Epaper_22-11-13 LHR

President ‘mediating’ talks to bring Political temPerature down

prove situation but matters “are being kept under wraps to so that things progress amicably”.

“I am playing a role of mediator as supreme commander of the armed forces but I am not a broker,” he asserted.

Speaking about security measures being taken in the federal capital ahead of PtI’s long march to Islamabad, the president said, “containers were used for trade across the world but in Pakistan they have been given a new use”.

President alvi said all political parties have demanded early elections at some point in time and added that even Supreme court had discussed the possibility of early polls to end the political deadlock.

responding to a question about establishment’s role in politics, the president said he cannot rewrite history but can only try to make things better.

PTI’s caravans converging at Rawalpindi from various locations

ISLAMABAD Mian abrar

from southern districts including north and South Wazirisatn, bannu, dera Ismail khan, lakki marwat etc.

LAHORE staff report

PreSIdent dr arif alvi has said that as supreme commander of the armed forces, he was playing his role to bring down the political temperature in the country.

“I am trying to reduce tensions and bring all political parties to negotiating table to save democracy from derailing and improve situation,” the president said while interacting with a group of journalists here at governor house in la-

hore on Saturday.

dr alvi admitted that although his constitutional role does not allow him to mediate between political parties particularly on the matter of army chief’s appointment, he is trying to reduce tensions to save democracy.

President alvi, who belongs to Pakistan tehreek-e-Insaf (PtI), said that he didn’t take instructions from Imran khan.

“I am on friendly terms with him. We share same opinion but I don’t seek his counsel,” the president added.

President alvi said negotiations are underway to reduce the friction and im-

President alvi’s remarks came the same day his party chief criticised Prime minister Shahbaz Sharif and other party leaders for holding a meeting in london to decide the Pakistan army’s next chief as he addressed participants of the party’s haqeeqi azadi march in lala musa.

“the important decisions of the country are taken abroad and by those who have looted Pakistan for the last 30 years,” Imran khan said in reference to Shehbaz purportedly discussing the key appointment and other issues of national importance with his elder brother nawaz Sharif during his unscheduled london visit.

Saudi crown Prince’s Pakistan visit ‘postponed’

ISLAMABAD staff report

Saudi crown Prince and Prime minister muhammad bin Salman’s much-anticipated visit to Pakistan has been postponed, the foreign ministry confirmed on Saturday.

according to the foreign ministry officials, the Saudi crown Prince’s visit to Pakistan and other regions of South asia has been postponed, adding that the crown Prince would only visit the Indonesian city of bali for the g20 summit.

they claimed that new

date of his visit to Pakistan would be announced soon.

It is important to mention here that Pakistan’s government was optimistic about the Saudi crown Prince’s visit despite the political turmoil in the country.

last month, Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the crown prince would soon be visiting Pakistan and that he had expressed willingness to support development projects in the country, including an announcement for a $10 billion investment for the establishment of an oil refinery.

the premier’s remarks

had come days after he concluded a three-day trip to the kingdom during which the two leaders resolved to upgrade bilateral ties and fraternal bonds.

the crown prince had last visited Pakistan in february 2019 during the term of former prime minister Imran khan.

during his visit, the inaugural session of the Saudi-Pak Supreme coordination council was held. the council was formed to put in place a high-level institutional mechanism to fasttrack decisions in key areas

of bilateral cooperation, and for close monitoring of their implementation.

While Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif is busy in his effort to convince his elder brother and party Quaid nawaz Sharif over the next army chief, Pakistan tehreek-i-Insaf (PtI) caravans are heading towards federal capital with huge number of party workers from various locations of the country. this time around, the PtI may also find it easy to storm the capital as Pml-n’s ‘trump card’ – Interior minister rana Sanaullah – is hospitalised with heart ailment.

the PtI announced that though its chief Imran khan was nursing his wounds in his lahore residence after a failed assassination attempt at his life, various party leaders would be leading caravans from various locations simultaneous towards federal capital.

according to the issued tweet, PtI vice chairman Shah mahmood Qureshi is leading the march and is in lala musa right now. Qureshi has already been joined in by party’s Sindh chapter president ali Zaidi who led a caravan from Sindh.

Party’s another leader, haleem adil Sheikh is leading another caravan from interior Sindh and would be joining Qureshi’s main caravan later next week.

anther major convoy is led by asad umar who stated from toba tek Singh and now has reached Jhang. the caravan will reach rawalpindi after passing through faisalabad and Sargodha. PtI general Secretary asad umar has reached Shorkot in Jhang district leading the long march rally. but PtI’s biggest show would arrive in rawalpindi from khyber Pakhtunkhwa – the bastion of the PtI. three major caravans from various parts of kP would arrive rawalpindi where Imran khan would receive them.

PtI general secretary kP ali amin gandapur would lead a caravan

Shehryar khan afridi would lead a caravan from Parachanar, kurram agency, darra adamkhel and kohat districts.

asad Qaisar and murad Saeed would lead a rally from Peshawar while Pervez khattak would lead a rally from hazara division. all caravans from kP would converge on Peshawar-Islamabad motorway and then would lead towards rawalpindi.

Qasim khan Suri would be leading a rally from balochistan and he would directly arrive rawalpindi.

PtI azad kashmir rally would be lead by aJk Prime minister Sardar tanveer Ilyas who is set to join the marchers in rawalpindi while chief minister khalid khursheed khan would lead a rally from gilgit baltistan.

PtI’s official twitter account shared photographs of asad umar and Qureshi interacting with supporters there who addressed huge rallies on their way. PtI leader asad umar has said the “haqeeqi azadi” is not just former prime minister Imran khan’s “war” and that the “people of the country are also an equal part of it.”

addressing a rally in Jhang, the explanning minister urged the supporters of Imran to stand by their party leader during the current struggle. during his speech in Jhang, asad umar stated that Imran khan believes the next coaS should be appointed based on merit. further, he slammed the Pml-n leaders “sitting in london, making decisions for Pakistan”. referring to nawaz Sharif, he said that the leaders were seeking advice from “a thief who fled the country”.

responding to a question, asad said that the PtI had not “started a war to come into power”, and highlighted the party’s successes including the victory by a great lead in the Punjab elections on July 15.

PM ‘extends’ London stay after consulting Nawaz over next army chief

few days,” he told the station.

following a flurry of family meetings with disgraced former prime minister nawaz Sharif and his children in london to discuss the appointment of the new army chief, among other political matters, Shehbaz Sharif, who was scheduled to land in Islamabad on friday night, changed his plans and decided to stay on in the british capital.

the development was also confirmed by marriyum aurangzeb, Sharif’s minister for information, who said the prime minister had extended his stay in the european country for a day.

khawaja asif, minister for defence, who is travelling with the prime minister but reportedly was not present during the meeting, confirmed the development on geo news on thursday. “everything will become clear in the coming

aurangzeb had previously shared a video showing the Pakistan muslim league-nawaz (Pml-n) supreme leader seeing off the prime minister from what appeared to be the Stanhope house offices of the Sharif family in london after a marathon meeting that, according to some press reports, lasted over two hours.

Sharif “is not just my leader and my elder brother but also someone who has been a pillar of strength for me throughout my life. his affection [and] love is a source of confidence and inspiration for me,” he tweeted, responding to the video of him touching the feet of his elder brother.

Sharif is now expected to return early on monday. he had reached london on Wednesday on what his party declared was a “private visit” after attending coP 27 climate change conference in egypt.

this is Sharif’s third trip to london after assuming the nation’s top office in april and comes ahead of the all-important appointment of the successor to gen. Qamar Javed bajwa who is due to retire on november 29.

asif has also accused Imran khan, chairman of the Pakistan tehreek-e-Insaf (PtI) party, of trying to influence the appointment and making it controversial. over the last few months, khan has repeatedly questioned how the “corrupt” ruling Pakistan democratic movement (Pdm) alliance could pick the next army chief. he has alleged that asif ali Zardari, co-chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and nawaz want to name a chief of their choice in order to evade accountability for corruption charges against them.

meanwhile, the PtI resumed its protest march to Islamabad on thursday to demand early elections.

LONDON/ISLAMABAD staff report

g SayS tryIng to Save democracy from deraIlment, ImProve SItuatIon

g SayS though he belongS to PtI, he doeSn’t take InStructIonS from Imran

BlaSphEMy accuSEd cannot BE proSEcutEd on BaSIS of ‘drEaMS, vISIonS’, rulES lhc

LAHORE staff RepoRt

tHELahore High Court (LHC) quashed a first information report (FIR) registered under blasphemy charges, observing that a person could not be prosecuted merely on the basis of what he sees in his dreams or for sharing his thoughts, visions, or emotions with others.

Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh held that the police failed in collecting substantial evidence to establish the offence against the accused and observed that those suffering from mental illnesses should be provided treatment and protection against punishment.

“If we examine FIR we find that the offence under section 295-A PPC is not made out. There is no allegation that the petitioner did anything to offend any group of people or insult their religion or religious beliefs. Furthermore, the Assistant Advocate

General could not point out any circumstances that might indicate malice on his part,” Justice Tariq observed in his detailed judgement issued on Saturday.

“There is no evidence to suggest that the petitioner intended to offend or harm the religious sensibilities of complainant or any other person with his statements,” Justice Tariq added.

It is pertinent to mention that a resident of Sohrabwala, Tehsil and District Mianwali on August 30, 2021 had filed a complaint with the Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Saddar alleging that the accused petitioner held sacrilegious beliefs that he began propagating to the general public about six months ago.

According to him, the accused petitioner claimed that he could fly and see Allah Almighty and various companions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in his dreams. He further claimed that on August 26, 2021, the accused made similar statements before a

crowd. “Such propagation hurt the community’s religious feelings and was likely to incite violence.” Finally the police on August 30, 2021 registered an FIR 337/2021 for an offence under section 295A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

“Investigation regarding an offence usually begins when information about it is given to the officer in-charge of a police station. Its primary objective is to determine the facts and circumstances of the case,” said the LHC judge in the verdict.

The principle of fair investigation requires that when a police officer investigates an offence, particularly one under Chapter XV of the PPC, he should determine whether the accused is mentally sound. “He [the investigation officer] must apply to the competent forum for his psychiatric evaluation if he suspects mental illness,” said the judge.

The law in Pakistan protects people with mental illnesses or impairments. Section

464 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) ordains that a person of “unsound mind” who is incapable of assisting in his own defence cannot be tried. Section 84 of PPC recognises the legal insanity defence. It states that a person cannot be held criminally responsible for an act, if due to unsoundness of mind at the time of committing it, he was incapable of knowing the nature of the act or that it was wrong or illegal.

According to the World Health Organisation, mental disorder cases account for more than 4% of Pakistan’s total disease burden. It estimates that 24 million people require psychiatric care, Justice Tariq wrote in the judgement.

The counsel for the petitioner contended that the FIR was politically motivated and concocted story. He argues that it does not state what blasphemous notions the petitioner holds and when he expressed them. The only specific allegation against

him is that on August 26, 2021 that he told a group of people about his dreams and claimed to have seen Almighty Allah and certain holy personages. Such narration is not an offence under section 295-A PPC.

Assistant Advocate General Mukhtar Ahmad Ranjha refuted the petitioner counsel’s contentions. He submitted that the petitioner’s thoughts and beliefs are blasphemous and sinful, and the law prohibits their expression. He contends that the accused deliberately and maliciously concocts false stories which offend other people’s religious feelings.

Although the petitioner was engaged in his nefarious activity for quite some time, FIR pertains to the specific incident that occurred and the prosecution witnesses support the prosecution case. “The FIR cannot be quashed because there is sufficient incriminating evidence against the petitioner,” said the assistant advocate general.

Mixed messaging: PTI says Imran disinterested in army chief appointment

prime minister Sharif — was being consulted on the nation’s important matters by a person who he said succeded him “through a conspiracy”.

Imran compromised national interests for personal political gains: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD staff RepoRt

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Saturday that PTI Chairman Imran Khan compromised national interests for personal political gains. In a statement, she said Imran Khan who was a foreign agent made mockery of himself, the country and the nation. The minister said now all the antics of Imran Khan had been exposed, who she opined had been running a show since the 2014 sit-in. Castigating Imran Khan, she said four years of PTI rule was a classic example of inefficiency, incompetence and lies. Imran Khan destroyed employment opportunities and caused inflation as PTI would be remembered for four years of loot and plunder in the country. Referring to Tosha Khana, she said gifted watches and necklaces were looted. She said Imran abused opponents, ran dirty campaigns against martyrs and instigated a revolt against national institutions. The minister said the time had come to stop Imran’s dirty drama targeting opponents and institutions.

Jaffar Express train to resume operation from 20th: Kh Saad

LAHORE staff RepoRt

The Pakistan Railways has decided to restore Jaffar Express train (Peshawar-Quetta) up to Mach railway station from November 20. The decision was taken in a meeting presided over by Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique at Pakistan Railways Headquarters here on Saturday. During the meeting, it was decided that passengers from Mach to Quetta would be transported through buses under security of the Balochistan government. The railways has especially constructed seven new washrooms and two power generators has been installed at Mach Railway Station to facilitate passengers. The minister directed the administration to install new benches andadditional water coolers besides security of passengers. The minister appreciated the Divisional Superintendent Quetta for completing 50 percent Hirok bridge on war footing. It was decided that suggestions would be sought from the chamber of commerce to increase revenue at Quetta-Taftan section. The minister also directed to get approval of revised PC-1 of shifting railway stations to solar energy as earlier as possible. On the occasion, the participants were briefed about occupancy and earning of trains and decided to make evaluation of each train. The divisional superintendent Peshawar has been ordered to take strict action against encroachers.

Just a day after Imran Khan called the meeting between Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif, supreme leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to discuss the appointment of the next army chief a “tragedy”, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Saturday said the former prime minister was not interested in the process to appoint the successor to Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa who is due to retire on November 29.

Addressing a rally of charged supporters in Jhang a day after the party resumed the protest march on Islamabad to demand snap elections, Asad Umar, secretary general of the opposition party, said Khan “has no interest” to appoint a military chief of his choice as he has “no extraconstitutional job that he wants institutions to perform.”

He said whoever “deserves the office on merit, should get it.”

Conflicting signals are emanating from the office of the chairman of arguably Pakistan’s largest political party on the way Khan is dealing with the issue of the all-important appointment.

Just a day earlier, Khan, while addressing participants of the march in Gujrat through a video-link, observed it was “tragic” that a “convict” — former

Before that, on November 8, Khan said he didn’t see any problem — anymore — if the appointment is made by the Sharif administration. Asked whether he had demanded the appointment be made in consultation with him and/or his party, Khan told a group of journalists: “No, they can appoint whoever they want.”

