rime min ster shehbaz shar f on thursday said by building a de ceitful narrative of conspiracy against h s government imran khan committed a treason against pak stan and its people, and in flicted an rreparab e damage to the countr y s reputation
the prime m nister, wh le referring to an audio leak revealing a conversat on be tween the then prime minister imran khan and ex principa secretar y Azam khan about using the classified diplomat c cable for po itica purposes, said the ep sode had badly damaged pakistan s re ations with the friendly countries he said sans the aud o leak, the ambi guity might have prevailed for years but Al ah blessed the nat on by exposing imran khan’s “ fraud deceit and worst conspir acy aga nst the countr y “ the audio tel s all is there any doubt yet as who hatched the conspiracy? who are the real conspirators? those were imran khan and his cronies,” the prime minister told a press conference here at the pm house he said the coalition government was tr ying to revive bit by b t the t es with other countries damaged by imran khan it was the worst dishonesty a game played with the nation s conf dence that hurt its integrity this is unprecedented in the countr y s histor y he remarked rub bish ng imran khan s a egation of his ro e behind the audio leak had he been be h nd it his own audio leak would not have
sur faced, he added recalling the process of the vote of no confidence aga nst imran khan and the rejection of the motion by the then deputy speaker the prime minister said the pti ch ef and his party had wasted the nation’s time that conspiracy stands exposed with out any amb guity for ast five years, i have been saying that he (imran khan) is the biggest liar doing all just to ser ve his own interests,” he commented pm shehbaz told the media that the na tional security committee, in ts two meet ngs, categorically made it clear that the c pher had nothing to do with the consp r acy to a question, he confirmed that the pm house s copy of the cipher was missing
As regards the flood situat on the pr me minister said the coa ition govern ment had spent rs100 bil ion for the re ief of flood stricken population who were being prov ded essentia items, including tents blankets and food he said during the catastrophic flood s tuat on too imran khan played his neg ative role by mal gning the government ust to keep the donors from supporting the flood hit people of pakistan
this is a disser vice to pakistan this cold hearted person did not think of the suffering humanity he has no soft corner for the humanity,” the prime min ster said and appreciated the efforts of his min sters and institutions including the ndmA (na tiona disaster management Authority) and pdmAs (provinc al d saster management Authorities) for relief and rehabilitation of the flood hit people
Appreciat ng the United nations secre
tar y general for contest ng the f ood hit pakistan’s case before the world, the pr me min ster said china had prov ded re ief a d worth $90 m llion and the United states $61 m llion, bes des the support pouring in from the United Arab emirates Qatar Japan and others he said the previous government also v olated the agreement with the international monetar y fund, though the government re vived it successfully despite the confusion created by imran khan and his cronies he also lamented the pti eader for tar geting the pak stan Army and attempting to create d vision w thin the institution ignor ing their huge sacrifices against terrorism to a quest on shehbaz sharif con firmed that the pm house’s copy of the c pher was missing he told the med a that federal cab net had decided to launch a probe into the c pher issue and the nation would be apprised of the findings
Asked about the appointment of next army chief the prime minister said there was a set criteria n the law, which would be followed to another question he said pakistan muslim league nawaz ’s Quaid nawaz sharif wou d return to pakistan once his med cal treatment was over regarding the tosha khana case, the prime minister said the probe was under way he assured that h s government never believed in political victimization and the find ngs of the case wou d be shared with the public
i w ll not do anything contrar y to facts institutions wi l do the r own work i will not inter fere,” he assured he said in the foreign funding case the election comm ssion had quashed imran khan’s claims of be ng ‘ sadiq and Ameen’
Asked as if the government intended to impose governor rule in punjab to check much talked about pti s long march the prime minister said i wi l not say anything premature however, no one is allowed to take any il egal step mentioning the “ nAB niazi nexus ” , the prime min ster sa d the ik government had not even spared the fema es including mar yam nawaz and far yal ta pur from victimization
to a question about mar yam nawaz s departure for england, the prime min ster said the court had given her a clean chit it was not for the first time that she ap peared before the court rather she had also been in the detention of nat onal Ac countability Bureau (nAB)
the nat ona Accountability Bu reau (nAB) has summoned 21 members of the former pr me minister imran khan s cabinet for investigation in a case of giving approval to sending £140 mil ion in the account of Bahria town founder ma ik r az
Accord ng to sources the apex anti graft body has sent no t ces to the former premier imran khan s cab net members nclud ing ghulam sar war khan, murad saeed per va z khattak shafqat mehmood shireen mazari Ali haider Zaidi and hammad Azhar, dr sh reen mazari shafqat mah mood, Asad Umar for recording of the r statements
nAB has also summoned Ali riaz malik, the son of malik r az who is the founder of Bahr a town they added sources said that the nAB has summoned murad saeed and ghulam sar war khan on october 11, per vaiz khattak and Ali r az malik on october 12 Zubaida Jalal and hammad Azhar on oc tober 13 shafqat mehmood and shireen mazari on october 14 khalid maqbool siddiqu and ejaz shah on october 17 Ali Amin gandapur and farogh naseem
on october 18 Ali Zaidi and khusro Bakht ar on october 19 Azam khan swat and Asad Umar on october 20 Umar Ayub and muhammad mian somro on oc tober 21, she kh rasheed Ahmed and fawad chaudhr y on octo ber 24 and mehboob sultan and faisal vawda october 25 for in vest gation and recording of statements
sources added that nAB would also summon ex pm imran khan for the recording of his statement after recording and examining the statements of his cabinet members
As per details the nAB has been nvestigating sending £140 million in the account of Bahria town founder malik riaz that pak istan had received from the Britain as m/s Bahria town pvt ltd did an out of court settlement with British national crime Agency in a case where the latter froze an amount of some 140 mi lion out of 190 gBp includ ng 1 hyde park london property purchased by Ali riaz ma ik
reportedly nAB had ear ier sought provision of record from the pr me minister ’s office regard ing the deal for repatr at on of rs50 b lion to pakistan between Bahr a town and Uk s national crime Agency (ncA)
federa f nance and revenue m nister ishaq dar has said that the government has fixed rs19 99 electricity tariff for five export oriented sectors
Addressing a press conference along with the exporters delegation, the finance minister said that the govt has fixed electricity tar ff for exporters at rs19 99 nclusive of all taxes
A subsidy tune of rs 100 bil ion would be given on account of providing them cheaper electric ty and the ministr y of fi nance will bear all the price differential amount, he added finance minister said that the export industr y was prom sed electr c ty at 9
cent however the tariff has been revised after two months instead of one year if exports ncrease by 15 to 20 per cent, all external problems w ll be solved, fm added finance m nister also sa d that we had given a rs180 bil ion pack age last tenure due to which an increase of 12 7 percent witnessed in export if the pti government maintained that policy exports would have in creased he c a med
As soon as i arrived, the value of the rupee has been mproving and the dif ference of 12 rupees between open and interbank came to 1 rupee the actual value of the dollar is below 200 against the rupee and at this time the exchange rate is adjust ng it self he added
he also said that pak stan’s debts have decreased by rs2600 b llion due to improvement of va ue of rupee finance minister said that we will also take action against the banks nvo ved in man pulat on of the exchange rate ishaq dar also said that a three member delegation under my super vi sion will conduct talks with the imf on the occasion of the annual meeting from monday the other members of the de egation included the finance secretar y and state Bank governor there s no need to take the imf into confidence on this package as he said that the financ a capacity of this pack age is there and we can fund this from our own resources he also said that nawaz shar f will come to pakistan soon rumors about rs 72 million being given to me are totally wrong and my sa ar y goes to some hospital or institution criticizing imran khan he said that
An army of imrandos is being prepared we said goodbye to the imf but then they went to the imf, the finance minis ter added get agr culture package ready within week federal minister for finance and
PR E S I D E N T Dr Arif Alvi in an address to the joint session of the Parliament on Thursday, called on politicians to end growing polarisation in the country and decide on an election date by coming together
“People can only be united if politicians are united,” he said, highlighting that eliminating differences was the need of the hour”
The joint session of the National Assembly today was called in line with articles 54(1) and 56(3) of the Constitution
The session was sparsely attended with the majority of MNAs missing from both benches Those in attendance were seen freely mingling and talking amongst one another while the president was speaking
Meanwhile, Jamaat i Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed chanted slogans calling for MNA Ali Wazir ’s production orders to be issued, even as the president continued speaking He later staged a protest in front of the NA speaker ’s rostrum with Senator
At the outset of his address today, the president expressed that the biggest problem Pakistan was facing today were the catastrophic floods that wreaked havoc across the country and rendered millions homeless
“I want to felicitate the Pakistan Army for helping victims while sacrificing their lives The federal and provincial governments, PDMA (Provincial Disaster Management Authority), and NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) all worked hard on the ground I thank all of them Dr Alvi pointed out that if the relief work was not done on time the human and economic losses from the floods would have been higher
Pakistan s contribution to global warming was not even 1 per cent, but the country was suffering the most, he said “I want to commend agencies and the government for the way they worked I believe they deserve commendation ”
The president said that the disastrous
floods had damaged crops spread over acres and underscored the need for crop insurance
“Agriculture is our economic backbone We must look towards countries that are progressing in this sector
“The Netherlands is 19 times smaller than Pakistan but it progressed so much on the agricultural front and my country should have progressed more in this field If we adopt a scientific approach, Pakistan can beat the world ” he stated
Dr Alvi also said that the recent floods had, once again, raised the demand for building dams
‘ T i e s w i T h U s i m p r o v i n g ’:
Talking about foreign affairs in his speech today the president lauded the government for improving ties with the United States, saying that the country had been a “good friend to Pakistan
“We have seen ups and downs but the US is a big market for our goods We want to improve ties on mutual understanding The government is striving for it and I commend this ”
Dr Alvi also underscored the importance
of Pakistan s ties with China I believe the Pakistan China friendship is a real one and CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) is an example of it
The president went on that Pakistan’s stance on Ukraine was clear and the country expected ties with Europe to strengthen Talking about Afghanistan, he said: “We have a clear position that we want peace there Taliban have promised that their soil will not be used against terrorism and we expect everyone to keep their word ”
Dr Alvi went on that Pakistan wanted a “broad based government” in the neighbouring country
About India he said that Pakistan desired better ties with India but only after a resolution of the Kashmir dispute “We believe Hindutva mindset and Islamophobia are being exported and I want India to not do this because it has an impact ” T h e e c o n o m y: President Alvi while talking about the economy, stressed the maintenance of balance
Pakistan should stand on its feet We need hard work We don’t have oil reserves, but we have land and gold We need to stand up We reached a growth of up to 5 9pc and it shows we have capacity ”
The president also highlighted on political stability and urged the government to work harder to contain inflation
He said the dollar rupee parity was worrisome but hoped that it would soon be tackled “Every chamber I speak to demand continuation in policies Even if the governments change policies should continue,” Alvi added Fa k e n e w s : The president highlighted that the entire world was upset with fake news Referring to the recent audio leaks, he said that private conversations should not be made available out in the public and they should stay “where they belong”
Talking about the freedom of media, the president underlined that it was an important part of the freedom of democracy “I want to bring this to the government’s attention because it is extremely important
At least 11 people were killed and 12 others injured in a road crash near Jamshoro district of Sindh on Thursday The accident happened in the Sehwan district of the province when a passenger van hit a truck coming from the opposite direction The injured people were shifted to a nearby hospital where several of them are said to be in critical condition The van was on its way to the port city of Karachi from Bahawalpur when it met the accident, said the reports The deceased include both the van and the truck driver three women and two kids Indonesia’s 7 7th Independence Day celebrated
ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R tThe Embassy of Indonesia in Islamabad on Thursday celebrated 77th Anniversary of its Independence Day Addressing the ceremony chief guest Federal Minister for Industries and Production Division Makhdoom Syed Murtaza Mehmood congratulated the Indonesian Ambassador on their Independence Day and underlined the strong bilateral and economic ties between both countries The minister also thanked the Indonesian government for providing relief assistance to flood victims of Pakistan He also acknowledged the Indonesian government’s help in handling the palm oil crisis Talking to the participants Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan Adam Mulawarman Tugio said the 77th Anniversary of Independence is another milestone for Indonesia marked with significant political and economic achievements Now, Indonesia is the world’s third largest democracy and a country where Islam and modernity coexist and deliver to bring economic progress, he expressed He added that the voices of developing countries and ensuring their participation in the development process were important parameters of Indonesia’s inclusive approach to the Indonesia’s Presidency in G 20 The Ambassador also expressed his heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the victims of recent unprecedented flash floods in Pakistan He added, “we believe that no nation alone can handle such a large scale natural disaster, and it’s a shared responsibility of all to support people in distress
British Deputy Opposition Leader of the Lower House and Deputy Leader of Labour Party Ms Angela Rayner on Thursday said that the United Kingdom firmly stood with the flood hit Pakistan and supported its relief efforts for the affected people
The world needs to find a sustainable way of ensuring that people are not as devastated by the lives lost here in Pakistan and the disruption that has happened to the people here she said in an exclusive interview with APP Ms Angela Rayner, who along with Member of House of Lords Wajid Khan visited the flood affected areas, said efforts should be made to prevent such a catastrophe going forward into the future The climate change was rapidly affecting the world and Pakistan had
become its first victim and it required extraordinary efforts and collaboration to tackle the issue, she added The United Kingdom she said would raise the issue and ask for a sustainable solution to combat it in the upcoming COP27 meeting in Egypt next month
“I hope that the bilateral talks will mean that more support will come to Pakistan and other areas of the globe that have faced the devastation of climate change but in a more sustainable and structured way
She further stated that the world had to protect the people’s future from the climate change effect as it was devastatingly affecting the humanity
Speaking about her visit to the flood affected areas of Pakistan Angela Rayner said it was devastating to see how the people have to endure the crisis
Hundreds of thousands of people had been affected by the flash floods,
besides losses of life and property and standing crops, which was devastating, she added Angela Rayner She said the British Government had already donated 16 5 million pounds to the flood affected people of Pakistan
Moreover, she added, the British Pakistani diaspora had immediately been incredible regarding the relief effort
“Many fundraisers and support have been offered, the Pakistani diaspora in the UK has been incredibly generous and part of the reason why I’m here is that I wanted to, as a UK politician is that Pakistan hasn t been forgotten even in my own constituency Ashton under Lyne underlying they’ve been from raising and doing so much to help the flood relief efforts ”
To a question, she explained the bilateral trade and said Pakistan had a very challenging economic time
However the British industry was supporting Pakistan’s Industry The longer term goal for both Pakistan and the UK was to build that trading partnership
She further stated that the UK was also having a very challenging time with its economy “So it’s in our interests to build that trading relationship and support each other s economy
As regards the Kashmir issue, Angela Rayner said the Labour Party had always been committed to supporting the people of Kashmir, and finding a peaceful resolution and supporting the United Nations Security Council resolutions to resolve the dispute
Moreover Pakistan and India had to find a peaceful resolution for the Kashmiri people, which was important because every life lost in the conflict was a loss of humanity, she added
Syed Ali Haider Shah Bukhari, chairman of Hussain Shah Bukhari Welfare Trust, a charity organisation, was distributing school bags, shoes and candies to the kids studying in a tent school
The kids were the flood affected internally displaced people (IDPs) living in a newly established tent camp using China donated tents in Matli town of Badin district in Sindh
Bukhari appreciated China s support for Pakistan in the fight against the ongoing disaster and humanitarian assistance in relief work which is facilitating the country in providing basic education and health services to the affected people
“China’s tents are playing a good role in our society because still sometimes there is rainfall over here and sunshine is also very intense ” Bukhari added
Talking to Xinhua, Noor Ahmed Khahro, Assistant Commissioner of Matli town, said the tents are waterproof and heat resistant and are designed in a way that cross ventilation easily takes place inside them
Sindh has been the worst hit province of the
country where at least 759 people died and 8,422 were injured due to the floods since mid June and over 366,000 people are currently living in camps, according to the figures released by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
Khahro said that Matli is one of the most low lying areas in the Badin district so most of the schools in the area were also flooded and consequently damaged
To save the academic year of these children, they have been provided with the education facility utilising the spacious and well ventilated Chinese tents and assigned a couple of teachers to the tent school, he added Mangan, a young teacher who lives in a nearby village volunteered himself and asked officials to provide him with some facilities to teach the students of the tent camp for free
The local authorities hired him for the tent school on a reasonable monthly salary
“All these students here are poverty stricken and are very good learners They are good at reading writing and learning Because of these spacious tents, we are going to teach these kids here,” Mangan told Xinhua Around 95 tents were installed in the area where 581 people are currently living, including 379 children
One of the biggest challenges the flood affected people including the tent camp IDPs are facing is the rapid spread of water borne, vector borne and viral diseases According to a health official, almost all IDPs are malnourished and presently suffering from dengue skin infections, headache, body aches etc As their overall health conditions are not good, even a mild fever can become a serious issue for them
In the wake of the health crisis, a clinic has also been established in Matli s tent camp using two China donated tents One of the tents is being used for patient examination while the other is a pharmacy where all medicines are provided free of charge to the IDPs
