Epaper_22-11-08 KHI

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Tuesday, 8 November, 2022 I 12 Rabi us Sani, 1444 I Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 129 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition

COP27 summit: Pm shehbaz seeks Climate COmPensatiOn, debt relief fOr Pakistan SHARM EL-SHEIKH

P

Staff RepoRt

RIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that Pakistan would need debt relief and would seek compensation for climate damage as it recovers from catastrophic floods that cost the country some $30 billion.

Speaking at the COP27 climate conference alongside United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the premier said that Pakistan’s escalating public debt was hampering its recovery.

“Millions of people are going into winter without shelter or livelihood,” PM Shehbaz said. “Women and children are still looking to us to protect their basic needs.”

At the climate talks this year in Egypt, Pakistan and other climate-vulnerable countries are demanding that the UN take steps to mobilize “loss and damage” funds for disaster-hit nations, and some say rich nations have a duty to pay these costs because their historical emissions are mostly responsible for global warming today.

“We have mobilized every available resource toward the national relief effort,” but it is not enough, PM Shehbaz said — describing hundreds of broken bridges across the country, as well as stagnant lake water now fouling Pakistan’s southern agricultural landscape.

Meanwhile, Guterres urged interna-

tional financial institutions like the World Bank and leaders at the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia to reform policies that govern debt relief and concessional loan decisions so as to help middle-income countries like Pakistan focus on rebuilding rather than repayment.

“There should be a way to have a (debt) swap exchanging the payments of the debt to investments in the rehabilitation and recovery and reconstruction from natural disasters,” the secretary general added.

PM Shehbaz arrived in Egypt on Sunday where he was received by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Guterres at the Sharm El Sheikh International Convention Centre.

In his meetings, the premier drew the attention of the international community to help Pakistan overcome the risks of climate change.

The heads of several governments — in their interaction with Shehbaz on the sidelines of the mega climate change summit — termed his continued presence in the flood-affected areas as an “extraordinary gesture”, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The premier highlighted the damage suffered by Pakistan in wake of the recent flash floods and emphasised transforming key climate-related decisions into concrete actions and credible plans.

While thanking the international

community for helping the flood-struck people in Pakistan, the prime minister stressed that as a developing country most affected by the phenomenon, Pakistan needed urgency of climate solidarity and climate justice.

Pakistan suffers over $ 32 billion damage due to recent floods, PM tells Guterres The Prime Minister also said that according to the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), the total estimated damage caused by the recent floods in Pakistan was over $32 billion i.e. around 10% of the country’s GDP. The enormous task of rehabilitation and reconstruction would require substantial international support for Pakistan to build back greener, based on the model of sustainable development, he added.

The prime minister highlighted this as he met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres here on the sidelines of COP27 Summit being held in Sharm ElSheikh, a press release issued by the PM Media Wing said.

Appreciating the UN Secretary-General for his solidarity with, and call for massive support to Pakistan in the wake of devastating floods in the country, he reiterated that the unprecedented flood disaster in Pakistan was a clear manifestation of the challenge posed by climate change.

The prime minister also endorsed the UN Secretary-General’s call for climate

justice and climate solidarity.

Referring to the adoption of UN General Assembly resolution, last month, expressing solidarity with Pakistan, he said that Pakistan was looking forward to convening an international ‘pledging conference’ bringing together all development partners.

The prime minister also expressed appreciation for the creation of a UN inter agency team, led by the Deputy Secretary General, to help Pakistan prepare a comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction plan to be presented to the Conference.

With reference to COP-27, he stated that Climate Conference was a timely opportunity for the international community to catalyse concerted international action to mitigate the impact of climate change, and promote climate justice, based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

The prime minister emphasized that addressing “loss and damage” would be a key “deliverable” at COP-27.

At the request of Pakistan — in its capacity as the Chair of the G77 and China — the COP-27 has agreed, by consensus, to the proposed inclusion of an agenda item on loss and damage finance.

The bilateral meeting between the Prime Minister and the UN SecretaryGeneral was followed by a joint press stake-out at the “Pakistan Pavilion”.

PTI protesters cut twin cities from rest of country on Motorway g

Protests choke Rawalpindi city, M-1, M-2 motor ways

RAWALPINDI Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters on Monday staged extraordinarily violent protests in and around Rawalpindi, cutting-off twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad from Motorway and choked all sorts of traffic to rest of the country.

However, traffic on GT Road was partially open but it was also choked near Jhelum and PD Khan.

In a late night development, Federal Police in an official communique, sought permission from federal secretary interior to clear M-1 and M-2 on Motorway to ensure restoration of traffic for VVIPs from and towards Islamabad International Airport.

It merits mention that PM Shehbaz Sharif with a delegation is set to return from Egypt today and the police needs to clear roads leading to Islamabad Air-

port for his safe return.

IGP Islamabad in his letter to Secretary Interior, wrote that Islamabad Airport is a key installation and it needs to be cleared in line with Article 97/149 to ensure smooth flow of traffic and safe movement of VVIPs. The IGP said that since Islamabad Airport falls in the territory of Punjab province, federal police needed permission to clear roads towards Islamabad Airport.

Throughout the day on Monday, the PTI proteters continued their protest demonstrations in different areas of Rawalpindi city in protest against the assassination attempt on their party Chairman Imran Khan.

Following instructions issued by the PTI leaders Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Wasiq Qayyum and MNA Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the demonstrators blocked the roads leading to Islamabad from Lahore

Bandial: Suo motu if FIR of gun attack on Imran not registered in 24 hours ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Supreme Court directed the chief of Punjab police, Faisal Shahkar, to register within 24 hours a first information report (FIR) of the attack on former prime minister Imran Khan in which he was shot in the leg on Thursday in an apparent attempt on his life. Umar Ata Bandial, the chief justice, who was hearing a contempt of court petition filed against Khan by the government over his long march to Islamabad, said his court would be forced to take suo motu notice if a complaint was not registered against the prime minister, minister for interior and a military intelligence officer whom he alleges were involved in staging the attack on him.

The direction came when Justice Bandial questioned whether a police case had been registered thus far.

When he was told it had not, he noted that over 90 hours had passed since the shooting and ongoing delays to the registration of the FIR would hamper the probe. “If the police do not investigate, evidence at the crime scene might be destroyed,” he said. “Such evidence would be controversial and would be unacceptable in court,” he added.

Responding to the judge, Shahkar claimed the provincial government of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, an ally of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, was not permitting him to register the case.

But the judge observed that “under the criminal justice system, police can register the FIR itself. It’s been more than 90 hours but the FIR is yet to be registered.” Responding to the development, Fawad Chaudhry, senior vice president of the party, termed the directive as the “first step towards justice”. “God willing, justice

will prevail,” he tweeted.

The deadlock over the registration of a case ensued following the reported refusal

by Khan to withdraw the name of Maj. Gen. Faisal Naseer, an official of the InterServices Intelligence (ISI) agency, from the complaint. Reportedly, the chief minister was against the “logic” of nominating a serving general in the complaint. He and leaders from PTI held many meetings on the issue where the former attempted to convince them to drop Naseer’s name.

Until at least Sunday, the matter of filing an application with the police was under discussion between the PTI and the Punjab government. Khan, who was discharged from the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital later Sunday and moved to his ancestral home in the Zaman Park neighbourhood of Lahore, also held a series of meetings with members of his party to discuss the road ahead.

and Peshawar on Motorways.

They blocked the motorway leading to Lahore and Peshawar by setting ablaze tyres and bushes. In order to deal with the situation, troops of Islamabad Capital Police and Pakistan Rangers have been dispatched.

Earlier, the workers under the leadership of Fiaz Ul Hassan Chohan reached Murree Road and tried to enter the federal capital through Faizabad but the police and other officials restricted them to IJP Road and Murree Road.

Over this, the protesters also completely blocked the traffic coming from Lahore to Rawalpindi by burning tyres.

Due to protests, diversions were placed at Koral Stop for traffic going to the old Air Port Road from Islamabad Expressway. The traffic has alternatively been diverted to Islamabad Expressway.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

02-03 NEWS 8 NOVEMBER_Layout 1 11/8/2022 1:23 AM Page 1

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Tuesday, 8 November, 2022 | KARACHI

NEWS

ImrAn requeStS PreSIdent to demArC ISPr ISLAMABAD

I

Staff RepoRt

MRAN Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has urged the president to act against the “abuse of power and violations of our laws and of the Constitution,” and define “clear operational lines” of the InterServices Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistan Army.

In a letter addressed to Arif Alvi on November 6, Khan charged the military with abuse of power and obstruction of justice, before appealing to the president to take note of “serious wrongdoings” which he said undermined the national security of Pakistan.

He also asked Alvi to identify the “guilty” and hold them accountable, in an apparent reference to the top army brass.

Analysts understood to be sympathetic to the political role of the army have blamed Khan for “needlessly antagonistic behaviour” before, and after, the toppling of his government, denouncing political rivals as “traitors” and taunting the military as “neutrals,” in a sardonic

reference to its historical role as kingmaker.

Last week, Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, gave an unprecedented press conference, the first time the spymaster has ever addressed the media, during which he accused Khan of duplicitously — “negotiating with the military at night while denouncing them during the day”.

In his letter, the former prime minister lamented that since the ouster of his government, his party had been confronted with “an everincreasing scale of false allegations, harassment, arrests and custodial torture”.

He noted with concern that Rana Sanaullah Khan, the minister for interior, had repeatedly issued death threats against him. He also reiterated his claims about a conspiracy being hatched to assassinate him by the minister, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a general working under Anjum.

“The plot was operationalised earlier this week during our long march but Allah saved me and the

assassination attempt failed,” he said.

He raised three separate points regarding the leakage of confidential conversations from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the controversy surrounding the diplomatic cypher and the role of the military’s media wing.

He observed that Official Secrets Act, 1923, the antiespionage law, was breached when a “confidential conversation between myself as prime minister, the chief of army staff and the director general of the Inter-

Services Intelligence (ISI), on a supposedly secure line, was ‘leaked’ to the media”.

“This raises a very serious question as to who or what organisation was involved in doing a clearly illegal wiretap of the PM’s secure phone line? This is a breach of national security at the highest level,” he said.

A series of separate audio recordings surfaced in September, allegedly featuring the leadership of the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) holding

informal conversations never meant to be heard by the public.

Khan also went on to talk about the cypher controversy, which the former premier has long touted as evidence to overturn his government through a foreign conspiracy.

He noted the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting held during his tenure had “decided this was an unacceptable intrusion into our internal matters” which was also later reaffirmed during the meeting held after Shehbaz Sharif became the prime minister.

However, the joint news conference of Anjum and Lt. Gen. Babar Iftikhar, director general of ISPR, had the “former contradicting the decision made by the NSC under two governments and stating that the message of the US government conveyed by our envoy in Washington in the cypher was not an unacceptable intrusion into our internal affairs but simply a case of ‘misconduct’.”

“The question that needs to be examined is how two military bureaucrats can publicly contradict a decision of the NSC? This also

raises the serious issue of these military bureaucrats deliberately trying to create a false narrative.”

Khan also posed two further questions: how the head of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency could hold a public press conference and how two military bureaucrats could hold a “highly political press conference”.

“The parameters of a military information organisation such as the ISPR also need to be clearly defined and limited to information relating to defence and military issues. As supreme commander of the armed forces, I call on you to initiate the drawing up of these clear operational lines for the ISPR.” He concluded his letter by urging the president to protect the country’s democracy and Constitution.

“No person or state institution can be above the law of the land.

We have been seeing a massive abuse of citizens at the hands of rogue elements within state organisations, including custodial torture and abductions all carried out with impunity.

“You hold the highest office of state and I am requesting you to act now to stop the abuse of power and violations of our laws and of the Constitution, which ensures the fundamental rights of every citizen,” he wrote.

IHC orders police, admin to explain delay in Sharif’s autopsy result ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Proposed JC needs to probe Arshad Sharif’s killing, Swati’s issue as well: Fawad LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday served notices to the respondents in a petition moved by the mother of Arshad Sharif questioning the delay in the provision of the post-mortem report of the slain journalist.

In her petition submitted on Friday, Riffat Ara Alvi said that a focal person of their family, Col. Muhammad Usman, had sought a post-mortem report from the Islamabad administration on November 3.

The administration had, however, told them they do not have the report and that it was with the police. She added that when Usman went to the police, they also turned him away and told the family to contact the administration. “The PIMS and local administration have kept Arshad Sharif’s family in the dark about the post-mortem report and humiliated them during this difficult time,” said the plea.

The petition read that Alvi fears the report will be altered to distort the facts and thus, they should be kept informed at all times to ensure transparency.

“The postmortem report should be provided to

Imran attacking national institutions to regain power: Sanaullah ISLAMABAD

Senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Fawad Chaudhry has demanded the proposed judicial commission to also probe the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif and the matter of Azam Swati. Talking to media here on Sunday, he expressed reservations over “unwarranted” delay in registration of FIR of assassination attempt on PTI Chairman Imran Khan, saying it needs to be determined whether Pakistan will run as per the constitution or not. Commenting over the PTI long march, Fawad Ch said that the march will reach Rawalpindi within 14 days, from where the PTI chief will lead the march. It is good news that Imran Khan has left for the house after being discharged from the hospital, he said, adding that the PTI’s march will resume from Allahwala Chowk in Wazirabad where assassination attempt was made on the party chief. He said that now let the masses take a decision as the “ghost of the conciseness” has come out of the bottle, which will not return now. Fawad Ch said that the PTI has accepted the proposal of PM Shehbaz Sharif on the formation of a judicial commission. However, the transparent investigation could not be held till the resignation of the three persons named by Imran Khan, he said therefore, before the investigation gets started, the mentioned people should tender their resignation.

Claiming that the Punjab CM and his cabinet could not do anything because of “they” have held hostage the system, Fawad said with the captivation of different groups, the masses could not get their rights.

Staff RepoRt

Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah on Sunday urged the higher authorities to arrest the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for the “stability of Pakistan”. “Imran Khan is attacking the national institutions to regain power via an unconstitutional manner,” he said while talking to a private television channel.

“The PTI chief is working for “vested interest” in Pakistan”, Rana Sanaullah alleged and said the PTI chairman cannot get succeed in fulfilling his “sinister design.”

The prime minister, he said would write a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial for taking notice of the PTI Chief. He added that a full-court bench should be formed to proceed the case.

In reply to a question, he said registration of cases against the [officer] of institution could be harmful for the country.

To another question regarding

the attack on Imran Khan, he said the PTI leader had given “unnecessary and controversial statements” in the past. He added that the statements had promoted an “environment of extremism”.

He was of the opinion that a case of terrorism, that had motivated the person to attack Imran Khan, should be registered.

Commenting on the resignation of the Punjab Inspector General Police, he said the Center had made a request to IGP to continue official work following the law of this country. He said IGP had refused to

work some days back due to unavoidable circumstances.

To a question about security institutions, he said Imran Khan had a habit to use “objectionable remarks” against the security institutions. He said that the security institutions were symbols for the defence of the country.

He added that Imran Khan had also made the appointment of army chief controversial. “I have made the request to competent authorities to arrest PTI Chief but no action was taken so far, “he said.

“The PTI chairman is trying to adopt “unconstitutional manners to regain power, but Imran Khan must realize that this “unlawful activities” are harmful to the country’s interest”, the interior minister asserted.

To a question, he said the PTI leaders had no respect for the members of opposition parties. The interior minister said that Imran Khan was playing “gimmicks” with the nation and “pressurizing the institutions to make way for him in assuming power once again”.

Arshad Sharif’s family and should not be made public without the family’s permission,” requested Alvi.

Alvi nominated the president, secretary of the interior ministry, and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) as respondents.

Justice Aamer Farooq took up the plea and, after initial arguments in the case, served notices to the respondents, seeking a response by November 15.

It was pertinent to mention here that Alvi has written a letter to Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, demanding the formation of a high-power judicial commission to probe Sharif’s killing.

Govt warned over petrol, diesel shortage in Pakistan ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Due to limited imports and finite local availability, Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) on Monday warned the federal government about the possible shortage of petrol and High Speed Diesel (HSD) in the coming days. The OCAC wrote to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) that the shortfall is due to the limited supply and high premiums on fuel stocks in the international market. Therefore, it may be difficult to import diesel in November. So far, only state-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO), has reserved shipments of 220,000 metric tons and 10,000 metric tons from Flow Petroleum. According to the letter, import of petrol required to meet needs and match expected sales volume has not been scheduled. The importers were supposed to finalize the import plan, but as of now, there is a gap in the import plan, the letter read. In addition to that, few OMCs recorded sales for October higher than their expected demand since they had limited stocks of fuel products. They received fuel shipments in the last week of October which they were due to use for the entirety of October. The letter said that the OMCs who were permitted to import goods the month before for use in the following month had already used the shipments in advance. Late last week, the ECC approved to increase the margin of oil companies by 63% which shall be subject to the financial capacity and prior approval of the Ministry of Finance. The OMC margin on petrol has been increased from Rs3.68 to Rs6 per litre.