Objected to the meeting in London on Saturday, Umar, however, compared it to “as if decisions of a family-limited business” were being taken. He also recalled that Nawaz was “not only a suspect but a convict” in a host of corruption cases.

He also added that PTI was the party to succeed with the greatest majority from Jhang in 20 constituencies’ elections in July.

The march for “Haqeeqi [real] Azaadi” is not just Khan’s “war”, the “people of the country are also an equal part of it,” he added, urging the supporters to stand by Khan during the “struggle”.

The party relaunched the march in Wazirabad on Thursday, the same town where gunmen attacked and wounded Khan a week earlier, after the former prime minister told his supporters to keep up the antigovernment march.

Heavy police contingents were deployed for the

security of the marchers.

“Our march wouldn’t stop,” Khan said, adding the protest will instead gather strength as it closes on Islamabad.

Khan said nothing could deter him from going ahead as long as the snap polls were not called, adding that he would join the protest march in Rawalpindi in some days.

“I will not back off as long as I’m alive,” he said.

Prime Minister Sharif has rejected the demand, saying the election will be held as scheduled later next year.

Pakistan at COP27 demands climate aid, says ‘dystopia’ already here

SHARM EL-SHEIKH ReuteRs

Pakistan will not be satisfied unless UN climate summit negotiators unlock emergency cash for the country to rebuild after this year’s devastating floods, the climate minister said.

“The dystopia has already come to our doorstep,” Sherry Rehman told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the COP27 summit in Egypt.

She lamented the glacial pace of climate diplomacy, saying it cannot meet the needs of a country struggling to recover from climate-fueled flooding that caused more than $30 billion in economic losses.

“The political advances we make here will have very little meaning on the ground unless there is a transfer of resources that shifts the needle on how people face the future,” she said.

Pakistan is playing a high-profile role at the COP27 summit in Egypt this year, serving as one of two co-chairs invited by conference host Egypt, with the other being Norway.

Pakistan also represents the G77 umbrella group of developing countries, pushing for a doubling in finance to help poor nations adapt to climate impacts.

To date, only about a third of climate finance delivered has gone

toward adaptation projects, and the full sum promised — $100 billion per year — has never been paid in full. Last year saw just over $80 billion transferred.

Pakistan was key to getting the thorny issue of “loss and damage” onto the official UN summit agenda — a diplomatic coup after decades of resistance from rich nations. The move opened the door for talks to address

vulnerable countries’ demand to be compensated when hit by climatefueled disasters.

But incremental progress made in these discussions, which can go on for years, still wouldn’t be enough for Pakistanis back at home to consider the talks a win, she said.

“If I say, ‘well, adaptation has now been put as a priority’ … or ‘there’s a 50-50 allocation in terms of priority

between mitigation-adaptation’, it’s not going to mean very much to somebody whose house has been burned down by a forest fire or somebody who has lost a family member in the floods,” she said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called on rich countries to offer compensation and debt relief to help cover Pakistan’s efforts to rebuild and fortify the country against more severe climate impacts.

September’s floods engulfed vast areas of the country, affecting some 33 million people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Rehman said that any new money pledged either for loss and damage or for adaptation needs to be followed up “with speed and agility”, because countries like Pakistan have no time to waste.

She said she supported the call by the United States, Britain and other countries to overhaul international financial institutions to better respond to the disasters expected as the atmosphere continues to warm.

“There is a recognition [at COP27] that we are facing a new climate normal for the world,” she said. “But there still isn’t a recognition that the financial system that’s been running the world … is not going to be able to bail out the millions that are dying and in need.”

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD staff RepoRt

atc IndIctS alI ZaIdI, othEr ptI lEadErS In long March vandalISM caSE

staff RepoRt

aKarachi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) indicted 15 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders including Ali Haider Zaidi and Khurrum Sher Zaman in a case pertaining to alleged vandalism during the party’s long march on May 25.

The ATC heard two cases against PTI leaders on Saturday. PTI leaders Ali Haider Zaidi, Khurrum Sher Zaman, Jamal Siddiqui, Arsalan Taj

Ghumman, Firdous Shamim Naqvi and others appeared before the court. The police officials submitted charges against the accused, accusing them of arson, rioting, and attempted murder.

Former federal minister Ali Zaidi, Khurram Sher Zaman, Bilal Ghaffar, Arslan Taj, Muhammad Ali, Jamal Siddiqui, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Mohsin Ali and Ashraf Ali have been nominated in cases registered under terrorism and attempt to murder charges at Soldier Bazaar and Ferozabad police stations.

An FIR No 359/22 under the sections 147, 148, 149, 186, 353, 324, 283, 435, 109, 427 and 504 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with the Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act was registered at the Soldier Bazaar police station on the complaint of SHO Waqar Azeem.

The FIR said that almost 700 PTI workers gathered at Numaish Chowrangi and blocked the road after provoking the masses.

Earlier PTI said the Sindh police launched a crackdown against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

workers and activists protesting at Karachi’s Numaish Chowrangi in connection with the party’s long march to Islamabad.

PTI Karachi chapter leadership had announced to observe a sit-in at the city’s Numaish Chowrangi to protest against the regime change in Pakistan.

The police swing into action as soon as PTI workers and activists including women reached Numaish Chowrangi to stage sit-in in connection with the party’s Islamabad Azadi March.

Nawaz Sharif not only my elder brother but pillar of strength, says PM

ISLAMABAD staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that former premier Nawaz Sharif was not only his elder brother but also had been a pillar of strength throughout his life.

The prime minister’s remarks on Twitter came in response to a social media post showing him and elder brother Nawaz Sharif hugging each other with traditional warmth as the former left there after their

meeting in London.Shehbaz Sharif is seen showing respect to Nawaz Sharif who was staying in London for medical treatment since 2019.

The former premier also reciprocated the warmth with affection to his younger brother.

“Mian Nawaz Sharif is not just my leader and my elder brother but also someone who has been a pillar of strength for me throughout my life. His affection and love is a source of confidence and inspiration for me,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

aJK’s Sericulture deptt, poonch varsity to jointly promote cottage industry

MIRPUR (AJK) staff RepoRt

Sericulture Department of Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Poonch University’s Entomology Department have decided to exchange bilateral cooperation for the promotion of Kashmir’s cottage industry of Sericulture under the spirit of ongoing broad-based poverty alleviation programme across the liberated territory. The two public sector institutions took the decision during a day-long capacity building workshop of the Sericulture farmers, hosted by the AJK Sericulture Department at University of Poonch in Rawalakot on Friday. Sericulture is the traditional and home based industry of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, established in Azad Jammu & Kashmir in 1951. The awareness, training workshop on Sericulture was attended, among others, by a large number of students, faculty members of the University and Sericulture farmers as well as senior officers of the department of Sericulture of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Faculty members of Poonch university Dr Junaid, Dr Imran and Dr Shahid also made special efforts to organise the workshop on Sericulture successfully, Director, State Sericulture Department Syed Asghar Ali Shah later told APP here on Saturday elaborating objectives of holding of the event. Sardar Nasir Rahim, the Dean University of Poonch Rawalakot while addressing the inaugural session, lauded move of the Sericulture Department to join hands with faculty of the University for such an important and noble cause. Deputy Director Sericulture Tahir Masoud, Entomologist Research Centre, Rizwan Ullah Khan, Assistant Director Fahad Keyani and ASDO Salaar Mehmood from Sericulture Department unveiled comprehensive presentations regarding historical background of the Sericulture in AJK since its emergence in the liberated territory, Impact of Sericulture on Livelihood, Poverty Alleviation, Women Empowerment, National Economy and Environment of the State.

KARACHI

Punjab Cabinet CoMMittee for resolving traffiC ProbleMs during long MarCh

LAHORE Staff CoRReSpoNdeNt

CABINeTCommittee on Law and Order (SCCLO) has directed to ensure flow of traffic during the ongoing long march of PTI and save public of traffic problems. Punjab Minister for environment Protection and Cooperatives Basharat Raja chaired the meeting of SCCLO held at Civil Secretariat on Saturday. The

meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Punjab Abdullah Khan Sumbal and other concerned officers.

The Cabinet Committee issued necessary instructions after a detailed review of the security for the long march of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). The concerned commissioners, RPOs and deputy commissioners briefed the meeting.

The SCCLO directed that all petrol pumps located in the rout of long march should be shut down as a

security measure.

Chairman Committee Muhammad Basharat Raja directed that special attention should be paid to traffic arrangements on arrival of long march in big cities.

“Traffic plan should be prepared in advance and implemented accordingly,” the chair directed. He expressed concern over the participation of people from the rear of the long march at some places without checking and directed that no one should

allow entering the main convoy without checking.

The meeting decided that necessary arrangements in all major hospitals of Rawalpindi be ready before the long march’s arrival.

Chief Secretary Punjab Abdullah Khan Sumbal directed that the security SOPs decided for the long march should be followed in letter and spirit. “Deployment of police personnel should be balanced, there is no room for any laxity,” he warned.

57 killed in street crime incidents in Karachi in Oct alone: CPLC

KARACHI Staff RepoRt

The port city of Karachi, which the financial hub of the country, is facing an alarming increase in the menace of street crime and 57 people have been killed while resisting robbery bids and other incidents in the month of October, revealed a report of the Citizen-Police Liaison

Committee (CPLC).

According to the CPLC report, 211 cars were snatched or stolen in October, out of which 49 stolen or snatched cars were recovered by the police.

During the outgoing month, around 5,000 motorcycles were snatched or stolen, out of which only 323 could be recovered. Additionally, 2260 people were deprived of cellphones, out of

which 39 were recovered, the CPLC added.

It added that 57 people were killed in multiple incidents while two kidnapping for ransom incidents were reported during the period in question.

Karachi has witnessed an “alarming increase” in street crime after the flashfloods hit parts of the country especially Sindh province, Additional In-

Pakistan, Hungary enter bilateral defence cooperation agreement

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Ministry of Defence of Hungary and the Ministry of Defence of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have signed a bilateral agreement on Defence cooperation that would provide solid legal framework for enhancing defence cooperation between the Armed Forces of both the countries.

The agreement has been signed during the visit of Secretary Defence Lt-Gen (r) Hamooduz Zaman on the invitation of State Secretary for Defence Policy and Defence Development ,Ministry of Defence, Hungary, Dr

Gaspar Maroth. On the occasion, Lt-Gen (r) Hamooduz Zaman was flanked by Additional Secretary Ministry of Defence Rear Admiral Faisal Amin who had visited Budapest from November 10-11, said a press release issued on Saturday. In a ceremony arranged at Hungarian Ministry of Defence, the State Secretary and Secretary Defence signed the “agreement between the Ministry of Defence of Hungary and the Ministry of Defence of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Defence cooperation”. During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on regional and global security and matters of mutual interest, particularly in defence collaboration.

spector General (AIG) Karachi Javed Alam.

He made these remarks while briefing the media on police response against increasing crime rates in Karachi. “After the recent floods, Karachi has seen an extraordinary increase in street crimes in the city,” he said, adding that police have intensified action against rising crime.

Govt to complete its tenure, election to be held on time: Sherpao

Man gets death for killing ex-wife

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

A district and sessions court in Rawalpindi handed down a death sentence and ten years of imprisonment on Saturday to the former spouse of a US citizen of Pakistan origin after finding him guilty. The body of Wajiha Swati, 47, who was killed by Rizwan Habib, her former husband, over a property dispute was found late last year and brought to Rawalpindi for further investigation. Swati arrived in Pakistan in mid-October to settle issues with Habib and went missing. Habib, who was arrested on suspicion of murder in December, confessed Saturday to killing Swati the day she arrived in the city.

By January, police had arrested six accused in the murder case,including Hurriat Ullah, Bangash’s father, and Sultan, his servant. The five accused apart from Bangash were charged with aiding and abetting the murder. At the hearing on Saturday, Muhammad Afzal Majoka, an additional sessions judge, sentenced Hurriat Ullah and Sultan to seven years in prison each. The other three suspects — Yousuf, Zahida, and Rashid — were acquitted due to lack of evidence. A team of US investigators also attended the proceedings. According to police, it had emerged during the investigation that Swati was demanding back her property worth millions of rupees, which she had transferred in the name of Habib before their divorce.

Chairman Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) and senior leader of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that the coalition government will complete its constitutional tenure and general election will be held on time. He expressed these views while addressing a press conference in Tangi district Charsadda on Saturday. On the occasion Member of Tehsil Council Mussarat Bibi w/o Jamil Khan Bacha, Alamzeb Khan, Kach Kaka, Mehraj Khan and other PTI activists announced to join QWP.

Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao alleged that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) through long march was paving way for anarchy and lawlessness in the country. The government can’t be changed through long march and one should have to adopt constitutional way for the purpose, he clarified. He said that Chairman PTI Imran Khan wants to make the appointment of new army chief controversial.

DC Loralai among two killed in Quetta attacks

QUETTA INp

Two including Deputy Commissioner Loralai were killed and another injured in separate incidents of road mishaps and firing here on Saturday. Rescue sources said that the accident took place near Benazir Bridge at Spinni Road Quetta resultantly Deputy Commissioner Loralai Jamil Ahmed Rind was killed while his companion was injured. Unidentified gunmen shot dead a resident of Dera Murad Jamali identified as Abdul Basit in Chandni Chowk area of Quetta and fled the scene. The bodies and injured were shifted to different hospitals and police after registering separate cases in both incidents started investigations.

LandsLide kiLLs worker in duki mine: A coal miner was killed and another injured in landslide at Duki coal mine on Saturday. According to details, a big land mass fell over to miners engaged in routine work at Duki coal mine. One worker identified as Ali Shah s/o Jhanda Kakar was killed while Jalil s/o Muhammad Qasim was injured.

PESHAWAR Staff RepoRt

AlwAys kept nAtionAl interest supreme: nAwAz

pAKISTANMuslim

League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime minister of Pakistan has said that he has always kept interest of country and its people supreme while making decisions.

“The person who claims of rule of law has himself admitted his failure to achieve the task during his government. Can one trust such person,” he question.

PML-N Chief was talking to a delegation headed by MNA and President of PML-N for Gulf and Middle East Ahsanul Haq Bajwa which called on him at his residence in London. Vice President PML-N Marriyam Nawaz and former federal minister Abid Sher Ali were also present during the meeting.

He said that the PML-N offered political, economic stability to the country during its past tenures and will also ensure them in future.

The PML-N supremo called overseas Pakistanis as valuable assets to the nation and country, say-

ing that all possible facilities would be ensured for them.

He said that the nation was well aware of those who deceived them and now their associates have also started raising voice against their misdeeds.

Nawaz claimed of record development in the country during PMLN governments and said that it would take decades to mend the four-year devastation of PTI government.

He said that it was high time to ensure the rule of law and supremacy of constitution to pave the

country on venue of real development and open new ways of prosperity of the countrymen.

