Epaper_22-10-20 LHR

reemergence of TTP in swaT

Lawmakers in na voice concern over worsening Law and order

ISLAMABAD staff report

LAWMAKERSduring the National Assembly session on Wednesday raised concerns over the worsening situation in Swat, saying the growing violence has forced the citizens to take to streets to register their protest.

Speaking on floor of the National Assembly, Minster for Climate Change Sherry Rehman pointed out what is happening in Pakistan is not an insurgency rather it is terrorism and compared the situation in swat with that in neighbouring Afghanistan prior to the end of a 20year-long war.

The PPP senator lashed out at violent elements for “hiding their nefarious designs behind religion.”

“Sorry, it is only a fight for power. It is not a fight for religion, and have the guts to say it.” Recalling that the PPP became a “soft target” for denouncing terrorism earlier, she added, “We have not come here to mince words on this [issue]. Neither are we here for terrorism to rear its head again—and rear its head again in Swat.

“This is our country and we have to save it.”

She demanded that “everyone should be taken into confidence on the progress of operations” launched again terrorism and the direction in which they are headed.

“Pakistan has paid a big price [for fighting terrorism] in the past and there have been several successful operations that were acknowledged by the entire world.

“And now, the TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan) is on the rise. But in what capacity, and as what? Citizens of Pakistan? Have they demilitarised?” she questioned, adding that if such was the

case, “show us the evidence”.

Earlier in her address, she said there could no “protracted, result-oriented engagement with terrorism.

“A terrorist is a terrorist and he remains one because he took up weapons. And when he agrees to talk to you, he has pre-conditions.”

She said wherever such elements were engaged in talks, it was after they laid down arms.

The PPP senator recalled multiple incidents of terrorism and said it was beyond her understanding how a compromise could be reached with terrorists.

“We have been in favour of dialogue with anyone who lays down arms and says that he will operate within the ambit of the Constitution of Pakistan,” she said, adding that a joint session of the house was called during the PPP’s tenure to chalk up a strategy against those who continued terrorism.

“Call a joint house again,” she demanded. Earlier, Defence Minister

in Swat was seen 11 to 12 years ago when concerns were raised that “those in Swat may not be too far away from Islamabad”.

Today, after a gap of 12 to 13 years, a similar scenario is being witnessed in Swat, he regretted, although adding that presently, it was not of the same “velocity and gravity” as more than a decade ago.

However, he continued, a positive was that the people of Swat had come out and were united against without any discrimination or political differences.

At the same time, he warned that “whatever is happening in Swat and elsewhere, those flames can reach us as well”.

‘Fake encounters in Balochistan’

Earlier in the session, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal recounted various incidents in which, he alleged, innocent people were killed and presented as terrorists.

He particularly referred to the killing of three missing persons allegedly in

fake encounter by the Balochistan Counter Terrorism Department in Kharan on Monday.

The BNP-M said the issue had plagued Balochistan for long, warning that most of the youth in Balochistan had reached “a point of no return.

“You may be able to end who you call terrorists through such tactics, but the seeds of hatred that you are sowing cannot be perished by any atomic power of the world.”

He called for constituting a high-level judicial inquiry commission, headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge, to probe the “fake encounters” in Balochistan, particularly referring to three incidents in Ziarat, Mastung and Kharan.

Responding to Mengal, Asif described that issue as “wounds of the state that have been bleeding for years”. And ignoring them or staying in denial would be harmful for any nation, he warned.

KP minister gets extortion letter from TTP

MARDAN: The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) has allegedly sent a letter to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Science and Technology Minister Atif Khan, threatening him to pay Rs8 million as “extortion” in three days or prepare for the consequences, it emerged on Wednesday. The letter appeared to be sent by “Mardan chapter” of the outlawed TTP as the minister hails from Mardan.

“You know who we are and what we want. We know you very closely and have all your data and records because you are on TTP Mardan’s wanted list and your turn has come,” the letter reads. “Thus, you will have to either fulfil our demand to exit this list, or you will lose your life. Our demand is for Rs8m. We want an answer within three days.” Talking to the media on Wednesday, Atif Khan confirmed that he had received the letter. “The way “extortion letters’’ have been received by some people” he said.

The minister said he had shared the letter with all security agencies and now the onus for taking action was on them. The KP government spokesperson Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif said an investigation would be conducted into the letter received by Khan and action would be taken in accordance with the law. “The KP government will not tolerate extortion [demands]. Whoever receives such a letter or call should inform the police. “Some criminals are carrying out these activities. The KP government will deal fully with them.” Media also reached out to the Counter Terrorism Department for comment. The incident comes amid renewed concerns about increasing militancy and TTP’s resurgence in the country’s northern areas. Weary residents of Swat and Shangla have been protesting for weeks demanding terrorists be reined in after a slew of attacks has left them jittery. Last month, an anti-Taliban peace committee member was among eight people killed after the vehicle he was travelling in was hit by a suicide blast in Swat. Last week, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a school van, killing the driver dead and injuring two children in the same district.

Industrial boom nears as CPEC about to enter B2B phase: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD staff report

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was set to enter the next business-to-business (B2B) mode after the productive government-level phase.

Chairing a review meeting on CPEC, the prime minister said the government had rejuvenated the multi-billion dollar project that faced hiatus during the previous government. The meeting focused on infrastructure projects, particularly Main Line-1 (ML-1), Karachi Circular Railway and Karakoram Highway. The project related to the production of 10,000-megawatt electricity from solar and wind sources also came under discussion.

Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was about to witness an industrial boom with the restoration of CPEC projects. He welcomed the interest of Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan’s solar projects.

The prime minister said the ML-1 rail project would play an important role in strengthening of the national economy by connecting the country’s ports with China and Central Asia.

He termed the ML-1 project the ‘backbone’ of the country with high prospects of progress.

The meeting was attended by former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, federal ministers – Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Salik Hussain, Syed Naveed Qamar, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Syed Murtaza Mehmood and Tariq Bashir Cheema, Adviser to PM Ahad Cheema,

Majority of cabinet members fail to declare assets

ISLAMABAD staff report

details of their assets on online portal of the cabinet secretariat so far.

According to details, among the 29 SAPMs, only five have declared their assets which included Tariq Fatemi, Shiza Khawaja, Owais Siddiqui and Sadiq Iftekhar.

Those who have not declared their assets included Muhammad Sadiq, Syed Fahd Husain, Hafiz Abdul Karim, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Sheikh Fayyaz Uddin, Robina Khurshid Alam, Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, Zafaruddin Mahmood, Attaullah Tarar, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Rubina Irfan, Malik Abdul Ghaffar Dogar, Shaharyar Ali Khan, Nawabzada Iftakhar Ahmed Khan Babar, Mahar Irshad Ahmad Khan, Raza Rabani Khar, Mahesh Kumar Malani, Faisal Karim Kundi, Sardar Saleem Haider and others.

The advisors include Awn Chaudhry and Ahad Cheema. According to the rules, these advisors and special assistants are breaching a cabinet resolution made under the ex-PM’s term to increase openness for the public interest.

The special assistants are also obligated to disclose their nationality and publicize it on the official website of the cabinet division.

Khawaja Asif called for sitting together on the situation in Swat, among other issues of grave importance.

He recalled that a similar situation

Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musaddik Malik, special assistants – Tariq Fatemi, Zafaruddin Mehmood, Jahanzeb Khan and Syed Fahad Hussain, PM’s Coordinator Rana Ahsan Afzal, Badar Shehbaz and senior officials.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah joined the meeting through video link.

A majority of advisors and special assistants to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the federal cabinet have not disclosed

Poor WorK STandard, SubSTandard maTErIal CauSEd CounTryWIdE PoWEr blaCKouT: ProbE rEPorT

ISLAMABAD ahmad ahmadani

afour-member committee, constituted to probe into recent power breakdown that engulfed the south region and certain areas of north region of National Transmission and Dispatch Company’s transmission system, has submitted its findings to the power division.

According to Energy Ministry, the inquiry committee has submitted its findings and declared that power lapse was occurred on 13th October 2022 due to poor standard of work and the use of substandard material on Tower No.26 of K-2 and K-3 nuclear power plants of Karachi during the maintenance work which was done in 2019.

Raising question regarding capacity of the project team and substandard material which was used in 2019 to remove a fault

occurred in the transmission system, the inquiry committee also revealed that the connectors used over there were not made for the transmission line while these connectors were used for temporary interconnection after some alteration/changes. Similarly, the project team had used 25 years old miserably poor conductors on Tower No. 26, 26-A and 27 in the year 2019. Moreover, despite the sensitivity of nuclear power plants, regular repair and maintenance were not made as per the defined standards.

After determination of cause behind the blackout, the Energy Ministry is taking immediate action in the light of the inquiry report, said the Ministry of Energy on Wednesday.

n the directives of Power Minister

Khurram Dastgir Khan, National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) had constituted a four-member

Govt committed to honoring agreements, speed up CPEC projects: Khurram

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Minister for Power Division Khurram Dastgir on Wednesday reiterated that the government was committed to honoring the agreements and speed up China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. He said that Pakistan’s future energy landscape would revolve around indigenous and renewable sources. The minister expressed these views in a meeting with Chinese ambassador Mr Nong Rong who called on him here, said a press release. The minister appreciated the continuous engagement of China in energy sector with Pakistan. Chinese projects under CPEC had given the much needed boast to power sector back in 2014 and also now when Pakistan’s energy needs have been very high. Khurram said Thar coal project is of tremendous importance for Pakistan’s future energy needs. In this regard, Pakistan is thankful to Chinese friends. The ambassador appreciated the present government for their commitment towards CPEC and said that the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to China would be a great success.

PTI chief issues special instructions to party leaders, ticket-holders

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan issued special instructions to the PTI’s leaders and ticket holders officials pertaining to the real freedom movement and preparations for the long march. PTI Chairman issued the instructions during his meeting with PTI members of National and Provincial Assembly from Murree, Chakwal, Talagang, Haripur, Abbottabad and Mansehra and ticket holders. During the meeting, they discussed important issues including the country’s political situation, real freedom movement, especially preparations for the Islamabad Long March. They briefed Imran Khan on the preparations regarding the long march at the local level. The local leaders expressed their gratitude to the Chairman PTI for granting the status of districts to Murree and Tala Gang.

committee on 13th October 2022 to probe causes behind the power blackout that engulfed the south region and certain areas of north region of NTDC’s transmission system.

According to NTDC’s office order, Muhammad Mustafa, General Manger (Technical) Lahore was made the convener of the inquiry committee while Anwar Ahmed Khan, General Manager (AM) North Lahore, Muhammad Ijaz Khan, Chief Engineer (TSG) North Lahore and Muhammad Zakaria, Chief Engineer (OP) NPCC Islamabad were made as member of this inquiry committee. And, the committee was tasked to submit an inquiry report within four days.

As per Terms of References (ToRs) of the committee, this committee was mandated to determine root cause of the fault and ascertain if the fault(s) leading to the partial blackout/collapse could have been

contained. Similarly, the committee was assigned to verify whether the measures (technical & timewise) taken by the concerned departments for protection of the system were adequate while the committee was also asked to review the previous inquiry reports into similar blackout incidents and ascertain whether the recommendations of those reports were adopted and implemented by the concerned departments or otherwise?

Likewise, the committee was authorized to fix the responsibility on the person(s) involved in case any negligence is observed while the committee was also instructed to recommend remedial measures to be taken in order to avoid recurrence of similar events in future. Moreover, the committee was asked to inquire into any other issue related to the incident, not otherwise mentioned in the Terms of References (ToRs), that the committee deems necessary to arrive at a

concrete conclusion, said Office order of NTDC dated 13th October, 2022.

Following the major breakdown on October 13, 2022, Minister for Power Division Khurram Dastgir Khan addressed a press conference and said that the government was fully cognizant of the power blackout in Southern parts of the country.

He assured the nation that the electricity transmission system would be fully restored by the evening.

Sharing details with media persons, the Power Minister said that the country’s southern parts had witnessed power blackout due to technical faults at two 500 kV transmission lines simultaneously which resulted in the tripping of several power plants. He said fault occurred simultaneously at NK-1 and Jamshroo transmission lines. However, the north of the country remained safe from power outages, he said.

Imran questions ‘logic’ behind non issuance of production order for Swati

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Condemning the shameful arrest of PTI Senator Azam Swati and subsequent custodial torture on him, Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said that it was beyond comprehension as to why production orders of Azam Swati was not issued.

Talking to Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi who called on him here on Wednesday, Imran Khan strong condemned the imported government for undermining dignity of the Parliament, especially the Upper House.

Chief of Staff of PTI Chairman Senator Shibli Faraz was also present on the occasion. During the meeting, they discussed the overall political situation of the country and the role of PTI in the upper house threadbare.

Imran Khan expressed his shock over the indifference of other political

parties in the Senate, adding that the imported government consisting of criminals was attacking the sanctity of the constitution and parliament.

IHC extends suspension of ECP de-notification order of dissident PTI MNA

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) extended the suspension order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to de-notify Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) national assembly member Abdul Shakoor Shad by two weeks.

Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah heard the petition against the approval of Shakoor Shad’s resignation on Wednesday.

The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that the parliamentarian was barred from attending session of the National Assembly (NA) and requested the

chief justice to pass an order to stop the authorities from the practice.

The IHC CJ rejected the request and stated that he respects speaker of the parliament and the lawmaking body.

The chief justice remarked that the NA speaker should consult with Abdul Shakoor to ask him about his decision regarding membership in the assembly.

The deputy attorney general told the court that the NA speaker came back yesterday from abroad and he will look into the matter. He also requested the court to allow leverage of two weeks for the resolution of the issue.

LSM posts paltry growth in August 2022

ISLAMABAD Ghulam abbaS

After a decrease in growth by 1.4 percent in July, the Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) in August 2022 has posted a paltry growth of 0.6% when compared with the same month of 2021 and 3.9% when compared with July 2022.

According to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, the growth in first two months (July and August) of the current fiscal year has however declined by 0.4 percent when compared with the same period of last year, raising concerns about an economic slowdown caused by the highest-ever cost of energy and raw material for industry.

The indication of a slowdown

started in June when manufacturing activity grew by only 0.2pc compared to May. In the previous fiscal year, large-scale manufacturing grew 11.7pc year-on-year.

The slowdown of LSM also appeared to be broad-based, with 13 out of 22 sectors of LSM witnessing negative growth both in July and August, while only nine sectors posted paltry growth.

The production estimation for LSM industries was made using the new base year of 2015-16.

According to the Provisional Quantum Index Numbers of Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (QIM), estimated for August 2022 is 114.8 and for July-August, 2022-23 is 112.6.

As per the data with the base year 2015-16, the main contributors towards

the overall growth of -0.4 percent are, garments (5.3), petroleum products (1.2), cement (-2.0), fertilizers (-0.2) and iron & steel products (0.5).

The production in July-August 202223 as compared to July-August 2021-22 has increased in wearing apparel, chemicals, iron & steel products, and furniture while it decreased in food, beverages, tobacco, textile, coke & petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, rubber products, non-metallic mineral products, fabricated metal, electrical equipment, machinery and equipment, automobiles and other transport equipment.