Khahro said that these tents are very productive for providing health facilities since they have all the necessary features and protections, as they can be completely closed using attached zips preventing mosquitoes from entering
“These China donated tents are the best quality tents among all the tents I have seen up till yet being currently utilised for the relief work,” he said Thanking China for its support, Khahro said that it was one of the few countries that came to help Pakistan soon after the floods hit the country
which clearly show a picture contradicting Moody’s rating action
The Finance ministry has contradicted Moody s revised rating from B3 to Caa1
According to the handout issued by the Finance ministry, the rating action by Moody s is strongly contested by the Ministry of Finance as the rating action by Moody’s was carried out unilaterally without prior consultations and meetings with our teams from the Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan It is pertinent to note that Moody s has released the revised rating for Pakistan in which it has downgraded the sovereign credit rating from B3 to Caa1
Following Moody s intimation of the rating action Ministry of Finance held two meetings with the Moody’s team over the past 24 hours, sharing data and information
After a regular stock take of the economic and fiscal conditions the Ministry of Finance seeks to inform that government policies over the last few months have helped in fiscal consolidation The Government of Pakistan has adequate liquidity and financing arrangements to meet its external liabilities Pakistan is currently under the IMF Programme, the continuity of which is based on the confirmation and confidence in the country’s ability to maintain the fiscal discipline, debt sustainability and its ability to discharge all its domestic and external liabilities The country remains committed to the agreements reached under the IMF programme
Moody s worsening near and medium term economic outlook” does not depict the
correct picture due to gaps in information available with Moody’s and its use of estimations is not grounded in fundamentals
As such the estimate of economic cost of the floods at US$ 30 billion is premature as the data is still being compiled in collaboration with World Bank and other partners, to ensure transparency and accuracy, and will be available once the figures are firmed up Thus the impact on GDP growth rate cannot be fully and accurately assessed at this time and so Moody’s downward revision of GDP growth rate at 0 1% has no solid basis
Similarly, translating economic losses into fiscal deficit is contested
On the expenditure front, the government will largely be involved in public infrastructure rebuilding and that too over a number of years The uptick in urgent current
expenditure is being met through re allocations and re appropriations of budgeted funds thus mitigating the risk of rising deficit On the revenue front the increase in nominal GDP is likely to compensate for any dip in revenues
During recent meetings with multilaterals, the government has received additional funding commitments from ADB of over US$ 2 5 billion Similarly the World Bank has also pledged additional funding of around US$ 1 3 billion for infrastructure and other projects in the current financial year These are in addition to the Ministry’s financing plan at the start of the financial year
On the appeal of the UN Secretary General, funds to the tune of US$ 816 million were pledged by countries in a conference in Geneva on October 04 2022 We expect further fundings from multilaterals and
friendly countries in the donor conference planned to be held in Pakistan in November this year Consequently, we expect the external sector to improve further in line with the increase in liquidity
The impression of restructuring of Pakistan’s debt is refuted unequivocally as currently no such proposal is under consideration or is being pursued as has been categorically stated by the Finance Minister
The Finance ministry stated that some of the key numbers can further help understand performance of the economy in the post flood scenario On revenues, it may be noted that FBR taxes grew by about 28% in September
FY23
Similarly, the recent post flood performance numbers of various sectors of the economy including agriculture and livestock show that its impact on current account deficit is likely to be moderate compared to that assumed by Moody’s Commodity prices, especially crude oil, have eased compared to a month ago, this would help in offsetting some of the impact of floods on the current account deficit
Corridor (CPEC) has provided jobs to at least 46,500 Pakistani so far in the energy projects Gwadar
Pro stated on Thursday quoting a Report released by China Three Gorges International
The Report said that the jobs had been created in the completed and under construction projects of CPEC
“Considering the various economic fissures prevailing in Pakistan (i e, inequitable underdevelopment, low energy
access, low human capital, and accompanying low productivity) CPEC power plants have performed commendably in raising overall direct local employment (46 500) throughout Pakistan the Report titled “Overview of Pakistan’s Power Sector and its Future Outlook” said The Report added that the overall socioeconomic demographic of around 46 thousand families have been raised, while thus skilled work force enjoys on site training by both local and international professionals that professional work environment far surpasses the sort they would receive while employed with other local projects It mentioned that all CPEC power plants
The minister was chairing a meeting of Committee constituted by the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Kissan Package The meeting was attended by Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah; Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar; Federal Minister for Power, Khurram Dastgir Khan; Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Syed Murtaza Mehmood and Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema Dar informed the meeting about Prime Minister s concern for promotion of agriculture sector especially in the aftermath of devastating rains and floods He said the proposals for package should focus on improving productivity as well as reducing import bill and emphasized that the government was keen to provide maximum relief and facilitation to the farmers Earlier Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah briefed the meeting about the delegations of farmers who met the Prime Minister and their demands The committee deliberated on all the issues including power tariff for agriculture sector, solarisation of tube wells, availability of agricultural inputs including fertilizers, etc Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Chaudhry Tariq Bshir Cheema stressed for solarization of tube wells and providing relief to the growers in fertilizer and import of tractors Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan also apprised the meeting regarding subsidized power tariff being provided to the farmers
As many as 196 fatal accidents were occurred in all power distribution companies (DISCOs) during fiscal year 2021 22 as compared to 189 accidents in financial year 2020 21 The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority in its State of Industry report also observed that DISCOs were unable to implement the standard operating procedures (SOPs) about safety measures due to which the fatal accidents had been occurred during said period The regulatory has also published the safety booklet for the field staff to facilitate the DISCOs, which is a big step towards saving the life of the valuable resource of the distribution companies An amount of Rs483 5 million fine has been imposed upon the DISCOs for the fatal accidents and companies have been directed to compensate the families of the deceased on account of fatal accidents that occurred due to their negligence and non compliance to the relevant standards The Apex Court, in 2020 SCMR 1,488 titled ‘Naimutullah Khan Advocate and others vs Federation of Pakistan and others’ has also directed that K Electric to ensure and take all steps that in future no electrocution at all takes place to the residents of Karachi In case any such incident occurs, the CEO and other officers of KE shall be taken to task and the exceptional amount of damages shall be recovered from them, the court further said in its decision Although the observation in the referred case relates to KE however, the fundamental principles may equally be applicable in cases of the DISCOs, the regulatory pointed out Therefore DISCOs need to be more careful and ensure all necessary steps to avoid fatal accidents in their respective areas
had been installed under GOP Policy 2002, 2015 and AEDB Policy 2006 and 2019 as Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and are purely Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
All equity and private debt have been arranged
i e n t t o m e e t t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r t e c h n i c a l p e r s o n n e l A s
a r e s u l t , C h i n e s e m a n a g e m e n t b e g a n f o c u s i n g o n t h e e m p l o y m e n t o f g r a d u a t e s f r o m s p e c i f i c u n i v e r s i t i e s i n P a k i s t a n T h e f i r s t b a t c h e s w e r e c o m p l e t e l y h i r e d f r o m N E D U n i v e r s i t y o f E n g i n e e r i n g a n d Te c h n o l o g y, K a r a c h i , a n d N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f S c i e n c e s a n d Te c h n o l o g y ( N U S T ) I s l a m a b a d S i x h u n d r e d y o u n g a n d d y n a m i c e n g i n e e r s w e r e s e l e c t e d a n d s e n t t o C h i n a f o r a 6 m o n t h t e c h n i c a l a n d m a n a g e m e n t t r a i n i n g T h e y r e t u r n e d t o t h e p r o j e c t s i t e a f t e r f i n i s h i n g t r a i n i n g s e s s i o n s t o t a k e c h a rg e o f i m p o r t a n t o p e r a t i o n T h e e n g i n e e r i n g e m p l o y e e s , s o o n a f t e r r e c r u i t m e n t , w e r e s e n t t o C h i n a f o r 6
Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said that Pakistan desperately needed measures to bring the country’s economy out of crisis through sustainable export led economic growth
“The sustainable economic growth is possible only through increasing productivity that leads to more exports and higher economic growth , the minister said while addressing the closing ceremony of a two day international conference on Productivity Accreditation and Certification, organized by National Productivity Organization (NPO) on the occasion of APO’s Diamond Jubilee
Ahsan Iqbal said the country had been facing sheer foreign exchange reserves and balance of payment crisis for long time due to slow growth in exports “Whenever we cross 6 percent of GDP growth, the government faces dollar shortage issue due to which we have to put emergency brake on the economic growth to resolve the balance of payment crisis,” he added
In 2018, he said the PML N government launched the productivity initiative with the help of Asian Productivity Organization (APO) aimed at increasing productivity in the country by ensuring quality and innovation However he said the government was changed soon and initiative could not continue due to change in the government Ahsan Iqbal maintained that the sustainable economic development of the country was directly linked to political stability and continuity in the policies
He said that only in agriculture sector, Pakistan could earn additional US$10 to $12 billion per year by increasing per acre yield of various crops up to 80 percent to 300%, and this increase was quite possible by adopting international standards of growing the crops
Meanwhile, participating as chief guest in another event titled Dialogue on Global
Development initiative towards Global Security” here Thursday, the minister said that the whole world was going through economic crisis as the world had not yet recovered from the shock of the Covid 19 Pandemic
The Minister remarked that commodity prices rose worldwide due to the Russia Ukraine conflict and that subsequently gripped the world with high inflation trend
He further added that balance of payments and economic crisis today had assumed as a global phenomena leading to slowing down the execution of Sustainable Development Goals worldwide
The minister asserted that today, the poor people of Pakistan were paying the price of climate change The flood disaster that hit the country affected 33 million people adding that children and mothers in the camps were reeling undernourished “We have to feed an entire generation and the task of bringing people back has posed serious challenges for the government
Minister stated that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was the biggest project of the Belt and Road Initiative in Pakistan that had helped build Pakistan’s infrastructure and built a new information highway
He lamented that unfortunately CPEC could not keep up with the speed as it was planned and the establishment of industrial zones were delayed consequently He added that the future of the economy depended upon the export driven economy The minister added that in 2013, the world saw Pakistan as a security risk while myths were doing the rounds to defame the country However, we in our last term through stabilizing the economy made the country investment friendly, he expressed While commenting on the Global Initiative Dialogue the minister noted that the dialogue offered ample opportunities to understand the global dynamics on global security adding that a country where political instability and discontinuity of policies prevailed could not tread the path of progress and prosperity
However, he said, Maryam Nawaz got relief from the court under the old NAB law having nothing to do with the amended one
Commenting about the amendments in the NAB law Shehbaz Sharif said the PTI government introduced amendments to facilitate the 190 million pounds scam, in which the cabinet’s consent was sought on an agenda in a closed envelope
Besides mentioning the sugar and wheat scams, he said the IK government gave an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) to his own sister Aleema Khan in the case of assets beyond means
He said despite his tall claims of accountability, Imran Khan abolished the accountability commission in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after it came
up with a report exposing the corruption of PTI ministers Asked to comment about the economic situation, the prime minister said the coalition government saved the country from default putting its own political position at stake
He said as the new finance minister had assumed charge, the rupee had started appreciating against the dollar
He said the government was striving to control the inflation It deferred the fuel adjustment charges up to 300 units and would supply wheat seeds among the farmers in flood affected areas
As regards the huge profits earned by the private banks from the increased foreign exchange rate during April to June this year he said he had ordered the inquiry and the new finance minister was actively pursuing it
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Hajj
Ministry of Hajj and Umrah
Currently foreign workers are mostly employed in
have
department
from the Pakistani
force market of three years the report added
Report elaborated that as per the vision and direction of the company’s leadership, the share of Pakistani work force will be
from the current 68 percent within the next five years
the plants will be completely (100
operated by the Pakistani workforce in next decade
A district and sessions court in Islamabad sent Shahnawaz Amir, the prime suspect in the murder of his Canada na tional wife on a two week judicial remand on the expiry of his physical remand Sara Inam, 37, a Canadian national, was bludgeoned to death in broad daylight on September 23 allegedly by Amir at a farmhouse in Chak Shahzad a sub urb of Islamabad The police arrested the suspect from the crime scene and booked him the following day under Sec tion 302 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of Nawazish Ali Khan, station house officer (SHO) at Shahzad Town police station Amir was initially remanded to police custody a day after his ar rest and the period of his physical remand was extended several times At the last hearing, the court had allowed a three day extension of his remand which ended Thursday nation continues to witness rise in dengue fever cases
ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R tThe rise in the number of dengue fever continues a strong momentum in Pakistan amid an outbreak due to floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains in the country In the last 24 hours, 480 more people were diagnosed with the disease in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the provincial health department reported on Wednesday night The number of active cases in the province currently stands at 2,507 and the total number of cases so far this year has reached 10 401 Sindh reported 418 new infections The worst hit area was Karachi which reported 355 new cases The total number of cases so far this year in the province has reached 11 560 Punjab reported 335 new cases in the last 24 hours Lahore reported 158 new cases, followed by Rawalpindi with 100 cases The total number of dengue cases in Punjab so far this year has gone up to 7,775 The government has launched an anti dengue campaign including raising public awareness in response to the alarmingly high number of cases in the country and has taken special measures at dengue hotspots to curb the spread of the mosquito borne disease
should sit in Parliament
T H A R Minallah, chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), remarked on Thursday that his court cannot issue orders to the speaker of the National Assembly He made the observation while hearing PTI’s petition on the piecemeal approval of the resignations of its MPs following Imran Khan s ouster as prime minister in April
At the outset of the hearing Justice Mi nallah stated the court respects the sover eignty of the Parliament, adding that a similar petition was also filed before as well on this matter
Is this the political party s policy, wondered the judge while acknowledging that rest of the PTI MPs’ resignations are yet to be accepted People trusted the rep resentatives and sent them to Parliament he remarked “This court cannot issue orders to the speaker of the National Assembly, remarked Justice Athar Minallah on the
PTI s petition directing the court to direct the custodian of the lower house to investi gate their party’s resignations He also ob served that in the Shakoor Shad case IHC had only asked for a review
“This is a political issue and Parliament is the place to resolve political tussles You should hold dialogue with political parties to resolve problems,” said the IHC CJ Do these resigned members really want to go to Parliament and resolve the people’s issue? he wondered “We have to see if the petition ers came with clean hands before the court or not ” remarked the judge
At this, Barrister Ali Zafar, the counsel for the PTI lawmakers, told the court that his clients have not come against party policy
However, the judge observed that the pe titioners had themselves admitted that their resignations were “genuine”
But the lawyer told the court that his clients believe that Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf did not fulfil his constitutional obli gation The resignations were given on the condition that all 123 will be accepted, he
added and reminded the court that only 11 were accepted
“We say that the resignations given were conditional If all the members resignations were not accepted then the condition was not met,” said Zafar He also added that the resig nations were not accepted without a proper in quiry sharing that the current number of resignations laying before the speaker was 112
At this, Justice Minallah observed that the MNAs whose resignations were pend ing should be in Parliament It is their re s p o n s i b i l i t y t o r e p r e s e n t p e o p l e i n parliament he added
Zafar responded to this by saying that going to Parliament was a secondary issue
“Then by being members of Parliament they are virtually boycotting the assembly Think about this and submit an affidavit, said the judge In 70 years courts have been involved in a lot of political matters and this has harmed the judiciary as an institution, he observed
“This is not a member ’s issue, but is also of the people of those constituencies who no
longer have representation in Parliament, said the IHC CJ He, once again, observed that the members in question have admitted that their resignations were genuine
At this the counsel for the petitioners as sured the court that the resignation letters were genuine but conditional We say all res ignations were genuine and must be ac cepted, he said
Is your stance that the party forced them to resign? If this is the case then you are going against party policy,” said Justice Minallah
However Zafar assured the court that the lawmakers were not going against party policy and clarified that their stance is that the speaker did not fulfill his constitutional obligation
Audio leaks have shown how 11 mem bers’ resignations were accepted Our polit ical objective was to vacate 123, our aim was not achieved so we believe that everyone is still an MNA said Zafar
At this, Justice Minallah remarked that the MNAs that have not been de notified
“Parliament has been disrespected a lot, do not turn democracy into joke”, said Jus tice Minallah
But Zafar told the court it was not possi ble for the PTI to return to the Parliament as the audio leaks have come forward and 11 members have been kicked out
Once again, Justice Minallah reiterated that political uncertainty in the country can only be ended in Parliament
“These things are not done through talk ing but with your conduct, said the judge
