Epaper_22-10-03 LHR

Cabinet thumbs up for aCtion against imran, aides over Cipher-audio leak

COA S meets UN Militar y Advisor, discusses regional security

RAWALPINDI

Chief of Army Staff (COA S) General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Mili tar y Advisor to Secretar y General United Nat on (UN) Birame Diop (Sene gal) during an officia visit to United States (US)

Dur ng the meeting, matters of mutual nterest, overall regional secu r ty s tuat on including natural disaster caused by f ood across the countr y came under d scuss on sa d an nter Ser vices Public Re at ons (ISPR) news re ease received here

The Army Chief apprec ated the ro e of the office of UN Mi itar y Advisor in promoting UN core values and their response during crises

The UN M litar y Advisor expressed h s grief over the devastation caused by ongoing floods in Pakistan due to climate change and offered sincere condolence to the families of the vic tims He assured ful support to the flood victims

The UN dign tar y acknowledged Pakistan’s contribution in UN peace keeping Miss ons and extraord nar y achievements in counter terrorism the ISPR added

The Express Tribune on Saturday re ported quoting its sources that Army ch ef General Qamar Javed Ba wa s in the United States on a five day trip in yet another sign of stepped up ef forts by both the sides to improve their

The army chief is scheduled to hold a series of meetings w th the US offic als including a vis t to the Penta gon and Langley, the headquarters of the Central Inte ligence Agency (CIA)

His v sit is being closely fo lowed as some have linked t with the expected change of command in November in the army There are specu ations that his v sit may mean that the govern ment may extend his already ex tended tenure

But sources in Washington are p aying down such speculations and ins sted the visit has nothing to do with the Pakistan domestic s tuat on

They say the visit was long over due The v sit was postponed thr ce because of different reasons General Bajwa was to travel to Washington in early 2022 but because of the Russ ian invasion of Ukraine the trip was put on hold

The v sit was reschedu ed to take p ace in March April but because of the change of government, the trip was called off once aga n The two sides cou d not arrange a trip in Au gust either Fina y he has now trav elled to the US at the nvitation of US Defense Secretar y Lloyd Austin

The visit reflects the renewed push by the two countries to reset their trou b ed relations

tHE cabinet has decided in prin ciple to prosecute Imran Khan leaders of his party inc uding Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Asad Umar and his former pr ncipal secretar y Azam Khan over a eaked conversation discussing a d p o mat c cable from a United States official that is at the centre of former prime min ster s allegations that his ouster was or chestrated by Washington

The chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) party was ousted through a contentious vote of no conf dence in April He has since shaped his narrative around the cable, called c pher, based on a meet ng between Asad Majeed Khan then ambassador of Pakistan to the US, and Donald Lu, an ass stant secretar y of state for south and centra Asian affairs

a n d d e s c r i b e d i t a s a w r i t t e n t h r e a t f r o m a f o r e g n p o w e r w i t h o u t m e n t i o n i n g t h e n a m e

Later, t turned out, he was mention ing a dip omatic cable dispatched by the ambassador after his conversation with Lu Accord ng to a report the con v e r s a t i o n t o o k p l a c e a t t h e a m b a s s a d o r ’ s f a r e w e l l l u n c h o n M a r c h 7 w h c h w a s a l s o a t t e n d e d b y a n o t e taker from Pakistan along w th other of f c als from both sides

On Saturday during a press confer ence of Pak stan Musl m League Nawaz (PML N) ministers Mar yam Nawaz the party s vice president asked the govern ment to take egal action against Khan over the leaked conversations appar ently between Khan and his min sters discussing the conf dential cable

A c c o r d i n g t o a C a b n

memo dated October 1, a meet ng of the body on Friday constituted a sub committee to deliberate and recom

conversation of the former Prime Minis ter Imran Khan his political associates and the then secretar

to the PM, avail

Therefore the apex investigation agency (FIA) may be directed to nqu re into the matter by const tut ng a team of senior off cers wh ch may co opt of ficers/officials from other ntelligence agencies for the purpose and to pro ceed further against the perpetrators n accordance with the law,” it said

The cabinet also sought the imple mentation report on its suggestions “ m mediately

According to the memo the probe committee wil consist of the represen tatives of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties in the govern ment “along with ministers ”

During the Fr day meeting the cab inet was to d that the conversations pur portedly featuring Khan and his ministers exposed the criminal conspiracy of the former government ” as it gave the cable fictitious meanings for political mileage and subsequently it was sto en after fraud, forger y, fabricat on ”

Example should be made of Imran for ‘treason’ against nation, state: Mar riyum

ment was f zz ed out after sur fac ng of h s purportedly leaked audios

Min ster for Information and Broadcast ing Marriyum Aurangzeb said Imran Khan was a foreign funded conspiracy and h s prime objective was to weaken the countr y wh ch was a nuclear power

Imran Khan who is an imported conspiracy ” against the countr y, has played with the national interests she said wh le terming the Pak stan Tehreek i Insaf (PT ) chief a “cr mina ” who, she added committed treason against the nat on and state The min ster in a news statement, sa d an examp e should be made of him [Imran Khan] as he bent on creating chaos and anarchy n the countr y through his consistent lies under a conspiracy

She said Imran Khan knew that he had been exposed as h s drama of for eign consp racy and imported govern

Marriyum said the people would get Haqeeqi Azadi (real freedom) when they got rid of “ foreign agent ” and “ tra tor Imran Khan It was him [Imran Khan] who was both an anima and a for eign agent ”

She said foreign agent Imran Khan had not only compromised on the na tional interest and the Kashmir cause but a so transgressed the Constitut on MISOGYNIST HA S NO RESPECT FOR WOMEN: Earlier Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marr yum Aurangzeb said that the fo lowers of Pakistan

Tehreek i Insaf Chairman Imran Khan have become deaf, dumb and blind and they wil not return to the r ght path

This she said in a tweet quoting the 18th Ayat of Sura Baqarah in the Holy Quran with regards to the attitude of PTI leaders workers and followers

She said Mar yam Nawaz was right about Imran Khan The minister said that it was unfortunate that on one had to even mention this sorr y excuse for a human being who continued to stoop to new ows of m sogyny She said Imran Khan had proven time and aga n that he was a misogynist who has no respect for women and that he considered them to be nothing more than objects to be abused and harassed

Marriyum Aurangzeb said Imran has encouraged and inculcated this be hav or and m ndset both in his party members and his followers

She maintained that it was espe cially disappointing and sad to see fe ma e party members and fo lowers of PTI not on y condoning such behavior but partaking in it and ce ebrating t too “

This is extremely shamefu and is a true ref ection of how small a man IK ( mran Khan) rea ly is she sa d

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t

cypher message rece ved from

a

March 7, 2022)”

fraught and difficult relations I t s a i d t h a t G e n B a j w a w a s a c c o m p a n i e d b y a h i g h p o w e r e d d e l e g a t o n

ACCePt demAndS By mondAy or FACe Countrywide Shutdown, KiSSAn ittehAd iSSueS deAdline

ISLAMABAD s ta

P o

iSSUING a deadline to the government to fulfill their demands till Monday

Chairman Kissan Ittehad Khalid Hussain Batth on Sunday threatened to give a countrywide shutdown call if the government fails to address farmers’ demands

While talking to the media in Islamabad

Cash-star ved KP yet to pay September salar y to employees

PESHAWAR a z z b u N e r

on Sunday, Khalid Batth expressed hope that the government will issue a notification after accepting the farmers demands

He urged the government to issue a notification to fulfil the demands, otherwise, the protesting farmers would shutdown the entire country, adding that millions of farmers will head towards Islamabad on his call The Kissan Ittehad s sit in continued for fifth consecutive day in Islamabad, whereas, the farmers gave a deadline to the

government to fulfil their demands by Monday

Deadlock persisted between the government and farmers as another round of talks remained inconclusive

Kissan Ittehad protestors hinted at lodging sit ins outside the parliament and Bani Gala if their demands are not fulfilled by Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governments

Yesterday, Interior Minister Rana

Sanaullah termed the farmers’ protest without any justification

A deadlock between the government and the protesting farmers continued as another round of talks ended without any result

The farmers leaders were informed about the situation in a meeting,” interior minister said “The government is serious over legitimate demands of the farmers and has already accepted postponement of the payments of tube well bills,” he said “A

notification to this respect has already been issued protest over the matter is unjustified,” he said

Protest is impermissible in Red Zone by farmers any other group or party ” the minister said

“The law will come into motion against those marching on the Red Zone the interior minister warned “The Supreme Court (SC) has clearly ruled against any protest in the Red Zone he added

It is pertinent to mention here that the protest of farmers in Islamabad, who have gathered under the umbrella of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, has entered fourth day

The farmers were demanding the restoration of the previous tubewell electricity tariff of Rs5 3 per unit and abolishing all taxes and adjustments

R u l e r s w i l l g e t n o t h i n g o u t o f I m ra n’s d i s q u a l i fi c at i o n , a r re s t : Sh R a s h i d

P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k i I n s a f ( P T I ) C h a i r m a n I m r a n K h a n s d i s q u a l i f i c a t i o n a n d a r r e s t “ T h e w e a k m i n d e d r u l e r s t a k e e v e r y s t e p a g a i n s t t h e m s e l v e s , ” h e s a i d

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is facing a severe financial crisis because of the ongoing “cold war” between the provincial and the federal governments The government employees salaries have been stopped as the federal government has halted provision of funds to the province However, the KP government has assured that salaries will be released by next week Sources said that federal government has delayed payment of funds the province, creating difficulties for the province However, the federal government transferred some funds to the province on Friday evening, but since there was not enough cash in the bank account, salaries could not be released on 30 September There is a possibility that employees will receive salaries on next Tuesday On the other hand, KP Minister of Finance and Health Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that salaries will be paid next week without further delay According to financial institution sources, KP is facing a severe financial crisis for the past six months which is dependent on the federal government for more than 80% of its financial requirements For several months KP has been experiencing a cash shortage which has also affected the process of salaries payments Moreover, several important development programs are also facing delay due to lack of funds release

Army, FC continue relief effor ts in flood hit Balochistan

Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps in support with the civil administration continued carrying out relief and rehabilitation operations in the areas hit by the devastation floods Inter Services Public Relations Balochistan (ISPR), Balochistan in a handout issued here on Sunday said Pak Army and FC were supporting civil administration to provide relief to the flood victims It said that as many as 13 relief camps were working in the flood affected areas of Kohlu, Bolan, Sibi, Dera Murad Jamali, Jafarabad, Nasirabad, Sohabatpur and Jhal Magsi districts where flood hit people were provided with cooked food along with other facilities During the last 24 hours, as many as 2,661 ration packets, 35,400 water bottles 3 095 kilogram edibles including tea leaves oil rice and sugar, blankets, mosquito nets, warm clothes and hygiene kits were distributed in Bolan Sibi Kalat Khuzdar, Awaran, Jafarabad, Nasirabad, Jhal Magsi and Sahabatpur districts Under the supervision of Pakistan Army and FC Balochistan, six collection points were also established in Quetta for the relief of flood victims so that timely assistance could be provided to the deserving people A total of 55 free medical camps were organized by Pakistan Army, FC Balochistan, PDMA and welfare organizations during the last 24 hours to control epidemics and other diseases in the flood affected districts, in which 4,521 patients were treated The ISPR handout further noted that efforts were afoot to restore the damaged infrastructure

e s t i g a t e t h e c i p h e r

I n a s t a t e m e n t o n Tw i t t e r, S h e i k h R a s h i d s a i d t h a t t h e r u l e r s w i l l n o t g e t a n y t h i n g o u t o f t h e

He further targeted the Foreign Minister Bilawal

B h u t t o Z a r d a r i s a y i n g t h a t h e i s h a v i n g f u n i n A m e r i c a f o r t w o w e e k s a n d i s n o t w o r r i e d a b o u t t h e f l o o d v i c t i m s o f S i n d h

F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e f o r m e r f e d e r a l m i n i s t e r w h i l e

p o i n t i n g o u t t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e h e a r i n g o n N A B amendment case on October 4 said that the decision o f t h e p o l i t i c a l f u t u r e o f P a k i s t a n i s n o w c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e p r e s t i g i o u s c o u r t s

S h e i k h R a s h i d s a i d t h e r e i s a n e e d t o d e a l w i t h t h e p r o b l e m s o f t h e p e o p l e a n d n o t w i t h t h e ‘ t h i e v e s ’ O c t o b e r i s i m p o r t a n t a n d i m p o r t a n t p o l i t i c a l d e c i s i o n s w i l l b e m a d e b y N o v e m b e r 1 5 h e a d d e d

Audio, video leaks not in national interest: Ashrafi

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e P o r t

Pa k i s t a n re ce i ve d $ 9 0 . 2 m f ro m

C h i n a fo r f l o o d re l i e f

ISLAMABAD

As large swaths of Pakistan are inundated by floodwaters and over 33 million people have been affected by the unprecedented monsoon rain triggered floods China s continuous response efforts for Pakistan have exceeded 644 1 million RMB (equivalent to US$90 2 million)

According to Gwadar Pro the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Pakistan shared details about China’s support for Pakistan in flood relief As per details the Chinese government extended support of RMB 400 million, the Chinese Army RMB 100 million, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries donated RMB 125 million, and the Red Cross Society of China provided RMB 2 1 million

All walks of life in China are motivated to assist Pakistan in fighting the floods In the face of disaster, China stands with Pakistan, “reads a statement shared on the Embassy s official Twitter account

killed 1678 people and left 12864 others injured

As per NDMA’s latest updates, 2,045,349 houses have been totally or partially damaged

The floods also damaged 13,074 km of roads and 410 bridges

Several Pakistan based Chinese companies are also taking part in relief activities while the Chinese government is also expected to help the country in rehabilitation activities

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other Pakistani officials have time and again expressed profound gratitude to President Xi Jinping and the government of China for their sincere efforts and financial assistance during this critical time

China and Pakistan have a long history of helping each other during natural disasters and calamities The continued assistance from Beijing for the victims of floods in Pakistan has once again proved that China is a devoted friend? you can count on it to be there in weal and woe

Prime Minister ’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Sunday said audio and video leaks of any political leadership was not in country’s interest anyway In an exclusive talk with APP, Ashrafi who is also the Chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council said it had opened new Pandora’s box at a time when one third land of the country was inundated by monsoon rains and flash floods Despite of this national emergency, he lamented that the entire political leadership and media were engaged in audio and video tape controversies He said Pakistan was passing through a critical phase of economic recession and it could only be overcome by political stability in the country The present government was making all out efforts to revive the economic activities in a bid to bring the country on the road to progress he added Ashrafi proposed to adopt the reconciliatory approach to get the country out of prevailing political and economic crisis Regarding Rabi ul Awwal, he said it was being celebrated as month of the Paigham e Rehmatul lil Alameen’ across the country He said peace affection and tolerance was message of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and it was the responsibility of every Muslim to spread this noble message in letter and spirit on the globe Islam is spread worldwide through the best moral ethics that is why; even the enemies of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) used to call him Sadiq and Ameen (Truthful and Honest),” he added He also appealed the nation and Muslim Ummah to help the flood victims generously, especially during the holy month of Rabi ul Awwal Ashrafi said following the teachings of Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) we should extend all out support to the affected people as the flood situation had hit approximately 33 million people who are in dire need of humanitarian aid He thanked the Muslim countries and rest of the world for standing by Pakistan at this hour of trials and tribulations and helping the flood affected people through all possible means To a query regarding the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, he made it clear that no law could be enacted in Pakistan against the divine commands the Holy Quran and Sunnah as per the Constitution Ashrafi said being a sensitive issue all the stakeholders should be taken board to remove all the shortcomings in the Transgender Rights Bill amicably

I suppose one of the hidden benefits of Miftah Ismail s resignation is that the headache of finding a seat for him by October 18 was removed Dar, who already had a seat in the Senate, to be got by merely taking oath Miftah Ismail has twice been Finance Minister of the country, twice in search of a seat, never getting one The last time was a clever manipulation of the Constitution, when he filled in while Ishaq Dar was in self exile, in the last months before the end of tenure of the last Parliament He never went through the

motions of trying to find a seat He did recently, in the National Assembly by election caused by Faisal Vawda going up to the Senate He lost to Abdul Qadir Patel of the PPP Since Patel is Health Services Minister that means that the winner and the loser of one election served in the same Cabinet Winners and losers sometimes end up in the same Parliament Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the former PM, lost his seat to the PTI s Sadaqat Ali Abbassi but entered Parliament by winning the by election on the Lahore seat vacated by Hamza Shahbaz Sharif A loser of an election has entered the Assembly through a by election before, but the Cabinet? I can t think of a previous example

Dar has been bad news for the PTI But then Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain Safdar were acquitted in the Avenfield reference The PTI reaction put me in mind of a French newspaper which had labelled one of the accused in a high profile murder case the ‘Monster Murderer Its headline on the case read ‘Monster Murderer Acquitted’ In the same way, no one in the PTI has admitted that the party got it wrong Heck, they even said the purpose of removing Imran was to get Maryam acquitted I presume Joe Biden took part in the conspiracy because he also wanted to get acquitted

Speaking of the US conspiracy against Imran, it s back in the news, because of the audio leaks of a conversation between

Imran and his Principal Secretary The conversations of Shehbaz Sharif and quite a few people have also been leaked I suspect Imran at least knew that his office was not safe Or else why had he so many meetings on PM House s lawns?

