Epaper_22-10-25 ISB

A r s h A d s h A r i f d i e s i n m y s t e r i o u s K e n yA ‘ p o l i c e s h o o t i n g

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

ARSHAD Sharif, a journa ist f ercely critical of the govern ment of the Pakistan Demo cratic Movement (PDM) and was on the run after being charged w th sed tion for critic sing the m litar y was shot dead al egedly by po l ce, near Kenya s cap ta c ty of Na robi in the wee hours of Monday

“ I lost friend husband and my favourite ourna ist today [ ] as per po l ce he was shot in Kenya Javer a Sid dique the spouse of the journal st tweeted on ear y Monday morning MURdER UNdER MySTERIOUS CIRCUM STANCES: Myster y shrouds the murder of Arshad Sharif who was working on a documentar y to expose the al eged corrupt on of Nawaz Sharif fam ly

There is an al eged pol ce k ll ng of a Pakistani nationa Anne Makori head of the Independent Po ice Overs ght Au thor ty (IPOA) in Na robi, to d reporters on Monday “ Our rapid response team has al ready been dispatched to invest gate the ki ling of the journalist she sa d A Kenyan sen or po ce officer was quoted n the media saying, “ we had an inc dent of shooting which turned out to be a case of mistaken dent ty nvo v

ing a ourna ist We w ll re ease more in formation later

However some Kenyan journa ists and awyers have ra sed var ous ques tions about police cla ms on their Twitter accounts

E iud Kibbi , a Kenyan ournalist, wrote that the pol ce statement on the kil ing of Arshad Sharif had too many gaps

“ F rst, if it was a case of a sto en ve h cle, the number p ates of the stolen car and the one Arshad was are differ ent They don’t say the make (of the car) By the t me of the ncident, the ab ducted son had been found

In a subsequent tweet, El ud stated that the Police now say the road was blocked with smal stones and on passing them there was a shooting by GSU off cers

Interest ng y no chase to recover the “sto en” veh cle is reported We have a prob em here, he added

Investigative journa ist Brian Obuya has a leged that Sharif ’s body was found severa kilometers away from where the pol ce say the shooting oc curred

Further details on the matter are ex pected to come for ward as the Inde pendent Pol cing Oversight Authority wi l take over the case

A Kenyan lawyer also commented on the extra ud cial kil ings through

death squads a legedly run by Kenyan Po ice Shar f was a frequent crit c of the mil tar y estab ishment and supporter of former pr me min ster Imran Khan He went into exile f rst n Dubai and later n London after his last employer, ARY News fired h m n September

At the time colleague and sen or ourna ist mran Riaz Khan, himself a vic tim of notorious sed t on aws said Sharif was rece v ng death threats It wasn t im mediate y clear when and why he trav eled to the East African countr y

Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar tenders resignation

ISLAMABAD B yS ta f f R e p o R t

In a late night develop ment Mr Azam Nasir Tarar tendered resignation as Law Minister due to his personal reasons, Pakistan Today earnt through reliab e sources

However the sources said that the compe tent authority was yet to accept the res gnat on

Another source privy to the deve opment said that anti army sloganeer ng in the refer ence held for late Asma Jahang r in Lahore the other day in presence of Law M nister had raised ser ous questions and the concerned quarters were unhappy over the silence of the aw minister over the sloganeering A awyer closed to Tarar said that he supported Chief

The Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan has expressed its condolences on the sudden demise of senior journal st Ar shad Sharif and said that the Pak stani H gh Commission in Kenya wi l faci itate the early return of h s body

The Fore gn Off ce’s condolence statement on the martyrdom of Pak istan s senior journa ist and former an chorperson of ARY News Arshad Sharif sa d that the Pak stani High Commis

sioner received the in tia informat on of h s death on the morning of October 24 after wh ch the HC contacted Kenyan pol ce off cials ministr y of for eign affairs and the office of the Kenyan v ce president

According to the FO spokesman after rece ving nformation about the in cident the peop e of the High Comm s sion mission reached the spot and got informat on about the incident and identif ed the body

Later Kenyan media reported that Arshad Shar f was shot by the loca po lice n a case of mistaken identity

Briefing the med a on the deve op ment, Informat on Minister Marriyum Au rangzeb sa d that Pakistan s ambassador to Kenya Syeda Saqla n Kenyan police off cia s and doctors are currently at the mortuar y in Nairobi where the ambassador has dentif ed Sharif ’s body

The minister a so said that after den tification the process to repatriate the deceased has been nit ated She also added that Kenyan authorities have been requested to comp ete the regu lator y process as soon as possib e

PM Shehbaz phones Kenyan Presi dent to press for impartia probe nto Ar shad Sharif ’s kil ing

Justice of Pak stan Justice Umar Ata Bandial s dec sion of e evat ng junior udges to the Supreme Court on the government s instruction but his conscious was not accepting it “ Therefore he is res gn ng now,” the lawyer added It is also learnt that power ful c rcles were unhappy over anti state slogans dur ng Asma Jahangir Conference where he was also pres ent The sources sa d that law minister had been directed to res gn from off ce and he ater ten dered resignat on However, offic a sources confronted this a egat on and said that Law Minister had tendered resignation due to his personal reasons and his resignation was pend ing for acceptance and any dec s on wou d be taken on the return of Prime M n ster Shehbaz Sharif from K ngdom of Saud Arab a

Rishi Sunak becomes UK’s first PM of Indian origin as rivals quit race

AgencIeS

Rish Sunak wil become Brit sh prime minis ter on Monday after other cand dates quit the race to lead the Conser vative Party leaving h m with the task of steering a deeply d vided countr y through an eco nomic downturn set to leave mill ons of people poorer Sunak, one of the wea thiest po it cians in Westminster wil be asked to form a gov ernment by K ng Char es, replacing L z Truss, the outgo ng leader who on y lasted 44 days in the job

He defeated centr st pol tic an Penny Mordaunt, who fa led to get enough back ing from lawmakers to enter the ballot while his r val the former prime minister Boris Johnson, w thdrew from the contest say ng he could no longer unite the party

“ This decision is a h storic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party Rishi has my full support Mor daunt said in a statement as she w thdrew

from the race just minutes before the win ner was due to be announced

The pound and Brit sh government bond prices jumped briefly on news of Mor daunt s w thdrawal but soon returned to their previous leve s Sunak, the 42 year o d former finance

minister, becomes Br ta n s th rd pr me min ster in less than two months tasked with restoring stabil ty to a countr y reel ng from years of po it ca and economic turmoi

The multi m llionaire former hedge fund boss wou d be expected to launch deep spending cuts to tr y to rebuild Britain s fiscal reputat on just as the countr y sl des nto a recession dragged down by the surging cost of energy and food

Br tain has been locked in a state of perma cris s ever since it voted in 2016 to eave the European Union, unleashing a batt e at Westminster over the future of the countr y that remains unresolved to th s today The atest bout of drama has drawn d smay in foreign cap tals and rid cule from the world ’s press Sunak came to nat onal attent on when, aged 39, he became fi nance minister under Johnson just as the Covid 19 pandemic h t Britain developing the successfu furlough scheme

ECP disqualification doesn’t bar Imran from contesting elections: IHC

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

nterpreting the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) verdict n the fore gn g fts reference against former prime minister Imran Khan Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared he’s not been barred from contesting in future elect ons, obser ving he won t face any problems to run n the NA 45 (Kurram I) by elect on schedu ed for October 30 Ch ef Justice Athar Minallah made the obser vat on on a petit on moved by Khan against the elec tion tribuna s dec sion to disqua ify him from holding office de claring he had unlawful y sold state gifts and concea ed the profit made from sel ing them as prime m nister The case cen tres on a government department known as Toshakhana which dur ng the Mughal era referred to the treasure houses kept by the subcont nent s prince y rulers to store and disp ay g fts av shed on them Government officials must declare al gifts to the Cabinet Division but are al owed to keep those below a certa n value More expens ve items must go to Toshakhana under the admin strative control of the Cabinet D v sion but in some cases the recip ent can buy them back at around 50 percent of their value a discount Khan raised from 20 percent while in office Khan is accused of fail ng to dec are some gifts or the profit made from sel ing them During the proceed ngs on Monday the judge turned down Khan’s request to instant y suspend the udgement and d rected the comm ss on to prov de a signed copy of its short order to the chairman of Pak stan Tehreek i nsaf (PTI) On Friday, the day the petit on was submitted, the registrar had raised objections to ts content On Monday when Barrister Syed A i Zafar counse for Khan urged the court to start hearing the petit on desp te administrative object ons by the reg strar

FO to facil tate early return of Arshad Shar f s body

1 2 Pa g e s I I s l a m a b a d E d i t i o n

PaKIStan COndemnS HOutHI attaCKS On SaudI energy faCIlItIeS

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

PA K I S TA N on Monday condemned “unacceptable” attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on energy facilities of Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed its strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the oil rich kingdom

The Foreign Office said Pakistan also supported the efforts of Saudi Arabia for achieving a peaceful settlement in war torn Yemen

The statement came as the war between the group and the Saudi led coalition entered its eighth year, and violence has worsened over recent months The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, and left millions facing starvation and

Instead of fleeing, residents of small Sindh town choose to fight back raging deluge

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

On August 28, a red alert was issued for some 30,000 residents of a small town called Johi to evacuate as raging floodwaters had already inundated every nook and corner around their homes As the swirling floodwater was heading towards Johi, located west of the worst hit Dadu district of Sindh the town heard an announcement through loudspeakers But, the call was not for evacuation Instead, the adult male population was asked to reach the “ring dyke” a 17 kilometre wall in a circle the residents had constructed in 2010 to save the town from flooding The previous successful experience encouraged the inhabitants to make another attempt at saving the town, although the flood this time was massive The adjacent Khairpur Nathan Shah town had already been submerged by the devastating floods which altogether brought a third of Pakistan under water, aside from killing nearly 1,700 people since mid June Slumped on a chair at his utility store in the main Johi bazaar, Nasarullah Jamali recalled the day when some residents opted for evacuation but a majority rushed towards the dyke The gushing floodwaters struck the dyke on September 1 “Only 30 percent of the residents preferred to leave the town, but the majority in their thousands rushed to the dyke as we have only three days and (as many) nights to save our town,” Jamali, who along with his three brothers took part in the reconstruction of the dyke told Anadolu Agency The dyke constructed 12 years ago was not well maintained and required major repairs and consolidation considering the amount of floodwaters heading towards the town “Thousands of people reached the dyke within an hour, carrying bags, quilts, pillow covers everything that can hold the sand rocks and dirt,” Jamali went on to say ‘f i r s t 5 d ay s w e r e c r u c i a l’: A walk in the Johi bazaar gave an all normal feeling Grocery stores and shops were humming with crowds of buyers, the fish and fruit sellers were making loud chants to attract customers, and roadside stalls were full of tea lovers Generally, there was no sign of panic, although the Anadolu Agency team managed to reach the town from Dadu by boat The only road leading to Johi is still inundated at different points whereas almost all croplands around the town are under 4 5 feet (over 1 meter) deep water Amjad Soomro, a local teacher, and one of the leaders of the move recalled the night when floodwaters struck the dyke, which was originally 7 foot (over 2 meters) high We had had the 2010 experience with us Some 11 pickets consisting of 40 people each were formed and assigned along the dyke, mainly the northern side which was relatively weak ” Soomro said Speaking to Anadolu Agency at his tuition centre, which he runs in the evening he said different groups were assigned the task to fill bags, sheets, quilts, and pillow covers with rocks, dirt, and sand While, he added, others were sent by boats and vehicles to nearby Dadu city and Bhaan town, which were hit by rains only and relatively clear to procure bags in maximum numbers “None of us could sleep the first two nights as the government authorities had already warned of the deluge rushing towards us as high as 8 feet (2 5 meters),” he recalled The first five days were “crucial” and difficult especially the night of Sep 4 when the raging floodwater was striking the dyke hard The dyke was raised up to 10 feet (3 meters), 2 feet higher than the water level “As the water level increased we would keep raising the dyke height It was literally like a foot by foot rise in water and dyke levels simultaneously he maintained The “operation to save Johi” lasted for a month and culminated only after the water levels dropped down to 4 feet “A mass congregation was held on the dyke, where thanksgiving prayers were offered and the town elders announced the culmination of the operation,” Soomro said

disease “Pakistan has consistently urged all parties to the conflict in Yemen to engage in peaceful and meaningful talks to end the hostilities, in line with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, the statement said The Foreign Office noted the truce reached earlier this year yielded dividends by bringing about relative peace, however, termed it “deplorable” that it was not renewed by the group

“This would cause mounting hardship for the ordinary Yemenis, and potentially derail the entire effort for the attainment of durable peace,” it said

We once again urge upon the Houthis to cease militant activities and terrorist actions, and engage in a serious dialogue to end the conflict on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and renew the UN brokered truce

Pakistan believes that war serves no purpose, and all issues can be resolved through peaceful dialogue Adopting this path early will save thousands of innocent lives, and protect the future of the Yemeni people,” it said

The conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but the Houthis claim they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression

IHC orders government to set up human rights cour ts

ISLAMABAD M o n i to R n g R e p o R t

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the government to establish dedicated courts to ensure the safeguarding of human rights by the weekend

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued the directions during the hearing of a case related to the torture of the Adiala Jail prisoners, says in media reports

The chief justice said the cases of rights violations

will be heard in a special court He said that there are strong laws related to human rights which can deal with violations

During the hearing, Justice Minallah said his court will not tolerate torture inflicted upon the prisoners and that the inhuman practice of custodial torture should end now

He ordered action against the Inspectorate General of Prisons of Punjab and the superintendent of Adiala prison At this, PTI leader Asad Umar said: No one is safe now not even Arshad Sharif ”

An official of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) informed the court that 11 children have been granted bail but have no place to go At this, the chief justice asked: Why shouldn t we keep those children in Prime Minister or Chief Minister ’s House?”

The HRCP secretary said that about 1,400 prisoners are drug addicts and there is only one male doctor for 4,000 prisoners To this, Justice Minallah said that HRCP has wide ranging powers and can even hire consultants

Cour t grants Imran Khan interim bail till Oct 31

An Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) Monday granted interim bail to PTI s Chairman Imran Khan and others in an FIR regarding the protests after the decision of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) The court accepted the pre arrest bail till October 31, against surety bonds worth Rs 100 000 The court also sought comments from the capital’s police into the matter Disposed prime minister Imran Khan appeared before the court of ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan to pursue their pre arrest bail case Petitioner ’s Lawyer Dr Baber Awan said that Imran Khan was accused of instigating his party workers for the protests He said that all sections except the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) were bailable Imran Khan arrived at the court rostrum and said that how he could attend the proceeding if his long march started on October 31

Heat, then floods ruin farmers ’ livelihoods

Generations of Rahim Buksh s ancestors have laboured in the rice paddies and wheat fields surrounding the country’s hottest city, no strangers to intense summers or monsoon rains

But this year Jacobabad lurched from record heatwaves in May to an unprecedented deluge of rain in August that drowned crops

The floods forced tens of thousands of people to flee for makeshift camps and relatives’ homes, leaving them doubting the future of farm work despite their deep connection to the land

“We would move to the cities and take up manual labour work if somebody helped us to get out of here, said Buksh, whose mud brick home was flooded, like much of the surrounding farmland

Even before the destruction, Jacobabad and dozens of nearby villages were crippled by poor infrastructure

Most of the district’s million plus population are itinerant farm workers, earning a daily wage tending crops for major landowners

Poverty, debt and the unequal distribution of land have made their livelihoods precarious, but the rise of extreme weather events linked to climate change has deepened the insecurity

This year s crops were first scorched by temperatures that reached 51 degrees Celsius (124 Fahrenheit) in May, only to be drenched by monsoon rains that affected a third of the country a scale never seen in Pakistan

The agriculture sector is by far the biggest employer in Pakistan, accounting for more than 40 percent of the labour force, the majority being women Community NGO worker Jan Odhano, who has provided emergency relief to victims of both the heatwave and floods, said the “double disasters” left farm workers desperate for a way out

They think can get work in the big cities more easily Men can work in the factories,” he told AFP, adding that a wider range of work opportunities are also available to women ‘N o w o r k l e f t’: Many of the flood displaced in Sindh have sought shelter in urban centres, including tens of thousands recorded at relief camps and many more in the homes of relatives or rental properties

With homes and livelihoods washed away, some are expected to abandon their rural lives, heaping pressure on already swelling cities grappling with a long term “major crisis of urban governance”, according to Nausheen H Anwar, a professor of urban planning in Karachi

“We are not prepared for what’s going to happen,” she said of migration due to climate change These flows are going to be inevitable ”

Muhammad Hanif, 20, has had enough after seeing his livestock perish and crops wrecked

“It is unliveable here There is no work left We will have to go to Karachi ” The standard of living in the southern megacity of more than 25 million is a little better for impoverished arrivals

Pakistan’s economic capital suffers from poorly maintained roads, crippled drainage and sewerage

systems, water distribution in the grip of mafias, electricity shortages, and inadequate housing

Migrants often live in shanty towns working as street vendors or daily wage labourers

We really need to put more focus on cities and their governance systems,” Anwar said “Rural is important, but so is the urban, and they’re both interlinked Even before the deluge, the economy was struggling, with soaring inflation, a plunging rupee, and dwindling foreign exchange reserves

Calls are growing from the government and activists for richer and more industrialised nations with larger carbon footprints to offer debt relief to Pakistan as a form of climate justice

Demands for the largest emitters to take financial responsibility for the climate chaos impacting poorer nations is expected to dominate a UN summit next month w h e r e to s ta rt?