Senate condemns attack on Imran Khan, humiliating incident of Azam Swati ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Chairing the meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Interior held here at Parliament Lodges on Sunday, Senator Mohsin Aziz strongly condemned the assassination attempt on Chairman PTI Imran Khan and humiliating incident of Senator Azam Awati.

These kinds of incidents will only lead the country towards the anarchy and lawlessness, he categorically stated adding that one is unable to find an example of such cowardly incidents in the modern world.

The Senate body adopted the report of Sub-Committee constituted to probe the

incident of raid at Senator Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee conducted by FIA cybercrime wing. Senator Kamil Ali Agha, convener of the Committee, suggested that the matter

should be referred to Privilege Committee.

Senator Mohsin Aziz questioned the FIA officials that who have ordered for forensic on objectionable video clip related to Senator Azam Swati.

FIA officials apprised the senate committee that ministry of interior wrote a letter to FIA to conduct forensic on objectionable clip circulating on Social Media and after forensic it was revealed that the video was fake. The chair reiterated that only handpicked have access to video and objectionable clip was not leaked into social media. He also directed the ministry of interior to provide details regarding the timing of letter and why the denial has been issued by FIA without prior approval of

Senator Azam Swati.

Moreover, Senator Saifullah Abro demanded that authorities provide details relating to expenses incurred on the containers which were acquired to block roads. IG Islamabad Police, Dr.Akbar Nasir told that the details regarding the expenses on containers will be provided in the next meeting. Senator Saifullah Abro also inquired the IG ICT that why the officer of DIG rank himself firing gas shells on general masses. He further added that if DIG has to fire himself then why thousands of personnel have been called from Sindh. In reply to that, Dr.Akbar Nasir said that it is duty of every police personnel to protect his people and country against any sort of aggression.

Senator Mohsin Aziz also inquired the IG Islamabad that why the FIR registered under Anti Terrorism Act against the alleged offender Saleh Muhammad. Dr. Akbar Nasir, IG Islamabad, told that police is inquiring into matter and committee will be apprised about the findings once the inquiry completed.

The meeting was attended by Senator Seemee Ezdi,Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman,Senator Walid Iqbal, Senator Saifullah Abro, Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Senator Syed Sabir Shah, IG Islamabad Police Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan, Additional Secretary Ministry of Interior Asad Islam Mani and other relevant officers were also present on the occasion.

02-03 NEWS 8 NOVEMBER_Layout 1 11/8/2022 1:23 AM Page 2

Tuesday, 8 November, 2022 | KARACHI

LHC JudGe reCuSeS HImSeLF From HeArInG ImrAn KHAn’S PetItIon AGAInSt FIA LAHORE

L

Staff RepoRt

AHORE High Court Justice Ali Zia Bajwa on Monday recused himself from hearing a petition filed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan against the FIA call-up notices in prohibited funding case.

During hearing of the PTI chairman’s petition, Justice Bajwa recused himself and sent the petition to the LHC chief justice with his suggestion to fix the hearing of the petition today before another bench.

The judge said that he had worked with Intizar Hussain Panjutha as a lawyer. “That’s why, I don’t want to hear a petition submitted by Panjutha due to personal reasons,” Justice Bajwa said suggesting the chief justice that he fix the hearing of the case today.

The petition has made interior ministry, FIA DG, deputy director and investigation officer respondents in the case.

The petitioner said that the FIA in order to politically victimize him sent a call-up notice for Oct 31. He said that the FIA inquiry into the MCB account of the

Court annuls order of freezing rana Sana’s property

Punjab PTI was based on mala fide intentions.

The petition stated that the FIA initiated inquiry to harass PTI Chairman Imran Khan and placate his political adversaries. No institution raised objection to the opening of accounts by the PTI, the petition added.

It said that the FIA was not directed to investigate accounts of the party in the ECP verdict in prohibited funding case. The ECP did not ask Imran to provide details or explanation of the accounts. The commission only asked for the record of

foreign funds. The Punjab PTI accounts were used to meet the office expenditures.

The constitution allows every political party to collect funds, it added.

The petitioner further stated that the interior ministry hinted at placing his name on the Exit Control List in its tweet posted on August 3. The FIA deputy director and investigation officer, taking a step ahead of interior ministry, launched an inquiry and started sending notices on their own.

The entire procedure regarding prohibited funding trial has been explained in the Political Parties Order, 2002, the

NEWS

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petition stated adding that the FIA had no jurisdiction to hold an inquiry into the public funding of a political party.

The petition requested the court to declare the FIA inquiry into prohibited funding illegal and also void the Nov 7 call-up notice by the agency to the petitioner. The petitioner also requested the LHC to restrain the FIA from launching any inquiry till the final decision on his application.

Lahore police chief moves LHC against suspension LAHORE Staff RepoRt

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Lahore High Court (LHC) Monday accepted the plea of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to dismiss investigations against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and also annulled the order of freezing his property. A two-member LHC bench consisting of Justice Ali Baqir Najafi and Justice Asjad Javed Ghural heard the petition of Rana Sanaullah. Rana Sanaullah’s lawyer Amjad Parvez appeared before the court on his behalf, whereas, special prosecutor Faisal Raza Bukhari appeared on behalf of the NAB. A written reply was submitted to the court by the NAB that it would reexamine the matter after an amendment to the law.

Amjad Parvez said that the petitioner’s property did not come under the NAB Amendment Act. “The NAB had arrested the petitioner on the charge of creating movable and immovable property. The NAB had maintained that these assets were made with earnings from drugs,” he argued.

5.4-magnitude quake jolts twin cities ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Monday morning, government officials said. The quake hit just after 8:30 pm at 103 kilometres deep, the US Geological Survey said. The epicentre was at Jurm, one of the 28 districts of Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan. The media reported no injuries or damage from the quake, which was also felt in other cities near the capital. Pakistan straddles the boundary where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, making the country susceptible to earthquakes. In October 2015, a 7.5-magnitude quake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed almost 400 people across rugged terrain that impeded relief efforts. The country was also hit by a 7.6-magnitude quake on October 8, 2005, that killed almost 80,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless, mainly in Azad Kashmir.

Ghulam Mahmood Dogar, the chief of Lahore police at the centre of a feud between the federal and provincial governments, approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) against his suspension as Capital City Police Officer (CCPO).

The development came a day after the Establishment Division suspended Dogar apparently for failing to ensure the security of the Governor House in the provincial metropolis during a series of protests that ensued following the gun attack on former prime minister Imran Khan last week.

In his plea, Dogar said the federal government was targeting him over the registration of terrorism cases against two ministers in Lahore’s Green Town police station.

He noted that before issuing the notification, he was never given a reason by the Establishment Division for the notice.

Dogar has maintained the chief minister of Punjab reserves the final authority to remove a CCPO, informing the court the provincial government has asked him to continue working.

He has also contended that by issuing his transfer order, the federal government has attacked provincial autonomy ensured under the 18th amendment to the

IHC top judge urges politicians to resolve conflicts in Parliament, not in courts ISLAMABAD agencieS

Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah on Monday advised the country’s political leadership against bringing their conflicts to courts and rather strengthening the Parliament by resolving those issues in democratic ways. He expressed these views while addressing a full court reference organized in his honour.

On this occasion, the nominated Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Aamer Farooq and other judges, district and session judges, judicial officers, Additional Attorney General Manoor Iqbal Dougal, Advocate General Islamabad Jahangir Jadoon, President Islamabad Bar Association Shoaib Shaheen, Vice Chairman of Pakistan Bar Council and members of Islamabad High Court and District Officials of Bar Associations, and others participated.

Addressing the full court, Justice Minallah said, “Our tragedy is the state has failed to shoulder its responsibilities.

Half of our life was spent in dictatorships, while the courts in their rulings have time and again reiterated there is no supremacy of law and that law is only for the elite.”

He said that the IHC was not like any other high court as it represented the federation. He said that the implementation of the law was linked to a change of mindset and the political leadership could strengthen the execution of the Constitution.

It was the responsibility of the political leadership to

resolve their issues in the legislature instead of dragging them to courts of law, he added. He said that the judiciary’s performance could be gauged by how much trust the public had in the legal system.

He said, “We have taken an oath to protect the Constitution.” He said that implementation of the Constitution could only happen when the mindset changes.

The political leadership could strengthen the implementation of the Constitution, he added.

Senior Judge of Islamabad High Court and nominated Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that Chief Justice Athar Minallah played an important role in the lawyers’ movement and special attention was paid to human rights issues during his tenure. He said the Chief Justice Athar Minallah visited Central Jail for prison reforms after which jail reforms were carried out.

Islamabad Bar Council Vice Chairman Qamar Sabzwari while addressing the full court reference, congratulated Chief Justice Athar Minallah on being nominated as a judge of the Supreme Court and appealed to pardon the lawyers involved in the high court attack case. Additional Attorney General Munawar Dougal said the participants were gathered here to bid farewell to the Chief Justice Athar Minullah, who would be sworn-in as a Judge of the Supreme Court. Advocate General Islamabad Barrister Jahangir Jadoon said that a decision of Chief Justice Athar Minallah was also referred in the American court.

Constitution.

“The notification for suspension and transfer of federal government should be declared illegal and cancelled,” he said, and urged the court to issue a stay order till a final decision is made on his plea.

Dogar has nominated the federal government, the secretary of the Establishment Division, and the Punjab government as the respondents in the case.

Removed as chief of Lahore police in 2021 over charges of misuse of authority and inefficiency amid a violent protest by far-right Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Dogar was reappointed to the office for a second time in July by the government of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

PmL-n submits resolution against qureshi’s remarks about police uniform LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Monday submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly against the insulting remarks of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi about the uniform of the Punjab police. The resolution was submitted by PML-N MPA Sadia Taimur. The text of the resolution said that the insulting remarks of PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi about the uniform of Punjab police was intolerable.

“Insulting the Punjab police’s uniform is tantamount to mocking the police martyrs,” it added. “The Punjab police discharge their professional responsibilities very well,” it stated.

“After the leadership of Pakistan Army, the PTI has now slung mud at the senior leadership of police,” it loathed. “There is great resentment among the ranks of Punjab police over the nonserious statement of Shah Mehmood Qureshi,” it maintained. The resolution also demanded from the Punjab government a stern action against Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Significant number of private schools functioning without registration: Report ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The trend of unregistered schools in Pakistan is very common as 18 per cent of primary and 14 percent of lower secondary are functioning without having regulation or registration from the concerned government bodies.

It was revealed during the launching of the report titled “Global Education Monitoring Report 2022, non-state actors in education, who chooses who loses” conducted by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) in joint collaboration with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The report revealed a rapid proliferation of private education institutions requires stronger oversight to ensure that quality and equity are not put at risk.

The report stated that out of 5,000 total schools in Rawalpindi two-thirds of private schools having no registration, adding that 2016-17 private schools’ census, some 54,000 private schools offered pre-primary education in Punjab province under various categorizations, such as pre-nursery, nursery and prep. The majority of programmes are operated as unregulated entities without government supervision and oversight.

It recalled that less than 3 per cent of the annual GDP is being spent on education in the last 12 years. Due to this backdrop, the report added, public sector schools are insufficient in both supply and quality.

“Private education has grown to fill the gaps. One-third of students in Pakistan attend privately funded schools with 45 per cent of those in private education and 25 per cent in state education in urban areas paying for additional private tutoring,” adding that overall 8 percent of students are enrolled in religious schools.

The report highlighted the exponential growth of private tutoring and educational technology companies in the country, predominantly due to rapid growth in the labour market and the resultant competitiveness in the education system. As compared to other south countries, it added, a franchise model of tutoring is prevalent in the country, with companies or academies running schools and tuition centres, and developing their own curriculum and textbooks. The report further noted the stark disparities in learning outcomes between privately educated and state educated students. Those attending private institutions consistently score significantly higher than those enrolled in state schools where the

student-teacher ratios are high. However, after controlling for socioeconomic status the relative advantage in learning outcomes that private schools enjoy is reduced or eliminated. COVID-19 has both highlighted and exacerbated the existing issues in the education system of the country, adding that privately funded institutions with pupils of more financially stable backgrounds were often better prepared to cope with the implications of school closures and suspension of in-person teaching.

However, with only 14.3 per cent of families across the country having access to

a laptop or desktop, and just 4 per cent of the population knowing basic ICT skills, remote learning was much harder to organise for low-budget state schools.

Additionally, as COVID-19 dealt a blow to global economies, income levels suffered and state schools were overwhelmed with an influx of pupils who could no longer afford private schools. Enrolment in private schools decreased from 23 percent in 2019 to 19 percent in 2021.

The report urged the government to increase its involvement in education systems, and has devised five policy recommendations

to enhance the quality and equity of education across all schools in South Asia.

On the occasion, Additional Secretary Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training Waseem Ajmal said that the report has shattered many myths about the private and the public sector in education as it gives global insights revealing that what works and what doesn’t work.

The report, Ajmal said, raised questions of the effectiveness of many practices of learning outcomes, cost-efficiency and administration.

He recalled that actually many aspects of the reports needed to have deliberation in consultation with all stakeholders while finding a road map to form comprehensive policies for the education sector.

Ajmal further highlighted those private schools our countries are working as nonstate actors and such actors are considered very integral in any society in the world.

Baela Raza Jamil, CEO ITA shared that in Pakistan private sector fills up critical gaps in education service provision in both urban and rural areas not just through preschools, schools, colleges and universities but also in the vital areas of disability services, teacher preparation, EdTech, textbooks and assessments.

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AfghAn, PAKiStAn PinE nutS And driEd APriCot AttrACt viSitorS At CiiE BEIJING

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FGHAN, Pakistan pine nuts and dried apricot got wholesale orders at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), it was reported by Gwadar Pro on Monday. On the 5th of November, CIIE kicked off in Shanghai. In the food and agricultural products, a special booth in the corner attracted a lot of visitors.

“This is the first time that we’ve participated in the CIIE, and we have already got some wholesale orders on the first day,” said Yousof Sadat, an Afghan exhibitor on CIIE who can speak fluent Chinese. “This year, we brought dried apricot, saffron crocus, pine nut, etc. The most popular products are dried apricot

Sardar Muhammad Khan Bunglani shot dead near Bolan BOLAN Unidentified gunmen shot dead Sardar Muhammad Khan Bunglani near Punjra Pull area of Bolan in district Kachhi of Balochistan province on Monday. According to rescue sources, Sardar Muhammad Khan Bunglani was shot dead by unidentified armed men near Punjra Pull area of district Kachhi. The armed men fled to unknown destination after swift operation.

Panic gripped the area following the incident. His body was shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Dhadar and later handed over to the heirs after fulfilling necessary medico-legal formalities. The incident has created a mourning atmosphere in the victim’s home. Further investigation was being conducted by the concerned authorities. The police has started a probe into the incident and search for the assailants.

ACE books Aleem Khan in govt land sale case LAHORE sTAff rePorT

An FIR has been lodged against former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Aleem Khan over selling land owned by the government. As per the FIR, Aleem Khan sold land owned by government with the assistance of the officers of Finance Department, Lahore Development Authority and Irrigation Department. Punjab AntiCorruption Establishment has initiated an action against Aleem Khan after filing a case against him. Aleem allegedly sold government-owned land to people on fake documents. He sold the government-owned land being the owner of Vision Developer Company. Those who took share in fraud are also nominated in the FIR. LDA Director Shafqat Niaz is also nominated in the case.

Minister says government won’t let country’s stability be derailed ISLAMABAD sTAff rePorT

Former prime minister Imran Khan was “misleading people by making baseless allegations” but his government would never let the stability of the country be derailed, declared Minister for Education and Vocational Training Rana Tanveer Hussain on Monday. “Those who tried to violate the constitution would be punished accordingly”, he said while speaking to a TV station. He said Khan was “playing with Pakistan’s interests”, and accused him of detracting people for vested interests.

Replying to a question, he said Khan‘s protest march was an attempt to create political chaos and destabilise democracy, and warned the former prime minister he could not come to power through politics of agitation.

lot of countries don’t give visas to us. China is still open to us. I also do a lot of import from China to Afghanistan, like fertilizer.”

In July, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Afghan interim government.

Wang stressed that China is ready to push for dovetailing the Belt and Road Initiative with Afghanistan’s national development strategies, support the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan and share China’s development opportunities.

Pakistan also has a large production of high-quality apricot and pine nut. It is potential that in the future, we will also see Pakistani dry fruit on CIIE.