Ahsan ul Haq Bajwa apprised the party chief about organizational matters of PML-N Overseas and his recent visits to United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Nawaz Sharif lauded the efforts of Ahsan for strengthening the party in Gulf and Middle East. He also asked to issue special directives to the office bearers of PML-N in all countries to resolve the issues of overseas Pakistanis especially labourers on priority basis.

Minister: Imran trying to make institutions controversial

asserted the prime minister has full authority to appoint the army chief on merit.

Qamar Zaman Kaira, advisor to the prime minister on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, has criticised Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), for “triggering unrest” in the country by his protest march.

Talking to a TV channel, he said Khan was lying to the nation in public rallies and trying to make the security institutions controversial. He

He, however, said the government was ready to hold talks with the opposition party for resolving political issues, but it will not accept any unconstitutional demand.

He suggested the PTI leadership should avoid issuing controversial statements which may harm the peace and stability of the country.

“Unfortunately, PTI leaders have been issuing irresponsible statements

soon after the firing incident, which should be avoided,” Kaira said.

The minister said removing the government and holding snap elections was purely an undemocratic and unconstitutional demand made by the PTI. He said: “We are a strong believer in peaceful dialogue with political parties.”

Unlike PTI leadership, the government’s representatives never issued any irresponsible statements and they only responded to their charges in a polite manner, he added.

Turkey helps Pakistan mitigate food security challenges

ISLAMABAD anadolu agency

Turkish state-run aid agency is assisting flood-battered farmers in Pakistan to mitigate a looming threat to food security caused by recent super floods and rains that inundated millions of acres of croplands across the country.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has launched a program to provide wheat seeds to thousands of farmers to help them grow crops in Sindh and Balochistan that have been severely affected by the near-apocalyptic floods.

Wheat is the main winter crop and a major source of income for millions of farmers across Pakistan.

So far, the relief agency has distributed 60 tons of wheat seeds to 700 small-scale farmers in eight worstaffected districts of Sindh, TIKA Karachi Coordinator Halil Ibrahim Basaran told Anadolu Agency.

The districts include Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Matiari, Sanghar, Nawabshah, Dadu, and Khairpur.

The TIKA held the latest ceremony in Matiari district to provide wheat seeds to over 100 farmers in collaboration with Sindh Agricultural University in Tandojam, Hyderabad district, and the Rural Agriculture Extension Department Sindh, according to a statement issued by the Turkish relief agency on Friday.

Basaran said at the ceremony that the program is

aimed at assisting small-scale farmers who have suffered huge losses in terms of ready-to-reap crops and cash due to massive floods and rains.

Since the floodwaters have receded, he further said, now seeds and fertilizers are the key requirements of the millions of farmers in the flood-hit areas.

One of the program’s beneficiaries, Ghulam Mustafa, thanked Ankara for its support, saying: “We always heard about the friendship and brotherhood between Türkiye and Pakistan, but today we have witnessed it.”

Turkey has so far sent 15 planes and seven trains loaded with relief goods, including tents, boats, food items, medicines, vaccines, and other items on the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has also set up three “tent cities” in the Dadu, Hyderabad, and Noshero Feroz districts of Sindh, providing temporary housing to some 3,000 flood-affected people.

Aside from killing over 1,700 people, the drenching monsoon that began in mid-June and lasted until late September, inundated a third of Pakistan, washing away hundreds of thousands of houses, schools, bridges, and animals and destroying millions of acres of cropland.

The massive floods have caused $30 billion in losses to the nation’s already struggling economy, mainly in infrastructure and agriculture.

China-aided hydropower project bolsters energy structure, transforms lives

ISLAMABAD agencies

Life has taken an incredible turn for 24-year-old Qais Qadeer when he, as a scholarship student a few years ago, joined China Three Gorges Corporation, a Chinese company constructing a hydropower plant on river Jehlum.

Now working as an operation engineer at the Karot hydropower project in Punjab, Qadeer told Xinhua that he is living a successful and fulfilling life that a person like him could never dream of.

The project is one of the China-aided power projects being built in the country under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Since the groundbreaking of the project in April 2015, the Chinese and Pakistani engineers and workers at the project have jointly overcome

different challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cherishing his unbelievable journey, he said he gets to learn a lot from Chinese instructors and supervisors, both during his studies in China and at the hydropower station in Pakistan.

“I was a fresh graduate when I joined this project after completing my studies in China, but the environment here was so conducive that I adopted all the techniques in a very quick manner … I am proud to be part of the project which will immensely benefit the people of Pakistan in economic and social ways besides alleviating energy shortage,” he said.

The Karot hydropower project would facilitate Pakistan to achieve renewable energy goals by producing clean and cheap energy, Noorul Arifeen Zuberi, a senior advisor of the China Three Gorges South Asia

Investment, said.

The 720-megawatt hydropower project is expected to annually generate some 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity once put into full commercial operations in June this year, reducing 3.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Based on the Chinese standards and technologies, the project is of tremendous importance as it will not only help Pakistan improve its energy structure but will also promote the sustainable development of the local economy and society while contributing to the global goal of carbon neutrality, he said.

Zuberi said over 4,000 jobs, directly or indirectly, were provided to local people every year and students were awarded fully-funded scholarships, adding that billions of rupees were paid by the company in taxes to the Pakistani government during the construction phase.

corporate corner

The Lahore YMCA held a special event to celebrate Cyber Saturday. Participants of the training workshop in a group photograph with Mrs Andrew McMillan from UK and other guests. pr

LONDON staff report

ISLAMABAD staff report

Long March resumes

tHePti has resumed its Long March from Wazirabad, the spot where party chief imran Khan was attacvked last week. After a hiatus of a week, the Long March has resumed with a slightly different format. Mr Khan is no longer on the container, being content to address the March at the end of the day’s progress via videolink from his Lahore residence in Z|aman Park. Before the attack, he had shuttled to the March from Zaman Park every day, going back to Zaman Park after his address. He has promised to join the Long bMarch when it reaches Rawalpindi.

the Long March has apparently been split into two, with former minister and party secretary general Asad Umar leading a rally from Jhang, which reached toba tek Singh, while the main rally reached Lala Musa, on Saturday. in his Friday address, Mr Khan indicated why he had felt it necessary to launch the Long March even though the party had not conducted the necessary groundwork, and it seemed that it was committing the same mistake as May 25, when it went into the Long March half-cocked. By the time Mr Khan reached Wazirabad, where the attempt on his life took place, the crowds had thinned considerably, and the thin crowds seemed as thin, the increased sympathy with bMr Khan being balanced by the decline in interest because of his absence.

On Friday, though, Mr Khan gave his take on the subject engrossing everyone’s attention without saying anything beyond what he had said before: the appointment of the next Chief of Army Staff. Mr Khan has not shown any advance over the position he had taken when he said that nawaz Sharif should not be involved, as he wanted only to appoint a COAS who would ignore his corruption.though he did not say so, it has become obvious that the Long March is directed at influencing the prospect of appointment. While mr Khan said he wanted the appointment made on merit, he has managed to create the impression that he sees the COAS merely as the person who selects the dG iSi. He has made it clear that he sees the COAS as able, and somehow responsible, to deal with corruption, though he has not made it clear if the ability to lead the Army has any place in hos calculations.

Is India’s expansionist approach creating a military imbalance in the Caucasian region?

raises hackles

i believe india is doing it by design as Azerbaijan always stands with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue and otherwise also.

What would be your reaction when you know that

enemy has been attacking you in the past and planning for a new attack again and someone is loading your enemy with new military technologies?

On October 17, 2022, i wrote an article titled "india is fueling the fire by providing latest weapons to Armenia" about the indian export of manufactured Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers and anti-tank rockets with a range of ammunition to Armenia. now we have another news within a month for another big military hardware deal between the two countries.

“On november 9, 2022, Bharat Forge Limited received an export order worth $ 155.50 million US dollars for 155mm artillery guns. the company while communicating with the Bombay stock exchange stated “We are pleased to inform you that Kalyani Strategic Systems Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has been awarded an export order for a 155mm Artillery Gun platform to be executed over a 3-year time frame”. the company refrained from disclosing the buyer's name however indian newspaper Business Standard reported on november 9 2022 that Bharat Forge's subsidiary sold 155-mm artillery at $155 mm to Armenia. the point here is that company claims this deal is with a non-conflict country, “this order, to a non-conflict zone, is a great testament to the Government of india’s Aatma-nirbhar-Bharat agenda and its sustained push to promote exports of indigenously designed developed and Manufactured (iddM) advanced defense platforms from india.”

it is a pity to see that india’s Aatma-nirbhar (selfreliance) agenda entered a hopeless situation of selling arms to a conflict zone. india has every right to Aatma-nirbhar Bharat but fueling the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict for commercial purposes shows the ruthless ambition of the “make in india project” that seems to have no ethical boundaries and no moral values. it is the right of any sovereign country to fight for its self-reliance but not at the cost of humanity and cynical eagerness to fuel a war.

Azerbaijan and Pakistan have a unique political relationship that is beyond territorial boundaries and geographical distances. Pakistan was among the first states to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence following the 1991 Soviet collapse. Pakistan and Azerbaijan have always been engaged in military hardware technology share and exports. Recently, in June 2022, Azerbaijani defense Minister Col Gen Zakir Hasanov and Pakistani Chief of Air Staff Air \Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu discussed military, military-technical, and military-educational cooperation.

the meeting took place in Baku on June 29 and both talked about expanding military, military-technical, and military-educational domains. Pakistan military leadership, as well as Azerbaijan, know better than me what plans are underway but i know this June meeting is opening new corridors for further enhancing militaryto-military relations between both countries.

india must not forget Pakistan’s military hardware production capability and the long-standing relationship between Pakistan and Azerbaijan. if india will keep fulling the war Azerbaijan is not alone.

A Baku-based political expert and journalist from nejat İsmayilov in one of his articles published in the year 2020 write that Pakistan is the most cooperating country for Azerbaijan, particularly in the field of military cooperation between the two countries. it is pertinent to cite a statement of a Member of the Azerbaijani national Assembly, tahir Rzayev who commented on india’s arms sales to Armenia, “if Armenia has india, Azerbaijan has Pakistan.” this statement helps to analyze the existing relations.

which are close to China and its allies. Pakistan and Azerbaijan are among them.

We remember that the Armenian national Security Service at the height of the 44-day patriotic war alleged “someone from outside the region” had been fighting against Armenia on the ground and indian media reproduced news items that this “someone from outside the region” is Pakistan. i can say Armenian national Security Service and indian media collaborated on this issue without creating diplomatic problems for Armenia by directly naming Pakistan. While Armenian media was constantly accusing turkey of transferring militants from the Middle east to the conflict zone. Armenia also claimed that Azerbaijan and turkey were recruiting Syrian soldiers to Karabakh.

the question is why india and Armenia are collaborating so closely. india has cordial diplomatic relations with Baku and both have a high trade level annual Azerbaijan export to india is expected to pass $1.5 billion million by the end of 2022 as it has already surpassed the figure of US$ 1,429 million from January to September 2022.

We know India has an expansionist approach but I thought this approach would remain within the region. I believe Pakistan must keep an eye on the entrance of India in the guise of Aatma-Nirbhar as far as in the Caucasian region with military hardware offers

in 2020, Azerbaijan exported $458 million to india. the main products were crude petroleum ($453 millin), Halogens ($3.14M), and Spices ($622k). during the last 25 years, the exports of Azerbaijan to india have increased from $60.3k in 1995 to $1,000 million-plus in 2022. Azerbaijan has been very friendly with india though having relations with Pakistan but Azerbaijani media covers india positively. i am surprised what has triggered india to stand blatantly with Armenia is beyond any iota of doubt an aggressor in the region.

Nizami Editor

M. A. Niazi Joint Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Joint Editor

Armenia, as the world has witnessed in 44-days of patriotic war, is not interested in any resolution, the Armenian Army has no miliary morality as they can dig out the graves of Azerbaijanis and humiliate the corpses. even the United nations confirmed that Armenia’s aggression toward Azerbaijan has no legal or moral justification. Moreover, the Armenian Army is committing war crimes and india is eager to become an accomplice. india’s loathsome desire to be relevant and Armenia’s criminal army are a lethal combination.

Another political scientist and journalist Seymur Mammadov wrote recently an article titled “Blockade of Azerbaijan by india in BRiCS”. in which he maintained that india’s blockade of Azerbaijan to BRiCS is for two reasons first it does not want any country close to Pakistan in this group and the second reason is that turkey-PakistanAzerbaijan military alliance is something that hurts india. China is already in BRiCS and to push the dragon out of BRiCS is impossible for new delhi but it can block those countries’ entry into BRiCS

Being a student of diplomacy, i need to figure out what india has in mind while intervening in a faraway region where it had no military interests in the past. We know india has an expansionist approach but i thought this approach would remain within the region. i believe Pakistan must keep an eye on the entrance of india in the guise of Aatma-nirbhar as far as in the Caucasian region with military hardware offers.

The writer Shazia Cheema is an analyst writing for national and international media outlets. She heads the DND Thought Center. She did her MA in Cognitive Semiotics from Aarhus University Denmark and is currently registered as a Ph.D. Scholar of Semiotics and Philosophy of Communication at Charles University Prague

COP27 covered in clouds of failure

Unitednations Climate summits are held annually to concur on the steps the world bellwethers can take to inhibit the ascension in earth's temperature. the earth's temperature has risen 1.1°C and is heading towards 1.5°C. if the temperature rises that much, it will have a colossal impact on every aspect of human life. in 2014, 194 countries signed the Paris Climate Agreement to constrain temperatures under 1.5°C. this year's COP27 conference in egypt is consequential in many ways because countries such as Pakistan faced massive climate-induced disasters which have decimated the economy, people, and infrastructure. the world is facing an energy crisis due to the Ukraine crisis. there is no visible way to attain climate goals except nuclear energy because things are getting out of hand, and countries are moving towards failure.

in this situation, the goal of keeping the temperature rise to under 1.5°C seems unattainable. Countries that pledged to inhibit their emissions did not do so. the world has already become 1.2°C sultrier than the pre-industrial level. Furthermore, the impact of Greenhouse gases remains for a long time. Consequently, it seems infeasible to procure the goal of constraining the temperature rise to under 1.5°C. this goal of cutting emissions doesn't seem facile and needs massive investment. According to one estimate, the world will require $1 trillion invested annually to procure the Paris Climate Agreement goal.

to procure the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement, utilizing nuclear power is very eminent. in its reports, the interGovernmental Panel on Climate Change verbal-

ized using proven technology to limit temperature rises to under 1.5°C. nuclear energy is the only power source that can perpetuate energy without disruption. it is the cleanest proven source of power the world has right now. the US and France are getting 20 percent and 70 percent of their energy from nuclear power, respectively.