Of course, not everything is secret For example, it’s no secret that Iran’s government is feeling the heat from the protests at the death of a young woman in the custody of the Morality Police The Taliban are making a hash of keeping the peace in Afghanistan And there are not just floods over here, but Imran is protesting all over the place

What we do know is that Donald Trump once said he could knife someone in the middle of New York and his base would not turn against him Maybe the same applies to Imran

Meanwhile, they’re getting upset in Russia at the new mobilization drive Maybe that’s what’ll end the war in

Ukraine: Russian young men refusing to fight Nobody is taking pacificism to the heights they did in ancient Rome where young men would chop off their right thumbs (and thus make them unable to hold a sword) to avoid military service The modern equivalent would be to chop off one’s right index finger (or trigger finger) There were a few examples but not many If you objected to shedding other people’s blood, you also objected to the spilling of your own No one in Russia is reported as having chopped off any fingers, but there has been disquiet There’s an English proverb which came from the seventh century: to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face A seventh century English abbess is supposed to have done so to dissuade Viking raiders, who were running rampant those days Recruiting sergeants don’t mind conscripts not having a nose So long as they have trigger fingers

Monday, 3 October, 2022 | LAHORe 02 newS LAHORE: Punjab Senior Minister Aslam Iqbal waves to spectators during final match of Pak England T20 series Photo by zubair Mehfooz

1 7 m w e l e C t r i C i t y t o h e l P G wA d A r F r e e Z o n e S A C C e l e r At e e C o n o m i C A C t i v i t i e S

disclosed

GWADAR local power authority has agreed on the supply of electricity of around 17 MW for Gwadar Free Zone I and Gwadar Free Zone II, promising impetus to economic activities and acceleration of industrialization in Gwadar

A senior official from the local branch of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) conceded to make available 17 MW to both Free Zones in Gwadar Around 5 MW was sought for Gwadar Free Zone I and 12 MW was requested for Gwadar Free Zone II

WAPDA is a government owned authority responsible for regulation, integration, and maintain rapid development and maintenance of water and power resources of the country In Balochistan, WAPDA works with Quetta Electricity Supply Company (QESCO) which is responsible to distribute and supply of power to all areas including Gwadar

Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) official told Gwadar Pro that China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC) held talks with local officials of WAPDA and

CPne refutes hosting any seminar or event

LAHORE

s ta f f r e P o r t

The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) refuted reports that it had organized any seminar or dialogue on Sunday In a statement CPNE Secretary General Amir Mahmood said that the CPNE had nothing to do with a dialogue on “Growing Violence Against Women in Politics” organised by the 4th Pillar Vigilant Media Watchdog “Those who organized the seminar/event in the name of CPNE are merely using name of this council In fact they are publicity seekers and the public should now truth about them,” the statement added It said the 4th Pillar Vigilant Media Watchdog has no any link with CPNE whatsoever and the CPNE refutes reports or claims about hosting any function seminar or dialogue The statement informed the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has been working since its foundation in 1957 as the combined body of newspaper editors in Pakistan to campaign for defence of press freedom and the right of access to information in the service of democratic practice and strengthening of democratic institutions in the country

Pti gov t removed through conspiracy: Asad umar

ISLAMABAD

ta f f r e P o r t

Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Asad Umar on Sunday reiterated that PTI was removed from power through a conspiracy Addressing a press conference, Asad Umar said that Imran Khan left Prime Minister House with just a pen and his diary and allegations against him that he misplaced the US cypher are baseless Criticizing ruling coalition the former planning minister said that a common man in the country has to live as per law of the country but these rulers amends laws as per their wishes and end cases against them

It is expected that after a formal letter drafted by COPHC in collaboration with GPA lands in the office of Quetta Electricity Supply Company (QESCO), due process to sanction the power supply will take its course as per rules After the summary is nodded positively, COPHC will have to pay the cost of power distribution lines to be laid down at the allocated sites

A few days back, Government announced to purchase 100 MW of electricity from Iran to meet the power demand in Gwadar

Meanwhile, COPHC proposed to get 50 MW through the installation of IPP power plant in collaboration with Chinese power producers in Gwadar

The basic reason behind the proposal was that for long, Chinese companies have been overstressed by overpriced power production by 8 5 MW generators in Gwadar Free Zone against the backdrop of non availability of power supply from government With passage of time the cost of electricity has ballooned excessively, putting extreme burden on corporate finance

Gwadar Port used to purchase petrol at a cost of Rs 20 3 million monthly Chinese companies in Gwadar Free

Islamabad repor ts 73, L ahore 276 new dengue c ases

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD

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As many as 73 new cases of dengue virus were reported in the federal capital while 276 new cases of dengue virus were reported in Punjab during the last 24 hours

According to health department sources, a total of 7039 cases of dengue virus have so far been reported during the current year while 9 people died of virus and 1061 patients are under treatment in different hospitals of the province

The Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare department reported 119 cases of dengue in Lahore, 69 in Rawalpindi 36 in Gujranwala 11 in Multan 5 in Faisalabad, 5 in Okara, 4 in Sargodha, 4 in Sheikhupura, 3 in Vehari, 2 in Gujrat, 2 in Sialkot, 2 in Attock 2 in Bahawalpur 2 in Jhelum 2 in Mandi Bahaudin, 2 in Jhang, 01 in Sahiwal, 01 in Hafizabad, 01 in Dera Ghazi Khan, 01 in Chakwal 01 in Toba Tek Singh and 01

cases of dengue in Rahimyar Khan during the last 24 hours All suspected cases of dengue have been kept in surveillance and their tests are being conducted

The anti dengue squad destroyed dengue larvae at 2826 places in the province during continuous daily based surveillance

The anti dengue squad conducted surveillance at 419,933 indoor and 103,097 outdoor places to detect dengue larvae during the last 24 hours The P&SHD urged the people to adopt precautionary measures and keep their environment clean and dry to protect themselves from dengue

Meanwhile, the federal capital has reported 73 more dengue cases during the past 24 hours taking the total tally of cases to 2 508 in the current season, said District Health Officer (DHO) Islamabad According to the statistics provided by the DHO Islamabad 30 of the total 73 cases were reported in rural areas of the capital while the rest 43 were reported from urban premises

Q uddus-Jam meeting an impor tant development in Balochistan: BAP leader

organized, he said in a statement issued here

Zone were charged Rs 49 per unit accordingly, which was very high “In a new scenario the monthly purchase cost for Gwadar companies has soared to Rs 25 5 million It is more than 25 percent rise, a COPHC official said

COPHC has proposed that if the government allows relevant terms and conditions conferred to IPPs, COPHC in collaboration with Chinese power producers can generate 50 MW sufficiently

“Chinese IPPs’ power cost will be more affordable This will not only be a shot in the arms of the already functional enterprises but will also embolden new investors to operate in Gwadar Free Zone with a peaceful mind he added

Currently, in Gwadar free Zone, around 51 companies have been registered Around 10 companies including CBC H K Sons Agvon Linyi Trade City China Ecological Company, China Harbor Engineering Company, Hengmei, Jintai and others are up and running their functions

On the ground, Gwadar is not connected to National Grid so far As Iran border is just 70 km away, Gwadar is receiving power supply from Iran since long

nation pays rich tribute to umer Sharif on his first death anniversar y

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e P o r t

People from all walks of life through social media platforms have paid rich tributes to renowned actor, King of Comedy, TV and stage personality, Umer Sharif on his first death anniversary today (Sunday) He was born on 19th of April 1960 in Karachi Umer Sharif started his career from Karachi as a stage performer at the age of 19 in 1974 Some of his extremely popular comedy stage plays were Bakra Qistoon Pe and Buddha Ghar Pe Hy He received National awards for Best Director and Best Actor in 1992, electronic channels reported Umer Sharif was the only actor to receive four Nigar Awards in a single year He also received three Graduate Awards Umer Sharif was also a recipient of Tamgha e Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan He died on this day in 2021 in Germany due to protected illness

Committees to find out reasons for unsatisfactor y results of 9th class

MULTAN a P P

Former Information Secretary and Spokesman of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Chaudhry Shabbir on Sunday said Quddus Jam meeting is an important development in Balochistan politics

“The end of the difference of the two leaders would pave way for the betterment of the province and make the Balochistan Awami Party active and

He further said both the leaders sitting CM Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo former CM Balochistan Jam Kamal have extensive political experience

“The unity of the senior leaders of BAP would not only promote the common positive development thinking and vision but also facilitate the implementation of the progressive manifesto of the party in the real sense,

India’s Chenab railway bridge attempt to keep Kashmir under subjugation

Jammu

India’s

h e d i s p u t e d r e g i o n o f K a s h m i r w i t h I n d i a ’s m a s s i v e r a i l n e t w o r k , m a k i n g i t m o r e a c c e s s i b l e f o r i t s m i l i t a r y logistics and supplies

T h i s i l l e g a l p r o j e c t o f I n d i a h a s s p a r k e d f e a r s a n d w o r r y a m o n g t h e K a s h m i r i p e o p l e w h o a r e a l r e a d y facing blatant human rights abuses and terror at the hands of notorious Indian occupation forces

Kashmiris are well aware of Indian n e f a r i o u s a n d c o l o n i a l d e s i g n s a s K a s h m i r h a s b e e n s y s t e m a t i c a l l y

s t r i p p e d o f i t s a u t o n o m y i n r e c e n t y e a r s , a n d c o n s t r u c t i o n o f r a i l w a y s i g n a l s g r e a t e r I n d i a n c o n t r o l a n d u n w a n t e d t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f t h e mountainous region

K a s h m i r i p e o p l e a n d l e a d e r s h i p have serious concerns regarding peace and stability of the region They firmly believe that the railway will bring more instability to Kashmir which is already f a c i n g i l l e g a l I n d i a n o c c u p a t i o n a n d struggling with uncalled for and unjust demographic changes

K a s h m i r i s a r e c e r t a i n t h a t t h e r e will be a mass population shift in the UN declared disputed region because o f t h i s b r i d g e w h i c h w i l l f o r s u r e d e s t r o y t h e i d e n t i t y o f t h e r e g i o n w h e r e I n d i a h a s b e e n b l a t a n t l y p u r s u i n g i t s c o l o n i a l a n d i m p e r i a l designs

Pakistan and India had fought over t h e M u s l i m m a j o r i t y t e r r i t o r y s i n c e 1 9 4 7 P o l l s h a v e s h o w n t h a t m a n y i n the Indian controlled Kashmir want to m e rg e w i t h P a k i s t a n o r b e c o m e a n i n d e p e n d e n t s t a t e , a n d i n r e c e n t decades, authorities have struggled to

s u p p r e s s t h e o n g o i n g f r e e d o m

struggle T h e I n d i a n s e c u r i t y f o r c e s h a v e b e e n r e s o r t i n g t o g r a v e h u m a n r i g h t s v i o l a t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g r a p e a n d extrajudicial killings

I n d i a n s e c u r i t y f o r c e s h a v e b e e n suppressing peaceful political freedom movement of Kashmiris In 1990, the K a s h m i r f r e e d o m m o v e m e n t w a s c r u s h e d w i t h o v e r w h e l m i n g a n d r u t h l e s s p o w e r o f o v e r 8 0 0 , 0 0 0 military and paramilitary forces

T h e s e p e r s o n n e l n e v e r l e f t t h e r e g i o n a n d p r e s e n t l y K a s h m i r i s t h e m o s t m i l i t a r i z e d r e g i o n u n d e r o n e o f the most brutal regimes of the world

I n d i a i s l o o k i n g t o c o n n e c t t h e disputed territory through the bridge to h a v e a f i r m e r g r i p o n i t w i t h t h e ultimate goal to deny Kashmiris their right to self determination guaranteed under the United Nations Security Council resolutions

Since 2019, when Indian government unilaterally changed Kashmir ’s internationally recognized disputed status and imposed a region

wide communication blackout to quell dissent, it has persistently pushed policies to cause demographic changes in severe violations of the United Nations human rights charter and international laws

Afterwards, the state was bifurcated into two territories separating Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir The age old State Subject law was nullified and replaced with a new domicile ordinance granting millions of Indians domicile rights in Jammu and Kashmir About 4 3 million Indian Hindus were granted domicile in Jammu & Kashmir 2 5 million Indian citizens were issued ballots to vote in future elections of the disputed region

The Election Commission of India recently announced plans to give voting rights to people who are temporarily living in the region, a move that has stirred outrage among native Kashmiris and local political leaders The move is expected to add about 2 5 million voters to the region including Indian military personnel, marking a 30% increase in the electoral rolls

Secretary, School Education Department, South Punjab on Sunday took notice of unsatisfactory examination results of 9th class and ordered to form fact finding committees at division level to find out the reasons for the unexpected results The committees will review the issues of teaching learning, scheme of studies, curriculum, course duration, paper pattern, paper checking, marking and examination system in collaboration with all stakeholders including administrative officers, teachers, students, parents and examiners The fact finding teams were directed to submit report with Secretary Education office South Punjab within three weeks According to details, Secretary Education South Punjab Dr Ehtesham Anwar took notice of the unsatisfactory results in the 9th class annual examination 2022 organized by Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur education Boards Fact finding committees consisting of academicians, Boards officials and teachers have been formed at the division level to find out the reasons for the unexpected results and to review from all aspects The committees will also have access to relevant records in this regard

railway raises fares for ac, sleeper, standard economy class

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan railways have notified an increase in fares of trains including Khyber Mail express, Karakoram Express, and Rehman Baba According to the notification issued by the Ministry of Railway, Khyber Mail s AC Sleeper class fare for Karachi Peshawar has been raised to Rs11,000, AC business class to Rs6,200, and AC standard class to Rs5,700 According to the notification, Karakoram Express’s Economy class fare for the Karachi Lahore route has been increased to Rs3000 Karahi Express’s AC Sleeper fare has also been increased to Rs9000, AC Business to Rs5,700, AC Standard to Rs4 150 while Economy fare has been increased to Rs3000 Rehman Baba Express’s AC Business class fare has been increased to Rs7000 AC Standard to Rs5 000 and Economy class fare has been raised to Rs3000 The fare for AC Business class of Pakistan Business Express has been raised to Rs7000 The Karachi Lahore operation of Pakistan railways would be restored on October 5

succeeded in obtaining the minimum required electricity GPA will take on board both authorities to ensure the supply of 17 MW for both zones

“Usually power cost varies between Rs 28 to Rs 32 per unit as per normal and peak hours but with intermittent pattern to the private sector However, for Gwadar Free Zone I and Gwadar Free Zone II, power fare will range between Rs 40 to Rs 45 in accordance with normal and peak hours as it will be supplied in an uninterrupted manner free from outage like 24 hours,” he

QUETTA

TurKish relief aGency seTs uP TenT ciT y for flood vicTims

ISLAMABAD a n a d o l u ag e n c y

TüRKIYE S state run disaster and management agency has set up a temporary housing facility in south ern Pakistan for the victims of re cent super floods

Named after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the tent city has been set up by the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in collabo ration with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), and Baitussalam Trust in Bholari a remote vil lage located some 98 kilometres (61 miles) from Karachi Tu r k i s h C o n

At present, the facility, comprising 200 tents, is accommodating over 500 people dis placed by the catastrophic floods last month

This is the second housing facility estab lished by the AFAD for flood victims across

Pakistan Another tent city established last month is operating in the Dadu district of southern Sindh province

Addressing the ceremony, the Turkish consul general noted that the devastation caused by rains and floods is so huge and

Pakistan conducts joint militar y exercise with five countries

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan has said it carried out a joint military exercise with five countries in the Turkish capital of Ankara Azerbaijan, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan participated in the military drill called Eternal Frater nity

United Special Forces Military Exercise the Na tional Defense Ministry of Turkey said in a statement, separately “The most distinguished troops of friendly and fraternal countries are together the statement read

Karachi Police bust gang selling stolen motorcycles in Balochistan

KARACHI

An operative of a group involved in stealing motorcy cles from Karachi has made startling revelations during the investigation

The police ar rested Mahmood, an operative of a group involved in snatching of motorcycles from Karachi’s Azizabad The police authorities say that Mahmood the motorcycle lifter arrested from Azizabad said in his confessional statement that the stolen motorcycles are sold at cheap prices The accused revealed during the investigation that after stealing the motorcycles, he used to sell them for Rs8 to 10 thousand, most of the motorcycles stolen from Karachi are taken to Balochistan and Khuzdar he added The police officials said that many motorcycles have been recovered on the identification of the arrested ac cused Mehmood the accused is also involved in the theft of motorcycles and vehicles in different areas According to the police, many CCTV footages of various incidents of the accused have also come to light the police have also recovered 10 motorcycles from the accused Two Thieves caughT red handed: Two thieves were caught red handed in Karachi in Karachi on Sunday As per police, residents caught two thieves in Orangi Town’s Gulshan e Zia The thieves were handed over to the police after residents subjected them to severe torture The thieves identified as Samiullah and Kamran have been shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hos pital, the police said In the recent past, the number of street crimes has sharply increased in Karachi

that Islamabad alone cannot handle it

Therefore, he added, Ankara will stand by Pakistan in its efforts to mitigate the af tershocks of the catastrophe

Not only in Türkiye, but the Turks living abroad have also felt the pain of their Pak

istani brothers, and are ready to help them ”