The sectors showing growth during July-August include wearing apparel (60.9 percent), leather products (11.5 percent), wood products (4.3 percent), paper & board (6.6 percent), chemicals

(2.8 percent), chemicals products (14.7 percent), fertilizers (-0.5 percent), iron & steel products (11.7 percent), furniture (174.1 percent) and other manufacturing (Football) (52.9 percent).

The sectors showing decline during food (8.9 percent), beverages (0.5 percent), tobacco (43.5 percent), textile (3.7 percent), coke & petroleum products (16.1 percent), pharmaceuticals (32.3 percent), rubber products (2.9 percent), non-metallic mineral products (19.7 percent), fabricated metal (15.7 percent), computer, electronics, and optical products (5.1 percent), electrical equipment (4.2 percent), machinery and equipment (38 percent), automobiles (19.7 percent), other transport equipment (30.4 percent).

constitution and the law.

He went on to say that no civilized country in the world can allow such inhumane treatment and deprivation of all constitutional rights mere for expression of opinion.

PTI Chairman said that violence against political opponents on the part of the government institutions was becoming a source of ill-repute for Pakistan globally, adding that the people involved in such shameful incidents were defaming institutions and the country. Imran Khan urged Deputy Chairman Senate to take steps to restore the sanctity of the House, adding that instead of being a silent spectator, the House should order immediate comprehensive investigation of the incident and identify those responsible.

In the meeting, PTI senators’ letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan requesting to take suo moto notice of the arrest of Senator Azam Swati and the in-custody torture on him was supported.

Farah serves notice on Sana, demanding apology over ‘false allegations’

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Farhat Shahzadi alias Farah Gogi on Wednesday sent a notice of Rs5 billion to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on defamation charges. According to an anti-corruption unit, Rana Yousuf, the former chief executive officer of Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) and Maqsood Ahmed, the secretary of Special Economic Zone Committee, were accused of allotting 10 acres of land in the Faisalabad Special Economic Zone to Farah Gogi.

According to officials, the accused had illegally allotted a plot worth Rs600 million to Farah Gogi and her mother’s company Al-Mu’az Dairy for only Rs83 million. Farah Gogi’s husband Ahsan Jamil Gujjar had given a fake guarantee of Rs2 billion to get an industrial plot. The anti-corruption unit was also investigating Farah Gogi’s and her husband’s assets. A three-member joint investigation team had registered a case against the accused and launched an investigation.

Winter’s first snowfall drops mercury in Swat

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Swat received the first snowfall of the winter season on Wednesday which brought down the mercury and changed the weather. Snowfall was reported on the mountain of Mahodand, Utror, Malamjaba, Gabin jaba where rain was reported in plan areas of Swat valley. According to a private news channel, rain with thundershowers and hailstorm occurred in the plain areas of Swat including Mata, Lalko and Mangora. Meanwhile, the hailstorm destroyed the standing crops and vegetables of the area.

The PTI Chairman said that the shameful arrest of a 74-year-old member of the upper house and his custodial torture was sheer violation of the

SC FormS larGEr bEnCh To hEar PrESIdEnTIal rEFErEnCE on rEKo dIq

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

THESupreme Court (SC) formed a five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, to take up for hearing a presidential reference seeking validation of new Reko Diq project deal under Article 186 of the Constitution on October 25.

The five-member bench includes Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Hassan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya

Afridi and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.

It is pertinent to mention here that President Arif Alvi, on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, filed a reference in the Supreme Court to get validation for the new Reko Diq project deal under Article 186 of the Constitution.

In the reference submitted to the court, President Dr Arif Alvi asked the Supreme Court whether a new deal on the Reko Diq with Barrick Gold Corporation, a Canada-based mining group, was legally safe under the Constitution of Pakistan and international arbitration.

The president also asked the

apex court whether the proposed Foreign Investment (Protection and Promotion) Bill 2022 would be a valid law under the Constitution.

Reko Diq is one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold mines. The project is being restarted after remaining on hold since 2011.

SC hears contempt case against Imran today

A five-member bench of Supreme Court will hear a contempt petition filed against former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan by the Ministry of Interior on Thursday (today).

The larger bench is headed by

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprised of Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi.

The federal government through the interior ministry had approached the Supreme Court for initiating contempt of court proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan for violating its May 25 order wherein the PTI was restricted from holding its Azadi March near Peshawar Mor between H-9 and G9 areas of Islamabad. However, Imran and his supporters made their way towards D-Chowk.

Govt averted country’s default at very high political cost: Dar

ISLAMABAD Shahzad paRacha

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar once again gave a clear message on Wednesday that there was no question of Pakistan going into default as the same had been averted, though at a very high political cost.

“I want to give a message to markets through this conference… no need to get nervous, we are back to business, Insha’Allah we will arrange everything. Nothing is to worry,” the minister said while addressing here the All Pakistan Chartered Accountant Conference.

He said Pakistan would be fine and nobody should have any problem because “Pakistan will not default”. There were serious challenges the country had been facing, however, the incumbent government had rescued it from default although it had to give a very high political cost.

“If there is a choice between state or politics, the priority should be the state and not the politics as if the country is there, there may be politics. If there is no county where there will be politics?” he asked.

Ishaq Dar said Pakistan would require around $3234 billion to fulfill its liabilities and financial needs for the fiscal year 2022-23. “These include around $22 billion multilateral-level debt liabilities and around $12 billion current account deficit.”

He, however, vowed that the government would work hard to fulfill the sovereign guarantees to save the

KP minister gets extortion letter from TTP

ContInueD froM pAge 01

country’s pride.

The minister once again clarified the government’s position about rescheduling of the Paris Club’s debts. He said soon after assuming the charge of finance ministry, he had announced that the government would not approach the Paris Club for rescheduling of loans.

He also rejected the speculations about extending bond maturity dates beyond December 2022. Pakistan, he said, was a sovereign country so it should meet its obligations in time for its own credibility and honour.

He urged the chartered accountants to play their role and influence politicians to work for the betterment of national economy.

Ishaq Dar said Pakistan had deep challenges which were further increased by the devastating floods. He, however, was confident that everything would be corrected as was done back in 1998-99 and 2013, when the country was facing similar challenges.

He said in its last tenure, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had put the economy on growth path and it was predicted that it would be become the 18th big economy, leaving behind Canada and Italy. However, due to political interest of some parties it could not be done. Had the political parties joined the hands together, the country would have achieved the target of becoming the 18th big economy by 2026, however due to political instability, it now stood at 54th position, he lamented.

CHARTER OF ECONOMY: He said he had always

favoured a “Charter of Economy” that would help put the economy on a sustainable growth path. The minister said the PML-N assumed power in 2013 at a time when the country was facing serious macroeconomic challenges and its was predicted to be going in default in six to seven months.

However, the government fixed the problems and took the economy towards growth, he added. The whole world acknowledged the progress at that time while the country’s ratings went up, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was recorded at 4 percent and food inflation at 2 percent. The country had stable currency around Rs104 in parity with dollar and had reserves of around $26 billion.

Had that journey been allowed to continue, the country would have become the member of G20 club and 18th big economy, the minister said.

PAKISTAN CAN ALSO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said that Pakistan can also buy oil from Russia and America has no objection to it.

The Finance minister said that Pakistan will buy oil from Russia at less than this price or at the same price which India is buying oil from Russia.

If India can get oil from Russia then we also have the right, he said, claiming that they have informed America about buying oil from Russia. The FM also said that the government will also talk to China about rescheduling the loans and he is optimistic that the loan rescheduling will definitely happen.

lawmakers in na voice concern over worsening law and order

ContInueD froM pAge 01

Earlier this month, a Gilgit-Baltistan minister and several other travelers were trapped for several hours after militants blocked Babusar Road near Thak Village of Chilas. Sources said GB minister Abaidullah Baig along with his son was on his way from Gilgit to Islamabad when militants, led by Mujahedeen GilgitBaltistan and Kohistan head Abdul Hameed, set up blockades on the road connecting GB with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaving travellers on both sides stranded for many hours. Political and religious leaders of Diamer along with district administration officials met the militants and held negotiations after the latter took the minister to a nearby building. During the talks, the militants gave a 10-day ultimatum to the authorities to meet their demands. After the negotiations, Babusar Road was reopened, allowing the trapped travellers to pass through the area. On Tuesday, scores of residents took to the streets in Swat’s Matta tehsil against recent acts of terrorism. PTI Matta tehsil chairman Abdullah Khan, who is the brother of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, led the rally organised by the party’s local chapter.

He called for measures to address and resolve the issues and acknowledged that the problem had existed for years. “When will we remove this baggage from our shoulders? It is becoming heavier by the day,” he regretted. “A low-intensity insurrection has been ongoing in Balochistan for many years and a solution to it can be found. We need dialogue,” he added.The minister also criticised the provincial government on the matter, saying any government — provincial or federal — had no right to rule if it failed to address the grievances of its people. The issue, he said, could not be “wished away” and the house, too, needed to show some seriousness on the matter. He called for the “political community” to take the initiative to resolve the issue and prioritise it. Asif said he believed that security issues should not be dealt with in a “transactional manner” and a permanent solution should be devised. He said the federation needed to take steps in this regard and the concerns raised by Mengal. “If not today’s, then the future generations will have to face these issues. They are already staring at us.” It was the institutions’ responsibility to find solutions to the state’s problem, he added. “A solution to this problem should be devised at a high-level,” Asif concluded. For her part, Sherry called for constituting a “truth and reconciliation commission” to address theissue in Balochistan. “We should listen to the province’s leaders … and we may even have to hear some bitter truths,” she added, stressing the need for Parliament to address and find a solution to the issue.

IHC instructs FIA to act as per law in prohibited funding case

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday instructed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take action in the prohibited funding case as per law and adjourned the hearing of PTI leaders’ petition against their arrests till October 27.

Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC heard the case filed by Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including Senator Saifullah Khan Niazi. Petitioners’ lawyer Faisal Chaudhry, Barrister Ali Gohar and

Additional Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Dogal appeared before the court.

At the outset of hearing, the additional attorney general pleaded the court to grant him some time for preparation as he had yet to receive the copy of the petition.

Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that the people should not be arrested in such a way. The people had to approach the courts when the cases were prepared against them in that way. The governments might change but the institutions would remain the same. Consequently, the court adjourned the case.

lhC orders appointment of permanent Pu VC in two weeks

LAHore Staff RepoRt

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday ordered the appointment of a permanent vice chancellor of Punjab University (PU) within two weeks. Justice Shahid Waheed passed the orders while hearing a petition filed by Amjad Abbas Magsi challenging the appointment of temporary vice chancellor of university. During the proceedings, the court rejected a reply filed by secretary Higher Education Punjab to the petition, observing that the university was being run without the permanent vice chancellor and it disturbed the administration system of the university. The court further observed that no more time could be given for the appointment of permanent vice chancellor. The court ordered the appointment of the permanent vice chancellor within two weeks. The petitioner had submitted that the tenure of PU Vice Chancellor Niaz Ahmad ended on June 14, 2022, but the government illegally appointed Prof Dr Niaz Ahmad as temporary vice chancellor to run the affairs of the university. He submitted that there was no provision for appointment of temporary vice chancellor in the law. He pleaded with the court to declare the appointment of Niaz Ahmad as illegal and issue directions for appointment of permanent vice chancellor.

Court seeks FIa reply on hamid Zaman bail plea

LAHore Staff RepoRt

A banking court on Wednesday issued notices to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for October 21 on the bail application filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hamid Zaman in the prohibited funding case. Banking Offence Court Judge Aslam Gondal heard the post-arrest bail application filed by the PTI leader. The petitioner’s counsel argued before the court that the agency arrested his client in connection with the prohibited funding case. He submitted that after a twoday physical remand, Hamid Zaman had been sent to jail on 14-day judicial remand whereas no recovery had to be made from him. He pleaded with the court to grant post-arrest bail to his client as all allegations levelled against him were baseless. The court, after hearing the initial arguments, issued notices to the FIA and sought reply till October 21. Hamid Zaman had approached a sessions court earlier for bail in the matter, but he withdrew his bail application after the agency told the court that Section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, had been added to the case due to involvement of the bank officials.

m-6 project to be completed in 30 months

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The authorities have approved the construction of the 306km long Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) project, which would be completed in 30 months. The approval of the construction of Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) was granted in a meeting of National Highway Council-Supreme Body of National Highway Authority (NHA) held here on Wednesday, presided over by Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Maulana Asad Mahmood. The meeting was also attended by Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah, Federal Secretary Communications/Chairman National Highway Authority Capt (R) Muhammad Khurram Agha, and officials from Finance Division, Planning & Development Division, Highway Construction, Financial Professionals and the senior officers of Ministry of Communications and National Highway Authority, said a press release.

ECoNomIC SECUrIty ImpErAtIvE for SAfEgUArDINg StrAtEgIC INtErESt: Dr moEED

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

pATRONof Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) Dr Moeed Yusuf on Wednesday said the country would have to ensure its economic security to safeguard long term strategic interests.

He was addressing the second iteration of the two-day Global Strategic Threat and Response (GSTAR) 2022, which opened here today under the auspices of the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS).

This year’s theme is Evolving Global Order: Challenges and Opportunities. Dr Moeed was the keynote speaker and expressed his views on ‘Geoeconomics: Driver of the Asian Century.’

Dr Moeed, who is the former national security adviser said, “The only way to secure our strategic interests in the next 20 years is through economic security as Pakistan’s hand on Kashmir will be the strongest if it comes at it after having some semblance of economic security rather than

Hundreds rally against police failure to rein in kidnappers gangs

KANDHKOT

Staff RepoRt

only looking at it through the security and strategic lens.”

He added that there were two things that Pakistan had to internalise. First to realise that the world was gradually moving towards economic nationalism where more restrictions, sanctions and coercive measures would be placed in the economic and financial spaces.

The only countries that would benefit and succeed would be those who were competitive in this environment, he said, adding, “the days of handouts are over and we must accept it as a good thing.”

Second, he said, if the nation had to make that change internally then there was a need to start three conversations immediately namely: the first is how to ensure continuity of policy of national priorities amid consensus of political and military leaderships; second, communication between public and private sector which was a broken relationship as there was no constructive dialogue in that regard, and the third most important was interaction between the security and economic intelligentsia for devising

workable solutions.

The country was collecting some $60 billion per annum in lieu off non-debt raising revenue generated from foreign remittances and exports, whereas there was a need of an additional $30 billion to achieve independence in its foreign policy, Dr Moeed added.

He underlined that it could be achieved through working on export growth, foreign direct investment and a dedicated manpower export strategy to bring back more remittances onshore.

“Geoeconomics is the way forward as a subset of economic security, whereas it is a component to the whole as per the National Security Policy approved by the state of Pakistan,” Dr Moeed added.

The other panelists, including Head of China Studies Centre at Riga Stradins University, Lativia Dr Una Aleksandra BerzinaCerenkova, Associate Professor, McGill University, Canada Dr Karl J. Moore and Executive Dean, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, China Dr Wang Wen also discussed pressing issues pertaining to geoeconomics and the great power rivalry.