Scientists at the Massachusetts institute of technology experimented on 1000 scenarios that can be acclimated to provide clean energy to the USA. the purest and most reliable source of potency was nuclear technology. Furthermore, nuclear power plants need less space than wind and solar power plants, and engender energy more efficiently than them. However, nuclear power has so many stigmas affixed to it. due to accidents such as three Mile island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, the world bellwethers are reluctant to utilize the full power of nuclear energy. in addition, these accidents can transpire; however, the focus should be on finding the solution to these quandaries, not consummately ignoring its efficacy.

in addition, if we study the deaths caused per unit of electricity, nuclear technology causes 0.007 deaths compared to 24.6 of coal, 18.4 of oil, 4.6 of biomass, and 2.8

of gas. if the world leaders did not adopt the proven nuclear technology out of trepidation, an thu fail to to abbreviate greenhouse gas emissions, more people would die, especially in developing countries.

Research from Climate impact Lab illustrated that people in low-income countries would become victims of climate change more than those of more affluent countries. According to its recent report, even if countries meet their Pairs Climate Agreement pledges, in the cities like Faisalabad in Pakistan, the yearly all-cause death rate could increase by 67 deaths per 100,000.

Furthermore, the world will always need more electricity in the future because temperatures will increase due to climate change. in this scenario, people will be stuck in a cyclic process in which they will utilize more electricity to keep themselves cool, which will further deteriorate the climate if we do not find a way to provide electricity from excellent nuclear resources. ergo, world leaders, and companies need to find a solution to the quandaries cognate to nuclear technology.

Companies like terra power are endeavoring to build next Generation nuclear reactors. Utilizing the Super Computer simulation, they produced a model of a nuclear reactor that engenders less atomic waste and can additionally work on the waste of other nuclear reactors. Furthermore, they build it underground, which can avert it from attacks, and radioactive

material is stored in pins that expand if it overheats, which slow downs nuclear reaction. these innovative solutions are the desideratum of the hour. the non-Proliferation treaty also emphasizes using placid nuclear technology; however, this seems arduous in the current multi-spectrum geopolitical environment.

the Russia-Ukraine war will also impact the development of nuclear power reactors. Russia is developing more nuclear reactors worldwide, and China is following it. due to the current geopolitical competition, the USA would not help Russia and China to build nuclear reactors and develop a cognition of dependency in other countries. Furthermore, significant powers must cooperate for the peaceful spread of atomic energy.

the world will fail to achieve the target of circumscribing temperature increases under 1.5°C, which will have devastating consequences for the developing world. However, adopting nuclear technology still presents countries with hope if significant powers decide to cooperate.

The writer is Research Officer at CISS, AJK. He tweets @zohaib24hdj

Imran’s latest broadside makes clear why the Long March is taking place

WHAtwould be your response when you are in the middle of a war and someone equips your enemy with the latest weapons?

your

The world will fail to achieve the target of circumscribing temperature increases under 1.5°C, which will have devastating consequences for the developing world. However, adopting nuclear technology still presents countries with hope if significant powers decide to cooperate

ShaZia anwer Cheema

Yousaf

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

Indian military ties with Armenia

Zohaib altaf

Into the thick clouds

Country taken for a ride

naqi akbar

TOdAy, every nook and corner of a workplace; in the side lanes of a marketplace where sales activity is slack; for obvious reasons; human voices are abuzz like working honey bees. they are discussing what can be called a position of political suspense.

everyone is keeping his cards close to his chest; whether it is a property decision, marriage of a kid or a new business. the reason being extreme political uncertainty into which the country has been plagued since the start of the current calendar year. the reason being a clash of egos; personal as well as institutiona,l which have held the whole country for almost any year. the sorriest part of that stalemate has been that there is simply no effort made by any of the stakeholders to arrest the trend. it looks like the political quagmire is like the giant deg (utensil for cooking) where every personality, every institution is trying to put its share of pulses, spices, water and other ingredients so that the final dish, the Haleem, has the best flavour.

From unusual press conferences from the most elusive government paid employees to the towering political personalities, not to ignore the top bosses of the top institutions, no one is interested in arresting the destructive trends; which seems to have held the society, individual lives and even professional human beings hostage. Pakistan, despite its history of dictatorship and autocracy, had not among its media count journalists; who were killed unceremoniously and rather in a gruesome way.

the divisions within the fourth pillar of society are glaring. if one pack of journalists have nothing but to praise the leader whose brand managers they are; the other band might be doing the established order or the established order’s favourite boy’s bid. Many journalists might have known the CiA, KGB, Mossad and SAVAK stories of political detainees’ nails being torn out of their limbs and must have read many stories as part of their self-education. However, today Pakistan is witness to the spectacle where one band of insensitive media has the gall to show to the prime time audience things, which many journalists might have only read, but not experienced.

Obviously, the big question is where the country is heading from here. the question is alarming on the count that there is no effort on part of the institutions to arrive at any point of agreement and accordingly follow the agreed path. the constitution and the rules of business of Parliament allow forums of debate between the political and military leadership to sort out things; take decisions in a professional manner, as should be the protocol and culture of a mature polity or democracy. However, unfortunately Pakistan has ceased to be a mature polity any more.

instead of the fact that each institution comes out clean with the culture of clean information for the perusal of its prime stakeholders;

the people of Pakistan; it is a guessing game all the way round. When the beleaguered common person joins the nodes or the dots, the picture that emerges is too graphic to be digested easily.

the so-called professional level appointment in Pakistan has been inflated almost to the level of elevation of a monarch in a primitive land in the distant past. Practically for any one trying to analyze the situation objectively it lead to wonder, if that appointment was so important to justify a political game back in April; or to corner a political trend consequently.

Apparently, today many people have the false belief that Pakistan is on the edge of a revolution. Pakistani ground facts support that feeling as the situation on every front; be it economic, diplomatic or social; is ripe for a change of basic rules of business, terms of reference etc.

However, the wheeling and dealing which can at most qualify as palace conspiracy is being marketed as revolution in the making. talks with lower tiers of the deep state points to a dichotomy between the leadership and the human fodder; the masses.

the party out in the wilderness might have the reason for chanting a flowery slogan of revolution; but for the top leadership it is a pure bid to get into the corridors of power. that has been the precise reason that the party of revolution has not vacated many key posts.

it continues to be bluffed by its so-called supporters in the right places however, it is not ready to create a distance with them and look for the real revolution. it is because it never wanted a revolution; but a piece of privilege in the bread held hostage by the established order and its cronies. Practically no one is thinking for the common person.

to have a share in the bread referred to above. the recent decimation of humans, professionals, through murder, either economic or actual, creates a strong impression that the political forces have opportunistic goals. Whether it is PPPPML(n) coalition using the slain journalist issue for settling scores with the established order; or the Pti making use of the murder for their own petty political ends; no one is thinking of what the common person is thinking. the common person is fed up with the Games of thrones and wants a real change. However, unfortunately, the coalition ruling the country does not want this; nor do the revolutionaries standing outside have any intention to do that.

the fourth pillar of state, which derives much of its strength from the people's approval, is bewildered. it is keeping a profile above any political like or dislike; though that pillar is regularly hounded by embedded journalists; who feel that this or that leader has the capacity to take the country out of the quagmire. the fact of the matter is that the people need to look through the happenings and decide for themselves if they want to be the pawns in the established order games or want to tread the path based on their own senses of deduction. towards that end; a long term and short of education of masses is imperative. What is going to be settled in a few weeks with animated performances by all the actors, are not going to solve the pressing problems the country faces; especially its efficient middle-income groups and budding youthful population. the two above-mentioned groups do not need yet another round of musical chairs.

The new Pakistan; much abused and hijacked by the established order and its propped up groups, now and then needs a new cadre; something like the Turkish and Iranian experiences; evolutionary and revolutionary. Old Pakistan, emanating from Clifton, Model Town or Zaman Park simply does not have the capacity to meet the challenges. Conclusively, Pakistan is being taken for a ride once again. It is high time that the competent and pious claim their rightful place in the affairs of the society

As things have transpired; a person’s appointment was the bone of contention when revolutionary politicians were in power in islamabad and the same is now when the other band of revolutionaries now control the affairs of the state! these mysterious men on horseback all dress up in green headgear to hide their cruel faces; alas!

Matching that opportunism on part of the political forces who hope to be established order favourites in the coming farce of elections or the ones posing as revolutionaries but actually trying

the new Pakistan; much abused and hijacked by the established order and its propped up groups, now and then needs a new cadre; something like the turkish and iranian experiences; evolutionary and revolutionary. Old Pakistan, emanating from Clifton, Model town or Zaman Park simply does not have the capacity to meet the challenges. Conclusively, Pakistan is being taken for a ride once again. it is high time that the competent and pious claim their rightful place in the affairs of the society.

The writer is a freelance columnist

Editor’s mail

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan today exclusively

Teen Drug Addiction

tHeReis a rise in the number of drug addicts in the country. Unfortunately, most of them happen to be teenagers. it all starts with smoking. According to reports, nine out of 10 adults who smoke cigarettes daily first tried smoking by age 18. With an increasing number of flavours and options available in vapes and e-cigarettes, youngsters are inclined to use these products even more. One of the main causes of drug use among teenagers is peer pressure. youngsters post their pictures on social media using these substances, which encourages, even compels, others to try them as well. trying to fit in among the ‘cool’ squad, they fall prey to drug addiction before they even realise. in addition to peer pressure, lack of social skills as well as cultural and social influences are also important factors. teenagers use recreational drugs to lighten their worries and take some time off. it begins as a naive attempt, but soon turns into a fatal habit. Overdose of certain drugs can also lead to death. if someone is suspected of having fallen in the drug trap, those around the individual must try to be helpful tactfully, and then do their best to be supportive during the withdrawal phase of addiction.

MARYUM NUSRAT KARACHI

City that it was

tHecivic conditions have become pathetic in the ancient city of Jhelum. it is quite disappointing for me, as i have wonderfully nostalgic memories of my birthplace, where we lived till 1957. the house given to my father by his employers, the Pakistan Railways, had a huge orchard. it comprised a large variety of fruit trees, including pomelo (chakotra), which has now become extinct in Pakistan. it used to be a large-sized grapefruit, but red from the inside when ripe. A creeper of white roses around a tall tree greeted the visitors at entrance through the wooden gate, which could be conveniently opened from the outside, as there were no security issues at the time. the town has historic importance as the first encounter between Alexander the Great and indian Raja Porus took place on the banks of Jhelum River in 326BC. Porus surrendered to Alexander despite his large army and 200 battle-trained elephants. When asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated, Porus famously replied, “treat me as a king would treat another king.” impressed, Alexander treated him with dignity. the Railway Colony in Jhelum is located on a hillock. According to grapevine, the mound had come into existence due to the fallen temporary houses meant for Alexander’s troops. At the base of the colony, an old man used to live in a mud house who possessed a collection of ancient coins dug out by him over the years. in those days, the Jhelum River was a spectacular sight and visitors to its banks had a great time interacting with serenity, especially in the mornings when the fresh and cool breeze attracted a large number of ‘walkers’. the civil administration and other bodies concerned should restore the glory of Jhelum so that people may again be able to enjoy the sounds and sights of a great city.

PARVEZ RAHIM KARACHI

Abhorrent VIP Culture

tHerecent delay in release of salaries of public servants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) exhibits the alarming situation which the province might face in the coming months. KP outrightly failed in managing its expenses. On the one hand, the political class has its own patterns of behaviour, while, on the other, the senior bureaucracy seems to be interested in carving out more administrative units so that they may get new fiefdoms to rule over. the chief interest of the bureaucracy lies in obtaining more perks and privileges out of an economy that is already struggling. the executive allowance is a glaring example of such benefits. the superior services were created by the imperial power to raise a class of natives that may help them in keeping the subjects under control. even after a passage of 75 years, we dearly cherish their legacies that were only exploitative in nature. things get worse owing to the bloated size of the government machinery which is becoming difficult to manage. Moreover, providing every officer with trappings, such as gas-guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks — or daalas in common parlance — along with heavily armed guards in full battle gear has already exacerbated the financial situation. Besides the administrative services, the provincial police department has a track record that can be easily rated way below zero. in my opinion, there is no need for the police department as half of the policemen are deployed around the families of the well-connected ones, while the other half is out there to extort money from law-abiding citizens.

in addition to these issues, the KP police department within a few years has raised new squads that have no role in the prevention of crime. these squads, which often have fancy names, can only be spotted in pickup trucks or security details of, again, the well-connected people.

the police department, in fact, should be disbanded to save the taxpayers’ precious money. these colourful security squads are nothing but a burden on the provincial treasury. Last but not least, the culture of disgusting government car number plates, which is a symbol of privilege in our society, also adds to discontent in what happens to be a highly fragmented society. We are already in a self-destruction mode. We still have a room to atone for our past’s illconceived decisions, which actually were decisions conceived without conscience. Otherwise, chaos and anarchy are knocking right at our doors and we are only a step away from system collapse.

HAIDER ALI PESHAWAR

Proper Identification

After four long years, Pakistan has earned freedom from the shackles of the Financial Action task Force (FAtF). the real challenge now is to keep the current status unchanged. the major responsibility rests with banks in Pakistan when it comes to following the anti-money-laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFt) guidelines. to fend off money-laundering, at the time of opening a bank account, the Know-your-Customer (KyC) form is mandatory regarding the evidence of the source of income. despite using modern software systems, banks fail to prevent money-laundering. the flaws that had landed Pakistan in hot soup deserve serious consideration by the banking industry. As fintech platforms flourish, banks need to be more vigilant to avoid dirty money in their institutions. Often, banks demand the production of the original identity card and there are times when they keep a copy of it before completing a transaction. the funny thing is that no authentication is done in such cases with the national database and Registration Authority (nadra) portal. if someone is, say, an absconder, the CniC is blocked by courts or law enforcement agencies, but the bank will still complete the transaction simply on the basis of the original card.

TAHA SOOMRO KARACHI

WhO's gOing tO stOp the madness Of extremist ministers Of next israeli gOvernment?

BEN -GVIR HAS FREQUENTLY DESECRATED AL-AQSA MOSQUE ALONG WITH HIS SUPPORTERS AND CARRIED OUT JEWISH RITUALS, WHICH ARE BANNED BY THE ISRAELI LAW

curity, which oversees internal security, including the security of prisons, where Palestinian resistance fighters are serving long sentences in inhumane conditions.