‘Hakeem’ Sanaullah prepared effective remedy to deal with PTI marchers, says Fazl ISLAMABAD

sTAff rePorT

and pine nut. I believe there will be more customers and orders in the next few days.”

“I think that Afghan products are still not wellknown in China, while the CIIE provides us a platform to show our products. Chinese market is gradually knowing and recognizing us. At present, we still have three or four containerized products on the way here.” he added.

“China and Afghanistan have a very good partnership, we will do more business between the two countries.”Nida Mohammad Popal, boss of Yousof and the owner of the dry fruit business, also expressed his appreciation to China’s openness. “China is a very good market for Afghan products and transportation takes no time.

In addition, because our government changed, a

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Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) head who also chairman of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Sunday that the Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) marchers would never be allowed reach the federal capital.

“Hakeem Sanaullah has prepared an effective tonic for the marchers and they would be treated accordingly”, JUI-F Chief Fazlur Rehman while addressing a presser here on Sunday. He termed the PTI long march a complete flop show and made it clear that nobody would be allowed to play with Pakistan at all costs.

He said Pakistan was being pushed towards difficulties, which made it lag behind in the comity of nations economically.

Taking jibe at the PTI chief, Fazl said that a joint investigation team (JIT) should be constituted against Imran Khan, saying the PTI chairman’s bullet injuries in the Wazirabad firing incident was a ‘drama’.

The JUI-F chief equated Imran Khan with Indian

top stars Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, saying the PTI chief had surpassed the Bollywood’s actors in the field of acting.

He, expressing his astonishment, said the PTI chief’s bullet injuries were being treated in a cancer hospital, adding that there were contradictions in his medical reports. “We have heard bomb fragments but heard of bullet fragments for the first time.”

He urged the federal government not to show leniency to Imran Khan as he was trying to create chaos in the country under the guise of firing accident and making false accusations against the most important personalities, including the prime minister, interior minister and an officer of the national security institution that was not acceptable at all.

He asked the quarters concerned to launch a thorough probe on the matter so that Imran’s heinous face could be unmasked before the public.

Condemning Azam Swati’s incident, he said, “We wanted peace and harmony in the country and the citizens should lead their lives as per law and the Constitution with respect and dignity.”

The JUI-F chief said in case of Arshad Sharif, the commission should also investigate the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government that issued life threat alert to the senior journalist. He said during the PTI government, restrictions were imposed on media. He categorically stated that the decision of army chief’s appointment would be made by the prime minister in accordance with the Constitution and law as it was his discretion.

In Sindh, Hindu culture fights the odds SUKKUR The AssociATed Press

On the sandy banks of the Indus River, which flows top to toe through Pakistan and into Sindh, Hindus waited for brightly coloured boats to ferry them to a peaceful island that has housed a temple for almost 200 years.

Cheers rang out across the water as the marble and sandalwood Sadhu Bela temple complex heaved into view. “Long live Sadhu Bela!” the boat’s passengers cried. The temple attracts tens of thousands of Hindus from within Pakistan every year for festivals and rituals, including the recent celebrations of Diwali, an important Hindu holiday. The island was gifted to the Hindu community by wealthy Muslim landlords in Sindh two centuries ago. Around 4 million Hindus live in Pakistan, or about 1.9 percent of the country’s population, and 1.4 million are in Sindh.

There is no ban on Hindu worship in Pakistan, but Hindus say openly practicing the faith is not a matter of routine. Decades of political hostility between India and Pakistan present a challenge for the minority community, as many in Pakistan equate Hindus with India. The reverse exists in India where Muslims complain of discrimination.

But the landscape of Pakistan, and Sindh in particular, retains their imprint. It has temples, although their numbers have plummeted. There are Hindu-run businesses as well as education and healthcare institutions, many established before the country was created in 1947. They are part of Pakistan’s heritage, even as Hindus are forced into the shadows.

As Sadhu Bela came alive with the delight of devotees exploring the courtyards and gardens, Dewan

Chand Chawla, a local politician and general secretary of the Pakistan Hindu Temple Management Committee, spoke proudly of the temple’s origins and features. The shrine, which celebrates its bicentennial in 2023, was built by craftsmen from the Indian city of Jodhpur and reflects the architectural style of the Taj Mahal.

“A large part of the Hindu population migrated to India after Pakistan came into being, but those who stayed here are happy and prosperous,” Chawla said, keen to stress the harmonious relationship between the Muslim majority and Hindu minority. “I am thankful to the Muslim community of Pakistan, which fully supports us on all occasions. We follow the law and we are supported by the government.” Chawla is not the only politician to emphasise an image of religious coexistence in Pakistan. “Most of the Hindu population of the country live in Sindh satisfactorily, peacefully and without any fear or threat,” said Waqar Mahdi, a senior advisor to the provincial chief minister. Mahdi said provincial officials have prioritised protecting the rights of minorities like Hindus and Christians.

But Zahida Rehman Jatt, a University of Sindh lecturer in anthropology and social sciences, said there has been a surge in discrimination and marginalisation of Hindus because of rising extremism and fundamentalism in the country. This intolerance risks undermining Pakistan’s ties to its Hindu heritage, she said.

“It’s sad because their (Hindus’) contribution is huge to Pakistan,” she said. “Most Pakistanis are not aware of the importance of Hindu heritage or the contribution that Hindus — and Sikhs — made for the betterment of Pakistani society.”

Some Hindu-founded institutions had their names changed after Pakistan was created, she said, citing Hy-

derabad’s Kundan Mal Girls’ School as an example. It was founded in 1914 by Hindu philanthropist Saith Kundan Mal, but is now known as Jamia Arabia Girls School.

Such changes are one reason why Pakistanis don’t know about the contribution of minority faiths, she said.

Other institutions still bear the names of their Hindu benefactors, including a red brick college and two hospitals in the city of Shikarpur, around 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Sukkur.

On the first night of Diwali, one of the most important festivals in Hinduism, clay lamps subtly illuminated doorways and windowsills in Shikarpur. But there were no elaborate light displays or street festivities, and traditional Diwali firecracker fun took place away from the public gaze.

The city of about 200,000 people has a rich Hindu history and traditions, now gradually fading.

One of the keepers of that history can be found in a vast courtyard off a side road. On a recent day in late October, sweet shop owner Dewan Narain Das, 67, enjoyed the cool air. Vats of food bubbled away, children ran and played outdoors, and people gathered to exchange Diwali gifts and good wishes on the holy occasion. His family has owned a business in Shikarpur since the late 19th century. It started as a soft drink store and, after partition, became a sweet shop. It is famous in the city for falooda, an ice-cream-based dessert with noodles. Das is so well-known in the city that it is easy to find him just by asking for “Dewan Sahib, who owns the falooda shop.”

“People who have lived here for a long time say that the taste they enjoyed 20 years ago is still there in our products,” said Das.

Financial crisis renders KP unable to fund 28 projects in tribal belt PESHAWAR Aziz Buneri

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government failed to fund 28 development projects of the Industries department under the ADP [Annual Development Program] in the tribal belt because of the ongoing financial crisis.

The provincial government has allocated Rs1.3bn for projects of the industry department in seven tribal districts in the ADP of the current financial year, of which the de-

partment has only utilises just Rs216mn in the first quarter of the year.

The KP government had included 50 ongoing and new projects for the department in the ADP of which no funds could be released for two of the three projects of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZMDC). Similarly, no fund was released for the other three projects of the industry department included in the ADP. The documents show that three projects launched

under the Public-Private Partnership (PPPs) were also not provided funds. According to documents of the provincial finance department, the provincial government also could not release any fund to 16 out of seventeen projects of the Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA), while fund could only be provided to one project.

Sources in the KP Finance Department said these projects were launched under the Accelerated Implementation Programme (AIP) which also includes Insaf

Rozgar Scheme, Economic Zones in tribal Districts, Free Microfinance Scheme, and development of small Industry in the tribal belt, for which most of funds were released by the federal government.

According to sources, the provincial government was supposed to release funds to most of these schemes, but the federal government has stopped funds transfer to the province as a result it is facing severe financial crisis. Acting Governor and Speaker KP Assembly, Mushtaq

Ahmed Ghani, has made it clear that the financial situation of the province is deteriorating since the federal government has stopped funding to the province.

Sources of the Planning and Development (P&D) Department said that currently more than 70% of projects included in the ADP of the province have been stopped. The sources said that because of financial difficulties most of important schemes have been excluded from the current ADP of the province.

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GuanGzhe Chen Calls on ayaz sadiq iSLamaBad

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Staff RepoRt

HE World Bank’s South Asia Regional Director for Infrastructure, Guangzhe Chen Monday calls on the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to discussed matters of mutual interest.

Minister for Economic Affairs welcomed the Regional Director World Bank to the Ministry and appreciated the World Bank’s continuous support for Economic Development activities in Pakistan, said a press release issued here.

“The World Bank’s assistance has played and shall continue to play a vital role in the socio-economic uplift of Pakistan”, said Minister for Economic Affairs.

He further expressed gratitude to World Bank for its flood relief assistance to the country. “We are extremely wellsupported by World Bank’s team.’’ said the Minister.

The South Asia Regional Director World Bank appreciated and highlighted the progress of the development projects.

He apprised that currently the World Bank portfolio in Pakistan comprises 54 projects worth USD 13.1 Billion and highlighted the key development areas including infrastructure sector, building of roads and pipeline projects, affordable and clean renewable energy and climate resilient infrastructure projects.

He further stated that the Government of Pakistan and World Bank should continue to work together to deal with macroeconomic challenges and expansion of renewable energy for the long-term development of the country.

He further apprised the Minister that the World Bank is not only putting special

focus on Renewable energy development projects but also putting special focus on Energy Conservation activities to help overcome the energy demand.

Minister appreciated and assured complete assistance and facilitation to the World Bank’s team from Ministry of Economic Affairs to help expedite the implementation of the development projects.

He assured the World Bank about the efficient distribution of funds and apprised him about the rigorous monitoring of foreign funded projects through continuous meetings of National Coordination Committee on Foreign Funded Projects and Steering Committee for Coordination regarding International Assistance for Flood Relief Activities.

He stated that the Ministry is pushing the projects especially those facing chronic delays so as to pace up implementation progress and disbursements and progress.

Moreover, he stated that he has also directed Ministry of Law to help expediting the approval of agreements with the development partners to facilitate quick process of approvals. The meeting ended with vote of thanks.

ihC issues notice to Mna shazia sobia over petition challenging PnC presidency iSLamaBad Staff RepoRt

Amin ul Haque launches Rs42bln Karachi IT Park Project KaraCHi Staff RepoRt

Federal Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin ul Haque on Monday launched Pakistan’s largest Information Technology Park project in Karachi to facilitate the fastest growing IT sector in the metropolis.

The minister laid foundation stone in a ceremony held here at the project site near Karachi Airport that would provide state of the art facilities to national and international companies besides job opportunities to more than 20,000 IT professionals.

The project was approved by ECNEC at estimated cost of Rs. 41.39 billion or USD 186.658 million which included a loan amounting to $ 158.416 million by Korean Exim Bank and PSDP local share of Rs. 6.25 billion. The project would be completed in June 2026.

Speaking at ground breaking ceremony Syed Amin-ul-Haque felicitated people of Karachi, Sindh and the entire country on the launch of the project and said that projects of public interest were first priority of the government.

He said that dream of Karachi IT Park had to go through a long process and now it has come true by overcoming all the dif-

ficulties and with hard work of all the concerned quarters.

The largest IT project of its kind in Pakistan would benefit not only the citizens of Karachi, but also the IT professionals and companies of the entire country, he said and called for gearing up the development work so that the project could be completed in the shortest possible time.

Core objective of the park was to provide a place equipped with IT and telecommunication basic infrastructure requirements, clean facilities and ample working space to enable innovative businesses develop and prosper, the minister said.

The Karachi IT Park would support the creation and development of knowledgebased enterprises besides offering a range of services, would boost knowledge based economy, entrepreneurship and latest Technologies as well, he said adding that park’s eleven storey building would provide office space to nearly 225 startups and Small to Medium enterprises and other ancillary facilities like testing laboratories, class rooms, industry academia linkage centre, and auditorium etc.

The minister further said that the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication has achieved many milestones launched 70

USF projects of OFC and broadband in four provinces at a cost of Rs. 65 billion.

He informed that in province of Sindh, 20 projects of NGBSD and OFC worth Rs. 16.30 billion had been started so far in 20 districts, including Tharparkar, Nawabshah, Khairpur, Larkana, Badin, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Mirpurkhas and Dadu. yed Amin-Ul-Haque said that for the first time in Pakistan, smart phone manufacturing licenses were issued, under which 29 companies were now manufacturing smart phones and digital devices in Pakistan.

He said that National Incubation Centres (NIC) were established in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and recently in Hyderabad as well while the seventh NIC would be set up in Faisalabad.

As a result of our initiatives, the volume of IT exports has reached $USD 2.62 billion with an increase of 47% while the amount of investment for Pakistani startups has reached $ 818 millions, he said adding that steps have been taken to provide IT training facilities of international standard to the fresh IT graduates and the Centre of Excellence project for youth training in University of Karachi was under consideration.

Former Federal Minister Dr. Khalid

Maqbool Siddiqui, speaking at the occasion said that a much bigger IT park was required in metropolis but the initiative was a welcome step and it would ensure better facilities for the sector.

He said that work at home was the future work strategy that would remain constant as it has become a practical and feasible approach around the world.

Karachi contributes 70 % of the national revenue and it has potential to derive the entire country on the path of development and prosperity, he said and added that Karachi was ready to forward the nation on path of speedy development.

Special Assistant to Chief Minister for IT Tanzeela Umm-Habiba, Consul General of South Korea to Pakistan Kim Haksung and Chief Secretary Sindh Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, also addressed the ceremony.

Earlier caretaker MD Pakistan Software Export Board Syed Junaid Imam delivered welcome speech and highlighted the salient features of the IT park project.

The ceremony was also attended by lawmakers, Federal and Provincial Secretary IT, academia, representatives of EXIM Bank Korea, officials of Pakistan Software House Association, prominent business personalities and professionals.

PTI protesters cut twin cities from rest of country on Motorway Continued from page 01 The protesters simultaneously blocked the traffic going to Faizabad from Murree Road and from the IJP Road to Islamabad due to which the citizens faced severe problems. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf activists too blocked the road leading to Islamabad Airport by burning tires.

The long queues of traffic have been seen on Murree Road and its adjacent roads in Rawalpindi.

The eye eyewitness said that ambulances also get stuck in traffic and the patients have to face the agonizing situation.

They claimed that the Rawalpindi administration is playing the role of a silent spectator over the deteriorating situation.

The Bus stand of Rawalpindi, Pir Peer Wadhai has also been blocked from the sides. Likewise, Shamsabad and Airport Road are blocked for traffic Almost all the traffic in Rawalpindi has been jammed due to the

protest and the situation is creating immense problems for commuters.

The officials requested the federal government to issue instructions to the provincial governments under Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution to keep the motorway and airport routes open.

They also vowed to register cases against the miscreant elements in the police stations. The public is also requested to report any suspicious activities and miscreants on call 15.

The Islamabad High Court on Monday issued a notice to the secretary of Parliamentary Affairs and sought a response to the petition against the appointment of the newly elected president of Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC) Dr. Shazia Sobia. The court of Justice Saman Rifat Amitaz heard the case filed by Muzammil Yasin. During the hearing, Advocate Muhammad Tayyab appeared in the court on behalf of the petitioner and pleaded to suspend the notification dated September, 20, for the appointment of the president of the Pakistan Nursing Council. The petitioner contended that Shazia Sobia was also the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Health and asked “how can she hold two positions”. He pleaded to the court to bar the newly elected president from using public office. “The newly elected president is a member of the National Assembly from the province of Sindh on the reserved seat for women,” he added. He said that the appointment of Dr. Shazia Sobia as the president was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

The court adjourned the hearing by issuing a notice to the Secretary of Parliamentary Affairs.

interim bail granted to Tarar, saira guJranWaLa Staff RepoRt

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Gujranwala granted interim bail to SAPM Atta Tarar, Saira Afzal Tarar and PML-N district president Mohammad Bakhsh Tarar in a case pertaining to threatening Imran Khan. Former vice chairman of PML-N district Hafizabad Rai Qamar was presented before ATC along with other party leaders for hurling threats to PTI chairman Imran Khan during a PML-N workers’ convention in Hafizabad. However, the ATC granted interim bail to PML-N leaders including Atta Tarar, Saira Afzal Tarar and Mohammad Bakhsh Tarar till November 14. The police registered a case against more than 20 people but so far only Rai Qamar has been arrested. Punjab police on Sunday arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rai Qamar, who threatened to kill Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan during a public gathering in Punjab’s Hafizabad. The arrest was made following Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi took strict notice of the viral threatening video of the PML-N leader.