Indonesian envoy calls on Defence Minister

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Hundreds of people, majority of them women and belonging to Malik community, staged a protest against the police failure to recover two persons, kidnapped one and half months ago from the limits Buxapur Police. According to details, the protesters led by Mai Zulekhaan, Mai Manzooran and Mai Mumtaz staged sit-in in front of District Press Club Kandhkot chanted full-throated slogans against the police inability to maintain law and order situation in the districts. They accused the police officers of malpractices and dereliction of duty, saying kidnapping for ransom and street crime incidence had reached alarming proportions but the police failed to rise to the challenge. Talking to media men, the protesting women expressed their disappointment with police high-ups performance, saying despite passage of one and half months the police had appeared unable to locate whereabouts of the abductees including Gul Mohammad and Mumtaz Malik who were kidnapped from Shahali Mohallah Buxapur. On the occasion, the protesting women demanded that the Sindh IG Police and the Chief Minister should take notice of the poor performance of the district police, asking the IG Police to order the police to ensure safe recovery both of the abductees at the earliest.

Minister for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Wednesday welcomed the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, Adam M Tugio during a call on paid by the envoy here and conveyed that Pakistan attached great value to its relations with Indonesia which were governed by mutual respect and cooperation.

The Defence Minister expressed that Indonesia and Pakistan had maintained decades old close and cordial relations which had historical roots, a news release said.

He mentioned that Pakistan and Indonesia had shared perceptions on important regional matters. The Minister also appreciated the efforts of Indonesian Government for providing platform for creating a favourable

and long lasting peaceful environment in the Asia Pacific Region in the form of Jakarta International Defence Dialogue (JIDD).

Moreover, Minister for Defence reiterated that Pakistan strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. He commended Indonesian Government’s success in fighting terrorism and its concerted efforts to dismantle terrorists’ networks. He informed that regional and global stability, security and peace were their common goals.

He said that Pakistan was looking forward to further strengthen bilateral relations with Indonesian defence industries vis-à-vis regular exchange.

The visiting dignitary acknowledged the existing scope and scale of cooperation in the field of defence between the two countries and desired to undertake joint ventures in respective fields on progressive basis.

Effects of fake news, disinformation on freedom of speech discussed at NPC, Accountability Lab

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

In an event arranged at the National Press Club, Accountability Lab; speakers discussed the key drivers and impacts of the fake news and disinformation on the society and specially on our youth. Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Dean, Social Sciences Department, International Islamic University, Islamabad; Ms. Zill e Huma, Deputy Director, Press Information Department, Mr. Iftikhar Sherazi, Bureau Chief, Dawn News and Dr. Sadia Kamal, who is senior journalist and former vice president of the NPC, were among the key speakers. The event was attended by the representatives from local media, civil society and students from various academic institutions.

In her opening remarks Dr. Sadia Kamal welcomed the participants and appreciated Accountability Lab for the collaboration on this important issue. Speaking to the participants, she said that people depend on the media for vital information enabling them to make informed decisions. And it is the responsibility of the media to ensure transparency in reporting.

“It is constitutional right of every citizen to express their opinion and government in consultation with the stakeholders monitors the

continuously evolving situation and develop frameworks to ensure the freedom of speech to everyone. However, it is responsibility of us all not to spread fake news and misinformation that may effects the lives of many”, said Zill e Huma.

Highlighting the impacts of the fake news and misinformation; Dr. Zafar Iqbal said that much like in the rest of the world, fake news and misinformation is now a significant threat to public discourse and democratic values in Pakistan. Online disinformation has created or amplified challenges regarding access to credible information, political polarization, manipulation of social media conversations, trust in the news media, healthrelated information, and hate speech. With the internet user base of around 85 million the risks and impact of fake news and misinformation are exacerbated manifold.

Reflecting upon the impact of misinformation and fake news, Dr. Zafar further said that during the Covid19 pandemic, the undeniable negative role of online disinformation was felt due to the public health and safety risks created by rumours, conspiracy theories, and false messages related to the coronavirus. It is important for the academic institutions to provide students with a solid foundation and perspective on media and information literacy as part of the curriculum. Teachers must be well-trained n to empower students with the necessary competences to critically understand and assess information reported by all forms of media.

58 unidentified, unclaimed dead bodies buried after maintaining DNA record

MULTAN Staff RepoRt

Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab Tariq Zaman Gujjar said on Wednesday that 58 unidentified and unclaimed dead bodies at Nishtar hospital and medical university were buried after complete religious rituals in different areas. Addressing a press conference here, the advisor to CM Punjab Tariq Zaman Gujjar said hat the administration of Nishtar hospital conducted DNA tests of all the unknown dead bodies. A complete record of the bodies is available with the administration of the Nishtar Medical University. The dead bodies were handed over to SHOs of different police stations. Earlier, the heads of the police station’s concerned had brought the dead bodies to the hospital. The dead bodies were buried in the respective police station’s areas. Record of every dead body was maintained, he stated. Responding to a query, he stated that Punjab government was ensuring provision of medicines to facilitate the patients.

IHC makes Umar Ayub’s arrest conditional with its approval

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday made the arrest of PTI leader Umar Ayub conditional with the court approval and disposed off the case.

Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri heard the case filed by PTI’s Leader Umar Ayub. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed the court that neither the petitioner was named in the FIR nor any inquiry against him was underway currently. On a query by the bench, the FIA said that it didn’t require the custody of Umar Ayub so far in the case. The court said that then the FIA had to seek court approval before arresting the petitioner. After this, the court disposed off the case.

Speakers urge for professional development on teaching in higher education

GWADAR Staff RepoRt

A two-day national workshop was organized by the QEC UG in collaboration with the Department of Colleges, Higher and Technical Education Balochistan at university library. The opening ceremony of the workshop was presided over by Prof. Dr. Syed Manzoor Ahmed, Pro Vice Chancellor of Gwadar University and Deputy Commissioner Gwadar Izzat Nazir Baloch was the chief guest. Faculty members from universities and colleges were attended the workshop. Dr. Arif Naveed, Assistant Professor of Education and International Development at the University of Bath, England, was the resource person for the two-day workshop. Addressing the participants in his opening remarks, the Pro Vice Chancellor UG welcomed the guests and participants and highlighted the importance of the workshop. He thanked the resource person Dr. Arif Naveed for participating in the workshop as resource person.

PollS Not PoSSIblE bEfoRE Aug 2023: AhSAN IQbAl

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

MINISTERfor Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday said that the next general elections were not possible before July-August 2023 in the wake of relief and rehabilitation activities in flood-hit areas of the country, and delimitation after results of new population census.

“In March 2023, the results of new population census would be received and after that, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would require at least four months to finalize delimitation across the country, so the timeframe automatically goes till July-August 2023 and before this, holding of next general elections is not possible administratively,” he said while talking to media.

Similarly, the minister said, the government will remain engaged in the rehabilitation of the people in flood areas for next six to eight months. Therefore during this period, holding of general elections will mean neglecting the poor people badly affected by the recent floods and torrential rains, he said.

“If Imran Khan is insisting on elections date announcement, so I am giving him the date today that next general elections would be held in October 2023.”

Ahsan Iqbal maintained that Imran Khan himself knew very well that the elections were not possible in next six to eight months but he was making fuss and threatening of Long March and sitin against the sitting government only to sabotage the country’s economy and demoralize certain institutions.

Imran Khan, he said tried to obstruct the launch of the mega China

Rawalpindi meeting to be positive development for Pakistan: Sh Rashid

RAWALPINDI

Staff RepoRt

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief and former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad on Wednesday said that the meeting in Rawalpindi will prove to be a positive development for Pakistan.

In a statement on Twitter, the AML chief while targeting the incumbent government for the challenges being faced by the state, saying the government has pushed the country into political and economic bankruptcy. He said they want to bring [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership] to the assembly for a deal over doing away with Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif lifelong disqualification. He further hinted that the final round will be held in 10 days and the months of October, November will be decisive. He made it clear that long march or election date, one is a must. The former federal minister further said that the state institutions are with the oppressed people, not the oppressors.

Further lashing out at the PML-N leaders, he added that the Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah will bring down the government. He also criticized the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar saying that Dar has not received anything from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the world. There are neither any dollars nor the money to pay salaries, he added.

Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) back in 2014 when due to his sit-in in Islamabad, the visit of Chinese President delayed that resulted in delay of CPEC project by around 10 months.

Now again, Mr Khan is threatening to call a long march when the 11th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on CPEC, an important decision making body, is going to be held by end of current month, he said adding that the Prime Minister’s important visit to China is also likely next month, so in this context, any attempt to destabilize the government would dent the CPEC’s progress.

To a question, he said the senior leadership of Muslim League -N could not participate in the election campaign of recent by-elections because everybody was engaged in the restoration activities in the flood hit areas.

Meanwhile, addressing the All

Pakistan Chartered Accountants Conference 2022 here, the minister said Pakistan’s economic growth was halted again and again due to political instability and discontinuation of the economic policies.

He said in 2018, the PML-N government was performing excellent on the economic front and Pakistan’s economy was growing at fast pace, but what he called another experiment was tried which failed miserably.

The minister said that the country’s higher economic growth could sustain for longer period only by implementing export led growth policies and achieving the $100 billion export target was a must to ensure sustainable economic growth of the country.

Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan could grab the potential of huge Chinese market as China imports only $3 billion of goods from Pakistan out of its total import share of $2.25 trillion.

15 planes carrying 227 tons relief goods from Türkiye arrived in Pakistan so far

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Mehmet Pacaci Wednesday said 15 aeroplanes carrying about 227 tons of humanitarian aid, mainly medical products and family tents for the flood victims, had so far landed in Pakistan from Turkiye.

Addressing a press conference here, he said, “A total of 15 planes carrying family tents, food parcels, cleaning materials, medical supplies, blankets, mattresses, pillows, kitchen kits, units of clothing and carpets have arrived in Pakistan till date from Turkiye.”

Besides two mobile health units and camps, 50 motorboats were also brought in Pakistan to assist the authorities working in the flood-hit areas, he added.

The ambassador said the Goodness Train Expeditions and Air Bridge were established to dispatch humanitarian aid to Pakistan in cooperation with the Türkiye Ministry of

Transport and the Türkiye Ministry of National Defence, respectively.

Moreover, preparations had started for the Pakistan Goodness Ship Expedition, which would depart from Türkiye in the coming days, Dr Mehmet Pacaci added.

Briefing the media, a representative of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority of Türkiye (AFAD) said besides the aid bridges, its personnel coordinated the works in Pakistan and ensured the process of distributing humanitarian aid among the flood affectees.

He added that aid materials had been dispatched to the flood-affected areas by trucks in coordination with Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

About 77 personnel, including 19 AFAD personnel, three health teams, 53 representatives of non-governmental organizations, and two academicians, were working to coordinate the distribution of aid materials and to assist in the establishment of tent cities the flood-hit areas of Pakistan, he added.

corporate corner Shell Pakistan announces financial results for Q3-2022

Karachi: The Board of Directors of Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) announced the Company’s 3rd quarter results on October 19th, 2022. The Company posted a loss after tax of PKR 4,644 million for the quarter which translated into the cumulative profit after tax of PKR 2,863 million for the nine months as compared to last year’s profit after tax of PKR 297 million and PKR 2,447 million for the quarter and nine months respectively. The oil sector felt the impact of macro-economic challenges such as unprecedented devaluation of the Rupee, continued volatility in the international oil prices as well as the impact of devastating floods, which resulted in a reduction in industry volumes. The Company was able to maintain its market share and remained focused on its strategic priorities, operational excellence, and fiscal prudence. During the period, the Mobility business, with a strong supply and distribution network, delivered product in a safe and compliant manner at a time when most of the supply routes were severely challenged. pR

IDEAS-2022 to begin from Nov 15

The IDEAS is a mega event of South Asia, being organized by Defence Export Promotion Organization (DEPO) in Pakistan. IDEAS brings together international manufacturers and suppliers of products and services to explore the opportunities for cooperation in the field of defence production through joint ventures, outsourcing and collaboration. International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) of Pakistan was conceived after the successful conduct of first international Pakistan Naval Defence Show 1999 which was held at Karachi from 22 –25 February 1999. First IDEAS was held in 2000 and subsequent IDEAS were organized biennially. The International Defence Exhibition and Seminar is a premier defence industry show and the region’s best platform for international defence systems promotion. pR

Sarsabz Pakistan mobile app claims fastest growth in agriculture sector

Lahore: Being near to completing one year since its launch, the ‘Sarsabz Pakistan’ mobile app has garnered immense popularity and attention amongst the Pakistani farmers' community. The app recently marked a record number of more than one hundred thousand downloads in a short time span of ten months, making it the country’s fastest-growing mobile app within the agriculture sector and the top-rated educational app on Google Playstore. pR

Shahrukh Jatoi’s acquittal

Case raises questions about implementation of law and upbringing of children

The acquittal of Shahrukh Jatoi and Ali Talpur for the murder of Shahzeb Khan revived memories of a case that had once captured the public imagination. Mr Jatoi should have got away from the original trial court, for the heirs of the victim had forgiven him, but the state had itself become the prosecutor after the Anti-Terrorism Act was invoked. It was only after the ouster of the state, the Supreme Court finding that the Anti-Terrorism Act did not apply, that the forgiveness of the heirs applied, and Mr Jatoi and his co-accused were acquitted.

The murder roused the public imagination because it was particularly brutal, as because Mr Jatoi’s family splurged money on the case without stint. There was even an attempt to get him to flee abroad, and was only arrested from Dubai. While under arrest, he spent time away from jail by being admitted to a hospital. The final exhibition of the power of money was made by the forgiveness given by the family, which was given after an undisclosed sum was paid. When the family forgives the murderer, it is usually because more money has been paid than the prescribed Diyat

The problem may not lie in the justice system alone, or in the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance. True, murder is a heinous crime, but so long as it is a compoundable offence, the power of money will prevail. That power cannot be controlled just in cases of murder. It has to be controlled much earlier. It is true that Mr Jatoi got favourable treatment in jail because his father could afford it. The crime itself would not have occurred if he had not been in the habit of roaming around Karachi, offending ordinary passersby like Mr Khan’s. It may be argued that Mr Khan also felt that his father, being a retired police officer, would protect him if matters went south. Be that as it may, that was no justification for murdering him. Somewhere along the line, Mr Jatoi’s upbringing was flawed. That is not an excuse for him lacking a moral sense, but his parents should ask themselves if it was healthy for them to let him roam around with arm and guards.

There is a sense among the public that justice has not been served. The problem lies not just in the guards and guns that wealth and indulgent parents provide, but the belief that they will get their offspring off if he commits a crime. Anyone making that assumption need only point to Mr Jatoi to show why he thinks so.

Another resurrection of Nawaz Sharif

cracy; today Imran Khan (IK) has taken on the generals, judges, bureaucracy and Sharifs together with their external mentors. It is an uphill task to restore the republic and its vital institutions.

In the 1990s, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the stalwart of the establishment played a key role in first deposing Benazir Bhutto and then installing MNS as the Prime Minister. In his quest to build his ‘evil empire’, MNS decided to revolt against his second political mentor after Zia the founder had perished. GIK dismissed the government of MNS using the draconian 58 (2b) Zia amendment but to the surprise of the establishment his administration was restored. The power of money and influence prevailed.

‘ Vote Ki Izzat ‘ which fizzled out after the ‘ Road March ‘ from Islamabad to Lahore. To escape his prison term, fake medical reports were used. The close-to-death MNS with his uncontrolled platelets managed to escape. he has been residing since in his plush London apartments while his younger brother managed to come into power in the land of the pure. IK has bestowed Shahbaz Sharif (SS) with the title of ‘Cherry Blossom’. From ‘Vote Ki Izzat’ to ‘Shoe Polish’ it has been a journey with no scruples, the principle of “ everything is fair in love and war “ has been followed to gain power again and again by dodging the courts and the weak accountability mehanisms in place.

