Epaper_22-10-09 ISB

non-bailable arrest warrants for sanaullah in graft case issued

SAyS rANA’S ArrEST ‘NECESSAry’ IN

ISLAMABAD staff report

a special judicial magistrate in rawalpindi on Saturday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for rana Sanaullah Khan, the minister for interior as the minister failed to appear in the court in a graft case.

The tiff between federal and Punjab government took a new turn on Saturday as the PTI has planned to launch a long march on federal capital to help bring down the PML-N-led coalition government.

The arrest warrants were issued a day

KOHSAr POLICE rEFUSE ArrESTING SANAULLAH OvEr ‘JUrISdICTION’ ISSUES

after at least three Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders — Senator Saifullah Khan Nyazee, Hamid Zaman and Tariq Shafi — who were picked up by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from various places in the federal capital and Lahore.

According to a spokesperson for the AntiCorruption Establishment (ACE) of Punjab, the warrant was issued he failed to appear in a graft-related inquiry, media reported.

A PTI leader Iftikhar durrani said Senator Nyazee was abducted from the premises of Parliament House where he had arrived for a session of the Senate.

The court order, passed by the court of

Senior Civil Judge Ghulam Akbar, reads that Khan was nominated in a first information report (FIr) and his arrest “is necessary in the case, so non-bailable arrest warrants of the accused may be issued”.

“records reflect that contention of the investigating office is genuine, hence, the same is accepted in the interest of justice and non-bailable arrest warrants of the accused namely rana Sanaullah is issued accordingly,” the order said. Meanwhile, PTI tweeted a police party has departed to arrest the minister and will soon reach the Kohsar police station in Islamabad.

Armed Forces to never allow any force to destabilize Pakistan politically or economically: COAS

ISLAMABAD staff report

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday warned that the Armed Forces with the support of its citizens would never allow any country, group or force to politically or economically destabilize Pakistan.

Addressing the passing out parade of 146th PMA Long Course, 34th Technical Graduate Course, 65th Integrated Course, 20th Lady Cadet Course and 5th Basic Military Training Course held at Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul, Abbottabad as chief guest, the Army Chief said Pakistan Army, with full support and

confidence of the Nation had successfully turned the tide against the menace of terrorism in the last two decades and had ensured that organized terrorism was decisively rooted out from the country.

The COAS said, “This is indeed a unique accomplishment that not many countries or armies can claim.”

He iterated that Pakistan was a responsible and peace-loving country and that its efforts for international peace, especially in Afghanistan, the Middle East and in UN peacekeeping missions were being acknowledged by the international community.

LeAked ConveRSAtIon PRoveS IMRAn InduLged In HoRSe-tRAdIng: PM

ISLAMABAD StAff RepoRt

PRIMEMinister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday claimed said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has admitted to purchasing the loyalties of at least five MPs apparently in

the run-up to the vote of no-confidence held against him in April.

Speaking to the press outside an accountability court in Lahore, where he’d come to attend the hearing into a corruption case registered against him, Sharif accused Khan of “lying all the time”, damaging Pakistan’s relations with the United States as well as the country’s

FIA gives clean chit to PM Shehbaz, Hamza in money laundering case

LAHORE StAff RepoRt

A special court on Saturday adjourned hearing of a case, registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shehbaz and others, till October 11. Special Court (Central-1) Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan conducted the case proceedings, wherein the prime minister also appeared.

At the start of proceedings, Hamza Shehbaz’s counsel submitted that his client had back pain and an application had been submitted for his exemption from personal appearance for one-day, adding that a medical certificate had also been attached with it. Advocate Amjad Pervaiz advanced his arguments on the application, filed by the premier for his acquittal in the case. He submitted that the agency had removed charges of Rs 9 billion from the challan. He submitted that the amount was transacted through five accounts, but these accounts were not associated with Suleman, Hamza or the Sharif Group. He submitted that the accounts belonged to Mushtaq Cheeni, but the agency had not yet initiated any inquiry against him. He submitted that the kickbacks and bribes mentioned in the FIR were just tales, which had not been made part of the challan. He submitted that the Lahore High Court (LHC) recently quashed an identical case against Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi. The court questioned whether the detailed judgment of Moonis Elahi case had been issued. Amjad Pervaiz submitted that the judgement had been issued and its verified copy would be presented in the court shortly, adding that indictment in the current case was not possible nor could it continue any further. To a court query about accused Maqsood, he submitted that he passed away earlier this year, but he was never interrogated by the agency.

international image.

He also said that calling her niece Maryam Nawaz’s acquittal in the Avenfield House graft reference an NRO by the PTI was condemnable. Sharif said Khan should be held accountable for his “baseless propaganda” on the diplomatic cypher and Panama Papers revelations.

He said his Pakistan Muslim League-

Nawaz (PML-N) and its allies in Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition came into power through a constitutional process to save the economy from bankruptcy.

He said that the dollar value is now declining due to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s economic policies.

The prime minister said every citizen

should respect the law and he appeared in court today to prove he was no different.

He said that NAB summoned disgraced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif several times but he “never sought an NRO”.

He claimed that Pakistan achieved growth and progress during the three terms of his brother as prime minister.

Imran lauds KP govt for transparency in disbursement of compensation amount to flood-affectees

DI KHAN StAff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan on Saturday said that KP government had set an example of transparency in disbursement of compensation funds among the genuine flood affected people by utilizing a technology based mechanism.

He expressed these views while addressing a cheques distribution ceremony among the flood affected people here at Circuit House. Imran Khan also distributed cheques to the flood victims.

Dr. Sania Nishtar – who is leading PTI’s flood relief

campaign – was also present and assisted Imran Khan in disbursing the cheques to the flood victims.

Dr. Sania Nishtar – who is leading PTI’s flood relief campaign – was also present and assisted Imran Khan in disbursing the cheques to the flood victims.

Addressing the flood victims at Dera Ismail Khan, Imran Khan said that it is a big responsibility to spend the donations transparently collected from the public. He said that PTI had decided to give money to the victims only for building houses.

“We have established a comprehensive verification system to distribute money to the flood victims. Under this system, the victims will give a check to the bank,

IHC to take up PTI’s plea against FIA inquiry in prohibited funding case on Monday

ISLAMABAD StAff RepoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday fixed the hearing of a plea filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) inquiry regarding the prohibited funding.

IHC judge Justice Aamer Farooq will take up PTI’s plea on Monday. In the petition, PTI has pleaded to the high court to restrain the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arrests and raids in the funding probe.

“FIA conducted a raid at Senator Saifullah Niazi’s house and harassed the family,” according to the party’s plea. “FIA inquiry and raids are illegal and should be stopped immediately,” PTI pleaded.

“The FIA subjecting harassment on the political grounds,” PTI alleged in its petition.

“The court should restrain the FIA from investigating the funding case.

The party received all funds from overseas as per the law,” the plea stated. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has made the Interior Secretary, DG FIA and the investigation officer respondents in the case.

It is to be mentioned here that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in a press conference noted that the PTI leaders Senator Saifullah Niazi and leader Hamid Zaman have been detained in a case pertaining to the party’s prohibited funding.

It is being apprehended that PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan will likely to be arrested in the funding case.

DISCOs charging power consumers with GST in violation of FBR directives

ISLAMABAD AhmAd AhmAdAni

All Ex-WAPDA distribution companies (DISCOs), except K-Electric are allegedly charging net-metering consumers with General Sales Tax (GST) on the basis of net electricity units in violation of directives from the Inland Revenue Policy Wing of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

According to sources in the power sector, all XWDISCOs have so far allegedly continued to charge their netmetering consumers with GST on the basis of net units.

They said that total net-metering consumer base is 37,769 as per NEPRA’s State of the Industry (SOI) Report 2022. They said all government-owned distribution companies (XWDISCOs), except Karachi’s K-Electric, are erroneously applying GST on units which are net of electricity provided by the utility minus the excess units supplied to the national grid by the consumer. However, the procedure followed by these XWDISCOs contradicts FBR’s tax treatment instructions on net metering bills and it is causing loss to the national exchequer, said sources.

The FBR’s tax treatment instructions on net metering bills clearly say, “The Sales Tax required to be charged on the value of supply and not the net-off value. Therefore, it is clarified that all DISCOs, including KE, are required to charge Sales Tax on the gross amount of value of electricity supplied to the consumer without having any effect of net metering,” they added.

As per sources, it is estimated that

the disregard of the said FBR’s instruction by XWDISCOs has obstructed the collection of approximately 25 million rupees in terms of taxes in Financial Year (FY) 2122 alone and is also causing loss of revenue on an incremental basis as the net-metering consumer share continues to increase exponentially.

According to National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s State of Industry Report 2022, XWDISCOs including LESCO, GEPCO, FESCO, IESCO, MEPCO, PESCO, HESCO, SEPCO and QESCO have exported the total 150,669,148 units while they imported total 869,528,866 units and their total consumers base is 37,769. Similarly, net metering is in the interest of the power sector and needs to be encouraged. However, reportedly, DISCO’s behavior towards net-metering connections is not encouraging.

Further, it is reported that DISCOs in most cases are not paying the payable amount to consumers with net metering licenses for those electricity units supplied more than their use, said NEPRA’s State of Industry Report 2022.

It is pertinent to mention that the government is constantly looking for ways to shrink power subsidies and expand the tax net.

However, this absurd maltreatment of tax instructions by XWDISCOs has so far remained counterproductive to the government’s efforts. Moreover, these government-owned distribution companies are already a huge burden on the national exchequer and the power sector, as these loss-making entities contribute billions to the country’s rising circular debt.

and they will get the money because it is against my religion to humiliate the victims and give them money,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan said that in Punjab and KP every family has been given a health facility of up to PKR10 lac, with the help of which they can go to any private hospital and get free treatment.

He also said that we are happy that we have done what even rich countries could not do in the country, in which the Pakistanis living abroad also helped us a lot. A total of 157 persons were to be given cheques in the first phase of disbursement of compensation amount.

In meeting with PM, CRBC chief donates $100,000 to PM’s Flood Relief Fund

ISLAMABAD StAff RepoRt

The China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) presented a cheque worth $ 100,000 USD to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to contribute to Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund. The delegation of Chinese construction firm CRBC, headed by President Ye Chengyin, held a meeting with PM Shehbaz Sharif here, says a report published by Gwadar Pro on Saturday. During the meeting, the prime minister was briefed on ongoing and completed mega projects. It was told that the HavelianThakot section of Karakorum Highway-II had been opened to traffic. Work on the second phase from Thakot-Rai Kot has been started. The meeting was also briefed in detail about the progress of the Karachi Coastal Development Project, Rashakai Special Economic Zone, Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway, Babusar Tunnel, ML-1, and railway corridor between Karachi Port and PIPRI.

During the meeting, PM Shehbaz Sharif said the government was answerable to the masses for the protection of public money. He maintained that the government was completing the projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on a priority. He stressed that the government was also ensuring transparency in the development projects besides prioritizing the public interest works.

Prime Minister Shehbaz emphasized that he and the whole nation was grateful to the Chinese people for their support to Pakistan following the destruction caused by the rains and consequent flash floods. The delegation welcomed the measures taken by the prime minister for the completion of the CPEC projects on time. The CRBC also expressed interest in the 10,000WM solar power project.

Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal, special assistants to Prime Minister Jahanzeb Khan, Zafaruddin Mahmood, and relevant senior officers attended the meeting. Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Faisal Sabzwari joined the meeting through a video link.

Rana Sana’s arrest warrants plot to spread chaos: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD StAff RepoRt

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Saturday that arrest warrants of Rana Sanaullah were issued in Lahore as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan was afraid of him. In a tweet, she said that it was a conspiracy to spread chaos and anarchy in the country in order to divert attention from the corruption of “foreign agent, liar”, who was playing with national security and trying to hoodwink the people. The minister said that on the orders of Imran Khan, preparations were being made to invade the federation.

govt CoMMItted to Set eConoMy on PAtH to SuStAInABLe, InCLuSIve gRowtH: dAR

ISLAMABAD StAff RepoRt

MINISTERfor Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar on Saturday said that the government is committed to set the economy on sustainable and inclusive growth path by taking pragmatic steps to resolve bottlenecks to growth.

The minister held a meeting with Country Director, World Bank Najy Benhassine, and his team at Finance Division here. The minister also shared economic challenges that the country is currently facing and said that the present

government is cognizant of these issues and taking steps to resolve hurdles to achieve sustainable economic growth.

He also informed about the devastations caused by the recent floods in the country.

Country Director, World Bank extended felicitations to the Finance Minister on assuming the charge of the office and briefed on existing programmes and future cooperation of the World Bank for Pakistan.

He informed the Finance Minister that the Bank is allocating $2 billion funds from existing World Bank financed projects for emergency operations in flood affected areas to support Pakistan. He further informed that around $ 1.5 billion funds would be

mobilized this year due to emergency situation.

Senator Ishaq Dar appreciated the World Bank for being a source of support in pursuing reform agenda and implementing various development projects for the country.

He further said that Pakistan values the financial and technical support provided by the World Bank for the institutional reforms and economic development of the country.

The minister assured Najy Benhassine and his team of meeting prior actions for timely completion of programmes and thanked them for their continuous support and facilitation.

Blessing for All Foundation set up to highlight life of Holy Prophet (PBuH)

LAHORE StAff RepoRt

Ever since the republication of blasphemous caricatures in France and Denmark, the members and Chairman of Blessing for All Foundation Mr. Chaudhary Aurangzeb decided to launch this platform. The Blessing for All Foundation is dedicated to create content on the Life & Message of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and teachings of Islam. The Foundation is producing documentary films, short films, public service messages, TVC, advertisements and creating all forms of print, audio and video productions about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and Islam. Real estate tycoon and politician Chaudhry Aurangzeb is the Chairman of this foundation. Poet Amjad Islam Amjad and Major (Retd) Rafiq Hasrat are the members and the founder of Akhuwat Foundation, Dr. Amjad Saqib is the advisor. The Greatest messenger of Peace, A documentary series created by the filmmaker Mr Ali Zeeshan Amjad. Episode one of this series was released on social media in December 2021 and since then it has been translated in 7 languages and been viewed millions of times. The first episode was primarily targeted to those who are unaware of the compassionate teachings of the prophet Muhammad PBUH. The second episode is under production.