Middle eaSt Monitor MotaSeM a Dalloul

aSBenjamin netanyahu, the head of the largest right-wing Israeli party Likud, is going to form the most right-wing government the country has ever had, expectations are rising that he will give influential ministerial portfolios to far right Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Prior to his victory and during his electoral campaign, Ben-Gvir told his supporters that he was eyeing the ministry of public se-

now, according to the Israeli media, he is seeking to get become minister of education and give his ally, the extremist Smotrich, the ministry of defence. If this happens, Amos Harel of Haaretz said, it "will have significant impact on the ground." Harel, who is a leading Israeli reporter and analyst of military and security issues, stated that Smotrich "will be an integral part of the next netanyahu government."

While these two extremist far-right Israeli Jewish politicians are becoming senior officials with extremist and racist goals at the top of their agenda, who will be able to deal with them, deter their racist ambitions or rein in their madness.

In an article published in Israel Hayom, Ben -Gvir attempted to lower his extremist tone. He compared his past and current views and explained how he changed, but in

the same article he wrote: "I don't plan to apologise for who I am, but I think that if you get to know me, you will change your views about me and my positions. For too long too many Israelis have been afraid of enemies from within and without. no more!"

During his electoral campaign, Ben-Gvir said he would seek to ease the Israeli occupation army's rules of engagement to allow Israeli soldiers "to more easily shoot-to-kill Palestinian suspects," the Times of Israel reported, adding that Smotrich has campaigned for the same thing.

As he was leaving the Office if the Prime Minister, Yair Lapid – who lost the post in the election – lamented the defeat of the leftwing parties in Israel, saying: "After a loss in the elections there is always fallout, there is always anger. It's human and understandable, but we have a much more important mission. We must join forces in the fight for our beloved country. In the Knesset, in the streets, in all possible arenas."

Lapid knows very well how such far

right religious politicians are harming the country's governability as well as public relations in the international arenas. So he has already started to mobilise power, seeking allies to form a strong united opposition aimed at restoring the power of the left.

In an event held in memory of late extremist US-born Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose extremist followers have attacked and sometimes killed both Israelis and Arabs, Ben-Gvir hailed the controversial figure whose organisation has been labelled terrorists by the US, and defended his views as he insisted that "ultimately Rabbi Kahane was about love. Love for Israel without compromise, without any other consideration."

Speaking at the same event, another far right Israeli Jewish activist, Baruch Marzel, who was a former political partner of BenGvir, said: "nothing will stop unless we drain the swamp," reinforcing a previous call to expel the over 300,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel who voted for the Balad and

Ra'am parties in last week's election.

During the meeting with Israeli President Issac Herzog, Ben-Gvir said he was certain that "if I speak with the world, they will realise and acknowledge that I don't make generalisations against all Arabs." He was also reported by Israeli media saying that he had "started to meet with diplomats and will work to explain the positions of Otzma Yehudit around the world," in reference to his political party.

If Ben-Gvir is handed the Ministry of Public Security, he will have control over law enforcement on Al-Aqsa Mosque, where extremist Israeli settlers and officials, including him, have been seeking a change to the status quo at the expense of Muslim rights.

Ben -Gvir has frequently desecrated AlAqsa Mosque along with his supporters and carried out Jewish rituals, which are banned by the Israeli law. He has a long history of inciting violence and seeking the deportation of Palestinians from their homes in the Palestinian neighbourhoods in the vicinities of the Muslim holy site.

Who will deter him and stop his madness when he becomes a senior government official with immense power? Who will stop him ordering Israeli police to shoot to kill Palestinians?

Why is the Modi government so intent on pushing Hindi?

TOBACCO COMPANIES ARE POURING MONEY INTO ECIGARETTES AND MAKING THEM ATTRACTIVE TO TEENS. WHY IS NOBODY STOPPING THEM?

Guardian Sarah boSeley

tHEmodern sweet shop has long removed from its window the screw-top glass jars full of gobstoppers and lemon sherbets that used to tempt kids to spend their pocket money on the way home from school. Instead, there is an array of slim boxes in a rainbow of bright colours. “Banana ice”, “pink lemonade”, “blueberry sour raspberry”, “cotton candy ice”, they are labelled.

The jewelled boxes contain Elf bars: disposable ecigarettes. The rules say they are for adults only. Under18s are not allowed to buy them, even if they wander in to look at the confectionery that is also for sale in some of these shops. But everyone knows the pretty toys also end up in the hands of children, who may even have learned how to use them from influencers on TikTok.

It’s hugely alarming for the parents of teenage kids who catch a whiff of strawberry in the bedroom. They might in the past not have known that their child was experimenting with a scrounged fag behind the bike sheds after school. Smoking was once so widespread that it would be a rare child who didn’t take a puff at some point, hopefully choking on the fumes and never touching a cigarette again.

Overall, smoking rates in the UK have come down massively: fewer than 15% of adults today say they smoke, down from a peak of more than 45% during the 1970s. This is thanks to the long and hard-fought war on tobacco. But in recent years, many experts in the UK argue that e-cigarettes have played a part in that victory, providing the addict with the nicotine hit without the deadly tar.

Others, especially in the United States, say they are the devil’s handiwork, hooking kids on nicotine, exposing them to harmful chemicals and potentially routeing them back to tobacco in the long term. The eagerness with which the Big Tobacco companies have moved into e-cigarette manufacture, as their markets in rich countries stall, only supports that belief.

The transatlantic schism over vaping and health, sparked by the arrival of the first overtly teenfriendly e-cigarettes from the San Francisco startup Juul, still exists. The US government, through the Food and Drug Administration, and some states, such as California, have been hurling every legal and financial penalty they can find at Juul, whose USB stick-sized e-cigarettes, launched in 2015, have taken off among young people.

There have been stories of high school epidemics, with waves of flavoured vapour emanating from bags in the back row of class. Juul agreed in September to

pay $440m to 33 US states following two years of investigations into its marketing practices. The company was accused of deliberately targeting young people with launch parties and social media advertising. At the time, it had already removed fruit and candy flavours from its range.

In the UK, however, the government broadly accepts the advice from Public Health England, now the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, that vaping is very much less harmful than smoking – famously it said 95% less – and is a useful tool for those who want to quit. The nHS encourages smokers to try vaping instead, wherever it can, though it is handicapped by the absence of a medically licensed e-cigarette.

These health experts want to focus on the large numbers of middle-aged people with a smoking habit that is likely to kill them, many of them in deprived areas of the country. Almost 6 million people in England still smoke. A quarter of all deaths from cancer are smoking-related. In June, Dr Javed Khan, former Barnardo’s head, published a review commissioned by the (then) health secretary, Sajid Javid, into what should be done to make smoking obsolete. His third recommendation was “promote vaping”. More than half –57% – of adult vapers in the UK are ex-smokers, says campaign group ASH (Action on Smoking and Health).

But the underage kids using disposable vapes from Elf Bar and Geek Bar, made in Shenzhen, China, and available online as well as in the stores, present a distressing problem – because nobody wants kids to get addicted to nicotine – and also a diversion of energy and resources from the vital battle against tobacco. ASH’s data says 83% of 11-17s have never tried an ecigarette, but this year 7% said they were currently vaping, which is up from 4% in 2020. Recent analysis of data from the US by researchers from San Francisco and Massachusetts general hospital suggests kids first try e-cigarettes on average at the age of 13 and one in 10 of those who vape puff on it just after waking up.

How to solve this? It’s hugely difficult, not helped by entrenched positions on the use and misuse of vapes. What we surely need, though, is a clampdown on the advertising and marketing of e-cigarettes that are attractive to young people. We have cigarettes in plain packages – why not extend that to all nicotine products? Bin the pretty boxes and sweet flavours. We also need the existing rules on sales and marketing to children to be policed. Local authorities have too much to do with too little money. They are too cash-strapped to ensure shops don’t sell to under-18s. It is time, as campaigners such as Action on Smoking and Health and Cancer Research UK have been saying, and Khan recommended to the government, for a windfall tax on the tobacco companies. The polluter must pay.

Sarah Boseley is the Guardian’s former health editor.

LIKE IN THE 1960S, TODAY’S HINDI PUSH FROM DELHI HAS ALSO ANGERED THE SOUTHERN STATES. THE CHIEF MINISTER OF TAMIL NADU BLUNTLY DESCRIBED THE COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATION AS THE START OF A “LANGUAGE WAR”

condition for state formation. In fact, one of Hindutva’s prominent slogans in the early years of independent India was “Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan”.

A HUnT FOR JOBS

OnOctober 9, the new Indian Express reported a significant piece of news: the Committee of Parliament on Official Language headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah had recommended that the medium of instruction in higher educational institutions, including Central universities, should mandatorily be Hindi.

“Use of Hindi as medium of instruction and other activities should be Hindi in all technical and non-technical institutions in the country and use of English should be made optional,” the report said.

Just as drastically, the committee recommended that government entrance exams – which are now conducted in both Hindi and English – should drop English. “It is mandatory to work in Hindi in the institutions of the Government of India,” the report argued. “In such a situation, the necessity of knowledge of Hindi is important at the time of selection of employees. Therefore, the committee recommends that the knowledge of Hindi should be ensured for the selection of employees.”

ECHOES FROM THE PAST

In the 1960s, the Committee of Parliament on Official Language was a part of the compromise that extended the lifetime of English as an official language of the Union government beyond the original 15-year limit decided by the Constituent Assembly.

While English was retained in response to widespread agitations in mainly Tamil nadu, as a concession to Hindi speakers, the committee would continue to steadily push the use of Hindi in government sectors. Set up by the Union Home Ministry, the committee would consist of 20 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha members and would “review the progress made in the use of Hindi for the official purposes of the Union”.

Like in the 1960s, today’s Hindi push from Delhi has also angered the Southern states. The chief minister of Tamil nadu bluntly described the committee’s recommendation as the start of a “language war”.

THE BJP’S ELECTORAL CALCULUS

Given the sharp reactions in states such as Tamil nadu, what explains the BJP’s sharp push for the Hindi language? The answer might lie in a mixture of votes, ideology and jobs.

The BJP, even after its expansion in the Modi era, is a party whose principal strength lies in the Hindi belt. In the 2109 Lok Sabha election, the saffron party won nearly 60% of its seats from the Hindi belt. This skew is not unique in modern Indian history. In its heyday, the Congress too had its core in the Hindi belt (although its geographical spread was relatively more balanced than the BJP). The size and politico-cultural contiguity of the Hindi belt means that for a party to be dominant at the Centre, it must be popular among the Indian Union’s Hindi speakers.

Thus, like the Congress before it, the BJP has a strong incentive to push Hindi to remain the pole of Indian politics. To this electoral factor is added the BJP’s Hindutva ideology, which imagines a uniform, European-style nationhood that requires a single language as a necessary

A third factor, however, might be the most powerful. A push towards language identity, in the context of India, is not simply a theatre of identity politics: it is a play for jobs. Language, via exams, education and the written language of an office, is a powerful tool to both include as well as exclude communities.

This battle was first seen in the Constituent Assembly, as Hindi was sought to be pushed as a national language. The move alarmed politicians from the coastal states, who had till then dominated the bureaucracy of the Raj. As historian Joya Chatterji put it, “the assault on English as a language of government threatened one of the few remaining weapons in the much-depleted armoury which Bengal’s bhadralok still possessed”. While the Constituent Assembly eventually decided to keep both Hindi and English as official languages, this only served to delay the outcome which had so alarmed nonHindi speakers in the Constituent Assembly. In 2018, for example, 60% of central civil service entrants were Hindi speakers – an incredible change from 1947, where coastal states had dominated the upper bureaucracy.

ADVANTAGING HINDI

This is not the only example. The special status given to Hindi in a number of central exams has resulted in a major advantage to Hindi speakers – a facility rarely available to people from non-Hindi states. For example, the Combined Graduate Level Examination for Group B and C officers in the Union government is conducted only in Hindi and English. Every year, the exam is taken by millions of Indians but only Hindi speakers can take it in their mother tongue, giving them an advantage unavailable to candidates from other states.

The BJP’s strong push for even more Hindi in government jobs and educational institutions reinforces this trend, attempting to shut out non-Hindi speakers from lucrative government jobs and creating an easier path for Hindi speakers.

Why is this happening now? Part of the reason is the pull factor of the approaching 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But also important is the dire employment situation in the Hindi belt. The year started with job riots in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with angry young men attacking trains and setting them afire. Later in October, a state government exam in Uttar Pradesh was in the headlines as the number of candidates was so great, at 37 lakhs, trains were overwhelmed in the state. Viral images of impossibly packed bogies and stations circulated on the Internet.

The number of jobs the Modi government’s Hindi push will create will be small. In fact, it might not even create any by the 2024 elections. But the party will be hoping they can help offer a glimmer of hope to angry youth in the Hindi states. Unfortunately, they will also simultaneously anger states in the South, whose chief ministers have already started demanding that their languages too get representation in Central government jobs on par with Hindi.

Scroll Shoaib Daniyal

Smoking is back in candy-coloured disguiseand a whole new generation is addicted

corporate corner

CdA huddle mulls introduction of intelligent traffic system in capital

ISLAMABAD: A meeting regarding the introduction of intelligent traffic system in Islamabad was held under the chairmanship of Capt (r) Muhammad Usman Younis, Chairman Capital Development Authority on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Member Engineering, Member Planning, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, SSP Traffic and other officers of CDA. In the meeting, a presentation was given on the intelligent transportation system by the students of NUST University. It is pertinent to mention here that after the video of NUST University students regarding shifting traffic signals to automatic traffic system in Islamabad went viral on social media. The CDA chairman called these students to CDA headquarters and take presentation from them so that the results can be reviewed and improved in real time. In this regard, Chairman CDA was briefed that this system will be camera-based and cameras will be installed at each signal which will automatically turn green or red by monitoring the traffic volume with the help of these cameras. Similarly, when the traffic pressure is high, this system will automatically shift to green color so that more traffic can pass and citizens do not face problems like traffic jam. pr

FBR clarifies present policy based on direct tax dominated system

ISLAMABAD: While Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) appreciates and acknowledges the importance of direct taxes and income tax as highlighted by the authors in news item captioned “Dismal Income Tax Collection”, published in a section of press on November 11, 2022, it is clarified that the present policy of FBR and the Federal Government is also based on direct tax dominated system i.e. the principle of equity where tax contribution is proportional to “ability to pay”. As a result, direct taxes collection continue to register steady growth and during the first four months of the current year direct taxes/income tax have risen to 886 billion which is 41% higher than the direct tax inflows during the same period last year. It is also mentioned that there is a shift in the tax mix and the ratio of direct tax to indirect tax is also increasing. Resultantly, during first four months of the current year, percentage contribution of direct taxes in overall revenue has increased to more than 41% for the first time in a decade, as against 36-39% in the past few years as has also been quoted by the authors. Although, FBR does not agree with the notion that withholding taxes are collected in indirect mode, FBR, during the last few years, has adopted the policy of reducing withholding tax provisions and introducing measures which directly target the rich. Even, during the current year’s budget, maximum amendments were introduced regarding direct taxes. These amendments were aimed at taxing affluent and wealthy class by including provisions such as super tax, CVT on foreign assets, deemed rental income on the assets of the rich and higher rates for companies earning high profits such as banks. These provisions alone have a revenue impact of approximately Rs250 billion. At the same time certain withholding tax provisions were eliminated and consequently, the percentage contribution of withholding taxes in direct taxes has also been reduced to 65.8% during first four months from 67.15% during corresponding period of the previous year. pr

AIG police conducts inspection of various police stations

ClImAte ChAnGe ReAChed CRItICAl InFleCtIon poInt FoR

islamabad staff report

sENATORMushahid Hussain Syed, chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence, observed that the floods that devastated the country in summer was an inflexion point for Pakistan as well as the entire world.