Wheat sowing in Punjab completed over 13.9pc area iSLamaBad Staff RepoRt

Wheat sowing in Punjab Province has been completed over 13.9 percent area as the crop cultivation witnessed about 0.1 percent increase against the cultivation during the corresponding period of last year. By the first week of current month (November), wheat crop sowing completed over 2, 257 thousand acres as against the set targets of 16, 220 thousand acres fixed for crop season 2022-23, said an official in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.

Talking to APP here on Monday, he said according to data provided by the crop reporting department of Punjab, the wheat sowing was gaining momentum in

rain-fed areas of North Punjab due to timely rains and favorable weather conditions as wheat sowing was achieved by 12.1 percent and in South Punjab it was completed over 16.6 percent as against the set targets.

The sowing data from other provinces were awaited and it is expected that it would be received by next week, which would depict the overall sowing scenario, he said adding early sowing in rain-fed areas would help to boost overall sowing and achieve the set target of the season.

Meanwhile, he informed that the government had announced a special package of Rs 1,800 billion to promote and develop the local agriculture sector, particularly restoring and reviving agriculture in flood-affected areas by ensuring

the provision of free seeds, access to credit, besides bring reducing the prices of fertilizers and electricity for tubewells. He further informed that the Ministry of National Food Security and Research in collaboration with provincial governments would also provide over 3.183 million bags of certified wheat seeds to the farmers of floods affected areas to ensure maximum sowing of major cash crop of the season to revive the agriculture and avert the impact of catastrophe in the country.

The Ministry will start distribution of free wheat seeds to the farmers of floodhit areas from November 10 in order to ensure maximum sowing of the crop to revive the agriculture sector in these areas, he said adding in this regard a dig-

ital application has been developed to deliver and distribute seeds among the flood-hit farmers in a transparent and efficient manner.

Each seed bag would comprise 50 kg of different approved verities while the cost of the scheme amounts to Rs17.16 billion. “The scheme covers about 78 percent of areas affected due to floods and torrential rains during the current moon soon season”, he added.

He further apprised about 4.04 million acres of agricultural land in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces were affected due to floods, adding a committee was also formed to review the situation and evolve a mechanism to ensure all possible incentives for the restoration of agriculture and livestock sec-

tor in these areas.

Out of the total allocated seed bags, about 50,000 bags would be distributed among the affected farmers of Punjab Province and 2.44 million bags would be provided to growers from the affected areas of Sindh.

Over 10,000 wheat seed bags will be provided to the farmers belonging to affected areas of KP, whereas 690,000 seed bags would be delivered to farmers of Balochistan province, he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that Federal Committee on Agriculture had set a target to cultivate wheat crop over 9.250 million hectares during the current Rabi season in order to produce about 28.370 million tons of wheat to fulfill the local requirement as well as for exporting.

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UET reminiscences - Part 2

Swati video Emphasis on its blatant inauthenticity is lacking

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The past is another country

HERE are few acts more deplorable and condemnable than getting back at or trying to silence an opponent by going after his or hers immediate family in the most personal manner possible. PTi Senator Azam Swati has been put through an ordeal many wouldn’t wish upon their bitterest foes; an ‘objectionable video’ of himself and his wife being released to a selection of prominent journalists and politicians through private messages by unknown numbers over whatsapp. The video is obviously and patently a deepfake and it requires no expert to instantly make that deduction. Swati’s emotional press conference where he broke down in tears, after describing his harrowing experience, is an understandable and expected reaction to what had happened. it would have been preferable however that the outpour of support for Swati better highlighted the fact that the video in question, the basis of the entire episode, is entirely manufactured with the sole purpose of doing irreparable damage to the reputation and social standing of Swati and his spouse. This relative lack of emphasis on the inauthenticity of the video has allowed it to gain some credence, something that is highly unfortunate.

With the fast paced advancement of technology and the ability to cramp in enormous amounts of efficient computing power in small inexpensive devices, the advent of applications used primarily to create ultrarealistic fake visual content was inevitable. Scandals based on video and audio leaks have become a part of high stakes politics in Pakistan of late and the Swati incident only goes to show how vulnerable everyone really is. That the FiA almost immediately after the video went viral in messaging groups, issued an official statement stating that it was an absolute fake, is welcome, but it must now investigate where it originated from and more importantly, who made it.

Whoever is responsible has ample motive and resources to create such media and disseminate it and will presumably not stop until certain goals are reached. it is therefore imperative that the perpetrators’ identity is found out and revealed.

HASAN AFTAB SAEED

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OmE months before our graduation, we heard rumours about an official list of students who had allegedly turned in fake degrees for their admission. And soon enough, a Punjab Police team descended upon the university to apprehend the culprits. As it happened, my roll-number was on the list, although the name against it was not mine. it was obviously an error, but i needed to get my good name (or roll number) cleared; and so, i decided to pay the Admin Block a visit.

The police officials temporary stationed there were cooperation personified. They told me to make myself at home and offered me a cup of tea. i remember thinking that my experience was so at odds with the popular perception about the Punjab Police being a bunch of heartless monsters. When i expressed these feelings (minus the ‘heartlessmonsters’ bit, of course), one officer candidly told me that they were there to arrest all the fraudsters; and they had extended hospitality to me so that they did not need to search for me in case i turned out to be on the list after all. This honesty too was a breath of fresh air. in the nineties there used to be much excitement about CAd, although of course we did a lot of manual drawing as well. in an oral examination, the examiner had asked a student to enumerate from his experience the respective pros and cons of the onscreen CAd and the traditional, manual technique with large drawing sheets, T-squares and all. The examiner had noticed a turmeric stain on the A1 sized sheet the student had brought along for the ‘viva’, and had put two and two together. When the student was done comparing the two experiences, the examiner calmly pointed out that he had forgotten to mention a key merit of traditional drawing sheets: namely, their utility as a makeshift tablecloth.

When the deadlines for graphics and production engineering ‘sheets’ approached, it was time for the time-honoured all-night sessions in the hostels. These all-nighters invariably featured the standard tracing mechanism – glass panel, table lamp and stacks of

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The spirit of teamwork Trust is key

Dr ABDuS SATTAr ABBASi

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uilding effective and efficient teams has always been the dream of every organization because it is generally believed that teams can achieve more than individual contributions utilizing same facilities and technological interventions. We usually observe proverbial examples of creatures other than the human beings exhibiting spirit of the teamwork, one of those we will discuss little later in this article. But here is an interesting example of ants which exhibit iconic self-disciple, we can certainly learn from them to carry out our work devotedly without anyone watching over us. With this ability, the ant is able to do its work dutifully irrespective of any prevailing circumstance and don’t run away from difficult or unpleasant tasks. The story of ant in the Qurān tells us interesting aspect of comprehension and understanding of ants, “Then, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant said, ´Ants! enter your dwellings so that Sulayman and his troops do not crush you unwittingly.´” it means their self-control is based

on certain awareness which we still need to explore.

Anyhow, according to the Stockholm university, “Humans possess many cognitive abilities not seen in other animals, such as a full-blown language capacity as well as reasoning and planning abilities. despite these differences, however, it has been difficult to identify specific mental capacities that distinguish humans from other animals. Researchers have now discovered that humans have a much better memory to recognize and remember sequential information.”

The iconic v-formation flying of geese presents interesting behaviors that help geese to be more effective and efficient team members. While flying together when each bird flaps its wings is actually creating lift for their fellow birds allowing them to fly with fewer efforts. geese take turns leading, according to Chris Spencer, “doing this ensures everyone’s skills, talents, knowledge or experience are used and no single person fields all the hard work. in an effective team, it is everyone’s responsibility to function as both leader and supporter.” He further argues, “geese can be heard honking loudly while they fly. Scientists speculate that this honking is a way to communicate with and encourage the flock on their long flights. The geese in behind honk at the ones in the front, to encourage them to maintain their speed and keep flying towards their goal. Encouragement helps your team to be engaged, supportive and constantly moving towards success. The purpose for your team is more than just what your goal is; it includes the culture of the group. let your team members be a guide to new members in learning the mission, culture and goal of the group. Encourage your team members to share experiences and learning that they have come across in their work and encourage new members to learn from their comrades.”

But human teams have always been under scrutiny due to several challenges. Human beings have different perspectives, varied interest, variety of personality characteristics, array of ambitions and innumerable suspicions. it is probably the outcome of human ability to remember life events and recognize consequences that

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books. Javed (of Bhatti group) was of the view that tracing was beneath the dignity of a self-respecting engineer-to-be. He came up with a novel and, in his view, respectable alternative that retained the traditional technique’s vital feature of not requiring the use of one’s head. This technique involved reproducing on one’s sheet lines and curves after measuring lengths and angles from a completed drawing. Javed coined the term ‘naap-ing’ (what a delightful hybrid!) to differentiate it from mere tracing. in case you are wondering, Javed went on to found a manufacturing concern, which he still runs successfully. if he ever found reading of mechanical drawings difficult, he has not let anybody in on the secret.

The cut-throat competition for entry into uET being what it was, only the most brilliant were able to get in. until 1997’s clean-up operation however, the prevailing atmosphere, which was so thoroughly permeated by indiscipline and politics of the worst sort, saw to it that many students got distracted and lost their way, at least for a while. many instructors had unfortunately also given up as futile their resolve to achieve and maintain excellence. Whether they had gauged the commitment (or lack thereof) of their students, or it was a convenient cop-out – probably it was a combination – many instructors were content to set extremely predictable questions in examinations; some going to the extent of placing at the photocopy shops ‘problem sheets’ covering the range of question types likely to feature in the exam. it was the pre-semester-system era, and examinees had a ‘choice’ of attempting five out of eight questions. All this meant that students needed to cover a very small portion of the syllabus. Of course, even this was deemed too much by many students.

Of course, once the students got set in their ways, any instructor who tried to swim against the tide (as many did) more often than not found his attempts thwarted by the inertia of the system. But there were those who were an absolute credit to their profession, despite these odds. The most exhilarating lectures were, without doubt, dr Riaz miza’s, who sadly passed away some months ago.

The dreaded PowerPoint had thankfully not yet made it to the classrooms, but such was his grip on internal combustion engines that he did not bother to consult any notes either. There was no apparent structure to his lecture, as he appeared to jump abruptly from one topic to another. The same could be said of his course overall, although the discern-

ing eye could detect vague outlines of a method behind all the madness. i have since seen many an instructor trying similarly unstructured approaches, which have almost always been disastrous because the instructor so obviously lacked dr mirza’s gifts.

Outside the classroom dr mirza had a lot to say on, among other topics, the institution of marriage. With one or two notable exceptions, we were all bachelors and therefore could do with that education. However, few of us made use of his advice. i am sure all of us truly appreciated his wisdom after it was too late.

Then there was dr dilshad, the dean. if there was a class as absorbing as dr mirza’s, it was his, although being an exponent of structured teaching he was the absolute antithesis of dr mirza. To this day, i have yet to know of a textbook or a lecture that covers solid mechanics, especially energy methods, quite like he did. memories of uET are incomplete without its many messes and canteens. Come lunch time, Bhola Canteen was the place to be. Especially notable was its ‘Chinese’ rice with provision for a refill, affectionately referred to as the ‘suppli’. There was absolutely nothing ‘Chinese’ about it, but it was the best ‘Chinese’ rice in town, or so it seemed in those days.

The rich night life at the uET revolved around the hostel canteens.

Thanks to these establishments, the hostel outdoors used to be bustling with activity even in cold winter nights. The highlight of the late-night menu was the aalu-waala-paraatha and fried egg combo. i think this deadly combination was pioneered at the uET. most students barely made it to the morning class in time, and so they could do with tea and breakfast.

And sure enough, canteens were strategically located in close vicinity to the central lecture Theatres where many of the classes were held. There was therefore a constant stream of students entering and leaving the class while the lecture raged on. To their credit, the instructors rarely objected to the traffic.

One hears that uET lahore is unrecognisable from what it used to be in those heady days in the nineties: much more organized, disciplined and, i dare say, unexciting. This is good news, all things considered. may its scholars continue to live in uninteresting times!

When the deadlines for graphics and production engineering ‘sheets’ approached, it was time for the time-honoured all-night sessions in the hostels. These allnighters invariably featured the standard tracing mechanism – glass panel, table lamp and stacks of books

surround human personality with different fears ceasing him extend heart and soul to collectiveness.

The good thing is that experience, reflection and analysis enabled human being to determine key factors for the success of teams in our organizational lives. despite the fact that when we think about teamwork there is an assortment of thoughts which floods our minds both positive such as working together, achieving common goals, and having fun; and negative including personality conflicts, difficult communication, and time-consuming meetings.

We need to understand that a team is a group of people who are mutually dependent on one another to achieve a common goal entailing both certain advantages and a few disadvantages. Advantages include: better ideas and decisions, high quality outputs, everyone’s involvement in the process, increased ownership by team members, understanding other’s perspectives, better implementation and more information.

There may be some disadvantages such as devoting more time, frequent meetings, little longer to take decisions due to varying team dynamics, lack of individual recognition, stress due to conflicts and disagreements among team members, role ambiguity and group think etc. Where all aspects need special attention generally by all team member and particularly by the team leader, however, conflicts and group think are probably significant difficulties which teams encounter. if managed appropriately, conflicts are in fact essential to a team’s

There may be some disadvantages such as devoting more time, frequent meetings, little longer to take decisions due to varying team dynamics, lack of individual recognition

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The author is a connoisseur of music, literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be reached at www.facebook.com/hasanaftabsaeed creativity and productivity. Both effective and ineffective teams experience conflict, the difference is that effective teams look at conflicts positively and manage constructively. Healthy conflicts force a team to find productive ways to communicate differences, seek common goals, gain consensus and encourages a team to look at all points of view, then adopt the best ideas from each. in this manner conflicts increase creativity by forcing the team to look beyond current assumptions and parameters.

A phenomenon called ‘group think’ can limit innovation. group think generally occurs when a team has been very successful and begins to believe that it will never fail. The team begins to do things on the suggestion of a single member, without question. unfortunately, you won’t know that group think is occurring until a disaster occurs e.g., Space Shuttle Challenger’s tragedy on January 28, 1986 which was the consequence of the ‘group think’.

Open and clear communication is probably the most important element to upheld the spirit of teamwork; probably every problem faced by a team can be traced back to poor communication. good communication is the key to keeping a team informed, focused, and moving forward; while listening is the key to maintain decent communication among team members. Effective decision making, utilizing methods such as consensus, majority rule, expert decision, authority rule with or without discussion and minority rule etc., facilitates teams to perform better. A bit of expertise in using tools for effective decision making like force-field analysis, pair-wise ranking matrices and multi-voting techniques can provide sound basis for quality decisions in a team.

Valuing diversity, ensuring participation and building trust can be considered cornerstones to sustain and endorse the spirit of teamwork in any setting. But trust is not built overnight, it demands honesty & candidness, accessibility & openness, positivity & tolerance, and reliability & uprightness among all members of team particularly in dyadic relationships of team leaders.

Sometimes people instantly develop trust but some other times people wait for their evaluations, look at the histories of individuals, put people into tests and then accord their trusts. Therefore, the spirit of team demands from all team members including the leader to build all their procedures, expectations and interpersonal relationships on trust to develop thriving teams.

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COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail

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Engaging Alumni

A galaxy of Kashmir solutions?

Dialogue between both nuclear powers best way forward servanda `treaties are to be observed’ and are binding upon signatories. Till 1954, india kept saying that it was committing to holding a plebiscite. now it says the united nations are mediatory in nature. And, as such, not of a binding nature. india pleads the united nations’ resolutions have become antiquated: clasula rebus sic stantibus (things as they stand, or fundamental change of circumstances. in the case of a ‘fundamental change of circumstances’, that existed when a treaty was concluded, a party to that treaty may invoke this fact as a ground for termination or suspending operation of a treaty.

AmjED jAAvED

A

Kashmiri Pandit, Puran Krishan, was shot dead in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on november 6, 2022. he is the third person from the Pundit community to be killed in Kashmir(Kashmiri Pandit shot dead in Shopian, Hindustan Times Oct 16, 2022.The community believes that the unabated third killing in succession exposes the BJP government’s myth of “normalcy” in the disputed state. Civilian killings in Kashmir contradict the narrative of normalcy. Residents blame it on the BJP’s “militaristic policy” to change Kashmir demography by issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri residents.

The Frontline questioned: Are the attacks on Pandits a fallout of new delhi’s iron-fisted bureaucratic control of Jammu and Kashmir, marked by the arbitrary use of anti-terror laws against people with dissenting viewpoints, including journalists, and the summary incarceration of Hurriyat and religious leaders? Are they a backlash to the government’s perceived plan to reorient the region’s demographics? Can economic incentives and doles aimed at boosting Jammu and Kashmir’s ramshackle economy be a panacea for a layered political conflict? What are the perceptions, anxieties, and political reflections of Kashmir’s muslim majority? (The Frontline, nov 03, 2022).