Brave Pakistanis know how to protect motherland: PHC CJ

SWAT Syed ShAhAbuddin

Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Qaiser Rashid on Saturday said that he was well aware of the deteriorating law and order situation in Swat valley, and had raised the issue with quarters concerned. He said that the law enforcement agencies along with local community had rendered invaluable sacrifices for peace restoration of the area. Addressing lawyers’ community here at District Bar Association Swat, the PHC Chief Justice said that he had taken sue motto action against encroachment on river bank in Swat valley.” A master plan has been prepared for Swat and Hazara that would help restore the natural landscape and beauty of the river banks”, he said, adding that Pakistan was the motherland of brave and learned people and they knew how to protect the motherland. The chief justice assured the gathering that providing justice at the doorsteps was the main objective of judiciary and in this regard a net of judicial complexes were being laid in different parts of the province. Earlier, the chief justice inaugurated the newly-built building child protection court and judicial complex building at Kabal area of Swat. District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Shoaib and President District Bar Association Mushtaq Khan briefed Justice Qaiser Rashid on the problems being faced by the bench and bar in the district.

Floods unleashed havoc in 84 Pakistan districts: WHO

ISLAMABAD StAff RepoRt

Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan on Saturday said that 84 districts of Pakistan have been affected in floods.

Dr Palitha Mahipala, talking to media here said that around 33 million people have been affected in unprecedented flooding in Pakistan.

Over 2,000 health facilities have been damaged in flooding, World Health Organization’s (WHO) Pakistan representative said. The flooding has also claimed over 1,700 lives, Dr Palitha Mahipala said.

“Health workers are working to their best capability in flood-hit areas,” WHO official said.

“High level emergency was declared during floods in the country,” he said. Flooding has unleashed massive devastation in Sindh and Balochistan provinces, he told the media persons.

Dr. Palitha Mahipala said that the WHO sending more healthcare workers to flood-hit areas and its experts will visit these areas on October 10.

“WHO is continuously monitoring the situation in flood-hit areas,” Dr Mahipala said. “The tally of malaria cases in Pakistan could reach to two million by December this year,” he said. “Steps are also being taken to improve the healthcare structure of the country”.

“Flood-stricken areas also facing problems related to food shortage,” he said. “330 additional vaccination teams have been constituted for floodhit areas, moreover anti-measles vaccination teams have also been formed for these areas,” he said. “WHO has provided nine million dollars medicines and other related items to Pakistan so far,” he said. “WHO will extend assistance for restoration of the health centres on emergency basis,” he added.

CM’s aide accuses Rana Sanaullah of accepting two plots as bribe from housing societies

LAHORE AgencieS

Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister on AntiCorruption Brigadier (retd) Mussadiq Abbasi on Saturday said that it has been proven that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had “committed a crime”.

He said this while addressing a press conference in Lahore, hours after Rawalpindi court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the federal security czar in a corruption case.

Providing the details of the case, the CM’s aide accused Sanaullah of receiving two plots in private housing society — Bismillah Housing Society located at Lahore’s Kallar Kahar area — as a bribe in return for construction permission from the provincial authorities.

He said the project was inaugurated in 2017 while it got approval for construction in 2018.

A first information report (FIR) was registered against Sanaullah in 2019 on charges of receiving bribes but he neither cooperate with the investigators nor appear before the court, Abbasi said.

Subsequently, Abbasi said the interior minister in 2022 sent the affidavit of ownership of the plots to the authorities concerned.

He also claimed that documentary evidence was also available with the officials that Sanaullah got the plot registered in his name against Rs900,000.

Denouncing the arrest warrant, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said the warrant was issued because PTI chief Imran Khan was “frightened” by Sanaullah.

“There is a conspiracy to spread corruption and chaos in order to divert attention from the corruption of the ‘lying foreign agent’ who played with national security and fooled the people,” she said referring to the PTI chief. Marriyum alleged that preparations were being made to attack the federation on the ex-premier’s orders.

Power-hungry Imran wants to destroy all institutions: Muqam

Advisor to Prime Minister and Provincial head of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Ameer Muqam on Saturday alleged that Imran Khan wanted to destroy every institution of the state to please his “foreign masters.” “Only PML-N could steer the country out of all crises and put on the path to development.” Talking to media in Charbagh area of Swat District, he termed Imran Khan “king of lies and fraud” who’s motive was to become premier of the country at the cost of the sovereignty of the state. “Imran Khan is a master of U-turns and a PhD in fraud and deception. The recent leaked audios established beyond any doubt that this man was involved in horse-trading”, Muqam said. Ameer Muqam said that the state would take stern action against Imran Khan and would bring him to justice. He challenged Mr. Khan to fulfill his wish of long march, claiming that the state response would be very harsh and no one would be allowed to sabotage the law and order situation in the country. “Fawad Chaudhry has insulted the entire Pashtun community through his mocking remarks. I suppose that Mr Fawad Choudhry had a bad experience with his Pashtun friends”, he remarked. While responding to a question, he maintained that leadership of PML-N was victimized including Maryam Nawaz and Ishaq Dar. He hoped that inflation would soon be controlled and there would be an end to the vicious circle. Earlier he distributed cheques among the needy women under Benazir Income Support programme.

Alvi urges adaptation to best nation building practices

President Dr Arif Alvi has said the observance of “National Resilience Day” reminded him of the need to adopt best practices to implement desired policy actions and strategies to build a resilient nation.

“In view of our vulnerabilities, I would urge all related federal and provincial stakeholders to create synergies in action to ensure disaster risk reduction, and preparedness, besides mounting swift and prompt response mechanisms,” the president said in a message on the occasion of “National Resilience Day” being observed on Saturday.

He said the policy actions in Pakistan should address key sectors including

resilient and safe development of infrastructure, and enhance “disaster preparedness” along with other areas, such as poverty alleviation, safer land use planning, building codes implementation, water resources management, sound agriculture practices, enhance forestation across Pakistan including coastal areas.

Most importantly, he said, the government must take care of vulnerable segments of their society — including women, children, elderly people and people with disabilities — in all its interventions.

The president also urged the international community to provide all possible support to Pakistan to tackle the negative impacts of climate change.

He said the observance of the day reminded him of the devastating earthquake

of 2005 that wreaked havoc in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

“We commemorate this occasion with a mission and commitment to advance national preparedness by improving and increasing the nation’s resilience to disasters,” he said.

The president said the climate change phenomenon had, yet again, hit the country very hard. This year’s monsoon season with over 190 percent more rainfall compared to the past 30 years’ average across Pakistan and around 500 percent increased rainfall in Sindh and Balochistan had caused massive inundation in Sindh and parts of Balochistan.

This climate calamity caused 1,695 deaths and left 13,000 persons hurt, more

than 2 million houses have been damaged, besides causing severe damage to over four million acres of cropped area and critical infrastructure.

Over 33 million people were affected and millions of people were still in need of humanitarian relief, he added.

The president said Pakistan had a negligible contribution to climate change while it had become a foremost victim of the phenomenon.

Despite being hit by multiple disasters of mega magnitude repeatedly since 2005, the people of Pakistan have exhibited courage, selflessness, the spirit of sacrifice and resilience to withstand the testing times, he added.

The observance of this day as “National Resilience Day” is also an occasion for

stock-taking and to reiterate our commitment to make greater efforts for preparing ourselves to face all such adversities.

“I have a firm belief that the people of Pakistan, like in the past, would continue to help their brothers and sisters in floodaffected areas through generous contributions,” the president said.

He also conveyed his appreciation of the invaluable support and assistance provided by the international community, civil society and private philanthropy to augment the national response efforts during the ongoing floods disaster.

The 8th day of every October is an occasion to express our solidarity and sympathy with all those families who suffered from natural calamities of unprecedented magnitude.

SWAT StAff RepoRt

ISLAMABAD

StAff RepoRt

PakistaN’s ChiNese teaChers are ‘ambassadors’ of ChiNese Culture

ISLAMABAD Xinhua

sANAFarooq has been learning the Chinese language at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) for over a month, andthe more she learns about the Chinese language, the more she feels herself getting attached to the Chinese culture.

“I just started learning the language, but the way my teachers taught us helped us get a lot of insight into the Chinese culture which not only increased our interest in the language but also widened our horizon,” Farooq told Xinhua after her class.

49-kanal state land retrieved on ombudsman order

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Due to the rising demand and popularity of the Chinese language in Pakistan after the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), several universities, including the NUML, made it mandatory for all students pursuing a bachelor’s degree to pass a test of basic understanding of the Chinese language.

As a result, thousands of students are learning the Chinese language in the country. The students give credit for their interest in the Chinese language to their teachers who are acting as cultural ambassadors of China in Pakistan by teaching students the language and telling them about Chinese culture.

The teachers are mostly local people with a large number of female teachers who have spent a lifetime learning and teaching the language.

Most of the teachers have studied in China and observed its culture closely during their stay in different Chinese cities.

The teachers are now sharing their experiences and observation with their young students, many of whom aspire to follow their teachers’ footsteps.

Sabiha Haseeb, who has a master’s degree in the Chinese language from Shanghai University, now teaches the language in the NUML, and half of her day is spent telling her about the beauty of Chinese cul-

ture to her students.

She especially mentioned her Chinese teachers who made her feel at home during her stay in China and won her over with their love and hospitality.

“They were so dedicated and concerned about their students. After learning the good qualities of being a competent teacher from my teachers in China, I try to be the same loving and revered teacher to my students,” Haseeb told Xinhua.

She said that the Chinese language is more than just academic knowledge to her students, but also a pathway of knowing more about China and the Chinese people, such as their culture, food, cus-

AJK University pays tribute to victims of Oct 8 quake victims

MUZAFFARABAD Staff RepoRt

As a result of the prompt action taken by the concerned administration on the orders of the Office of Punjab ombudsman, more than 49-kanal of government-owned land worth Rs28.32 million has been retrieved from illegal occupants in different districts. In a statement issued on Saturday, a spokesman for the office said the Pakpattan administration has recovered 40.5-kanal of government land, having a market value of Rs6.1 million from illegal dwellers. The action has been taken on orders of Ombudsman retired Maj. Azam Suleman Khan on a public complaint, he added. Meanwhile, the ombudsman’s office interceded in the public interest to remove encroachments on Railway Station Chowk, Kutchery Road Mianwali. The market value of retrieved government land is Rs10.5 million, the spokesman reported. Meanwhile, the Pakpattan administration has also recovered sixkanal of government land valuing Rs5 million. 1.25 kanal land of Rs1.4 million in the Sarai Alamgir area of Gujrat and two-kanal state land in Khanewal with a market value of Rs0.5 million has also been recovered after the involvement of the ombudsman’s office on public complaints, the spokesman said.

A special prayer ceremony was held at the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (UAJK) to pay tribute to the victims of the catastrophe, which claimed the lives of thousands of people on this day, 17 years ago in 2005.

At least 200 students and six faculty members of the university were among the thousands of people killed in the devastating earthquake that hit the region in 2005.

The ceremony was held at the monument of the martyrs in the City Campus of AJK university which was attended by the Registrar Prof Dr Ayesha Sohail, Dean Faculty of Sciences Prof Dr Ghulam Murtaza, Associate Dean of Health Sciences Dr Bashirur Rehman Kanth, Chief Librarian and Meritorious Professor Dr Nadeem Haider Bukhari, In-charge

City Campus Prof Dr Wajid Aziz Lone, Director Advance Studies and Research Dr Muhammad Raffique, President Academic Staff Association Dr Nazneen Habib, President Administrative Staff Association Israr Qadri, Chairmen, Heads of Departments, Faculty Members, University Officers and a large number of the employees.

Speaking on the occasion, the Registrar of the university, Prof Dr Ayesha Sohail while paying glowing tribute to the sacrifices of teachers, students, and employees who were martyred in the earthquake, said that their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

She said that the earthquake of October 8, 2005, annihilated the whole infrastructure of state capital city of Muzaffarabad and its adjacent districts besides, severely damaged the university as more than 200 students, six faculty members, and staff died in this disaster. The City

Campus of the university, which was completely destroyed, was rebuilt with generous assistance from the Turkish government, and the King Abdullah Campus at Chatter Klass

Constructed by the government of Saudi Arabia, she added.

Dean Faculty of Sciences Prof Dr Ghulam Murtaza, Chief Librarin

Prof Dr Nadeem Haider Bukhari and Associate Dean Health Sciences Dr Bashirur Rehman Kanth while talking on this occasion said that the memories of the tragedy of October 8 will always be fresh in our minds. They paid rich tributes to the armed forces of the country, national and international NGOs, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the Pakistani nation for extending unprecedented help to the quake effected affected people of AJK in the wake of one of the worst tragedies in recorded history speakers maintained.

tom, and history.

Muhammad Mateen Hashmi, a Chinese language teacher in the NUML, believes that the Pakistani students’ interest in the Chinese language is because of the friendship between the two countries and peopleto-people contact which is getting stronger day by day.

“Teachers, as ambassadors of the Chinese culture, has a great responsibility in not only teaching students about the language but also showing their professional excellence by enhancing the students’ interest in China. Most of the teachers in Pakistan are doing this job well,” Hashmi told Xinhua.

National program for kids suffering from autism, mental illness in the offing: Patel

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel on Saturday announced that the federal government is going to set up the country’s first-ever national program for children, suffering from autism and mental illness. According to the ministry’s spokesperson, under the directions of Abdul Qadir Patel, the Health Ministry will also establish the first autism center for mentally disordered children in Islamabad. Abdul Qadir Patel said the Health Ministry will help in building up centers for children suffering from autism and mental disorders in all four provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. He said that a state-of-the-art center will provide both treatment and education to autistic children. He added legislation work will also be carried out by Parliament for the protection of children suffering from autism and mental disorders, he added. He said that data will be collected from a nationwide survey of such children who are suffering from autism and mental disorders.

KP estimates post-flood rehabilitation required Rs179b

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Planning and Development (P&D) Department has released a detailed flood damage assessment report, estimating that the restoration of flood-hit infrastructure will require Rs179.93 billion.

According to the report, the KP government has estimated that Rs39.16 billion will be provided as compensation for human losses, injuries and destroyed houses. Similarly, Rs35.86 billion will be required for planning and proactive measures to prevent future floods while over Rs22 billion will be needed for rehabilitation of the irrigation channels.

The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Department said that 306 people have been confirmed dead across the province, who will be provided Rs245 million as financial aid. Similarly, 369 people have been injured and they will be paid a total of Rs74 million. A total of 9, 463 houses were completely or partially destroyed which will need Rs25.35bn.

In total, Rs35.86 billion will be spent on rehabilitation operations and payment of compensations. The department added that Rs62 billion will also be required for the supply of food in the affected areas for the next six months.

The provincial government has estimated Rs6.79 billion for flood awareness, preparation and rehabilitation projects while Rs39.16 billion compensation will be paid for the destruction of livestock and standing crops.

