Epaper_22-10-26 LHR

Lo n g m a r c h o n I s L a m a b a d t o b e g I n o n F r I d ay F r o m L a h o r e , s ay s I m r a n K h a n

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LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

FoRMER pr me minister and PT Cha rman Imran Khan said on Tuesday that h s party s long awa ted long march to slam abad wil begin from Lahore on coming Friday

“ I am kicking off the long march from Lahore We w l gather at Liberty Chowk at 11am on Friday from where we w ll march towards Is amabad ” the PTI chief announced wh le addressing a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday

Imran who was ousted from power through a vote of no confidence n the Nat onal Assembly in April last sa d the ob ect ve of his long march s to achieve “ real freedom” in the countr y, saying that his protest ra ly is not a pol itics but a struggle to get freedom from th eves ”

He added: This Jihad wil determine direction for the countr y There s no t me frame for this After passing through GT Road we will reach slam abad

Imran said he will hold the biggest protest in the countr y s h stor y as a sea of people w ll come out on the streets

The deposed prime minister also as

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sured h s supporters that po ice wil not able to sub ect them to torture as they did during the party ’s May 25 long march It s not possib e to even touch someone when hundreds of thousands of people are protesting ”

We w l neither vio ate any law nor enter the red zone We are not coming for fight ng anyone our protest will re main peaceful he assured In the same breath he further added: “ But if anyone tried to spread chaos n the protest I am a ready tel ing you that it wil be the [government]

BACkDOOR NEGOTIATIONS: Respond ing to a quest on about backchannel

Pm announces judicial probe into sharif murder

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Prime M n ster Shehbaz Shar f on Tuesday announced format on of a ud cial commission (JC) for an independent ud cial inves tigation into the assassination of Arshad Sharif an outspoken and professional journalist who was shot and kil ed by Na robi po ice in Kenya on Sunday, and prom sed to share f ndings of the invest gat on with the public I have dec ded to form a judic al commission to carr y out a thorough nquir y into the k lling of ournal st Arshad Sharif to determine and revea the facts surrounding the trag c incident in a transparent [and] conclusive manner Shehbaz Shar f tweeted The deve opment, however, came after the murder of the journalist sent shockwaves and anger through the entire and journal st community

The ourna ists and the internat onal med a watchdog Re porters W thout Borders have demanded an independent probe nto the kil ing whi e anchorperson Ham d Mir on Monday noted there were contrad ctions in the Nairobi po ice state ments about the ncident Sharif was kil ed on Sunday n ght when the car he was in sped up and drove through a checkpoint outs de the Kenyan cap tal and po ice opened f re Nairob police have expressed regret over the ncident saying it was a case of mistaken den t ty ” during a search for a s milar car involved in a ch ld abduc tion case When the car in wh ch Sharif was traveling in with another Pakistan resident Khurram Ahmed fai ed to stop for reasons that remain unc ear desp te be ng flagged down at the checkpo nt, the police opened fire and aid chase Shar f s car flipped over; he was shot in the head and ki led His fam ly n Pakistan sa d that Ahmed, who had in tia ly been identified as Sharif s brother by the Nairobi police, was not a rel at ve but that he was the driver of the car accord ng to nfor mation they received

There was speculation that Ahmed was hurt n the incident and taken to hosp tal but officia s in Kenya have not an nounced any details about Ahmed ’s condition and where abouts The 49 year o d journalist f ed Pakistan in July amid threats to his l fe ‘A R R A N G E M E N T S I N P L AC E ’ T O B R I N G B O DY H O M E : M e a n while, Sharif s body s being repatriated to slamabad on Tues d a y M a r r i y u m A u r a n g z e b t h e m i n s t e r o f i n f o r m a t o n a n d b r o a d c a s t i n g s a i d

negotiations Imran said he bel eved that politica parties always solved their disputes through dia ogue

But now I have fully realised that they [coalition government] wi l not hold early elections Now, they are p ann ng other things like my disqualification be cause they know that they cannot win this match ”

The PTI chief also said he is being cr ticised for hold ng the long march as the countr y s fac ng difficult es “ but the peop e are demand ng us to come out against the imported government

H e a l s o r e i t e r a t e d t h a t h i s a e g a t i o n s t h a t h i s g o v e r n m e n t w a s t o p p l e d

Rana Sana urges PTI to avoid creating law, order in federal capital

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

M n ster for Interior Rana Sanau lah on Tuesday urged the Chairman of Pak istan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan to avoid creating a law and order situa tion in the federal capita during protest demonstration or long march

Talking to a private television chan ne he said al mportant measures are being taken to stop PT from disturb ng

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

We w a n t t h a t p e o p e o f t h e c o u n t r y s h o u d h a v e t h e r i g h t t o m a ke d e c s o n s a b o u t t h e c o u n t r y, ” h e s a i d w h i l e a p p e a l i n g t o t h e s u p p o r t e r s t o p a r t i c i p a t e n t h e l o n g m a r c h f o r t h e c o u n t r y ’ s f u t u r e

ARSHAD SHARIf MONuMENT : Former PM Imran also announced that the PTI led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to bui d a monument of s ain ournalist Arshad Sharif who was shot dead n Kenya on Sunday

I w ll request the Punjab govern ment to do the same to honour his ser v ices,” he added Imran decides to stay in Pun ab till long march

peace in the federal cap tal

Commenting on Arshad ’s k ll ng n c dent in Kenyan territor y, he said the Kenyan government should submit a report to Pak stan regard ng Arshad s tragedy He sa d Imran Khan s using Ar shad Shar f s k ll ng incident for po it ca purposes In reply to a quest on about Azam Swat , he sa d act on must be taken against the responsib e e ements for degrading Azam Swati during the investigation

M e a n w h i l e t h e P T I c h a i r m a n d e c i d e d t o s t a y i n Pu n a b t i l l t h e b e g i n ning of long march towards Islamabad on Friday

According to sources, the former premier wou d aunch a public cam paign n Pun ab following the an nouncement of the ong march The sources informed that Imran Khan wil stay at his residence at Zaman Park and would mon tor preparations for the long march from Lahore

The PTI chairman would also address a oint parl amentar y session of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf and Pak stan Mus m League Quaid (PML Q) in Lahore tomor row He wou d start h s public campaign in S alkot from tomorrow afternoon, the sources nformed

PM for collective effor ts to tap clean energy resources for better tomor row

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA S ta f f R e p o R t

Prime Minister Muhammad She hbaz Shar f on Monday under l ned the need for combined efforts to explore the true poten t al of clean energy resources, coup ed with uti izat on of mod ern tools and techn cal gadgets to ful y harness the talent of young generations and explore future avenues for progress and prosperity

Addressing at Future Invest ment In tiat ve conference PM Shehbaz said that clean energy potentia wou d be the new driver of econom c prosper ty and stressed upon the world commu nity to come for ward and sup port these jo nt efforts

“ N o t h n g c o u l d b e o f m o r e importance to us than this ver y c h a l l e n g e: h o w t o e n s u r e t h a t our co lective tomorrow s better than our today And that we are r e a d y f o r i t ; t h a t w e h a v e t h e tools skil s and techno ogy which e n a b l e s u s n o t j u s t t o n a v i g a t e the complex world of tomorrow but to also shape it today in a manner that has the most ben eficia mpact on human ty he added

He said that they were l ving through truly transformational times adding throughout histor y such times have tr ggered politi ca socia env ronmental and economic changes These changes had been powered by imagination innovation and ac tion

“ Yes bold, decis ve and con sequential action But the pace of transformat on and change was never as sw ft as it s today

With the power of technology dr v ng the world towards a future few could magine in the past, we are wel pos tioned to harness the dynamics of change he added The prime m nister sa d tech power was a great equal izer add ng t cou d cut through social, cultural and financ al bar r ers and empower those who were equipped to leverage it

The prime minister empha sized upon taking of innovative and bold steps in the technolog ical fie ds which had brought about consequential changes in ever y sector of l fe

The atest technologica nno vat ons had been driving the world to such changes which were hardly th nk of in the past he added

In Pakistan he said that he had seen with a sense of deep sat sfaction how young women and men were crafting the r ca reers and boost ng the r earn ng power by using tech in d verse field within the larger dig tal ma trix like e commerce

I believe Pakistan is unique y p aced to leverage th s change We have one of the youngest populat ons n the world Most of these youngsters are equipped with the too s of the new d g tal world They are hungering for more skil s and more opportuni ties Their ta ent is already recog nized, Pak stan s the fourth most popular countr y for free lancing he added

The prime minister said this comb nation: a arge and young d gital savvy populat on, and a massive unmet demand that simply cou d not be addressed through exist ng means of pro duction

Today a family in urban and rura Pakistan has access to mo b le phones and nternet, aspired to high educat on standards wanted to buy consumer prod ucts, and needed ever yth ng from insurance to healthcare he added

The prime minister sa d the significance of this consolidated demand could be well appreci

ated and recognised by investors and entrepreneurs present there Pakistan is r pe for market in novation A new generation of Pakistani entrepreneurs are shy ing away from trad tional busi nesses and turn ng their focus and energ es to disrupt ve inno vations he added

The pr me m nister said that he had deep conf dence n the young generation of Pak stanis This was why he was fully pre pared to invest the resources of his government in providing them an enabling environment for innovat on He noted that wh le technology was unleashing new potentials the wor d was also undergoing cataclysm c changes

G obal warming is upon us Extreme temperatures, over time, are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature and our ecosystem Countries ike Pak stan with neg i gible carbon footprint are vulner able to the adverse mpact of Climate Change, he added

Pr me M n ster Shehbaz Shar f further elaborated that Pak stan had experienced histor c heat wave in March and torrent al ra ns from June to August th s year which led to unprece dented floods These rains and f oods have impacted 33 mil ion peop e, and more than 1,500 peop e have died More than two mi lion houses have been damaged, and over 3 5 mi ion acres of crops have been lost w th farm ands orchards br dges, and road networks de stroyed he added

We d n e s d a y, 2 6 O c t o b e r, 2 0 2 2 I 2 9 Ra b i u l A w w a l , 1 4 4 4 I R s 1 5 . 0 0 I Vo l X I I I N o

I H C o R D e R s g o v e R n m e n t t o K e e P m e D I A u n I o n s A b R e A s t o f D e v e lo P m e n t I n s H A R I f m u R D e R P R o b e

ISLAMABAD n p

H E Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition to keep journalist unions informed and on board during the investigation into the assassination of anchorperson Arshad Sharif in Kenya Sharif was shot dead in Nairobi when police hunting car thieves opened fire on the vehicle he was travelling in as it drove through their roadblock without stopping according to a Kenyan police report on Monday

mistaken identity The police later expressed “regrets

on the unfortunate incident and said an investigation was underway

The circumstances of Sharif ’s death sparked widespread outrage in Pakistan and calls for an investigation

In its hearing, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said he made it to the court today for this particular case Did anyone visit the aggrieved family? Do they need any legal assistance,” Justice Minallah asked, reminding the government of the court s previous orders wherein directions were issued to government officials to visit the heirs of the slain journalist

Petitioner Shoaib Abdur Razzak said the body of the slain journalist would reach home today He reiterated his request to the court that a judicial commission must be formed to probe the death of Sharif

Justice Minallah remarked that journalists organisations should be kept on board with the inquiry, and the formation of the commission at this stage would not serve any purpose

Deputy Attorney General Syed Ahsan Raza Shah said the incident was indeed unfortunate, adding a report from the Kenyan government was awaited Once the report from the Kenyan government is received and if the petitioner raises any objections to it, we will listen to his concerns he told the court

After hearing arguments, the court adjourned the hearing for a week The petition requested the court to order the formation of a judicial commission to investigate why the journalist was forced to flee Pakistan, and later the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Meanwhile the Foreign Office in a statement said:

The mortal remains of the late journalist are being repatriated from Nairobi tonight on board flight departing Nairobi at 1:25 am for Doha ”

It said High Commissioner Saqlain Syeda was at the Nairobi airport overseeing the arrangements

Meta fixes WhatsApp outage after worldwide complaints

c o m m u n i c a t i o n

CDWP approves KCR project wor th Rs 292.389 billion

ISLAMABAD

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) Tuesday cleared Karachi Circular Railway Project (KCR) worth Rs 292 389 billion during its meeting held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal The meeting was attended by Secretary Ministry of Planning Commission, Chief Economist, officials from Ministry of Railway and representatives from Sindh Government including chairman PNDA, Board, Sindh The project envisages construction of 44 kilometer long and dedicated track, 1 435 meter wide standard gauge, starts from Drig Road passes through different areas including, Gulshan e Iqbal, Federal B Area Liaquatabad North Nazimabad Nazimabad Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) and Lyari The scope of work includes construction of horizontal & vertical curvature, roadway and railway cross section elements ramp gradients and layout of structures with respect to the alignment The scope of work also includes construction stations, provision of Driver Informatory, Regulatory and Warning Signs, passenger facilitation signs along with allied facilities Route Alignment of the KCR

The project is a part of an overall scheme of improvement of transport infrastructure including road network, provision of public transport / mass transit facilities and traffic management in Karachi the largest city of Pakistan and the capital of the Province of Sindh The development of KCR as a Modern Urban Railway will add to the existing Public Transport facilities in Karachi which have fallen short to meet the incremental demand over the last few decades due to non availability of modern mass transit facilities and declining supply of large buses while the city continues to expand in population and urban area The main objective of the project is to provide reliable, safe and environmentally friendly public transport to the Metropolitan City of Karachi The project entails construction of a 43 kilometer Dual Track Urban Rail Mass Transit System expected to be constructed in a period of 4 years The project is expected to serve a daily ridership of 457,000 passengers per day which is expected to soar to 1 million per day in future The project will deploy the use of electric trains and will be operational for 7 days a week and 17 hours a day Thirty stations would be constructed under the project along the corridor covering the densely populated area of the city The economic benefits of the project are phenomenal in terms of saving vehicle operating costs, environmental protection, accidents and time savings, contribution towards promoting gender equality and spill over tax impact The minister/DCPC directed the concerned officials to immediately settle the issues in PC 1 and submit the report in two days

ISLAMABAD ag e n c i e S

US tech giant Meta said Tuesday it had f i x e d a g l o b a l o u t a g e a ff e c t i n g i t s m e s s a g i n g s e r v i c e W h a t s A p p a f t e r u s e r s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d i n c l u d i n g Pak i s t a n , c o m p l a i n e d t h a t t h e y w e r e u n a b l e t o s e n d o r r e c e i v e m e s s a g e s , c o n f i r m e d a s p o k e s p e r s o n f o r t h e c o m p a n y

We re aware that some people are c u r r e n t l y h a v i n g t r o u b l e s e n d i n g messages and we’re working to restore W h a t s A p p f o r e v e r y o n e a s q u i c k l y a s

p o s s i b l e , a s p o k e s p e r s o n f o r W h a t s A p p p a r e n t c o m p a n y M e t a P l a t f o r m s t o l d t o m e d i a T h e o u t a g e w a s r e p o r t e d a f t e r t h e tracking website Downdetector shared that users were experiencing problems u s i n g t h e s e r v i c e D o w n d e t e c t o r t r a c k s o u t a g e s b y c o l l a t i n g s t a t u s r e p o r t s f r o m a n u m b e r o f s o u r c e s i n c l u d i n g u s e r s u b m i t t e d e r r o r s o n i t s p l a t f o r m T h e o u t a g e m a y have affected a larger number of users

A t a r o u n d 1 2 : 5 0 p m P S T, D o w n d e t e c t o r s h o w e d o v e r 3 3 0 0 u s e r s h a d r e p o r t e d p r o b l e m s w i t h t h e

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O R I G I N O F O U TA G E WA S

U N C L E A R : M e t a p r e v i o u s l y k n o w n a s F a c e b o o k , b o u g h t W h a t s A p p i n 2 0 1 4 T h e s e r v i c e i s w i l d l y p o p u l a r e s p e c i a l l y o u t s i d e o f t h e U S w h e r e m a n y p e o p l e u s e i t f o r e v e r y d a y

E U A m b a s s a d o r d i s c u s s e s c o o p e r at i o n w i t h Pu n j a b c h i e f m i n i s te r

LAHORE a p p

Ambassador of the European Union (EU) Dr Riina Kionka called on Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi at his office on Tuesday and discussed the promotion of cooperation in various fields especially the construction of new water reservoirs and small dams They discussed measures taken for workers and minorities’ welfare elimination of child labor and human rights situation

The CM thanked the EU for its support during the corona pandemic and termed it a major trade partner of Pakistan He said that the Punjab government had planned to build two dams on the river Chenab Similarly, small dams would be built for the hill torrents of Koh e Sulaiman to save the rainwater for agricultural purposes

The EU s technical support for these projects would be appreciated he maintained

The Punjab government had also planned to build houses for the flood victims through Akhuwat Foundation and the EU can also support this project Meanwhile road repair work had been started in the flood affected areas, the CM added and pointed out that laws were enacted to eradicate child labour The government was making laws more stringent to curb this menace

Alongside this, the implementation of labor laws had also been ensured while taking steps to protect workers rights and the welfare of their children Social security

hospitals have been built for the workers and their families, where the treatment was free he noted The children of the workers were given a marriage grant and the amount of the grant had also been increased, the CM said