Pakistan, the world s fifth most populous country, is on the frontline of climate change despite being responsible for just 0 8 percent of global emissions

Studies have found climate change has intensified the heatwaves making them hotter earlier and more frequent This year intense temperatures wiped out three million tons of wheat crops, led to livestock deaths, caused forest fires and impacted human productivity

The monsoon was also far heavier than usual, destroying 9 4 million acres of crops and orchards

“The climate change ministry should be as important as the foreign ministry or finance ministry,” climate scientist Fahad Saeed said

Reinforcements from Sindh, FC arrive in Capital to help foil PTI long march

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Around 6,000 Sindh police personnel, 90 platoons, and 2,667 personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) Monday r e a c h e d t h e f e d e r a l c a p i t a l u n d e r t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n me n t’s p r e p a r a tio n s to th w a r t th e P T I ’s lo n g march

The development comes ahead of the PTI s long march which as per the party is slated to begin after c h a i r m a n I m r a n K h a n a n n o u n c e s i t s s c h e d u l e o n either Thursday or Friday

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah earlier said that the PTI’s long march will not be allowed to enter the f e d e r a l c a p i t a l u n d e r a n y c i r c u m s t a n c e s a n d t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s d e v i s e d a c o m p r e h e n s i v e strategy in this regard

F C p e r s o n n e l , a c c o r d i n g t o s o u r c e s , h a v e b e e n staying in the Faisal Mosque s yard, while the police p e r s o n n e l h a v e b e e n a c c o m m o d a t e d a t t h e H a j i Camp

On October 22, Khan during a presser with his p a r t y m e m b e r S e n a t o r A z a m S w a t i s a i d t h a t h e w i l l a n n o u n c e t h e d a t e f o r h i s “ H a q e e q i A z a d i

March this Thursday or Friday He also warned the government against taking steps to stop the march

Earlier, the government approached the Supreme C o u r t t o s t o p t h e P T I s l o n g m a r c h H o w e v e r, t h e a p e x c o u r t r e j e c t e d t h e r e q u e s t t o i s s u e a n i n t e r i m order for stopping the PTI’s planned long march giving a boost to the Khan led party

B e f o r e i t a p p r o a c h e d t h e t o p c o u r t t h e g o v e r n m e n t i s s u e d r e p e a t e d w a r n i n g s t o t h e P T I c h i e f , w i t h a t o p o ff i c i a l s a y i n g t h a t t h e a u t h o r i t i e s w o u l d m u l t i p l y t h e i r M a y 2 5 p o l i c y b y 1 0 i f K h a n a n n o u n c e s a n o t h e r l o n g m a r c h

LAHORE: Journalists are holding protest outside Lahore Press Club to denounce the brutal murder of journalist Arshad Sharif photo by zubaiR Mehfooz

LAHORE a f p

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

S wat I m O v e S S u P r e m e C O u r t a g a I n S t a r r e S t O v e r a n t I - a r m y C H I e f t w e et

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

SE N AT O R Azam Khan Swati on Monday approached the Supreme Court to challenge his arrest at the hands of the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) for tweeting about the army chief

He was taken into custody by the cybercrime wing of the agency from his home in Islamabad on October 13 after

accusing him of a “mischievous act of subversion to create a rift in the armed forces and to “harm the state of Pakistan”

In his tweet, Swati taunted Gen Qamer Javed Bajwa after a court acquitted Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his son in a money laundering case, saying the general had made the acquittal possible

“Mr Bajwa! Congratulations to you and few with you Your plan is really working and all criminals are getting free at cost of this country,” Swati tweeted “With these

thugs getting free, you have legitimized corruption How you predict now the future of this country ”

He was freed on bail last week

In his petition, Swati said the FIA violated the sanctity of his house He said he was beaten in front of the members of his family

He recalled he has been a member of the Senate since 2003 except for a brief period

He also alleged his face was covered in black cloth before being led away “I’m dead

inside Suicide is prohibited in Islam, this is the only I am alive [even after the humiliation],” he wrote in his petition

The senator said he will file for a suo motu notice Tuesday while requesting the court to take notice of the incident

I H C o r d e r s l e g a l a c t i o n a g a i n s t I G P p r i s o n s, o t h e r s

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday issued directives to take legal actions against IGP prisons and Superintendent Adiala Jail in a case with regard to torture against the prisoners in jail

Chief Justice Athar Minallah, hearing the case, remarked that as per the report of the National Commission for Human Rights, the prison look more like custody center

The departmental action could be taken against the public servants under the law, he said

The court inquired the commission that as why it had made this report as confidential, adding that the court was making this public

The bench also instructed the commission to upload the report on web site as well

The chief justice observed that housing more prisoners than the capacity of the Adiala Jail was itself a violation of human rights To whom, this court should hold as accountable, he asked

PTI’s Leader Asad Umar said that the government should be held as responsible for it

At this, the chief justice said that there was his (Asad Umar) party’s government previously and it was still in

power in provinces

The court observed that due to the complaints he had to visit the Adiala jail The chief justice said that one prisoner told him that he would be punished if he told him the truth Even the children were kept in the jails, he said Justice Minallah said that the trial would be conducted in special courts on violation of human rights

The court also instructed the government to set up human rights court in a week

The court remarked that it would not tolerate custodial torture anymore as this practice should be stopped After this, the hearing of the case was adjourned

Pakistan couple arrested in Spain over daughter’s killing

MADRID a f p

Police in Spain said they have arrested a couple from Pakistan suspected of having killed their own daughter in their hometown because she got married without their approval Authorities in Pakistan issued an international arrest warrant for the couple after the killing committed in April 2020, Spain’s National Police said in a statement Investigators believe the couple “kidnapped and then murdered in Pakistan their own daughter because she married a person they did not like,” the statement added The woman s husband reported what happened to Pakistan’s authorities who issued a warrant for the couple, who had fled to Spain, a police spokeswoman said Spanish police arrested the man 67 and woman 51 on Saturday near their home in Logrono, the capital of the northern wine producing region of La Rioja, acting on a tip from Pakistani authorities that they were now living there The couple then appeared before Spain s National court which ordered that they be held in prison until they are deported to Pakistan They reportedly ran a shop offering phone and Internet services in the centre of Logrono About 100 000 Pakistanis live in Spain, according to the national statistics institute INE

Trade, investment ties key component of Pakistan’s multifaceted relations with EU: Naveed Qamar

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Minister for Commerce and Investment, Syed Naveed Qamar met the Chair of the European Parliament’s committee for International Trade (INTA), MEP Bernd Lange in Brussels, Belgium on Monday Ambassador of Pakistan to Belgium Luxembourg and the European Union, Dr Asad Majeed Khan and other officials were also present during the meeting

The Commerce Minister underscored that trade and investment ties were a key component of Pakistan s multifaceted relationship with the EU The Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus has been a mutually beneficial undertaking that played an important part in the growth of Pakistan’s bilateral trade with the EU countries he added

According a press release issued by Pakistan Embassy in Brussels, the Minister highlighted that economic stabilization and growth were the key priorities of the current government particularly in the aftermath of the devastating floods and the EU remains a major partner for Pakistan to realize these objectives Naveed Qamar emphasized that the GSP Plus was an excellent model for mutually beneficial cooperation between the

two sides as Pakistan’s export to the EU has increased by 86 percent whereas the EU’s exports to Pakistan grew by 69 percent, since inception of the scheme in 2014

He expressed the hope that the new GSP Plus regulation would continue to focus on its central tenets of supporting sustainable development, poverty alleviation and good governance in the beneficiary countries

The Chair INTA Committee MEP Lange thanked the Commerce Minister and agreed to work together in further strengthening Pakistan EU relations including enhanced exchanges

During his meeting with European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mr Janusz Wojciechowski, the Minister for Commerce and Investment stressed the importance of enhancing Pakistan EU cooperation in agriculture sector especially for modernization of agro based industries expansion of storage facilities, research, water management, food security and flood protection In a separate interaction Naveed Qamar met the Standing Rapporteur of Trade Monitoring Group for South Asia in the Committee on International Trade MEP Maximilian Krah and briefed the MEP about ways and means to further strengthen Pak EU trade and investment relations

Imran Khan

The detailed order carrying the signatures of all five members of the bench comes after PTI had raised objections over the delay in its release The ECP’s five member bench headed by the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja unanimously ruled against the former prime minister

As per the statement of Imran Khan, he had purchased the gifts from Toshakhana paying Rs 21 564 million while the Cabinet Division has declared that the gifts had a value of Rs 107 943 million ” according to ECP judgment The commission, in its judgment, stated that the PTI chief was no more a member of the National Assembly and deemed his response “not correct”

The 36 page order noted that the petitioners submitted that the respondent did not disclose gifts and precious items which he acquired from foreign dignitaries in the statement of assets and liabilities filed before the ECP from the year 2017 2021

The amount allegedly received in his

bank account does not commensurate with the assessed value of the gift items Hence, the respondent has filed false statement and incorrect declaration in material particular for the financial year 2018 19,” reads the detailed judgment

The list attached with the reference clearly shows the nature of gift items which included flower vases watches cufflinks and decoration pieces According to the rules 6(i) the gift items can be retained if the price of the item is less than Rs30 000/ and where the valued amount is more than Rs30,000 can be retained subject to deposit of 50% of the value amount of gift received

It was also mentioned that it was the obligation of the respondent to declare complete details of the assets whether in the shape of gifts or amounts including the transfer of any assets to any during the financial year in the annual statement of

assets and liabilities along with details and its cost value in a column in column number 2 and 3 of Form B (remarks)

“The commission has the jurisdiction to inquire into any matter or objection raised by any person including a reference from Speaker against any member of the Parliament or an assembly regarding concealment, false or mis declaration in the statement of assets and liabilities after 120 days, the verdict reads

The document mentioned that the disqualification of the members may be made under any law for the time being in force

“In the instant case Elections Act 2017 is the relevant law, and the violation or non compliance or mis declaration made by any Member of Majlis e Shoora (Parliament) comes under the ambit of disqualification and the commission has the jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the question of disqualification on any of the grounds mentioned in Article 63(1)

The commission is also competent to direct filing of a criminal complaint under Section 190 for the violation of sections 137 167 and 173 of the Elections Act 2017 which is a criminal liability while mis declaration, false declaration, and concealment of assets also bear civil liabilities,” it reads

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan for including climate change in cPec Portfolio

ISLAMABAD M i A n A b R A R

PA K I S TA N on Monday proposed the inclusion of climate change as a new area of cooperation under the framework of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for efficient water resources management development of cli mate resilient infrastructure

The proposal was made in the third meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) between the govern ment of Pakistan and People s Re public of China held here to review

the long term plan of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Pakistan proposed to add a new sector to the portfolio titled “Water Resources Management & Climate Change” The Chinese side would respond soon

The meeting was co chaired by Secretary Ministry of Planning De v e l o p m e n t & S p e c i a l I n i t i a t i v e s Syed Zafar Ali Shah and Pan Jiang through video conference with in terval of three years

D i r e c t o r G e n e r a l o f t h e N a t i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t & R e f o r m s Commission of China, representa t i v e s o f M i n i s t r i e s o f F o r e i g n A f

fairs, Aviation, Finance, Economic A ff a i r s , G w a d a r P o r t A u t h o r i t y, Gwadar Development Authority as w e l l a s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e i r counterparts in China have also at tended the meeting

T h e m e e t i n g r e v i e w e d a n d s u m m a r i z e d t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n status of the CPEC projects and de liberated upon the future course of action with regard to implementa tion of the CPEC long term plan

Both the sides expressed satis faction on steady progress made on various projects and agreed to start deepening the work done and then e x e c u t i o n o f t h e s e c o n d p h a s e o f

C P E C , w h i c h i s f o c u s e d o n A g r i culture Cooperation, Industrial Co operation Science & Technology I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y a n d Socio Economic Development

It was noted that since the last m e e t i n g o f J W G o n P l a n n i n g a n d CPEC Long Term Plan held in No vember 2019 a number of develop ments have taken place

G l o b a l l y t h i s p e r i o d r e m a i n e d m a r r e d b y C O V I D 1 9 p a n d e m i c preventing free movement of peo ple between countries and regions Despite these restrictions and diffi culties posed by the pandemic, sub s t a n t i a l p r o g r e s s h a s b e e n

PTI mourns Arshad S harif ’s tragic murder

ISLAMABAD stAff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) senior leader ship arrived at the residence of slain journalist Arshad Sharif as soon as the news was shared with the bereaved family Murad Saeed and Sheyhryar Afridi were first to arrive at Arshad s residence where fel low journalist Kashif Abbasi was present Later, Sami Ibrahim and other journalists ar rived PTI leaders expressed their heartfelt con dolence and grief over the brutal murder of well reputed senior anchor person Arshad Sharif saying that cruelty has crossed the lim its PTI leadership, in their condolence mes sages issued from PTI Central Media Department on Monday said that he pursued the truth at all cost and paid the ultimate price

for speaking the truth

PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that there were no words to ex press the deep shock and deep sorrow at the news of the murder of the unparalleled journal ist and friend Arshad Sharif

PTI Central Secretary General Asad Umar expressed grief over the martyrdom of Arshad Sharif and said that he was shocked to hear the news of Arshad Sharif ’s death May Allah grant him high place in paradise

“Who will answer Arshad’s son for the murder of his father? Will the judiciary play its role?, he asked Just met Arshad Sharif s mother who was a brave woman and a brave mother of a brave son,” he added

Meanwhile, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that the news of Arshad Sharif ’s murder was heartbreaking, and cruelty

has crossed the line

In her strong reaction to the tragic news, PTI Senior Vice President Dr Shireen Mazari said that there was confusion, as Arshad Sharif was murdered by a sniper bullet to his head It was not an accident as is now being floated, she added

He had told me head money had been put on his life so he had to leave Pakistan and later he said he had to leave Dubai because they had traced him there too, Mazari maintained

Mazari further said that Arshad Sharif ’s murder should be investigated, an FIR of his murder should also be registered in Pakistan, a judicial commission should be formed in Ar shad Sharif ’s murder case

Reacting to Shehbaz Sharif s statement, she said: “You shameless man It was a targeted murder and it was under your government that

achieved

Both the sides noted that out of 2 6 C P E C E a r l y H a r v e s t P r o j e c t s 14 projects including Karachi La h o r e M o t o r w a y : M u l t a n S u k k u r Section KKH (Phase II) upgrada tion & reconstruction from Raikot t o I s l a m a b a d v i a M a n s e h r a , E a s t b a y E x p r e s s w a y 1 3 2 0 M W P o r t Q a s i m P o w e r P l a n t , 1 3 2 0 M W Sahiwal Power Plant and 720 MW K a r o t H P P e t c h a v e b e e n c o m p l e t e d , w h i l e c u r r e n t l y 5 p r o j e c t s i n c l u d i n g N e w G w a d a r I n t e r n a t i o n a l A i r

The meeting was also informed that the Government of Pakistan was actively implementing various proj ects, in close collaboration with the Provincial Governments to ensure efficient and time completion with a view to make the CPEC a roaring success and directly monitoring the progress of these projects on a monthly basis