A. Niazi

late

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Editor

Ahmad Joint Editor

Aziz Executive Editor

YeT another resurrection of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (MNS)is currently under way. It is believed that mystery is always mischief. Operating from the safety of Avenfield Apartments in London the three times Prime Minister is now getting ready for a fourth term. In the USA, individuals with immoveable property are considered ‘ sitting ducks ‘ as they can be questioned about their assets any time.

In the case of MNS the ownership of his place of living in an expensive neighborhood is not known. There is no money trail nor does anyone seems to know the current platelets count of the once close-to-death political personality of Pakistan. One of his doctors is of Kashmiri origin who practices in New York while the other of Sri Lankan roots resides in London and is known for issuing medical certificates of all kinds. he seems to be out of reach of the courts in the Islamic Republic.

When the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) tried to corner him, the court came under attack. Their ‘Lordships’ had to run for cover to save their lives. Finally the ‘ Tarar Touch ‘ was employed to buy the judges and the CJP was sent home. Next came the turn of President Farooq Leghari and finally the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was shown the door. The power of money and influence are fully exploited by the Sharif Clan of Gawalmandi.

In the land of the pure there have been unflinching efforts to create an ‘evil empire’. While Ayub Khan, the first usurper, launched Chaudhry Zahoor elahi to derail the democratic order, MNS was introduced by Zia-ul-haq, the third tormenter of the nation.

Since then there has been no looking back, and every civilian institution has been hit hard. To strengthen democracy, Bhutto launched his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1967 as a left-of-centre progressive political force. In the 1970s Bhutto had to struggle against the generals, judges and bureau-

To resolve the ensuing power struggle between the President and the PM, the COAS intervened and both were sent home. It did not end here, and MNS returned for a second time in 1997 with an absolute two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. Instead of using his strength to strengthen democracy he introduced a bill to declare himself ‘Ameer-ul-Momineen’ or ‘Khalifa’. As leader of the opposition in the Senate, Comrade Aitzaz Ahsan came in the way and the constitutional amendment was blocked.

When he tried to hijack the plane carrying the then COAS he was deposed in October 1999. In his third stint in power with another absolute majority in the 2013 manipulated electoral contest the ‘empire Building’ continued. Dawn Leaks was the final straw that strained the relations with the establishment.It was a blatant misuse of authority that should not have gone unpunished. Then came the ‘Panama Leaks’ in which the hidden assets of the Sharifs’ were exposed. Finally MNS was disqualified by the highest court of the land.

It is time to unchain the nation for the republic to emerge. With the retirement of the current COAS in November this year, the old order (Ayub to Bajwa) must come to an end signaling a new Dawn of Democracy. In the promised land the people of Pakistan have suffered enough at the hands of the Establishment

With the current IK challenge, MNS remains the last hope of the establishment. Like the earlier Muslim Leagues, his PML(N) remains an anchor of the status quo. While the people of Pakistan desire to move forward, MNS and his party talk about ‘ Purana Pakistan’.

The first PM, Liaquat Ali Khan, tried to establish a democratic state. his assassination stalled the process. In the 1970s Bhutto tried to restore ‘ People’s Power ‘. his government was called ‘Awami Hukumat ’ (People’s Government). IK came into power with the promise of building ‘ Naya Pakistan ’.

Both Liaquat and Bhutto lost their lives fighting for the rights of the masses while MNS managed to escape not once but three times and still remains in the arena as a potent political force. Perhaps the forces of status quo operate on the principle of ‘Known evil is safer than the unknown’, so that MNS manages to stage comebacks with their support. Change is considered to be the main threat by the establishment. every time that MNS crosses their boundaries to expand his ‘evil empire’ they intervene but with ‘Hola Hath’ (Soft hands).

For decades Pakistan has been a security state. The armed forces remain the only functional institution in the republic. In his insatiable desire to build his ‘evil empire’, MNS has clashed with all the Army Chiefs after his ‘Political Daddy’ Zia (Janjua, Kakar, Karamat, Musharraf, Sharif, Bajwa). A case was filed under Article 6 against Musharraf while the PM and the Law Minister were spared by the ‘King’.

The sitting COAS was openly criticised and challenged in public meetings by MNS. An unsuccessful movement was launched under the slogan of

Another jolt to the Justice project

for years. his students and former colleagues hold him in high regard especially for his insight on both constitutional and administrative law.

The judicial commission on October 12 convened its meeting to confirm the appointments of justices of the Lahore high Court. All but two were confirmed. The decision to drop the names of the two judges, particularly that of Mr Shan Gul, has invited some ire from the legal community. Understandably so.What is the criterion against which the names of two judges were dropped and was the same yardstick applied to eleven others? We can only speculate!

Article 175A (2) read with subsection (5) provides for the composition of the judicial commission for the appointments of judges to the high Courts. It comprises the Chief Justice as chairperson and other members include the four most senior judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the concerned high Court along with the most senior judge of that high Court, a former retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Attorney General for Pakistan, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, provincial law minister and an advocate having not less than 15 years practice in the high Court.

The Constitution allows for the Commission to frame rules to regulate its procedure. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan Rules, 2010 pursuant to rule 5(4), state that

the proceedings of the commission are to be held in camera. The rules framed by the Commission do appear to go beyond the mandate provided by the framers. In camera proceedings are a major affront to both transparency and accountability of the Commission. Further, and this is where things get interesting, the Commission creates a power for the chairperson to “relax strict application of these rules in public interest.”

The sole arbiter on adjudication of public interest is naturally the chairperson himself or herself. The absolute power to relax the rules should not feature in our legal texts any longer –whether it’s a primacy or a secondary legislation.

Dialing back to Mr Gul. educated at Aitchison (and we forgive him for it), Government College, Lahore and Cambridge– he was, as aptly put by a friend, perhaps the most exciting prospect we had seen in recent years on the bench. he held multiple positions at the Advocate General’s Office and worked with multiple governments – including the PPP, PML(N), PML(Q) and PTI– all retained him on merit at the Advocate General’s office. having graduated with a distinction from Cambridge, Mr Gul taught public law

Mr Gul, son of a former Test cricketer, Aftab Gul, remained prolific on the bench too. In his 16 months stint at the bench, he disposed of more than 8000 cases and has 86 reported judgments to his name. he has

The Constitution from the plain reading, does not provide for any additional protocol to be adhered to for the confirmation of the judges who are once appointed under Article 175A. There is no concept of probation, so to speak, provided in our Constitution. A confirmed judge may only be removed, if he or she does not resign, under Article 206, through the Supreme Judicial Council pursuant to Article 209

authored several landmark opinions. his judgments dilate on the issues of deference

Karl Marx was inspired by the legendary Prometheus, the Greek God of Fire, who taught man the use of fire, for which he was chained for life.

It is time to unchain the nation for the republic to emerge. With the retirement of the current COAS in November this year, the old order (Ayub to Bajwa) must come to an end signaling a new Dawn of Democracy. In the promised land the people of Pakistan have suffered enough at the hands of the ‘establishment’.

The writer is ex-Chairman, Pakistan Science Foundation. He can be contacted at: fmaliks@hotmail.com.

in criminal matters, rights of citizens under the citizenship laws and corresponding obligations of NADRA, expand on issues of justiciability as well as emphasize on liberal and non-discriminatory interpretation of beneficial legislations or statutes in service laws, and on the right to hold majalis under Article 20 of the Constitution,. to name a few.he remained one of the few judges who always pegged his opinions under the relevant provisions of the Constitution, and at no stage of his opinions, lost sight of the scope or contours of the different writs the Court had been asked to issue.

These numbers are better than most of the confirmed judges on our high courts who have been serving for years, let alone those who are up for confirmation alongside him. At any rate, the Constitution from the plain reading, does not provide for any additional protocol to be adhered to for the confirmation of the judges who are once appointed under Article 175A. There is no concept of probation, so to speak, provided in our Constitution. A confirmed judge may only be removed, if he or she does not resign, under Article 206, through the Supreme Judicial Council pursuant to Article 209.

The Supreme Court Bar Association in its press release of October 14 recorded its

concerns on the decision of the Commission in dropping the two names and implored the Commission to reconsider its decision– it remains to be seen whether Judicial Commission reconsiders or if the parliamentary committee intervenes in it.

Regardless, the dropping of Mr Gul’s name from the list of confirmed judges, does corrode the confidence one may have earlier reposed in the veiled process adopted by the Commission. Just the fact that the legal fraternity has criticized the decision shows that there is little faith in the deliberations that took place– and that alone is sufficient for the aging institution that our Supreme Court is, to reconcile with the modern world and get in touch with today’s realities. For starters, make the process more transparent going forward and remove the perception of arbitrariness.

As kids we grew up hearing legends about Father Scanlon’s fairness. Once, after a pupil failed his exam, his family came to school and asked Father Scanlon to pass him regardless. he responded by telling the family to please take out the fuel from their car, burn down Burn hall, construct a new Burn hall, and only then their son could continue at the school. embedded in secrecy, scandalized by flirting with political thicket, buried under heaps of pending matters and mired perceptions of arbitrariness; I wonder what he would have said today looking at the sprawling and magnificent edifice of our Supreme Court…

The writer attended Berkeley and is a Barrister of Lincoln’s Inn. He can be reached at Ummar.zia@gmail.com

UMMar ZiaUDDin

Dr FariD a Malik

The establishment seems to be trying for safeya

Debt, Deluge, and Destabilization

people. Upended villages and colonies. Razed entire towns and districts. And according to a recent report by the World Bank, the rate of poverty in Pakistan has surged from 2.5 percent to 4 percent, plunging between 5.8 million to 9 million people into poverty, due to the cataclysmic effects of floods on livestock, rural employment, harvests, and education.

Zain abbas riZvi

GROCeRY shopping in Pakistan is one of the most daunting household chores. Scuttling through crowded bazaars with clumsy baskets filled with a motley of rations the whole experience is taxing. This repugnant feeling compounds if you’re dragged to the market on a Sunday afternoon! Yet this feeling is nothing compared to the feeling of absurdity when you stare at the receipt with staggering prices and a stratospheric total that completely diminishes your expected monthly budget. To me and myriad other young professionals, this moment is a crude awakening to the throes of inflation currently ensnaring the emerging economies around the globe.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan’s federal agency to provide comprehensive national statistical services. headline (monthly) inflation peaked at 27.3 percent in August - a historic high of 47 years. The absolute downward spiral could be gauged by the severity of the gap of actual inflation to the government’s inflation target for this fiscal year - 11.5 percent. People talk about numbers and trends, historical statistics, and draw comparisons to somehow paint a proverbial rainbow amidst the overarching dark clouds. Frankly, I’m not going to do that!

Just to give you an idea of the acuteness of economic misery, take in that prices of onions have doubled since last year; pulses are almost 90 percent more expensive in rural areas than the previous year, and cooking oil is comparatively up by circa 83 percent. These commodities are not even avoidable in an average household. And the prices would only continue to rise going forward given that almost 40 percent of our standing crops have been washed away. Imagine the pain of a lower-income family in such dire straits.

The devastating floods in Pakistan are the front-running visuals championed by climatic critics across the world. even our politicians are scrambling from conference to conference, country to country, to gain some financial respite. even when pressing our case, their tone is subtly regressing from rhetoric to groveling for help. To be clear— we are not a charity case! The destruction caused is not entirely of our making. True, we are perilously leveraged as a developing nation. And true that we do not have our act together as a responsible government or even a democracy. But this catastrophe has a lot to do with the storm brewing abroad.

The floods in Pakistan have killed over 1700

Over 20 percent of the 220 million population of Pakistan is below the poverty line, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB), when Pakistan contributes less than 1 percent of the global emissions responsible for climate change. In contrast, China contributes roughly 27 percent of global emissions, while the USA’s account for 11 percent. however, Pakistan still owes roughly half of its external debt to China with no prospect of a waiver despite a recent loan rollover. Admittedly, China has committed roughly $91 million in humanitarian assistance to Pakistan; the US has donated about $67 million in flood relief to supposedly offset the loss— iniiallly estimated at $30 billion.

Pakistan doesn’t want alms but rightful assistance to counteract the mess they have created. Yet any altruistic consideration or remorse should not be expected from any of the advanced economies. even the puny contributions by the global power duo were not without the traditional game of ‘blame thy enemy’ as the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took a convenient dig at China to restructure Pakistan’s debt, while China resorted to highlighting its assistance as a friendly favour as opposed to a moral responsibility.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end with floods, which some could still blame nature for and move on. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the energy costs for countries like Pakistan, heavily dependent on imported fuel. Yet what the policymakers in the West fail to mention is the effect of their monetary tightening on developing countries. It is like a repeat of the late 1990s when the dollar’s burgeoning strength heralded the downfall of currencies in emerging markets.

Today, with the US dollar pounding the yen, renminbi, pound, and rupee, the Federal Reserve has pushed the developing economies into a corner with virtually a single choice: match its hawkish rate hikes to avoid a significant drop in domestic currency valuation. however, with the floods already slowing the economy, rate hikes would kill the economic growth of Pakistan, already foreshadowed to lower to 2 percent by the World Bank. Thus, the State Bank of Pakistan maintained its policy rate at 15 percent this month, the highest in the region, after raising rates cumulatively by 800 basis points from September 2021 through July.

however, the forward guidance by the Fed presages that it would hike the interest rate by at least another 100 basis points before year-end. That would push the short-term interest rates more than a percentage point above the rate of neutrality of 4-4.5 percent, which would be devastating for import-dependent and investmentstarved countries like Pakistan.

It’s hard to miss the parallels with Sri Lanka. The notorious default on $51 billion external debt still wrings the Sri Lankan economy. The litmus test of Pakistan’s creditworthiness, its international bonds, are trading at half the issued value, a chief indicator of sinking investor confidence. Unsurprisingly, Moody’s credit rating agency relegated Pakistan’s rating to Caa1, earmarking its debt as “highly risky”while maintaining a negative outlook on Pakistan. In an accompanying statement, the rating agency

highlighted that “debt affordability and a longstanding credit weakness for Pakistan, will remain extremely weak for the foreseeable future.” Pakistan’s total debt accounts for over 70 percent of its GDP, with almost half the government revenue budgeted for debt servicing in the ongoing fiscal year. Now as the tax revenue gradually seeps due to an inevitable slowdown in economic activity, the strengthening dollar would further burden the national exchequer to pay burgeoning interest on foreign debt since the US currency stands as the de facto fulcrum of the global financial system.

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have resultantly dwindled below $8 billion— barely enough for 3 weeks’ imports— despite receiving the $1.17 billion IMF tranche. Raising additional debt to patch the budget deficit would inflict further damage since interest rates are prohibitively high in both international and domestic bond markets. About a quarter of Pakistan’s import bill is tied to crude and petroleum products. While \energy prices have lowered in recent months, the bustling dollar has effaced the gains. The twin fiscal and trade deficits would not only constrict Pakistan’s recovery from the floods; it would also damage its social fabric beyond that already inflicted by the pandemic. Thus, Pakistan– like Sri Lanka– faces economic turmoil on all fronts, further fomented by the actions of the Federal Reserve.