The government was working to provide necessary facilities to the detainees in the jails, he said adding that the food menu for the prisoners had been improved Schools have been built to educate children confined with their mothers in jails and a free legal aid system had been introduced for hapless inmates, the CM added The jail reforms package would be approved by the cabinet and its bill would be approved by the Assembly, he added

The CM said that the Punjab government had taken effective steps to protect human rights All minorities have equal rights in Pakistan and special funds have been allocated for their welfare A quota had been fixed for minorities educational admissions and jobs The CM said that Pakistan and the EU countries have very friendly relations and the government values the EU’s cooperation regarding the improvement of social sectors

The EU ambassador expressed regret over the loss of life as well as properties in floods and said that assistance in the dams projects would be reviewed Cooperation with the Punjab government in the fields of textiles, manufacturing, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would be increased The first consular of the EU Daniel Clauss, Advisor Hasnain Iftikhar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Muhammad Khan Bhatti, finance secretary and other officials were also present

The tech company suffered an unprecedented outage last year affecting its leading social media platforms including Facebook Instagram WhatsApp and Messenger

The duration and scale of the disruption to the four services used by billions of people led to a major incident that Downdetector described as one of the largest ever observed

At the time, Facebook acknowledged that the incident was due to an error on its part and not a technical problem

Ali Wazir acquitted of terrorism charge

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

An anti terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi has acquitted Ali Wazir an MP and a co founder of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), and 12 other suspects of terrorism charges According to Salahuddin Gandapur the counsel for Wazir, the parliamentarian was arrested from Peshawar in December 2020 on charges of hate speech and criminal conspiracy and has since spent been in prison He further said the case was registered in the Sohrab Goth police station of Karachi The charges against Wazir pertain to incendiary speeches against state institutions at a public meeting in Karachi in 2018 He was arrested at the request of the Sindh police, a team of which travelled to Peshawar to take him into custody and bring him back to Karachi Gandapur previously recalled the Supreme Court had granted him bail in the case registered at the Sohrab Goth police station but the MP was shown arrested in another identical case registered at the Shah Latif Town police station S e v e r a l o t h e r P T M l e a d e r s i n c l u d i n g M o h s i n D a w a r a l s o a n M P, w e r e a l s o c h a rg e d w i t h t h e s a m e o ff e n c e s b u t n o t d e t a i n e d

LAHORE S h a h a b o m e R

In a bid to save kids from disabilities the Arthritis Care Foundation (ACF) and department of Rheumatology National Hospital and Medical Centre (NH&MC) Lahore inaugurated National ACF CCAYRE (Clinics for Children Adolescents and Young people with Rheumatic Diseases) at NH&MC here on Wednesday

The CCAYRE was inaugurated by head of Lupus Genomics and Global Health Disparities Unit, National Institutes of Health (NIH) USA Laura B Lewandowski and the faculty of rheumatology including Prof Dr Sumaira Farman Raja, Dr Shahida Khawaja and Prof Najm Un Nasir

The faculty of rheumatology NH&MC meanwhile informed Pakistan Today that NH&MC has a history and reputation of reliable services and always contributes towards community treatment and welcomes the patients in the most caring and proficient manner We realize that healthcare is a sensitive and prestigious paradigm of community services,” they said

They also informed that on an estimate approximately 4 5 million children with rheumatic diseases live in Asia and the minimum requirement of Pediatric Rheumatologist in a developed world is

1:500,000 They added that the current international Pediatric Rheumatologist workforce is 12 percent of this with 40 percent based in the USA

“It is estimated that there is only one Pediatric Rheumatologist for every 26 million children in Asia Countries with low HDIs and low GDP have the most percentage of young population, least public health spending and most shortage of Paediatric Rheumatologists! Limited resources inadequate government spending, insufficient structure training are the major limitations to improving the quality of care of this Pediatric patient population”

“Approximately, out of 100 million children in

childhood

We need roughly Rs400 to cater t h i s n e e d a n d p r e s e n t l y P a k i s t a n h a s l e s s t h a n 4 0 a d u l t r h e u m a t o l o g i s t a n d P e d i a t r i c i a n s w i t h s o m e dedicated training in childhood rheumatic disease,” the faculty informed

They said that the faculty of ACF in collaboration with NH&MC, Central Park Medical & Dental Collage, Shalimar Medical & Dental Collage, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Services Hospital & CMH Lahore are already contributing in treatment of adult and Pediatric Rheumatologist patients

Additionally Children s hospital has contributed significantly to taking care of children with juvenile arthritis The Opening of ACF National CCAYERE Clinics for Children Adolescents and Young people with Rheumatic Diseases is a formal step towards improving the health care provided to the Pediatric rheumatology population

“ A C F i s t h e p i o n e e r i n p r o v i d i n g h e a l t h c a r e assistance through subsidized medication and testing of under privileged rheumatology patients, and its faculty has been running free clinics for more than 20 years This collaboration will promote the vision with which Arthritis Care Foundation was founded, they concluded

N H & M C , A F C i n a u g u r ate c l i n i c fo r p at i e n t s w i t h r h e u m at i c d i s e a s e s

fInAnCe mAnAgement system beIng RefoRmeD foR effICIent ResouRCes AlloCAtIon: legHARI

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

tH E Punjab government is introducing reforms in the public finance management system for efficient allocation of resources and transparency in the budgeting process in the province

The Punjab Public Finance Management Act 2022 is being introduced for implementation of reforms in the finance management system, which would be finally approved by the Punjab Assembly after cabinet’s approval The purpose of the Act is to legalize the guidelines laid down for

budgeting A draft of the Public Finance Management Act 2022 has been prepared by the Punjab Finance Department which would be submitted to the cabinet committee after clearing the concerns of the Provincial Law Department

Finance Minister Sardar Mohsin Khan

Leghari disclosed this while chairing the review meeting of Public Finance Management Reforms Strategy in Punjab organized by the Finance Department here on Tuesday

The minister said that during the budgeting process under the Public Finance Management Act the allocation of funds would be done based on outputs Along with

body of slain Arshad sharif arrives at Islamabad Airpor t

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

T h e Q a t a r A i r w a y s f l i g h t c a r r y i n g t h e b o d y o f s l a i n j o u r n a l i s t A r s h a d S h a r i f l a n d e d e a r l y We d n e s d a y m o r n i n g a t I s l a m a b a d A i r p o r t w h e r e t h e i l l f a t e d m o t h e r o f t h e m a r t y r e d j o u r n a l i s t a n d o t h e r f a m i l y m e m b e r s h a d a r r i v e d t o r e c e i v e t h e b o d y A l a rg e n u m b e r o f j o u r n a l i s t s f r o m twin cities had also arrived at the Airport while top politicians and family and friends of late Arshad Sharif were also present According to the Ministry of Interior, Rana Sanaullah had received the body initially Later, the body of the slain journalist was to be handed over to hid family but till the filing of this report, the bereaved family was waiting for the body of Arshad Sharif

second par tial solar eclipse witnessed in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The second partial solar eclipse of the year was partially observed in different parts of the country on Tuesday, according to Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) The solar eclipse was visible from most of Europe, Northern Africa, the Middle East and Western parts of Asia while it was partially visible in Pakistan In Pakistan, the partial eclipse began at 13:58 PST and ended at 18:02 PST with greatest eclipse occurred at 16:00 PST According to the PMD, the eclipse in Islamabad started at 15:43 PST and ended at 17:22 PST with coverage of 64 5 percent In Lahore the eclipse started at 15:49 PST and ended at 17:20 PST with the coverage of 60 7 percent Karachi witnessed 50 0 percent eclipse from 15:57 PST to 17:56 PST Peshawar observed 65 2 percent eclipse from 15:41 PST to 17:28 PST while Quetta witnessed 59 7 solar eclipse from 15:44 PST to 17:51 PST

the allocation of funds in the budget, their goals and the period of their achievement would also be determined which would ensure improvement in the performance of the departments, he mentioned

The Act also included a chapter on fiscal risk aimed at controlling the budget deficit and it set a debt ceiling that would ensure the soundness of the debt management system, he added

Funds lapsed every year, under the Act, shall be made part of the provincial fund and these funds shall be utilized for the purposes for which they were earmarked when necessary Institutions which were running on government grants and

subsidies would be made self sustaining, he noted

Under the Act two accounts would be opened in the State Bank, one for the public fund and the other for the treasury The revenue collected from the persistently loss making institutions would be part of the treasury funds of the government A single treasury account would improve the cash flow of the government and make the budget more efficient, he maintained

The Finance Minister said that the Act had also suggested reporting the assets of autonomous institutions so that the government knew where the money was coming from these institutions In addition

to this, the frozen assets in the accounts of the institutions would be mobilized to increase government resources he said Among the others, Debt Management Unit and Sub National Governance Program Supervisor Abdul Rehman Waraich and relevant officers of the Finance Department were also present Abdul Rehman Waraich told the meeting that under the Public Finance Management Act 2022, the institutions would be controlled while maintaining their autonomy The budget issued to the departments, under the Act, would be regularly reported which will enable budget transparency and comparison with other countries

ECP unveils schedule for polls to LBs reser ved seats in Balochistan

QUETTA S ta f f R e p o R t

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced schedule for elections on reserved seats of the local government in Balochistan

“The polling for the reserved seats in 32 districts of Balochistan will be held on December 14 ” ECP Balochistan Spokesman Naeem Ahmed said on Tuesday

He said that the ECP was all set to hold polls for the reserved seats including women, peasants, workers and minorities in all Union Councils Municipal

Corporations and Municipal Committees of 32 districts of the province, except District Quetta, Lasbela, Hub and Municipal Committee Harmzai in District Pishin

As per the schedule, nomination papers will be received from the candidates from November 7 9 and the preliminary list of candidates will be released on November 10

The nomination papers of the candidates will be scrutinized from November 11 14

Appeals against acceptance or rejection of nomination papers by the returning officers can be filed from November 15 17 he further said adding

that on which the appellate authority would make decisions by November 22, following which the candidates would be

allotted the election symbols

The final list of candidates will be released on November 25

Let ’s LG take decision on outsourcing of IC T playgrounds, rules IHC

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday ordered to leave the decision regarding outsourcing of playgrounds of the federal capital on the disposal of the local government representatives

The court said that the local body election schedule

had been announced in federal capital and new elected representatives would take decisions regarding the outsourcing of the grounds Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan heard the case against grant of contracts of sports grounds to the private limited companies The petition was filed by Sardar Mehtab Khan through his lawyer Adil Auzair Qazi Advocate

At the outset of hearing, deputy commissioner ICT

SBP sets Dec 31 as deadline for exchange of old c urrenc y notes

KARACHI

S ta f f R e p o R t

T h e S t a t e B a n k o f P a k i s t a n ( S B P )

Tuesday announced that December 31, 2022 will be the last date for exchange of old banknotes of Rs10, 50, 100, and 1,000

T h e l a s t d a t e t o e x c h a n g e o l d designed large size banknotes of Rs 10, 50, 100 & 1000 is December 31, 2022 T h e s e o l d d e s i g n b a n k n o t e s c a n b e e x c h a n g e d f r o m t h e c o u n t e r s o f S B P B a n k i n g S e r v i c e C o r p o r a t i o n ( B S C ) offices across the country till December 31, 2022,” the SBP said in a Tweet

The central bank mentioned that the

o l d c u r r e n c y n o t e s a r e e x c h a n g e a b l e f r o m t h e o ff i c e s o f t h e S B P B a n k i n g

S e r v i c e s C o r p o r a t i o n s “ T h e O l d D e s i g n B a n k n o t e s o f R s 1 0 5 0 1 0 0 a n d 1 0 0 0 a r e e x c h a n g e a b l e f r o m t h e o ff i c e s o f t h e S B P B S C s l o c a t e d a t K a r a c h i L a h o r e P e s h a w a r Q u e t t a I s l a m a b a d , R a w a l p i n d i , F a i s a l a b a d , M u l t a n , G u j r a n w a l a , H y d e r a b a d , S i a l k o t , S u k k u r, B a h a w a l p u r, Muzaffarabad and D I Khan,” it added

It is pertinent to mention here that t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t i n 2 0 1 6 h a d banned the use of old design currency n o t e s h a v i n g v a l u e o f R s 1 0 , R s 5 0 , Rs100 and Rs1,000

appeared before the court and informed it that the local body elections were scheduled on December 24

The decision related to the play grounds had been stopped till the elections, he said

The petitioner s lawyer adopted the stance that the citizens had to pay fees to play cricket if the grounds were made out source He said that the MCI had no authority to grant contracts in that regard

s ex p e r t s a g re e to b i o

a rd e z

fo r t

fi c at

o n o f r i ce, m a i ze, w h e at

rice and maize in addition to wheat

Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi met head of Commercialization and Scaling (Harvest Plus Washington) Jenny Walton and AGAHE Foundation delegation at Civil Secretariat here on Tuesday The delegation included CEO AGAHE Foundation Mubarak Ali Sarwar, Value Chain Specialist (Harvest Plus) Dr Muhammad Imtiaz, Country Manager Pakistan (Harvest Plus) Dr Muhammad Yaqub and Dr Makhdoom Hussain

During the meeting, both sides discussed elimination of zinc deficiency in women, children and youth through balanced food supply, in addition to bio fortification of wheat The participants agreed to continue efforts for promotion of bio fortification in

On the occasion, Provincial Minister Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi said that social awareness is being raised in rural areas for food fortification and daily consumption of balanced food Pakistani scientists and researchers are working on introducing fortified varieties of wheat and hybrid seed supply is being ensured to farmers the Minister maintained He said that steps are being taken at the government level to achieve better quality as well as higher production of crops Mr Gardezi further said that digitalization is being introduced in the agricultural sector and in this regard Aird Agriculture University Rawalpindi has established a smart farm

It is important to mention here that Jenny Walton has been working for promotion of fortified, iron and zinc rich varieties of food in underdeveloped countries of the world

LAHORE

PA k I S tA N , C h I N A A G r e e t o C P e C P h A S e - I I e x e C U t

ISLAMABAD s TA f f r e P o r T

PA K I S TA N and China have expressed s a t i s f a c t i o n o n s t e a d y p r o g r e s s m a d e o n v a r i o u s p r o j e c t s a n d a g r e e d t o e x e c u t e s e c o n d p h a s e o f C P E C A c c o r d i n g t o p r e s s r e l e a s e , t h e t h i r d m e e t i n g o f J o i n t Wo r k i n g b e t w e e n P a k i s t a n a n d C h i n a w a s h e l d o n Tu e s d a y t o r e v i e w t h e l o n g t e r m p l a n o f C h i n a P a k i s t a n E c o n o m i c C o r r i d o r

T h e m e e t i n g w a s c o c h a i r e d b y S e c r e t a r y M i n i s t r y o f P l a n n i n g D e v e l o p m e n t a n d S p e c i a l I n i t i a t i v e s S y e d Z a f a r A l i S h a h a n d P a n J i a n g t h r o u g h v i d e o c o n f e r e n c e

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 s t a t u s o f t h e C P E C p r o j e c t s a n d d e l i b e r a t e d u p o n t h e f u t u r e c o u r s e o f a c tion with regard to implementation o f t h e C P E C l o n g t e r m p l a n B o t h s i d e s e x p r e s s e d s a t i s f a c t i o n o n s t e a d y p r o g r e s s m a d e o n v a r i o u s p r o j e c t s , f o c u s e d o n A g r i c u l t u r e C o o p e r a t i o n I n d u s t r i a l C o o p e r a t i o n , S c i e n c e a n d Te c h n o l o g y, I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y a n d S o c i o E c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m e n t B o t h s i d e s n o t e d t h a t o u t o f 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 1 4 projects including Karachi Lahore M o t o r w a y, M u l t a n S u k k u r S e c t i o n K K H ( P h a s e I I ) u p g r a d a t i o n a n d r e c o n s t r u c t i o n f r o m R a i k o t t o

BISP disburses 97pc of flood relief cash assistance among affectees

ISLAMABAD

e P o r T

Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is in the process to complete the disbursement of Rs 70 billion among 2 7 million families under Prime Minister ’s Cash Relief in the flood affected areas of Pakistan The pro gramme has disbursed a total of 66 585 950 000 among 2,663,438 flood affected families so far which is around 97 3 percent of the total disbursement BISP is providing financial assistance of Rs 25 000 per family among flood affected families of Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab , and Gilgit Baltistan A total of 214 582 flood affected families have received Rs 5,364,550,000 in Balochistan while 1,820,504 affected families of Sindh have received Rs 45,512,600,000 A total of 302 454 families have received Rs 7,561,350,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa whereas 325,432 families of Punjab have received Rs 8,135,800,000

At UN, Pakistan urges regulation of AI weapons

UNITED NATIONS

s TA f f r e P o r T

Pakistan has called on a handful of states to drop their opposition to negotiations on a legally binding instrument aimed at prohibiting au tonomous weapons pow ered by artificial intelligence (AI) software, called lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) observing they pose a threat to international secu rity From drones and mis siles to tanks and submarines, semi au tonomous weapons sys tems have been used for decades to eliminate tar gets in modern day war fare but they all have human supervision Na tions such as the United States, Russia and Israel are now investing in devel oping LAWS which can identify, target, and kill a person all on their own but to date there are no in ternational laws governing their use

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 S a h i w a l P o w e r P l a n t a n d 7 2 0 M W K a r o t H P P 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 p o r t a n d 8 7 3 M W S u k i K i n a r i H P P a r e u n d e r e x e c u t i o n

