Kahfi, Head of Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Lt. Gen. Suharyanto and Director of South Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives from other relevant Ministries/Agencies.

The total Indonesian non-cash grant assistance to Pakistan is worth USD 1.2 million and weighing around 90 tons.

Currently, a need assessment is being carried out at the flood affected areas in Pakistan by a team from Indonesian NDMA

in close consultation with Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs.

Together, these institutions have taken several initiatives to raise humanitarian assistance to Pakistan from various segments in Indonesia’s community including from state enterprises, entrepreneurs and civil society. On separate occasions, the Indonesian Embassy in Islamabad and the Indonesian Consulate General in Karachi have also taken the initiative to raise humanitarian aid in collaboration with Indonesian students and Indonesian diaspora in Pakistan. The aid worth Rs 1.8 million has

been sent through the Pakistan Red Crescent Society.

Besides, the Indonesian volunteers from Dompet Dhuafa organization have also built two houses in one of the flooded areas in Sindh Province.

The flash floods in Pakistan have killed more than 1,600 people, and submerged onethird of Pakistan’s territory. Around 33 million people were affected by the monsoon floods which the UN Secretary-General called “climate carnage”, including 650,000 pregnant women.

The flood damage was estimated at USD 30 billion that destroyed 2 million houses and damaged 23,900 schools, 1,460 health facilities and 13,000 km road network.

More than two million hectares of agricultural land was also swept out by the floods while in some areas, the water inundation is still high and has not receded. The flood refugees are under threat of postflood diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, and diarrhea.

Government urged to import Indian cotton on short supplies

ISLAMABAD Ghulam abbaS

Pakistan should import cotton from neighbouring India to avoid another balance of payment crisis, said Pakistan Textile Council in a statement on Monday.

PSX turns around, witnesses bullish trend with gain of 531 points

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The 100-index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed bullish trend on Monday, gaining 531.33 points, a positive change of 1.31 percent, closing at 41,151.54 against 40,620.2 points on the last working day. A total of 213,024,435 shares were traded during the day compared to 165,291,388 shares the previous day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs.9.516 billion against Rs. 6.873 billion on the last trading day. As many as 326 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 224 of them recorded gain and 79 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 23 companies remained unchanged. The three top trading companies were TRG Pak Ltd with 27,472,054 shares at Rs.126.65 per share Cnergyico PK with 17,366,172 at Rs.4.93 and Unity Foods Ltd with 15,404,235 at Rs23.06 per share. Premium Tex witnessed a maximum increase of Rs.55.89 per share price, closing at Rs.854.89 whereas the runner up was Pak Tobacco with Rs.55 rise in per share price to Rs.845. Nestle Pakistan witnessed maximum decrease of Rs.105 per share closing at Rs.5,600 followed by Sapphire Tex with Rs.69.26 decline to close at Rs.1,104.74.

After heavy floods, snake bites claim three lives in Khairpur

KHAIRPUR Staff RepoRt

Three people died due to snake bites in different flood affected areas of Khairpur on Monday. In several flood affected areas of Khairpur, the poisonous snakes added to the worry of already grief-stricken people as three people died due to snake bites. Those who did include 40-year-old Mumtaz Kalhoro in the Sadiq Kalhoro area of Pir Goth Tehsil of Khairpur. Another 12-year-old Faizan Awan who belonged to Goth Abdul Rahim Awan near Akri died of snake bite whereas 20-year-old Ali of Shadi Shaheed was bitten by the snake and immediately took to the hospital but died on the way. The vaccine for snake bites also became rare in the healthcare department of Khairpur hospital.

The country’s textiles industry, which earned more than $19 billion in exports last year, is facing a shortage of raw material as flash floods have damaged about half of the nation’s cotton produce since June, it said.

“The unprecedented rainfall resulting in floods has caused havoc in Pakistan,” said the PTC, which is a not-for-profit public limited company set up to serve as a research and advocacy platform for the Pakistan textile and apparel sector.

One-third of Pakistan is submerged in

water, thousands of homes have been destroyed, more than 1,500 people have lost their lives and most importantly about 18,000 sq km of cropland has been ruined, including about 45% of the cotton crop.

The country will face a cost far greater than $10 billion in damages, with the loss of food crops alone amounting to about $2.3 billion, a particularly heavy burden at a time of rising food prices around the world. Pakistan is a major producer of rice and cotton, and both crops have suffered severe damages.

As part of the devastation, flood damage will likely force Pakistan to increase cotton imports at a time when production in the US is forecasted to plunge by 28% due to drought.

And with restrictions on China, Pakistan will not be able to procure raw

materials from there as well, the Council said. The outlook for Brazil is also not very encouraging.

According to ABRAPA, the drought there has already dried up an estimated 200,000 tons of cotton supply. All these factors are causing the price of cotton to increase in local and international markets.

Given the continuous depreciation of the rupee and a record high shipping freight, importing cotton from far-located countries like the US, Brazil, Egypt, etc. will not be economically viable, the PTC said.

Last year, 2021-22, Pakistan’s textile exports rose to an all-time high of $19.3 billion but even achieving this mark would be challenging given the no availability of raw material to factories.

The Council said that it was

Pakistan concerned as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan armies clash on disputed border

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Foreign Office has expressed grave concerns over the safety of members of the Pakistan community living in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as troops from the former Soviet republics have clashed in a border dispute, using tanks, aviation and rocket artillery, killing some 100 people.

A large part of the border has remained unmarked, fuelling fierce disputes over water, land and pastures. Delegations from the two nations have held several rounds of talks in recent years but have failed to end the border controversy.

Central Asian border issues largely stem from the Soviet era, when Moscow tried to divide the region between groups which were often settled among other

ethnicities.

Clashes between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan over the border are frequent, but usually de-escalate quickly. A similar clash in April 2021 left more than 50 dead, and raised the prospect of a broader conflict.

Both countries border China, while Tajikistan also has a long frontier with Afghanistan. They also host Russian military bases and are members of a Moscowled regional security bloc.

Responding to the fighting, Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, spokesperson of the Foreign Office, expressed hope that “both our two brother countries” will resolve the dispute through diplomacy and negotiations.

“Our diplomatic missions in Tajikistan, Dushanbe and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan are monitoring the situation closely for the safety of the Pakistani community,” he said.

CM Elahi allows liver surgery in health card programme

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has approved the inclusion of complicated liver surgery in the health card programme and accorded in principle approval to increase the funds of the programme.

Similarly, complicated heart surgery of child patients would also be included in the health card programme.

The CM said that surgery of the liver, kidney and pancreas would be facilitated through Bahria International hospitals while the inclusion of

complicated liver surgery would further facilitate the needy patients.

Vice President Bahria International Hospital Dr Shazia Malik called on CM here on Monday and assured him of their cooperation in this regard. The operation and post-operative-care facilities would be provided on health card in Bahria international hospitals.

Dr Faisal Hanif of Bahria International hospitals; Gen (retd) Iftikhar, Principal Secretary to CM Muhammad Khan Bhatti, former principal secretary GM Sikandar, Secretary Specialized Healthcare Imran Sikandar Baloch and others were also present.

imperative for Pakistan to keep its export growth momentum to finance the import bill and keep the balance of payment situation manageable and avoid default conditions.

“Import of raw cotton from India must be immediately allowed to mitigate the raw material shortage,” it said. The move will help Pakistan reduce trade time and curtail heavy logistics costs.

“The declining textile exports will lead to the balance of payment crisis, and reduced productivity will put millions of jobs at stake which the country cannot afford,” the Textile Council warned.

The declining textile exports will lead to the balance of payment crisis, and reduced productivity will put millions of jobs at stake which the country cannot afford,” the Textile Council warned.

Punjab Governor takes action against GCU VC on Maryam Nawaz’s tweet

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Punjab Governor on Monday took an action against Government College University (GCU), Vice Chancellor, after Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s tweet. Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman took a notice of conducting a political program of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the GCU. The Punjab governor taking notice of the act, said it is sad to make the famous educational institution of the country a political arena. There is no room for such political activities in universities, he added. Governor Baligh said as chancellor, he has taken notice of the political program on the GCU Lahore campus. He also said children are the future of a nation so, there is no room to push them into politics. Earlier today, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz tweeted against the political meeting of Imran Khan in the GCU and urged strict action against the vice-chancellor. Maryam said in the tweet that using his post to spread political hatred is a crime and this crime should be punished.

KARACHI Staff RepoRt

One of the major reasons for the flood situation that occurred in the country after the record-breaking rainfall was that the past and the present government did not seriously work on the infrastructures and requirements of the masses but used their recourses to entertain their favorite-ones, claimed the seasoned economist and former provincial Advisor Dr Kaiser Bengali here Monday while addressing a seminar on “climate change effects on water scarcity and food insecurity in Sindh and Balochistan: a way forward”, which was organized by the department of economics University of Karachi at the Arts Auditorium.

The water pipeline project which was supposed to provide water supply for the metropolitan was deliberately shifted to Bahira Town Karachi (BTK) and now, the Malir Expressway is being built to ease the way to BTK, he added.

If developments are being carried out on motives to facilitate the favorites than this country will never progress in the right direction. The governments are busy making everything possible for their blue-eyed people or organizations and on the other hand people are suffering from natural disasters.

The KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, KU Registrar and Professor of Economics Dr Abdul Waheed, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Professor Dr Nusrat Idris, Chairperson of

Department of Economics Dr Noreen Mujahid, Dean of Architect and Planning NED University Professor Dr Noman Ahmed, DG Pakistan Agriculture Research Council South Region Dr Zakir Hussain Dehri, Chairperson of Hisaar Foundation and member of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Simi Kamal, Founder and CEO Clifton Urban Forest Masood Lohar, Senior Vice President Korangi Trade Association Maheen Salman, Chair and Co-founder of IWA-YWP Anique Azam and others were present on this occasion.

He claimed that it was our tragedy that representatives of foreign institutions had been imported from other countries to run the country. He said that after 2000, we witnessed people coming from IMF, WB, and ADB to

run the affairs of the country and after 1993, three governors of the State Bank came for 16 years, all of them were representatives of foreign institutions, but we did not raise any voice against it, the consequences of which we are suffering till today.

He further said that the state of our economic policies is that we have reduced import duties and increased domestic taxes, the import duty on raw materials should be low and the finished product should be high so that the raw materials can be manufactured in the factories and employment opportunities will be available.

But this is not the case, we have no duty on books here because of the UNESCO protocol but there is a very high duty on the import of paper.

Kaiser Bengali shared that industries in Pakistan are being deliberately ignored and when you don’t have industries you will not have employment opportunities. One of the biggest problems is that we don’t raise our voices for our rights, we don’t protest, and we have to raise our voices for our rights.

Meanwhile, the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi said that more than 33 million people have been affected by the recent devastating floods and around eight million people have been displaced.

He shared that around 67 percent of the area of Sindh and Balochistan has been affected and about eight million hectares of the cropped area have been completely wiped off along with road and railway networks. PTI, PMLN govts ignored work on infrastructure, used recourses to entertain their ‘favourite ones’: Kaiser Bangali

PAKIStAN AttACheS IMMeNSe IMPortANCe to ItS eCoNoMIC tIeS wIth SoUth KoreA: NA SPeAKer

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

SPEAKERNational Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Monday said that Pakistan attached immense importance to its economic ties with South Korea and desired to further deepen the existing relations through enhanced parliamentary and economic cooperation.

“Pakistan and Korea are enjoying longstanding relations which are based on decades-old economic partnerships” he said, while talking to Ambassador of South Korea

to Pakistan Suh Sangpyo who called on Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

Matters pertaining to bilateral relations, and key regional and international issues were discussed in the meeting, said a news release. While recalling the visit of the members of Korea-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group to Pakistan from August 22-25, 2022, the Speaker said that Pakistan gave immense value to its relations with the Republic of Korea (ROK). Speaker said that Korea had achieved exceptional economic and industrial progress due to the farsighted and dedicated Korean leadership. He said that there were huge opportunities for

investment in various sectors in Pakistan.

He added that Korean companies could further invest in Pakistan’s lucrative market, especially in the fields of business, communication, energy, infrastructure and Information Technology.

Speaker while talking about the unprecedented catastrophe caused by recent devastating floods in Pakistan apprised that National Assembly in collaboration with Inter-Parliamentary Union had hosted 3rd Regional Seminar for the Parliaments of Asia Pacific Region on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals from September 13-14, 2022 to highlight the

vulnerabilities of developing countries especially the countries of the Asia-Pacific region from the ever-intensifying impacts of global climate change.

He said that being a member of the Asia Pacific region, the Parliamentary delegation of Korea also actively participated and assured their all-out support in raising the issue of climate change on international forums. He said that an emergency resolution will be presented in the context of the devastating floods in Pakistan in the next meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Rwanda.

The objective of this resolution is to present a forceful demand that developed countries must

PML-N resolution condemns PTI after minister heckled in London

compensate for irreparable socio-economic losses due to climate change in developing countries, he added.

He appreciated the Korean government’s generous support for the relief and rehabilitation efforts for the flood affectees in Pakistan that has left millions homeless across the country. Speaker also accepted the invitation extended by the Ambassador to participate in the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Pakistan Suh Sangpyo said that ROK also considered Pakistan one of its close friends and an important economic partner. He said that Korean investors were eager to explore and further invest in Pakistan for the mutual benefit of both countries. He assured his country’s allout support to Pakistan at regional and international forums regarding the issue of climate crisis being induced in Pakistan by the developed countries responsible for CO2 emissions.

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) has submitted a resolution against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the Punjab Assembly after Marriyum Aurangzeb, central minister for information and broadcasting, was heckled by protestors in a shop in London.

Aurangzeb is currently in the British capital as part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s delegation which is on its way back after attending the annual session of the General Assembly in New York.

Videos widely shared on social media showed the minister being heckled by people in a coffee shop. In

PhC issues arrest warrants for former dG NAB

PESHAWAR Staff RepoRt

The Peshawar High Court Monday issued arrest warrants for former Director General (DG) of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Saleem Shahzad for torturing his fellow officer Khattab Gul in 2015. According to the petitioner’s lawyer, the case was filed in Peshawar High Court against former DG NAB Saleem Shahzad for torturing his official Khattab Gul in 2015 after a session court acquitted him from the case in September 2015 while ignoring the Khattab Gul’s medical test report in the decision. Petitioner’s lawyer Ehsan-Ullah Jawad requested High Court to annul the decision of the Session Court. In the series of events, the Peshawar High Court issued a bailable arrest warrant against former DG NAB and summoned him for the next month hearing.

Venerable chief monk brings Lord Buddha’s bowl to Peshawar Museum, Gor Khatri

PESHAWAR Staff RepoRt

Most Venerable chief monk, Arayawango bought over Lord Buddha’s Alms Bowl Symbol, handmade by a specialist in Thailand, at Peshawar Museum and ancient Gor Khatri site. According to a press release issued here on Monday, the bowl was brought to pay respect by chanting and offering homage to Lord Buddha, at the Mahavihara of King Kanishka, located in Gor Khatri, Peshawar, 3 kilometers from Peshawar Museum. During his visit the chief monk performed the chanting and offering of the Lord Buddha’s Alms Bowl, as a symbol that the original Alms Bowl was enshrined here during King Kanishka’s reign.

another video, some of the same people chanting “chorni, chorni” (thief) can be seen following a masked Aurangzeb, as the woman filming her said she “makes grand claims on television there and she does not have a dupatta on her head”.

The resolution, moved by Kanwal Liaquat, said Pakistan’s international image was affected due to what she claimed was the misbehaviour meted out by PTI workers.

Increasing incidents of heckling and misbehaviour by PTI workers reflect the party’s shallow and sick mentality, and lack of tolerance in its ranks, Liaquat declared.

The resolution further demanded that the federal government should take legal action against these insensitive protestors in such matters.

Indian hackers active in stealing personal information of Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Indian hackers have become active in stealing sensitive information of Pakistanis, it emerged on Monday. Reportedly, Indian hackers are trying to get access to the personal data of Pakistanis through employment advertisements.

The government has sent a circular regarding the matter to all federal ministries and provincial chief

secretaries in which they were sensitized about the discovery of an Indian domain Applyform.Pk. The Indian hackers are fraudulently operating this website.

The government circular has warned the citizens to take care before applying on this website. It suggested to them to not share personal or financial information on the site. It further sensitized the citizens to check the security before providing an online sensitive information.