So not only are we barreling towards a chaotic recession piecemeal but we are almost guaranteed to import more inflation while at the cusp of a default. And while our newly appointed finance minister — ironically an absconder in corruption cases— claims that Pakistan would seek to reschedule bilateral loans, standing at around $27 billion, while paying commercial and Paris Club creditors sans pursuing haircuts, I don’t see any viable option to fully salvage our economy.

With the recent production cut announced by the OPeC Plus (Saudi-led OPeC + 10 exporters headed by Russia)- and no let-up in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Pakistan would likely feel no interlude in elevated import prices while exports and remittances would likely plummet, in line with the loss of agricultural output to floods and the recessionary headwinds gaining traction worldwide.

If not for the attractive returns on US treasuries, the political uncertainty in Pakistan would surely keep investments at bay in the foreseeable future. And while multilateral and bilateral donors could prove to be the mainstay of Pakistan’s financial survival, as recent history dictates, I don’t anticipate any breathing space to the economy. Given the country required upward of $34 billion in the ongoing fiscal year - excluding newfangled requirements for normalizing the current account deficit, stable foreign exchange reserves, and the exigent restructuring costs of flood-wrecked localities - Pakistan would likely starve for hard currency until stability returns to the global commodity and debt markets.

Therefore, while I was taken aback at the grocery store last week, I think the inflationary signs would only worsen in visibility from this point onwards. And if the world doesn’t wake up to somehow avert this brewing economic crisis in the developing world, no amount of monetary tightening or fiscal prudence can forestall a global financial meltdown. And the effects of economic flooding would surely not be restricted to Pakistan!

The writer can be reached atszainabbasrizvi.14122@khi.iba.edu.pk

Editor’s mail

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah,

Importance of Entrepreneurship

UNeMPLOYMeNT is one of the major driving forces behind social unrest, rising crime rate, mental health issues and even terrorist activities in Pakistan. The current unemployment rate in the country is 6.3 per cent, according to Pakistan economic Survey 2021-22.

The unemployment rate of university graduates is comparatively higher than the national average, which is expected to rise in the coming years. The main reasons for this high unemployment rate are related to the structure of the industry and the limited number of jobs that the commercial entities can provide to the graduates.

Apart from such a general lack of jobs, university graduates also face skills gap. Pakistan needs a sustained 7-8pc growth rate in its gross domestic product (GDP), if not more, to drag itself out of the current inertia. As innovation and entrepreneurship are believed to be the key drivers of growth, the country’s focus should be on innovation-based approaches to achieve the objective of high growth trajectory.

Therefore, there is a dire need for transforming academic knowledge into entrepreneurship by systematically supporting entrepreneurial activities of students and graduates in order to create jobs for not only themselves, but for others as well. The government realises that the linkages between universities and industry could boost this potential and, hence, encourages and supports the establishment of such links.

The higher education Commission (heC) also recognises the need for entrepreneurial activities that could create viable businesses leading to employment opportunities. To support the entrepreneurial spirit in higher education institutions (heIs), the heC has started supporting universities in establishing business incubation centres (BICs), in which early-stage business ideas are selected to assist young minds to transform their ideas into successful entrepreneurial endeavours.

So far, the heC has established as many as 30 BICs across the country. Further, the government has started different programmes for improving employment opportunities for youth, such as the Youth entrepreneurship Scheme and many others. Being an important economic partner of Pakistan, the european Union (eU) is also carrying out a project, Transforming Academic Knowledge to Develop entrepreneurial Universities in Pakistan (TAKe-UP), in an attempt to transform academic knowledge into entrepreneurship. The total volume of the project is £1 million, and it is already functional in certain universities.

The project has been divided into 10 work packages; kick-off and selfassessment; strategic action planning; establishing of fablabs; development of training and teaching material on entrepreneurial skills; professionalising entrepreneurial coaching; training and certifying entrepreneurial coaches (train-the-trainer); development of a TAKe-UP network; dissemination, visibility and exploitation; quality management; and project management.

The project aims at uplifting the potential of Pakistani heIs in the area of entrepreneurial culture, especially the development of entrepreneurial skills in students by improving the coaching process of students, researchers and alumni with strong entrepreneurial intentions. All other heIs should also emphasise and try to transform academic knowledge into entrepreneurial universities to overcome increasing unemployment and social unrest in order to pull the country out of the lingering economic crisis.

DR KHALID IQBAL & DR TAHIR RASHID GUJRAT

Duraski River

DURASKI River is located between Awaran and several other villages, like Teertage, Ahori, Bazdad, Mallar, Gishkore, Kulli, Bandami, Sondom, heqan, Aashal, etc. During monsoons, the river blocks the movement of thousands of people from the said villages to the main bazaar in Awaran where all facilities are available.

Sadly, people have to wait for weeks to cross the bridge which is possible only once the river’s flow returns to the normal. If there is an emergency, no one has access to hospital as it is located on the other side of the river. In such a crisis, cases of childbirth are common. All facilities and basic necessities of these villagers are dependent on the main bazaar. Apart from healthcare, whenever there is rain, people cannot get food stuff and other household items from the bazaar. This increases the general sense of misery among the local people.

The river also damages the standing and ready crops of poor farmers because water overflow leaves the nearby fields inundated. Furthermore, people from the above-mentioned villages have their businesses in the main bazaar. When they are not able to reach the bazaar, they face financial losses. even if people have an urgent work and want to go to Karachi or Quetta, they cannot do so during heavy rains.

People who live close to the main bazaar also suffer when they are not able to travel to Turbat, Gwadar and Panjgur. This river causes as much problem to the people as it does to the local administration because it increases the workload manifold. Recently, when a bus with a family coming home during some holidays tried to cross the river, it got trapped there and remained stranded for many days. even though people tried to get the bus out of river, they could not do so. The bus-owner had to go through a lot of difficulties during the holidays. Considering all this, one can easily understand the problems the river creates for the whole of Awaran. The Balochistan government should make necessary arrange-ments to facilitate people’s movement, especially during the annual monsoon season.

ZAKEER ZAKREEYA AWARAN

Surging cases of dengue

OF all the seasonal diseases, dengue is one of the most dangerous ones. It is spread by the mosquito type Aedes that grows and sucks blood in daytime.

The symptoms of dengue and some other common diseases are almost the same. The clinical eye cannot differentiate between influenza fever and dengue, resulting in many a death. The municipality should start mosquito fumigation drive at the earliest. According to the Sindh health Department, 3,667 dengue cases have been reported across the province so far this year. Of them, 3,273 have been in Karachi alone.

It is believed that the type of dengue virus strain prevalent in the city this year requires mega platelets for treatment because manual platelets are not effective. The relevant authorities should take necessary action to overcome the crisis before it turns into an epidemic.

HAFSA MEHMOOD KARACHI

A crisis of epic proportions

GeopoliTical FuTures GEorGE FriEdman

iN recent weeks, russian President Vladimir Putin has said the United states is trying to impose a new world order, one designed to control russia, china and Europe, as well as the lesser powers of the world. it’s tempting to write it off as the ranting of a leader at war, but there’s more to it than that. ignore the fact that Washington’s seeking a unipolar world assumes a level of planning that runs counter to the American reality. What Putin is trying to come to terms with is that in planning for war in Ukraine, Moscow completely misunderstood the nature of the world. specifically, russia misunderstood American subtlety. The United states did not commit major military force to block russia’s advance, nor did it cede any part of Ukraine. The United states understood the threat posed by russia on the border with NATo – that is, a new cold War – and it understood Ukraine better than russia did. so it sent massive amounts of weapons to Ukraine, the power and sophistication of which could not be matched. it struck blow after indirect blow.

Moscow also failed to understand America’s relationship with Europe. Time and again, Europeans bemoaned that Washington had abandoned its European

Still A UniPolAR woRld

commitments. That that was never the case didn’t stop U.s. think tanks from validating the idea, nor did it dissuade russia from believing it. in times of peace, the U.s. could do without the prior relationship with Europe, bickering over trade rules and russian energy dependence. But when the war broke out, the relationship rapidly transformed. Germany, for example, did not value russian fuel as much as it valued American security guarantees. The Europeans knew that russia could hurt them, and they did not really trust the russians, but when push came to shove, they knew American interests lay in Europe. Putin, i think, was stunned when he learned the Germans stood with the Americans. He lacked a sophisticated understanding that there are different types of power and that the power projected by russia was too blunt to work. Putin could not understand the power of appearing uncertain. still, the worst mistake Putin made concerns the U.s. relationship with china, a country in deep economic crisis. Moscow could neither hurt nor help china. The U.s. can do both – help by increasing investment and buying more goods, and hurt by blocking the sale of, say, certain microchips. china believed it did not need the United states to recover, and it convinced itself that Washington could be intimidated by naval and related power. instead, Beijing discovered that its threats around Taiwan and other areas simply generated more vessels and weapons to be deployed against it. The utility of an alliance with russia was shattered by the realization that the U.s. could respond

Global economic warning lights are flashing red

POLICYMAKERS NEED TO BE LEVEL-HEADED AND FOCUS ON BUILDING RESILIENCE

Financial Times Editorial Board

“Polycrisis”: this was the description Jean-claude Juncker gave the nexus of challenges facing the EU in 2016, when he was European commission president. last week the international Monetary Fund underscored how multiple clouds — including the European energy crisis, rapid interest rate rises and china’s slowdown — have been gathering over the global economy.

What has seemed like separate crises emerging from many different regions and markets are now coalescing: we may be facing a polycrisis on a global scale.

it is rare for so many engines of the global economy to be stalling all at once: countries accounting for one-third of it are poised to contract this year or next, according to the iMF. indeed, its outlook for the largest economies — the Us, the eurozone and china — is bleak. As global inflation rates have touched their highest in 40 years, central banks have been raising interest rates this year with a synchronicity not seen in the past five decades, and the Us dollar has hit its strongest level since the early 2000s. These forces are driving the gloomy forecasts and creating new strains.

Emerging economies have been saddled with higher dollar-denominated debt burdens and disruptive capital outflows. Meanwhile, mortgage rates and corporate borrowing costs have surged across the world. Many gauges of financial market stress are also flashing red, as the rapid snapback in rates from lows during the pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities. Fire-sale dynamics are an ongoing risk, as UK pension funds recently demonstrated.

The proximate causes of the global maelstrom are two historic shocks in quick succession: covid19 and russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Federal reserve has raised interest rates at its sharpest pace since the

early 1980s, when Paul Volcker was its chair, to quash inflation spurred in part by pandemic support and supply bottlenecks. Meanwhile, Putin’s weaponisation of natural gas flows means Europe is undergoing a huge terms-of-trade shock, and china’s economy is suffering under its zerocovid policy, alongside a property market crash. indeed, new ailments have emerged before the scars of the pandemic have even healed.

The multiple and mutually reinforcing shocks have left policymakers with a difficult balancing act. For governments, efforts to boost growth and support households and businesses need to avoid pouring further fuel on the inflationary fire and raising debt burdens — which have already been pushed up by the pandemic — particularly as borrowing costs are now rising. The more interest rates rise, the greater the risks of a housing market crash and further financial market strains. yet for central bankers, not tightening monetary policy enough may embed high inflation.

While there are no simple solutions, there are some lessons. Today’s fragile economy needs policy to be well calibrated and attuned to risks. The UK is an example of how not to do it. its bull-in-a-chinashop approach of recent weeks shows what happens when realities are ignored. Policy errors are partly why the iMF sees a one-in-four chance of global growth next year falling below the historically low level of 2 per cent.

The contagious effect of global crises intensifies the need to build resilience. While the banking system was strengthened after the financial crisis, policymakers did too little to bolster the non-bank financial system. Many will also lament the lack of productivity-enhancing and inflation-busting investments in skills, technology and fossil fuel alternatives over the past decade, when interest rates were low. Without level-headedness and long-term thinking the global economy will only continue to lurch from one crisis to the next.

force trying to create a unipolar world, because in some notable ways, it is a unipolar world. The U.s. is the largest economy in the world, its current problems notwithstanding. it also has a sophisticated military, able to bring overwhelming force to bear, train an army at war in new weapons, and use subtle force to shape the world. American power isn’t absolute, and it can be outstripped. But it is sufficiently mobile to act sequentially when simultaneous action is impossible. Put simply, the United states is the most powerful economic and military force in the world – when it chooses to act. inaction can be confused by men like Putin as weakness. The U.s. has learned that with its inherent power it has time to react.

militarily in Ukraine and, simultaneously, in the south china sea.

All of this should have been obvious, and i think china was more aware of U.s. capabilities than russia was. chinese President Xi Jinping knew when to cut his losses. Putin kept doubling down. This seemed to be validated over the weekend by a spokesman for the 20th National congress of the communist Party of china, whose statements were paraphrased by china’s Global Times newspaper as follows: “if one of the most important events in international relations in the past 50 years is the restoration and development of chinaU.s. relations, which has benefited both countries and the world, then the most important thing in international relations for the next 50 years is that china and the U.s. must find the right way to get along with each other. The key for china and the U.s. to find the right way to get on with each other is mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation proposed by General secretary Xi Jinping. common interests between china and the U.s. far outweigh differences, and a sound and stable china-U.s. relationship serves the common interests of the two peoples.”

We are used to china hurling threats at the United states. Now, it is searching for ways to accommodate the U.s. it has noted the American performance in Ukraine, both subtle and brutal, and has decided that an alliance with the U.s., however loosely defined or temporary, is far more attractive.

it’s no surprise, then, that Putin sees the U.s. as a

The American public often sees the United states as weak and mismanaged. There’s a tendency to label Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Barack obama, Bill clinton and George W. Bush as criminals or morons or both. The same charges were levied against Andrew Jackson, Abraham lincoln and Franklin roosevelt. contempt for the commanders-in-chief is a prerequisite, to prevent tyranny, even if it has its drawbacks. The America First movement opposing U.s. participation in World War ii interfered with roosevelt’s ability to make decisions. it had a direct impact on Pearl Harbor and caused a painful initiation for the U.s. into war by the Japanese, which of course ended in catastrophe for them.

The perception of American weakness is a global one, shared even among Americans. Being underestimated has its uses, as does sporting a public that doesn’t trust its president. But only enormously powerful nations can afford the contempt. The past few months haven’t taught us that the United states is finagling a new world order. it’s taught us that russia is weakening, that china is managing its relationship with the U.s. carefully, and that the international architecture created after World War ii, though more complex, essentially remains in place. it is a unipolar world.

George Friedman is an internationally recognized geopolitical forecaster and strategist on international affairs and the founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures.

Racism never left US schools — now it’s taking worrying new forms

really arguing against any schooling that involves a reckoning with American racism and other ills. The argument: learning uncomfortable truths will lead to psychological damage in white students.

Never mind that Black, Brown, indigenous and queer students – the majority of public school students – must continue to face erasure and daily trauma at the hands of callous politicians and educators and the hyper-masculine whiteness they practise and encourage.

word and “pickaninny”. Even worse, little Black sambo ended with the main character gleefully sitting down and devouring a stack of pancakes like scooby-Doo. This was a turn-ofthe-20th century racist stereotype, the equivalent of how many whites see Blacks when eating watermelon and fried chicken today.

al Jazeera donald Earl Collins

“As a District we remain committed to teaching love, inclusivity and compassion.” That was how the Northwest local school District’s administration ended their statement in response to a racist incident in May at colerain High school near cincinnati, ohio. some students had put up handwritten “Whites only” and “Blacks only” signs over two water fountains at the school, taken pictures of them and then posted them to social media for public consumption. “NWlsD stands firm in creating a culture of inclusivity, respect, kindness and compassion for everyone,” the administrators added.