T h e m e e t i n g w a s a l s o i n f o r m e d t h a t t h e G o v e r n m e n t o f P a k i s t a n i s a c t i v e l y i m p l e m e n t i n g v a r i o u s p r o j e c t s i n c l o s e c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h t h e P r o v i n c i a l G o v e r n m e n t s t o e n s u r e e ff i c i e n t a n d t i m e c o m p l e t i o n w i t h a v i e w t o v i e w t o m a k e t h e C P E C a r o a r i n g s u c c e s s a n d d i r e c t l y m o n i t o r i n g t h e p r o g r e s s o f t h e s e p r o j e c t s o n a m o n t h l y b a s i s

T h e t w o s i d e s r e s o l v e d t o r e d o u b l e t h e e ff o r t s t o t a p t h e f u l l p o t e n t i a l o f c o o p e r a t i o n a s w e l l a s to make sure that the population of P a k i s t a n f u l l y b e n e f i t f r o m t h e s e p r o j e c t s b y u t i l i z i n g t h e m a s s i v e o p p o r t u n i t i e s b e i n g c r e a t e d i n v a r i o u s s e c t o r s P a k i s t a n i s i d e p r o p o s e d t h e i n c l u s i o n o f Wa t e r R e s o u r c e s M a n a g e m e n t & C l i m a t e C h a n g e ” a s n e w a r e a o f c o o p e r a t i o n u n d e r t h e f r a m e w o r k o f C P E C f o r e ff i c i e n t w a t e r r e s o u r c e s m a n a g e m e n t , d e v e l o p m e n t o f c l i m a t e r e s i l i e n t i n f r a s t r u c t u r e 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 a n d R e f o r m s C o m m i s s i o n o f C h i n a r e p r e s e n t a 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

K ashmiris to obser ve black day against illegal Indian occ upation of K ashmir tomorrow

MIRPUR (AJK) s TA f f r e P o r T

All is set by people of Jammu & Kashmir dwelling both sides of the line of control including AJK and IIOJK and rest of the world to observe black day on Wednesday to mark strong protest and indignation against the contin ual forced and unlawful Indian occupation of the held valley for the last 75 years since this bleak day of Oc tober 27, 1947 when New Delhi had forcibly landed its occupational military troops in occupied Srinagar

Jammu & Kashmir people living either side of the LoC consider October 27 as the black day in the history of the disputed Himalayan state of Jammu & Kashmir when India had landed its armed troops absolutely against the aspirations and the wishes of the people of the state

This year too the black day against continual illegal and forced Indian occupation was being observed at the time when the Kashmir freedom has reached at its cli max following the massive continued anti India protests by the people of the curfew clamped and locked down bleeding Indian occupied state of Jammu

and Kashmir for the last over two years against the complete communication and information blocked by the Indian occupational forces since furious Kash miris defying all restrictions take to anti India street agitation against August 5 2019’ Indian sinister action of scrapping special status of the disputed Jammu Kashmir State abrogating article 370 and 35 A of her constitution

As previous call for observing the black day across the disputed Jammu & Kashmir state and rest of the world has been given by caged Hurriyat leadership in cluding elderly Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Gillani and the AJK government to apprise the world of the Kash miris ever lasting hatred against India besides against the forced Indian occupation of their motherland for the last 75 years

In Mirpur, major protest rally to be followed by a big procession and protest demonstration will be taken out by a large number of people of all spheres of life to observe October 27 as black day at District Courts premises on October 27 at 10 00 a m the under the aus pices of the District National Events Organizing Com mittee with the coordination of all segments of the civil

S o u t h K o r e a n c o m p a n i e s d o n at e

fo r f l o o d v i c t i m s

ISLAMABAD s TA f f r e P o r T

The Korea Water Resources Corporation (K Water) donated one hundred thousand dollars to Pakistan to support the ongoing flood r e l i e f e ff o r t s , m a k i n g t h e t o t a l c o n t r i b u t i o n o f K o r e a s p r i v a t e s e c t o r t o $ 8 0 0 0 0 0

A f t e r t h e d o n a t i o n o f t h e K o r e a n c o m p a n i e s , S o u t h K o r e a s t o t a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s i n c r e a s e d t o $ 2 8 m i l l i o n A h a n d i n g o v e r c e r e m o n y f o r t h i s d o n a t i o n w a s h e l d a t t h e M i n i s t r y o f F o r e i g n A ff a i r s ( M O FA ) a n d a t t e n d e d b y t h e A m b a s s a d o r o f t h e R e p u b l i c o f K o r e a S u h S a n g p y o t h e R e p r e s e n t a t i v e / C h i e f E x e c u t i v e O ff i c e r o f S t a r H y d r o K Wa t e r P a k i s t a n , B o n g R o k O h , t h e D i r e c t o r G e n e r a l ( E A P ) M i n i s t r y o f F o r e i g n A ff a i r s A a m e r A h m e d A t o z a i a n d s e n i o r o ff i c i a l s o f t h e c o n c e r n e d a u t h o r i t i e s

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

H e a d d e d t h a t t h e d o n a t i o n s f r o m t h e K o r e a n government have exceeded two million dollars and the d o n a t i o n s f r o m p r i v a t e s e c t o r a n d N G O s w e r e a l s o exceeding eight hundred thousand dollars, bringing the total contributions by Korea to over 2 8 million dollars

T h e D G ( E A P ) A a m e r A h m e d A t o z a i e x p r e s s e d

h i s g r a t i t u d e t o t h e a m b a s s a d o r a n d t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f K Wa t e r f o r t h e g e n e r o u s d o n a t i o n a n d t h a t t h i s d o n a t i o n w i l l b r i n g m u c h n e e d e d r e l i e f t o t h e f l o o d a ff e c t e e s

o N

society including social religious and political parties

National Events Organizing Committee Mirpur dis trict sources told APP Tuesday while unveiling the scheduled AJK wide black day program that the mass black day rally would be held at district court premises at 10 00 am with the display and carrying of black flags by the participants to express resentment against the forced Indian occupation of bulk part of the Jammu & Kashmir State the IIOJK territory

Besides the participants will also fasten black rib bons on their arms as a mark of indignation and hatred against India and the reign of terror and state violence unleashed against the innocent people in the bleeding vale of IIOJK by the Indian occupying forces for the last 75 years in general and since the bleak day of Au gust 05 2019 the sources added

Through the protest rallies, speakers will reiterate demand for restoration of the special status of the dis puted Jammu Kashmir state and most particularly the early grant of the birth right of self determination to Kashmiris without further delay, which was being de nied by India since last 75 years through her despotic and unlawful rule over the disputed held state

Gunmen killed cop guarding polio workers in Balochistan

QUETTA T h e A s s o c i AT e d P r e s s

A pair of gunmen riding on a motorcycle shot and killed a police officer assigned to guard a polio vaccination team in the Pishin district of Balochistan on Tuesday, authorities said The polio workers escaped unharmed and the two as sailants fled the scene of the attack senior police officer Ghulam Asghar said According to Muhammad Yasir, deputy commissioner of Pishin the attack took place in the Trat town of Pishin He identified the deceased as constable Muhammad Hashim and said the body was shifted to Quetta for medico legal formalities The police have started a search operation in the area to arrest the attackers, Yasir said The attack came on the sec ond day of a nationwide anti polio campaign the fifth this year aimed at making Pakistan a polio free state No group immediately claimed responsi bility for the attack, but suspicion fell of armed locals who often target polio teams and police as signed to protect them, falsely claiming the vaccina tion campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilise children Since April, Pakistan has registered 20 new polio cases and the outbreak has been seen as a blow to the nation s efforts to eradicate the disease, which can cause severe paralysis in children

K a s h m i r f r e e d o m ‘p r i m a r y a i m ’ o f Pa k i s t a n at U N , s ay s e nvoy

UNITED NATIONS

s TA f f r e P o r T

The “primary aim” of Pakistan’s mission at the United Nations is to secure the long recognised right to self determina tion of the people of disputed Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Munir Akram said in a message in which he highlighted Is lamabad’s active role in various forums of the world body Pakistan has a long history of active participation and constructive leadership at the UN on development, security, human rights and other issues he said noting that it served eight times on the

Security Council was elected six times as the president of the Economic and So cial Council, and has been almost contin uously on the Human Rights Council Pakistan, he said, is one of the major contributors of troops to UN peacekeep ing contributing 200 000 troops in 47 missions with an outstanding record of performance On the Kashmir dis pute Ambassador Akram said Pakistan had welcomed the secretary general’s statement that the dispute should be re solved on the basis of the UN Charter and the Security Council resolutions” which prescribe that the “final disposi tion of the state will be determined

through a free and fair plebiscite under UN auspices Pakistan, he said, will continue to press for the implementation of the Se curity Council resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute

The UN membership furthermore recognises Pakistan’s critical role in sta bilising Afghanistan by preventing a hu manitarian crisis and economic collapse, promoting peace through rec onciliation, and eliminating the threat of terrorism from Afghanistan s territory Pakistan, he said, also plays a key role in promoting Islamic causes at the UN pointing out that it led the OIC

countries in the adoption by consensus of the General Assembly resolution which declared March 15, as the Inter national Day to Combat Islamophobia

At present, Pakistan also chairs the Group of 77 and China (125 developing c o u n t r i e s ) a n d i s l e a d i n g t h e n e g o t i a tions at the CoP27 Climate Conference a n d t h e S D G ( S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p ments Goals) Summit next year

Pakistan is also actively promoting reforms to strengthen the principal or gans of the UN the General Assem bly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Human Rights Council

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

AMPle STocKS of ferTIlIzerS, wheAT AvAIl ABle

To MeeT couNTry’S NeedS, Nfrcc Told

THE country possesses ample stocks of Urea and DAP (Diammonium phosphate) for the Rabi crop sea son besides abundant wheat re serves, sufficient to meet the country’s requirements, the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre (NFRCC) was informed during a briefing on Tuesday

The National Flood Response and Coor dination Centre (NFRCC) briefing was held with its Deputy Chairman Ahsan Iqbal in the chair along with National Coordinator NFRCC Lieutenant General Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lieutenant General Inaam Haider Malik

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research Secretary informed the session that there was no shortage of wheat and the current stock was sufficient to meet the country’s requirements

Currently, out of 6,215,327 metric tons (MT) of wheat reserves at the national level Punjab has 3,067,435 MT, Sindh 865,584 MT, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 96,282 MT, Balochistan 49 630 MT and Pasco has 2,136,396 MT

He said that the support price of wheat was determined by considering the cost of production, including seeds and fertilizer

r s w o u l d g e t a d e quate profit

Additional Secretary, Ministry of Indus tries and Production, told the forum that the

President pays tribute to Arshad Sharif during visit to bereaved family

islamabad

S ta f f R e p o R t

P r e s i d e n t D r A r i f A l v i o n Tu e s d a y v i s i t e d t h e r e s i d e n c e o f s l a i n j o u r n a l i s t A r s h a d S h a r i f a n d o f f e r e d h i s c o n d o l e n c e t o t h e b e r e a v e d f a m i l y m e m b e r s T h e p r e s i d e n t , w h o w a s a c c o m p a n i e d b y F i r s t L a d y B e g u m S a m i n a A l v i , e x p r e s s e d h i s d e e p g r i e f a n d s o r r o w o v e r t h e s a d d e m i s e o f A r s h a d S h a r i f H e o ff e r e d h i s c o n d o l e n c e s t o t h e b e r e a v e d f a m i l y m e m b e r s a n d o ff e r e d F a t e h a f o r t h e d e p a r t e d s o u l A c c o r d i n g t o a p r e s s s t a t e m e n t i s s u e d h e r e b y t h e P r e s i d e n t ’s M e d i a Wi n g s a i d , t h e p r e s i d e n t d e s c r i b e d a s ` u n f o rg e t t a b l e ’ t h e s e r v i c e s o f l a t e A r s h a d S h a r i f f o r t h e f r e e d o m o f p r e s s P a y i n g t r i b u t e s t o t h e s e r v i c e s o f A r s h a d S h a r i f i n t h e f i e l d o f j o u r n a l i s m , D r A l v i s a i d t h a t t h e l a t e j o u r n a l i s t u s e d t o e x p r e s s h i s o p i n i o n b a s e d o n r e s e a r c h a n d f a c t s w i t h o u t a n y f e a r H e p r a y e d A l l a h A l m i g h t y t o b l e s s t h e d e p a r t e d s o u l w i t h e t e r n a l p e a c e a n d g r a n t c o u r a g e a n d p a t i e n c e t o t h e b e r e a v e d f a m i l y

PTI MNA Saleh Muhammad granted bail in terrorism case

islamabad S ta f f R e p o R t

An Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) has granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) MNA Saleh Muham mad Khan Swati in a terrorism case registered against him for allegedly shooting at the police party According to details, Judge Raja Jawad Abbas granted bail to PTI MNA Saleh Muhammad Khan Swati against surety bonds of Rs100,000 PTI coun sel Dr Babar Awan presented arguments on behalf of the party leader who hails from Mansehra It is perti nent to mention here that Saleh Muhammad and his gunmen were booked in a terrorism case during a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) office in Islamabad

Medical repor t confirms flood-hit minor girl was gang raped in Karachi’

KaraCHi

S ta f f R e p o R t

T h e m e d i c o l e g a l r e p o r t t o a s c e r t a i n s e x u a l a s s a u l t a l l e g a t i o n s i n m i n o r g i r l r a p e c a s e c o n f i r m e d o n Tu e s d a y t h a t f l o o d a ff e c t e d g i r l w a s g a n g r a p e d i n K a r a c h i ’s C l i f t o n T h e f l o o d a f f e c t e d g i r l w a s a l l e g e d l y g a n g r a p e d b y t w o u n i d e n t i f i e d p e r s o n s i n t h e C l i f t o n a r e a o f K a r a c h i o n M o n d a y T h e m i n o r g i r l r e s i d i n g a t t h e f l o o d r e l i e f c a m p w a s a b d u c t e d f r o m o u t s i d e a s h o p p i n g m a l l a t K a r a c h i s C l i f t o n B l o c k 4 L a t e r, t h e f l o o d a ff e c t e d g i r l w a s f o u n d a t t h e s a m e p l a c e a t 0 2 : 0 0 p m S h e w a s l a t e r s h i f t e d t o J i n n a h P o s t g r a d u a t e M e d i c a l C e n t e r ( J P M C ) a f t e r h e r h e a l t h d e t e r i o r a t e d , w h e r e t h e d o c t o r s c o n f i r m e d s h e w a s ‘ g a n g r a p e d ’ T h e m e d i c a l r e p o r t h a s n o w c o n f i r m e d t h a t m u l t i p l e c u l p r i t s s e x u a l l y a s s a u l t e d h e r T h e p o l i c e , w h i l e q u o t i n g t h e v i c t i m , s a i d t h a t t w o i d e n t i f i e d p e r s o n s a b d u c t e d a m i n o r g i r l a n d s e x u a l l y a s s a u l t e d h e r

required quantity of Urea and DAP for the Rabi crop was available in the country and there was no shortage The tender for the im port of 300,000 MT fertilizer was already under process

He said that 3,870,000 MT of fertilizer for Rabi crops would be produced locally, while at present the fertilizer companies had reserves of 374,479 MT in stock

Ahsan said that provincial governments and district administration should play their role to ensure a timely and low cost supply of fertilizer to farmers He said that the au thorities concerned should take strict action against the Urea/DAP hoarders

The process of wheat seed supply for R a b i c r o p s t o t h e f l o o d a ff e c t e d f a r m e r s w a s a l s o r e v i e w e d i n t h e s e s s i o n a n d t h e f o r u m i n s t r u c t e d t h e p r o v i n c i a l g o v e r n ments to ensure the establishment of facil itation centres at the tehsil or taluka level for the seed supply

PM for collec tive effor ts to tap clean energy resources for better tomorrow

Continued from page 01

The prime minister expressed the resolve that they were committed to rebuilding lives, livelihoods and climate resilient infrastructure Sustainability thus was predi cated on climate action now

As societies placed greater premium on sustainabil ity, he said the clean energy was the driver of the new economy he said and mentioned his administration in Punjab province which had explored solar power in 2012 and established a 1000 MW solar power park in Bahawalpur south of Lahore It was since producing 400 MW, with spare capacity to generate the balance

As Prime Minister, I am spearheading the devel opment of 10 000 MW of solar power to meet Pak istan’s peak load demand and lessen reliance on fossil fuel It is a great opportunity for investors who are look ing for attractive returns ” he added The prime minister said that the economy of Pakistan could no longer af ford the import of costly oil to generate power He said Pakistan’s infrastructure development needs were huge and they were upgrading their rails, ports, airways, water, gas, power and digital infrastructure

With a young and growing population the market is expanding Our government is enabling private en terprises to drive the economy The government is in vesting in public goods; these too are available for partnerships,” he said and urged the participants to par ticipate in these innovative business opportunities and assist in unlocking Pakistan s potential while earning profitable returns on their investment

The prime minister said Pakistan had many higher educational institutions and some were recognized in ternationally and proposed that the Future Investment Initiative should consider establishing a satellite center in one of Pakistan s leading universities to explore the rapidly growing Pakistani market and spur entrepre neurial innovation among their young population

The satellite could become the center of a network of researchers, innovators, investors, and service providers to harness the capacities which, if optimized, would take Pakistan to a higher level of social and eco nomic development, he opined

