Epaper_22-10-08 ISB

New leaks expose pTI chIef’s pl aNs oN ‘horse TradINg, pl ayINg up’ cIpher IN publIc

NEw alleged audios of former prime minister Imran Khan were eaked to social media on Friday the latest in a ser es of recordings purportedly featuring the PTI ch ef talking about “ horse trading” and the cipher with PTI leaders Shireen Mazari and Asad Umar

The second audio slightly longer than a minute is the second that was re eased n a day featuring the PTI chair man In a public meeting Friday after noon Imran c aimed the PML N was behind a new game of fake audios

In the atest clip, the PTI trio are dis cussing the cipher and al egedly strateg s ing on how to “ play it up in the publ c”

At the start of the aud o the voice be lieved to be of Umar is heard say ng: An other point is in hinds ght that whatever we are do ng now should have been done at least ten days ago The mpact of this let ter is far reach ng and t has reached al over the world Imran al egedly responds

Another voice, believed to be of Mazari interrupts saying “ The Chinese even have issued an official statement condemn ng the US inter vention in the in ternal affa rs of Pakistan

Imran then allegedly deta s the strat egy, say ng “ the pub ic is with us and we must ensure that the pressure must be at such a he ght that whoever goes to the as sembly for voting must be branded for ife and you have to brand them as M r Jafar and M r Sadiq ”

The PTI chief then purported y presses his party leaders to spoon feed people as their minds are current y ferti e grounds ”

Earlier in the day an aud o recording eaked of a voice sounding like Imran’s discussing “ buying five” and “ numbers game you have a misunderstanding that now the number game is complete [ ] don t think th s is over you see 48 hours is a long long time b g things are happening I am making my own moves that we can t make publ c Imran purportedly says in the 54 second c ip

The PTI chief allegedly goes on to say that he s buying f ve “ I have given the message that those five are ver y mportant And tell them that f they secure these five [ ] and if he se cures 10, then the game w l be in our hands The nation at this moment is alarmed Across the board people want us to win somehow

Hence don t worr y about whether this s right or wrong [ ] even f they break one, t would create a huge difference the

voice believed to be Imran s adds The audio cl ps released on Fr day raise the number of clips al eged y featur ng the PTI cha rman to four Of the four cl ps, three centre on the c pher and one on alleged horsetrading

Last week, an aud o clip purportedly re vealed a conversation between Imran and then principal secretar y Azam Khan about the cipher shared by Asad Ma jeed the then envoy to the US which Imran has used to peddle his foreign con spiracy narrative

In the clip the former pr me minister a legedly te ls Azam to “ play up” the cipher and turn it into a foreign plot to oust his government but adds that there s no need to name any countr y

A day later another clip sur faced supposedly a continuation of the conver sation in the previous recording purport edly featuring PTI leaders Asad Umar and Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussing the foreign conspiracy cipher w th the former premier and ex princ pal secretar y On Fr day PTI leader Fawad Chaudhr y did not d savow the contents of the latest aud o clip but said that ever yone knows where and how the audios are being made”

In a tweet the former min ster asked: “ by o ning voices such as these w l you prove NRO 2 to be valid?

Govt seeks 90-day delay in by-elections citing PTI’s plan to ‘besiege’ capital

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e p o r t

The federa government Fr day asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to de ay the up coming October 16 by election, saying that a “ po itical party ” was planning to bes ege the capital later this month

The by elections were orig nally scheduled to be held during September, but the ECP put them off cit ng the unavailabil ty of security personnel in the wake of catastrophic f oods that have left over 1 700 dead

“ On the bas s of credible re ports from Intel igence Agencies it has transpired that a pol tical party is plann ng to besiege the federal capital between October 12 17 [ ] which co ncides with the [election] date,” a etter from the Interior Ministr y to the ECP said in an apparent reference to the PTI

P T I C h a i r m a n I m r a n K h a n h a s a n n o u n c e d h o l d i n g h i s “Azad March” in the capital and h a s s t a r t e d m o b s i n g h i s p a r t y T h e e x p r i m e m i n i s t e r h a s h e l d s e v e r a l m e e t i n g s a n d o r g a n i s e d r a l l i e s a t d i f f e r e n t p o i n t s i n t h e c o u n t r y i n t h e l e a d u p t o t h e m a r c h

In light of the intelligence re ports, the Interior Ministr y said it was crucial to have a l the avail able resources n the capital in order to maintain peace

Citing other reasons the min

istr y sa d that calling in the forces to ensure security during the by elections which will take place simultaneously in d fferent cities across Pak stan would put a strain on them

The letter mentioned that the Pakistan Army, Front er Corps, Rangers and other LEAs were busy in flood relief works n coor dination with the national and provincial disaster management authorities

It also told the commission that in case the elect ons were conducted under the given cir cumstances whereby security forces m ght be less than required and a political party was ho ding a rally it would raise questions on the credibility of the pol s

The elections were scheduled to take place in eight constituen cies NA 22 Mardan, NA 24 Charsadda NA 31 Peshawar NA 45 Kurram NA 108 Faisalabad NA 118 Nankana Sah b, NA 237 Malir and NA 239 Karach T h e E C P a n n o u n c e d O c t o b e r 1 6 a s t h e d a t e f o r t h e b y e l e c t i o n s a f t e r e g h t N a t o n a l A s s e m b l y s e a t s w e r e v a c a t e d following the acceptance of PTI MNAs res gnat ons

The ECP has d rected the S ndh government to hold ocal body elections in Karachi and Hy derabad d visions after the province sought postponement for the third time c ting a ack of security personnel

In an interesting development on Friday Minister for Inter or Rana Sanaullah claimed that PTI Senator Sa fullah Sar war Khan Nyazee had been taken into “ pro tective custody ” n the foreign funding case but the FIA was qu ck to deny it had arrested the PTI Senator

Addressing a press conference Rana Sanaullah said that Senator Sa ful lah Nyazee had not been appearing for investigat on in foreign funding case and now he had been taken into “ pro tective custody ” so that he could be for ma ly questioned

He said egal procedure wou d be fol owed for the arrest of PTI Senator if re quired at a later stage He sa d that PTI member Ham d Zaman had been also taken nto protect ve custody in the for eign fund ng case It is important to mention that media reports sa d Nyazee

had been arrested from the premises of the Parliament House without seeking approval from Cha rman Senate which is illegal and a violation of the su premacy of the Parliament

FIA DENIES REPORTS OF PTI SENATOR

SAIFULL AH NYAZEE S ARREST: Meanwhile the Federa Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday denied arresting Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) Senator Sa fullah Nyazee from Islamabad The news re gard ng Saiful ah Nyazee s arrest from the Senate of Pakistan premises is ‘ base less the FIA said in its reaction

According to sources reason be h nd the senator ’s arrest could be the website launched by the PTI leader for fundraising

Meanwhile Pak stan Tehreek Insaf leaders including Asad Umar Fawad Chaudhr y, Murad Saeed and others a leged that Saiful ah Nyazee had been picked up from the Senate premises Former information m nister Fawad

Chaudhr y urged Senate Chairman Sad q Sanjrani to take notice of the matter

SENATE COMMITTEE SEEKS REPORT

WITHIN 3 HRS ON CUSTODY OF NYAZEE:

The Senate Standing Comm ttee on In terior on Friday took notice of the arrest of PTI Senator Saifullah Sar war Khan Nyazee and sought report on the myste rious arrest of the member of the Par ia ment from Interior Min str y within 30 minutes The Is amabad commiss oner initially reported that the member par ia ment is in the custody of the FIA How ever the FIA through an offic a statement confirmed that the member par iament is not under any detainment by the FIA The spec al secretar y after re sumpt on of the meeting also refuted the statement of the member parl ament in the custody of the FIA he further sa d that offic ally no agency has taken up the re sponsibility of the custody of Senator Sai fullah Khan Nyazee The spec a secretar y also appr sed the committee

that he was not able to contact the Min ster and seek information on the same

The committee severely con demned the unprecedented arrest of the honorable member of the Parlia

ment from the Parliament bu lding and rebuked the non seriousness and ineffi cient working of the Ministr y on the same

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t

A L L s eT T o C o M M e M o r AT e 1 7 T H A N N I v e r s A r y o f o C T 8 , 2 0 0 5 d e A d Ly q u A k e A C r o s s A J k

MIRPUR (AJK)

S ta f f R e p o R t

All is set to commemorate the 16th anniversary of history’s worst killer earthquake of October 8, 2005 in Mirpur and other cities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, 8 October with due feelings of seriousness, respect and determination as the National Disaster Awareness Day On this day, glowing tributes would be paid to the martyrs and other victims of the history s deadly catastrophe in the region A grand event would be hosted by the

Kashmir Orphan Relief Trust (KORT) and Educational Complex at Akhterabad in Mirpur will be the hallmark of the 17th Anniversary

The ceremony will begin at 6 00 am on Saturday at the mega KORT complex at Akhterabad, in the outskirt of the lake city Mirpur, said Ch Akhter, the founder of the KORT, the largest shelter home in South Asia, housing over 450 of orphan and shelter less children, mostly those who were rendered homeless and orphan following the killer earthquake of October 2005 in Muzaffarabad and various adjoining parts of AJK and KPK

CJP convenes JCP meeting to consider permanent appointment of LHC additional judges

ISLAMABAD

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Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial has convened the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) meeting on October 12, to consider permanent appointment of 13 additional judges to the Lahore High Court (LHC) The names of judges who would be considered for the permanent appointment include Justice Sohail Nasir Justice Shakeel Ahmed Justice Safdar Saleem Shahid, Justice Ahmed Nadeem Arshad, Justice Tariq Nadeem, Justice Amjad Rafique, Justice Abid Hussain Chatha Justice Anwar Hussain Justice Ali Zia Bajwa, Justice Sultan Tanveer Ahmed, Justice Raza Qureshi, Justice Shaan Gul and Justice Raheel Kamran The appointment of 13 additional judges in the Lahore High Court was recommended on April 22 last year In April this year, the tenure of Additional Judges was further extended by six months

Canada doubles matching donations to $7.5m for flood-hit Pakistan

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The Canadian government has more than doubled the amount of donations it will match to help the people of Pakistan recover from disastrous flooding Three weeks ago the Canadian government pledged to match up to $3 million donated by Canadians to the Humanitarian Coalition Last week, International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan said he would boost that to $5 million, in the hopes of drumming up more public support On Thursday, he increased that donation amount to $7 5 million matching what Canadians had now donated Canada has donated another $30 million to aid Pakistan separately from the donor matching funds to the Humanitarian Coalition a group of 12 major Canadian aid agencies, including Save The Children, Islamic Relief and Oxfam Canada It was just really gratifying to see the extraordinary response from Canadians, I would say particularly Canadians from the Pakistani diaspora and the Muslim community who really stepped up said the coalition s director Richard Morgan Severe monsoon rains this summer left one third of Pakistan underwater, ruining grain and killing cattle Morgan said 21 million people are in need of help, including 9 million in immediate need “When you have that many millions of displaced people congregating in new spaces the most basic needs (are) shelter, food, water and immediate, basic health care,” Morgan said

a

Talking to APP late Friday, Akhtar said that glowing tributes would be paid to the victims of the history’s worst catastrophe The event will be attended by the dignitaries besides social workers volunteers and heads of various nation building institutions, he told

This year, Mirpur city will observe the a

The anniversary will be observed as the national day of awareness about safety from the national disasters

The day will dawn with special prayers in the mosques at Fajr across AJK for the departed souls of victims It will be a gazetted holiday throughout AJK State

The major ceremony to mark the day will be held at the capital city of Muzaffarabad, with the sign of deep rooted love and affection by the government and the people of Pakistan as well as the national and international NGOs and brotherly foreign countries who contributed their exceptional share for the rebuilding and rehabilitation of

the quake hit zone of AJK sources of the State Disaster Management Authorities told APP on Friday

Besides special functions would be arranged to raise awareness among the people about adoption of per cautionary measures to avert the losses in case of any natural catastrophe, the sources added

In Mirpur, the major ceremony will be held where fateha Khawani will be offered for the martyrs following blowing of sirens at 8 52 a m and observing two minutes silence to pay respect to the victims

The district authorities of all three districts of Mirpur division are giving final touches to the programs of the anniversary in the division

The special ceremonies include awareness walks seminars and symposiums across the Valley which will be attended by the people representing all walks of life including social and political workers lawyers, journalists and members of the business fraternity

Elec tricit y consumers to get relief in bills from nex t month: Dastgir

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Friday said that the

the electricity would

electricity bills

Speaking in the National Assembly he

adjustments in the electricity bills had affected the people

He said as per instructions of Prime M i n i s t e r S h e h b a z S h a r i f t h e g o v e r n m e n t h a s f u l l y p a s s e d o n t h e relief to the consumers

T h e e l e c t r i c i t

while

said

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

h e l a w m a k e r s would be addressed

E a r l i e r, M i n i s t e r f o r P o w e r K h u r r a m D a s t g i r h a d p r o m i s e d t h e g o v e r n m e n t w o u l d p r o v i d e r e l i e f t o

G erman FM announces €10m aid for flood vic tims in Pak istan

BERLIN S ta f f R e p o R t

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has announced €10m financial aid for the flood victims in Pakistan FM Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock held a joint press conference

Baerbock said that flood affected people have been living under the

sky She added that Pakistan faced massive destruction due to floods and the country was becoming the most affected nation due to climate change

She said that Germany is the biggest trade partner of Pakistan in the European Union (EU) Pakistan s always played an important role on Afghanistan issue and with the help of Islamabad withdrawal from Afghanistan was made possible

While addressing the press conference FM Bilawal said that one third part of the country was affected by the flood and diseases were spreading among the victims He thanked his German counterpart for the warm welcome

The flood directly affected 33 million people after the country faced climate change calamity despite Pakistan emitting less than 1 per cent of greenhouse gases

Pakistan to flag need of separate loss, damage funding stream at COP 27

ISLAMABAD

f

Pakistan was preparing to flag the need of a separate loss and damage funding stream required to be established at the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for the developing countries bearing the burden of greenhouse gas emissions due to carbon intensive activities of the developed world

A Ministry of Climate Change official told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change that the preparations for the 27th conference of the parties (COP 27) to be held at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt were being looked after by Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman

He said, “Our stance is to take adaptation on top of

our agenda but after these monster floods loss and damage is going to be on the top of the list We are going to highlight that a separate loss and damage funding stream for GCF which should be swift and readily available to the developing countries facing serious impacts of environmental degradation ” He underlined that the GCF at the moment only had two funding streams for mitigation and adaptation