Theirs is a statement any of the more than 14,000 school districts in the United states could issue. yet how true can it be in ohio, where in less than two years, republican legislators have introduced three bills attempting to ban critical race theory and discussions of “divisive concepts” like the existence of lGBTQiA+ people? How can this be true when Forest Hills (another cincinnati-area school district) postponed and then canceled its “racial Diversity Awareness Day”, because some parents complained the event smacked of “critical race theory” and was “inherently divisive”?

How can this be true in a nation where nearly every week, racist incidents occur in school after school? Just in the past two months, a lesson plan at a los Angeles K-8 school, which included picking cotton to learn about slavery, came to light in the midst of a lawsuit over the practice. so has a recent incident at a Massachusetts high school, where a white student posted a picture of himself with a sign that read: “if i was Black, i would be picking cotton. But i’m white, so i’m picking you for Hoco [Homecoming]”. in fact, across the country, the backlash against anti-racist books and efforts that include The 1619 Project, has now paved the way for the return of overtly racist, sexist and queer-phobic books in schools, filling the void left by so many bans of “critical race theory”.

Those on the right pushing for these bans are

The result of such bans is also a further undermining of confidence in public schools as a public good while bolstering privatisation and school choice efforts – pet priorities for the far right. Already, some Black parents have shifted to homeschooling in response to the trauma and erasure their kids have faced in recent years.

The Us supreme court’s Espinoza v. Montana decision in 2020 has only made things worse. school tax dollars in states can now fund religious (mostly christian) private and charter schools and their slants on patriotism, racism and queer rights. curricula designed for places like Hillsdale college and affiliated religious charter schools already assert that “America is an exceptionally good country” and that queerness is a phase young people grow out of. one textbook in use at these schools describes kidnapped Africans as “Black immigrants”, as if people would voluntarily choose generational chattel slavery for their futures. But the sad truth is that everyday racism in schools never went away. it is the same as it ever was.

The recent push towards curriculum mythmaking began long before former President Donald Trump’s 1776 commission called for more “patriotic education” in Us schools. The past decade is replete with examples of attempts at propaganda through curriculum and textbooks. in school districts like Jefferson county, colorado and states such as Texas, Tennessee and idaho, installing more “patriotic” education while gutting discussions of slavery, racism, xenophobia, islamophobia and homophobia have been going on for years. it is a deliberate erasure of Black, Mexican, Arab Muslim, indigenous and queer senses of the world. look further back and you’ll find an evergreen history of politicians, educators and even journalists substituting belief and mythology for facts and difficult truths in Us education. in 1947, the Washington Post’s editors published an arrogant rebuke to concerns raised by the National Association for the Advancement of the colored People (NAAcP) and Black Washingtonian protesters over the racist trauma that the book, little Black sambo, caused in then-segregated Dc public schools.

The Us edition of scottish author Helen Bannerman’s 1899 children’s book depicted African Americans as “step ‘n fetch it”, biglipped, big-grinned, nappy-happy-go-lucky imbeciles. The word “sambo” was once a well-used derogatory term on par with the N-

The Washington Post editors could not “believe that the humorless touchiness reflected in these protests represents the attitude of Negroes in general” and accused the protesters of “damaging a good cause by pressing it to the point of absurdity”. little Black sambo, though banned for use in Dc public schools in the 1950s, ultimately lingered in many other schools across the country through the 1960s.

it is this legacy of trauma, erasure and indignity for Black, Brown and queer students that today’s far-right politicians want to keep alive, through new legislation.

“We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination,” Florida Governor ron Desantis said as he signed off on Florida’s so-called “Don’t say Gay” bill on March 28. The bill effectively bans lGBTQiA+-authored books and curricula about sexual orientation, gender identity, abuse and trauma from K-3 classroom instruction. in combination with the equally controversial “individual Freedom” bill that passed in the Florida legislature in April, both have the effect of banning efforts at equity and inclusion in the state’s public schools. Despite what Desantis said, blanket bans on what can be taught are forms of indirect indoctrination. Erasure is itself propaganda –the notion that any K-12 education about the existence of Black, Brown and queer Americans beyond stereotypes and caricatures is evil.

These bans have already pushed at least one teacher in Florida to quit his job in August, after another employee removed pictures of famous African Americans from his classrooms. All because the employee believed them to be “age inappropriate”.

All these efforts in Florida and elsewhere in the Us encourage educators to keep selling the lie of education as being about what makes white Americans feel good about themselves and the nation’s history. All this encourages white parents and students who find discomfort in anti-racism and queer-affirming efforts to gaslight and marginalise students of colour, as well as straight and queer students.

All because hypothetical Johns and Janes and their parents might get uncomfortable over the truth, about the history of exploitation, erasure and genocide that is as American as these attempts to deny, deflect and defend this history.

Donald Earl Collins is the author of Fear of a “Black” America: Multiculturalism and the African American Experience (2004). He is a Visiting Professor of African American History with Loyola University Maryland (on leave from American University).

THE EUROPEANS KNEW THAT RUSSIA COULD HURT THEM, AND THEY DID NOT REALLY TRUST THE RUSSIANS, BUT WHEN PUSH CAME TO SHOVE, THEY KNEW AMERICAN INTERESTS LAY IN EUROPE

corporate corner

NHC gIves go-AHeAd For 6-LANe sukkur HyderABAd MoTorwAy ProjeCT

islamabad staff report

CdA starts waste segregation pilot project

FEDERALMinister for Communications and Postal Services Asad Mahmood presided over the meeting of National Highway Council (NHC), Supreme body of the National Highway Authority (NHA), held at Ministry of Communications here on Wednesday, in which approval was granted to award the construction of Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) project.

Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah was also present in the meeting. Federal Secretary Communications/Chairman National Highway Authority Capt (R) Muhammad Khurram Agha, and officials from Finance Division, Planning & Development Division, Highway Construction, Financial Professionals and the senior officers of Ministry of Communications and National Highway Authority participated.

isLAmAbAd: In line with directives of CDA Chairman Capt (r) Muhammad Usman Younis, CDA has started Waste Segregation Pilot Project in sector D 12/4. Initially 30 houses have been provided bags for segregation of nonrecyclable and recyclable waste for a month and are guided by staff trained by UNDP. Blue bags for recyclable waste and green for non-recyclable waste. Based on results, the pilot will be expanded in future. At present 2 way segregation has been piloted with organic and non-recyclable to be lifted in green bags and recyclable in blue bags. As we progress and add on segregation categories purely non-recyclable, organic and recyclable can be separated with additional color coding. pr

NePrA holds public hearing on draft Indicative generation Capacity expansion Plan 2022-31

isLAmAbAd: A public hearing was held here at NEPRA HQ regarding IGCEP 2022-31, presided over by Chairman NEPRA, Engr. Tauseef H. Farooqi and members of the Authority, Engr. Rafique Ahmad Shaikh and Engr. Maqsood Anwar Khan. As per the Grid Code, NTDC is required to submit an annually updated IGCEP for the approval of the Authority. NEPRA approved the IGCEP 2021-30 in September 2021, the first such plan approved in the history of Pakistan’s power sector. The hearing was attended by a large number of representatives from different stakeholder entities and government departments (including Federal and Provincial ministries of Energy, Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives, Planning Commission, DISCOs, K-Electric, CPPA-G, PAEC, AEDB, PPIB, PEDO and GENCOs etc), local and international energy professionals, members of the academia, and journalists who discussed and dissected the draft Plan in all aspects. The participants commented on the assumptions taken as input to the IGCEP 2022-31 as well as the outputs and suggested improvements to the planning process. pr

Nestlé Pakistan reports sales for third quarter of 2022

LAHORE: Nestlé Pakistan reported its nine-months results for 2022, recording a revenue of PKR 121.0 billion, an increase of 20.5% compared to the same period last year. The results were shared during the Board of Directors’ meeting at its Head Office. The high growth was driven by normalization of economic activities and strong demand generation activities that were supported by new launches. It was further complemented by portfolio mix and pricing management. The Operating Profit also improved, as a result of sales growth, favorable product mix and tighter control on fixed costs. Looking to the future, the Company remains cautiously optimistic considering the impact on consumer purchasing power of continuing inflation and the recent devastating floods pr

Addressing the meeting, Federal

Minister of Communications and Postal Services Asad Mahmood said that Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) is a mega project consisting of 06-Lanes and it will be completed in 30 months according to international standards. He said that the construction of M-6 was a long-standing demand of the people of Sindh province, which has been fulfilled during the present democratic government. Minister of Communications and Postal Services Mr. Asad Mahmood further said that the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Mr. Shahbaz Sharif is endeav-

oring to provide solid infrastructure for economic development in the country. In this regard, the construction and expansion of national highways and motorways is at top of the priorities of the current government. He said that the involvement of the private sector in the construction of road infrastructure is being encouraged. He asserted that the construction of Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) project on the basis of public-private partnership will prove to be a model and revolutionary project of Public Private Partnership (PPP). “A new era of economic and social devel-

Anti-polio drive in 14 high-risk Punjab districts from 24th

and deputy commissioners of the respective districts participated through video link.

opment will be started in the areas through which Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) project will pass, he said”. Federal Minister congratulated Federal Secretary Communications and Chairman National Highway Authority Captain (R) Muhammad Khurram Agha, Ministry of communications and Construction experts of National Highway Authority for culmination of Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) project to the final stage. While giving briefing on this occasion, Federal Secretary Communications and Chairman National Highway Authority Captain (R) Muhammad Khurram Agha said that 15 interchanges, one major bridge on the Indus River, 19 overpass bridges, 82 bridges on canals and 06 flyovers will be built on this 306 km long Motorway. He said that SukkurHyderabad Motorway (M-6) project is the last missing section of PeshawarKarachi Motorway (PKM), the construction of which will provide the motorway facility between Karachi and Peshawar.

The Punjab government has decided to launch anti-polio campaign in 14 high-risk districts of the province from October 24.

The seven days anti-polio campaign will be carried out in high-risk districts including: Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, while it will conclude after five days in the other 11 districts including: Mianwali, Khushab, Sialkot, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Layya, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur.

The special campaign for polio eradication is aimed at vaccinating as many as 11.18 million children up to the age of five years, with deployment of more than 97,000 polio workers.

To review arrangements for the campaign, a meeting of the Provincial Taskforce on Polio Eradication was held here on Wednesday with Punjab Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal. Health Secretary Dr Irshad Ahmad and representatives of international organizations working for polio eradication attended the meeting while Primary and Secondary healthcare Minister Dr Akhtar Malik

Speaking on the occasion, the Provincial Health Minister said that the country would be made polio-free for the health and safe future of children. He said that special arrangements must be made for the anti-polio campaign in flood-affected areas.

Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal directed that the special campaign to eradicate polio be made a success. He asked the deputy commissioners to personally monitor the anti-polio drive in the districts, besides paying special attention to the coverage of the ‘missed children’. He said that everyone needs to continue working with national spirit for the complete eradication of polio. He also appreciated the cooperation of international organizations in efforts to eradicate polio.

Briefing the meeting, Secretary Primary Health Dr Irshad Ahmad said that the coverage ratio in the August anti-polio campaign was 103 percent as 2.26 million children were given polio vaccine against the set target of 2.19 million. He maintained that no case of polio had been reported in Punjab since October 2020.

TMUC holds graduation ceremony of UK int’l undergraduate programme

islamabad staff report

The Millennium Universal College (TMUC), Islamabad has organized graduation ceremony of International Undergraduate degree LLB Hons to honour the hard work of the graduates, faculty and staff.

The ceremony was held here at H-11/4 Campus to celebrate and acknowledge the diligent ef-

forts of LLB Hons class of 2022 TMUC Islamabad and TMUC Bahria Springs, Rawalpindi, said a news release on Wednesday.

Dean of undergraduate Laws, University of London Simon Askey graced the occasion as chief guest. Saad Wasim, who currently holds the office of Regional Advisor South Asia, University of London International Programs was also present at the ceremony.

Parents of the graduating

students, eminent figures from media and academia were also amongst the distinguished guests at the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, Founder & CEO The Millennium Universal Colleges TMUC, Dr. Faisal Mushtaq congratulated the proud parents of the graduating batch while apprising the guests of the significance of the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Bank Alfalah donates $73,000 for 73 sixes scored in T20 series

Karachi: Bank Alfalah Limited has always been one of the biggest allies when it comes to supporting cricket in Pakistan, and an even bigger advocate for flood relief operations in the country. This year, Bank Alfalah decided to pledge that it will donate $1000 for every six scored in the Pakistan vs England T20I series. Throughout the course of the series, a total of 73 sixes were scored and a total of $73,000 is being donated by Bank Alfalah, to JDC Welfare Organization to help them rebuild infrastructure and rehabilitate the flood victims. The donations were a part of the USD 10 million that the Chairman of Bank Alfalah, His Highness Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak Al Nahayan and the honorable Board of Directors had asked Bank Alfalah to donate. pr

TPL Insurance Ltd partners with Faysal Bank

As part of their aim to provide innovative products and utilize the digital paradigm to redefine takaful, TPL Insurance Limited – Window Takaful Operations (WTO) is pleased to announce its collaboration with Faysal Bank. This partnership will enable both companies to offer hassle-free Shariah-compliant financial solutions to customers.

To mark the occasion, an MoU signing ceremony was held at TPL Insurance Office, Karachi. Present at the ceremony from Faysal Bank were Mr. Aneeq Malik –SEVP -Group Head Consumer Finance & Payment Services and Mr. Parvez Noor Sirohi. pr

President Alvi lauds PAF’s initiatives for maximising knowledge into operations

The inaugural ceremony of a two-day flagship international seminar titled ‘Global Strategic Threat and Response’ (GSTAR) arranged by Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS) was held at Air Headquarters, Islamabad today. Dr Arif Alvi, President Islamic Republic of Pakistan was the chief guest at the occasion. On his arrival at Air Headquarters, Islamabad he was received by Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force.

President Dr. Arif Alvi in his Inaugural Address appreciated the PAF’s key initiatives directed towards maximising the field of knowledge into its operations. The President appreciated the CASS administration for the

conduct of a thought provoking seminar on the contemporary strategic issues. The President said, "The complex dynamics of the world politics has exponentially changed the traditional balance of power and security environment which demands befitting response through national cohesion. The present era marked the creation of new centres of power created by technology and wealth, therefore, there is a need to construct a new order on the basis of equality of humans, respect for human security, harnessing of new technology and a commitment to peace.”