Perhaps irked by the volatile situation in the occupied Kashmir, india’s union Finance minister nirmala Sitharaman (november 5, 2022) hinted at the possibility of the Centre considering restoring state status to the disputed Jammu and Kashmir. She dropped the hint while talking about the distribution of funds to the states by the Centre as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. Sitharaman was delivering a lecture on “Cooperative Federalism: The Path Towards Atma nirbhar Bharat ‘’ organised here

by Bharatiya Vichara Kendram in memory of Sangh idealogue P Parameshwaran (Will J&K’s statehood be restored? Here’s what FM Nirmala Sitharaman said, India Today, nov 6, 2022).

NGOs’ effOrts tO Get dialOGue kick-started: Several ngOs including institute of international Relations (KiiR), islamabad/muzaffarabad advocate dialogue as the only possible way out of the Kashmir tangle.

They have been highlighting the miserable life in the occupied Kashmir. The institute has been contributing to developing durable relationship with individuals, interest groups and institutions in South Asia and around the world working towards conflict resolution and human rights. in its efforts for global peace and resolution of Kashmir conflict KiiR has engaged policy makers and policy implementers: members of parliament, political activists, lawyers, journalists, academics and social activists.

Plebiscite aNd Other sOlutiONs: inability to hold a plebiscite led to academic discussion on alternative solutions.

Pakistan view is india negated the cardinal principle in inter-state relations, that is, pacta sunt

iNdia’s fOreiGN secretary JN dixit’s view: As quoted in Victoria Schofield’s book Kashmir in the Crossfire, Jn dixit says ‘it is no use splitting legal hair. Everybody who has a sense of history knows that legality only has relevance up to the threshold of transcending political realities. And especially in inter-state relations… so to quibble about points of law and hope that by proving a legal point you can reverse the process of history is living in a somewhat contrived utopia. it won’t work.’ a PlethOra Of sOlutiONs: Academic solutions abound: (a) Freezing the Territorial Status Quo. This solution offers the Kashmiris south of the loC both Kashmiri id cards and indian passports. likewise, it offers those on the north of the loC, Kashmiri id cards and Pakistani passports (marc Weller. and Staffan Wolff (eds.), Autonomy, Self-governance and Conflict Resolution, new York, Routledge Taylor and Francis group, 2005, pp.

41,42). (b) Andorra model: Andorra was a unique co-principality- (without any arbitrator), ruled by the French chief of state and the Spanish bishop of urgel for 715 years. Through a constitution, enacted in 1993, the government was transformed into a parliamentary democracy with both French and Spanish heads of states jointly wielding executive powers (as well as defence) as co-principis. When this solution was first proposed by Hurriyat Conference (in 1974), President musharraf supported it.

However, all sections of the indian media termed this solution ‘Pandora’s box’. (c) Sweden-Finland Aland-island model: Swedish nationals in Finland controlled the island. They wanted to unite it with Sweden. But, Finland did not allow them to do so. With league of nations appointed as an arbitrator in 1921, the island was given the status of an autonomous territory. Finland retains nominal sovereignty over the island with obligation to ensure linguistic rights (Swedish language) as well as culture and heritage of Aland residents. The island enjoys a neutral and demilitarised status with its own flag, postage stamps and police force. On december 31, 1994, Aland joined the European union voluntarily. Aland is a self-governing entity, created without use of force, catering for conflicting interests of rival communities. (d) italy-Austria South Tyrol model: South Tyrol was part of Austria. it was inhabited by three linguistic groups (70% germans, 26% italians, and 4% ladin). it was annexed by italy in 1919. The german majority rebelled against italianisation. An agreement between Austria and italy provided an autonomy framework, vouchsafed by Paris Peace Agreement, 1946 (also known as gruber degasperi Agreement). under the South Tyrol Package of 1969, Austria exercised a mandatory protective function vis-à-vis italy for the Austrian and ladin minorities in South Tyrol.

The package was meant to pave the way for peaceful co-existence of german- and ladinspeaking communities of South Tyrol, particularly in the multi-ethnic province of Bolzano.

The package collapsed and gave way to a settlement in 1992 with the united nations as the arbitrator. The revised package still recognizes

italian sovereignty but allows greater autonomy of legislation and administration, recognition of cultural diversity, minority vote on issues of fundamental importance, and proportional ethnic representation. (e) national Conference Autonomy Formula (2001): The formula envisages return to 1953 position, abrogation of all central laws imposed on the state, and an informal cofederal relationship between the parts of Kashmir. (f) Chenab Formula: According to this formula the River Chenab will form the separation line between free (Azad) and occupied parts of Kashmir. Some writers have discussed the indus-basin-based formula, akin to it. (g) Kashmir-Study-group Formula: it envisages division of the state into two self-governing entities, enjoying free access to one another.

The entities would have their own democratic constitutions, citizenship, flag, and legislature (sans defence matters jurisdiction). defence would be the joint responsibility of india and Pakistan. (h) Other solutions like Sami parliamentary model, italy-Yugoslavia Trieste model, Basque leader Jose ibarretxe ideas, and Caledonia island (discovered in 1774), sovereignty sharing noumea agreement (1999).

uN reP dixit’s PlaN: dixon talked with all stakeholders and came up with a planla) ladakh should be awarded to india. (b) Azad Kashmir (including gilgit & Baltistan) should remain with Pakistan. (c) Whole Kashmir valley should have a plebiscite with no option to independence (and it might have gone to Pakistan). (d) Jammu should be divided on religious basis.

The river Chenab should be the dividing line. northern Jammu (muslims dominated) should go to Pakistan and Hindu majority parts of Jammu to remain with india. in short, muslim areas should have gone with Pakistan and Hindu-Buddhist majority areas should have remained with india. india rejected the dixon plan. india never accepted the plan at heart.

Ag noorani says ‘The dixon Plan (1950) is even today nostalgically cherished by the people of Kashmir as a viable solution of the Kashmir issue. Sir Owen dixon, an Australian judge, in his capacity as representative for india and Pakistan, proposed this plan pursuant to the Security Council’s Resolution of march 14, 1950’.

The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 A.G. NOORANI, The Dixon Plan, The Frontline , October 25, 2002).

JaGat s Mehta’s fOrMula: Parvez musharraf’s four-point formula appears to be a modification of indian foreign Secretary, Jagat S. mehta’s proposals. mehta understood india’s abhorrence to the word ‘plebiscite’. So he presented some proposals to serve as requirements for evolving a solution after a period of ten years. His proposals are contained in his article “Resolving Kashmir in the International Context of the 1990s”.

Some points of his quasi-solution are: (a) Pacification of the valley until a political solution is reached. (b) Conversion of the loc into “a soft border permitting free movement and facilitating free exchanges…” (c) immediate demilitarization of the loc to a depth of five to ten miles with agreed methods of verifying compliance. (d) Final settlement of the dispute between india and Pakistan can be suspended (kept in a “cold freeze”) for an agreed period. Voracious readers may refer for detail to Robert g Wirsing, India, Pakistan and the Kashmir Dispute (1994, St martin’s Press, new York pp. 225-228). cONcludiNG thOuGht: Kashmir is a nuclear tinderbox. The two neighbours must bury the hatchet and talk eyeball-to-eyeball about it.

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

THE public-sector higher education institutions (HEis) worldwide are experiencing financial challenges owing to budgetary cuts, including in the united States (uS), the united Kingdom and Europe, following the Covid pandemic and the consequent economic recession.

The HEis in emerging markets, such as Pakistan, have been particularly hit hard due to the federal government’s massive budget cuts, a process which began in 2017 and continues through 2022. For example, the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) recurring budget was Rs63.1 billion in 2017-18, Rs65.02bn in 2018-19, Rs64.1bn in 2019-20, and, again, Rs64.1 billion in 2020-21. Even the most recent allocation of Rs65bn for higher education in the 2022-23 budget does not seem to offer relief to the country’s financially vulnerable HEis. The problematic situation of Pakistan’s public-sector HEis calls for prompt action to protect the country’s future of higher education and to save its 130 million young from becoming a burden, as the united nations development Programme (undP) has warned by asking, “will Pakistan’s youth be the country’s biggest asset — or the biggest liability — in the years to come?” in fact, state financing has been steadily declining, and the landscape of public HEis has significantly changed over the years. Private donations and funding have become much more critical. The institutions in the uS and other Western countries had long anticipated this radical shift, and, as a result, embraced business and marketing strategies to forge lasting relationships with alumni and engage them more effectively.

Through their financial and non-financial support, the alumni have emerged as the primary contributors in this regard. But public HEis in Pakistan have not leveraged alumni engagement as an alternative source of revenue to offset the steady loss in government support. it is imperative that the heads and vice-chancellors of public-sector HEis in Pakistan form strategic teams that will use proactive and entrepreneurial approaches to understand and evaluate how recent societal, technological, cultural and economic changes, like the pandemic, will affect the health of their institutions. To gradually reduce their reliance on state support and ensure long-term sustainability, they need to forge longlasting ties with their stakeholders, particularly the alumni who are settled both locally and internationally.

DR NABEEL NISAR SUKKUR

Cash for plastic ACCORding to the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF), plastics make up 65 per cent of the total garbage in Pakistan. Following plastic bags, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are the second most common type of plastic waste, and such bottles can take up to 300 years to decompose.

Therefore, a mechanism for recycling PET bottles in Pakistan must be imple-mented at the earliest. This could be achieved by utilising a bottle deposit system that is successfully practised in more than 40 countries worldwide. This system comprises three steps. First, customers pay the deposit amount that is already included in the bottle price. Second, users return empty PET bottles at designated vending machines to obtain a deposit receipt. These machines are usually found in supermarkets.

Finally, the receipts are submitted to the store cashier who deducts the claimed amount from the total grocery bill. This strategy would prove beneficial as waste-collection authorities would easily acquire PET bottles at specific collection points. The procedure also ensures separation from other waste types before dispatch for recycling. This simple initiative would result in a significant reduction of plastic waste in Pakistan, which is what we need.

ARSALAN AHMAD AACHEN, GERMANY

Apathy of PTCL WE shifted to a new place in Block 11, gulistan-i-Jauhar, Karachi, a month ago. The previous owner had Pakistan Telecommunication Company limited (PTCl) broadband installed and even the cable was there.

When i contacted the local PTCl office to resume service, the agent happily informed me that i was getting a free upgrade to a faster speed and that the connection would be there within a few days. Before i could start feeling good about the upgrade, i received a text message later the same day, saying that the PTCl was unable to provide service in our area. i called the office again, telling the official that the PTCl cable was right there before my eyes, literally waiting to be activated.

An apology was offered, and i was once again promised a free upgrade.

Once again i received a message that the service could not be provided.

This cycle of promises and apologies repeated itself twice more. That forced us to use the patchy service from a local cable internet provider. it is incredible that even decades after having been privatised, the PTCl continues to operate pretty much like a government-owned entity that is apathetic towards its customers, oblivious to competition, and susceptible to influence by local vested interest. What a shame!

TALHA BIN HAMID KARACHI

City of lights or gloom?

WiTH the spike in street crimes and robberies, Karachi has turned into a city of gloom. Criminals roam the city robbing and killing innocent civilians with impunity. Parents fear for the safety of their children when sending them to school, people going to and returning from work are constantly vigilant to avoid being mugged off their belongings, and shopkeepers are constantly worried about robbers entering the store and robbing them of their earnings. much of the time, police officers offer little hope to victims of being able to recover their belongings due to which most people do not register an FiR. The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that even police officers have been victims of snatchings. The prevailing situation has created a deep sense of paranoia, insecurity, and anxiety among the citizens.

The Sindh police have evidently failed to tackle the situation. The ‘mob management police force’ and increased patrolling have not rendered any positive results. it is high time that the provincial government and city administration considers the problem in earnest and chalk out a plan with law enforcement agencies to address the situation.

WASEEM SALEEM KARACHI

08 WORLD VIEW 8th November 22_Layout 1 11/7/2022 9:03 PM Page 1

Tuesday, 8 November, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

YES, It’S aBOUt fartS

Manila TiMeS ben Kritz

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ATURDAY’S editorial discussed a recent study by Cambridge University that determined that greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced if Catholics around the world went back to the old practice of not eating meat on Fridays. Given Pope Francis’ oft-stated concern for the environment, the researchers expressed the hope that he would reinstitute the practice, because if even a minority of the world’s 1.36 billion Catholic adherents would follow it, greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by an amount substantial enough to actually make a difference in slowing global warming.

I read the study, and apart from the interesting tie-in of climate change mitigation to dogmatically determined dietary practices, I found the researchers’ effort to keep the language used mature and respectful.

They’re talking about farts, people. Specifically, cow and pig and goat and sheep farts. And poop. let’s just all have our adolescent giggle about it and get it out of our systems.

The problem is that livestock and poultry produce what we will hereafter refer to as “digestive waste products,” because we’re all adults and this is a serious topic, in prodigious quantities, and the biggest by-product of

THAT WORKS OUT TO AN AVERAGE OF 23.14 KG OF MEAT PER PERSON ANNUALLY FOR THE WORLD’S 7.98 BILLION PEOPLE. IF JUST 1 IN 10 OF THE WORLD’S ESTIMATED 1.36 BILLION CATHOLICS ADOPTED “MEATLESS FRIDAYS,” THAT WOULD REDUCE MEAT CONSUMPTION BY ABOUT 3.3 KG/YEAR PER PERSON, OR A TOTAL OF ABOUT 448,800 METRIC TONS ANNUALLY, REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY APPROXIMATELY 12.9 MILLION METRIC TONS all of that waste is methane. Methane, or CH4, is produced by bacteria decomposing organic material. Emissions of CH4 are not as great as those of carbon dioxide (Co2), but are comparatively more dangerous; over a 20-year time period, CH4 has about 85 times the atmospheric warming potential of the same amount of Co2.

CH4 breaks down faster than Co2 does, but not fast enough; over a 100-year time span, it is still 23 times more effective than Co2 in trapping atmospheric heat.

Meat production is the biggest source of methane on Earth, and also produces significant quantities of nitrous oxide (no2); altogether, it is responsible for about 18 percent of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. To perhaps visualize just how much greenhouse gas is produced, in Co2 equivalents (Co2e), one beef or dairy cattle produces about 60 kg Co2e per kilogram of processed meat; and lamb, poultry and pork produce 20 kg, 6 kg and 7 kg Co2e/kg, respectively. Worldwide meat production this year is estimated to reach 345.17 million metric tons, or 345.17 billion kilograms, and produce about 9.9 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

That works out to an average of 23.14 kg of meat per person annually for the world’s 7.98 billion people. If just

Musk is right - free speech must cost something

Sydney Morning Herald Parnell Palme mcGuinness

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lon Musk is the type of person who feels compelled to say what he thinks out loud. Doing so has just cost him $US44 billion. It will soon cost other Twitter users around $US8 a head. now that the self-described free speech absolutist owns Twitter, free speech will come at a price.

Maybe it’s about time. Information might seem free on the internet, but that’s because we rarely measure the cost of receiving it. Back in 2006 – coincidentally the year that Twitter launched – Esther Dyson, the philanthrepreneur daughter of physicist Freeman Dyson – penned an article for The new York Times, arguing that it should cost money to send email. “The Internet is ridden with spam, most mail is unwanted and some is objectively dangerous,” Dyson wrote, which “illustrates a market failure”.

The system which Dyson proposed was one in which senders would get charged by the email. And she had it all worked out. “I’d charge nothing for people I know, 50 cents for anyone new (though if I add the sender to my list after reading the mail, I’ll cancel the 50 cents) and $3 for random advertisers. Ex-boyfriends pay $10.”

The problem she diagnosed is more relevant than ever and the solution, as anyone who receives too many emails can agree, is very attractive. There is, after all, a time-cost to receiving and reviewing emails. It feels right that we should be paid for that time.

Under the new Chief Twit’s proposal, everyone who cares to prove they are a real human being and pay for a subscription will have their tweets marked with a blue tick. Subscribers’ tweets will be prioritised in replies and searches and they will be served half as many ads. It’s an elegant solution to a couple of common Twitter problems: it would become financially burdensome to operate a Twitter “trollfarm”, in which individuals operate many accounts.

It would also ensure that tweeters become more accountable: a credit card would be on file for each handle, making the perpetrators of genuine hate speech easier to trace. And it would facilitate interaction between verified users who care enough about the exchange of ideas to pay for the opportunity to converse. oh, and the blue check mark which currently claims to identify which accounts are “trustworthy” would now be allocated to subscribers rather than meted out as a symbol of status.