Speaking during a panel discussion titled “Is Adaptation The New Climate Normal” held in Pakistan Pavilion at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, Senator Syed highlighted that climate change was a “borderless issue”, a press statement said.

Referring to climate justice and climate financing, he termed these two is-

sues as a priority and a collective responsibility towards humanity.

Responding to a question on the political debate regarding the climate

SKMT’s Dr Kh Shehryar receives IHF Gold Award at 45th World Hospital Congress

The management of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) is pleased to announce that SKMT recently won Gold Award in the Sultanate of Oman Excellence Award category for Health Services During Crisis. The International Hospital Federation (IHF) announced the winners on the 10th of November as part of IHF Awards 2022 ceremony at the 45th World Hospital Congress in Dubai. The ceremony was attended by global hospital and healthcare

leaders, with Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards given in seven categories. Established in 1929, the IHF is working towards improving quality of service delivery in international healthcare.

IDEAS2022 to begin from Nov 15 at Karachi Expo Centre

Karachi pr

The 11th edition of International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS 2022) is scheduled from 15 – 18 November 2022 at Karachi Expo Centre. The event as per its traditions will showcase a number of splendid activities encompassing world’s advance defence technology demonstrations, international seminar, IDEAS Karachi Show, networking, and business ex-

pansions through B2B and B2G engagements. IDEAS 2022 will bring together defence industries from across the globe to showcase their lat-

est technological innovations. A large number of senior civil and military delegations and trade visitors would also be witnessing IDEAS 2022.

crisis, Senator Syed recalled his first public hearing of the climate committee in 2014 which he organised in the Parliament wherein he stressed redefining national security towards a people-centric approach.

The National Security Policy was adopted in consultation with all stakeholders, and leading to a paradigm shift and redefinition of national security, he said. Now, the focus is more towards human security, environmental security, livelihoods, health, population and education of the people.

Senator Syed commended the secretary general of the United Nations for becoming an advocate of climate justice. At a global level, he demanded the major powers should shift their focus from geopolitics to humanitarian issues.

ISLAMABAD: Following the special directives of Inspector Generalof Police (IGP) Islamabad Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan, AIG General and DevelopmentMaria Mehmood visited various police stations regarding the inspection of policestations and obtained reports regarding administrative problems faced by policestations and reviewed the ongoing development works. According to the details, IGP Islamabad had issued special orders regarding theinspection of all police stations and other development works. In this regardAIG General and Development visited rural zone police stations including PS Khanna,Koral, Lohi Bher, Sihala and Nilore. The AIG conducted a complete inspection of the police stations and alsoreviewed the ongoing development works in them. She also obtained reports fromthe concerned officers about the administrative problems faced in the policestations. After that she will also visit all other police stations and a comprehensivereport will be submitted to IGP Islamabad for further orders. IGP Islamabad hasgiven instructions that the development works started in various policestations should be completed on a priority basis. No laxity will be toleratedin this regard. pr

Ke’s Roshni Bajis Building safer societies

Officer, Muhammad Rizwan Dalia. Between the 2 cohorts, 100 women have been part of the Roshni Baji program since its inception in February 2021. The program was conceived to drive awareness among communities on the best practices for safe usage of electricity and its conservation and allow KE’s female customers in these areas – who primarily reside at home – access to the utility as well. Through their efforts, these women have educated over 460,000 households to date across Lyari, Baldia, Korangi, Malir, Shah Faisal, Bin Qasim, Surjani, Orangi, and others. Their intervention also enabled the conversion of almost 30,000 illegal connections to legalized, metered electricity users. pr

Shifting Alliances: Policy challenges for US in South Asia

islamabad

Mustansar Klasra

US Foreign policy in South Asia mainly revolves around three key indicators i.e. economy, security and issues pertaining to governance.

One factor that kills the trustworthy relationship between any two states is the abrupt shift in foreign policy. The shift in favor of one state at the cost of others is not considered to be a sensible move in international arena. That’s what US did in the last few years in South Asia.

Pakistan and US has always remained key partners at different levels of international politics. Pakistan once enjoyed non-NATO ally status in the aftermath of 9/11. However, India-US relations also kept on evolving increasing concerns in Islamabad. COMCASA and PECA agreements between India and US are two significant examples of their bilateral relations and shift in Foreign policy of US towards India.

It is beyond doubt that alliance networks of the US is one of the most enduring and highly successful element of its foreign policy, but in contemporary world politics China challenge has created significant troubles for the US. When it comes to South Asia, it is the established truth that India and Pakistan are two highly important rather

critical countries of South Asia.

The US clear tilt towards India would not only create troubles for Pakistan but also for the US as well. Unrest in Afghanistan, presence of terrorist organizations, China’s rise, issues with Iran are some of the challenges that the US may encounter. Americans delicate dance with India will no longer be useful to address all these above mentioned foreign policy challenges in South Asia. One thing that is worth mentioning in the context of US and Pakistan relations is that the US needs to view Pakistan by the bilateral prism. Looks like this angel is missing since the last 75 years.

Emerging Indo-US strategic cooperation has significantly changed security and economic led architecture of South Asia. China is actively pursuing its economic goals across the region. China’s active model of connectivity is overshadowing the US economic as well as security advantages in the region.

The prime objective of the US in South Asia was always to exercise dominant role in the region but fault line of American policy experts for this region was that they were unsuccessful in formulation of uniform policy for the South Asian region where prism of strengthening of the bilateral relations was missing. Americans are continuously making this mistake even till

today. Indo-US cooperation is to contain China; Pak US cooperation was always maintained under the context of Afghan conundrum. The US needs to mitigate several challenges in this crucial South Asian region. A vital challenge in South Asia is the rise of China and its engagements with SAARC countries at different levels.

China is enjoying healthy economic and security relations with Pakistan and at the same time its continuous trade pattern with India despite having border issues. SCO is another platform that is connecting almost all the South Asian nations including Iran. China is not letting any room free for US in the region. US discriminatory policies in South Asian region, in particular, for India and Pakistan is creating trust deficit for it in the region.

Refugee crisis and unrest in Afghanistan is another policy challenge for the US. On top of that the threat of terrorism and extremism is still very much alive despite of US two decades efforts in this regard.

In the light of these challenges, marginalizing Pakistan in its foreign policy context can never be fruitful for the US in South Asia. Islamabad and Washington both need to realize that peace and stability can never be achieved without building trust and

uniform policies for the region. These adjustments and revival of trustworthy relationships on equal and bilateral levels are badly needed for US to engage with nations of South Asia.

Pakistan is the only country in the South Asian region that stood with the US against violence and militancy since 1947. In recent years despite tensions and misunderstandings both US and Pakistan found ways of cooperation and collaborations at different levels.

In recent years as US-China competition picked up, it also constrained relations of Pakistan with the United States. There is still space for cooperation between Pakistan, America and China in Afghanistan. Pakistan has lost its utility for the US as a mediator in Afghanistan.

There is still an opportunity for Pakistan to cooperate in the US efforts to counter any potential resurgence of terrorism in the region. Regional rivalry endures and taking on new dimensions. Pakistan has always remained a key partner for US in all the domains i.e trade, security and education. Before shifting alliances, internal dynamics of South Asia are badly needed to be addressed by international community, in particular by China and the US collectively.

The author is a PhD Scholar at the Area Study Centre, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

KArAchI : Chairman NEPRA, Tauseef H. Farooqi, commended the second cohort of KE’s Roshni Baji program for their contribution in promoting a culture of safety across Karachi’s most densely populated neighborhoods. These remarks were made during a meeting with the graduating batch held at KE’s Distribution Network Academy with Chief Distribution Officer, Amer Zia, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Sadia Dada and Chief People

Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Zuberi presents a bouquet to PPPP Women’s Wing President and MPA Faryal Talpur at her resident. pr

islamabad staff report

UkraINe says West oN Way to ‘joINt vICtory’ after rUssIa retreat

uKRAiNE agencies

kYIVsaid on Saturday that the West was on its way to “joint victory” over Moscow after Ukraine said it had wrested back Kherson, the first major urban hub to fall after Russia’s invasion on February 24.

London meanwhile said Russia’s “strategic failure” in the strategic Black Sea port city would sow doubt among the Russian public about the point of the war in Ukraine.

“There were very few who believed that Ukraine would survive,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said as he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Cambodia. “This is coming, and our victory will be our joint victory — a victory of all peace-loving nations across the world.”

Blinken hailed the “remarkable courage” of Ukraine’s military and people and vowed that US support “will continue for as long as it takes” to defeat Russia. The humiliating Russian retreat was a huge boost to Ukrainians after months of suffering.

The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said the liberation of all annexed territories was just a matter of time.

“We are not going to put anything on ice,” he said. “We are not a freezer.”

The Ukrainian national anthem rang out in Kherson’s central square as a small crowd sang along while huddled around a bonfire, a video published by Ukraine’s parliament on social media showed.

“Special units are already in the city,” President

Countries request UN human rights debate on Iran: document

GENEVA ReuteRs

Germany and Iceland submitted a request on Friday on behalf of dozens of countries to hold a special session at the UN Human Rights Council on the ongoing protests in Iran later this month, a document showed. The request called for the session “to address the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially with respect to women and children,” according to the letter signed by the two countries’ ambassadors. Anti-government demonstrations began in September after the death of a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by morality police for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code imposed on women. They have since grown into a popular revolt and rights groups say hundreds of protesters have been killed in the government crackdown. The government has blamed Amini’s death on preexisting medical problems. At least one-third of the UN Human Rights Council’s voting members supported the proposal, as is required for meetings outside of the body’s normal agenda, meaning its convening is a formality. Dozens of others also signed up, the German diplomatic mission in Geneva said, bringing the total number of backers to 44. It did not immediately provide the list. The letter requested the meeting take place on November 24. Iran has opposed the convening of the meeting in private meetings, diplomats told Reuters. Its diplomatic mission in Geneva did not respond to an emailed response for comment on the planned debate on Friday.

Volodymyr

– ‘Extraordinary victory’ –

About 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Kherson, Andriy Zholob, a commander of a medical unit, said they had been greeted by smiling faces and given “embroidered towels which we display on our vehicles”.

“We see children running to meet us and greeting us,” Zholob told AFP.

In the nearby region of Mykolaiv, which Russian forces have failed to capture despite months of attacks, governor Vitaliy Kim said the entire region apart from the Kinburn Spit in the south had been returned to Ukrainian control.

The US hailed Ukraine’s “extraordinary victory” in recapturing Kherson from the Russians on Saturday.

“It’s a big moment and it’s due to the incredible tenacity and skill of the Ukrainians, backed by the relentless and united support of the United States and our allies,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Saturday that Kherson could prompt ordinary Russians to question the war.

“In February, Russia failed to take any of its major objectives except Kherson,” Wallace said in a statement. “Now with that also being surrendered, ordinary people of Russia must surely ask themselves: ‘What was it all for?'”

Kuleba however warned that Kyiv still sees “Russia mobilising more conscripts and bringing more weapons to Ukraine” and called for the Western world’s continued support.

– Ukrainian television back on –

In Kherson, Kyiv’s forces reconnected the local television network to Ukrainian broadcasters after local media reported that retreating Russian forces blew up the television tower and energy facilities, leaving the city without power.

Russia’s defence ministry said “more than 30,000 Russian servicemen, about 5,000 pieces of hardware and military equipment and materiel have been withdrawn”.

Kherson’s full recapture by Kyiv would be a political and symbolic blow to Putin and open a gateway for Ukraine’s forces to the entire Kherson region, with access to both the Black Sea in the west and Sea of Azov in the east.

– ‘In tears’ –

In Ukraine’s capital, the news was met with joy. Wrapped in flags, popping champagne corks and belting out the Ukrainian national anthem, residents of Kherson living in Kyiv gathered in the city’s central Maidan square to celebrate.

“I didn’t believe it at first, I thought it was going to take weeks and months, a few hundred metres at a time, and now we see them arrive in Kherson in one day, it’s the best surprise,” said Artem Lukiv, 41, a Kherson resident living in Kyiv.

The Kremlin meanwhile insisted that Kherson was still part of Russia. “This is a subject of the Russian Federation. There are no changes in this and there cannot be changes,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

A full Ukrainian recapture of the Kherson region would disrupt a vital land bridge for Russia between its mainland and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Kherson was one of four regions in Ukraine that Putin claimed to have annexed in September.

Sharp attacks on Trump from Rupert Murdoch’s news outlets

predicted.

Former president Donald Trump has taken some hits in the aftermath of the midterm elections, but the unkindest cuts may have come from a source that was once among his biggest backers — the media empire of magnate Rupert Murdoch.

The New York Post’s front cover on Thursday put Trump’s face over the drawing of a boy from a well-known nursery rhyme. The headline: “Trumpty Dumpty.”

“Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall — can all of the GOP’s men put the party back together again?” the newspaper wrote.

The Wall Street Journal’s opinion section ran a sharp editorial headlined, “Trump is the Republican Party’s Biggest Loser.” While Fox News’ biggest stars were relatively quiet, the former president heard enough discouraging words to attack the network on social media.

Trump was blamed for supporting losing or underperforming candidates like Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Don Bolduc in New Hampshire and Blake Masters in Arizona which cost Republicans a chance to make big gains in the House and Senate, as many had

The Journal’s editorial mentioned each of those names and more, saying that Trump had “a perfect record of electoral defeat” since his victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

“Democrats succeeded again in making Trump a central campaign issue, and Mr. Trump helped them do it,” the Journal said.

The newspaper on Thursday also ran a guest column touting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as an alternative to Trump for the 2024 presidential election, and an excerpt from former Vice President Mike Pence’s new book headlined, “My last days with Donald Trump.”

On the Post’s website, veteran columnist John Podhoretz dubbed the former president “Toxic Trump.”

Podhoretz wrote that Trump was “the political equivalent of a can of Raid” and “perhaps the most profound vote repellent in modern American history.”