The two sides resolved to redou ble the efforts to tap the full potential of cooperation as well as to make sure that the population of Pakistan fully benefit from these projects by utilizing the massive opportunities being created in various sectors

shown by those who drove him out of Pakistan to remain silent Hypocrisy hurts, she added “Lest there was any doubt it was a planned assassination Mofa and others please stop giving us the official lie from Kenya with an ever changing story We know you know so do not in our time of grief add to our anger also, she added Expressing his regret over the martyrdom of Arshad Sharif PTI senior leader Murad Saeed said that the heir of the martyrs has the status of martyrdom, the oath of the victims of all ages the journey of your pen will not be in vain

he was driven out of Pakistan then out of UAE His last tweet was on your hiding in a car boot to go to Army House and paid with his life for exposing all of you,” she added

Shireen Mazari quoted Barrister Shoaib as saying that he was pursued by our state and driven out of Pakistan till his targeted murder in Kenya This is Barrister Shoaib one of his closest friends confirming what many of us knew At the very least decency should be

PTI Central Secretary Information Farrukh Habib said: “Arshad Sharif ’s martyrdom is not believed A brave man who stood up for the truth has left us today

PTI Central Punjab General Secretary Hammad Azhar in his condolence message said: “May Allah bless Arshad Sharif and grant him peace The most meritorious jihad is to speak the word of justice before the unjust king and Arshad Sharif Shaheed did the best Jihad ”

Govt likely to close down NBP Paris branch

ISLAMABAD s h A h z A d pA R Ac h A

The Ministry of Finance is likely to close down NBP Paris branch due to incurring financial losses

Sources have told Pakistan Today that the Ministry of Foreign affairs also asked Ministry of Defence pro duction to register comments regarding the closure of the NBP Paris branch

Earlier, Ministry of Finance had written a letter to the NBP as well as the Governor State Bank of Pakistan with regard to closure of the Paris branch of the government owned bank

MoFA has been informed by NBP that the branch would be closed due to incurring financial losses On the other hand, sources said that the branch loss was less than Rs2 million in year 2021 due to COVID 19 situation and business can be improved by having better business

AJK govt celebrates Diamond Jubilee foundation

ISLAMABAD: The Diamond Jubilee of the founda tion of the Azad Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir was observed across the liberated territory on Monday with a renewed pledge to take the ongoing freedom movement in the Indian Occupied Kashmir to its logical conclusion, ensure good governance and su premacy of the rule of law in the region Special cere monies, seminars and symposiums were held across the region to pay homage to martyrs who laid their lives during the freedom movement in 1947 s

Manzoor Pashteen booked under terrorism charges for anti militar y speech

LAHORE Ag e n c i e s

Pashtun Tahaffuz Move ment (PTM) chief Man zoor Pashteen has been booked on charges of trea son and terrorism by the Punjab police following his anti military speech at the Asma Jahangir Conference on Sunday A first informa tion report (FIR) registered on the complaint of citizen Naeeem Mirza on Monday stated that Pashteen hurled baseless allegations at the security agencies while his supporters chanted slogans against the institutions dur ing the event held in Lahore at a private hotel Denounc ing the FIR, the PTM chief said in a tweet, The voices against oppression cannot be suppressed through FIRs prisons or propa ganda, but the only solution is to give justice”

strategies Recently the NBP has transferred the Pak istani Embassy account to a local French bank and NBP Paris maintains accounts on a limited number of accounts of Pakistanis living in France besides embassy staff ac counts

Meanwhile, the bank has also advised the Pakistani mission s Procurement Wing to shift their accounts to NBP Frankfurt instead of a local French bank due to their sensitive nature

The mission is of the opinion that although there would be some teething problems and delays initially, the system would get smooth overtime

It is pertinent to mention here that in year 2018 the government of Pakistan had also taken a decision to close down Paris branch but later on the decision was with drawn giving the reason that it is the only Pakistani bank in France and once closed, it would be extremely difficult to open it again

GOvt PROMOtING INvEStOR fRIENdly POlICIES tO AttRACt INvEStMENt: AHSAN IqBAl

iSLamaBad S ta f f R e p o R t

MINISTER for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said the government is promoting investor friendly policies to attract invest ment in environment friendly hy dropower projects

Addressing an event in Islamabad on Monday, he said the government is striv ing to harness the identified environment friendly power potential of over forty two thousand megawatts

Alluding to the devastation caused by recent floods, the Minister for Planning said Pakistan is contributing less than one percent to global carbon emissions but it is amongst the top ten countries in the world badly affected by climate change

He said it is estimated that the recent climate disaster has cost over thirty two billion dollars He said it is not only an economic loss but this climate disaster has hit the poorest of the poor people He said urgent tangible and implementable steps are needed to escape Pakistan from the catastrophic impacts of climate change

Addressing a separate event in Islam abad the Minister termed revolution of knowledge a fundamental key for devel opment in 21st century He said Pakistan needs creative and innovative minds to progress

Ahsan Iqbal said it is the responsi bility of the government to introduce digital economy in backward areas of the country He called for removing ob stacles to achieve targets of sustainable development

Arshad S harif dies in mysterious Kenya ‘police shooting’

Continued from page 01

Rishi Sunak becomes UK’s first PM of Indian origin as rivals quit race

Continued from page 01

The former Goldman Sachs analyst will be the United Kingdom s first prime minister of Indian origin His fam ily migrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from Britain’s former colonies moved to the country to help it rebuild after the Second World War After graduating from Oxford University, he went to Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire NR Narayana Murthy founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd Sunak inherits a UK economy that was headed for a recession even before the recent turmoil triggered by Truss She re signed after her budget of tax cuts funded by debt sent shockwaves through markets, crashing the pound That caused the government to U turn on most of its budget, including scaling back a cap on soaring energy bills that have contributed heavily to a cost of living crisis for tens of millions of Britons Data on Monday showed Britain s economic downturn worsened in October with private sector output at a 21 month low “October ’s flash PMI data showed the pace of economic decline gathering mo mentum after the recent political and financial market upheavals,” noted Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence that helped compile the figures “The heightened political and eco nomic uncertainty has caused business activity to fall at a rate not seen since the global financial crisis in 2009 if pandemic lockdown months are excluded Williamson added that upcoming data would likely show Britain al ready in recession The S&P Global/ CIPS flash UK composite purchasing managers index stood at 47 2 in October, below September ’s level of 49 1 A figure under 50 indicates a contraction The UK is not alone, however, with separate S&P data pointing to an impending reces sion” in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday phoned President of Kenya, William Ruto and expressed seri ous concern on the part of Pakistani people and jour nalist fraternity over the death of senior journalist Arshad Sharif in that country

He emphasized on impartial and transparent inves tigation into the incident The Prime Minister re quested the Kenyan President to complete the regulatory procedures for return of Arshad Sharif s dead body

Expressing his deep regret over the incident, the Kenyan President assured that demands of justice will be fulfilled in the case and an investigative report will be released soon

He also assured Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that process of dead body’s return to Pakistan will be completed at the earliest

SEDITION CHARGES: In August police booked Sharif, ARY Group chief Salman Iqbal, and the chan nel’s Head of News Ammad Yousaf, among others, for sedition over an interview by Shahbaz Gill then chief of staff to former prime minister Imran Khan, wherein he’d called on servicemen to follow the Constitution, broadcast on the channel on August 8

The following day, the Ministry of Interior can celled the channel’s no objection certificate (NoC) cit ing adverse reports from agencies as the reason behind the decision, a decision later reversed on the order of the Sindh High Court (SHC)

Subsequently, the ARY Group announced it had “parted ways” with Sharif without citing a specific rea son but stating that it expects its employees’ conduct on social media to be in line with its policy The pop ular TV station, however, did not mention the specific social media post for which Sharif was let go

Days later, Sharif left the country

He was awarded the Pride of Performance honour for his work in the field of journalism by President Arif Alvi in March 2019

Sharif is survived by his wife Siddique, five school going children and an octogenarian mother His father, a retired naval officer, passed away reportedly of cardiac arrest in 2011 and his only sibling an elder brother who was an army doctor, was killed in an am bush the same year

CONDOLENCES POUR IN: Condolences poured in from journalists and politicians on his assassination The prime minister said he was was deeply saddened by the shocking news” But conspicuously absent from his tweet was any call for an investigation of the killing President Dr Arif Alvi termed the incident a loss for journalism and Pakistan “May his soul rest in peace and may his family, which includes his follow ers, have the strength to bear this loss, he said

“Shocked” Imran Khan said Sharif “paid the ulti mate price for speaking the truth his life ” He noted how the anchorperson had to leave the country [and] be in hiding abroad but he continued to speak the truth on social media, exposing the powerful Today, the en tire nation mourns his death

“A proper judicial investigation must be instituted to examine his own statements plus evidence that other sources have, the former prime minister demanded

“We have descended into a state of brutality un known in civilised society, indulged in by the powerful against those who dare to criticise [and] expose wrong doings ”

I “can’t believe Arshad is gone He was forced to run and now is dead Those who were under his focus are the ones responsible for his murder [sic] ” tweeted veteran journalist Shaheen Sehbai, who now lives in Washington Bless you, bro We will find out and fight [your] killers ”

“Shocking and disturbing [ ] Arshad Sharif had been very close to the Pakistani military, but more re cently had become a major critic of them after the ousting of Imran Khan,” noted Secunder Kermani, for mer BBC correspondent in Pakistan

We often didn t see eye to eye We often com peted for the same stories, from the same sources; such is the world of reporting But if Arshad Sharif has been killed and I hope it s just a hoax and if his killing has been endorsed by the state, then as a nation, we’re done for,” Wajahat Saeed Khan, a reporter who is now associated with Nikkei Asia said

Shahzeb Khanzada, an anchorperson at Geo News, said he was “extremely sad to hear the devastating news about Arshad Sharif

“Devastated” Baqir Sajjad Syed, national security correspondent for Dawn, expressed hope the govern ment will investigate the assassination and give clar ity to the nation and aid pursuit of justice ”

Lawmakers condemn killing of Arshad Sharif, demand fair investigation

iSLamaBad S ta f f R e p o R t

The lawmakers in the National Assembly on Monday con demned the killing of journal ist anchor person Arshad Sharif and demanded for fair investiga tion into the incident

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, MMAP lawmaker Salah Uddin Ayubi condemned the killing of jour nalist Ashrad Sharif in Kenya and condoled the bereaved fam ily members to bear this ir reparable loss

He demanded an investiga tion into this incident He con gratulated Ali Musa Gilani and Abul Hakim Baloch for winning by elections Multan and Karachi, respectively

He said that the people of Karachi and Multan had ex posed those who told lies to

them in 2018

Salahuddin Ayubi said that the financial scams of BRT in Peshwar and Malam Jaba should be investigated

H e s a i d t h a t t h e E l e c t i o n C o m m i s s i o n o f P a k i s t a n ( E C P ) h a d g i v e n a h i s t o r i c a l verdict by declaring the person a t h i e f w h o s o l d g i f t s o f t h e s t a t e J a v e r i a Z a f a r a l s o c o n demned the killing of journal ist Arshad Sharif and appealed t h e p e o p l e e s p e c i a l l y s o c i a l m e d i a u s e r s t o a v o i d s p e c u l a tions on the issue

She said that fair investiga tions should be ensured in the case She also demanded the chair to ensure the presence of ministers in the House and the interest of lawmakers in the pro ceedings of the lowe house

MNA Nisar Ahmed Cheema said that the killing of a renowned journalist was a tragic

incident and demanded a fair in vestigation into the incident

He also congratulated two new MNAs who took oath over winning by elections in Multan and Karachi Cheema said that Yusuf Raza Gilani was known as a decent politician and his son Ali Musa Gilani would follow his father in politics He said that Abdul Hakeem Baloch was a seasoned politician and the members of the house wel comed him in the lower house

He said all rehabilitation in flood hit areas should be the pri ority of provincial and federal governments and all politicians should play their role in that re gard

MNA, Jamal Uddin also congratulated two MNAs who took the oath and condemned the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif Muttahida Quami Move ment Pakistan Kishwer Zehra

strongly condemned the killing of Arashd Sharif and demanded the government to conduct a transparent investigation into the case Pakistan People Party

Parliament MNA Nawabzada

Iftikhar Ahmad Khan congratu lated the newly elected member of the Pakistan people’s party

He also felicitated the Hindu Community in the country on their religious festival of ‘Di wali He also demanded a fair investigation into the Arahsa Sharif ’s murder

On the eve of 75th founda tion day of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), he said the peo ple of Jammu and Kashmir would get their right to self de termination soon for which they had been striving for past years

He expressed complete sol idarity with the people of ille gally Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and said

the people of Pakistan were sup porting firmly Kashmiri brethren in their struggle for their just cause

Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla also condemned the killing of Arshad Sharif and de manded the government to un earth the truth behind this incident He also congratulated the two newly elected members of the house PML N Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh expressed deep grief and shock over the tragic death of journalist Arshad Sharif He also congratulated the Pak istan People’s Party for winning MNA seats in the by election

P M L N M N A C h a u d h r y M a h m o o d B a s h i r Vi r k c o n d e m n e d t h e m a l i c i o u s c a m p a i g n a g a i n s t t h e P a k i s t a n a r m e d f o r c e s a n d u rg e d t h e g o v e r n m e n t t o t a k e a c t i o n against them

CM Elahi assigns duties to Rai Mansab, Makhdoom Altaf

LaHore S ta f f R e p o R t

Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has ap pointed Rai Mansab Ali Khan as Chairman CM Com plaint Cell (South Punjab) and Makhdoom Altaf Babar as coordinator to chairman CM Complaint Cell Punjab He gave notifications to them at his office during a meeting as both thanked the CM for assign ing the responsibility The CM said that joint efforts were needed to resolve the public problems at their doorsteps The provincial government was serving to resolve the problems of every area, he concluded ECP disqualification doesn’t bar Imran from contesting elections: IHC

Continued from page 01

When Justice Minallah questioned what the hurry was, Zafar noted that his client had been disqualified ahead of the by election in Kurram The chief justice observed: “Imran Khan is not disqualified for that election There should be one standard for all There is no need to rush in this case The court would hear the petition once the objections were removed, he said When Zafar requested him to issue a stay order on the verdict Justice Minallah pointed out that the detailed judgement was not available yet “Which verdict should the court stay?” he asked Imran does not want to return to the same seat he was disqualified from, does he?” Zafar argued the stay was needed because the PTI chairman was con testing in a by election However Justice Minallah said Khan would not face any problems in this re gard When the counsel argued that the public would not understand the matter Justice Minallah replied it was not the court’s job to explain to the public “This has not happened previously The court cannot set such an example, the judge remarked Zafar then said the ECP’s decision was also unprece dented However, the IHC chief justice observed it was normal practice to issue a detailed judgement later The court expected a copy of the judgement to be released within three days, Justice Minallah said, adding if it did not happen, then the court would look into the matter “The court issued directives to implement [its verdict] the same day in connection with a case related to inmates The court should issue directives to the ECP to submit the verdict today in our case as well,” Zafar contended At this, the judge noted that in the case Zafar referred to, the inmates were being tortured which was why urgent directives were needed The PTI counsel said the present case was related to a democratic issue and the ECP could “change the verdict” Justice Minal lah, however, remained firm, observing that the court would have listened to the petition if there was any reason to rush