The Turkish government, he said, plans to set up the third tent city in the Thatta dis trict of Sindh, which has been hit hard by the super floods

Over 30 000 tents have already been dis tributed by the AFAD in 19 different regions, providing temporary housing to around 200 000 displaced people AFAD’s deputy head, Bozkurt, said in his remarks

The AFAD has established an air bridge” and the “Goodness Train Expedi tions” in collaboration with the Türkiye’s Ministry for National Defense and the Min istry for Transport and Infrastructure to ship humanitarian aid to the flood battered areas

So far, Ankara has sent 14 planes and 13 goodness trains loaded with relief goods including tents, food items, medicines, kitchen items, vaccines, and other supplies to the flood hit regions Bozkurt added

A 15th plane, carrying malaria pills, tetanus vaccines and other medical supplies will arrive in Pakistan on Monday as the flood victims are grappling with an outbreak

of several waterborne, eye, and skin dis eases, he further said

A

thanked President Erdogan and the people of Türkiye for standing by Pakistan in this

creased to 500 tents

“The generosity and solidarity shown by the people of Türkiye at this testing time, ex emplifies the longstanding friendship be tween the two nations ” he maintained

The drenching monsoon along with dev astating floods inundated a third of Pakistan, aside from killing nearly 1 700 people and injuring tens of thousands since mid June

threat to the country’s food security

The government has estimated a stag gering loss of $28 billion inflicted by the catastrophe on the already tottering econ omy mainly in terms of infrastructure and agriculture

A J K P r e s i d e n t, A m b K h a n d i s c u s s K a s h m i r, o t h e r i s s u e s

MIRPUR [AJK] S ta f f R e p o R t

Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Barrister Sultan M a h m o o d C h a u d h r y a n d P a k i s t a n s A m b a s s a d o r t o the United States Sardar Masood Khan in New York on Sunday held detailed discussions on the way for ward to promote Kashmir cause effectively at inter national forums, especially at the UN to ensure early p e a c e f u l s e t t l e m e n t o f t h e m u c h d e l a y e d g l o b a l i s sued of Kashmir, it was officially said

O n t h e o c c a s i o n t h e d u o e x p r e s s e d s a t i s f a c t i o n

o v e r O I C ’s j o i n t d e c l a r a t i o n i n w h i c h t h e M u s l i m body had voiced its serious concerns over the contin ued violence, bloodshed and human rights violations committed by the Indian occupation forces in the In dian occupied Kashmir, says a message reaching and released to the media here Sunday night

P r e s i d e n t B a r r i s

Khan reiterated their commitment to further amplify their efforts to sensitize the world about the worsen

tance of the early resolution of the lingering conflict, the message added

Govt provided world ’s biggest relief to flood–hit people: Q amar

Federal Minister for Commerce and Industries Syed Naveed Qamar on Sunday said that Imran Khan had al ways given priority to his wasted interests instead of fo cusing on grave national issues, saying what he has sowed would have to reap He expressed these views while talk ing to media after offering condolence on the demise of a local journalist Hyder Shoro

Federal Minister said that the high court has clarified that no solid proof witnessed against Nawaz Sharif and his return to Pakistan was internal matter of PML N

He said that present government was distributing world’s big relief to flood hit people and fulfilling its promises made with the people while wheat flour was being provided at Rs 65 per kilo gram

He said that Imran Khan after assuming his office as Prime Minister, always told lie and involved in anti state activities, he presented audio leaks against its letter and spirit

The Federal Minister said that audio leaks matter was secondary however its investigation was primary, real face of Imran Khan was disclosed to masses

Replying to a question Syed Naveed Qamar said that dewatering process of rain water from flood hit areas had been started however flood hit people were suffering from several viral diseases fow which Health department was put on high alert

He further said that Pakistan has given world big re lief to flood hit people and about Rs50 billion had so far been released which Rs25000 were being paid to every affected family

He said that complaints were being received about il legal deduction made by devise holders however strict ac tion would be taken against the agents

Syed Naveed Qamar said that fair price stalls ad been setup in all districts of Sindh where wheat flour was being sold to people at Rs 65 per kg while process of providing wheat seed to small growers of country had been started to ensure relief to growers

Repling a question about inflation federal Minsiter said that present government has provided a relief to peo ple after curtailing petroleum products after which public transporters and goods transporters would reduce their fares Earlier Federal Minister attended meeting of district officers in Deputy Commissioner office and visited dif ferent areas

Punjab sends mobile clinics to flood-hit areas of S indh

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

Punjab government has sent two mobile hospitals to the flood ravaged cities in Sindh to aid the victims in a step aimed at promoting inter provincial harmony

The Primary and Secondary Health Care Department has dispatched the teams and medicines on the directions of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi the chief minister

The clinics were sent to the calamity hit areas in Khairpur and Qambar Shahdadkot districts

Elahi said the Punjab government stood with the flood victims in Sindh and other provinces He said 296 doctors and nine truckloads of medicines were sent to Sindh and Balochistan under the spirit of goodwill

The Punjab government has also set up medical camps in Sindh and Balochistan “Punjab is playing the role of big brother very well,” said Elahi

Germany enhances financial suppor t to €56m for flood victims

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

German Ambassador to Pakistan Alfred Grannas has announced that Germany scaled up financial assistance to €56 million for families affected by floods In his tweet the German Ambassador said the aid was increased to help families and deal with the devastating effects of recent flooding, adding, We will continue to stand by the brave people of Pakistan and extend our help and sup port during this tragic time ” The aid will supply food, hygiene products, medical supplies, etc , to the flood victims in Pakistan Our thoughts are with the victims’ families as expressed by Presi dent Frank Walter Steinmeier and federal chancel lor Olaf Scholz in their letters of condolences to their respected counterparts Federal Minister Svenja Schulze held a video conference with the minister for climate change Sherry Rehman, on 7 September, he added He said that the homeless would be able to return to their home regions as quickly as possible Pakistan has asked for in ternational help, and Germany is coordinating its support towards Pakistan with other donors

It is pertinent to mention that several projects of bilateral support for Pakistan have been imple mented already, e g , for Baluchistan, or an nounced In close cooperation with the government of Pakistan Germany has expe dited its short term humanitarian assistance and middle and long term cooperation for Pakistan in this difficult situation The total amount of German support for Pakistan currently adds up to approx € 56m The ministries in charge are in close contact with their Pakistani partner in stitutions Germany will continue to cooperate closely with Pakistan in addressing the devas tating effects of climate change

F l o o d s i m p e r i l f u t u r e o f o ve r 0 . 4 m p r i m a r y s t u d e n t s i n L a r k a n a r e g i o n

LARKANA S ta f f R e p o R t

A s m a n y a s 6 , 6 4 2 p r i m a r y s c h o o l s a n d e d u c a t i o n d e p a r t m e n t o ff i c e s i n f o u r d i s t r i c t s o f L a r k a n a R e g i o n h a v e b e e n d a m a g e d b y r e c e n t d e v a s t a t i n g f l a s h f l o o d c o v e r i n g a n a r e a o f 5 5 8 7 2 0 s q f t

T h e c a l a m i t y h a s a ff e c t e d e d u c a t i o n o f 4 3 3 , 8 4 0 ( 2 9 1 6 8 4 m a l e s a n d 1 4 2 , 1 5 6 f e m a l e s ) e n r o l l e d s t u d e n t s o f t h e s e s c h o o l s

T h i s w a s r e v e a l e d i n a d e t a i l e d r e p o r t j o i n t l y p r e p a r e d b y D i s t r i c t E d u c a t i o n

O ff i c e r ( P r i m a r y ) , L a r k a n a , E x e c u t i v e E n g i n e e r, E d u c a t i o n Wo r k s D i v i s i o n , C h i e f M o n i t o r i n g O ff i c e r ( M & E ) S c h o o l E d u c a t i o n & L i t e r a c y D e p a r t m e n t , S u p e r i n t e n d i n g E n g i n e e r, E d u c a t i o n Works Circle Regional Director Colleges Larkana Region and others, copy of which w a s o b t a i n e d b y P P I

T h e s t a t i s t i c s f u r t h e r d i s c l o s e d t h a t 8 4 1 s c h o o l s h a v e b e e n c o m p l e t e l y d e s t r o y e d a n d 2 , 3 4 1 p a r t i a l l y d a m a g e d a n d e s t i m a t e d r e p l a c e m e n t c o s t o f t h e s e s c h o o l s i s R s 11 , 9 2 0 9 6 6 m i l l i o n C o s t o f f u r n i t u r e a n d f i x t u r e s o f t h e s e s c h o o l s i s

R s 9 3 8 m a n d c u m u l a t i v e r e p l a c e m e n t o r r e p a i r c o s t i s R s 1 2 , 9 6 1 5 7 6

The report added that 4970 schools are o p e r a t i o n a l w h e r e a s 7 9 3 s c h o o l s a r e c l o s e d

T h e r e p o r t s a i d t h a t 7 2 o ff i c e s h a v e a l s o b e e n d a m a g e d a n d 6 , 5 7 0 s c h o o l s h a v e b e e n d e s t r o y e d a c r o s s L a r k a n a R e g i o n ’s f o u r d i s t r i c t s i n c l u d i n g K a m b a r S h a h d a d k o t , S h i k a r p u r, J a c o b a b a d a n d K a n d h k o t @ K a s h m o r e d i s t r i c t s

T h e r e p o r t a d d e d t h a t 1 3 5 7 s c h o o l s h a v e b e e n d a m a g e d i n S h i k a r p u r, 1 , 4 3 0 i n J a c o b a b a d , 1 , 5 0 7 i n K a m b a r S h a h d a d k o t ,

a n d 1 , 5 2 8 i n K a n d h k o t @ K a s h m o r e d i s t r i c t G u l S h e r S o o m r o D e p u t y D i r e c t o r S c h o o l E d u c a t i o n , L a r k a n a R e g i o n , w h o i s a l s o h o l d i n g t h e c h a rg e o f L a r k a n a s District Education Officer said on Sunday w h i l e t a l k i n g t o t h i s s c r i b e t h a t t h e y h a v e y e t b e e n a b l e t o v i s i t 2 5 % s c h o o l s o f K a m b a r S h a h d a d k o t d i s t r i c t d u e t o s t a g n a n t w a t e r a n d 7 5 % s c h o o l s a r e s t i l l t o b e v i s i t e d t o a s s e s t h e d e s t r u c t i o n w h e n w a t e r r e c e d e s a n d a c c e s s i s a v a i l a b l e

He said the European Union has given 1 , 2 5 0 m i l l i o n E u r o t o N a t i o n a l P l a n n i n g

C o m m i s s i o n P a k i s t a n f o r c o n s t r u c t i o n o f schools in most affected areas He said for t h i s p u r p o s e s c h o o l s o f 11 d i s t r i c t s h a v e b e e n s e l e c t e d i n S i n d h w h i c h h a v e b e e n d e s t r o y e d w h i c h i n c l u d e D a d u ( K h a i r p u r N a t h a n S h a h ) K a m b a r S h a h d a d k o t U m e r k o t , J a c o b a b a d , S a n g h a r, K h a i r p u r a n d o t h e r d i s t r i c t s H e s a i d a d e t a i l e d r e p o r t h a s b e e n m a d e i n t h i s c o n t e x t a n d s e n d t o t h e e d u c a t i o n s e c r e t a r y H o p e f u l l y, h e a d d e d , n e w b u i l d i n g s w i l l b e b u i l t i n t h e s e d e s t r o y e d d i s t r i c t s , l i k e t h a t o f U S A I D b u i l t s c h o o l s

u l G e n e r a l i n

a r a c h i C e m a l S a n g u D e p u t y H e a d o f AFAD, Önder Bozkurt, and Air Vice Mar shall Zaeem Afzal inaugurated the facility on Sunday

Torrential rains 10 times heavier than usual have also damaged nearly 45% of t h e c o u n t r y ’s c r o p l a n d , p o s i n g a s e r i o u s

TANDO MUHAMMAD KHAN S ta f f R e p o R t

No Room FoR haRaSSmENT oF womEN, CaN’T

PRomoTE PRoFaNIT y BRIgadE: ShERRy

ta f f R e p o R t

FEDERAL Minister for Climate Change

Senator Sherry Rehman on Sunday said there was no room for harassment of women which should be condemned at every forum as it could not be allowed to promote profanity brigade spewing venom against people at public platforms

Addressing the Dialogue on Growing Violence Against Women in Politics as chief guest, the Min ister said no civilized society allowed harassment of women Sherry Rehman said, “I proudly claim to be long to the party of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and Bi lawal Bhutto where no one can even think of harassment ”

She said President Pakistan People’s Party Par

BISP disburses over Rs60b to 2.4m flood affected families

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Despite weekly holiday, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has disbursed cash relief to 25,859 flood affected families on Sunday through its Special Payment Campsites On special instructions from Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme, Shazia Marri payment campsites were kept open even on the weekly holiday for smooth disbursement of financial assistance to flood affected families A total of 25,859 flood affected families have received financial assistance from different campsites established in flood hit areas till date So far a total of Rs 60,103,775,000 has been disbursed among 2,404,151 flood affected families of Balochistan Sindh Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Punjab and Gilgit Baltistan In Balochistan 177,565 flood affected families have received Rs 4,439,125,000 1,670,223 affected families of Sindh have received Rs 41,755,575,000 In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 265,746 families have received Rs 6,643,650,000 whereas 290,232 families of Punjab have received Rs 7,255,800,000 In Gilgit Baltistan 385 flood affected families have also received Rs 9,625,000 A control room has been established at BISP headquarters to ensure smooth payments

8m families in Punjab to benefit from ‘Ehsaas Rashan Program’

LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Cooperatives and Environment Muhammad Basharat Raja said on Sunday that ‘Ehsaas Rashan Program’ had been launched in the province and eight million families would be provided edible items on concessional rates under the initiative According to official sources here, he said that Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi had approved an hefty amount of Rs 100 billion for the program He said that low income people could easily get edible items from the local grocery shops in a respectful manner He said that citizens could get their registration done by sending their computerised national identity card (CNIC) numbers on 8123 Muhammad Basharat Raja said that the Punjab government would also get a bill approved for Kafaalat of those living below the poverty line

liamentarians and Co Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Asif Ali Zardari used to take strict action on exploitation against women

The Minister said she had also written a book on womansplaining highlighting women struggle in our society, adding, “49% of Pakistan’s population consists of women and women are the worst affected by any crisis However, Pakistan s economy is driven by women ” Commenting on the recent incident of jeering of the Information Minister at a coffee shop in London by some overseas Pakistanis, she said the Pak istan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) through its forum had car ried out the funeral of ethics and moral values in the society PTI is taking the country to such a path of bad culture and degraded morals from which it is very difficult to retreat,” Senator Sherry Rehman said The Minister further added that what happened to (Federal Minister for Information) Maryam Au

rangzeb could happen to anyone The PTI should condemn and prevent such incidents instead of pro moting them, she added

“Women are being exploited and PTI leader is keeping lull over the matter You are fueling fascism in Quaid i Azam’s Pakistan,” the minister lambasted PTI leadership for its silence over the issue

She queried the PTI leaders saying, Will you adopt this kind of attitude towards the women of your opponent party? These are the fruits of Imran Khan s speeches and narrative

The Minister underlined”Our religion and soci ety did allow this kind of behaviour towards women whereas the elements involved in harassing women should apologize ”

O ver 7000 flood vic tims return homes from relief c amps: S harjeel

KARACHI

Sindh government’s spokesperson on flood relief operations, Sharjeel Memon on Sunday said that relief and rehabilitation activities have been in full swing all flood hit areas of the province

Flood relief will continue till rehabilitation of all affected persons ” he said

In a statement on Sunday, he maintained that flood victims were returning to their homes and 7207 flood affected people have gone back to their homes

He said the district administrations were pro viding them transport facility as well as ration bags while leaving relief camps Provincial information minister said that as many 43 259 more flood hit families had been

provided ration bags during the past 24 hours

“In aggregate, 11,93,901 families have re ceived ration bags so far , Sharjeel Mamon said

In an early statement provincial minister said that 759 persons had lost their lives in flash floods and rains, while 8,422 people had been injured He said 4 34 238 livestock perished in the natural calamity He further said that 22,89,194 families had been affected, while 73,25,575 people had been displaced The Sindh government has con stituted survey committees to assess the damages caused by heavy rains and subsequent floods across the province

The committees have been formed at the Union Council level The committees would have representatives from district administration Pak istan Army and the National Disaster Manage ment Authority (NDMA), minister earlier said

Indonesian Embassy organizes Blood D onation Camp in collaboration with PRCS

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia has or ganized a blood donation camp in collaboration with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and members of diplomatic corps and Indonesian students volunteered in donating blood

The Indonesian Embassy and PRCS have been cooperating to organize a blood donation camp to facilitate brothers and sisters of Pakistan since 2016, said a press release issued here on Sunday

The Pakistan Red Crescent Regional Blood Donor Center is known for being very responsible in supplying safe quality blood to the community by implementing a safe blood program that em bodies the spirit of “Altruism” and the principle of Voluntary, non remunerated Blood Donation

Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan Adam M Tugio said, “Saving one life is equivalent to saving humanity and blood donation raises aware ness of the importance of regular blood donations to help patients in need” Pakistan is currently fac ing a dengue outbreak, and demand for blood trans fusion and platelets are significantly increased as a result all across Pakistan, he expressed In addition,

he said Pakistan has an additional requirement for blood supply because of thalassemia patients and the challenge has magnified due to the lack of blood donors amid COVID 19

Ambassador of Jordan to Pakistan Ibrahim Almadani who volunteered in blood donation said that he was very happy to be a part of such an im portant drive as it could help save or improve the lives of our Muslim brother or sister Blood do nation camps increase awareness among the gen eral public and especially youth for “Blood Safety”, and prevention of the spread of transfu sion transmitted diseases, he said adding, it can also promote the concept of voluntary blood do nation by removing the fears and superstitions as sociated with blood donation

Ambassador Tugio expressed his appreciation to the entire team of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society and to all the blood donors, including youth for voluntarily donating blood and inspiring others to join hands and support a noble cause

On this occasion, a team member of PRCS said the collected blood will be distributed to crit ical patients with Thalassemia, Hemophilia, Can cer, Dialysis, and others who are in serious illness in hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi

PBF releases Rs4.8m scholarships on ombudsman’s order

LAHORE

S

Acting on the orders of the Punjab Ombudsman retired Maj Azam Suleman Khan, Punjab Benevolent Fund (PBF) has released pending dues of Rs4 8 million to 69 seekers

In a statement issued on Sunday a spokesman for the Office of the Ombudsman said that 44 students from 16 districts of Punjab have also been given educational scholarships of around Rs2 million rupees to continue their studies unhindered by financial challenges

The spokesman noted the fund has paid around Rs1 4 million in marriage grants to 14 separate complainants who approached the regional offices of the agency in their districts for the release of their long awaited amounts

Meanwhile those offices also mediated to ensure the release of the monthly grant, as well as clearing pending dues of Rs0 93 million to five applicants from Faisalabad, Jhang, Multan and Rawalpindi districts

The spokesman further said that Rs0 34 million have been paid to three different complainants of Faisalabad, Bhakkar and Mianwali in the head of funeral grant while Muhammad Azhar Gulshan of Bahawalpur and Rafiq Ahmad of Multan have been given a total of Rs0 22 million as a farewell grant by the fund

Pakistan vaccinates 94pc of its population against Covid-19

ISLAMABAD

S

Pakistan has vaccinated 94 percent of its total population against Covid 19 According to official data Sindh remains on top of the list with almost 100 pc of its eligible population vaccinated against the pandemic, while Islamabad and Punjab remain 2nd and 3rd with 92pc and 91 percent vaccination ratio

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has vaccinated 72pc and Balochistan has vaccinated 60pc of the total population Gilgit Baltistan has vaccinated 65 percent of its eligible population against Covid 19 According to officials of the health department and experts, as many as 143,190,050 people are eligible for vaccination against Covid 19 out of which 127 681 157 people have been vaccinated against Covid 19 Meanwhile, Pakistan has reported 39 new cases of Covid 19 during the past 24 hours, surging the total number of cases to 1 572 112 According to the latest figures by the National Institute of Health (NIH), one death was registered during last 24 hours The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 30 619 Pakistan has conducted 10,371 tests in the past 24 hours and the COVID Positivity Ratio was recorded at 0 38 percent

Security put on high alert for Pak-Eng T20 series final

The Punjab Police have been on red alert and have adopted foolproof security arrangements for final match of Pakistan England T20 series being played at Gaddafi Stadium The Lahore police have tightened measures for security of players team officials and international guests while the security around the cricket stadium has been increased from three layered to four layered More than 12,000 personnel and officers have been deployed for match security while Lahore Police deployed more than 1,800 personnel According to the Punjab police spokesperson, fans who came to watch the match were passed through a security checkpoint even before entering the stadium He said the security had been increased at the parking stands and additional traffic wardens have been deployed to maintain the uninterrupted flow of traffic On the orders of IGP, policemen and wardens remained on duty till late night even after the end of the match spokesperson added

H u awe i l a u n c h e s A S A F s t o r a g e s o l u t i o n t o e m p o we r Pa k i n d u s t r i e s

ISLAMABAD

ta f f R e p o R t

The Huawei Pakistan successfully held the Huawei IT Summit Pakistan 2022 and launched All Scenario All Flash (ASAF) storage solution here on Sunday to empower the industrial sector of the country

In the summit, key speakers and experts highlighted how data has become the cata lyst for the digital economy whereas such explosive data growth, however, added pres sure on traditional data centers, which pro vided the centralized storage, computing and data resource exchange needed for enterprise to tap into the value of data, said a news re lease on Sunday

Huawei launched All scenario Flash storage to combat the challenges of todays’ world to facilitate business growth and dig

ital transformation across industries

Federal Secretary IT and Telecommuni cation Mohsin Mushtaq HEC Faisal

Rafique, New Horizon Qaiser Sarwar, Nay atel Jahanzeb Arshad, Future Wei Wang Yong Wateen Aftab Siddiqui TechAccess Kashif Ali along with other officials and ex perts from IT industry and Huawei partici pated in the Summit

As the chief guest, the Federal Secretary appreciated Huawei effort to organize Sum mit and said, Huawei has worked closely with the Ministry of IT and Telecommunica tions on various projects and has always been extremely supportive

Talking about the cooperation with Huawei in Pakistan, Vice President Nayatel Jahanzeb Arshad said, We wanted to work with global providers and provide the same level of service but more cost effective to our

customers Critical component of our serv ices is storage, certain customers require high IO performance from storage and Huawei help us with the storage required for us to set up our open stack Cloud It was a very smooth and stable integration with Huawei Dorado Storage ” COO of New Horizon Qaiser Sarwar also shared experi ence with Huawei He said, we have evolved as more of a ‘Storage Expert’ Our journey with Huawei started three and half years ago and we evaluated the storage at that time and realized that it has the potential compared to other storages in the market, he added

Director IT Higher Education Commis sion (HEC) Faisal Rafique stated, our vision is to enhance the productivity in the educa tion sector and focus on World class learning research and development centers He said, our journey with Huawei started in 2007

with 30 HEIs and now we’re with 210 HEIs in 2022 I would like to appreciate Huawei for a project completed phase 2 in a much quicker way, he added

ISLAMABAD

Hearing about politics

AU D I O clips released in the last few days have convulsed the politics of the country, not so much because of their content, though that has been explosive enough because of the fact that they are of the face to face conversations of successive Prime Ministers with confidants, in the office of PM House The alleged hacker, who hides behind a Twitter handle, has threatened more revelations involving other high government functionaries, and explicit videos of Imran Khan

One of the most puzzling aspects of the episode has been the parties’ reactions Both have made perfunctory condemnations of the fact that there has been a security breach of humungous proportions, but then concentrated on the content of what has been revealed, mining it to advance their respective narratives Whereas the PTI is advancing its narrative of PML(N) corruption by quoting Mian Shehbaz Sharif ’s conversation with Maryam Nawaz, the PML(N) is using Mr Khan’s conversation with his Principal Secretary to show that his narrative of a foreign conspiracy is false, that he himself tweaked the evidence to create that narrative One angle is that this would create an impression abroad that Pakistan’s politicians are unable to take anything seriously, and will scramble for political advantage no matter what national tragedy has occurred

Another aspect of the whole affair is that, like previous leaks, it has occurred at a time when Mr Khan is planning a long march on Islamabad It is almost as if he is being shown that other, more damaging material, can be released At the same time, Mr Sharif is also being shown that he is also vulnerable to exposure for his words and deeds in a place that is supposed to be safer than anywhere else in the country There has to be a thorough investigation of all aspects of this breach and no argument should be tolerated about any all wise guardians monitoring politicians’ nefarious activities

Above all, this should not be allowed to become the new normal A general election is due next year and it is not beyond reason to expect further leaks to take place If politicians do not want stones thrown at their glass houses, they must agree to prevent such leaks That might be easier said than done, for those collecting the information might ask pointedly what they are trying to hide, even though that is not the issue, nor is the privacy of an individual It is not even a question of whether any particular place is safe or not, but of whether any government functionary whether PM or one of the lower division clerks in his office, can function without fearful glances over his shoulder

Iranian protests

Matters spinning out of control

TH E deaths resulting from protests which started after the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in the custody of the Morality Police in Teheran have reached 92, according to human rights groups An additional 41 have been killed in the Southeast, where a Baluch girl was allegedly criminally assaulted by a police officer The protests at Ms Amini s death had started in the North East, in the Kurdish area (Ms Amini was an ethnic Kurd), and have spread throughout the country, and have become directed against the Morality Police, but also against the regime itself

This is Iran’s first widespread protest in three years, and while Western countries are enjoying Teheran’s discomfort, the government has not just accused it of fomenting the protests, but has arrested nine foreign nationals from the scene of the riots, apart from 256 members of opposition groups The Iranian government has to bring these protests to an end

The role of the Morality Police must be reviewed Not even its most fervent supporter would allow it to carry out custodial killings The Iranian government must not only bring about the required changes which will provide its citizens with sufficient safeguards, but it must bring the situation under control And control does not mean killing people, but ensuring that people no longer feel so hopeless that they are ready to face death

Pakistan has so far not taken an official position Perhaps it should, because there might be the thinking that good neighbourliness demands silence, that silence should not be maintained during a descent into chaos Also, if the Zahedan protests merge with the Amini protests, Pakistan may face a backlash among its own Baloch population Pakistan may wish to reiterate its policy of good neighbourliness, and offer any help it can, but it cannot afford to remain silent at this juncture

F l a w e d a n d i l l o g i c a l d e m a n d

quently the Army Amendment Act 2022 was passed, adding a new chapter in the Army Act 1952 Clause 8 (a) of the inserted chapter stipulated “ Notwith standing anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force President on the ad vice of the Prime Minister may reappoint the COAS for an additional tenure of three (3) years or extend the tenure of Chief of Army Staff up to three (3) years on terms and conditions determined by President on the advice of the Prime Minister in the national secu rity interests or other exigencies from time to time

As is evident, according to the Constitution and the Act, it is the constitutional and legal prerogative of the incumbent Prime Minister to make the choice in regards to the appointment of a new COAS or ex tending his tenure The President approves the ap pointment and terms and conditions of his appointment on the advice of the Prime Minister The process for the appointment of the new COAS starts in GHQ The names of three to four generals are sent to the Prime Minister through the Ministry of De fence without making any formal recommendation

Imran Khan through a constitutional process Imran tried unconstitutional methods to scuttle the no con fidence motion and had it rejected by the Deputy Speaker Then he had the assemblies dissolved by the President and announced new elections However the apex court intervened timely and he had no choice but to abdicate power as a result of the success of the no confidence motion against him

The court later declared the action taken by the deputy speaker, Prime Minister and the President as unconstitutional It really sounds bizarre to hear Imran talking about law and constitution when his conduct negates his credentials as an honest and ju dicious person He practised politics of vendetta and framed many PDM leaders in false corruption cases which has been proven by the fact that the IHC has dismissed the NAB reference against Ahsan Iqbal a PML leader concerning corruption in Narowal Sports Complex

IT is for the first time in the history of Pakistan that the appointment of a new COAS has been made controversial The architect of this con troversy is PTI chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan who maintains that since the political future of the country and its direction would be determined by this appointment, the incum bent government which allegedly comprises the most corrupt elements and which has been foisted on the country through a foreign sponsored conspiracy, does not have the right to appoint the new COAS The de mand is that it should be left to the future government formed on the basis of immediate elections which, according to his contention, would prove to be a panacea for all the problems faced by the country Be fore looking at the veracity of the demand made by him and his contention that the incumbent govern ment could not appoint the new COAS it is impera tive first to have a look at the constitutional provision regarding the appointment of COAS and the practice that has been followed in this regard over the years Article 243(3) stipulates “The President on advice of the Prime Minister shall appoint Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff the Chief of the Army Staff the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff

The incumbent COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa was given three years extension in his tenure in November 2019 till November 2022 as a result of consensus between the PTI government and the op position to amend the Army Act 1952 to make legal provision for according an extension to him Conse

It is and has been the prerogative of the incumbent Prime Minister to pick any one of them The outgoing COAS is also taken into confidence In view of the foregoing the demand by Imran Khan regarding the appointment of new COAS is wrong both legally and constitutionally

When Imran contends that the corrupt elements do not have the right to appoint the COAS, he con veniently forgets that he also does not morally stand on a higher pedestal to accuse others of corruption

He formed the government with the help of those el ements whom he used to call the most corrupt in the country and whom he regarded as anti state before they joined him in the coalition government that he headed There are also a slew of corruption cases pending against PTI stalwarts which were swept under the carpet by the former chairman NAB A number of corruption cases against him are now also under investigation So if one accepts Imran s logic of corrupt elements not having the right to appoint COAS then he also did not have the right to give ex tension to General Bajwa Therefore his argument on the issue is also flawed and illogical

He also overlooks the fact that the parties of the PDM secured far more votes than his party in the 2018 elections and not recognizing their legitimacy was an insult to the genius of the people who elected them Since they came to the assemblies through a constitutional and legal process Imran is nobody to challenge their credentials and right to run the affairs of the state

The PDM formed the government after ousting

Fawad Chaudhry a minister in the PTI cabinet publicly confessed that the case against Rana Sanaullah was fake A number of other political lead ers have been absolved of the corruption charges against them

The PTI regime did not even spare judges of the apex court It filed a reference against the future Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa and later admitted that it was wrong on its part to do that The high courts and SC, while hearing cases against the opponents of the PTI, are on record to have remarked that NAB was being used for political engineering The narrative of a conspiracy conjured by him also cannot be given cre dence in view of the fact that our intelligence agencies found no evidence of any such move The question arises how can a man with so many skeletons in his own cupboard accuse others of corruption?

The legitimacy of the incumbent government is beyond reproach and it has the right to appoint the new COAS It is also its prerogative to decide on fu ture elections Imran needs to rethink his strategy of fomenting and aggravating chaos and crisis in the country All the contentious issues including electoral reforms can only be resolved in the parliament and not through street agitation In this regard he must heed the advice of IHC and SC for returning to the assemblies I am afraid if he continues with his strat egy of precipitating a political crisis, ridiculing and denigrating the state institutions and challenging the patriotism of the hierarchy of the establishment, he will be scuttling his chances of ever returning to the corridors of power There is still time to retract

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail com

s e x p a n s i o n i s m a p e r c e i v e d t h r e a t t o g l o b a l p e a c e

N AT O

NATO an alliance that was formed to pro tect Europe and the liberal values from So viet expansionism, has now turned into a greater threat than the expansion of the So viet influence It can be witnessed IN NATO`s involvement in world politics that NATO has always been promoting the western narrative of the “liberal world order” The failed war and invasion in Afghanistan and Iraq are among the few disasters suffered by NATO proving its supremacy over its al lies and the world in which the US interests are car ried out by NATO In addition, out of the fear of competing with emerging powers NATO s original goals have evolved into a power maximization strat egy, and it has become a tool of the USA The fol lowing sheds light on NATO s expansionist policies and its utility as a peacekeeping organization through the prism of neo realism

The theoretical perspective shows that NATO has been following the neo realist approach in advancing its power to different regions of the world This is more specifically being done to promote the domina tion of the USA Although NATO was a peace ori ented organization, regrettably it has proven to be a

destructive and peace disturbing organization The power maximization approach of NATO can be proven by the current example of NATO provoking Russia which is just the beginning of the power game and could consequently lead to World War 3

First, NATO`s expansion is a lingering threat to global peace due to its unnecessary intervention in in ternational affairs leading to instability in the in volved region NATO was supposed to be protecting and not violating liberal values However the cases of human rights violations can be seen in every single country that NATO invaded in the name of demo cratic values humanitarian intervention and/or regime change Even today, countries are not at peace and the civil wars have ruined their infrastructure, democracy and human rights in those regions; for ex ample, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya; while those regions, where NATO remained silent due to unified interests such as Kashmir Burma and Pales tine, are also struggling with a humanitarian crisis Neither was the former Soviet Union’s expansion an international problem to be solved by an interna tional organization, nor was Ukraine a NATO member protected by the West However, according to the neo realist school of thought, it was just an attempt to ensure the west s interest in the region and to counter Russia as a whole The interest of the USA in this conflict zone is an opportunity to lift its economy by boosting its mil itary market The hegemon’s ploy to trigger the war has been successfully executed and affected Europe’s de fence budget, which has increased significantly to €200 billion This is profiting the military pocket of the USA as Europe is militarily dependent on it

Second, NATO s credibility is on the verge of col lapse as it is clear that the leading powers’ influence on NATO is causing the demise of its original policies

Since the 1970s mostly the Muslim states have been targeted by the West including the USA’s regime change operations in Afghanistan (2022), Iraq (2003), Egypt (2011), Libya (2011), and an attempt for regime change in Syria (2011) and alleged attempts for regime change in Turkey (2015), and Pakistan (2022)

Critically speaking, the interventions and con spiracies in the name of regime change among the major Muslim countries are not just a mere coinci dence This shows how prominently the USA influ

ences NATO into adopting policies according to its desire National Interests, presumably Most scholars question NATO`s existence after the disintegration of the USSR It has lost the status of securing and pre serving peace, and with time its credibility has started vanishing, affecting its goals and aims Moreover, NATO s expansion has become a tool of the Thucy dides Trap in the unipolar world which is triggering the security dilemma