Railways to start professional healthcare services for its employees

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Railways was planning to shortly provide qualified healthcare services to 70,000 current and 150,000 retired employees of the department along with their families with the help of 7,000 expert doctors. The basic aim of the project was to provide quality and accessible healthcare services to Pakistan Railways’ 70,000 current and ex-employees and millions of passengers nationwide, an official in the Ministry of Railways told APP here Monday.

In this regard, he said that Pakistan Railways had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ‘Sehat Kahani’ for the provision of best healthcare facilities to railways employees.

He said that use of technology and innovation was extremely needed to fill the gap of access to healthcare to railways employees as well as millions

of passengers to trust its services.

Under the partnership, he said Sehat Kahani would also create specialized packages for Pakistan Railways’ passengers through `On the Go` clinics at all major railway stations of the country where Pakistan Railways to provide on ground infrastructure level support, facilitation in staff training and creating visibility for Sehat Kahani’s spectrum of digital health services among its employees as well as beneficiaries.

He said that the MoU would mark the first of its kind public private partnership between the Ministry of Railways and Sehat Kahani that would have long term impact on the health and well being of millions of travelers and railways workers. “This initiative will not only help us provide quality care to our employee base and passenger but would also help us understand their health issues and do long term strategic planning for their health and well being,” he added.

PM Shehbaz convenes NSC meeting to take up audio leaks fiasco

“The decision to hold an inquiry into the audio leaks will be taken by Prime Minister Shehbaz once he returns to Pakistan,” the government’s spokesperson said via phone from London, without denying the authenticity of the leaked audios.

Reiterating that no inquiry had thus far been ordered by the prime minister, Aurangzeb said that the audio leaks were a proof of the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz’s (PML-N) policy of promoting merit, a claim which is strongly contested.

“Nowhere in those audio was anyone talking about diamonds and gifts,” the information minister quipped. Another

cabinet member, while speaking on condition of anonymity, also said that there was nothing controversial in the audio from the ruling party’s perspective.

For a long time, successive governments have been embroiled in audio and video leak scandals but there has never been a comprehensive inquiry into any such incident. On every occasion, the truth lay somewhere between the allegations and denials.

In the latest audio leaks, a voice, purported to be of Prime Minister Shehbaz, informed “a government official” about Maryam Nawaz looking to import machinery from India for a power plant, on the request of her son-in-law Raheel Munir.

A media report about the audio stated that “the official” was apprised that half of the machinery had already arrived.

It added that the purported officer could be heard saying that this was a matter of “grave concern” as being a relative of the prime minister, the issue could “wreak havoc if it comes to the knowledge of the ECC (Economic Coordination Committee) and then of the cabinet”.

The voice thought to be of Shehbaz responded by saying that he would talk to Maryam himself after his return from Turkey, to which the purported official suggested leaving the matter to former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

Memon calls for joint efforts for timely completion of Brt red Line project

KARACHI Staff RepoRt

Sindh Minister for Information and Transport Sharjeel Inam Memon stressed on joint efforts by all partners to ensure timely completion of Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) Red Line Project within approved cost. He was chairing a meting of Board of Directors of Trans Karachi held here on Monday to review ongoing development work on the construction of the infrastructure of the BRT Red Line project. To expedite the project matters the meting the BoD decided to convene its meetings at least once in every month while initially Board would meet twice a month. The estimated cost of the Red Line project was $ 505 million and rising inflation may escalate the project cost, Sharjeel Memon said adding that joint efforts needed to be taken for the timely completion of the project in the interest of the citizens. Sindh government wanted completion of the project within stipulated time frame to avert enhancement of cost of the project and it could be made possible with teamwork, he said and warned that the concerned partner would be hold responsible in case of delay in any section of the project. Secretary Transport Abdul Halim Sheikh, MD Sindh Mass Transit Captain R Altaf Sario, Justice Retired Shaiq Usmani, VC NED University Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi, Rukhsana Rahoja, CEO Trans Karachi Wasif Ajlal, Shumail Sikandar and other members of Board of Directors attended the meeting.

China, PaKiStan ProPoSe initiative of international CooPeration on SuPPly ChainS

ISLAMABAD Staff report

PAKISTAN,China, Chile, Cuba, Indonesia, Serbia jointly proposed the Initiative of International Cooperation on Resilient and Stable Industrial and Supply Chains, with support by the Republic of Argentina.

According to the sources, build resilient and stable global industrial and supply chains Strengthening the resilience and stability of global industrial and supply chains could help support economic recovery of all countries, ensure the smooth running of the world economy and improve the wellbeing of humanity.

The say, “We are committed to combining efforts with other countries to build re-

silient and stable global industrial and supply chains, aiming at a community of shared future for global development to address common risks and challenges. In this regard, our efforts include, but are not limited to:

Endeavour to promote openness and inclusiveness, maintain the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as the cornerstone, contribute to strengthening the security of global industrial and supply chains, and jointly foster a fair, open and predictable market environment for global specialization and cooperation.

Endeavour to deepen technological innovation and cooperation, focus on the trend of technological development, and encourage businesses in various countries to jointly work on technological cooperation, research and development in every part of innovation

Karachi administrator steps down

KARACHI Staff report

Barrister Murtaza Wahab, the administrator of Karachi, is stepping down after the high court of Sindh restricted the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) from collecting taxes through K-Electric, the city’s power utility. The announcement came on the heels of the high court ruling on Monday that temporarily barred the local government body from collecting municipal taxes through electricity bills. The Sindh government appointed Murtaza as Karachi’s administrator in August last year to look after the administrative and municipal affairs of the metropolis before the local bodies’ elections. The decision triggered a strong reaction from the then-federal government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its allies, but a key minister, despite reservations on the appointment of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) man to the office, called it a legal right of the province, with Islamabad having no space under the law to challenge its move. His appointment came with the notification issued by the Sindh local government department under Section 21(3) of the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 which mentioned relieving Laiq Ahmed Memon, a BPS20 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), from the position with immediate effect.

Soft skills, hard to beat: GB to teach public speaking, negotiations to high schoolers

GILGIT Staff report

The government of Gilgit-Baltistan has taken an initiative to teach short courses on the most valued soft skills such as public speaking and negotiations in high schools of Gilgit city, the region’s chief secretary said. Starting from the first week of October, the courses — aimed at developing soft skills, such as self-awareness, integrity and communication — will be taught by experts from the private sector. Calling the project a first in the public education sector of Pakistan, Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani, the chief secretary — who has steered efforts of the regional government to deliver quality education — said it will empower the youth to “present their true potential and further enhance their emotional intelligence”. He was of the view that too much focus on modelling and safe, purpose-built case studies are failing to give students the experience of real-life dilemmas, difficult choices and working relationships.

and value chains at every level, in a shared effort to promote technological progress and industrial development.

Encourage green production and lifestyle, promote green technologies, processes and products to be applied across the board, and endeavour to jointly build green and low-carbon industrial and supply chains, to address a range of challenges confronting humanity, such as climate change, environmental pollution and resource scarcity.

Explore opportunities presented by digital economy and technologies, leverage the significant role that the next-generation information technologies are playing in driving industrial upgrading and economic recovery, bolster innovation and application of new technologies, contribute to strengthen cooperation on industrial ecology, strive to

accelerate the digitalization, network and intelligence of industries, and reform the mode of production.

Promote better use of the planet’s resources by key industries, such as integrated circuits, new energies and biomedicine, and strive to support businesses in coordination and cooperation between the upstream and downstream parts of an industrial chain, in a joint endeavour to ensure sustainable supply in key areas.

Promote logistics infrastructure, endeavour to increase energy efficiency of ports around the world, strive to enhance crossborder rail connectivity and to improve international air freight and delivery logistics, promote capacity expansion and upgrading at borders and ports of entry, and make an effort to address choke points in current lo-

gistics and transportation, to ensure logistics and transportation throughout supply chains unimpeded.

Endeavour to reduce cost and increase quality and efficiency for logistics, encourage international logistics businesses to facilitate coordination, promote the interconnection and sharing of international logistics information, contribute to the development and mutual recognition of international standards and rules for logistics and supply chains, and strive to facilitate customs clearance at ports of entry, to ensure efficient operations of supply chains.

Consider the dominant role of businesses in the market, and encourage countries to take into account new challenges confronting businesses and endeavour to provide targeted policy support and skills training in their respective post-pandemic recovery plans, so as to better integrate themselves into global industrial and supply chains.

We ask all countries to join us in an equitable, inclusive and constructive partnership for industrial and supply chains, in a bid to jointly build a beautiful and prosperous world.”

Bilawal urges measures to combat Islamophobia

ISLAMABAD Staff report

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday met Miguel Moratinos, UN high-representative for the alliance of civilizations (UNAOC), on the sidelines of the 77th annual session of the General Assembly in New York.

A Foreign Office statement said Zardari held a discussion on the work of the UN body and avenues for collaboration with Moratinos. They also deliberated on strengthening interreligious dialogue, and combating Islamophobia

as well as intolerance based on religion or belief. The two diplomats underlined the need for achieving harmony among diverse cultures and societies.

The foreign minister emphasised that Islamophobia was prevalent in Western countries but its most virulent manifestation was on display in India. He called upon the body to step up its efforts to halt and reverse Islamophobia, bigotry and discrimination based on religion and belief. While encouraging interfaith and intercultural dialogue and exchange of ideas at the local, national and international levels, Moratinos reiterated the

willingness of UNAOC to support all efforts that promote continued dialogue and foster mutual respect and understanding, including on ways to combat Islamophobia. Separately, Zardari also held a bilateral meeting with his Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra, and discussed the established framework for cooperation and exchanges characterised by mutual trust and friendship between the two countries.

According to Foreign Office, the foreign minister expressed satisfaction at the historically fraternal ties between the two nations. He expressed pride in

Rasheed: economy too bad for Dar to fix

ISLAMABAD Staff report

Opposition MP and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed slammed the rumoured return of former finance minister Ishaq Dar, noting the economy was in the worst possible condition, even for the notorious financial wizard to fix.In a tweet, Ahmed had some choice words about the impending return of Dar to the country after a lapse of nearly five years and his expected takeover of the finance ministry as the government seeks to take the gloves off in tackling runaway inflation and other poor economic indicators while consolidating itself ahead of elections next year.

He claimed that a man who has been declared an absconder first fled the country in the prime minister’s official plane is now returning to Pakistan in the official plane of another prime minister.

PESHAWAR aziz Buneri

The Auditor General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) identified PKR 160 million worth irregularities in the purchase of books by the provincial Archives and Libraries department.

“Public treasury had to suffer a loss of more than PKR 16 crore for repurchasing unnecessary and already purchased books for public libraries,” the report said.

The books were purchased under

Ahmed added this showed a certain level of shamelessness and belligerence between the former finance minister and the government. That the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chose to bring back Dar to help fix the economy showed its desperation, he said. He added that reviving the agreement with the Interna-

the annual development program. The audit report said that the Archives and Libraries department does not have a record of demand of citizens and students or recommendation of researchers, and universities available for the purchase of these books.

The Auditor General report said that it was stated that PKR73 million books have been purchased in 2014-15, PKR15 million during 2015-16, PKR 8.30 million during 2016-17, PKR5.6 million in 2017-18, PKR 5.6 million during the year 2018-19, PKR18 mil-

Pakistan’s role in Algeria’s independence. Lamamra welcomed Pakistan’s principled position on the Middle East and other issues. Both ministers agreed that the commitment of Pakistan and Algeria to international principles was the pillar of their close relationship.

Thet also agreed to revive and reinforce several institutions and mechanisms of bilateral cooperation. They also agreed on continued mutual support and coordination of positions bilaterally and in multilateral platforms, including at the UN and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

tional Monetary Fund (IMF) did not bring the promised benefits, which was concerning. He went on to ask what Dar would do differently to control the prices of US dollar, power, and flour which his predecessor Miftah Ismail had not already tried. He warned if the country’s political deadlock extends further, the poor will suffer. Ahmed took a swipe at the government, claiming that the decision on the future of the government coalition under the banner of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) by November 15, adding the emergence of audio leaks of conversations within the highest offices was concerning. On the contents of audio leaks, he said talks of trade with India and relations with Israel betrayed the real intentions of this government. He added that the politicians at the helm of affairs are not thinking of the common man, only trading barbs on media and presenting an outlook of being people-friendly.

lion during the year 2019-20 books and PKR 40 million books were purchased in 2020-21.

A total of PKR 160 million books were purchased during six years. Irregularities have been identified in the purchase of these books and it was stated that students, universities or researchers were not consulted before the purchase of these books. Several books were also purchased earlier and were already available in Public libraries.

The Auditor General also raised an objection that there is neither any

record of the purchase committee allowing the purchase of these books nor there is record of the rates of book sellers and the process of book purchase available with departmen. According to the report, the Department of Archives and Libraries did not even try to take these books on discounted rates.

The Auditor General’s report said that the price of the books has not been verified, while the originality of the purchased books (i.e. they belong to the original publisher) has also not been verified by the department.

ISLAMABAD Xinhua

Pakistan’s agriculture sector, which contributes 24 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings, has been damaged as recent climate change-induced floods have jeopardised food security and people’s livelihoods, and led to disruption in agricultural exports.

The floods have damaged more than 8 million acres of crops including rice, cotton, pulses, oil seeds and vegetables, and inflicted losses of over Rs320 billion ($1.34 billion), said officials from the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, adding the livestock sector also suffered huge losses as more than one million animals perished due to floods.

Besides agricultural and infrastructure losses, heavy torrential rains and floods have killed nearly 1,600 people, injured over 12,000 and affected as

many as 33 million people since mid-June, according to the latest statistics of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

As one-third of the country came underwater, the federal government of Pakistan has estimated the total cost of economic damage owing to floods at $30 billion, calling on the international community to assist in relief and rehabilitation efforts.

The experts believe the government should mobilise all the financial and technical resources to prevent the country from the looming food security crisis and play a vital role in getting the key sector back on track.

Pakistan’s agriculture sector remained crucial to the country’s economic growth and development and accounted for half of the employed labour force, but the recent climate change and erratic extreme weather events have taken a big toll on the sector, Muhammad Azeem Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, told Xinhua.

Philip Morris, Pak Mission Society celebrate world Cleanup day

KARAchI Staff RepoRt

In an effort to play its part in building a sustainable world this World Cleanup Day, Philip Morris (Pakistan) Limited (PMPKL), in collaboration with Pak Mission Society (PMS), a humanitarian and development organization, conducted awareness sessions, an anti-littering drive, and tree plantation drive in Sahiwal. During the cleanup drive, over90 KG of trash was collected from the litter hotspot which was then sent ahead for proper disposal. To help restore and rejuvenate the surrounding environment, more than 100 trees were also planted in the vicinity. Coming out in support of the cause, more than 250 volunteers were mobilized who actively participated in the anti-littering drive. During the awareness sessions, around 400 people were engaged to educate them on the criticality of climate action and to reinforce the concept of working to improve the environment. Faisal Mushtaq, Director of Manufacturing at PMPKL said, “Promoting and achieving sustainability has been PMPKL’s biggest agenda and is also the need of the hour. Given the recent climate crisis in Pakistan where more than half of the country has been adversely affected by the devastating floods, we as a nation need to take immediate action to reverse, or at least control the effects of climate change. PMPKL will continue to raise awareness, take further initiatives, and play its part in achieving environmental sustainability.”

Hascol announces 1st quarter results

Hascol has announced its first quarter results for the period ending 31 March 2022. The company posted operating profit of Rs 25 mn as compared to Rs 132 mn in the same period last year. Despite the non-availability of adequate working capital lines from banks, the credit support from the company’s single majority shareholder, Vitol, has played a vital role in keeping the company’s supply chain intact. The AGM for 2021 annual accounts last month has been successfully convened and the key regulators have appreciated the management’s endeavours for preparing the financial statements 2021 with completeness and accuracy. The company is now all set for filing the scheme of arrangement for restructuring and settlement of specific existing liabilities of the Company towards its creditors as the Board has accorded its approval in its meeting held on 23 September 2022 for filing of Scheme of Arrangement under Sections 279 to 283 and 285 of the Companies Act, 2017 before the Sindh High Court through its transaction legal counsel. The company has appointed Topline Securities Limited, as the Company’s strategic advisor & lead financial arranger, to, inter alia, determine, evaluate and advise on strategic options for the raising of equity by the Company, and potentially arrange / seek investors for the purposes of the s ame, as part of the restructuring exercise in terms of the Rehabilitation Plan. The Company is extending full co-operation to the policy makers by sharing the industry expertise and resources regarding the proposed deregulation of the oil sector which is expected to bring about positive change to the sector and widespread benefits for all stakeholders. The Company’s Board and management very much hope that over the next few months Hascol Petroleum will be put on a sound footing for the years ahead.