NAB slapped 14 years imprisonment with Rs936m fine to a retired Naval Officer for defrauding the public

iSLamaBad a h m a d a h m a da n i

T h e A c c o u n t a b i l i t y C o u r t I s l a m a b a d h a s s e n t e n c e d a c c u s e d A b d u r R a h m a n G h a z i ( E x N a v a l O ff i c e r ) w i t h r i g o r o u s i m p r i s o n m e n t f o r t h e t e r m o f 1 4 y e a r s a n d w i t h R s 9 3 6 m i l l i o n f i n e , v i d e o r d e r d a t e d 2 4 1 0 2 0 2 2 N a t i o n a l A c c o u n t a b i l i t y B u r e a u ( N A B ) i n a s t a t e m e n t o n M o n d a y s a i d t h a t t h e a c c u s e d A b d u l R e h m a n G h a z i ( a r e t i r e d N a v a l O ff i c e r ) a l o n g w i t h h i s b r o t h e r M u h a m m a d M a z h a r S u l t a n a n d b r o t h e r i n l a w M u h a m m a d M u s a h a s i n d u c e d g e n e r a l p u b l i c b y f a l s e l y p r o j e c t i n g h i s b u s i n e s s o f i m p o r t i n g c a r s f r o m J a p a n o n h i g h d i s c o u n t r a t e s ( 1 0 p e r c e n t l e s s t h a n m a r k e t r a t e ) a n d d e f r a u d e d t h e m T h e a c c u s e d A b d u l R e h m a n G h a z i c h e a t e d h u n d r e d s o f i n n o c e n t m e m b e r s o f t h e g e n e r a l p u b l i c b y n o t d e l i v e r i n g c a r s a n d m i s a p p r o p r i a t e d t h e i r h a r d e a r n e d m o n e y a m o u n t i n g t o R s 9 3 6 M i l l i o n a s h e w a s d o i n g f a k e b u s i n e s s o f i m p o r t i n g c a r s A s p e r d e t a i l s , J a h a n z a i b M i r z a , A s s i s t a n t D i r e c t o r / I n v e s t i g a t i o n O ff i c e r ( I O ) f i l e d R e f e r e n c e N o 0 6 / 2 0 1 9 b e f o r e t h e h o n o u r a b l e A c c o u n t a b i l i t y C o u r t I s l a m a b a d a g a i n s t t h e a c c u s e d p e r s o n s T h e p r o s e c u t o r U s m a n M a s o o d v i g o r o u s l y p u r s u e d t h e p r o c e e d i n g s i n t h e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y c o u r t T h e H o n ’ b l e A c c o u n t a b i l i t y C o u r t h a s s e n t e n c e d a c c u s e d A b d u r R e h m a n G h a z i w i t h r i g o r o u s i m p r i s o n m e n t f o r t h e t e r m o f 1 4 y e a r s a n d w i t h R s 9 3 6 M i l l i o n f i n e , s a i d N A B i n a s t a t e m e n t D i r e c t o r G e n e r a l N A B R a w a l p i n d i F a r m a n U l l a h h a s s a i d t h a t t h e N A B i s c o m m i t t e d t o e r a d i c a t e c o r r u p t i o n f r o m t h e c o u n t r y u n d e r t h e d y n a m i c l e a d e r s h i p o f C h a i r m a n N A B A f t a b S u l t a n s o t h a t t h e m o t h e r l a n d c o u l d a c h i e v e t h e d r e a m o f C o r r u p t i o n f r e e P a k i s t a n a s N A B s t r o n g l y b e l i e v e s i n “ A c c o u n t a b i l i t y f o r A l l P o l i c y a g a i n s t C o r r u p t i o n

Deputy Chairman NAB Zahir Shah & Federal Secretary Communications / Chairman NHA Capt (R) Muhammad Khurram Agha addressing Seminar on “Our Faith Corruption Free Pakistan”

Arshad Sharif’s murder

it was shocking, tragic and surreal all at the same time, learning of senior journalist arshad sharif s passing, especially the manner in which it happened; a shot to the head, it is reported that the murder took place in nairobi, kenya makes it all the more mysterious and prone to conspiracy theorizing as it remains unclear what he was doing there at time of writing, details are murky at best, being reported by kenyan media; not the most credible of news outlets in East africa One report suggests it was a case of mistaken identity, when his car was unable to stop at a police checkpost set up to recover a kidnapped child which was subsequently chased down and shot at by kenyan police resulting in one fateful bullet hitting him in the back of his head Whatever the circumstances of his death, a thorough and detailed investigation must be made by the relevant authorities so that an accurate idea of what exactly happened can be ascertained and those responsible, brought to book sharif began his career in print journalism and later moved on to television and earned a name in both disciplines; as a reporter in the former and a prime time slot anchor in the latter He did not hold back when expressing his views and analyses, at times aggressively defending his arguments, but never in an unnecessarily personal or abusive manner

He had fled the country to avoid harassment and possible arrest that begun as part of a crackdown on critical and dissenting voices in media against the change in government after imran khan s unceremonious exit from power some of khan’s loyalists were unable to evade this brand of punitive persecution; journalist imran riaz khan and shehbaz Gill are examples and were made examples of by the powers that be it is everyone s inalienable right even hardened terrorists, to have their day in court, and be treated humanely while in custody awaiting trial sharif, understandably, given the severity of events rotating around him at the time, did not have enough confidence in the system to protect his fundamental legal and human rights as ensured by the constitution while facing the cases against him a slew of accusations and insinuations have been openly flowing since the news of sharif ’s demise broke, that either the establishment or the government or both have a hand in his murder and that it was an assassination not only does this speak to the polarization in the country but the reputations of certain institutions, no matter what their media wings try to portray Perhaps someone needs to ponder over this reality before getting to back to business as usual if only

The greatest tragedy of all

Pa k i s ta n i politics and hypocrisy have been side by side in this country the more charlatan a politician is, the more successful and expert he is in political chess Whether politicians are in the government or in the opposition, neither refrain from hypocritical behavior nor realize what will be the answer they give to the people when they claim to drag the opponents on the streets and become their divers and bring them from the airport to their residence? similarly when these politicians get entangled or re proofed, they become complacent and when a political deal is followed by a leeway, they turn their words bomb shelling towards each other in fact, no political leadership in this country is free from the politics of hypocrisy accusing political op ponents of having double standards in their pursuit of power has become common currency in political de bate Everyone has witnessed the hypocritical politics of Mian nawaz sharif and asif ali Zardari and now the politics of Mian shehbaz sharif and imran khan are on display On the one hand, Mian shehbaz sharif has be come the head of the street draggers and on the other hand the biggest dacoits of Punjab have become confi dant that supporters have been sidelined and the Chief

FO r a long time now, the Quran has been de nied the pride of place in the consciousness of Muslims, simple folks and intellectuals alike things were not always like this For starting from the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and continuing for many centuries, the Quran used to occupy centre stage in the thought process of Muslims, with spectacular results if the Muslim world s continuing indifference to the Quran is not extremely tragic i do not know what is those familiar with the five thousand odd years history of philosophical thought know it only too well that for the most part it has been a succession of metaphysical/ethical riddles and their purported solutions in the form of unfathomable philosophies, or theories that could not possibly be put into prac tice By these ideas, their proponents managed to confuse and paralyze untold numbers of their follow ers and their own selves as well those well versed with the history of human thought know that these high sounding ideologies have contin uously vacillated from one extreme to the other today glorifying the communal side of human beings, tomorrow championing the individual instead only to start over the next day Only these folks can fully appreciate the value of the Quran on account of how it guides man into light out of the darkness of confusion and/or indecision there is no dearth of well meaning rev erence for the Quran on the part of all Mus lims let there be no mistake on this point simple folks make it a point to reverentially place it in the topmost shelf when they are not reciting it But when they recite it, they are invariably content with blind reading those of a more intellectual bent though they also nominally hold the book in high re gard, usually have this misconception that the Quran is too simple a book to satiate their philosophical thirst On the odd occasion that they do bother to read it, they are disap

pointed when they do not find the premises impli cation conclusion structure they are so used to in books written by logicians in the Quran the argu ment is there all right, but it is wrapped around the conclusion itself in the form of layers On a super ficial reading, it remains hidden; one needs to delve deeper and peel the layers, so to speak, to discover and appreciate the argument But since it is not a book for intellectuals only, the simple man can equally derive benefit from its conclusions even by virtue of superficial reading, provided it is not blind recitation this way, the non philosophical mind can benefit from it as well as the more sophisticated per son who bothers to delve into its depths that so few Muslims (regardless of their intellectual skills) ben efit from the Quran owes to their not recognizing the real worth of the book the unfortunate results of this are there for all to see the common misunderstandings regarding the earliest revelations, the history of Hazrat ibrahim (as) and Hazrat ismail (as), the return of Hazrat isa (as) the torment of the grave the night Journey of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the like, would not exist if the Muslims made it a point to refer to the Quran for answers to such questions instead of relying on an admixture of Bible history, fabricated narrations, and fairy tales heard at their nurse’s knee and it is not merely a matter of controversies that, though important conceptually, do not have a di rect bearing on practical life For not making a habit of consulting the Quran on ethical issues often di rectly and strongly influences the day to day affairs of individuals legislation in a community and the functions of a state: for example, intercession, law of testimony, punishment for adultery, and matters of in heritance to name but a few since time immemorial, the two issues that have occupied man have been the problem of knowledge and the problem of conduct in other words: What can we know about the nature of the world, and our own natures? and how best to live our lives according to

S i n c e t i m e i m m e m o r i a l , t h e t wo i s s u e s t h a t h av e o c c u p i e d m a n h av e b e e n t h e p ro b l e m o f k n ow l e d g e a n d t h e p ro b l e m o f c o n d u c t . I n o t h e r wo rd s : W h a t c a n w e k n ow a b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f t h e wo r l d , a n d o u r ow n n a t u r e s ?

T h e r i g h t p a t h o f p o l i t i c s

Ministry of Punjab has been handed over to bandits on mere ten votes

People protest against the coalition government as much as they want and the powerful circles are with them whereas the popularity of the tehreek e insaf lead ership is increasing among the people Whatever the Pti leadership says, its devotees consider it as the last word the government can make accusations and leak audio videos as much as it wants but it will not matter People are not ready to know and believe anything because they are standing with their preferred leadership narrative and they are not interested in changing the narrative neither the opposition propaganda is having an effect, the gen eral public seem indifferent to all the anti propaganda while on the other hand, the coalition leadership with the help of superior circles is using all sorts of illegal tactics

to keep the people s leadership out of politics this is not only a matter of the coalition government similar politics seem to be taking place in the field of pol itics whenever there is an opportunity Previously, tehreek e insaf was doing politics of revenge in the name of accountability for corruption but today, the allies are carrying out retaliatory actions in the name of the in terest of the state while the people are facing escalating problems and no one treated the problems of the people before nor is anyone doing it presently as the people are nowhere in the priorities of the political leadership and they are well aware of this therefore, with the changing mood of the leadership in politics, the mood of the nation has also become perfect they begin to give the title of a saint to their leader when the people are with one faction instead when they switch sides and support the opposing

that knowledge? Philosophers have done no service to anybody by getting bogged down in epistemolog ical quagmires in the form of fabled (but frankly silly) debates such as man’s responsibility (or lack thereof) for his actions, free will/predestination, the supposed inconsistency between omnipotence and beneficence of an omniscient God, and the ‘mechanism’ where with God interacts with the world

For those familiar with the usual analysis paral ysis associated with such debates, the Quran is a breath of fresh air On the problem of knowledge, it tells its readers to first know the limits of their knowledge that there are certain things they cannot wrap their heads around the nature of God, how a transcendental God interacts with a world in time and space, the details of the Hereafter, etc On such matters, man is advised to be content with whatever information he is provided via revelation, without trying to figure out the details ‘mechanisms’ etc as for empirical knowledge, he is encouraged to employ his senses and powers of abstraction to fig ure out the laws of the universe On the question of conduct too, the Quran provides instructions on is sues that man has no basis to settle one way or the other leaving the rest of the field open for him to figure out for himself

the fact that even the best Muslim minds, for many centuries now have devoted their energies to philosophy, kalam, mysticism, and poetry instead of empirical sciences is a sad commentary on the whole community For whatever conclusions could possibly be reached as a result of those efforts had already been provided to them, and from no less than the Cre ator of the universe!

Muslims urgently need to reorient themselves they have the Quran; all they need to do is start heed ing its teachings things on this front are not looking up though

The author is a connoisseur of music literature and food (but not drinks) He can be reached at www facebook com/hasanaftabsaeed

Conscious nations all over the world recognize their profit and loss and take decisions accordingly but our people are blindly loyal and sometimes take decisions in view of their own small interests if decisions were made impartially by evaluating the entire character of every politician then selfless sincere and honest leadership could have emerged an effective leadership can only make the country prominent in the world but the people are not being given the opportunity to choose an effective leadership, the people were never asked nor were the peo ple given the authority to decide and they are being forced to try again and again because of this Pakistan has not become a developed, powerful and respectable country in the world despite the passage of half a centuries it is very sad that the economy of our nuclear coun try has reached the brink of destruction the country’s currency has become a rag and day by day increasing in flation and unemployment have tormented the lives of the people apart from this, the entire population of the country is in dire straits yet the supporters of the gov ernment and the opposition leadership kept swaying hap pily to the beat of the political drums, dancing and chanting instead of condemning each other Every con scientious person is suffering from the moral decline in Pakistan with the economic decline How will this change day and night? no one knows or wants to change as no one is ready to change their ways if this country remains then we are all and if not then nothing, the sooner it is realized the better for everyone because the responsibility of hypocritical behavior in Pakistani politics cannot only be put on the politicians and the powerful circles arguably, the people of Pakistan are equally responsible for this, who instead of question ing and confronting the hypocritical behavior of their pre ferred politicians continue to defend and cover them up the irony is that the hypocritical behavior of politicians is hailed as a good political move on various platforms Until the people change their attitude, there will be no change in the hypocritical behavior of the political lead ership nor will the direction of politics be correct if the direction of politics is right then it will be possible to rev olutionize the life of the people and the country

The writer tweets @AttiyaMunawer

S

faction they begin to refer to the angel as the devil

AT

Conscious nations all over the world recognize their profit and loss and take decisions accordingly but our people are blindly loyal and sometimes take decisions in view of their own small interests.

H A S A N A F TA B S A E E D

And things are not looking up

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

IQ vs EQ

W E often get to know of incidents where women are suppressed harassed raped and even murdered by their close friends, family members and relatives recently, a man allegedly murdered his wife, a Canadian national in islamabad the incident has been roundly condemned on social media, with some demanding that the culprit should be hanged till death there is no dearth of people who believe that the person is responsible for the crime and deserves the ultimate punishment as per the law Within the context of the incident, the argument seems to carry much weight, and, hopefully, the court concerned will decide the matter in due course of time the malaise however, is not limited to one or two incidents as the saying goes, the devil is in the detail One such cause behind such ghastly crimes is the fact that educational institutions pay more attention towards developing students intelligent quotient (iQ) while neglecting the equally critical emotional quotient (EQ) thomas More once said that one of the “greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated this was perhaps for our educational institutions where one is schooled how to solve the quadratic equation but never educated how to solve the ‘anger equation’ the institutions right from the early childhood focus on developing students’ knowledge related to a particular subject or set of subjects, and reward them in the form of grades

Unfortunately they have failed to develop students social and emotional skills that may help in managing their and others’ emotions in times of conflict and chaos the individuals become good students, but not good human beings they attain academic skills, but have no idea what to do when one is angry this is not to absolve the culprits of their ghastly crimes, but the system has to take some portion of the blame as well

IMRAN ALI GADEHI

QAMBAR SHAHDADKOT

The world’s favourite scapegoat

Novel charges

ASAD MArwAT

TH E geographical location of Pakistan is ardently celebrated by many ‘patri otic’ historians this perspective had many proponents until the recent past, which is certainty a very sluggish re alisation Volumes of unenviable circumstances had been faced by our state due to its geograph ical location sometimes due to the natural in ducement in shape of floods and heatwaves by the global warming, but most of the times these horrible events concerning our geography in the history of Pakistan were fostered by our very own decisions by the leadership Let’s dig into both

First, the natural complications related to our geography Besides a number of natural re sources that we are bestowed with this often overlooks the snags of our terrain Global warm ing and a consequent flooding and heatwaves tops the list Flooding in Pakistan is not a today s phenomenon, rather it longs back to the very in ception of the country Before expounding on the floods and its miseries and how Pakistan s lo cation can be a nightmare in the years to follow, we should first know that floods and Pak istan are inexorably in tertwined having an elaborate history according to Fed eral Flood Commission (CFC) Pakistan has been hit by twenty major floods, exempt ing the small scale flooding Majority of our population is un aware of the number as they have only been told about one flood, if not two, and that of 2010 and 1995 Whether it is a ploy of the government to not highlight our floods history in order to avoid criticism from the citi zens for this bad governance causing lack of in frastructure and hence, more ravage, or is it a general lack of awareness among the masses, we don t know! But what we certainly know is that this is a huge number 20 for a country with lim

T h e s t a k e h o l d e rs o f t h e r e s p e c t i v e d e p a r t m e n t s c o n c e r n i n g cl i m a t e a n d e nv i ro n m e n t s h o u l d a l s o e n g a g e t h e c i t i z e n s i n t h e p ro c e s s a n d e d u c a t e t h e m o n t h e s u b j e c t o f cl i m a t e c h a n g e .