According to the Department of Energy, the 17 megawatts Ranolia Hydro Project in Lower Kohistan is completely destroyed while114 mini micro hydro projects in 11 districts are severely affected. Similarly, 176 solar energy systems installed in schools and basic health centers of eight districts have also been destroyed. The 36.6MW Dhara khwar Hydro Project has also been partially affected while the 4.2MW Rishon Chitral Hydro Project has also been affected. The department estimated that it would required Rs23.17 billion to revive these damaged projects.

According to the report, the irrigation de-

partment has suffered a loss of more than Rs22.38 billion in 24 districts of the province. The details show that 1,366 irrigation channels and 1,457 protective embankments have been destroyed in the province.

According to the Department of Communication and works, 1,503 kilometers of roads and 96 bridges have been destroyed in 31 districts and a total of Rs4.50 billion is estimated for its temporary rehabilitation while Rs14.98 billion are required for reconstruction of all roads.

The elementary and Secondary education department said that 1,790 schools have been affected in the province, of which 150 have been completely destroyed while 1,640 are partially damaged and Rs8.39 billion are required for their rehabilitation.

According to the Local government Department, a total of Rs6.57 billion will be required for the rehabilitation of 437 projects, of which Rs3.60 billion are for road rehabilitation, Rs1.42 billion for sanitation, Rs467 million for water supply, Rs464 million for other schemes, Rs109 million are for the maintenance of houses and bridges, Rs19 million for the repair of offices, Rs3 million for shops and Rs27 million for the repair of slaughterhouses.

Meanwhile, the Irrigation Department, 844 water supply schemes have been affected in 16

districts, for which Rs4.86 billion will be needed. In the multi-sector development sector, 414 schemes were affected, for which Rs1.13 billion are required for rehabilitation. Similarly, according to the health department, 158 health centers in 17 districts have been affected and Rs1.9 billion will be required for its restoration.

The Agriculture department said that Rs5261mn will be required for restoration of fisheries research centers, Rs283 million for agricultural research, Rs66 million for extension agriculture and Rs47 million for livestock research, and thus a total of Rs923 million will be needed for rehabilitation. Thr Culture and Tourism Authority said, a total of Rs504 million will be required for restoration of the damage infrastructure. The authority said that Rs270 million will be provided for Archaeology, Rs214 million for the Directorate of Sports and Rs20 million for the Directorate of Tourism.

The Department of Provincial Higher Education reports that Bacha University Charsadda, Benazir Bhutto Women University in Upper Dir, University of Swabi and nine colleges and universities have been damaged and now Rs373 million would be needed for its restoration.

PESHAWAR aziz BuneRi

Non-bailable arrest warrants for Sanaullah in graft case issued

continued from page 01

“According to the rules, the process of arresting Rana Sanaullah will begin by informing the local police,” it added.

POLICE REFUSE TO ARREST INTERIOR

MINISTER: Officers at the Islamabad Koshar Police refused to arrest Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, saying his residence is out of its jurisdiction.

According to details, an anti-corruption team led by Inspector Abdur Rehman reached Kohsar Police station with a non-bailable arrest warrant against the PML-N leader. However, they had to return empty-handed as the Koshar Police refused to arrest the federal minister, citing his residence was out of their jurisdiction. The anti-corruption team was advised to contact the police station that has Sanaullah’s residence in its jurisdiction. The address mentioned on the arrest warrant is from Faisalabad, Kohsar police said. Later in the day, Islamabad police said it would take case documents from the anti-corruption establishment team of Punjab, if it arrived at relevant police station. Reports said a Punjab anti corruption team was in Islamabad in connection with arrest warrants of Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah. In a tweet, Islamabad police said that if a team arrived at the Kohsar police station, case documents would be taken from it. “The anti-corruption establishment team will be requested to provide records for compliance so that legal action can be taken,” the tweet said.

4,553 motorcycles, 169 cars, 2,446 phones stolen in Karachi in September

KaracHi Staff RepoRt

At least 4,553 motorcycles and 169 vehicles were stolen in Karachi in September, Citizens Police Liasion Committee (CPLC) stats showed Saturday. According to the body, 19 cars were snatched while 169 were stolen. But only 58 of them were recovered by the police. 427 motorbikes were snatched, mostly at gunpoint, and 4,553 were stolen, the stats showed. The police were able to recover 282 of them. Seperately, 2,446 people were deprived of their mobile phones, of which 46 were recovered, the CPLC added. It added that 56 people were killed in various robbery incidents while one bank heist was also reported in September. The anti-vehicle lifting cell (AVLC) arrested at least 4,211 lifters belonging to over 212 gangs active in Karachi, Superintendent of Police (SP) Tariq Nawaz told the press. At least 24 suspected vehicle thieves were arrested after being injured in 19 police encounters, while five were reported dead in the encounters.

National Resilience Day observed to remember Oct 8 earthquake

peSHaWar Staff RepoRt

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in collaboration with the GLOF-II project sponsored by green climate fund and implemented by UNDP, federal ministry of climate change and government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Saturday observed “National Resilience Day” at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper in remembrance of the Martyrs of Oct 8, 2005 Earthquake. The objective of the event was to express solidarity with the bereaved families who lost their family members on 8th October. Representatives from PDMA, UNDP GLOF-II official, Vice Pro vice-chancellor, Registrar Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Representative humanitarian organizations, academia, large number of Students along with representatives from INGOs, Rescue 1122 and Civil defense representatives participated in the event.

NAB SummONS ex-PDA DG iN AlleGeD BRT CORRuPTiON CASe

peSHaWar Staff RepoRt

THENational Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated an investigation into alleged corruption in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Peshawar on Saturday.

According to details, the antigraft body has summoned former Director-General (DG) Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) Muhammad Saleem Wattoo on October 17 in the corruption reference.

In a call-up notice, the accountability bureau said the former PDA DG will be investigated over alleged corruption in the project. Saleem Wattoo, as Chairman of Technical and Evalua-

tion Committee, made several agreements related to the project. “NAB reserves the right to take action in case of non-appearance on October 17”, stated the notice.

Earlier in 2021, the Supreme Court set aside the Peshawar High Court (PHC) judgement directing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) project.

The court said that the high court order with regard to investigation by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had legal flaws.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had initiated graft proceedings over alleged financial and administrative irregularities in Peshawar BRT project.

UN adopts resolution urging support for flood-hit Pakistan

united nationS Staff RepoRt

THEGeneral Assembly of the United Nations expressed solidarity with flood-ravaged Pakistan and called on the world to increase aid in the wake of the recent devastating calamity.

Record-breaking floods in Pakistan have affected 33 million people and killed 1,700 or more since mid-June. Nearly 8 million people were displaced, and hundreds of thousands are still living in tents and makeshift homes.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who saw some of the damage for himself during a visit last month, reminded the assembly of the losses: more than two million homes damaged or destroyed, and crops and livestock ravaged. He said the disaster could thrust more than 15 million people into poverty.

The resolution, adopted by consensus, urges the international community, in particular donor countries, international financial institutions and relevant international organizations, as well as the private sector and civil society, to extend full support and assistance to the Pakistani government in its efforts to mitigate the adverse impacts of the floods and to meet the medium- and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction needs.

It calls on the international community to scale up its humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation of Pakistan, in order to repair and strengthen the country s prospects for achieving sustainable development, and encourages member states, the United Nations, and humanitarian organizations to continue to work together to address the different needs of affected populations, particularly the most vulnerable.

It emphasizes the need for

the international community to maintain its focus beyond the present emergency relief, in order to sustain the political will to support the medium- and long-term rehabilitation, reconstruction and risk reduction efforts as well as the adaptation plan led by the Pakistani government at all levels. The resolution welcomes the proposed convening of a pledging conference for the long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction phases in the disaster-stricken areas, to be held at the earliest opportunity, and calls on all member states to participate at the highest level.

Stressing the urgent need to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather events, the resolution urges member states to continue to engage in adaptation planning processes and to enhance cooperation in disaster risk reduction.

Armed Forces to never allow any force to destabilize Pakistan politically or economically: COAS

continued from page 01

At the beginning of the passing out parade, Major Saad Amjad Raha, parade adjoint, invited the army chief for the inspection of the parade. He was accompanied by Maj. Gen. Omer Ahmed Bukhari, the commandant of Pakistan Military Academy.

High-ranking civil and military leaders and ambassadors of friendly nations attended the event. Addressing the ceremony, Gen. Bajwa congratulated the cadets and their families for successfully completing the training. “I would also like to extend my heartiest felicitations to the cadets of our brotherly countries on completion of their military training at the Pakistan Military Academy,” he added.

The chief highlighted the role of the military in successfully exterminating the menace of terrorism from the country in its two-decade-long struggle.

“Unique accomplishment that not many countries or armies claim,” he pointed out. Gen. Bajwa said the ceremony has made him nostalgic, reminding him of the day he stood before his seniors 42 years ago. He said at the time he could have never imagined that one day he would be commanding this army.

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has ordered for ensuring effective implementation of a plan to reduce smog in the provincial capital and other cities of the province. The CM directed the provincial administration to initiate an action in order to overcome the factors causing smog, said a handout issued here. He directed the officials of Environment Protection Department, Transport Department and the administration to visit the field. He asserted that no negligence would be tolerated with regard to implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs), being issued to reduce smog.

He maintained that smog had been declared a calamity to protect the human lives and a ban had been imposed on burning of the crops residue. He ordered to initiate an indiscriminate action against the persons involved in burning of crops residue.

The CM ordered for taking legal action against the smoke-emitting vehicles, adding that the antismog squad should regularly check the smoke-emitting vehicles and an indiscriminate action should be taken against the vehicles adding pollution to the air. He said that the anti-smog squad should ensure checking of vehicles at the entry points of the Lahore city. The CM urged the departments concerned and the administration to create awareness among the public to get timely tuning of their vehicles.

The Sumbal Solution

soon as their retirement draws near. They either start planning holidays for their post retirement period or they start deliberating on their private ventures. Their last years in the service are usually as non-productive as the caretaker setup always is. Contrarily, Abdullah Khan Sumbal has proven otherwise. The way his exposure and seniority have been broadened with experience and diversity of service, his contribution is defying the law of marginal utility by becoming more relevant and valuable with every passing day. I met him on the Orange Line Metro Train for the first time when the then government was conducting its trial run. I haven’t seen or met a person with this rare combination i.e. being smart and humble, both at the same time. I believe, he is one of the best fits for the position of Chief Secretary in Punjab for three major reasons.

He himself is an honest man, an upright officer who might tolerate a mistake but won’t spare anybody corrupt. He doesn’t like to see corrupt faces every again, this is what the officers who have worked with him say about him. They can vouch for his commitment and dedication to work, imagine him working two shifts in a day when he first attends a meeting at Planning & Development early in the morning and wraps up his tasks till noon and then he dons the cap of a Chief Secretary from noon till 6 PM and then again he gets back to P&D where he often stays till 10 PM. This is an extraordinary time for the province which requires extraordinary measures and commitment from bureaucracy, Sumbal’s commitment to work would have a trickle-down effect on the administrative secretaries and field officers as well.

Secondly, he gives ample room to young

“Pakistan is a peace-loving country,” the army chief stressed adding that its quest for peace has led the country to reach out to neighbours. “We must give peace a chance by developing a mechanism to resolve all our battles, and bilateral issues peacefully,” General Bajwa stated further. Though, he warned that the desire for peace must not be misconstrued as a weakness as thousands of brave soldiers have laid their lives to protect “every inch” of the motherland.

Cadets of the 24th Technical Graduate Course and 65th Integrated Course are also among those passing out today. Besides them, cadets of the 20th Lady Course and 5th Basic Military Training Course are also part of the parade. The best performing cadet will be honoured with a Sword of Honour, while gold medals will be given to two cadets of 146 PMA Long Course. Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Overseas Gold Medal will be given to the best performing cadet of the friendly countries. 20 foreign cadets including four women are part of the passing out parade. These cadets are from Qatar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Iraq.

and bright officers who put forth out-of-thebox solutions and always encourages them to contribute unlike some other senior bureaucrats who treat young officers as interns. His understanding about the role of young blood in service would eventually support the improved governance model.

Last but not the least, he created an enabling environment and inclusive workspace for his team. As per his team mate who conducted gender mainstreaming sessions at Planning & Development, he endorsed such initiatives by actively participating in hours long sessions and always reiterated this as his priority agenda. Whether he wants it or not, that’s not part of the debate but Sumbal is one of the best choices available from the lot.

Sumbal is the kind of man who gives policy direction, which is need of the hour. He should also establish a knowledge management system for preserving institutional assets i.e. the seasoned retired officers. A pool of such officers should be used to implement the buddy system in the official af-

fairs to increase young lot’s work efficiency by utilizing the experience of our last generation of officers.

It is safe to say that plight of the public sector in Punjab is not as gloomy as usually painted. Commissioner Bahawalpur recently conceived an innovative desert farming initiative to deal with the food security issue and empower the landless people of Cholistan desert. Similarly, Saman Rai who is currently serving as Director General Population Welfare Department is also one of the finest officers who is known as a catalyst of change by her teammates. She has identified the long lost element of PWD and is making an all-out effort to upgrade the department for improved service delivery, advocacy and outreach. Officers like her, who are self-motivated, are the real assets.

The author is a freelance journalist & has served as Media Advisor to World Bank and UNICEF funded Tourism and Healthcare projects in Punjab. He tweets

LaHore Staff RepoRt

of anti-smog plan

Terrorism dialogue

n June a meeting on national security attended by the civil and military leadership, decided that the talks with the proscribed TTP would be held only under the framework of the Constitution. It was also decided that an in-camera briefing would be held on the matter and later the Prime Minister would take Parliament into confidence. However secrecy continued to prevail regarding agreements reached with the terrorist network. A number of incidents led to conjectures that the TTP had been offered safe passage back to Pakistan from Afghanistan in exchange for unspecified measures to be taken by the militant network.

That senators from both sides of the aisle sought a briefing by the Interior Ministry explaining the rationale and information behind the latter’s heightened risk of terrorist attacks by the TTP means that satisfactory information on these dangerous developments is still either missing or not being conveyed to lawmakers and the people they represent. Recently terrorist attacks have taken place in Swat, Mardan, north Waziristan South Waziristan and parts of Balochistan, like Harnai, bordering Afghanistan. Questions therefore continue to be raised about the TTP’s resurgence. The administrative control of these areas has been in the hand of the provincial government that has been in power there for the past 10 years while the security has been predominantly the military’s domain.

Politicians of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf have taken to releasing video messages cautioning the rest of the country about the rising threat of militancy. However, the sheer chutzpah of Swat MnA Murad Saeed Khan speaking out about the same is undeniable. Fellow MnA Mohsin Dawar, during each of the few times the previous Speaker gave him the microphone on the floor of the House, consistently warned against the regrouping of the Taliban in the north. Though the PTI legislators, by and large, ignored these pleas, Murad Saeed Khan was one of the few who angrily denied these allegations and, in fact, took to personal attacks against the PTM leader.