The Post ran an editorial urging DeSantis to run for president. A day earlier, the newspaper’s cover featured a triumphant picture of DeSantis with the headline, “DeFuture.”

A spokesman for Murdoch’s News Corp. said he had no comment on the editorial choices. It’s not like the outlets have never criticised Trump, but the tone and timing were noteworthy.

Non-Murdoch affiliated conservative figures and outlets took some shots at Trump. The Washington Examiner wrote that Republicans needed to choose between electoral success or Trump, while American Thinker said Trump is devolving into a permanent liability, according to The Righting newsletter.

Some Fox News stars tread lightly into the critical territory. Jesse Watters talked Wednesday of a 2024 presidential election rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden.

“Does Trump win?” Watters said. “I hope so. I love the guy. A week ago, I would have said slam dunk. But after how last night shook out, I don’t know now. Democrats will walk over hot coals to vote against Trump, but will Republicans do that to vote against Joe Biden?”

Another Fox host, Laura Ingraham, didn’t mention Trump’s name but said the populist movement is about ideas, not one person.

Bahrain heads to polls without opposition candidates

DubAi staff RepoRt

Bahrainis headed to the polls Saturday but a ban on opposition candidates means the elections will bring no meaningful change despite a record number of people vying for seats, rights groups said.

More than 330 candidates, including a record 73 women, are competing to join the 40-seat council of representatives — the lower house of parliament that advises King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who has ruled since his father died in March 1999.

This is up from the 293 people — including 41 women — who ran for parliament in the last election in 2018.

Lines formed outside some of the kingdom’s 55 polling stations before they opened at 8:00 am (0500 GMT).

Amina Issa, head of a polling station in Manama, said turnout was “intense since the first hours, and the numbers are steadily increasing”.

But the country, ruled by a Sunni dynasty, has barred its two main opposition groups from fielding candidates — the Shiite Al-Wefaq and secular Waad parties which were dissolved in 2016 and 2017.

“This election will not introduce any change,” said Ali Abdulemam, a UK-based Bahraini human rights activist. “Without the opposition we will not have a healthy country,” he told AFP.

The elections come more than a decade after a 2011 crackdown on Shiite-led protesters demanding political reforms. Since then, authorities have imprisoned hundreds of dissidents — including Al-Wefaq’s leader Sheikh Ali Salman — and stripped many of their citizenship.

– Official websites hacked –Amnesty International said this week elections would be held in an “environment of political repression”.

A government spokesperson pushed back against that criticism on Saturday, saying in a statement that Bahrain was a “vibrant democracy”.

“The exercise of political rights in Bahrain is protected by the constitution, barring cases where nomination requirements are not met — this is standard practice in all democratic countries,” the spokesperson said.

“Requirements include not having a criminal record or not belonging to a society dissolved due to their courtproven involvement in acts of violence in contravention of legitimate political activity.”

The spokesperson added: “The right to vote too is also a constitutional right, but not an obligation. No one is penalised for choosing not to vote.”

A hacking operation on Friday targeted the official elections website as well as websites for parliament and the state news agency, though all three were restored by Saturday afternoon.

The interior ministry said on Twitter the sites were “targeted to hinder the elections and circulate negative messages in desperate attempts” to discourage voting. The identity of the hackers was not immediately clear. Nearly 350,000 people are eligible to vote Saturday. Polling stations are due to close at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT).

“The atmosphere is good. I didn’t wait in line for more than 10 minutes,” said Nouf Ibrahim, a mother of three in the capital Manama. Justice Minister Nawaf bin Mohammed al-Maawda said voting was “running smoothly”.

– Strategic ally –

In 2018, Bahrain passed so-called political and civil isolation laws, barring former opposition party members from running for parliament and sitting on the boards of civil organisations.

Citing Bahraini civil society figures, Human Rights Watch in October said the retroactive bans have affected between 6,000 and 11,000 Bahraini citizens.

The elections “offer little hope for any freer and fairer outcomes,” HRW said.

The latest vote comes less than a week after Pope Francis concluded a landmark visit that aimed to promote interfaith dialogue — his second to a Gulf nation following a 2019 trip to the United Arab Emirates.

Chinese premier calls for strengthening China-ASEAN ties

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday attended the 25th China-ASEAN Summit, during which he called for enhancing cooperation with ASEAN countries, and jointly maintaining regional peace and stability.

Li said that in November last year, the two sides held a special summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations and formally inaugurated a comprehensive strategic partnership.

At that summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed jointly building a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home, he recalled.

The regional and international environments are undergoing profound and complex changes with rising uncertainties and destabilizing factors, he said.

He said that China and ASEAN are comprehensive strategic partners with a

shared future, and have stood together through thick and thin. “Picking sides should not have to be our choice. Openness and cooperation are the viable way in meeting our common challenges.”

China, he said, will continue to take ASEAN as a high priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, and will all along support ASEAN’s community-building as well as ASEAN centrality in East Asian cooperation, he said.

China stands ready to work with ASEAN to stay focused on development and cooperation, and build a closer ChinaASEAN community with a shared future, he added. To this end, Li made a series of proposals. Both sides need to forge a stronger consensus on development cooperation and better synergize their development strategies, he said, calling for improving the quality and efficiency of their practical cooperation. China will set up a special loan on China-ASEAN common development to

intensify cooperation on post-pandemic recovery, he said.

Calling for bolstering the drivers for development, Li said both sides need to further tap the potentials of cooperation.

Trade between China and ASEAN has grown against the odds of COVID-19 in the past three years, he said, adding that they have become each other’s largest trading partner. Since the two sides have jointly announced the official launch of negotiations on a new round of upgrade of their free trade area, Li called on China and ASEAN to use this opportunity to raise the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation.

The Chinese premier also urged China and ASEAN to consolidate the underlying support for development, including accelerating the establishment of the ChinaASEAN Public Health Research and Development Collaborating Center.

Over the past two decades, by committing to the full and effective implementation

KYiV,

Zelensky wrote on Telegram, posting footage in which Ukrainian troops appeared to gather with residents.

bEijiNG agencies

of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), China and ASEAN countries have gradually identified an effective pathway for enhancing trust and

managing differences, gained good experience of dialogue, cooperation, and joint governance, and maintained overall peace and stability in the South China Sea, Li said.

NEW YORK the associated pRess

ShaDeS Of ’92 fOr PakISTan aheaD Of T20 WC fInal

MELBOURNE the aSSociated pReSS

PAKISTANis back at the venue where the legend of the cornered tigers was forged 30 years ago, and England is again the final foe. There are so many similarities between this unlikely run to the T20 World Cup final and the one inspired by Imran Khan in 1992, when Pakistan beat England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to claim its first World Cup title in the 50-over format.

There are also differences, of course. For a start, skipper Babar Azam is not 39 years old.

Khan was that age, and in the twilight of his career, when he described his team as cornered tigers and went on to lead them to that triumphant win over England in the final.

Babar is 28, but he could match Khan’s feat at the MCG on Sunday when his team yet again meets redhot favourite England — this time cricket format which was non-existent in the 90s.

For some, it’s difficult to fathom how the stars aligned for Babar and Khan in Australia three decades apart. For instance, both Babar and Khan lost their opening round games at the MCG; arch-rival India got the better of them in 1992 and 2022. Pakistan went on to win their last three games ahead of the semifinals on both occasions, but both Babar and Khan had to bank heavily on the results of other games to go through to the knockout stage on the last day of the group stage.

New Zealand was the opponent in both semifinals, with the Kiwis batting first both times. And top it all, England trounced top-ranked India by 10 wickets in the second semifinal on Thursday so that Pakistan could tick another box in the retelling of the story.

“Sensational performance,” Pakistan’s team mentor Matthew Hayden, a former Australia opener, told Babar and his teammates in the locker room after Wednesday’s seven-wicket semifinal win over New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground. “It was just an ex-

traordinary effort.”

Hayden told a news conference Friday that the 1992 World Cup was important for Pakistan and the game globally because it “was the emergence of another superpower under one of the most influential cricketers of all time.” “Imran Khan is doing great things. Celebrating democracy is an important part of life and he’s doing that like a champion he was in the 92 World Cup. So, yeah, it is important for sure.”

Babar’s belief in his planning and relying solely on his match-ups

against his opponents has been a key to success. He’s not one to take cues from what former Pakistan cricketers suggest on the dozens of private television channels focusing on his team. These former cricketers were vocal after the team lost to India and then got beaten by Zimbabwe in back-to-back Super 12 losses that that placed the team in a tight corner in Group 2.

Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning fast bowler Aqib Javed was among those who advised Babar to bat lower down the order in the

Fans urged to vote for player of T20 World Cup

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The best cricketers on the planet have been lighting up the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 over the past month and fans are reminded not to miss their chance to vote for the Player of the Tournament.

Nine players have been shortlisted and five have the chance to advance their case in the final, with three Englishmen and two Pakistan stars on the shortlist, said a statement of the ICC here on Saturday. Voting will remain open until the closing stages of the final, which takes place at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and sees both sides looking to lift the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup trophy for a second time. The Player of the Tournament will be decided by an expert panel and the fans’ vote will contribute towards the decision. Fans can vote here – the nine play-

Uzbekistan player bag Pakistan Jrs Tennis C’ships title

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Imran Khaitbaev of Uzbekistan clinched the boys singles title of ITF Pakistan Juniors Tennis Championships leg-1 here at PTF-SDA Tennis Complex on Saturday. In Boys Singles Imran Khaitbaev outplayed Amir Asylkozhaev of Russia by 6-1,6-2 while in Girl’s Singles Lia Belibova (Moldova) beat Polina Kaibekova (RUS) 6-4,6-4. Senator Salim Saifullah Khan President-PTF was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. Humayun Saifullah Khan Former Provincial Minister KP and a large number of participants and tennis lovers also witnessed the final. President-PTF, said the conduct of such events in Pakistan and participation of foreign players would further promote the soft image of Pakistan besides providing an opportunity for Pakistani players to compete with quality players. He also showed satisfaction with the overall arrangements which are in place for the conduct of the event. He thanked the Islamabad Police for providing with foolproof security for the event, and media for highlighting the event comprehensively. He The President-PTF also thanked Arif Qureshi ITF White Badge Referee for supervising the event in a highly professional manner. Meanwhile, the ITF Pakistan J7 World Juniors Tennis Championships leg-2 commenced Saturday here at PTF Tennis Complex. In Boys Singles Qualifying Round-1, Ada Guler (TUR) bt Syed Raahim Veqar(PAK) 6-2,6-2; Mahatir Muhammad (PAK) bt Pudit Phapatsirikul(THA) 6-2m6-2; Kivanc Bedir (TUR) bt M.Talha Khan(PAK) 6-1,6-0; Thanathip Poti(THA) bt Muhammad Salar(PAK) 6-3,4-6(105); Gehash Tissera (SRI) bt Hyugo Sawada(JPN) 6-3,6-1. In Boys Singles Qualifying Round-2, Yahya Musa Luni(PAK) bt Hisham Mahmood(PAK) 7-6(1),6-2; Akaash De Silva (SRI) bt Hamza Rehmat(PAK) 6-1,6-1; Azat Sarsembaev(KAZ) bt Zaeem Ghafoor(PAK) 6-0,6-0; Ada Guler (TUR) bt Ibrahim Sohail (PAK) 6-0,6-1; Mikhail Svanidze (GEO) bt Mahatir Muhammad Kham(PAK) 7-6(4),6-1; Abdul Baasith Cader (SRI) bt Thanathip Poti(THA)7-6(3),6-3; Kivanc Bedir (TUR) bt Jonathan Hii(AUS) 6-0,6-0; Gehash Tissera (SRI) bt Mustansir Ali Khan(PAK) 6-0,6-2. The Third Round of the qualifying matches would start on Sunday.

ers nominated For the award are:

Virat Kohli (India)

The leading run-scorer in competition with 296, Kohli’s four half-centuries included the unbeaten 82 which inspired his side’s dramatic four-wicket victory over Pakistan.

Suryakumar Yadav (India)

With 239 runs at a remarkable strike rate of 189.68, Yadav has been a key injector of momentum for India and has become the No.1 ranked batter in the world in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings over the course of the tournament.

Shadab Khan (Pakistan)

A key part of Pakistan’s run to the final with bat and ball, Shadab has picked up 10 wickets, gone at just 6.59 an over and made vital contributions with the bat – notably a 22-ball 52 in the win over South Africa.

Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)

semifinal because he’d only scored 39 runs in five group games.

Instead, Babar went to the practice nets for more than an hour on the eve of the knockout game against New Zealand while his teammates preferred to relax at their hotel. He then produced a half-century which eased Pakistan to victory in the semifinals.

Babar’s opening partner Mohammad Rizwan’s weakness on the off-side was also the talking point in the Pakistan media, but he posted a half-century, too. They combined in a ninth century opening stand — the most by any opening pair in the world in T20s.

The battery of four pacers is another asset for Babar, which he miscalculated only once in the tournament when he preferred to keep his fourth fast bowler Mohammad Wasim on the bench.

But he’s is a quick learner and he ensured Wasim played in every game thereafter to supplement Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah.

However, if there’s one player

who has turned Pakistan’s fortunes around it’s “Little Dynamo” Mohammad Haris, who had never played in the batting conditions of Australia. After both Haider Ali and Asif Ali struggled with form in early group games, Haris did what a young Inzamam had done for Imran Khan in 1992.

With the experience of only one T20 international against England in September, Haris first smashed an 11-ball 28 against South Africa before playing vital cameos of 31 and 30 against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Needing 19 off the last 15 balls for victory in the semifinal, Haris sealed the game by smashing New Zealand’s express fast bowler Lockie Ferguson for a four and a six off successive deliveries. And that pleased Hayden.

“Harry, it was a little tricky situation, but that was another injection of great energy, great enthusiasm,” Hayden said. “That’s a complete performance and I think that the world is going to see a lot more of that.”

Back from injury with a bang, Shaheen’s 10 wickets to date have included four against Bangladesh and another two in the semi-final against New Zealand –the seamer going at just 6.17 an over along the way.

Sam Curran (England)

Curran started the tournament by becoming the first England bowler to take a T20I five-wicket haul and has been Jos Buttler’s go-to man at the death, holding his nerve at clutch moments.

Jos Buttler (England)

The England skipper has led by example, forming a fearsome opening partnership with Alex Hales and scoring 199 runs at a strike rate of 143.16.

Alex Hales (England)

Hales has made his return to international cricket count and is England’s leading run-scorer heading into the final, his tally boosted by a brutal unbeaten 86 in the 10-wicket win over India in the last four.

Top-ranked Northern and Sindh face off in Quaid-i-Azam Trophy

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

This first-class season has produced some exciting contests and outstanding individual performances and the penultimate round of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy that begins on November 13-Monday – promises more excitement with the two best sides locking horns in Karachi.