So of course, the Twitterati is outraged. not because the price tag will limit who can afford free speech – it

won’t, as people will continue to be able to interact with Twitter for free – but because their blue checks will be taken away from them. The downwardly mobile are aghast, and are threatening to abandon a site which no longer marks them as special. Twitter’s internal apparatchiks who once conferred (and enjoyed) these badges of power are also lamenting their loss.

Former Twitter head of global policy communications nu Wexler, frets that this will make it harder to spot misinformation. But a day spent among the swill tweeted out by blue-ticked conspiracy theorists and verified hasbeens quickly puts the lie to this claim. Much of the disinformation on Twitter is generated or boosted by these blue ticked somebodies, while many of the world’s foremost academics have not been granted – and probably never applied for – the online honour.

Even though it often feels like wading through a sewer, the platform has value. For information addicts, Twitter often still is “simply the most interesting place on the Internet”, as Elon Musk said. In an unusual turn of events in the tech world, someone has taken over the platform who genuinely cares about making it good.

For people who like encountering new ideas and even debating them, Twitter has become the last social platform where words take priority over selfies, if not over self-aggrandisement. Unlike linkedIn, nobody is “humbled” or “privileged”. Unlike Instagram, it’s more than pets and pouts. Unlike Facebook, people still use it. When it works well, it provides an opportunity to engage with others on a wide range of topics. lonely people find community. Curious people are exposed to different perspectives. Movements are started. Some people like it so much they even hack in through ministers’ accounts to watch porn.

Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” is unusually passionate about the opportunities that Twitter provides to create a “digital town square” in which a wide range of ideas can be debated important for civilisation’s future. It’s undoubtedly important for civilisation to find a way to be civil. now that netflix and the new puritanism has killed the appointment pub night, there are fewer and fewer spaces in which the price of a beer will buy you great conversation. Without a global town square, we become intellectual villagers. There have been a number of attempts to replace Twitter. Platforms have been started that cater to the “right” or the “left”, allowing them to hang out with like-minded people. The failure of these platforms to catch on is a reminder that conversation is boring when everyone agrees. Twitter is toxic but would no Twitter be better?

Free speech has consequences, as the Twitterati likes to say. But the “consequences” delivered by the online mob were too often the type of consequences meted out by schoolyard bullies. now instead, in one corner of the internet, free speech will come with a price tag. Maybe Musk is onto something. Maybe if we’re lucky he’ll take on email next. Maybe in the online world, free speech needs to cost something to be worth anything.

Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director strategy and policy at strategic communications firm Agenda C. The company was engaged to work for a Liberal Party MP during the federal election. She has also worked for the German Greens.

1 in 10 of the world’s estimated 1.36 billion Catholics adopted “meatless Fridays,” that would reduce meat consumption by about 3.3 kg/year per person, or a total of about 448,800 metric tons annually, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 12.9 million metric tons.

To put that in perspective, that is just a bit less than 10 percent of the entire annual emissions of the Philippines.

The researchers did point out that many other religions have their own dietary proscriptions. The halal food of Muslims is probably the most familiar to people here in the Philippines; I grew up learning to appreciate my Jewish neighbors’ kosher food in the US. The practice of not eating certain kinds of meat or not eating meat at all among adherents of these different faiths, however, is more widespread and consistent, and thus already factored in to the world’s meat production and consumption.

Catholics are, at least to my knowledge, the only significant religious group to have observed a certain meatless practice for a period of time (about 1,200 years, actually), and then officially dropped it (in 1966, as one outcome of the 2nd Vatican Council).

As the editorial pointed out, regardless of your religious affiliation or lack thereof, picking one day a week

to eat a salad instead of a steak — or, if you’re on a more realistic budget, beans instead of a burger — is not only a completely painless way to responsibly contribute to environmental sustainability, it’s also good for your health. Plus with inflation at its highest level in 14 years — 7.7 percent in october, with dim prospects for any easing this month from widespread damage caused by last week’s Tropical Storm “Paeng” — cutting a day’s worth of meat from your weekly grocery list can be substantial savings on food costs.

It is an inescapable fact that the effects of climate change are going to impose significant lifestyle changes on us all, whether we like it. Choosing to make small, easy changes when the opportunity presents itself is not going to prevent the bigger, more painful changes later on; but it will certainly make them easier to manage, and may delay them for a time. once you get in the habit, having a “no meat day” every week seems normal, and it by no means has to be dull; as the Philippines is a crossroads of many different Asian cultures, we are fortunate to be able to sample a wide variety of meatless cuisine. Give it a try; you’ll feel better, your wallet will feel better, and so will the planet.

US Democrats find themselves at the mercy of Big Oil ahead of the midterms

rT robert bridGe

I

n direct opposition to the Democratic Party’s green agenda, US President Joe Biden has ordered the oil industry to ramp up production and lower prices – or else. But does the US leader have the power to control the free market?

As public sentiment over the US economy begins to boil, Biden is attempting to shift the blame onto the oil industry for hoarding profits while keeping prices at the pumps excessively high, thereby strangling economic growth.

“It’s time for these companies to stop war profiteering, meet their responsibilities in this country and give the American people a break and still do very well,” Biden told reporters in the White House this week. “If they don’t … they’re going to pay a higher tax on their excess profits and face higher restrictions.” The US leader said he would “work with Congress to look at these options that are available to us and others.”

It’s questionable, however, how the Democrats will be able to build bipartisan consensus for such penalties against the oil industry when the Republicans, who stand a good chance of winning the House come november 8, are openly hostile to any new “stifling” taxes.

Although gas prices in the US have decreased by $1.25 per gallon from a summer peak, the current national average is $3.76 per gallon, which is still more than 35 cents higher than this time last year. At a time when inflation has gone through the roof for everything from food to utilities, those extra pennies make a difference.

Meanwhile, the oil industry, which continues to post astronomical profits, rejects Biden’s claims that the American people are being left out of the bonanza.

The CEo of Exxon Mobil Corp, Darren Woods, said his company is dividing profits among shareholders.

“There has been discussion in the US about our industry returning some of our profits directly to the American people,” Woods told Bloomberg news.

“That’s exactly what we’re doing in the form of our quarterly dividend.”

The White House fired back on Twitter several hours later, saying: “Can’t believe I have to say this but giving profits to shareholders is not the same as bringing prices down for American families.” Biden

mentioned something in his White House speech that reflects his administration’s short-sighted expectations of the oil industry at a time when the Democrats are attempting to enforce its ‘green agenda’ on the American people.

“Record profits today are not because they’re doing something new or innovative. The profits are a windfall of war,” Biden said, in reference to the conflict now raging between Russia and Ukraine. The question many observers are asking is: Why didn’t the White House wait until those “new and innovative” technologies were online before canceling everything in one throw?

While the Democrats blame Russia, Big oil, and oPEC for America’s current economic woes, on his first day in office, President Biden shut down oil and gas exploration in the Arctic national Wildlife Refuge, prohibited drilling in the state of Utah, and canceled the Keystone Xl pipeline between the United States and Canada, Donald Trump’s signature project that would have largely reduced American dependency on oil supplies from the volatile Middle East and beyond. Canadian oil would have flowed into the United States as freely as beer on tap. To top it off, Biden announced in March a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports in retaliation for Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. Did he really think energy prices would stay put after those moves?

Instead of waiting until the US economy had made a full transition to renewable energy, the Democrats severed the country from its very lifeline.

This has put the United States at the complete mercy of Big oil, which is behaving with all the rapaciousness to be expected in a country built on the capitalist ethos. As long as the oil industry keeps shareholders happy, they can argue they are ‘spreading the wealth,’ despite the fact that those investors who are now reaping a windfall make up a tiny percentage of the US population and contribute little to economic growth overall.

So now with midterm elections fast approaching, Biden and the Democratic Party find themselves scrambling to clean up a mess of their own making. With green crusaders screaming for windmills, solar power, and electric cars, the White House has been forced to take 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), now drained to its lowest levels since 1984, while asking the oil industry to increase supply and reduce prices. Yet Biden may ultimately find himself snubbed by Big oil, much as he was by America’s Persian Gulf ‘allies,’ particularly Saudi Arabia when he asked them to increase oil production.

While it may seem an honorable undertaking for the United States to wean itself from a planet-killing oil addiction, to do so without a backup plan is simply economic and political suicide, as the Democrats may learn the hard way come november 8.

Robert Bridge is an American writer and journalist. He is the author of ‘Midnight in the American Empire,’ How Corporations and Their Political Servants are Destroying the American Dream.

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News

corporate corner World Bank delegation calls on Khurram Dastgir

PM joiNs WorlD leADers As ‘shArM el-sheiKh CliMATe iMPleMeNTATioN suMMiT’ KiCKs off egypt

P

The Minister has said that the Government has taken tough and difficult decisions in power sector. The Minister has said that the decisions to increase electricity prices were politically difficult but government is committed to ensure sustainability of energy sector. The Minister has said that the Government is committed to providing relief to common man. The Minister has appreciated that world bank recognizes the challenges faced by country and difficult decisions taken in wake of it. The world bank would provide more than 3 billion dollars for infrastructure development in energy sector. While world bank will also provide assistance in Dasu hydropower project. The Minister has said that climate change has made a devastating impact on Pakistan economy and subsequently the energy sector. The world bank is assisting in energy efficiency and conservation program apart from helping provinces in installing solar projects. The delegation was briefed on KASA 1 and Dasu programs. Pr

ufone offers mobile top-up facility Islamabad: Pakistani mobile company, Ufone 4G is set to transform its customers’ user experience through provision of convenient mobile top-up facility on 10,000 OPay Point-of-Sale (POS) machines. Ufone 4G customers will be able to access these machines at petrol stations, convenient stores, pharmacies, shopping malls and other public places countrywide to recharge their mobile phones with greater ease and accessibility. OPay is a fast-growing mobile payment Fintech Company that offers advance payment facilitates including contemporary mobile top-up solutions. Deploying Ufone’s Top-up on OPay’s current active footprint of 10,000 POS machines will enable consumers with a secure and user-friendly method to process top-up payments at frequently visited public places. Additionally, top-ups can be purchased from OPay’s POS-merchants and will be printed on the bill invoice to verify transaction. Commenting on the collaboration, Shahbaz Khan, Head of Product Portfolio Management (Wireless), Ufone, said, “Ufone 4G establishes synergies within telecom and Fintech industries to usher in greater ease and enablement to its customers.

Our partnership with OPay will expand our service footprint to 10,000 additional points of sale. Enhanced accessibility is one of the key focus areas for Ufone in its continued quest to improve its services quality to provide a superior user experience to its customers.” OPay Pakistan's Vice President, Zeb Khan said, “This alliance with Ufone means increased customer engagement and traffic, resulting in spike in revenue of merchants’ business. Pr

Prime minister felicitates Azerbaijan on Victory Day ISLAMABAD APP

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday extended his felicitations to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the people of his country as they celebrated their 'Victory Day.' The prime minister, who is currently visiting Egypt to attend the COP27 summit, wrote on Twitter that the Victory Day of Azerbaijan signified the resilience, courage and the national cohesion. "May the commemoration of this Day usher in an era of lasting peace and prosperity in the Caucasus region," the prime minister remarked. "Heartiest felicitations to H.E. @azpresident Ilham & brotherly people of Azerbaijan on their ‘Victory Day’, which signifies resilience, courage & national cohesion," the prime minister tweeted.

09

APP

RIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday joined world leaders at the ‘Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit’ in a bid to deliberate upon the ways to address the global environmental challenges.

At the Sharm El-Sheikh International Convention Center, the prime minister was received by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The government of Egypt is hosting the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27), with a view to effectively tackling the global challenge of climate change.

Pakistan’s invitation to the summit along with other countries signifies the

importance to implement and transform key climate-related decisions into concrete actions and credible plans.

At the invitation of the Egyptian Presidency of COP-27, the prime minister will also co-chair, along with his Norwegian counterpart, a high-level roundtable discussion on ‘Climate Change and the sustainability of vulnerable communities.

COP-27 is taking place at a time when millions of people in Pakistan, and millions more in other parts of the world, are facing severe adverse impacts of climate change. As a developing country most affected by this phenomenon, Pakistan will make a robust call, inter alia, for the urgency of climate solidarity and climate justice based on the established principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

CDA Chairman for measures to improve road infrastructure in Federal Capital

Dar chairs National Tax Council meeting ISLAMABAD stAff rePort

ISLAMABAD stAff rePort

Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain (R) Muhammad Usman Younis presided over a meeting at CDA headquarters regarding further improvement of road infrastructure in the city here on Monday. The meeting was attended by officers of the concerned formations.

On this occasion, Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain (R) Muhammad Usman Younis directed the concerned formations that the footpaths which are dilapidated should be repaired as soon as possible and made functional for the public. Similarly, where there is a need to build new footpats , these should also be constructed so that all possible facilities can be provided to the citizens. According to the details, the total length of the footpaths in the city of Islamabad is 5630 km as planned, which are in different centers of Islamabad including marakiz,class-III shopping centers, along Seventh Avenue, Faisal Avenue, Ninth Avenue, constitution Avenue, Ataturk Avenue, Jinnah Avenue, Khayaban Iqbal, major roads, service roads and various streets. Out of which the total length of existing footpaths is 5247 km. In this connection 4400 km footpaths are in good condition while 847.13 km of footpaths are to be reha-

bilitated and repaired. Similarly, 383.10 km of new footpaths are to be constructed.

The construction of these footpaths will not only promote the walking culture in the city but will also significantly reduce the carbon and footprints.

Further, the Chairman Capital Development Authority issued instructions and asked the concerned departments to color-code speed and traffic signs on the curb stones of different highways of Islamabad.

He further said that the existing two colors should be used for color coding of curb stones. Similarly, where the length of the road is longer, yellow and black colors should be used, and where the length of the road is less, only yellow color should be used.

It Pertinent to mention here that the color coding of curb stones will help in determining the driving speed on every road of Islamabad city. In this regard, a comprehensive plan has also been submitted to Chairman CDA for approval by the concerned departments. On this occasion, Chairman CDA issued instructions and asked the Director Traffic Engineer to prepare the entire plan according to international standards and re-submit the plan for approval. Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain (R) Muhammad Usman Younis further said that these measures will not only save fuel and time of the citizens but also help control environmental pollution.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting of National Tax Council at Finance Division today. Finance Minister Punjab Mr. Muhammad Mohsin Leghari, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr. Aisha Ghous Pasha, SAPM on Finance Mr. Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Mr. Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Secretary Finance, Chairman FBR, Provincial Finance Secretaries and other senior officers of Finance Division attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed the progress on the decisions of the last meetings of the NTC on harmonization of GST across the country. The Finance Minister shared that in order to have ease of doing business, harmonization of GST is important. Further, GST harmonization will be a major step towards completion of policy actions under World Bank’s RISE programe. The participants shared their opinions on the harmonization of GST. Chairman FBR and provincial stakeholders extended their consensus to proceed ahead in the spirit of greater national interest for harmonization of GST under the umbrella of National Tax Council (NTC). In conclusion, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar appreciated the stakeholders for building consensus and settlement of the decision regarding harmonization of GST for ease of doing business.

Ishaq Dar, Jameel for fiscal, monetary measures for economic stability, revival ISLAMABAD StAff RepoRt Governor State Bank of Pakistan Mr. Jameel Ahmad called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at Finance Division on Monday.

Finance Minster Mr. Ishaq Dar and Governor SBP discussed about fiscal and monetary measures being undertaken for economic stability, revival and growth of the country. The coordination of fiscal and monetary policy was also discussed in the meeting.

Governor SBP Mr. Jameel Ahmad said that the continuing administrative efforts by the government and the policy measures of SBP have resulted in achieving stability to Pak rupee value

and restrained exchange rate volatility.

The Governor SBP apprised the Finance Minister on different macroeco-

nomic policy initiatives in line with the objectives of fiscal policy taken to achieve sustainable growth. He said

that SBP is fully committed to support the process of economic revival as per the policies of the present government and its mandate statutory.

Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar appreciated the role of the SBP for economic growth of the country. He acknowledged the regulatory role of SBP in bringing back the exchange rate stability and showed satisfaction over the current monetary policies being undertaken by the SBP. He further stated that if the monetary policy always in consonance with the fiscal policy, sustainable growth and stability in the economy can be achieved.

The Governor SBP thanked the Finance Minister for acknowledgement and continuous support.

IGP Memon, Faryal Talpar visit relatives of martyred DSP in Larkana LARKANA PPI

Inspector General of Sindh Police (IGP), Ghulam Nabi Memon, and leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (Ladies Wing) MPA Faryal Talpar reached Lahori Mahalla on Monday evening and condoled with the relatives of martyred DSP Abdul Malik Bhutto in Ghotki district. They expressed their grief and sorrow over the loss.