There needs to be a more concentrated and inclusive effort around understanding the threat where all stakeholders are abreast with the past, present and future strategy to deal with the TTP. The country is in no position to deal with another crisis while also grappling with the effects of one of the worst natural disasters it has witnessed in decades and an economic catastrophe that is waiting to happen.

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late)

Editor

Yousaf Nizami Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Iranian Women Protest against Compulsory Hijab

Wider than ever before

the public to take matters into their own hands and confront those who disobey compulsory hijab laws in public.

This situation has created new and controversial fault lines in society and has separated minorities who oppose the compulsory hijab from the majority who support it, who see it as a fundamental violation of basic human rights. Since 1979, a younger generation of Iranians, especially women, is now protesting against the compulsory hijab laws not only to challenge them, but it also challenges the Islamic Republic’s strict socio-religious beliefs and their permanence.

posed on them in 2018. These anti-hijab protests are dominated by women’s revolt against the objectification of their bodies.

M. A. Niazi

THE latest round of public protests in Iran erupted over the killing of a 22-year-old woman named Mehsa Amini. She died in the custody of the so-called Morality Police on September 16 for allegedly violating Iran’s public veiling laws.

Amini’s tragic death is another reminder of how Tehran’s Islamist rulers continued to DEAL WITH the demands of the Iranian people. Opposition to wearing the hijab or niqab is one of many public complaints. The violence that led to Amini’s death was no accident.

This is an integral part of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s stance on any political disagreement. He believes violent repression will force protesters to retreat. hOWEVER, his political decisions deepen raw public anger against the Islamic Republic. not only is Khamenei inciting the Iranian people against the government, his insistence on wearing the hijab is also dividing the ranks of Islamic scholars as well as Iranian society.

Khamenei tricked Ibrahim Raisi into becoming Iran’s president in the election in June 2021. In office, Raisi SAID HE would focus on creating jobs, building new housing and fighting corruption. none of these promises has been kept till daye. Instead, the Raeesi government has allocated additional funds to the country’s security forces to enforce Iran’s mandatory laws more strictly, particularly hijab. There are reports that Iran now wants to introduce mass electronic surveillance of the population based on the Chinese model.

In Khamenei’s view, a compromise with the Iranian people in one area would only lead to a flood of demands for changes in other areas, from domestic to foreign policy. For this reason, Khamenei has ordered a crackdown on the “anti-Hijab” movement.

In recent months, the government has relentlessly used torture and harsh prison terms to quell the “great insurgency” behind the anti-Hijab campaign.

It has even encouraged pro-government members of

Anti-Hijab protests in Iran have already been successful. The Islamic hijab rule has been enforced in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. According to the law, women and girls over the age of nine must cover their heads in public. However, their intensity varies from administration to administration, depending on the political background of the incumbent chief. Backed by the country’s ultra-conservative religious elite, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called the recent backlash against the hijab law “a systematic encouragement of moral corruption in Islamic society.”

Similarly, earlier this month the deputy prosecutor of Mashhad in northeastern Iran wrote a decree banning women without headscarves from entering offices and banks or using the subway. While the mayor initially opposed the decision, he eventually allowed the order.

In a study conducted at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, participants who wore hijab explained that Islamic concepts of modesty and self-respect in relation to their sexuality led them to view “women as precious as diamonds”. Ironically, in a tweet aimed at the Indian state, nobel peace laureate Malala Yusufzai called the decision not to allow girls in hijab to go to school as “objectification”. The Iranian and Saudi Arabian experiences show that women want to free themselves from the hijab because it limits their role in modern society to that of a mere object.

The protests transcended common racial lines and brought together groups that are often divided.

Last summer, the region’s two ethnic groups, the Bakhtiari Lors and the Arabs, joined forces in protests against polluted water and air in the southwestern province of Khuzestan

Consequently, women’s rights and civil rights activists called on citizens, including men, to resist the compulsory wearing of the headscarf. The call received a positive response on the morning of July 12, and many videos and photos were posted on the electronic and print media. The new York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) expressed fears about “possible violence and arrests on July 12.” The anti-hijab social media campaign is being led by Masih Elenjad, a US-based activist who has been behind several online campaigns over the past decade.

During the 2017-2019 protests, several protesting women were arrested and many were seriously injured in the police action. Iranian activist Saba Kord Afshari was jailed for 24 years for promoting “corruption and prostitution” by removing her hijab. Iranian protesters are not alone, women in Saudi Arabia had also launched a “niqab under my foot” movement to protest the conservative Islamic dress code im-

The current wave of protests draws courage from past protests, but surpasses them in some important respects. First, women are leading the way and finding creative ways to challenge the government.

In protest, athletes, artists and businesses have spoken out for the demonstrators, something that didn’t happen in 2019, for example, in mass protests over rising gas prices. This suggests that the protests are expressing broader grievances within Iranian society that will not be easily eradicated.

The current protest has spread beyond the usual suspects. In addition to women and students, traders and shoppers are also protesting in Tehran’s market. In the past, they had already protested against the deteriorating economic situation and the devaluation of the Iranian currency. But this may be the first time in decades that they have not only protested for their own immediate economic interests but have shown solidarity with the girls and women who were killed by security forces during the 1979 revolution.

The protests transcended common racial lines and brought together groups that are often divided. Last summer, the region’s two ethnic groups, the Bakhtiari Lors and the Arabs, joined forces in protests against polluted water and air in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. However, this was limited to the province. This time, the protests have spread across the country. Don’t forget that during the Iranian revolution women willingly wore hijab to protest Reza Shah Pahlavi’s rule, but the sentiment was captured by the new Islamic regime when Ayatollah Khomeini made it mandatory.

The writer has a PhD in Political Science and can be reached at akramzaheer86@yahoo.com

Cyber Security: A threat of 5th generation warfare

The leaks of PM’s audio clips show how vital cyber security is

Russian cyber team to make Trump win. The Global Threat reports that adversaries funded by states can access vital infrastructure and applications without being discovered.Most technologically rich and advanced states are busy using malicious actors to intervene in other countries’ official and nuclear-related data.Even the most developed countries are not saved from the curse of cyber security threats.From politics to military information and policy, there is a digital intervention.Developing states with poor digital skills and cyber-related expertise are countries with the worst victims of cyber threats.

and threat is a far cry.

The growing problem of data theft, the dark web, and malevolent actors has shown many nations’ technological brittleness and weaknesses. The dark web and its crew previously exposed useful official information about Iran and India.According to their thinking on the subject, states with weak infrastructure and setup for cyber security are now at risk.

sult, what we can see that on the one hand, it proves the Islamic country’s moral and ethical decay, and on the other, it also exposes the breakability of digitalization and its usage.

In the epoch of digitalization and technological development, developing countries must ensure their cyber security and official data from data theft.Daily, we come across news that some of the official or country’s company’s sites have been hacked.According to an Economic Times report last year, Chinese hackers hacked American business sites; the case of tampering with US networking business Solar Winds is the recent story.Moreover, as per report of Pentagon that the 2016 election of the USA was manipulated by a

Each year, global cyber security reports are published to address the cyber security loopholes.The essential things discussed are digital skills and the technical usage of state citizens.Know-how about technological equipment, cyber-related information, and expertise are the only sources to contain this technological warfare.

Digitally illiterate states are those where the population has little knowledge of digitalization and technological practices; according to the global digital literate index, Pakistan is the region that is most behind in both the race for digital literacy and the issue of technologically structured richness.Pakistan is a country in this epoch where the internet penetration stood at 36 percent. Dealing with the matter of cyber security

Last year, Indian malicious actors, accompanied by a State agency, hacked an official Pakistani site and stole data.Various official data has been stolen and distorted by Indian agencies, which bitterly proves that Pakistan has a very fragile digital and cyber security team and infrastructure to contain such malpractices.However, after this event, the Pakistani cyber team did hack Indian cricket teams’ sites and uploaded a funny video as revenge.

Actually, what had to be done to ameliorate the cyber security performance and set-up against future occurrences?

Recently, leaked audios of the former Prime minister of Pakistan, Imran, the Chief of the Army, and their opposition member is a wake-up call for security agencies.As a re-

However, The Pakistani government began work on establishing the national Center for Cyber Security (nCCS) in June 2018.The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Planning Commission collaborated on the nCCS project.The task assigned to nCCS was to take the lead in protecting Pakistan’s cyberspace and elevating Pakistan to the top position in the world for cyber security.If a naïve mind asks what cyber security is as mentioned in the nCCS description: Protecting people and organizations from online attacks is the goal of cyber security.A growing number of rich and emerging nations have recently focused their attention on cyberspace, a venue for fifth-generation warfare.

The main motive behind nCCS is to contain countries from 5th generation or hybrid warfare under the cyber security paradigm.nonetheless, it is a well-known fact, and no secret behind this, that government

websites being hacked, and private information being stolen by foreign organizations are no longer breaking news.

Effective cyberattacks have the power to compromise users’ data as well as the infrastructure of a whole country.As a result, cyber security is now acknowledged as a concern that cuts across national boundaries.With new sophisticated zero-day assaults costing economies billions of dollars each year, it is an issue that is escalating quickly. The developed world is severely affected, but underdeveloped nations are at greater risk due to a lack of knowledge and a paucity of security personnel with the necessary training and experience to adequately address this growing threat.

Therefore, it is high time that the government not only should work on digital literacy and technological enrichment but also contain the cybersecurity-related threat.

The writer is a freelance columnist

Sharif Baloch

Effective cyberattacks have the power to compromise users’ data as well as the infrastructure of a whole country.

Dr MuhaMMaD akraM Zaheer

Editor’s mail

Digital Literacy

I actually felt relieved knowing about the ‘Family Pairing’ option on TikTok, which allows the parents to control and monitor through the smartphones their child’s activity on the social media application.

The policy of disabling the direct messages option for children aged 13-15 years is also a step in the right direction because in many ways it is a vulnerable time in a teenager’s life. It is good to see social medial platforms waking up to the reality that has made parents’ life tricky for years. Google also has a ‘Family Link’ option to limit the screen time of a child, while Apple has added parental control on its devices. Had it been done earlier, things might not have gone as far as they have, but, well, better late than never.

Teenagers fall victim to cybercrimes of various nature and intensity. It is because children these days have access to social media without any guidelines or awareness about what is at stake. Managing a teenager is a full-time task. The safest way ahead is for the parents to improve their own digital literacy to make the most of the various plpatforms while being able to protect their children from the pitfalls of social media usage. Without improved digital literacy on the part of the parents, it will be difficult for them to access the options that are available to keep their children safe. The argument that we do not know ‘how to operate these things’ is no more valid. Digital literacy is not an option for the parents today; it is a necessity.

WAHEED AHMED KARACHI

All the prisoners of tresses

Business as usual….

H um hooe, tum hooe, kay Mir hooe, un ki zulf kay sab aseer hooe”{ (Me and you and Mir are all prisoners of the tresses of the beloved), Mir Taqi Mir’s verse, spoken over two centuries ago; precisely sum up the political crisis at the head in Pakistan for almost a year. Practically every political move was undertaken between the lines. However, a common man on the street knew that it all pertained to a key appointment in the key institution. It meant in plain words, who is going to be the king for the next three years. All the prisoners of that elevated charm were only interested in the fact that how much favor they could curry with the new king.

Practically there was no difference between the various political groups in a mad rush for favours. The previous incumbents, who prided themselves on their call for “Justice”, were usually found speechless in front of the beloved entity. The other group which prided itself with giving the country its longest surviving Constitution, left no opportunity unattended to have the best of working relationships with the same entity. The last political group, also banking upon an anti-establishment wave, too took care not to alienate the entity.

That behaviour is not just restricted to the major political groups, rather smaller pressure groups despite being cornered by that very establishment, take care not to offend their tormentors.

The political crisis which started with a key appointment within the higher corridors of decision making; the appointment of the spy chief last autumn, unleashed the wave of events which culminated in a political quagmire in April, 2022. If the culmination of that crisis in the form of events taking place in the first week of April were not enough, the post April 9/10 crisis almost put the country on the route of default, political unrest or civil war. Save for the resilient people of that country; there was nothing left in the recipe of political mismanagement which did not try to derail the system or even the country itself.

Practically any country is run with an assumption that the technocratic arm of the state is left to manage itself. Whether regulatory bodies, federally managed defence forces, judiciary or any other such institution; it is a foregone protocol that most of the decently democratic polities allow things to move as they are.

crisis in the first place. Given the level of intimacy between the last incumbents and the establishment; it was a very thin line between what was preferred by the establishment or what was the will of the sitting government. From picking up for interrogation any specific community to silencing a particular anchor or a journalist, everyone was beleaguered about the origins of the orders.

The PML(N) is playing the reform of the economy card to curry favour and the PTI is crying revolution. So, what has changed for the common man? Practically nothing. It is the same old story for a state which is out of tune with the developments of the world, because it is fighting itself, scheming and scheming and so on.

For all practical purposes, the common man, already in dire straits due to stagflation, was not having the leisure to read between the lines of every action taking place in the upper corridors of power, save for political analysts who had spent decades smelling and assessing the mood in those corridors. However, for the rulers, having the leisure of interpretation thought it to be a swipe at their authority. Initially both sides preferred not to trade barbs, however later it became clear where the battlelines were.

External developments also lent some support for respective sides making their differences public. If the chief executive in constitutional sense was courting the Russian strongman at the start of the crisis in Europe, within a month, in a geostrategic moot in the federal capital, the strong man on the other side publicly differed on the crisis.

Later what happened in the form of thevote of no-confidence starting from February uptil the D-day, April 9, are common knowledge. However, the tone was set for all the warring parties in the political arena. For the parties out in the wilderness due to the established order cold shoulder, were back in the corridors, rebuilding lost links and threads in the process. Yesterday’s favorite was now in the political wilderness.

Practically there was no difference between the various political groups in a mad rush for favours. The previous incumbents, who prided themselves on their call for “Justice”, were usually found speechless in front of the beloved entity.

However, that was not supposed to be the case in Pakistan. The appointment of the new spy chief, presumably without consulting the chief executive of the country, gave rise to the

While trying to get over that wilderness status, the favorites thought it opportune to invent another crisis to upstage the established order. The so-called Cipher, Azadi march; uneven parallels with ousted Iranian Prime Minister of 1953; Dr. Mosaddegh, finding desperate identification with saints who were wronged, all summed up on one agenda; resumption of the intimacy with the beloved, whose tresses of proverbial hairs were now being admired by the other political players.