The iconic National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi will host the fixture between top-ranked Northern and second-placed Sindh. The two sides have dominated the points table for majority of the season and seem on course to secure berths in the final. While Northern are 13 points clear of Sindh with 122 points, Sindh will remain wary of thirdplaced Central Punjab who are only seven points behind them.

Northern enter this competition after securing a draw against star-studded Central Punjab at the LCCA Ground in Lahore thanks to a heroic fourth innings half-century from 20-year-old all-rounder Mubasir Khan.

The youngster was the player of the Quaid-eAzam Trophy 2021-22 and has proved to be a vital cog, providing the right balance with his crucial performances with the bat and ball this season.

Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bagged five points each in the last round as their match at the Pindi Cricket Stadium was abandoned. But, Sindh have been on a high. In the seventh round, they recorded their third win by beating Southern Punjab by 202 runs. Northern and Sindh are the only sides with three wins this season. When they met earlier in the season, the match ended in a draw.

Pak U-19 thrash Bangladesh in second ODI to level series

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Under-19 team defeated Bangladesh U-19 team by 128 runs in second ODI match played at Multan cricket stadium here on Saturday. The three matches series is equal with 1-1. In the second match of the three-match ODI series played between Pakistan and Bangladesh U-19 teams, Bangladesh was bowled out for 114 runs in 28 overs in chasing of 243 runs.

Seven players of Bangladesh couldn’t enter into double figures as Ashiqur Rahman was the highest scorer with 42 runs, Shahryar Saqib scored 16 runs while Iqbal Hussain remained not out by scoring 11 runs.

Pakistani bowlers performed well as Muhammad Zeeshan took three wickets, Ali Raza and Ali Asfand took two wickets each while Muhammad Ismail and Arafat Minhas got one wicket each. Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat. Pakistan scored 242 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in fixed 45 overs.

Tayyab Arif from Pakistan scored 66 runs with the help of 6 fours and 3 sixes. Shahwaiz Irfan played an aggressive innings of 52 runs included 4 sixes and 3 fours, Arafat Minhas hit 8 fours and a six in a responsible innings of 57 runs not-out, Muhammad Farooq 13, captain Saad Baig 13 and Uzair Mumtaz added 12 runs in the total. Maruf Mridha and Iqbal Hussain took two wickets each while Chowdhury Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Rafi and Wasi Siddiqui got one wicket each. Pakistan’s Arafat Minhas was declared the best player of the match for his outstanding performance. The final match of the three-match series will be played at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Monday, November 14.

Shadab Khan: Pakistan’s match-winner who brings ‘fire and life’

ADELAIDE

No matter what happens when Pakistan face England in Sunday’s final at the MCG, Shadab Khan has had a T20 World Cup to remember. Starring with both bat and ball, the 24-year-old all-rounder helped energise Pakistan’s flagging campaign when all seemed lost.

After last-ball defeats to India and Zimbabwe, Shadab pulled them back from the brink with three wickets against the Netherlands for their first win.

He then turned up with a fiery 22-ball 52 and bowling figures of 2-16 during his man-of-the-match performance against South Africa.

The Proteas’ subsequent shock defeat to the Netherlands helped Pakistan gatecrash the semi-finals.

Shadab has been shortlisted for player of the tournament and could well win it if Pakistan do the business against England in the decider at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.When team-mates and coaches talk about Shadab they all refer to one thing.

“He brings invaluable energy to the team,” captain Babar Azam said. Shadab’s commitment and relentless energy, whether it be in training or matches, galvanised Pakistan’s drooping World Cup.

Like many Pakistan cricketers, Shadab’s beginnings were humble. He grew up playing cricket on the rough pitches of the Mianwali district, a farming community near the banks of the Indus River in Punjab.

It also happens to be home to former prime minister and cricket legend Imran Khan and former captain Misbah ul-Haq. People who know him well said Shadab has always been relentless in his dedication.

“Shadab’s commitment to cricket is unparalleled,” said his club coach Sajjad Ahmed. “He used to sleep around 9:00 pm and reach the ground before sunrise.

“That’s been his routine for years so that he can practise as much as possible.”

It was Ahmed who suggested Shadab should become an all-rounder and not just focus on batting.

Graduating from club cricket to district level and to Pakistan “A”, Shadab featured in a 2016 junior World

Cup in Bangladesh and finished joint top wicket-taker for his team with 11.

The year after, HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Islamabad United picked him as an emerging player. “We were picking players in the draft for PSL 2017 and every other team was passing him on so I asked Misbah about him,” recalls Hassan Cheema, strategy manager of United.

“Misbah said that Shadab has that fire and instinct that he had not seen in a player for years.

“Six years later, you can see his competitive fire and life he brings in the team is invaluable,” Cheema told AFP. But to talk only about his energy and commitment risks downplaying Shadab’s talent. As a leg-spinner variations are Shadab’s assets and he has had success extracting bounce from the hard Australian pitches at the World Cup. When he bats and fields his style is aggressive — his triple ability gives Pakistan flexibility in team selections.

It was then-Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur who brought him into the side in 2017.

MULTAN

ShArIfS TAkING key DeCISIoNS oN foreIGN

LAND To SAve CorruPTIoN moNey: ImrAN

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

THEPakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman criticized Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other party leaders for holding a meeting in London to decide the Pakistan Army’s next chief as he addressed participants of the party’s Haqeeqi Azadi March in Lala Musa.

“The important decisions of the country are taken abroad and by those who have looted Pakistan for the last 30 years,” said the PTI chief in reference to Shehbaz purportedly discussing the key appointment and other issues of national importance with his elder brother Nawaz Sharif during his unscheduled London visit.

The PTI chairperson also reiterated that the army chief should be appointed on merit and said dismissed allegations

that he was making the important appointment controversial. “I never made it controversial”.

He added that he does not want a NAB chief, a judge or an army chief of his choice as he wants “the best people on the basis of merit”.

Speaking on the defamation suit filed by the premier against a British daily, Imran said Shehbaz was in “deep trouble”.

He further said that the PML-N president was mistaken if he could issue orders as per his will and “it will be the biggest challenge for Shehbaz Sharif” as now he has to explain the allegations leveled against him by the British publication.

Imran also urged people to participate in the long march. “This is not Imran Khan’s movement, this is your movement.

Addressing the youth of the country, he said that a nation that is “not

truly free and which remains enslaved, has no value or future”. “An enslaved nation only attains true freedom through justice,” said the PTI chief.

Kickstarting the march in Jhang today, PTI secretary general Asad Umar stated that Imran Khan believes the next chief of army staff (COAS) should be appointed based on merit.

Further, he slammed the PML-N leaders “sitting in London, making decisions for Pakistan”. Referring to Nawaz Sharif, he said that the leaders were seeking advice from “a thief who fled the country”.

Responding to a question, Asad said that the PTI had not “started a war to come into power”, and highlighted the party’s successes including the victory by a great lead in the Punjab elections on July 15.

The PTI leader had reached Jhang earlier today, where he received a warm welcome by a crowd of supporters.

He visited the shrine of Hazrat Sultan Bahu ahead of resuming the march for the day. Asad said that “Haqeeqi Azadi was not just Imran Khan’s war” but that the “people of the country are also an equal part of it”. He urged the PTI supporters to stand by their party leader.

Further, PTI leader Faisal Javed Khan said that Imran will address the marchers today via video link in Lala Musa, adding that “the sea of people will turn towards Islamabad under the leadership of Imran Khan” where a peaceful protest will take place.

In a tweet, PTI Vice Chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi – leading the procession at Lala Musa – said he believed that not only will “our movement for ‘real freedom’ be successful, but Imran Khan will also soon become the country’s prime minister again”.

“Salute to the passion and spirit of the people of Gujarat,” he tweeted, adding that the next stop will be Lala Musa.

COAS lauds troops for services to nation in the line of duty despite all odds

Staff RepoRt

Chief of Army Staff (COAS)

PTI to approach SC for probe into life attempt on Imran: Qureshi

LAHORE

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday decided to move Supreme Court (SC) against the assassination attempt on the party Chairman Imran Khan. Addressing a press conference PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the party will file a petition in the Supreme Court to seek orders for investigation into the murder of Arshad Sharif, the Cypher issue, Senator Azam Swati’s video leak and assassination attempt on Imran Khan. The PTI stalwart also expressed gratitude to the people of Gujarat for the warm welcome offered to “Haqeeqi Azadi march” and the way people came out in numbers. The former foreign minister maintained that despite Imran Khan’s physical absence in the long march, the PTI narrative is getting more and more popular with each passing day. The PTI vice chairman said that Pakistan was being taken in the wrong direction, saying transparent and fair general elections were the only solution to the country’s worst economic situation.

Ali Sarfaraz new DG NAB Lahore

ISLAMABAD

Staff RepoRt

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman on Saturday appointed Ali Sarfaraz Hussain, a grade 20 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service, as new director general of NAB Lahore. The notification issued by NAB Deputy Director Hamza Nehal Tariq, the federal government has handed over Ali Sarfaraz’s services to the NAB on deputation for three years. Ali Sarfaraz will replace Mirza Sultan Muhammad Saleem who was removed from the DG NAB Lahore post on Friday. Mirza Sultan Saleem had been ordered by the NAB chairman to report to the NAB Headquarters in Islamabad.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday visited Lahore Garrison and laid floral wreath at Martyrs’ Monument and offered fateha during his farewell visit.

According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the COAS inaugurated Lahore Garrison Institute for Special Education and visited various school facilities for special children during his visit. The COAS also inaugurated state of the art Hockey Arena, where he interacted with veteran hockey legends.

COAS said, “Youth of Pakistan is our asset and such facilities are must to provide them an enabling environment to

achieve excellence in sports.”

He also interacted with officers and men of Lahore Corps and Pakistan Rangers Punjab.

During his farewell address, the COAS lauded troops for their services to nation in the line of

duty despite all odds. He appreciated their professionalism and devotion to the defence of motherland. Earlier on arrival, the COAS was received by

FIA acted beyond jurisdiction in lodging FIR on critical tweet: IHC

ISLAMABAD

Staff RepoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) acted beyond its jurisdiction by registering a case on a controversial tweet.

The IHC on Saturday announced a verdict in a case related to the smear campaign against the state institutions on social media following the ouster of PTI-led government in April this year.

Justice Babar Sattar accepted the petition of a citizen and quashed the case which was lodged by FIA over posting of a critical tweet.

The court reprimanded the federal agency, saying that FIA had made a mockery of the state by registering the case which was “aimed at imposing illegal censorship on freedom of expression”. The court said in the verdict that posting a tweet using any hashtag is not tantamount to committing a crime. Wrongdoing can only be established if any person himself has said anything wrong in the content of a tweet, it added.

The court lamented that FIA wanted to create suspicion in public by registering such cases. The Twitter user had spoken of enforced disappearances while referring to ‘Vigo vehicle’.

Earlier this month, the government had authorised the Federal Investigation Agency to take action against those who intended to spread “rumours and false information against state institutions” on social media.

The federal cabinet on October 27 approved an amendment to the FIA Act, 1974 with a section of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for this purpose. It gave the nod to a summary on circulation from the interior ministry for changes in the FIA law.

“[The] FIA has intimated that presently, social media is inundated with false information and rumours against state institutions and organisations with intent to cause or incite or which is likely to cause or incite any officer, solder, sailor or airman in army, navy, or air force of Pakistan to mutiny, offence or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty as such,” the summary read.

PTI years in government epitome of incompetence, claims marriyum

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb claimed that four years of the Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf (PTI) government was a classic example of inefficiency, incompetence and lies.

She claimed, without evidence, that former prime minister Imran Khan compromised national interests for personal political gains. In a statement, she said Khan — a “foreign agent” — made a mockery of himself, the country and the nation. The minister further claimed now that all the antics of Khan had been exposed, it was clear he had been running a show since the 2014 sit-in.

Khan destroyed employment opportunities and caused inflation to soar as PTI’s years in power would be remembered for the loot and plunder of the country. Referring to foreign gifts reference against Khan, she claimed watches and necklaces gifted to the prime minister were “stolen”.

Khan abused opponents, ran dirty campaigns against martyrs of the Pakistan Army and instigated a revolt against institutions, she claimed, adding the time had come to stop his dirty drama targeting opponents and institutions.

New Zealand’s Greg Barclay re-elected ICC chairman

The former New Zealand Cricket boss succeeded Shashank Manohar in 2020 and retained the job for another two years with the board’s full support, the sport’s governing body said.

“Over the last two years we have made significant strides forward with the launch of our global growth strategy that provides clear direction to build a successful and sustainable future for our sport,” said Barclay.

“It is an exciting time to be involved in cricket and I look forward to continuing to work closely with our members to strengthen the game in our core markets as well as grow it beyond that, ensuring more of the world can enjoy cricket,” he added.

Mukuhlani said the continuity of Barclay, an Aucklandbased commercial lawyer, was “in the best interests of the sport”. “I, therefore, decided to withdraw my candidacy,” he added. agencieS

Remittances fall by 15.7pc in October on YoY basis, reveals State Bank Data

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The State Bank of Pakistan revealed the country-wise overseas workers’ remittance data for the month of October on Friday. The remittances hit a record low of 2.215 billion dollars for the first time since February 2022. With the exception of a 2 month decline in January and February in 2022, the remit-

tances have not gone below this level since August 2020.

Pakistan is currently going through one of the worst balance of payment crises in its history. In such a situation inflow of foreign capital is determinant to not only our development, but sustenance as well. Owing to a large amount of Human Capital moving out of the country, Pakistan has been historically reliant on foreign remittances as one

of its key forex inflows. These remittances have seen a gradual decline since the month of August. The figures have gone down by a total of 9.27% in the current fiscal year, between July to October, as compared to the same time period last year.

Pakistan saw a decline in remittances from workers in all major countries. Including the USA ($15 million), UK ($ 29 million), Saudi Arabia ($ 46.1 million) and

UAE ($ 47.3 million). Media reports suggest that this decline is seen due to increase in transfer through illicit means like hawala and hundi. Because of an economic slowdown throughout the world, the gap between dollar rates in the formal and informal markets has widened, encouraging people to send money through informal channels. Since the majority of the decline in remittances is seen from GCC countries,

despite economic growth in these countries. The decline can be attributed to informal channels.

If Pakistan is to see economic growth, it has to find a way to curb the informal inflow and outflow of foreign reserves. Despite forex controls in place, an estimated 30 percent of Pakistan exists in “shadow economy”, a huge part of which is foreign trade.

Greg Barclay was on Saturday re-elected unopposed as independent chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) after Zimbabwe’s Tavengwa Mukuhlani pulled out of contention.

LAHORE

Corps Commander Lieutenant General Salman Fayyaz Ghani.