To this Zafar once again told the court that he cannot comment on the MPs’ return to Parliament at this point in time This de pends on the party policy he added
“If you suspend the order for the accept ance of resignations then we can go and speak to the speaker ” Zafar told the court
“The court will not facilitate you in po litical dialogue, petitioners say they do not accept the parliament They want to maintain political instability which is not in the inter est of the country,” observed IHC CJ
z i z B u n e R i
A delegation from the Chinese Food and Agriculture in dustry visited Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology (KFUEIT) where Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Suleman Tahir wel comed the distinguished guests During a meeting, the VC informed the delegates about the teaching and re search activities being carried out in Khwaja Fareed University He informed in detail about the university’s industrial linkages, MoUs with national and interna tional institutions and other significant achievements on which the delegation appreciated his efforts Later, a seminar titled “Role of Agriculture in Pakistani Indus try was also organized The seminar was organized by the Department of Agricultural Engineering of the uni versity Addressing the participants of the seminar, Mr Chen Liyan and Mr Huang Pie said that projects like CPEC have increased the flow of Chinese people and in vestors to and from Pakistan, which shows that there are immense opportunities for development in Pakistan s agriculture He said that they are working in Pakistan re garding the cultivation of chilies and in this context he is working in six different places including Lahore Pak pattan, Multan and Jalalpur which is showing substantial results Appreciating the services of KFUEIT in agricul tural engineering they also expressed the desire for an MoU through which mutual cooperation can be in creased Registrar Dr Muhammad Sagir, Dean Prof Dr Muhammad Shahzad Murtaza Head of Agriculture En gineering Department Dr Yasir Niaz, Dr Adnan Bajwa, Anwar Farooq, Dr Farhan Chughtai and others were also present on this occasion
A district and sessions court in Islamabad has directed the police to return Shahbaz Gill a leader of Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI), his belongings seized during investigations of a sedition case he is facing for re marks critical of the army The case against Gill fol lows his arrest late on August 9, a day after he, during a current affairs programme broadcast by ARY News TV, suggested the ruling coalition was behind a smear campaign against the army He appeared to be sug gesting that army officers should not follow “illegal and unconstitutional orders coming from the top brass He was subsequently accused of “hateful state ments against the army” and of trying to “incite sol diers against military structures He was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on September 15 after spending over a month in prison The directive to return the belongings came in response to Gill s plea seeking the possession of some 31 items including spectacles and identity and ATM cards seized dur ing a raid by the police
Muhammad Ishaq, President, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has reiterated his firm resolve to raising issues being faced by small fac tories in a befitting manner He asked the federal provincial gov ernments and relevant authorities to sort out problems being faced by small man ufacturers to avert closure of industries adding that small industries have an im portant role in boosting national econ omy which is also a great source of employment generation
The SCCI chief was talking with a delegation of the Small Industrial Estate (SIE) Association Kohat Road Peshawar
here at the chamber s house on Thursday
The association delegation, led by its president Waheed Arif Awan, came to the chamber to formally congratulate Muhammad Ishaq on being elected as SCCI president for the next term SIE Association delegation was comprised on former president SCCI Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz, former senior vice president Imran Khan Mohmand, member of SCCI’s executive body Lala Badshah, association mem bers Nazeef Shahhkar Awan Kiramat Adnan, Sher Muhammad, Asadullah, Dr Nasir, Haji Khalid, Mohibur Rehman and Malik Ishtiaq Ejaz Khan Afridi, the SCCI’s senior vice president also present in the meeting Arif Awan apprised the president M
Ishaq about issues of small factories owners, who have established their units in Small Industrial Estate Kohat Road Peshawar in which illegal export of plastic, slipper scrap from K P to Afghanistan, hours long electricity sus pension without issuance of permit col lection of property tax, serving illegal noticed by provincial labour department along low gas pressure and others allied problems were included
Reacting to reservations and prob l e m s o f s m a l l f a c t o r y o w n e r s I s h a q said the issues pertaining to illegal ex port of plastic, slipper scrap from K P to Afghanistan and property tax had al ready been taken up by provincial and federal authorities He expressed hope a f o r e s t a t e d p r o b l e m s w o u l d b e r e
The Election Commission of Pak istan (ECP) announced issuance of the finalized voter lists for all the na tional and provincial constituencies across the country on Friday (today)
The number of registered voters in the country has gone up to 12,21,96,122 (122 2 million) includ ing 66 4 male and 55 7 million fe male voters
According to the voter lists, more than half of the registered vot ers are from Punjab with 70 6 mil lion eligible voters, while Sindh has the second highest number of voters with 25 6 million registered eligible voters
The ECP data shows that Khy ber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has 20 8 mil lion voters while Balochistan has
a
solved instantly
Besides, taking up issues with rele vant government authorities, he sug gested that legal means should also be opted for amicable resolution of those is sues and prompt relief to traders’ com munity Ishaq remarked industrial estates are already paying multiple taxes He, therefore, showed a complete opposition regarding collection of property tax from the estates, which should be ended forth with
H e d i s c l o s e d a m e e t i n g w o u l d b e soon held with Director Afghan Transit Tr a d e i n w h i c h t h e i s s u e o f e x p o r t o f p l a s t i c
A
once
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman and FM Bi lawal Bhutto Zardari has said the condition of his fa ther, former president Asif Ali Zardari is improving In his informal talk with the newsmen in Karachi, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said they were thinking about Asif Ali Zardari’s surgery, but doctors have decided against it as the former president is im proving The PPP chairman urged the workers to pray for the speedy recovery of Asif Zardari Earlier, sources said that a three member team of doctors from United Arab Emirates reached Karachi to as sess the former Pakistan president’s health The team stayed at the private hospital for over four hours and inspected the PPP co chairperson, said sources, adding that some of Zardari’s tests were carried out by UAE medical team Former president Asif Zardari was admitted to a private hospital in Karachi on Sept 27 after his health deteriorated This is the second time that Zardari has been admitted to a hos pital this year A similar situation developed in Feb ruary this year when former president Asif Ali Zardari had been admitted to a private hospital in Karachi after his health deteriorated
For editors at The Kashmir Walla, fact checking a story used to involve a flurry of googling before press time So, when an 18 month internet and phone shutdown began in the disputed Himalayan region in 2019, they had to improvise “We used to leave blank spaces in news stories when we couldn t verify cer tain facts Every week, a team member would fly to Delhi and fill in the blanks,” said Yash Raj Sharma, an editor with the weekly magazine
It was one of the numerous headaches for the region s journalists Unable to use his mobile, Sharma, 25, recalled driving to a telephone booth at Srinagar airport to dictate an 800 word news story to a friend in Delhi “That incident will remain with me forever as a memory of working dur ing the longest communication and inter net shutdown ” said Sharma who also
used to call friends in Delhi to ask them to read out and respond to his emails India revoked the special status of oc cupied Kashmir on August 5, 2019 in a bid to “fully integrate” the Muslim major ity region with the rest of the country An ticipating major unrest, authorities imposed a communications blackout, cut ting off phone and internet connections
The shutdown lasted until February 5, 2021, when 4G mobile data services were reinstated in the region Slow speed inter net was restored a year earlier, but with limited access
For older Kashmiris, it was a journey back in time to the pre internet days of their youth of letters and landlines
For the young, it felt like living in the stone age” said Umer Maqbool 25 who took a bank loan to buy cameras and other equipment to set up a videography busi ness in August 2019 just as the shut down began He got no bookings until the internet
was restored, and had to borrow from family and friends to make the loan pay ments
“I had put all my hopes on the earn ings from the business, but there was something else written in my destiny Maqbool, who supports a family of five, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation R e c o R d s h u t d o w n s: India shut off the internet at least 106 times last year the most number of shutdowns glob ally for the fourth consecutive year, ac cording to digital rights group Access Now, costing the economy an estimated $600 million
Of these outages, at least 85 were in Jammu and Kashmir, largely on security grounds Elsewhere in the country authorities have also shut off the internet and mobile internet during elections, protests, reli gious festivals and examinations It is “extremely easy” to suspend the internet in India, as federal and state of
d
ficers can do so “without any prior judi cial authorisation,” said Krishnesh Bapat, an associate litigation counsel at the non profit Internet Freedom Foundation “The suspensions are justified as strong decisions in response to protests or cheating in exams or other law and order issues despite the fact that there is little empirical evidence to suggest they lead to better law and order out comes ” India’s interior ministry did not respond to requests for comment L aw
c
harming people and the
and targeting vulnerable groups, according t o
w h i
182 internet shutdowns in 34 countries last year, up from 159 shutdowns in 29 nations the previous year India is one o f t h e f e w c o u n t
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t
i e
r l d t o h a v e c o d i f i e d r
n
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e r which the internet can be shut
FE D E R A L Minister for Planning and Devel opment Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said that Muslims were undoubtedly facing a preju dice in the form of Islamophobia and the so lution to this lies in knowledge and wisdom
He was speaking at a two day international con ference on the topic of Islamophobia & its impact on relations between Islamic & Western civiliza tions” held at the International Islamic University
The conference is organized by Islamic Research Institute (IRI) in collaborations with Muslim World League, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Faculty of Shariah and Law and Faculty of Usuluddin of IIUI
The minister also held that the real cause of ex tremism was prejudice because terming it a virus that destroys human rationale
Meanwhile, commenting on the cause of ‘Islam pophia Ahsan Iqbal said that it was related to big otry, which should be countered strategically instead of a conspiracy theory
He said that knowledge and wisdom were the only ways that provide complete solutions to problems
Referring to the teachings of the Prophet (PBUH), he said that the principles of Holy Quran and teachings that derive lessons from the life of Holy Prophet (PBUH) were a permanent and com plete guarantee of peace
Ahsan Iqbal said that the answer to hatred is not respond with hate because it was against the Islamic teachings and wherever it was practiced in the world it had led to destruction
He said that peaceful coexistence was missing nowadays, the root of extremism and religious hatred was prejudice because it was a negative attitude that prevents speaking the truth
Making social development a topic, he said that the secret of success lies in collectivity because a di vided society can never progress there is a need to adopt an attitude of tolerance towards each other, we need to live peacefully together and learn the man ners of disagreement
International Islamic University Rector Dr Ma soom Yasinzai expressed gratitude to Ahsan Iqbal for
s ta f f r e p o r t
LAHORE: Under the national project to increase rice production, subsidies have been offered to farmers on seeds of approved varieties, agricultural machinery, major and minor components and herbicides The officers of the department should provide guidelines to the farmers to avoid post harvest losses This was stated by Punjab Minister for Agriculture Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi while addressing a ceremony organized in Gujranwala District for the awareness of farmers Addressing the ceremony the minister said that Pakistan is the fourth rice exporting country in the world This crop is an important source of foreign exchange in addition to fulfilling nutritional needs Pakistani basmati rice is liked all over the world for its aroma and quality During the last fiscal year, Pakistan earned 2 50 billion dollars in foreign exchange by rice export This national plan to increase the production of paddy per acre is on going in 15 districts of Punjab, which will increase the average production of coarse and basmati varieties of paddy by 20 and 10 maunds per acre respectively Under this plan, 50 percent subsidy has been given on agricultural equipment for paddy cultivation and 80 percent subsidy on paddy residue disposal machines The provincial minister further said that the Government of Punjab is striving to make agricultural sector effective and developed and for this purpose resources are being provided on a priority basis despite the financial difficulties Paddy crop has been cultivated in Gujranwala division on 1 9 million acre and it is expected to get good yield but the average yield of wheat crop in this area was 20 maunds per acre last year while the average yield in other districts of Punjab province was 31 maunds per acre,he maintained p r
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Japan, an international photo exhibition was organized under the umbrella of the Pakistan Association of Photojournalists in collabora tion with the All Japan Association of Photo graphic Societies Japan's multi circulation daily Asahi Shimbun and the Consulate of Japan at Karachi consulate
The exhibition will be open to the general public from October 7 to October 13
The international exhibition was inaugurated by Odagiri Toshio, Consul General of Japan in Karachi, Zahid Hussain founder of the Pakistan Association of Photojournalists Sa KomaYa sawa, former photojournalist of daily Asahi Shimbun visiting from Japan, AzmatAtaka
Speaking on the occasion the Consul Gen eral of Japan Odagiri Toshio said that this photo exhibition will play an important role in the promotion of friendship between Japan and Pakistan He also appreciated the efforts of Az matAtaka, the Pak Japan Business Forum and
the Cultural Forum and expressed determina tion to strengthen Pakistan Japan friendship
Sa KomaYasav also expressed hope that the relations between the two countries will be strengthened through cooperation with Pak istani photojournalists Zaid Hussain, founder of PAPJ, while appreciating the cooperation and relationship with the Japan Professional Photographic Society hoped that this exhibi tion would give Pakistani photojournalists an opportunity to understand and learn about in ternational standards of photography
PAPJ's representative for Japan, senior photo and video journalist Muhammad Zubair, an nounced on this occasion that a photographic ex hibition of Pakistani photojournalists will be held in Tokyo in December 2022 He said that both countries have friendly and cordial relations and for the promotion of cultural relations, such exhi bitions will be continued The exhibition show cases photographs from the 81st Annual International Exhibition held in Japan, which in cludes photographs by photographers from 30 countries including photographs of Pakistan's senior photojournalist Muhammad Zubair based in Japan and Pakistan s internationally
his special interest in the development of the univer sity and hailed his important role in the completion of PC One of IIUI
He expressed hope that this conference would be a platform for important proposals in resolving the biggest problem of our time Islamophobia
IIUI President Dr Hathal Homoud Alotaibi said that more than 100 articles would be presented in this conference, which would be proven as important milestone in bringing forth important proposals re garding the remedy of Islamophobia
He said that prevailing misunderstandings against Islam and Muslims must be addressed through research and a coordinated plan of action
President IIUI said that Islam and its teachings of peaceful coexistence were the solution to instabil ity across the world He also highlighted the scope of Islamic University’s constituent units and their services to Muslim societies
He said that a strategic plan has been prepared for the development of the university, under which the work of making the university a top institution of high quality has started
KARACHI: At the 37th Corporate Excellence Awards 2022 ceremony, hosted by the Management Association of Pakistan (MAP) at Karachi, Indus Motor Company (IMC) won the Best Corporate Excellence Award in the Automo bile Assembler Sector category The award presented by Federal Minister, Miftah Ismail, was received by IMC CFO Mohammad Ibadullah The laurel recognizes IMCs outstanding performance whilst demonstrating progressive management practices during 2022 IMC has been a recipi ent of Best in Sectoral Corporate Excellence Award, for the 7th time since 2010, and also won the coveted Overall In dustrial Corporate Excellence Award, four times Ali As gharJamali, the IMC’s Chief Executive said: " Excellence is more than a set of year end results, it’s a journey of prevail ing attitude It is quite an honour to once again receive this much coveted award from MAP and for us, the biggest con tributor in this crowning accomplishment has been the Toyota Way This recognition signifies IMC s will com mitment, and dedication to consistently deliver on the high expectations of all its stakeholders ” p r
A dinner was arranged by Chinese Ambassa dor to Pakistan HE Nong Rong in honor of Federal Mister for Science and Technology Agha Hassan Baloch at Chinese Embassy
The Federal Minister was accompanied by senior officers of the Ministry
The two sides discussed the historical per spective of the good relation particularly in the field of Science and technology between the two countries Pakistan and China are pursu ing formal Scientific and Technological Coop
eration after signing an agreement of S&T co operation in 1976 This agreement is imple mented through Executive Protocols So far 18 (eighteen) Executive Protocols have been suc cessfully implemented 13 Joint Research Projects are under implementation under the 18th Protocol The two sides emphasize on the early holding of the 19th session of the Joint Committee on S&T Cooperation The Federal Minister for S&T while sharing details of the good bilateral cooperation stated that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a framework of regional connectivity CPEC will not only benefit China and Pakistan but
will have positive impact on Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asian Republic, and the region
The enhancement of geographical link ages having improved road, rail and air trans portation system with frequent and free exchanges of growth and people to people contact China Pakistan Economic Corridor is journey towards economic regionalization in the globalized world To deepen the bilateral S&T cooperation under the Belt and Road Ini tiative (BRI) and CPEC the two sides signed an MoU on the establishment of Pakistan China Joint Working Groups (JWGs) on Sci ence, Technology in March, 2020 The first meeting of the JWG on S&T was held on 6th November 2020 in virtual mode The 2nd meeting of the JWG on S&T under CPEC was held on 20th April 2022 in virtual mode
Implementation status of the main decisions of the two meetings of the JWG are as under: Es tablishment of China Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences at a cost of Rs6 8 bil lion After signing of the Document of Under standing (DoU) between Chinese Academy Sciences (CAS) and Higher Education Commis sion (HEC), the 50 acre of land required / do nated by Quaid i Azam University for the Center CIDCA and HEC signed an MoU
the Project of China Pakistan
tH e nation was told by former PM imran khan in October last year that talks were under way with the tehrik taliban Pakistan (ttP) after that there was a total silence regarding how the talks were proceeding Whatever information came about the now on, now off ceasefire was from afghan sources like islamic emirates of afghanistan spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid and ttP spokesman Muhammad khurasani in June this year the ttP’s statement refusing to budge from its demand for the reversal of Fata’s merger into kP created worries in Pakistan’s political circles and media Reports of a possible amnesty for ttP men responsible for the massacre of innocent schoolchildren and attacks on unsuspecting citizens and men in uniform led the PPP to express concern in Parliament it was decided in July that talks with the proscribed ttP were to be held only under the framework of the Constitution this did not end the secrecy surrounding the talks a perception was meanwhile created that things were under control and there was no need to worry this was done despite increasing reports about terrorists establishing their presence in swat and the southern districts of kP Protest rallies held across swat against the recent ‘wave of militancy’ were dubbed as attempts to spread sensationalism isPR rejected as baseless the reports about the ttP running amok in swat and now we are being told that there is stalemate in talks with the ttP and there is a possibility of terrorist attacks there was a need to have taken notice of the terrorist infiltration months back, rather than to play it down, as was done it appears that after the failure of talks the interior Ministry would be required to hold the baby interior Minister Rana sanaullah has issued a nationwide alert asking for ‘extreme vigilance’, instructing that targeted search and strike missions be carried out wherever militant activity is reported there is a need to provide assistance to the interior Ministry and upgrade civilian intelligence agencies with the latest equipment to enable them to collect real time actionable information ato conduct intelligence based operations
tH e resignations of 10 Pti Mnas have been accepted, out of the 123 submitted at the time the Pti was defeated in the no confidence motion the Mnas have moved a petition against this acceptance, which might seem strange, because the Pti has been arguing that all of their resignations should be accepted those Pti Mnas whose resignations were accepted seem to have let the cat out of the bag by their ingenuous statement that the resignations were meant to force the dissolution of the national assembly and now that that did not seem to be happening, they wanted their resignations not accepted
iHC Chief Justice, Mr Justice athar Minallah, rightly observed that the court would not interfere unnecessarily in the workings of the national assembly this is a correct view of the trifurcation of powers provided in the Constitution; that the judiciary is not supposed to step into the domain of the legislature so long as the Constitution is being followed after all, the Pti members should have gone before the speaker when summoned, and asked him to disregard their resignations this option is open to hem now, but the Pti seems to hope that the judiciary will pull its chestnuts out of the fire for it the Pti is now coming to the moment of truth when it will have to admit that getting its members to resign was wrong, indeed silly it was wrong in principle, as the Pti seems to have forgotten that Mnas do not just represent parties, but also constituencies Pti men are drawing salaries and using all facilities as their resignations have not been accepted, but they do not attend the House as they have tendered their resignations and their constituencies go voiceless in the House the Pti leadership may not realise that it has a responsibility to the country or the voter, but the Mnas should Resignations should be for a reason, not used as a political tool
TH e country is not as badly convulsed as it should be by the latest audioleaks, probably because no one has really realised the hor rific implications of a bug remaining in the Prime Minister ’s Office the bug had re mained there for some time, because the recordings released were of two different PMs the content of their conversations have been used by the other side to claim that their narrative has been strengthened, but no one seems to have realised that this meant that the agency responsible for the security of the PM’s office had been compromised if the bug had been placed in the room, it had to either remain undetected or be ignored it had to be the latter even if we are dealing with a technology involving directional mi crophones using a window, the protecting agents had to turn a blind eye to those devices Happening over a long time means official sanction
Generally, intelligence agencies have rivals the Uk has both the secret service and secret intelli gence service, the Usa the Cia and the FBi, israel Mossad and shin Bet in short, they spy on each other because one of the greatest fears of any intel ligence agency is that of being penetrated by an agent of the enemy While there is such a division between the inter services intelligence and the in telligence Bureau, repeated martial laws have made the isi the premier agency, and interposed Military intelligence into the system therefore while iB is responsible for the security of the PM’s office, and thus must be undergoing a titanic upheaval at the moment it is possible that it has had to make way for the isi or the Mi to bug the PM’s office
Perhaps the best evidence that the bugging was carried out at an institutional level with consent from organisations is the fact of their release there is the theory of a rogue agent who has got hold of these recordings but the only motive for releasing them would be ideological that means one of the parties is involved, and released material against it self to divert attention
the threat to reveal material about imran indi cates that the PML(n) might be behind it On the other hand the failure to reveal any such material in dicates the Pti is behind all this imran himself has said that all his calls were monitored, and that he had no objection because he had nothing to hide He is reported as having said
that the corruption of previous PMs had been re vealed by such monitoring Recently he said that the PDM wanted to choose the next COas because it wished to have someone neither strong nor patri otic enough to stop that corruption Be that as it may, the Pti government must have had a suspicion if it did, then so did the PML(n)
the current bugging does not seem to have been part of why Richard nixon had the White House bugged back at the turn of the 1970s, so as to pro vide a record for future historians However the ap parent equanimity over the monitoring by a domestic agency for corruption (even though it had no anti corruption man date) should disappear when it realised that it has been shown that any place can be bugged, and maybe by an external organisation after all if officials can be suborned out of a sense of duty, others might be sub orned for money and if the PM’s office is not safe, is the COas’? is his house? and if it is, why are the measures taken there with held from the PM’s House? if an agency is indeed re sponsible for the bugging, why was it allowed to do so, and who helped it?
the problem that Pak istan is facing is one that other countries have also, when intelligence agencies become too powerful, and the state structure becomes lopsided soviet Russia faced it in its early years, and saw the revolutionary Dzerzhinky become al most all powerful as head of the Cheka He died of a heart attack in 1926, conveniently for stalin, who had taken over as soviet leader when Lenin died in 1924 stalin tried first Yagoda then Yezhov until he finally plumped on Beria, a fellow Georgian after stalian s death in1953, Beria tried to become head of the Politburo but failed
However, Vladimir Putin became President after a career in intelligence, first leaving the kGB in1991 joining the staff of the Mayor of Leningrad then that of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who made him Prime Minister in1999 When Yeltsin re signed in 2000 Putin became acting President though he had to step aside because of a term limit
in2008, he became PM, letting his PM serve one term as President before coming back if one wants to trace when Pakistani agencies be come politically powerful, one would probably have to blame Zulfikar ali Bhutto who got the isi to make political assessments to counter check those being made by the iB However, the real accretion of power came under Zia not only did he appoint Bhutto’s last, and his first, DG isi, Lt Gen Ghulam Jilani khan, as Punjab Governor, but he promoted the next DG Gen akhtar abdur Rehman as Chair man Joint Chiefs General akhtar had played a cru cial role during the afghan Jihad, and afghanistan still echoes today the first DG isi to become COas was Gen ashfaq Pervez kiani though the COas nawaz sharif had tried to appoint in 1999, was the DG isi at that time now, it seems, the isi can bug the PM’s office it is perhaps no coincidence that the light the leaks shed on both PMs confirms that politicians are unpatriotic and selfish rascals who can not be trusted One will con sider misusing his office to benefit a great nephew in law, the other to use a cipher for political purposes
Perhaps those who rely o n a
Pa k i s ta n is the fifth most severely im pacted nation in the world by climate change Due to its semi arid climate, the nation is vulnerable to natural calamities including earthquakes, floods, and drought, all of which have a negative effect on food security and way of life Half of Pakistan s population de pends on agriculture for their livelihood, which is one of the sectors most affected by climate change Future climatic changes are probably going to have an impact on temperature and rainfall, which may in crease the frequency and intensity of floods in Pak istan, particularly in the Balochistan and sindh regions in these provinces, the patterns of rainfall are gradually becoming more erratic the agricultural sector in our nation paints a gloomy picture for food security, and Pakistan’s cli mate sensitive regions are struggling to meet produc tivity goals as a result of deforestation, declining freshwater supplies, groundwater depletion, and ecosystem damage from extreme weather events like
heat waves and major floods Furthermore a worry ing trend of using agricultural land for non cultiva tion purposes jeopardizes the productivity of the food supply in the future the complexity of these climate change related concerns has made our nation s hunger problem worse thus providing people with access to healthy food is a huge task on a national, regional, and inter national scale according to the World Food Program (WFP) there is growing food insecurity in the world 41 million people are on the verge of famine Pakistan ranks 92nd among 116 nations worldwide on the Global Hunger index (GHi) 2021 or 25th from the bottom the climate related emergency is making Pak istan s food situation much worse according to the Global Climate Risk index 2021, Pakistan is one of the ten most climate vulnerable nations Climate change has had a negative impact on water supplies which are rapidly depleting as a result of poor man agement of climatic changes Pakistan is one of the world s most populous nations the challenge of feeding Pakistan’s expanding population is formi dable 18 percent of Pakistanis are experiencing a severe food crisis while 43 percent of Pakistanis lack adequate food, according to the WFP agricul ture has a significant role in Pakistan’s food security and rural employment its performance is still influ enced by the weather, though Climate change has an impact on agricultural productivity, which in creases food poverty and harms Pakistan s export industry in order to deal with climate effects, crop patterns must be altered by implementing climate friendly crops soil refreshing procedures and heat tolerant seeds through the construction of effective market infrastructure and financial incentives for adopting non traditional agricultural practices, crop diversification, and climate smart farming, farmers should be motivated
For greater productivity, it is deemed essential to continue using the most recent technology in farm mechanization tasks such as irrigation, crop produc tion, crop protection, and land development agri culture can be significantly improved by maintaining affordable prices for farm inputs, including high
responsible
security?
it is almost as if there is a three way race, be tween agencies trying to protect local agencies trying to bug, and foreign agencies also trying to bug Until the nation is assured that the race has stopped, it can not feel safe
it must not be forgotten that Pakistan is a large country with a nuclear arsenal, and thus secrets worth keeping it and its PM will always be a target for spies What it does not need are domestic spooks competing with the foreign
The writer is a member of staff
yielding varieties, and by ensuring the development of cost effective agricultural equipment and machin ery powered by renewable energy sources as an al ternative to extremely expensive fuel that degrades the environment to adjust to the new realities of climate change, P a k i s t a n m i g h t e
t a i n a b l e a g r i c u l t u r e d e v e l o
m e n
g a g e i n s u
water constraints and increase agricultural
agricultural techniques such as switching to high yielding crops, effective water management, low
Flood irrigation is frequently used by farmers to grow crops like rice and sugarcane these crops need large amounts of water, depleting aquifers be neath the ground this severely lowers the water table, increases salinity, and causes water logging, rendering the land unusable for the following grow ing season through subsidies, the government should promote the use of digital technology, con temporary farming methods, effective farm mecha nization, and crop diversity
Reducing carbon emissions will lessen Pakistan’s effects of global warming in order to encourage con sumers to transition to electric vehicles, the govern ment must implement mass transit in all major cities additionally, this will aid in lowering the skyrocket ing cost of oil imports and provide some respite to the general public from inflation brought on by grow ing oil prices By subsidizing consumer solar equip ment the government can encourage the use of solar energy and lessen the burden on conventional power generation sources
However challenges like food security and cli mate change cannot be resolved by the government alone; as a result, community support is necessary the negative impacts of climate change and the sig nificance of water conservation should be made more widely known to Pakistanis the interests and con cerns of marginalized communities such as the poor women, disabled, and indigenous groups, should be better addressed through the design and implementa tion of community led sustainable development proj ects Pakistan should think about developing a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economy that can withstand changes in the domain of climate change and food security
The writer is Vice Chancellor of the Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan
t H O U G H digital advancement has led to the development of new fields it does have a downside when it comes to the protection of our children Our teenagers are exposed to numerous pitfalls that are part of life online every other day one gets to hear of incidents related to teenagers facing cyber bullying, connecting with fraudsters, and falling prey to well organised gangs We may criticise the parents to our heart’s content, but, practically speaking it is just about impossible for a parent or anyone to constantly oversee what the children are doing online, especially when they happen to be teenagers against that backdrop it is the responsibility of social media applications to take the lead and build a mandatory mechanism to ensure parental consent before anyone legally underage may join a certain platform in fact the idea cropped up in my mind after i recently came to know about a new feature that tiktok has launched Called ‘Family Pairing’, the tool enables parents to restrict the screen time of their children, and decide whether a child s account should be private or public if one platform can do this, i don’t see why the others cannot it is a step in the right direction in any social setup, especially in a country like Pakistan the way things are turning out parenting has become a hard task with teenagers apparently in a hurry to behave like adults, taking their own decisions without any idea of the possible consequences of their acts of omission and commission if there is one less thing to worry about parents would love to have that option the fact is, they deserve to have such an option
ZOHAIB ALI KARACHIPakistan a banana republic imran khan is quite rightly being accused and criticised for in dulging in such activities, forgetting that the na tional institutions should not be encouraged and invited to venture into the political arena instead of performing their duties and functions within the constitutional framework
number of institutions are established or created at the federal and provincial levels from time to time such institu tions are assigned specified and spe cialized tasks and responsibilities Most of these such as the national and Provin cial assemblies the Judiciary the election Commission, the armed Forces, that is, the army, air Force and navy among others, are the institutions which have been created governed and are protected under the Constitution of Pak istan all these constitutional and other institu tions are working within their frameworks to say the least such institutions established and cre ated enjoy due priorities of the respective federal and provincial governments
Public servants, or in other words the bu reaucracy, form an important pillar of the gov ernment be it at national or provincial level the government formulates policies, plans and pro grammes and these are supposed to be imple mented and executed honestly sincerely and dedicatedly by the bureaucracy down the line the Father of the nation, Quaid i azam Mohammad ali Jinnah in his address to the public servants on 14 april 1948 had stated,” Whatever community, caste or creed you belong, you are now servants of Pakistan you have to do your duty as servants You are not concerned with this or that political party that is not your business it is a business of politicians to fight out their cause under the present Constitution or the future Constitutions that may be ultimately framed You therefore have nothing to do with this or that party ”
Pti Chairman imran khan, on being elected the Prime Minister following July 2018 general election, while addressing a gathering of public servants under training at the national training in stitution in Lahore at islamabad within the first quarter of his being in power, had quite emphat ically stated that bureaucracy is the backbone of the state and it must deliver and perform its duties and assigned responsibilities faithfully , the government policy of de politicalisation of national institutions and enforcement of meri tocracy offered great opportunity to the bureau crats to improve their performance and play their due role on translating political vision into reality as the backbone of the state
But quite surprisingly, regretfully and de plorably after being ousted through no trust mo tion in april 2022, the same imran khan was somehow criticising left and right, hitting and targeting the national institutions in a thought less manner are public meetings and in tweets
and interviews and not sparing hitting directly or indirectly the Constitution of Pakistan, which is a sacred document also called the Green Book all his activities and attempts to harm the coun try’s longest surviving Constitution in any man ner are strongly condemnable to say the least as the elected prime minister imran khan had taken oath under the same Constitution which inter alia reads ” that i will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan; that as Prime Minister of Pakistan, i will discharge my duties, and perform my functions , honestly, to the best of my ability faithfully in accordance with the Constitution of the islamic Republic of Pakistan and the law, and always in the interest of the sovereignty integrity well being and prosperity of Pakistan; that i will strive to preserve the is lamic ideology which is the basis for creation of Pakistan; that i will preserve, protect and defend the Consti tution of islamic Re public of Pakistan ”
One only wonders how soon he has for gotten the oath he had taken as Prime Minister under the Constitution and is now attacking the Constitution and national institutions es tablished under it quite negatively in a hostile manner without realis ing what damage he is causing to the country, to the democracy and stability of Pakistan the former Prime Minister should re member that way back in 1971, Pakistan was dismembered and among others one of the major reasons was that there was no Con stitution Pakistan had become a land without a Constitution follow ing abrogation of the Constitution in 1968 by General agha Yahya khan, which had been framed and promulgated in 1962 by Field Marshal Muhammad ayub khan as the second Constitution imran khan should better refrain from in dulging in such hostile activities which may sooner or later create a 1971 like situation in the country such an act on his part may not even be liked by his party leaders or supporters as such inviting the public servants and involving the national institutions directly or indirectly by the former prime minister imran khan in his struggle to regain power cannot be appreciated or liked in any manner as such attempts would lead to creating instability in the country due to which Pakistan will never be able to attain the cherished goal of reaching the destiny of eco nomic progress
r t e rs , I m r a n K h a n s h o u l d b e t t e r p a u s e , t h i n k a n d p o n d e r t o w h a t h e i s s ay i n g a n d a dvo c a t i n g n e g a t i v e ly t h a t w h i c h p a r t i a l ly h a s b e e n r e f e r r e d t o i n t h e a fo r e m e n t i o n e d p a r a g r a p h s r a t h e r b r i e f ly a n d fo r t h w i t h s t o p a l l h i s a c t i v i t i e s h o s t i l e t ow a rd s t h e n a t i o n a l i n t e r e s t s , n a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s , t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n a s a l l t h e s e a c t s o f h i m a r e n o t g o i n g t o f avo u r o r h e l p h i m i n c o m i n g i n t o p ow e r a g a i n .
He should also remember the bitter fact that encouraging the national institutions not to fol low their constitutional obligations and respon sibility meant a crude attempt on his part to directly or indirectly promote rule of jungle, dic tatorship and fascism in the country He is also being criticised for inciting revolt in the army which would be quite disastrous for nuclear Pak istan and lead to promoting evil designs of the forces inimical to the existence of Pakistan and its strong, dedicated, committed armed Forces who are vigilant always to foil any at tack on the integrity, solidarity and security of Pakistan in other words, quite regretfully, the narrative of imran khan who heads a political party which claims to have roots in all four provinces as well as in Gilgit Baltistan and aJk amounts to attack ing the democratic set up and the rights of the people it is a bitter fact that the doctrine of ne cessity had caused im mense loss to Pakistan for quite sometime in the past by the vested interests People who are closely following the negative and hostile activities of imran khan particularly after his being out of the of fice as Prime Minister are quite rightly think ing whether imran khan somehow wants to revive the dangerous doctrine of necessity in furtherance of his of objectives and goals of regaining the lost post power as soon as possible without realising the great damage and loss this may cause to the country prevailing democratic set up and the national institutions as well as the people at large directly and indirectly in his own interests and that of his party and supporters, imran khan should better pause, think and ponder to what he is saying and advo cating negatively that which partially has been referred to in the aforementioned paragraphs rather briefly and forthwith stop all his activities hostile towards the national interests national institutions, the Constitution as all these acts of him are not going to favour or help him in com ing into power again
Pa k i s ta n has been included in the list of top 10 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change impacts the effects of climate change were seen in the form of recent unprecedented devastating rainfall and the resulting floods and damages thousands of people have been killed, while crops, homes and infrastructure have been devastated along with small dams in Balochistan worth more than billions of dollars We also do not know when another wave of such floods will hit us again But we know the possibilities of accelerated melting of glaciers and frequent heatwaves as a result of rising global temperatures in the wake of global warming, heatwaves, heavy rains, glacial melting, glacial lake outburst flows, there are possibilities of reoccurrence of such natural calamities therefore, the governments and other donor agencies need to consider building infrastructure, including school buildings, which may bear such high floods and may provide shelter to the local residents if possible, the school buildings need to be at least two storey structures with no rooms on the ground floor the height of the second floor needs to be at least 10 feet above the ground to allow floodwater to flow beneath it without causing any damages while the residents may stay in such school buildings on the second floor during floods if possible the roof of third floor can be built using solar panels to provide extra space as well as necessary power supplies for meeting the basic needs, such as clean water and cooking facilities at least two schools, one for boys and one for girls in every village can be built with such a design for providing shelter homes to the local residents during floods some other people in the village, who may afford, can also follow similar design for building their homes especially in the flood affected areas
DR ALLAH BAKHSH FAISALABAD
a s evident by the unprecedented floods and unusual torrential rains in the country, Pakistan is paying the cost of the global climate crisis while it has almost nothing to do with it the country is ranked eighth among the most vulnerable nations it is nothing but injustice a study by an international meteorological expert group, the World Weather attribution (WWa), has endorsed the fact that climate change is the prime reason behind devastating floods and killing heatwaves, and has rightly asked Pakistan to seek compensation from the developed world for loss and damage But who will pay for Pakistan s misery? it has become a controversial issue as at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow last year, the United states (Us), along with several advanced nations opposed the idea of obligatory payments for loss and damages the Us, mind you, has historically been the biggest culprit when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions the issue of loss and damages cannot be further placed on the backburner as it is happening right now it is not a future event anymore it is now on the climate negotiation radar in a way it had not been previously the forthcoming COP27 scheduled to be held from nov 7 to 18 in sharm el sheikh, egypt, is crucial in this regard Our shared planet is endangered We need international effort to overcome our common foe We must not let this unity and joint effort be marred by current political situation or events like Russian military intervention in Ukraine and tensions between the Us and China over taiwan as they are likely to hamper collaboration at COP27 Given the fact that the countries of the Group of twenty (G20), a group of the world’s major economies, together account for 80 per cent of global emissions, it is imperative for them to realise their responsibility towards curbing climate change and help the people living in developing and underdeveloped countries KHADIM HUSSAIN SUBHPOTO HYDERABAD
He should also remember that encouraging the indulgence and interference of the institu tions and inviting them to venture into politics is not good at all as it is tantamount to making
The writer is Lahore based Freelance Journalist Columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News) Radio Pakistan Islamabad and can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail com
assistance the United states announced this week ” As a result of this measure, Russian officials and their families were subjected to Us sanctions
The eU followed suit: “We firmly reject and un equivocally condemn the illegal annexation by Russia of Ukraine s Donetsk Luhansk Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions ” By carrying out this measure, the eU member states claimed, Russia is putting global security at risk They accused Moscow of wilfully undermining the rules based international order and blatantly violating the fundamental rights of Ukraine to independence, sover eignty and territorial integrity core principles as en shrined in the UN Charter and international law ”
The Head of the european Commission, Ursula von der Leyen added that All territories illegally occupied by Russian invaders are Ukrainian land and will always be part of this sovereign nation [Ukraine] ”
of the Golan Heights but again did nothing on the ground to push Israel to rescind the move Israel’s an nexation did trigger international responses, but they were only temporary The real position I believe was agreed behind closed doors, and backed the annexation
The Us under Donald Trump, of course, infamously gave public recognition to Israel s annexation of syrian and Palestinian land in 2018, and he duly moved the Us embassy from Tel Aviv to “Israel’s eternal and united capital , Jerusalem even when the then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to annex the occu pied West Bank and Jordan Valley, where Israeli laws are already applied to illegal Jewish settlers, the international community simply warned that such a step would trigger a wave of violence, nothing more No threats of sanctions and suchlike Nothing
The eU, which is Israel’s biggest commercial part ner, claimed that it would have likely used diplomatic means to “discourage” Israel from carrying out its an nexation, but we have never seen anything more concrete and practical to discourage the occupation state s daily violations of international law even though the volume and nature of eU Israel links give Brussels the leverage to do something more than spout mere words
rU s s I A N President Vladimir Putin formally announced last Friday that his country is to annex four regions in Ukraine He referred to them as “new regions” of Russia “I want to say this to the Kyiv regime and its masters in the West: people living in the Luhansk Donetsk Kher son and Zaporizhzhia [regions] are becoming our citizens forever, said Putin He also called on Ukraine to sit down with him for talks to end the ongoing war
Responding to Putin’s announcement, UN secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the annexation as a violation of international law; a dangerous escala tion” in the seven month war between Russia and Ukraine “The Charter is clear,” explained Guterres Any annexation of a state s territory by another state resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the UN Charter ”
In Washington Us President Joe Biden condemned Russia’s move as “fraudulent” and a contravention of in ternational law “Russia is violating international law, trampling on the United Nations Charter and showing its contempt for peaceful nations everywhere ” The United states, he added, will always honour Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders We will continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to regain control of its territory by strengthening its hand militarily and diplomatically, including through the $1 1 billion in additional security
I am happy to see the international community united against an oppressive state or action that harms the in terests of others, and undermines their sovereignty, se curity, safety, independence and other fundamental rights However, it is both sad and hypocritical that the international community condemns such violations by one state but celebrates and protects those carried out by another Why is Israel allowed to annex occupied land, but Russia isn’t?
In 1967, Israel occupied Palestinian east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza strip; the syrian Golan Heights; and egypt’s sinai Peninsula “In June 1967, immediately upon occupying the West Bank and the Gaza strip, Israel annexed some 70,000 dunams of West Bank land to the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem and applied Israeli law there, in breach of international law, Israeli rights group B’Tselem has pointed out
The only thing that the international community did in response to this occupation and annexation was get the UN to issued several resolutions calling the meas ures “invalid” and calling for Israel to rescind them “All legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel ” concluded the UN security Council at the time, “including expropriation of land and properties thereon, which tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem are invalid ” They “cannot change” the status of the city
No practical measures have ever been taken against Israel to end its occupation and annexation of the Pales tinian territories such a weak response by the interna tional community encouraged the Israeli parliament to annex occupied east Jerusalem on 29 July 1980 and the occupied Golan Heights in 1981
The UN security Council condemned the annexation
Has any country imposed sanctions on Israel or cut diplomatic relations until it ends its occupation and an nexation of Palestinian land? On the contrary, the West continues to give the apartheid state unconditional diplo matic, political, economic and military support The peaceful Boycott, Divestment and sanctions movement against Israel has even been criminalised in some states
While Russia apparently gave the Russian speaking residents of the areas that it has annexed a choice about the move and in referendums they opted for Russia it seems Israel has gone the other way, making every effort to clear the occupied land of the indigenous Pales tinian population by demolishing their homes withdraw ing residence permits and, when all else fails, simply killing them Alone among all UN member states, Israel has never declared where its borders lie and it is allowed to expand through annexation with impunity ever since its illegal annexation of Jerusalem, Israel has treated the Palestinian residents of the city as un wanted immigrants and worked systematically to drive them out of the area ” However, there are no sanctions imposed against Israel and no millions of dollars and weapons being poured in to help the Palestinian victims free themselves from Israeli colonialism Is it not para doxical that the international community is supporting funding and arming the state which violates interna tional law on a daily basis, while cutting real support for the victims of annexation and colonialism? And that when the victims offer up legitimate resistance to the occupation and colonisation of their land they are de scribed as terrorists by the same people now declaring pompously that Russia has broken international law? The biggest irony is that Israel is also condemning Rus sia s annexation of Ukrainian territory You couldn t make this stuff up
I am convinced that Putin was right to say that the West does not have the moral high ground in such mat ters, and certainly no moral right to speak about democ racy And that Western states are simply acting as the imperialists that they always have been
tH e extraordinary protests by women in Iran
The growing repression needed to sustain the Communist Party Congress in China Anxieties over the quality of liberal democracy The looming political crisis in south Africa These all seem like disparate, unconnected anxieties But in a larger historical arc, they suggest that we might be in the midst of a global legitimation crisis The normative hori zons within which politics was conducted in different parts of the world are simultaneously being questioned During the Cold War the basic terms of ideological com petition were defined in terms of economic systems capitalism vs communism Or another axis is authoritar ianism versus freedom But there might be another way of thinking about the world This is in terms of different “foundational” frameworks that have provided the start ing point for thinking about politics
At the first cut, take four foundational questions In the Western world and other countries like India, the horizon was broadly some version of liberal, represen tative constitutional democracy In a large part of the world, from Pakistan to egypt, there was a quest for some version of modern Islamic constitutionalism, rec onciling the sovereignty of God with the requirements of the modern world In Africa, the political and moral aspiration of politics was shaped by trying to think of a political form that could be an effective bulwark against the creation of the colour line and imperialism in the or ganisation of the world system And China has, for the better part of its recent history been shaped by the idea
of the party state as a distinctive political form so different regions have a foundational question within which politics is conducted These horizons are fleshed out in a variety of ways, some better and worse than others They are often challenged They all have to be embedded in different national traditions But they are foundational in the sense that any plausible answer to the question of political legitimation in those societies must make reference to, or flesh out the meaning of this start ing point Countries like Pakistan, Iran and egypt, have to take Islamic as a starting point even if they interpret its meaning differently Liberal democracies work within the entrenched “liberal” principles, however they might be interpreted Most varieties of Chinese political thought, including many forms of neo Confucianism, take the Party state as an institutional form with which to work Often, in these countries, the distinction be tween the “Left” and “Right” or “authoritarian” and “lib eral” versions is a distinction within their foundational question; they all claim to be the true inheritors of this foundational legacy Often, this foundational question is deeply institutionalised, not easy to shake off
The Party state as a distinctive 20th century political
form involved the thought that the Party would be a van guard political formation that overcame as Mao put it the principal contradictions of society and catapult it to the next stage of development All social mediation was to be carried out within the Party In the Chinese case the Party was also a stand in for national identity as a whole In China, in particular, the Party state has a re markable history unleashing both immense violence but also creating unprecedented development success But does the party face a legitimation crisis? Perhaps in two senses First its ability to manage the principal economic contradictions will be open to question second, it will require more control and repression to retain its grip on power Neither of these challenges means the party will collapse It still has the nationalism engine to shore it up But it will increasingly face legitimation crises
If the Party state owes its strongest version to Mao, that of theo democracy was shaped by Abul A’la al Maududi, one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century This was the project of reconciling an acknowl edgement of the formal sovereignty of God, with mod ern democracy, and a theological role for clerics Iran is one version of this project; Pakistan, half heartedly an
as India embraces the fifth generation (5G) mobile network technology, there s a discernible buzz that faster and more reliable cellular services would be the new normal in the near future The enthusiasm over connection speeds 10 times faster than 4G is articulated in a recent consumer survey Almost 90 per cent said they intended to upgrade to the new network notwithstanding the likely higher costs and adoption disruptions the telecom giants could face Despite being hindered by 4G network bottlenecks, mobile users in India are among the world’s biggest data consumers The switchover to 5G is expected to open a world of opportunities for various sectors of the economy, but a digital transformation would require major capital and infrastructure augmentation strengthening cyber security remains a major concern suitable technological upgrades increasing the fibre penetration and managing the high network expenditure are among the other challenges, as is pricing The upgrade to 4G from 2G and 3G got a push only after a new entrant’s tariff war led to heavy data offerings A faster transition to 5G hinges on a low price differential with 4G However, considering the stiff expenditure involved in the augmentation processes, premium pricing could well be the only prescription for an effective and successful rollout of 5G services India, at present, ranks at the bottom of the heap in terms of Internet speed In a situation where the 4G network’s performance entails regular complaints, the telecom operators have an uphill task to deliver on the 5G promise
The Union government’s production linked incentive scheme for telecom and 5G equipment has set in motion the process of change sales of 5G enabled smartphones are already on a par with those of 4G smartphones Phasing out the earlier generation technologies could still take 10 years or even more Amid the upbeat outlook, it becomes incumbent upon the telecom operators to present a realistic picture to the consumers and not sell fancy dreams they are not in a position, for now, to live up to
other, and Qutb in egypt a third This model has been under strain in two respects even in Maududi its insis tence on politically, not just socially, sanctifying patri archy was bound to evoke resistance of the kind we are now seeing in Iran And its inability to handle the con tradictions that come from an allegiance to notions of heresy and blasphemy in turn produces conflict This framework has never stabilised enough to bring peace or prosperity But it has enduring power in that it is proving hard to jettison Mandela might be the iconic figure in the battle against Apartheid But so much of African political thought in the 20th century from Fanon to Cesaire was haunted by the deep organising principle of power in international politics: The colour line as a deeply oppres sive basis of subordination African socialists and pan Africanists were in search of a political form that could give Africa effective political agency This project has been floundering for a while But the south African ex periment was meant not just to give ballast to the continent because of its power, but as an example But south Africa is struggling to become the flag bearer of this project
James Madison s version of democracy is arguably the most influential because it was the least ambitious The Party state wanted a vanguard function for the Party The Madisonian party was less exalted No party could represent the whole The party was organised around interests social stability could be secured by or derly competition and rotation of power Combined with the promise of individual liberty, this form of govern ment would not only be stable, but produce prosperity, and require the least coercion This model has a crisis of its own In most democracies, including the Us, we can no longer be as confident about peaceful transitions of power There is impatience with individual liberty The free competition of different groups has really descended into democracies being controlled by oligarchies, less able to solve collective problems
The foundational frameworks iconically represented by Madison, Mao, Maududi and Mandela are flounder ing (Our Mahatma was already killed in 1948) To be sure, the crisis is not symmetrical Liberal democracies have great regenerative power; the Party state has proved to be more resilient than its critics suggested The politics internal to these horizons might be overshad owed by global problems, climate change and strategic competition Nationalism might be used as more of an answer to this crisis But it is unclear, as we grow weary of old horizons, what else will come in their wake
AC R O S S T H E W O R L D, F O U N DAT I O N A L I D E A S O F M A J O R P O L I T I C A L S Y S T E M S A R E U N D E R C H A L L E N G E T H E F O U N DAT I O N A L F R A M E W O R K S I CO N I C A L LY R E P R E S E N T E D B Y M A D I S O N , M AO, M AU D U D I A N D M A N D E L A A R E F LO U N D E R I N G . TO B E S U R E, T H E C R I S I S I S N OT S Y M M E T R I C A L . L I B E R A L D E M O C R AC I E S H AV E G R E AT R E G E N E R AT I V E P O W E R ; T H E PA RT Y S TAT E H A S P R O V E D TO B E M O R E R E S I L I E N T T H A N I T S C R I T I C S S U G G E S T E D
The switchover to 5G is expec ted to open a world of oppor tunities for various sec tors of the economy, but a digital transformation would require major capital and infrastruc ture augmentation
corner
SU G A R Advisory Board has reportedly declined to allow export of sugar during its meeting held here on Thurs day under the chair of Fed eral Ministers for National Food Security and Research Tariq Cheema
According to Chairman Pakistan Sugar Mills Association Asim Usman, SAB expressed indifference to allow the export The chairman, addressing a press conference along with big stal warts of sugar industry including former Chairman Zaka Ashraf, Chairman Sindh Zone Ahmed Ibrahim, former Chairman Aslam Farooq, former Chair man Sindh Zahid Zakaria, and Chaudhry Waheed requested the gov
ernment to allow export of sugar be cause there is excess stock of sugar available in the country He said that Pakistan can get foreign exchange of $2 billion by exporting 1 million tons of sugar this year and 1 million tons next year and this will also help in pay ing dues of sugarcane farmers
We invited the government and the advisory board to verify the sugar stock data themselves adding that he said that FBR also has the complete statistics and officials can review how much sugar is being consumed monthly
He also said that we do not demand subsidy on sugar because we have 1 3 million tonnes of sugar worth of Rs100 billion in stock till November 30, 2022
Sugar is the only item whose price has not increased and India has also given permission to export 5 million
tons of sugar This will reduce the price of sugar in the world market and we will lose an opportunity, he added
Former Chairman Zaka Ashraf said that one month is left for the crushing season to start If the existing stock is not used till the next season where will the new stock be kept and How will farmers be paid, he questioned Chaudhry Wa heed said that the Sugar Advisory Board is aware of all the matters and he re quested to stop politicizing on sugar
Chairman of Sindh Zone Ahmed Ibrahim said that industry every year pays Rs 500 billion to Rs 600 billion to farmers on sugarcane and if sugar can not be exported then the farmer will not be able to cultivate sugarcane
“We have not threatened any strike but we say that if this situation contin ues, the sugar mills will not be able to
LAhOrE: Two year old Pakistani toddler Abraiz Hussain Shah bagged a national record at Pakistan Book of Records in the field of intelligence
Hailing from Lahore, Abraiz can read and knows all alphabets, numbers (1 20), colors, shapes, names of vehicles, animals and their sounds, body parts, rhymes and many other objects at the age of 2 Pakistan Book of Records is a true platform where young talent comes up with creative ideas and shows their talent in front of camera to the world It was established in 2009 in a press conference at Peshawar press club staff report
ISLAMABAD:The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country increased by 87 94 percent on month on month basis during August 2022 against the inflows of July 2022, according to report by finance ministry
The FDI inflows were recorded at $ 110 7 million in August 2022 as against an inflow of $ 58 9 million in July 2022, says ‘Economic Update and Outlook for September 2022’
During the first two months of current fiscal year the inflows however witnessed declined of 26 1 percent when compared to the corresponding period of last year
The FDI reached $ 169 5 million during July August 2022 23 against $229 5 million during July August (2021 22)
According to the beak up figures, FDI received from China stood at $32 7 million (21 5 percent of total FDI), U A E $ 25 5 million (19 6 percent), Switzerland $ 23 3 million (11 0 percent), and the Netherland $ 16 8 million (10 6 percent)
The sector wise beak up shows that the power sector attracted the highest FDI of $ 80 4 million (47 4 percent of total FDI), Financial Business $ 50 7 million (29 9 percent), and Communication $ 25 0 million (14 7 percent)
Meanwhile, the Foreign Private Portfolio Investment has registered a net outflow of $ 6 7 million during July August FY2023
Foreign Public Portfolio Investment recorded a net outflow of $ 18 4 million while the total foreign portfolio investment recorded an outflow of $ 25 1 million during July August FY2023 as against an inflow of $ 961 6 million in the corresponding period last year The total foreign investment during July August FY2023 reached $ 144 4 million against $ 1191 1 million last year staff report
ISLAMABAD:Renowned Pakistani singer songwriter, music producer and composer Bilal Saeed is all set to enthrall his fans with latest track The Umbrella Song , releasing on 11th October
The “Adhi Adhi Raat” crooner, turned to his social media handle, treated fans with the official poster of ‘One Two Records’ and penned “The Umbrella song is my passion project along with that of many others”
Overwhelmed with excitement, the vocal power house revealed what s new in his latest album s second song My approach towards my next release is different from that in the past and I’m excited to share this tune with my fans”
The rockstar also extended gratitude towards the ace director as well as the entire team of much anticipated song “Adnan Qazi my friend and director of the music video was eager to portray my vision on screen and worked relentlessly to make it into reality
“I do hope that this song gets you dancing and yet think about what is really important, so watch out guys as One Two Records gives you another release on the 11th of October,” Saeed concluded the note by officially announcing the release date of “The Umbrella Song”
Previously, the heartthrob also teased fans with few seconds engrossing trailer of the track featuring the Punjabi rapper Fateh Singh Within a few hours of its release, the teaser managed to sweep the internet and won a ton of praise from both netizens and celebs for the entire team staff report
run, he added Mohammad Aslam Fa rooq said that the price of sugar is fixed and we are selling at a loss If there is no surplus of sugar its price will auto matically increase
Asim Usman said that he has in vited the government to allow the ex port of sugar in installments if it wants to keep a buffer stock, 100 million tons of sugar can be exported in a month
Zahid Zakaria said that if the farmer does not get the price of sugar cane, then he will not be able to culti vate sugarcane
In response to a question the chair man of the association said that there was not anything proven against us in the competitive commission of Pakistan
There was only controversy over subsidy and it was a political inquiry, he claimed
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Healthx powered by Trudoc International, a multinational healthcare management com pany formally launched in Pakistan Healthx is part of a global group with operations in over 10+ countries and a customer ecosystem of 24 mil lion plus lives across the Mid dle East, Africa and Europe
It is a 24/7, membership (subscription) based data driven, hybrid, primary care
delivery model with both dig ital and physical touch points (At Home At Office At Hos pital, when traveling) dotted strategically all across the pa tient life cycle Its core func tion is to keep patients healthy and help save costs for both patients and payers alike by practicing globally certified evidence based medicine throughout the year rather than reactive episodic care Khaqan Sikander com pany’s Chief Executive Offi cer while addressing a press
conference in Karachi, said, “We combine next generation technology with personalised in person home health serv ices to provide 24/7 access to qualified, full time employed, licensed & experienced healthcare professionals, doc tors, psychologists & wellness (nutritionists/fitness) experts This unique model offers a one stop solution for people who are healthy, acutely or chronically ill through differ ent entry points that are all connected to a 24/7 Contact Centre We are the leading 24x7 care level management delivery system provider across the developing world
Having a vast track record across many countries, includ ing but not limited to UAE Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and many more we have the track record and credibility to de liver quality services at scale ”
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OMD (a part of Omnicom Media Group) has been ranked the world s Most Ef fective Media Agency Net work” in 2021 Global Effie Effectiveness Index and Om nicom has been named the world's Most Effective Agency Holding Group” George Manas, CEO of
OMD Worldwide, com mented "The breadth of wins worldwide has been a testa ment to excellence coming out of all regions Along with the UK, USA, Canada, and New Zealand, we are celebrating wins from other markets such as Pakistan, Colombia, Croa tia Malaysia Turkey Egypt and more Off the back of being named Cannes Lions Media Network of the Year in
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K A r A c h I: Karachi, 6 Oct 22: Pakistan Navy rendered assistance to local fishermen in distress onboard fishing howra Al Qadir at sea off Ormara Upon receiving information, Pakistan Navy patrol boats based at Ormara immediately scrambled to locate the distress fishing boat The boat was located South of Ormara where some fishermen were found sick They were taken onboard and rushed back to Naval hospital PNS Darmanjah Ormara and provided medical assistance Bodies of two other fishermen found dead onboard Fishing boat were also shifted to mortuary for handing over to their relatives Pakistan Navy reiterates its support to the fishing community and would continue to assist in every hour of need pr
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Capital Police (ICTP) issued 15,098 fine tickets to road users over violation of traffic signals during the ongoing year, a police spokesman said He said that, following the directions of IGP Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan, a special campaign is underway to check violations while various squads are performing duties at main roads of the city and taking action against the violators During the ongoing year stern action was taken against signals violators and 15,098 road users were fined over violation Efforts are underway to ensure a disciplined traffic system in the city Islamabad capital police personnels have been directed to ensure implementation on traffic rules and regulation irrespective of status and rank and demonstrate patience and politeness while issuing traffic violation tickets to the road users Capital police is utilizing all available resources to facilitate the general public The force issues traffic violation tickets not as a punitive measure but the purpose is to ensure a safe road environment in the Capital and secure the precious lives of the people and also appeal to the citizens to cooperate with police in maintaining traffic discipline in the city pr
A high powered NUST delegation led by Engr Javed Mahmood Bukhari, Rec tor NUST visited the United Kingdom to further international linkages by forging meaningful and multi pronged partnerships with the prestigious higher education and research centres and con nect with the alumni in the region
The delegates networked with the Pakistani diaspora leaders, well estab lished NUST alumni and academicians at the UK universities
The highlight of the visit was signing of a multi tiered partnership with Cranfield Uni versity in the domains of Manufacturing, Aerospace, Materials, Energy,
ulty The delegation also visited Staffordshire University where they were welcomed by Professor Martin Jones, Vice Chancellor, Professor Kevin Hetherington Deputy Vice Chancellor, and Professor Raheel Nawaz, Pro Vice Chancellor Digital Transformation The ensuing discus sion focused on connecting nodes to enhance the academic linkages be tween the two universities At the alumni connection front, NUST Uni versity Advancement Team organised a Convention in London Attended by more than 50 alumni, the Convention served as a platform for nurturing in dustrial partnerships and sharing NUST’s progress and achievements with the alumni
istan and India engaged in a fresh verbal duel at the United Nations after Munir Akram, Is lamabad’s ambassador, drew the world community s attention to the threat posed to peace and security in South Asia by “aggressive and expan sionist” New Delhi, and highlighted its grave violations of human rights in occu pied Jammu and Kashmir
Responding to Akram, Subhashini Narayanan, a counsellor for India, took the usual defense that affairs of Jammu and Kashmir were an internal matter of New Delhi, and accused Pakistan of in volving in terrorism
She also called on Pakistan to concern itself with the disturbing conditions of minorities and women in its country
Exercising his right of reply, Gul Qaiser Sarwani first secretary at Pakistan s
mission, rejected India’s claim that Jammu and Kashmir was its integral part, observ ing the United Nations maps showed the region to be a “disputed territory ”
The biggest falsehood that we just heard is that Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India,” the Pakistani delegate said, adding: This is a legal fiction
Under the terms of the U N resolu tions, the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir is to be determined by its people through an UN supervised plebiscite, Sarwani said pointing out that India had accepted this resolution and was bound to comply with it in accordance with Ar ticle 25 of UN Charter
In Kashmir, the United Nations Mil itary Observer Group in India and Pak istan (UNMOGIP) is deployed along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed re gion, he added “If India has any respect for interna tional law and moral courage, it will end its reign of terror withdraw its troops and let the Kashmiris freely decide their fu
India is awaiting World Health Organisation (WHO) evidence of a link between an Indian cough syrup and the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia after the UN agency said the medicine may cause kidney damage, two Indian officials said on Thursday The death of 66 children in the West African country is a blow to India s image as a pharmacy of the world” that supplies medicines to all continents, especially Africa “Urgent investigation in the matter has been already taken up immediately after receiving communication from WHO based on the available information, said one of two health ministry staff members who spoke to Reuters on behalf of the ministry but did not want to be identified While all required steps will be taken in the matter”, India was awaiting a report establishing “causal relation to death with the medical products in question and other details from the WHO WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday told reporters the UN agency was investigating the deaths from acute kidney injuries with India’s drug regulator and New Delhi based cough syrup manufacturer Maiden Pharmaceuticals The UN health agency informed the Drugs Controller General of India of the deaths late last month after which the regulator launched an investigation with state authorities, in tandem with the WHO, the two sources said The WHO said laboratory analysis of Maiden cough syrup had confirmed “unacceptable” amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol which can be toxic and lead to acute kidney injury Telephone calls to a listed number for Maiden, which launched its operations in November 1990 went unanswered as did an emailed request for comment Calls to the Drugs Controller General of India also went unanswered
ture in accordance with the Security Council resolutions
Aggressors, colonisers and occupiers often attempt to justify their suppression of legitimate struggles for self determi nation and freedom by portraying them as “terrorism”, Sarwani said India he said is the very epitome of this approach ”
Noting that Narayanan did not ad dress the facts presented by Pakistan re garding its destabilising arms build up and aggressive military policies Sarwani said: “Let me reemphasise that the issues my delegation raised are completely rel evant to this Committee s work as they carry grave implications for regional and international peace and security ”
But obviously, Narayanan would not want this body to scrutinize the over whelming deployment of India s conven tional and non conventional capabilities against Pakistan, he said Pakistan has been and will continue to highlight these issues and India’s ‘state
terrorism’ against the people of Indian Il legally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) ”
“India,” he said, “is the very epitome of this approach
As for comments regarding minori ties, Sarwani said India would do well to reflect on the deeply troubling trajectory their state is embarked on rather than in dulging in “patent falsehoods” about Pakistan
“Today,” he said, “India is being guided by a supremacist ideology that has mainstreamed Islamophobia and big otry against minorities, particularly Mus lims in its political discourse
“In today’s incredibly intolerant India, 200 million strong Muslims face frequent lynching by ‘cow vigilantes’; pogroms by RSS thugs, with official complicity; discriminatory citizenship laws to disenfranchise Muslims; and a concerted campaign to destroy mosques and the rich Muslim heritage of India he said
As protests flare across Iran over the death of young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, the Kurdis tan region of neighbouring Iraq has paid a price, coming under bom bardment from the Islamic repub lic’s forces
Their target is the long exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition, in stalled in Iraq under Saddam Hus sein during his war with Iran in the 1980s Tehran regards these armed factions as terrorists and accuses them of attacking its territory
A general in Iran has charged that the Kurdish opposition groups have been inciting the Mahsa Amini protests in Iranian Kurdis tan in the face of a lethal crack down by the security forces
Amini, 22, was pronounced dead on September 16, days after
Iran’s notorious morality police de tained her for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code for women
According to Adel Bakawan, director of the French Centre for Research on Iraq (CFRI), Iran needed to find an enemy to blame for stoking the nationwide protests
“The weakest link that could be targeted without provoking conse quences was the Iranian Kurds,” he said On September 28, Iran un leashed a deluge of fire on positions of Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, killing 14 people and wound ing 58, including civilians It has fol lowed up with less bloody attacks
On Monday Iran s foreign min istry spokesman Nasser Kanani re iterated Tehran’s accusation against these groups, saying they threaten the country’s national security
However, experts say the far left groups have practically ceased all military activity, focusing on po
litical action instead
Any fighters they still have could be viewed as reservists, keeping up training Iranian Kurdish journalist Raza Manochari said there has been an agreement since the 1990s be tween such groups and the govern ment of Iraq’s own Kurdistan region
It protects their deployment “and in exchange, they do not en gage in military activities, to avoid causing problems for relations with Iran”, he said
Manochari, who has himself lived in Iraq for eight years, high lighted the ties between Kurds in the two countries: they speak the same Sorani dialect, and many have relatives on both sides of the border
Massud Barzani, leader of Iraq’s Kurdistan Democratic Party and former president of the au tonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, was born in 1946 in Iran
A baby girl, her parents and uncle all of Indian origin were found dead in a central California orchard two days after they were kidnapped at gunpoint from their business, police said
“Our worst fears have been confirmed,” Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said at a Wednesday night news conference
Warnke did not release any information about how and when police believe they were killed He said the victims were close to each other when found by a farm worker in a remote area
The grim announcement came after authorities earlier Wednesday released surveillance video of a man kidnapping 8 month old Aroohi Dheri; her mother Jasleen Kaur 27; father Jasdeep Singh 36; and uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, on Monday
Authorities said they were taken by a convicted robber who tried to kill himself a day after the kidnappings Jesus Salgado, 48, was in critical condition when taken into custody but has been talking to police, Warnke said No motive for the kidnapping has been established, he said
“There’s no words right now to describe the anger I feel and the senselessness of this incident,” Warnke said I said it earlier: There s a special place in hell for this guy ”
Investigators, including crime lab technicians from the California Department of Justice, would be processing the crime scene through the night, Warnke said
The four family members were taken from their business in Merced, a city of 86,000 people about 125 miles (200 kilometres) southeast of San Francisco in the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural heartland
Relatives of Salgado contacted authorities reporting that he had admitted to them he was involved with the kidnapping, Warnke told KFSN TV on Tuesday Salgado tried to take his own life before police arrived at a home in nearby Atwater, and he has since been hospitalized
Efforts to reach Salgado’s family were unsuccessful Wednesday
The video released earlier Wednesday showed the suspect first walking by the property before talking to one of the men Later, it shows him leading the men, who had their hands zip tied behind their backs, into the back seat of Amandeep Singh’s pickup truck The suspect then went back to the trailer that served as the business office and led Jasdeep Singh, who was carrying her baby in her arms, out and into the truck before the suspect then drove away
Family members said nothing was stolen from the trucking company but that their relatives were all wearing jewelry Warnke had said that after the kidnappings, an ATM card belonging to one of the victims was used in Atwater, about 9 miles (14 kilometres) north of Merced
Warnke said the kidnapper made no ransom demands
French author Annie Ernaux, known for her deceptively simple novels drawing on personal experience of class and gender, won the Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday, the jury announced Ernaux, 82, was honoured for the courage and clin ical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrange ments and collective restraints of personal memory”, the jury said
Interviewed on Swedish television immediately
after the announcement, Ernaux called it a “very great honour and a great responsibility
Her more than 20 books, many of which have been s c h o o l t e x t s i n F r a n c e f o r d e c a d e s , o ff e r o n e o f t h e most subtle, insightful windows into the social life of modern France
Above all Ernaux s crystalline prose has excavated her own passage from working class girl to the literary elite, casting a critical eye on social structures and her own complicated emotions
Her legacy is the grit in the French literary oyster, or as she puts it, to offer an alternative to the “uncondi
A former police officer shot dead at least 37 people, most of them children, when he stormed a nursery in Thailand on Thursday in one of the kingdom s deadliest mass killings
Following the attack, gunman Panya Khamrab went home and killed his wife and child before taking his own life police said Armed with a shotgun, pistol and knife, Panya opened fire on the childcare centre in northeastern Nong Bua Lam Phu province at about 12:30 pm (0530 GMT)
National Police Chief Damrongsak Kit tiprapat told a news conference the gunman killed 37 people, including 23 children and his own family and wounded 12 others
Nanthicha Punchum, acting chief of the nursery, described harrowing scenes as the attacker barged into the building
“There were some staff eating lunch out
side the nursery and the attacker parked his car and shot four of them dead,” she told AFP
“The shooter smashed down the door with his leg and then came inside and started slashing the children’s heads with a knife ”
Footage after the incident showed dis traught parents weeping in a shelter outside the nursery, a yellow single storey building set in a garden
The 34 year old gunman was a former police sergeant suspended in January and sacked in June for drug use, Damrongsak told reporters
As far as I know he was due in court to morrow for a drug related trial,” he said He said the attacker was in a manic state but it was unknown whether it was drug related
“We have to test his blood for drugs,” he said
“What happened today will be a lesson to prevent this happening again in the fu ture Damrongsak said the pistol used had
been purchased legally and was a privately owned weapon, not police property
Witness Paweena Purichan, 31, said the attacker was well known in the area as a drug addict
She told AFP she encountered Panya driving erratically as he fled the scene “The attacker rammed a motorbike into two peo ple who were injured I sped off to get away from him,” she said
“There was blood everywhere ” Video Paweena posted online showed a woman lying injured in a roadside bush after apparently being knocked off her motorbike by Panya Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan O Cha ordered the national police chief to fast track an investigation and said he would travel to the scene of the attack on Friday
“This should not happen This absolutely should not happen,” Prayut told reporters
“I am extremely sorry for those who were injured and lost (their loved ones)
tional admiration for the pretty phrase ”
In her writing Ernaux consistently and from dif ferent angles, examines a life marked by strong dispar ities regarding gender, language and class”, the Swedish Academy noted
“Her work is uncompromising and written in plain language scraped clean it said And when she with great courage and clinical acuity reveals the agony of the experience of class, describing shame, humiliation, jealousy or inability to see who you are she has achieved something admirable and enduring”
Diversity pledge
tH E first ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa may have only lasted 13 days but there was no shortage of unforgettable moments 2007 India become inaugural win ners after final over heroics against Pakistan
The opening fixture set the tone Chris Gayle smashing 10 sixes at the Wanderers to become the first player to make an official T20I hundred But that still was not enough for victory with the Herschelle Gibbs in spired hosts chasing down 205 with 14 balls to spare
In a high scoring tournament, Yuvraj Singh claimed headlines when he struck six sixes in an over, with England’s Stuart Broad on the receiving end Yuvraj’s India had al ready made history when they beat Pakistan via a bowl out in the group stage and when the fierce rivals met again in the final, the out come was the same though no less dramatic Joginder Sharma was the man of the mo
ment, holding his nerve with the ball when Pakistan required just six runs off four balls to steer his side to a five run victory 2009 a f r I d I s p e c I a l l I g h t s u p l o r d’s: From agony to ecstasy, Pakistan became champions after beating Sri Lanka at Lord’s thanks to a Player of the Match per formance from Shahid Afridi
The star of the show in the semi final with a 34 ball 50 and figures of two for 16 Afridi top scored again at the home of cricket, his unbeaten 54 guiding Pakistan to an eight wicket win Lord s was a sea of green that afternoon but it had earlier turned orange for one of the tournament’s greatest shocks
Netherlands chased down 162 to beat England on the last ball of the tournament’s opening fixture
Arguably the best individual display of the tournament came at The Oval, where Umar Gul’s five for, the first in T20Is, saw Pakistan pip the Black Caps to a semi final spot and they later returned to the capital for a first major tournament win in 17 years
The Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday announced details of the inaugural women’s league, which will run alongside the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in March 2023 Four city based sides, each comprising 12 local and six foreign players will compete for the biggest prize in Pak istan’s women’s domestic calendar on a double league format The final will be a standalone fixture between the top two sides following 12 league matches and will take place a day before the HBL PSL 8 final The HBL PSL 8 is scheduled from 9 February to 19 March 2023 PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said : “I am delighted to announce the women’s league This league will attract young women crick eters to this great sport and help our current players further enhance their skills when they will get to share dug outs with the overseas players The league will feature present and past trailblazers in women s cricket in what promises to be an exciting 13 match event “To amplify the coverage and promotion of this initiative, some of the matches will precede the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 matches “This event is aligned to our strategy of making Pakistan a stronger cricket playing nation across all formats and genders We are not only creating attractive brands to strengthen our cricket economy, but through this tour nament are also providing career opportunities to our women cricketers The more our women cricketers will participate in high pressure events, the more they will learn The PCB is a strong proponent of em powering women to shine brighter By engaging our women, which form 49 per cent of the country’s pop ulation, we will enhance the economic and social prosperity of our country ” Earlier this season the PCB offered enhanced central contracts to its 20 women s cricketers
Rain intervened, which saw England progress on net run rate at Ireland’s ex pense, and they then clicked into gear and advanced into the final where they met old rivals Australia
Fittingly, it was Collingwood who hit the winning run with three overs to spare while Kevin Pietersen who scored 47 in the final was named Player of the Tournament 2012 w e s t I n d I e s u p s e t s r I l a n k a’ s pa rt y t o c l a I m u lt I m at e p r I z e: A match winning 78 from Marlon Samuels carried West Indies to their first ICC Men s T20 World Cup crown in Colombo
The team’s path to the final was eerily similar to that taken by England two years earlier After losing their opener to Australia, a clash with Ireland was washed out leaving the Windies second in the group on net run rate They were soundly beaten by Sri Lanka in the Super 8 stage but a Super Over win over New Zealand secured progression to the last four
Then came revenge against the hosts in
the final, Samuels shining with the bat and Sunil Narine claiming three for nine as the Windies strolled to a 36 run victory 2014 s a n g a
a l s s r I l a
a
Spurred on by the disappointment of missing out on home soil Sri Lanka went one better in Bangladesh two years later
The Lions topped Group 1, dismissing the Netherlands for 39 and New Zealand for 60 as their bowling attack proved irresistible
The semi final, a repeat of the final two years earlier, saw Sri Lanka defeat West In dies to set up a clash with India which saw two icons bow out in style in their last ever T20Is Mahela Jayawardene became the first batter to reach 1000 ICC Men s T20 World Cup runs before Kumar Sangakkara saw his side home with an unbeaten half century, en suring 77 from the tournament’s leading run scorer Virat Kohli turned out to be in vain Netherlands’ Ahsan Malik shared top wicket taker honours with Imran Tahir, claiming the tournament s only five wicket haul against South Africa
In Peshawar Football League (PFL) Sea son 5, Waziristan Baryalay and Atish Tank Club secured victories against their respective rivals in the ongoing Peshawar Football League Season 5 being played here at Tehmas Khan Football Stadium on Thursday
In the first match, Waziristan
Baryalay defeated Akakhel King by a solitary goal in a thrilling match wit nessed by the capacity crowd present on this occasion The match started on slow note and soon it gained momentum when Waziristan Baryalay and Akakhel King club strikers kept up pressure on each other ’s defence
Thus after playing a goalless draw in the first half despite some good inroads right winger Yasir Khan netted a fine
goal to make the tally 1 0 Akakhel King tried hard to level the tally but failed
In the second match, Chitral Darvish defeated Abbottabad Eagles by 3 1 in Pe shawar Football League Season 5 at Tahamas Khan Football Stadium
In the second match Atish Tank Club defeated Dara Nangaly by 1 0 wherein Tank s Jameel scored in the 18th minute of the first half of the game and marched into victory
Nick Kyrgios roared back from a “frustrating” first set on Thursday to reach the quarter finals of the Japan Open, defeating Polish player Kamil Majchrzak 3 6, 6 2, 6 2
Despite his slow start the maverick Australian emerged victorious in typical crowd pleasing style, show ing off with aggressive aces and some exaggeratedly ef fortless points The 27 year old who was knocked out in the last eight at the US Open, said that despite Majchrzak breaking his serve, there was never really doubt in my mind that I was going to win”
“I’ve barely been broken all year,” so when “the op ponent doesn’t really do much to break me it’s quite frus trating he said after the 1h 21min match
“I was just not playing the right way the court’s very fast,” Kyrgios added But by being “a bit more ag gressive in the second and third sets the world number 20 said he “ended up just weathering the storm and then coming through” “I’ve got really good confidence in my game right now So I don t really doubt myself even when I’m down a set firing Grand Slams has given me that confidence ” Kyrgios, whose lawyer appeared for him at a court hearing in Australia this week for a charge of com mon assault, will face either third seeded US player Taylor Fritz or Japan’s Hiroki Moriya in the quarter finals
Fritz has had a breakthrough year fifth seeded Kyr gios said, while the crowd in Tokyo is bound to get behind home favourite Moriya “Either way, it’s going to be a tough match ‘I wa n n a w I n f o r m e’
Earlier in the day, Frances Tiafoe came through a sec ond set battle to secure a spot in the quarter finals saying he wasn’t bothered by rising expectations
The 24 year old American, who has been in the spot light since beating Rafael Nadal on the way to a first Grand Slam semi final at the US Open last month, beat
“Sometimes it tips well your way I’m playing very aggressive, I m serving well in the tie breaks, always a couple of aces ” He will face Miomir Kecmanovic in the last eight, after the Serb beat Britain’s Dan Evans 6 3, 3 6, 7 6 (7/4) After stunning Nadal at Flushing Meadows, Tiafoe played a starring role at the Laver Cup in London where his Rest of the World Team beat Europe for the first time in the competition’s history
But the fourth seeded player currently world number 19, said he was comfortable with all the attention he is re ceiving “I don’t really care about what other people think I should be doing because I ve had recent success You know: ‘Oh, is he going to be the next ?’,” he said “I’ve been on tour for seven or eight years now, none of that re ally moves me I wanna win for me I m not trying to achieve anybody else’s goals ”