ited resources and developing infrastructure hav ing a brief history of seventy five years in re gard to casualties, the floods in 1950 claimed the highest number of lives i e over two thou sand(2000) making the 2010 floods the second deadliest, and the floods of 2022 the third with a stretching death toll of over fifteen hun dred(1500) this reflects a brief idea about the history of floods in Pakistan, and its intensity vis à vis lives lost as parameter according to the statistics for the past 20 years, Pakistan has consistently ranked among the top 10 most vulnerable countries on the Climate risk index, with 10 000 fatalities due to climate related disasters from 173 ex treme weather events according to a World Bank report, Pakistan loses a staggering amount of 1 billion dol lars annually due to cli mate change implications the sad tale is yet to follow i e Pakistan is one of the very few countries hav ing a very low carbon footprint rate against this backdrop, many of our political leaders and influencers called upon the stake holders to cancel the international debts Even a British MP, Claudia Webbe, insisted upon easing the international debts and also contributes through reparations this is a logical ask too be cause the growing industries, a prime source of carbon emission, of the developed countries are capitalising on our miseries agony prevails as no indemnity has been as sured by the responsible states Under a 2050 cli mate scenario developed by nasa, continuing growth of the green house emission at today s rate could lead to additional global warming of about 1 5 degrees Celsius by 2050 this can impact our country to an ex tremely catastrophic ex tent keeping in view its vulnerability to the cli mate change, the glimpses of which we seen in the recent flood ing of 2022 second are the self inflicted adverse deci sions which assisted the foreign states to exploit our geography Hitch ing its wagons to the Us bloc in the cold war to contain communism and not remaining neutral in the very beginning of our journey as a nation proved futile, in fact attributed to our development as a security state From then on to comply with the Us wishes, Pakistan has signed treaties like sEatO and

These events have turned the minds of the masses of Pakistan to the state of paranoia, so much so that a top American columnist called Pakistan as ‘Paranoidistan’

CEntO and also provided its territory for the military operations of natO against the russian led communist bloc albeit it proved profitable for some while in a sense that Pakistan received economic support worth billions of dollars, but it had such ele ments, which were complementary to be re ceived that threaten our sovereignty from within until today too many of you would have guessed those threats i e the menace of terror ism insurgency hostile relationships with afghanistan and rus sia, which only recently improved courtesy the arms deal in 2010 and recent visit our ex PM imran khan these atrocious players can engulf the development of any na tion, let alone Pakistan these events have turned the minds of the masses of Pakistan to the state of paranoia, so much so that a top american columnist called Pakistan as P a r a n o i d i s t a n a state that suspects every Us move as de signed to weaken Pakistan rightly so our his tory has nurtured us in this way reflecting upon such an enigmatic past, it’s inevitable to contem plate the otherwise Our leadership in the past has never turned down any opportunity to be a party to a conflict expecting servicing results, but receiving the contrary the unenviable facets of our geographical location should not be blamed on nature alone, but instead circumvented through specific meas ures it is high time for our leadership to devise foreign policy in such a way that it can no longer be operated as a scapegoat islamabad should ac knowledge that we cannot afford to be a party to the next emerging and well anticipated cold war between China and the Us, which would allevi ate our miseries in future this will stamp out one of the two causes of geographic agony of Pakistan to some extent

the stakeholders of the respective depart ments concerning climate and environment should also engage the citizens in the process and educate them on the subject of climate change Highlighting climate change in the Un and pressurising for immediate measures can be impactful because we cannot afford more dents at the cost of foreign developments a certain amount should be fixed to be paid by the highest carbon emitter states to the most vulnerable countries as an indemnity this can be a remedy for the nature caused origin of our geographic bugbear in the ‘sandwiched’ causes of the geographical issues the natural and the self inflicted we should eradicate the self made at minimum

The author is a freelance writer and holds interest in the international politics concerning Pakistan and can be reached at asad mrwt 37@gmail com

i fail to understand what the so called municipal utility charges are all about the citizens of karachi pay for every utility they consume; even for utilities they are supposed to consume but don t because they are simply not available, like, say, water Besides, there are frequent power and gas shutdowns in the city One of the relevant officials had submitted before the sindh High Court that the amount collected in respect of the municipal utility charges would be utilised for development purposes it is clear that the charges are not against any of the services provided, but are for new projects that being so the government would do well to also impose rs5 000 monthly charge in the name of climate change, water pollution, sewage treatment, air quality, noise pollution, and even riding camels at the Clifton beach also rs10 000 should be charged for simply living in karachi all these taxes would make just as much sense as do the municipal utility charges

ALINA KHAN KARACHI

Apathetic Commission

tHinGs have gone from bad to worse in khyber Pakhtunkhwa (kP) over the last several years take, for example, the right to information Commission (rtiC), which was established to protect the public interest and help them keep an eye on any malpractice within the system the rtiC is there to ensure that every citizen has a right to access information in all matters of public importance subject to regulations and reasonable restrictions imposed by the law these are mere words because there is zero implementation recently i lodged a complaint with the rtiC e portal in the hope of getting relief, but all i got was more frustration and more disappointment

rtiC officials especially the legal team have serious issues both in terms of capability and capacity, where these so called public servants behave like executors and are least pushed to work in public interest i approached the highest possible rtiC official to make things move but nothing changed Unfortunately, it is not just the rtiC where people come across such behaviour; every second government functionary in the province has the same attitude the provincial government needs to show some mercy towards the people as things stand today, all it is doing is to spend time and energy on petty issues that have nothing to do with the lives of people

AATIF KHAN RAWALPINDI

Legalization of tinted glasses

D U E to global warming summer temperatures in many countries including Pakistan, have risen sharply over the years, and the trend is continuing the use of tinted car window glasses of certain specifications is now legal in many countries especially those with hot and humid climate

Even the Middle Eastern countries where the traffic laws are quite strict have allowed the use of tinted glasses lately as they provide protection against the hot weather in Pakistan although the use of tinted glasses is not allowed legally, the facility is enjoyed by the elite and influential segments of society because, first, they consider themselves above the law and second the law enforcement agencies especially the traffic police, reinforce their belief that they are above the law as a result, ‘ordinary’ citizens using tinted glasses are stopped on the roads and penalised while vehicles belonging to politicians government and police officials as well as the influential people continue to move around freely with tinted glasses it is thus apparent that merely banning the use of tinted glasses without enforcing the law across the board is not the solution to the problem Besides, there are a number of benefits of tinted glasses, the foremost of which is energy conservation the air conditioning systems of cars with tinted glasses operate more efficiently and consume less fuel tinted glasses also protect the cars’ occupants form the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun that may cause skin ailments they also provide a certain level of privacy to the motorists which is critical in these days with rampant street crimes across the country, especially in large cities the government should consider allowing the use of a standard specification of tinted glasses on private cars in the country these standard specifications should be included in the motor vehicles ordinances of the respective provinces, and there may also be government approved vendors to supply the specified tinted material the benefits of having tinted glasses on car windows outweigh the risks, and it is high time the government revisited the unnecessary decades old ban on their use

AAMIR MALIK KARACHI

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan today, 4 S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k

e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan today e x c l u s i v e l y

Pa ki s t a n g e t s l i t t l e s u p p o r t f ro m i nte r n at i o n a l co m m u n i t y i n t i m e s o f n e e d

W I l l F r a n c e h av e a n O t h e r r e v O l u t I O n ?

and working classes of the countryside and outer suburbs It was eventually hijacked by the metropolitan anti state and anti everything far Left “Fake” Gilets Jaunes and their anarchist allies dressed in black were active once again on the margins of the Paris marches this week vandalising “capitalist” banks and burning “capitalist” litter bins

FR A n C E is another country They do things dif ferently there A “tale of two crises” has un folded in the last few days on the southern and northern shores of the English Channel Both crises flow, in part, from the high rates of infla tion caused by the Ukraine war and the retreat of the Covid pandemic

In Britain, where inflation is just over 10%, a polit ical crisis wrapped in a financial crisis has threatened to destroy the private pensions system on which millions depend A chancellor was ejected after a few weeks in office; another prime minister has gone Britain, though, has so far escaped civil unrest

On Tuesday in France, however, (with inflation run ning at only 6%) there were around 200,000 people on the streets A strike for higher pay by oil refinery workers has made petrol and diesel scarce and have spread to the railways, the Metro, schools and other public services

Some have suggested this could be the start of a “new May 1968” or the “Popular Front” rebellion of the Thirties which gave French workers higher wages and paid holidays It could mark the beginning of a gener alised revolt, both in streets and in parliament, which could destroy President Emmanuel Macron s second term His Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne was obliged this week to resort to emergency powers to push her gov ernment’s 2023 budget through the national Assembly Losing his parliamentary majority in the legislative elec tions in June (two months after winning presidential re election) is coming back to haunt him

But there s a fundamental difference between the crises afflicting France and Britain What has happened in the UK in the last few days is bizarre and unprecedented What is happening in France is more or less normal for France after three years in which social unrest has been largely paused Macron’s first term was littered with such protests first by the Gilets Jaunes and then by union marches and strikes against pension reform

The Gilets Jaunes rebellion of 2018 9 was very un usual at first It started in the apolitical lower middle

The bulk of this week’s protests came from equally predicable sources: the militant trades union federation the CGT (Confédération Générale du Travail) and, before that, in a Paris march on Sunday, the hard Left party, La France Insoumise (LFI) The CGT leader Philippe Mar tinez spoke of creating that perpetual fantasy of the French Left: une convergence des luttes a merging of disparate protests and social conflicts into a single anti government and anti boss rebellion He hoped that a decision by the Macron Borne government to break, or bend, the oil strike by requisitioning key workers would produce a powerful reaction in defence of the right to strike

The leader of the LFI and Macron’s one time presi dential rival Jean Luc Mélenchon even predicted the beginning of a new “Popular Front” a “conjunction” of Left wing and environmental causes to create a cycle of revolt never seen before in our country

Both predictions fell flat on their faces Mélenchon fore cast 300,000 marchers on Sunday and claimed 140,000

An independent survey for the main French media or ganisations counted 29,500

The day of strikes on Tuesday was somewhat more effective but not much Only one in four rail workers stopped work The great “convergence des luttes” was supported by 6% of teachers and 4% of public employees

The biggest French trades union federation (there are at least eight of them) the CFDT (Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail), refused to join in The CGT oil strike, already fading, has since fallen apart Only two out of seven refineries are still blocked and filling stations are slowly returning to normal, and the CFDT and other mod erates had already signed pay deals with Total and Esso

It’s not all over yet There is a dangerous challenge to Macron from CGT affiliated workers in the nuclear in dustry Just under half of France s 56 nuclear reactors are already closed for emergency repairs and routine main tenance and the strike is delaying their re opening If it persists, there could be widespread black outs this winter In sum the hard Left overplayed its hand this week but they will threaten Macron again later in the year

Macron and his government acted earlier than any other country in the European Union to soften the impact of inflation They spent €100 billion this year and plan to spend another €45 billion in 2023 to keep down the price of petrol diesel domestic gas and electricity France has the lowest inflation rate in the EU an annual rate of 5 6% in September, compared to 9 9% in the Eurozone as a whole Unfortunately for Macron the French do not shop or fill their petrol tanks “elsewhere” They shop in France Even a softened inflation rate has left many peo ple on low to medium salaries struggling to get by

Because of arcane government rules, those on the statutory minimum wage Le Smic have enjoyed a cumulative rise of 8% this year This has squeezed mar gins with workers on slightly higher, but still low to medium wage levels, leaving them feeling devalued, financially and socially Both Macron and Élisabeth Borne have been slow to grasp this problem They were also slow to realise that the vast windfall profits of the oil industry would permit the well paid refinery workers to become an unlikely symbol of social injustice (to some)

Macron had wanted to keep down wages to prevent an inflationary spiral which would damage France s com petitiveness Instead, he subsidised energy prices and of fered tax breaks for one off bonuses, hoping that would blunt the demands for higher pay In recent days, his Prime Minister and other ministers have been belatedly urging all employers to consider wage rises on top of the bonuses and the splurge of state spending to dampen inflation In other words, long term, economic policy has been jettisoned in an attempt to calm the social unrest

By a quirk of the political calendar, Macron and Borne also collided head on this week with the scattered but nu merically greater, opposition in the national Assembly Opponents of the Left, Right and far Right had been pick ing apart the 2023 draft budget trying to add billions in pet spending plans Events in Britain might have warned them of the market dangers of messing with debt and deficits, and France’s overall national debt is much higher than Britain’s 114 6% of GDP, compared to just under 100%

The opposition was only playing games They knew that the government would eventually blow its play ground whistle and use its emergency constitutional power to impose something close to the original budget Borne did so on Wednesday night using a clause of the constitution inserted by Charles de Gaulle for exactly

this purpose Every previous president of the Fifth Re public has used 49 3 at some time even those with friendly majorities in the Assembly

Cue, nonetheless, fake indignation on the part of Left Right and Centre Right accusing Macron of rid ing roughshod over democracy” In fact, the opposition, if it cared to work together, could overturn Article 49 3, the budget and the Borne government by passing a cen sure motion An absolute majority of the 577 deputies is needed or 289 actual votes in favour Macron and Borne have 250 centrists; the rest have 327

Two censure motions have been tabled The Left re fuses to vote for the far Right motion and the far Right refuses to vote for the Left motion The centre Right will not vote for either, fearing wipe out in an early election In other words, the government has called the opposi tion s bluff as everyone knew they would Just like the day of inaction on Tuesday, Borne’s use of 49 3 is a faux crisis Like the day of inaction, however, it presages a proper crisis later this winter or early in the new Year

Emmanuel Macron insists that he will push ahead by March with his plans to increase France’s minimum re tirement age from 62 to 64 by 2027 He warns that he will use 49 3 again, if necessary He will call new elec tions, if he loses a vote of confidence (as, on this issue, he might) There are good arguments why France should work longer Its minimum retirement age is the lowest in the EU Politically, it is hazardous and even foolhardy to insist on it now The government has no majority The national mood, always fractious, has been darkened by two years of pandemic and the resurgence of inflation after years of low or no wage rises

Macron has bound himself to the pensions mast The deficit of 5% of GDP promised to Brussels and the mar kets next year depends on the enactment of pension re form by July As Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng found out, it’s not a good idea to disappoint (or excite) the mar kets when you are already hugely indebted to them On pensions most French people including the moderate unions, are united in fierce opposition to Macron For now, the President remains determined to go ahead The true “crisis” both on the street and in parliament did not happen this week It is on its way

John Lichfield was Paris correspondent of The Independent for 20 years

Why India’s landmark abortion ruling could echo around the world

yond their control, including the availability of abortion services, information and awareness; the prevalent norms of morality in society; economic costs and most importantly providers’ attitudes Women from less privileged caste and class groups, women with disabili ties, transgender and non binary persons, sex workers, persons living with HIV/AIDS and adolescents face dis tinctive challenges when it comes to abortion access

Al JAzeerA

On September 29 the Indian Supreme Court delivered a crucial decision which holds the promise of actually leading to the reproduc tive autonomy of Indian women in particular through access to abortion

While the core issue before the court was whether unmarried women could seek an abortion under the law the judges confirmed that they can the decision also spoke to a range of deeper concerns about abortion and women s rights over their bodies It could potentially even pave the way for the criminalisation of marital rape, which, at the moment, is not punishable in India

Fundamentally the court did something long over due: It approached a critical legal question about abor tion from the perspective of women’s own experiences, possibly for the first time And it has set an example that could and should echo beyond India

Currently, Indian law allows women to terminate a pregnancy in some circumstances with the approval of a registered medical practitioner If a woman’s life or health is in serious danger, there’s a significant risk the child could be born with physical or mental abnormali ties, or if the pregnancy is because of rape or failed con traceptives, abortion is legal usually up to 20 weeks of gestation, though abortion is allowed later in exceptional circumstances However, studies show that women’s ability to access abortion is determined by factors be

In X v nCT of Delhi, the case the Supreme Court just addressed, the judges acknowledged these barriers by turning to the lived experiences of women

Crucially the decision also takes into account legal barriers to abortion The circumstances under which abortion is allowed stem from a 1971 law, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and represent carveouts from a broader ban on abortion that still exists under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)

The court referred to the chilling effects of the contin uing criminalisation of abortion wherein the onus is on women to prove and medical practitioners to confirm that the conditions for a legal exemption to the ban are met More than half a century after the MTP Act was passed, the fear of criminal liability still looms large over service providers That has led to the proliferation of informal rules or extra legal conditions such as the requirement of third party authorisation from courts or government officials, consent of the husband or family and the insistence that women provide proof of identity, marriage and residence

The court also considered other legal barriers to abortion For instance the law on child sexual abuse im poses a mandatory reporting obligation, which deters mi nors in consensual relationships from seeking a legal abortion By placing women s experiences at the centre of its decision making process on abortion rights, the In dian Supreme Court has sent a clear message to all stake holders from the government and doctors to the country’s citizens: Women will be heard