The prime minister said that his curiosity to learn and fascination for technology had led to close interac tion with subject experts who had guided him to employ technical tools and expertise to improve governance

Serving as the chief minister of the province of Punjab for a decade, I saw the fruits of my policies when I introduced tech innovations in the educational and health sectors, he said and mentioned that these initiatives set free new ways of public service delivery; improving access and quality and empowering the cit izens to hold the government to account

“Using technology, we provided conditional cash transfers to school girls, supported specially abled peo

ple gave timely agricultural inputs to farmers provided free laptops to thousands of deserving students, estab lished a hi tech safe city project, set up smart schools, introduced digital technology in our immunization pro gramme, and linked markets for more equitable buying and selling,” he said As a prime minister, he said he had tasked himself to ensure that Pakistan and its dy namic citizens had every opportunity required to be come active participants in the technological change sweeping across the world The prime minister said Pakistan was open for business

“Let me assure you that today we as a nation are ready to reach out and grab the future with both hands As the Prime Minister, I am determined to deliver effi cient and competent governance in these difficult times the prime minister expressed the confidence

He urged the participants to join hands and together they could unlock and unleash their combined energies to carve the future they all wanted for their coming gen erations The prime minister said that it was a unique honour and privilege for him to be addressing this dis tinguished forum

He said since its incep tion in 2017, the Future In vestment Initiative Institute had grown into an influen tial and action oriented platform and continues to add value to global dis course on issues of great relevance

Its guiding principles of environment, social, and governance constituted the right combination and perhaps even the prism to look at, and assess, the world of today and tomor row, he added

The prime minister also expressed his gratitude to the brotherly and friendly countries for providing timely support in the after math of devastating flood

He particularly men tioned the generosity of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for facilitating an air bridge be tween the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan for the supply of flood re lief to the flood affected population

Continued from page 01

A Pakistan plane departed from Kenya earlier on Tuesday, carrying Sharif ’s body and was expected to land in Pak istan later on Tuesday night, Aurangzeb said On Monday, Shahbaz Sharif also spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto about the incident

Pakistan diplomats were in atten dance at the Nairobi airport when the plane with Sharif ’s remains took off Later Tuesday, it stopped in Doha, Qatar, before proceeding on to Pakistan Sharif ’s family said his funeral will be

held in Islamabad on Thursday Sharif left Pakistan in July to avoid arrest following a citizen s complaint against him on allegations of maligning the military His whereabouts were not publicly known; most of his relatives and friends knew only that he had spent time in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and London

A month later Sharif ’s employer ARY News fired him, saying he had violated the TV station s social media policy His talk show POWERPLAY which aired on Mondays and Thursdays, was discontinued

Gov t extends date for encashment of National Prize Bonds

islamabad

S ta f f R e p o R t

The government has extended the date for the encash ment/conversion/redemption of National Prize Bonds (NPBs) up to June 30, 2023 According to the Finance Division notification, the government has extended the last date of Rs 40,000, Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000, and Rs 7,500 denomination National Prize Bonds withdrawn from circulation up to June 30, 2023 The procedure for encashment/conversion/redemption of Rs 40,000, Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000, and Rs 7,500 denomination Na tional Prize Bonds issued vide above referred Notifica tion shall continue to be observed Meanwhile the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has also asked the commercial banks to accept requests for encashment/conversion/re demption of cited denominations from the general pub lic till June 30, 2023 Further, the banks shall submit branch/region wise consolidated data of cited denomina tion NPBs held by them on the last date i e June 30 2023, latest by July 4, 2023, as per the instructions

islamabad S ta f f R e p o R t

PM announces judicial probe into Sharif murder

K n o c k i n g a t c r e d i t o r s ’ d o o r s

ALT h O U G h the Pak rupee rebounded slightly yesterday on the news of $1 5 billion expected inflowsafter Pakistan signed a deal with the ADB for budgetary support such small victories against the dollar will be short lived Since his return, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has mostly used the power of fear to bring the scce the dollar down against the rupee, making exported and hoarders liquidate their long dollar positions to avoid losses But that too has started to wane, as witnessed in the past two weeks the greenback rebounding against the rupee and reaching Rs220 levels yet again The last major inflow of dollars was the IMF’s $1 2 billion tranche that came in last month has been mostly consumed and the foreign exchange reserves with SBP are at a worryingly low $7 5 billion as of last week eventually Pakistan will be looking to either secure fresh loans from ‘friendly countries’ or attempt to rollover existing facilities China and Saudi Arabia have already been approached with requests for a rollover of their respective loans As for new debt, there aren’t many places the Finance Minister can go Attempts were made to get flood relief from the USA but only a meagre $130 million or so were raised and the other day US Secretary of State Antony Blinken categorically said, “go ask China for debt relief” China too has its restrictions and concerns Its economy is headed towards a recession as it is set to miss all its GDP growth targets and President Xi may have been selected for another term, but there are concerns over his regime s handling of the economy during and post covid China therefore does not look at Pakistan the same way it did when CPeC began; an opportunity to make OBOR a success It must now protect its own interests and understands that if it continues to be Pakistan’s lifeline in such times of economic trouble, other countries will expect the same from it and the capacity is simply not there Sri Lanka being turned down is one example Saudi Arabia too has been kind but has its limits They attach certain conditions with their loans that Pakistan fails to fulfill after receiving the funds It will be a difficult task convincing them this time around Ishaq Dar is perhaps then only banking on the perception that Pakistan is ‘too big to fail’ and will therefore be bailed out one way or another by bilateral donors, the IMF or the Paris Club This however is neither a plan nor a sound strategy to run a country of 230 million Better is expected from the economic leadership

Adding insult to injur y

colonial barbarism ”

The Algerian skulls were reputed to be the heads of resistance leaders and civilians beheaded during France’s 19th century conquest of North Africa Ac cording to the report, they had been displayed on poles” and were “taken back to France as war tro phies ” They were part of a collection of 18,000 human bones culled from former French colonies and housed in Paris’ Museum of Mankind Among the thousands of skeletal remains in the collection were bones from across Africa, North America, and Asia They had been brought to France by both members of the French military and archeologists and then turned over to the museum as part of an ef fort to study and categorize racial differences

France’s repatriation of these skulls, it appears, is only one of about 20 such French returns of re mains to other countries and in this instance can only be considered incomplete France is only lending them to Algeria for a period of five years

I write this out of my continued frustration with the way the French and the West in general continue to parade themselves as the world’s bearers of civi lization, culture, and values, while caricaturing the peoples of the east or the South as lesser species Their racialist “scientists” in the Museum of Mankind measured cranial capacity in the skulls they studied in order to demonstrate white superiority Their social scientists studied what they considered inferior cultures, while their political and military leaders conquered the lands of these lesser peo ples,” imposed themselves on them, and despoiled their resources to serve the higher purposes of West ern countries In Algeria alone, millions were killed or allowed to die from disease and starvation in the interests of France and its people

Dr JAmeS J ZOGby

Th I S past week, a major US daily paper ran a lengthy feature article titled, France s Return of the Skulls of 24 ‘Resistance Fighters ’”

The article reported on France’s repatriating 24 skulls to Algeria that were reputed to be the decapitated heads of Algerian resistance fighters The piece was both shocking and infuriating

Instead of unearthing the obscene history that lay behind this entire affair the focus of the story w a s t h a t o n l y s i x o f t h e s k u l l s c o u l d b e p r o p e r l y identified as belonging to Algerian fighters with the other 18 being of unknown background With both g o v e r n m e n t s a p p a r e n t l y i n t e n t o n i g n o r i n g t h e questionable provenance of the skulls, the transfer was heralded as a powerful gesture and a mile stone in (France’s and Algeria’s) efforts to rebuild t i e s ” I n t h e e n d , t h e s t o r y r a i s e d m o r e q u e s t i o n s than it answered and revealed a past as one Alger i a n h i s t o r i a n n o t e d , “ w h i c h s p o k e v o l u m e s a b o u t

While this entire affair is sordid in itself equally disturbing is the fact that it was masked by both gov ernments, who in their apparent hunger for a diplo matic victory presented the return as an important step in rebuilding ties To be sure, rapprochement is to be heralded, but renting the bones of Algerian martyrs in my humble opinion can only be seen as a crude, backhanded, and woefully inadequate way of accomplishing this objective France would have done better to offer a full throated apology for the horrors inflicted on the Al gerian people during its century long conquest, settler colonial occupation and brutal repression This it has not done The closest it has come is French President Macron s recent and rather lame both sides suffered remarks

What remains on the table is France’s need to offer some form of reparations for the damage it did to Algeria and its people Instead of taking such a step, France made do with the obscene gesture of a return of decapitated skulls that only served as a reminder of its brutality and inhumanity

The bottom line is clear: The West built its wealth and its pretense of a civiliz ed democratic order on the backs and bones of those whom they crushed. To move forward, there must be an acknowledgment of and reckoning for the damag e done , and then actions taken in the name of restorative justice Sending back skulls that only ser ve to remind the victims of past evil adds insult to injur y

a p p o i n t m e n t

This is the story crying out to be told: In its con quest of the land of another people France had be headed those who resisted They put their heads on p o l e s a n d b r o u g h t t h e m b a c k t o P a r i s a s t r o p h i e s a n d s e n t t h e m t o a m u s e u m t o s t u d y t h e m a l o n g with the bones of other conquered peoples from the South and east I n t h i s r e g a r d F r a n c e w a s n o d i ff e r e n t t h a n many other Western colonial powers, most notably: G r e a t B r i t a i n , P o r t u g a l , S p a i n , G e r m a n y, a n d t h e USA The worldwide wreckage and human suffer ing left in the wake of their conquests and exploita t i v e r u l e a r e n o t j u s t a m a t t e r o f h i s t o r y T h e damage done continues to shape the present day re alities of their victim nations

The bottom line is clear: The West built its wealth and its pretense of a civilized democratic order on the backs and bones of those whom they crushed To move forward, there must be an acknowledgment of and reckoning for the damage done and then actions taken in the name of restorative justice Sending back skulls that only serve to remind the victims of past evil adds insult to injury

The writer is President of the Arab American Institute

Th e Constitution of the Islamic Re public of Pakistan 1973 is the longest surviving and third Consti tution of the country though there have been attacks and attempts on it by two military dictators, Gen Muham mad Ziaul haq and Gen Pervez Musharraf

Part VII of the Constitution, titled The Judicature”, contains Articles 175 to 212 pertaining to the appointment of judges to the superior courts: the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the high Courts of the provinces and Islamabad Capital Territory, their pow ers, jurisdiction and allied matters

Appointment of the judges to the supe rior courts is made through the Judicial

Commission of Pakistan which was some how mentioned in the print and electronic media some days back

A meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan was held sometime back for considering appointment of some more judges to the Supreme Court of Pakistan

The meeting was not productive as such as there was no unanimity of views among the Commission members present The Chief Justice of Pakistan, who heads the Commis sion, recently while inaugurating the new judicial year had referred to the Commis sion’s deliberations his remarks about a couple of members of the Commission were somehow not liked by two sitting worthy judges of the apex court and they wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pak istan taking exception to his some remarks about the conduct of some members of the Judicial Commission The letter so written somehow also found its way to the print and electronic media hence this article on the subject based on the Constitutional pro visions regarding judges of the superior courts of the country

Article 175A, sub articles and clauses provide the appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court, high Courts of the provinces, Islamabad high Court and of the Federal Shariat Court and composition of the Judicial Commission thereon

The Judicial Commission for appoint ment of Judges of the Commission, accord ing to the constitutional provisions, consists of the Chief Justice of Pakistan as

the Chairman four most senior judges of the Supreme Court; a former Chief Justice or a former Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan in consultation with four mem ber Judges for a term of two years; Federal Minister for Law and Justice ; Attorney General of Pak istan, and a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan nomi nated by the Pak istan Bar Council for a term of two years as Members

The Constitu tion empowers the President to ap point the most sen ior judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of the Pakistan The Commission is em powered to make rules for regulating its procedure

The Parliamentary Committee will send the name of the nominee confirmed by it or deemed to have been confirmed to the Prime Minister who then will forward the same to the President for appointment

F o r a p p o i n t m e n t o f J u d g e s o f a h i g h C o u r t , t h e C o m m i s s i o n a l s o i n cludes Chief Justice of the high Court to which the appointment is being made; the most senior Judge of that high Court; the Provincial Minister for Law and an advo cate having not less than 15 years practice in the high Court nominated by the con cerned Bar Council for a term of two years as the Members

The Constitution has also provided that for the appointment of of the Chief Justice o f a h i g h C o u r t , t h e m o s t s e n i o r J u d g e mentioned above will not be a member of the Commission and also provided further “ i f f o r a n y r e a s o n t h e C h i e f J u s t i c e o f a h i g h C o u r t i s n o t a v a i l a b l e h e s h a l l b e s u b s t i t u t e d b y a f o r m e r C h i e f J u s t i c e o r f o r m e r Judge of that, to be n o m i n a t e d b y t h e C h i e f J u s t i c e o f Pakistan in consul t a t i o n w i t h t h e f o u r M e m b e r J u d g e s o f t h e C o m m i s s i o n ” a s mentioned above

For appoint ment of Judges of the Islamabad high Court, the Com mission will also include the Chief Justice of the Is lamabad high Court and the most Senior Judge of that high Court and the most senior judge of that high Court as the members provided that for initial ap pointment of the Chief Justice and the Judges of the Islamabad high Court, the Chief Justices of the four Provincial high Courts will also be the members of the Com mission

For appointment of the Judges of the Federal Shariat Court, the Commission will

also include the Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat court and the most senior Judge of that Court as its members

The Commission by majority of of its total membership will nominate to the Par liamentary Committee one person, for each vacancy of a Judge in the Supreme Court a high Court or the Federal Shariat as the case may be

The Parliamentary Committee itself will consist of four members from the Sen ate, four members from the National As sembly provided when the National Assembly stands dissolved, the total mem bership of the Parliamentary Committee will consist of the members from the Senate only Members will be from treasury and opposition benches and nominated by the Leader of the house and the Leader of the Opposition respectively

The Parliamentary Committee on receipt of a nomination from the Judicial Commis sion may confirm the nominee by majority of its total membership within 14 days fail ing which the nomination shall be deemed to have been confirmed In case the nomi nation is not confirmed the Commission will send another nomination

The Parliamentary Committee will send the name of the nominee confirmed by it or deemed to have been confirmed to the Prime Minister who then will forward the same to the President for appointment

The writer is Lahore based Freelance Journalist Columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News), Radio Pakistan, Islamabad and can be reached at zahidriffat @gmail com

Not as easy as it once was

WASHINGTON

Le n d i n g s ku l l s w i l l n o t a b s o l ve Fra n ce, o r a ny o t h e r co l o n i a l p owe r

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

Menace of drug addiction

I T is disappointing that more and more young people are becoming addicted to narcotics these days Youngsters even children are known addicts, which is alarming The prevalence of this harmful addiction knows no boundaries, like those of gender or social class These young people are bound to lose their health and will suffer from chronic diseases in the years ahead if they are not salvaged by society in the early stage

According to a United Nations report, the total number of drug addicts in Pakistan is 7 6 million of which 78 per cent are male and 22pc are female The number of these addicts is increasing at the rate of 40,000 per year, making Pakistan one of the most drug affected countries in the world

With the increasing use of drugs the government needs to introduce heavy penalties and severe punishment for those who are caught selling narcotics, especially those who sell it to youngsters The country can never progress if its youth is involved in such self harming activities They are playing with fire; a fire that will harm not just them, but the whole society

Various government agencies related to law enforcement, health and social services should collaborate to curb the menace before it gets too late Treating the addicts and decimating the mafia that is controlling the supply chain can still do the trick The relevant authorities should look into the matter and take serious action to control the trade which is both illegal and immoral It is the future of the nation that is at stake

HABIBA SIRAJ KARACHI

China’s role in Rohingya crisis solution between Myanmar and Bangladesh

ing the negotiations, all sides agreed to start repatriation Sincere efforts were made by China to solve the crisis underlying problems and im prove the situation there As a result of China’s influence over Myanmar, China can be crucial to resolving this conflict however the ongoing discussion on Ro hingya returnees mediated by China is very pos itive Bangladesh owes thanks to China for coming forward in this regard Needless to say Myanmar has the closest relationship with China in the world When the whole world is against Myanmar China is shadowing it Their friendship is bound by strong bonds China can play the most influential role in solving the Ro hingya crisis It has been proven that no matter how much the USA and the Western world, in cluding the United Nations, threaten Myanmar with regard to the repatriation of Rohingya nothing is being done

be resolved quickly The government of Bangladesh should take a tripartite reconcilia tion initiative with Myanmar along with China Finally, the government has started walking in that direction

It is very positive and the path to solving the crisis is slowly but surely widening Myanmar has a multidimensional historical relationship with China China has been providing extensive cooperation in the country’s agriculture industry and trade Despite Myanmar ’s internal conflict and civil war, the economic relationship between the two countries is expanding

Passing the buck

T h e previous government had launched the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal (PCP) in order to enable people to lodge their complaints for speedy redressal of their problems That purpose however was never served the way one expected it to, or the way one was made to expect it to It has failed me more than it has helped me

I would like to share the most recent example The other day I went to the District Complex at Mandi Bahauddin for some work I used the public lavatory there, and found it to be in a dismal, unacceptable condition There was no cleanliness the water taps were broken and there was no soap available for washing one’s hands