Third the western narrative is apparently based on the liberal democratic norms and is a trap of the West to attain hegemony NATO`s involvement in different regions of the world in the name of a just war ’ and installation of democracy has either formed terrorist groups or turned the region into a constant conflict zone (the civil wars in Syria Yemen Iraq and Afghanistan)

Consequently, as neo realists rightly claim, NATO s expansion would lead to a security dilemma Therefore, the international security system would become more vulnerable and that would prompt the states to strengthen their positions of power and would eventually lead to an arms race and multipo larity Moreover, NATO is being led by the USA and unlike its claims, NATO is not driven by liberal prin ciples of justice, equality, human rights and peace, but has now become an expansionist organization

NATO appears to be a real threat to world peace, and it is time for NATO member states to halt and think before taking any decision to prevent the war in Ukraine from spreading beyond its borders As a result, it will not only affect the US dominance in Eu rope and the rest of the world, but it will make Europe a theatre of war once again

NATO needs to revise its policies and make them effective to promote peace among countries After all, the world today is well connected and is interdepen dent and the absence of peace in one corner may af fect peace across the globe In the absence of concrete evidence of success, rapidly developing nations like China and India would be forced to increase their strength, ultimately posing a larger threat to everyone on earth, especially in the era of nuclear weapons

The writer is a Research Assistant Fellow at the Balochistan Think Tank Network (BTTN), Quetta

Tipu Sultan Chowk

O N the busy Grand Trunk Road towards Peshawar, Tipu Sultan Shaheed Chowk is one of the most important road network junctions for northern Pakistan The chowk is designed in a T shape, connecting Rawalpindi with Peshawar and Abbottabad The chowk can also be called the southern face of the Karakoram Highway N 35

It is a beautiful intersection, but the chowk has no proper bus bay with a shed or even a light for the commuters They wait for the bus and congested vans on the road risking their lives Furthermore, things become complex during scorching summer days or when it rains Besides, being there after sunset is always a big problem A written complaint was filed with assistant commissioner, Hasanabdal, in December 2020, followed by multiple complaints on various forums, but all of them have fallen on deaf ears We need to opt for concrete rather than cosmetic measures when it comes to public infrastructure

Private libraries

Asad Munir, Maryam Nawaz and NAB

Lahore confirmed that Mian Javed was re ceived dead” by doctors The family of the de ceased held NAB and jail authorities responsible for his death stating that the health condition of Mian Javed Ahmed was not well and he could not survive the humiliation he had been facing by the media and the NAB authorities

When an objectionable video of Chairman NAB Javed Iqbal was leaked by a woman named Tayyaba, I thought that nature had carried out its justice and now Chairman NAB was for it, but I was mistaken and he completed his tenure even two years after the video leaks and no action has taken against him so far

credible proof against her for any wrongdoing in the Avenfield Apartments purchase etc She was jailed and harassed and her media trial con tinues even today at a high pitch

MA RYA M Nawaz is very fortunate that she had seen her acquittal in a case that the National Accountabil ity Bureau (NAB) fabricated against her Retired brigadier Asad Munir was not so fortunate and his daughter had to wait till his third death anniversary to read the news of the acquittal of her late innocent father who committed suicide after being cruelly per secuted by NAB He was a simple soul having a small family and a soft heart, so he could not sur vive the character assassination that followed his arrest in a case where the powerful and artful got pre arrest bails and lived normal lives and placed all allegations on the shoulders of Asad Munir

A promising military official who also served as sector commander in the prime intel ligence agency in Peshawar took his life on 16 March 2019, and left a letter pleading his inno cence On 22 March 2022, he was found “not guilty by the court that observed the case against Asad Munir was fabricated and baseless

People who knew Asad Munir personally say that dejected by humiliation for a crime he never committed Asad Munir psychologically died several times before his physical death They believe he did every time when he had to parade handcuffed before the media where once again he would be subjected to an intense media trial by media trained in abusing everybody whosoever was facing “fair play and justice” under the desires of the then Prime Minister Imran Khan who was doing a jihad against chor (thieves) and corrupt

On 14 March 2019, Asad Munir wrote a let ter to the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Jus tice Asif Khosa pleading his innocence and stating that he (Asad Munir) was being driven to take his own life He only asked the CJP to see that no one else was meted out the humiliation that he was made to undergo Driven by despair and anger at being gravely insulted, the very next morning he hung himself

In the same month when NAB clamped Asad Munir in a fabricated case, (December 2018) a former chief executive officer (CEO) of the University of Sargodha’s Lahore campus Prof Mian Javed Ahmed, who was in Camp Jail in connection with a NAB inquiry died in prison reportedly of cardiac arrest According to jail au thorities, he had a heart attack and was moved to the hospital while doctors at Services Hospital

It may be remem bered that Tayyaba had lodged a complaint with Pakistan Citizen Portal (PCP) alleging that the then chairman NAB was harassing her and her family because she refused to please him She claimed that she had recorded several videos and audio recordings against him No action was taken against Chairman NAB, no inquiry was con ducted and nothing has happened in this case though Chairman NAB is retired from his post In June 2022, Tayyaba appeared before the Public Accounts Com mittee of Parliament where she submitted al leged audio and videos Chairman NAB may or may not be involved in harassing Tayyaba but only an impartial in quiry can decide the facts and truth

The working of NAB had been criti cized even by courts and several laws of NAB were changed to curtail the highhanded ness of NAB but no po litical party shows willingness and moral strength to disband an in stitution that had reportedly been used for polit ical engineering since its inception This institution was allegedly responsible for arm twisting of politicians harassing bureaucrats and civil officers, and thousands of people who had been victims whose lives were ruined for years, and then the courts acquitted them because they were found innocent However, no action has ever been taken against NAB officials for fabri cating cases against innocent people You are guilty unless you prove that you are not” is the most ruthless propositions that was the basis of the NAB ordinance

In Pakistan justice is mostly delayed there fore is mostly denied and you can find thousands of articles criticizing the judicial system of Pak istan There are thousands of recommendations stored in the iron cabinets of the Ministry of Law for reform of the judicial system and almost every government (civil and military, martial laws) promised Judicial Reforms nothing has been done so far and we are using century old the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) intro duced by British Raj in 1898 Yes, we had cos metic changes but are afraid of drastic changes it requires to ensure jus tice for the weak and poor in our society

I n Pa k i s t a n j u s t i c e i s m o s t l y d e l ay e d t h e r e fo r e i s m o s t l y d e n i e d a n d yo u c a n f i n d t h o u s a n d s o f a r t i cl e s c r i t i c i z i n g t h e j u d i c i a l s y s t e m o f Pa k i s t a n . T h e r e a r e t h o u s a n d s o f r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s s t o r e d i n t h e i ro n c a b i n e t s o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f L a w fo r r e fo r m o f t h e j u d i c i a l s y s t e m a n d a l m o s t e v e r y g ov e r n m e n t ( c i v i l a n d m i l i t a r y, m a r t i a l l a w s ) p ro m i s e d Ju d i c i a l R e fo r m s n o t h i n g h a s b e e n d o n e s o f a r a n d w e a r e u s i n g c e n t u r y o l d t h e C o d e o f C r i m i n a l P ro c e d u r e ( C r P c ) i n t ro d u c e d by B r i t i s h R a j i n 1 8 9 8

I am not discussing here the lacunas and ills of the judicial system and what reforms are needed to ensure justice for the common man of the country I am just discussing NAB which is based on a new kind of incorrect principle of “burden of proof” in which the accused has to prove that the accused is not guilty In the classi cal (normal) judicial system the burden of proving the guilt of the defendant lies on the prosecution, which must prove the particulars of the offence beyond rea sonable doubt but NAB laws are otherwise According to my understanding, the NAB laws are influ enced by the early stage of the Roman justice system that was founded in 753 BCE Roman Law went through many stages The first stage was based on the principle of personality This stage is called jus civile (civil law) where the law of the state applied only to its citizens and foreigners had no rights unless protected by some treaty between their state and Rome Foreigners could be seized like ownerless pieces of property by any Roman In NAB laws every common Pakistani is a foreigner of Roman Law and cit izens are only those who are powerful and who operate the system

By the middle of the 3rd century BCE an other type of law, jus gentium (law of nations), was developed by the Romans to be applied both to themselves and to foreigners for granting legal cover to foreigners I hope that our stage of jus gentium will come before the end of the 21s century

After the acquittal of Maryam Nawaz PTI narrative builders are of the view that her acquit tal is politically motivated forgetting that PTI had been in power from 2018 to 2022 but NAB prosecutors failed to produce any tangible and

The writer is an international award winning journalist who has been in the field since 1988 and appears in national and international media as analyst and political scientist

WALEED AHMED WAH CANTT

T H E R E are less than 200 public libraries in Pakistan, and most of them happen to be in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh Balochistan being the most deprived province in every field, has hardly 8 10 public libraries which, along with the lack of other basic educational facilities, is a cause of frustration

Due to lack of public libraries, private libraries are being introduced in Quetta They are much different from public libraries where a reader is supposed to bring reading material of one s own These libraries consist of small rooms or a relatively large hall where seats with small wooden tables are placed side by side

Access to such libraries has to be paid for How can the students bear another financial burden amid rising inflation in the country? Considering the fact that Balochistan has the lowest literacy rate and the highest poverty rate in the country the government should set up more public libraries across the province, or, at least establish reading rooms in major cities where students may read without having to pay for using the facility

YASIN BALOCH TURBAT

Medical education

T W O of my cousins are studying for their MBBS; one at Chandka Medical College (CMC) Larkana and the other at Aga Khan University (AKU) in Karachi The difference between the two individuals is of course reflective of the difference between the two institutions

The AKU is one of the top universities ranked 473rd in the world according to the United States News and World Report, and stands top among medical schools in Pakistan With modern and sophisticated infrastructure and a safe and secure environment the private university has only two months of vacation spread over the five year MBBS course; with a 15 day break for each of the initial four years, and no vacations for final year students The CMC on the other hand does not have modern equipment and sophisticated technology, infrastructure is crumbling, and, to make matters worse, the college after the rains has been closed for an indefinite period This is in addition to the two month break every year The medical students of public sector institutions will also be granted the same degree at the end of five so called academic years One wonders how it is possible in the face of the colossal gap in learning and academic environment between the two sets

MANZOOR ALI GILGIT BALTISTAN

Priorities

U N F O RT U N AT E LY, Pakistan has become an inhospitable and a hostile country to live in, thanks to the wrong priorities of most politicians

The torrential rains and floods have damaged Sindh and Balochistan, left millions of people homeless, and affected 90pc of the crops in these two provinces alone Pakistan, as it happens, is not the only country in the world to be hit by natural calamities Countries around the globe prepare before the disaster strikes They build dams and construct infrastructure that is immune to such disasters because they value life and property of their citizens In Pakistan, the scenario is just the opposite Nothing is safe here If someone is caught in a calamity hit zone, there is no chance of an immediate rescue I cannot forget the tragic death of four people who were swept away while waiting for a rescue helicopter We do have helicopters in the country, but merely for VIPs or for occasions like the Pakistan Day parade It is time to shift our priorities for a humanitarian cause

BASIT MUHAMMAD ISLAMABAD

Soul searching

W H I L E the opposition has been delivering sermons on corruption, dishonesty and slavery people often wonder if it has forgotten what happened when the party itself was in government not too long ago When the party was removed from office through a constitutional measure, it started blaming just about everyone Soul searching instead of aggression threats and anarchy, would be a better option for the opposition

YAR MUHAMMAD BOZDAR RATODERO

Kotri Bridge

K O T R I bridge is a road rail bridge linking Kotri and Hyderabad on the Indus River It is also the link that connects Karachi with the rest of the country and connects two national highways Due to insufficient nightlights and lack of proper maintenance, the bridge has become dangerous for commuters Also, the metalled road on both sides of the bridge has developed large potholes which make the commute even worse and more hazardous The authorities concerned should get the matter sorted out ARIBA ALI HYDERABAD

a letter from Prometheus agHa iqrar Haroon

N A B wa s u s e d o n l y to s e t t l e p o l i t i c a l s co re s

IS fUrTherIng ITS own declIne By ScarIng off chIneSe ScIenTISTS

The

rt B r a d l E y B l a n k E n s h i p

ar e c e n t r e p o r t b y t h e Wa l l S t r e e t

Journal found that many top tier ac a d e m i c s o f C h i n e s e d e s c e n t w h o hold positions in American univer s i t i e s a r e c o n s i d e r i n g l e a v i n g t h e c o u n t r y o v e r i n c r e a s e d e s c a l a t i o n s b e t w e e n Beijing and Washington The paper found that 1 , 4 0 0 U S t r a i n e d C h i n e s e s c i e n t i s t s t r a d e d t h e i r A m e r i c a n a ff i l i a t i o n f o r a C h i n e s e o n e in 2021, and that 40% of Chinese scholars at t o p r e s e a r c h i n s t i t u t i o n s l i k e H a r v a r d a n d MIT might leave

Among the main reasons cited by the peo ple who spoke to the WSJ were fears of gov ernment surveillance, such as the Trump initiated FBI China Initiative that tar geted people of Chinese origin over alleged “economic espionage,” and rising hate crimes against people of Asian descent Considering the former was essentially a nothingburger that descended into a McCarthyite, racially moti vated attack on people of Chinese heritage, both of these have to do with racism

And that vitriol is prompting a reverse brain drain, by which experts of Chinese her itage are going back to China for better oppor tunities A lot of these people, the paper found, work in strategically important areas for the

US military industrial complex This poses se vere challenges for Washington’s future out look in a competitive global geostrategic environment with Beijing

What’s important to note is how depend e n t h i g h l y s k i l l e d s e c t o r s o f t h e A m e r i c a n economy are on immigrants According to a 2013 report by the Immigration Policy Center, f r o m t h e y e a r s 1 9 9 5 t o 2 0 0 5 , o v e r 5 2 % o f s t a r t u p c o m p a n i e s i n S i l i c o n Va l l e y h a d a t least one immigrant founder Think of people like Elon Musk and Sergey Brin, who were in s t r u m e n t a l i n f o u n d i n g G o o g l e a n d P a y P a l during that time

Meanwhile, the US is heavily reliant on foreign sourced talent and there is a lack of funding for education, as well as a lack of uni versal higher education unlike many of its high income peers This means the US can t fill these gaps domestically In fact, national Security Advisor Jake Sullivan quoted First Lady Dr Jill Biden as saying that any country that out educates the United States will out compete the United States, and that is a funda mental national security issue

The US actually acknowledges, at the high est levels of government, that its lack of skilled candidates in in demand fields is a fundamen tal national security issue ” To the Biden ad ministration’s credit, they did shut down the China Initiative and have signed bills designed to curb the nationwide surge in anti Asian hate crimes But it’s unclear whether these are actu ally helping to the desired degree

Indeed, while President Joe Biden’s early t e n u r e d i d i m p r o v e A m e r i c a ’s i m a g e c o m pared to the Trump years, a Morning Consult survey found that most of the surveyed coun tries don’t have romantic views of Uncle Sam anymore notably, China had a 74% unfavor ability rating

A May 2021 feature by Chemical & Engi neering news already hinted that Asian scien tists were ditching America because of unfair treatment by the US government and because of hate crimes The publication noted that experts of Asian heritage in this field are the “corner

stone of US chemistry and that their departure would hurt Washington’s competitiveness in definitely

Despite the overt nature of the China Initia tive and street violence against Asians, one very important thing that is hurting China’s view among people of Asian descent and especially Chinese people is Washington’s erratic foreign policy It’s actually that piece that is the an tecedent of all the other things that are driving talented Chinese immigrants away

If the US did not have a hostile foreign pol icy against China in general there would not be racist federal investigations against people of Chinese heritage nor would there be a media machine pumping out hatred against the Beijing government and creating fertile ground for surg ing hate crimes All of these things are con nected: foreign policy general attitudes toward diaspora communities, and institutional biases

And we have seen how American society repeats these same cultural genuflections de pending on the enemy of the day During the Cold War, there were offensive and caricatured views of Eastern Europeans and, during the height of the War on Terror, there were these same attitudes toward people from Muslim ma jority countries Each of these points in history had attendant discrimination and hate crimes against their respective diaspora communities in the United States now, Asian people are being targeted thanks to the new Cold War on China Except, this time, with the decline of the US, coupled with China’s meteoric rise, the ball is in the Chi nese community’s court to decide where to leverage its talent This is, ironically, hastening Washington’s nosedive into the trash can of his tory If the US wants to do anything to change this, it would require changing US foreign pol icy vis a vis China

Bradley Blankenship is an American journalist columnist and political commentator He has a syndicated column at CGTN and is a freelance reporter for international news agencies including Xinhua News Agency

Brazil votes for more than a president

C S Monitor E d i to r i a l B oa r d

In recent years political disin formation campaigns like those that have shaken confi dence in America s democratic institutions have become an increasingly common playbook around the world Brazilian voters now have an opportunity to push back against that trend

On Sunday, the South American giant holds presidential and congres sional elections that carry high stakes for Latin America The most imme diate consequence could be the rever sal of democracy’s erosion in Brazil and the model it sets elsewhere

