Epaper_22-11-23 ISB

S S E E N D S

G H Q m o v e s s u m m a r y f o r n e w C o a s a s p o l i t i C a l w H e e l i n G , d e a l i n G G a lo r e

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

CH I E F o f A r m y S t a f f a t e Tu e s day n ght moved a summar y t o t h e M i n i s t r y o f D e f e n c e f o r a p p o n t m e n t o f n e w c h i e f o f army staff containing names o f s i x s e n i o r m o s t l i e u t e n a n t g e n e r a l s o f Pa k s t a n A r m y " G H Q h a s f o r w a r d e d t h e s u m m a r y f o r s e e c t o n o f C J C S C [ C h a i r m a n J o i n t C h e f s o f S t a f f C o m m t t e e ] a n d C O A S c o n t a i n n g n a m e s o f s i x s e n o r m o s t L t G e n s n c l u d i n g : L t G e n A s i m M u n i r, L t G e n S a h i r S h a m s h a d, L t G e n A z h a r A b b a s L t G e n N a u m a n Z a k r i a L t G e n F a z H a m i d a n d L t G e n A m i r R a z a , t o M o D, t h e I S P R s a d n a s t a t e m e n t

The move has broken the sta emate over the appointment of new army chief and the CJCSC which had capti vated the po tica landscape of the countr y for the past few weeks

Sources in the government say that before the summar y was final y moved Gen Bajwa held a quiet meeting with PM Shehbaz and all the matters were sorted out However when asked SAPM Fahd Husain did not confirm t

Pr me Minister Shehbaz Shar f a so re ma ned preoccup ed with back to

back meetings in contemp at ng meas ures and moves to get the name of the new Chief of Army Staff final sed How ever, the meeting between PM Shehbaz and As f Zardari helped break stake mate over the new appointments

In this regard, several meet ngs were held besides contacts made on phone with party leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif

Though the pr me minister s office did not share much details on the meetings, Defence M n ster Khawaja As f told media that a decis on on who wi l be the next chief of army staff ” wou d be made pub ic over the next 48 hours c aiming there was no conf ict with secur ty nstitution over army chief appo ntment

There wou d not be any undue [delay] in the process and I am asking for another 48 hours, he told the an chorperson during a l ve talk show at a pr vate TV channe on Tuesday When asked about the status of the new COA S appo ntment process As f said: “ Yesterday we sent the etter [from the ministr y to the m litar y command] Now f we get the dossiers today or to morrow it is a matter of routine ” He went on to say, “ Once they get the sum mar y then it is a formal move because then it has to go to the cabinet [for

e n t h e a d v i c e w o u l d g o t o t h e P r e s d e n t a n d t h e n h o p e f u l l y t h e s a m e d a y o r t h e n e x t d a y t h e [ m a t t e r ] w o u l d b e s o r t e d o u t

The Defense Minister claimed the names [of the new army ch ef and chairman jo nt ch efs of staff] would be pub ic tomorrow or the day after A “ smooth transaction” would take place in appo ntment of the new ch ef To a q u e s t o n K h A s i f r u l e d o u t

t h e r e w a s a n y c o n f l i c t w i t h s e c u r t y n s t i t u t i o n o v e r a r m y c h e f a p p o n t m e n t Pr i m e M n i s t e r S h e h b a z S h a r i f w o u l d h a v e c o n s u l t a t i o n w t h c o a l i t o n p a r t n e r s a n d t h e s e c u r t y i n s t t u t o n w o u l d a l s o h a v e d i s c u s s i o n o n t h i s m a t t e r , h e p o i n t e d o u t “ The government has zero confl ct on this important matter , he said

Commenting on Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf Chief mran Khan the federal min ister said Imran Khan had changed his m nd and avoided to create trouble on

Despite tall claims, govt fails to restar t 20 power plants of 5000MW

ISLAMABAD

Eight months into power, the federal govern ment has been unable to make any head way n restart ng 20 power plants that have been out of commission due to non ava l ab lity of fuel technica fau ts and icence re ated issues

The 20 power plants, which have the ca pacity to produce 500MW of energy each have been closed since before the Sharif adm n stration came to power under the banner of the PDM coa tion government Sources within the power sector have to d Profit that the government has made ver y lit tle effort to restart power generation in the 20 power plants desp te the countr y being n the midd e of a protracted energy short age that goes back many months