One year after; after exhausting all the avenues to upstage the system at hand; as things stand; practically, it has not been the Azadi (freedom) of Pakistan which was the issue. neither it was the call for justice; rather it was the political comeback which was marinated with revolutionary slogans; attractive enough to deceive the common man crushed under the economic slowdown, and to attract the common man already economically displaced firstly due to the economic slump, the IMF pressure led adjustments in forex rates as well as withdrawal of subsidy from energy sources by the new incumbents and fed up with the state of affairs. If that had been the story of one political trend in the country, things could have been sorted out. However, what is evident is that no party; for justice, for constitution or for economic development as their mission statement is willing to upset the grueling system; which rests upon appeasing the strongest.

Practically, every party is not seeking a longterm road map of reform; which should and which can change the rules of business for all at the back of need for reform to correct the way the country is being managed. The next general election is precisely the junction which all parties are seeking to cross over with a successful rating.

Pakistan as a matter of fact has become a political model, where the system is being run as a constitutional monarchy of sorts, where unlike the constitutional ones, where the monarch cuts a pathetic figure, in Pakistan, he is calling the shots, more than what he merits.

So as the calls for another siege of the capital draw headlines, the appointment of the key appointment, and the timeline of the next general elections; it is just cheap political maneuvering which is constantly taking place in one way or another.

The coming weeks can be in general political terminology as coined by the anchors“rising political temperatures”. However, regretfully Pakistan is not on the verge of any revolution. Rather it is business as usual. Every political player is playing within what can be called the designated area. The PPP is lately calling for the impeachment of the PTI-elected President so as to have their own in the next set-up. The PML(n) is playing the reform of the economy card to curry favour and the PTI is crying revolution. So, what has changed for the common man? Practically nothing. It is the same old story for a state which is out of tune with the developments of the world, because it is fighting itself, scheming and scheming and so on. For the well-informed spectator it is ““Hum hooe, tum hooe, kay Mir hooe, un ki zulf kay sab aseer hoaye (Me and you and Mir are prisoners of the tresses of hair of the beloved)”

The writer is a

Unique Idea

THE rain poured several million acre feet (MAF) of water which was way more than the capacity of the Manchhar Lake. In addition, it also created a 100km additional ‘lake’. Experts believe that this water will stay for months as evaporation is our only hope in terms of reclaiming the dry land.

I have studied subsoil data of Rahim Yar Khan in lower Punjab, Daharki in upper Sindh and Port Qasim in Karachi while sinking tube wells up to a depth of 150 feet. The subsoil strata predominantly range between sandy-clay and clayey-sand mixtures, but all three sites had a 1015 feet thick clay band starting around the 20-30 feet level. Water above it cannot penetrate it and stays put. This impervious clay level if punctured will allow water to seep downwards quickly. Architect Yasmin Lari on her YouTube channel has defined easy methods to make these wells while utilising minimal tools, stones and gravel. It is great that she has successfully demonstrated them in downtown Karachi. If we make thousands and thousands of these wells across the flooded areas, we will surely be able to avoid inundation and subsequent losses.

S NAYYAR IQBAL RAZA KARACHI

Infrastructure at KU

THE condition of buildings and other infrastructure in Karachi University (KU has deteriorated to such an extent that it now poses a danger to the lives of both the students and the members of staff. The recent rains have only made matters worse.

My son studies at the university and through him I came to know that a portion of the roof of the Sociology Department collapsed. Luckily, there were no injuries as the incident happened after office hours.

I have myself studied at the KU during the 1990s at a nominal and affordable fee, but the university today charges a hefty amount, but fails to take care of its own infrastructure. It is really nothing but criminal negligence on the part of the university administration to force the students to attend classes in lecture halls that have leaking roofs and that have now started to cave in. Instead of addressing the issue and going for the repairs, the administration is asking the teachers to have online classes whenever necessary. This is something that we parents have not signed up for. We want our children to experience campus life and be ready for the practical world. If the conditions at the campus are always unsafe, the university should consider a refund of sorts to those who may not wish to continue.

SHEROZE KHAN KARACHI

NEPRA’s strange policy

THE disclosure made in the annual report of the national Electric Power Regulatory Authority (nepra) is mindboggling. Distribution companies (Discos) have been purchasing electricity from distant areas at a much higher cost while ignoring the power available at a much lower cost from nearby areas. It is time nepra, as the regulator, revised its powerpurchasing policy which currently is not in the interest of the nation.

SHOAIB AHMAD SIDDIQUI ISLAMABAD

Social Irresponsibility

PEOPLE in flood-affected areas need immediate healthcare facilities as hospitals have been washed away and viral diseases are spreading quickly in those areas. Medical camps by non-governmental organisations (nGOs) and Pakistan Army are not enough to cater to the large number of patients. What is missing in the equation is the contribution of renowned hospitals that charge exorbitant fees and make windfall profits, but are nowhere to be seen when they are needed the most.

MALIK UL QUDDOOS KARACHI

Bad Lights

THE Karachi University campus goes blind dark after the sunset because all the street lights have developed one fault or the other, and are no more functional, giving the university a haunted feel at night. At some points, there are no streetlights at all, leaving such areas too dark to pass through comfortably. Resultantly, a number of incidents involving harassment have taken place. The management should immediately have the street lights repaired to avoid any untoward incident.

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Yusuf al-QaradawI and the scholars of the sultan

QARADAWI’S RETIREMENT IN THE MID-2010S, AND HIS PASSING LAST WEEK, LEAVES ISLAMIC SCHOLARSHIP AT SOMETHING OF A CROSSROADS

scholars from Shia, Sufi, and Salafi orientations whose attitudes towards democracy and autocracy was not particularly salient.

Indeed, the International Union of Muslim Scholars which Qaradawi helped establish and chaired from 2004 welcomed scholars from all of these theological orientations and did not ask whether they supported democracy or autocracy.

UNCOMPROMISING ATTITUDE: But the Arab revolutions of 2011 initiated a process that transformed this regional status quo, reconfiguring old alliances and antagonisms. As some scholars have observed, Qaradawi’s own engagements in this - particularly his uncharacteristically severe condemnation of Shi‘ism owing to Iranian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s atrocities - contributed to the post-Arab revolutionary polarisation.

QARADAWI’S LONG-STANDING PRACTISE OF SPEAKING HIS MIND AND MAKING FORTHRIGHT CRITICISMS UNDOUBTEDLY CONTRIBUTED TO SOME POLARISATION

that they had been asked to fulfil.

Among his colleagues, Abdallah bin Bayyah is the most senior to have parted ways with Qaradawi during the polarisation that marked the 2013 counter-revolutionary change of fortunes in the early Arab revolutionary period. Bin Bayyah who had long admired Qaradawi and once called him the “conscience of the global Muslim community (umma)” formally parted ways with Qaradawi in September 2013, a few weeks after the Egyptian Rabaa massacre.

Within months, he would be appointed as the president of a newly formed “forum for Promoting Peace in Muslims Societies” that had been set up by the UAE’s foreign minister.

the hands of authoritarian state forces.

On the other hand, the polarisation was primarily engineered by states in the region, most notably Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the UAE. In some casesthose of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE - the states needed to foment just enough instability to illustrate their own indispensability. In others- such as Syria, backed by Iran- the states were engaged in an existential war to the death, often invoking sectarian rhetoric in the process.

In the context of this extreme polarisation, Qaradawi could be seen as a relatively minor player in relation to these states. Yet, his long-standing practise of speaking his mind and making forthright criticisms undoubtedly contributed to some polarisation.

If there was one constant throughout the long career of the late Yusuf al-Qaradawi, it may well have been his belief in the obligation to speak truth to power. That is not to claim that he always lived up to this belief, or that his judgement in such matters was always beyond reproach. But throughout his life, Qaradawi appears to have been almost constitutionally incapable of remaining silent in the face of what he perceived as injustice.

One of his earliest writings, from his mid-20s, was a short play entitled The Scholar and the Tyrant, a theatrical re-enactment of the historical persecution of the noted early Islamic scholar and political dissident, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, by the tyrannical early Muslim military general, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, both of whom died in the year 714.

The play illustrates the kind of stance Qaradawi already admired in his 20s as an aspiring scholar-activist, that of a righteous scholar standing up to a tyrant and being killed for it. Ultimately, however, the tyrannical al-Hajjaj got his comeuppance soon after Ibn Jubayr’s killing, dying a horrible death from illness within a month of his execution of Ibn Jubayr. Qaradawi, like scholars before him, uses this episode to suggest that ultimately, divine justice is destined to be served.

OPPOSING TYRANNY: As was the case in his early career, Qaradawi’s activism in his later years could be seen as an extension of his life-long commitment to opposing tyranny. Towards the end of his life, in the context of the Arab revolutions, Qaradawi emerged as a vocal critic of dictatorship in the Middle East. With his passing, some of the most prominent remaining scholars in the Middle East are state-sponsored scholars supportive of autocracy.

Indeed, one of the darker sides of the Arab counterrevolutions of the past decade has been the emergence of pro-autocracy transnational Islamic institutions and networks that perversely mirror the kinds of independent transnational religious bodies that Qaradawi pioneered in the 1990s and 2000s. The Arab counter-revolutions have bequeathed to us new challenges, and Qaradawi’s retirement in the mid-2010s, and his passing on last week, leaves Islamic scholarship at something of a crossroads.

Prior to the revolutions, pro-democracy Sunni Islamists like Qaradawi had maintained a modus vivendi with scholars of various other tendencies. These included

But an equally polarising stance for many of his scholarly colleagues, ensconced as they were in the institutions of various states throughout the region, was Qaradawi’s hostility towards autocracy, and his vocal advocacy of democracy.

for Qaradawi, in many of the conflicts that arose in the region, this appears to have been a non-negotiable point of disagreement. He seems to have held that people’s repression was something that scholars could never turn a blind eye to, and in this regard, his attitude was not without precedent in the traditions of Muslim religious scholars.

In some ways, this uncompromising attitude was out of character for Qaradawi. for much of his career, he was known for his ability to navigate contentious debates while maintaining goodwill on both sides. He had adopted a largely conciliatory approach on matters of theological contention between Sufis and Salafis, and encouraged mutual respect and understanding between the major sectarian orientations of Shia and Sunni Islam, while clearly maintaining his own Sunni stance.

But theological difference was one thing; the opportunity to confront the entire entrenched system of dictatorship that governs the Middle East was another thing entirely. In the last fifteen or so years, he became less conciliatory towards the Shia, partly, it would seem, due to the systemic sectarianisation of the Middle East after the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq by the United States. With the onset of the Arab uprisings of 2011, his suspicion of Iranian intentions in the region were soon borne out in the Iranian intervention in Syria. Consequently, his anti-Iranian rhetoric would eventually embrace a sectarian frame.

POLARISATION

AMONG SCHOLARS: More generally, his vocal advocacy for democratic change in 2011 was met with opposition from many of his Sunni scholarly colleagues, most notably those who were working in an official capacity for the regimes Qaradawi was excoriating in his public statements. In the past, he had actually enjoyed cordial relations with many of those who would emerge as his scholarly opponents from 2011 onwards.

In some cases, these were scholars who found fault with the stridency of Qaradawi’s pro-democracy activism in the face of potentially deadly autocratic opposition. In other cases, these were scholars who had entirely bought into the role of serving autocratic power

Other scholars with whom Qaradawi had earlier enjoyed good relations included the current Rector of the Azhar, Ahmad al-Tayyib. The day before the first protests of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Qaradawi had been invited by him as a guest at an ecumenical conference at the historic al-Azhar University where both Qaradawi and Tayyib had studied in their early years.

But as Egypt’s most senior religious official, who held the rank of a minister in the Egyptian state, Tayyib opposed the 2011 revolution and offered support for the Egyptian coup of 2013, although he expressed his dismay at the violence and bloodshed that followed.

A third senior scholar, and one whose reputation beyond Egypt has been most sullied by his anti-revolutionary activism, is Ali Gomaa. I extensively examine Gomaa’s deadly interventions in post-coup Egypt in my book, Islam and the Arab Revolutions. A long establishment stalwart, he shocked even his supporters when it became public that he had offered the Egyptian security forces full-throated religiously-grounded encouragement in 2013.

Gomaa has been lavishly rewarded by Egypt’s General-turned-President Sisi for his loyalty and continues to enjoy a prominent position in Egyptian public life nearly a decade later. Qaradawi forcefully condemned these scholars’ fatwas during this period, but by this time, the polarisation between pro-democracy and pro-autocracy scholars had become insurmountable.

Two of Gomaa’s acolytes are the younger scholars, Ali al-Jifri and Usama al-Azhari, who both worked in the service of Egypt’s dictator. for several years, al-Azhari has acted as Sisi’s official religious adviser, and the UAEbased Jifri has remained an active voice in supporting Sisi and other regional dictators in the face of the “Muslim Brotherhood threat.” The Brotherhood is perceived by these scholars as instrumentalising democracy in order to gain political power. While these younger scholars do not have the same stature as some of their older counter-revolutionary mentors, their relative youth means that they may well become increasingly influential in propping up regional autocracy for decades to come.

A COMPLICATED LEGACY: Setting aside the various other dimensions of his long and remarkable life, Qaradawi’s legacy after the Arab counter-revolutions has thus been decidedly mixed. Some have argued that he contributed considerably to the polarisation that arose from the Arab revolutionary spark by recklessly advocating forcefully for democracy in a region where entrenched military power was decidedly concentrated in

how mob-like politicians rig the system

IN “MAFIA DEMOCRACY,” MR. FRANZESE POINTS OUT HOW POLITICIANS PROFIT FROM THEIR PUBLIC SERVICE AND SERVE THEMSELVES MORE THAN THE PUBLIC THEY WERE ELECTED TO SERVE

Washington tiMes PaUl Davis

In “Mafia Democracy: How Our Republic Became a Mob Racket,” author Michael franzese claims that politicians are acting like organized crime members. He should know, as Michael franzese was a Cosa nostra Colombo crime family caporegime. He spent more than 20 years in organized crime prior to walking away from the criminal life. Today, he is a popular Christian public speaker, podcaster and author. In “Mafia Democracy,” Mr. franzese points out how politicians profit from their public service and serve themselves more than the public they were elected to serve. Rudy Giuliani, the federal prosecutor who once tried to put Mr. franzese in prison, wrote the foreword to the book. “Michael’s view of politics comes from a perspective that few people get to have. He’s seen what the criminal life is like, and he knows how criminals victimize those around them. So when Michael sees this behavior in our elected officials, he feels compelled to point out what’s happening and attempt to stop it,” Mr. Giuliani wrote. “Let’s join him in that effort.”