The election campaign has been m a r r e d b y v i o l e n c e a n d , m o s t o f a l l , w i t h e r i n g c a m p a i g n r h e t o r i c aimed at undermining the integrity of the electoral system Yet despite those threats, or perhaps because of t h e m v o t e r s a p p e a r u n d e t e r r e d A Gallup Poll this week showed that l a c k o f p u b l i c c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e h o n e s t y o f t h e b a l l o t w h i l e s t i l l h i g h a t 6 7 % , i s n e a r l y 2 0 % l o w e r than it was ahead of the last presi dential election in 2018

The mood to defend democracy was reflected in a public letter drafted by the University of Brasília law school faculty and signed by nearly 1 million people Our civic conscience is much greater than the opponents of democracy imagine,” the letter declares “We know how to put aside minor differences in favor of something much bigger, the de fense of the democratic order We cry out in unison: Democratic rule of law always!” On the day it was re leased in August, it was read aloud in crowded public gatherings in cities across the country A similar campaign has been waged by Brazil s election bodies the

military, the courts, and civil society to safeguard voters and boost ac countability in the vote That includes the creation of a “transparency com mission” of tech experts, public offi cials, and pro democracy groups to counter disinformation The Election Court (which oversees elections), for example, partnered with WhatsApp to allow users to denounce bulk mes sages from candidates

Candidates are more timid be

Globo newspaper, to Agência Brasil before the last election “The lie has lost its force

The Election Court also for the first time, ran an advance simulation of its voting day testing procedure for ballot counting machines to demonstrate their accuracy Military leaders have reportedly offered quiet assurances to members of Congress and the judiciary that they will not back any efforts by candidates to dis rupt the election or oppose the re sults unlawfully

We are living through particu larly difficult times in the institutional life of the country,” said Justice Rosa Weber, who was made president of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court on Sept 12 “I pay homage to the Brazil ian people who do not give up the fight for their real independence and seek to build it every day ”

At a time of global concern for democracy Latin America is provid ing laboratories of civic resilience In some countries, like nicaragua and El Salvador authoritarian govern ments hold the upper hand Else where, in countries like Chile and Honduras democracy is finding re newal, fueled by public demands for honesty and equality On Sunday, and in the days that follow the vote Brazilians may add a new accent to those demands

FROM VOTERS

poverty and hunger, as transpired during the first decade of this century under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

now, it’s election time again in South America’s largest country and folks may be in for another “awak ening As Brazil votes, Lula is back in the race, and is leading Bolsonaro in the polls (although as Bloomberg reports, Goldman Sachs and concerned hedge funds have assured clients the election will be tighter than surveys suggest)

as well as the normalisation of once taboo topics such as those pertaining to the military dictatorship The swift spread of Christian evangelicalism, too, has proved po litically compatible with Bolsonaro’s brand of conserva tive zealotry

B E l é n F E r n á n d E z

In the aftermath of Brazil’s last general election in 2018, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page cel ebrated the victory of Jair Bolsonaro a former low ranking army officer, far right fringe politi cian, and fan of Brazil’s sadistic military dictator ship from 1964 to 1985

According to one bizarre article by the right wing writer Mary Anastasia O’Grady, there was a simple ex planation for the electoral triumph of the man that many analysts had compared with the then president of the United States, Donald Trump Despite the fact that Bol sonaro had been labeled a racist a misogynist a homo phobe, a fascist, an advocate of torture and an aspiring dictator”, he had prevailed, the piece argued, because Brazilians were in the midst of a national awakening in which socialism the alternative to a Bolsonaro presi dency has been put on trial”

While a socialist presidency certainly beats fascist torture any day, “socialism” was in truth not even in the running in 2018 The Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT) whose candidate Bolsonaro defeated is not socialist but rather centre left, and has furthermore done its fair share to advance neoliberal capitalist interests over the years Granted the PT has also committed such flagrantly leftist crimes as helping to extricate millions of Brazilians from

Of course, Bolsonaro’s disdain for democracy means that he won t necessarily accept a Lula win on October 2 or in an October 30 run off which would be required if no candidate secures half of the votes cast nor must one underestimate the power of social media disinfor mation a veritable scourge in Brazil in rallying Bol sonaro voters

It bears recalling that, in 2018, the election of Bol sonaro who would go on to suggest that coronavirus vaccines could turn people into crocodiles and make women grow beards was significantly facilitated by an obsessive right wing campaign to demonise and crimi nalise the PT under the guise of “anti corruption” Before Lula himself was imprisoned in April 2018 on trumped up charges produced by that same campaign he had been the favourite to win that year ’s presidential race

Benjamin Fogel, an historian who researches Brazil ian anti corruption politics recently explained to me some of the additional factors driving the “general right wing shift in Brazilian society” that enabled Bolsonaro’s emergence as head of state They include a growing mid dle class with a “meritocratic” societal view that essen tially blames poor people for their poverty Social welfare programmes and other government efforts to ad dress structural inequality have thus been frequently seen as unmerited or as a form of corruption in themselves

Also tied up in the right wing shift are of course ever charitable financial machinations by big business,

However as Fogel emphasised Bolsonaro’s ap proach to the presidency “didn’t really translate into any sort of practical terms for governance beyond disman tling the basic institutions of government” Public health public education and other concepts that are anathema to the right wing came under fire Bolsonaro packed the cabinet and public administration with more military of ficers than even during the dictatorship

Thanks to Bolsonaro s stewardship of the pandemic during which he wrote off the coronavirus as a “little flu” Brazil has racked up nearly 700,000 official deaths, putting the country in second place after the United States for most COVID 19 fatalities When a fe male Brazilian journalist questioned the president about the domestic vaccination rate, Bolsonaro responded with typical maturity: “You think about me in your sleep you must have a crush on me or something ”

He has also been a plague on the environment, en thusiastically championing the destruction of the Ama zon rainforest After all, it’s not like the Amazon is crucial to life on Earth

Add to this severe economic mismanagement soar ing inflation, rising poverty rates and a surge in member ship of neo nazi groups in Brazil, and it starts to seem like the old awakening wasn t all it was cracked up to be Still, hey, at least Bolsonaro rescued Brazil’s presi dential palace from the “demons” that had formerly overtaken it according to his wife Michelle Bolsonaro The president has also strived to inculcate his citizenry with a deep and God fearing piety, and in August encour aged supporters: Buy your guns! It s in the Bible!

Meanwhile, Lula, whose corruption convictions

have been annulled, has rightly disillusioned many left ists by being overly accommodating in his efforts to court elite voters unhappy with Bolsonaro He has cho sen a right wing running mate with a history of antago nising the PT Yet as things currently stand Lula is the only ticket out of the Bolsonarist nightmare

As the historian Fogel remarked to me, what Lula stands for in this election rather than radicalism is a memory of a better time where you could provide for you and your family He stressed the importance of questioning whether the Brazilian right has any ac tual interest in governing” or if the aim is simply to “

war against all

Perhaps nothing better encapsulates the apocalyptic nature of that war than the fires that have been raging in the Brazilian Amazon ahead of Bolsonaro s expected de feat in the election, as deforesters race to deforest while the deforesting is still good As Brazilians head to voting booths here s hoping the country is about to awaken from a bad dream

Belén Fernández is the author of Checkpoint Zipolite: Quarantine in a Small Place (OR Books 2021) Exile: Rejecting America and Finding the World (OR Books 2019) Martyrs Never Die: Travels through South Lebanon (Warscapes 2016) and The Imperial Messenger: Thomas Friedman at Work (Verso, 2011)

T H E E L E C T I O N M AY S H OW T H AT P O L I T I C A L

I N T I M I DAT I O N A N D F E A R A R E N OT E Q UA L TO A P U B L I C D E S I R E F O R H O N E S T Y I N VOT E CO U N T I N G A N D D E M O C R AT I C R U L E O F L AAW

M E R I C A’S AS I A N CO M M U N I T Y I S T H E L AT E S T D I AS P O R A C AU G H T I N T H E

C R O S S F I R E O F WAS H I N G TO N’S F O R E I G N P O L I C Y A N D T H E Y’ V E H A D E N O U G H

Al JAzeerA

corporate corner

Hashoo Hotels, NEECA team up for energy conservation fund

CHiNA-doNAtEd tENtS ProvidiNg ComFortAblE ENviroNmENt to Flood viCtimS

lA L I a three year old girl is malnourished and often cries due to a skin disease This skin disease along with other water borne, vector borne and viral diseases are very common among flood affected internally displaced peo ple (IDPs) in Sindh

Despite uncountable challenges

gered heavy floods in Pakistan, China has already delivered 13,000 tents to the country by air These tents are being utilised for the accommodation of the IDPs

ISLAMABAD: Of the various challenges that we face today, be they economic, political or social, there is a growing consensus that climate change is the most existential Although Pakistan is responsible for less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but is eighth on a list compiled by the NGO Germanwatch of countries most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change With this in sight, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Mr Haseeb Gardezi, COO Hospitality and Education Division, Hashoo Group and Dr Sardar Mohazzam, Managing Director NEECA on September 30th, at the NEECA Building, Islamabad

By signing this MoU, both the organizations, Hashoo Hotels and National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA), have entered in a new era of energy efficiency and conservation, which will benefit Hashoo Hotels financially besides making them environment friendly and will be another feather in the cap of NEECA On the occasion, Mr Haseeb Gardezi said that “Following the vision of Mr Murtaza Hashwani, at Hashoo Group we are committed to achieving our Net Zero goals by the year 2030

Sherr y condoles with family of mar t yred Pakistani UN peacekeeper

I S L A M A B A D: Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman on Sunday expressed her sympathies and condolences with the family of Havaladar Babar Siddique who lost his life during a UN peacekeeping mission in Congo “I extend my heartfelt condolences to the wife and children of Havaldar Babar Siddique and send my prayers in this difficult time Losing a husband, father and son is heartbreaking and I wish the family strength and stand with them in this time of grief she said Pakistan has always fulfilled its duty as a responsible member of the international community and upholds ideals of global peace and security Pakistan has been serving a UN peacekeeping missions since 1960 in Congo and so far more than 200,000 Pakistani soldiers have participated in 60 missions in 28 countries

It has lost 171 personnel in efforts to restore peace and stability in some of the world’s most turbulent regions

According to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Pakistan is the largest military contributor to MONUSCO the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 1974 personnel Speaking about his dedication to his country, she said: Our soldiers on the frontlines play a crucial part in upholding Pakistan s duty to peacekeeping missions

Havaldar Babar Siddique’s martyrdom will not have been in vain as he was standing tall for his country ” Remembering his sacrifice for his country, she said, “We stand with the family of this brave son of the soil and pray that he receives the highest standing in Heaven His duty to his country was fulfilled and he will remain an inspiration to all those who had the honor of knowing him p r

PAF assisting admin in medical, rehab process of flood affectees

Lali’s father Hero, a 35 year old farmer and an IDP, is quite satisfied with China donated tents being used in a newly es tablished tent city in Matli town of Badin district in Sindh where he is currently living along with his family

“These tents are very good, we feel very good in them It s a very strong and very accommodative tent,” Hero told Xinhua

Around 95 tents were installed in the area where almost 581 people are currently living, including 379 children

Following the devastation caused by this season’s monsoon rains trig

“It’s a very good quality tent There is no issue of mosquitoes or water we face in these tents Every thing is good We are living with com fort,” Magge, Hero’s mother, said Hero who is living in a tent with his mother, wife as well as four daugh ters and a son, is a farmer and used to cultivate cotton and rice in his village, which is around 500 meters away from the area The whole family left their hometown about a month ago after it got flooded and had no other option but to live on a road

“My home and all my fields were destroyed from the flood water,” he said More than 15 days ago, after spending nearly several weeks on the road, the family was allocated a tent by the local authorities and now they feel comparatively relieved in it

Hundreds of thousands of times I

want to thank China for its compassion and support to us during this disaster,” Magge said, adding that we had noth ing left and had no place to live so we are very thankful for this support of the Chinese people ”

Sindh has been the worst hit province of the country where at least 757 people died and 8,422 were in jured from the floods since mid June, according to the latest report released by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

A total of 23 districts and around 14 5 million people were affected while 366 682 people are currently liv ing in camps in Sindh, the report said

Noor Ahmed Khahro, the assistant commissioner of Matli told Xinhua the floods have affected all of Badin in general but this particular region was one of the most affected parts since it’s a low lying land

He said the majority of the region s population was living in poverty and with the destruction of their homes and agricultural lands the local authorities

KP EZDMC launches 9 new economic zones in shor t period of t wo years

PESHAWAR

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development & Management Company (KP EZDMC), Javed Iqbal Khattak has said that with the setting up of 9 new economic zones in the province within a period of two years has turned the dream of industrialization into a reality

In a statement issued here on Sunday, he said that five more economic zones including one Special Economic Zone (SEZ) i e Daraban SEZ Buner Marble City, Salt & Gypsum City Karak, Mansehra EZ and Katlang EZ are in the pipeline

These initiatives of the company, the CEO said will bring an industrial investment of Rs 338 billion in existing and newly launched economic zones in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa These projects will help increase exports and bring de crease in imports and ultimately the economy of the province would be strengthened

The company was established in 2015 with the aim of bringing improvement in the indus trial infrastructure and promotion of industries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to generate employ ment opportunities Before the establishment of the company there were only three economic zones i e Gadoon Hattar and Peshawar Eco nomic Zones in the province and the number has no increased to 14, wherein 344 industrial units are under construction and some have started commercial activity

Out of them D I Khan Economic Zone has become operational and 9 industrial units have started production while 16 more are under construction Similarly he said that 90% plots have already been allotted in Bannu Economic Zone and construction work on them has also

been started

Land for Jalozai Economic Zone was ac quired during 2005, but no development was initiated and now besides the provision of elec tricity work on basic infrastructure has been completed and 45 industrial units are under con struction while two units have started commer cial production while the remaining will start operation by the end of December this year

He said that the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) Nowshera has been restored and now products are being exported from it He espe cially mentioned the installation of a big unit of the manufacturing of the parts of drilling ma chines that are being exported to Saudi Arabia

He said that nine units of marble, ghee and aluminum have been installed in Mohmand Economic Zone and work is in progress Simi larly, he said that investment is also continued in Rashakai Special Economic Zone and indus trial units are being set up there He especially mentioned the establishment of an electric ve hicles manufacturing unit by a Chinese com pany, which will be the first auto mobile manufacturing unit in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Steel, electric cable, food and oxygen man ufacturing units are under construction in Rashakai Special Economic Zone Similarly he said that incentives offered in Hattar Special Economic Zone are also attracting investors and 8 units have already been established that have supplied gas electricity A Saudi Arabian in vestor is also setting up a unit He said that land in Ghazi was available since the 90s and now 80% work on the establishment of infrastructure has been completed while 95% development work on Chitral Economic Zone has been com pleted , saying so far 129 billion rupees have been invested in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

had shifted some of the families to this tent area developed with China do nated tents

Khahro said the victims in the tent area have been provided basic food, clean drinking water, health and edu cation services, and especially good quality tents

“These tents are quite comfortable, ventilated and heat resilient,” he said, adding that they were designed in a way that ventilation could easily take place inside them

He said that the tents, along with China donated canvas, are waterproof due to which the people living in the tent area remained unaffected while the land is still wet, and in case of more rainfall they could easily keep them selves safe from the water

Khahro said that tents can be com pletely closed using attached zips, pre venting mosquitoes from entering

According to the local authorities, several other tent areas with China aided tents were also established in dif ferent parts of the province

Farewell ceremony for outgoing officials held

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Capital Police on Sunday arranged a graceful ceremony in the honor of four officials who retired after completion of their services The ceremony was attended by SSP (Traffic) Dr Syed Mustafa Tanweer as chief guest along with SP (Traffic) Ch Abid Hussain, Zonal DSPs and other senior police officials SSP Traffic Islamabad Dr Syed Mustafa Tanweer lauded the performance of retired officials including Sub Inspectors Muhammad Riaz, Sub Inspector Muhammad Nawaz, Sub Inspector Muhammad Ashraf, Sub Inspector Ghulam Mustafa Bajwa and Constable Hashmat Khan and also expressed best wishes for their future success He paid rich tributes to them for outstanding work during their career in Islamabad Capital police He said that, the following officials served at various posts in different divisions of Islamabad capital police and always accomplished their assignments in a responsible manner and ensured effective working during their stay and their contribution in the success story of Islamabad Capital police would be remembered, he added

At the end of the ceremony, the SSP Traffic acknowledged their extraordinary services and asked other officers to serve like them in the force with dedication and devotion He presented Police Shields to rendered police officials and also expressed best wishes for their future life p r

Team S ave Dreams comes for ward to the succor of flood affec tees

WRittEn By: HAyAH BAHR oni

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force being well aware of the miseries of the people affected by recent flash floods is making all out efforts in the ongoing relief and rehabilitation operation

PAF is assisting state institutions for provisioning of medical support & rehabilitation process in the flood hit areas of KPK, Sindh, Balochistan and South Punjab PAF Medical Lab Collection Points are also actively involved in diagnosis of water borne diseases amongst flood affectees whereas PAF medical teams are making utmost efforts for timely provision of health facilities to the flood victims During the last 24 hours, 17740 cooked food packs, 207 water bottles and 1350 ration packs were distributed amongst the needy families of Uthal, Lakhra, Matyari, Shahdadkot, Sohbatpur, Qila Abdullah, Fazilpur, Jhaal Magsi, Hajipur, Basti Sher Muhammad , Basti Jageer Gabool and other far flung flood affected areas Moreover 400 patients were also attended by medical teams of Pakistan Air Force in the field medical camps