Earlier CAS in his welcome address said, that the growing rivalry between major powers had resulted in weakening of international institutions and emergence of traditional and non-traditional security issues. In the context of new technologies, he high-

lighted the dangerous consequences of selective sharing and its effect on regional stability. The Air Chief emphasised on the need for international consensus to address the challenges of these technologies. He reiterated the resolve of the PAF to contribute towards securing the national interests of the country. In this regard, he informed about significant initiatives being planned in various domains including operations, capability enhancement, organisation and training, to make PAF a cutting-edge force. The Air Chief also announced the formal launch of the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP) aimed at giving impetus to the process of indigenisation and technology drive in the country. The first Park of its kind would be inaugurated this year while two others would follow in near

future. Later, President Dr. Arif Alvi met Air Chief in his office. The President was briefed on the operational readiness and PAF's un-

flinching resolve to ward off any external threat to national security. CAS highlighted PAF's comprehensive plan.

laHORE staff report

islamabad staff report

A delegation of landlords of Mouza Tamma and Moriyan of Park Road Housing Scheme, calls on Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Works. pr

INdIa’s CoNgress PartY eleCts fIrst NoN-gaNdhI head IN 24 Years

neW DeLhi Agencies

INDIA’s Congress party on Wednesday appointed an octogenarian ex-minister as its first president in 24 years not from the Gandhi dynasty, in an effort to reverse its apparent decline into political oblivion.

Mallikarjun Kharge, 80, was elected by members to replace Sonia Gandhi as president of the once-mighty party that helped win India’s independence from Britain 75 years ago.

The Indian National Congress

governed India for decades after independence in 1947 but is now a shadow of its former self, discredited and crushed under the electoral juggernaut of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Gandhi family is not related to India’s independence icon Mahatma Gandhi, but descended from the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nehru was the father of prime minister Indira Gandhi, assassinated in 1984. She was the mother of Rajiv Gandhi, killed by a suicide bomber in 1991.

The party was last in power nationally from 2004 to 2014 under prime minister Manmohan Singh.

The BJP thrashed Congress in the last two elections, with Modi deriding party president Rahul Gandhi — son of Rajiv and Sonia — as an out-oftouch princeling and playboy.

After the latest defeat in 2019, Rahul Gandhi resigned as party president and handed the reins back to his Italian-born mother Sonia, now 75, who was first appointed to the role in 1998.

Kharge, a former railways and labour minister who is from the lowcaste Dalit community, was born five

years before independence and is widely believed to have the backing of both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi said Wednesday that Kharge is now the supreme authority in the party and that he “will decide my role in the party”.

But despite stepping back, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are expected to continue pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

Kharge, who is four months older than US President Joe Biden, now faces the mammoth challenge of winning the next national election, due in 2024, and three state elections next year.

Revocation of Afghan student’s visas exposes India’s apathy towards war-hit Afghanistan

iSLAMABAD Agencies

China lodges formal complaint with Britain over consulate clash

Beijing Agencies

China said Wednesday it has lodged a formal complaint with Britain over an altercation between its diplomats and a Hong Kong protester on the grounds of its Manchester consulate.

British police have said a group of men came out of the consulate during a weekend demonstration, dragging one of the protesters inside the grounds and assaulting him.

The incident has drawn widespread condemnation in Britain and triggered an international row that saw the UK foreign office summon a senior Chinese diplomat.

Beijing said Wednesday its diplomats were not to blame for the altercation.

“Due to lawless elements’ malicious harassment and illegal entry to the Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester, this caused Chinese personnel to be wounded and threatened the security of the Chinese premises,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a routine briefing.

Beijing had already “made representations” to British authorities and urged London to do more to protect Chinese diplomats, he added.

The Indian apathy towards the people of war-hit Afghanistan stood exposed as the Narendra Modi government revoked the visas of Afghan students enrolled in Indian universities.

According to the media reports, out of an estimated 14,000 Afghan students currently enrolled in 73 Indian universities, about 2,500 have been restrained from returning to India who were desperate to continue their education.

Such a callous Indian attitude towards Afghan people is nothing new as India was among the first nations that closed their missions in Afghanistan, suspended flights between New Delhi and Kabul, and also halted bank payments to the Afghan government.

The Indian government’s decision to revoke Afghan students’ visas has exposed the claims of the Indian government’s so-called renewed friendly and humanitarian overtures towards Afghans.

Contrary to India, Pakistan has offered 4,500 fully-funded scholarships to Afghan students in addition to already existing ones.

Since August 2021, out of

60,000 Afghan applications, India has granted less than 300 e-visas and that too to Afghan Sikhs and Hindus which was the manifestation of the Hindutva mindset of the BJP-led government.

In addition to repression at home, drained finances, and visa woes, Afghan students face the apathy of Indian universities. Although Afghan students have paid their dues, students at various Indian universities have cut contact with their Afghan students.

Recently, hundreds of Afghan students also held a demonstration outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul seeking visas to complete their studies in India. The protesting students still have not been able to return to resume their courses after COVID restrictions were lifted in India.

In a statement, Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar claimed that nobody could doubt India’s feelings for Afghan people.

The Indian media quoted him saying that the visa issuance would be restarted once certain level of trust and efficiency was achieved with Afghanistan, which, according to the analysts manifested the Indian hypocrisy.

Afghan students enrolled in India claim that authorities in the Indian universities often accused them of being potential drug peddlers and terrorists.

Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay also expressed concerns over New Delhi’s concerns about security wherein he said that “No Afghan citizen has ever carried out any major terror attack in another country, so these students should not be unnecessarily suspected on security grounds”.

India has granted 950 scholarships for the upcoming 202223 session to only those Afghan students who were already in India for studies, Afghan refugees from 1996-2001 or those Afghans who came to India before August 2021.

Recently, the Indian authorities also unnecessarily delayed the visa of Afghanistan cricketer Asghar Afghan just because his passport has been stamped with Pakistani visa with his family members also living there.

Contrary to this, Pakistan had granted visas to the Afghanistan squad ahead of September 2021 one-day international cricket series in Sri Lanka because they were unable to board flights from their own country following the Taliban takeover.

CPJ condemns India for disallowing Kashmiri journalist to visit NYC for receiving Pulitzer Prize

neW YORK Agencies

International media watchdog, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has denounced the Indian authorities for stopping Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo at Delhi airport and preventing her from traveling to New York to receive her Pulitzer Prize.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the New York-based CJP in a statement posted on its website terming the Indian authorities’ action as “arbitrary and excessive” called for ending the persecution of journalists covering the situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

As per media reports, immigration officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Monday evening, stopped Sanna Mattoo, who was flying to New York to receive the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in a ceremony scheduled for Thursday.

The Srinagar-based a freelance photojournalist, Sanna Mattoo, was part of a Reuters team that won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

The Kashmiri photojournalist in a tweet said that the officials declined to give her any reason for being barred from leaving India, despite holding a valid passport and US visa. She said that attending the award ceremony is “a once in a lifetime opportunity” for her.

CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator, Beh Lih Yi, in a statement in Frankfurt, Germany, said there is no reason why Sanna Irshad Mattoo, who had all the right travel documents and has won a Pulitzer – one of the most prestigious journalism awards – should have been prevented from travelling internationally. She maintained that this decision is arbitrary and excessive.

Indian authorities must immediately cease all forms of harassment and intimidation against journalists covering the situation in Kashmir, she added.

Sanna Mattoo in her tweet said that she was also prevented at the same airport from travelling to Paris in July, this year, without being given any reason.

After the repeal of special status of IIOJK by Narendra Modiled fascist Indian government on August 05, 2019, Kashmiri journalists are being barred from international travel.

Dehumanizing Human Rights: A dilemma and revival of cold war politics

In the idealistic narrative of Human Rights history, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), established in late 1993, is a symbol of a more “humane” and “depoliticized” human rights effort.

In an era when the Cold War has just ended and human rights have increasingly become an international consensus, OHCHR is undoubtedly regarded as an important subject to break the human rights dilemma, promote international cooperation and promote the spirit of inclusiveness.

But as it enters its 30th year, it may find itself in a similarly awkward position: like the UN human rights body set up in the wave of the “human rights revolution” after the second world war, it is increasingly difficult for the OHCHR to behave as expected in an increasingly political environment of the Cold War. A series of controversies surrounding OHCHR in 2022, including the High Commissioner’s visit to Xinjiang, the report on Xinjiang, and the international debate between the West and China on the issue, graphically illustrate this dilemma.

The OHCHR is not the same as the UN Human Rights Council or the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, which are internationally recognised venues for debate and which were never supposed to be

neutral in the first place. On the contrary, openness is the main feature of these forums. But as a professional human-rights body, the OHCHR has high hopes. The international community generally expects it to act in accordance with the principles of professionalism, impartiality and depoliticization.

There is inevitable tension, but not irreconcilable, between the proper management of relations with major powers and the fair performance of the responsibilities entrusted to them by the international community.

Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, accepted an invitation from the Chinese government to visit Xinjiang in May, which, although controversial mainly among Western countries, was not contrary to the OHCHR’s main mandate. On the contrary, in contrast to the conspiracy theories and tensions caused by long neglect or refusal to examine human rights in China, the visit will, in any case help OHCHR to further its role in a country with growing economic and political influence.

The visit was a success, at least according to China and Ms. Bachelet’s public statements. Ms Bachelet cannot, of course, claim to have conducted an unimpeded and freewheeling “investigation”, but that was not the high Commissioner’s intention after all. Contacts and dialogue with all aspects of Chinese society, especially with a large number of non-government civil society organizations,

academia, community and religious leaders, are helpful to OHCHR’s work and the improvement of human rights protection in the country. Bachelet praised China’s achievements in legislative and judicial reform, poverty alleviation, gender equality, and human rights protection in business and industry, and used the term “frank and sincere” to describe her people-to-people dialogue. These phrases certainly have their diplomatic niceties, but who can deny that, as Prof Henkin puts it, “the transition from force to diplomacy is the mark of civilised progress”?

From May 28 to August 31, OHCHR did a U-turn on Xinjiang and ended up ignominiously with a report that was criticized as “fake” by the Chinese government and many third world countries. Indeed, since the High Commissioner and her team returned from China with understanding rather than condemnation, criticism has continued, mainly from American politicians. Us diplomats and media have hailed the visit as a “propaganda victory for China” and demanded that the OHCHR take a tougher stance on Xinjiang, whether or not it is in the interests of the OHCHR’s mission and the human rights situation in China.

This is reminiscent of the US position on the UN human rights platform at the beginning of the Cold War: President Eisenhower and US Ambassador to the UN Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Both agreed that the United States

should view the United Nations as a “propaganda platform for American interests, policies, and aspirations” and a tool to “exploit the weaknesses of the international communist conspiracy for attack.” In the following decades, even the most “moral” President Jimmy Carter and his “human rights diplomacy” failed to correct the United States from this instrumentalist stance toward human rights, let alone the Reagan administration, which completely regarded the human rights system as a “weapon against communism”. OHCHR is considered to be the product of the end of Cold War politics, but its position on Xinjiang and the political considerations of the United States tragically show that Cold War politics has not gone away, and even still constitutes an important dilemma for international human rights.

The Xinjiang report is seen by the western world as a “victory” against China, but it is puzzling that this victory comes from a hypocritical rhetoric devoid of progress rather than actual institutional contribution in any field. In fact, this is not the first rebirth of Cold War politics or discourse. During this period of declining relative hegemony, the US and its Allies suffered a series of economic and military setbacks, while the Chinese government’s expansion and accumulation projects became more successful.

International competition expressed in legal-human rights discourse did not stop at

norms per se, but was shaped by the United States as a deeper racist ideology. In this model, the United States and its Allies can declare hostile states a threat to the international legal order and international human rights, but they themselves can legitimately circumvent the same responsibility and even ignore their own human rights obligations in the name of upholding the will of the international community, as in the case of Afghanistan, which has been widely condemned, and the issue of indigenous racism.

Susan Marks, a left-wing international jurist, argues that human rights are, in a sense, a form of “calculated suffering”, because they draw attention to things while ignoring root causes. The essence of Cold War politics was right here, because American politicians, such as Eisenhower and Reagan, motivated by the fervor against communism and the promotion of liberalism, cared less about human rights and petty institutions than about pinning the label of “tyranny” on rivals like the Soviet Union or China, and to make the world forget about human rights abuses committed by USbacked military governments in Latin America and apartheid in South Africa. It’s a human right, but it’s dehumanized, it’s just political. When human rights are divorced from humanity, how much of the international reputation and moral legitimacy of OHCHR is left to live on? This question can only be answered by history.

MAnSOOR SADiq

PCB SummonS emergenCy meeTIng of ACC AfTer BCCI refuSAl

ISLaMabaD Staff RepoRt P

AKISTANCricket Board (PCB) has called for an emergency meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) after its President Jay Shah’s remarks regarding shifting the 2023 Asia Cup to a neutral venue.

Jay Shah, who is also the secretary of BCCI, stated India will not travel to Pakistan next year to play in the Asia Cup and demanded to move the tournament to a neutral venue. PCB is surprised and disappointed over his remarks stating, “the comments were made without any discussion or consultation with the

Board of the Asian Cricket Council or the Pakistan Cricket Board (event host) and without any thoughts towards their long-term consequences and implications.

“After having presided over the ACC meeting during which Pakistan was awarded the ACC Asia Cup with an overwhelming support and response from the ACC Board Members,” the board added.

PCB stressed the statement by Jay Shah has clearly been made unilaterally. “This is contrary to the philosophy and spirit for which the Asian Cricket Council was formed in September 1983 – a united Asian cricket body to safeguard the interests of the its Members and organize, develop, and promote the game

of cricket in Asia,” the statement added.

“The overall impact of such statements have the potential to split the Asian and international cricketing communities and can impact Pakistan’s visit to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and future ICC Events in India in the 2024-2031 cycle.

PCB has called for an emergency meeting of ACC particularly for this matter. “The PCB has to date not received any official communication or clarification from the ACC on the statement of the ACC President. As such, the PCB has now requested the Asian Cricket Council to convene an emergency meeting of its Board as soon as practically possible to discuss this important and sensitive matter.”

Not Shaheen, India should be wary of Haris, warns Chopra

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan’s pace attack has always been a force to reckon with in world cricket. This time, in the T20 World Cup, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah trio are in the limelight. While Shaheen and Rauf are experienced speedsters, Naseem proved himself with some sensational spells during the Asia Cup 2022.

It’s no surprise that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is banking heavily on these stars to sail the team through the marquee tournament and into the finals.

Cricket fans keep their fingers crossed over how the trio will perform against India when the

arch-rivals face off in the Super 12 stage on Sunday.

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that Rauf will be a more significant threat than Shaheen in the upcoming match between India and Pakistan on Sunday. The 45-year-old has weighed in on the current potential of the two and opined that Shaheen is yet to be at his best.

“But I feel the bowler be wary of on Sunday, isn’t Shaheen? It’s Haris Rauf. Afridi is getting close to his best but isn’t there yet…and is unlikely to be by the 23rd. Rauf will bowl the tougher overs and has the potential to make a difference,” explained Chopra in his post on

Cricket gurus denounce Indian decision to politicise cricket

ISLaMabaD Staff RepoRt

Former cricket greats believe BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s revelation that India won’t come to Pakistan to play the 2023 Asia Cup, and the event can instead be played on a neutral venue, is ‘absolutely wrong’.

Sir Viv Richards, the legendary West Indian batsman, has thrown his support behind Pakistan after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chose not to send their squad across the border for next year’s Asia Cup.

Richards is part of the Pakistan Junior League (PJL) as a mentor of the Gwadar Sharks. He opined Pakistan is a secure place to play cricket.