Speaking to the media, IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon said that I have met the wounded soldiers in the encounter whose

spirits were very high.

He said those who are saying to improve the law and order situation in the province for which he said that the Sindh Police has worked hard before and is working harder even now and will try to give a full response to this incident.

He said that the Sindh government has set a price for the heads of seven dacoits, whose hideouts have been identified and we will conduct a thorough operation. He said that the bandits are dictating the police but we have not taken dictation before and we will not take it in the future. He said

that police have eliminated such bandits who were involved in terrorism.

He said that in terms of resources and technology, compared to the last 10 years, the police now have modern weapons and better quality APCs and the Sindh government has given three billion rupees to upgrade the CTD. He said that the performance of CTD and police is also improving.

He said that our effort is to identify the accused who martyred the police officers and officials and conduct intelligencebased operations against them. He said that

I saw the morale of the Ghotki police very high and we will definitely reach these accused soon. He said that the border of Ghotki district is bordered by SindhBalochistan and Punjab provinces, so RPO Bahawalpur and SSP Rahim Yar Khan were also present in our meeting held in Sukkur today, so we have better mutual support.

He said that we are in the phase of buying better weapons, so if the police have better technology and better weapons, the police will demonstrate better performance. He said that the Chief Minister

presided over a meeting in Sukkur yesterday who assured to give better weapons to police.

He said that there was a convoy system 15 years ago, but even during that time, the police conducted operations and achieved success, but now the situation in some districts of Kashmore, Ghotki and Shikarpur districts has improved and there are some problems as well, but he is sure, he added, that the police will perform. He said we will have to stand up on our own feet and with the cooperation of the people, the police will perform better, he hoped.

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10 FOREIGN NEWS

COP27: COuntries band tOgether tO keeP fOrest PrOmise SHARM EL-SHEIKH

m

Agencies

ORE than 25 countries at the COP27 climate talks on Monday launched a group they said would ensure they hold each other accountable for a pledge to end deforestation by 2030, and announced billions of dollars to finance their efforts.

The first meeting of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, chaired by Ghana and the United States, takes place a year after more than 140 leaders promised at COP26 in Britain to end deforestation by the end of the decade.

Progress since has been patchy, with only a few countries instituting more aggres-

sive policies on deforestation and financing.

The new group — which includes Japan, Pakistan, the Republic of Congo, the United Kingdom and others — accounts for roughly 35% of the world’s forests and aims to meet twice a year to track progress.

Notable omissions from the group are Brazil with its Amazon rainforest and the Democratic Republic of Congo whose vast forests are home to endangered wildlife including gorillas.

“This partnership is a critical next step to collectively deliver on this promise and help keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C alive,” Britain’s Alok Sharma, who presided over last year’s COP talks, said in a statement.

The statements said that around 22% of the $12 billion in public money pledged for

forests by 2025, funds committed in Glasgow, had so far been disbursed.

Among the new sources of financing, Germany said it would double its financing for forests to 2 billion euros ($1.97 billion) through 2025. prIvate Cash pIles Up: Private companies announced $3.6 billion in extra money. They include investment firm SouthBridge Group, creating a $2 billion fund for restoration efforts in Africa, the region with the most tropical rainforest after South America.

Volkswagen Group and H&M Group signed up to a separate initiative, The LEAF Coalition, launched at COP26, in which governments and companies pay countries with tropical and subtropical forests for emissions reductions.

Ecuador also becomes the first country to sign a memorandum of agreement with Emergent, coordinator of the coalition, that aims to see a binding Emissions Reduction Payment Agreement signed by the end of April 2023.

South Korea also agreed to be the first Asian government to provide finance for the coalition, joining founders Britain, Norway and the United States.

“The need is urgent – for the climate, for biodiversity and the people that depend on forests,” Emergent Chief Executive Eron Bloomgarden said. Other initiatives towards meeting the 2030 forest pledge also announced incremental progress at the opening of COP27. A coalition of 25 governments and charities said that 19% of $1.7 billion promised to indigenous communities to pro-

Several Ukrainian regions issue air raid warnings: Ministry MOSCOW Agencies

Air raid sirens sounded in several Ukrainian regions early on Monday morning, according to air raid data from the country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Air raid warnings were in effect in the Ukrainian regions of Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, as well as the Ukraine-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia region at around 02:00 GMT on Monday.

As of 07:13 a.m. local time on Monday (04:13 GMT), air raid warnings were in effect in the Kharkiv, Poltava, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Precision strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure have been carried out by Russia since October 10 two days after the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Ze-

lenskyy said on November 1 that about 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure had been damaged as a result of these strikes, leading to mass blackouts

india at 75: upending narratives and rewriting history NEW DELHI AFP

The palatial family home of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the freedom struggle stalwart and close confidant of Mahatma Gandhi, is now a museum where loyalists come to pay tribute. But 75 years after independence, that history is being rewritten across the country as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeks to promote its own Hindu nationalist agenda. Critics accuse the BJP of upending settled narratives to fit its outlook, promoting the roles of its ideological forebears, and downgrading the contributions of Muslims to Indian history and society. The BJP ousted Nehru’s Congress party at elections in 2014, after the dynasty he founded had dominated Indian politics for decades. His daughter Indira Gandhi, who grew up in the house, and grandson Rajiv both went on to become prime ministers.

Today, whether the emperor Akbar — of the Muslim Mughal dynasty that ruled India for 300 years — won or lost a key battle against a revered Hindu king depends on which textbook is being used. At the launch of a book on Hindu kings’ resistance to the Mughals, home minister Amit Shah — a key ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — declared: “No one can stop us from writing the truth. We are now independent. We can write our own history.”

And the city where Nehru’s house stands has been renamed Prayagraj, after being known for 450 years as Allahabad, a moniker bestowed by Akbar. According to Vinod Mishra, who has worked there for 15 years, the building’s visitors illustrate the changing approaches to history. “Earlier everyone came here in awe and admiration but now many look at the home, his belongings, and quip that he too made a lot of money like other [corrupt] politicians,” Mishra told AFP. Older visitors “still enter each room and reverentially touch the feet of Nehru’s portraits”, he said, but younger generations are more irreverent.

throughout the country.

Ukraine has introduced rolling blackouts to repair the energy grid ahead of winter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russia’s Security Council on October 10 that Russia had launched retaliatory strikes using precision-guided weapons against Ukrainian infrastructure, in response to the crimes committed by Kiev against the Russian civilian infrastructure.

Putin condemned the bombing of the Kerch Strait Bridge, also known as the Crimean Bridge, that took place on October 8, saying that such a terror act cannot be left without retaliation.

One exception is the Crimea region, which has been under illegal Russian occupation since 2014, where no reports have emerged of air alerts.

Air raid alarms are given by local authorities in Ukraine on a daily basis due to possible missile and drone strikes which have recently targeted civilian and energy infrastructures.

China releases white paper on jointly building a cyberspace community BEIJING Agencies

China released a white paper on Monday introducing its vision of internet development and governance in the new era, sharing its achievements in promoting the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace and outlining the prospects for international cooperation.

Titled “Jointly Build a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace,” the white paper was released by the State Council Information Office. Totaling around 24,000 Chinese characters, the white paper consists of a preface, four chapters and a conclusion. Jointed efforts vital in building a community with a shared future in cyberspace President Xi Jinping urged all countries to jointly build a community of shared future in cyberspace when addressing the opening ceremony of the second World Internet Conference (WIC) in the river town of Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang Province, on December 16, 2015. Nowadays, the governance of cyberspace is facing ever more prominent problems with the rapid development of the internet.

Besides problems such as unbalanced development and unsound regulation, the white paper warned about the threat of cyber-hegemonism, where certain countries use internet and information technology to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs and engage in large-scale cyber surveillance.

Noting the increasingly complex cybersecurity situation, the white paper called it the responsibility of all of humanity to develop, use and manage the internet well, and make it more beneficial to mankind.

With the world’s largest number of internet users, China “understands the underlying trends of the information age; upholds a people-centered approach; and supports global governance based on extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits,” said the paper. “We strive to realize the goals of innovation-driven development, security, order, equality, respect, openness, and shared interests in cyberspace, so that the cyberspace will be a community that benefits all of humanity,” the white paper said.

In doing so, basic principles including respecting cyber sovereignty, safeguarding peace and security, promoting openness and cooperation, and maintaining good order should be adhered to, noted the white paper.

The logo of digital RMB and its mascot “Yuanyuan” are seen at the booth of the People’s Bank of China Digital Cur-

rency Research Institute at the China International Fair for Trade in Services, Beijing, China, September 4, 2022. /CFP Internet development and management In ChIna: China is set to build up its strength in cyberspace and digital technologies, said the white paper, noting that progress has been made in boosting the digital economy, building a clean and sound online environment, and guarding against risks to cyberspace security.

By 2021, the value of China’s digital economy had reached 45.5 trillion yuan ($6.3 trillion), accounting for 39.8 percent of its GDP, said the white paper.

Besides being a home to 1.05 billion internet users, China also hosts the world’s largest 5G network and has become one of the global leaders in 5G standards and technology, with 1.85 million 5G cell towers and 455 million 5G cell phone subscribers, according to the white paper.

Guided by the people-first development philosophy, China has promoted internet application in various economic and social sectors including education, medical services, poverty alleviation, and other public services.

For example, 98 percent of all poverty-stricken villages had access to optical services by the end of 2020 and more than 12 million people in poverty had benefited from a lower internet access fee. Online retail sales in rural areas amounted to 2.05 trillion yuan in 2021, up 11.3 percent yearon-year. To develop a sound digital industry and orderly online environment, the country has formulated, enforced and revised relevant laws and regulations in recent years.

Entering into force in 2017, the Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China banned online service providers from collecting and selling users’ personal information. And in August 2021, China’s top legislature voted to adopt a new law on personal information protection, which stipulates that individual consent should be obtained when processing sensitive personal information such as biometrics, medical and health, financial accounts and whereabouts.

CooperatIon enhanCed In CyberspaCe: China has continued to strengthen international exchanges and cooperation in cyberspace, said the white paper. It has engaged in active cross-border collaboration in terms of the digital economy, cyberspace security, and reform and development of global cyberspace governance to promote inclusive development of the internet, said the paper, noting that all these efforts contribute to building a community with a shared future in cyberspace.

mote land rights and forest protection had been paid out.

But despite a promise to pay most of the money directly to local communities, roughly half of the funds were routed through international nongovernmental organisations. Only 7% of went to communityled groups, which the coalition said needs to be corrected.

A separate initiative by investors to push companies to eliminate deforestation by 2025 said that Swiss asset manager GAM Investments, UK pension manager London CIV, SouthBridge and Banco Estado de Chile had all joined the alliance.

In September, the initiative announced standards that companies should follow to trace commodities and disclose links to deforestation.

israeli settlers have high hopes after netanyahu election win HILLTOP ReuteRs

High atop a rocky hill in the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers exhilarated by a resounding right-wing election triumph surveyed a landscape dotted with Palestinian villages, scouting new spots to put down roots. The November 1 ballot saw Religious Zionism, a hard-line settler party, soar to third place in parliament, positioning it as a potential powerful partner in Benjamin Netanyahu’s likely coalition. Negotiations started on Sunday and could take weeks. But among ideological settlers who see themselves as pioneers redeeming the Biblical heartland promised by God, hopes are already high for budgets, construction and infrastructure to keep their enterprise thriving. “Our expectations are great,” said Daniella Weiss, a veteran settler who led the tiny scouting mission. “This government is better for the Jews than it is for the Arabs. That’s the name of the game.” Weiss described the election results as a revolution. “As a person heading a settlement movement, it’s a victory,” she said. “I have no doubt there will be an acceleration in the development of the settlements.” Most world powers deem settlements built in the territory Israel seized in the 1967 war as illegal under international law and their expansion as an obstacle to peace, since they eat away at land the Palestinians claim for a future state. With peace talks establishing for such state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem dormant since 2014, and with no sign of their revival, Netanyahu’s likely government has simply darkened an already bleak Palestinian view. “There will be an increase in settlement activity and that will close the door for any political solution,” said Wasel Abu Youssef of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). netanyahU: Israel disputes the illegality of the settlements and cites Biblical and historical ties to the West Bank, which it calls by its Biblical name — Judea and Samaria.“I sense a chill down my spine coming back to the very places where my ancestors lived,” said Baruch Gordon from the settlement of Bet El, where Religious Zionism election banners dot the streets. “It’s our ancestral rightful homeland,” said Gordon, who hopes to see Israel extending sovereignty to the territory, which would be a de-facto annexation. More than 450,000 people, or less than 5 percent of Israel’s population, are Jewish settlers in the West Bank, home to about 3 million Palestinians who exercise limited self-rule there.

Settlers driven ideologically to the smaller enclaves, deep in the territory, are a minority of the settler population. But they are nonetheless a powerful political force, in Netanyahu’s Likud party too. At the Bet El religious seminary, where Gordon works as development director, the male students broke out in song and dance on election night, when the results came through. About 80 percent of Bet El’s votes went to Religious Zionism, data from the Knesset’s election committee showed, and almost 10 percent to Netanyahu’s Likud. Set for a record sixth term in office, Netanyahu has allied himself with Religious Zionism, which advocates annexation of settlements, a pledge he made in 2020 before dropping it in return for normalising ties with the United Arab Emirates. That deal, extended soon after to Bahrain, was mediated by former US President Donald Trump, whose administration saw Netanyahu’s 2015-2019 solid rightwing government increasing investment in settlement development.

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PoteNtiaL dream fiNaL betweeN iNdia aNd PakiStaN HaS auStraLia Great excited

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HE prospect of a mouth-watering final between India and Pakistan at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has everyone excited, according to Australia great Shane Watson.

India and Pakistan successfully navigated different paths to the final four on a highlyfluctuating final day of Super 12 action on Sunday and now could be on track to meet in the T20 World Cup final if they each win their difficult semi-final match-ups.

Rohit Sharma’s side takes on England in Adelaide on Thursday in a battle between the top two teams on the T20I Team Rankings,

while Pakistan will have to conquer in-form New Zealand at the SCG on Wednesday if they are to reach the title decider.

Pakistan’s chances of even reaching the semi-finals looked forlorn at the start of the day on Sunday, but the Netherlands’ upset victory over South Africa provided Babar Azam’s side the opportunity to clinch an unlikely semi-final berth.

A hard-fought five-wicket victory over Bangladesh helped Pakistan clinch the last spot in the semis and Watson believes the chances of a rematch of their meeting at the MCG at the start of the tournament and a

dream final between the two biggest rivals in cricket now looms as a strong possibility.

“Everyone would love to see Pakistan and India in the final,” an excited Watson said at the SCG on Monday.

“I unfortunately missed that first (Super 12) game at the MCG, as I commentated the game previously between Australia and New Zealand.

“But from all reports, all the people that went along to that game said it was something very special and the game was obviously an amazing game to watch on TV as well. “They played in the T20 World Cup

final in 2007 and everyone would love to see it again.”

Standing in Pakistan’s way first and foremost is a battle against Kane Williamson’s New Zealand and Watson is expecting the battle between the Kiwis’ dynamic young opener Finn Allen and Pakistan’s bevy of quality fast bowlers to have a major say in the outcome of the cut-throat clash. But Watson believes the fact Pakistan had all but given up on earning a spot in the semi-finals prior to Sunday’s games may actually work in their favour as it will allow them to play with

Pakistan’s Nida Dar wins the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Pakistan’s veteran all-rounder Nida Dar has been declared the ICC Women’s Player of the Month thanks to her sensational form in their Women’s Asia Cup campaign. Virat Kohli claims the ICC Men’s Player of the Month following a series of star performances as India charged their way to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi finals as The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the winners of the ICC Player of the Month awards for October.

For her key contributions to Pakistan’s semi-final surge in the Women’s Asia Cup in Bangladesh, Nida Dar takes home the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for October.

Scoring 145 valuable runs at an average of 72.50 during the month and taking eight key wickets, the influential all-rounder underlined her importance to the Pakistan cause despite falling short in the knockout stages.

Among the highlights she enjoyed during October, Dar was sensational in the historic victory over India in Sylhet.

Batting first, she arrived to the crease at 33 for three, before powering 56 not out to take them to a competitive score of 137. She then went on to star with the ball, taking the key wickets of Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues as the eventual tournament inners fell short in dramatic fashion.

Dar claims her inaugural ICC Women’s Player of the Month win by edging out Indian duo Rodrigues and

Sri Lanka’s Gunathilaka appears in court on sex assault charges

Deepti Sharma, who each produced impressive displays during their winning Women’s Asia Cup triumph.