PAF has always remained at the forefront in extending humanitarian assistance during natural calamities The current relief and rehabilitation operations are practical manifestation of Pakistan Air Force's resolve to extend support to fellow countrymen in the hour of need

Torrential monsoon rains triggered the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s re cent history, washing away villages and leaving around 3 4 million children in need of assistance and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition

As floodwaters slowly recede, the sheer scale of damage is being re vealed Over 1 million houses have been damaged, with 436,307 com pletely destroyed and almost 736 242 partially damaged Livelihoods has also been heavily impacted as many shops have been destroyed and more than 733,488 livestock a critical source of sustenance and livelihoods for many families have died, while many public health facilities, water systems and schools have been de stroyed Young children are living out in the open with their families, with no drinking water, no food, and no liveli hood, exposed to a wide range of new flood related risks and hazards, includ ing damaged buildings and drowning in floodwaters Over 2 million acres of

crops and orchards have been im pacted, including 304,475 acres in Baluchistan, 178,186 acres in Punjab, and 1 54 million acres in Sindh The crisis is being aggravated by massive infrastructure damage

The devastating flash floods have submerged one third of Pakistan leav ing a trail of deadly havoc across the country Flash floods and rain induced landslides are exacerbated by the inca pacity of current infrastructure to man age the unusually large amount of water Many rivers, including the Indus, which runs through the entire length of Pakistan, are at high flood

alert levels and have exceeded their banks, and major dam reservoirs are rapidly filling or have already over flowed posing further risk to residents in the area and downstream Amidst this calamity, our team, Team Save Dreams; namely Hayah Bahroni, Rafia Ali, Ayesha Siddique, Noor ul Huda, Husail Jamil and Abdullah Siddique; carried out two flood relief campaigns on in the months of August,2022 and September 2022 to help our brothers and sisters in need The Prophet PBUH said: "You see the believers as regards their being merciful among themselves and showing love among themselves

and being kind resembling one body so that, if any part of the body is not well, then the whole body shares the sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it" In the first campaign carried out by our team, around 100 ration packets including dates, biscuits, dry milk and roasted black gram; and hun dreds of water bottles followed by clothes and medicines were sent to be handed over to the regions been af flicted through PAF Flood Relief Camps In our second campaign, 50 ra tion packets containing wheat, rice, chickpeas, vermicelli, pickle, spices, salt, sugar, pulses, slanty and water bottles followed by clothes and med icines were dispatched to the areas of effect In addition to this, Rs80,000 in cash was also donated at PAF Flood Relief Camp, Islamabad As always, Team Save Dreams have come to the succor of those who are in dire need of help Please Join hands together with us and save lives In the after math of this natural calamity, We, Team Save Dreams, pledge to con tinue our work with the same zeal in order to SAVE DREAMS

PM ShehbA z , world leAderS CongrATul ATe ChInA on nATIonAl dAy

PR I M E Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other world leaders have delivered their messages warmly congratulating on the 73rd anniversary of the found ing of the People’s Republic of China and wishing the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) a full success

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ex tended hearty greetings to China and the Chinese people China, as the world’s second largest economy, is a source of stability in a perpetually changing world, the prime minister said on Sunday in his message on Twitter

China offers a promise of hope to the developing world, which is beset with mul tiple crises related to climate finance food and energy, Sharif said, adding that the Chinese template of inter state relations prioritizes cooperation over confrontation a governing principle in the formation of a community of common destiny

“Personally, I am deeply touched by the Chinese adherence to remarkable work ethic and national discipline This explains how China has been able to lift

800 million people out of acute poverty,” he said

Kim Jong Un General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and Chairman of the State Affairs Commis sion of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), sent a message in which he hailed China s achievements over the years

Kim said that under the leadership of the CPC with the comrade General Sec

Thousands march in Canada in solidarit y with Iran protests

OTTAWA a F P

Several thousand people marched in Montreal and other Canadian cities Saturday in solidarity with protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s notorious morality police

A wave of street violence has rocked Iran since Amini 22 died days after her arrest for allegedly failing to observe the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women Protests were held across the country for a 15th consecutive night on Friday despite a bloody crackdown that rights groups said has left more than 75 people dead

Tens of thousands have also come out for solidarity rallies in several Canadian cities, including Vancouver Toronto and the capital Ottawa

A protest also took place Saturday in the US capital Washington where hundreds of members of the Kurdish community some bearing placards calling for regime change in Tehran, gathered outside the White House gates

In Canada, public broadcaster CBC showed images from Toronto on Saturday of motorists honking their support for demonstrators lining a five kilometre (three mile) stretch of road, wearing “Justice for Mahsa Amini” t shirts and waving Iranian flags on the end of hockey sticks

In Montreal, several women cut their hair as a crowd of more than 10,000 waved placards that read “Justice” and “No to the Islamic Republic,” while chanting “Say her name Say her name ”

It was for the Iranian women who are fighting for their freedom, for their lives in Iran,” a 30 year old expatriate who only gave her name as Sin told AFP after chopping off her long dark locks

She described cutting off her hair that flowed almost to the middle of her back as “nothing compared to” what women in Iran have endured “This is the least we can do to support my country, my women, my people in Iran who are under repression, she said March co organiser Nima Machouf, 57, added it was important to “be a voice for people in Iran and carry their message to the world

Several demonstrators called for regime change in Tehran, and for Canada to increase sanctions Ottawa has already applied sanctions over Iran s nuclear program and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new round Monday against dozens of Iranian officials

At least 127 dead after riot at Indonesia football match

MALANG a F P

Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese Pres ident Nguyen Xuan Phuc on behalf of the Vietnamese party, the government and the people also extended the warmest con gratulations adding that they look for ward to promoting the healthy and steady development of the Vietnam China com prehensive strategic cooperative partner ship and bringing tangible benefits to the people of the two countries

At least 127 people died at a football stadium in Indonesia when fans invaded the pitch and police responded with tear gas, triggering a stampede, authorities said Sunday Arema FC supporters at the Kanjuruhan stadium in the eastern city of Malang stormed the pitch late on Saturday after their team lost 3 2 to Persebaya Surabaya, the first loss in more than two decades to their bitter rival

retary at its core, the Chinese government and the people have built a moderately prosperous society in all respects and em barked on a new historical journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects The upcoming 20th National Congress of the CPC will become a new milestone in China s socialist construc tion, said Kim, he added General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee

Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secre tary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and the Lao President, said under the wise leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese people have continuously made new achievements in building so cialism with Chinese characteristics and opened up new chapters in the great reju venation of the Chinese nation, adding that China s international status keeps rising

He said the Lao side speaks highly of and warmly congratulates the brotherly Chinese people on their great and com prehensive historic achievements

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the PRC, extended his most sincere and friendly congratula tions, wishing the upcoming 20th Na tional Congress of the CPC a success

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

KABUL a F P

Bodies strewn everywhere a ceil ing caved by blastwaves, class mates dragging each other to safety survivors of a suicide bombing in a Kabul study hall described scenes of horror after what should have been a typical exam

Nonetheless, faced with a death toll of mostly women students of the minority Hazara community were unbowed by the obstacles to education in Afghanistan pledg ing they will return to class

“Education is our weapon and they want to take this weapon away from us,” said 19 year old Wajiha, a day after escaping the assault that killed 35, according to a UN death toll “I want to study,” she told AFP It s my dream and I will always fight for it ”

On Friday, a bomber blew him self up in the women’s section of a gender segregated study hall in the western district of Dasht e Barchi

Hundreds of students from the

historically oppressed Shi’ite Hazara community were settling down for a test at the Kaaj Higher Educational Centre when the assault began

“We were sitting in the class room and had just started our exam when suddenly there was the sound of gunfire, said Wajiha, after revis iting the scene of the devastated schoolroom

The attacker a tall man dressed in military fatigues and holding a gun fired continu ously she said forcing the girls to hide under the benches

“After the gunfire, there was an explosion and the whole ceiling of the classroom fell, then there was complete silence Wajiha said her voice choking with emotion

Recounting her story in a hijab and grey headscarf Wajiha said she lost two of her friends and a teacher in the attack

In the frantic aftermath, she saw her friends and male students scrabbling to escape

“I saw boys climbing the com pound wall and pulling girls along

I saw one boy who was himself in jured but he kept pulling girls out,” Wajiha said

“I don’t know how I escaped from the classroom I don’t know how I jumped across the wall ”

‘Never stop studying’

Arsalan, 18, who was writing his test in the courtyard of the cen tre, saw bodies of women strewn on the floor of the hall

“It was horrific There was chaos everywhere,” said Arsalan, who credits his survival on his de cision to sit outside the classroom

“I pulled two girls out but I was unable to continue ”

Those behind the attack, which no group has yet claimed aim to stop Hazaras from progressing, he said

They want to eliminate us completely Why are they not at tacking any other community?” he asked

The historically marginalised Hazaras comprise between 10 to 20 percent of Afghanistan’s 38 million citizens

Police, who characterised the unrest as “riots”, tried to persuade fans to return to the stands and fired tear gas after two officers were killed Many of the victims were trampled to death, according to police

In the incident 127 people died two of whom are police officers Thirty four people died inside the stadium and the rest died in hospital,” East Java police chief Nico Afinta said in a statement on Sunday Afinta said many people were crushed and suffocated when they ran to one exit

Images captured from inside the stadium during the stampede showed huge amounts of tear gas and people clambering over fences People were carrying injured spectators through the chaos Torched vehicles, including a police truck, littered the streets outside the stadium on Sunday morning The Indonesian government apologised for the incident and promised to investigate the circumstances surrounding the stampede

“We’re sorry for this incident this is a regrettable incident that injures our football at a time when supporters can watch football matches from the stadium,” Indonesian Sports and Youth Minister Zainudin Amali told broadcaster Kompas

“We will thoroughly evaluate the organisation of the match and the attendance of supporters Will we return to banning supporters from attending the matches? That is what we will discuss ”

2,000-year-old bronze coins unear thed in China’s Xi’an

XI’AN: A new batch of relics, including thousands of bronze coins, have been unearthed from the remains of a mint dating back more than 2,000 years in Xi an the capital of northwest China s Shaanxi Province Apart from the coins of different face values and shapes, more than 100 ash pits, three house ruins 11 kiln ruins 18 wells and three smelting and casting ruins have been unearthed Judging from their shapes and structures, all relics date back to the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC AD 25) Some belonged to the short lived period under the reign of Wang Mang between AD 9 and 23, also called the Xin Dynasty, according to Zhang Jianfeng, a researcher with the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

Zhang said the mint was a national level one Xi’an used to be the capital of the Western Han Dynasty when the city was called Chang’an

In December 2015, archaeologists from the CASS Institute of Archaeology and Xi’an’s institute of cultural relics protection and archaeology jointly launched the excavation work of the site The latest round of excavation started in March 2021 ag e n c e s

Blinken holds c all with S audi foreign minister over Yemen truce

WASHINGTON ag

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Saturday with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud to discuss the imminent expira tion of the UN mediated truce in Yemen on Sunday, the State Department said The Secretary welcomed Saudi Ara bia’s commitment to extending the truce,” the State Department said in a statement after their call

Yemen has been split by a seven year old war pitting a fractious coalition

led by Saudi Arabia against the Iran aligned Houthi group The Houthis largely hold the north and the internation ally recognised government is based in the south

A UN mediated truce between the coalition and the Houthis has largely held since April

Last month sources told Reuters that rifts within Yemen’s new presidential council were delaying approval of re forms needed to unlock $3 billion in fi nancial aid from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that would help ease a severe foreign exchange crunch

King Charles III won’t attend COP27 af ter Truss repor tedly ‘objec ted’

LONDON ag

King Charles III will not travel to next month’s United Nations climate summit in Egypt Buckingham Palace confirmed on Sunday, after UK Prime Minister Liz Truss reportedly “objected” to the keen environ mentalist attending Britain’s new monarch, who took the

throne when his mother Queen Elizabeth II died last month, had intended to deliver a speech to world leaders gathering at the COP27 summit on November 6 18, the Sun day Times reported

But the plan has been axed after Truss who was appointed prime minister by the late queen just two days before the latter died opposed it during a personal audience with Charles at the palace last month, the newspa

per said Queen Elizabeth addressed the last UN climate summit in November 2021, with the blessing of the Tory government led by Truss’s predecessor Boris Johnson

Charles III s office appeared to distance itself from the incendiary newspaper report, insisting the king had sought Truss’s advice

With mutual friendship and respect there was agreement that the king would not attend, it told the BBC

The Sunday Times story comes amid speculation Britain s new leader already under fire over her economic plans which have sparked market turmoil could con troversially scale back the country s legally binding climate commitments

Her newly assembled cabinet contains a number of ministers who have expressed scepticism about the so called 2050 net zero goals, while Truss herself is seen as less en

thusiastic about the policy than predecessor Johnson The newspaper said she is unlikely to attend COP27 the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Conven tion on Climate Change in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh

Britain hosted the last summit, COP26, in the Scottish city Glasgow In addition to the late queen, Charles and his son William both addressed the event

InConSISTenT’

ASIF needS To STArT deLIverInG For PAkISTAn: HAmeed

FORMER Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed thinks X fac tor ’ Asif Ali needs to start de livering for Pakistan consistently in the shortest format of the game Pakistan and England will take on each other tonight in the series decider at Gaddafi Stadium in La

hore The seven match series is cur rently levelled at 3 3 England won the sixth T20I cour tesy of Phil Salt’s 41 ball 88 Yasir wants Pakistan match winners to also step up in the series decider tonight

“You can’t predict a winner in the T20 format You just have to see how many match winners you have and how many x factors do you have in your team,” said Yasir England played Salt consis

tently because he has is an x factor for them He delivered for them in the last game For us, we have Asif Ali in that role, but he hasn’t deliv ered consistently for Pakistan With his current form, he can win us only five matches out of a 100 which is a low percentage Asif needs to start delivering consistently for Pakistan

On the other hand Yasir believes both batting and bowling can win the match for Pakistan

“It is going to be a good cricket match That I can say for sure But we ve been delivering both with bat and ball and both are our strength at the moment So, if both fire on Sun day, the trophy is ours

Yasir thinks the team manage ment needs to help batters overcome their demons Shan Masood hasn t yet delivered as expected I hope Shan can make a comeback because he has a lot of talent

Roma pile miser y on Inter

AgENcIES

Chris Smalling plunged Inter Milan further into crisis by heading Roma to a 2 1 triumph at the San Siro which kept his team in touch with Serie A leaders Napoli, 3 1 winners over Torino England defender Smalling perfectly met Lorenzo Pellegrini’s free kick with 15 minutes remaining to complete a clinical Roma comeback from going behind to Federico Dimarco s fine first half strike

“I hope I can keep scoring goals,” Smalling told DAZN after netting his second match winner of the sea son We ve got a very strong squad this season and we have big goals we’re aiming at ”

Top US ski mountaineer gets Buddhist cremation in nepal

KATHMANDU A F P

The body of renowned US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, who died on Nepal’s Manaslu peak, was cre mated close to a Buddhist stupa in Kathmandu on Sun day Nelson’s body was found on the slopes of the world’s eighth highest mountain on Wednesday, two days after she disappeared as she was skiing down from its summit Monks chanted prayers and played traditional drums as her family and fellow climbers of fered flowers and traditional Buddhist scarves on her body “The cremation was done today, attended by her brother, other climbers and officials,” Jiban Ghimire of Shangri La Nepal Trek which organised the expe dition, told AFP Orange marigolds decorated the cre mation area at the foothills of Swayambhu Nath stupa, one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Nepal Nelson 49 was regarded as one of the world’s most talented ski mountaineers and had been involved in dozens of ex peditions around the world A decade ago, she became the first woman to summit both the highest mountain in the world, Everest, and the adjacent Lhotse peak within the span of 24 hours Then in 2018, she re turned to Lhotse and made the first ski descent of the mountain, and her accomplishments earned her the prestigious National Geographic Adventurer of the Year award that year Jim Morrison, who had accom panied Nelson and was able to ski down safely, led the search operations that located her body after bad weather hampered earlier rescue efforts

new Yorkers win Fundraising Football C’ship

ISLAMABAD

S tA F F R e P o R t

New Yorkers bagged the Fundraising Football Champi onship organized by Urtasker in collaboration with Leisure Leagues and World Group for the flood hit people in Pakistan The twin cities saw a fantastic foot ball championship final between both teams, New Yorkers seized the moment and won the 7th Urtasker Football Championship on penalty kicks A 2 1 win on penalties against Urtasker Hawks was enough for New Yorkers to clinch the title in the championship There were 12 pool matches among eight teams and the qual ifiers played in the semifinals and final The other teams included Pindi Badshah, Black Panthers, Digital Squad, Jhelum Stallions, Markhor, and Urtasker United Zeeshan Riaz (Chief Operating Officer Ur tasker) said these events were imperative for improving mental and physical health He thanked Leisure Leagues and World Group for joining and promoting the football game in Pakistan and letting players show case their talent He also vowed to arrange more ath letic events to encourage the sports culture in Pakistan Moreover, Urtasker organized a side football match for under 12 children to demonstrate their sporty talent and showcase their athleticism Urtasker Group of Companies emphasizes and boost sports activities in collaboration with other stakeholders

Jose Mourinho’s side, who levelled through a su perb Paulo Dybala volley six minutes before half time, showed they can do it against the big boys with a ma ture performance which for once didn’t finish with wasted chances leaving them wondering what might have been

They are four points behind Napoli in fifth place after a win which also leaves Inter, who dominated early on but fell away, further back in the title race

Simone Inzaghi’s seventh placed team are eight

“Khushdil Shah takes four to five balls to settle He can only then start hitting big Haider Ali has been suffering from lack of self confi dence They both should talk to Rizwan Rizwan proved with his

points off the pace after losing for the fourth time in their eight matches, hardly the best preparation for the crucial Champions League visit of Barcelona on Tuesday

“We can’t help being disappointed after what was a completely undeserved defeat today, Inzaghi told DAZN “It was our best performance of the season but we came away from it empty handed, and that’s painful

Inter also trail their local rivals AC Milan by five points after two stoppage time strikes from Fode Ballo Toure and Rafael Leao snatched a 3 1 win for the cham pions at Empoli

Milan, who took the lead through Ante Rebic with 11 minutes remaining, were left reeling when Nedim Bajrami’s pinpoint free kick levelled the scores in the 92nd minute

B

capped a stunning win by racing through on goal

opposed and classily dinking in the third in the sev enth minute of added time

National Women’s Basketball C’ship begins today

ISLAMABAD

Host Islamabad would compete against Lahore in the opening match of the National Women’s Basketball Championship beginning from Monday here at the Li aquat Gymnasium of Pakistan Sports Complex

General Secretary of Federal Basketball Associa tion (FBBA) and organizing secretary of the champi onship Ouj e Zahoor told on Sunday that all arrangements had been completed for the five day championship Top eight teams are taking part in the event to be divided into two pools Pool “A” comprises defending champion Pakistan Wapda, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Quetta while Pool B includes teams from Pakistan Army, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar, the General Secretary FBBA told

Ouj e Zahoor said that Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Ehsan ur Rehman Mazari would be the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the championship hosted by Federal Basketball Association under the umbrella of Pakistan Basketball Federation (PBBF)

A total of four matches would be played daily in the championship as matches between Islamabad and La hore, defending champion Wapda and Quetta, Army and Peshawar, Karachi and Rawalpindi will be held on the opening day

The semifinals of the championship would be

played

Schedule

Islamabad;

Army

October

October

Guardiola says Cit y have ‘strategy’ in place if he leaves

LONDON

A F P

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said the Pre mier League club knows the right steps to go forward even if he leaves at the end of the current season Guardiola, who has guided City to four Premier League titles four League Cups and the FA Cup will be out of contract in 2023 and his future at the club re mains unresolved Asked what City’s future would look like if he did not sign a contract extension Guardiola told reporters, “the club knows exactly what is the next step ” “No one can see the problems (of the future) but I am 100 percent convinced the Spaniard added, speaking ahead of City’s clash against rivals Manchester United “They know what the strategy is, what they have to do right now tomorrow and for next season When the club depends on one person we have a problem If the club just depends on Pep it is because we have not done well I never buy players it is not my money It is the club The club is the most impor tant word Every decision we make is thinking about the club City who are second in the league stand ings, host sixth placed United later on Sunday

Three more matches decided in Peshawar Football League Season 5

There were hundreds of football specta tors who witnessed the thrill packed matches on the second day of the 16 day, 16 teams battle wherein majority of the teams had the services of national and international players In the first match of the day s proceedings, Shinwari FC defeated Chitral Markhor Tank Turiyali defeated Hazara Tigers and Shaheen Football Club defeated Chitral Darwish In the first match Shinwari FC edged past Chitral Markhor by 2 1 in a thrilling match For Shinwari club, Rizwan scored a beautiful goal in the 9th minute and Waqqas doubled his team lead in the 65th goal while for Chitral Markhor Khaleek ul Zaman scored the 70th through field attempt It was a right winger cross nicely intercepted by unmarked Waqqas with a headed in conversion and received thundering applause from the sitting spectators It was a superb goal and Chitral Markhor after reduc ing the margin tried their hardest to level the tally but due to the pack defence line of Shinwari Stori, they were unable to score and thus Shinwari won the match by 2 1

Qatar races to ready luxur y and budget rooms for World Cup

DOHA

workers are pouring concrete and hammering through t

ments for a million or more football fans

Hundreds of migrants are labouring inside the 211 metres (696 feet) high Katara Towers, dramatically shaped like intertwined scimitar swords, where VIP guests of world football’s governing body FIFA will stay during the tournament The wealthiest will pay thousands of dollars a night for rooms with marble wine cellars and a lobby with one of the world’s biggest chan deliers Yet mountains of sand sit on the steps and some of the smoked glass windows are yet to be installed at this landmark on the Lusail seafront close to the stadium that will host the final

Everyone is working around the clock, said one en gineer on the project, speaking on condition of anonymity “It will be touch and go whether everything is installed to suit people paying so much, this expert

told AFP A spokesperson for the Accor group, which will run the Fairmont and Raffles hotels in Katara Towers in sisted they would be ready for “FIFA guests” during the World Cup and then officially open after the tournament $50,000 a night chalet: Frenzied work is being carried out across Doha

Forty kilometres (25 miles) away in Barwa Barahat Al Janoub, another army of labourers works under floodlights at night and scorching sunlight in the day, to ready apartments for fans paying $84 a night for a steel bed in a shared room

The Barwa complex, out in the semi desert, is ex pected to house more than 7,500 World Cup fans and will later be used for the thousands of foreign workers who keep Qatar ’s oil and gas fuelled economy moving

A source on the project which is 10 kilometres from a metro station said that hundreds of rooms still need to be finished and that workers were engaged in “a furious race against time”

A spokesperson for the Qatar organising committee said: “All of the accommodation options at the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be ready in good time before fans,

teams and officials arrive in Qatar for the tournament ”

A comfortable inventory exists for teams and fans, this spokesperson added Positioned at opposite extremes, the sword shaped towers and austere work ers rooms will play key roles in housing supporters of the 32 nations taking part in the World Cup from No vember 20 Organisers say that more than one million fans will visit and that 130,000 rooms will be usable in hotels, apartments, cruise ships and desert tents

But some supporters have already complained about prices and the availability of rooms

Other Gulf cities, especially Dubai, are reporting a World Cup boom driven by fans who are reluctant to stay in Qatar, in part also due to perceptions disputed by Doha that respect for LGBTQ rights and alcohol will be in short supply In Doha port, there will be three cruise ships that can handle up to 13,000 people paying between $179 and $800 a night

For $423 a night, some supporters will be in tradi tional but air conditioned tents on a beachfront at Al Khor north of Doha with en suite bathrooms flat screen televisions and other luxury trappings

consistency that he deserves the number one spot in T20Is So if Moeen Ali is telling England batters to learn to stay on the crease from Rizwan, then why can’t our players learn from him too, he added

back ahead when

pushed

Imran says thankful to maryam for ‘revIvIng’ cIpher Issue

his loyalty when consciences were being sold

a t t e n t i o n

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fO R M E R premier and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chair man Imran Khan said Sunday that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz wanted the cipher to be lost somewhere so that the public will not know about the conspir acy between her uncle Shehbaz Sharif and the US but by doing so she has re vived the issue

“They have started a new drama regarding the disappearance of the ci pher while its master copy is in the of fice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maryam Nawaz can ask her ambassa dor about it,” Imran said while ad dressing a mammoth public gathering in Taxila in connection with the anti government moment

Regarding the cipher issue the PTI chief said, “The copies of the cipher were sent to the National Security Com mittee (NSC), National Assembly, chief justice and the president They [current rulers] had termed the cipher a lie

Imran regretted the current rulers have gotten another NRO and they are trying to scare “us every other day ”

“Bilawal came to Islamabad for infla tion march but people only remember him for his ‘kanpen tangrahi hain’ statement Today, inflation in Pakistan is at a 50 year high he added

Imran Khan said that these people have nothing to do with welfare of the masses after coming into power but are only trying to end their corruption cases

They ve been forgiven for

cour t stops arrest of Imran in contempt case

ISLAMABAD

The high court of Islamabad has approved the protective bail of Imran Khan, two days after a junior judge in the capital issued an arrest warrant for the former prime minister in a co called contempt case The September 30 warrant relates to remarks Khan made regarding a magistrate and chief of Islamabad police during a public rally in August At the rally, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) party apparently warned judge Zeba Chaudhry and Akbar Nasir Khan, the inspector general of Islamabad police, of legal consequences over what he described as a biased attitude towards Shehbaz Gill his chief of staff He had earlier said he “might have crossed a line” in his criticism of Chaudhry and was willing to apologise On Friday a civil court issued the warrant hours after the former prime minister submitted an affidavit in the contempt case The document, however, surfaced only on Saturday, hours after Maryam Nawaz, vice president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) party, asked the government to arrest Khan Soon after the news broke out, thousands of people came out on the roads across Pakistan to protest Demonstrators formed a human chain around his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad Subsequently, on Sunday morning, he filed a petition with the high court through his counsel Babar Awan In his plea, the former prime minister said that a terrorism case was initially filed against him, however, the charges were later struck down by the court and the case was transferred to a junior court He alleged the government had filed a false case against him, the purpose of which was to quash the peaceful campaign against the corruption mafia According to the plea, the purpose of the case was to arrest Khan in order to put an end to a “peaceful political movement Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani took up the petition and following the proceedings, barred police from arresting Khan He approved Khan’s bail against the submission of surety bonds worth Rs10,000 The court also directed Khan to appear before the concerned court before Friday Khan has been holding massive rallies across the country to try and force early elections, alleging that his government was toppled by a foreign conspiracy backed by the United States for his warm relationship with Russia and for visiting Moscow on the day President Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine

Rs1,100 billion theft while from 2008 to 2018, Pakistan’s debt increased by four times ”

In his initial remarks, Imran Khan thanked the people of Taxila for attend ing the PTI public gathering in large numbers He added, “Taxila has never witnessed such a big participation of women in any public gathering ”

He praised PTI leader Ghulam Sar war Khan for firmly standing with him in every difficult time He added that Ghulam Sarwar Khan did not change

The former prime minister said that those who could prevent the con spiracy” from succeeding, if they call themselves “neutral at this time, the nation will never forgive them”

Imran Khan challenged the rulers to arrest him instead of giving threats “This is the movement of real inde pendence and we are ready to face jails I am ready to go to jail and my nation as well We are not afraid of jail ” He said that the nation is ready to sacrifice their lives for real independence

The PTI chief said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was even more coward than former prime minister Nawaz Sharif “Unless there was a deal Ishaq Dar could not have returned but he has,” he added

Lashing out at the chief election commissioner Imran said that he has been tasked with only one job and that is somehow to make the current rulers win the next elections via rigging

The PTI chief also urged his follow ers to wait for his final call for a long march, adding that the call is not very far

Did nothing wrong to afraid: Qureshi welcomes probe into cipher

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k i I n s a f ( P T I ) Vi c e P r e s i d e n t S h a h M e h m o o d Q u r e s h i o n S u n day said that the official sum m a r y o f t h e f e d e r a l c a b i n e t m e e t i n g a c c e p t e d t h e c i p h e r t h a t t h e o u s t e d r u l i n g p a r t y c l a i m s p r o v e U S b a c k e d a l l e g e d c o n s p i r a c y t o t o p p l e i t s g o v e r n m e n t

“These are the same people who used to say that this [ci pher] is a made up thing pre pared in the foreign office and bears no true value Today at

least one matter is settled that our stance which we held from the beginning that the cipher is a reality”

PTI Vice President Shah Mehmood Qureshi was speak ing at a presser held to respond to the unfolding controversy after the cabinet tasked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the diplo matic cipher ’ related audio leaks, wherein the former gov ernment high ups allegedly discussed how would they play on the cipher issue

A cabinet committee was constituted on September 30 to

discuss the proceedings regard ing the audio leaks featuring the PTI chairman and his party leaders, including General Sec retary Asad Umar, then per sonal secretary Azam Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi

The committee recom mended legal action in a meet ing held yesterday, with proposals presented in the form of a summary before the cabi net for approval

Responding to the unfold ing controversy, Qureshi told the media They have decided to open an investigation by all means and go right ahead ”

pm thanks china over aid for flood victims

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

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said Pakistan was obliged to China for its help for flood victims in Pakistan and the total volume of Chinese aid had increased from 400 million RMB to 644 million RMB In a tweet on social media platform Twitter, he said, Our Chinese friends continue helping the flood victims in Pakistan Total volume of aid has increased from 400 million RMB to 644 million RMB We are deeply obliged to Chinese govt, CPC, Red Cross Society of China, sister provinces & People’s Liberation Army for the assistance

ctD guns down six terrorists in Balochistan, kp

nasiRaBad/laKKi MaRWat: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday claimed to have gunned down six terrorists four in Nasirabad and two in Lakki Marwat According to offi cials, the CTD team met an encounter with alleged terrorists in Nootal area of Nasirabad of Balochistan after their vehi cles were fired at

The terrorists opened fire at the CTD team and in retaliation, four were killed on the spot In the alleged shootout, two CTD personnel also sustained injuries

Two of killed terrorists are residents of Suhbatpur, the CTD said Further investigation into the matter was underway Meanwhile, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in a joint intelligence based operation (IBO) with police claimed to have killed two terrorists in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa According to details, the CTD and local police conducted the operation following intelligence reports regarding presence of wanted terrorists in Takhti Khel neighborhood of Lakki Marwat

A h s a n I q b a l a cc u s e s I m ra n o f s p e n d i n g d o n a t i o n s o n p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t i e s

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal lashed out Sunday at Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan for seducing people by his words saying the former cricketer had mas tered the art of disposing of people after using them akin to tissue paper

Addressing a news conference in Narowal on Sun day, the federal planning minister listed the people who Imran Khan has seduced Iqbal went on to quip that Imran perhaps used the same tactics with women, sec ondly with the rich He said that if someone was car rying $100 in their pocket Imran s hand was invariably in their pocket

“It has now been proven that Imran [Ahmed Khan]

Niazi, who used to collect donations in the name of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, spent the money on his party s political activities and had toyed with their members,” the federal minister claimed

“Imran Khan did not dare to claim defamation against the story published by the Financial Times, which was known as the bible of economics and fi nance, he said

“However, when a British newspaper published a story against Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister took the publication to court (and won) so why does Imran Niazi have no courage to take the Financial Times to court?” he asked

Thirdly Imran seduced the establishment He used to carry a laptop with Asad Umar and told the estab lishment that there was no one more honest and pure than them, he added

Continuing the list, he said the fourth victim was the judiciary, lured by stories like the Panama Papers case after which the Supreme Court judge told Imran Niazi to leave the streets and come to the courtroom

He said the decision taken in the Panama case would be considered one of the most controversial de cisions in the history of Pakistan because the downfall of Pakistan started with the decision of the Panama case in 2017

IK attempted to endanger the state in every possi ble way

Meanwhile, PML N MNA Ali Pervaiz Malik on Sunday said that Imran Khan has been caught for con spiring against the state for the sake of power and pol itics, after being ousted from office Imran Khan attempted to endanger the state in every possible way, he said while talking to a private news channel

David Malan and Harry Brook plundered

108 runs of the last 10 1 overs to enable Eng land post a mammoth total of 209 3 which proved too steep to overhaul as the Pakistani batting crawled to 142 9 and conceded the seventh and last match as well as the series 4 3 to England at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Sunday

The English batters were the architects of the series clinching performance once again as David Malan hit 78 n o (47) and Harry Brook 46 n o (29) while Ben Duckett 30 (19), Phil Salt 20 (12) and Alex Hales 18 (13) contributed to the insurmountable total

Malan was adjudged player of the match for his scintillating knock while Harry Brook was declared player of the series for his reli able batting performance as he was highest run getter 238 for England

Phil Salt and Alex Hales had started from where they had left in the last match and put the Pakistani bowlers to the sword in the power play

The openers had put on 39 runs for the first wicket before Hales fell lbw to Moham mad Hasnain as England lost two quick wickets at the same score when Phil Salt was run out of a superb direct hit from Shadab Khan Duckett also fell to some good piece of fielding by Mohammad Rizwan

Malan and Brook were given lives when

Malan was dropped twice by Babar Azam and Mohammad Wasim while Brook was also dropped by Babar Azam off Haris Rauf when he was batting on 29

Haris was the pick of the bowlers who was the most economical bowler for Pak istan conceding 24 runs off his quota of four overs when others bowlers were spanked all over the park Mohammad Hasnain was the only successful bowler and picked one wicket for 31 runs Iftikhar Ahmed gave away 34 runs and remained wicketless, Shadab Khan conceded 39 runs in 3 overs, Mohammad Nawaz leaked 12 runs in only one over while Mohammad Wasim was the most costly as he went for 61 runs in his wayward four overs

M i a n M a n s h a M e e t s P M, d o n at e s R s23M

f o R f l o o d a f f e c t e e s: Renowned businessman Mian Muhammad Mansha along with his son Hassan Mansha called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif here on Sunday During the meeting, Mian Muhammad Mansha donated an amount of Rs 23 million for Prime Minister ’s Flood Relief Fund