Confident England are red hot favourites but holders and hosts New Zealand will have a point to prove when the women’s Rugby World Cup starts on Saturday in record breaking fashion
The tournament kicks off with a mouth watering triple bill all at Auckland s Eden Park, when South Africa play France, Fiji take on England and New Zealand host Aus tralia
More than 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the opening day, a record at tendance for the women s Rugby World Cup, eclipsing the 20,000 who saw the 2014 final in Paris New Zealand organisers hope
it could even be a sell out 47,000 crowd, an other landmark for a competition which began in low key fashion in 1991 and saw just a few thousand fans for that final
Two time world champions England are on a 25 match winning streak and have not lost since 2019, when they were beaten by New Zealand s Black Ferns
The Red Roses won a fourth straight women’s Six Nations title earlier this year and confidence is sky high after demolishing neighbours Wales 73 7 in a warm up game
“Yeah, we’ve got to win it,” replied Eng land head coach Simon Middleton, asked if anything other than victory in the final on November 12 would be a failure
This is the best prepared squad and the best strength in depth we’ve ever had ” But
Middleton knows the favourites’ tag is no guarantee of success especially as defending champions New Zealand have home advan tage and passionate supporters behind them
The Black Ferns are the most successful team in the history of the competition, win ning it five times, but they lost twice to both England and France on last year s European tour There will be a strong All Blacks influ ence on the women’s side
Wayne Smith, the Black Ferns director of rugby, is a highly respected name with ex perience of winning a Rugby World Cup on home turf
He was assistant coach to Graham Henry who has been texting Smith tips when the All Blacks won the men s Rugby World Cup in 2011
The third match in the league was played between Chitral Darvish and Ab bottabad Eagles in which Chitral Darvish won by 3 1
On this occasion, Chairman of Youth Glam Welfare Organization Gul Haider was the chief guest along with former secretary of Provincial Football Associ ation Basit Kamal, International Foot baller Gohar Zaman and other important personalities were also present
LUCKNOW, INDIA
Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller hit unbeaten half centuries to set up a nine run win for South Africa in a rain reduced opening one day interna tional against India on Thursday The left handed Miller (75) and Klaasen (74) put on an unbeaten stand of 139 runs after the tourists lost their top four in the 40 overs a side match in Lucknow The bowlers led by Lungi Ngidi then kept down India to 240 8 despite Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 86 off 63 balls as South Africa took a 1 0 lead in the three match series The Proteas keep them selves in the hunt for a direct entry into next year ’s 50 over World Cup with crucial Super League points of offer for the 11th ranked ODI side The top eight teams (seven and hosts India) get a direct qualification to the league stages of the 2023 World Cup Klaasen and Miller rebuilt the innings at a venue that witnessed a lot of rain for two days before play started Thursday after noon and took the attack to the opposition Miller who amassed 125 runs including a cen tury in the three match Twenty20 series which South Africa lost 2 1, reached his 18th ODI fifty Klaasen followed his partner to a fifty in the same over and the two changed gears with some luck from the fielders as Mohammed Siraj dropped Klaasen on 64 South Africa started steadily after being put into bat first before losing their way to 71 3 But Quinton de Kock stood firm to make 48 before departing and Miller and Klaasen then stood unconquered In reply, India lost regular wickets to be reduced to 51 4 in cluding Shubman Gill bowled by Kagiso Rabada for three and skipper Shikhar Dhawan out for four off Wayne Parnell
Roses won 24 12 in Bayonne in April French scrum half Laure Sansus grabbed six tries in the Six Nations and was named player of the tournament
Former All Blacks star Dan Carter has also been helping the Black Ferns kickers land their shots at goal Working alongside Smith as assistant coach is Whitney Hansen
Her father Steve coached the All Blacks to their 2015 Rugby World Cup triumph As well as fine tuning their game, Smith wants to instil in the Black Ferns the mental forti tude which helped the All Blacks deal with the pressure of being hosts in 2011
It s all very well knowing how to calm yourself down and how to stay in the class room, but you’ve got to do it under pres sure, Smith said
Outside of New Zealand and England, France are dark horses to win their first World Cup They gave England their tough est game of the Six Nations when the Red
A shock 26 19 defeat to Italy in early September gave the French team a wake up call “We’re not worried,” said lock Safi N’Diaye “We know what we are capable of we know what we can do on the pitch
“It was a mental trigger and the group has tightened up
It s a World Cup it s a new adventure
We start from scratch every time ” The World Cup features 12 teams divided into three pools in the first phase The top two from each pool, together with the two best third placed teams, qualify for the quarter finals
Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Scotland
Pool B: Canada, USA, Italy, Japan
Pool C: England, France, South Africa, Fiji
P M : Pa k i s ta n s e e ks ‘ c l i M at e j u s t i c e
sH E H B A Z Sharif has said Is lamabad should not be forced to go out with a “begging bowl” to wealthy nations re sponsible for about half of all greenhouse gas emissions after the floods devastated a third of Pakistan, ar guing that he d rather seek climate jus tice” from the global community
In the second part of his interview published in The Guardian on Thurs day, the prime minister warned that Pakistan is facing an unprecedented crisis of health, food security and inter nal displacement after the “apocalyp tic monsoons put a third of Pakistan s land under water
With Pakistan responsible for 0 8 percent of global carbon emissions
Sharif said it was the “responsibility of the developed countries who caused these emissions, to stand by us” “I’ve never seen this kind of devastation, in undation and suffering of our people in my lifetime,” he said
Millions have been displaced, they have become climate refugees within their own country,” he said, adding that while the international community has given billions in funds and donations and commitments for further support, he was clear it was “not enough”
The enormity of this climate in duced catastrophe is beyond our fiscal means,” he said “The gap between our needs and what is available is too wide and it is widening by the day ”
He further said the official death toll from the floods is 1 600 though many estimates on the ground have
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday said that the apex court in its judgments had already set the criteria for the application of Article 62 (1)(f) A three member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Ayesha A Malik heard the case filed by Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda challenging his lifelong disqualification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the subsequent ruling by the Islamabad High Court (IHC)
During the course of proceedings, Advocate Waseem Sajjad, counsel for Faisal Vawda, said that his client neither hid facts nor did anything in bad faith The chief justice said that the declaration of Article 62(1)(f) could only be given by the court He said that no one could be declared dishonest without examining the evidence It was not so easy to disqualify someone for life he added He said that the judicial declaration meant recording of evidence The Chief Justice said that Faisal Vawda had renounced his US citizenship after submitting his nomination papers to the ECP He said that the debate should be whether the disqualification was limited to contesting elections or for life in the present case
Justice Mansoor asked Waseem Sajjad when did Faisal Vawda submit his nomination papers Advocate Waseem Sajjad replied that his client had submitted his nomination papers on June 7, 2018 while scrutiny took place on June 18, 2018 Justice Mansoor asked the counsel when did Faisal Vawda submit the affidavit Waseem Sajjad responded that Faisal Vawda had submitted the affidavit on June 11, 2018 The returning officer was also told that Vawda had given up his US nationality, he added He said that Faisal Vawda went to the US Embassy and stated that he was giving up his nationality He said that the PTI leader also got his National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) cancelled Justice Mansoor asked whether Faisal Vawda went to the embassy and verbally tell them to cancel the passport Waseem Sajjad replied that Faisal Vawda did not have to give the proof for cancelling his nationality Upon this, Justice Mansoor observed that Faisal Vawda did not bother to clear the issue of dual citizenship before submitting his affidavit on June 11, 2018
been higher More than nine million people have been displaced and over two million homes destroyed, and millions of families have been forced to live in makeshift tents or shelters on roadsides
The extent of the damage has been put at between $30 billion and $35 bil lion but Sharif said it was “a rough es timate it could be more with more than 30,000 km of roads destroyed along with bridges, railways and power lines, as well as 4 million hectares (10m acres) of crops washed away
Let me be clear, this is about cli m a t e
We
not blaming anybody, we’re not cast ing allegations what we are we say ing is this is not of our making but we
That’s unjust, unfair ”
Sharif expressed confidence that Pakistan would not get defaulted de spite the upcoming billions of foreign debt repayments, and the billions more in flood damages “No way We will not default, he said
He confirmed that the government would be talking to “everybody” about the possibility of foreign debt morato rium “What we are asking for is fiscal space but not through the burden of more debt,” he said
The prime minister mentioned that due to the vastness of the flood situa tion and big distances among the af fected areas, the government was struggling to overcome the challenges He emphasised the government was disbursing flood relief funds among the affected people through the Benazir In come Support Programme (BISP)
s ta f f r e p o r t
Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday claimed that attempts to steal elections are con tinued once again, saying this time (they) will need a large scale plan to rig the elections and that will disrupt the whole electoral system
Imran Khan also raised objections to the pro cedure for the appointments of the chief election commissioner (CEC), National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman and the formation of the caretaker government
“This procedure must be changed and merit should be prioritised ” The PTI chief reiterated that CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja made partial de cisions “We will be successful in the by elec tions despite vote rigging ”
The PTI chief was talking to journalists cov ering the election commission here on Thursday Imran Khan claimed that he was fully aware of on going attempts to disqualify him, adding that the PTI will get a clear majority in the next elections
He predicted that a big revolution will be witnessed in Sindh in the next elections, saying Sindh province will see a big revolution in the next polls as the currently ruling political party, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), will find it impos
sible to win polls
Regarding the long march Khan said that the government was powerless to stop the mass movement “Long march planning will surprise the government
To a question, Khan clarified that PTI will not return to the assemblies He added that open hearing of Toshakhana case should be conducted as nothing illegal was done “In the past govern ments, Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif had acquired expensive vehicles from Toshakhana ”
“PML N’s audio leak exposed the nexus be tween CEC and the government There is no rea son left to retain this CEC and he should tender his resignation ”
The sitting CEC had completed delimita tion with the support of PML N I have never held any meeting with the CEC and Justice Qazi Faez Isa I am afraid of being sent to jail for my expected reaction if I appear before the CEC ”
I have always said that our opposition is criminal but not democratic I am thankful to the government for giving a new life to the cipher It was clearly mentioned in the cipher that Imran Khan should be removed ”
“Long march is not so far and we are coming to Islamabad with full preparations The mass movement cannot be stopped by anyone,” said Imran Khan
RAWALPINDI s ta f f r e p o r t
A terrorist was killed on Thursday during an intelligence based operation (IBO) conducted by the security forces in general area Mattani of Peshawar
The security forces killed the terrorist amid intense fire exchange that took place between troops and the terrorists during the conduct of the operation, an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release said
The forces also recovered weapon and ammunition from the killed terrorist
According to ISPR, the killed terrorist remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces and killing of innocent citizens
The General Assembly of the United Nations will on Friday take action on a draft resolution expressing solidarity and support to the people and government of Pakistan in the wake of the devastating floods that have killed over 1 600 people and displaced 33 million Announcing this at the regular noon briefing on Tuesday, a spokesperson to the body’s president, Paulina Kubiak, said the draft resolution was sponsored by Pakistan
Among other elements, the draft would have the General Assembly call on the international community to scale up its humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation of Pakistan, and encourages member states, the United Nations, and humanitarian organisations to continue to work together to address the needs of affected populations, particularly the most vulnerable
It also underscored the need for the international community to maintain its focus beyond the present emergency relief, in order to sustain the political will to support the medium and long term rehabilitation, reconstruction and risk reduction efforts as well as the adaptation plan led by the Government of Pakistan
The resolution, which is expected to have many co sponsors, would also welcome the proposed convening of a pledging conference to generate assistance and commitments for long term rehabilitation and reconstruction phases in the disaster stricken areas
buying these shares from Emirates NBD Bank PJSC JS Bank is already an associated en tity of BankIslami sponsor shareholder Jahangir Sid diqui & Co, therefore as per Section 96 of the Securities Act, 2015; and clause 5 6 1(a) of PSC regu lations, the bank had to make the disclosure Jahangir Siddiqui & Co is the holding company for JS Bank and it already owns 21 6% of BankIslami as per the annual reports dated 31 December 2021 Profit has sent questions to JS Bank but has not re ceived a response until the filing of this report
The leadership of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz on Thursday condemned the plan of assault on Islamabad by Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) and Imran Khan and decided that the miscreants would be dealt with according to law, with iron hands
They were of the view that attack on Is lamabad would not be tolerated as it was not a political long march but an atrocious conspir acy Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was chair ing the meeting of the senior leadership here
The party leadership reviewed in detail the overall political situation of the country
The leaders agreed that the elements who were plotting invasion of the capital, were the same people who fired bullets at the police personnel broke heads threatened judges and police officers and attacked institutions
The conspirators were hatching a new conspiracy after getting caught red handed previously while conspiring against Pak istan These elements were trying to create political instability and chaos in the country by shedding blood
The participants noted that these elements earlier conspired to cause default of Pakistan, destroy the economy, create disunity in the national institutions, attack institutions and run a foul campaign against the martyrs
The conspirators also plotted against the constitution by dissolving the Parliament and also hatched conspiracy for a sit in in Pak istan with foreign funding
These elements also conspired against China Pakistan Economic Corridor, against friends of Pakistan and against security of Pakistan in the name of cipher and now these conspirators were colluding against econ omy of Pakistan and the flood affectees in
the name of long march
The party leadership said the audio leaks on September 28 and 30 were a charge sheet against former prime minister Imran Khan and all the characters who hatched the plot of “fake conspiracy”
These characters hatched a nefarious con spiracy against the national security, national interests, and Pakistan’s foreign relations
It was proved that the drama of foreign conspiracy was just a fraud, forgery and a concoction of mind of some miscreants and it had nothing to do with reality This conspir acy was an ugly attempt to damage interests of the state for securing personal interest The interests of the state were sacrificed for per sonal political interests, they stressed
While endorsing the decisions of the cab inet in the meeting on September 30, the at tendees emphasized that the process of investigation of Imrani conspiracy hatched
by using the diplomatic cipher, should be has tened and the elements involved in it should be made an example according to the law
This conspiracy will be crushed with force of law they stated
In this connection, the party leadership gave authority for all decisions to president of the party and prime minister of Pakistan
The meeting appreciated the efforts and fervour of the government, institutions espe cially Pakistan army under the leadership of the Prime Minister, for assistance and reha bilitation of the flood affectees The leader ship expressed resolve that efforts would continue with focus and ardour till the com plete rehabilitation of the flood affectees
The party meeting lauded efforts of the prime minister and his team for improving value of the rupee against the dollar and stock exchange and for saving the country
default
The leadership expressed confidence about the possibilities to restore Pakistan s economy, reduce debt burden and give relief to the common man, after the arrival of Fi nance Minister Ishaq Dar The meeting wel comed the reduction in prices of petroleum products for providing relief to the people and stated that despite the difficult economic conditions, efforts would be enhanced to give all possible relief to the people T
minister for effectively representing Pak i s t
of the United
(SCO)
tions General Assembly
issues faced by the Muslim Ummah including the issue of Jammu and
and Palestine, Islam ophobia, deadly effects of climate change