I lodged a complaint with the PCP against the administration as it was its duty to keep the facility functional with at least baseline cleanliness It took 12 days before my application was forwarded to the area deputy commissioner (DC), who then forwarded it to relevant municipal authorities which then returned the application to DC office with the note that the provision of soap and ensuring cleanliness of the lavatories inside the District Complex did not fall under their jurisdiction

BA N G L A D e S h Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said that the Myanmar government has agreed to take back the Rohingya through the mediation of China he said this to journalists after a meeting with representatives of the Chi nese embassy last Thursday however, China could not confirm when the Rohingya will be re turned to Myanmar In the meeting, various is sues of safe repatriation of Rohingya and resolution of the crisis were discussed

The Rohingya situation needs to be resolved diplomatically and via political means, accord ing to the international community The USA and other Western nations keep applying pres sure to Myanmar even though they are unable to ensure the safe and willing return of the Ro hingya As Bangladesh seeks the swift repatria tion of Rohingyas to Myanmar, Li Zhiming, the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, stated that China would serve as a “bridge of communica tion” and do its utmost to support a timely reso lution China supports Bangladesh s desire to begin repatriation and China will keep assisting the two friendly neighbours in finding a solution to this persistent problem China will make an effort to address this issue effectively because it is one of humanity

A tripartite method for the repatriation of Rohingyas living in Bangladesh was collabora tively devised by Bangladesh, Myanmar, and China during the UN General Assembly session in September 2019 The three nations decided to establish a cooperative working group to carry out the repatriation of the Rohingya Due to the security situation in Rakhine State repatriation has not been possible to date China started the first round of the trilateral meeting in 2018, and on 20 January 2021 there was a virtual tripartite meeting The repatriation was scheduled to begin by June 2021 at the conclusion of the ne gotiations but it hasn t yet by beginning the process of Rohingyas’ return home and fostering a climate that is favourable to their return in Rakhine under the direction of China Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui joined representatives from Myanmar and Bangladesh for a virtual meeting between Myan mar and Bangladesh on January 19, to discuss the repatriation of Rohingya Muslims Follow

During the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Bangladesh has asked China for help in returning Rohingya refugees to Myanmar A November 2017 agreement to repatriate roughly 700 000 Rohingya who had fled persecution in Myanmar in August had been mediated by China using its clout in that country Bangladesh’s state minister for foreign af fairs reported Wang as adding that other nations were concerned about Myanmar s domestic problems and that China vowed to continue working to address the Rohingya catastrophe Wang also promised to stand beside Bangladesh “on all issues at interna tional forums”

I n B a n g l a d e s h t h e r e a r e m o r e t h a n 5 0 0 C h i n e s e e n t e r p r i s e s o p e r a t i n g C h i n a i s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a l l o f t h e n a t i o n ’s m a j o r i n f r a s t r u c t u r e p r o j e c t s , i n c l u d i n g h i g h w a y s , r i v e r t u n n e l s , s e a p o r t s , a n d i t s bridges over the rivers

Bangladesh has long ago announced the ‘Look East’ policy in terms of expanding geopolitical and economic ties. Myanmar has no choice in implementing this policy Myanmar is the main gateway of the communication system in expanding Bangldesh’s eastern economic relations.

China is expected to play a significant role in ensuring the repatri ation of the forcibly displaced people to their homeland Myanmar, as a tripartite agreement was signed among the three countries to resolve the Rohingya crisis China has been engaged in facilitating negotiations between Myanmar and Bangladesh to resolve the long pending Ro hingya crisis Mr Momen expressed his happi ness over China’s role in convincing Myanmar to stop firing along the Bangladesh border as it caused panic among Bangladeshis living near it

The Western world has not said much about solving the Rohingya crisis and taking them back to their own country It talked about various decisions including economic sanctions The re ality is, these words of theirs have been of no use other than just ‘lip service’ China’s role and co operation in solving the Rohingya crisis is very important If China is proactive, this crisis can

Myanmar is internally at war with about 30 different groups The country s government has failed in many ways to prevent civil war As a result, incidents like shelling are happening on the border of Bangladesh as well The Bangladesh government is handling the situa tion with great patience Continuing the policy of maintaining good relations without engaging in counter conflict with Myanmar A hostile at titude will not solve the crisis Rather, it is nec essary to focus on how to increase the relationship related to the interests of the two countries Bangladesh can also benefit from China’s cooperation with Myanmar in agri culture, industry and other commercial ac tivities It can also take the opportunity of in vestment in agro in dustry there It is important to be proac tive about how to get that support Bangladeshalready has trade relations with Myanmar Fish rice wheat and other prod ucts are imported from the country Various products are also ex ported from our coun try to the country Both countries will benefit if they can further in crease this mutual trade relationship Bangladesh has long ago announced the ‘Look east’ policy in terms of expanding geopolitical and economic ties Myanmar has no choice in implementing this policy Myanmar is the main gateway of the communication system in expanding Bangldesh s eastern economic re lations In view of this, it is in Bangladesh’s in terest to maintain good relations and goodwill with Myanmar There will be no gain in cold re lations From the point of view of reality the Ro hingya crisis will be solved sooner or later, if the efforts continue and the relations between the two countries improve and develop even in the midst of the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh should take initiatives to strengthen matters related to mutual interests with Myan mar, to strengthen diplomatic initiatives while maintaining good relations, so that the resolution of the Rohingya crisis is expedited

The writer is a freelance columnist

Then the application was forwarded by the DC to additional deputy commissioner (ADC) (General) with the direction to immediately take action on the complaint Instead of doing that, the ADC (General) forwarded it to the assistant commissioner (AC) to take care of the matter As could only be expected, the AC followed in the footsteps of his senior officers and sent the complaint back to the DC office, ‘requesting’ that the application may be forwarded to the department concerned

In order to keep my mental peace, I found it appropriate to delete the PCP application from my phone as it was not the first time I had experienced the red tape and lethargic behaviour of public servants through the PCP Needless to say, the condition of the lavatory has remained unchanged One hopes the government would ensure that this initiative, which was, in principle, a good one actually serves the purpose for which it was conceived

ASAD HAYAT WARRAICH GUJRAT

Animal expor t

C h I N A’S interest in importing dogs and donkeys from Pakistan has been a subject of active discussion on social media and some news channels

The interest is said to have surfaced at a recent meeting in Islamabad during which it was highlighted that China wanted to import dogs and donkeys because of increased local demand and decreased production

having world s third largest population of donkeys 5 7 million animals at present Pakistan must make the most of this opportunity and materialise its comparative advantage The export of unfettered stray dogs to China can resolve its domestic dilemma of killing or vaccinating the canine population while dealing with life threatening incidents of dog bites

According to an estimation done in 2014, humans around the world reportedly consume 25 million dogs each year Keeping this in mind, the authorities should think about turning this issue of unrestrained stray dogs in the country’s favour In fact, this is not the first time that Pakistan will export animals to China as it has done so in the past as well

In the face of declining forex reserves and prolonged economic crunch the country must grab every opportunity to widen its fiscal space Pakistan should export stray dogs to all the countries interested, including China, Vietnam Nigeria South Korea Switzerland etc and earn foreign exchange instead of worrying about managing such animals

SAMAN AFTAB LAHORE

Back-breaking roads

PA K I S TA N’S largest city, Karachi, contributes much to its economy, yet its infrastructure is almost always in a shambles The roads are extremely damaged, and have gone worse after the monsoons this year every major road and street in the city has developed potholes In fact, lengthy patches of metalled roads have been washed away causing problems and frustrations to the commuters as the traffic flow remains disrupted Besides, the damage caused to the vehicles is a different story altogether adding substantial financial burden to the equation

Due to bumpy roads, my daily commute to university has become a nerve wracking experience Moving on these roads, one feels like walking on the moon s irregular surface similar to what is seen in moving images of man’s walk on the moon Additionally, these roads cause backaches and spinal problems It is common for family and friends to complain of back pain when travelling on uneven roads A rickshaw ride, for all practical purposes, has become more of a camel ride It is high time the government woke up to its responsibility and got the roads repaired

ZAHABIA KAGDI KARACHI

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

e x c l u s i v e l y

A u s t r A l I A s o u n d s d e At h k n e l l f o r u s

d e A l o f t h e C e n t u r y ’

destabilizing the entire region, with revolts, so cial upheavals and wars breaking out, Wash ington began to lose its grip

It was then rightly understood that, while the US may succeed in waging wars, as it did in Iraq and Libya it is unable to restore even a small degree of peace and stability Al though Trump seemed uninterested in engag ing in major military conflicts he sought to facilitate the rise of Israel as a regional power through a process of political normalization that was wholly delinked from the struggle in Palestine or the freedom of the Palestinians

their collective political priorities

In April 2021, Washington restored fund ing to the Palestinians including money allo cated to the Un refugee agency UnRWA It did not do so for charitable reasons, of course, but because it wanted to ensure the allegiance of the Palestinian Authority, and to remain a relevant political party in the region even then PA President Mahmoud Abbas still de clared, during a meeting with Russian Presi dent Vladimir Putin in Kazakhstan on Oct 12, that “we (Palestinians) don’t trust America ”

W e m u s t d e f e n d i n v e s t i g a t i v e j o u r n a l i s m

Daily Star E d i to r i a l

uS President Donald Trump’s so called Deal of the Century was meant to represent a finality of sorts, an event reminiscent of Francis Fukuyama s premature declaration of the “end of History” and the uncontested su premacy of Western capitalism In effect, it was a declaration that we the US Israel and a few allies have won, and “you,” isolated and marginalized Palestinians, lost

In the same way Fukuyama failed to con sider the unceasing evolution of history, the US and Israeli governments also failed to un derstand that the Middle east in fact the world, is not governed by Israeli expectations and American diktats The above is a verifi able assertion On Oct 17, the Australian gov ernment announced that it would revoke its 2018 recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel expectedly, the new decision, offi cially made by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, was strongly criticized by Is rael, celebrated by Palestinians and welcomed by Arab countries who praised the responsible diplomacy of Canberra

Any serious analysis of the Australian move, however, must not be confined to Aus tralia’s own political shifts, but must be ex tended to include the dramatic changes underway in Palestine the Middle east and in deed, the world For many years, but especially since the US invasion of Iraq as part of the po litically motivated “war on terror ” Washington perceived itself as the main, if not the only, power able to shape political outcomes in the Middle east Yet as its Iraq quagmire began

So confident were the Americans of their power to orchestrate such a major political transformation that Jared Kushner, Trump’s Middle east adviser and son in law, was re vealed to have tried to cancel the status of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, an attempt that was met with a decisive Jordanian rejection

Kushner s arrogance reached the point that, in January 2020, he declared that his fa ther in law’s plan was such a “great deal” that if it was rejected by the Palestinians they re going to screw up another opportunity, like they’ve screwed up every other opportunity that they ve ever had in their existence

All of this hubris was joined with many American concessions to Israel, whereby Washington virtually fulfilled all Israeli wishes The relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem was merely the icing on the cake of a much larger political scheme that included the financial boycott of Palestinians, cancelation of funds that benefited Palestinian refugees recognition of the illegally occupied Syrian Golan Heights as part of Israel, and support of Tel Aviv’s decision to annex much of the occupied West Bank Benjamin netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister at the time, and his allies had hoped that, as soon as Washington carried out such moves, many other countries would follow, and Palestinians soon would find themselves friendless, broke and irrelevant

This was hardly the case, and what started with a bang ended with a whimper Though the Biden administration still refuses to com mit to any new “peace process,” it has largely avoided engaging in Trump’s provocative politics not just that, the Palestinians are anything but isolated, and Arab countries re main united in the centrality of Palestine to

Moreover, the annexation scheme, at least officially, did not go through The rejection of any Israeli steps that could change the legal status of the occupied Palestinian territories proved unpopular with most Un members, including most of Israel s Western allies

Australia remained the exception, but not for long Unsurprisingly, Canberra’s reversal of its earlier decision regarding the status of Jerusalem earned it much criticism in Tel Aviv Four years after its initial policy shift, Australia shifted yet once more as it found it more beneficial to realign itself with the po sition of most world capitals than with that of Washington and Tel Aviv

Trump’s “Deal of the Century” has failed simply because neither Washington nor Tel Aviv had enough political cards to shape a whole new reality in the Middle east Most parties involved Trump, netanyahu, Scott Morrison in Aus tralia and a few others were simply playing a political game linked to their own interests at home In the final analysis, it has become clear that the Deal of the Century was not an irre versible historical event, but an opportunistic political process that lacked a deep understand ing of history and the political balances that con tinue to control the Middle east

Another important lesson to be gleaned from all of this is that, as long as the Palestin ian people continue to resist and fight for their freedom and as long as international solidarity continues to grow around them, the Palestin ian cause will remain central to all Arabs and to all conscientious people around the world

Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for more than 20 years He is an internationally syndicated columnist a media consultant an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle com

In what is perhaps its most pow erful endorsement of the freedom of the press in recent times the High Court on Sunday released the full text of a verdict an nounced in June this year in which it touched upon the issue in considerable detail In the judgment, made in relation to a case about a newspaper s coverage of how the Anti Corruption Commis sion (ACC) had exempted a former en gineer of the Public Works Department and his wife charged with corruption, the court was firm, unambiguous and decisive There cannot be a more au thentic voice on this topic than the court, and we are happy that it chose to intervene at a time when the press is facing all sorts of challenges

The court stated that journalists are p a r t a n d p a r c e l o f a d e m o c r a t i c process “In a modern world, right to information is being treated as one of t h e p r e c o n d i t i o n s f o r e x p r e s s i o n o f o p i n i o n J o u r n a l i s t s a c t a s h e l p i n g h a n d s i n e n s u r i n g r u l e o f l a w a n d democracy A s w atchdogs , it s aid, journalists disperse information not to u n d e r m i n e a n y o n e b u t t o s e r v e t h e cause of justice There is, then, no al t e r n a t i v e t o a n “ e ff i c i e n t ” a n d “ f e a r less” press that can do this without any impediments put in its way Referring to Article 39 of the constitution which d e a l s w i t h f r e e d o m s o f t h o u g h t , c o n science and speech, the court said that these rights are vital for the press, es pecially investigative journalism

Investigative journalism is an effec tive antidote to the corrosive effect of corruption which, the court said, “un dermines democracy and the rule of

law; leads to violation of human rights; distorts markets; erodes the quality of life; and allows organised crime, terror ism and other threats to human security to flourish Seeing how pervasive cor ruption has become in our society, it is important that investigative journalists, and their sources are protected from harm In this regard, the court categor ically mentions that journalists are con stitutionally and legally authorised to expose corruption in public interest, and that they cannot be compelled to di vulge their sources

These observations are not without context, and if contrasted with the pres ent reality they serve as a clarion call to the state authorities which often act as if the rights of the press are not in alienable In recent years we have seen how journalists were subjected to threats, violence, harassment, lawsuits, and a culture of censorship Investiga tive journalists were especially targeted for disclosing critical information And various barriers were put up includ ing, most recently, by declaring 29 gov ernment agencies and institutions as critical information infrastructure so that they cannot access or disclose information Meanwhile, the Digital Security Act, a law that should never have been passed, has been repeatedly abused to target journalists Also, overt and covert attempts have been made to make it difficult for media organisa tions, especially those critical of the government, to function

Under such circumstances the High Court reminds the authorities that their job is to protect and promote pub lic interest journalism not punish it or clip its wings We urge the government to take the court judgment with the se riousness it deserves and act upon its recommendations

Will truss’s successor prevent uk’s economic downfall?

translate into at least £1 35 on every bottle sold in the UK

he R high stakes gamble with our economic fu ture turned out to be a busted flush Although she is due to leave the table in less than a week, the damage that has been done both by the mini budget which trashed the pound and the dizzying U turn which followed will cast a long shadow

Families, pensioners and businesses are coping with the impact of inflation and interest rates on household bills and mortgages even greater than they were before While we might only have days to wait until the Conser vatives present us with a new Prime Minister with their own particular brand of chaos, the future picture of our economy remains unclear

And the industries on which we depend for our

livelihoods find themselves battling in the dark as they wait to discover what the latest Chancellor, if he is still in place has for us in his Halloween box of tricks

The drinks industry for example is central to the strength of our local and national economic well being More than 11 000 people are directly employed in the sector with tens of thousands more dependent on the wider hospitality industry of which it is such an impor tant component part But that very industry is one which is now trying to digest the potential implications of a government U turn on taxation which has left them, if not high and dry then without the certainty they need to plan their futures This time last week they were antici pating a freeze on duty which they had long campaigned for and had been promised by Kwasi Kwarteng in his one outing at the despatch box as Chancellor

The move was widely welcomed across the industry, as recognition of a lesson learned by the exchequer, it seemed, that duty freezes benefit the Treasury But now the decision to reverse the freeze in excise duty could see Scotch whisky alone hit with one of the largest tax rises since excise duty was introduced in 1643 It could mean that more than three quarters 78 per cent of the cost of the average bottle of whisky goes directly to the ex chequer in tax That 16 per cent increase in duty would

Apart from the negative impact on both the industry and people’s pockets the increase would further fuel the inflation which is already blighting our economy and compound the cost pressures companies are facing with already significant supply chain volatility The Scottish Whisky Association recently discovered that nearly a third of their member businesses have seen an increase of more than 100 per cent in shipping costs in the past 12 months They expect that to rise further, perhaps by more than another 50 per cent in the coming year while like every other office, factory and household in the country they are facing escalating energy costs