I reached out to Mr. franzese and asked him why he wrote the book. “I wrote the book because I am disgusted with and careful of the way our government is operating the country in a very Machiavellian mob-like way,” Mr. franzese replied. “I have children and grandchildren and

it is obvious to me that this country is not going to be the same if we continue. “So many times, people say to me the Mafia should be running the country. They would do a better job. I say no. You don’t want the Mafia running the country. You are supposed to have a democratic republic running this country.”

I noted that although he describes himself as a conservative, he slams politicians from both political parties in the book. I asked him if he tried to be fair and balanced. “Yes, I did. This is not a partisan attack on anyone. This is an attack on the system and the way they are behaving and how mob-like they are becoming. Many of these politicians come into office with blue-collar assets and they go off muti-millionaires. I describe how this takes place quite thoroughly in the book. It is all about power and control. They get into office, and they want to stay there forever. That’s the bottom line.”

I asked what takeaways he hopes readers will glean from his book. “I’m very encouraged, as people are saying they get it. What I want them to do is hold up public officials to be accountable. Our politicians make campaign promises and when they get into office, they break them, or they reverse them. We say that’s politics. It’s not politics. It’s lying. It’s deceit. Republican, Democrat or Independent, we can’t allow them to do that,” Mr. franzese said. The book shines a light on the greed, hypocrisy and deceit of a good number of politicians, many of whom are well known.

Part of the book offers a concise history of Cosa nostra. I asked if he could give a brief overview of Cosa nostra and its impact on America. “for more than a hundred years, Cosa nostra had a tremendous impact on this country, from the days of prohibition right up until the mid-1980s. I say that because that’s when Giuliani made very effective use of the racketeering laws, which changed the whole tide of the Mafia’s involvement and control of this country. But up until that time, we controlled all the unions in this country. You control the unions; you control the country because you have voting blocks and money. And politicians want voting blocks and money. We survived and prospered under some very difficult conditions because we always had the Justice Department on us. We were always warring with one another, but we survived. It’s a part of history,” he said.

I asked why he walked away from the life. “I didn’t want this kind of life for my family. I saw how destructive it was in my own personal life and to others involved, and I saw the tide changing dramatically in the 1980s. I was a major target and I had been indicted seven times. I knew it was just a matter of time before I go down, and when I do it will be forever,” Mr. franzese said.

What solutions would he suggest to make the country less of a Mafia democracy? “number one, people have to be informed and hold these politicians accountable at the voting booths. We still have power in numbers. We have to make politicians understand that we are

This was all the more true in the context of the fear felt by Middle Eastern states, many of which saw the Arab Spring as an existential threat. Morally speaking, Qaradawi seemed to be saying that the existential fear of these states had no standing. Practically, however, they could not be dislodged despite their lack of moral standing.

These rulers were never going to go down without a fight, and Qaradawi’s critics like Bin Bayyah and Gomaa have argued that advocacy for even “peaceful” revolution was always guaranteed to become violent in this context. What weakens the arguments of such critics is, of course, these scholars’ willingness to become mouthpieces and rubber stamps for these rulers.

ISLAMIC ADVOCACY SYMBOL: Ultimately, the polarisation that followed the 2011 revolutions created the conditions for public facing Islamic scholars to side either with dictators or with the people, or potentially to try to studiously avoid political commentary of any kind. The severity of the repression in the context of the ongoing counter-revolutions has meant that Qaradawi’s long-standing commitment of speaking truth to power has few emulators today.

And while plenty of scholars have decided to maintain a prudential silence in the face of overwhelming odds, one of the darker legacies of this period has been the rise to central prominence of the full-throated proautocracy scholar, examples of whom have been mentioned in the foregoing.

With the passing of Qaradawi, perhaps the most significant, if inevitably imperfect exemplar of speaking truth to power among contemporary Islamic scholars is gone. And with him, an important symbol of Islamic advocacy for democratic reform in the Middle East is no more. A new generation of scholars and activists can still recognise that the work Qaradawi, and so many others have dedicated themselves to over the past decade - the work of socio-political reform in the face of extraordinary repression - continues unabated.

Qaradawi, like many who have passed on before him, can be seen as both an inspiration and a lesson in the limits of any human endeavour. But his legacy of speaking truth to power will doubtless be emulated by future generations so long as autocracy persists.

Usaama al-Azami is Departmental Lecturer in Contemporary Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford. He holds a PhD in modern Islamic political thought from Princeton University and is a seminarytrained Islamic theologian.

not going to stand for it. Be honest with us or we will throw you out,” he said. Paul Davis’ “On Crime” column covers true crime, crime fiction and thrillers.

Mafia

How Our Republic Became a

corner

CDA Chief takes notice of land swap controversy circulating on social media

HAsCol AvoIDs forensIC AuDIt

HASCOl,on Friday, notified Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that the Sindh High Court has decided in its favor against the appointment of a forensic auditor for investigating the company’s matters.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), back in January this year, had appointed Parker Russel AJS-chartered accountants as investigators for carrying out a forensic audit of Hascol.

islamabad: Chairman Capital Development Authority capt(r) Mohammad Usman Younis took notice of land swap controversy circulating on social media and directed the Land, Estate Management-II and Planning Directorate to issue the land swap letter contiguous to Quaid-i-Azam University in the same mouza I.e Mulpur immediately on Saturday. Further more the Chairman reiterated that Educational institutions like QAU are playing pivotal role in imparting knowledge to our future generations .He strictly directed the satff to complete all process by Saturday evening and ensure that commitments made by CDA board to the QAU are fulfilled immediately and no delay will be tolerated in this regard. The concerned officers assured the Chairman that offer letter will be issued by Saturday evening. The Chairman CDA further directed Memeber Estate and Member Planning to be in touch with the Vice Chancellor of QAU and resolve any issue regarding this immediately. Moreover the Chairman CDA expressed his commitment to preserve and promote the sanctity of the educational institute and no stone will be left unturned in this regard.in this regard an underpass has been provided to the university in the bypass project.Capt (r) usman further directed that only Eucalyptus trees should be cut if necessary and no indigenous tree should be cut in execution of the project and at least ten tree shall be planted for each fallen tree. pr

AH City hosts pre-launch event to officially reveal biggest project in DI Khan

The official notification on the PSX website read, “The company would like to apprise the high court of Sindh (vide Stay Order dated 27.04.2022) in the misc. Appeal no.32 of 2022 was pleased to suspend operations of the impugned orders dated 19.01.2022 and 12.04.22 issued by SECP concerning the appointment of an investigator for carrying out a forensic audit in terms of section 258(1) of the companies act, 2017.”

The company has been in hot waters since its alleged financial malpractices and manipulation of financial reports were unveiled back in 2020. Further, accumulating losses due to unsustainable growth strategies have moved the company to the verge of bankruptcy resulting in a default on loans in excess of Rs50 billion owed to more than 20 public and private sector financial institutions.

Section 258 & ForenSic audit: Section 258 of the Companies Act 2017 deals with serious fraud investigations and allows the SECP to appoint an individual or a firm to investigate the suspicious matters of an entity. As per the aforementioned section, “Commission may authorize any one or more of its officers or appoint such number of professionals from amongst the persons of ability, integrity and having experience in the fields of corporate affairs, accountancy, taxation, forensic audit, capital market, banking, information technology, law or such other fields as may be notified, as an inspector or investigation officer to investigate such serious nature of offenses relating to a company as provided in Sixth Schedule.”

The conduct of forensic audits is inherently much more meticulous than statutory audits. As per Syed Talha Ahmed, Ex Audit Associate at PwC, “Forensic audits are more rigorous than statutory (normal) audits as instead of inspection on a sample basis, all items and financial information under suspicion are tested,

and only conclusive evidence is taken into account, rather than persuasive evidence.”

Further, the companies act vests great powers with the investigators which would have led to some serious inconvenience for Hascol’s management.

“Firms/ Investigators appointed for forensic audits or investigations under the light of section 258 of Companies Act, 2017, have far greater powers at their disposal when compared to those of statutory auditors. The subsequent section of the same act vests some enforcement and production rights to the appointed officer similar to those held by a court of law.” Muhammad Havaris Arshad, Ex Audit Manager at PwC and Quality Control Inspector at Audit Oversight Board, told Profit.

The aforementioned powers include; enforcing the attendance of persons and examining them on oath or affirmation, compelling the discovery and production of books and papers and any material objects, and issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses. Therefore, it seems like Hascol has avoided detailed and rather painful scrutiny of its financial affair for the time being. the riSe and Fall oF haScol: On March 28, 2001, Hascol Petroleum limited was established in Pakistan as a private limited company. The Corporation changed its status to that of a public unlisted

company on September 12, 2007.

The Company purchases, stores, and markets items connected to petroleum, chemicals, lPG, and other associated industries. In 2005, the firm received an oil marketing license from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, and in 2018, it bought a company’s assets with an lPG license. Between 2010 and 2018, Hascol saw its topline surge by an astounding 52.7% per annum, from Rs7.9 billion to Rs234 billion.

However, its glory was short-lived, cutting the long story short the company was alleged to have been involved in an elaborate scam by siphoning off billions from banks through fraudulent means. The National Bank of Pakistan had the highest exposure in terms of credit facilities, therefore when the company defaulted on its liabilities the Federal Investigation Agency got involved.

The investigation revealed that the suspects acquired loans from financial institutions worth about Rs 54 billion while working together to launder money through financial fraud. The scam was carried out by Hascol in collusion with the NBP’s senior management and that of other commercial banks, according to the head of the FIA Sindh, and was dubbed by him as “the country’s biggest financial fraud”.

Over 2000 cops to guard Eid Miladun Nabi celebrations

ISLAMABAD pr

PEsHaWaR: AH Group project, AH City hosted the prelaunch event in Peshawar on Saturday 8th of October to present the AH City. The pre-launch event was carried out with the motive to reveal the mission and importance of the project, along with the revealing of the exclusive amenities that will upscale the entire region of D.I.Khan. The event was attended by the higher management of the AH Group, including the Chairman Mr. Yasir Ali, CEO Mr. Haseeb Khattak, and Managing Director Mr. Ramzan Ali, while The Chief Guest was the honorable Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Mr. Shehryar Afridi. AH Group projects are determined to work tirelessly and have taken several initiatives to make real estate a productive success driver for the economy of Pakistan. The AH Group Chairman Yasir Ali stated, “We are making profound efforts to ensure AH City will be the benchmark for supreme living in D.I.Khan by cultivating an extensive range of healthcare and education along with a supreme lifestyle.”Moreover, the event revealed a detailed presentation, which portrayed the detailed masterplan of the project, and CEO AH Group Haseeb Khattak presented how AH City will be bringing supreme living in D.I.Khan. “AH Group has become an evident virtue in the real estate sector with their client-centric approaches, especially in KP & I appreciate their efforts of bringing change and innovation through AH City,” pr

Over 2000 personnel of Islamabad Capital Police would perform duties on the occasion of Eid-Milad-UN Nabi to be observed across the country. Islamabad Capital Police have chalked out a comprehensive security plan for the main procession of 12th Rabi ul Awal and strict patrolling would be ensured during processions and other religious gatherings in the city. The security plan was formally reviewed here on Saturday presided over by DIG Operations Sohail Zafar Chatha on the special directions of IGP Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan.

Islamabad capital police including Rangers, Frontier Constabulary would perform patrolling and security duties on the occasion and the main procession starting from Sector G-7 would be completely cordoned off through heavy deployment.

Procession would start from sector G-7 (Sitara Market) and culminate near the shrine of Hazrat Sakhi Mehmud at Aabpara market after passing through

various routes. The monitoring and surveillance of processions would be ensured through Safe City drone and Cameras. The video footage of the processions would also be made from the front and backside of the entrance point.

All SPs, SDPOs, SHOs and other police officials would visit the routes of procession and ensure effective coordination

among the security personnel performing duties. They would guide the officials and boost their morale in accomplishing duties in a responsible manner. The teams of CTD, police commandos would perform security duties on the occasion while Rangers, CID and Special Branch would assist in smooth performance of their duties. The police officers including

SPs would also visit various police posts lying in the route of procession, check security duties and brief the officials to ensure effective security.

SSP (Traffic) has been directed to issue a traffic plan and ensure smooth flow of traffic on alternate routes during the procession. Strict vigilance should be maintained to ensure that security measures are in place by the police. Bomb disposal squad would conduct checking of routes through robots and modern technology while entry of participants in the procession would be ensured after complete checking.

IGP Islamabad said that all possible facilities should be provided to police officials performing duties during the processions. He further said that Islamabad capital police is utilizing all available resources in order to maintain law and order situation in the city. Citizens all also requested to cooperate with police and inform about any suspicious activity around them. No laxity in security duties would be tolerated, the IGP maintained.

Chinese firms join hands to support Pakistan’s post-flood reconstruction process

for local personnel and projects of Chinese companies, are needed more than ever to ensure the smooth operation of these projects.

But the situation in Pakistan lingers and challenges remain for regional recovery.

Chinese infrastructure companies in Pakistan are playing an increasingly important role in supporting the regional economy and livelihoods as the country looks for more joint efforts from the international community to facilitate the gradual recovery from the lingering devastation of recent floods.

While Chinese companies have taken an active approach in providing constant aid, they have also beefed up efforts to maintain the smooth operation of their projects in some key areas such as power generation and housing in Pakistan, as the country, hit by unprecedented floods in September, has seen its economic recovery slowing down.

Industry insiders and experts said that more joint efforts, including safety guarantees

Good news came from the Karot Hydropower Project located in Punjab province. The project, invested and constructed by China Three Gorges Corporation, has now been operating safely and stably for over 100 days, with a cumulative power generation of more than 1.537 billion kilowatt-hours, the infrastructure company said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Saturday.

Heavy rainfall since June resulted in unprecedented disaster, with roads cut and power supplies disrupted in some regions.

China Three Gorges Corporation has worked in full swing to ensure the safety of the project operation while providing donations to facilitate the country’s reconstruction following the floods, according to the company.

“While the rains have ceased and the water is beginning to recede, many areas in the south remain inundated and, with winter approaching, the situation is going from bad to worse,” according to the United Nations on Friday.

More than 15 million people could be pushed into poverty, and the effects of the floods will be felt not just for days or months but will linger in Pakistan for years to come, said the UN.

In the wake of the recent devastating floods, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday, urging the international community to provide full support and assistance to the Pakistani government in its efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of the floods and meet the medium- and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction needs.

Responding to the devastation of its neighboring country and close partner, the Chinese government and companies have taken an active approach since the beginning with all kinds of support already in place and more to follow.

Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) has taken an active approach to help those in need. Two rounds of financial donations, totaling 18.20 million Pakistani Rupees ($80,717.49), have been provided, according to the statement that PowerChina sent to the Global Times on Saturday.

PowerChina is going to provide an additional $100,000 in donations to the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund, the Global Times learned.

In addition to this financial aid, Chinese companies with projects based in the country have ramped up efforts to ensure the smooth

operation of these projects, a major pillar for regional economic recovery, as the country looks to post-flood reconstruction.

For example, the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project, Pakistan’s “Three Gorges Dam,” undertaken by PowerChina was affected by secondary disasters such as landslides, with construction and logistics materials unable to be delivered to the site for a long period of time.

Despite the difficulties, a rescue team with large mechanical equipment was dispatched to help with the rescue work in the region, including repairing damaged roads and canals for local villages.

After the restoration of traffic on the main roads, PowerChina immediately organized the resumption of work and production of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project and re-compiled the construction plan for the month.

ISLAMABAD

Blast hIts BrIdge lInkIng CrImea to russIa

KHARKIV The AssociATed Press

atruck bomb Saturday caused a fire and the collapse of a section of a bridge linking Russia-annexed Crimea with Russia, Moscow officials said, damaging a key supply artery for Moscow’s faltering war effort in southern Ukraine.

The speaker of Crimea’s Kremlinbacked regional parliament immediately accused Ukraine, though the Kremlin didn’t apportion blame. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly threatened to strike the bridge and some lauded the attack, but Kyiv stopped short of claiming responsibility.

The bombing came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 70, dealing him a blow that could lead him to up the ante in his war on Ukraine.

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said that the truck bomb caused seven railway cars carrying fuel to catch fire, resulting in a “partial collapse of two sections of the bridge.”

The 19-kilometre (12-mile) bridge across the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov opened in 2018 and is the longest in Europe. The $3.6 billion project is a tangible symbol of Moscow’s claims on Crimea and has provided an essential link to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The Peninsula holds symbolic value for Russia and is key to sustaining its military operations in the south of Ukraine. If the bridge were made inoperable, it

would make it significantly more challenging to ferry supplies to the peninsula. While Russia seized the areas north of Crimea early during the invasion and built a land corridor to it along the Sea of Azov, Ukraine is pressing a counter-offensive to reclaim them.

The bridge has train and automobile sections. Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee specified that the explosion and fire led to the collapse of the two sections of one of the two links of the automobile bridge, while another link was intact.

Russia’s Energy Ministry said Crimea has enough fuel for 15 days, adding that it was working on ways to replenish stock.

Authorities suspended passenger train

Israeli forces kill two Palestinian teens in the West Bank

RAMALLAH Agencies

Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teens in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

One teen, 14, was shot in the city of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank and another was killed in the village of al-Mazra’a al-Gharbiyah near Ramallah, the Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military said it was conducting routine activity near Qalqilya earlier on Friday when a suspect hurled a Molotov cocktail at its forces, who responded with live fire.

The Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that there were clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the area.

In al-Mazra’a al-Gharbiyah, witnesses said Israeli soldiers opened fire at the residents during clashes with Israeli settlers, killing a 17-year-old Palestinian and wounding another. The Israeli military said rioters hurled rocks at settlers and Israeli forces, lightly wounding a soldier, and the forces responded with riot dispersal means “in accordance with standard operating procedures,” including live fire.

traffic across the bridge until further notice. Putin was informed about the explosion and he ordered the creation of a government panel to deal with the emergency.

The speaker of Crimea’s Kremlinbacked regional parliament blamed Ukraine for the explosion, but downplayed the severity of the damage and said the bridge would be promptly repaired.

“Now they have something to be proud of: over 23 years of their management, they didn’t manage to build anything worthy of attention in Crimea, but they’ve managed to damage the surface of the Russian bridge,” Vladimir Konstantinov, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic, wrote on Telegram.

The parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party on Saturday stopped short of claiming that Kyiv was responsible but appeared to cast it as a consequence of Moscow’s takeover of Crimea and attempts to integrate the peninsula with the Russian mainland.

“Russian illegal construction is starting to fall apart and catch fire. The reason is simple: if you build something explosive, then sooner or later it will explode,” David Arakhamia, the leader of the Servant of the People party, wrote on Telegram.

“And this is just the beginning. Of all things, reliable construction is not something Russia is particularly famous for,” he said.

Other Ukrainian officials were more celebratory while still stopping short of claiming responsibility. The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, posted a video on Twitter with the Kerch Bridge on fire on the left side and a video with Marilyn Monroe singing her famous “Happy Birthday Mr. President” on the right.

An advisor to Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted: “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled:”

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that “the reaction of the Kyiv regime to the destruction of civilian infrastructure shows its terrorist nature.”

In August, Russia suffered a series of explosions at an airbase and munitions depot in Crimea, which underlined its vulnerability.

He’s not even running — but US midterms could make or break Trump

WASHINGTON AFP

After losing the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump could have worked on his golf swing or produced another book by the pool at his south Florida beach club.

Instead, he threw himself into the midterm election campaign with unprecedented gusto, staking his kingmaker reputation on a slew of controversial candidates in key primary races.

His US Senate picks in open races — mostly anti-abortion hardliners, backers of his election fraud conspiracy theories or out-of-towners with tenuous local ties — have been struggling, however.

And with exactly a month to go until Election Day, many Republicans are laying the blame at the gates of Mar-a-Lago.

“Donald Trump is not on any

ballot in 2022, but his political future is,” John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote in a recent blog post.

Trump’s project to reshape the Republican Party in his image via the midterms will likely “either make Donald Trump an also-ran or the commanding force in party politics for years to come,” Hudak argued.

Many of Trump’s primary endorsements have been seen as undermining more electable, mainstream alternatives, and potentially squandering easy victories in key battlegrounds seen as ripe for flipping from the Democrats.

Among his controversial picks are celebrity physician Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania — seen by many as an out-of-touch “carpetbagger,” prone to rhetorical gaffes — and Ohio’s J.D. Vance, a venture capitalist who has spent most of his adult life in Silicon Valley and faces

similar issues.

The story is the same in Georgia, where ex-football star Herschel Walker faces questions over domestic abuse, dishonesty about his past and mental fitness.

And in Arizona, Blake Masters is struggling in what should be a winnable seat with a campaign that Politico has described as “hardline nationalist.”

‘Little to gain’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — who needs just one gain to take the upper chamber from the Democrats — has offered oblique hints that he sees “candidate quality” as a problem.

Hudack put it more starkly.

“(If) Senate candidates like Walker, Oz, Vance or Blake Masters ultimately lose in numbers that maintains Democrats’ Senate majority, Mr Trump will be widely blamed,” he said.

Indonesian football faces pivotal moment after stadium disaster

MALANG AFP

The deadly stampede at an Indonesian football stadium has shaken the foundations of the country’s most popular sport and was the culmination of decades of mismanagement and violence, experts say. The tragedy a week ago that killed 131 people, including 32 children, in the aftermath of a top-tier match has forced officials and fans to confront failings in every aspect of the game in the country. Experts on Indonesian football speak of shaky infrastructure, mismanagement, hours-long waits to leave outdated stadiums and the potential for heated passions to descend into violence that has killed scores since the 1990s.

“This is a wake-up call, one that has cost us greatly,” Indonesian football commentator Mohamad Kusnaeni told AFP.

President Joko Widodo visited the site of the tragedy on Wednesday, ordering an audit of all stadia and pointing to the country’s 78,000-seater national stadium in Jakarta as the standard he expects across the 18-team league.

The gates at the 42,000-capacity Kanjuruhan stadium in East Java’s Malang were big enough to fit only two people at a time and some were not open on time, officials said.

“You could see and sense that something bad could potentially happen,” Indonesian football pundit Pangeran Siahaan told AFP.

“There’s a lot of danger every time you go into a football stadium in Indonesia.”

Many stadiums in Indonesia have not met international standards for hosting sports events, said Kusnaeni.

Some do not have single seating but instead benches that allow more people to stand and crowd together, while making it harder for security to spot a threatening incident before it happens.

Widodo said the seated Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta allowed all spectators to exit safely within 15 minutes, and all stadiums should be brought in line. “We must learn from it. Minor punishments have made negligence in the football scene repeatedly happen,” said Akmal Marhali, coordinator of football watchdog Save Our Soccer and member of the fact-finding task force investigating the disaster.

“There must be progressive change and steps that turn the page.”

Stricter measures such as banning clubs from Indonesia’s football association, or PSSI, could help ensure better security and fan conduct.

InspIred by ItalIan ultras: Preventive measures were put in place before the match “due to the intense rivalry and… the culture of the spectators”, PSSI deputy secretary general Maike Ira Puspita told AFP, refusing to discuss police conduct. Persebaya Surabaya fans were barred from the stadium because of fear of fan violence led by diehard “ultra” fans.

But when Arema FC supporters — known as “Aremania” — flooded the pitch to express their anger with the home team, it set off a chain of events worsened by a violent police response that sparked a stampede leaving many trampled or suffocated to death.

Supporters said they were not to blame for what unfolded after Arema’s first home defeat to their fiercest rivals for more than two decades.

National police appeared to blame “anarchic” fans before it suspended nine officers and sacked the local police chief.

The disaster has put a focus on Indonesia’s “ultra” groups, which can almost look like battle-trained militias, listening in uniform to anointed commanders who gee them up with megaphones. Groups in this sub-culture, such as the Curva Nord Persija in Jakarta, engage in organised chanting and choreographed visual displays inspired by Italian ultras.

China says US chip export ban could risk global chip giants’ revenue

The US government on Friday released a broad set of technology export controls, including what said to be the “harshest” ban on shipment of certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with US equipment to China, further intensifying its socalled tech decoupling push and threatening to wreak havoc in the highly globalized chip supply chain.

While the raft of measures is widely regarded as the biggest shift in US policy toward shipping technology to China since the 1990s, Chinese market watchers and industry insiders said that the move further demonstrated that the US’ multi-year crackdown campaign against China’s tech sector has failed to achieve its goal of strangling China’s tech rise.

Moreover, the move, while aimed at further cutting China off from foreign chips, will hurt multinationals from around the world, including chip giants in the US, which have benefited greatly from the vast Chinese market, experts noted, warning that disruptions posed by the US could stall development in the global chip industry for years.

Global damaGe: Commenting on the US’ move, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said on Saturday that the US’ new export controls will hinder international tech exchanges and economic cooperation, and undermine the stability of global industrial and supply chains and the recovery of the world economy.

The US’ politicization and weaponization of technology, economic and trade issues will not stop China’s development, but will only hurt the US itself, the spokesperson added.

The US’ export control measures on Fri-

day, if effective, could hobble China’s chip manufacturing industry by forcing US and foreign companies that use US technology to cut off support for some of China’s leading factories and chip designers, according to Reuters.

Also on Friday, the US added China’s top memory chipmaker YMTC and 30 other Chinese entities to a so-called “unverified” trade list.

Since the Trump administration, the US has never given up the suppression of China’s chip industry, but the escalating crackdown shows that the previous crackdown campaign has not worked, Ma Jihua, a veteran telecommunication industry analyst, told the Global Times on Saturday.

The Biden administration is well aware that the marginal effect of the chip crackdown gets smaller, but it has no better options, Ma added.

“It’s extremely hard for the Biden administration to cut global chip industrial and supply chains and exclude China with simply a handful of policies,” Fu Liang, an independent tech analyst, told the Global Times on Saturday.

He said that the US’ reckless move will hurt the interests of many countries involved and may wind up weakening its own leading position in the international technology venue and excluding itself from the global industrial and supply chains.

“Out of considerations for their own interests, tech companies across the world may not thoroughly follow the US policies,” Fu said, noting that foreign suppliers are worried that the US’ chip export restrictions may directly reduce their profits from the world’s largest chip consumer and that China’s swift domestic replacement will mean no more orders for them.

One example cited by market watchers is US allies’ shifting attitude toward the socalled Chip 4 alliance. While major chip producers like South Korea and Japan initially showed a cooperative attitude toward the move, but they slowly shifted toward being cautious. There has been no major update on the alliance other than some meetings.

“The resistance is getting bigger and their willingness is getting lower,” Ma said.

As the Biden administration intensifies its tech decoupling push, more and more US and global businesses will see increasing losses. For example, after the US government prohibited US semiconductor firm Nvidia from selling sophisticated chips to China at the end of August, the company estimated that it may lose approximately $400 million in potential sales to China in the third quarter and actively engaged with the US government in seeking exemptions.

Skipper AzAM STeerS pAkiSTAn To T20 Tri-SerieS win over new zeAlAnd

Afp

CAPTAINBabar Azam’s half-century inspired Pakistan to their second win in the T20 international tri-series in Christchurch on Saturday, coasting past New Zealand by six wickets.

Azam rode his luck in reaching 79 off 53 balls as his team took command of the series following their opening 21-run win over Bangladesh on Friday.

All three sides are using the week-long tournament at Hagley Oval to prepare for the T20 World Cup in Australia.

New Zealand’s 147-8 after

winning the toss looked inadequate and Azam’s knock took away any prospect of victory, steering the tourists to 149-4 with 10 balls to spare. The hosts paid a heavy price for a straightforward dropped catch by Glenn Phillips at point off Tim Southee’s bowling when Azam was on 27.

The opener went on to post his 28th T20 international half-century, the equal second most alongside Rohit Sharma, with both sitting behind another Indian, Virat Kohli (33).

Southee snared the early wicket of Mohammad Rizwan — who scored a match-winning unbeaten 78 against Bangladesh — and the Pakistan middle order largely

struggled aside from Shadab Khan’s 34 off 22 balls.

However, Azam’s presence meant his team were always in control. The result was virtually sealed when he and Haider Ali took 21 runs off the final over of Blair Tickner (2-42), the third-last of the innings.

Azam said the rapid 61-run stand with Shadab for the third wicket gave an insight to a tactic they could employ at the World Cup, with the allrounder shifted up the order.

“Definitely, we have a plan to send Shadab up to charge the bowlers, to utilise his skills,” Azam said.

“He played very well. We

planned that I would go all the way and Shadab would take a chance.”

Earlier, it took late blows from middle-order batsman Mark Chapman to revive a muddled New Zealand effort with the bat.

Chapman’s 32 off 16 balls followed solid innings from opener Devon Conway (36 off 35) and captain Kane Williamson (31 off 30), although both struggled for timing during a 61-run stand for the second wicket.

It was another frustrating outcome for the accomplished Williamson, who has passed 50 on just two occasions in all formats over the last 18 months, a period that has encompassed 29 innings.

He was clean-bowled attempt-

Babar equals Kohli, Rohit’s record after scoring 28th T20 fifty

stand.

england women feed off wembley energy to beat US

LONDON Afp

England Women rode a wave of euphoria to beat world champions the United States 2-1 on Friday in their first match at Wembley since they were crowned European champions in July. An early goal from Lauren Hemp and a Georgia Stanway penalty either side of a Sophia Smith strike propelled England to their first win over the US since 2017, laying down a marker for next year’s World Cup. The build-up to the friendly in London was overshadowed by the damning revelations in a report detailing “systemic” sexual abuse and misconduct in the US domestic game. Players from both teams wore tealcoloured armbands as a show of solidarity with victims of sexual abuse, gathering behind a banner that said “Protect the Players” before kick-off. A crowd of nearly 77,000 applauded warmly before the decibel count rose sharply as lashing rain in London relented and the fans were treated to an incident-packed match. “That was really intense, just what we wanted,” England coach Sarina Wiegman told ITV Sport. The “USA played as we expected, they gave us hard times sometimes. I thought we played well in moments, better first half than second.” She was asked whether England were now favourites for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. “The target is there all the time,” said Wiegman, who remains undefeated in 23 games. “Whatever happens we know this is just a starting point for the World Cup, but it shows you are at a very high level.”

‘Proud of Players’: US coach Vlatko Andonovski hailed his team after a testing week off the pitch. “I’m very proud of my players to play this game after everything that happened,” he said. “Their mental toughness showed tonight.” England, backed by a raucous home crowd still basking in the glory of their Euro 2022 triumph two months ago, went ahead in the 10th minute when Hemp poked the ball past Alyssa Naeher after a fine run from Beth Mead. US defender Alana Cook appeared to be in a position to deal with the danger but got into a tangle and the ball fell kindly for Hemp, whose finish sent Wembley into raptures. But the visitors were level just before the half-hour mark, aided by some sloppy England defending. Stanway, receiving the ball under pressure, was dispossessed by Lindsey Horan and the ball fell to Smith, who finished powerfully past the despairing dive of Mary Earps. As play switched ends, Stanway quickly made amends, putting England back in front with a 33rd-minute penalty awarded by VAR. The spot-kick was given after Hailie Mace’s high boot made contact with Lucy Bronze’s face. Referee Riem Hussein pointed to the spot after watching the incident back on the pitchside monitor. In a see-saw game, the visitors celebrated what appeared to be a fine equaliser when Trinity Rodman swept home following a surge down the right by Smith, with Megan Rapinoe nudging the ball into the path of Rodman. But US celebrations were cut short when the goal was ruled out by VAR for a tight offside call. The dangerous Smith had a chance to equalise early in the second half but dragged her shot wide and a Rapinoe effort was deflected for a corner. The US made a double change, bringing on Sam Duffey and Crystal Dunn, who gave birth to a son as recently as May.

Pakistan registered two straight wins in the ongoing triseries in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Men in Green defeated Bangladesh by 21 runs, followed by beating the Blackcaps by six wickets today.

The win was possible due to an unbeaten 79 by skipper Babar Azam and with this knock, he equalled Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s spectacular world records.

After the bowlers restricted New Zealand to 147 for eight, Pakistan lost Rizwan early for just 4 off 12 balls and three deliveries later Shan Masood was dismissed for a duck. Pakistan promoted Shadab Khan at No.4 and together with Babar, the pair put up a 61-run

Shadab was dismissed for 34 off 22 but Babar continued as he smashed 11 boundaries in his unbeaten 53ball 79 to help Pakistan go past the target with ten balls to spare.

Babar scored up his 28th T20I fifty and hence leveled Kohli for reaching the mark in the same number of innings. This was also Babar’s 12th half-century score while chasing which is now the joint third-highest by a batter in the format. He equaled India captain Rohit and now only stands behind Kohli (19) and Australia’s Warner.

Eleven of Babar’s twelve fifties while chasing have come in a winning cause, now the joint second-highest alongside Warner. Kohli has 15 and leads the list. Pakistan will now face New Zealand on October 11.

Afridi to be fit for World Cup opener, Raja says

LAHORE ReuteRs

Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has made rapid progress from a knee injury and will be “battle-ready” for their Twenty20 World Cup opener against arch-rivals India this month, the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ramiz Raja, said.

Afridi has been sidelined since sustaining a ligament injury to his right knee during a test match in Sri Lanka in July and missed the Asia Cup as well as the home series against England.

“I had a chat with Shaheen … and he said he hasn’t felt this good in ages. So, the progress is very good,” Raja told Dawn News.

“He said he’d be battle-ready soon, it’s great news for us.”

The 22-year-old has been Pakistan’s pace spearhead, whose express speed and ability to generate bounce and bowl pin-point yorker make him such a feared bowler.

Raja said they did not want to rush the left-arm bowler back into action considering how serious knee injuries could get.

Man City the standard bearers for Man Utd: Ten Hag MANCHESTER Agencies

Manchester United have to learn from the consistency of Manchester City, according to manager Erik ten Hag as he aims to bounce back from a humiliating derby defeat. City were on course to match the record margin of victory over their local rivals last weekend before United scored twice late on to only lose 6-3 at the Etihad. Defeat to the English champions ended a four-game winning streak for Ten Hag’s men in the Premier League since losing the Dutchman’s first two games in charge. That included impressive wins over Liverpool and Arsenal, but the former Ajax boss has urged his players to reach those levels in every game. “It’s physical, it’s mental but it’s also sustainability,” said Ten Hag ahead of Sunday’s trip to Everton. “When you had a lack of it in the last years, it’s not something that you build or progress in a week or a month. It has to be in your system. It’s a demand nowadays in top football. “I think it’s quite clear that City is a standard in that and there are more teams, but I think also we can deliver that. “We have seen it against Liverpool, we have seen it against Arsenal, but now we have to do it on a consistent basis and that is what we have to work for now.” Ten Hag is hopeful that Raphael Varane will recover from an ankle injury picked up in the derby in time for the trip to Goodison Park. But captain Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Donny van de Beek remain out injured.

Mbappe tops football earnings list

NEW

French superstar striker Kylian Mbappe will earn a record $128 million in annual earnings to top the list of the world’s highest-paid football players, according to a Friday Forbes magazine report.

The magazine noted Mbappe crossed the $100 million milestone at age 23 while such legends as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were in their 30s and at the peak of their careers when crossing that money mark for the first time.

Mbappe signed a three-year contract extension in May to remain with dominant Ligue 1 side Paris-Saint Germain.

Forbes reported the deal will bring Mbappe about $110 million for his salary and season share of a signing bonus plus an estimated $18 million in annual endorsement income from such companies as Nike, Dior, Hublot and Oakley.

Mbappe was on the cover of the EA Sports FIFA video game, founded the production company Zebra

Valley and is an investor in fantasy NFT platform Sorare.

“He’s a global icon already,” Sorare co-founder Nicolas Julia told Forbes. “He wants to aid the world and show, also, that huge things can be built out of France.”

PSG teammate Messi, 35, ranks second at $120 million with Manchester United’s Ronaldo, 37, third on $100 million. They had shared the top two spots since 2014 and still set the endorsements pace, Ronaldo at $60 million and Messi at $55 million.

In all, the top top-10 players will collect $652 million this season, an 11% jump from last year’s $585 million figure. Mbappe, Messi and Portugal’s Ronaldo together account from more than half of that money total.

PSG forward Neymar of Brazil ranked fourth on $87 million followed in order by Mohamed Salah, on $53 million, Erling Haaland on $39 million, Robert Lewandowski at $35 million, Eden Hazard at $31 million, Andres Iniesta at $30 million and Kevin De Bruyne at $29 million.

ing a slog-sweep off-spinner Mohammad Nawaz, while Chapman holed out to a slower ball from Pakistan’s best bowler, paceman

Haris Rauf (3-28). New Zealand face Bangladesh in the third match of the series on Sunday.

ISLAMABAD stAff RepoRt

“A knee injury is quite technical and a delicate issue,” the former captain said. “We were of the view that we won’t take the risk until he was 110 percent fit. When we spoke, Shaheen said, ‘I’m already 110 percent, so don’t worry. I’ll play practice matches too and will be ready for the match against India.'”

Senior SC judgeS urge CjP to Call jCP meeting for aPPointmentS on vaCant SeatS

ISLAMABAD mONITOrINg rEPOrT

USTICESardar Tariq Masood and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah — both Supreme Court judges — have urged Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to call a meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) for the appointment of judges on the five vacant SC seats and “avoid unwanted rumours of petty politics and lobbying”, it emerged on Saturday.

In a letter dated October 7, they explained that a JCP meeting should “automatically be scheduled” at the earliest in case of any vacancy in the apex court to fulfil the constitutional obligation under Article 175A(8) of the Constitution that states: “The commission by majority of its total membership shall nominate to the Parliamentary Committee one person, for each vacancy of

a Judge in the Supreme Court, a High Court or the Federal Shariat Court, as the case may be.”

The judges said that it was the responsibility of every JCP member to ensure vacancies in the courts were timely filled out and any inordinate delay in this would be “unfortunate and undesirable”.

The letter said there were currently five vacancies in the apex court since February, adding that they had “time and time again requested” the CJP to hold a JCP meeting to fill the vacancies but their meetings with him on the subject “ended in vain”. Justice Masood and Justice Shah pointed out that Justice Qazi Faez Isa, too, had written to the CJP on September 28 regarding the same issue.

“It is important to underline that delay in filling the vacancy gives rise to unwanted rumours of petty politics, lobbying and quid pro quo appointments, which not only undermines the institution but also seriously impairs the neutrality

Pm directs for uninterrupted gas supply to consumers in winter season

LAHORE sTaff rEPOrT

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting here on Saturday regarding the supply of gas in the country and directed that the uninterrupted supply of gas to consumers should be ensured in the winter season. He ordered the supply of gas to domestic consumers according to their needs. He also directed for formation of a committee to resolve the issue regarding gas supply to the textile mills so that industrial units could get gas on time and increase their production capacity. The representatives of Sui Northern Gas and Sui Southern Gas Pipelines attended the meeting. It was decided to keep load-shedding of electricity at the current level. The PM also directed for further import of fertilizer to meet the needs of farmers in the month of January. Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik, Advisor to the PM Ahad Cheema and other officers attended the meeting.

and the transparency of the appointment process,” the letter highlights.

The judges said they had taken an oath under the Constitution to protect and defend it, and recalled that the legal position outlined by the apex court in the 1996 Al Jehad Trust case stated that permanent vacancies in judicial offices should be filled in “immediately and no later than 30 days”.

“The ordinate delay of almost nine months in this case must be urgently addressed first,” the letter stresses, adding that the judges had already suggested that the five high court chief justices should be considered for the vacant positions or consider the top two judges from each high court and then conduct a vote in the next JCP meeting.

The judges said that the above were the best options for moving forward until more sophisticated selection criteria and constitutionally compliant rules could be framed.

Justice isa’s letter: In his letter to the CJP last month, Jutsice Isa had expressed concerns that despite the pendency of over 50,000 cases, five vacancies of judges of the top court were still vacant. He pointed out that the first seat of the SC fell vacant after the retirement of former CJP Gulzar Ahmed on February 1 when Justice Bandial took over as the CJP.

Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin stood retired on March 23, Justice Maqbool Baqir on April 4, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel on July 13 and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah on August 12.

“Over 50,000 cases have accumulated in the Supreme Court. The chief justice and 16 judges constitute the Supreme Court. However, there are five vacancies in the Supreme Court, which work out to 726 lost days. It pains me to state that cases filed in the Supreme Court are unlikely to ever get decided

the vacancies are not filled

‘Much-hyped’ US cypher safely kept at Foreign Office: FO spokesman

ISLAMABAD

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The Foreign Office (FO) said on Saturday that the letters received from other countries, including cyphers, were kept in the ministry with great care, and the cypher received from the USA a few months ago was also completely safe in the FO building.

Giving weekly briefing to the media, FO Spokesman Asim Iftikhar said the European Union’s (EU) high commissioner for disasters, in his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on October 4, 2022, had announced 30 million Euros in aid for the flood-affected people of Pakistan.

The spokesman said that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the occupied Kashmir was an effort to hoodwink the world that ‘all was well’ in the held territory.

He regretted that Muslims in India continued to face persecution at the hands of ruling BJP goons and Hindu extremists. “Incidents of torture of Muslim men and boys took place in several parts of the neighbouring country on the pretext that they tried to disrupt this year’s Navaratri festival,” he added.

The spokesman informed that the Indian

Charge de Affairs was summoned to the FO to convey Pakistan’s concern over the deteriorating health of Hurriyat leader Altaf Ahmad Shah. “The Indian forces have recently martyred eight more Kashmiris in Baramola, Shopyan and Pulwama,” he said, adding, “As many as 678 Kashmiris have been martyred in the held valley since August 2019.”

He went on to say that India was making deliberate efforts to damage the economy of the people of Kashmir by destroying their businesses and depriving them of jobs. “India is looting the natural resources of the occupied valley,” he said, and added, “The solution to the Kashmir issue lies in implementation on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. We want that the people of Kashmir are given their right to self-determination through a plebiscite.”

Reacting to reports that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has named different divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as ‘Wilayat’, the FO spokesman made it clear that anything against the constitution of Pakistan had no value.

He said that the US ambassador’s visit to Azad Jammu and Kashmir had great significance. “The visit has highlighted the importance of Kashmir issue,” he opined. He said that Pakistan was facing floods due to the phenomenon of climate change.

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Suspected serial killer murders eight overnight in Sheikhupura

ISLAMABAD sTaff rEPOrT

An alleged serial killer took eight lives late on Friday in Sheikhupura, police said on Saturday.

District Police Officer (DPO) Faisal Mukhtar told the media that all victims were sleeping in the open air at different farmhouses in a village when the suspected killer approached them, who used a sharp axe in the killing. Police and rescue teams rushed to the sites and shifted the bodies to the hospital. The officer said the suspect was arrested and behaved like a mentally unstable person. He would be sent for a medical checkup for a final assessment. According to the police, a search operation was still underway to find more bodies or any suspects. The incident has caused panic among residents in the region.

imran to invade islamabad anytime between oct 12 to 17: rana Sana

ISLAMABAD sTaff rEPOrT

Federal Minister for Interior Rana Sana Ullah on Saturday said that there was clear assessment that Imran Khan has planning to invade Islamabad anytime between Oct 12 to 17 in a bid to seize the capital and create chaos. Talking to a private news channel, he said the government with the supports of nation, will do everything possible to make fail the Imran’s plan to topple the sitting government by force. Rana Sana Ullah said the constitution had provided the right to hold their public gathering peacefully and records their protest but there is clear decision of court to not allow anyone to hold political rallies in the capital’s Red Zone. Interior Minister said the said the government has not behind the audio leaks which would be investigate the leaked audios if Imran wants to defend himself.

In addition, the minister asserted that the leaked audios had exposed Imran’s dual face, which had been plotting conspiracy against the country in locked rooms while blaming his adversaries in public.