PAkiSTAn FLoodS RAiSE FEARS oF HunGER AFTER CRoPS wRECkEd

KhAIRPUR the aSSociated pReSS

LIKEevery year, Arz Mohammed had planted his little patch of land in Sindh with cotton. The crop would earn him enough so that, as he puts it, his family of five wouldn’t be reduced to begging. Then came the deluge.

Pakistan’s massive floods this summer collapsed Mohammed’s home and destroyed his four acres of cotton, wiping out most of his income.

On top of that, his land and that of his neighbours remain underwater, three months after the heaviest rains stopped. Like many farmers across Sindh, he may not be able to plant his next crop — wheat — in time.

That could spell trouble for the nation’s food supply.

“These rains have destroyed everything for us,” said Mohammed, who lives in a tent with his wife and children near his wrecked house in Khairpur, one of the province’s hardest-hit districts.

“We don’t even have anything to eat.”

This summer’s flooding, caused by monsoon rains nearly triple the usual ferocity, wiped out huge swaths of crops, leaving already impoverished families struggling to obtain food. Farmers and officials warn that Pakistan could now face serious food shortages at a time when the government is strapped for cash and world food prices are high.

Nearly 15 percent of Pakistan’s rice crop and 40 percent of its cotton crop were lost, according to officials. The waters also wiped out the personal grain stores that many farming families rely on for food yearlong.

The flooding, blamed in part on climate change, killed nearly 1,600 people, damaged nearly 2 million homes and overall wreaked damage estimated at more than $30 billion.

At the United Nations last week, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif told The Associated Press that crops on 4 million acres were washed away. “We need funds to provide a livelihood to

our people. We need funds to compensate for the loss of crops to our people, to our farmers.”

The government says there is no immediate worry about food supplies.

In a statement to the AP, the state disaster agency said wheat stocks are enough to last through the next harvest and that the government is importing more.

However, the upcoming wheat crop has been thrown into uncertainty. Planting usually starts in October. In Punjab, fields suffered less damage and can be sown in time. But in Sindh, the second largest producer, some 50 percent of the fields remain underwater, according to Jam Khan Shoro, irrigation minister in Sindh.

Aerial footage in Sindh shows field after field still inundated. The province, in Pakistan’s southern lowlands at the downstream end of its major rivers, is where the floods hit hardest: 80 percent of the rice crop and 70 percent of cotton were destroyed, devastating the livelihoods of the small farmers who make

PM leads condolences for six martyrs in copter crash

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday expressed his deep grief over the martyrdom of six army officials.

Prime Minister condoled with the families of martyrs Major Khurram Shahzad, Major Muhammad Muneeb Afzal, Subidar Abdul Wahid, Sepoy Muhammad Imran, Naik Jalil, and Sepoy Shoaib.

Expressing his deep regret over the unfortunate incident, he said that Pakistan forces have made unprecedented sacrifices for the protection, security and defense of the motherland and nation is proud of their martyrs and will never forget these sacrifices.

He also prayed for the elevation of high ranks of the martyred and patience to their families.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also offered his condolences to the martyrs and said: “Be it war or peace, the sacrifices of the officers and men of the armed forces for the sake of the motherland are unforgettable.”

On the other hand, PDM and JUI Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has also expressed deep sorrow over the martyrdom and said that his heart is saddened by the martyrdom of the soldiers of the Pakistan Army.

“I pray that Allah accepts the martyrdoms of the martyrs and gives them high status. This is not only the grief of the families of the martyrs, it is the grief of the entire nation,” he said. Similarly, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mehmood Khan expressed regret over the martyrdom of six personnel including two pilots in the accident

Sri Lanka extends Corneal Diplomacy with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Though all organs of the body are equally significant, eyes can somehow be considered a little more special. It renders us vision and lets us enjoy the aesthetics that the world has to offer. However, due to several kinds of visual impairments, many people in Pakistan lose their vision and the world turns dark to them.

To give those needy and deserving people of Pakistan, “THE GIFT OF LIGHT”. Under the strong leadership of, the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Islamabad Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickarama. The Honorary Consul General of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Excellency Mr. Yasin Joyia, with his team comprising Mr. Agha Nayyar Latif, Convener Trade Promotion SLBC, Mr. Munir Gillani Convener, Media and PR SLBC, Mr. Ahmad Lone Convener, International Affairs SLBC, Mr.

Saqib Sabir Convener Tourism Committee, Mr. Zulqurnain Yasin Secretary SLBC and Mr. Fazal Chaudhary PRO took a step forward towards a successful corneal diplomacy between the two brotherly countries.

Five Donated eyes from Sri Lanka were sent through Sri Lankan Airlines by the Giving Sight Foundation of Sri Lanka under the dynamic leadership of Deshabandu Ifthikhar Aziz, Tamgha e Khidmat, Chairman of The Giving Sight Foundation of SriLanka, Deputy Chairman Mr. Idris Admani, Secretary General Mr. Fazal Lafir and Treasurer Mr. Rizvi Ismail on Thursday, September 22, 2022 and after reaching at Allama Iqbal International Airport were received by SLBC team and handed over to The Sri Lanka Consulate Lahore for immediate Corneal implantation at the District Head Quarter Hospital Gujranwala and Mughal Eye Hospital Trust Lahore as promised after getting the NOC from POTA.

Moon not sighted, Eid-i-Miladun Nabi on October 9

ISLAMABAD: Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Abdul Khabeer Azad announced that the Rabiul Awwal moon was not sighted anywhere across the country on Monday, therefore, the month of Rabiul Awwal will commence from Wednesday, September 28, and Eid-i-Miladun Nabi would fall on October 9. The announcement was made after a meeting of the

committee presided over by Azad. Religious scholars from all schools of thought and weather experts attended the meeting. Muslims around the world celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), known in Arabic as the Mawlid al-Nabawi holiday, on 12th of Rabiul Awwal — the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Staff RepoRt

Bill to amend Transgender Rights Act referred to Senate body for debate

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Monday referred the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, to the relevant standing committee for debate in order to reach a consensual decision on the matter. The amendment bill was presented by PTI Senator Fauzia Arshad.

It merits mention that the National Assembly had enacted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Right) Act in 2018 to provide legal recognition to transgender persons and ensure that discrimination against transgender persons in various walks of life shall be punishable. The law was made after the

Supreme Court held on Sept 25, 2012, that eunuchs were entitled to all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and enjoyed by other members of society.

Some religious parties, however, have since been of the opinion that the law gives legal protection to homosexuality. Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) recently became a party to a case assailing the law in the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), while Maulana Fazlur Rahman of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl), a key ally of the federal government, has termed the law as “against the teachings of Islam”.

During the Senate session today, Senator Mohsin Aziz voiced his reservations with the legislation, saying he was now regretting not

opposing the bill when it was introduced and approved in 2018. “There is a difference between transgender and intersex … we should beg pardon from Allah,” the senator said, adding that transgender persons are not eunuchs (khawaja sira).

Aziz said the amendment should be made to the law “as soon as possible”, warning “the more the delay, the greater the wrath of Allah”. Responding to the senator, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that it must not be forgotten that the law was enacted four years ago. “This is a sensitive matter,” the minister said, adding “they [transgender persons] are the creations of Allah and they deserve respect.” He also stressed that the matter should not be politicised, and instead

should be emphasised during discussions in the committee.

Senator Mushtaq said that he had proposed some amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, but “a campaign was initiated against me afterward.” He called for the process of approving amendments to be expedited.

After the discussion, Sanjrani said the bill was being referred to the standing committee for further debate as it had become a “victim of politicisation”.

The bill moved by Senator Arshad in the Senate today sought amendments to definitions of gender expression and gender identity. The bill, according to her, was aimed to redefine the transgender person and also

up most the production.

Altaf Hussain Marri, a larger and relatively well-off landholder in Khairpur, said he normally gives away wheat as a gift to friends and family. Now he’s worried about having enough for himself and his children, unsure if his 400 inundated acres will drain in time. The floods demolished his cotton and rice crops, worth around $40,000.

“If we fail to grow wheat … next year we might not have even wheat to eat,” Marri said. “It will create food insecurity in the country. The poor will suffer a lot. There will be no flour.”

Pakistan’s agricultural sector had been growing in recent years, allowing the country to export some wheat and rice. “Now we will have to import wheat and other food items,” Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal told the AP.

Sharif, the prime minister, said Pakistan may have to import about a million metric tons of wheat, and it could come from Russia, but Pakistan is open to other offers if the price is right.

100,000 Flood-Affected Children Treated in Emergency Rooms of Sindh Government Hospitals

SInDh Staff RepoRt

More than 100,000 children have been treated free of cost at the children’s Emergency Rooms (ERs) of government teaching hospitals in flood-hit locations. The ERs have remained operational 24/7 despite torrential rains and flooding in calamity-hit districts of Sindh. They provide quality emergency medical care as well as dispense life-saving medicines to flood-affected children. The ERs are managed by ChildLife Foundation under the Sindh government’s long-standing public private partnership with the organization.

It has strengthened the public health system in the province by upgrading the children’s ERs so they meet international standards of care. More than 400 healthcare and management professionals are at the helm of the ERs in flood-affected areas, where timely medical care is given to children being brought in with complaints of water-borne diseases such as gastroenteritis, malaria, cholera, dengue, typhoid, pneumonia and skin infections.

“The floods have given rise to an alarming public health situation and have put children at extreme risk of disease and death. The children’s ERs in flood-affected cities of Larkana, Sukkur, Nawabshah, and Hyderabad are receiving double the regular volume of patients daily. It is a challenging time, but government support has ensured the delivery of emergency treatment to flood-affected children without a break or pause,” says Dr. Ahson Rabbani, CEO of ChildLife Foundation.

The Sindh government’s support has also facilitated telehealth consultations for children in remote rural areas through a telemedicine network. It connects all district hospitals of Sindh to Karachi’s Civil Hospital where child specialists assess patients through HD camera and IP phone and provide them with expert consultations. Moreover, free medical camps have been organized for children in district and tehsil headquarter hospitals and rural health centers in Daur.

sought amendments in various sub-sections of Section 3 with a focus to omit the expressions related to the self-perceived gender identity of transgender persons.

It sought to omit the expression “as per his or her self-perceived gender identity”, as such, from sub-section 1 of Section 3 — which is related to the recognition of the identity of a transgender person — and expressions as per his or her self-perceived gender identity from sub-sections 2 and 3 of Section 3. It also proposed to delete sub-section 4 from Section 3 which says “a transgender person already issued CNIC by Nadra shall be allowed to change the name and gender according to his or her self perceived identity on the CNIC, CRC, Driving License and passport in accordance with the provisions of the Nadra Ordinance, 2000”.

His Excellency Eng. Sami Abdullah Salim Al-Khanjari, newly appointed Consul General of the Sultanate of Oman in Karachi

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Washington

Relationship with the mosque

There is a need to hail the desire on the part of both Pakistan and the United States to resume institutionalized engagement after a long hiatus. Pak-US ministerial-level talks have already started in Washington. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is to hold in person talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and important State Department officials besides meeting key Congressional leaders on the hill.

Pakistan and US have a long history of cooperation.

During the Cold War, Pakistan acted as a bridge between the US and China. Washington and Islamabad stood together against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They were also allies in the war on terror.

Nevertheless the United States and Pakistan have divergent regional and extra-regional interests. For Pakistan, India remains the biggest security concern. For Washington, a strong India is important to keep pressure on China. For Pakistan the CPeC, with its numerous energy projects, special economic zones and construction of modern transportation networks, is a game changer presenting an opportunity for fast economic development. The United States, however, has warned that it may land Islamabad in a debt-trap. Pakistan needs to maintain close relations with China and cannot be a partner to any policy aimed at isolating China. Pakistan needs gas from Iranian gas field just across the border to get rid of energy crisis and realize its economic potential. The United States has sanctioned Iran and the supply has not materialised.

The US being a world power cannot ignore a major country bordering Afghanistan, Iran, India and China. This explains why despite differences the two countries have maintained friendly relation over the last seven decades. Currently both want to eradicate terrorism and help Afghanistan to come to peace with itself and the world.

Keeping in view a long history of mutual cooperation, Pakistan is justified to expect that US would help it in coping with the challenge posed by the catastrophic climate change. The talks in Washington will meanwhile test the diplomatic skills of FM Bilawal.

Toxic polarization

Correction must start at the top

IT wasn’t the first time and certainly not the last. A collection of rowdy and aggressive overseas PTI supporters spotting and cornering a senior member of the PDM coalition on the streets of a foreign country, realizing they are without the protection of protocol that they would typically have back home, and hurling abuses and accusations of corruption in their face. This time, it was Federal Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb at the receiving end of such vile behaviour as she was making her way to a meeting in London. She must be commended for displaying an unnatural level of composure in the face of such harassment and provocations, letting the mob continue with its tirade of ill-informed nonsense inside a café where she casually and quietly enjoyed a can of coke with a confident smile on her face, unfazed by what was happening around her. Last year, a fight broke out between senior PML-N leaders and some PTI workers outside parliament house in Islamabad after the latter allegedly encircled Ms Aurangzeb. The Street facing Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s residence in London has become a staging ground for PTI protesters, chanting slogans against him and his family through loudspeakers. While predominantly a PTI-led problem, this unacceptable and condemnable behaviour is not exclusive to it; the PML-N has also held similar demonstrations outside the residence of Imran Khan’s ex-wife Jemima Khan.

A concerning escalation of toxicity in political discourse has been witnessed since the PTI was voted out of power from the center through a vote of no confidence in parliament. This treatment is not limited to natural opponents; it now extends to the judiciary, armed forces and even the election commission and it emanates from the top leadership downwards. The primary objective of it all is to instill a fear of relentless character assassination within anyone who defies or disagrees with Imran Khan’s ever-changing narrative. What is most concerning is that his target audience consists of impressionable youngsters who make up the largest part of the population. The seeds of hate based on misinformation have been sown and violence is the next stage. One hope that better sense prevails and those encouraging and instigating this style of politics show some restraint. Otherwise there will be damage on both sides and of the collateral nature as well.

In pursuit of sustainable cooperation Nizami Editor

HAvING lived for a considerable period of time outside Pakistan, and having heard consistent testimony from friends who continue to live in various foreign countries, I can confidently say that there are few things that evoke awe and intrigue in non-Muslims more than the sound of the call to prayer (azan) and the sight of Muslims answering that call by heading to the mosque. There is a hypothesis that for the bulk of those who revert to Islam in the West, the seeds of interest in Islam are sown as a result of these sights and sounds.

Of course, the attraction of the mosque is felt by the worshippers too, but in very different ways those that cannot possibly be imagined by the outsiders. The first thing a man, who happens to be a regular at a mosque, does when he finds himself in a foreign country (or a new city) for any length of time is to look for a mosque. (It need not even be a strange faraway place away from home – he could merely be visiting a different part of his own hometown.) For few things give a man the sense of belongingness to a new setting quite like a mosque does. everything else could be as different as it could conceivably be from what he is used to, but his relationship with the mosque remains fundamentally unchanged, whersoever he may be.

Of course, mosques could differ from one another in size and appearance in very basic measures. But all mosques have a way of evoking feelings that essentially remain the same, and regardless of how much time separates these experiences. The mosques that I have frequented over the years could not have

been more different in terms of their architecture and the resulting aura. I have seldom lived in any one place for more than five years at a stretch, so these mosques have all been in very different locations. Temporally too, all these experiences span the best part of half a century now. The quiet joy and (on occasion) the exhilaration I have felt is fundamentally unchanged from when as a primary schooler I used to accompany my father to the newly-build mosque in Bahawalpur’s Bilal Colony to today, when it is my son who accompanies me to the local mosque. Any stability is more than welcome in a life so susceptible to relentless change.