But the top court’s decision impacts more than abor

tion rights Indian law does not criminalise marital rape unless the wife is a minor or the husband and wife are living separately under a court decree In all other cases, a married woman cannot prosecute her husband for non consensual sexual intercourse The marital exception to rape has survived major amendments to the IPC and con stitutional challenges before the courts Earlier this year, the exception was challenged before the Delhi High Court on the grounds that it violates the fundamental right to equality The court gave a split verdict

In X v nCT of Delhi, the Supreme Court challenged this exception and drew attention to the realities of sex and gender based violence inflicted by intimate partners or family, and how that further impedes access to abor tion for women in abusive relationships The court as serted that irrespective of the relationship between the victim and the offender, all non consensual sexual inter course falls within the “ordinary meaning of rape” In voking the constitutional guarantee of “equal protection of law , the court has now extended the benefit of abor tion to survivors of marital rape Although this decision is limited to the context of abortion, this recognition of marital rape by the apex court is significant and, hope fully will lead the way to its criminalisation

GLOBAL MESSAGE: Historically, the global legal agenda on abortion rights has typically been set by a few influential Western nations especially the United States and Germany India has not been a participant in this ex ercise This could be because India’s own abortion law is not a product of the recognition (and affirmation) of women’s rights as decision makers on abortion Rather, it has been motivated, at best, by the state’s quest to save pregnant women from unscrupulous backstreet abortion providers, and at worst by the desire to control India’s growing population However, we are now at an inflexion point The US is rolling back five decades of constitu tional protection of abortion rights India, on the other hand, has steadily been building up its constitutional ar

The US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jack son reversing abortion rights previously guaranteed under Roe v Wade, has prompted global deliberations on adding explicit abortion rights to human rights texts to prevent backsliding However the Indian Supreme Court has shown that even if these rights are not spelled out ex plicitly in constitutional texts, they can still be protected India s apex court in its recent decision has put women’s personal liberty and dignity at the heart of abor tion rights It has rejected the stereotype that sexuality is confined to marriage or that a woman loses her agency over her body after marriage, while recognising the wider political, social and economic structures that con strain her status in society and families The court has cemented the woman’s place as in the judges’ own words the “ultimate” decision maker on abortion

Crucially, the court has also gone beyond just asking the state to stay out of the way of a woman’s rights In stead, it has made clear that the state is responsible for proactively eliminating barriers to abortion access The state, in other words, must help a poor woman to access her rights if she cannot afford an abortion Yet, for all these gains, abortion rights in India are still exceptions to an overall criminal ban with abortion available only in a prescribed set of circumstances As long as the criminal framing remains, the Supreme Court s emphatic rights based assessment risks remaining constitutional rhetoric

Over the past two years, Colombia, Mexico, Ar gentina, South Korea and South Australia have either partially or fully decriminalised abortion with Sierra Leone, nepal and Chile also moving in that direction

It s time for India to take that next bold step too

Shreya Shree is an Assistant Professor of Law at National Law School of India University Bengaluru Her research is centred on reproductive justice issues and interface of gender medicine and law She has co authored a fact finding report titled Legal Barriers to Accessing Safe Abortion Services in India (2021)

Gauri Pillai is an Assistant Professor at the National Law School of India University Bengaluru She completed her PhD on reproductive rights and justice in India from the University of Oxford

UnHerd J O h n l i C h F i e l d

M AC R O N H A D WA N T E D TO K E E P D OW N WAG E S TO P R E V E N T A N I N F L AT I O N A RY S P I R A L W H I C H WO U L D DA M AG E F R A N C E ’S CO M P E T I T I V E N E S S. I N S T E A D, H E S U B S I D I S E D E N E R GY P R I C E S A N D O F F E R E D TA X B R E A K S F O R O N E O F F B O N U S E S, H O P I N G T H AT WO U L D B LU N T T H E D E M A N D S F O R H I G H E R PAY

h r e ya S h r e e

G au r P

senal on these rights The Indian Supreme Court s recent decision is a key milestone in this evolution

OVER THE PAST T WO YEARS, COLOMBIA, MEXICO, ARGENTINA, SOUTH KOREA AND SOUTH AUSTRALIA HAVE EITHER PARTIALLY OR FULLY DECRIMINALISED ABORTION, WITH SIERRA LEONE, NEPAL AND CHILE ALSO MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION

Par ticipation of distributors, vendors, iFFCo group employees

Karachi S TA F F R E P O R T

IFFCO is the only multinational cooking oil manufactur ing company in Pakistan that is a part of the IFFCO Group IFFCO Group is a UAE company whose brands are trusted by consumers in more than 35 countries world wide In order to cater to the evolving demands of today’s consumers and showcase its premium quality IFFCO Pak istan, keeping in view the increasing awareness of leading a healthy lifestyle, has launched its famous brands like Golden Sun Canola Oil Golden Sun Cooking Oil and Golden Sun Banaspati Ghee in new and attractive packag ing The new packaging was revealed at a launch event on Friday, October 21, 2022, from 6:30 PM till closing at Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi The event was followed by dinner with participation of Golden Sun s distributors, vendors, media representatives, and employees of the company in the revealing ceremony, who are the true source of joy for IFFCO Pakistan On this occasion, Mr Aamir Altaf Qureshi, CEO of IFFCO Pakistan said that IFFCO brands are not only popular with consumers but also with the food service industry

Honda Atlas Cars officially launches “All-new Honda HR-V 2022”

Lahore: The All New Honda HR V 2022 is a significant automobile preferred by customers in more than 100 coun tries worldwide The success of Honda HR V has been wit nessed worldwide Moreover recently in March 2022 Honda HR V was honored at Red Dot Award for its design on a global level The reasons behind Honda HR V’s success are its design fuel efficiency cargo & interior space along with its driving experience which makes it the “Smart Choice” It is apparent that HR V will set a new SUV seg ment benchmark in Pakistan since it is the first Japanese Brand Mid SUV launched in Pakistan It is officially being launched in Pakistan market with the message “Excite Your Life bringing a whole new experience to customers through its outstanding values: “Advanced Technology Comfort able Smart Choice ” Mr Takafumi Koike President & CEO Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Co , Ltd , said, Pakistan is a key market for Honda, and we are confident that our cus tomer base would be AMAZED by the launch of this All NEW HONDA HR V 2022

DEL wins multiple awards for its benchmark HSE initiatives

ISLaMaBaD: Pakistan 24th October 2022 Pak istan’s leading large scale engineering company, Descon Engineering Ltd (DEL) has worked towards becoming a benchmark for the industry by achieving excellence in Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Recently, the company has been recognized for its safety standards by various clients DEL received accolades from organiza tions across the Middle East and Pakistan Some of them being: General Electric (G E) and Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) in UAE, Shell and Q Chem in Qatar, OQ in Oman, Lotte Chemicals and OGDCL in Pakistan The organization has also shown its commitment to pri oritizing the highest standard of HSE and zero loss time injury (LTIs) While remaining dedicated to this by maintaining the safety and health of all stakeholders, in ternal and external; as well as ensuring that there is a safe return for everyone through focused leadership, en gaged teams and effective communication S TA F F R E P O R T

T U R k E y A i M S AT H E L P i N g PA k i S TA N i N Lo w C o S T H o U S i N g P R o j E C T S

islamabad S TA F F R E P O R T

HE Mehmet Paçacı Ambas sador of Turkey in Pakistan called on Iftikhar Ali Shall wani Federal Secretary Ministry of Housing and Works here today in his office in which matters of mutual interest and increas ing cooperation in various sectors were discussed especially low cost housing and implementation of MoU between two countries

Welcoming the newly appointed ambassador Secretary Housing ex pressed his best wishes for his future endeavors Alongside, Mr Shallwani extended his support to the ambassador in all relevant matters Iftikhar Ali

Shallwani reiterated that Pakistan and Turkey enjoy cordial fraternal ties and

mutually beneficial bilateral relations

This very relationship is based on com mon faith, values, culture, civilization linkages, history and mutual trust He also underscored that Pakistan im mensely values its ties with Turkey

The ambassador expressed similar thoughts for further promoting ties be tween both brotherly countries in all domains of mutual interest, particularly in housing and manufacturing sectors

Secretary also extended a cordial invi tation to Mr Mehmet Paçacı to attend the upcoming first International Hous ing Expo 2022 which he supported and expressed his country’s participation in the event will bring mutual dividends to both friendly countries

Minister for campaign to check safety arrangement in public transport

Karachi S TA F F R E P O R T

Transporters operating public transport vehicles on intracity, intercity and inter provincial routes, have been given a one month deadline to install fire fight ing equipments and emergency gates in buses, coast ers and school vans for the safety of passenger The decision to this effect is taken in a meeting chaired by Sindh Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Monday at his office

The minister directed transport department to launch a campaign to check safety arrangements in public transport vehicles with the coordination of the district administrations , traffic police and the

motorway police

The minister said that safety of passengers should be the priority of transporters but unfortu nately due to irresponsibility of transporters and lack of awareness among drivers to deal with emer gency situations, hundreds of precious lives are lost in tragic incidents

The provincial minister directed that the motor vehicle registration rules should be strictly imple mented in the province and the route permits of vio lators should be cancelled He said that CNG cylinders should also be removed from all public transport vehicles

The minister warned that transport department s h o u l d t a k e t h i s t a s k s e r i o u s l y s t r i c t a c t i o n w i l l

b e t a k e n a g a i n s t t h o s e w h o f o u n d n e g l i g e n t T h e m e e t i n g a l s o r e v i e w e d t h e p e o p l e ' s b u s s e r v i c e o p e r a t i o n s S h a r j e e l I n a m M e m o n s a i d t h a t P e o p l e ' s B u s S e r v i c e i s a m e g a p i l o t p r o j e c t o f S i n d h g o v e r n m e n t M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r S i n d h M a s s

Transit Authority should make the monitoring sys t e m o f b u s s e r v i c e e ff e c t i v e a n d r e p o r t s h o u l d b e p r e p a r e d o n d a i l y b a s i s S e c r e t a r y Tr a n s p o r t A b d u l H a l i m S h e i k h , M D S i n d h M a s s Tr a n s i t A u t h o r i t y C a p t ( R ) A l t a f H u s s a i n S a r i o , A d d i t i o n a l S e c r e t a r y Tr a n s p o r t M u s h t a q S h e i k h , A s s i s t a n t D i r e c t o r L e g a l S i n d h M a s s Tr a n s i t A u t h o r i t y B a s h i r H u s s a i n , O p e r a t i o n s M a n a g e r O p e r a t i o n s N RT C A b d u l S h a k u r a n d o t h e r s a l s o a t t e n d e d i n t h e m e e t i n g

IDEAS promoting Pakistan's strategic relations with international fraternity

islamabad S TA F F R E P O R T

Pakistan s premier industrial sector is among the most dynamic in the world; aspiring to meet the modern security challenges and technological advance ments Its defence manufacturing in dustry is fully capable to meet the requirements in the area of medium as well as, selected areas of advance tech nologies Superior R&D and core com petencies are the significant hallmark of its innovative defence products Through mutual partnerships and joint ventures Pakistan defence industry of fers new avenues of cooperation and collaboration to its global partners and customers

In this backdrop, Pakistan has been hosting International Defence Exhibi tion and Seminar (IDEAS) since 2000 and it has become a mega event in

South Asia The IDEAS is ranked as one of the top international events with regard to participation by foreign del egations It is biennially organized by Defence Export Promotion Organiza tion (DEPO) in Pakistan, while Badar Expo Solutions are the event Manager

IDEAS is the event that brings to gether the global defence industry for synergistic businesses and cooperation IDEAS showcases a wide range of modern and conventional defence equipments, weapon systems and vehi cles IDEAS provides a perfect inter active platform to defence forces and government s to assess the best prod ucts and technology to meet their de fence and security related needs

Since its inception in the year 2000 IDEAS has emerged as an inter national rendezvous of defence manu facturers, entrepreneurs, R&D specialist financial experts and top

FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan announces Q3, 2022 results

Karachi S TA F F R E P O R T

FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan Limited (FCEPL) announced its financial results for Q3, 2022 The Company reported revenue of PKR 52 8 billion for the nine months ended showcas ing 37% increase versus same period last year, led by volume growth, mix improvement and distribution expansion Operating profit re flected a growth of PKR 500 million vs last year

However, the business witnessed decline in profit after tax of Rs 194 million vs last year (Rs 1,765 million vs Rs 1,959 million) on the back of higher finance cost due to increase in interest rates and higher taxation due to imposition of Super Tax Dairy and beverages With a growth of 36 4% versus last year, the segment reported a revenue of Rs 46 1 billion Olper ’s led the growth in the segment along with strengthening its market leadership position through consistent brand building and trade activities

level policy makers to promote coop eration, knowledge sharing and sup port ventures in the field of defence collaboration The event significantly contributes towards fostering and pro moting Pakistan s strategic relations with international fraternity and serves to achieve the shared objectives of global peace, stability and balance

Since 2000, the IDEAS has been instrumental in showcasing the best of Pakistan in the defence sector Over the years, it has become a key platform to the exhibitors to showcase their prod ucts before the international commu nity on one hand and to share relevant knowledge and expertise in finding af fordable solutions and employing in novative means to meet the defence related challenges on the other

It also offers the defence manufac turers an opportunity to explore new areas for undertaking joint ventures

and further augmenting trade ties with their counterparts

The event hosts number of splen did activities encompassing world s cutting edge defence technology demonstrations, international seminar and business expansions through well planned B2B/B2G engagements The important categories in every edition of IDEAS include Weapon, Ammunition, Turret Vehicles Aircraft Drones Bat tlefield Management, Training and Simulation, Support, Protection, Oper ational Logistics Special Equipment Naval Ships and Submarines etc In general, IDEAS is a destination for top level decision makers and policy plan ners, including Ministers, diplomats, senior government officials, ministries & departments of defence Armed forces hierarchy, senior management of defence related organizations, defence procurement experts etc

23 NUST researchers ranked among Top 2% globally

islamabad

Karachi S TA

The Board of Directors of Meezan Bank, in its 100th Board meeting approved the financial statements of the Bank for the nine months pe riod ended September 30, 2022 The meeting was chaired by Mr Riyadh S A A Edrees Chairman of the Board Mr Faisal A A A Al Nassar Vice Chairman of the Board was also present On this occasion, the Bank’s Shariah Board comprising of Chairman Shariah Board, Justice (Retd) Mufti Muham mad Taqi Usmani, Vice Chairman Dr Muhammad Imran Ashraf Usmani, Member Board Sheikh Esam Mohamed Ishaq and Resident Shariah Board Member Mufti Muhammad Naveed Alam also met the Board of Directors of the Bank and discussed various matters The Board has approved interim cash dividend of Rs 2 00 per share (20%) for the third quarter

As many as 23 researchers from the National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) have risen to prominence this year by standing amongst the world s Top 2% research luminaries Four of these have also been recognised for their career long impact NUST has consistently made headway in its R&D pursuits, bolstering its way to the top in Pakistan and contributing to wards nation building through transformative higher education NUST is currently ranked #334 in the world #74 in Asia and #1 in Pakistan as per QS University Rankings 2023 and among top 200 universities of the world as per THE Impact Ranking 2022 The number of NUST re searchers featuring among Top 2% of the world has steadily increased over the past three years This speaks volumes of the conducive research environment NUST affords for knowledge seek ers and creators to make a difference in these epoch making times

Lieutenant General Anwar Ali Hyder, Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority was also present during the meeting

Managing Director Pakistan Bait ul Mal, Amir Fida Paracha along with the representative of Cochlear Implant manufacturing company, MED EL and Austrian Development Agency in Austria, for having the support to provide the cochlear implants to the deaf and mute children of poor families in Pakistan

S TA F F R E P O R T

S a u d i c r o w n p r i n c e n o t at t e n d i n g a r a b S u m m i t o n d o c t o r S ’ a d v i c e

ALGIERS Ag e n c e s

dO C T O R S have advised Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince not to travel to Algiers for an upcoming summit, the Algerian presidency said on Sun day amid an absence of Saudi re ports confirming health issues

Mohammed bin Salman apol ogised for not being able to partici pate in the Arab Summit to be held on November 1 in Algiers, in accor dance with the recommendations of doctors who advise him not to travel , the official Algerian news agency APS said citing a presi dency statement

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune responded during a phone call that “he understood the situation and regretted the crown prince’s inability to attend” the summit, expressing “wishes for his health and well being

T h e s t o r y d i d n o t p r o v i d e a n y e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e d o c t o r s ’ r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s

Saudi officials did not respond to a request for comment But Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the government said the concern could be related to an “ear condition”

Prince Mohammed has an en demic ear condition which makes long distance air travel difficult be cause the pressure in an aircraft can lead to ear blockage for weeks” he

netanyahu comeback dominates israel election ‘all about bibi’

RAMLA R e u t e R s

At a dead end road in a crime hit town in central Is rael, Benjamin Netanyahu stands on a mobile stage en closed by a glass wall pledging through a window to restore law and order as the crowd chants “Bibi the king Israel s longest serving prime minister and the most dominant and polarising political figure of his generation is back on the campaign trail as Israelis prepare to vote on November 1 in their fifth national election in less than four years His Likud party is ex pected to win the largest bloc of seats in the Knesset But with corruption charges hanging over him and criticism mounting over his links to a rapidly growing far right party he may depend on to form a govern ment, surveys predict there will be no knock out vic tory For weeks his “Bibi bus” has been rolling through Likud strongholds across Israel as he seeks to drum up support from voters weary at the never end ing electoral deadlock that continues while the cost of living rises and security worries with Palestinian mili tants persist Do you want to restore national pride? Reduce living costs? Restore personal safety? a smil ing Netanyahu asked the crowd “I’m not a king A king doesn’t get elected I need to be elected and that depends on you Netanyahu a close ally of former US President Donald Trump, has mounted a relentless stream of criticism against centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid whose ruling coalition patched together after the last inconclusive election lasted but a year ‘RiGGed’: Israel has been stuck in an election loop since 2019 the same year which saw Netanyahu in dicted for corruption on charges he denies As his trial proceeds the split between his supporters and detrac tors has deepened “The only thing that really matters is Bibi or not Bibi, unfortunately, said Hila Shay Vazan former Knesset member and commentator Critics say that with help from the far right, Ne tanyahu presently opposition head will seek radical judicial reforms that would allow him to stave off his trial and potential imprisonment if convicted which he has denied The trial has overshadowed the achievements of Netanyahu’s last term in office, when Israel signed the Abraham Accords normalising rela tions with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain under a process mediated by the Trump ad ministration “He is with his back to the wall

said on Twitter

“This explains how sometimes last minute he makes travel changes Nothing major!

Prince Mohammed the king dom’s de facto ruler, “expressed his regret f o r n o t a t t e n d i n g t h e A r a b summit” in a phone call with Al gerian President Abdelmadjid Teb boune, the statement said

T h e S a u d i f o r e i g n m i n i s t r y later issued a statement on the tele p h o n e c o n v e r s a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e t w o l e a d e r s b u t d i d n o t m e n t i o n t h a t t h e c r o w n p r i n c e w a s n o t a t tending the summit

Arab heads of state are ex pected to convene for their upcom ing 31st summit to be held in Algiers on Nov 1 2

C hina’s top watchdog vows to bar officials from ser ving as proxies for interest groups

BEIJING Ag e n c i e s

At a news conference to interpret the report on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), officials reiterated that the scourge of corrup tion could wreck the Party if not properly addressed, and they doubled down on the importance of fighting corruption in the future, saying that a high handed pos ture on the issue should not be changed, and officials should be barred from serving as proxies for interest and power groups

The week long 20th National Congress of the CPC concluded on Saturday in Beijing, during which cor ruption was a hot word that was mentioned frequently Although the CPC has already achieved an over whelming victory over corruption, observers said that the country will further improve the systemic and legal system for anti corruption work, and make sure that of ficials don t dare to, are unable to and have no desire to commit corruption

The CPC Central Committee held a press confer ence on Monday to introduce and interpret a key report to the just concluded 20th CPC National Congress Speaking at the conference, Wang Jianxin, director of the Publicity Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC and the

National Commission of Supervision, said that the re port to the 20th National Congress of the CPC again alarmed the Party, showing that corruption is a cancer to the vitality and ability of the Party

As long as the soil for corruption to grow exists, the anti corruption fight is not over, said Wang, warning that officials should not act as proxies of interest and power groups At the opening session of the 20th CPC National Congress, Xi Jinping said that the CPC has achieved an overwhelming victory and fully consoli dated the gains in its fight against corruption Yet he also warned that as long as the breeding grounds and conditions for corruption still exist we must keep sounding the bugle and never rest, not even for a minute, in our fight against corruption

Fighting corruption is vital for the Party to not lose its nature and to cement its support among the people, Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee told the Global Times “Although we made big strides in this area, re peatedly emphasizing anti corruption at the Congress is a strong reminder that this fight will not stop nor slow down ”

Su noted that although corruption cases have greatly diminished over the years due to strict clamp downs and gradual improvement of the supervision sys tem, there are still a few who venture to break the law,

especially the “proxies” of interest groups

For example, Zhou Jiangyong, a former Party chief of Hangzhou in East China s Zhejiang Province, was expelled from the Party and public office for violating laws and discipline, colluding with capital and support ing capital in a disorderly expansion, China s top anti graft agency said in a statement published in January Su said that to stop the very few officials who are taking a bite of illegal profits, he expected more meas ures and policies to be rolled out to enhance the super vision of Party members

An official from a local discipline inspection com mission in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region who asked for anonymity, told the Global Times on Monday that he believes the country will invest more in anti cor ruption in the future especially in the cultivation of young talent and the popularization of anti corruption education among officialdom

China has made shining achievements in fighting corruption since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012

Sun Yeli spokesperson for the 20th CPC National Congress, said at a press conference on October 15 that from the 18th CPC National Congress to June this year, discipline inspection commissions all over the country had investigated 4 52 million cases of corruption, dur ing which 4 44 million people were punished

France, Germany show ‘no desire’ to mediate Ukraine talks: Kremlin

AGENcIES

The Russian Kremlin said on Monday that France and Germany were showing no desire to pa r t i c i p a t e i n m e d i a t i o n o n t h e U k r a i n i a n c o n f l i c t a n d p r a i s e d Tu r k i s h P r e s i d e n t R e c e p Ta y y i p E r d o g a n s o ff e r t o o rg a n i s e t a l k s “ A n k a r a t a k e s a d i ff e r e n t p o s i t i o n f r o m t h a t o f P a r i s a n d B e r l i n a n d h a s d e c l a r e d i t s r e a d i n e s s t o c o n t i n u e m e d i a t i o n e ff o r t s ” K r e m l i n s p o k e s m a n D m i t r y P e s k o v t o l d r e p o r t e r s “ [ F r e n c h P r e s i d e n t E m m a n u e l ]

Macron and [German Chancellor Olaf]

S c h o l z t h e y h a v e s h o w n n o d e s i r e t o l i s t e n t o R u s s i a ’s p o s i t i o n o r p a r t i c i p a t e i n m e d i a t i o n e ff o r t s h e a d d e d O v e r t h e w e e k e n d R u s s i a ’s d e f e n c e m i n i s t e r S e r g e i S h o i g u c a l l e d h i s A m e r i c a n F r e n c h Tu r k i s h a n d

B r i t i s h c o u n t e r p a r t s S h o i g u c o n v e y e d “ c o n c e r n s a b o u t possible provocations by Ukraine with t h e u s e o f a ‘ d i r t y b o m b ’ ” , a c c ording to the Russian side

Shortly after Washington London and Paris issued a joint statement “reject ing Russia’s transparently false accusa

New CPC central leadership set for new journey

BEIJING

Xi Jinping was elected general secretary of the 20th Central Committee of the Commu nist Party of China (CPC) at the committee’s first plenary session held on Sunday, accord ing to the communique of the plenary session

The session, presided over by Xi, was at tended by 203 members of the 20th CPC Central Committee and 168 alternate mem bers Xi was also named chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission at the session

The members of the Standing Commit tee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Cen tral Committee elected at the session are Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi

Zhao and Wang were members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Cai and Li Xi have served as Party chiefs of municipal CPC committees in Shanghai Bei jing and the Provincial CPC committee of Guangdong Province since 2017 Ding has

been director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee since 2017

Analysts said the new central leadership of the Party with a strong core leadership, demonstrated solid unity, which is a key ad vantage and essential element for the Party to handle complex challenges and accom plish new great missions in the future, and to withstand dangerous storms in a turbu lent world together

Also elected at the first plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee were

members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the session, which en dorsed the members of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat nominated by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee

The session named the members of the Central Military Commission, with Zhang Youxia and He Weidong as vice chairmen

The session approved the secretary, deputy secretaries and members of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for

tions about Ukraine

Meanwhile Erdogan has aimed to re tain open dialogue with Russia and West ern countries in Russia s military offensive and emerged as a key mediator He has played a role in the only two tan gible agreements between Moscow and Kyiv since the beginning of the offen sive

Turkey helped broker the deal that allowed grain exports to resume under the UN’s aegis in July Erdogan also played a role in a pris oner swap in September, one of the largest exchanges

Discipline Inspection (CCDI) elected at the first plenary session of the 20th CCDI R e m a R k s o f c o n f i d e n c e: After the plenary session concluded, Xi led the Party s new central leadership to meet Chi nese and foreign journalists on Sunday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, and de livered a speech at the meeting with the press Xi said China will open its door wider to the rest of the world “We’ll be steadfast in deepening reform and opening up across the board and in pursuing high quality develop ment,” Xi said when meeting the press, not ing that a prosperous China will create many more opportunities for the world

Just as China cannot develop in isolation from the world, the world needs China for its development, Xi said Through over 40 years of relentless reform and opening up, China has created the twin miracles of fast economic growth and long term social sta bility, he said Chinese analysts said it shows that both the CPC’s and Chinese people’s determination on reform and opening up is unchanged, and the Party will unwaveringly insist on the suc

The Chinese economy has great re silience and potential, Xi said “Its strong fundamentals will not change and it will re main on the positive trajectory over the long run ”

The week long 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded on October 22, 2022, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing The week long 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concludes on October 22 2022 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Photo: Li Hao/GT

H u m a n i t y’s s H a R e d va l u e s: Xi on Sunday also expressed China s commit ment to promoting the building of a human community with a shared future

“We will work with peoples of all other countries to champion humanity’s shared values of peace, development, fairness, jus tice, democracy, and freedom to safeguard global peace and promote global develop ment, and keep promoting the building of a human community with a shared future,” Xi said when meeting the press at the Great Hall of the People

cessful policy and strategy which is a message of confidence and certainty not only to the Chinese economic development, but also to the world in turbulence and global recovery

TASkin Ahmed TAkeS fouR AS BAngl AdeSh Win fiRST-eveR SupeR 12 mATCh

StAff REpoRt

BA N G L A D E S H won their first ever game in a Twenty20 World Cup Super 12 match on Mon day, with Taskin Ahmed taking 4 25 as the Netherlands imploded early and never recov ered losing by nine runs

The Dutch, who battled through the preliminary round to reach the Super 12, held the Asian nation to 144 8 with Paul van Meekeren becoming his country s joint all time T20 wicket taker along the way

But they got off to a horror start in the run chase, los ing two wickets off the first two balls to Ahmed then suf fering two run outs in one over to slump to 15 4 in cold conditions at Hobart

Colin Ackermann with 62 played a lone hand mak ing his maiden T20 half century as the Netherlands were all out for 135 on the final ball

Veteran Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has played in every edition of the World Cup since its incep

tion in 2007 and this was his first Super 12 victory

It was an important win, I ve played all editions but haven’t won and that was on the back of my mind ” he said “Taskin has been a good bowler for us, he has the experience and pace Most of the fielders in our team are agile and quick in the field we can save five to 10 runs and that could be the big difference ”

The defeat was a heavy blow for the Dutch with two points desperately needed in a group that features heavy weights India, Pakistan and South Africa

But it was a relief for Bangladesh, who had suffered from poor form since the 2021 World Cup playing 19 T20 internationals and losing 14 N e e d l e s s r u N o u t s : Our bowlers were quite amazing but our run outs (Max O’Dowd and Tom Cooper) were poor,” said Netherlands skipper Shaun Ed wards Hopefully we can bring in a better performance with the bat looking forward to the next challenge [against India] ”

After being sent into bat, Bangladesh plundered 12

off the opening over and kept the pressure on

With temperatures hovering around 12 Celsius, the Dutch took time to warm up but when Van Meekeren switched ends he found extra pace and Soumya Sarkar (14) mistimed a pull shot to Bas De Leede

Spinner Tim Pringle was brought on and ended fel low opener Najmul Shanto’s innings on 25 in the next over

Litton Das was out for nine slapping a Van Beek ball to Tim Cooper at mid off, before Al Hasan fell four balls later, caught in the deep off Shariz Ahmad to leave Bangladesh at 70 4

Van Meekeren struck again, bowling Yasir Ali with a yorker to draw level on 58 wickets with Pieter Seelaar as the Netherland’s top T20 wicket taker

Afif Hossain (38) and Nurul Hasan (13) put on 44 before De Leede removed them both in the same over

The Netherlands had the worst possible start as Vikramjit Singh edged Ahmed to Ali at slip then De Leede got a nick to wicketkeeper Hasan before Acker

mann successfully fended off the hat trick ball

Two needless run outs within three balls followed with O Dowd (8) and Cooper (0) the men stranded

They reached 59 4 before captain Shaun Edwards was undone by the spin of Al Hasan then Pringle (1) de parted to Hasan Mahmud

After a brief rain delay, Ackermann, who hit six fours and two sixes in his 48 ball knock, gamely kept up the chase before he was the ninth man out trying to clear the boundary again

S hakhtar urge Iran be replaced by Ukraine at World Cup

D U B A I A F P

Iran should be thrown out of this year s f o o t b a l l Wo r l d C u p a n d r e p l a c e d b y Ukraine over the alleged use of Iranian drones by Russia in its war against Kyiv, according to a top Ukrainian club offi cial

d i r e c t l y t r a i n e d a n d m a n a g e d t h e l a u n c h e s o f d r o n e s t h a t d e s t r o y e d h o m e s m u s e u m s u n i v e r s i t i e s o ff i c e s s p o r t s g r o u n d s a n d p l a y g r o u n d s , a n d m o s t i m p o r t a n t l y, k i l l e d U k r a i n i a n s , Palkin said

Rain forces washout of South Africa-Zimbabwe clash at T20 World Cup

StAff REpoRt

Rain had the final say in a Twenty20 World Cup match between South Africa and Zimbabwe after the Proteas looked on course for a likely win on Monday Chasing a rain revised target of 64 in seven overs, Quinton de Kock smashed an un beaten 47 to steer the team to 51 for no loss in three overs when rain stopped play for the final time in Hobart De Kock a wicketkeeper batsman came all guns blazing to smash Tendai Chatara for four fours and a six in a 23 run opening over The opener kept up his attack into the second over to hit Richard Ngarava for four straight boundaries and take the total to 40 0 in a stop start match Umpires tried their best to complete the Super 12 encounter but the final rain interruption forced the players off the ground and a disappointed de Kock shook hands with the opposition Zimbabwe man aged 79 5 after they elected to bat first but their innings only began after over two hours and 30 minutes of rain delay The South African quicks had an instant impact with Wayne Parnell and Lungi Ngidi rattling the opposition top order Zimbabwe slipped to 19 4 inside three overs be fore Wesley Madhevere hit 35 off 18 balls and put on a 55 run stand with Milton Shumba, who made 18 Parnell sent back skipper Craig Ervine for two after a frenetic start by Zimbabwe, with batsmen living dangerously while running be tween wickets Ngidi struck twice in the next over including the in form Sikandar Raza for a duck after de Kock took a leaping one handed take behind the stumps But Madhevere who smashed four fours and one six in his 18 ball knock, and Shumba, who got out on the final de livery of the innings off Anrich Nortje put up a gritty show The African nations got one point each from the washout Bangladesh, who beat the Netherlands in the first match of the day in Ho bart, lead Group 2 that witnessed India edging out Pakistan in a last ball thriller on Sunday

W h i l e t h e I r a n i a n l e a d e r s h i p w i l l h a v e f u n w a t c h i n g t h e i r n a t i o n a l t e a m play at the World Cup, Ukrainians will be killed by Iranian drones and Iranian m i s s i l e s ” S e rg i y P a l k i n C E O o f Shakhtar Donetsk, wrote on Facebook

Each of them (the drones) was pro duced delivered by the Iranian authori ties, Iranian instructors and the military

“Shakhtar calls on FIFA and the en tire international community to immedi a t e l y b a n I r a n ’s n a t i o n a l t e a m f r o m playing at the World Cup for the coun try s direct participation in terrorist at tacks on Ukrainians ”

Palkin urged FIFA to replace Iran by Ukraine after it proved that it is worthy of participation” in the World Cup

“With unequal conditions with other national teams during the play offs, they played with their heart ” he said

The World Cup in Qatar kicks off on November 20

U k r a i n e b e a t S c o t l a n d 3 1 i n G l a s gow before going down 1 0 to Wales in t h e d e c i s i v e p l a y o ff m a t c h f o r a Wo r l d Cup spot in June in Cardiff

The rules governing the World Cup g i v e F I FA t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f r e p l a c i n g o n e c o u n t r y w i t h a n o t h e r m a i n l y i f a p a r t i c i p a t i n g c o u n t r y w i t h d r a w s , b u t they do not set out the criteria used to re place a country

Replacing Iran by Ukraine would be h i s t o r i c a l l y a n d s p o r t i n g l y j u s t i f i e d ,

Palkin said adding that he urges “every one to join the pressure on the football bureaucracy

It’s not the first time that Palkin has

p r e s s e d F I FA o v e r i t s d e c i s i o n s i n t h e w a k e o f R u s s i a s i n v a s i o n o f U k r a i n e that began in February

I n r e c e n t m o n t h s , P a l k i n h a s t a k e n a i m a t w o r l d f o o t b a l l s g o v e r n i n g b o d y f o r i t s c o n t r o v e r s i a l d e c i s i o n t o a l l o w f o r e i g n p l a y e r s t o l e a v e U k r a i n i a n c l u b s w i t h o u t c o m p e n s a t i o n t o f l e e t h e w a r

For Shakhtar, who for years have re lied on an influx of Brazilian players, the decision meant losing tens of millions of d o l l a r s a s a l m o s t a l l t h e c l u b ’s f o r e i g n players have left

There was no immediate reaction to Palkin’s call either from Ukrainian foot ball authorities or from the country s po litical leadership

Ex-greats feel on-field umpires should have consulted third umpire on Nawaz ’s no ball issue

cated that the delivery was above the waist and hence a no ball

“The ball seemed to dip but it’s kind of touch and go To the naked eye, it did not seem like a no ball but in slow mo tion, it does seem like it dipped

“Any batsman will turn and ask for no ball That s not his [Kohli]s] fault You’ve technology, use it Why flare up things unnecessarily?” Erstwhile fast bowling great Wasim Akram said in a TV programme He said had he and Waqar Younis been the part of World Cup com mentary panel they would definitely have raised the issue

“If we were there, we would have spoken our mind there and then Waqar, who also appeared in the same TV programme, was of the view that the umpire was too late in making the decision and took the call only after Kohli asked for that When the ball is about waist high the square leg umpire’s first reaction is that he takes his hand out, extends his right hand He is an experienced umpire That’s his natural reaction But if you look at the replays, [square leg umpire] turns around to see the ball Then after Virat Kohli asked for it

I m not saying and I don t want to say it’s a no ball or not I don’t want to get into that controversy But the umpire should have called it there and then It was Kohli s right to ask for the no ball and he should do it

The square leg umpire should have consulted the main umpire and they should have gone upstairs That’s why the third umpire is sitting there It should have been left to him He could call it no ball six or whatever,” he added

Cricketer Shoaib Malik also ex pressed similar views saying When you’ve an option, you should take the help from the third umpire, especially in such a big match at a crunch situation

“Anyone can make a mistake but they should have consulted the third umpire If the decision was taken after the replays which we saw it would have been better ”

Former captain Moin Khan also said that the decision should have been taken by the third umpire “Replays show it was certainly a no ball but the [on field] umpires should have checked with the third umpire The mistake here is that they didn t take help from third umpire, he maintained

SYDNEY

A F P

Darren Cahill, a renowned coach who helped Simona Halep to Grand Slam glory said Monday there was “no chance, none, zero, that the former world number one purposely took drugs

The Romanian was provisionally sus pended at the weekend for taking the banned substance roxadustat after she provided a sample at the US Open

Halep insisted she would “fight until the end to prove her innocence with the result “the biggest shock of my life”

The 2018 French Open and 2019 Wim bledon champion is the highest profile player to fail a drugs test since Maria Shara

pova in 2016

Australian Cahill, who guided Halep to world number one in 2017 and her Roland Garros crown in a six year alliance, leapt to her defence in a lengthy Instagram post

Firstly and most importantly there is NO chance Simona knowingly or purposely took any substance on the banned list None Zero he wrote

“She is an athlete that stressed about anything prescribed to her by a medical pro fessional (which was rarely) or about any supplement that she used or considered

“Simona wore out the words ‘please double check this triple check this to make sure it’s legal, safe and permitted If you are not sure, I’m not taking it’ ”

He said they both strongly believed in

the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) testing programme and would often discuss the number of times she was tested

“She did it without complaint, with the reassurance of knowing other athletes were being tested just as frequently

“Competing against clean athletes was important to her It’s important to everyone and while the system is not perfect it works ”

He added that her integrity was “fault less ending: I stand with Simo

The ITIA, which oversees tennis’ anti doping programme, said it had informed her on October 7 of her provisional suspension

It said Halep had exercised her right to have her ‘B’ sample analysed, which con firmed the presence of roxadustat

ISLAMABAD S tA F F R e P o R t

Former Pakistan cricket greats feel that the on field umpires should have con sulted the third umpire before calling Mohammad Nawaz’s delivery as a no ball in the Sunday s high voltage T20

World Cup match between Pakistan and India

On the fourth ball of the final over of the match, delivered by Nawaz, Virat Kohli smashed a full toss over the square leg boundary and immediately put his arm out to signal no ball After the six was confirmed, the field umpires indi

‘No chance’ Halep purposely took drugs, says former coach C ahill

P M I N R I yA d h t o At t E N d F u t u R E I N v E s t M E N t

I N I t I At I v E s u M M I t

S tA f f R e p o R t

panied by a delegation comprising the fed eral ministers

During his stay in Riyadh, the prime minister will hold consultations with the Saudi crown prince to review the longstand ing fraternal relations, with a view to further strengthening the multifaceted cooperation, especially in the economic field according to the Foreign Office

disasters have already put immense strains on the developing countries he said adding that it was high time the world ex plored solutions to the deepening challenges through candid dialogue

At the airport Governor of Riyadh Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud re ceived the prime minister who was accom

Prior to his departure, he in a series of tweets said the present state of the global economy needed “new thinking and bold vision to overcome the irritants and forge new paths

“The pandemic and climate induced

ECP de-notifies Imran, declares NA-95 seat vacant

ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e p o R t

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de notified on Monday former premier and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan as Member National Assembly (MNA) soon after it issued the written judgment of his disqualification The PTI chief ’s NA 95 Mian wali I seat was declared vacant under Article 63(1)(p) read with Sec tion 137, 167 and 173 of the Elections Act 2017, after being disqualified in the Toshakhana (gift depository) reference A four member bench of the ECP had three days ago declared Imran’s Na tional Assembly seat vacant as it unanimously decided that he had misled officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries during his tenure as the prime minister The ECP’s 36 page written rul ing issued today maintained that the PTI chief had intentionally and deliberately” violated the provisions contained in sections 137 167 and 173 of the Elections Act, 2017 as he submitted a “false statement” and incorrect declaration to the ECP in the details of his assets and liabilities filed by him for the year 2020 21 It added that the PTI chief had attracted disqualification under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution read with Sections 137 and 173 of the Elections Act, 2017 Conse quently he ceases to be a member of the National Assembly of Pak istan and his seat has become vacant accordingly,” the ruling read The 36 page judgment observes several “deficiencies in the statement of assets and liabilities submitted by the former premier It goes on to note that Imran “has not given any explanation that the non disclosure of aforementioned details is unintentional, accidental or bona fide mis take It is established that the respondent has not complied with the provision of Section 137 and 173 of the Elections Act 2017 and has made a false declaration and incorrect statement before the Commis sion it adds It further states that Imran has deliberately concealed the material facts by not disclosing the details of gifts in statement of his assets and liabilities for the year 2018 19 nor has accounted for the sale proceed He has also not provided details of the gift items as re quired under column number 3 of Form B He has also failed to annex the details of cash and bank account of the sale proceeds as required under column h(i) and (ii) of Form B for which all the de tails of the gifted amount has to be mentioned” “The amount al legedly received in his bank account does not commensurate with the assessed value of the gift items it notes adding the respon dent [Imran] has filed false statement and incorrect declaration in material particular for the financial year 2018 19” It also stated that Imran has made evasive and ambiguous statement in his writ ten reply that the gifts purchased by him during the financial year 2019 20 were further gifted by him or on his behalf to others How ever the relevant column j(i) of Form B is marked as N/A and there is no explanation in the remarks of column 3” The written judgment carries the signatures of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and the four members that had presided over the bench Imran’s lawyer also reached the ECP in Islamabad to collect a certified copy of the written decision Earlier today, during a hearing on the PTI s petition challenging the ECP s verdict at the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Athar Minallah had main tained that Imran was only disqualified to the extent of the seat he was notified on He furthered that there was no need to hasten the process of hearing the plea, and that the case would be heard once the verdict’s certified copies were presented

NEPR

The FII summit will convene the world’s foremost CEOs, policymakers, in vestors entrepreneurs and young leaders to shape the future of international investment and the global economy

The event will include in depth conver sations about new pathways for global in vestment; analysis of critical industry trends; and unparalleled networking among CEOs, world leaders, and experts

ECP notifies by-polls winners on all seats except for six won by Imran

wali I with immediate effect fol lowing his disqualification in the Toshakhana Reference

The Election Commission of Pak istan (ECP) on Monday notified the results of the by polls held on Octo ber 16 on all seats except for the six NA seats won by former prime min ister Imran Khan who was disquali fied in Toshakhana reference last week

The by elections were held on eight NA seats including seven aban doned by the PTI this April and three PA seats

According to the list issued by the electoral body today, PML N’s Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed has clinched the PP 139 seat from Sheikhupura, while PTI’s Muham mad Faisal Khan and Malik Muham mad Muzaffar Khan emerged victories in the constituencies PP 209 (Khanewal VII) and PP 241 (Bahawalnagar V) respectively

Meanwhile, PPP’s Syed Ali Musa Gillani and Abdul Hakeem Baloch won from the NA 157 (Mul tan IV) and NA 237 (Malir II) con stituencies Imran Khan de notIfIed as mna: In another notification is sued later in the day, the ECP de no tified PTI chief Imran Khan as MNA from constituency NA 95 of Mian

The ECP on Friday disqualified the former premier in the Toshakhana reference under Article 63(1)(p) for making false state ments and incorrect declaration”, triggering protests in various cities

I n t o d a y s n o t i f i c a t i o n , i t s a i d

t h a t t h e d e c i s i o n o n d e s e a t i n g I m r a n w a s t a k e n i n t e r m s o f A r t i cle 63 of the Constitution The law s t a t e s : A p e r s o n s h a l l b e d i s q u a l i f i e d f r o m b e i n g e l e c t e d o r c h o s e n a s , a n d f r o m b e i n g , a m e m b e r o f t h e M a j l i s e S h o o r a ( P a r l i a m e n t ) , i f h e i s f o r t h e t i m e b e i n g d i s q u a l i f i e d f r o m b e i n g e l e c t e d o r c h o s e n a s a m e m b e r o f t h e M a j l i s e

S h o o r a ( P a r l i a m e n t ) o r o f a P r o v i n c i a l A s s e m b l y u n d e r a n y l a w f o r t h e t i m e b e i n g i n f o r c e ”

The notification also stated that the decision was taken under arti cles 137 (Submission of statement of assets and liabilities), 167 (Cor rupt practice), and 173 (Making or publishing a false statement or dec laration) of the Elections Act 2017

T h e e l e c t o r a l b o d y ’s d e c i s i o n h o u r s a f t e r I s l a m a b a d H i g h C o u r t ( I H C ) C h i e f J u s t i c e A t h a r M i n a l l a h o b s e r v e d t h a t I m r a n h a d n o t b e e n b a r r e d f r o m c o n t e s t i n g i n f u ture elections following the verdict i n t h e To s h a k h a n a r e f e r e n c e against him, adding that the former p r e m i e r w o n t f a c e a n y p r o b l e m s ” t o c o n t e s t i n t h e N A 4 5 ( K u r r a m I ) b y e l e c t i o n s c h e d u l e d t o b e h e l d o n O c t 3 0 NA 45 was one of the four NA constituencies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where polling for by elections was originally scheduled for Oct 16, but the ECP postponed it It later issued a notification for hold ing the polls in the constituency on Oct 30 Imran will contest for the NA 45 Kurram seat besides Jamil Khan of Jamiat Ulema i Islam Fazl, Sher Mohammad Khan of Jamaat i Islami and several independent candidates

ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e p o R t

The Supreme Court on Monday directed former prime Imran Khan to remove objections from his petition seeking a probe into the leaking of the conversations from the office of the prime minis ter

The former prime minister had sought a joint investigation team (JIT) or a judicial commission to probe the matter

“It was not pointed out in the plea that it is a matter of fundamental rights and the public inter

hikes power tariff by

est,” the office of the registrar said

“Before filing the petition in the Supreme Court, the matter was not taken to the concerned forum ” according to the registrar ’s office “The Registrar Office was not satisfied with the petition being submitted under Article 184(3)

The Supreme Court raised six objections over the petition The former premier had made the ministries of interior, defence, IT, information, PEMRA Intelligence Bureau and FIA the respon dents in the petition

Declare that the illegal surveillance of the P M O

under quar terly adjustment for KE

ISLAMABAD

Karchiites might face additional burden in electricity bills as the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has allowed Rs12 68 per unit increase in elec tricity prices for the consumers of K Electric (KE) as part of the quarterly adjustment

As per details, NEPRA has allowed quarterly adjustment of Rs 12 6818/kWh under the head fourth quarter adjustment of K Electric for the financial year 2021 22

The NEPRA authority held a hearing on the quarterly adjustment on August 31 K Electric initially requested a quarterly

adjustment for the quarter 4th quarter FY 2021 22 of Rs 14 852/kWh, however, sub sequently revised its request to Rs 14 533/kWh After examining the data the authority has issued a decision regarding the adjustment, said NEPRA

As per practice the government main tains a uniform tariff across the country and generally the differential is adjusted through subsidy NEPRA added

NEPRA also stated that it (NEPRA) has sent the decision to the federal government prior to its notification in the official Gazette as per Section 31(7) of the NEPRA Act

According to a spokesman of n K Elec tric NEPRA s determinations are in accor

dance with the mechanism given in KE’s Multi Year Tariff whereby changes in fuel prices, generation and power purchase mix are passed through along with certain annual adjustments

Per Government of Pakistan s uniform tariff policy applicable across the country these variations are not likely to impact con sumers However, the final decision will be based upon Government’s notification the spokesman added

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 31(7) of the Regulation of Generation Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act 1997, and as per the mechanism for monthly quarterly and annual adjust

es pecially through the audio leaks , are uncon stitutional and in violation of law,” the former prime minister prayed to the court

He had also urged the court to hold the offi cials behind the audio leaks accountable

Earlier, the authorities had arrested two sus pects involved in the bugging and phone hacking of the Prime Minister ’s Office (PMO) Sources privy to the development told ARY News that an intelligence agency has apprehended two hackers Among the two suspects, one hacker belongs to Rawalpindi while the other hails from a city in central Punjab

ments provided in the tariff determination of K Electric Limited, the Authority has to re view and revise the approved tariff on monthly quarterly and annual adjustments

As per the mechanism provided in the determination, impact of change in KE s own generation fuel cost component due to variation in fuel prices, generation mix and volume shall be passed on to the consumers directly in their monthly bills in the form of Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) Similarly, impact of change in the fuel component of Power Purchase Price (PPP) due as to varia tion in fuel prices and energy mix shall also be passed on to the consumers through monthly FCA

However the impact of monthly varia tions in K Electric own generation’s fuel cost component as well power purchase price to the extent of targeted T&D losses not taken into account in the monthly FCAs, has to be adjusted on a quarterly basis In ad dition the monthly variations in the variable O&M and fixed Costs of the PPP, as allowed by the Authority, are required to be adjusted on a quarterly basis

Pursuant to notification of the deter mined Multi Year Tariff (MYT), K Electric filed its Quarterly Adjustment request on ac count of Power Purchase Price (PPP) and prices level reset for the quarter ending June 2022 along with supporting documents

RIYADH

ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e p o R t

Imran’s plea on audio leaks returned with objec tions