The Ministry official informed that the MoCC was going to finalise its agenda for COP in the third week of this month as it would also be presented to the prime minister To a question, he briefed the forum that the Ministry lacked funding and could not take big delegations to the forum whereas the delegation used to comprise of experts and Ministry officials

e lectr icity co n s u mer s f r o m th e mo n th o f O c t o b e r However the government seems to have reneged on

claim

PTI’s new defector Asia A zeem replaces Mazari as MNA

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

A s i a A z e e m o f t h e P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k e I n s a f ( P T I ) w a s s w o r n i n a s N a t i o n a l A s s e m b l y m e m b e r o n r e s e r v e d s e a t f o r w o m e n d u r i n g a s e s s i o n o n F r i d a y, r e p l a c i n g D r S h i r e e n M a z a r i , w h o s e r e s i g n a t i o n w a s a c c e p t e d b y S p e a k e r R a j a P e r v a i z A s h r a f D r M a z a r i w a s o n e o f t h e 1 2 3 P T I l a w m a k e r s w h o h a d r e s i g n e d f r o m t h e N a t i o n a l A s s e m b l y i n l i n e w i t h t h e p a r t y p o l i c y i n A p r i l M a z a r i w h o w a s e l e c t e d o n a r e s e r v e d s e a t f o r w o m e n , w a s a l s o a m o n g t h e 11 l a w m a k e r s w h o s e r e s i g n a t i o n s w e r e a c c e p t e d b y s p e a k e r i n J u l y A z e e m t o o k o a t h a s a n M N A i n d e f i a n c e o f t h e p a r t y p o l i c y a n d h a d j o i n e d t h e P T I d e f e c t o r s S p e a k i n g o n t h e f l o o r f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e , A z e e m s t r e s s e d t h e n e e d f o r d i a l o g u e t o f i n d s o l u t i o n s t o t h e p r o b l e m s We a r e n o t e n e m i e s , j u s t p o l i t i c a l r i v a l s , ” s h e s a i d T h e l a w m a k e r c a l l e d f o r a c t i o n s t o e n d t h e p o l i t i c s o f h a t e , s a y i n g t h a t b u l l y i n g w a s n o t t h e j o b o f p o l i t i c i a n s “ We r e j e c t t h o s e w h o s p r e a d m i s c h i e f o n E a r t h A l l a h c o m m a n d s u s n o t t o s p r e a d m i s c h i e f o n E a r t h , s h e s a i d A z e e m s a i d t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t a l o n e c o u l d n o t r e s o l v e a l l t h e p r o b l e m s , t h e r e f o r e , p a r l i a m e n t h a d t o f i n d t h e s o l u t i o n s S h e e m p h a s i s e d o n t h e s u p r e m a c y o f p a r l i a m e n t S h

UNGA adopts resolution urging int ’l community to boost aid to flood-hit Pakistan

UNITED NATIONS

The UN General Assembly Friday adopted a resolution that expressed full solidarity with the flood hit Pakistani people and urged the world community to scale up its humanitarian assistance to Pakistan, and to support rehabilitation and reconstruction in the areas devastated by climate induced monsoon rains

The 193 member Assembly, meeting in its iconic hall, adopted the Pakistan sponsored resolution by consensus The text was co sponsored by a large number of countries 159 from all regions of the world Countries like Pakistan which confront such climate induced disasters should not be left to fend for themselves, dependent on the generosity and charity of

friends,” Ambassador Munir Akram, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN said while introducing the resolution, as he drew attention to the havoc wrought by the raging flood waters and called for international support to help Pakistan cope with the calamity “We must construct mechanisms that can enable climate struck countries to access resources to mitigate the impacts of the ever more frequent and more intense climate disasters and to recover quickly from such disasters,” the Pakistani envoy said, while paying tributes to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his timely visit to Pakistan to personally convey his solidarity meet the victims consult the country’s leadership and call for massive assistance to Pakistan, saying he had

explored the hearts of the Pakistani people If a referendum was held in Pakistan the Secretary General would receive, not 99 per cent, but 100 per cent support!”

In a passionate speech the UN chief said, “The people of Pakistan are the victims of a grim calculus of climate injustice

Pakistan, Guterres said, was responsible for less than 1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet it was paying a supersized price for man made climate change Pakistan, he warned was on the verge of a public health disaster, saying the risk of a cholera outbreak, malaria and dengue fever threatened to claim far more lives than the floods “Nearly 1,500 health facilities have been devastated, greatly hindering

the ability to detect and respond to outbreaks More than 2 million homes were damaged or destroyed the UN chief added

In his remarks, Ambassador Akram said the toll taken had been tremendous “Over 1,700 people lost their lives and 13,000 were injured Thirty three million, including 16 million children are estimated to be affected by heavy rainfall Over a million homes, 13,000 kilometers of national highways 410 bridges and 5 4 million acre crops were damaged ”

He said the floods had displaced at least 7 9 million people of whom some 600,000 were living in relief camps Nearly 800,000 refugees were estimated to be hosted in more than 40 calamity notified districts, including over 175,600 women, 194,000 girls and 206,000 boys

PoLICe CoNduCT MoCk exerCIse AMId PoLITICAL ProTesT AT d-CHowk

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

IS L A M A B A D Capital Territory Police

have conducted a mock exercise at D Chowk to deal with any possible law and order situation as well as to protect life and property of the residents

Frontier Constabulary Pakistan Rangers and Islamabad capital police all divisions, Lady police officials, Drill Staff along with Anti Riot Kit Police vehicles Ambulance and water cannon participated

in mock exercise

According to the details on the directives of the Federal Minister of Interior Rana Sana Ullah Khan, a joint anti riot exercise of Islamabad Police Frontier

Constabulary and Pakistan Rangers has been started in order to maintain the law and order situation in the federal capital

In this regard Islamabad Capital Police is being transformed on modern technology to combat harsh situations The purpose of this exercise is to boost morale of police officials and ensure the security of Islamabad citizens as well as police

officials and special measures are being taken in this regard

During the training exercise, traffic police officers were present at D Chowk to ensure traffic diversion to maintain smooth flow of traffic All divisions, lady police officials, drill staff participated in the training exercise along with anti riot kit vehicles, ambulance and water cannon

IGP Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan said that Islamabad Police is doing utmost efforts to protect the life and property of the citizens To resolve public grievances is our foremost priority

Myster y shrouds ‘arrest’ of senator saifullah Nyazee from Parliament House

CONTINUED fROM PAgE 01

Later in the meeting it was informed by the Chairman Committee that Senator Saifullah Khan Nyazee is in the “safe custody” of the Interior Ministry The committee showed grave concern over the concealment of information by the secretary The committee expressed astonishment that the member Parliament was in the custody of the ministry however the secretary fail to communicate the same even after seeking information on the multiple times Still dissatisfied with the information, the committee chairman gave strict directions to the Ministry to apprise the committee with complete report

the

us provides additional 8m Covid pediatric jabs to Pakistan ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The United States government has delivered an additional batch of eight million Pfizer Covid 19 pediatric vaccine doses to Pakistan According to the US Embassy in Islamabad, this shipment increases the United States’ donation to more than 78 million safe and effective Covid 19 vaccine doses for the people of Pakistan, including 16 million pediatric doses The United States is committed to partnering with the Government of Pakistan to protect the Pakistani people In addition to the vaccines, the US government has also provided over 80 million dollars in direct and in kind support to assist the Pakistani people in the fight against Covid 19 The support has included more than one point two million N 95 masks, 96,000 surgical masks, 52,000 protective goggles, one million Covid 19 rapid diagnostic tests, 1,200 pulse oximeters, and 200 ventilators for 64 Pakistani hospitals The US government has also trained over 50,000 health workers, including 30,000 women, across the country on home based care for Covid 19 patients and established a national network of disease surveillance and response units and teams

NA passes two bills, refers 4 bills, ord to committees

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The National Assembly on Friday passed two government bills and referred four bills as well as an ordinance to the relevant committees The bills passed by the House included the Anti Dumping Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Railways (Amendment) Bill 2022 The House also witnessed introduction of four government bills and laying of an Ordinance which were referred to the relevant committees for further consideration The bills introduced in the House included the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Trade Dispute Resolution Bill, 2022; the Naturalization (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Securities and Futures Market Bill, 2022 Meanwhile, the Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2022, (Ordinance No VI of 2022) was also laid in the House Later, the House was adjourned to meet again on October 10 at 5pm

D ar reiterates desire to fur ther deepen trade, investment ties with US, Japan

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue

Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Friday said that attracting the United States investment in different sectors of Pakistan s economy was the government s top priority

During a meeting with US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome, who called on him, Dar said the incumbent government was focusing on creating a business friendly environment for foreign investors He highlighted the importance of long term broad based and multi dimensional relationship between Pakistan and the US, said a press statement issued by the Ministry of Finance

The minister briefed the ambassador about the devastation caused by the recent floods in the country and highlighted the economic agenda and policies of the government aimed at bringing economic and fiscal stability

He said that attracting US foreign investment in different sectors of Pakistan s economy is the government’s top priority and the present

government is focusing on creating a business friendly environment for foreign investors

He reiterated the desire of the present government to further deepen bilateral trade and investment ties with the US

The ambassador felicitated the minister on assuming the charge as Pakistan’s finance minister and also extended sympathy on the destruction caused by the floods Blome underscored that both countries enjoyed good relations and expressed confidence on policies and programmes of the Pakistani government He assured the minister of his support to further promote the bilateral economic, investment and trade relations AmBAssADor of JAPAN CALLs oN fEDErAL mINIsTEr for fINANCE: Meanwhile, Ambassador of Japan Wada Mitsuhiro also called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar

While extending a warm welcome to Wada Mitsuhiro Ambassador of Japan Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar briefed the Ambassador on the devastations caused by the recent flood in Pakistan and its impact on the country s economy

1 5 p c s a l a r y r a i s e fo r U t i l i t y S to r e s C o r p o r at i o n wo r ke r s a n n o u n c e d

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The government on Friday notified 15pc increase in salaries of employees of Utility Stores Corporation government servants

According to the notification, the salaries of the permanent employees have been increased by 15pc with effect from July 1, 2022

Meanwhile, the daily wages of the contractual employees of the corporation have also been increased by up to Rs245 per day The raise will be given to the employees with effect from April 1, 2022

The outstanding amount will be given to the

employees till October 17, the notification read

Earlier, the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) increased the prices of various items at its stores across the country

According to a notification, prices of branded tea, milk, tea whitener, spices, honey and other items have been increased by the government The price of 90 grams of branded tea has increased by Rs400, taking the official prices from Rs905 to Rs1305

Similarly, the price of tea whitener has increased by Rs100, the price of 200 gram dates has been jacked up by Rs40 the price of baby dry milk supplement has increased by Rs260, and the price of 1kg pickle packet raised by Rs84

Cour t c ancels perpetual arrest warrants against D ar

He said the

court

IT & Telecom Ministr y prepares draft framework for frequenc y spec trum re farming

The

Re

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority

and Frequency Allocation Board

Ministry of

MoIT&T

In

As

Farming

In

including consumers and Government of Pakistan (GoP), said draft Framework for Frequency Spectrum Re Farming

LHC orders authorities to declare smog emergency in Punjab

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

The Lahore High Court ordered the Punjab government on Friday to impose a smog emergency and call for a meeting to take precautions before extreme cold weather takes hold Dense smog has engulfed Lahore once again as October began The air quality level shot to an alarming level The rising levels of air pollution in the city have been declared hazardous for human health Justice Shahid Jamil heard the petition of Farooq, a resident of Lahore The petitioner maintained that the government was not taking any measures to control smog and it soars health issues The court should order the relevant authorities to take action in order to control and eradicate smog it maintained Cars and industries that adds to the smog should be banned, he remarked The court remarked that the measures to eradicate smog should be finalized and a team should immediately be constituted to take action against those responsible The court further said that vehicles should be provided to the teams If this does not happen, the vehicles of the chief secretary s office will be handed over to them The court ordered the authorities to declare a smog emergency in the province and directed them to purchase air quality sensors within two weeks H o w s m o g f o r m s: Smog is formed by a mixture of pollutants and water vapour in the atmosphere It can cause health problems such as asthma, flu, coughing, allergies bronchial infections and heart problems

Prolonged exposure to environmental pollution also results in shortened life expectancy These risks may be reduced by wearing masks, managing gaseous vehicular emissions, using eco friendly products, and reusing and recycling

N A B o d y S e e KS C A S e S t u d y o N e N v I R o N M e N tA l d A M A g e B y R e S tA u R A N t S I N M H N P

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

tH E National Assembly

Standing Committee on Cli mate Change Friday sought a case study from the Min istry of Climate Change on environmental damage inflicted by various restaurants and resorts estab lished in the vicinity of Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP)

While chairing the meeting Chairperson Standing Committee Member National Assembly (MNA) Nuzhat Pathan expressed her displeas ure over functioning of restaurants, ho tels and resorts within the limits of the national park including Monal Restau

rant and others

Nuzhat said that the Ministry should present a case study on the Monal case and management of na tional park to guide legislation to control damage to ecology due to an thropogenic activities and direct dumping of untreated liquid and solid waste into the national park

She also directed to call Founder Clifton Urban Forest Masood Lohar and the provincial forest secretaries to brief the forum on forest protec tion and plantation efforts being im plemented across the country in the next meeting

The Committee deferred the agendas of MNAs Ali Gohar Khan, Tahira Aurangzeb due to the absence

of the movers whereas the agenda pertaining to MNA Shahida Rehmani’s Pakistan Environmental Protection (Amendment) Bill 2022

Briefing the Committee Secre tary MoCC Asif Hyder Shah said the Monal restaurant was opposed clearly by the Ministry due to its lo cation within the national park

However, they were not complying to the environmental laws as their dumping of waste, increased human and car mobility was damaging the biodiversity

While sharing details on the agenda of comprehensive briefing on the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Planta tion (TBTTP) project, he said the nomenclature of the project was

Rallies, protests, public gatherings banned on roads from Saidu to Mingora

SWAT S y e d S h a h a b u d d i n

A complete ban has been imposed on holding rallies, protests, meetings, and public gatherings on roads and main squares from Saidu Sharif to Mingora The order was issued by Swat District Magistrate Junaid Khan, following a host of public complaints being received on a daily basis that the Saidu Sharif to Mingora road re mains blocked due to rallies, protests, proces sions, and public gatherings Due to this common people and hospital patients and school going children have to face problems The order said that the general public, political workers, and stu dents block roads, and squares, which causes problems for the public, pa tients, and students, so it cannot be allowed in this area The ban will remain in place for 60 days and violators will be prosecuted under Section 188 PPC, the order said On the other hand, a civil society demonstration against terror ist activities was held in Tehsil Khwazakhela of Swat Apart from leaders and activists of various political parties, lawyers also participated in the demon stration Addressing the demonstration at Khwazakhela Chowk, the speakers said that they will not tolerate any more unrest in Swat and the government and law enforcement agencies should play a role to maintain law and order situation in the area The speakers demanded that immediate and effective ac tion should be taken against the armed persons present in the area and ensure safety of people s lives and property

changed to its oldest name of Green Pakistan Programme India has 21% forest cover and Pakistan has lowest in the region due to its massive ratio of arid land under cultivation

He added that the TBTTP was globally acclaimed and accredited whereas its monitoring was being done through third party consortium of IUCN, WWF, and FAO The con sortium was busy in doing the third party audit A first interim report was issued by the third party audit consortium and there were no bla tant violations noticed by the Min istry in the third party audit report He informed the committee that Rs19 billion were being spent out of the total Rs22 billion funding pro

vided by the federal government so far to the provinces for the project execution

IG Forest, MoCC, Syed Ghulam Qadir Shah told the committee that the Green Pakistan project’s initial target was to plant 100 million trees in 100 districts across the country which was scaled up to 3 29 billion trees plantation target across the country for five years

He informed that the total proj ect cost was Rs125 billion with a 50 50 share of both federal and provincial governments There were a total of 17,000 plantation sites across the country having plantation done under TBTTP project that was covering an area of 1 6 million

acres The project so far created 1 4 million jobs in the forestry sector and some 1 8 billion trees plantation target was achieved so far that made 56% of the total set target of 3 29 billion trees till August 2022 He added that some Rs 38 8 billion have been disbursed so far out of which Rs22 billion were provided by the federal government whereas the rest was chipped in by the provinces

However, as per the audit report the survival rate of plantation was 80% under the project he said adding, “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s policy in this regard is the best in forest plantation regeneration and it has been proposed to be replicated at the provincial level ”

Data debunks Amit Shah’s ‘no elec tricity in A JK villages’ comment

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Narendra Modi led fascist Indian government is crafting false narratives of development & progress in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to justify its illegal actions in the terri tory while at the same time it is peddling lies to underplay the advancement that has occurred in Azad Jammu and Kashmir since 1947

This was stated by experts and analysts closely watching the developments in IIOJK as well as AJK in their interviews They were re sponding to the address made by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah at a govt sponsored rally in Baramulla on Wednesday Giving their reaction to Amit Shah’s false

claim that Azad Jammu and Kashmir is under developed and there is no electricity in its vil lages, the experts and analysts said that for Indian leaders it is hard to swallow the progress and development made in AJK after 1947 and as such are making these kinds of fallacious state ments to befool people

They said that electrification has reached to almost every village of AJK and proved their point by presenting the data from the Statistical Year Book 2020 of AJK Bureau of Statistics Planning and Development Department wherein it is stated that 92 99 percent of AJK population has been provided with the electricity till the year Experts and analysts further said Modi regime is trying to mislead the world by showing that a new era of so called peace and develop

ment has started in IIOJK

However, they maintained, the fact of the matter is that the RSS backed BJP govt s 5 Aug 2019 illegal move has put the occupied territory into a reverse gear in all spheres of life, asking how peace and development can happen in Kahsmir when it has become the world’s most militarized zone They pointed out that under the guise of bringing development & progress, Modi regime is plotting to change the Muslims major ity status of IIOJK into minority by opening it for Indian investors and citizens and said that economic development of Kashmir was a hoax under Indian illegal occupation Substantiating their point, they maintained that no sane investor will even think of investing in IIOJK as it is a nuclear flashpoint in the region

Pir zada for early completion of IC T model prison to end overcrowd in prisons

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada stressed the need for speedy construction of barracks and particularly early completion of ICT model prison project to re solve of issues of overcrowding in prisons Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain chaired a meeting of Implementation

KP allocates 20pc of CM flood relief fund for Balochistan victims

PESHAWAR S ta f f R e p o R t

Commission on Prison Reforms constituted by the Islamabad High Court on Friday

The Secretary Ministry of Human Rights, Director General (Human Rights), Joint Sec r e t a r

M

K P K a

P

G

r o ff i c e r s a n d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m M i n i s t r y o f L a w a n d J u s t i c e M i n i s t r y o f N H S R & C C h i e f Commissioner Office, Islamabad and provin cial home departments attended the meeting

T h e I m p l e m e n t a t i o n C o m m i s s i o n r e v i e w e d t h e p r o g r e s s i n t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f r e f o r m s r e c o m m e n d e d f o r g r i e v a n c e r e d r e s s a l m e c h a n i s m s i n p r i s o n s a c r o s s P a k i s t a n ; t h e i s s u e s o f o v e r c r o w d i n g a n d d i s c r i m i n a t o r y t r e a t m e n t o f p r i s o n e r s a s w e l l a s t h e p h e n o m e n o n o f c u s t o d i a l t o r t u r e r a m p a n t c o r r u p t i o n a n d t h e s t e p s t a k e n b y t h e r e s p e c t i v e H o m e D e p a r t m e n t s t o s e n s i t i z e a n d t r a i n t h e p r i s o n s t a ff

Mahmood Khan informed that seven medical teams will also leave for Balochistan province today He said that livestock teams of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government were present in Nasirabad Jhal Magsi, Jafarabad and Suhbatpur areas of Balochistan He said that the KP government will not leave alone people of Balochistan in this difficult time He said that financial as sistance for rehabilitation of houses would start from Dis trict DI Khan on Saturday (today) The chief minister said that compensation amount of RS 0 4 million would be given for completely destroyed houses while Rs0 16 mil lion would be given to partially damaged houses

PMSA saves lives of Indian fishermen at sea

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

A ship of Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) rescued six Indian fishermen who were drowning close to International Maritime Boundary Line between India and Pakistan the other day According to a news release on Friday, six Indian fishermen were found in water by the crew of PMSA ship during patrolling in Eastern maritime region A rescue operation was launched immediately and all crew members of Indian fishing boat were safely re covered An Indian fisherman told that their boat sank as a result of accident and they drifted towards Pakistani wa ters The PMSA also provided medical aid and food to the Indian fishermen till stabilizing of their physical condi tion Later, the rescued fishermen were handed over to an Indian coast guard ship operating in the area The human itarian gesture of PMSA ship was appreciated by the res cued fishermen as well as the Indian Coast Guard

Punjab LG minister lays foundation stone of Rs2.38b projects under PCP in Khanewal

KHANEWAL

S ta f f R e p o R t

Provincial Minister Local Government Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed laid foundation stone of Rs 2 38 billion projects under Punjab Cities Programme (PCP) in collaboration with World Bank for improvement of municipal services The provincial minister inspected the machinery received by the municipal committee under the program and announced another Rs one billion for MC over using maximum available funds till December The minister said that the Punjab government believes in serving the people Punjab Cities Program will be a milestone for the improvement of municipal services in 16 cities across the province Talking to media persons Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed said that village panchayat councils will improve municipal service in rural areas under the new Local Government Act He said that the Khanewal city will get rid of sewerage problems for 50 years through Punjab Cities Programme Measures will also be taken for the restoration of Nishat Lake, the minister said Earlier, Provincial minister Local Government chaired a meeting at DC office and directed officials concerned to utilize the funds as early as possible ‘I will check the works under the program on a monthly basis’

Seven family members killed, four injured in house fire

FAISALABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

At least seven members including four children of a family were killed and four others injured when a fire erupted at a house in Montgomery Bazaar, here on Friday Rail Bazaar police said the tragic incident took place in Street No 2, MashaAllah Plaza, Montgomery Bazaar The bodies and injured were shifted to the Allied Hospital

The victims were identified as Abdul Sattar, 55, Umar, 42, and Farhan,33, Aroosh Umar, 12, Yousaf, 11, Mouavia Usman 10 and Bilal 4 The injured included Hamza 7 Noor Fatima, 7, Razia, 70, and Samiya, 10 Rescue teams safely evacuated 20 other persons from the building They were Tayyab, Faiza, Muhammad Ali, Fatima, Ahmed Ali, Huzaifa, Wajiha, Athar, Usman, Mubeen, Khizara, Sibgha, Hamza, Azeem, Humaira, Nimra, Muneeba, Ahsan, Ammar and Kinza On getting information, the rescue teams and fire brigade reached the spot and brought the fire under control

The cause of the fire was stated to be short circuiting police said Further investigation was underway

PaKiStan to enhanCe eConomiC, tRade tieS with eU

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

FE D E R A L Minister for Commerce, Syed Naveed Qamar on Friday said that Pakistan to enhance economic and trade relations with European Union (EU) member countries Pakistan wishes to remain constructively en gaged with the EU and its member states to enhance commercial relations in terms of protection and pro motion of the social, economic, and other rights of the Pakistani people, commerce minister said

The Federal Minister expressed these views in a meeting held with Poland Ambassador to Pakistan, Maciej Pisarski, here in minister s chamber in the Parliament House, said a press release issued here

Federal Secretary, Muhamad Sualeh Ahmed Faruqui Additional Secretary Syed Hamid Ali and Joint Secretary Mr Atif Aziz also attended the meeting

During the meeting, Syed Naveed Qamar said

that Pakistan seeks to strengthen its international re lations, as it refocuses towards economic develop ment through trade and connectivity Bolstering relations with friends and partners remain Pakistan’s topmost priority

He said that Pakistan and Poland continue to share positive relations in respect of bilateral trade, cooperation in education, parliamentary linkages, among others

Qamar said, Poland produces 80% of its energy through coal and can, therefore, provide assistance to Pakistan in this field since the country has huge reserves of coal, adding in March 2023, Pakistan would make its production double, keeping in view its importance in future in the field of energy Ambassador, Maciej Pisarski, conveyed his pleasure towards growing the trade volume between the two countries as Poland had become Pakistan’s 7th largest trading partner in the EU and it’s in FY 2021 22 total bilateral trade reached around USD

PM, FM shocked over Thailand child massacre

ISLAMABAD

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on F

Thailand offered his condolences over the incident

“It could not get more grue some than this We are deeply shocked and hurt to learn about the killing of three dozen people in cluding 23 children and infants in Thailand,” he said in a tweet Expressing his profound grief, he said Have no words to con demn this barbarity ”

PM Sharif extended his deepest condolences to the bereaved par ents and people of Thailand Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in a tweet also ex pressed his shock over the incident Shocked at the loss of inno cent lives in a shooting at a nursery in Thailand Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved fam

ilies, he said It is pertinent to note that a for mer policeman killed 34 people, in cluding 23 children during a knife and gun rampage at a daycare centre in northeast Thailand on Thursday, police said, before later shooting dead his wife and child at home and turning his weapon on himself

In one of the world’s worst child death tolls in a massacre by a single killer in recent history most of the children who died at the day care centre in Uthai Sawan, a town 500 km (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok, were stabbed to death, police said

Police identified the attacker as a former member of the force who was dismissed from his post last year over drug allegations and he was facing trial on a drugs charge

The man had been in court ear lier in the day and had then gone to the daycare centre to collect his child, police spokesperson Paisal Luesomboon told broadcaster ThaiPBS

u r n ey f ro m 2 0 0 5 d i s a s te r to re s i l i e n ce

Provinces of Pakistan Today Emergency Services Academy has trained over 23000 emergency services personnel for Punjab, KP, GB, Baluchistan and AJK

DEEBA SHAHNAz AKHtEr

Every year we commemorate 8th October in remembrance of October 2005 catastrophic earthquake, which took over 87,000 human lives and uprooted 3 5 million people At that time, the helplessness was obvious as there was no trained team to conduct Search and Rescue activities and the country was at re ceiving end in all respect due to dismal state of rescue services After 2005 earthquake other disasters like flood drought etc had also huge effects on many human lives, infrastruc tures and economic condition These disasters also provided opportunity to improve pre paredness, response capacities Numerous steps have been taken including quality con struction in earthquake hit areas, newly started Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) by then established the first Disaster Emergency Response Team in October 2006 and subse quently has been involved in the capacity building of its Search and Rescue Team as per international standards Likewise, Emergency Services Academy started training of rescuers from all over the country to establish a com prehensive integrated emergency management system in all districts of Punjab and in other

The integrated model of Emergency Serv ice Rescue 1122 is being replicated in other provinces to provide right to emergency care without any discrimination Pakistan Rescue Team (PRT) of Emergency Services Academy Rescue 1122 Lahore has become the 1st United Nations International Search and Rescue Ad visory Group (UN INSARAG) classified Team in South Asia after completing an exten sive evaluation process of several years under supervision of UN INSARAG Mentors for Na tional and International disaster response as per international standards Government of Pak istan through National Disaster Management UNOCHA and Emergency Services Academy Classified Team striving to train more UN IN SARAG classified teams in the country Res cue 1122 has also initiated process to train light search and rescue teams from UN INSARAG Government of the Pakistan has notified 8th October as the National Resilience Day which is positively highlighting our national resolve for preparedness as well as resilience of our people Rescue Service has rescued over 11 5 million victims of different emer gencies, the modern Fire Rescue Service re sponded over 197,000 fire incidents and saved losses worth over 580 billion Motorbike Res cue Service responded over 1 1 million emer gencies with average response time of 4 minutes in 9 divisional headquarters of Punjab and Patient Transfer Service shifted 1 1 mil lion from lower health facility to higher health facility The emergency service has been ex panded to all districts and tehsils and motor bike rescue service started in all districts by Ch Parvez Elahi, Chief Minister Punjab to provide emergency services at the door steps of the people of Punjab

During COVID 19 pandemic Rescue per formed frontline role for shifting of over 23000 corona patients in quarantine centres

and hospitals, carried out 4000 corona burials in a dignified manner assisted heath depart ment for corona patients’ care in hospitals and provided support in distribution of Ration packs to 50,000 deserving families Further more, Emergency Service has close liaison through Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) in all Union Councils (UCs) of Punjab These CERTs are being established in all UCs of Punjab to assist in management of emergencies and safety promotion In order to educate youth on emergency response, first aid and safety promotion Rescue Cadet Corps are being trained in colleges and universities The purpose of these Cores is to have socially responsible

first

every home Rescue

also

point for Prime Minister Initiative

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506 6 million

He said that both countries have great potential in the field of energy, digital technology, vehicles, machinery, engineering goods, IT, pharma, agricul ture and tourism, which need to be enhance to touch it actual potential

He also expressed his concerns towards issues facing some polish companies after a change imple mented by State Bank of Pakistan through all com mercial banks trade sections to control foreign currency reserves

To this, the minister assured his full support in this regard and said all concerns of the polish com panies would be addressed immediately after meet ing with the stakeholders

Earlier, the Ambassador expressed his sympa thies on the current situation of the Pakistan due to flood and expressed his deep grief on the loss

He also assured full support from the Poland government and no government in this hour of trail

Rise in dengue fever cases continues in Karachi

KArACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

The rise in dengue fever cases continued in Karachi as another 314 infections of mosquito borne disease were reported during the past 24 hours on Friday

According to Sindh Health Depart ment, as many as 314 cases of dengue fever were reported in Karachi during the past 24 hours, taking the monthly tally to 1,429 The number of dengue cases across Sindh has increased to 9,909 this month

The Health department revealed that almost 253 dengue cases were reported in Hyderabad, 14 cases in Mirpurkhas, three in Shaheed Benazirabad, and two in Larkana Division

A day earlier, as many as 355 cases of dengue virus were reported in Karachi during the past 24 hours as the city re mains in grip of mosquito borne disease

On September 30 the local admin

istration launched an Islamabad like anti dengue campaign as the cases of dengue virus were spreading rapidly across Karachi

According to details, medical teams from Islamabad and Lahore started giv ing training to doctors and other staff of the provincial health department The anti dengue campaign was first launched in District East the most affected by the virus

District Health Officer (DHO) East Dr Naeem Sikandar has informed that anti dengue spraying was conducted in the houses of patients and 20 surrounding residential facilities to eliminate the virus

Dr Naeem Sikandar further said that the administration was mapping the areas from where the cases are being reported

“So far, over 1800 cases of dengue have been reported in the district east,” the DHO said adding that almost ten pa tients have succumbed to the virus

New Imran tapes

OF the two audio leaks purportedly of Imran Khan as Prime Minister, released on Friday, one deals with getting five parliamentarians on his side Previous leaks, as well as another on Friday, have dealt with the cipher This thus makes it an attempt to weaken Imran’s narrative, which he has been taking to the country since his ouster in March, and which had not just attributed to his reception by large crowds, but also the PTI s victory in the Punjab by elections Whereas the first leaks attacked his claim that the diplomatic cipher from the USA proved that there was a US conspiracy to oust him, the second leak shows him as engaging in horsetrading, an activity he had previously condemned, The clip is tantalisingly brief, and it does not make clear whether the ‘five’ mentioned are Senators, MNAs or Punjab MPAs While the election for Senate Chairman last year involved floor crossing by five Senators in the Senate Chairmanship election, MNAs were involved in vote of no confidence this year, and Punjab MPAs in the CM’s election just after, which saw 20 PTI MPAs breaking ranks and being deseated later

Be that as it may, whoever the leaker, the leaks seem to have come from the PM s Office Even Mr Khan s spokesman, Fawad Chaudhry, did not deny the leaks were genuine turning aside the query by saying that everyone knew who made these recordings The Friday release had been preceded by the hacker listing out the various conversations he would leak More direct pressure on Mr Khan came from the FIA arresting PTI stalwarts in connection with the party accounts into which Abraaj Group chief Arif Naqvi is alleged to have donated to the party NAB has also summoned 21 ex Ministers in connection with the giving to real estate tycoon Malik Riaz of £140 million

COAS in USA

COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s visit to the USA, though essentially a routine one, raised a rumpus, mainly because it came with ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan still accusing General Bajwa and his institution of having conspired with the USA to oust him It might be remembered that General Bajwa had last visited the USA while accompanying Mr Khan, almost as if to show him off This time around, General Bajwa had another purpose: him saying that he would retire on time at the expiry of his tenure was of significance to the USA, even after discounting the conspiracy charge: the USA would have to prepare for a new interlocutor

The USA knows the place of the COAS as one of Pakistan’s power brokers There are also certain areas where the USA and Pakistan have need of each other While the USA needs access to Pakistan so as to keep an eye on Afghanistan, Pakistan also needs information that would help it combat the resurgence of terrorism Pakistan also needs the USA to come good on its promises of extra aid for the current floods, over and above its other commitments and its good offices in the multilateral lending institutions Then there is the vexed question of China General Bajwa has to tread a tightrope in conveying that Pakistan cannot abandon ties with neither the USA nor China, even if there is hostility between the two General Bajwa is not unused to diplomacy, and the USA is not the only country where he has been mending fences trampled by Imran Khan Most memorably he had to go to Beijing on a firefighting mission after PM’s Advisor Razzaq Dawood had made some pro US comments, and then to Saudi Arabia after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had also made some ill advised comments While it should not be the job of the COAS to solve diplomatic tangles, it can also cannot be denied that such service to the country is also a defence of the country’s borders The need should not arise, but if it does, then those who serve must stand up and be counted

T h e o a t h p o l i t i c s

is no leader of a high stature that could be instrumental in stirring Lahore into marching on Islamabad It is an uphill task Perhaps, the Lahorites have also measured well the length of the GT Road well besides the time and the effort that would be consumed

In Lahore, Mian Mahmood ur Rasheed, Mian Mohammad Aslam Iqbal Shafqat Mehmood An dleeb Abbas, and Dr Yasmin Rashid are all minions politically Individually, they may be popular in their respective constituencies but not out of those elec toral confines Hitherto, they have never mobilized the masses to lead Lahore on their own They have kept hiding behind the excuse of police highhand edness which they declare was sufficient to sabotage the march They remained handicapped to the pop ularity of the PTI Chairman, but then Khan never led a long march on his own from Lahore In 2014, he had the support of intelligence agencies and Al lama Tahir ul Qadri s party This time, however, the PTI might be thinking that Peshawar would come out to support the march under the local political leaders, whereas the PTI Chairman would take the party followers from Lahore along

tually wrecked not only Germany itself but also the rest of Western Europe Hitler is still a recipient of invective and slurs from the Europeans A stream of expletives still haunts the Germans Lying in the con sequence is a lesson to learn for the PTI

Unquestioned subordination destroyed both Ger many and Europe History refuses to support the sub jugation act History replaced subjugation with democracy in Germany to let the Germans think with open minds and question the intent of a leader Ap parently, the PTI is launching a real freedom march but after rendering the minds of its followers closed to debate and dissent The PTI demands an unflinch ing loyalty from its supporters to overturn the regime that has ensconced itself secure both constitutionally and legally in Islamabad

In the PTI’s delivered oath, the major motivator is the word of jihad, which plays on the sentiments of the religiously conservative Muslims of the province Their sentiments were exploited several times in the past Recently, in the War on Terror, a substantial number of the motivated either laid their lives in Afghanistan or ended up in internment centres in Pakistan The survivors were declared unsuitable for living a civic life

ON October 4 former Prime Minister Imran Khan led his followers to swear, in an oath taking ceremony in Peshawar Khy ber Pakhtunkhwa s former Governor Shah Farman read out the oath and the attendees repeated the words: “We will uphold the constitution and protect it We will consider the party s move ment for Haqeeqi Azadi (real independence) as jihad (holy war), and we will render all kinds of sacrifices for the cause

The apparent objective of the oath was to make the party workers bound to join in the H a q e e q i Azadi March on Islamabad whenever the chairman

Pakistan Tehreke Insaf (PTI) would give a call That is, the oath taking was a preparatory step to make the march successful The hidden objective of the oath, however, was to reassure the Chairman PTI that he would seek the shored up political support on the ground

The scenario was interesting because, in the past, Peshawar had not disappointed the PTI It was like overkilling an issue For instance, on May 25, it was Lahore (and not Peshawar) that failed to meet the ex pectations of the PTI In Punjab, in the PTI ranks, there

Generally, the loss of faith may be the major fac tor necessitating the oath taking ceremony for work ers and leaders alike The PTI chairman apprehends that he might not garner sufficient desirable support from the PTI s hub, Peshawar, in trying times Pe shawar might be a beginning; the turn of Lahore could be next to reassure the PTI Chairman of wholehearted participation

The PTI is generally known for introducing inno vations to politics Band Baja was one, the oath politics is now another The use of loud musical instruments accompanied by rousing songs cum slogans has filled the streets with the effulgent youth glowing with the prospects of Azadi (freedom) The famous Islamic touch adds spice to the political flavor

The oath taking by raising hands showcased a canny similarity with that of Nazi Germans who fol lowed the path laid by their leader Adolf Hitler It was not that Hitler could convince the German fol lowers of his argument; it was that Hitler needed un challenged unadulterated obedience from his followers That is, the followers had to surrender their freedom of thought to the will of Hitler

This was a spell of sheer subjugation which even

Certainly, stirring people with the religious touch of jihad is a dangerous tool, which may boomerang on the thrower when the political jihadis get to know of their exploitation for meeting the exploiter ’s polit ical objectives The jihadis are known for demanding their share of the pie Failing to find which they can turn their guns on their benefactors Ask those who are keeping the jihadis interned

It seems that the PTI learnt wrong lessons from its dharna (sit in) politics in 2014 The PTI thinks that its Band Baja coupled with rowdy street hooli ganism can serve the purpose of overthrowing a set tled legitimate regime in Islamabad The PTI is overestimating its size and strength The PTI is de liberately replacing argument and debate with street excitement The act is a sheer denial of parliamentary democracy When democratic options are available, there is no sense in resorting to undemocratic deeds

It is not known when the PTI Chairman an nounces the Haqeeqi Azadi March to mobilize his fol lowers to overawe Islamabad, but it is known that the PTI has to surmount two stumbling blocks: first, how to reach D chowk, after breaching the legally as signed confines of G 9 or H 9 park, Islamabad; and second how to convince the rest of the Pakistanis that street agitation was the only option left with the PTI to achieve its objective of regime change, even under the rubric of demanding early elections

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

I m p l e m e n t i n g H u m a n R i g h t s i n P a k i s t a n

dissemination of Human Rights

enforce

citizens

the Constitution

High Courts

execute writs against government functionaries for the enforcement of fundamental rights Application o

1898 provides that a person within the limits of its appellate criminal jurisdiction be brought up before the court to be dealt with according to law Then, there is a remedy available under section 220 of the Pakistan Penal Code alongside a number of legisla tive protections

Inherently judicial enforcement of human rights has been long winded across the world Hence, judi cial enforcement is instrumental and improved stan dards in civil and criminal justice systems will make implementation better Overhauling of judicial prac tices shall explicitly enhance improvement in the im plementation of Human Rights in Pakistan

‘

Mankind! We created you from a sin gle (pair) of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other Ver ily, the best honored of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you (Al Hu jrat: 13) Likewise, Article 1 of the Universal decla ration on Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations declares that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one an other in a spirit of brotherhood Harmoniously Arti cles 14, 25 and 15 to 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan protect the dignity, equality and liberty of the citizens Hence all codes of human rights depict the absolute universality in terms of instincts and nat ural rights Then, There is a substantive convergence on the cultural religious economic and political rights but, still there exists a meaningful procedural divergence connecting cultural, political and eco nomic interests among states Constitutionally, Pakistan is a federal parliamen tary democracy Human rights are protected as fun damental rights in the Constitution of Pakistan Article 8 of the constitution provides that any law re pugnant to the fundamental rights is void Hence, this protection proves the significance of human rights for state and society Article 9 protects the security of a person Article 10 guarantees safeguards as to arrest and detention Article 10A protects the right to fair trial and due process Article 11 prohibits slavery and forced labor Article 12 protects against retrospective

punishment Article 13 protects against double pun ishment and self incrimination Article 14 provides human dignity and prohibits torture for the purpose of extracting evidence Article 15 provides freedom of movement Article 16 provides freedom of assem bly Article 17 provides freedom of association Arti cle 18 guarantees freedom of trade, business or profession Article 19 provides freedom of speech and 19A provides right to information Article 20 en sures freedom to profess religion and to manage reli gious institutions Article 21 provides safeguards against taxation for the purpose of any particular re ligion Article 22 provides safeguards as to educa tional institutions in respect of religion Article 23 provides the right to acquire hold and dispose of property in any part of Pakistan Article 24 bestows protection of property rights Article 25A enforces all citizens to be equal before law Article 25 provides the right to education Article 26 ensures that there shall be no discrimination in respect of access to pub lic places Article 27 protects against discrimination in services Article 28 allows people to preserve lan guage, script and culture

Besides Chapter II of the Constitution enunciates principles of policy These principles are collective rights of the society Article 31 explains that Islamic way of life shall be promoted Article 32 provides for the promotion of local government institutions Arti cle 33 provides for the discouragement of parochial and other similar prejudices Article 34 ensures full participation of women in national life Article 35 protects marriage and family life Article 36 provides safeguards and protection to minorities Article 37 categorically affords promotion of social justice and eradication of social evils Article 38 enforces pro motion of social and economic well being of the peo ple Article 39 offers participation of people in the Armed Forces Article 40 provides to strengthen bonds with Muslim world and promoting interna tional peace Hence, fundamental rights and princi ples of policy are the anthology of human rights

Knowledge gap is the fundamental cause of de teriorating human rights in Pakistan Awareness of the contents and cause of human rights is instrumen tal for better implementation of human rights The best mode to fill the knowledge gap is to incorporate the canons of fundamental rights in the educational syllabus of the nation followed by other awareness campaigns Societal, cultural, political and religious awareness is key to undo the lock of despondency Individuals institutions and organizations should play their pivotal role in creating the indispensable

Administrative remedy to human rights is the way forward The mode is competent, prompt and unswervingly linked to the foundation of implemen tation Pakistan is confronting a capacity crisis and this is choking the governance and service delivery Pakistan guarantees potent constitutional and legisla tive support to the cause of human rights, but admin istrative bottlenecks are making us lag far behind in implementation Human rights are devolved as a provincial subject and provinces require functional Human Rights departments Besides, implementa tion is improbable without raising a functional Human Rights Service HRS and devolving the func tion to the districts by erecting district setups Fed eral intervention in provincial implementation is unconstitutional Functional Human Rights Depart ments and Human Rights Services are instrumental for the cause of implementation

The coded rules and law of public organizations should be revamped in order to achieve administra tive capacity and functionality Public and private partnership is key for the cause of implementation Almost, all federal and provincial organizations have inserted human rights in their organizational rules of business according to Article 139 If only these rules of business are administratively imple mented by the departments, the implementation will improve significantly

The writer is a civil servant and leading a society on administrative federalism He tweets at @PMScivilservant and can be reached at musatariq2016@gmail com

P l i g h t o f I n d i a n M u s l i m s

the BJP” Congress’s abhorrence is understand able The PFI could split or literally snatch away Muslim votes from Congress

Rogue factors

I T is often said that Karachi has even larger population of Pakhtuns than Peshawar has Little we realise that millions of Afghans under the garb of local Pakhtuns have settled around the outskirts of Karachi and Hyderabad, and it is almost impossible to distinguish between Afghans and Pakhtuns

For the last many decades, they have acquired Pakistani identity cards through various means With that in hand, they move freely across Pakistan buying land making investments establishing businesses and growing in numbers exponentially due to high birth rate in the community

They are hardly identified as Afghans for they speak the language and have the same culture as do Pakhtuns Whenever an ugly incident happens, it is attributed to the local Pakhtuns, who also become a target of violence and hate for no fault of their own

The most worrisome factor is that whenever any foreign power decides to destabilise Pakistan and wants to find an excuse to interfere in our national affairs citing bloodshed and human rights violations Karachi and Hyderabad become the focus of such propaganda because it is here that the Afghans have mostly settled Some of these elements actually have hatred for Pakistan which was evident from the hooliganism and violence against Pakistani fans at the recent Asia Cup that was held in Sharjah

If there is ever a serious law and order situation, these Afghans will go berserk and merciless

It is time to wake up and address this sensitive issue with the seriousness it deserves The government must verify CNICs issued to such elements in the last few decades, and should cancel all cards issued to the outsiders The government should at least identify them as Afghans and register them as refugees if it wishes to accommodate them in Pakistan

NISAR AHMED BROHI SHIKARPUR

incite Indian Muslims to “terrorism” India took no notice of hate speech by participants of the Hindu religious assembly at Haridwar

The fact is that Dawat e Islami is a non po litical non violent religious organisation inspired by Sufi tradition There is no evidence to corrob orate India’s allegation that it is a terrorist organ isation It is a peaceful organisation that runs several educational In stitutions in Pakistan and abroad Besides, it offers several online courses in Islamic Studies It has been running the Madani channel since 2009

D a w a t e I s l a m i has 2 600 workers who preach Islam in 194 countries It is popular not only in Pakistan but also in Britain, Spain, Greece, Bangladesh and sev eral other countries It runs a chain of 3,790 religious seminaries with enrollment of 1, 69,000 boys and girls

Without a shred of corroborative evidence the PFI is accused of receiving funds from for eign entities They receive funds through appeals at prayer congregations On a single Friday evening, in a matter of 15 minutes, PFI members raised Rs eight milllionto fight the Hadiya case just by standing outside mosques W h y t h e P F I I r k s I n d I a : The PFI’s legal interventions won judicial justice in many cases, including in the Hadiya religious con version controversy the Muzaffarnagar riots, and the lynching of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand

Recognising Israel

R U M O R S are rife that Pakistan and Indonesia are participating in peace talks with Israel which if true is nothing but a step in the direction of recognising Israel This stems from age old move of the two state theory i e , Gaza and the West Bank make Palestine, and the rest is Israel

Even if this proposition is acceptable to the Palestinians and it might well be for the sake of peace and to end their decades of suffering

Pakistan should not recognise Israel There is a reason for this suggestion This should be based on the principle that our Quaid has left for us The Quaid i Azam called Israel “an illegitimate child of the West” Recognising it would amount to recognising illegal occupation, oppression tyranny and ruthlessness The entire land belonged to Palestinians prior to 1948 It should be returned to them

TH E Indian Muslims live in a state of constant fear Ostensibly secular, India has banned conversions from Hin duism to another religion The Love Jihad law in some states persecutes in terfaith couples India s secular courts en croach upon the Muslim way of life India’s Supreme Court, declared that a mosque is not es sential to the Muslim mode of worship Muslims offering prayer in open space at Gurgaon were mercilessly beaten up FIRs were registered against Muslims for offering prayer in a private house Prayer goers wearing a prayer cap are stalked and beaten Babri Mosque was demolished by a Hindu mob led by BJP leader LK Advani The court ac quitted all the accused Besides, it accepted the demolition as a fait accompli and allowed the mosque to be razed and a temple to be built on the site (now three fourths complete) Agreeing to Hindus’ demand, a court allowed Hindus to pray within the Gyanvapi mosque Be sides excavation of the ablution place was showed to find a Shiva (god) ling for carbon dating During riots, scores of mosques were bulldozed despite a restraining order by India’s Supreme Court No action was ever taken against temples built on encroached lands Thousands of loudspeakers were re moved from mosques on plea that they dis turb the sleep of people living in the vicinity Hijab in schools was outlawed

Mosque was demolished by a Hindu mob led by BJP leader

Advani.

India has banned the Muslim organisation, Popular Front of India, for five years Besides, it has launched a disinformation campaign against Pakistan-based Dawat-eIslami. But it initiated no action on revelations by a former Hindu militant.

These seminaries charge no fee India has banned this social welfare or ganisation for five years The Hindutva propo nents (VHP et al) have been making shrieking calls to get this organisation banned At the Fri day congregation, it was prevented from offering its point of view In a nationwide crackdown several PFI leaders have been arrested During the nation wide crack down on the PFI, India did not find a single firearm At present, the PFI, which has a strong presence in Kerala and Karnataka, is active in more than 20 Indian states

The PFI performs a host of jobs from get ting FIRs registered under the right sections to following up with in vestigating officers, drafting appeals, prepar ing legal documents and motivating victim families to keep up the legal battle; the PFI s huge legal team does a lot of backend work,”

The PFI hopes to be able to groom the next gener ation of legal and media minds by sponsoring students in these fields

In the educational field, the PFI is trying its best to motivate Muslim kids to enroll in educa tion Through its efforts, the rate of drop outs has been reduced

It is not the PFI but its affiliate SDPI that is active in the political arena The PFI s stu dent wing, Campus Front of India (CFI), is con fronting the ABVP (RSS’s student wing) in Karnataka It kept up the momentum of the hijab protests

Moreover, recognising it would mean letting them into Pakistan Knowing their subversive activities and covert operations it would be too risky for Pakistan I hope the rumours are just that; rumours RUBINA JAN KARACHI

Taiwan and Palestine

C H I N A’ S claim on Taiwan carries a certain wisdom Colonialism by Western powers has wreaked havoc across Asia, Africa and the Arabian peninsula Taiwan would do well to study the example of Palestine rather than siding with the very elements that have been oppressors and occupiers

The Middle East was one continent for Arabs When the warmongering Europeans arrived there, they carved out regions to conquer, pitting the Arabs against their own brethren Western weapons were sold to Arab countries, making the West richer The past colonisers may have left, but they made sure they planted their own kind in enough numbers to continue their work; work that involves killing people and stealing natural resources

The Arabs have been fighting the colonialists for over a hundred years now Israel has been pumped up with weapons by the past colonialists to continue their attacks on Palestinians the indigenous people The war is against the Arab freedom fighters, not the Arabs who have sided with the colonialists

u r t h s c o m p l e t e ) .

Fearful Muslims joined the so called Muslim Manch, a cos metic branch of the RSS, to seek a modicum of security from rabid RSS members The RSS uses the Muslim Manch to distribute pamphlets during the RSS’s congregations Yet, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has, in a recent speech, frowned upon Muslims who call Hindus Kafir

Besides persecuting the individual Muslims, the Indian government has, in tandem with the RSS unleashed a sustained propaganda cam paign alleging that Dawat e Islami (Ilyas Qadri) and Peace TV (Zakir Naik) spew hate speech to

Formed in 2006, the PFI along with its affiliate Social Demo cratic Party of India (SDPI) describes itself as a non governmen tal social organisation whose stated objective is to work for the poor and disadvantaged peo ple in the country and to oppose oppression and exploitation” PFI founding member Sid daramaiah denies any connection with the Hindu tailor Kunhaya Lal s murder He stressed that the PFI is a bulwark against rising Hindutva influence According to PFI chairman O M A Salam, the PFI has about 400,000 cadres across India The PFI he added also has sup porters and sympathizers “running into millions” who participate in programmes but shy away from membership because of the organization being “constantly on the radar”

The Congress, otherwise portrayed as a plu ralist party also had joined the “ban band wagon” Congress labeled the PFI “B team of

In a judicial affidavit, Yashwant Shahdev Shinde, formerly associated with Hindu militant organisations unmasked the Hindu terror organ isations Shinde had done the preliminary train ing class of RSS (Prathmik Sangh Shiksha Varg) in 1994 He completed the second level of the RSS training class in 1996/97 at Chandigarh Then he was appointed as the Pracharak of Riyasi Tahsil in Udhampur district of Jammu He returned to Mumbai in 1999 and was made the Chief of Bajrang Dal India has banned the Muslim organisation Popular Front of India, for five years Besides, it has launched a disinformation campaign against Pakistan based Dawat e Islami But it initiated no action on revelations by a former Hindu militant

The RSS and chief ministers of Assam and Uttar Pradesh had called for banning the PFI It is nightmarish for the BJP ruled government to visualize that the PFI may one day supplant the traditional Muslim leadership impervious to the Muslims’ woes Despite mounting allegations against the PFI and its affiliates India s sprawl ing investigative agencies have not been able to prove that the PFI, as an organisation, is wedded to terrorism

The writer is a freelance journalist, has served in the Pakistan government for 39 years and holds degrees in economics business administration, and law He can be reached at amjedjaaved@gmail

For Taiwan here is a lesson to learn Siding with Americans/Europeans will lead to years of bloodshed, displacement and poverty The same thing happened in the Far East where Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia represented one country but had to be divided so that the West may enjoy the riches Only recently, Malaysia and Indonesia were able to resolve their long running border disputes peacefully

The resource rich continent of Africa continues to have its valuable resources stolen by the Europeans Colonialists continue to divide the Africans along ethnic lines and then watch as they attack each other In the meantime the Europeans run away with diamonds and other precious minerals China is a peaceful country It is a great superpower, unlike other superpowers that lie, attack, invade, steal and abuse indigenous populations China has done nothing of the sort In fact the Chinese business ethics is something to admire China is a country with a history of tolerance and respect It would be great if Taiwan sees the light of reason and responds favourably to China

No one wants a war, especially a war that might be drummed up by the West just because it cannot digest the fact that China is better at just about everything

Another Jolt

K A R A C H I Electric (KE) has suddenly started deducting 8pc withholding tax on the benefit allowed to net metering consumers without mentioning the particular section/clause of the relevant law Together with the expected reduction in buyback price, and the levy of sales tax on the units consumed, it means solar energy is no more feasible Besides, the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has served notice to the residents to get their installations regularised by paying charges and penalty Is it what really the government policy is regarding solar energy?

ANGABEEN AHMAD KARACHI

AmERiCA is histORy’s mOst suCCEssful fAiling stAtE

vals?

The answer is yes, for the time being A nation can be both rich and ungovernable for long periods The last country anyone would compare to America is Belgium, which has been dubbed the richest “failed state” in the world Yet US politics looks more like Bel gium s every day

FinAnciAL Times

e DWA R D l U c e

Akey sign of a fading power is its currency losing value Britain, like ancient Rome could tell you a thing or two about that By this yardstick America is close to an imperial peak The euro is too fragmented and China’s yuan too restricted, to threaten King Dollar ’s primacy Bitcoin is a pyramid scheme Yet political science tells us that America is more divided than at any point since the eve of its civil war in the 1850s Could it be defying the laws of historical gravity a failing state that outshines its ri

Unlike the US Belgium is divided into language blocs, French and Flemish Such is their mutual mistrust that most decisions are taken locally Life goes on for months even years, without a government What saves Canada from a similar fate is that French speaking Quebec is too small a part of it

With one undisputed tongue, America should be free of such paralysis Yet the cul tural divide between blue and red state America is as uncomprehending as any lan guage barrier

The US separation of powers has gone from being a strength to a weakness One branch, the US Supreme Court, is now a sec ond legislature making laws that would be the preserve of elected assemblies else

where Supreme Court justices have life long tenure and invoke long dead founding fathers to justify their lawmaking The court is under red America’s control for decades to come Its conservative majority may be tak ing revenge for the liberal Supreme Court of the 1960s and 1970s, which pioneered “leg islating from the bench Either way, Amer ican law is no longer above politics The court is now rated as low in opinion polls as other institutions

We will see another display of governing paralysis for the next two years if Democrats lose control of Congress in november s midterm elections Again this would be a sign of impotence not strength A super power facing national, indeed global, chal lenges should not fool itself that Albany or Austin, let alone Little Rock or Springfield, are the appropriate places to tackle them

Most of Joe Biden s unexpected success since July including his vast green energy bill would be reversed by the next Repub lican president whether or not his name is Donald Trump Hostility between the two

W h a t h a s c h a n g e d i n 6 0 y e a r s o f J a m e s B o n d

IN 1962, A MARTINI DRINKING WOMANIZER SAVED THE WORLD FROM A VILLAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN "DR NO" MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE THE INITIAL FILM FROM THE ROLE OF BOND GIRLS TO 007'S MACHISMO

no" that haven t quite stood the test of time

QUESTIONABLE LIFESTYLE CHOICES

Another sign of the zeitgeist in the 1962 film is that everyone smokes, which is a no no by today s Holly wood standards Cigarettes are found everywhere in the old film from the casino to the hotel bar and even the bedroom Smoking was commonplace in the US in the 1970s, so naturally this came across on the silver screen In the 1970s TV series "Space: 1999" people were even depicted smoking on the moon, but by the 2000s, smoking was largely banned in many parts of the world due to its health risks

One can also note in "Dr no" that few people are wearing seat belts When Bond drives off in his sports car to visit a woman he is followed and a chase scene ensues Bond, notably, is not wearing a seat belt

Americas has created an existential mindset that has made an albatross of its constitution It would be easier to convert America into a French speaking country than amend its constitution America’s recriminatory camps are far more like Belgium’s language groups than, say, Britain s Conservative and Labour vot ers no matter how badly a US president does, there is a high floor and a low ceiling on his vote share Trump got 47 per cent in 2020 In the past couple of weeks alone Labour ’s lead over Britain’s ruling Conser vatives has gone from low teens to more than 30 per cent Such fluidity is inconceivable in today’s US Yet America’s global power has actually been growing in the last year or two

There are two reasons for this The first is that the US’s rival is doing worse What is true of the dollar is also true of geopolitics Xi Jinping s China is no longer the high growth star of the world economy Xi is also moving as far as he can from the consent of the governed that is the basis of any durable political consensus Though China’s econ

omy will still overtake America in the com ing years, it will be an ageing country beset with internal challenges Relative to China the US looks good That is not saying much except in terms of power, which is relative

The second reason is Vladimir Putin Rarely has a hegemon been as blessed with as blundering an enemy as America is with Putin The Russian autocrat’s invasion of Ukraine will go down as one of the most fateful errors in military history compa rable to napoleon or Hitler ’s invasion of Russia in winter At a stroke Putin’s aggres sion has restored the west s sense of itself and the US’s role as leader The fact that Putin’s Russia will increasingly be China’s problem is an added bonus

For the time being America s relative power is ascendant The risk is that it will succumb to one of its bouts of global tri umphalism That would be misplaced Its di visions are increasingly susceptible to foreign exploitation via willing local part ners America still bestrides the globe but its jugular is badly exposed

O P E C ' s m o v e t o r a i s e o i l p r i c e s i s a l l a b o u t R u s s i a

BY CUT TING OFF NATURAL GAS SUPPLIES TO EUROPE, THE RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED AS A LONG TERM SUPPLIER THROUGH DEDICATED PIPELINES

By now OPEC should be fully aware that the Group of 7 nations (G 7) and north Atlantic Treaty Organization are completely committed to Ukraine While support may have been soft before the invasion Russian atrocities and belligerent escalation mean that the U S and the Euro pean Unione as well as their allies now want Ukraine to win and then to rebuild as much as possible the lives homes and economic activities that have been destroyed

DW S i l k e W ü n S c h

On October 5, 1962, the movie "Dr no" pre miered in London It was the first in a long and successful series based on the spy novels by author Ian Fleming Playing the leading role, Agent 007, was an unknown actor: Sean Connery In the film, we are first introduced to his char acter as he sits in a casino across from an attractive woman who is about to gamble away her fortune When she asks 007 his name, the camera pans to Bond light ing a cigarette With a smoldering look in his eye, he utters the legendary words: Bond, James Bond

Shortly thereafter in the film 007 receives an as signment to fly to Jamaica and investigate the murder of another M16 agent He eventually tracks down a Chinese German criminal scientist who is bent on de stroying the US space program and achieving world domination It s not a matter of East or West, Dr no tells Bond when he asks both are just points of a com pass, one as stupid as the other

In principle, this story is the basis of all of 25 James Bond films Whether the villain is Dr no Blofeld Goldfinger or Le Chiffre, they all aim for one thing: world domination But to do so, they have to get past James Bond whose gunfire and wild chase scenes in evitably spoil their plans

A MACHISMO PROBLEM

Although many fan forums consider "Dr no" to be one of the best Bond films, the movie would never be made in the same way today Firstly, one could write entire books about the omnipresent sexism and machismo that the character James Bond has displayed over the decades

Certainly there would have to be a thick chapter dedicated to the women in his films, who are typically portrayed as naive, willingly flinging themselves into Bond's arms seeking protection Sometimes they are sophisticated female antagonists who lose control at the thought of hopping into bed with the secret agent

Whether friend or foe each film had at least one Bond girl and often more: a total of 60 love interests have appeared in the films Their names, like "Honey" or "Pussy Galore" would never be acceptable today In more recent decades, female roles in Bond films have changed as has Bond himself

In the last five films in which Daniel Craig has played Bond, he is seen as a man who is tough on the outside and soft on the inside and who is not always lucky with women Aside from the portrayal of women on screen, there are also plenty of other details in "Dr

His pursuers eventually drive off a slope and die, of course after all they aren't wearing seat belts ei ther and cars didn't have airbags at the time The vehicle explodes, prompting 007 to say, "They were obviously in a hurry to get to their own funeral "

WHY ARE ALL SECRETARIES WOMEN?

In the older Bond films, all secretaries and recep tionists are played by women which in the 1960s were considered standard female jobs Whether redheaded, blonde or brunette, secretaries are Bond's favorite tar gets for womanizing and they are all susceptible to his charms Throughout most Bond films, the agent has a romantic tension with Moneypenny, his boss s secre tary something which was not described in the original books In the 2012 film "Skyfall" Moneypenny is given a first name: Eve, and we finally learn her backstory In this film, she is no longer a hopeless secretary in love, but a top trained agent who accidentally shoots Bond and is reassigned to desk duty as punishment In any case, today Moneypenny s job title today would probably be "Office Manager" or "Executive Assistant" rather than "Secretary "

INAPPROPRIATE CASTING

In the film, Dr no tells James Bond that he is the child of a British missionary and a Chinese woman from an upstanding family However, the character is portrayed by Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman who is wearing makeup to make his eyes look more "Asian "

While it used to be the norm in such movies to have East Asian characters played by white actors today these cases of "yellowface" are frowned upon just as it would be to wear blackface, putting black makeup on one's skin to portray a Black person If there was a "Dr no" remake in the future, a Chinese actor would be more likely to play this role

COLONIAL HERITAGE

In the film, Black Jamaicans call white Englishmen captain When the film was shot, Jamaica was still a British crown colony It did not gain independence until August 1962, two months before "Dr no" was re leased They are still treated like second class citizens in terms of language used in the film In the German dubbed version, for example, Black Jamaicans are ad dressed as natives, language which is considered highly discriminatory today And there s one last change to be made: In the British Embassy in Jamaica there's a portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth In the next James Bond movie should there be one a picture of King Charles III would hang in its place

This article was translated from German by Sarah Hucal

On Wednesday, OPEC+ announced a dramatic reduction in production quotas by 2 million barrels per day According to oil ministers, the goal is to boost crude prices and “encourage investment in the sector making it sound like they are doing the world a favor In fact, this is an extraordinarily harmful step that will push oil prices up when the global economy is in a precarious state amid persistent inflation pressures

Americans may first notice the effects at the gas pump, especially Californians already affected by some refinery shutdowns Gasoline prices hit record highs in Los Angeles this week A cut to global oil supply usually translates into even steeper increases in fuel prices and rising costs for goods

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Coun tries has no incentive to drive the world into deep reces sion, so what are its members thinking?

Pushing up oil prices at this moment is an expression of support for OPEC+ member Russia, presumably aim ing to build a deeper relationship between this major oil producer and core OPEC member states, most of which are in Africa and the Middle East

That strategy already appears thoroughly wrong headed The likelihood of Russian defeat in Ukraine, in creasing daily with Ukrainian advances, will change the global picture for oil considerably and OPEC members need to decide whose side they are on for what comes next

If you question Russia’s fate on the battlefield look carefully at reports from the front lines from Russian mil itary bloggers on Telegram and other messaging chan nels It is an interesting irony that Ukraine a free country with a free press, has strong operational discipline when it comes to the use of social media close to the conflict and it’s from Russia an authoritarian country with tightly state controlled and censored media, that we see a flood of videos, text updates and maps that show what is really going on

If OPEC’s leaders were paying attention, they would see that Russian forces are in the process of being de feated in several regions in the air and on the ground The Ukrainians have more drones, better armor, longer range artillery and higher morale Russian forces are greatly de pleted and increasingly in danger of becoming trapped and overwhelmed on multiple fronts

The Kremlin’s recent “mobilization” has pulled men into recruitment centers but there are widespread com plaints about the lack of food, clothing and particularly weapons Russian industry is incapable of equipping these forces effectively in the near term

w i l l p o s e a t h r e a t t o t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f U k r a i n e , t h r o u g h m i s s i l e s t r i k e s o r e v e n a n o t h e r i n v a s i o n n ATO w i l l n e e d t o p r o v i d e s e c u r i t y g u a r a n t e e s o f s o m e k i n d , t o k e e p that threat at bay But Ukraine s friends will also need t o l i m i t t h e f l o w o f h a r d c u r r e n c y t o R u s s i a t o c o n s t r a i n w h a t R u s s i a c a n b u y f r o m a b r o a d i n c l u d i n g p a r t s f o r m i s s i l e s , a i r c r a f t a n d t a n k s a n d b u i l d f o r t h e m s e l v e s B y c u t t i n g o ff n a t u r a l g a s s u p p l i e s t o E u r o p e , t h e R u s s i a n a u t h o r i t i e s h a v e d e m o n s t r a t e d t h e y c a n n o t b e t r u s t e d a s a l o n g t e r m s u p p l i e r t h r o u g h d e d i c a t e d p i p e l i n e s R u s s i a w i l l t h e r e f o r e b e c o m e e v e n m o r e d e p e n d e n t o n o i l e x p o r t s t r a n s p o r t e d b y s h i p a n d s o l d i n s p o t m a r k e t s T h a t ’s w h y O P E C ’s r e c e n t d e c i s i o n t o d r i v e u p c r u d e p r i c e s s h o u l d b e s e e n a s a g i f t t o R u s s i a

Russia is the third largest oil producer in the world after the U S and Saudi Arabia and the second largest exporter, behind only the Saudis To curtail the resources available to support

But a

from the

allies

o w o f o i l r e v e n u e that s financing Russia s war machine Some version of the price cap will need to stay in place for the fore seeable future

As Russian revenue is reduced, OPEC will face a choice Does it want to further restrict oil supply to drive up prices and help the Kremlin? Doing so would antag onize all members of the G 7, as well as the developing world If Russia makes itself even more into a pariah state, for example by actively threatening to use nuclear weapons, the stigma of helping Russia will increase

There is already a global movement away from fossil fuels, because of the climate change crisis Another press ing reason to reduce our dependence on oil is to under mine producers who still have power to destabilize the world economy and finance war crimes

The U S and its allies should consider building a major program of global investments helping all coun tries to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels In a world of reduced demand for oil, the balance of power would shift significantly

Simon Johnson is a professor at MIT Sloan and for mer chief economist

Los AngeLes Times S m o n J o h n S o n

CHINA AlwAyS ExTENDED HElPING HAND TO PAkISTAN IN TESTING TIMES: SECRETARy COMMUNICATIONS corporate

NAVTTC hosts Mehfil-e-Milad to celebrate bir th of Holy Prophet (PBUH)

Fe D e R A L Secretary for Com munications and Chairman Na tional Highway Authority Capt ® Muhammad Khurrum Agha has said that whenever needed China always extended helping hand to Pakistan and it may rightly be termed “A Friend in need” He commended the cooperation of China provided for res cue and relief operation undertaken for ease of the rains and floods affected people in Pakistan He also recalled the Chinese support for restoration of road network during the disaster which paved the way to accelerate the pace of relief operation in various parts of the country He was addressing a donation ceremony held at National Highway Authority Auditorium, here today, wherein a Chinese Construction Firm

Leaks prove Imran ‘uncrowned king’ of money laundering, horse trading: Memon

i s l a m a b a d: A Mehfil e Milad was arranged here on Friday at National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) to celebrate the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Eid Milad un Nabi is celebrated by Muslims around the world on the 12th day of Rabbi ul Awal, the third month of the Islamic calendar, to pay homage and respect to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on his birthday The Milad started with the recitation of Holy Quran followed by ‘Hamd’ and ‘Qaseeda Burda Shareef ’ The NAVTTC staff recited ‘Naat’s in praise of Holy Prophet (PBUH and the speakers on the occasion threw light on Prophet’s birth, childhood, youth and adult life, His character, teachings, sufferings, His fortitude in the face of general opposition, leadership in battles, bravery, wisdom, preaching and His final triumph through Allah s mercy over the hearts of the people The ceremony also included narration on salient events from the life of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and highlighted his teachings which urged Muslims all over the world to follow injunctions of Quran and Sunnah, individually as well as collectively pr

South Africa HC calls on CDA Chairman Capt (r) Usman

ta f f

Sindh Minister for Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon while reacting to Imran Khan's lat est audio leak has said that Imran Khan is not

saviour rather he is a Fraud and added that leaks have proved that Imran Khan could go to any extent in the greed of power In his statement on Friday, the minister further said that Imran Khan is the leader of horse trading business as Imran Khan have confessed in his latest audio leak that he himself had bought the loyalties of 5 MNAs through horse trading The minister said: Imran Khan kept misleading the people by lying to them He added that even in 2018 Imran Khan did not have the majority in the as sembly to form the government ' Chartered jet service was launched to lure the MNA s Those MNAs who could not be lured by horse trading, were threatened and forced to join PTI ' the minister said and added that after the re vealation of audio leaks the people Pakistan, es pecially the new generation should open their eyes now This man is a threat to our country and society The provincial minister said that the leaks proved that Imran Khan is the most corrupt person in Pakistan and the uncrowned king of money laundering and horse trading

Carrefour and Bank Alfalah introduce new ‘Buy Now, Pay L ater ’ ser vice

i s l a m a b a d: H E Mr Mthuthuzeli Makikiza ,High Commissioner of South Africa called on Chairman CDA Captain (R) Muhmmad Usman younis at CDA headquarters on Friday The chairman CDA welcomed the honor able guest The chairman further briefed him about the on going projects in the capital and the steps currently being under taken to preserve and improve the environment of the capital city The chairman CDA told the High Commissioner that he was looking forward to exchange of ideas and possible avenues to enhance the relationship between the two countries Moreover, The chairman CDA presented the shield to His Excellency on the behalf of CDA employees as a token of appreciation pr

NEPRA hosts webinar on ‘Geothermal Energy’

NEPRA today held a

Tauseef

pressed their views They said, China Pakistan Friendship is based on sincere sentiments for well being of peoples of both the friendly states They said, the heavy rains and floods badly damaged the infrastructure of Pakistan and that China extended all the possible assis tance to set all the affected sectors right

This little donation is also a part of backing benefits China always stood with Pakistan and these time tested ties will continue in the years to come The Chinese construction company also presented a cheque amounting to Rs One crore to Chairman National High way Authority Capt ® ️ Muhammad Khurrum Agha for flood affected areas of Pakistan The representatives of China State Construction engineering Cooperation also participated The cer emony was rounded off with exchange of souvenirs and commemorative shields from both the sides

MoU signed between Housing Ministr y and ICCI

was

and attended by

and a large number of power sector

members of the

and others The main objective was to create awareness amongst the participants about the geothermal energy, technological advances in this field and potential for Pakistan Chairman NEPRA in his opening remarks highlighted that while it is a new technology in Pakistan, the world is moving fastly towards exploring such avenues to attain zero carbon emission goals along with reliable and affordable power generation Chairman NEPRA further highlighted that Pakistan is a blessed country having immense potential in this area which needs to be tapped International Research Scientist & Geothermal Laboratory Program Manager at NREL Ms Amanda Kolker made a detailed presentation highlighting the geothermal energy, technological advancements in the field, potential in Pakistan and recommendations for harnessing this potential pr

Karachi

Carrefour, owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim in Pakistan, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bank Alfalah to launch its first Buy Now Pay Later initiative

This first of its kind solution means that cus tomers with an Alfa account can now scan a product’s QR code to pay in instalments in store without experiencing any price markup, affording more flexibility when it comes to check out

The agreement was signed between Imran Mansoor Country Finance Manager of Car refour Pakistan, and Syed Irfan Akhtar Gillani

Business Head of Retail Central, of Bank Al falah at Carrefour Head Office Fortress The ‘Buy Now, Pay Later ’ service can be availed by all BAFL credit card users across all products and categories

Umer Lodhi, Country Manager of Car refour Pakistan at Majid Al Futtaim Retail said: "We believe in providing our valued

tomers with an elevated shopping experience

collaboration with Bank Al falah has been designed for transparency and ultimate flexibility to protect the purchasing power of our customers in Pakistan ” Commenting on the partnership, Mr Yahya Khan Group Head of Digital Banking Group, remarked, “Bank Alfalah is committed to pro viding affordable and convenient services to its customers Our partnership with Carrefour is yet another step forward in this endeavour Through this collaborative effort we are hope ful of creating a long term positive impact across our customer base ‘Buy Now, Pay Later ’ service allows consumers to make pur chases and pay for them at a future date This is not just an initiative but an experience that aligns with our vision of customer centricity, and focusing on providing unmatched services to give a great experience

First International Housing Expo 2022, memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Ministry of Housing and Works and Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) here at the Ministry Iftikhar Ali Shallwani Federal Secretary Ministry of Housing and Works and the President ICCI, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari were present at the occasion The overwhelming objective of this MoU is to envisage a plan of cooperation between the Ministry and the ICCI with regard to the conduct of forthcoming IHE 2022 It is being perceived that such cooperation will augment the growth of housing sector in Pakistan and will help contribute in the growth of economic development in broad terms During the Ceremony, Iftikhar Ali Shallwani said that construction sector is the biggest provider of job opportunities because it has numerous industries attached to it He also said that everyone has a fundamental right to housing which ensures access to a safe, secure, habitable and affordable home and to achieve this objective ministry of housing and works intends to organize this event in collaboration with ICCI The ceremony was attended by the senior officials of the Ministry and the office bearers from ICCI pr

Olive Tree Grafting Activit y

Grafting of over 600 Wild Olive Trees was carried out in Pato Village of Lower Dir by a non profit organization, We Fixer, led by team of young volunteers in collaboration with Barakah Aid Pakistan possess huge potential of Olive plantation as there is tremendous supply and demand gap of edible oil in the country Pakistan is the fourth largest oil importing country where 75% of local consumption is managed through imports amounting more than $ 3 5 billion per year This whooping bill includes millions of dollars for importing 4000 ton of olive oil each year With 12,000 hectares under plantation of olive plants already, and with 4 million hectares of land identified for olive plantation, Pakistan has the potential to become a major player in the long term if properly harnessed At present Pakistan is in the grip of serious food security concerns, especially regarding the availability and high prices of edible commodities It is strangulated by trade deficits, food shortages and climate change disasters Olive plantation is an all encompassing solution to address these challenges

Previous government of PTI had shown keen interest in this trade and took several initiatives to promote olive plantation; most important being awareness Now, participation of youth led non profit organizations such as We Fixers led by volunteers like Tauseef pr

Pakistan Maritime Securit y Agency saves lives of Indian Fishermen at sea

A PMSA ship rescued 06 x Indian fishermen who were drowning close to International Maritime Boundary Line between India and Pakistan As per details, PMSA ship was patrolling in Eastern maritime region and found six Indian fishermen in water; a rescue operation was launched immediately and all crew members of Indian fishing boat were safely recovered Later, the Nakwa reported that their boat sank as a result of accident and they drifted towards Pakistani waters

PMSA Ship provided rescued fishermen medical aid and food thus helping to stabilise their physical condition Later, the rescued fishermen were handed over to an Indian coast guard ship operating in the area The humanitarian gesture of PMSA ship was appreciated by the rescued fishermen as well as the Indian Coast Guard

PMSA has always been at the forefront in saving lives at sea without any distinctions; the Rescue of Indian fishermen is a manifestation of this resolve pr

namely China State Construction engi neering Cooperation Limited donated rupees one crore for restoration of af fected areas of Pakistan Capt ® ️ Muhammad Khurrum Agha said, it is a source of pride for us that Chinese Companies engaged in construction

and development process are perform ing exemplary services He appreciated the long term support of China for shar ing the agonies of the needy On this oc casion, Minister Counselor Mr Xie Guoxiang and First Secretary Mr Zhu Songsong of Chinese embassy also ex

K a r a c h i: Sindh Senior Minister Saeed Ghani, Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon and Dean Diplomatic Corp and Consul General of Qatar Mishal M Al Ansari, cutting cake at a reception hosted on National Foundation Day of Republic of Korea South Korea Consul General Kim Haksung and Mrs Kim Jiyoung hosted the reception at a local hotel

Nobel Peace PrIze goes to UkraINe, rUssIa , bel arUs rIgHts camPaIgNers

OSLO Ag e n c e s

JA I L E D Belarusian activist Ales Byalyatski, Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine s

Center for Civil Liberties won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, highlighting the signifi cance of civil society for peace and democracy

The prize will be seen by many as a condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is celebrating his 70th birthday on Friday, and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, making it one of the most po litically contentious in decades

The award, the first since Russia’s February 24 in vasion of Ukraine, has echoes of the Cold War era when prominent Soviet dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov and Alexander Solzhenitsyn won Nobels for peace or literature

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to hon our three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful co existence in the neighbour countries Belarus, Russia and Ukraine,” said committee chair Berit Reiss Andersen

“It is not one person, one organisation, one quick fix,” she told Reuters “It is the united efforts of what we call civil society that can stand up against authoritarian states and, or, human rights abuses ”

She called on Belarus to release Byalyatski from

prison and said the prize was not aimed against Putin

Belarusian security police in July last year raided of fices and homes of lawyers and human rights activists, detaining Byalyatski and others in a new crackdown on opponents of Lukashenko

Authorities had moved to shut down non state media outlets and human right groups after mass protests the previous August against a presidential elec tion the opposition said was rigged

“The (Nobel) Committee is sending a message that political freedoms, human rights and active civil society are part of peace Dan Smith head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told Reuters

The prize will boost morale for Byalyatski and strengthen the hand of the Center for Civil Liberties, an independent Ukrainian human rights organisation, which is also focused on fighting corruption he said Although Memorial has been closed in Russia, it lives on as an idea that it’s right to criticize power and that facts and history matter Smith added

In Geneva, the Russian ambassador to the United Na tions said Moscow was not concerned about the award “We don’t care about this,” Gennady Gatilov told Reuters In Belarus, the award was not reported by state media

Founded in 1989 to help the victims of political re pression during the Soviet Union and their relatives, Me morial campaigns for democracy and civil rights in Russia and former Soviet republics Its co founder and first chair

was Sakharov the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Memorial, Russia’s best known human rights group, was ordered to be dissolved last December for breaking a law requiring certain civil society groups to register as foreign agents, capping a year of crackdowns on Krem lin critics unseen since Soviet days

Memorial board member Anke Giesen said on Friday winning the award was recognition of its human rights work and of colleagues who continue to suffer unspeak able attacks and reprisals” in Russia

The award to Memorial is the second in a row to a Russian after the prize to journalist Dmitry Muratov last year, shared with Maria Ressa of the Philippines

The executive director of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, Oleksandra Romantsova, said winning the award was “incredible” “It is great, thank you,” she told the secretary of the award committee Olav Njoelstad during a phone call that was filmed and broadcast on Norwegian television

The award to Byalyatski could help draw attention to some 1,350 political prisoners in Belarus, exiled op position politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters “I am really proud to see Ales Byalyatski as the winner,” she said in a phone interview “(He) has through all his life protected human rights in our coun try “He is a prisoner for the second time, this is showing how the regime is constantly persecuting those who fight for human rights in Belarus

Death toll from Indian Himalayas avalanche rises to 26

NEW DELHI

Ag e n c i e s

At least 26 people have been confirmed dead after an avalanche struck climbers in the Indian Himalayas officials said Friday with bad weather hampering the fourth day of search and rescue efforts A group of 41 climbing trainees and their teachers were caught in Tuesday’s massive snowslide near the summit of Mount Draupadi ka Danda II in the northern state of Uttarakhand

“We have retrieved 26 bodies so far 24 of them were trainees and two bodies are those of instructors an official from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, a government agency, told AFP

Three members of the expedition remained missing, the official added, but bad weather forced an early end to Friday’s search Rescue operations will resume in the morning Uttarakhand state disaster agency spokesperson Ridhim Aggarwal told AFP that 32 people had been rescued from the site

An update from the Uttarkashi district disaster management agency later clarified that the figure included 20 people at the trek s advance base camp who had not been hit by the avalanche Survivor Naib Subedar Anil Kumar told the Indian Express that he and some of his fellow climbers had been pulled into a crevasse when the avalanche hit their ropes

UN vote against US -led ‘false’ decision on Xinjiang reflec ts int ’l communit y ‘won’t be easily misled’: Chinese FM

ISLAmABAD

M i A n A b r A r

The UN Human Rights Council’s vote against a US led draft decision on Northwest China s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Re gion showed that the international commu nity would not be easily misled despite pressure from the US and some other West ern countries, said a Chinese Foreign Min istry spokesperson in a statement

The international community is clearly aware that the ultimate motive of the US and some other Western countries behind their Xinjiang narrative is to contain China and does not like this pattern of using human rights as a pretext to meddle in other coun tries’ internal affairs, said the spokesperson

The remarks came after the 51st session of the Human Rights Council on Thursday voted down a draft decision on Xinjiang re

gion, which was pushed by the US and some other Western allies Despite pressure from the US and its allies, the draft decision ended up unsupported by the majority of the Human Rights Council membership, espe cially many members from the developing world The agenda has again failed to gain international support said the spokesperson

The issues related to Xinjiang are not about human rights They are about counter ing violent terrorism, radicalization and sep aratism Thanks to strenuous efforts, there has been no violent terrorist incident in Xinjiang for over five consecutive years The human rights of people of all ethnic backgrounds in Xinjiang are protected like never before the foreign ministry spokesperson said

“For some time now, the US and some other Western countries have been misin forming the public about Xinjiang region and seeking political manipulation in the

name of human rights simply to smear China’s image and contain China’s develop ment,” said the spokesperson

The spokesperson stressed that these countries have ignored facts and truths about Xinjiang region, noting that in recent years, nearly 100 countries, including many Is lamic countries have spoken out openly in support of China’s just position on issues re lated to Xinjiang and have expressed oppo sition toward using these issues to interfere in China’s internal affairs

The issues that the Human Rights Coun cil truly needs to focus on are the serious human rights violations concerning the US, the UK and some Western forces including systemic racism and racial discrimination, the rights of refugees and migrants and ram pant gun violence said the spokesperson China urged the US and other Western forces to abandon political manipulation,

India Muslims warn of protests after Hindu mob breaks into madrassah, per forms Puja

Erdogan and Putin discuss improving ties, ending Ukraine war

U k r a i n e , E r d o g a n ’s o ff i c e s a i d o n F r i d a y

T h e l a t e s t d e v e l o p m e n t s i n U k r a i n e , w h i c h R u s s i a i n v a d e d e a r l i e r t h i s y e a r w e r e a l s o d i s c u s s e d i n t h e c a l l , a c c o r d i n g t o Tu r k i y e ’s

D i r e c t o r a t e o f C o m m u n i c a t i o n s

N ATO m e m b e r Tu r k i y e h a s c l o s e r e l a t i o n s w i t h b o t h U k r a i n e a n d R u s s i a a n d h a s s o u g h t t o b a l a n c e t i e s d u r i n g t h e w a r, r e j e c t i n g We s t e r n s a n c t i o n s o n M o s c o w w h i l e c r i t i c i s i n g t h e R u s s i a n i n v a s i o n a n d s u p p l y i n g K y i v w i t h a r m e d d r o n e s

A l o n g w i t h t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s , Tu r k i y e b r o k e r e d t h e J u l y d e a l t o u n l o c k U k r a i n i a n g r a i n e x p o r t s f r o m i t s B l a c k S e a p o r t s i n w h a t r e m a i n s t h e o n l y s i g n i f i c a n t d i p l o m a t i

disinformation and suppression, return to the track of dialogue and cooperation, and make real contributions to the global advancement of human rights

ISTANBUL

Rizwan helps pakistan beat b’desh in tRi-seRies openeR

MO H A M M A D Rizwan under

why he will be a key weapon for Pakistan at the

World Cup top

a 21 run win over

It was the 30 year old’s 21st half cen tury in the format, continuing his form from last month s T20 series against England when he compiled a series leading 316 runs

His average in the format of 54 34 stands alone among the top 150 run scorers The next best is India’s Virat Kohli (50 84)

Rizwan’s best support on a tricky, two paced wicket came from Shan Masood (31 off 22 balls), following an opening stand of 52 with captain Babar Azam (22 off 25) while Taskin Ahmed (2 25) was Bangladesh’s best bowler

Rizwan said being patient after being sent in laid the foundation for a winning score

“Early on the ball was a little bit grippy but me and the skipper decided to keep things simple ” he said

Bangladesh s chase tailed off after Liton Das (35) and Afif Hossain (25) put on a slick 50 for the third wicket from 34 balls

Some late hitting from Yasir Ali (42 not out) restored respectability while speedster Mohammad Wasim (3 24) enjoyed late suc cess with the yorker

Players from both teams regularly slipped on a surface made hard by unex pected weather conditions earlier in the week

A cold blast left ground staff sweeping snow from the covers and outfield on Thurs day morning

Temperatures hovered around a rela tively warm 12 degrees Celsius (54F) throughout the match, the earliest ever staged in a New Zealand home season

New Zealand will play Pakistan on Sat urday and Bangladesh on Sunday, both at the same venue

Pa ki s t a n t h r a s h I n d i a by 1 3 r u n s i n Wo m e n’s A s i a C u p

ISLaMaBaD S ta f f R e p o R t

However, Dar and Maroof, followed by a brief run a ball innings by Aliya Riaz and Ayesha Naseem helped Pak istan reach 137 for six

kyrgios pulls out injured just before Japan open quar ter-final

tokyo a f p

Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the Japan Open just before his quarter final on Friday with a sore left knee, calling it “heartbreaking” The mercurial Australian tennis star had been scheduled to pay third seeded American Taylor Fritz who will now advance into the last four At a hastily an nounced press conference when the match was due to begin world number 20 Kyrgios said he had “been playing amazing tennis all year” but it had been physically taxing I actually was deal ing with a bit of a knee issue around the US Open time, and got back home, probably didn’t take enough time off, to be honest I went straight back into training said the 27 year old “It’s heartbreaking When the body lets you down, it’s not a good feeling ” Kyrgios will now head home but said he still plans to play several events in the run up to the Australian Open in January, and promised to return to the Japanese tournament in 2023 Kyrgios who beat Poland s Kamil Majchrzak 3 6, 6 2, 6 2 in the second round on Thursday, said his knee had “not re ally been an issue in his singles or doubles matches, but it had felt “pretty sore” while warming up on Friday “It’s probably in this case something overloading rather than not being fit enough,” he explained “It’s almost being too ex cited to get on the court, and maybe training a little bit too much

All rounder Nida Dar helped Pakistan beat India by 13 runs in a thrilling match of the Women’s Asia Cup at the Sylhet Interna tional Cricket Stadium, Bangladesh on Fri day This is Pakistan women s third victory in 13 T20 internationals against the arch rivals, the PCB said in a statement Dar led the batting charge when with her impressive 37 ball 56 to help Pakistan post 137 at the loss of six wickets She then claimed two wickets for 23 runs and combined with Nashra Sandhu (three for 30) and Sadia Iqbal (two for 24) to dis miss a formidable and in form India for 124 in 19 4 overs who needed 18 runs off the last over

The all rounder clubbed five fours and a six and put on 76 runs for the fourth wicket with Bismah Maroof after Pakistan had slipped to 33 for three after electing to bat first Openers Muneeba Ali (17) and Sidra Amin (11) had provided a decent start when they raced to 26 for no loss in 4 2 overs, before both lost their wickets within the two overs

While defending the total, Nashra, Dar and Sadia bowled brilliantly to re strict India to 124

The three bowlers not only bowled

up to their potential, but fielders also played their part who didn’t concede extra runs in the outfield Dar ’s scalps included Jemimah Ro drigues (2) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (12), while Sadia Iqbal dismissed Deepti Sharma (16) and Richa Ghosh (26) Pak istan had suffered a surprise defeat against

Thailand on Thursday by four wickets Pakistan have won three out of their four matches so far, while the Team Green will face the UAE in its next match on Sunday Their last league match will be against Sri Lanka on Oct 11 The top four sides will progress to the semi finals while the final will

Records galore for Riz wan af ter his impressive knock in tri-series opener

Staff RepoRt

y i n t h e c a l e n d a r y e a r 2 0 2 2 p a s t 1 5 0 0

H e i s t h e o n l y t h i r d b a t t e r i n t h e w o r l d t o s c o r e 1 , 5 0 0 o r m o r e T 2 0 r u n s i n m o r e t h a n o n e c a l e n d a r y e a r Tw o o t h e r s a r e C h r i s G a y l e a n d P a k i s t a n c a p t a i n B a b a r A z a m G a y l e h a d a m a s s e d 1 , 5 3 2 a n d 1 , 6 6 5 i n 2 0 1 2 a n d 2 0 1 5 , r e s p e c t i v e l y w h i l e B a b a r h a d a t o t a l t a l l y o f 1 6 0 7 i n 2 0 1 9 a n d 1 7 7 9 i n 2 0 2 1 R i z w a n , w h o h a d s c o r e d a t o t a l o f 2 , 0 3 6 T 2 0 r u n s l a s t y e a r, h a s s o f a r s c o r e d 1 , 5 1 9 r u n s t h i s y e a r i n

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

O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , h e a l s o o v e r t o o k B a b a r i n t h e l i s t o f m o s t a g g r e g a t e r u n s a f t e r 5 8 T 2 0 I i n n i n g s H e h a s s c o r e d 2 , 3 3 7 r u n s f r o m 5 8 i n t e r n a t i o n a l i n n i n g s i n t h i s f o r m a t , w h i l e B a b a r h a d 2 , 2 8 1 r u n s I n d i a ’s Vi r a t K o h l i h a d 2 , 0 1 2 r u n s f r o m t h e i n i t i a l 5 8 i n n i n g s o f h i s T 2 0 I c a r e e r

Meanwhile, the wicketkeeper batter also surpassed E n g l a n d ’s J o s B u t t l e r i n t h e l i s t o f p l a y e r s s c o r i n g t h e m o s t r u n s a s d e s i g n a t e d w i c k e t k e e p e r i n T 2 0 I s

Of his 2,337 runs, the star player scored 2,196 runs a s a w i c k e t k e e p e r i n T 2 0 I s H e s u r p a s s e d B u t t l e r t o d a y w h e n h e t o o k t h e s e c o n d r u n o f h i s i n n i n g T h e E n g l i s h c r i c k e t e r h a s s c o r e d 2 11 9 r u n s a s a w i c k e t k e e p e r b a t t e r

R i z w a n h a s o n l y f o u r i n n i n g s a s a n o n w i c k e t k e e p e r i n T 2 0 I s s c o r i n g 1 4 1 r u n s

H e a l s o n o w h a s n i n e P l a y e r o f t h e M a t c h a w a r d s , t h i r d m o s t a f t e r S h a h i d A f r i d i a n d M o h a m m a d H a f e e z ( 11 e a c h )

S hadab K han becomes joint second-highest wickettaker for Pakistan in T20Is

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan white ball vice captain Shadab Khan is now the joint

ond highest wicket taker in T20Is for the Men

Green The

year old made

Nor th Waziristan reaches Peshawar Football League S eason-5 semi-finals

P o p o F C I s l a m a b a d , A k h a k h e l S t r i k e r s , A t i s h To r y a l i y, S h a h e e n F C , D C S a r k a r a n d D a r a N a n g a l i t e a m s m o v e d t o t h e q u a r t e r f i n a l s o f t h e t o t a l 1 6 t e a m s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e L e a g u e Wa z i r i s t a n B a r y a l a y a n d A t i s h Ta n k C l u b s e c u r e d v i c t o r i e s a g a i n s t t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e r i v a l s I n t h e f i r s t m a t c h Wa z i r i s t a n B a r y a l a y d e f e a t e d A k a k h e l K i n g b y a s o l i t a r y g o a l i n a t h r i l l i n g m a t c h w i t n e s s e d b y t h e c a p a c i t y c r o w d p r e s e n t o n t h i s o c c a s i o n T h e m a t c h s t a r t e d o n s l o w n o t e a n d s o o n i t t o o k m o m e n t u m w h e n Wa z i r i s t a n B a r y a l a y a n d A k a k h e l K i n g c l u b s t r i k e r s k e p t u p p r e s s u r e o n e a c h o t h e r ’s d e f e n c e

g o a l t o m a k e t h e t a l l y 1 0 A k a k h e l K i n g t r i e d h a r d t o l e v e l t h e t a l l y b u t f a i l e d I n t h e s e c o n d m a t c h C h i t r a l D a r v i s h d e f e a t e d A b b o t t a b a d E a g l e s b y 3 1 I n t h e s e c o n d m a t c h , A t i s h Ta n k C l u b d e f e a t e d D a r a N a n g a l y b y 1 0 w h e r e i n Ta n k ’s J a m e e l s c o r e d i n t h e 1 8 t h m i n u t e o f t h e f i r s t h a l f o f t h e g a m e a n d m a r c h e d i n t o v i c t o r y T h e t h i r d m a t c h i n t h e l e a g u e w a s p l a y e d b e t w e e n C h i t r a l D a r v i s h a n d A b b o t t a b a d E a g l e s i n w h i c h C h i t r a l D a r v i s h w o n b y 3 1 O n t h i s o

l l y w h e n h e c o n v e r t e d a h e a d i n c o n v e r s i o n S h i n w a r i S t o o r i , N o r t h Wa z i r i s t a n ,

T h u s a f t e r p l a y i n g a g o a l l e s s d r a w i n t h e f i r s t h a l f d e s p i t e s o m e g o o d i n r o a d s r i g h t w i n g e r Ya s i r K h a n n e t t e d a f i n e

I m r a n K h a n a c c u s e s P m L - n o f r e L e a s I n g

d o c t o r e d a u d I o s ’ t o m a L I g n h I m

MIANWALI

S ta f f R e p o R t

O R M E R prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan said on Friday accused the rul ing Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) and its leader Maryam Nawaz of releasing doctored audios to malign him, say ing that creation of “deep fake videos” is not a big deal

Addressing a rally in Mianwali on Friday, Imran also played doctored audio clip of PML N supremo Nawaz Sharif at the rally, apparently downplaying his lat est audio leak on horse trading

He also alleged that four individ uals” were hatching a plot to assassi nate him over blasphemy allegations, warning that a video containing names of the ‘conspirators’ will be released if anything happened to him He said PML N leaders Maryam Nawaz, Marriyum Aurangzeb

and Javed Latif accused him of committing blasphemy in a bid to in cite religious hatred against him

“What was the game behind this [allegation] four individuals sitting b e h i n d c l o s e d d o o r s d e c i d e d t o g e t m e k i l l e d o v e r b l a s p h e m y a l l e g a tions he alleged

Addressing Prime Minister She hbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Imran said: You and your handlers can prepare, but remember the Kaptaan will scuttle all your plans

“You can’t stop us now, you will have to hold elections ”

He also said that even though the coalition government had gathered on one side with Chief Election Commis sioner Sikander Sultan Raja they all cannot beat the PTI, “even if they try to rig elections”

“The Kaptaan standing before you is the man who went to India and de feated them on their home ground Imran added

Weekly inflation for combined consumption group goes up by 0.29pc

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based weekly inflation for the week ended on October 6 for the combined consumption group witnessed an increase of 0 94 percent as compared to the previous week

The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 205 73 points against 205 13 points registered in the previous week, according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released here on Friday As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 29 44 percent The weekly SPI with base year 2015 16 100 is covering 17 urban centers and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups

The SPI for the lowest consumption group up to Rs 17,732 witnessed 1 22 percent increase and went up to 211 73 points from last week’s 209 18 points

Meanwhile, the SPI for the consumption groups from Rs17,732 22,888; Rs22,889 29,517 and Rs29,518 44,175 increased by 1 05 percent, 0 75 percent and 0 51 percent respectively whereas the SPI for consumption group above: Rs 44 175 witnessed a nominal decline of 0 08 percent During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 17 (33 33%) items increased, 14 (27 45%) items decreased and 20 (39 22%) items remained stable

The items which recorded decrease in their average prices on WoW basis included petrol (5 29%), pulse masoor (5 16%), potatoes & diesel (4 87%) each, LPG(4 49%), pulse gram (3 06%), pulse mash (1 67%), pulse moong (0 98%) garlic (0 73%) chicken (0 52%) mustard oil (0 45%), wheat flour (0 36%), cooking oil 5 litre (0 22%) and vegetable ghee 2 5kg (0 08%)

The commodities which recorded increase in their average prices included tomatoes (27 40%), onions (10 22%), bananas (2 24%) and powdered milk (1 18%)

On year on year basis commodities, which witnessed decrease in prices included electricity for q1 (45 61%), chillies powder (42 08%) sugar (18 09%) and gur (3 16%) The commodities that witnessed increase in prices on YoY basis included tomatoes (305 60%), onions (167 80%) diesel (92 08%) petrol (76 07%) pulse gram (70 02%), pulse masoor (64 65%), cooking oil 5 litre (61 43%), mustard oil (61 21%)

“If I got killed then they will say a religious fanatic killed him [Imran] be cause he had committed blasphemy ” Imran said he has recorded a video, containing names of conspirators which will be released if anything hap pened to him “The nation will not for give them he warned

Going on, Imran said that he had decided to “sacrifice my life” for the freedom of the country They are try ing to scare us by threatening to throw us in jail

“Now, I will start a Jail Bharo Tehreek (fill prisons movement) There are millions ready to go to jail don t try to scare us,” he asserted Imran also called the audio leaks from the Prime Minister s Office a “grave security concern”, saying that it was a “matter of worry” that the phone lines of the prime minister were being tapped

I ask our intelligence agencies [ ] your job is to protect the PM Office

and if all these things are leaked, this your responsibility You should under stand [this] instead of threatening peo ple and [indulging in] political engineering L o n g M a r c h c a L L: Reiterating his call for ‘ultimate call’ against PML N led coalition government Imran in today’s rally asked his supporters to prepare for the ‘Azadi March’ Imran said he could give call for l o n g m a r c h t o I s l a m a b a d a n y t i m e s o o n H o w e v e r, h e s a i d t h a t l o n g march was a part of his ‘real freedom m o v e m e n t ’ a n d h e w a s p l a n n i n g some other events which no one has ever seen before”

The PTI chairman then asked them to prepare for the Azadi March stressed that his planning for the protest this time was well thought

“The march on Islamabad is just one part of it and the Kaptaan is plan ning other things that no one has ever seen before,” he avowed

R e s o n a n c e o f I m r a n ’s a u d i o l e a k o n h o r s e t r a d i n g t o i n c r e a s e e v e r y d a y : M a r r i y u m

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mar riyum Aurangzeb on Friday said the third audio leak of PTI Chairman was really an affront for Imran Khan and its resonance would enhance with every day Imran Khan did play a serious game with na tional interests and security with his devilish tricks to achieve ulterior motives she said while ad dressing a press conference Lambasting the PTI chairman, she said that buying the conscience of elected members of the parliament used to be a ‘shirk’ for Imran but now it was a ‘Sawab’ after Imran s audio leak on horse trading Imran Khan was the leader of ‘Jaib Bharo’ movement and not ‘Jail Bharo Movement’, she said while referring to his claim of Jail Bharo movement “A slave to watches, rings, a few pieces of land, diamonds and having lust for power, had no right to take an oath of true free dom from the people”, she opined

She said how ironic it was that a person who violated the constitutional oath of the office of the Prime Minister, was taking an pledge (oath) from the people Imran Khan after coming to power made the country an economic sub servient, destroyed the national economy and now he had agenda apparently against the nu clear Pakistan, she remarked

She said that PTI chairman Imran Khan was lying on daily basis and trying to befool the people

The minister opined that Imran Khan thought that by lies on regular basis would make people believe at a later stage She said that the govern ment team was now feeling exhausted in coun tering the fallacies of Imran, but he was never seemed tired She said that in the recent past the audio of Imran Khan was leaked in which he said that the PTI leadership would play with the cipher but would not mention the name of US

This audio leak was an affront for Imran

Khan s narrative of real freedom which echoes every day but falls on deaf ears of Imran Khan,” the minister said She said that Imran Khan took advantage of the people who listened to him as he took them as just fools

He befooled the people with lies, he befooled the people by playing his so called tricks, she added “Imran Khan is a liar, hypocrite and a for eign agent who played with the economy of the country, deprived the people of their jobs, com promised on Kashmir issue and foreign policy

She said Imran Khan came to power in 2018 after the failure of RTS system and played games with the development of the country, caused un precedented inflation, chaos, intolerance and tried to destroy the social fabric of the society

Marriyum said that Imran Khan distorted the image of Pakistan in the world by saying that the whole of country was corrupt When his seat of power jolted he sent a message to the whole world that the country of 220 million people was slave and subservient, she added

Castigating Imran, she said there was no iota of shame since he did not realize that these words would harm the national interest, security and the honour of the country in the world “Imran has nothing to do with anyone, his lust commences with his own ego and ends with power she said adding that he destroyed the country’s economy, snatched people’s jobs, made a deal on Kashmir, damaged the morality of the society, filled his pockets, committed robberies during his rule However she said the agenda of the foreign agent” had yet not been accomplished as he had other objectives, so his agenda was incomplete so far The minister said that his aim was to divide the country into four parts (God forbid) and make it bankrupt financially

The previous rulers wanted to make the country Sri Lanka, they had almost had reached their goal but it remained incomplete with re moval of their government through democratic method of no confidence motion, she said

audio leaks are tampered: fawad chaudhr y

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Friday claimed that people know “where and how such audio clips are being created” as he reacted to the latest leak allegedly featuring party chairman Imran Khan

Earlier today, an audio clip surfaced on social media where Imran can be heard allegedly talking about ‘horse trading a political practice involving buying MNAs before crucial votes in the assembly

However, Fawad claimed the latest audio clip was tampered with in an attempt to justify the NRO

The decision will now be made at the Haqeeqi Azadi March” PTI’s Social Media Operations Head Salman Raza also mocked the present government for “still living in the 90s”

He added that in an age where videos can even be produced with deep fake technology”, the clips were an attempt by “these people” to fool the public by connecting audio clips

Taking the government to task, Raza said that “with all this hard work after editing various audio clips the imported government is trying to give the impression that there is no difference between us and Imran Khan” He said that all the government was really saying with the recent audio leak was that “if we set up a market in Sindh House during the regime change and bought disloyal members in Punjab then Imran also did the same thing

The party’s official Twitter account also took a similar stance on the matter saying that the government was in “disarray”

The tweet added that the “fake audio leaks” and arrests of PTI members were connected, but the people have decided” and “the schemers’ drama has flopped”

The development is the latest addition to ongoing back to back audio leaks adding to the country s political crisis

Joint sitting of Parliament rescheduled for oct 11

PM urges int ’l communit y to play role for rehab, resilience improvement of flood hit Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the in ternational community to help Pakistan in re habilitation and reconstruction for millions of flood affected people, and play a judi cious role to improve resilience and adapt ability of the Pakistani nation

The prime minister, in his message to na tion on National Resilience Day observed to commemorate the 2005 earthquake said once again, Pakistan had been worst hit by a climate induced disaster in the form of floods

As a result, 1696 precious lives have been lost, 12867 people sustained injuries and over 33 million people were affected

The prime minister said October 8 was observed as National Resilience Day in the country to express solidarity with the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and rest of

Pakistan who suffered human and other losses due to disasters The day is also a re minder that we live in a region marked as highly vulnerable to disasters Pakistan is the 7th most disaster vulnerable country in the Climate Risk Index,” he remarked

Over the years, he said Pakistan had wit nessed multiple natural disasters in the form of earthquakes, floods, GLOF events, cloud bursts, unprecedented rainfalls and severe heat waves, forest fires which caused loss of precious lives, not to mention loss of mil lions of dollars

He said the recent floods perished a mil lion livestock, damaged four million acres of crops besides causing widespread damage to communication infrastructure Sindh and parts of Balochistan have been worst hit and Pakistan had never faced a disaster of this scale, he added

Prime Minister Shehbaz said the federal

government along with provincial govern ments had mobilized all resources at its dis posal including, financial, administrative and organizational for rescue and relief of the af fected people He said on the request of provincial governments, Pakistan Army has been mobilized to help in rescue, relief and other disaster related activities Besides, Rs25,000 per household is being provided through Benazir Income Support Programme in addition to food, shelter and medical aid in calamity hit areas, the prime minister said

He said the people of Pakistan civil so ciety, philanthropists, humanitarian organi zations, UN agencies, NGOs, INGOs, academia and disaster management authori ties deserved an appreciation for their efforts in rescue and relief activities

No country alone can deal with the dis aster of such a massive scale, he added The prime minister said realizing the scale of the

calamity, the United Nations Secretary Gen eral Antonio Guterres paid a very timely visit to Pakistan, flood affected areas and met the flood affectees Guterres appealed to the in ternational community to help Pakistan He said since Guterres’ visit, there had been a number of bilateral and multilateral visits by various delegates to assess the situation as well as express solidarity with Pakistan The prime minister expressed gratitude to the in ternational community, UN and friendly countries for providing relief aid

However since the scale of catastrophe is very massive and water will take time to recede Waterborne diseases, malnutrition and a looming winter pose challenges that would need substantial and sustained support from Pakistani nation and Government, as well as international community,” he added

The prime minister reiterated that what Pakistan was currently going through in the

form of worst disaster was not of its own mak ing but was a result of climate change induced by Global Greenhouse Gas emissions, to which Pakistan contributes less than 1% She hbaz Sharif said the people of Pakistan had faced disaster with courage and resilience

“I want to assure my people as well as international community that the govern ment is doing and will continue to do its best to take care of flood affected people by en suring their timely rehabilitation, reconstruc tion and revival of economy,” he remarked

He said cognizant of Pakistan s disaster vulnerability, climate change and its serious implications, the government was committed to capacity enhancement of disaster manage ment system, undertaking necessary legisla tion on the subject, promotion of risk sensitive governance, building resilient infrastructure and above all promotion of adaptation “To gether we shall succeed he commented

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

The National Assembly speaker has rescheduled the joint sitting of Parliament on October 11 (Tuesday) at 4 p m instead of October 20, (Thursday)

According to the National Assembly Secretariat, the joint session had been rescheduled by the speaker in exercise of the powers conferred by proviso to Rule 4 of the Parliament (Joint Sittings) Rules, 1973