And it is not just the whisky and spirits giants like Diageo, with its headquarters in edinburgh, but every pub, restaurant and licensed shop across the country which will feel the impact Our hospitality and tourist industries are the biggest contributing sector each year to the UK s economy It is hard to imagine how our ex port figures might look without whisky gin or vodka Or what the loss of the tourist spend and hospitality might mean for our national economic well being

We look to our governments for stability and confi dence But in the chaos and incompetence which has been the hallmark of this government since 2015, any sense of stability already shaken is gone Confidence is a commodity in short supply So, when Jeremy Hunt, if he is still Chancellor, comes to the despatch to offer a third response to that mini budget which had such a major fallout he should bear in mind the implications of what that U turn, if he sticks by it, will be A double digit tax rise for beer wine and spirits will not only hit the in dustry, but will hit consumers already cutting back Pubs,

restaurants, and shops already struggling will be closer to shutting their doors forever this winter

They are not the only industry or individual em ployer waiting to see how the chips will fall in this game of political Russian roulette in which our ruling party has indulged Certainly, the political cost for the Conserva tive Party of the debacle of the past six weeks has been high but unless they can get their act together quickly the cost for all of us could be even greater

My inbox has been inundated since Thursday with people calling for a general election as the only way of restoring public confidence That choice is one which, for the moment, only the Conservative government can make But if public pressure continues to mount and they cannot solve the internal differences which have now impinged on all our lives, their backbench MPs may take matters into their own hands and side with the op position in a no confidence vote

It will come as no surprise to read that is the option I would most like them to take not for party political reasons but because I cannot bear to see what is being done to our country, our incomes and our futures Surely that is something that we all share in this unless of course you somehow believe that crashing the markets is an acceptable mistake to have made In making that catastrophic error of judgement Liz Truss facilitated her own downfall Her temporary, tempestuous leadership has left her political party in peril It will be the job of the next Prime Minister to ensure she has not facilitated the economy’s, and with it the country’s, downfall, too Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West

arab newS r a M Z Y B a r o U d

THE REJEC TION OF ANY ISR AELI STEPS THAT COULD CHANGE THE LEG AL STATUS OF THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES PR OVED UNPOPUL AR WITH MOST UN MEMBERS, INCLUDING MOST OF ISR AEL’S WESTERN ALLIES

S E E I N G H O W P E R VA S I V E C O R R U P T I O N H A S B E C O M E I N O U R S O C I E T Y, I T I S I M P O R TA N T T H AT I N V E S T I G AT I V E J O U R N A L I S T S , A N D T H E I R S O U R C E S , A R E P R O T E C T E D F R O M H A R M . I N T H I S R E G A R D, T H E C O U R T C AT E G O R I C A L LY M E N T I O N S T H AT J O U R N A L I S T S A R E C O N S T I T U T I O N A L LY A N D L E G A L LY A U T H O R I S E D T O E X P O S E C O R R U P T I O N I N P U B L I C I N T E R E S T, A N D T H AT T H E Y C A N N O T B E C O M P E L L E D T O D I V U LG E T H E I R S O U R C E S

ScotSman

T H E E N D O F T H E L I Z T R U S S P R E M I E R S H I P WAS I N E V I TA B L E A L M O S T AS S O O N AS I T B E G A N

sBp designates sBL as agent for collection of stamp dut y

KaraChI S ta f f R e p o R t

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has designated Sindh Bank Ltd (SBL) as agent for collection of Sindh’s stamp duty under the Board of Revenue Sindh s E Stamping project in the Province The Signing ceremony of the agency agreement between SBP and Sindh Bank Ltd was held on October 24, 2022, at SBP Karachi The Agreement was signed on behalf of Sindh Bank by Syed Assad Ali Shah, SEVP Group Business Head Sindh (R) and by Mr Qader Bakhsh, Director Finance on behalf of the SBP Present at the signing ceremony were Mr Imran Samad, President & CEO Sindh Bank with his senior management team and Mr Saleemullah, Executive Director, Financial Resources Management Group, SBP Speaking at the occasion, Mr Saleemullah, Executive Director SBP hoped that the Sindh Bank Ltd would facilitate the taxpayers by providing quality services through its branch network and would help the Provincial Government in mobilization of stamp duty receipts across the province Mr Imran Samad, Sindh Bank President & CEO thanked SBP for the confidence placed in Sindh Bank Ltd for collection of government receipts He stated that the Sindh Bank’s goal is to make life easy for its customers and facilitate the Provincial Government for its Revenue Collection

Aseefa urges parents to suppor t polio eradication drive

KaraChI/IsLaMaBaD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Bhutto Zardari requests all parents to support the government in its effort towards polio eradication The recent polio cases in

are a threat to

R T O s e i z e s h u g e C A C h e O F n O n - d u T y pA i d C i g A R eT T e s

IsLaMaBaD S ta f f R e p o R t

THE Inland Revenue Enforce ment Network (IREN) Squad of Regional Tax Of fice (RTO) Rawalpindi claimed to have seized 60 cartons of non duty paid cigarettes from

warehouse in Jhelum

RTO

T

cigarettes after the

ow ner

revenue of Rs1 26 million in the head of FED and Sales Tax Further investi gation is underway into the matter

FBR Chairman Asim Ahmad lauded the timely action by RTO Rawalpindi, and emphasized the need for maintaining strict vigilance against tax evasion in the Tobacco Sector

arehous

The seized cigarettes were of local brands and the cartons contained 0 6 million sticks and the raid involved

The chairman underlined that FBR is committed to control tax eva sion and has undertaken various ad ministrative measures in this regard Tax evasion is an illegal activity and the tax evaders will be subjected to criminal charges and substantial penalties to ensure that due taxes are rightfully deposited in the national ex chequer for growth of the national economy , stated the Chairman

IMC Sustainability Report 2022 showcases its journey towards sustainability

IsLaMaBaD S ta f f R e p o R t

I n d u s M o t o r C o m p a n y L i m i t e d ( I M C ) , r e l e a s e d i t s S u s t a i n a b i l i t y R e p o r t f o r t h e F Y 2 0 2 1 2 2 c a r r y i n g t h e t h e m e A M i l l i o n S u s t a i n a b l e P r o m i s e s T h e o p t i c a l l y v i b r a n t r e p o r t i s t h e s e v e n t h o n e s i n c e 2 0 1 6 a n d s h o w c a s e s t h e c o m p a n y s i n i t i t i a t i v e s , i m p a c t s a n d p r o g r e s s e n c o m p a s s i n g t h e t h r e e e l e m e n t s o f s u s t a i n a b i l i t y I M C ’s s u s t a i n a b i l i t y r e p o r t i s a manifestation of the company’s com mitment towards building a sustain a b l e f u t u r e f o r i t s s t a k e h o l d e r s through robust core values and a gov ernance model that helps incorporate sustainable practices in its day to day operations

The Report has been prepared in

pact (UNGC) Ten Principles to which IMC is a signatory and aligned with the Toyota Environmental Chal lenge 20250

Expressing himself, IMC’s CEO Mr Ali Asghar Jamali said, “Sustain

Balakot power projec t design completed, work to star t soon

Peshawar S ta f f R e p o R t

Balakot Hydropower Project, the largest hydropower project of the province on Kunhar River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, will be started this year in District Mansehra with generation capacity of 300 MW

T h i s p r o j e c t w i l l b e c o m p l e t e d w i t h t h e j o i n t f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t o f A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t B a n k ( A D B ) a n d A I I B B a n k

Chief Executive PEDO Engineer Naeem Khan expressed the views in an emergency meeting held at Balakot site with the team members of the Chi nese construction company Gazoba and the Turkish consultant company Dolsar working on the project Deputy Commissioner Mansehra and project

director of the project and other re sponsible officials were also present in the meeting

In the meeting, satisfaction was ex pressed on the progress made on the acquisition of land for the project while the detailed design work of the project has also been successfully com pleted within the stipulated time pe riod, after which the practical work on

the project will be started

During the meeting, important deci sions were also made for the start of prac tical work on the project by completing the security of foreign engineer teams of Chinese and Turkish companies working on the project on a priority basis CEO Engineer Naeem Khan said that this project is a flagship project of the cur rent provincial government, which

ability is the key to understanding the future For the world to achieve the 2030 agenda, all of us need to do our bit, no matter how small, to make a positive difference and corporates must play their part by making a concerted effort towards this common goal Our social responsibility program Concern Beyond Cars, has made great strides over the years in initiatives spanning environment conservation, education, traffic safety, healthcare, sports, etc en capsulated in the Sustainability Report

Like the Report says, there s no planet ‘B’, make everyday Earth day ”

In September 2022, our Sustain ability Report for the FY 2021 won the Best Sustainability Report Award 2021 Certificate of Merit, conferred by the ICMA & Institute of Chartered Ac countants of Pakistan The latest report is available on the Company’s website

will be completed in the next 7 years with an amount of 755 million dollars, in which 80% of the amount i e 580 million $ will be provided by the Asian Development Bank with the Asia In frastructure Investment Bank together and the remaining amount will be pro vided by the provincial government from her own resources

The completion of the project will bring an annual income of Rs 15 bil lion to the province and will provide employment to around 1400 people He expressed that the present provin cial government’s major achievement in starting the biggest energy project of the province and said that the said proj ect will prove to be a game changer to stabilize the economy of the province, end the energy crisis and create em ployment opportunities

future generations and

children can be saved from childhood diseases like polio through vaccine We must all come together and work towards polio eradication We owe to our children We must collectively work towards making Pakistan Polio Free With 20 new cases reported in Pakistan in just 2022, the Government is being extra vigilant and it is extremely crucial for us to reach every child under the age of 5 in order to curb the spread of Polio Virus in the country The back to back monthly polio campaigns are to ensure that our children remain Polio free Thanks to these campaigns, Sindh has not reported a single case of polio since July 2020 and environment samples on major location are also negative which is good for the programme and the future of our children If we continue with the same momentum, we will further see significant results but we must not get complacent and continue the hard work and have regular vaccination campaigns to ensure our children are protected We understand that communities in the super high risk UCs for polio need other services and we are addressing this through new initiatives like creating health facilities

Railways retrieves land from grabbers

Lahore

S ta f f R e p o R t

Railways police Lahore division in collaboration with railways administration in an anti encroachment operation retrieved commercial land of railways The operation was carried out on railways land at Imamia Colony near Shahdara, Lahore Estimated cost of the retrieved land according to the certificate is Rs 120 million Operation was held under the supervision of SHO M Shehzad and IOW railways Illegal permanent and temporary illegal construction was razed with the help of railways staff Under the instructions of IG railways anti encroachment operations against the illegal occupants on railways land are in full swing

Four more deaths repor ted from dengue fever

IsLaMaBaD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan continues to witness a rise in dengue fever cases as four more deaths were reported from the disease in the country Punjab recorded two deaths while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh reported one death each, the provincial health departments said on Monday evening Punjab reported 210 new cases Lahore reported 74 new patients, followed by Rawalpindi and Multan with 41 cases each The total number of dengue cases in Punjab this year has gone up to 13,184 In KP, 223 more people were diagnosed with the mosquito borne disease, the provincial health department said on Monday evening The number of active cases in the province currently stands at 1,369 while the total number of cases this year has reached 16,847 Sindh reported 207 new infections The worst hit area was Karachi which reported 117 new cases With the newly reported dengue cases, the October figure to date for the province has risen to 7,380, bringing the total local tally to 17,534 this year

Covid-19 daily repor t: 30 new cases

IsLaMaBaD

S

Pakistan has reported 30 new Covid 19 cases, the Ministry of National Health Services said on Tuesday The overall tally of infected people climbed to 1,573,755 across the country after adding the fresh cases, according to the data released by the ministry A total of 30,621 people died of Covid 19 in Pakistan with no new death reported, according to the ministry s statistics There are 44 patients who are in critical condition

line with the international GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) Sustainability Re porting Standards, elaborating the three aspects of Sustainability i e People Planet and Prosperity It also complies with the United Nations Global Com

CEO K Electric Moonis Alvi and top management meet Orangi Traders Association

Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, founder of Nutshell Group and former Minister of State & Chairman, Board of Investment called on Investment Minster of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al Falih at Ministry of Investment in Riyadh During the meeting, roadmap for enhancing investment in various sectors of Pakistan and KSA discussed

CPC strategises for imPlementing Part y Congress guiding PrinCiPles

BEIJINg Ag e n c i e s

tH E Political Bureau of the Commu nist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee convened a meeting on Tuesday to make arrangements for studying, publicizing and imple menting the guiding principles of the Party’s 20th National Congress

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting, which also deliberated the regula tions on strengthening and safeguarding the Party Central Committee s centralized, uni

fied leadership and the detailed rules for the implementation of the eight point deci sion on work conduct

Studying publicizing and implement ing the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress is a primary political task for the Party and the country at present and for some time to come, the meeting said

The meeting demanded a deep under standing of the decisive significance of the establishment of both Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Commit tee and in the Party as a whole and the guid ing role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism

Amnesty urges ICC probe of possible G aza war crimes

JERUSALEM A F P

Amnesty International on Tuesday called for an In ternational Criminal Court (ICC) probe into possible war crimes committed in August by both Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters during deadly fight ing in Gaza 31 civilians were among the 49 Pales tinians killed in the Israeli blockaded Gaza Strip during the three day conflict, the global rights group said in a new report The London based organisation pressed the ICC to “urgently investigate any apparent war crimes committed during the August 2022 Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave Amnesty Inter national has collected and analysed new evidence of unlawful attacks, including possible war crimes, com mitted by both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups,” it said The report detailed a strike that hit the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing seven civilians The bombing was likely to have been caused by a rocket launched by Palestinian armed groups that misfired”, Amnesty said Fighting began on August 5 when Israel targeted the Islamic Jihad group in what it claimed were pre emptive strikes to avert attacks The Palestinian organisation responded with barrages of rocket fire that did not re sult in any Israeli casualties

with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era

It also stressed understanding of major issues including Xi Jinping Thought on So cialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and the Chinese path to modernization

The comprehension of the strategic arrangements made by the 20th CPC Na tional Congress for building China into a modern socialist country in all respects was underscored at the meeting

The meeting emphasized that the arrangements and requirements set forth by the 20th CPC National Congress ought to

be implemented in all aspects of economic and social development It also stressed preparing, both mentally and in the work, for all kinds of complex issues

U p h o l d i n g a n d s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e c e n t r a l i z e d , u n i f i e d l e a d e r s h i p o f t h e C P C C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e i s t h e c o m m o n p o l i t i c a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e e n t i r e P a r t y t h e m e e t i n g u n d e r s c o r e d

I t s t r e s s e d m a i n t a i n i n g a h i g h d e g r e e o f u n i t y i d e o l o g i c a l l y p o l i t i c a l l y a n d i n a c t i o n w i t h t h e C P C C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core

The meeting also underscored continu ous efforts in addressing the problems of f o r m a l i t i e s f o r f o r m a l i t i e s ’ s a k e a n d b u reaucratism and maintaining close ties with the people

New PM Rishi S unak pledges to fix Britain’s many problems

LONDON R e u t e R s

Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday he was not daunted by the scale of the challenge as he became Britain’s third prime minister in two months, pledging to restore trust, rebuild confidence and lead the country through an eco nomic crisis

The 42 year old former hedge fund boss, who has only been in elected politics for seven years, has been tasked with bringing an end to the infighting and feud ing at Westminster that has horrified investors and alarmed international allies

“I fully appreciate how hard things are ” he said outside the prime minister ’s residence at Downing Street where he shunned the normal tradition of stand ing with his family and political supporters

“I understand too that I have work to do to restore trust, after all that has happened All I can say is that I am not daunted I know the high office I have accepted and I hope to live up to its demands ”

Sunak, one of the richest men in parliament, is ex pected to slash spending to plug an estimated £40 bil lion ($45 billion) hole in the public finances created by an economic slowdown, higher borrowing costs and a six month programme of support for people’s energy bills

With his party’s popularity in freefall, Sunak will also face growing calls for an election if he moves too far from the policy manifesto that elected the Conser vative Party in 2019, when then leader Boris Johnson pledged to invest heavily in the country

Economists and investors have said Sunak’s ap pointment will calm markets, but they warn that he has few easy options when millions are battling a cost of living crunch

“I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government s agenda, he said, shortly after he accepted King Charles’s request to form a gov ernment “This will mean difficult decisions to come ”

He also vowed to put the public s need above poli tics reflecting the mounting anger at the sense of perma crisis that has gripped Britain since the historic 2016 vote to leave the European Union unleashed a bat tle for the future of the country

Sunak has warned his colleagues they face an “ex istential crisis if they do not help to steer the country through the surging inflation and record energy bills that are forcing many households and businesses to cut back spending

FINANCIAL TURMOIL: Britain s youngest prime minister for more than 200 years and its first leader of colour, he replaced Liz Truss who resigned after 44 days following a mini budget that sparked turmoil in

financial markets

He will now need to review all spending, including on politically sensitive areas such as health, education, defence, welfare and pensions

Reflecting the near constant state of turmoil in British politics this year politicians journalists and photographers once again crammed into Downing Street on Tuesday to hear a departing speech from Truss and an arrival one from Sunak

Truss was applauded by politicians as she arrived outside her office and residence to speak, seven weeks to the day after she took office

She did not apologise for her short tenure despite it sparking a collapse in the pound and a surge in borrow ing costs and mortgage rates

Sunak paid tribute to Truss and said her plan to reignite economic growth had not been wrong, but he said mistakes were made “And I have been elected as leader of my party and your prime minister, in part to fix them, he said

Sunak will now start forming his cabinet with some Conservative lawmakers hoping he will include politi cians from all wings of the party

He is expected to retain Jeremy Hunt as finance minister after the former foreign and health secretary helped calm volatile bond markets by ripping up most of Truss s economic programme

Nobel Peace Prize 2022 goes to Russian HR Ac tivist

OSLO Ag e n c i e s

T h e N o b e l P e a c e P r i z e 2 0 2 2 a w a r d e d t o human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from B e l a r u s , t h e R u s s i a n h u m a n r i g h t s o rg a n i z a t i o n M e m o r i a l a n d t h e U k r a i n i a n C e n t e r f o r C i v i l L i b e r t i e s , s h i n e s a l i g h t o n i n d i v i d u a l s a n d o rg a n i z a t i o n s w o r k i n g f o r h u m a n r i g h t s

The Nobel Peace Center is now engaging with universities students all over the world through the Ignitor Community to take part in the Nobel Peace Prize challenge 2022

The annual essay competition aims to in clude students globally in the topic of the Peace Prize, and to invite t h e m t o c o n t e x t u a l i z e t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f t h e m o s t r e c e n t

P e a c e P r i z e t o t h e i r o w n c o m m u n i t i e s T h e w i n n e r s o f t h e c h a l l e n g e w i l l b e i n v i t e d t o

O s l o i n D e c e m b e r t o t a k e p a r t i n t h e N o b e l P e a c e P r i z e C e r e m o n y P e t t e r S o r u m , P r o j e c t M a n a g e r f o r t h e I g n i t o r I n i t i a t i v e s a y s ; “ T h r o u g h t h i s e s s a y c o m p e t i t i o n w e a r e i n v i t i n g s t u d e n t s a n d y o u t h t o w r i t e a n o p e n l e t t e r t o t h e i r l e a d e r s a s k i n g f o r a n o p p o r t u n i t y f o r d i a l o g u e on impo rtant is s ues related to human r ights

v i o l a t i o n s i n t h e i r h o m e c o u n t r i e s ”

A photo competition is also included in the challenge Students and young change makers age 18 28 can learn more about how to join the challenge here: https://ignitor no belpeacecenter org/nobel peace prize chal lenge 2022/

The Nobel Peace Center is the public face of the Nobel Peace Prize, situated in Oslo, Norway

I t t e l l s t h e s t o r i e s o f t h e N o b e l P e a c e P r i z e l a u r e a t e s a n d t h e i r w o r k t h r o u g h e x h i b i t i o n s , e d u c a t i o n a l p r o g r a m m e s , g u i d e d t o u r s a n d d i g i t a l c o n t e n t T h e c e n t e r i s a l s o a m e e t i n g p l a c e f o r t o p i c a l e v e n t s a n d c o n f e r e n c e s r e l a t e d t o p e a c e , d i a l o g u e , a n d h u m a n r i g h t s T h e N o b e l P e a c e C e n t e r i s l o c a t e d i n a n o l d t r a i n s t a t i o n f r o m 1 8 7 2 , close to the Oslo City Hall and overlooking t h e h a r b o u r

16 dead, million seek shelter as Cyclone S itrang hits Bangladesh

KUAKAtA BANgLADESh Ag e n c i e s

At least 16 people died after Cyclone Sitrang slammed into Bangladesh, forcing the evacu ation of about a million people from their homes officials said Tuesday

Cyclones the equivalent of hurricanes in the Atlantic or typhoons in the Pacific are a regular menace but scientists say cli mate change is likely making them more in tense and frequent Sitrang made landfall in southern Bangladesh late Monday but au thorities managed to get about a million peo ple to safety before the monster weather system hit Around 10 million people were without power in districts along the coast on Tuesday, while schools were shut across much of the country s south

Government official Jebun Nahar said 16 people died, mostly after they were hit by falling trees with two killed when their boat sank in squally weather in the Jamuna River in the north

We still have not got all the reports of damages,” she told AFP

Eight people are missing from a dredging boat that sank during the storm late Monday night in the Bay of Bengal, near the country’s

largest industrial park at Mirsarai, regional fire department chief Abdullah Pasha said

“Strong wind flipped the dredger and it sank instantly in the Bay of Bengal,” he told AFP, adding that divers were searching for survivors People evacuated from low lying regions such as remote islands and river banks were moved to thousands of multi storey cy clone shelters, Disaster Management Ministry secretary Kamrul Ahsan told AFP

They spent the night in cyclone shelters And this morning many are heading back to their homes,” he said

Ahsan said nearly 10,000 homes were ei ther “destroyed or damaged” in the storm and around 1,000 shrimp farms had been washed away in floods In some cases police had to ca jole villagers who were reluctant to abandon their homes, officials said Trees were up rooted as far away as the capital Dhaka hun dreds of kilometres from the storm’s centre

Heavy rains lashed much of the country, flooding cities such as Dhaka, Khulna and Barisal which took on 324 millimetres (13 inches) of rainfall on Monday

About 33,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar controversially relocated from the mainland to a storm prone island in the Bay of Bengal, were ordered to stay indoors but there were no reports of casualties or damage

officials said PA N I C A N d s N A k e s : The cyclone up rooted trees and brought widespread panic to the southern island of Maheshkhali after power and telecoms were cut

“Such was the power of the wind we could not sleep in the night because of the fear that our homes will be destroyed Snakes en tered many homes Water also inundated many homes,” said Tahmidul Islam, 25, a res ident of Maheshkhali In the worst affected Barisal region, teem ing rains and heavy winds wreaked havoc on vegetable farms district administrator Aminul Ahsan told AFP In the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal, thousands of people were evacuated Monday to more than 100 re lief centres, officials said, but there were no reports of damage and people were returning home on Tuesday

Last year more than a million people were evacuated along India’s east coast before Cyclone Yaas battered the area with winds gusting up to 155 kilometres (96 miles) an hour equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane C y c l o n e A m p h a n , t h e s e c o n d “ s u p e r c y c l o n e r e c o r d e d o v e r t h e B a y o f B e n g a l k i l l e d m o r e t h a n 1 0 0 p e o p l e i n B a n g l a d e s h a n d I n d i a a n d a ff e c t e d m i l l i o n s w h e n i t h i t i n 2 0 2 0

Devastating stoinis powers australia to victory over sri l ank a

P E R T H AU s T R A L I A A

MA R C U S Stoinis smashed an unbeaten 59 off 18 balls to power Australia to a seven wicket win over Sri Lanka and reinvigo

C u p d e f e n c e on Tuesday

Chasing 158 for victory, the hosts needed Stoinis s rapid fire knock to achieve their target with 21 balls to spare in Perth and bounce back from their opening day hammering to New Zealand

Stoinis brought up his fifty in 17 balls the fastest for an Australian in a T20I

N e x t u p f o r t h e h o s t s a r e o l d r i v a l s E n g l a n d o n Friday in Melbourne Australia now have one win and one defeat from their first two games in the Super 12 stage

“Once I got in the plan was just to keep going ” said the 33 year old man of the match Stoinis, who is from Perth “To be honest, I was really nervous today

being at home in Perth with lots of family and friends h e r e b u t r e a l l y h a p p y w e p u t o n a b i t o f a c l i n i c today ” The Australians looked in a spot of bother at 89 3 but Stoinis came out all guns blazing to smash four fours and six sixes

S k i p p e r A a r o n F i n c h , w h o m a d e a l a b o u r e d 3 1 , looked a mere bystander in the unbeaten 69 run stand with Stoinis who made the match his own

C h a r i t h A s a l a n k a h a d m a d e a n u n b e a t e n 3 8 t o guide Asian champions Sri Lanka to 157 6, a total that looked competitive until Stoinis arrived on the scene to devastating effect

We have to give Stoinis credit, the way he came in and played was exceptional ” said Sri Lanka coach

Chris Silverwood

“ H e s h o w e d h o w m u c h p o w e r h e h a d a n d o b v i ously made life very difficult for us Sri Lankan pace bowler Binura Fernando left the field in the first over of Australia’s chase as the island nation feared for another addition to their already long injury list at this tournament

But the fas t bow lers kept the A us tralian openers in check and spinner Maheesh Theekshana got the big wicket of David Warner on his first ball after the left hander gave away a catch to the fielder at cover

M i t c h e l l M a r s h t o o k s t o c k a n d t h e n a t t e m p t e d t o b r e a k f r e e w i t h a f o u r a n d s i x o ff Wa n i n d u H a s a r a n g a , b u t h i s e x t r a a g g r e s s i o n g o t h i m c a u g h t a t l o n g o ff f o r 1 7

Glenn Maxwell hit back with fours and sixes be fore he survived a nasty bouncer from Lahiru Kumara t h e b a l l c a u g h t h i s t h r o a t b u t a f t e r h e l p f r o m t h e physio the Australian got gingerly back on his feet

Ashen Bandara dropped Finch but soon made up for it with a good catch at the boundary rope to help dismiss Maxwell for 23

B u t t h e j o y w a s s h o r t l i v e d a s S t o i n i s t o o k t h e g a m e a w a y f r o m S r i L a n k a w i t h h i s b l u d g e o n i n g knock

Sri Lanka, who came through the first round, have also won one and lost one in the Super 12 t h e y fa c e n e w Z e a L a n d n e x t: Australia

e l e c t e d t o b o w l f i r s t a n d r e p l a c e d C o v i d h i t A d a m Zampa with Ashton Agar in the team which lost their opener to New Zealand by a hefty 89 runs

Sri Lanka looked in trouble at 120 6 in the 18th o v e r b u t t h e l e f t h a n d e d A s a l a n k a ’s 2 5 b a l l k n o c k helped put up a fighting total

Pathum Nissanka (40) and Dhananjaya de Silva, who made 26, put on 69 runs to lay the foundations for the total but Sri Lanka slipped midway by losing wickets They lost their sixth wicket in Hasaranga, but Asalanka stood firm and put on an unbeaten stand of 37 with Karunaratne, who made 14

The pair smashed Pat Cummins for two fours and a six in a 20 run final over to finish with a flourish

Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Agar and Maxwell took one wicket each

Cur tain falls on UoG inter-fac ulty S por ts G ala-22

GUJRAT s tA f f R e p o R t

nBp and pcB sign Mou for naming rights of national stadium

PR

National Bank of Pakistan and PCB have joined hands to collaborate for the promotion and develop ment of Cricket in Pakistan A Memorandum of Un derstanding (MoU) was recently signed by Mr Rehmat Ali Hasnie President (A) NBP and Mr Ramiz Raja, Chairman PCB at the Pakistan Cricket Board Head Office in Lahore that gives NBP naming rights for the National Stadium Karachi for the next 5 years Mr Ramiz Raja and Mr Rehmat Ali Hasnie while addressing the media agreed that both organiza tions will work towards identification and grooming talent at the grass root level which is essential for cricketing growth in the country injured lees pressing for england recall after pakistan tour axe

LONDON

A f p

Alex Lees revealed Monday he broke a finger during the final Test of the 2022 home season before losing his England place The opener was dropped for next month’s tour of Pakistan after averaging a meagre 23 84 with the bat in his 10 Test appearances Lees, who was also not given an England central contract, is now set to see his place at the top of the order alongside Zak Crawley taken either by Keaton Jen nings or Ben Duckett But the 29 year old Lees, who injured himself in the series finale against South Africa at The Oval in September, is still aiming for a Test recall Gutted about not being selected for the upcoming tour ” he wrote on Twitter “Loved every minute of this summer & I’m going to work all out this winter to try and get back to where I want to be “Also the finger I broke in the last Test has healed super quick so can’t wait to start batting again ”

The five day Inter Faculty (Men & Women) Sports Competitions 2022 ended here at Hafiz Hayat Campus of the University of Gujrat (UoG) with a glittering cer emony to award the winners

Men and women players from various departments of all city campuses, as well as the sub campus in Mandi Bahauddin vied for honours in the arenas set for Badminton, table tennis, cricket and tug of war

“Since it was the first such activity after COVID 19 the level of response and enthusiasm shown by the teams has been tremendous,” Sports Officer Nasira Parveen said while hosting a glittering prize distribution ceremony on Friday along with In charge Sports Board Dr Muhammad Waseem Mumtaz

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shabbar Atiq was the chief

“Regular participation in such activities ensures our physical and mental wellbeing The key lessons

of tolerance, self restraint and respect learnt in these arenas help us lead a more disciplined life ” Dr Shab bar Atiq said Dr Muhammad Waseem underscored the signifi cance of sports in promoting toleration courage and re silience

Faculty of science won the cricket final SADA teams were the runners up Faculty of Computing & In formation Technology sealed their victory in table ten nis

City Campus GT Road showed their ascendancy in Badminton

Faculty of Social Sciences (women) teams sealed their victories in badminton and table tennis with the City Campus Marghzar teams being the runners up Faculty of Social Sciences (women) team won the tug of war final against the City Campus Fawara Chowk women The vice chancellor awarded the winners

Simmons quits as West Indies coach after humiliating World Cup exit

l a n d e i t h e r s i d e “ I a c k n o w l e d g e t h a t i t ’s n o t j u s t t h e t e a m t h a t i s h u r t i n g b u t t h e p r o u d n a t i o n s w e r e p r e s e n t a s w e l l , ” S i m m o n s s a i d i n a s t a t e m e n t r e l e a s e d b y C W I “ I t ’s d i s a p p o i n t i n g a n d h e a r t w r e n c h i n g b u t w e j u s t d i d n t t u r n u p

“ We w e r e n ’t g o o d e n o u g h a n d w e n o w h a v e t o w a t c h a t o u r n a m e n t p l a y o u t w i t h o u t o u r i n v o l v e m e n t I t s u n f a t h o m a b l e a n d f o r t h a t I d e e p l y a p o l o g i s e t o o u r f a n s a n d f o l l o w e r s ”

S i m m o n s ’ s e c o n d s p e l l i n t h e j o b s t a r t e d i n O c to b e r 2 0 1 9 a f t e r a n i n it i a l 1 8 mo n th t e n u r e i n w h i c h h e h e l p e d s t e e r We s t I n d i e s t o t h e 2 0 1 6 T 2 0 Wo r l d Cup, uniting a squad of big personalities and encour a g i n g a p i o n e e r i n g b a t t i n g a p p r o a c h f o c u s e d o n s i x h i t t i n g

T h e Te s t t e a m ’s r e s u l t s h a v e g r a d u a l l y i m p r o v e d d u r i n g t h a t t i m e w i t h s e r i e s w i n s o v e r E n g l a n d a n d B a n g l a d e s h e a r l i e r t h i s y e a r B u t T 2 0 I s h a v e b e e n a d i ff e r e n t s t o r y a n d t h e y h a v e s u ff e r e d e a r l y e x i t s a t t h e l a s t t w o Wo r l d C u p s , l o s i n g f o u r g a m e s o u t o f f i v e i n 2 0 2 1 a n d t w o o u t o f t h r e e i n A u s t r a l i a l a s t w e e k

s o n a l p e r s p e c t i v e t h i s i s n o t a k n e e j e r k r e a c t i o n , b u t a m o v e I h a v e b e e n c o n s i d e r i n g f o r s o m e t i m e h e s a i d “ N o w i s t h e t i m e t o m a k e p u b l i c t h a t I w i l l s t e p d o w n a s We s t I n d i e s h e a d c o a c h a t t h e e n d o f t h e Te s t s e r i e s a g a i n s t A u s t r a l i a “ I t i s e a r l i e r t h a n h o p e d f o r, b u t I w i l l n o w f o c u s m y e n e rg i e s i n A u s t r a l i a o n c o n t i n u i n g t o b u i l d o n t h e e x c e l l e n t p r o g r e s s t h e Te s t t e a m h a s m a d e O f c o u r s e , a s t h e p r e s i d e n t h a s p o i n t e d o u t , w e w i l l a l s o c a r r y o u t t h e n e c e s s a r y r e v i e w i n t o o u r Wo r l d C u p c a m p a i g n “ I m u s t s a y I h a v e e n j o y e d a s p e c t s o f t h e u n i q u e c h a l l e n g e t h a t b e i n g We s t I n d i e s h e a d c o a c h p r o v i d e s a n d t h e u n w a v e r i n g s u p p o r t o f m y m a n a g e m e n t t e a m T h e r e r e m a i n s o m e e x c e p t i o n a l i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h i n C W I w h o I f i r m l y b e l i e v e w i l l c o n t i n u e t o w o r k i n t h e b e s t i n t e r e s t s o f We s t I n d i e s c r i c k e t ”

a m c r a s h e d o u t i n t h e f i r s t r o u n d o f t h e T 2 0 Wo r l d C u p i n A u s t r a l i a , a n o u t c o m e h e d e s c r i b e d a s “ u n f a t h o m a b l e ”

We s t I n d i e s w e r e e l i m i n a t e d a f t e r f i n i s h i n g b o t t o m o f t h e i r g r o u p i n H o b a r t , b e a t i n g Z i m b a b w e i n t h e i r s e c o n d g a m e b u t l o s i n g t o S c o t l a n d a n d I r e