“I feel at home whenever I’m in Pakistan. I don’t face any issues in Pakistan and feel extremely safe here,” said Richards as quoted by local media outlet.

The 70-year-old also emphasized the significance of matches between neighboring countries.

“It is always great to watch matches between Pakistan and India. I want to see these teams clash more often, and hopefully, things will change in the future,” he said. It should be mentioned that BCCI Secretary Jay Shah confirmed India’s decision not to travel to Pakistan following the AGM on Tuesday.

The Asia Cup in 2023 will be a 50over event to prepare for the following year’s ODI World Cup in India. Due to tense relations between the two countries,

India has not traveled to Pakistan since 2008. The archrivals last played a bilateral series in 2012, when Pakistan toured India for limited-overs matches. The two countries have only met in ICC and ACC competitions recently.

Former right-arm pacer Mohammad Sami, former left-arm fast-bowler Saleem Jaffer and former all-rounder Iqbal Imam also came out to denounce Indian decision, saying sports and politics should be kept separate.

“Absolutely not,” Sami told media, when asked if India’s decision to not visit Pakistan amidst the hot political climate between the Asian neighbours was right.

“Mixing politics and sports is never right.” Jaffer couldn’t comment on whether India’s decision was right or

Twitter. Shaheen played two warm-up games at the T20 World Cup, bowling figures of 0/7 (2 overs) and 1/29 (four overs) against England and Afghanistan, respectively.

Meanwhile, Rauf bowled well against Afghanistan, taking two wickets. Rauf was also the leading wicket-taker in the September home series against England.

The last time Shaheen faced India in the T20 World Cup in 2021, he ran through the top order, dismissing Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli. He had also dismissed Rohit with an inswinging yorker for a golden duck.

Campher heroics keep Ireland in contention for Super 12 stage

Staff RepoRt

wrong, or whether PCB should take a strong stance if the 2023 Asia Cup is shifted to a neutral venue, due to his work with the Pakistan board.

However, he did condemn mixing sports and politics. “Sports and politics should be kept separate. Sports is supposed to actually bring people closer, who are divided by political or physical boundaries,” Jaffer added.

Imam reminded India that Pakistani government and the PCB always took a step forward to heal the rift.

“Their decision is absolutely wrong,” Imam told The Express Tribune.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board always come on the front foot to invite India to play and go there too [for the 2016 T20 World Cup].”

Rain ruins fun in Pakistan’s warm-up against Afghanistan

Pakistan’s opponents in the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup were given a hint of what to expect when they will face Shaheen Shah Afridi, as the pacer was looking his usual best, against Afghanistan in the warm-up match.

Pakistan elected to field first in the warm-up match against a Mohammad Nabi-led side and Shaheen delivered a one-run over with a wicket at the top, sending a warning that he has recovered fully from the knee injury.

Such was the venom in Shaheen’s fifth delivery of the first over that Rahmanullah Gurbaz had to be taken to the hospital for a scan on his toe, as his left foot came in the way of Pakistani pacer’s in-swinging yorker and the stumps.

Shaheen then bowled Hazratullah Zazai with a low full-toss as the Afghan opener tried to move back and hit him over the covers.

48, Afghanistan recovered courtesy Ibrahim Zadran’s stead 35 off 34 balls.

Pakistan bagged two quick wickets on the score of 81 and 82, but to their surprise the pair of captain Nabi and lower-middle-order batter Usman Ghani put on a valuable partnership to steer Afghanistan to a respectable 154-6 in 20 overs.

In their reply, Pakistan could only bat 2.2 overs before rain interrupted play and the match was eventually declared a no-result.

Unlike the England warm-up game, which Pakistan lost by six wickets after Shan Masood and Haider Ali opened the innings, the usual openers, skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan came out to bat in the chase.

Rizwan hadn’t opened his account even after facing eight balls, while Babar scored six runs off six balls. The total of 19 runs after 2.2 overs was courtesy 13 wides bowled by Afghanistan.

Ireland’s Curtis Campher and George Dockrell combined in an unbroken 119-run stand to take their side to an unlikely six-wicket win over Scotland in the T20 World Cup win in Hobart and keep them in the hunt to qualify for the Super 12 phase. The Irish looked headed for a second straight defeat in Group B when they were reduced to 61-4 in the 10th over, chasing a daunting 177-run target to stay alive in the tournament before Campher and Dockrell came together at the crease. Campher, who also picked up two wickets for nine runs with the ball, smashed an unbeaten 72 off 32 balls while Dockrell stayed for 39 not out as Ireland turned the match on its head to bring up victory with an over to spare. A sparkling 86 from opener Michael Jones helped Scotland post 176-5 after they won the toss and chose to bat first. After humbling two-time champions West Indies in their opening match, Scotland made a shaky start against the Irish, but a 77-run third-wicket stand between Jones and captain Richie Berrington helped them lay the foundation. Jones hit six fours and four sixes in his 55-ball knock, while Berrington made 37 to lay the foundation for the late assault, which fetched the Scots 54 runs in the last five overs. In the day’s second match, the West Indies will look to resurrect their campaign with a win against Zimbabwe, with the four teams vying for the two spots from the group for the Super 12 stage of the tournament.

Pakistan, West Indies T20 series rescheduled

LaHoRe Staff RepoRt

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have mutually agreed to reschedule their three-match T20I series in the first quarter of 2024. The series was originally billed to be played in January 2023 in Pakistan. The decision has been made considering 2024 is an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup year, with the event due to be hosted in the West Indies (WI) and USA in June 2024, and the shortest format matches will, therefore, help both the sides to prepare for the tournament. The three-match T20I series in January 2023 is not part of the recently announced 2023-2027 ICC Future Tours Programme. The West Indies played their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League matches against Pakistan in Multan in May 2022, while the December 2021 series comprised three T20Is in Karachi.

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Baitul Mal MD Amir Fida Paracha presents trophy to winner of Sport Gala at Sir Syed Educational Institution.

Web DeSk

In the last warm-up match before Pakistan face India in their blockbuster Super 12 opener, Pakistan tried six

bowlers, but were unable to dismiss the complete Afghan batting line-up. After losing four wickets for a paltry

SC obSeRveS vawda uSed exPiRed PaSSPoRt aS evidenCe foR uS nationality RenunCiation

ISLAMABAD staff report

SUPREMECourt judge Justice Ayesha A Malik on Wednesday observed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf Leader Faisal Vawda submitted his expired foreign passport to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as proof of renunciation of his United States nationality.

She made the observation being part of a threemember bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah who was hearing Faisal Vawda’s appeal against his lifelong disqualification in the dual nationality case.

During the course of proceedings, Waseem Sajjad, counsel for Faisal Vawda argued that the Returning Officer (RO) satisfied himself after reviewing the canceled American passport. The returning officer had seen Vawda’s canceled passport, he added.

At this, Justice Ayesha Malik remarked that the canceled passport at which the counsel was relying upon was expired in 2015 and shown to the RO in 2018. She observed that when someone gets a new passport made, the older one was stamped as canceled.

She asked how could be a canceled passport evidence to renouncing the nationality. She noted that the passport numbers of the one on record and the one canceled were different.

It was evident by different numbers that a new passport was issued after being long overdue, she

Pakistan seeks billions of dollars in new loans after floods: Report

NEW YORK staff report

Pakistan will ask international lenders for billions of dollars in loans after devastating floods exacerbated the South Asian nation’s economic crisis, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

“We are not asking for any kind of measure [such as] a rescheduling or a moratorium,” the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the Financial Times. “We are asking for additional funds.”

The country needs “huge sums of money” for “mega undertakings” such as rebuilding roads, bridges and other infrastructure damaged or washed away, the FT quoted Sharif as saying. Sharif did not specify the amount Pakistan is seeking, but repeated an estimate of $30 billion of flood losses, the report said.

Earlier this month, the United Nations raised its humanitarian aid appeal for Pakistan five-fold to $816 million from $160 million, as a surge in water-borne diseases and fear of growing hunger pose new dangers after the unprecedented floods. read more The European Union also scaled up its flood assistance to 30 million euros ($29.57 million).

A decline in Pakistan’s currency is also pushing up the cost of imports, borrowing and debt servicing, and will further exacerbate inflation already running at a multi-decade high of 27.3%.

The estimated $30 billion in damage to the economy from the floods along with rising concerns about Islamabad’s ability to raise money to meet external financing requirements has worsened the situation.

added. Upon this, Chief Justice Bandial said that the issue had become very serious.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that another lie of Faisal Vawda had been exposed. Advocate Waseem Sajjad said that text of the affidavit which his client had submitted at the time of the filing his nomination papers for a National Assembly constituency elaborated that the PTI leader did not hold the passport of another country.

Justice Ayesha remarked that the registration number of the passport on record differs from the one

which was canceled, which showed a new travel document was issued. Justice Mansoor said that the affidavit was about ascertaining the dual nationality of a candidate.

To this, the counsel said that the ECP did not have the authority to disqualify a person for life. Justice Mansoor responded that the high court did have the authority to disqualify an individual for life.

Subsequently, the court adjourned hearing of the case till date in office as Faisal Vawda’s counsel sought more time from the court for preparation.

Talks with TTP for durable peace in Swat remained fruitless: Barrister Saif

and delayed.

“For the personal interest, PDM wants to create chaos in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Swat. The PDM does not want to eliminate terrorism from Swat but all the political parties in the ruling alliance want unrest stay in Swat and Malakand division,” he alleged.

Barrister Saif further said that the political parties used the civil society protests for their own vested interest which was sad and condemnable. “Using the unrest in Swat by some political parties for political gains is regrettable,” he said.

Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif on Wednesday revealed that negotiation with the TTP were held within the jurisdiction of Pakistan’s constitution and law, saying both parties, however, yet to reach to any conclusion in Swat.

He was speaking during a press conference at e Swat Press Club in Mingora during his visit to Swat District. He said that he was the Pakistani state representative in the negotiation with the Taliban, facilitated by the Afghan Taliban government.

“The negotiations were held to curb the menace of terrorism in the country. Even Adviser to Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Amir Muqam is also a member of the committee formed for the negotiation with TTP,” he informed.

Barrister Saif said that the provincial government had nothing to do with negotiations, but a distorted impression on social media was spread that an agreement had been reached to hand over some areas to the Taliban, which is not a correct, adding that due to the terrorist incidents in Swat and Afghanistan, negotiations with TTP were affected

He said that KPK CM Mahmood Khan was monitoring the situation in Swat from the day first and he called meetings after every other day on the security situation of Swat regular basis. “CM Mahmood Khan also talked with the security agencies for durable peace and restoration of law and order in Swat. He had made it clear that there will be no compromise on the law and order situation in Swat,” he said.

He said that the provincial government was making no deal with the Taliban and the government was standing with the people of the province. “We are happy that people of Swat took to the streets for peace and durable peace will prevail in the valley with the support of the provincial government,” he said.

He further said that some federal institutions were not cooperating with the provincial government with regard to the Swat security situation. “PTA and other organizations including FIA and IB are not cooperating with the province in preventing terrorism,” he said, adding that the provincial government was aware of the calls made by unidentified persons to people for extortion in Swat. “But the PTA and other agencies don’t release information about the calls asked by the provincial government even after months have passed,” Barrister Saif concluded.

fbR imposes additional customs duty on imported goods

ISLAMABAD shahzad paracha

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has imposed additional customs duty on several import items.

According to S.R.O.1930(1)/2022 issued by FBR on Wednesday, the duty would be applicable on the import of seat parts made of foam, head/ armrests and seat frames, air cleaner hoses, and water cooling system hoses (except turbo system hoses) for vehicles falling under the specified Pakistan Customs Tariff heading.

The additional customs duty would also be applicable on the import of air cleaner hoses and water cooling system hoses (except for turbo system hoses) for vehicles.

The additional customs duty would also be applicable on the import of fan pulleys for vehicles of certain PCT headings, rear combination/backup lamps, rear turning indicators, plough lamps, reverse/parking lights for vehicles; ceiling/room lamps for vehicles and wiring sets and cable sets for vehicles of specified PCT headings.

The additional customs duty would also be charged on the import of brake drums and air vacuum tanks, lever assembly for parking/hand brakes (4×2 vehicles only) for vehicles, built-up drive axles with hub and brake drum for vehicles, wheel hubs for axles for vehicles and built up non-driving axles with hub and brake drums for vehicles, dust protection caps for wheel hubs and wheel hubs for axles for vehicles, road wheels (excluding casted), rims, discs, caps, ornaments and weights for vehicles, pins for shock absorbers (4×2 vehicles only) for specified vehicles and radiators other than aluminum cores for vehicles of certain PCT headings.

The additional customs duty would also be chargeable on the import of steering wheels (non-foamed) and covers steering shafts for vehicles and seat parts made of foam for vehicles of specified PCT headings.

nab moves to take back appeals against Zardari’s acquittal in four cases

ISLAMABAD staff report

What is being described as major development in 25-yearold cases against PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday decided to take back appeals against the acquittal of the former president in the four references.

The NAB officials have filed an application in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking withdrawal of Bureau’s appeals against the acquittal of Asif Zardari. The NAB, in its application, requested to the court that further prosecution of the appeals will be a useless exercise. The available documentary evidence is not in accordance with the legal evidence, it added.

To make their latest move further formidable, the NAB further prayed that they hardly have on record even the photocopies of the documents against Asif Zardari.

Asif Zardari had been acquitted in four reference namely Ursus Tractors, ARY Gold, Polo Ground and SSG Cotecna. The NAB had challenged the PPP CoChairperson’s acquittal in 2015.

‘Imported govt’ resorts to fascist approach to muzzle dissenting voices: Imran

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan lashed out at the “imported government” for adopting fascist approach of harassment and intimidation to muzzle and suppress the dissenting voices in media, saying that a group of criminals in the guise of politics was brought in to power through foreign conspiracy who were attacking the constitution and democracy.

Talking to Social media officials of PTI North Punjab, who called on him here on Wednesday, PTI Chairman said that the imported government resorted to the worst fascism to silence the independent and neutral voices in the media but social media emerged as the most powerful voice of the people.

Imran Khan said that the social media freed the media from the clutches of tyranny and fascism and further added to political maturity and consciousness of the people, adding that the PTI’s long march was not for achieving the traditional political goals but for the real freedom of the nation.

He said that Pakistan was pushed into the quagmire of political and economic crises by ousting PTI government through foreign-backed conspiracy at the time when the country was making progress in almost every field.

PTI Chairman stated that the nation reacted so strongly and spontaneously and took to the streets in such unprecedented number because they believed that it was an insult to the public mandate to de-seat the well-performing elected government through foreign conspiracy.

During the meeting, they held detailed discussion on important issues including the country’s political situation, the features of PTI’s narrative on important national issues including the rising incidents of harassment and targeting of social media workers just for revenge by the fascist imported government.

They also discussed in length the PTI’s preparations for the Long March and the public enthusiasm in this regard.

Speaking on the occasion, Imran Khan made it clear that curbing of freedom of expression by violating the constitution and law was no longer possible.

He said that the PTI social media would play a key role in the Long March because it was inevitable that the workers convey the message of real freedom to every individual.

Imran Khan made it clear that immediate

and transparent elections in the country was the only way forward to get the country out of the prevailing quagmire of problems and to ensure political and economic stability.

SWAT syed shahabuddin

ISLAMABAD staff report