Christians often marvel at the fact that Muslims living in the West are not in the least choosy when it comes to the particular mosque they pray at. As far as they are concerned, any mosque would do fine, so they pray at the one that happens to be closest to their location at any given time. Muslims, on the other hand, find it equally strange that a Christian of a certain denomination is likely to attend the Sunday service at a church (of his denomination) miles from his home, although there would be countless churches (belonging to other denominations) between the two locations. Although many Muslim clerics and imams are notoriously sectarian in their outlook, the ordinary Muslim, for the most part, is commendably ecumenical in his approach. As far he is concerned, any mosque is the mosque of Allah – as it most certainly is.

Of course, this is only one aspect of it. The mosque experience – even the most everyday type at one’s local mosque – is unique in multiple ways, although it would be easier said than done to describe the whole thing with any sort of precision or completeness. Only those who have had it first-hand can understand it in all its nuances.

It is of course the mosque from which the sound of the azan – which is every bit as gratifying for the Muslims as it is enigmatic as far as the non-Muslims are concerned – emanates five times every day. What, merely sounds exotic to the non-Muslim on account of its mystery and unintelligibility; encapsulates the complete message of Islam as far as the Muslim is concerned: it rehearses for him the vital concepts of

tauheed, risaalat, success, and the requisite actions towards that end, so beautifully exemplified by the prayer, which the worshipper promptly proceeds to perform by way of an answer to the call itself.

Philosophers have presented man variously as essentially a rational being, a social being, an emotional being, and a moral being. Other thinkers have pointed out that the whole approach of thinking in terms of essentially-this or -that is erroneous, for man is a combination of all these beings. Be that as it may, there is no denying that there is a social side to man which requires him to interact with his fellows. The beauty of the opportunity for social interaction provided by the mosque is that one can be part of the community without being very vocal and outgoing. This is a godsend for those who are too introverted to be able to socialize in other settings.

There are a couple of areas, however, where one feels the mosque experience – wonderful that it is – can be made better. There are way too many men (usually older men) who do not take kindly to children praying in the first row, even if they do not distract anybody. There is no rationale behind this at all. If anything, these boys need to be encouraged for reporting early for the prayer. We need to even display affection and understanding for those toddlers who accompany their elders to the mosque and can be heard running around at the back. Kids of that age do muck around and engage in all sorts of silly activities; but it is how the adults respond that is crucial here. Being harsh can easily be discouraging and counter-productive in the long run, considering that these kids are the future.

Let me end with another little complaint. Although matters have improved considerably from what they used to be till some years ago, there are still plenty of those who make it their business to cover every uncovered head with plastic eyesores referred to as caps, placed for their convenience in most mosques. (Whoever thought of inventing these atrocities?) This practice is in equal measure unnecessary and vexing.

The author is a connoisseur of music, literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be reached at www.facebook.com/hasanaftabsaeed

Devastating situation in Pakistan future

number of glaciers has created flood water to run at a higher speed. Other than this, the industrialized countries from the North have globally affected climate in form of excessive production of carbon emissions. In this regard, Pakistan has a contribution of safer 0.4 per cent in carbon emissions comprising 2.6% of the world population. According to experts, the continued carbon emission exceeding 92% from Global North will keep affecting the climate of the Global South, which is needed to be tackled on an urgent basis.

also visited Pakistan and stated that “never seen climate carnage at this scale”. According to World health Organization (WhO), respiratory infections, typhoid, skin diseases, diarrhea, and vector-borne diseases, such as dengue, and malaria have been reported in affected areas. They have urged for urgent provision of clean drinking water, sanitation, food, hygiene kits, medicines, shelter, clothing, and shoes to provide immediate necessities.

The year 2022 brought Pakistan to the edge of a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis. The country was struggling for stability, in which, another natural crisis - a flood, emerged and proved the worst of its kind in its 75-year history. The catastrophic floods affected 33 million people out of 220 million of the country’s population. The affected population of 33 million can be imagined by comparing the total population of Canada (38.2 million), Malaysia (32.7 million), Poland (37 million), Saudi Arabia (35.3 million), etc. Almost onethird of the country’s area is submerged bringing an estimated financial loss of $30 billion and it is expected flood water could take six months or so to recede.

Pakistan has faced extreme weather conditions due to climate change that triggered the monsoon to be started in June, with 67% rainfall above the normal level in a single month breaking the record for being the wettest since 1961. It has been observed, Pakistan has faced the hottest months of April and May, causing 100 deaths in southeast Pakistan and northwest India.

The higher temperature caused the glaciers to melt at increased rates. In this regard, the country has more than 7200 glaciers, and the meltdown of such a large

however, the political instability in early April by ousting the government of Imran Khan detracted the attention from an upcoming crisis, and the media glare reached a little late as involved in political developments. The infrastructure destruction has severely made a few places inaccessible by constraining civilians and government agencies to reach the affected population. According to the authorities, 6.4 million people require urgent humanitarian aid in this regard, and various foreign and local aid is being witnessed. For a long- term prevention and rehabilitation, there is a need for an aggressive plan, which should be followed from one government to another. The question here is, how to keep a cheque on continuity of plans if the government changes? Normally, it is seen, the previous plans are abandoned by the new government by introducing an alternative plan. Such a waste of money, and is being wasted again and again. Strict follow-up and monetary cheques are suggested in this regard. For taking preventive measures, forests are needed. Pakistan already having only 5% of the area forested, which shows a forest deficit. The country is having higher deforestation rates due to rampant fires and uncontrolled logging. If the same pace will be continued, the country will be more susceptible to severe floods in the future.

The concern here is, Pakistan will go a long way to resume normal activities in severely affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan, which were the worst areas affected by floods. The disaster management plans needed to be well-planned for the future. The external actors are not a permanent solution to this problem. There is a need to look into the systems for properly managing and functioning internally. however, it is an awakening call for Global North as well, to think and help in the reduction of carbon emissions as the developing countries do not have that many resources to spend. Luckily, Pakistan has received a chance also to make its voice reached internationally through the 77th UN General Assembly’s Session.

The writer is a PhD from University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), an award-winning columnist, researcher, and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Riphah International University (Media Sciences Department), Islamabad, Pakistan. She can be reached at saira.asad2011@gmail.com. Saira

The disaster-hit country has caught international attention, and in this regard, international and national aid and pledges have been placed. The United Kingdom pledged $17.3 million, european Union $1.8 million, the U.S. $50 million, and Germany $13 million. Other countries are also coming up for help. Still, financial aid is not enough for catering to and rehabilitating the affected people. UN announced an initial flash appeal of $160 million for Pakistan. In this regard, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

In the case of Pakistan, it has already taken a $1.2 billion loan as a bail-out package to tackle its economic crisis. how much itself, a country would survive a such disaster? It is not a worry only for Pakistan but a worry for developed countries, who are the major contributing members to climate change. UN Secretary-General’s concern can be observed when urged ‘debt-reduction mechanisms’ for Pakistan. he was of the view of saving lives through the mechanisms and livelihood in Pakistan, which is not drowning in floodwater, but also debt. A lot is being done for the country, but there is much more needed, and mutually can be handled to survive the disaster and tough times. At the moment, the disaster scale is in raw numbers, the real scale would be analyzed after the drainage of flood water. It’s a real worry, and preventive measures with proper planning are needed to implement in handling similar crises well ahead of time in the future to avoid damage on such a larger scale.

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Editor A. Niazi Aziz

The mosques that I have frequented over the years could not have been more different in terms of their architecture and the resulting aura. I have seldom lived in any one place for more than five years at a stretch, so these mosques have all been in very different locations.

Learning about body language

tion with another person, noticing eye movements is a natural and important part of the communication process. Some common things you might notice are: These can include whether people are making direct eye contact or holding their gaze, how often they blink, etc. When someone looks you directly in the eye during a conversation, it shows that he is interested and paying attention, but prolonged eye contact can convey a threat or negative message. On the other hand, breaking eye contact and looking away repeatedly can indicate that the person is worried, anxious, or trying to hide their true feelings.

thumbs down often indicate approval and disapproval. The “okay” gesture is made by touching the thumb and forefinger in a circle while extending the other three fingers to mean “okay” or “it’s okay,” except in parts of europe. I use this signal to show that you are nothing. In some South American countries, this symbol is actually considered a rude gesture. The v sign made by raising the index and middle fingers and separating them to form a v-shape, means peace or victory in some countries, while in Britain and Australia the symbol now takes on an aggressive meaning. When the back of the hand is facing outwards, arms and legs conveying non-verbal information I can also be useful.

Editor’s mail

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Social decline

I salute the officers of the Sindh education Department who established a primary school 64 years ago in 1957 in a small riverine village located in a ‘jungle’ in Fateh Tando, Lakhi taluka, Shikarpur, when there was no access to the village except a dirt-road.

The bull-cart used to be the only mode of transportation and no one could imagine the kind of means of communication that are integral parts of life today, like telephone, internet and mobile phones. Today, one can solve any problem, communicate and share information sitting in one corner of the world with someone in another corner. even the use of paper is getting minimised, digital currency is being introduced, and almost the entire correspondence is through electronic means.

An application along with a list of 350 children residing in a cluster of four villages in in union council (UC) 28 in Shikarpur was submitted to the relevant office on May 12 to open a new school in the area. The application, which was submitted in person to the office of the secretary, is duly stamped and contained the ward number. Additionally, a proposal for shifting of one nearby closed/non-functional school was also submitted, mentioning the contact information of the applicant.

It is disappointing that nobody has so far contacted the applicant despite the fact that the application was subsequently sent to all the relevant officials of the provincial bureaucracy as well as to the minister concerned. One can easily compare the working of the department, and its priority and interest in promoting education in 1957 with what the situation is like today in 2022.

GHULAM MUHAMMAD MAHAR SHIKARPUR

Democratic ideals

IN a civilised society every citizen upholds norms, values and traditions that define the nation. however, the situation in Pakistan is not quite ideal on this count. Influential people consider themselves above the law, rendering institutions ineffective, and avoiding all sorts of accountability. A case in point is that of the ousted prime minister who is getting away with a lot of stuff that would have landed many in serious trouble.

ASAD AZIZ KHUSHAB

Spendthrift politicians

The Punjab government, which is an ally of the main opposition party, is considering purchase of 40 luxury vehicles at a cost of hundreds of millions for its cabinet members and officials. This is criminal at a time when we already have an economic crisis to deal with.

ProF aBDul SHaKoor SHaH

BODy language refers to the non-verbal cues used to communicate. These non-verbal cues are a huge part of our daily communication. In fact, body language can be between 60% and 65% of all communication. Body language helps us understand each other and gives us information about how people are feeling in a given situation. Body language is also used to convey emotions or intentions. Along with body language, it is important to pay attention to other cues such as context. In many cases, you have to look at the signals as a group rather than focusing on a single process. Think for a moment how much a person can express with just facial expressions. A smile can indicate approval or happiness. In some cases, our facial expressions can reveal our true feelings about a particular situation. When you say you’re feeling fine, your facial expression can tell people otherwise. Just a few examples of emotions that can be expressed through facial expressions include happiness; these include sadness, anger, surprise, disgust, fear, confusion, excitement, desire, and contempt, etc. A person’s facial expressions can also help determine whether to trust that person’s words and personality.

A number of interesting findings have emerged in Janiwali’s research. A study found that the most reliable facial expressions include a slight rise of the eyebrows and a slight smile. researchers suggest that this expression conveys both friendship and trust. Facial expressions are also among the most universal forms of body language. The expressions used to express fear, anger; sadness and happiness are almost the same all over the world. researcher Paul ekman has shown the universality of different facial types. What is revealed? research even suggests that we make judgments about people’s intelligence based on their faces and expressions. One study found that people with narrower faces and more prominent noses are considered more intelligent. . Smiling, happy people are considered more intelligent than those with angry expressions. eyes are often called the “windows to the soul” because they have the ability to reveal so much about someone. What the person is thinking or feeling. When you engage in a conversa-

Blinking is natural, but you should also pay attention to whether someone is blinking too much or too little. Usually when people feel very worried or anxious they blink rapidly. Occasional blinking may indicate that a person is deliberately trying to control their eye movements. The size of the dark circle in the eye is a very subtle non-verbal communication. The signal may be the level of light in the environment that controls the spread of this circle; sometimes emotions can also cause small changes in the size of this circle. Mouth expressions and movements are also important in reading body language. For example, chewing on the bottom lip may indicate that the person is experiencing feelings of worry, fear, or insecurity. Covering the mouth may be an attempt to be polite if the person yawns or coughs. Be it, but It can also be an attempt to hide disapproval. Smiling is probably one of the biggest body language signals, but a smile can be interpreted in many ways. A smile can be genuine, or it can be used to fake happiness Can be done for sarcasm, or even sarcasm. When evaluating body language, the following mouth and lip gestures should be noted. Pursed lips can be a sign of disapproval or mistrust, while people sometimes bite their lips when they are upset, anxious, or stressed. When people want to hide an emotional reaction, they may cover their mouths to avoid showing smiles or giggles in an attempt to hide it. Light in the mouth C changes can also be subtle indicators of what a person is feeling. When the mouth is slightly up, it can mean that the person is feeling happy or optimistic. On the other hand, a slightly downcast mouth can be a sign of sadness, disapproval, or even outright mistrust. Waving, pointing, and using fingers to indicate numerical quantities are all very common and easy to understand gestures. however, some gestures can be cultural, so in another country, giving thumbs up or giving the peace sign Can have a completely different meaning than in the US. A clenched fist can indicate anger in some situations or solidarity in others. Thumbs up and

Crossing the arms can indicate defensiveness. Crossing one’s legs with another person can indicate dislike or discomfort with that person. Other subtle gestures such as spreading the arms wide can be an attempt to appear larger or more commanding, while keeping the arms close to the body itself. There may be an attempt to minimize or distract.

When you are evaluating body language, pay attention to some of the following signals that the arms and legs may give: crossed arms can indicate that a person feels defensive, selfprotective or closed off. Standing with hands on hips can be a sign that a person is ready and in control, or that could also possibly be a sign of aggression. Clasping hands behind the back can indicate that a person is feeling bored, anxious, or even angry. rapid tapping or fidgeting of the fingers can be a sign that a person is bored, impatient, or frustrated. Crossed legs can indicate that someone is feeling closed off or in need of privacy. how we hold our bodies can also serve as an important part of body language. Sitting up straight, for example, can indicate that a person is concentrating while, on the other hand, sitting with the body forward can indicate that the person is bored or indifferent. When you’re trying to read body language, try to look for some of these signals. An open trunk indicates friendliness, openness, and willingness; while in contrast, the trunk is often hidden by leaning forward and crossing the arms and legs to convey communication. have you ever heard someone refer to their need for personal space? Do you ever start to feel uncomfortable when someone stands too close to you? The term proxemics, coined by anthropologist edward T. hall, refers to the distance between people when they interact. Just as body movements and facial expressions can communicate a great deal of nonverbal information.

The Writer is Prof. in English and Freelance Columnist based in Lahore. He can be reached at Prof.abdulshakoorsyed@gmail.com

On the other hand, at the federal tier, special assistants to the prime minister (SAPMs) have been inducted into the federal cabinet, raising its strength all the time and taking it to what might be a record in the country’s history. All this is happening while the state is nearly insolvent, the coffers are empty and the government is beseeching friendly countries as well as others through the good offices of the United Nations (UN) secretary-general for financial support.

The economic crisis stands compounded with the floods having devastated the country and millions being in misery without food, shelter and medicines. The politicians, however, seem to be living on a different planet altogether where life is all about merry-making and joyrides. Can they be so insensitive? One is aghast at the behaviour of the leadership across the political divide, and there is a reason — a big reason, indeed — why so many people today stand seriously disillusioned by the sham political system the country has in the name of democracy.

ERUM A BAIG KARACHI

Deep pockets

The recent floods have been devastating, with millions of people across the country having lost their homes and livelihoods, and close to a couple of thousands having lost their lives. Friendly countries have come out in support by contributing to the relief efforts, and there is hope that the process would continue.

The initial estimates of the flood-related losses were $10 billion, but the estimates have been revised several times and the actual extent of damages, it is feared, may hit the $50 billion mark. International agencies, with relevant expertise, may do a better job of estimating the worth of the losses if the government so requests. The poor people in Sindh and most other rural areas were already living a miserable life with scant support from either the government or the affluent elite.

If mere ‘lip service’ could somehow be monetised, the poor would have received trillions by now.

The floods have only added to their misery and they are unlikely to come any better once the aid agencies have left. It is time for our own affluent to try to move beyond lip service and do something concrete.

Also, the disbursement of aid received from international and local sources should be overseen by people with a proven track record of integrity. Otherwise, most aid might end up in the wrong hands. The government, instead of levying a tax surcharge for the support of flood victims, which will impact lower and middle income groups also, should levy a charge of 50 per cent of the amount on each purchase of a vehicle above 2,000cc, every meal in an upscale restaurant, every business class air travel ticket, and similar such expenses so that only the affluent are affected.

MOIN MOHAJIR KARACHI

Early warning

The massive scale of devastation caused by floods is proof of our illpreparedness in this regard. Understandably, it becomes hard, if not impossible, to minimise loss and damages after a calamity hits any area. We, as a nation, tend to fight against post-calamity effects that are costly and difficult. We need to have early warning systems in place and it would greatly help if we could have a strategy ready before a calamity actually hits us.

TANVEER AHMED BALOCH

Blinking is natural, but you should also pay attention to whether someone is blinking too much or too little. Usually when people feel very worried or anxious they blink rapidly. Occasional blinking may indicate that a person is deliberately trying to control their eye movements.

new YoRkeR MoHAMMEd HAnIf

WE have tried, in various ways, to convey to the world the scale of destruction caused by recent floods in Pakistan, because, apparently, a third of the country underwater and thirty-three million lives upended doesn’t cut it. Pakistan’s climate minister has called it Biblical. We have shot and shared videos in which the landmark New Honeymoon Hotel crumbles in the duration of a tiktok. the U.N. Secretary-General, António Guterres, who is seventy-three and has called the climate crisis a “code red for humanity,” visited Pakistan and said that he hadn’t seen this scale of climate carnage in his life. Some of us have created maps showing that the areas underwater are larger than Britain. We have shown pictures of dead and starving cattle to appeal to animal-lovers. We have posted videos of puppies being heroically rescued from rushing waters. Maybe when the world seems to be ending, it needs poets. A poet in Khairpur, in southern Pakistan, one of the worst-affected areas, was asked by a journalist if he had received a tent to shelter his family. He found the idea so improbable that he asked, “Why are you making fun of me? Why would anyone give me a tent?” Pakistanis are saying that charity tents and emergency supplies are welcome, but what we need and want is compensation for climate-related loss and damage. Although much of the world seems to agree in principle, there is a we-have-allheard-this-before weariness in the air. Our innovative communications have little impact. the U.S. has offered fifty million dollars and “long-term” support, the U.N. has appealed

PAkIstAn’s bIblIcAl floods And the cAse for clImAte rePArAtIons

for a hundred and sixty million, France has offered to hold a donors’ conference, Angelina Jolie has flown in and said that she’s never seen such devastation. President Biden casually mentioned at the U.N. General Assembly that Pakistan “needs help,” without any specifics. this all sounds like a lot until you remember that Pakistan’s losses are estimated to be around thirty billion dollars.

Experts have pointed out that this is not the kind of flood that causes weeks of havoc and then leaves behind fertile lands. Six months from now, flooded fields still may not be ready for cultivation. Most people affected by the floods live off the land, from crop to crop. Waterborne diseases and food shortages are already rampant. Climate scientists who have studied Pakistani floods have concluded that they can only predict more unpredictability.

Scientists are clear, however, that the catastrophe in Pakistan is linked to global warming. Pakistan generates less than one per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. We are quite good at blaming ourselves and our governments for our misfortunes, but global warming is overwhelmingly caused by rich folks living thousands of miles away, mostly in the West, by people who know that their air-conditioned homes and midsize cars and Caribbean holidays have snatched away the home and livelihood of someone in a village in Pakistan.

the West sees its culpability in this manmade disaster but prefers to blame the victim. I think of a fable that I grew up with, in which a lamb drinks from a river downstream until a lion accuses it of polluting the river upstream. In the version of the fable that I remember, the lion eats the lamb as punishment. Imagine this: the driver of an S.U.V. speeds into a country lane, hits a per-

son on a bicycle, and then, instead of paying damages, asks the cyclist to drive an electric vehicle powered by renewable energy. the driver of the S.U.V. wonders why the cyclist wasn’t more resilient, and asks, “Why didn’t you plan for a future where my car might come and destroy your bicycle and break your leg? You could have prepared for a better future, for apocalyptic floods, but what did you do? You prepared a petition for reparations? And you don’t even have a practical plan for how these reparations would work?”

those calling for climate reparations received an answer from America’s climate envoy, John Kerry, at the U.N. General Assembly last week. “You tell me the government in the world that has trillions of dollars, ’cause that’s what it costs,” he said, perhaps steeling himself for difficult questions at November’s global climate conference, cop27, in Egypt. Western governments do have trillions of dollars, and they have had more than a decade to think through how climate reparations should work. Kerry sounded like he was haggling over the price of life jackets with drowning people.

Maybe Pakistan could have handled the current floods better if we had done our homework. We had a massive flood in 2010, experts were flown in, reports and studies were commissioned and then shelved. But Pakistan, like its Western allies, had other priorities: we were busy in neighboring Afghanistan, helping America defeat the taliban, or maybe helping the taliban defeat America—we are still not sure. On the other border, we were busy with India. Even in the week of our Biblical floods, we managed to finalize a deal with the United States worth four hundred and fifty million dollars, to upgrade our F-16 fighter planes. We may not know how we are going to feed our people for the next six months, but we have

made sure that we can keep them safe from hostile aircraft.

Like Westerners, Pakistani élites planned for security and progress. We turned agricultural lands into golf courses and gated communities, and built houses on riverbeds, and grew cash crops along waterways. We thought less about the millions who live in mud houses, who till someone else’s land to feed their kids and save a bit in hopes of sending them to school one day. Now the water has turned their houses back into mud, and washed away the grain that they stocked for the entire year, and flooded the land that still belongs to someone else. they dare not dream of justice, let alone climate justice.

Experts tell us that the world suffers from donor fatigue, what with a war in Ukraine, in which people with fair skin and blue eyes are fleeing their homes and fighting for their lives. What goes unsaid is that hearts have been hardened by repeated images of brown mothers cradling skeletal children who are covered in flies, along overflowing rivers or scorched fields. Or maybe rich nations think that they should save their money for when the disasters come for them.

Sometimes my own compatriots tell the world, If you don’t listen, it could happen to you. the West seems unfazed by this logic: climate carnage has happened there, is happening there. Perhaps the West fears that if it acknowledges any debt to a country like Pakistan, it will no longer be able to withhold what it owes its own citizens. A childhood friend lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana, for most of his life, and in the span of a year his house and business were destroyed thrice, first by Hurricane Laura, then snow, then flooding. He reluctantly put his house up for sale, moved to Los Angeles,

well-developed one-party states, petro-tyrants like Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman or Iraq’s Saddam Hussein have been free to act on their wildest impulses. And oil-rich states, dependent or not, have a glut of free money they can spend on large militaries. In fact, Ashford found that high oil prices correlate to increased levels of military spending on a global level. She suggests they have a similar impact on proxy warfare, when states like Iran fund foreign militants or allied countries to do their bidding.

and slowly started to build a life. the aid that the government promised to Lake Charles hasn’t arrived. After Hurricane Maria, hundreds of thousands of Americans in Puerto Rico were denied federal assistance. they were still vulnerable when Hurricane Fiona brought floods and blackouts again, this week. the lamb does not escape the lion by showing a U.S. passport.

A global climate movement has made people aware of their carbon footprint, of the impact of their eating habits, of the evils of fossil-fuel companies, but it has yet to convince people that they and their governments can and should pay for what they helped to destroy. they must, because the losses and damages will only grow, and because the West became rich from the burning of fossil fuels, and because the village that is drowning may one day be their own.

When rich nations refuse to acknowledge that countries such as Pakistan need climate reparations, they not only shirk their responsibility now but set a precedent of inaction and impunity, even within their own borders. they seem to say, we can build walls so high that the polluted air will only poison you. When it melts glaciers, only you will drown, and when your fields are flooded, only you will go hungry. We can give you a few thousand tents to shelter your millions, or rafts to float you over what used to be self-sustaining villages, but we don’t owe you anything. If it happens to us, rich countries seem to say, we won’t starve. We can always eat you.

Mohammed Hanif is the author of three novels, “A Case of Exploding Mangoes,” “Our Lady of Alice Bhatti,” and “Red Birds.” He writes regularly for BBC Urdu and BBC Punjabi.

It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to see that oil drives conflict. Just looking at the recent history of America’s interventions in the Middle East will do.

During the tanker War of the 1980s, the U.S. Navy fought Iran to protect Iraq’s oil. then, during the first Gulf War, the U.S. military fought Iraq to protect Kuwait and Saudi Arabia’s oil. After three decades of war in Iraq, the United States came full circle, with the trump administration threatening Iran while Iran threatened Saudi Arabia’s oil.

Less understood is how oil drives conflict. the popular view, espoused both by many anti-war critics and by violence enthusiasts like former President Donald trump, is that larger countries go to war to steal the oil wealth of smaller ones. Strong consumers take what they can; weak producers provide what they must.

Emma Ashford, a foreign policy scholar at the Stimson Center, makes the opposite claim in Oil, the State, and War. It isn’t the need for cheap energy that drives foreign policy, she argues; it’s the economics of energy production that make petrostates more trigger-happy. On one hand, control over energy markets removes constraints on warmaking. On the other hand, the “resource curse” warps political institutions. And of course, oil money helps governments buy fancy weapons.

Oil is unique in how it influences state behavior. Like many other natural resources, petroleum is scarce and expensive. Unlike those other resources, oil is necessary for the world economy to keep running. And all oil is bought and sold on the same global market, priced in U.S. dollars,

meaning a change anywhere affects prices everywhere.

But not every petrostate is created equal. Oil plays a very different role in Saudi, Norwegian, Iranian, and Mexican societies. While most countries have put their oil resources under government control since the mid20th century, the United States—the world’s largest oil producer—has a private and competitive oil industry.

Rather than discussing petrostates as one bloc, Ashford draws three overlapping categories of oil producers. In oil-dependent states, a large chunk of government revenue is tied up in the petroleum sector. Oil-wealthy states earn a significant amount of income, whether or not they depend on it, from oil production. Finally, super-producers and super-exporters control a substantial percentage of the global oil market.

An oil-dependent nation is the classic image of a petrostate. Rather than providing services to earn the trust of taxpayers, leaders manage a firehose of unearned income, which they use to buy loyalty or pay for the tools of repression. Many scholars have theorized how the “resource curse” damages a country’s political culture. Ashford skillfully illustrates those theories with specific, detailed examples of Saudi and pre-2003 Iraqi government dysfunction.

timothy Mitchell’s 2011 book Carbon Democracy contrasts coal-based labor unions’ successes in Europe with worker power’s failure in societies that are dependent on oil income. In the latter societies, he argues, it is hard for ordinary people to inflict pain on elites, which slows democratic development. Ashford makes a similar argument about the private sector, suggesting that the lack of a business lobby in oil-dependent countries quashes dissent within the ranks of the elite.

Ashford also delves into how great powers use military aid and protection for dictators as a form of “indirect control” over oil-producing states. Yet her book does not ask an obvious follow-up question: Does foreign intervention have an effect on the “resource curse”? the history of U.S.and U.K.-sponsored coups in the Middle East certainly suggests that it does. When powerful outsiders are interested in local political disputes, it tends to inflame those disputes.

Where Ashford excels is linking the effects of the oil curse to producers’ foreign policy processes. Oil dependency concentrates power in the hands of small cliques or single dictators. It discourages the development of diplomatic institutions or intelligence agencies that can provide those leaders with good advice.

Unlike politicians in democratic republics or even

Saudi Arabia’s purchases of American-made arms and support for militant groups might be the most infamous example. (Iran was also a major customer for American weapons before an anti-American government took power in 1979.) Russia dumped so much cash into military “modernization” during the last decade, Ashford observes, that “it was near-impossible for Russia’s defense sector to absorb the spending.” In Carbon Democracy, Mitchell argues that Britain, the Soviet Union, and, above all, the United States were willing to feed petrostates’ weapon addiction as a way to keep them using pounds sterling, rubles, or dollars.

Powerful military capabilities are a dangerous temptation for trigger-happy leaders. Iraq and Libya, for example, repeatedly attacked their neighbors. Americans themselves are quite familiar with how a large army makes politicians more eager to go to war.

Armies bloated by oil money also become a source of fear for non-oil-rich neighbors, who build up their own forces in an attempt to keep up. Although neither Israel or turkey export oil, the cold war between oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Iran has sucked them in all the same. the combination of oil wealth and oil dependence is especially toxic. Petrostates buy flashy new toys when oil markets are booming, then end up in debt when oil prices fall. the same effect applies to oil-funded social spending, as Venezuela demonstrates. As Ashford puts it, any government spending in an oil-wealthy or oil-dependent state is “a bet on the future price of oil.” the resource curse is not “solely responsible for poor foreign policy decisions,” Ashford writes. But in many cases, it clearly contributes to “a chaotic and generally poor foreign policy process.”

Oil is most directly linked to foreign policy when it comes to super-producers and super-exporters. Again, because all oil is sold on the same market, changes in supply anywhere affect prices everywhere.

turning market effects into political leverage is harder than it seems. the one big historical example of the “oil weapon” is the 1973 oil embargo, when Arab states decided to punish international supporters of Israel by cutting oil supplies. While American consumers suffered shortages, which were severely exacerbated by the U.S. government’s attempts at price controls, the embargo failed to force Israel or its supporters to make any policy changes. Arab leaders gave up after they realized they were hurting their own economic interests more than anything else.

Russia has been more successful at coercing its neighbors using natural gas, because Soviet-era pipe infrastructure and the fragmented nature of gas markets give Moscow power over supply chains. Even so, this black-

mail has undermined Russia’s economic power by encouraging Europe to look for alternative energy suppliers. Beyond their practical impact, the 1973 crisis and the Russian threats have had a psychological effect, making politicians in rich countries obsessed with energy security. While the “oil weapon” is ineffective in reality, Ashford argues, politicians’ belief in the danger of oil embargos has given energy producers much more clout—an effect she calls “soft oil power”—and driven international powers to offer their protection to oil producers.

In the 1980s, the small petrostate of Kuwait backed an Iraqi invasion of Iran by opening its ports (and a financial lifeline) to Iraq. When Iran retaliated by attacking Kuwaiti shipping, Kuwait extracted promises of protection from both the Soviet Union and the United States. thus began a four-decade stretch of U.S. military intervention in the Persian Gulf.

the world may have passed what Ashford calls its “peak petrostate” era. technological advances such as fracking have opened up new petroleum sources outside of traditional oil-producing regions. At the same time, the fight against climate change has prompted industrialized countries to move toward less carbon-intensive energy sources.

So the trend is toward an economy that does not value or rely on petroleum products as much. But the damage done by oil-fueled rulers may last much longer.

MATTHEW PETTI is a 2022-2023 Fulbright fellow. He was previously a reporter for Responsible Statecraft and research assistant for the Quincy Institute.

Oil, the State, and War: The Foreign Policies of Petrostates, by Emma Ashford, Georgetown University Press, 365 pages, $34.95

ISN’T IT TIME FOR RICH NATIONS TO PAY THE COMMUNITIES THAT THEY HAVE HELPED TO DROWN?

Reason MATTHEW PETTI

pmc president meets Vcs of Kp, ict

islamabad Staff RepoRt

The President Pakistan Medical Commission Professor Noushad A shaikh hold a meeting with all the public universities vice chancellors of ICT and KPK for the MDCAT Exams 2022. The meeting was attended by Professor.Dr,Nushad A.Shaikh,V.President Dr.Khurshid Naseem,Prof.Dr.Mohammad Saleem Prof.Dr.Jawad Ahmed, Mr.Arshad Khan ,Dr.Moosa Khan, Prof.Dr.Farman Wazir, Prof.Dr.Tanveer Khan. In the meeting the vice chancellors unanimously agreed to the proposals of holding the MDCAT exam at provincial level with Pass Percentage for MBBS 55 % and Pass Percentage for BDS 45 %. The President PMC apprised in the meeting that this Policy is applicable only for the year 2022. For the candidates who appeared in the previous 2 years (2020/ 2021) the policy of the respective years will be applicable on their MDCAT certificates. He added that almost two lac two thousand five hundred students have registered with the PMC to appear in the examination. The admitting Universities of Sindh, ICT and KPK all agreed to conduct the MDCAT Exam on 13th or 20th of November 2022.

30 perceNt Flood AFFectees returNed homes iN hyderAbAd: memoN

Karachi Satff RepoRt

sINDHMinister for Information , Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that Sindh Government is carrying out relief and rehabilitation activities across the province and the flood water is also receding while affectees have started to return to their homes.

He added that 30 percent of flood hit people have returned home from relief camps in Hyderabad.

He said that district administrations are providing them transport facility and ration as well. The minister said that every flood hit area has its own dynamics , it will take 15 days , some areas will take 30 days, while others may take 3 months to drain out rain/flood water. The minister said this while addressing a presser at Sindh Archives Complex, Clifton Karachi on Monday. Sindh Minister said that the Sindh government is focusing on draining out the stagnant flood water, in this regard, the Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah is convening meetings with the Irrigation Department on a daily basis.

He said that the pumping machinery of the Karachi Water Board and KMC have also been mobilized apart from the utilization of the heavy ma-

chinery of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to ensure the drainage of rainwater from the affected areas as soon as possible.

He said that philanthropists and NGOs have also been asked to help the government in draining out rainwater and provide pumping motors so that the rehabilitation work would be started in flood hit areas after the drainage of accumulated flood water. He told that rehabilitation phase will be consisted on two types such as houses would be constructed to flood affectees whose houses have collapsed during flood while those farmers, whose crops have been destroyed, they would also be given relief in order to reschedule their loans.

In order to rehabilitate them, Sindh government has contacted with various banks so that their loans can be rescheduled and most of the banks have shown their positive response in it. He reiterated that according to a rough estimate, the construction of a house can cost 5 lacs rupees and in this regard,many companies and philanthropists from abroad have contacted us and extended their support and help in constructing model houses. Sharjeel Memon said that Sindh province has badly suffered during recent flash floods and asked the world community and people of Pakistan to actively participate in the rehabilitation works in Sindh. He added that if someone in the

country has the power to build a whole village, or can build even a single house, then such people should come forward to help in constructing of houses for flood victims.

Minister Information said that Sindh Government has decided to set up flour stalls in the targeted areas from tomorrow (Tuesday) so that the subsidized flour could be available to the poor and deserving people while, in this regard, surveys have also been conducted by Sindh Food Department.

He said that 25 percent of wheat is purchased by the Sindh government and 75 percent is purchased by mill owners while the Sindh government is trying to provide government's procured wheat to the areas of poor people. The District Administration will oversee the entire process and to deal strictly with the wheat hoarders. He said that a compensation of Rs 10 lac rupees would be given to those family members of flood victims who lost their lives while 25 thousands to each flood-hit families is also being given as a financial assistance under the Benazir Income Support Programme.

He said that Sindh government is giving special attention in health sector and providing adequate medical aid to the flood victims while apart from Provincial Health Department, PPHI, Pakistan Army, Navy, Air Force and other welfare organizations are vigor-

ously taking part in providing medical aid to flood affectees. A total 6963 fixed medical camps and 7920 mobile camps have been established to provide medical assistance to the flood victims.

In which 19536 specialized doctors of various diseases, 39600 paramedics staff and 1792 volunteers are engaged. He further said that approximately 3.14 million patients have been provided medical assistance and treatment facilities in these established medical campuses, in which 638970 patients of diarrhoea, 703340 skin diseases, 621319 respiratory diseases and 294519 patients of suspected malaria were given treatment while 15179 confirmed malaria and 1284 dengue patients have also been given best treatment. He briefed that the Sindh government currently has 92347 dog bite vaccines and 18399 snake bite vaccines available in stock.

He said that a total of 7951 cases of dengue fever have been reported during current year of 2022, in which 5382 cases have been reported in the month of September in the province while the highest number of 4661 of dengue fever has reported in Karachi Division. Similarly, 479 cases of dengue fever have been reported in Hyderabad, 132 in Mirpurkhas, 17 in Larkana, 32 in Sukkur and 61 in Shaheed Benazirabad division were reported in the month of September.

ANF arrests 83 drug traffickers

islamabad Staff RepoRt

Foundation university islamabad holds convocation for mbbs Graduates

Foundation University Islamabad (FUI) hosted the MBBS Convocation 2022 session 2017-2021 at Jinnah Auditorium, Foundation University School of Health Sciences (FUSH) on 25th September 2022. Lt Gen Hamood Uz Zaman Khan, HI (M) (Retd) Secretary of Defence and Chancellor of Foundation University Islamabad graced the occasion as Chief Guest. Rector FUI Maj Gen Nasir Dilawar Shah HI(M) (Retd) and Maj. Gen. Imran Fazal HI(M) (Retd), Director Foundation University School of Health Sciences were also present at the occasion. A total of 165 graduates were awarded degrees by the worthy chief guest Secretary of Defence. The Chief Guest also awarded 07 Gold Medals, 05 Silver Medals, 20 Distinction Certificates and 109 merit certificate to the graduating batch. Director Foundation University School of Health Sciences in his welcome address highlighted the progress and academic excellence FUI has achieved in the past years. The Foundation University has been established as a Centre of Excellence to provide quality education at par with international standards. The University stresses on academic excellence through its quality faculty and students, besides efficient administration, in order to produce high caliber graduates. Foundation University (FUI) is a federally chartered University established in 2002. We are ranked Category “W4” which is the highest academic rating category by the Higher Education Commission. The Secretary of Defence and Chancellor Foundation University Islamabad, in his address, congratulated the graduating students and said, “He is confident that with the knowledge and training acquired in this elite institution, these young graduates will be able to play a very affirmative role in resolving the health issues being faced by our nation”. Staff RepoRt

COMSATS University Islamabad signed a research project agreement with Engro Foundation and Engro Polymers and Chemicals Ltd on Thursday at the Islamabad Campus of the former. Ms. Naz Baloch, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change participated in the signing ceremony as Chief Guest.Prof. Dr. Sajid Qamar, Acting Rector CUI & Dean Faculty of Sciences, Mr. Favad Soomro, Head Engro Foundation along withsenior officials from Engro Corporation and CUI participated in the signing ceremony. The project agreement was signed by Dr Jabir Hussain Syed, Assistant Professor, CUI and Mr. Saad Hussain Shah from Engro Polymers and Chemicals Ltd Pakistan. The project is aimed at understanding the socio-economic and political factors that lead to low implementation of Basel Amendments through a transdisciplinary

approach and to conduct a valuechain analysis, social network analysis, and policy coherence study to identify these factors. Using these research outputs the project is expected to enhance the capacity of government stakeholders and help them develop a policy action-plan.

The project is funded by AsiaPacific Network for Global Change Research. While speaking at the occasion, Prof. Sajid Qamar, Acting Rector, COMSATS University Islamabad presentedan overview of the vision, academics and research

programs of CUI. He highlighted the research and development activities of CUI particularly in the areas of Climate Change and Environmental Research at various campuses. Dr. Jabir Hussain Syed, the project team lead informed the gathering of the envisaged goals of the project as well as the project activities. He added that the project will play an important role in capacity building of government agencies and ministries, particularly with regard to the import/export of hazardous waste from Pakistan.

Sharjeel chairs meeting of trans Karachi PODs

Karachi Staff RepoRt

A meeting of the Board of Directors of Trans Karachi was held under the chair of Provincial Minister for Information , Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon on Monday at his office. The meeting reviewed the ongoing development work on the construction of infrastructure of BRT Red Line Project. It was decided in the board of directors meeting to convene at least one meeting every month to speed up the project. It was also decided that initially fortnightly meetings of the Board to be held to gear up the project matters. Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Red Line Project is concieved at cost of 503 million US dollars. Due to rising inflation,

the cost of the project has also increased and the Sindh government wants that the project is completed on time so that it does not have major escalation in cost . He said that project partners will be responsible for any kind of delay in the project. He added that joint decisions have to be taken for the timely completion of the project in the interest of the citizens. Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the board should be taken into confidence in all decisions. Board of Directors members including Secretary Transport Abdul Haleem Sheikh, MD Sindh Mass Transit Cap.( R ) Altaf Hussain Sario, Justice ( R) Shaiq Usmani, Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi, Rukhsana Rahooja, CEO Trans Karachi Wasif Ijjal, Shumail Sikandar and others attended the meeting.

Islam protects rights of each segment of society: IIUI rector

Principles of Islam protect rights of each segment in a society, this was said by Professor Dr. Muhammad Masoom Yasinzai, Rector, International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), during the concluding ceremony of a one day International Conference on “Social Protection; Practices, Experiences and Way Forward” jointly hosted by the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, FSS, International Islamic University Islam-

abad (IIUI) and Social Protection Resource Center (SPRC), Islamabad with the support of UNICEF, Pakistan, held at Allama Iqbal Auditorium, Faisal Masjid Campus.

Focusing on the theme of the conference “Universal & Life-Course Social Protection as Way Forward” Dr. Masoom Yasinzai highlighted the scope of social Protection in the third world countries, IIUI Rector urged to adopt the golden principles of Islam. He also referred to the pain and misery of people facing flood in Pakistan. On this occasion Dr. Masoom shared the golden principles of

Anti Narcotics Force Pakistan seized 2600.571 Kg Drugs worth US$ 54.879 Million internationally, arrested 83 persons including 8 women, 4 Foreigners and impounded 26 vehicles while conducting 67 counter narcotics operations throughout the country. The seized drugs comprised 118.042 Kg Heroin, 2322.417 Kg Hashish, 119.4 Kg Opium, 0.500 Kg Amphetamine, 22.921 Kg Methamphetamine (Ice), 1.792 Kg Cocaine, 7 Kg Cannabis Bhang), 100 x Ecstasy Tablets (0.058 Kg), 2681 x Xanax Tablets (2.681 Kg), 1310 x Rochi-2 Tablets (1.310 Kg) and 23500 x Axemax Tablets weighing (4.450 Kg). ANF Punjab recovered 86.792 Kg drugs in 17 operations while 19 persons including 1 woman arrested in drug smuggling and seized 6 vehicles. The seized drugs comprised 10.174 Kg Heroin, 50 Kg Hashish,15 Kg Opium, 7.627 Kg Methamphetamine (Ice), 2681 x Xanax Tablets (2.681 Kg) and 1310 x Rochi-2 Tablets (1.310 Kg). ANF KPK recovered 1069.615 Kg drugs in 19 operations while 20 persons including 4 foreigners arrested in drug trafficking and seized 7 vehicles. The seized drugs comprised 75.565 Kg Heroin, 971.150 Kg Hashish, 15.600 Kg Opium, 2.792 Kg Methamphetamine (Ice), 23500 x Axemax Tablets (4.450 Kg) and 100 x Ecstasy Tablets(0.058 Kg). ANF Sindh recovered 65.314 Kg drugs in 11 operations while 14 persons including 3 x women arrested in drug smuggling and seized 3 vehicles. The seized drugs comprised 1.120 Kg Heroin, 53.450 Kg Hashish, 3.744 Kg Methamphetamine (Ice) and 7 Kg Cannabis (Bhang). ANF North recovered 1288.85 Kg drugs in 19 operations, arrested 30 persons including 4 x women involved in drug smuggling while seized 10 vehicles. The seized drugs comprised 31.183 Kg Heroin, 1157.817 Kg Hashish, 88.800 Kg Opium, 0.500 Kg Amphetamine, 8.758 Kg Methamphetamine (Ice) and 1.792 Kg Cocaine. ANF Balochistan conducted an operation and recovered 90 Kg Hashish from general area of Chaman. All cases have been registered at respective ANF Police Stations under CNS Act 1997 and further investigations are under process. Staff RepoRt

presided over by Professor Dr. Ayaz Afsar, Vice President (Academics), IIUI, who appreciated the efforts by the department of sociology and organizing team. He emphasized the importance of social Protection and its role in Pakistan in particular. Dr. Ayaz also stressed that this conference is the need of the hour and it’s the time for academia and practitioners to sit together and work jointly to overcome the challenges of the era. Dr. Ayaz also shared the purpose of the conference is to encourage informal discussion and debate and termed it an opportunity to develop a network to share knowledge and experiences with others.

islamabad Staff RepoRt

Islam and stressed that Islam protects rights of each segment of a society. He congratulated Chairman, Sociology Department, Dr. Akhlaq Ahmad Social Protection Resource

Center (SPRC) Islamabad for organizing this international conference and also thanked UNICEF, Pakistan for supporting the event. Earlier، the inaugural session was

COMSATSUniversity agreement with on plastic waste management

Voting continues in four regions of ukraine on joining russia

KYIV agencies

tHEKremlin said on Monday it was in “sporadic” contact with the United States on nuclear issue, a day after Washington warned of “catastrophic consequences” if Moscow used nuclear weapons to protect Ukrainian regions it looks set to annex.

Citizens in four regions of Ukraine were voting for a fourth day on Monday in Moscow-organised referendums on joining Russia, a plan Kyiv and the West have branded a sham. They say the outcomes are pre-determined and they will not recognise the results.

But by incorporating the four regions –Luhansk and Donetsk in the east and Zapor-

izhzhia and Kherson in the south – Moscow could portray Ukraine’s efforts to retake them as attacks on Russia itself.

President Vladimir Putin said last week Moscow was ready to use nuclear weapons to defend any of its territory as he announced a mobilisation drive that threatens to significantly escalate the seven-month-old conflict in Ukraine. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday the United States would respond “decisively” to any Russian use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine, without elaborating. He said Washington had privately told Moscow “exactly what that would mean”.

Asked on Monday about Sullivan’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There are channels for dialogue at the proper level, but they are of a very sporadic

Tensions flare as Jewish settlers storm Al-Aqsa complex

JerUsALeM:

Tensions are running high in occupied East Jerusalem as Jewish settlers continued their incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex on Monday. Settlers protected by Israeli security forces stormed the compound as they mark the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which began on Sunday. On Monday, Israeli officers shepherded in dozens of settlers through the compound’s al-Mughrabi gate, witnesses told Anadolu Agency. There was heavy police presence at the compound, with officers even scaling the Qibli Mosque, one of the main prayer halls in the complex. Over the past week, several Jewish extremist groups urged settlers to storm Al-Aqsa during the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Palestinian groups have called on Palestinians to maintain a presence at the complex over the coming days. Israeli security personnel assaulted Palestinians and forced many to leave the compound, while also blocking dozens more from entering, witnesses said. At least two Palestinians needed medical attention after attacks by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times. Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where AlAqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move never recognized by the international community. agencies

Putin denounces ‘inhuman terrorist attack’ at school: Kremlin

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday denounced an “inhuman terrorist attack” at a school in central Russia’s Izhevsk, where a gunman opened fire leaving at least 13 people dead, including children, the Kremlin said. “President Putin deeply mourns the deaths of people, children at a school where there was a terrorist attack by a person, who apparently belongs to a neo-fascist group,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “The president wishes for the recovery of those injured as a result of this inhuman terrorist attack,” Peskov added. Investigators said six adults and seven children died in the attack that also left more than 20 people injured. The attacker, who was said to be wearing clothes with Nazi symbols, committed suicide, investigators said. agencies

nature. At least they allow for the exchange of some emergency messages about each other’s positions.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he did not believe Putin was bluffing when the Kremlin leader said Moscow would be ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia.

Door-to-Door voting: The exiled mayor of Russian-controlled Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region condemned the referendums – which are due to end on Tuesday – as “a fake and a farce”.

“The voting takes place in front of assault rifles, men with weapons… People are grabbed right on the street and are forced to vote not only for themselves but for their whole families,” he said via videolink from an undisclosed location.

Fedorov also accused Russia of forcibly

enlisting Ukrainian men in occupied areas into its armed forces.

“Today the situation is critical: our residents are scared, our residents are panicking, they don’t know what will happen tomorrow and when they will actually take our people away for enlisting,” he said.

The governor of Luhansk, another region Moscow aims to annex, said Russianbacked officials were carrying ballot boxes from door to door, accompanied by security officials. Residents’ names were taken down if they failed to vote correctly or refused to cast a ballot, Serhiy Gaidai said.

“Representatives of the occupation forces are going from apartment to apartment with ballot boxes. This is a secret ballot, right?” Gaidai said in an interview posted online. The four regions represent

about 15% of Ukraine. Russian forces do not control all the territory in those regions, where fighting still rages. They would add to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014 after a similar referendum there.

Ukraine, bolstered by sophisticated Western weapons, has recaptured swathes of territory over the past month, prompting Putin last week to order Russia’s first military mobilisation since World War Two to enlist 300,000 additional troops.

Protests: Kremlin spokesman Peskov said on Monday Russia had taken no decisions on closing its borders, amid an exodus of military-age men since Putin’s announcement, which aims to enlist some 300,000 reservists. Almost 17,000 Russians crossed the border into Finland over the weekend, Finnish authorities said, while Russian state media said the estimated wait to enter Georgia hit 48 hours at one point on Sunday, with more than 3,000 vehicles queuing. More than 2,000 people have been detained across Russia for protests at the draft, says independent monitoring group OVD-Info. With criticism of the conflict banned, the demonstrations were among the first signs of discontent since the war began.

Chinese govt, people to continue supporting Pakistan’s flood relief efforts: Wang Wenbin

BEIJING agencies

The Chinese government and people will continue to stand with Pakistan and take prompt actions to help flood-stricken people, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said on Monday.

China and Pakistan now are all-weather strategic cooperative partners and ironclad brothers that have always stood with each other in trying times. Since, Pakistan was hit by the floods, the Chinese side feeling deeply for their brothers and sisters has taken prompt actions to help, he said during his regular briefing held here.

He said that a donation ceremony titled Chinese People for Pakistani Brothers and Sisters was co-hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), China Pakistan Friendship Association and China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development.

The event raised 125 million yuan worth of donations and flood relief supplies out of which some of the supplies have been delivered to the flood-stricken areas, he added.

Wang Wenbin said that the Chinese government had provided 400 million yuan worth of humanitarian

assistance to Pakistan and added, the civil society in China had also extended the helping hand.

He said, the CPAFFC worked immediately to encourage and organize friendship associations of Chinese cities with sister-city friendships with Pakistani cities as well as the Chinese enterprises, institutions and philanthropists, among others to take part in the fund-raising.

He said, the event attended by a large number of Chinese officials, enterprises, and people received prompt support from the civil society with the participation of 80 cities which have sister-city relationship with Pakistani cities, 24 friendship organizations and several 100 charitable individuals from 15 Chinese provinces and municipalities.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque said that in the event the exceptional amount of donation was indeed very generous and timely and would be immensely helpful in reinforcing Pakistan’s ongoing flood relief efforts.

Bangladesh boat tragedy death toll hits 40

DhaKa agencies

Rescue workers recovered 15 more bodies on Monday after a boat carrying religious pilgrims capsized in Bangladesh, taking the death toll to 40 with dozens still missing, police said.

The small boat packed mostly with women and children on their way to a popular temple flipped over on Sunday in a river as onlookers screamed from the shore. The incident near the remote northern town of Boda was the latest in a string of similar tragedies blamed on poor maintenance and overcrowding in the low-lying delta country.

Boda police chief Sujoy Kumar Roy said fire service and navy divers recovered 15 bodies in the Karotoa River downstream from where the boat tipped over.

It was carrying around 90 people, of whom around 50 were pilgrims on their way to the centuries-old Hindu temple for a major festival, according to police.

“Many people are still missing. Our joint search and rescue operation is ongoing,” Roy told AFP.

Police said they have lowered the number of miss-

ing people as some have reported that they have found relatives who had swum to safety. But dozens are still believed to be missing, police officers said.

District police chief Sirajul Huda said the boat was carrying three times its capacity.

“There were heavy rains in the morning and that is why when the ferrying began, pilgrims packed the boat to make it quickly to the temple,” he told AFP.

“The boatman asked some people to disembark in an effort to ease the weight-load. But no one listened,” he said. Local media said at least 10 people had been rescued and sent to hospital.

Mobile phone footage aired by TV station Channel 24 showed the overcrowded boat suddenly flipping over, spilling the passengers into the muddy brown river. Dozens of people watching from the shore started shouting and screaming. The weather was calm at the time. Thousands of Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh visit the famous Bodeshwari Temple every year.

Sunday marked the start of Durga Puja, the biggest Hindu festival in Bangladesh — and also eastern India — drawing large crowds at the temple.

Last December, around 40 people perished when a packed three-storey ferry caught fire in southern Bangladesh.

A ferry sank in Dhaka in June 2020 after a collision with another vessel, killing at least 32 people.

And at least 78 people perished in 2015 when an overcrowded ship collided with a cargo vessel in a river west of the capital.

BEIJING Mian abrar

After all delegates to attend the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) were selected in Beijing. Officials introduced in detail the characteristics of the delegation, with 33.6 percent of Party members working at the frontlines of work and production, more female representatives and more delegates from ethnic minority groups.

Half of them hold postgraduate degrees, and they are from a wide range of walks of life.

Experts believed that such broad representation of delegates and a guarantee of delegates from the frontlines not only shows the solid and wide foundation of the CPC, which maintains continuous succession and exuberant vitality, but also embodies the characteristics of intra-Party democracy.

Moreover, the strict process of selection also guaranteed a fully open and transparent procedure to select the best Party represen-

tatives from all industries, and guarantee a fruitful convening of the congress.

A total of 2,296 delegates were elected to attend the upcoming 20th National Congress of the CPC, an official statement said on Sunday. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping

Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the delegates were elected in accordance with the Party Constitution and the CPC Central Committee’s requirements, adopting methods required by the CPC Central Committee, the statement said.

An official from the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee held an interview and introduced the selection of the delegates.

According to the official, the CPC Central Committee has clear requirements for choosing delegates to attend the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress, which is to prioritize Party members who are working at the frontlines, and make sure the structure of delegates is reasonable and widely representative.

According to the official, there are 771

delegates from the frontlines of work and production, accounting for 33.6 percent of the total. Among them, 192 delegates are workers, occupying 8.4 percent; 85 are farmers, making up 3.7 percent, and 266 professional and technical staffers, accounting for 11.6 percent of the total.

Another characteristic of the delegates features the increasing number of female and ethnic minority representatives. Female delegates total 619, which is 68 more than those who participated in the 19th National Congress of the CPC, and an increase of 2.8 percentage points. Representatives from ethnic minority groups account for 264, or 11.5 percent of the total number, covering 40 ethnic minority groups.

Those delegates are from all walks of life, including the economic, technological, scientific, national defense, health, cultural and sports fields, and ranging from provincial to village and community levels.

The average age of the 2,296 delegates is 52.2 years. Among them, 1,371 delegates, or 59.7 percent, are below 55 years old, and

18.9 percent are below 45 years old.

A total of 52.7 percent of the delegates hold postgraduate degrees and 36 percent hold undergraduate degrees. The official also pointed out that those representatives joined the Party at various periods, yet 2,224 joined after reform and opening-up, accounting for 96.9 percent, and forming the main body of the delegates. When asked how those delegates were selected out of 96 million Party members in China, the official said that they were recommended by all departments and institutions; and they were put under strict examination via various channels. For example, departments and institutes that were qualified to recommend them should form special groups to take opinions from people about the potential delegates.

The delegates were selected from all levels, from grassroots Party organizations to institutes that were qualified to select and make sure the best candidates were chosen.

What’s noteworthy is that those 2,296 delegates still need to be examined before the

convening of the congress, said the official.

Such a proportion of frontline delegates shows that the CPC has done well in “intraParty democracy” as those elected delegates – including workers, farmers and professionals – have made remarkable achievements in their work and are highly qualified, Zhang Shuhua, director of the Institute of Political Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

The delegates are broadly representative, with a reasonable structure and distribution in terms of ages, regions and industries, meeting the requirements set by the CPC Central Committee and winning the support of Party members, Zhang said. Yang Xuedong, a professor of political science at Tsinghua University, echoed this opinion. The upcoming 20th CPC National Congress is very essential as profound changes are evolving rapidly in the world, and the country is on a journey to build China into a modern socialist country in all respects and achieve the Second Centenary Goal, so that the public surely will pay high attention to the elected delegates. party delegates selected

EnGlIsh crIckET TEAM ArrIvEs lAhorE AMID TIGhT sEcurITy

LaHOrE stAFF RePoRt

cAPITALCity Police Chief Additional IG Ghulam Mahmood Dogar on Monday welcomed the England T-20 Cricket squad to the provincial capital and vowed to provide foolproof security to both the teams players and officials during their stay in the city.

English and Pakistani cricket teams reached here amid tight security to play their last three International T-20 cricket matches of the total seven scheduled ones.

England cricket team has been visiting Pakistan after a long span of seventeen years and into a high security bubble.

The Lahore police, on the directions of CCPO La-

hore made stringent security arrangement on the arrival of both teams players and officials.

The CCPO, DIG Operations Afzaal Ahmad Kausar, CTO Muntazir Mehdi, SSP Operations Capt (R) Mustansar Feroze, SSP Security, SP of Dolphin Squad and other related officers remained in field and checked security arrangements on the route till the teams reached their residing hotel.

As many as 8,000 police officers and officials including SPs, DSPs, SHOs and upper subordinates would perform security duty during the stay of both the cricket teams in Lahore and schedule practice sessions and matches.

The CCPO issued directions to the police officers to strengthen the arrangements remaining highly alert and keeping a vigilant eye on any suspicious activities.

Ghulam Mahmood Dogar directed the deputed police officials to behave with the citizens visiting Qaddafi stadium in polite manner as well as during zero route movement of the teams. Elaborate arrangements of security have been made at the residential place where the teams have been boarding, routes, Qaddafi Stadium and its surrounding areas, the CCPO added.

Heavy deployment of contingents would be made on the route of the teams during their movement from hotel to stadium during practice sessions and matches, he said and added that three layers security checking mechanism had been devised for the players, officials and the citizens.

The CCPO said that Lahore police had played important role for the revival of cricket events in the city. Lahore Police had complete support of Punjab Safe

Haris reveals his plan to bowl landmark 19th over against England

LaHOrE Agencies

Djokovic managing wrist issue, ATP Finals remains his goal

LONDON ReuteRs

Novak Djokovic said he was bothered by a wrist problem during the Laver Cup in London and that his lengthy absence from the Tour recently could be to blame. The three-day tournament in London’s O2 Arena was Djokovic’s first event since the Serb won his 21st Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in early July. The 35-year-old, who missed the North American hardcourt swing and the U.S. Open due to not being vaccinated against Covid-19, produced a dazzling performance on his return to the Tour on Saturday by winning his singles and doubles matches. However, he lost to Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime on the final day of the competition on Sunday. “I have been struggling with my right wrist for the last four, five days, to be honest. I have been keeping it under control,” Djokovic told reporters. “The two matches yesterday probably had an effect. Today was not easy. I couldn’t serve as fast or as accurately as I would like to. That has affected the whole game.” Djokovic said qualifying for November’s ATP Finals in Turin remained his goal and that he will play a tournament in Tel Aviv this week followed by an event in Kazakhstan next week and then the Paris Masters at the end of October. His Wimbledon victory guarantees him a spot in the Tour-ending Finals if he remains ranked in the world’s top 20. Djokovic, who is currently ranked seventh, said the wrist issue could be due to a combination of factors. “Could be not playing matches almost three months, and then conditions here are such that the balls are really big and slow,” he said. “You always have to generate a lot of wrist action and speed, which could be the case why I have been feeling soreness.”

Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf bowled an exceptional 19th over in the fourth T20I against England while defending 167. The right-arm pacer changed the complexion of the game after Liam Dawson smashed Mohammad Hasnain with four fours and a six in the 18th over of the match and only nine runs were required off the final two overs.

Five runs were remaining off the ten balls before Haris changed everything. While facing a short, Dawson couldn’t control his pull shot and holed out mid-wicket fielder, which opened the room for the paceman to do the damage.

Rauf’s pace had cranked up as he cleaned up the debutant Olly Stone on next ball and had a leg-before shout turned down against Reece Topley. The ball to Topley was a scorching yorker clocked at 96 mph but was turned down as the ball was sliding down the legstump.

In the next over, Topley tried to steal a single to get off strike but fell well short of his ground at the nonstriker’s end as England fell short by three runs in front of an electrifying crowd.

“First of all we are thankful to Allah Almighty that Pakistan won the match and it was an important match of this series. As a team we have the never give up attitude and every player is giving his 100 percent effort in the ground. I bowled with the same attitude and Pakistan

won the game,” said Rauf in post match press conference. “He [Dawson] scored a lot of runs from Hasnain’s over and of course I was in the field. I was planning beforehand and had the idea as to where I should bowl to him.

“The plan was to get his wicket and turn the match and Alhamdullilah I got the wicket as planned. I had the confidence in my abilities and knew that if I bowl my best ball, we would win this game.”

The paceman also backed his team-mates who are under the firing line as Pakistan’s middle order woes continue ahead of the all-important T20I World Cup next month. “Any player can have a hard time, as a team we have to support each other. I think the ability that they have, we all know that they have won matches for Pakistan and anytime they can make a comeback. We have full trust in our players.”

Asked if he had improved under the bowling coach Shaun Tait, Rauf said he had worked with the former Australian quick on the Test tour of Sri Lanka, where he was a part of the squad in a two-match Test series.

“Towards the start, any player struggles and has little idea of the situation. So you learn over time and in any field. So I try to learn,” Rauf explained. “Shaun Tait has kept everyone calm and in Sri Lanka he worked with me a lot as I was in the Test squad. I was trying to work on my fitness and understand the game. In T20 cricket, sometimes you go for runs. One day you bowl well and the next day, you can concede few runs. So bad time can come on any bowler.

Usman Qadir improving, likely to play tomorrow

Staff rEpOrt

PAKvENG: Update on Usman Qadir's thumb injury

Leg-spinner Usman Qadir injured his thumb as he grabbed a blinder in the fourth T20I to send dangerous Alex Hales back to the pavilion.

Mohammad Hasnain bowled a hard length delivery and Alex Hales was forced to check his shot, and Usman Qadir, who was placed at mid-wicket, dived forward to his left to take a stunning catch.

Qadir did really well to make sure that the ball does not bobble out of his hand during his landing. Hales departed after scoring 5 runs off 3 balls.

The 29-year-old couldn’t bowl for Pakistan and left the field after the catch. Iftikhar Ahmed had to bowl the overs in place of him where he gave only 23 runs in four overs. As per sources, Usman Qadir’s injury has improved and is expected to be fit ahead of the fifth T20I of the series in Lahore on Wednesday.

Talking about the fourth T20I, England kept on losing wickets at regular intervals while chasing 167. Harry Brook and Ben Duckett played knocks of 34 and 33 and the equation came down to 33 off 3 overs to get over England.

Dawson then smashed 24 runs off the 18th over and it looked like England would get over the line easily. However, Haris Rauf brought Pakistan back into the game as he dismissed Liam Dawson (34) and Olly Stone (0) on successive deliveries.

England needed 4 runs off the final over to win, but Reece Topley was run-out in the final over, and Pakistan registered a narrow two-run win.

Earlier, England captain Moeen Ali had won the toss and he decided to bowl first. Mohammad Rizwan played a knock of 88 runs to help Pakistan post 166/4 in 20 overs. Asif Ali also played an unbeaten cameo of 13 runs off just 3 balls to propel Pakistan’s total past the 160-run mark.

Cities Authority, district administration, PCB and law enforcement agencies to ensure security so that citizens could enjoy these matches in peaceful atmosphere, he asserted.

He said that Lahore police would also monitor all the activities on routes and surrounding areas during movement of teams through CCTV cameras of Punjab Safe Cities Authority.

Pakistan wins bronze at Women’s Tent Pegging Grand Prix in Jordan

LaHOrE PR

For the first time in the Country’s history, a three-member women’s equestrian team, supported by Fatima Fertilizer, claimed a bronze medal for the country in the recently held women’s tent pegging grand Prix championship which took place in Jordan in the historic city of Petra from September 22 to 24, 2022. This was the first major event for Pakistan’s women’s tent pegging team which was selected after the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan held open trials to select the best players.

Kinza Farhat, Ayesha Ahmed Khan, and Zoya Meer represented the Pakistani team at this international event. “Fatima Fertilizer, being the country’s leading fertilizer manufacturer, stands firmly rooted within Pakistan’s rural community. Our mission is to win the hearts of Pakistani farmers and rural folk by supporting their most preferred game of tent pegging, which portrays our culture and identity. We are working with the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan and Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) to discover Pakistan’s exceptional talent in this game and showcase it to the world. We remain steadfast to revitalizing the lost glory of tent pegging and bringing it back to limelight. We congratulate the winning team of Pakistani women equestrians for earning this remarkable achievement and wish them much more success in the future”, said Rabel Sadozai, Director of Marketing and Sales at Fatima Fertilizer.

NEW DELHI AFP

India’s Deepti Sharma on Monday said the team repeatedly warned England tailender Charlie Dean for backing up at the non-striker’s end before she controversially ran her out in a one-day international (ODI) game. The rare mode of dismissal, named after Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad who ran out Australia batsman Bill Brown backing up in a 1948 Sydney Test, was last week ruled legitimate by the International Cricket Council (ICC). But Deepti’s run-out of Dean, who broke into tears after being dismissed on 47 as England fell short of their 170run target at the weekend, left the cricket world divided on the tactic, which was long considered against the spirit of the sport. “You surely don’t train all your lives to win a game using that tactic […] and I know batters should train to stay behind the line but it stinks seeing a game won like that,” former England men’s captain Michael Vaughan tweeted. But Deepti, whose team swept the series 30, said they had done nothing wrong. “That was our plan because she was repeatedly doing it and we had warned them too,” Deepti, an off-spinner, told reporters on the team’s arrival in Kolkata.

Sahibzada Sultan Muhammad Ali, who has recently taken the reigns of the Equestrian Federation as its president called it a great moment for the sport in Pakistan especially the recently inducted female riders who are a source of inspiration to all. Tent pegging is a traditional sport of equestrian discipline and has been played in Pakistan for many decades. The sport is internationally played in a lot of countries around the World but is most popular within the commonwealth countries. As per the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan, Pakistan holds the distinction of producing the highest number of tent pegging champions than any other country in the region. However, despite all its history and adventurism, the sport is yet to attract the significant attention it deserves. Support from the Government and private sector can help position Pakistan as a major champion of this sport in the global arena.

Murray backs Federer as future Laver Cup captain

stay current and know a lot of the players.”

Andy Murray has backed Roger Federer as a future Laver Cup captain after Bjorn Borg indicated the sixth edition in Vancouver next year could be his last.

Federer bade farewell to professional tennis at the tournament in London at the weekend, playing doubles alongside great rival Rafael Nadal on Friday in his final competitive match, which ended in defeat.

Team Europe suffered a 13-8 loss to Team World in the Ryder Cup-style tournament to ensure Federer, 41, was denied one final trophy but a vacancy for the captaincy will open up when Swedish great Borg steps away.

Federer, who won 20 Grand Slams in his glittering career, said he had no immediate plans after hanging up his racquet but it is likely he will want to stay involved in the Laver Cup, which he helped to create.

“Look, he’s great on the side (coaching). He watches a lot of tennis, he loves the game. I think for ex-players that go into coaching, I think that’s important to sort of

Murray made his Laver Cup debut at London’s O2 arena, joining other members of the “Big Four” — Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic in competing for Team Europe. Djokovic expressed his hope that Federer would turn his hand to coaching.

“I think that Roger can offer a lot,” he said. “I mean… it’s logical to expect him to be able to share so many useful and valuable things with anybody really.

“If he ever would consider doing that, I’m sure that he’s going to bring a lot of positive things to the improvement of that player, whether male or female, in every aspect on and off the court.

“He’s undoubtedly one of the greatest players to play the game, the way he played it, with his style and effortlessness.” Both Murray and Djokovic tasted defeats on the final day to prevent a dream finale for Federer, who watched Team World win a maiden Laver Cup by a fivepoint margin.

LONDON Agencies

“I’m sure Roger is going to stay involved in the event in some capacity and maybe one day captain the team,” Murray said.

India’s Deepti says Dean ‘warned’ before Mankad run-out

IMran KHan oPEnS Salvo at ISHaq Dar, tErMS HIM ‘BIggESt ConMan of PaKIStan’

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

fORMERpremier Imran Khan Monday opened salvo at PML-N leader Ishaq Dar and dubbed him the biggest conman of Pakistan, who he said, had absconded from the country’s courts because he had no answer to the questions of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) about his assets.

Addressing here an event at the Government College University (GCU), Lahore, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman said that Ishaq Dar fled the country on the then prime minister’s plane.

“He fled the country on the pretext of getting treatment. It has now elapsed three and a half years, and we do not know what treatment he is seeking abroad,” Imran Khan deplored.

Imran Khan said that Ishaq Dar was then coming back under a deal. “Here, deals are made with thieves. They are given NRO. Therefore, theft does not end. Therefore, the country does not go forward. Therefore, money laundering does not stop.”

He added: “I want to ask a question from the entire nation. Are you to watch this theatre like sheep and goats, or you will become a man and rise before oppression and injustice.”

He also stated: “The story began with Wikileaks. Then came Dawn leaks, and now have come audio leaks. These audio leaks have made one thing very clear that the current chief election commissioner is the house servant of the Sharif family.”

He claimed: “Nawaz Sharif tells him who should be disqualified. I struggled for three years for introducing electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the country for free and fair elections. But, the chief election commissioner did not allow EVMs at the behest of Nawaz and Asif Zardari. If he has a fraction of shame, he should resign today. And if he does not do so, we will have to make him resign.” He also lam-

ECP reserves verdict on Dar’s empty Senate seat case

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Election Commission of Pakistan has reserved its verdict on a case seeking to declare Ishaq Dar’s Senate seat empty as the latter has not taken oath to his office. A bench of Election Commission heard the case on Monday. Lawyer Salman Aslam Butt appeared before the commission on behalf of Dar. During hearing, ECP Balochistan member observed that the government had issued an ordinance that stipulated that if a member did not take oath to his Senate seat within 60 days, his seat would be deemed empty. Lawyer Butt said that Dar’s notification regarding winning of Senate seat was issued on March 9 and it was suspended on 29th March, 2018. However, the success notification was restored again after the Supreme Court rejected the petition against the notification. The lawyer argued that the ordinance did not apply on Ishaq Dar as he could not take oath to his seat when his success notification was already suspended. The ECP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa member said the question before the bench was: whether Dar had been disqualified or not? The lawyer contended that under Article 63-P, no one could be disqualified under a law introduced through an ordinance. He further told the bench that the ordinance had already been expired.

Most of flood affected highways restored in Balochistan

QUETTA Staff RepoRt

The Communication and Works Department on Monday said majority of the flood affected highways had been restored in the province. Handout issued by the Communication and Works Department said that highways in worst-hit Naseerabad division were continuously monitored. “More than 104 roads have been restored and the rehabilitation work on 6 link roads is being completed on war footings,” C&W department said stressing that the timely and effective help of the flood victims in this flood situation could only be done through the rehabilitation of the highways. “In this difficult situation faced by the province and Naseerabad division in particular, the C&W department is striving hard to restore the communication system badly affected by the heavy rains and floods.”

basted Maryam Nawaz for ‘lying blatantly’.

Earlier, while addressing the event, Imran Khan quoted Aristotle and said: “About 2,500 years ago Aristotle said that if there is oppression and injustice in a society, all the sections of society will come forward to counter them except two: the cowards and the selfish.”

He added: “The people of Kufa knew that Imram Hussain (RA) was on the right path, but they did not side with him out of fear of Yazeed. In their cowardice, they let the most tragic incident of the Islamic history take place.”

He also stated: “The selfish people too do not come forward to counter the injustice and the oppression, and this is the biggest problem of Pakistan because the elite class here does want to stand before the injustice and oppression.”

He remarked: “This is how a society becomes a slave. This how a society becomes a slave of oppression and fear. The idol of fear is the greatest. Before this fear when a person bows down, in my eyes he commits a shirk. Because he does not raise his voice before oppression.”

He also pointed out: “This is why Allah has made Jihad for us obligatory. Jihad is to fight against the oppression. Jihad is to fight against the oppression. When you wage Jihad against oppression, you eliminate it.”

He continued: “Now, what happens here in Pakistan. A United States assistant secretary of state, Donald Lu, held a meeting with the ambassador of Pakistan and told him that if Imran Khan is not removed from his post, the consequences will be grave for Pakistan. But, if he is, Pakistan will be forgiven.”

Imran Khan also hurled ‘cherry blossom’ jibe at Shehbaz Sharif while talking about the alleged conspiracy of Donald Lu. He also detailed how the noconfidence motion was passed against him and how his own party members deserted him.

He also mentioned Allama Iqbal and said that his

entire philosophy was based on the contempt for slavery and love for freedom. “One becomes a true falcon of Iqbal when one breaks the shackles of slavery. You cannot become a falcon of Iqbal until you do not break the shackles of slavery. Your flight cannot go above others.”

He also mentioned Rumi and said: “Maulana Rumi said when God has given you wings, why do you crawl like ants on the ground?”

He added: “God has given all of us wings. Our flight cannot go higher until we do not get freedom. And freedom what I talk about is mental freedom. The imperial powers make us slaves by controlling our minds. They ask the ‘imported government’ not to buy low-priced oil and gas from Russia.”

While throwing light on the importance of information technology, Imran Khan said: “We were to give the skills of information technology to our youth. But, sadly, we wasted 20 years. In these years, India’s exports in the IT sector rose from $1 billion to $140 billion.”

He added: “The total exports in our tenure were $30 billion, and these were record exports in our tenure. Now compare it with those of India in IT sector only, and just imagine how far we have been left behind in the race of progress.”

He stated: “The steps we had taken for progress of our IT industry caused our IT exports to grow 35 per cent in the second year, 45 per cent in the third year and 75 per cent in the last year.”

He also stated: “We incentivized the IT sector. We initiated special IT zones and granted tax exemptions to them. The information technology is the future. In the IT sector, people as young as 30 years, establish their own companies and become billionaires.He added: “When we come to the government, we will further incentivize the IT sector. We will reduce taxation to zero for our IT companies. We will reduce capital gains tax to zero for freelancers so that they work.”

Canadian High Commissioner pays farewell call on CoaS

RAWALPINDI Staff RepoRt

Ms Wendy Gilmour, Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan paid a farewell call to General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) at GHQ on Monday. During the meeting, matters of mutual interests, regional security situation and bilateral cooperation in various fields came under discussion. COAS thanked visiting dignitary for her services and appreciated her contributions for fostering strong ties between the two countries. The visiting dignitary expressed her grief over the devastation caused by floods in Pakistan and offered sincere condolence to the families of the victims. She offered full support of her country to the people of Pakistan. She also appreciated Pakistan’s Army efforts for rescue and relief efforts in flood affected areas. COAS thanked for Canada’s support and reiterated that assistance from our global partners shall be vital in rehabilitation of the flood victims.

Rupee opens slightly firmer, markets await new finance minister

KARACHI ReuteRS

SLAMABAD ahMadani

National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) has devised a plan to generate power with cheap fuels during the next ten years and forwarded it to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) for approval.According to details, NTDC has prepared the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2022-31 in order to generate the electricity with cheap fuels and forwarded IGCEP to NEPRA, seeking approval. NEPRA will hold a hearing on 19th October, 2022 to consider the IGCEP 2022-2031.

According to IGCEP 2022-2031, it is estimated that power demand would approximately rise to 44,668MW in year 2030-2031 while 14,159MW of cheap electricity is proposed to be made part of the power system including 4320MW of electricity through the net metering to meet the future energy and power demand of the country including NTDC and KElectric (KE) systems. Similarly, NTDC, in its IGCEP 2022-2031, has proposed to retire 19 power plants of 7339MW capacity which currently exist in the NTDC system while four power plants with 682MW capacity which currently exist in KE system are also proposed to be closed during the next ten years.

Under the IGCEP 2022-2031, 11 RFO run power plants, three gas-fired power plants and five RLNG-run

power plants of NTDC system; two RFO-run power plants and two RLNG-fired power plants of the KE system are also proposed to be closed during the next ten years. Total installed capacity of the existing NTDC system is 37,949 MW as of June 2022, whereas the de-rated capacity is equivalent to 35,765 MW. Similarly, for the K-Electric system, the installed and de-rated capacities stands at 3,319 MW and 2,941 MW, respectively.

Pursuant to the provisions of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) prevailing Grid Code i.e., Planning Code PC 4 and PC 4.1, the NTDC has prepared IGCEP 2022-31 covering 10 years’ time frame from 2021-22 to 2030-31, encapsulating power generation additions required to meet the future energy and power demand of the country including NTDC and KE systems. The key objective of the IGCEP is to develop a low-cost, 10-year indicative generation expansion plan for the whole country to meet load and energy demand in a reliable and sustainable manner while maximizing the use of indigenous resources for energy security. It is pertinent to mention that the Board of Director of National Transmission & Despatch Company Limited (NTDC) in its 231st meeting held on 13.09.2022 had unanimously resolved and approved the IGCEP 2O22 in accordance with its salient features and provisions of the National Electric Policy 2O21 and the Grid Code 2022 and authorization for submission of IGCEP 2022 to NEPRA.

NTDC proposes to retire 19 power plants during next ten years as helicopter crashes near Quetta: ISPR

QUETTA Manal JaffeRy

A Pakistan Army helicopter crashed during an overnight mission in Balochistan, leading all six on board military personnel to embrace martyrdom, including both pilots, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said early Monday.

The crash took place in the district of Harnai, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Quetta.

It was not immediately clear what mission the helicopter was on, and the media wing of the army provided no further details.

The government in Balochistan said an investigation was underway.

Responding to the news, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his deep grief over the martyrdom of six army officials.

Prime Minister condoled with the families of martyrs Major

Khurram Shahzad, Major Muhammad Muneeb Afzal, Subidar Abdul Wahid, Sepoy Muhammad Imran, Naik Jalil, and Sepoy Shoaib.

Expressing his deep regret over the unfortunate incident, he said that Pakistan forces have made unprecedented sacrifices for the protection, security and defense of the motherland and nation is proud of their martyrs and will never forget these sacrifices.

He also prayed for the elevation of high ranks of the martyred and patience to their families.

President Dr. Arif Alvi also paid tribute to the officials of the Pakistan Army who laid down their lives in the line of their duty. The president expressed these views on the martyrdom of six army troops including two pilots in the Harnai helicopter crash.

The president prayed for the departed souls of Major Muneeb

Afzal, Major Khurram Shehzad, Subedar Abdul Wahid, Naik Jaleel, Sepoy Muhammad Imran, and Sepoy Shoaib.

He also prayed for the grant of patience to the families of the martyred troops.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also offered his condolences to the martyrs and said: “Be it war or peace, the sacrifices of the officers and men of the armed forces for the sake of the motherland are unforgettable.” On the other hand, PDM and JUI Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has also expressed deep sorrow over the martyrdom and said that his heart is saddened by the martyrdom of the soldiers of the Pakistan Army.

“I pray that Allah accepts the martyrdoms of the martyrs and gives them high status. This is not only the grief of the families of the martyrs, it is the grief of the

The rupee opened slightly stronger on Monday as market participants awaited the announcement of a new finance minister, at a time when the country grapples with economic turmoil worsened by devastating floods. The rupee opened at 239.65 to a dollar and gained around 1 percent in the opening session, the forex exchange association said. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Sunday he planned to formally resign from the role. He is likely to be replaced by a senator from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, Ishaq Dar, who according to analysts is known for keeping the rupee over-valued against the dollar. Dar has previously served as the finance minister more than once during the three tenures of PML-N since 1990. “The Dar factor is at play. There are memories of how he kept the dollar rate stable,” Fahad Rauf at Ismail Iqbal Securities told Reuters.The dollar is strengthening against most global currencies, and Pakistan, hit hard by cataclysmic floods, is in a tight spot with less foreign reserves, he said.

IHC adjourns petition for Imran’s disqualification for two weeks

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday adjourned for two weeks the hearing on a petition for the disqualification of former premier Imran Khan for concealing the name of his alleged daughter Tyrian Khan in his nomination papers. Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition filed by a citizen named Muhammad Sajid. “A separate petition has been filed to make the federal government a respondent in the case,” said the counsel for the petitioner. “What is the need to make the federal government a respondent in the case? You will have to satisfy us on the admissibility of this petition. Imran Khan is no longer a public office holder. You must consider this point too,” Justice Aamer Farooq said to the petitioner’s counsel. Staff RepoRt

entire nation,” he said.

Similarly, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mehmood Khan expressed regret over the martyrdom of six per-

sonnel including two pilots in the accident In a different message he expressed his heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the bereaved families.