Simmons will remain in charge for the upcoming t w o Te s t s e r i e s a g a i n s t A u s t r a l i a , w h i c h s t a r t s o n N o v e m b e r 3 0 a t O p t u s S t a d i u m i n P e r t h H e s a i d t h a t h e w o u l d a l s o p a r t i c i p a t e i n C W I s p o s t m o r t e m i n t o t h e Wo r l d C u p e x i t S i m m o n s a d d e d t h a t h e h a d b e e n c o n s i d e r i n g h i s p o s i t i o n b e f o r e t h e t o u r n a m e n t F r o m a p e r

player

LAHORE

s tA f f R e p o R t

The categories of eight players were up graded following the local player category renewal process for the HBL Pakistan Super League 2023 as the Pakistan Cricket Board also opened registration window for the for eign players

The player lists have been shared with the six franchises for the tournament to be played across four venues from 9 February to 19 March 2023

This includes seven players who are presently in Australia for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 They are: Mohammad Wasim Junior (Islamabad United from Gold to Diamond), Shahnawaz Dahani and Shan Masood (Multan Sultans, from Gold to Dia mond) Haider Ali and Mohammad Haris

(Peshawar Zalmi; Haider from Diamond to Platinum, Haris from Silver to Gold), and Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah (Quetta Gladiators; Nawaz from Diamond to Platinum, Naseem from Gold to Diamond)

Aamer Jamal of Peshawar Zalmi is the other player whose category has been en h a n c e d f o l l o w i n g h i s d e b u t f o r P a k i s t a n a g a i n s t E n g l a n d i n t h e h o m e T 2 0 I s T h e all rounder featured in the fifth and sixth T20Is in Lahore, helping Pakistan to win the fifth T20I after conceding eight runs in t h e f i n a l o v e r w h e n E n g l a n d n e e d e d 1 5 runs for victory

Meanwhile categories of five cricketers have been downgraded They are: Hasan Ali (from Platinum to Diamond), Faheem Ashraf (Diamond to Gold) (both Islamabad United)

Sohaib Maqsood (Multan Sultans, from Di amond to Gold), Wahab Riaz (Peshawar

Zalmi, Platinum to Diamond) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (Quetta Gladiators, Platinum to Gold)

The teams will now put forward relega tion requests for the players before finalising retentions After relegation requests are floated, all teams are given an opportunity to meet the player ’s base category If the player s base category is not matched the player may be relegated to a category below his base category

U23 players cannot be part of a squad as an Emerging player for more than two years unless they have played nine or less matches in those two years L o c a L c at e g o ry p L ay e r r e n e wa L s (t e a m w i s e):

Islamabad United Asif Ali, Shadab Khan (both Platinum), Hasan Ali, Wasim Jr (both Diamond), Azam Khan, Danish Aziz,

R i c k y S k e r r i t t , t h e p r e s i d e n t o f C W I , s a i d : “ O n behalf of CWI, I want to thank Phil for his hard work a n d d e d i c a t i o n t o We s t I n d i e s c r i c k e t , m o s t r e c e n t l y in his role as head coach Phil is a proud West Indian, w i t h h i g h i d e a l s a n d h a s n e v e r l a c k e d m o t i v a t i o n i n g u i d i n g o u r y o u n g e r p l a y e r s o n a n d o ff t h e f i e l d o f p l a y “ H e b r o u g h t v a l u a b l e e x p e r i e n c e a n d s t a b i l i t y a t a v e r y i m p o r t a n t p e r i o d o f t r a n s f o r m a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g t h e m o s t c h a l l e n g i n g e n v i r o n m e n t o f t h e C o v i d 1 9 p a n d e m i c We w i s h h i m a l l t h e b e s t i n h i s f u t u r e e n d e a v o r s

ategories

Faheem Ashraf, Musa Khan, Waqas Maqsood, Zafar Gohar, Zahid Mehmood, (all Gold), Athar Mahmood, Mohammad Akhlaq, Nasir Nawaz (all Silver), Mohammad Huraira, Mubasir Khan and Zeeshan Zamir (Emerging)

Karachi Kings Babar Azam, Imad Wasim (both Platinum), Mohammad Amir (Diamond), Amir Yamin, Mir Hamza, Sahibzada Farhan, Sharjeel Khan, Usman Shinwari (all Gold), Mohammad Ilyas, Muhammad Imran Jr, Rohail Nazir, Umaid Asif (all Silver), Faisal Akram, Mohammad Taha, Qasim Akram and Talha Ahsan (all Emerging)

Lahore Qalandars Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi (all Platinum), Mohammad Hafeez (Diamond), Abdullah Shafique (Gold), Ahmad Daniyal Latif, Akif Javed, Imran Randhawa, Kamran Ghulam,

Maaz Khan, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf (all Silver), Syed Faridoun Mahmood and Zaman Khan (both Emerging)

Multan Sultans Mohammad Rizwan (Platinum), Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood (all Diamond), Anwar Ali, Imran Khan Snr, Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood (all Gold), Rizwan Hussain (Silver), Aamer Azmat, Abbas Afridi and Ihsanullah (Emerging) Peshawar Zalmi Haider Ali (Platinum), Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz (both Diamond), Aamer Jamal, Amad Butt, Arshad Iqbal, Hussain Talat, Imam ul Haq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Haris, Sohail Khan, Usman Qadir (all Gold), Ali Majid, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Umar, Salman Irshad, Sameen Gul, Tayyab Tahir (all Silver), Arish Ali Khan, Sirajuddin and Yasir Khan (Emerging)

guest of the ceremony

N T I G U A A g e

c i e s

player Phil Simmons has

M i l i ta r y r e q u e S t S g o v t t o C o n d u C t ‘ h i g h - l e v e l

P r o b e i n t o a r S h a d S h a r i f ’ S g r u e S o M e M u r d e r

S ta f f R e p o R t

NTeR Services Public Relations

(ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt General Babar Iftikhar on Tuesday said the Army has requested the gov ernment to conduct a high level in vestigation” into the “accidental” killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya

Initially, Kenyan media quoted the local police as saying Sharif was shot dead by po lice in a case of “mistaken identity”

In an interview with a private TV chan nel on Tuesday, the DG ISPR was asked to comment on the allegations being made against the institutions, he condoled the jour nalist’s death and called for an inquiry into the killing

We h a v e r e q u e s t e d t h e g o v e r n m e n t t o h o l d a h i g h l e v e l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s o t h a t a l l t h e s e s p e c u l a t i o n s c a n b e p u t t o r e s t , ” h e s a i d “It is very unfortunate that people in

dulge in allegations and I think a thorough investigation needs to be conducted to an s w e r t h e s e a l l e g a t i o n s I b e l i e v e t h a t t h e p r o b e s h o u l d n o t j u s t b e c a r r i e d o u t i n t o the “accidental” killing but as why Arshad S h a r i f h a d t o l e a v e P a k i s t a n , t h e D G

ISPR said Gen Iftikhar stressed that it was impor tant to find answers to questions regarding who forced Sharif to leave Pakistan, where did he live all this time, and what were the circumstances leading to this incident

“

A t a l l t h e s e s t a g e s u n f o r t u n a t e l y, a t the end of the day, allegations are leveled and institutions are accused So this spec u l a t i o n h a s t o b e p u t t o r e s t a n d i t h a s t o come to an end

This is why we have requested the Government of Pakistan to take legal action against all these people who are leveling al legations without any evidence, he added Sharif ’s programmes would be remem bered as “textbook journalism”

Recalling Sharif s work over the years,

the DG ISPR said that the journalist was a “very professional man” and his pro grammes would be remembered as text book journalism”

“This is why it is most upsetting that his accidental death is being used for baseless conversations and finger pointing We just have to see who is using this unfortunate in cident and who is the beneficiary of this thing [ ] this needs to come to an end,” Gen Iftikhar added

It is pertinent to mention that shortly be fore the DG ISPR’s interview, in a speech at a lawyer convention in Peshawar, PTI chief Imran Khan claimed that the slain journalist was a victim of targeted killing

“ H e [ S h a r i f ] n e v e r s p a r e d a n y m a f i a H e e x p o s e d t h e s e t w o f a m i l i e s ( S h a r i f and Zardari families ) in every programme w i t h p r o o f b u t n o o n e c o u l d s c a r e o r b u y h i m t h e n h e s t a r t e d g e t t i n g t h r e a t s from unknow n numbers to ‘not s ay this or s p e a k t h e t r u t h ’ w h e n h e s t a r t e d e x p o s i n g t h i s r e g i m e

Govt all set to disconnec t suppl y of indigenous gas to commercial consumers from Nov 1st

ISLAMABAD a h m a d a h m a da n

CoaS bajwa, german envoy discuss bilateral ties, regional securit y

RAWALPINDI

S ta f f R e p o R t

G e r m a n A m b a s s a d o r t o P a k i s t a n A l f r e d G r a n n a s c a l l e d o n C h i e f o f A r m y S t a ff ( C O A S ) G e n e r a l Q a m a r J a v e d B a j w a a t G e n e r a l H e a d q u a r t e r s ( G H Q ) i n R a w a l p i n d i T h e m i l i t a r y ’s m e d i a w i n g s a i d i n a s t a t e m e n t t h a t C O A S B a j w a a n d G e r m a n e n v o y A l f r e d G r a n n a s d i s c u s s e d b i l a t e r a l c o o p e r a t i o n i n v a r i o u s f i e l d s , o v e r a l l r e g i o n a l s i t u a t i o n a n d m a t t e r s o f m u t u a l i n t e r e s t d u r i n g t h e m e e t i n g T h e a r m y c h i e f s a i d t h a t P a k i s t a n a t t a c h e s g r e a t i m p o r t a n c e t o i t s r e l a t i o n s w i t h G e r m a n y H e c o n g r a t u l a t e d t h e d i g n i t a r y o n a s s u m i n g t h e o ff i c e o f a m b a s s a d o r a n d e x p r e s s e d h o p e t h a t r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e t w o c o u n t r i e s w i l l f u r t h e r p r o s p e r, a c c o r d i n g t o I n t e r S e r v i c e s P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s ( I S P R ) T h e v i s i t i n g d i g n i t a r y e x p r e s s e d h i s g r i e f o v e r t h e d e v a s t a t i o n c a u s e d b y f l o o d s i n P a k i s t a n a n d o ff e r e d s i n c e r e c o n d o l e n c e t o t h e f a m i l i e s o f t h e v i c t i m s H e a l s o a p p r e c i a t e d P a k i s t a n s c o n t i n u o u s e ff o r t s f o r r e g i o n a l s t a b i l i t y a n d p l e d g e d t o p l a y h i s r o l e i n f u r t h e r i m p r o v e m e n t o f d i p l o m a t i c c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h P a k i s t a n a t a l l l e v e l s

The coalition government in order to solve the expected severe gas crisis in the com ing winter season is all set to stop supply of indigenous gas to hotel industry, shop ping malls bakeries places of entertain ment like cinema, theatre, clubs etc

According to details, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has been in forming to its commercial consumers that the supply of indigenous gas to the com mercial consumers has become not possi ble in the coming winter season owing to the severity of indigenous gas shortfall so the indigenous gas supply to them will be disconnected from 1st November 2022 However, SNGPL in order to ensure con tinuity of gas supply to the commercial consumers on Re gasified Liquefied Natu ral Gas (RLNG) tariff has been offering RLNG supply to those commercial con sumers only who will sign RLNG supply contract prior to 31st October, 2022

It is relevant to note that tariff of in digenous gas for commercial consumers

currently stands at Rs 1283 per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) while Rs 3250/MMBTU is the tariff of imported gas (RLNG) for commercial consumers which is likely to go up in the future due to down ward trend of the value of Pak currency against US dollar ources in the industry said that the commercial consumers are avoiding sign ing the proposed contract sent by SNGPL to them and they are mulling to approach the court to get some relief in this regard

All cafes, bakeries, milk shops, tea stalls, canteens, barber shops, laundries, hotels in cluding hotel industry, malls, places of en tertainment like cinemas, clubs, theatres, and private offices, corporate firms, owners of tandoors etc will be affected if SNGPL suspends supply of indigenous gas to them sources added

According to the available copy of SNGPL letter which it has been sending to its commercial consumers, the country is facing severe shortage of natural gas viz a viz increasing demand The indigenous sources of gas are depleting The demand supply situation is worsening due to an in

crease in consumption of gas especially in the northern side while an increase in con sumption in central and southern Punjab is also expected in coming days, resulting in severe indigenous gas shortfall All these factors have led us to the state of affairs where supply of indigenous gas to our val ued commercial consumers effective from 1st November 2022, will not be possible for us, said SNGPL letter

“We are fully aware that our valued commercial consumers may face hardships due to non supply of natural gas during coming winter season Accordingly, SNGPL is now offering RLNG to such commercial consumers only who sign the attached RLNG supply contract prior to 31 10 2022 Indigenous gas supply to all commercial consumers will be discon nected Therefore, you are requested to sign and send contract before 31 10 2022 in order to ensure continuity of gas supply on RLNG tariff,” SNGPL letter reads

It may be noted that we shall be con strained to disconnect supplies to your premises unless a contract for RLNG sup ply is signed and submitted before 31 10

Govt to give free wheat seeds to farmers in flood-affec ted areas by Nov 10

As the government had announced free distribution of wheat seed among flood af fected farmers, the distribution of the seeds would be started from next month

As per the officials at the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MFS&R), to overcome the expected shortage of the crop the government has decided to distribute free high quality seeds to the farmers in the flood hit areas The government has allocated sufficient funds for the distribution of free seeds to poor farmers whose crops have been badly destroyed causing them substantial losses

Saudi Crown Prince warmly receives PM Shehbaz

RIYADH S ta f f R e p o R t

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday arrived at the Royal Palace to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Upon arrival, the prime minister was warmly re ceived by the Crown Prince The prime minister was accompanied by the federal ministers

The distribution of free wheat seeds in the flood affected areas would start from November 10 2022 officials said adding that the government would deliver these seeds before the end of the sowing season

During a high level meeting of the Committee on Food, Agriculture, Live stock and Fisheries held here on Tuesday, it was informed that a digital application has been developed to deliver and distrib ute seeds among the flood affected farm ers Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema, who chaired the meeting appreciated the initiative and said that the same digital platform can be used in the future to pro vide direct subsidies to the farmers

The meeting, which was attended by provincial ministers for agriculture, live

stock and fisheries, and officials of the rel evant departments from all provinces, Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB), was held to consult, direct and facilitate on the issues of agri culture, livestock, fisheries and food secu rity in the country

The committee members also directed to prepare an umbrella project for the live stock in the flood affected areas to control diseases in animals and mitigate shortage of fodder

Secretary National Food Security and Research Zafar Hassan briefed the com mittee on the situation of wheat stock in the country He apprised that there are suf

ficient strategic reserves of wheat in the country “Currently, public sector wheat re serves stand sufficient and are more than last year,” he said Tariq Bashir Cheema said that because of the floods and rains, we are in a state of emergency The officials should take deci sions in the best interest of the public, he added

MD PASSCO Saeed Ahmad Nawaz told the participants that the rains and floods had caused damages to the wheat stock at the government warehouse Wheat fit for human consumption has been suc cessfully separated from the damaged stock and is being supplied he said

2022, said SNGPL letter

As per Oil & Gas Regulatory Author ity s State of the Regulated Petroleum In dustry” Report for fiscal year 2020 21, the indigenous gas production has declined by over six percent to 2,006 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) while gas consumption increased by over five percent which reached to 3,884 MMCFD in the financial year (FY) 2020 21 In F Y 2020 21 the in digenous gas production has declined by over 6 percent to 2,006 MMCFD from 2,138 MMCFD as compared to F Y 2019 20, whereas gas consumption has increased by over 5 percent which reaches to 3,884 MMCFD from 3,683 MMCFD, said OGRA’s State of the Regulated Petroleum Industry Report for fiscal year 2020 21 OGRA’s report added that the main consumer of natural gas was power sector, consuming over 30 percent (1,305 MMCFD) followed by domestic sector with 20 percent (862 MMCFD), fertilizer 19 percent (829 MMCFD), General Indus try 8 percent (365 MMCFD) and captive power 5 percent (203 MMCFD) of the total gas consumed during FY 2020 21

Mar yam nawaz apologises for insensitive tweet on arshad Sharif

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

PML N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Tuesday apologised for an insensitive tweet she wrote earlier today regarding slain Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif who was shot dead under mysterious cir cumstances in Nairobi, Kenya Taking to Twitter again Maryam wrote an apolo getic tweet that read: “My tweet was NOT aimed at mocking someone but about learning our lessons from the past I am undoing the tweet & apologise for the hurt it may have caused to the aggrieved which never was my intention Maryam further extended her condolences to the “bereaved family” stating “May no one ever have to go through this pain A day after the gruesome killing of renowned journalist Arshad Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s “vengeful” tweet has left many bewildered and angry on so cial media However, Tweeps were not ready to accept the ‘halfhearted’ apol ogy Mir Mohammad Ali Khan, famous economic wizard, wrote that if every apology is accepted, there would be no hell for sinners Veteran journalist Ha roon Rashid wrote that Allah may never enable this woman to rule Pakistan else this country would not be for living for common people

RAWALPINDI

ISLAMABAD G h u l a m a b b a S