On winning the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for October, Dar commented: “It was great to be nominated for the award, and to win it is very special to me. I wish we could have won the Women’s Asia Cup, but I am happy that we as a team are performing, and the recent series win against Ireland at home

Dravid to consider changes to India’s side for England semi-final

SYDNEY

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Staff RepoRt

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka appeared by video link in handcuffs at a Sydney court on Monday to seek bail after he was charged with four counts of sexual assault. Gunathilaka, who spoke only to confirm his identity, was shown on a screen in Downing Centre Local Court. He appeared calm as he sat wearing a grey Tshirt at a Sydney detention centre. The batter’s lawyer, Ananda Amaranath, said he would seek bail for the 31-year-old. Magistrate Robert Williams briefly adjourned the case before hearing the bail application. The prosecution said it would seek to suppress the publication of some elements that might identify the alleged victim.

Police arrested and charged Gunathilaka on Sunday, hours after the national team lost to England at the Twenty20 World Cup. Gunathilaka was ruled out during the first round with a hamstring injury but had remained with the team in Australia. He was arrested at a hotel in Sydney in the early hours of Sunday and charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent. New South Wales state police said on Sunday that sex crimes squad detectives had investigated the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last week. Police said the pair met after communicating for several days on a dating app. Detective Superintendent Jane Doherty, commander of the New South Wales state Sex Crimes Squad, said the pair had then arranged to meet.

shows the commitment the girls are putting into their game.

“I take great pride in representing my country and my aim is to contribute in my team winning as much as I can.”

Former Netherlands and Australia international and member of the voting panel Dirk Nannes added: “Nida was in superb form throughout the month with bat and ball and has been a consistent figure for Pakistan women for some time.

“A focal point in the Pakistan bowling attack, she continues to be an important player for them, and she richly deserves to be the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October.”

Fans can continue to vote every month for their favourite male and female cricketers across all formats of international cricket as part of the ICC Player of the Month initiative by registering at www.icc-cricket.com/awards.

Both Kohli and Dar were elected winners following a global vote conducted among media representatives, ICC Hall of Famers, former international players, and fans registered at icccricket.com

India coach Rahul Dravid admits he will consider making changes to his XI for the upcoming cut-throat semi-final against England at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Dravid’s chargers booked their place in the final four of this year’s tournament on a dramatic final day of the Super 12 stage on Sunday, with their comfortable 71run triumph over Zimbabwe ensuring they finished on top of their group and progressed to a semi-final clash with England.

India will travel to Adelaide to play Jos Buttler’s side on Thursday and Dravid said he will choose an XI for that match

that he believes will suit the conditions. That could mean a first appearance at the tournament for experienced leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, with the Adelaide Oval pitch generally one that suits the slower bowlers.

Experienced wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik could also earn a recall to replace Rishabh Pant, with Dravid revealing he won’t make a call on his final XI until he has seen the pitch presented in Adelaide.

“I think we have a completely open mind about everyone in our 15,” Dravid said. “We believe anybody who comes into the 15 will not potentially make us weaker, the kind of squad we’ve picked.

“Again, we’ll have to go there and see. I watched some

of the games (in Adelaide) today and I know the tracks were slow and they gripped and they turned a bit. We might be playing on a completely new strip in Adelaide, and the strip we played with against Bangladesh, to be honest, did not spin.

It was, again, a different kind of wicket, and it was played at Adelaide, as well. “I think I can’t sit here now just after a game and predict what’s going to happen there.

“We’ll have a couple of days; we’ll go and have a look at that wicket and see what we think it might do. “Of course, if it’s slow we’ll play according to those situations. If we think it might play differently, then we’ll have to put up a squad to match that.”

Shahid Afridi calls on Babar Azam to move down the order ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam should stand aside and give Mohammad Haris his opener slot to boost their top-order firepower in Wednesday’s T20 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, former captain Shahid Afridi said.

Pakistan, the 2009 champions, looked set to exit the competition until the Netherlands pulled off a major upset by beating South Africa on Sunday.

Mohammad Rizwan and Babar

went into the tournament ranked as the top two T20 batters but neither has managed a fifty in the tournament so far. Rizwan has scored at a run-a-ball rate while Babar, Pakistan’s premier batsman, has a strike rate of 61.90. Both will have to up their game against last year’s runners-up New Zealand in the first semi-final in Sydney. India play England in the second semi in Adelaide on Thursday.

“Babar Azam needs to listen to suggestions,” former all-rounder Afridi told a private TV channel.

“We need to use Mohammad

Haris with fielding restrictions.

Babar Azam should drop to number three.” Afridi said Pakistan’s top order should play with more intent and be as aggressive as middleorder batters Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood. “You look at Iftikhar or Shan Masood and you can see their intention in their body language, that they are looking to hit the ball. We need that kind of intention, that kind of cricket.

“What’s the point of scoring a run-a-ball 30 or 35 if you can’t finish the game having used up that many deliveries?” the 42-year-old added.

more freedom.

“There are certain times in all tournaments where a team just falls across the line and somehow finds its way into the finals and then goes on to win it,” Watson noted.

“Especially when they weren’t expecting to make the semis because of the way they played at certain times throughout this tournament. “The freedom they are going to have after not expecting much in the middle of the tournament, so the freedom they are going to have is going to be very dangerous for the Kiwis.”

Premier League strugglers Southampton sack Hasenhuttl LONDON afp

Southampton sacked manager Ralph Hasenhuttl on Monday after slumping into the Premier League relegation zone following a dismal 4-1 defeat against Newcastle. The south coast club swung the axe after their eighth loss in 14 league games on Sunday left them languishing in 18th place. “Southampton Football Club can confirm it has parted company with men’s first-team manager Ralph Hasenhuttl,” the club said in a statement. “Hasenhuttl, who was appointed in December 2018, departs having made a significant contribution to the club, overseeing some memorable results and also playing a key role in the development of our club infrastructure, identity and playing squad.

“However, we now believe it is an appropriate time to make a change.” The Austrian took over from Mark Hughes nearly four years ago and his highest finish in the Premier League was 11th in the 2019/2020 season. He also led Southampton to the FA Cup semi-finals in the following season. Speaking after the home thrashing by Newcastle, Hasenhuttl said he was just focusing on his job despite growing speculation over his future. “I’m never concerned, I always try to do my job and that’s all that interests me,” the 55-yearold told the BBC. Asked if he’d just overseen his final match as Saints boss, he replied: “Do you know, I have taken a lot of decisions since I am here. The good thing is this one I don’t have to take.” Hasenhuttl survived two 9-0 defeats, against Leicester and Manchester United, during his time in charge. He also kept his job even though Southampton lost nine of their final 12 league matches last season. Hasenhuttl’s coaching team was overhauled during the close season but those moves failed to pay off and the Southampton hierarchy finally ran out of patience following a run of nine matches without a win, stretching back to August. First-team coach Ruben Selles will take charge on an interim basis for Wednesday’s League Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday. Nathan Jones, boss of Championship side Luton, is urrently the favourite to take over at St Mary’s. Hasenhuttl is the fifth Premier League manager to be sacked this season after the departures of Scott Parker (Bournemouth), Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea), Bruno Lage (Wolves) and Steven Gerrard (Aston Villa).

New Zealand won’t underestimate Pakistan, says Southee PERTH ReuteRS

Bowler Tim Southee said New Zealand will not underestimate Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals despite the South Asian side’s struggles to make it through the group phase. Pakistan looked set to exit the competition until the Netherlands pulled off a surprise 13-run win over South Africa on Sunday that meant victory over Bangladesh later in the day took Babar Azam and his team into the knockout rounds. “When you get to the top four every side has a chance,” said Southee. “We’ve played a lot against Pakistan in recent times and we know they’re a dangerous side. “Credit to them, they probably turned up thinking they didn’t have much of a chance but they put on another good performance and they’ll be a massive threat come the semi-final.” A win over Pakistan in Sydney would take New Zealand to a final against either England or India in Melbourne but Southee said the Black Caps, who lost to Australia in last year’s final, were taking it one game at a time.

“There’s still a lot of cricket to be played until we get to that stage,” he said. “Pakistan are a quality side and we’re going to have to be on the top of our game to get past them on Wednesday. “Semi-final cricket is exciting, it’s what you turn up for, to be here in these last couple of games. Hopefully, we can continue the way that we’ve been playing and have another good performance in the semi.

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PTI revIses loNg March schedule For Thursday LAHORE

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Staff RepoRt

HE Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has revised the schedule of its long march for a third time, announcing that the march would resume on Thursday from Wazirabad – exactly from the point Imran Khan suffered bullets in a gun attack.

The PTI chief on Sunday announced that his party will be returning to the streets to resume its long march on Islamabad, which was disrupted after an attempt on his life, from Tuesday (tomorrow).

However, earlier today Imran announced that the march dubbed as ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ will resume on Wednesday, instead of Tuesday as scheduled earlier.

Hours after his announcement, PTI leader Faisal Javed in a tweet announced that the party’s long march will resume on November 10, Thursday at 2pm from

Wazirabad.

PTI’s Secretary-General Asad Umar said he will participate in the long march with party’s vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other colleagues in Wazirabad on Thursday. “Shah Sahab [Qureshi] will lead the long march on GT Road and I will lead the march from Faisalabad Division,” he said in a tweet.

Umar in another tweet said he will begin march from Toba Tek Singh which will pass through Jhang, Faisalabad, Jaranwala, Chiniot and Sargodha.

PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur will lead caravan from the southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa while K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Murad Saeed will lead the protesters from the Malakand region.

Senior PTI leader Pervez Khattak will lead the protest rally from Peshawar and Hazara division, he added.

Talking to a delegation of journalists ear-

lier today, PTI chief Imran Khan maintained that no compromise could be reached with PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

“The entire nation is prepared, and we will only return with the election date,” he said, adding that his long march would achieve its aim under ‘any circumstances’.

He further said that the appointment of the chief of army staff was not his “issue”, and that the army belonged to the country thus it was not possible to go against it.

“The soldiers at the borders are like my children,” he stated. The comment comes after Imran accused a senior military official of being involved in the alleged assassination bid against him.

The PTI’s Haqeeqi Azadi March, which demanded early and fair elections, was brought to an abrupt halt after Imran was shot in the leg during a procession.

The attack was soon dubbed an assassination attempt.

Supreme Court takes notice of Swati’s leaked video matter ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Supreme Court has taken notice of PTI Senator Azam Swati’s alleged video leak case.

When Senator Swati reached Supreme Court on Monday to meet Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, he got involved in a verbal spat with police officials who tried to stop the senator from entering the court without permission. However, the CJP called for Swati and the latter went straight to the rostrum.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Bandial told Swati that court’s human rights cell was looking into his case. He remarked that everyone was sad on the leaked video issue. He said that the SC cell had started investigation on the matter. The top judge, however, asked Swati: “You didn’t stay at the SC guest house?” The PTI senator replied that the CJP was right as he stayed at the Quetta Federal Lodge. The CJP assured Swati that the court was looking into his case and the matter would be investigated as per the law.

CJP Bandial further remarked that the

court started proceedings on the petition filed by slain journalist Arshad Sharif’s mother.

“We have sought report from the committee which went to Kenya to investigate the murder,” the judge remarked adding that the court could not start investigations on its own. May Allah grant you patience, the CJP said to Swati. Hearing this, the senator broke down and told the CJP that he could not show the leaked video sent to his family to anyone except the judges. On this, CJP Bandial told Swati that he need not to show this video to anyone. He said he would direct the concerned institutions to remove this video from the internet. He remarked that his case was investigated by its human rights cell. He said he felt sorry for what happened to him.

“You don’t know who your enemies are.

We don’t know who did this to you. It’s very difficult to find truth nowadays. Truth hides beneath several layers of lies,” the CJP remarked adding that though his (Swati) case was being investigated by the human rights cell but ‘if you say we will call you again later today’. CJP Bandial further assured the senator that ‘the court will definitely intervene if need be’.

ISLAMABAD Shahzad paRacha

PTI leaders warned of action if they block roads in protest ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Law enforcement agencies across the country have decided to launch a crackdown against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers as they prepare to resume their long march from Wazirabad and head towards the federal capital to record their protest while allegedly spreading anarchy.

Sources said that law enforcement agencies, in meeting late on Sunday night, decided to arrest PTI

leaders including Parvez Khattak, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, Amir Kayani, Ali Amin Gandapur, and Aamir Dogar and others.

Apart from arrests, the law enforcing agencies are mulling plans to blocking roads leading to and from the Islamabad International Airport.

Rangers, FC, and Police will patrol to Islamabad Airport. Meanwhile, the Islamabad Police have warned PTI protesters that action will be taken against those who fail to protest peacefully in the federal capital without due permission of the city’s ad-

IMF team to visit Pakistan after November 20

ministration. In a statement issued by a police spokesperson, political leaders who are nominated in various cases will be arrested upon identification.

The spokesperson also requested the political leaders to protest at the designated spots after securing due permission from the city’s administration.

The public has been requested to report any suspicious activity to the police helpline of 15.

Earlier, PTI had threatened to block the main routes leading to and from the federal capital for 72 hours from noon today.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) team will visit Pakistan at the end of this month for the ninth review. Sources said that the Pakistani side is in constant touch with the IMF team and they will visit after November 20, 2022 however the ongoing political instability may jeopardise the ninth review. Sources also said that the IMF has reportedly asked Pakistan to reverse or compensate with new tax measures the losses of recently introduced measures (agricultural subsidies, exporter subsidies and power sector delays). The government recently announced a financial package of Rs 1800 billion for farmers and supply of electricity to five exportoriented sectors at Rs 19.99/ kWh the cost of which has been estimated to be Rs 110 billion. “Reverse or compensate with new tax measures the losses of recently introduced measures (agricultural subsidies, exporter subsidies and power sector delays),” sources added. In addition, the government has also been barred from introducing new tax concessions or exemptions or other preferential tax treatment or any new tax amnesty. According to sources, under the Ninth Review the government has to resume needed consolidation, after significant slippages in FY 22, to meet the primary surplus target of 0.3 percent of GDP in FY 23. In this regard there is a need for clear understanding on all new spending plans for FY 23, including the ones needed to respond to the floods. There is also a need for agreement on compensatory fiscal measures to meet program targets, either through reprioritization of spending or new tax measures. According to sources, the IMF has further urged the government to strengthen energy sector viability by timely implementation of electricity tariff increases (both quarterly adjustments and monthly FCAs).

The Fund has also asked the government to seek Cabinet approval of FY 23 Circular Debt Management Plan (CDMP), to guide a sustainable reduction in circular debt accumulation as agreed with the World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and IMF. “There must be no introduction of any new subsidies for electricity, and a commitment not to fiscalize power sector arrears, without agreement with the Fund,” the sources added.

Khan fails to provide proof for assassination allegation in CNN interview ISLAMABAD NewS deSk

Former prime minister Imran Khan Monday said that the incumbent government and others he had accused had planned the attack on him and wanted to show that a “religious fanatic did it”.

Khan alleged that two months ago, a video was “produced by an agency” accusing him of blasphemy and hurting religious sentiments.

“It was a planned assassination attempt and we knew about it three months ago. I went on air beforehand and warned that this is what would happen,” he said.

“And this is why I have called for an independent investigation […] I have named three people and they are responsible for it. If an independent investigation is to be done, then it should be done with them on top,” Imran demanded.

Imran Khan claimed that the plot to assassinate him was conceived two months ago. Imran Khan argued why he couldn’t take the names of people who he believed

were behind his assassination attempt.

“How come I as a person who was about to be assassinated can’t name the people who planned this attempt on me,” he demanded.

“I went to the public and announced it on September 24. How do I know this? It started when I was deposed, and from then onwards it was expected that my party would fall apart […] but what happened instead was that there was a big public backlash and my party gained immense support.” The former premier said that efforts had been underway to “throw me out of the race” or “disqualify me”.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan said Monday that the party’s long march would achieve its target “no matter what the circumstances” as the former prime minister pressurizes the government in his quest for snap polls.

Khan is currently recovering in Lahore from the bullet injuries that he sustained in the Wazirabad attempted assassination attack. He was discharged from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital a day earlier.

The ex-prime minister, during a meeting with representatives of media bodies, said that the party would back down only after getting the date for general elections.

Khan said that no compromise can be made with coalition rulers, including PPP Cochairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

He said the march would be led by PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar and the party’s vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The long march had come to a halt last week after the attack on Khan.

The PTI chief — who has been critical of the armed forces since his ouster in April — said that the personnel of the army standing guard on the borders were like his “children”.

Khan said that going against the institution was not an option for the party.

The former prime minister has blamed three people, including a senior military official, for the Wazirabad attack and also called for his dismissal. However, the army has rejected the allegation and termed it “baseless”.

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 66-C, 1st Floor, 21st Commercial Street, Phase-II (Extension), DHA Karachi and printed at Ibn-e-Hassan Printing Press, Hockey Stadium, Karachi, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 021-35381208-9. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk