Epaper_22-10-01 ISB

C y p h e r ‘ s t o l e n a f t e r f o r g e r y, fa b r i C at i o n ’ f o r p o l i t i C a l g a i n s : C a b i n et

ISLAMABAD s a l e e m J a d o o n

tHE federa cab net on Friday he d detailed del berations on the issue of audio leaks and giv ing concocted meaning to a diplomatic c pher endors ng the decision of National Secur ty Committee (NSC) to investigate the matter thoroughly

The cabinet accused former prime minister Imran Khan of undermining na t ona nterests for po it cal gains by giving f ctitious meaning to a diplomatic cypher, say ng the former premier had violated h s oath and the Official Secrets Act

The federal cabinet meeting, he d here with Prime M nister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in the chair however ex pressed its strong concern over the fact that vital national interests were dam aged by g ving concocted meaning to a diplomat c cypher for politica gains and it [the cypher] was stolen after “ fraud, forger y and fabrication”

The cabinet members expressed the r strong concern over continuous sur facing of the aud os of former PM, ex princ pal secretar y to PM and other people about the diplomatic cypher had exposed the criminal conspiracy of the previous government and former PM Imran Niazi

The cab net members were of the view It was strong v olation of the con stitut onal oath, other re ated laws and regulations particularly the official se cret It was the act of unpardonable cr mes against the state through which

political nterests were g ven pr ority over the v tal nat onal nterests

Therefore it was necessar y under the constitut on, law and rules to invest gate the issue n deta l and those found responsible be g ven severe punishment in accordance w th the law the meet ing reckoned

The cabinet was given a detai ed

briefing on the ssue of dip omatic cypher, dur ng which it was revea ed that the copy of diplomat c cypher in question was miss ng from the PM House Record

The meet ng was told though entr y of the receipt of cypher sent to the for mer PM was found in the record its copy which is cons dered as the prop erty of PM House as per law, was m ssing

G o v t s l a s h e s p e t r o l p r i c e b y r s 1 2 . 6 3 / l i t e r, L P G p r i c e b y r s 1 0 / k G

ISLAMABAD

The government has decided to pro vide s gn ficant relief to already bur dened masses and reduced the price of petro by Rs12 63 per liter for the first fifteen days of October, 2022

New y appointed F nance Minister Ishaq Dar whi e speak ng at a press con ference announced a substantial cut in the prices of all petroleum products which wi l be effective w th the start of October The Finance Min str y, n a state ment said that n the wake of reduction of petroleum products pr ces in the in ternational market and with a view to

provide rel ef to the consumers the gov ernment has decided to decrease the prices of petroleum products

According to the finance ministr y s not fication petrol price has witnessed Rs 12 63/ iter cut while h gh speed diesel (HSD) has reduced by Rs 12 13/liter Sim ilarly, the price of kerosene oil has de creased by 10 19/ iter and the price of light diesel oil (LDO) reduced by Rs 10 78/liter As per new oil prices, petrol will now be available at Rs 224 80/liter HSD at Rs 235 30/ iter Kerosene oi at Rs 191 83/ iter and LDO at Rs 186 50/liter dur ng the f rst fortn ght of October

Meanwhile, the Oil and Gas Regula tor y Authority (OGRA) has slashed the

d g e

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e p o r t

e b a

A loca court of Islamabad on Friday confirmed the interim ba l of former prime minister Imran Khan in a case of vio lation of Section 144 regis tered by the Aabpara Pol ce

Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) Cha rman Imran Khan appeared before the court of Additional District and Ses sions Judge Zafar Iqbal in the pre arrest bail case At the outset of hearing the court

and sen or former m nisters

Besides the representat ves of the government s allied parties the Cabinet Comm ttee will comprise the Min sters for Fore gn Affairs Interior and the Law and Just ce

CaBinet COndemns maLtreatment OF marriYUm aUranGZeB: The cabinet strongly condemned the maltreatment of Minister for Informat on and Broadcast ing Marriyum Aurangzeb on a London road by the workers of Pak stan Tehreek e nsaf (PTI) including the harassment threatening chasing and abusing

It was stated in the meet ng that such a negative behav or was not al lowed even against the men n Islam, western civ lization, law and politica cul ture let alone the women It is just hooli ganism, which cannot be permitted by any society

The meeting appreciating exemplar y tolerance of Marriyum Aurangzeb, lauded her spirit courage and braver y and ex pressed complete so idarity with her

from the record

The meeting which termed the stealing of dip omatic cypher from the record as a serious matter, after de ta ed consultation constituted a spe c al Cabinet Committee, which w ll determine lega action against all the nvolved characters including the for mer PM, ex principal secretar y to PM

Besides the meet ng noted that PTI and its chairman s attitude aga nst women have generally been b ased, partia and insulting which s strongly condemnable All Pakistanis, including ever y segment of the society should condemn this unacceptable attitude

Pakistan committed to deepen ties with Uae: Pm

price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Rs 10 to Rs210 per kg for the month of October 2022 and issued a not fica tion to this effect According to OGRA not fication the price of domestic cylin der has been reduced, which wi l now be so d for Rs2 374 while commercia cylinder w ll cost Rs9,135 LPG s used mostly for cooking, l ghtening purposes in remote and hi ly areas where piped natural gas is not availab e

LPG Distributors Association of Pak istan Chairman Ir fan Khokhar said that there would be severe gas shortages in the upcom ng winter season and the need is to import LPG to bridge the gap

m e d a s h e a p p e a r s i n

c o u r t t o t e n d e r a p o l o g y

remarked that the prosecu tion had to present the ev dence regarding al egation aga nst Imran Khan regard ng provoking the protesters

Imran Khan s counse Dr Babar Awan told the court that t was 21st first informa tion report (FIR) reg stered by the Islamabad Po ice against his c ient

After listen ng to argu ments, the court confirmed the nterim ba l of Imran Khan

Imran Khan appears in Judge Zeba ’s court to tender

apo ogy Earl er Imran Khan former prime minister and the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) appeared Friday before the court of Add tional D str ct and Sess ons Judge Zeba Chaudhr y to apo ogise to her personal y n the judge threat case

Judge Zeba Chaudhr y was however not present in the court as she was on leave, at which Imran Khan addressed the reader and the steno and asked them to tell the udge that Imran Khan

had come to tender apol ogy to her Earl er Imran Khan to d the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that he was will ng to apolo gise to Judge Zeba Chaudhr y for his controvers al remarks “I am ready to apologise to the female judge Imran Khan had told the court “ The court th nks that I have crossed a line My intention was not to threaten the female judge If the court says so I am ready to personally go to the udge and apologise ” he had said

ISLAMABAD

Ambassador of the United Arab Em rates (UAE) Hamad Oba d Ibrahim Salem A Zaabi called on Prime Minis ter Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif here on Fr day and discussed matters of mutual interest

The prime min ster reaffirmed the mportance Pak stan attached to its fraterna relations with the UAE and extended the best wishes for the con tinued progress and prosperity of its brotherly peop e

He highl ghted the extensive devas tation caused by the recent floods across Pakistan and the response of the government to address the dire s tua tion In th s regard he expressed grat tude for the rel ef ass stance provided by the UAE for the flood stricken people and for establish ng an air corridor to provide humanitarian ass stance

The prime minister added that Pak istan was committed to further deepen its relat ons with the United Arab Emi rates in all areas of common interest Pakistan and the UAE enjoy close fraternal ties for f ve decades that are rooted firmly in common belief and shared values and culture The UAE is Pa

the Middle East and a major source of investments

Pakistan desires JaPanese invest ment: Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar f Fri day said Pakistan was desirous of Japanese investment in the projects of so ar energy cleaning dr nking water and treatment, and dra nage of waste water and materials The prime minister expressed these views while talking to a delegat on of Japanese companies based in Pakistan led by Japan’s Vice Minister for Economy, Trade and Industr

Satom Ryu

It was noted in the meeting that PTI and its eadership was used to not only m s t r e a t n g t h e i r p o t i c a l r v a l s e s p e c i a l l y t h e w o m e n b u t a l s o a l w a y s a d o p t e d a c o n d e m n a b l e a t t i t u d e against female journalists

g M E M B E R S S Ay C y P H E R, A U D I O L E A K S E x P O S E

C R I M I N A L C O N S P I R A C y O F P R E V I O U S G O V T

g S T R E S S E S P R O B E TO P U N I S H T H O S E F O U N D R E S P O N S I B L E I N

FA ls e c A s e M A d e A G A I n s t M e , FA M I ly, P M t e l ls c O U R t

S ta f f r e P o r t

PR I M E Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday told a special court that the case registered against him was totally false and frivolous The prime minister made this statement before Special Court (Central) Judge Ijaz

Awan who was hearing a case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against the prime minister his son Hamza Shehbaz, and others

Shehbaz Sharif further submitted that he appeared in compliance with the court orders but he had some important meetings to attend in Islamabad He sought permission to leave the courtroom, adding that he

wanted to say something before leaving

He submitted that he had served as the chief minister Punjab for ten years and now again he had been given an important responsibility in difficult times The party leader had given him the responsibility to save the state by putting politics at stake he said adding that he and his party were working for the benefit of the country and tough decisions were being taken for the purpose

He submitted that as the chief minister Punjab, he made decisions which damaged his family s sugar business I was recommended to give subsidy to the sugar mills but I refused because the money belonged to the poor people of Punjab , he added

The prime minister submitted that the

Use of Afghan soil by terrorists against Pakistan condemned

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f r e P o r t

Pakistan strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and expects that the interim Afghan Government will not allow conduct of such activities in future On Thursday, terrorists from inside Afghanistan across the international border, opened fire on Pakistani troops in general area Kharlachi, Kurram District The Pakistani troops, however, responded in a befitting manner As per credible intelligence reports due to fire of own troops terrorists suffered heavy casualties However, during the fire exchange, Sepoy Jamshed Iqbal (age 27 years, resident of Chiniot) having fought gallantly embraced shahdat Pakistan Army is determined to defend Pakistan’s borders against the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve Pakistan condemns attack on Kabul educational institution Meanwhile, Pakistan on Friday condemned in the strongest terms the dastardly terrorist attack on an educational institution in Dasht e Barchi, Kabul, in which precious innocent lives were lost and many were injured The government and people of Pakistan extend their profound and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and pray for early recovery of the injured Foreign Office said in a statement issued here “We stand in complete solidarity with our Afghan brethren in the fight against the scourge of terrorism the statement added

Gov t granted time for repor t submission in Mazari arrest case

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f r e P o r t

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday granted time to federal government for submission of a commission’s report on the arrest of PTI leader Shireen Mazari Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case regarding the matter wherein Additional Attorney General Munawar Dogal requested the court to grant sometime as the report had to be presented before the federal cabinet The court also issued instructions to the commission for investigation into arrests of journalists including Matiullah Jan, Asad Tur, Irfan Siddiqui and Absar Alam The court adjourned hearing of the case till October 24 S H O S u S p e n d e d O n c i t i z e n’S

c O m p l a i n t: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday ordered suspension of SHO Islamabad Industrial Area Police on a complaint regarding kidnapping citizens for ransom Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri heard the case filed by a citizen Muhammad Awais Paracha The court noted that the petitioner had complaint that his father was kidnapped by the SHO industrial area and demanded Rs60 million against his release The court sent a bailiff to the police station which recovered the said citizen and presented him before the bench

country was passing through difficult times and every dollar was precious in these circumstances He submitted that he was requested to allow the export of the sugar but he refused so that the prices should not rise further, adding that the people would not forgive him if the sugar prices rose further

He submitted that he could not burden the public by making sugar expensive, adding that export issues would be reviewed when the sugar season would start the next month Later, the prime minister left the courtroom after receiving permission from the court Advocate Amjad Pervaiz also advanced arguments on the acquittal application, filed by his client, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during the proceedings He submitted that the

allegations leveled against his client were general in nature The FIR mentioned that companies of the Sharif Group were used in the matter However in those 10 years his client was neither director nor shareholder of any of these companies, he added

He submitted that a Rs 2 8 billion account was mentioned in the FIR, but the same was removed from the challan, He questioned why the Rs 2 8 billion account was not made part of the challan, adding that Mushtaq Cheeni’s account was also removed from the challan

To which, the FIA’s counsel submitted that some accounts were removed from challan, which did not belong to the Sharif family Advocate Amjad Pervaiz further submitted that it was the right of everyone to

own movable or immovable property

At this, the court remarked that it should be declared otherwise it would be considered as black money To which Advocate Amjad Pervaiz argued that the FIA would have taken action if such was the case He submitted that the case was registered during the previous government’s tenure and the Supreme Court had remarked that the FIA was used for political engineering with regard to such cases

He submitted that the FIR was registered at a time when Shehbaz Sharif was behind bars He submitted that as per the Agency, four billion rupees were concealed in the sale of sugar It is to be reviewed whether the FIA had powers to investigate such charges, he added

PTI-led provincial govts to mark 12 Rabiulawal officially: Imran

L

ISLAMABAD

P o r

r

S ta f

Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan issued special instructions to the PTI led provincial governments and the part organizations to celebrate the birthday of Holy Muhammad (peace be upon him) at official level as well at party organizational level

The PTI would hold ” Rehmatul lil Alameen Conference in Islamabad on 12 Rabi Al Awwal (October 9), which would be attended by Ulemas,

Mashaikhs, religious scholars, party leadership and people from different walk of life

Imran Khan would deliver a special address at the Rahmat Lal Alamin Conference Imran Khan instructed the governments of Punjab Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan to organize Rabi Awwal activities at the official level as well as the party level

Imran Khan directed that writing and oratory competitions on the topics of Seerat ul Nabi (PBUH) should be held at schools colleges and universities

He said that Hasan Qiraat, Naat Sharif, Naatiya Mushaira, Hamad Durood Salam and Milad celebrations should be specially organized

PTI Chairman directed that the government and non government buildings should be illuminated and food should be distributed among the needy and flood victims

Provincial governments should announce and distribute “Rahmat Lal

Alamin scholarship on the occasion he added Imran Khan asked that party leadership and workers should ensure their participation in Mohaful e Sirat, Milad, Zikr and Naat and Sama events

Mar t yrdom of Kashmiris by Indian troops matter of grave concern: FO

ISLAMABAD

LAHORE

Number of dengue fever cases is rising in Punjab as 401 new cases were reported on Friday while one citizen lost his life due to the virus in Lahore

According to the Health department a total of 6378 cases of Dengue virus were reported so far during the current year while 9 people died of the virus and 997 patients were under treatment in different hospitals of the province

The Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department reported 174 cases of dengue in Lahore 115 in Rawalpindi,41 in Gujranwala, 16 in Multan,9 in Faisalabad,07 in Sargodha, 05 each in Khanewal and Attock 4 in Dera Ghazi Khan 3 each in Sialkot and

Vehari,2 in Sahiwal, 2 in Gujrat, 2 in Bahawalpur,2 in Muzaffargarh 2 in Rajanpur 2 in Toba Tek Singh 1 in Sheikhupura, 1 in Jhelum,1 in Nankana Sahib,1 in Hafizabad, 1 in Lodhran,1 in Narowal and a case of dengue was reported in Rahimyar Khan during the last 24 hours till filling this news

All suspected cases of Dengue were kept in surveillance and their tests were being conducted

The Anti dengue squad killed dengue larvae at 2381 places in the province as the teams conducted surveillance at 378 040 indoor and 91 950 outdoor places to detect dengue larvae during the last 24 hours in different places The P&SHD urged the people to adopt precautionary measures and keep their environment clean and dry to protect themselves from dengue

same time, he said, there is a need to take coherent and coordinated actions and innovative measures to promote vaccine equity, build better health systems and improve early warning and monitoring systems for pandemic preparedness at the global, regional and national levels

The Foreign Office said on Friday that it was matter of grave concern that the Indian occupation forces had martyred five more Kashmiri youth in extra judicial killings and fake encounters in Kulgam and Kupwara areas of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in the past week Speaking at the weekly press briefing here the Foreign Office Spokesperson said We also continue to draw attention of the international community to the deteriorating situation particularly the health of Kashmiri political prisoners including Hurriyat leaders languishing in different jails of India and in IIOJK and we demand their immediate release ” “We also condemn India s illegal and unprovoked literally unjustified economic assault on IIOJK manifested by the recent halting of fresh fruit laden trucks from Kashmir valley by Indian occupation forces This is kind of an undeclared economic blockade of Kashmiri fruit growers, and a deliberate attempt in our view to destroy the economy of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to punish the Kashmiri people for their struggle for right to self determination,” he added On the floods and the ongoing international assistance and relief efforts, he said, As we transition from rescue and relief phase of response to this unprecedented climate catastrophe, to the more challenging rehabilitation and reconstruction phase that is upcoming, we are grateful to the unparalleled generosity and resilience of the Pakistanis who have contributed in cash and kind to help their brethren

Rs1.1b being spent on 21 new buildings of special education institutes

LAHORE/OKARA

UNITED NATIONS a P P

Pakistan has called for the mobilization of all possible resources to help developing countries eradicate poverty and hunger and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to offset the devastating impact of the increase in food, fuel prices and the decline in economic growth on the large segment of the world s population

Speaking for the Group of 77 (developing countries), Ambassador Munir Akram said the international

community and institutions should revitalize global development cooperation and invest in sustained growth for reducing inequalities and enhancing the well being of all The Pakistani envoy was addressing the UN General Assembly s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), which opened its seventy seventh session Thursday with the lingering impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, a resurgence of conflicts and the climate emergency driving its general discussion

Pakistan is the current chairman of G 77 and China, which now has 134

members and is the United Nations’ biggest intergovernmental group of emerging countries

The developing countries need financial support of at least $3 3 to $ 4 5 trillion per year to achieve SDGs within the given timeline Ambassador Akram said, adding that resources must be mobilized from all possible sources: fulfillment of the 0 7 percent ODA (Official Development target; redistribution of the $650 billion new SDRs (Special Drawing Rights); and concessional finance from the multilateral institutions and development banks At the

Expressing concern over the lack of satisfactory progress on social development, t he G77 chairman said conflicts, volatile financial markets, high rates of unemployment humanitarian emergencies, corruption and climate change, to name a few, impede the progress in the fulfilment of social objectives In this context, Ambassador Akram reaffirmed that international development cooperation especially North South cooperation remains a fundamental catalyst to sustainable development

More than 21 new buildings are being constructed for providing quality education to special children in different districts of Punjab at a cost of Rs1 1 billion, said Secretary Special Education Saima Saeed after inauguration of newly constructed building of Govt Special Education Centre Okara The secretary Special Education said that 303 institutions are currently working for the education and training of special children, in which about 38,000 special children are being educated, and all the facilities are being provided by the government for free There are about 600 buses for free pick and drop of special children, adding that special children are also being provided with three uniforms annually Saima Saeed said that the Punjab government has also introduced Vocational Matric to make the children skilled, in which skills are also taught to the children along with education She further said that in some districts, educational institutions for special children are located in rented buildings, regarding which she has issued instructions to the local administration to provide land for the institutions of special children as soon as possible so that we will construct buildings of special education Institutions

LAHORE

ta f f r e P o r t

G O v t FUl ly b el I ev es I n PRes s FReedO M, tAKI nG O PtI MUM s tePs FO R PRO MO tI O n j O URnAl I s M: MARRI y UM

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f r e P o r t

MI N I S T E R f o r I n f o r m a t i o n a n d B r o a d c a s t i n g M a r r i y u m A u r a n g z e b o n F r i d a y s a i d o p t i m u m s t e p s f o r p r o m o t i o n o f j o u r n a l i s m i n t h e c o u n t r y w e r e b e i n g t a k e n a s c u r r e n t c o a l i t i o n g o v e r n m e n t f u l l y b e l i e v e d i n t h e f r e e d o m o f p r e s s

D u r i n g a m e e t i n g w i t h d e l e g a t i o n o f M u r r e e P r e s s C l u b , s h e s a i d t h a t r e s t r i c t i o n s w e r e i m p o s e d o n t h e m e d i a b y p r e v i o u s g o v e r n m e n t S h e s a i d i t w a s t h e d a r k e s t p e r i o d f o r t h e m e d i a a s j o u r n a l i s t s v o i c e w a s s i l e n c e d a n d t h e i r l i v e p r o g r a m s w e r e h a l t e d b y p r e v i o u s r e g i m e I n t h e m e e t i n g i m p o r t a n c e o f M u r r e e f r o m t o u r i s m p e r s p e c t i v e , M u r r e e P r e s s C l u b a n d o t h e r i m p o r t a n t i s s u e s , w e r e

President underscores civil ser vants capacit y building to improved public ser vice deliver y

ISLAMABAD a P P

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday underlined the need for the capacity building of civil servants by ensuring the provision of quality training to civil servants as per international best practices to improve public service delivery This, he added, would enable them to appreciate, handle and resolve wide ranging and ever evolving challenges faced by the government in the heterogeneous, pluralistic and diverse socio political context of Pakistan The president was chairing a meeting of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the National School of Public Policy (NSPP) here at the Aiwan e Sadr Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives /Vice Chairman of BoG of NSPP Ahsan Iqbal, BoG members, and senior officials of the government and NSPP attended the meeting President Alvi urged the NSPP to integrate Artificial Intelligence utilize online and hybrid modes of learning in its training procedures and standard operating procedures (SOPs), and upgrade its education modules to fine tune civil servants skills for making timely and informed decisions This, he said, would help deliver efficient and quality services to the general public as well as help in the automation of trade, commerce and business related processes and procedures, which were paramount for speedy and meaningful development and progress of the country The president said adopting online training modules by the NSPP would increase its reach and effectiveness for imparting quality and relevant training to civil servants without incurring additional expenditures which were, otherwise, required for setting up physical training facilities He also emphasized the launch of short duration training courses to impart specific and sector specific skills required by the government officers for better service delivery in special and technical disciplines

Railways police reunite two runaway girls with families

LAHORE

ta f f r e P o

The help desk of Railways Police Lahore station reunited two girls with their families, who had run away from their homes over domestic issues Ashifa one of the two girls of age 13/14 years, had travelled through Narowal to Lahore by Lasani Express train, and the other girl Umm e Kulsoom of age 19/20 years was found unguarded at platform of Lahore railway station by patrolling Head Constable Umer Farooq The latter was unable to recall the mobile number of her father resultantly, railways police arranged her safe drop off to her home The heirs of both the girls expressed their heartfelt gratitude to railways police for handing over their daughters unharmed Furthermore, the help desks of all major railway stations around the country are fully operational in assistance of passengers and reuniting the lost/runaway children

d i s c u s s e d i n t h e m e e t i n g S h e s a i d : M u r r e e i s a w e l l k n o w n h i l l s t a t i o n o f t h e c o u n t r y w h e r e m i l l i o n s o f t o u r i s t s c o m e f o r s i g h t s e e i n g ” T h e m i n i s t e r s a i d l o c a l j o u r n a l i s t s , b y e m p l o y i n g p e n a n d c a m e r a e ff e c t i v e l y h i g h l i g h t t h e t o u r i s m i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e c o u n t r y, e s p e c i a l l y M u r r e e S h e a s s u r e d t h a t i m m e d i a t e w o r k w o u l d b e i n i t i a t e d f o r t h e a c c r e d i t a t i o n o f M u r r e e P r e s s C l u b a n d s a i d t h e g o v e r n m e n t w o u l d t a k e

s p e c i a l m e a s u r e s f o r e n s u r i n g f a c i l i t i e s f o r l o c a l j o u r n a l i s t s T h e m e d i a d e l e g a t i o n p o i n t e d o u t t h a t a b o u t t h r e e t h o u s a n d b u s i n e s s m e n o f M u r r e e , w e r e a l w a y s p r o v i d e d f u l l o p p o r t u n i t i e s a n d f a v o r a b l e e n v i r o n m e n t b y r e s p e c t i v e Muslim League (N) governments over the y e a r s T h e y a l s o a p p r e c i a t e d t h a t t h e P M L N , i n i t s r e s p e c t i v e t e n u r e s , t o o k p r a c t i c a l s t e p s f o r p r o m o t i n g t o u r i s m i n M u r r e e

T h e d e l e g a t i o n o f M u r r e e P r e s s C l u b t h a n k e d M a r r i y u m A u r a n g z e b f o r h e a r i n g t h e i r i s s u e s a n d a s s u r a n c e t o r e s o l v e t h e i r p r o b l e m s M a r r i y u m g r i e v e d o v e r d e m i s e o f m o t h e r o f D a i l y E x p r e s s C E O

M i n i s t e r f o r I n f o r m a t i o n a n d B r o a d c a s t i n g M a r r i y u m A u r a n g z e b o n F r i d a y e x p r e s s e d d e e p g r i e f a n d s o r r o w o v e r t h e d e a t h o f t h e m o t h e r o f D a i l y E x p r e s s C E O I j a z u l H a q I n h e r c o n d o l e n c e m e s s a g e , t h e m i n i s t e r s a i d t h a t s h e s h a r e d t h e g r i e f o f

I j a z u l H a q a n d h i s f a m i l y S h e p r a y e d t o A l l a h A l m i g h t y t o r e s t t h e d e p a r t e d s o u l i n e t e r n a l p e a c e a n d g r a n t c o u r a g e t o t h e b e r e a v e d f a m i l y t o b e a r t h i s l o s s w i t h f o r t i t u d e

Elec tric fans export increases 31.96pc in 2 months of 2022

ISLAMABAD a P P

The export of electric fans from the country has witnessed an increase of 31 96 percent during the first two months of financial year (2022 23) as compared to the corresponding period of last year

Pakistan exported fan worth US $5 843 million d u r i n g J u l y A u g u s t ( 2 0 2 2 2 3 ) a s c o m p a r e d t h e e x p o r t o f U S $ 4 4 2 8 m i l l i o n d u r i n g J u l y A u g u s t ( 2 0 2 1 2 2 ) s h o w i n g a g r o w t h o f 3 1 9 6 p e r c e n t a c c o r d i n g t o t h e P a k i s t a n B u r e a u o f S t a t i s t i c s (PBS)

In term of quantity, the fan export also rose by 31 20 percent from 266 thousand to 349 thousand, the data revealed

M e a n w h i l e , y e a r o n y e a r b a s i s t h e f a n e x p o r t rose by 49 15 percent during the month August 2022 as compared to the same month of last year

The fan exports in August 2022 were recorded a t U S $ 3 1 5 9 m i l l i o n a g a i n s t t h e e x p o r t o f $ 2 11 8 million in August 2021 the PBS data revealed

O n m o n t h o n m o n t h b a s i s , t h e e x p o r t s o f f a n s u rg e d b y 1 7 7 0 p e r c e n t i n A u g u s t 2 0 2 2 a s compared the $2 684 million in July 2022

I t i s p e r t i n e n t t o m e n t i o n h e r e t h a t o v e r a l l

03NEWS Saturday, 1 October, 2022 | ISLAMABAD Cypher ‘stolen af ter forger y, fabric ation’ for politic al gains: Cabinet

CONTINUED fROM pAgE 01

FilinG OF eXplanatORY pReSidential ReFeRence: The federal cabinet, on the recommendation of Ministry of Law and Justice, approved the filing of Explanatory Presidential Reference on the advice of the prime minister with reference to the Supreme Court’s previous decision regarding the construction of Reko diq project of the Federal and Balochistan governments

Besides, the reference will also seek explanation about the approval of Foreign Investment (Protection & Promotion) Bill 2022

The cabinet, on the recommendation of Interior Ministry, approved the new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP 2022) for the inclusion or exclusion of names in the Exit Control List (ECL)

Under the new SOP 2022, the process of inclusion or exclusion of names in the ECO has been made easy and transparent

Besides, the cabinet also approved the inclusion of 12 names in the ECL and exclusion of 3 names from the list

FaBRicated cYpHeR StORY

Blatant attempt tO HaRm FOReiGn RelatiOnS: Meanwhile Minister for Planning Development and Reforms Prof Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said it had been proved that Imran Khan crafted a story around the cypher and conspired to put Pakistan’s foreign relations at stake Talking to a private news channel, he said the missing of cypher s copy from the Prime Minister Office (PMO) was a serious issue There was a protocol for sensitive documents of the state, if violated; one should be prepared for legal action, he added

He further said the PMO’s records showed that the cypher ’s copy was received there The then secretary to the prime minister had also admitted that he had given the copy received in the PMO to the prime minister, he added

Ahsan said it had formerly been decided to launch a thorough investigation into the matter to ascertain where did the copy go

Responding to a question about audio leaks, the minister said the National Security Council (NSC) had formed a high level committee to investigate into the matter Whoever is found involved will be treated as per the law ”

Flour crisis persists in Balochistan as per kg price crosses Rs120

QUETTA S ta f f r e P o r t

Flour crisis continues in Balochistan, as the per kg price of flour has reached between Rs120 to 125

According to details the prices of flour have skyrocketed in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan while the commodity was not available in most shops across the province Meanwhile, a 20 kg bag of flour was being sold from Rs2,450 in the local market

The 50 kg bag of flour is being sold at Rs5,900 to 6,000 in the local market The provincial government is failing to control over sky rocketing flour prices

Earlier on September 13 flour mill owners blamed the provincial government for the ongoing flour crisis in the province, alleging that the food department failed to procure wheat according to the requirement for this year

Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) Balochistan chapter representatives said there was a huge gap between the demand and supply which created the crisis

They said flour mill owners were being blamed for the crisis, while in reality, the provincial government has imposed an inter provincial and inter district ban on the transportation of wheat during the harvesting season

Skilled, employable youth only way to face prevailing challenges: VC conference

ISLAMABAD S ta f f r e P o r t

Punjab Governor Engineer Muhammad Balighur Rehman has stressed the urgent need of promotion of quality education besides strengthening of sustainable industrial academia linkage to meet market oriented needs

Addressing a 3 day Vice Chancellors conference here on Paradigm Shift in Higher Education Hackathon Planning for Future” jointly organised by the University of Kohsur and Education University Lahore in collaboration with Punjab Higher Education Commission, he said Industrial academia collaboration is must to produce students of worth

contributing towards solutions of industrial sectors through their quality research

He emphasised the need that all public sector universities must share their expertise in their areas of specialisation work together and collaborate with each other so that faculty and students of other educational institutions could benefit in future

He said universities should also adopt new trends of changing technologies in education systems to lace students at par with international standards

All varsities must introduce 5 years academic calendar so that students must be knowing exact schedule of their admissions and exams to avoid loss of

students he added

He said 5% of total revenue of varsities should be allocated to support the needy students

“We will have to infuse the spirit of character building and the highest degree of sense of responsibility among students” Baligh remarked

He said “we have to adopt pragmatic approach towards quality education in all areas The Punjab governor said that he has identified 7 areas for consortium and universities should work on it and explore the hidden treasures of knowledge helping nation towards development Muhammad Balighur Rehman emphasised the urgent need of continuous supporting the flood

affectees on regular basis and help their rehabilitation and reconstruction

He called upon the philanthropists and offy people to come forward to mitigate the sufferings of affectees

He hoped that it will be result oriented conference and findings of research groups will pay dividends in future and assured full support for making the event a success

Speaking on the occasion Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission Dr Shahid Munir emphasized equipping youth with market oriented employability skills He said economies are rapidly changing due to technological advances that necessitate new competencies for an intangible knowledge based economy

merchandize imports into the country decreased by 9 2 5 p e r c e n t d u r i n g t h e f i r s t t w o m o n t h s o f t h e c u r r e n t f i s c a l y e a r b y g o i n g d o w n f r o m $ 1 2 1 5 2 b i l l i o n l a s t y e a r t o $ 11 0 2 8 b i l l i o n i n J u l y A u g u s t (2022 23)

Exports from the country witnessed an increase of 3 75 percent and were recorded at $4 759 billion against the exports of $4 587 billion last year

B a s e d o n t h e d a t a t h e t r a d e d e f i c i t d u r i n g t h e period under review was recorded at $6 269 billion, showing a decrease of 17 13 percent over the deficit of $7 565 billion recorded during last year the PBS data revealed

Gov t slashes petrol price by Rs12.63/liter, lPG price by Rs10/KG

CONTINUED fROM pAgE 01

He said that local gas is being monopolized by a few people due to which black marketing is rampant in the country He urged the government to devise a policy to make available cheap gas to minimize the shortfall He said there is a monopoly of few companies on the local production of LPG and the need is to end their monopoly He said approximately Rs 8 billion was earned by the gas mafia in the month of September 2022 He demanded that the government devise an LPG policy to end the monopoly of the gas mafia on local LPG production He also advocated that the LPG companies which have monopoly and control on local LPG production should be made bound to import 50 percent of LPG to run their business and to ensure the availability of LPG at cheaper rate during the upcoming winter season Prime Minister should investigate the overpricing being done in LPG price and recover Rs 8 billion which was looted from the innocent LPG consumers in September, Irfan Khokhar demanded

He added that the government should take prompt decisions to end the black marketing of LPG in the country

Pakistan committed to deepen ties with UAe: PM

CONTINUED fROM pAgE 01

Japan s Ambassador to Pakistan Wada Mitsuhiro was also present on the occasion

He said Pakistan was speedily moving towards benefitting from sources of renewable energy like solar, wind and hydel as the money being spent on the expensive oil, gas and other fuels was an intolerable burden on the economy

The PM said Pakistan was initiating on emergency basis projects for generation of 10,000 megawatts of solar power For the purpose, the government had prepared an effective investment plan and had already held a pre bid conference of the stakeholders, he told

Under the solarization project, he said, solar parks would be established and government buildings commercial centers and tube wells would be converted to solar energy to save precious foreign exchange

He said Pakistan wanted investment of the Japanese companies under the public private partnership mode for setting up projects for provision of clean drinking water and treatment and drainage of waste water and materials in Karachi

The prime minister thanked the government and people of Japan for the financial assistance of $7 million and for their expression of sympathy on the loss of precious lives during the recent unprecedented devastating floods in Pakistan Minister for Board of Investment Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister of State for Industry and Production Syed Murtaza Mehmood, Minister of State for Finance Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha Special Assistant to Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatimi and officials concerned attended the meeting

RAw cotton exPoRt incReAses 100% in fiRst t wo Months of f Y 2022

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

tH E raw cotton exports from the country during first two months of current financial year witnessed 100 percent growth as compared to the export of the corresponding period of last year

During the period from July August, 2022, about 2,378 metric tons of raw cot t o n v a l u i n g $ 5 6 5 3 m i l l i o n w a s e x p o r t e d a s o p p o s e d t o e x p o r t s o f s a m e p e r i o d o f last year

I n t h e f i r s t t w o m o n t h s o f c u r r e n t f i n a n c i a l y e a r, e x p o r t s o f c o t t o n c l o t h r e g i s t e r e d 2 6 5 p e r c e n t i n c r e a s e a s 5 8 9 3 5 m e t r i c t o n s o f c o t t o n c l o t h v a l u i n g

$ 3 7 7 3 7 4 m i l l i o n i n c o n t r a s t t o 8 7 , 6 7 4 m e t r i c t o n s w o r t h o f $ 3 6 7 6 2 4 m i l l i o n o f t h e s a m e p e r i o d l a s t y e a r H o w e v e r, t h e e x p o r t s o f c o t t o n y a r n f r o m t h e c o u n t r y d u r i n g t w o m o n t h s o f

current financial year decreased by 17 03 p e r c e n t a s i t c a m e d o w n f r o m $ 1 9 3 3 8 9 million to $160 453 million according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics

M e a n w h i l e , t h e e x p o r t s o f o t h e r t e x t i l e v a l u e a d d e d p r o d u c t s i n c l u d i n g r e a d y m a d e g a r m e n t s g r e w b y 8 4 9 p e r c e n t a s 11 , 2 1 4 t h o u s a n d d o z e n s o f r e a d y m a d e g a r m e n t s v a l u i n g $ 6 3 4 5 9 6 m i l l i o n w e r e e x p o r t e d a s c o m p a r e d t o e x p o r t s o f 6 , 9 8 6 t h o u s a n d d o z e n s w o r t h $ 5 4 8 9 4 1 m i l l i o n o f s a m e p e r i o d l a s t y e a r D u r i n g t h e p e r i o d u n d e r r e v i e w, t h e

India hatching one af ter other conspirac y against freedom movement in IIOJK

India is hatching

u a n d K a s h m

d

l

a s t h e M o d

a s c i s t I n d i a n g o v e r n m e n t i s h e l l b e n t o n e r a s i n g e v e r y s y m b o l o f M u s l i m i d e n t i t y i n t h e t e r r i t o r y The Modi regime is plotting to deprive the Kashmiris

of their places of great cultural, historical and religious significance and grabbing of land of historic Eidgah in Srinagar is its latest plan to deprive Kashmiris of their spiritual and religious identity, , said a report released by the KMS today

It deplored that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime was applying every tactic to change the demog raphy of the territory Even the Indian citizens are being settled in IIOJK, it added

T h e r e p o r t s m a i n t a i n e d t h a t t h e I n d i a n m a c h i n a t i o n s w o u l d n o t d e t e r t h e K a s h m i r i s f r o m p u r s u i n g t h e c a u s e o f f r e e d o m a n d u rg e d t h e c o n s c i o u s p e o p l e t o j o i n h a n d s w i t h t h e K a s h m i r i s t o d e f e a t I n d i a ’s w i c k e d d e s i g n s i n t h e o c c u p i e d t e r r i t o r y

I t s a i d t h a t a l l t r i c k s a n d p l a n s o f t h e R S S b a c k e d f a s c i s t B J P r e g i m e w e r e b o u n d t o f a i l i n t h e o c c u p i e d t e r r i t o r y a n d t h e f r e e d o m m o v e m e n t w o u l d b e t a k e n t o i t s l o g i c a l c o n c l u s i o n a t a l l c o s t s

Q u e t t a -Ta f t a n r a i l way t r a c k re s to re d : R a i l way m i n i s t r y

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The Railway ministry has announced that the Quetta Taftan international railway track has been restored after repair from flood and rain damage

The Quetta Taftan track was unoperational since July 29 due to heavy rainfall and flooding in the country The

track has been restored after special orders by railway minister Khwaja Saad Rafique

Pakistan railways have suffered huge infrastructural damage due to heavy rainfall and flooding in the country

On September 23, the CEO of Railways told the National assembly’s Railway Committee that the department has suffered infrastructural damages of Rs500 billion amid devastating floods in the country

‘Looks like our tracks are under the ocean at multi p l e l o c a t i o n

e x p o r t s o f k n i t w e a r r e c o r d e d a b o u t 1 6 9 5 p e r c e n t i n c r e a s e a s 3 4 7 7 8 t h o u s a n d d o z e n s o f k n i t w e a r p r o d u c t s v a l u i n g $ 8 8 4 7 5 9 m i l l i o n w e r e e x p o r t e d a s o p p o s e d t o e x p o r t s o f 2 0 8 9 8 t h o u s a n d d o z e n s c o s t i n g $ 7 5 6 5 2 2 m i l l i o n o f s a m e p e r i o d l a s t y e a r I t i s w o r t h m e n t i o n i n g h e r e t h a t c o t t o n c r o p w a s g r o w n o v e r 5 2 9 5 m i l l i o n a c r e s d u r i n g c u r r e n t s o w i n g s e a s o n a n d o u t o f t h e t o t a l s t a n d i n g c r o p o v e r 1 7 2 2 m i l l i o n a c r e s w e r e d a m a g e d d u e t o r e c e n t f l a s h f l o o d s a n d r a i n s a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y

O u t o f t h e t o t a l c u l t i v a t e d a r e a , a b o u t 3 3 p e r c e n t c r o p w a s d a m a g e d d u e t o r e c e n t f l a s h f l o o d s a n d t o t a l o u t p u t l o s s w a s e s t i m a t e d a t 1 , 4 8 7 , 5 9 4 t o n s

Relief activities under way in flood hit areas: PDMA

LAHORE a p p

Railway Committee

damages caused to the infra

the National Assembly

cations

flooding while they were working

repair teams

GB chief secretar y, top Canada diplomat visit girls’ hockey match

GILGIT S ta f f R e p o R t

We n d y G i l m o u r, h i g h c o m m i s s i o n e r o f C a n a d a i n I s l a m a b a d , v i s i t e d a w o m e n s h o c k e y g a m e i n t h e p i c t u r e s q u e m o u n t a i n o u s c i t y o f G i l g i t i n G i l g i t B a l t i s t a n , t h e o ff i c e o f t h e r e g i o n a l c h i e f s e c r e t a r y s a i d A c c o r d i n g t o a t w e e t i s s u e d b y t h e o ff i c e o f M o h y u d d i n A h m a d Wa n i , G i l m o u r w a s t h r i l l e d t o l e a r n a b o u t t h e s p o r t s g a l a

“She visited the venue and interacted with organis ers of the event ” it said Gilmour also played with the practising hockey team, it added

“We would like to thank her for being ex t r e m e l y s u p p o r t i v e f o r t h i s m e g a event,” the tweet read

G i l m o u r i s n o t n e w t o t h e p r e d o m i n a n t l y A s i a n g a m e o f h o c k e y o r t h e northern region In January t h i s y e a r d u r i n g a v i s i t t o G B , s h e r e f e r e e d a n i c e h o c k e y m a t c h p l a y e d b y young girls in Altit town of H u n z a , p i c t u r e s o f w h i c h led to praise for the diplo mat for encouraging winter s p o r t s i n P a k i s t a n a n d a d v o c a t i n g f o r f e m a l e a t h letes

“ I t i s a l w a y s a m a t t e r o f p r i d e t o s e e P a k i s t a n i g i r l s s t e p u p a n d b e i n g given a platform to show c a s e t h e i r t a l e n t s , ” a hockey aspirant said

T h e r e g i o n i s h o l d i n g its first ever Women Sports g a l a w h i c h i s s e t t o begin on October 5 The purpose of the mega event is to pro vide equal opportunities for women in sports and to pro vide them with a platform to show off their skills

Cricket, basketball, ten nis, badminton, squash, table tennis and hockey tournaments will be held among girls from different colleges

Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Punjab Director General (DG) Faisal Farid has said that on the instructions of the provincial government, relief activities were under way in the flood affected areas He said that so far tents had been distributed among 44,421 households by the PDMA and ration distributed to 168 549 flood affected house holds while 20,635 plastic mats, 23,505 mos quito nets also distributed The PDMA has also delivered 88 858 clean water cans (bottles) flour bags distributed among 34,217 house holds As many as 5,314 blankets, beds, uten sils and other items have also been distributed to the flood victims whereas 177,829 flood vic tims have been provided medical treatment fa cilities in the flood affected areas 721 314 small and 48,6687 large animals have been provided medical treatment facilities

NA body ASkS TCP To devISe MeChANISM To PASS oN SubSIdIeS’ beNefITS To PublIC

billion for FY 2020 21 he added

Besides the commodities import, the TCP also conducted rice inspection and certification for G I (geographical indication) and authenticity for brown rice, local cotton procurement for market stabiliza tion and real estate management, he added

The TCP chairman said the Corporation had im ported 0 986 million metric tonnes (MMT) wheat from Romania Bulgaria France and Russia during the current year However, after recent heavy rains and floods the government had directed it to import addi tional 1 6 MMT of wheat to meet domestic needs

p o r

r

TH E National Assembly s Standing Com mittee on Commerce Friday directed the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to devise a comprehensive mechanism for en suring that maximum benefit of the subsi dies on import of wheat and fertilizers reach the public, particularly the farmers

The NA body met here with Raza Rabani in the chair Committee members Shaista Pervaiz Malik Wajiha Qamar, Shahza Fatima, Usman Ibrahim and Rasheed Ahmed Khan as well as officials of the Min istry of Commerce and the TCP attended the meeting

The committee directed the TCP management to submit a comprehensive plan to ensure timely re sponse by the Corporation in emerging situations and provision of maximum benefit of import of wheat, sugar and Urea fertilizer to the consumers Raza Ra

President thanks Saudi Arabia for helping flood victims

ISLAMABAD

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday said Pakistan deeply appreciated the support provided by Saudi Arabia during difficult times especially the assistance provided in the wake of recent catastrophic climate change induced super floods in the country

He said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed long standing fraternal ties rooted firmly in the common religion, shared values and culture and had stood by each other through thick and thin regardless of the changes in leadership

The president expressed these views while talking to the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmad Al Malikiy, who called on him at Aiwan e Sadr

The president said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had enjoyed close political ties over the years, however, both countries needed to take meaningful and effective steps to significantly increase the existing bilateral trade volume of US$ 4 6 billion in the year 2021 22 as it did not fully reflect the depth of bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries

He appreciated the role played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to highlight the issues of Palestine and Kashmir as well as the matters related to Afghanistan He also appreciated KSA’s support in providing an air bridge for delivering relief assistance to the flood affectees in Pakistan and the role played by the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre in providing relief assistance to the flood victims

While highlighting the colossal loss of lives, livestock and infrastructure the President said that the devastating floods had affected more than 33 million people all across Pakistan, killed more than 1,500 people, over one million livestock were lost, and damage to the economy was estimated around US$ 30 billion

bani Khar assured that the committee would coordi nate with all the relevant ministries and government organisations for resolving the issues at the earliest

The committee members said there were several complaints about the quality of imported wheat and sugar in the past, and recommended that quality stan dards and a fool proof mechanism must be in place to maintain the quality of imported commodities at all stages from procurement to supply to the end users

TCP Chairman Rafeo Bashir Shah briefed the com mittee in detail about the mandate and scope perform ance, and market operations of the Corporation as well as the issues being faced by it and the way forward

He said the TCP imported wheat, sugar and Urea fertilizers on the directives of Federal Government for market stabilization in emergent conditions

“The TCP is a public sector company fully owned by the Federal Government through the Min istry of Commerce Its paid up capital was Rs 1 bil lion as on June 30, 2021 and after tax profit Rs 1 517

He said the TCP, on the recommendations of the Ministry of Industries and Production, had imported 0 1 MMT Urea in January and February this year from China, while contracts were also finalised for import of 0 2 MMT more Urea in September and October The ministry had recently asked it to import additional 0 3 MMT Urea The matter of import of 0 1 MMT DAP fertilizer was in process as well he said adding the TCP could play a major role, through its timely in tervention, in market stabilization of commodities, es pecially those which were not subsidised like the DAP

He sought the NA body’s assistance for payment of outstanding debt of the Utility Stores Corporation and the National Fertilizer Marketing Limited, be sides streamlining of the TCP’s operations and swift response to government requirements particularly in grant of permission for pre qualification of interna tional commodity supply companies and exemption or relaxation of certain PPRA rules

Lucky Cement awarded for best corporate repor t

KArAchI

Lucky Cement Limited has won the Best Corpo rate Report Award in the Cement Sector Category at the “Best Corporate & Sustainability Report Awards 2021 ” The recognition was jointly an nounced by the Institute of Charted Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and Institute of Cost and Man agement Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP)

At this occasion, Noman Hasan, Executive Di rector of Lucky Cement Limited said, At Lucky Cement Limited governance compliance ethics and transparency are the cornerstones of our busi ness model This recognition is another acknowl edgment of our commitment to ensure transparency and accountability in all our practices’

He further added ‘the adoption of the Interna tional Integrated Reporting Framework in our re port is a testament of our commitment to keeping our stakeholders well informed with all of our business operations and their performance The recognition is a testament of our efforts in bring

ing transparency to all our stakeholders through our reporting'

The award represents the Company’s commit ment to having the best corporate practices and governance, reflected by the stringent policies for IT, whistle blowing, social responsibility, investor grievances, and safety record at the Company Furthermore, full disclosure of the Company’s op erational environment, strategic objectives, risk management, and governance processes provided firm grounds for winning the award

ICAP and ICMAP have been organizing the Best Corporate Report (BCR) Awards ceremony since 2000 This recognition has been instrumen tal in encouraging entities to follow transparency in preparing their annual reports according to the international best practices

The objective of the award is to encourage the publication of timely, accurate, informative, and well presented annual reports for investors regula tors and other stakeholders and to recognize as well as honor such organizations for the exemplary achievement in producing such high quality reports

Minister stresses more funding for scientific research

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Agha Hassan Baloch chaired a review meeting in the ministry for promotion and funding of Scientific and Technological Research and Science popularization in the country The Secretary Pakistan Science Foundation Haider Khattak briefed the minister on steps and initiatives taken so far for enhancing the research in government institutions, setting up of science centres and promotion of Scientific societies in details Federal Minister Agha Hassan Baloch directed the Secretary Pakistan Science Foundation to effectively disseminate latest scientific and technological informations with the universities and research related institutions across the country In the meeting, the matters regarding strengthening of science labortries of government sectors' high schools from Balochistan province discussed in details Agha Hassan Baloch directed the Secretary PSF to ensure the provision of experimental equipments and scientific materials to five govt sector high schools of Balochistan including govt model high school, Kalli Noshki, govt Yazdan Khan High School, Alamdar Road Quetta

Gov t inaction emboldens Imran to hurl allegations against ‘anyone’: Sharjeel Memon

KArAchI

s ta f f r e p o r t

Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that Pakistan People s Party believes there should not be any kind of leaks, especially leaks from the Prime Minister s House are a matter of concern and should be investigated

He said that the federal government is being very lenient with Imran Khan, because of the delay in taking action, the PTI chief is considering himself a 'Ladla' If he had been from Sindh, such lenience would not have been possible The minister said this while addressing a press conference on Friday at Sindh Archives Complex

He said that Pakistan is not a playground, where games are being played it is a country of 220 million people He added that Imran Khan is making big conspiracies by attacking the establishment, the judiciary and the Election Commission in his greed for the thurst of power ' Imran can go to any extent for the it , ' he added The minister said: The coward person came to apologize today in lower court of Islamabad to avoid his disqualification as he guessed that the Islamabad High Court would disqualify him if he have not apologized ' If he (Imran) had any respect for the courts he would have apologized for threatening the honorable judge the very next day of public gathering He said that Imran Khan had insulted the highest post of Prime Minister during his tenure and violated the oath of the office ' A false cipher that had no head, no foot, used to misguid the people and to cause damaged to Pakistan US relation He blamed that Imran Khan, along with Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the Foreign Office exceeded their authority and misused the powers to benefit their political party and to prolong their rule He added that if they had any objections to diplomatic letter, they would had summoned the American diplomats and recorded their protest on the matter The minister reminded that Imran Khan and his government had not taken any diplomatic way on the matter rather created a narrative of American conspiracy

He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of Imran Khan gave a red carpet welcome to the ambassador of the same country and hired the services of a lobbying firm from the donations to improve relations with the same country On other hand Imran Khan continued to incite the sentiments of people against America for his own vested interests Sharjeel Inam Memon, recalling the benefits of Imran Khan s 3 and half year government narrated that the first benefit was that they destroyed the country's economy to such an extent that even the next governments could not control it Imran Khan signed agreements with the IMF and later not obeyed it Imran Khan played with Pakistan's foreign policy and clossal damaged was made to the long standing relations with friendly countries due to its poor policies and put the interests of the country at stake Now Imran Khan wants to play with the youth of Pakistan and with it's people as there are not 220 million humans but 220 million toys for Imran Khan, with whom he wants to play He said that our culture is based on traditional values In which the elders, children and women have a high place Imran Khan wants to destroy the very fabric of our society to gain his own interests by creating hate in the minds of young generation The provincial minister said that Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has presented the case of flood hit people in the effective manner at the international level, to which many countries and international organizations have responded positively ' Relations with countries that were at halt due to ineffective foreign policy in the past are improving and new trade opportunities are opening for Pakistan

K I A i nt ro d u ce s l i m i te d t i m e p r i ce re d u c t i o n fo r S p o r t a g e

Da n i ya l a h m a D

KIA Motors has introduced a limited time discount across its Sportage lineup

KIA Motors cites the justification for the limited time reduction to be “show their ap preciation in return for the love that cus tomers have shown them ” The actual reason however is likely different Particu larly given past precedent with KIA Motors

KIA is no stranger to price reductions having introduced a discount on the KIA Sorento earlier this year and on the KIA Sportage in 2019 The former was a blanket discount on all models that lapsed after over half a year of being active Profit docu mented how the price decrease had con tributed to the depressed sales of the Sorento, and this is one path that the Peugeot may

find itself upon as a result of the discount

However, the latter of the two discounts is one that is often forgotten Lucky Motors slashed the price of the KIA Sportage FWD by 3 lac in 2019 on account of its poor sales performance relative to the AWD variant This discount proved successful for the Sportage line up overall with Profit docu menting later how the Sportage had become ubiquitous with the CUV segment itself

Furthermore, its sister company in Pak istan under the Lucky Motor umbrella, Peu geot also introduced a limited time discount on its 2008 Active variant that spanned sev eral months as well This too was a means for Lucky Motors to galvanise sales for a partic ular car that was not performing well in terms of sales The 2008 Active benefited from the discount and was able to establish its own market presence as a result afterwards

This discount is likely another means for Lucky Motors to spur sales, particularly for its KIA brand Lucky Motors is not a mem ber of the Pakistan Automotive Manufactur ers Association (PAMA) and therefore their sales numbers are not publicly available It is also not their policy to release any sales figures at all However, the automotive in dustry as a whole has seen sales figures dip to pandemic level volumes

Lucky Motors applying the discount on KIA’s, and perhaps their, best selling car, the Sportage, is a telling sign This is a drastic move despite Lucky Motors aforemen tioned proclivity for discounts Muhammad Faisal, President of the Automotive Division at Lucky Motors had told Profit in a conver sation earlier this summer that he expects volumes to be down 40 50% in FY 2022 23 compared to FY 2021 22 This discount is

likely an attempt for KIA to circumvent the slow market the industry is experiencing

The novelty of the discount is that the KIA Sportage Alpha is now Rs 100,000 cheaper than the Peugeot 2008 Allure which saw its price increase hours before KIA s decision

The two are likely to cannibalise into one an other as both are crossover SUVs (CUV) The pricing decision also comes weeks after Haval’s decision to introduce the completely knocked down (CKD) edition of their CUVs and days after Honda’s announcement that their HR V will be released very soon

Faisal had stated to Profit that Lucky Motors would “stick with the Sportage (cur rent generation) for quite some time “It’s at its peak currently continued Faisal The HR V will likely be more expensive than the Sportage whenever it does release, and Haval will likely face production and delivery con

straints relative to KIA A limited time reduc tion at this time may provide the means to not only increase their own sales but also possi bly steal the thunder from their competition In the absence of being able to release a newer generation vehicle like the aforemen tioned competitors, a downward price revi sion may also be the only weapon KIA has in their arsenal to maintain its market position

Disregarding the Allure 2008 and the Sportage Alpha possibly cannibalising each other ’s sales, the discount on the Sportage increases its appeal Furthermore, taken alongside the 2008 Active it adds to Lucky Motors’ possible corporate strategy to com pete against B, C, and D segment sedans with a complete CUV offering

Finally, in true Lucky Motors fashion, KIA has not announced when this limited discount will lapse

KArAchI

LAhOrE

Climate aid and geopolitics

KN o W I N G that Pakistan badly needs international help to cope with climate change related devastation, some are offering help while at the same time trying to influence the country’s foreign policy

The main target remains CPEC and Pakistan China relations on the eve of the Pakistan delegation’s arrival in the USA, a write up in The Financial Times reported UNDP’s proposal for Pakistan to negotiate debt relief with creditors to stem the climate change fuelled crisis The paper noted that China was one of Pakistan’s largest creditors with Islamabad owing more than $30 billion accumulated through Beijing’s Belt and road Initiative The Financial Times had in September 2018 also quoted “Pakistani ministers and advisers”, including razzak Dawood as saying the country’s new government will review CPEC investments and renegotiate a trade agreement that “unfairly benefits Chinese companies” The Pakistan governmentt however made no such move, which was a wise decision

on Monday US State Secretary Antony Blinken called on Pakistan to seek debt relief from China while reiterating Washington s support to Islamabad in these challenging times Interviewing Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Foreign Policy s ravi Agarwal claimed that Beijing “hasn’t quite come to Pakistan’s aid in a big way” and even Sri Lanka wasn’t able to get much help from China in the wake of an economic crisis He asked if Pakistan was holding debt swap talks with China

Many would agree with Mr Bhutto Zardarfi that when the country is drowning in floods, it cannot play any part in exacerbating tensions or being a geopolitical football It should rather play the role of a bridge and try to bring together China and the USA even if it appears to be an insurmountable task The Foreign Minister hoped that perhaps Pakistan s unique position as a friend of both the USA and China could encourage cooperation on this front

It suits the USA and the European countries to divert attention from their all out exploitation of the world’s coal, petroleum and gas resources since the Industrial revolution began, that has led to the rise in global temperatures causing climate change Industrialised countries, including the USA Canada Japan and much of western Europe account for just 12 percent of the global population but are still responsible for 50 percent of all the planet warming greenhouse gases released from fossil fuels and industry over the past 170 years They primarily need to foot the bill to cover the losses caused by their anti climate policies

Kabul attack

Asuicide blast at an education centre in the Dast e Barchi neighbourhood in Kabul left 19 dead and 17 injured on Friday, after a suicide attack Though no responsibility was claimed the operation had all the hallmarks of an attack by ISIS The attack managed to hit the Taliban government in three areas where it is most subject to criticism within the international community First is the maintenance of law and order The Taliban had taken power on the basis of a reputation of being tough on law and order Their inability to provide security in the midst of their own capital shows them as being hapless, coming as it does on the heels of the killing of Al Qaeda chief Ayman Az Zawahiri again in Kabul The attack came in a Shia Hazara neighbourhood, and the victims are primarily Hazaras The Taliban s failure to provide them security will be held against them throughout the world Then there is the attack on education, particularly women’s education, for though the centre was not a formal institution, the blast took place while students were sitting a mock exam of the entry test to Kabul University, and many victims were young women Pakistan is a neighbour and thus cannot ignore the disorder prevailing there As could be seen in Swat, that disorder could well spill over and have unforeseen consequences At the same time, Pakistan can neither ignore any instability that could increase the flow of refugees, nor behave in any way that might be seen as infringing Afghan national sovereignty At the same time, it cannot wash is hands of Afghanistan and leave it to its fate

The Taliban should also realize that their intransigence will lead them nowhere If they want recognition as a government, they will have to conform to certain norms and expectations Perhaps the most basic of them being to main a modicum of order within their borders No one wants to try that After all both the USSr and the USA succeeded However, the Taliban might like to remember the hoary adage about nature abhorring a vacuum Afghans may well be an unruly people, loth to accept the yoke of the law But until he change their ways, there will be more outrages like the one in Dasht i Barchi

to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami

L e g i s l a t e a g a i n s t r a g g i n g

Anti ragging legislation needed

site of a newspaper after pressure from certain quar ters The article had talked about the condemned practice of ragging at the Army Medical College, rawalpindi The pressurizing quarters fail to under stand that truth cannot stay hidden or suppressed for a long time Further, ragging is a reprehensible prac tice which cannot be kept hidden in the name of in stitutional sanctity ragging cannot be rooted out without bringing it into the domain of public censure

The pressurizing quarters also fail to understand that it is public money that runs the army controlled colleges and universities Wherever public money goes it produces a chain of responsibility and ac countability The concern of parents about the future of their children cannot be wished away to protect or justify lapses on the part of the administration failing to control ragging

where the administration becomes a partner in crime

This point should be a point of concern for parents Presently, in Pakistan, there is no anti ragging legis lation

In 1998, Sri Lanka prohibited ragging by passing the “Prohibition of ragging and other forms of vio lence in Educational Institutions Act 1998 which banned the practice and stipulated the punishment for the offender including prison terms This was a great beginning in South Asia

SAY I N G no to ragging is yet to be popular in Pakistan’s educational institutions, both civil and military which fail to curb this menace each year ragging, as an initiation ritual, is still prevalent consuming the ca reers and even lives of students and recruits alike

In Pakistan, both colleges and universities, in cluding the institutions run by the Pakistan Army such as cadet colleges especially medical college and engineering university, experience the appalling practice of ragging performed by seniors on juniors after the latter secure admission Hostels are the worst place The intensity and type of ragging may differ but it is an essential component of a fresher ’s life If an audit is done, a reality would surface that one of the main reasons for the initial drop out from cadet colleges run in the domain of medicine and engineering is ragging The tradition of First year Fool is still there in civilian colleges, but after the first week it dies out, and seniors never assert them selves afterwards

An article on this subject was taken off the web

When a student (fresher), who has spent years in books is subjected to psychological emotional and physical torture all rolled into one called ragging or hazing in initial days in a college or university, he finds his personality altered and shattered ragging modifies the personality of a fresher, who gets in clined to pass on the same experience to juniors It is not known how a consequent mutilated distorted per sonality can serve the country The practice of rag ging has to be stopped There are also reports that students (freshers) studying engineering in National University of Science and Technology (NUST) face the same menace of ragging for the first full month

There are several types of ragging practised, ranging from demoralizing and defaming the fresher to verbal and physical abuse, besides explicit or im plicit sexual acts Through ragging, seniors try to as sume a sense of seniority It is not known why seniors develop a sense of insecurity about their seniority Nevertheless, the post ragging era subjects a victim to depression and insignificance ragging appears in its worst form for the students staying in hostels For the boarders, there is no way to escape At least, first two weeks are nominated for ragging During the time, seniors exposed juniors to physical and mental turmoil The mental trauma of abuse persists for life

Drug abuse is found more common in hostels mostly as a consequence of ragging The tyranny is that the administration of the institute turns a blind eye to the deplorable practice of ragging This is

H u n g e r i n s t i g a t e s p e o p l e

had the vision of a state in their mind that would heal their wounds and open its arms for the poor, terrified, and injured people

Those people wanted a separate state, the leader ship provided the momentum to them by giving them hope and courage

It is this passion and will in the people that make them stand tall against every difficulty and hardship they face But, despite all the resilience and determi nation the people show there comes a time when the passion becomes less and people lose hope in the sys tem That is when they rebel This stage is reached when every sacrifice is expected from people and very little is delivered back

After Independence, the state needed peace and peo ple wanted to live in peace with a decent living But the dream remains a dream

Fo r an ordinary Pakistani who does not have enough money to live peacefully, it does not matter who is running the government, which government is running the country and whether the world’s leadership Is looking at Pakistan s PM or not He wants peace He does not want to know how many resources the country is left with, who is going to give aid to Pakistan, who is being bullied, and who is delivering a better speech in the United Nations General Assembly All he wants is money and peace of mind to live a happy and com fortable life

If not a luxurious life at least a life in which he could bring up his children properly and have enough income to eat properly and wear decent clothes

Nations face hardships bear pain gracefully and rise collectively It is the passion and will of people to rise that give courage to them to face any situation of difficulty and rise after that

And, it was this will and courage in the Muslims of the Subcontinent that helped them unite for a com mon purpose and strive for a separate homeland under the leadership they trusted

It is the leadership that makes these difficult times soothing and gives impetus to people to face challenges with bravery It is the belief of people in the leadership of their trusted leaders that heals their wounds and readies them for further challenges

The hardships, miseries, agonies, and hurdles the Muslims of the Subcontinent faced in their journey to a separate homeland are not hidden from anyone

And, then the final phase of Partition came when people, who had a destination in their sight, suffered brutalities atrocities and pain They absorbed every pain and hostility coming towards them because they

The leadership after ward, which was expected to take the legacy forward, in sead of providing peace and giving respectable lives to the people, fueled social, cultural political and reli gious hate from time to time to pursue their interests recently NEPrA again raised the power tariff by rs 4 34 per unit adding to the burden of already burdened people Every second person is seen complaining about the hefty bills and skyrock eting fuel prices The infla tion hit people who were already having troubles in managing their monthly budget, were further hit by hefty bills and soaring fuel prices over the last couple of months

Amid the season of hefty bills and inflation I met two individuals working on different salaries and ranks in a private company They had one thing in common and that was their pain

Ahmad works at a salary of rs 75,000 and lives in his own home He is the sole earner of his family He received an electricity bill of rs 56,000 for Au gust The tax on this bill was rs 26000 The bill for the same month last year was rs 19,000

Bilal works at a salary of rs 60,000 His electric ity bill for August was rs 36,000 The amount of tax on this bill was rs 16,000 Now if they remove these amounts from their

India has also resorted to curbing the menace of ragging In 2009, the University Grants Commission of India passed regulations to curb the menace of ragging in higher educational institutions In 2011, even the State of Jammu and Kashmir passed “The Jammu and Kashmir Prohibition of ragging Act 2011” to offer a ragging free environment to fresh brains at institutes In 2021, under the “Prevention and Prohibition of ragging in Medical Colleges/In stitutions regulations, 2021,” the Indian Punjab made it mandatory for all students to fill an anti rag ging undertaking (affidavit) India has also promoted an anti ragging helpline that is available with a 24/7 toll free number A Non Governmental organization (NGo) with the name of SAVE works in India as an anti ragging NGo

Presently, Pakistan lags behind in legislation against ragging Similarly, Pakistan s Higher Educa tion Commission (HEC) is inactive and indolent in this regard There is no anti ragging NGo working in Pakistan There is no anti ragging mechanism at provincial and national levels to protect the fresh en trants Social scientists are carrying out no research on the causes and consequences of ragging

Pakistan’s future lies in its educated youtlphah It is high time Pakistan announced reforms Activate the HEC, both central and provincial, to pass strin gent laws against ragging in civilian colleges and uni versities Introduce civilian oversight in the medical colleges, engineering universities and other cadet col leges run by the Pakistan Army The sanctity of human life precedes sanctities of state institutions Amend the constitution, if it is required so Say no to ragging and hence save the youth

The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo com

salaries they will be left with a very little amount to even eat properly for the whole month let alone other expenses These individuals are patriotic Pakistanis who are ready to die for Pakistan They are loyal and want to serve Pakistan to the fullest

But both of them are worried about their future in Pakistan As the current situation has no end in sight they often think about why they stayed in Pak istan despite getting a chance to move abroad As they are living an uncomfortable life, they are stuck in their thoughts about whether they made the right decision to serve Pakistan by staying in the country

What makes them think this way? It is the current condition of the country that has left them with these thoughts Are they not loyal to Pakistan? Yes, they are That is the reason they do not want to indulge in illegal ways of earning money They both have simi lar questions in their mind The questions they raise are important ones

They question the cred ibility of the leaders who have been running the coun try and the mess they have created Who is responsi ble? Why should they suffer when they are not responsi ble for the mess in the coun try?

It is pertinent to men tion here that both these in dividuals belong to the middle class They have their own homes Even have their cars They could look for better opportunities here and there and even abroad

The sufferings and mis eries of those who cannot even make ends meet are far greater than theirs They have no option but to live a life full of troubles But, the problem does not end here Hunger has the power to in stigate people towards ex tremism and criminal activities And, we see from time to time people being involved in unethical unlawful and immoral activi ties in their domain and capacity

Similarly, the incidences of social, cultural, polit ical and religious hate rise from time to time Seventy five years after Independence, if people cannot peacefully coexist in their social, cultural, political, and religious circles and live a standard life if not luxuri ous, then all those who have been involved in running the country have done something wrong somewhere

After Independence it was the overall peace of the state and the living standards of the people that must have been looked after with utmost care but which was overlooked the most

The writer is freelance columnist

Can the Taliban run the countr y?

M U h a M M a D a L i a LV i

Seventy five years after Independence , if people cannot peacefully coexist in their social, cultural, political, and religious circles and live a standard life , if not luxurious, then all those who have been involved in running the countr y have done something wrong somewhere .

T h e n e x t s u p e r p o w e r

To d ay i s C h i n a’s N at i o n a l D ay

For China and Pakistan, the growing role of India in the region also poses concerns, keeping in view its hegemonic designs

While, the European Union’s foreign affairs Chief Josep Borrell admitted that in Asia, China is replacing the United States as the centre of global power”

During President Donald Trump’s era, a new cold war had started between China and the USA the rift escalated when both Beijing and Washington closed each other ’s consulates, re sulting in deportation of diplomats and imposing of sanctions on various lawmakers and person alities Trump particularly targeted China through trade war

the contract of building an airport terminal in Sylhet to a Chinese company Similarly, Iran had decided to go ahead without New Delhi in a Chabahar Port railway project

Complacent forums

o V E r the years, I have lodged a number of complaints with various ombudsmen and information commissions about my own issues and to protect the rights of others Unfortunately, I have found these forums lethargic and unprofessional having a casual approach towards their duties and responsibilities

A number of my applications, complaints and appeals have been pending with them for the last several years awaiting an effective response The offices of the insurance ombudsman the banking ombudsman the Pakistan Information Commission and the Punjab Information Commission are the worst when it comes to the official pace of work They seem toothless ineffective and biased They are not dispensing justice due to their go slow approach They are just facilitators of respondents The manner in which they process complaints is ultimately protecting the respondents

I have reached the conclusion that these offices as they stand today are nothing but a burden on the national exchequer They should be trained immediately There should be standard operating procedures (SoPs) for them in terms of a turnaround time to put matters to close These ombudsmen and commissions should be held accountable Their salaries should be governed by target based and performance based parameters

At the moment I am exhausted and disappointed with these forums at the federal and provincial levels I am wasting my precious resources like money and time to deal with these public servants who are working without any turnaround time The relevant authorities need to wake up and make these entities accountable, people friendly and fully professional MUHAMMAD WASEEM ELAHI GUJRANWALA

Ignoring archaeology

I T is rather tragic that Archaeology, as a discipline, is not on the list announced by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) for jobs in the Culture Tourism Antiquities and Archives Department The province has archaeological heritage in plenty, and one primarily needs archaeologists to preserve such sites It is ironic that, despite the heritage sites, the province has no jobs for relevant graduates and is ignoring the discipline altogether, which is sheer injustice on multiple counts

TH E Chinese National Day is celebrated on october 1st every year to commem orate the founding of the People s re public of China on 1 october 1949 on this very day, lots of large scale activi ties are held nationwide The seven day holiday from october 1 to 7 is called ‘Golden Week’

The military parade in the Tiananmen Square in Beijing is followed by about 100,000 civilian performers The nation’s newest military technology is on full display, which includes military tanks, helicopters, fighting aircraft and China’s new intercontinental ballistic missiles The parade is usually held every ten years

Addressing the 71st anniversary, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said: “The year 2020, troubled by the coronavirus and the global economic recession, is extremely un usual in the history of China However; the country has achieved major strategic results by coordinating epidemic controls with economic and social developments”

During the 70th national anniversary parade in 2019, standing in the Tiananmen Square where communist forces won a bloody civil war by defeating the ruling Kuomintang National Party, supported by the imperialist powers, Pres ident Xi Jinping stated: “There is no force that can shake the foundation of this great nation”

regarding the National Day, BBC said on 25 August 2019: For a long time experts have been speaking about China’s rapid military mod ernisation referring to it as a rising power Modern China has developed at an extraordinary pace stood up, grown rich and become stronger over the past decades America no longer enjoys military primacy in the Indo Pa cific its capacity to uphold a favourable bal ance of power is increasingly uncertain”

However the Indo Pacific strategy aims at a US led economic and diplomatic footprint in the region in countering China’s growing in fluence through the security alliances Quad and AUKUS, by the anti China powers Defence an alysts opine that the main aim of this partnership is to oppose China s influence in the region These countries are blindly favouring India at the cost of Pakistan and China

B

AUKUS, arguing it “severely undermines re

race and undercuts international non

ation efforts

Meanwhile tensions arose between India and China, as well as Pakistan, when on 5 Au gust 2019, the Indian extremist government re pealed Articles 35A and 370 of the Indian Constitution, which gave a special status to the disputed territory of the Indian Illegally occu pied Jammu and Kashmir (IIoJK) The Indian government bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to be ruled by the Centre

Besides Islam abad, Beijing also re jected the Indian malicious acts as “un lawful and void”, say ing that India s decision to “include” some of China’s terri tory into its administra tive jurisdiction “challenged” Beijing’s sovereignty

In the meantime, in accordance with an agreement signed by India and China on September 9, this year as part of disen gagement along a dis puted border, they have started withdraw ing their troops completed by September, 12, after more than two years of a standoff following a deadly clash The two sides have agreed to cease forward deployments in this area in a phased manner, resulting in the return of the troops of both sides to their respective areas

In this regard, US President Joe Biden has been supporting the Indian illegitimate stand as part of America s anti China approach

It is notable that the China Pakistan Eco nomic Corridor (CPEC), which is part of China s oBor or BrI, is rapidly developing The CPEC project will prove to be a gateway to prosperity for both Pakistan and China; includ ing the landlocked Central Asian states Under the project, China is investing as much as $62 billion in various sectors in Pakistan Now, the volume of the project has been expanded

However, terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s var ious provinces, particularly in Balochistan, show that secret agencies such as CIA, rAW and Mossad are destabilising Pakistan These entities want to damage CPEC, as Washington and New Delhi have already opposed this project

It is mentionable that due to lack of respect for the neighbouring countries by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal are tilting toward China For instance despite India’s concerns, Bangladesh has given

As regards the russia Ukraine war, in the recent past, President Biden accused Beijing of giving aid to russia and threatened sanctions against China, but the latter denied the charge Nevertheless, China does not want to derail its connectivity with the EU or any other country in the region, but still opposes eastward expan sion of NATo recently tensions escalated between Bei jing and Washington when despite the warning of Chinese leaders, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan and President Biden stated to support Taiwan

And in recent years, President Xi Jinping has been standing up to America’s overt and covert tactics against China, taking a more as sertive position towards the pro democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong and Beijing’s claims over Taiwan, which also created differ ences between the two major countries

While the Taliban’s recent victory anhumil iating defeat of the USA in Afghanistan and its other NATo al lies have given another setback, especially to the USA in terms of the cost of the prolonged war in Afghanistan in the wake of drastic im plications of the US led Global War on Terror

The US exclusion con tinues China, russia, Pak istan and Iran which are furthering their cooper ation have urged the world to assist the Afghans, as a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is essential for the sta bility of the entire region Besides supporting the collective efforts of these countries, the Taliban led government has especially favoured Beijing on priority basis This is another factor in the USA’s political jealousy against China

Moreover rejecting the US false allegations against Beijing about Covid 19, Lijian Zhao, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of For eign Affairs stated on 12 March 2020 that the US athletes participated in the Military World Games, held 18 27 october 2019 in Wuhan, might have brought the coronavirus epidemic to Wuhan from where it spread

At present, China has controlled the Coron avirus to a greater extent The economy of the USA and Europe has been paralysed America had become the epicentre of this novel disease, giving a major blow to its economy on the whole, the Biden administration’s foreign policy often lacks a clear strategic as pect In contrast, China knows exactly where it wants to go and it has the strategy and the means to get there

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations and can be reached at sajjad logic@yahoo com

Rights and wrongs

HAMID ALI GADHI KHAIRPUR MIRS

I T is strange that the opposition leaders in their statements and during their appearance on television talk shows avoid catching the bull by the horn In contrast, politicians are ridiculed every day, several times a day

It is funny to watch that instead of answering a question put to them, they involve themselves emotionally to talk about past accusations and present them as if they are universal truths one fails to understand as to how one can take refuge or hide behind the cover of the so called corruption or wrongs of others It is a globally accepted norm of justice that one is innocent unless proven otherwise The above modus operandi of self defence is beyond comprehension How can a thief tell and argue before a judge that he cannot punish him till all the thieves are apprehended and punished? This argument is, in fact, the acceptance of guilt, and should be processed as per the law of the land, so that law could take its own course without fear or favour The other argument of the supporters of the opposition party is that a popular leader can never be punished Is a popular leader a holy cow, or does not fall into the ambit of the law of the land? This is highly unfair from those whose party stands for justice

Notwithstanding the above, it is difficult to understand the logic behind hurling threats to the state by some opposition leaders about the consequences of arresting their chief or disqualifying him They are at full liberty to defend their leader as much as they can or want But antagonising the state and challenging the state authority is actually a disservice to the party and its leadership which could land both the party and the leadership in serious trouble This I say because in our history we see adverse effects of such adventurism

There is another point to ponder Is it being done out of enthusiasm and loyalty towards the party and its leadership or is it a calculated move to create a vacuum that may provide someone an opportunity to fill it?

LT COL (RETD) SYED IFTIKHAR AHMED KARACHI

Useless extravaganza

W E are a nation that takes pride in wasteful extravaganza, no matter how needlessly it drains our coffers both individually and collectively If we develop a habit of cutting down on such wasteful expenditure, we can be better off as an individual, a family and a nation

The country s faltering economic situation does not simply allow wastage of precious money Whenever a disaster strikes Pakistan, our leaders start visiting devastated areas, perhaps out of compulsion that not doing so would dent their political weight and not out of any affection for the crisis stricken people

These visits are arranged at the expense of taxpayers’ money The money spent thus particularly on visits carried out through helicopters can better be spent on mitigating the misery of the affected people

The recent floods have amply demonstrated this, where our rulers have gone on conducting visits to the affected areas mostly on helicopters Several individuals at the helm of national affairs have conducted numerous helicopter sorties, and the fuel costs and other logistics were worth tens of millions If they are really pained by the agony of the flood hit people, they can best demonstrate this through ensuring provision of adequate and speedy relief to the affected people

on the one hand people hit by deluge are starving for food and craving for water, but, on the other, huge money is drained on arranging visits to the flooded areas We launch flash appeals for arranging the much needed funds to provide relief and rehabilitate the affected people but indulge in wasteful practices at home just for the sake of gaining political mileage So, can we afford to indulge in such wasteful expenditure when Pakistan is mired in multiple crises? Absolutely not our leaders must avoid wasting taxpayers’ money, and ensure routing such funds for alleviating the sufferings of the flood hit people The nation deserves better

On the whole , the Biden administration’s foreign policy often lacks a clear strategic aspect In contrast, China knows exactly where it wants to go and it has the strategy and the means to g et there .

sajjaD

P U T i n ’ S r E g i m E m ay fa l l – b U T W h aT W o U l d c o m E n E x T ?

PR e S I D e N T Putin’s declaration of partial mobilisation is a sign of the utter failure of Russia s Ukraine strategy since February’s invasion

That Putin waited so long before declaring mobilisation is partly because it in volves an implicit recognition of this failure and of the fact that the “special military op eration is in fact a full scale war, which Russia seems to be losing It is also because he feared rightly a backlash from the Russian public his regime is now in serious danger Another major defeat would most probably bring it down

What could be much more dangerous than the mobilisation itself is the combina tion of this announcement with the decision to hold referendums in the eastern Donbas (recognised as independent by Russia in February), and the other territories occupied by Russian forces during the invasion

The key question is not the results of the “votes” on joining Russia themselves, which are a foregone conclusion, but whether the Russian government and parliament move immediately to annex these territories If they do, it will be a sign that Moscow has given up any hope of peace and is ready to fight on indefinitely; for this annexation could never be accepted by Ukraine or the west and be part of any agreed settlement The very best that could be hoped for in Ukraine will then be a series of unstable ceasefires punctuated by war as has been the case in Kashmir for the past 75 years

It will become apparent within the next week whether this is in fact Moscow s inten tion, or whether the referendums are instead a move to create bargaining chips for future negotiation It should be remembered that the Donbas separatist republics declared in dependence from Ukraine in 2014, but it was only eight years later, on the eve of war this February, that Moscow officially recognised their independence In the meantime, Moscow negotiated with Ukraine and the west on the return of these territories to Ukraine with guarantees of full autonomy, under the Minsk II agreement of 2015

This time, too, the referendums may be a threat to annex if the west does not seek a compromise, rather than a prelude to imme diate annexation Some hope that this may be the case was given by Putin’s approving reference in his speech last week to Ukraine’s peace offer of March which in cluded a treaty of neutrality and a shelving of the territorial disputes for future negoti ation The reasons for the collapse of those peace negotiations are highly disputed, but in Russia s version of events it was the west that blocked them and Ukraine that aban doned them

The reasons why Moscow might want a

ceasefire are obvious Putin’s original plan, to capture Kyiv and turn Ukraine into a client state, failed utterly The fall back plan, to capture the Russian speaking areas of the east and south was fought to a stand still far short of many of its key goals, and is now in serious danger of being rolled back by Ukrainian counteroffensives Putin’s regime has been badly shaken by its defeat in Kharkiv province If Ukraine were to drive Russia from Kherson or large parts of the Donbas, Putin’s survival in power would be in question

If there is no ceasefire or peace negotia tions, Russia does have means of serious es calation It could defend the remaining occupied territories, while vastly intensify ing attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure that have already begun If Russia does annex the occupied territories, then it is possible that Putin may threaten nuclear strikes to defend what Moscow would then define as Russian sovereign territory As the Biden administra tion makes it increasingly obvious that it is changing the US one China policy, Russia can also hope that in response China will greatly increase military and financial aid

In the meantime, as we are already see ing, unrest in Russian society is bound to

W h o w i n s f r o m d e m o l i s h i n g t h e E U ’ s g a s l i f e l i n e s ?

its last sails It’s clear that europe itself would n’t benefit from that Nor does it benefit at all from any of its own anti Russian sanctions But who gave Brussels that idea, to harm its own economy in the first place?

SP e C U l AT I o N abounds since both Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, de signed to carry cheap Russian gas to europe, were damaged this week in what officials widely describe as deliberate acts of sabotage Who could be re sponsible? Incidents buried in the past may provide a clue

Speculation abounds and typically in a di rection colored by the preexisting biases of the person speculating which is hardly helpful let’s start with the end result and work backwards The outcome ultimately means that europe s economic impetus for ever seeking peace with Russia has been seriously under mined, if not literally destroyed Someone has taken it upon themselves to demolish the re maining bridges between the two Until now there was always a chance of reconciliation Russian President Vladimir Putin said himself recently that all the eU needed to do to pull it self out of its self imposed energy crisis was to push the button on its gas supply from Russia and drop the anti Russian sanctions that pre vent it from doing so

People in the streets of German cities protesting against Berlin s blind following of Brussels’ anti Russia sanctions also knew that was the answer But now that option has been taken off the table The eU is now adrift amid a deepening energy crisis and someone burned

At the onset of the Ukrainian conflict it was Washington that egged on the eU to mir ror measures that Washington itself had adopted in an effort to deprive Moscow of rev enues to fuel its interests and objectives in Ukraine The problem is that the eU’s econ omy was far more entwined with Russia s than America’s Any sense that US President Joe Biden and his administration may have given eU leaders, that they d be there to help the bloc soften the blow of its self sacrificial sanctions, has since been replaced by a harsh, pragmatic reality US shale executives have explained to Western media that they simply lack the capac ity to ramp up production for europe’s winter crunch, even amid the growing rationing, dein dustrialization, and risk of blackouts

So, pressure has recently been increasing on eU member states to achieve a rapid diplo matic peaceful resolution But any reconnec tion of Nord Stream gas would have been a blow to US economic ambitions, which even tually include turning the eU into a dependent liquefied natural gas client To that end, US of ficials have even tried to market their natural gas in the past as “freedom molecules ” in con trast to the “authoritarian” Russian gas

Biden himself said of Nord Stream 2 dur ing a press conference on February 7 before the Ukraine conflict had even popped off, that we will bring an end to it, despite it being out of American control But even long before that, the US was sanctioning and bullying eu ropean companies into halting construction on Nord Stream 2 under the pretext of saving eu rope from Russia It’s worth noting that europe didn’t really have problems with Russia this century until the US decided to make Ukraine an outpost for the State Department

Not only did Gazprom, Russia’s state owned operator of the pipeline persist against all odds to finish it, but it’s really the only leverage that Moscow has in europe Attribut ing to Moscow the recent sabotage of their own

grow This discontent is compounded by a mixture often present at the same time in the minds of Russians of opposition to the war itself and fury at the incompetence of its conduct by Putin and his entourage

If this continues, then a coup against Putin will become a real possibility This would not necessarily be violent, and might indeed not appear publicly at all Instead, a delegation of establishment figures would go to Putin and tell him that, to preserve the regime itself, it is necessary for him (and a few other top figures implicated in military failure, such as the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu) to step down, in return for guaran tees of immunity from prosecution and se curity of property Something not unlike this happened when Yeltsin handed over power to Putin in 1999

Members of the Russian establishment w h

establishment and Russia itself if a change of leadership led to a split in the elite, po litical chaos and a radical weakening of the central state

They would therefore most probably need some assurance that if Putin could be

removed, the west would be prepared to offer his successor a deal that would allow the new government to claim some measure of Russian success otherwise ruling over a weakened state and military, and faced with what Russians would view as western demands for unconditional surrender the new government would assume the cata strophic burden of Weimar German democ racy after the first world war permanently branded as the regime of surrender and na tional humiliation

looking at this prospect a successor to Putin would very likely blame him person ally for everything that has gone wrong in Ukraine while answering growing calls by Russian hardliners to declare complete na tional mobilisation and greatly intensify the war This could spread the war beyond Ukraine’s borders If we wish to avoid this prospect, there is still time for the west to take up Putin s implicit offer of talks; but not much time

Anatol Lieven is director of the Eurasia programme at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

S u p r e m e c o u r t ’ s l a n d m a r k j u d g m e n t o n a b o r t i o n s

economic interests in europe seems absurd

The damage done to the pipelines now means that to prevent them from being completely filled with sea water and destroyed, Russia is forced to keep pumping gas through them and into the sea at their own expense What exactly does Moscow gain from any of this? Con versely, what does Washington gain? Nothing less than Brussels’ full dependence, which proved elusive when europe could split its in terests between the east and west

As for who possesses the technical ability to execute underwater pipeline sabotage, both Russia and the US do Much has been made in the past of the potential for cutting undersea cables defined as an act of war by UK de fense chief Admiral Sir Tony Radakin The US actually has a history in such operations, hav ing tapped into undersea cables to spy on the Soviet Union in the 1970s operation Ivy Bells according to public records about operation Ivy Bells Washington also has sabotaged So viet gas pipelines before albeit indirectly ac cording to Thomas C Reed, a former Air Force secretary who served on the National Security Council in 1982 when then US President Ronald Reagan allegedly approved a plan for the CIA to sabotage components of a pipeline operated by the Soviet Union The objective was to prevent Western europe from importing natural gas from the Soviets Sound familiar?

Time and inquiry will uncover the culprit eventually if we’re lucky eU officials are vowing to get to the bottom of it “All available information indicates leaks are the result of a de liberate act Deliberate disruption of european energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response Tweeted the bloc’s chief diplomat, Josep Bor rell Perhaps investigators could pay a visit to Radoslaw Sikorski european Parliament mem ber and former Polish foreign minister, who tweeted a photo of the disaster aftermath along with the note Thank you USA

But if it indeed turns out that Washington committed what some consider to be an act of war against europe s economy will Brussels have the heart to really confront it? or will Brussels continue to find justifications to re main complicit in its own demise?

Rachel Marsden is a columnist, political strategist and host of independently produced talk shows in French and English

IndIan ExprEss E d i to r i a l

Th e Supreme Court has deliv ered a seminal judgment that could have a significant im pact in enlarging and expand ing women’s reproductive rights in the country The apex court bench comprising Justices DY Chan drachud, Surya Kant and AS Bopanna said that all women whether married or in consensual relationships, and in cluding “persons other than cis gender women are entitled to seek an abor tion within 20 24 weeks of the preg nancy The bench was hearing the case of a 25 year old unmarried woman, whose plea for termination of her preg nancy in the 24th week was turned down by a division bench of the Delhi high Court on the ground that the Med ical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003, did not extend to unmarried women in consensual relationships

In a country where the woman’s body has, more often than not, been a site of the patriarchy index the Supreme Court’s recognition of her right to equality and, equally signifi cantly to her agency and choice is mo mentous In recent times, in comparison to many other countries, including the US where the landmark Roe vs Wade judgment granting constitutional validity to the right to abort was recently overturned abortion laws in India have moved in a more progressive di rection, but much more needs to be done Under Section 312 of the Indian

Penal Code, 1860, abortion remains a criminal offence to which the MTP Act provides exceptions, and, even within the wider ambit of the much needed re cent amendments to the law, it contin ues to adhere to hetero patriarchal structures that make the approval of oth ers integral to abortion related services and do not recognise a broader gender spectrum Five decades after the Med ical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act was passed in 1971, the MTP (Amendment) Act, 2021, introduced crucial and welcome changes, including the right to terminate unwanted preg nancies caused by contraceptive failure Now, in calling for a less restrictive and more “purposive interpretation” of the amendments and seeking to further free them from social conservatism, the Supreme Court on Thursday has opened up valuable room for greater freedom The support of the law is only the first step in what is in reality a harrowing fight for reproductive and bodily auton omy on the ground, but it is crucial

Notably the SC judgment talks of familial and conjugal violence, includ ing women who conceive out of marital rape among those who can seek termi nation of pregnancy within the speci fied period While the judgment specifies its validity only within the purview of the MTP (Amendment) Act, it remains to be seen how this will be implemented given that marital rape is still not a criminal offence in India Yet, in its recognition of every woman as the arbiter of her own body and in re specting her right to choose, Thursday’s judgment is important and laudable

GuardIan

T H E K E Y Q U E S T I O N I S N O T T H E R E S U LT S O F T H E “ V O T E S” O N J O I N I N G R U S S I A

T H E M S E LV E S , W H I C H A R E A F O R E G O N E C O N C LU S I O N , B U T W H E T H E R T H E R U S S I A N G O V E R N M E N T A N D PA R L I A M E N T M O V E I M M E D I AT E LY T O A N N E X T H E S E T E R R I T O R I E S . I F T H E Y D O, I T W I L L B E A S I G N T H AT M O S C O W H A S G I V E N U P A N Y H O P E O F P E A C E A N D I S R E A D Y T O F I G H T O N I N D E F I N I T E LY

W I T H P U T I N M I R E D I N

T H E U K R A I N E WA R A N D FA C I N G U N R E S T AT H O M E , I T ’ S T I M E T H E W E S T T R I E D

TO N E G O T I AT E A WAY B A C K F R O M T H E B R I N K

rachElmarsdEn com

r ac h E l M a r s d E n

PAST COVERT OPS AND SABOTAGE PROVIDE CLUES TO THE APPARENTLY DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION OF NORD STREAM PIPELINES

N OTA B LY, T H E S C J U D G M E N T TA L K S O F FA M I L I A L A N D

CO N J U G A L V I O L E N C E, I N C LU D I N G W O M E N W H O CO N C E I V E O U T O F M A R I TA L R A P E A M O N G T H O S E W H O C A N S E E K T E R M I N AT I O N O F P R E G N A N C Y

W I T H I N T H E S P E C I F I E D P E R I O D

I N R E CO G N I S I N G E V E RY W O M A N , M A R R I E D A N D S I N G L E, A S A R B I T E R O F H E R O W N B O DY, S C ’ S A B O RT I O N J U D G M E N T I S M O M E N TO U S

corporate corner

BOI, JETRO SIgN MOU TO ENHANCE BUSINESS, INvESTMENT TIES: SAlIk

The delegation was here to attend the 7th Session of the Pakistan Japan Government Business Joint Dialogue (PJGBJD)

NHMP foils smuggling bid of 18kg heroin on M-4

FE D E R A L Minister for Board of Investment and Special Ini tiatives Chaudhry Salik Hus sain on Friday said that the MoU between the Board of Investment (BOI) and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) would realize the joint vision of enhancing investment cooperation between the two countries

He expressed these views while addressing the Pakistan Japan Trade and Investment Seminar jointly organ ized by the BOI and the JETRO

The seminar, which hosted an au dience of more than 300 business and government dignitaries, was held in the honor of a Japanese delegation led by Parliamentary Vice Minister for Econ omy Trade and Industry of Japan

The seminar arranged sectoral business to business and plenary ses sions which provided prominent Japan ese companies a suitable platform to hold detailed interactions with their Pakistani counterparts

Salik congratulated the Japan gov ernment, the Japanese ambassador, the Embassy of Pakistan in Japan, Pak istan Japan Business Forum JETRO on completion of seventy years of ex cellence in diplomatic and trade rela tions between the two countries

He encouraged the Japanese busi nesspeople to invest in Pakistan s po tential investment sectors, such as Information Technology, agriculture and food processing logistics mines and minerals, steel mills, construction,

housing and tourism

Kazuya Nakajo, Executive Vice President of JETRO Satomi Ryuji Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister and Teruo Asada, Chairman of Japan Pakistan Business Cooperation Com mittee, shared their views regarding their experience of doing business in Pakistan and their future plans

Secretary BOI Asad Rehman Gilani welcomed the 15 member delegation and stated that the Government of Pak istan attached great importance to its friendly relations with Japan and was desirous to further strengthen the bilat eral relations on the economic front

The BOI being the premier invest ment promotion and facilitation agency of Pakistan, had been appointed as the focal body for the Japanese investors, he said

He appreciated the contributions of all the Japanese companies working in

W FM E a cc re d i t at i o n t o p p r i o r i t y : Pre s i d e nt PM C

ISLAMABAD p r

Keeping in view importance of the WFME Accreditation 1st meeting of the WFME ac creditation task force Internal & External was held at PMC

Army's School of Ar tiller y delegation visits Cnergyico's Oil Refining Complex

The meeting was attended by PMC Presi dent Prof Dr Noshad Ahmad Shaikh, Vice Pres ident Dr Khurshid Ahmad Nasim, Special Advisor Dr Raheela Yasmin; Special Advisor Dr Ali Tayyab and Special Advisor Dr Umar Ali Khan

standards shall be a vision document The cur rent inspection criteria are the 2019 Standards based on which the PMC may perform inspec tions It was brought under discussion that a seminar must be conducted by the PMC and in ternational speakers shall be invited and con sulted It was emphasized that this will lead to better communication and understanding of the policies under revision and implementation This would ultimately aid in the process of the subject accreditation

Pakistan for the economic development of the country, especially Honda, Toy ota Suzuki Motors Nutrico Morinaga NEC Corporation and many others

Japanese businesses had recently made significant investments in Pak istan’s automobile, steel, chemicals, food and other sectors However, he in formed that there was still room to fur ther expand in the auto sector, renewable energy, electronics, food processing, and engineering sectors

He praised the unwavering support of the government and the people of Japan for providing emergency assis tance of USD 7 million

Jamil Ahmad Qureshi, Director General of Investment Promotion, BOI, delivered a detailed presentation on in vestment opportunities in Pakistan

The Japanese delegation expressed their satisfaction on the support pro vided by the Government of Pakistan

PAF medical, rehab operations continue in flood-hit areas

karachi: A delegation from the Pakistan Army s School of Artillery visited Cnergyico s oil refining complex (formerly Byco Petroleum) in Hub Balochistan The delegates were received by Company’s senior executives and were given a detailed briefing on the refinery operations and future plans Cnergyico’s oil refining complex is capable of processing up to 156,000 barrels per day of crude oil to produce a variety of high value fuels, such as petrol and high speed diesel Cnergyico is the only energy company in the country that operates a private offshore port, called Single Point Mooring (SPM), to import crude oil for the oil refining complex p r

The President apprised in the meeting that since PMC has qualified eligibility for the WFME He added that the task force has been constituted aiming to sum up the work that has been done so far along with proposed steps for the WFME accreditation He added that this taskforce has to expedite the finalization of ac creditation application to be submitted to the WFME Keeping in view that the deadline by ECFMG has been fixed as 2024 and the future of our graduates is at stake, Therefore, WFME accreditation process be undertaken at priority

A complete Presentation regarding current sta tus of accreditation and an overview of the WFME accreditation timeline was given by the internal task force to chalk out further imple mentation of the process of accreditation The President informed the Committee that the Council has decided that 2022 accreditation

President added that PMC Council is fo cusing to complete the mandatory requirements and develop the standards of Medical Dental profession as per not only WFME standards but also on international best practices and ensur ing that Pakistan s medical education and doc tors are duly recognised internationally It was mutually agreed that website shall be upgraded regarding PMC qualifying the Eligibility of WFME so that student’s concerns are ad dressed President PMC had another meeting in this regard with Agha khan university karachi and they have been taken on board in the WFME accreditation task force committee for the accreditation of WFMC

The President PMC said that doctors and graduates don't need to worry as PMC is put t i n g a l l t h e i r e ff o r t s t o g e t t h e a c c r e d i t a t i o n a n d s o o n w e w i l l a c h i e v e o u r g o a l a n d o u r

Pakistani graduates shall be allowed to appear in ECFMG

n

A h m A d A h m A dA n i

The National Electric Power Regulatory Au thority (NEPRA) has said that high Trans mission and Distribution (T&D) losses coupled with low recoveries are the main causes of accumulation of circular debt, reached Rs2,252,750 million by June 2022

NEPRA made this revelation in its report on the State of Industry 2022, saying the biggest challenge for the country is to over come the Circular Debt which is hampering the power sector, particularly investors and end consumers at the same time

According to the NEPRA report, the biggest challenge for the country is to over come the Circular Debt which is hampering the power sector, particularly investors and end consumers at the same time The circu lar debt has detrimental impacts on the eco nomic growth of the country As of 30 06 2022, the circular debt stood at Rs 2,252,750 million as against Rs2,280,149 million during FY 2020 21, thus decreasing the amount of Rs300 million during the year

Besides losses, recoveries, underutiliza tion of the assets, running defaulters, and de lays in payment of subsidies are among the contributory factors towards circular debt

The financial impact of running defaulters is around Rs700 million, which is alarming as these consumers are still connected with the system and no action has been taken by the respective DISCOs to recover their billed amount from these defaulters

Further non payment of subsidies by the Federal/Provincial governments promptly is another issue that can easily be settled through timely payment The volume of cir cular debt can be reduced with some inno vations and transformations like outsourcing the meter reading and revenue collection business in the high loss areas to minimize the loss on this account In order to curb the existing Circular Debt, bridge financing in form of loans on the existing power supply network to the end consumers has been ob tained which is a vicious cycle The perma nent solution to the problem of Circular Debt lies in developing the efficiency driven and financially viable power sector

The NEPRA report also said that supply ing affordable and reliable electricity to the end consumers is to be treated as a priority for sustainable development economic up lift, and poverty alleviation This, in return, creates an environment of growth in electric ity demand per capita; which is linked with the GDP growth of the country According to the data submitted by DISCOs and KE, Pakistan’s per capita annual electricity con sumption of 644 kWh, is among the lowest in the world which is only 18% of the world average, 7% of the developed countries’ av erage, and 12% of that of China Per capita electricity consumption is considered as one of the key parameters, reflecting the living standards of the people in a country

This indicates that there is a lot of room for improving the living standards of the people and running the wheel of the econ

omy to ensure sustainable growth

Climate Change is a reality all across the globe and Pakistan is termed as one of the most vulnerable countries to its impacts The impacts of climate change include weather shifts, an increase in temperature, heat waves, alteration in precipitation patterns, precipitation intensity, occurrence, and sea sonal variations and the resultant impact on the hydrology, affecting the power sector twofold i e increase in the electricity de mand particularly for cooling and reduction in electricity generation from hydropower

Due to this, the reliance on expensive fossil fuel based power generation was in creased during FY 2021 22 There is a dire need to take climate change mitigation into account for future power system integrated planning and management

Given the situation it is of paramount importance that the development of the power sector must follow an integrated, har monized, and a holistic planning approach A robust planning process, based on a scientific methodology needs to be in place for the net work expansion, improvement, and delivery It is imperative that all stakeholders of the power sector must realign their business models for the improvement and better utility services to the end consumers They should embrace the innovation in policies, technol ogy, and financial models to transform the electricity sector into a better performing and sustainably growing sector of the economy

As per NEPRA report, low utilization of efficient plants which was compensated

iSLaMaBaD: The Medical Support, Relief and Rehabilitation activities by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) were being pursued vigorously in flood affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh, Balochistan and South Punjab The PAF, through medical camps and mobile medical teams, was providing much needed medical assistance to flood victims, a PAF news release said The PAF Medical Lab Collection Points were also actively involved in diagnosis of water borne diseases amongst flood affectees The Pakistan Air Force personnel have rescued the locals stranded inside flooded homes and shifted them to safer locations while utilizing transport fleet, helicopters and boats The PAF troops distributed dry ration, cooked food, fresh drinking water and other household items amongst the flood affected populace

During the last 24 hours, Pakistan Air Force had distributed 18,020 cooked food packs, 340 water bottles and 560 ration packs amongst the needy families

Moreover, in addition to the provision of free food and shelter, 878 patients were also attended by the medical teams of Pakistan Air Force p r

c i r c u l a r d e b t : N E P R A

through expensive generation had an addi tional financial impact of Rs100 billion on the end consumers Guddu 747 MW is being operated on indigenous gas that has a low generation cost of Rs6 5/KWh, but the plants utilization remained 41 percent only, so missed volume was purchased from cost lier power plants, the delivery cost of which was as high as Rs23 49/KWh which resulted in the loss of around Rs54 billion

One unit (624 MW) of the coal based power plant of China Power Hub Generation Company (CPHGC) could not supply cost effective electricity to the system on account of damage to its transformer during the pe riod from July 14, 2021, to January 6, 2022

Non availability of power from the plant re sulted in a financial loss of Rs30 billion

Thar coal based two power plants of Engro PowerGen Thar (EPTL) from March to May 2022 remained out of the system The loss of generation was upset by costlier power plants The financial impact of the forced outage of EPGL’s units during the year is calculated at around Rs16 billion

The regulator noted that fuel prices jumped three times due to an increase in global prices coupled with the devaluation of the rupee against the U S dollar that raised the cost of generation, resulting in unparal leled monthly fuel charges adjustments (FCAs), thus eventually impacting the bills of the end consumers In view of the unprece dented increase in FPA, the Government gave relief of Rs5/kWh on FCA for a period of four months from March 2022 to June

2022 The impact of this relief package in the form of subsidies was around Rs126 billion

The National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) has been allowed 2 5 per cent transmission and transformation (T&T) losses for FY 2021 22 The actual T&T losses reported by NTDC for the FY 2021 22 are 2 63 percent with lost units of 3,696 GWh having a cost effect of around Rs 72 billion

The 660 kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line to carry 4000MW from Matiari to Lahore remained underuti lized due to a lack of required generation ca pacity during FY 2021 22 and is causing a financial burden on end consumer in terms of per unit cost of electricity The capacity payments of PMLTC during the period Sept 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, were Rs49 billion

According to the data submitted by DIS COs and KE Pakistan s per capita annual electricity consumption of 644 kWh, is among the lowest in the world, which is only 18 percent of the world average, 7 percent of the developed countries’ average, and 12 percent of that of China Per capita electric ity consumption is considered as one of the key parameters, reflecting the living stan dards of the people in a country

The NEPRA’s State of Industry Report, 2022 further said that during the year, the al lowed transmission of distribution (T&D) losses for the DISCOs were 13 41 percent whereas actual losses were 17 13 percent Due to the difference of 3 72 percent, the fi nancial loss on this account has been worked out around Rs113 billion

Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi exchanges views with HE Mr Alfrad Grannas, Ambassador of Germany to Pakistan at Naval Headquarters in Islamabad pr

ISLAMABAD

iSLaMaBaD: The National Highways and Motorway Police officers arrested a woman along with her son while foiling an attempt to smuggle heroin in large quantity on Motorway (M 4) During routine patrolling, Motorway Police officers SPO Tanveer Akbar and PO Muhammad Faizan signalled a vehicle to stop for speeding and reckless driving Instead of stopping, the driver attempted to flee, forcing NHMP officers to chase and stop the vehicle After searching the car 18 kilograms of heroin was recovered and the two individuals: son Khurram and mother Lubna, were arrested During the initial investigation, the culprits confessed that they were taking the heroin from Peshawar to Faisalabad Suspects were handed over to local police at Sahyanwala Police Station District Faisalabad for further action The IG, NHMP Khalid Mahmood appreciated the performance of these officers and advised them to keep on performing with dedication NHMP remains committed to enhancing commuter confidence on our national highways and motorways p r

SUiCide aTTaCK

oN K aBUl Cl aSSRooM

KillS 20, MoSTly yoUNg woMeN

KABUL ag e n c i e s

asuicide bomber attacked an ed ucation centre in the Afghan capital on Friday where hun dreds of students were prepar ing for university exams, killing at least 20 people, most of them young women

The bombing happened in the Dasht e Barchi neighbourhood of western Kabul, an area home predominantly minority Hazara community the target of some of Afghanistan’s most deadly attacks

The bomber shot dead two security guards before entering the gender segre gated classroom, student Ali Irfani, who escaped the carnage, told AFP

“Not many boys were hit because they were at the rear end of the class room The bomber entered from the front door where girls were sitting,” he said Akbar, another student witness, also told AFP that young women made up most of the casualties, with up to 600 people in the hall at the time

No group has yet claimed responsi bility for the blast at Kaaj Higher Educa tional Centre which coaches students for

university admission tests

However the militant Islamic State group has claimed previous attacks in the area targeting girls, schools and mosques

A resident who ferried victims to hospitals said he saw body parts scattered across the floor of the hall

“Many students were hit by shrapnel in their head, neck and eyes,” said Asadullah Jahangir

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zad ran said 20 people were killed and 27 others wounded

The United Nations Assistance Mis sion in Afghanistan (UNAMA) told AFP that at least 24 people were killed and 36 others wounded in the attack, adding the numbers were expected to rise

A shopkeeper from the neighbour hood said there was a loud explosion and then crowds of students rushed out of the centre “It was chaos as many students, boys and girls, tried to escape from the building It was a horrific scene Every one was so scared,” he told AFP, request ing anonymity

Italian NGO Emergency, which op erates a hospital in Kabul, said it had re ceived 22 patients including 20 women two of whom had died

China’s Ningxia region pledges RMB 1.75m for Pakistan’s flood relief effor t

BEIJING

People’s Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region announced relief assistance to support the relief and rehabilitation efforts of the Government of Pakistan China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Friday The relief items include tents and blankets needed urgently in Pakistan for RMB 1 75 million

A formal launch ceremony of the relief goods was held on 28 September through a video link The meeting was joined by Lei Dongsheng Member of the Standing Committee and Secretary General of the CPC Ningxia Committee, Jiang Jiang, Vice President of the Chinese People s Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries, Zhao Shiren, Consul General of China in Lahore and Bai Yuzhen, Director General of Ningxia Foreign Affairs Office Ambassador of Pakistan to China, Moinul Haque along with other Embassy officials also participated in the ceremony It is to be noted that the decision was announced last week in a special letter addressed to Ambassador Moin ul Haque by the Foreign affairs Office of the People s Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Sharing his grief and condolences with the bereaved families Lei Dongsheng said that as an All weather Strategic Cooperative Partner and Iron Brother, China stands with the people of Pakistan in this difficult time Expressing his good wishes for the early rehabilitation of the flood victims, Lei reaffirmed the resolve of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to continue to deepen ties with the people of Pakistan Speaking at the occasion, Ambassador Haque appreciated the urgent assistance offered by the People’s Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Recalling that the two countries have always stood together in difficult times in the past Haque said that Chinese assistance to Pakistan for flood victims has once again proven the unique nature of fraternal ties between the two countries Jiang Jiang, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries and Zhao Shiren Consul General of China in Lahore also expressed their views on the deep brotherly and strategic ties between the two countries and shared their condolences on the terrible loss of life and property in the recent floods

“The victims are all between 18 and 25 years old and most of them were in the classroom to take an exam,” it said in a statement

Shamefaced

The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan last year brought an end to a two decade war and a significant reduc tion in violence, but security has begun to deteriorate in recent months

In April, two deadly bomb blasts on the same day at separate education cen tres in Dasht e Barchi killed six people and wounded at least 20 others

Friday’s attack is a “shamefaced re minder of the ineptitude and utter failure of the Taliban, as de facto authorities, to protect the people of Afghanistan , Samira Hamidi of rights group Amnesty International said in a statement

The United Nations special rappor teur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, condemned the attack

Onslaught on education for Hazaras must end Stop attacks on Afghanistan’s future, stop international crimes,” he said on Twitter

Afghanistan’s Hazaras have faced persecution for decades targeted by the Taliban during their insurgency against

the former US backed government and by IS

Families on Friday rushed to hospi tals where ambulances arrived with vic tims and lists of those confirmed dead or wounded were posted on the walls

“We didn’t find her here,” a dis tressed woman looking for her sister at one of the hospitals told AFP “She was 19 years old

“We are calling her but she’s not re sponding ”

Last year before the Taliban returned to power, at least 85 people mainly girl students were killed and about 300 wounded when three bombs ex ploded near their school in the area

No group claimed responsibility, but a year earlier IS claimed a suicide attack on an educational centre in the same neigh bourhood that killed 24 including students

In May 2020, the group was blamed for a gun attack on a maternity ward of a hospital in Dasht e Barchi that killed 25 people, including new mothers

Education is a flashpoint issue in Afghanistan, with the Taliban blocking many girls from returning to secondary education Islamic State also stands against the education of women and girls

Pu t i n a c c u s e s We s t o f ‘ex p l o s i o n s ’ t h at c a u s e d No rd S t re a m l e a k s

MOSCOW ag e n c i e s

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the West of organis ing blasts that resulted in multiple gas leaks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Europe

“Sanctions are not enough for the West, they have switched to sabotage Unbelievable, but it is a fact!” Putin said during a televised speech at a Kremlin ceremony to annex four Moscow occupied re gions of Ukraine

By organising explosions on the Nord Stream international gas pipelines that run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea they actually started destroying European energy infrastructure, Putin said

“It is clear to everyone who benefits from this,” Putin added, without providing further details

Unexplained gas leaks, pre ceded by two explosions, occurred on the Nord Stream 1 and 2

pipelines on Monday

Moscow and Washington both denied involvement in the incident

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have been shrouded in political ten sions since the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine in February

Russia cut gas supplies to Eu rope in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions, but the pipelines still contained gas though they were not operational

‘Not striving’ for return of So viet Union Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia was “not striving” to recreate the Soviet Union as he prepared to annex four Moscow occupied Ukrainian re gions at a Kremlin ceremony

“ T h e U S S R i s n o m o r e We c a n ’t b r i n g t h e p a s t b a c k A n d R u s s i a d o e s n t n e e d i t a n y m o r e

We are not striving towards that,” Putin said

He also accused the last leaders of the Soviet Union of “destroying

our great country Putin was speaking at a televised ceremony to formalise the annexation of four Russian held regions in Ukraine where pro Moscow authorities con ducted hastily organised referen dums denounced by Kyiv and the West as a sham

In his speech, Putin also claimed the West wanted to see Russia as a “colony”

It is out of greed with the aim of maintaining its unlimited power These are the real reasons for this hybrid war that the West is waging against us They want to make us into a colony,” Putin said in tele vised remarks

“They don’t need Russia at all,” he said The West is ready to step over everything to preserve the neo colonial system, which allows it to parasitise and in fact plunder the whole world,” Putin added

He claimed it was “critical for them that all countries surrender their sovereignty to the United States”

UK avoids recession in boost for under-fire Truss

LONDON

Britain is not yet in recession, revised data showed Friday in a boost for under fire Prime Minister Liz Truss, but its economy may still face a downturn on soaring interest rates

Gross domestic product expanded 0 2 percent in the second quarter, said the Office for National Statistics in an upgrade from its previous estimate of a 0 1 percent contraction

Even if the economy has shrunk in the current third quarter that ends Friday as the Bank of England forecasts, it would mean the UK had avoided two successive quarters of contraction the technical definition of a recession

The turnaround follows a rough week for new PM Truss as the country’s borrowing costs soared and the pound hit a record dollar low after her government announced a controversial budget plan on September 23 that included a cap on soaring energy bills

Truss and finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng met Friday with Britain s fiscal watchdog to discuss the economic and fiscal outlook in the wake of last week’s announcement of also debt fuelled tax cuts “We will deliver the first iteration of that forecast” next week, the Office for Budget Responsibility said in a statement after the meeting

The country’s economy output remains fragile, with Friday’s ONS data also revised to show that it was still below pre Covid levels

‘Calamitous week’

“In what has been a calamitous week for the UK economy, there was a rare glimmer of hope (with it) defying expectations of a recession for now,” said Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter “Sterling has also found some cautious support although the jitters will remain as the government continues to justify and explain the implications of its fiscal largesse ”

Investors were spooked this week by the huge amount of borrowing likely needed for a UK budget seen as benefitting the rich more than the poorest during the cost of living crisis

Less than a month into the job, Truss is already deep in a financial crisis

The pound on Monday collapsed to an all time low at $1 0350 on fears the budget would make sky high inflation worse and cause the Bank of England (BoE) to hike its main interest rate even more aggressively Sterling has since recovered slightly

The upbeat GDP figure came two days after the BoE carried out emergency action to snap up government bonds, whose yields had soared following the budget And the central bank is forecast to hike its interest rate far beyond the current 2 25 percent, which compares with a record low 0 1 percent less than a year ago as markets fear ever higher inflation This in turn could see businesses closing and home owners defaulting on their mortgages

Despite growth in the latest quarter, the UK economy is 0 2 percent smaller than its pre pandemic size, the ONS added Friday

The statistics office previously had the UK economy at 0 6 percent larger than in 2019

The good news is that the economy is not already in recession,” said Capital Economics analyst Paul Dales

R ich nations to face climate pressure at pre COP27 talks in DR Congo

KINSHASA

Environment ministers from some 50 countries gather in DR Congo on Monday for the pre COP27 climate talks, with rich countries expected to come under pres sure to contribute more to fight global warming

The informal talks in the central African country’s capital Kinshasa come ahead of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, from November 6 18

Ministers and other delegates are expected to discuss points that could lead to impediments at the main summit

But no formal announcements are expected at the p

FM B h u t t o c o m m e n t s a t t e s t t o Pa k- C h i n a

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Fri day said that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s comments on China’s assis tance to Pakistan for flood relief efforts at tested to mutual trust and friendship between the two countries

FM Bhutto’s comments attest to mutual trust and friendship between our two coun tries Mao Ning said in response to a ques tion during her regular briefing

According to reports, Foreign Minister Bhutto took an interview with Foreign Policy In response to comment that China had not come to Pakistan’s aid in a big way this year when flood hit, he said it was absolutely in correct The spokesperson said that China and Pakistan were linked by mountain and rivers and both the countries shared the same future

From the major floods in 2010 in Pak, 2021 locust disaster, Wenchuan earthquake 2008 Luding earthquake the two countries have always stood together in dealing with natural disasters and in overcoming eco

A Western diplomat, who requested anonymity, said that since the COP and pre COP are both being held in Africa the emphasis will certainly be on support from industrialised countries to countries in the south”

The theme was also present during the 2021 COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, which ended with a pledge to keep global warming at 1 5 degrees centigrade com pared to pre industrial levels

Poorer countries had pushed for a mechanism that would account for damages caused by climate change But wealthier nations the largest polluters rejected the call and the participants agreed instead to open a “di alogue” on financing damages

Egypt which holds the presidency of the 27th meet ing of the Conference of the Parties (COP) has said it wants to make the latest summit about implementation

The pre COP27 summit in Kinshasa ends on Wednesday Forest protection

The DRC is expected to drive home the message that it is a country that can provide solutions for climate change during the talks

Roughly the size of Western Europe, the DRC has 160 million hectares (395 million acres) of rainforest that acts as a carbon sink

It also has huge reserves of minerals such as cobalt and lithium which are deemed critical for the transition to re newable energy because of their use in battery production

K

nomic and financial difficulties, she added

Mao Ning said that China had always been among the first to help Since the flood hit Pak this time, China had acted promptly to offer strong assistance

The Chinese govt has decided to provide 400 million RMB of humanitarian assistance to Pakistan We lost no time in bringing to gether all the reserve supplies under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) social welfare cooperation framework she added

To help Pakistan, she said that China of fered emergency cash assistance and shared

real time weather forecast with it ‚By air, land and sea, we sent tents, vegetables and other supplies to Pakistan

Mao Ning said that that the Chinese gov ernment and the entire society worked to gether to help Chinese enterprises and charitable people and sub national organiza tions and governments raised more than 125 million RMB donation and supplies to help Pakistan and civil rescue teams also went to Pakistan to help Even primary school stu dents donated their pocket money to help

All this show that the two countries are

a community of shared future sharing will and woe and our friendship is deeply rooted in our people s heart and has strong vitality she added

The spokesperson informed that cur rently the two sides were working in close coordination to implement follow up work and reconstruction We stand ready to further enhance our cooperation, deepen our iron clad friendship, she added

Mao Ning believed that Pakistani govt and people would prevail over the disaster and rebuild their homes soon

C a P ta i N S S h a r e e x C i t e M e N t F o r i N a u g u r a l PJ l e d i t i o N

S ta f f R e p o

tH E inaugural edition of the Pakistan Junior League begins in less than a week s time (Thursday 6 October) here at the headquarters of Pakistan cricket Gaddafi Stadium The teams will be beginning their preparations for the tournament this weekend

Before the conclusion of the PCB Path way Programme earlier this week almost all local PJL players were involved in the programme, the captains spoke about their excitement of playing the PJL captaining their side and the life time opportunity of working with some of the greats of the game who are involved as mentors in the league

The mentor roster includes legends of the game Javed Miandad (league mentor), Imran Tahir (Bahawalpur Royals) Shoaib Malik (Gujranwala Giants), Sir Vivian Richards (Gwadar Sharks), Daren Sammy (Hyderabad Hunters), Shahid Afridi (Mar dan Warriors) and Colin Munro (Rawalpindi Raiders)

Captain Bahawalpur Royals Obaid Shahid said : “Being picked and then named captain of Bahawalpur Royals is nothing less than a dream coming true I am determined

to make an impression in the tournament and lead my side with grit, determination and passion This league is an incredible oppor tunity for all of us and we are all excited to participate

“Our team mentor is Imran Tahir who despite his age remains one of the fittest players around Having Imran in the dressing room means a lot to us, we would surely benefit from his presence and his immense experience as a T2o player He will also in spire us to raise our fitness standard ”

Captain Gujranwala Giants Uzair Mum taz said : “I was overjoyed at my selection for the PJL and the honour of captaining Gu jranwala Giants My parents and family is really happy for me and are praying for my success

Our mentor Shoaib Malik is a legend of the game and his presence will mean a lot to us We all hope to learn a great deal from him and aspire to make the most of his ex perience and pedigree Having Shoaib in the dugout would help us immensely consider ing his rich T20 experience

Captain Gwadar Sharks Shamyl Hussain said: “It was a big honour to get chosen for the Sharks and then being named the captain was the icing on the cake I am really excited to deliver for my team as a player and cap

tain “Having a mentor like Sir Vivian Richards is absolutely incredible his pres ence alone will make a big impact in our dugout and we will learn a great deal from his experience and stature in the game

Captain Hyderabad Hunters Saad Baig said: “I am thrilled to captain the Hyderabad Hunters in the Pakistan Junior League I have made steady progress at the age group level and this opportunity will help me im

prove my game further while competing with some of the best U19 talent from around the world

“Our team mentor Daren Sammy is a T20 World Cup winner and has legendary status in the T20 format, we are all looking forward to learning from his vast experi ence

Captain Mardan Warriors Abbas Ali said: “My family was overjoyed with my se

lection in the Mardan Warriors team Cap taining the side in the Pakistan Junior League is a fantastic opportunity for me and I want to give my absolute best in the tour nament

“Shahid Afridi’s presence as Mardan’s team mentor will be hugely beneficial for us considering his rich experience in the T20 format Shahid will hopefully inspire us to great success in the tournament

Captain Rawalpindi Raiders Habibullah said:” I am delighted to captain the Rawalpindi Raiders in the Pakistan Junior League My squad has some exciting talent and I am looking forward to leading them to success in the tournament

“

next Thursday

Babar a zam equals Kohli’s record of 3000 runs in t20is

ta f

R

R

Pakistan Captain Babar Azam reached 3000 runs in T20Is and became the joint quickest to 3000 in T20I alongside Virat Kohli of India during sixth match of the seven matches series against England at Gaddafi Stadium, on Friday Babar Azam reached the mile stone in 81 innings off 86 matches He is the eighth player to achieve the honor and the fifth Men’s batter to cross 3000 runs mark Babar Azam achieved the milestone when he scored 52 runs on his way to 87 n o off 59 balls innings which helped Pakistan reach a competitive total of 169 6 in 20 overs Babar is the first Pakistani batter to reach the milestone and the fifth in Men’s T20Is alongside Indian duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, New Zealander Martin Guptil and Irish Paul Stirling Overall Babar Azam is the eighth International batter to reach the mark which includes three women T20I batters Suzie Bates Meg Lanning and Stefanie Taylor

dha holds dhai-r Squash Championship 2022

Players of different ages and genders participated in DHAI R Squash Championship 2022 organised by e Defence Housing Authority Brig (R) Saleem Nawaz Malik, Director Sports DHAI R honored the event as chief guest and distributed medals to winners and run ner ups of the tournament In the Men Open, Yousuf Naveed won gold medal while Capt (r) Additional deputy commissioner (G) Rawalpindi Qasim Ejaz won the silver medal as runner up In the Boys Under 15, Abdullah won the gold medal and Taha Amir was awarded with silver medal as runner up Other senior of ficials of DHA were also present on the occasion The event provided an opportunity of entertainment and to engage residents of DHAI R with healthy sport activity

teams will practice for four

to the tournament opener

The 19 match tournament will be played on a single league basis with the six teams competing against each other once The top four sides will compete in the playoffs, the final will be played on Friday 21 October

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 winner to get $1.6m prize

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that the team that earns glory at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on November 13 in Melbourne, will take home a cheque of $1 6 million

The total prize pot of $5 6m will see

the runners up assured of $800,000 and the losing semi finalists will receive $400 000 each at the end of the 45 match tournament being played across seven venues in Australia from 16 October, the ICC said in a media release on Friday

Following the same structure as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, the eight teams that exit at the Super 12 stage

will receive $70,000 each, with a victory in each of the 30 games in that phase worth $40 000

Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa are confirmed to start their tournament at the Super 12 stage

The same structure is in place for the first round victories with $40 000

Haris debuts to become 99th player for Pakistan in T20

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

Wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Haris made his T20I debut for Pakistan in the sixth match of the series against England played at Qaddafi Stadium

With debut the 21 year old became the 99th player for Pakistan to play in this format

Haris kept wickets in the fifth T20I as a substitute for Mohammad Rizwan who received a blow on his back while batting Rizwan was rest for the sixth game against on Friday and Haris opened the innings with skipper Babar Azam

Previously, Haris has represented Pakistan in four ODIs Wicket keeper batter Mohammad Haris made his T20 international debut in the sixth game against England the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced

The PCB said the 21 year old replaced Mohammad Rizwan in the playing XI Haris was handed his debut in one day internationals against West Indies this year at Multan Cricket Stadium and has so far played four ODIs for his side

The young batter had caught the attention of everyone during his Pakistan Super League stint for Peshawar Zalmi in the recent season and had replaced Kamran Akmal in the Zalmi line up

“I am very excited over my debut, I have made my debut in ODIs and now I am doing it in T20Is said Haris

in a video posted by the Pakistan Cricket Board

“This is a different level, obviously we are witnessing last over matches last two games were like that So this is an opportunity for me to enhance my skills and playing against a top side like England

I am super excited since I am playing in place of the World No 1 batter so I will try to perform like him Play ing aga i n s t a s i d e l i k e E n g l a n d , t h e p r e s s u r e i s o b v i o u s l y t h e r e T 2 0 i s d i ff e r e n t c r i c k e t , a m a t c h c a n b e c h a n g e d w i t h i n o n e o v e r B u t I a m t a k i n g a l l t h e s e t h i n g s a s p o s i t i v e p r e s s u r e M y t e a m m a t e s h a v e a l w a y s s u p p o r t e d m e a n d I w i l l t r y t o t a k e t h i s p r e s s u r e a s p o s i t i v e ” E n g l a n d a n d P a k i s t a n a r e c u r r e n t l y c o m p e t i n g i n a s e v e n m a t c h T 2 0 I s e r i e s Wi t h v i c t o r y i n Friday s match, both Pakistan and level the series with 3 m a t c h e s w i n e a c h

available to those who win each of the 12 games, amounting to $480,000

The four teams knocked out in the first round will get $40,000 each

Teams whose campaigns begin in the first round are Namibia the Nether lands, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emi rates, Ireland, Scotland, the West Indies and Zimbabwe

Mar yam Malik bags PSF Jr Squash Circuit No 3 title

ISLAMABAD

Maryam Malik of Pakistan Army clinched the Girls Under19 title of the Pakistan Squash Feder ation (PSF) Junior Squash Circuit No 3 here at the Mushaf Squash Complex on Friday Maryam downed Meshwish Ali of Sindh by 11/5, 9/11, 11/3, 9/11, 14/12 (3 2) in the final PSF organ ized the said tournament as part of Juniors’ De velopment Programme and Talent Hunt at grass root level The tournament included competitions of Boys U 11 13 15 17 19 and Girls U 19 age categories In the finals played, in Boys U 11, Mamoon Khan (PAF) beat Faizan Ali (PB) 2/11 11/3, 6/11, 11/8, 11/9 (3 2) In Boys U 13, Noman Khan (PAF) outplayed Ahmed Khalil (PAF) 4/11, 11/8, 11/3, 11/6 (3 1) In Boys U 15, Azan Ali (Army) defeated Mubeen Khan (PAF) 11/3, 11/8, 11/6 (3 1) In Boys U 17, Abdullah Nawaz (PAF) took victory over Huraira Khan (PAF) 11/9, 8/11, 11/7, 11/9 (3 1) In Boys U 19, Anas Ali (PB) sealed win against M Ammad (PAF) 11/8 11/8 7/11 11/6 (3 1) Senator Prince Agha Omer who was the chief guest at the closing ceremony distributed trophies to the play ers Vice President Qamar Zaman was also pres ent on the occasion

Record-breaking USA set up basketball World Cup final against China

SYDNEY

Breanna Stewart drilled 17 points as clinical reigning champions the United States crushed Canada 83 43 in record breaking fashion Friday to set up a women s bas ketball World Cup final against first timers China

They opened with 15 unanswered points and never relented, extending their World Cup win streak to 29 games with their reward a clash with a powerful Chi nese team that upset Australia 61 59 in a pulsating last gasp triumph China made their maiden final after Wang Siyu con verted two free throws with just 3 4 seconds on the clock in front of more than 11,000 raucous fans at the Sydney SuperDome arena

Ever dangerous Las Vegas Aces’ star A’ja Wilson added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the US as they zero in on a fourth straight title and 11th overall

It was the biggest winning margin in a World Cup semi final with Canada’s tally the lowest in a last four clash I was really pleased with our team s attention to detail on the scouting report as Canada has had a terrific

tournament, said USA coach Cheryl Reeve Canada s a very good defensive team so that was a quality win for us “Our goal is to win a gold medal and we are in a position to do that, she added

The USA were always overwhelming favourites in their 10th consecutive World Cup semi final, having never failed to reach the last four since the knockout stage was introduced in 1986

In contrast, world number four Canada had got this far just once before, in 1986, when they also crashed to USA “I’m really proud with the way the team has grown from start to finish,” said Stewart, who is in her third World Cup final

Our work is not done we have one more game the biggest of them all, and we’ll be ready ”

P e r f e c t: The Americans’ depth, defense and scor ing talent were on full display They have killed it inside all tournament, sinking 55 points a game in the paint ahead of the semi final, while punishing errors

It was a similar scenario against Canada who have taken big strides under coach Victor Lapena but strug gled against the speed of their opponents

Congratulations USA they played amazing from

the beginning When you play against USA in a semi final it’s clear you must be perfect or they are going to break the game in 10 or 15 minutes,” said Lapena

The USA s 15 straight points at the start gave them an immediate stranglehold and Canada never recovered

While the US shot 79 percent, Canada could only manage 11 percent as they fell 27 7 behind after the first quarter The margin only grew in the second frame to 45 21, with Seattle forward Stewart at the forefront

They put on another 22 points in the third quarter to build a huge 38 point buffer going into the final stretch Australia and China both went into their semi final with identical 5 1 tournament records, with the hosts losing to France on the opening night and China defeated by the USA

China suffered a huge blow ahead of the match when their leading points scorer and top player Li Meng was ruled out sick, and Australia edged ahead 17 13 in the fast tempo first quarter But China came back strong in the second frame led by towering cen tre Han Xu who hit a game high 19 points, winning it by 10 points to go 36 30 in front as Australia’s shoot ing percentage dropped

LAHORE

N Z P M J a C i N D a Pay s h o M a g E t o B E N a Z i R B h U t t o D U R i N g M E Et i N g w i t h B i l awa l

NEW YORK

NE W Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto on Thursday The New Zealand

PM expressed good wishes for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and paid tribute to former Pakistani premier Be nazir Bhutto Shaheed

Jacinda Ardern told Bilawal Bhutto that her daughter was also born on June 21 the birthday of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed On May 27, Jacinda Ardern heaped praise on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed during her graduation ceremony at Harvard University She said “In June 1989, the prime

She also shared her personal expe rience of meeting Benazir in Geneva in June 2007, saying it was a conference

Dar appreciates refinancing of syndicate facilit y of $2.24b by China

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday appreciated the support extended by the Chinese leadership in refinancing of syndicate facility of RMB 15 billion (US$ 2 24 billion) to Pakistan During a meeting with Ambassador of People’s Republic of China Nong Rong who called him the finance minister further sought ambassador ’s support in facilitating roll over of SAFE China deposits of US$ 2 billion in March 2023, according to press statement issued by finance ministry Finance Minister highlighted deep rooted friendship and brotherly relations between Pakistan and China He apprised the ambassador about the damages caused by the unprecedented floods in Pakistan that affected the infrastructure agriculture lives and properties and cost to the economy at large He expressed gratitude to the government of China for extending all out support to the government and people of Pakistan in this hour of need Referring to CPEC, the Finance Minister said that the Economic Corridor would play an important role in taking Pakistan’s economy forward as well as cementing the bilateral relationship between both the countries He further assured his full support for the assistance making CPEC a successful Nong Rong extended his felicitations to the Minister on assuming his new responsibilities The Ambassador reaffirmed Chinese government’s continued support to Pakistan and emphasized that China stands with people of Pakistan in this hour of need like a rock The Ambassador of China assured full support and cooperation of his government in developing Special Economic Zones as part of CPEC He also thanked Pakistan in facilitating Chinese companies in various projects in Pakistan s

FBR surpasses first quar ter tax target

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue exceeded its first quarter revenue target and collected Rs1 635 trillion from July to September this year The Federal Finance minister on Friday night announced that FBR has not only met the tax target of September but also the first quarter of the current fiscal year He said that FBR collected Rs 685 billion in September which is equal to the set target Similarly, the tax department has also collected Rs1 635 trillion against the target of Rs1 609 trillion from July to September this year he added He also said that FBR has also disbursed Rs84 billion refunds in the first quarter whereas it disbursed Rs62 billion during the first quarter of last fiscal year Finance minister also announced an extension in filing tax returns for another one month

that drew together progressive parties from around the world and Benazir was one of them

She continued: Seven months later she was assassinated Now there will be opinions and differing perspectives writ

ten about all of us as political leaders

“Two things that history will not contest about Benazir Bhutto she was the first Muslim female prime minister elected in an Islamic country when women in power were a rare thing She was also the first to give birth in office The second and only other leader to have given birth in of fice, almost 30 years later, was me

The path she carved as a woman feels as relevant today as it was decades ago And so too is the message she shared here in this place She said partway through her speech in 1989 the following, ‘We must realise that democracy can be fragile

“Now I read those words as I sat in my office in Wellington, New Zealand, a world away from Pakistan And while the reasons that gave rise to her words then were vastly different they still ring true ”

Audio leaks ‘shattered’ Imran’s foreign conspirac y narrative: PM Shehbaz

Islamabad s ta

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that the audio leak of PTI chief Imran Khan had “shattered the narrative” that the latter was ousted from power through a foreign conspiracy

“Everything became clear after Wednesday s audio leak, he said, adding that Imran’s “detestable face” had been re vealed to the entire nation

Addressing a ceremony after laying the foundation stone of the Bhara Kahu bypass in Islamabad, the premier went on the accuse the PTI chief of deceiving the nation by making false claims “Till when will [your] lies survive I don t think there can be a more heinous crime,” he commented

The premier s remarks fol low a series of audio leaks linked to the Prime Minister ’s

Office, the latest of which fea tured a conversation between Imran and Azam Khan, his principal secretary while he was the country s chief execu tive, about a cypher that he has long touted as evidence of an alleged foreign conspiracy to remove him from the top office through a no confidence vote

In the clip, the former prime minister can be heard telling Azam to play up the cypher and turn it into a foreign plot to oust his government He, however, adds that there is no need to name any country We only have to play it up We don’t have to name America We only have to play with this, that this date [of the no trust vote] was [decided] before ”

To this end, Azam his heard suggesting to Imran to call a “meeting of then foreign minis ter Shah Mahmood Qureshi and foreign secretary wherein we

will ask Shah Mahmood Qureshi to read out the letter So whatever he will tell us, I will type it down and convert it into [meeting] minutes so that it be comes part of the office record

Referring to the conversa tion in his speech today, Shehbaz accused Imran of asking his then principal secretary to hatch a conspiracy against Pakistan”

The premier went on to say that he had not seen a more ir responsible person and a bigger liar” than Imran during the “40 years that I spent under the leadership of my elder brother”

And this is something that needs to be lamented and calls for introspection,” he said, adding that after accomplish ments such as leading a team to win the cricket world cup and making the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, nobody would have thought of Imran

ECC approves Rs2150/bag price for impor ted Urea

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved Rs 2150/bag price of imported Urea Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar presided over the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, today The Ministry of Industries and Production tabled a summary on fixation of imported Urea price

It was submitted that TCP was allowed to import 200 KMT of granular Urea from M/s Sinochem Fertilizer and M/s CNAM PGC The cost estimates for import of Urea would be Rs 27 333 billion

The ECC after detailed discussion approved Dealer Transfer Price (DTP) of 50 kg imported Urea bag at Rs 2150/bag and incidental charges at Rs 620 47/bag with sharing subsidy on imported Urea at 50:50 basis with provinces In another summary of the Petroleum Division, the ECC approved the proposal containing a request of M/s Zaver Petroleum Corporation (Pvt) Limited (ZPCL) for assignment of its entire 10% Working Interest (WI) in Bannu West Block to M/s Orient Petroleum Inc (OPI)

The ECC also approved summary of Petroleum Division and granted five years extension w e f 2nd April 2022 in the validity period of development and production lease of Zamzama D&PL, on the existing terms and conditions, covering an area of 525 79 sq kms located in district Dadu, Sindh taking into consideration the remaining recoverable reserves and the economic evaluation of the field Earlier it was granted for a period of twenty years w e f 2nd April , 2002

The ECC also considered another summary of the Petroleum Division and granted extension in the validity period of the eighteen (18) exploration licenses

The Power Division tabled a summary for tariff rationalization for KE It was presented that NEPRA vide its determination for XWDISCOs, has determined periodic adjustments in tariff for third quarter of FY 2021 22 for XWDISCOs and a uniform rate for the 3rd quarterly adjustments of FY 2021 22 for the consumers of XWDISCOs Pursuant to the National Electricity Policy, 2021, the Government may maintain a uniform consumer end tariff for K electric and state owned distribution companies In view of the above, the ECC approved tariff rationalization by way of adjustments at Rs 0 5087/unit with a recovery period of three months for K Electric to maintain the uniform tariff across the country

The Ministry of Commerce presented a summary regarding clearance of stuck up import consignments in light of Office Memoranda issued by the Ministry of Commerce

The ECC after discussion allowed release of consignments of previously banned items for which Goods Declaration (GDs) have been filed on or after 22 August, 2022 at the rates of surcharges contained in the OMs of MOC dated 22 07 2022, 19 08 2022 and 23 08 2022 or the new/enhanced rates of RDs and ACDs contained in SROs issued on 22 08 2022 whichever is higher

The ECC also approved a technical supplementary grant of Rs 2 000 million in favour of the Ministry of Housing and works

Imran likely to give ‘ final c all ’ for long march in a week

Islamabad/PEsHaWaR

Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan will announce a date for the long march towards Islamabad within seven days, the top PTI huddle decided on Friday

According to party sources, a meeting of the party’s senior leadership was held here with Imran Khan in the chair wherein it was decided that the time has arrived to give a final call for a protest in Islamabad

According to sources, the long march could be an nounced in the third week of October and Imran Khan has directed the senior leadership to start preparations for the long march

Strong reservations were expressed during the meeting with regard to Ishaq Dar ’s return and acquittal of Maryam Nawaz in Avenfield reference during the meeting and it was stressed that the matter should be taken up with the masses,” they said

It was also decided, according to sources, that op tion to return to the assemblies shall not be considered anymore and now the PTI will take to the streets and the masses would now decide the future of politics in the country

Earlier in the day, PTI chairman Imran Khan an nounced that he would soon give a call to his support ers to pull the country out of the crisis

Addressing a ceremony at Lahore’s Edwards Col lege in Peshawar, Imran Khan said he will not allow dacoits to loot resources of the country and will fight them even if he has to do it alone by himself

Imran Khan said properties of the Sharif family were unearthed in Panama Leaks but the biggest da coits’ are being given NRO, he claimed

Former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan Friday announced that he would soon give a call to his supporters to pull country out of the crisis

Addressing a ceremony at s Edwards College in

Peshawar, Imran Khan said he will not allow dacoits to loot resources of the country and will fight them even if he has to do it alone by himself

He asked the masses to come out for real independ ence and give a message to everyone that they will not be a slave to any superpower Imran Khan said proper ties of the Sharif family were unearthed in Panama Leaks but the biggest dacoits are being given NRO, he claimed

The former prime minister said societies cannot pros per without rule of law in the country The law and justice system should be the same for rich and poor, he added

On the economic situation, Imran Khan said the rupee has devalued over 30pc against US dollar since the ouster of his government and said the masses are facing the worst inflation in the history of Pakistan

He termed the audio leaks of Prime Minister ’s Of fice a biggest security breach Confidential information has reached to the enemies of Pakistan he maintained

Phil S alt-powered vic tor y leads England to level series with Pakistan

laHORE s ta f f r e p o r t

English opener Phil Salt played the career best volatile innings of 88 n o off 41 balls to overhaul a competitive total against Pakistan and level the seven match series 3 3 in the 6th match at Gaddafi Stadium on Friday night England overhauled a reasonable total of 169 6 by Pakistan with quite ease in the 15th over with 33 balls to spare So powerful was the assault by the Eng lish batters that the Pakistani bowling looked spineless and helpless and reminded of the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf

and Naseem Shah

The inexperience of Pakistan s pace trio was exposed when the English batters spanked Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Wasim and Aamer Jamal to all parts of the ground The opening pair of Phil Salt and Alex Hales was equally harsh against Mohammad Nawaz The English openers scored the fastest opening partnership of 50 runs in mere three overs So reckless was the carnage that Babar Azam had to bring Shadab Khan within the power play and he was successful in breaking the opening partnership but the bowlers were not able to stop the run flow as the English batters scored 82 1 in the first overs

Pakistan Captain Babar Azam admitted at the post match ceremony that Phil Salt took the game away from them through his forceful power hitting Shadab Khan was the most successful bowler for Pakistan as he claimed 2 wickets for 34 runs in four hours The other bowlers were costly and bled runs all over the park Dahani conceded 33 while Aamer Jamal 30 in two overs each Mohammad Nawaz gave away 43 runs in his quota of four overs while Mohammad Wsim conceded 29 runs in 2 3 overs and all went wicketless Alex Hales hit 27(12), David Malan 26 (18) while Ben Ducket scored 26 n o off 16 balls

Earlier, skipper Babar Azam proved to be the most reliable batter for Pakistan when he scored 87 n o in a match where the middle order bat ting left many questions to be answered Babar Azam also became the first Pak istan batter to reach 3000 runs and became the joint quickest to the mark alongside Virat Kohli of India who had reached 3000 runs in 81 innings Mohammad Haris debuted for Pakistan as Mr reliable Mohammad Rizwan was rested but the debutant could not leave an impression and fell cheaply in the third over of the Pakistan innings Shan Masood fell cheaply as well when he was adjudged lbw Iftikhar Ahmed played a knock of 31

runs but failed to finish while Asif Ali 9 (9) failed yet again to finish the innings Mo hammad Nawaz scored 12(7) while Haider Ali could score 18 (13)

Sam Curran was most successful and economical bowler for England who claimed 2 wickets for 27 runs David Willey also re turned figures of 4 0 32 2, Reece Topley 4 0 31 1, While Gleeson picked one wicket for 39 runs Adil Rasheed went wicketless and conceded 38 runs in four overs In a prior team ceremony, Mohammad Rizwan gave debut cap to Mohammad Haris Pakistan meet England in the last match of the series on Sunday evening at the same venue

Islamabad