Four days after coming to power the prime minister was briefed about at east 27 power p ants having a combined genera tion capac ty of more than 7 000 megawatts that were out of order due to technical prob ems or fue shortages In this meeting back in April former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who has also he d the petroleum portfo io, pointed out that there was a comp ete lack of coordinat on among the petro eum and power div sions of the energy ministr y and the matter shou d be addressed at the outset on priority in stead of wast ng t me in the b ame game D e s p i t e t h e s e e a r l y p r o m i s e s, t h e f e e i n g w i t h n t h e p o w e r s e c t o r i s t h a t t h e a t t e n t o n w h c h w a s r e q u r e d h a s n o t b e e n g i v e n t o t h e i s s u e T h e s o u r c e s a d d e d t h a t 1 0 4 1 M W R o u s c h p o w e r p a n t h a s b e e n n o t p r o d u c i n g e e c t r i c i t y m a n l y d u e t o n o n a o c a t o n o f R e g a s i f i e d L q u e f i e d N a t u r a l G a s ( R L N G ) w h i l e Po r t Q a s m

p o w e r p l a n t i s n o t g e n e r a t n g t h e p o w e r o w i n g t o c o s t y f u e l t h e y a d d e d S h a r i n g d e t a i l s o f p o w e r p l a n t s c l o s e d d u e t o t e c h n c a l o r o t h e r r e a s o n s t h e s o u r c e s s a d t h a t t o t a l 3 1 4 8 M W e l e c t r i c i t y o f e i g h t p o w e r g e n e r a t i o n p l a n t s s n o t b e i n g m a d e p a r t o f t h e s y s t e m d u e t o t e c h n i c a l r e a s o n s w h i l e t e n ( 1 0 ) p o w e r p l a n t s w i t h p o w e r g e n e r a t o n c a p a c i t y o f 1 7 6 3 m w h a v e s t o p p e d p o w e r p r o d u c t i o n d u e t o l i c e n c e r e l a t e d s s u e s f r o m m a n y m o n t h s T h e y s a d t h a t 9 6 9 M W N e e l u m J h e l u m h y d r o p o w e r p l a n t h a d s t o p p e d p r o d u c t i o n f r o m J u l y 0 5 2 0 2 2 o s t e n s b l y d u e t o Ta r a c e T u n n e l p r o b l e m w h i l e 2 4 6 M W p o w e r p l a n t o f M u z a f f a r g a r h s u s p e n d e d p o w e r g e n e r a t o n o p e r a t o n f r o m J u y 1 2 0 1 9 a n d a n o t h e r 1 6 8 M W p o w e r p l a n t o f M u z a f f a r g a r h w e n t o u t o f s y s t e m f r o m A p r i l 0 2 2 0 2 2 S i m a r l y p o w e r p l a n t s o f G u d d u O d a n d 2 4 9 M W G u d d u 7 4 7 ( S T G 1 6 ) a r e f a c i n g c l o s u r e f o r a o n g t m e s a i d s o u r c e s “ These 20 power p ants were al once

known for per formance but are a l currently faced with closure due to some known and some unknown reasons The restart of these plants could go a long way in reso v ng the countr y s electricity shortage issue in an am cab e manner,” said the source

Shockingly, the ruling regime has so far not taken mentionab e steps for the restora tion of electr city supply from these 20 power plants of 5000MW by resolving their genuine ssues in order to resolve the countr y s current power shortage ssue, said sources

It is pertinent to ment on that power con sumers have been facing hours long unan nounced power outages and inflated electr city bil s for a ong time whi e closed power generat on plants w th zero power production are earning signif cant capacity charges The present government n order to resolve the power shortage ssue has so far found not keen and active in resolving the ssue of those efficient power p ants which have stopped product on due to technical faults costly fuel l cence re ated ssues etc

secur ty matters

CaBINET mEETING oN NoV 24: Pr me Minister Shehbaz Sharif has summoned a specia meeting of the federal cabi net for Thursday November 24

It is expected that he will take a l cab net members nto confidence over his p ck for the next army ch ef before he departs on an offic al tour to Turk ye Other political and economic de velopments are also expected to be re v ewed during the cabinet meeting

The agenda of the cabinet meeting is not expected to be disclosed unti ate on Wednesday Pm ShEhBaz, Kh a SIf DISCuSS Coa S aP

PoINTmENT: Meanwh le Defence Min s ter Kh Asif called on Pr me M n ster Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday to hold d s cuss on over the matters pertaining to the appo ntment of next army ch ef Specia Assistant to the PM Ma ik Ahmad Khan was also present during the meet ng A day earlier Khawa a As f held a meeting with the PM

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

Two officials involved

in leak of Gen Bajwa’s tax

details identified: Dar

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Fi n a n c e M i n i s t e r I s h a q D a r

Tu e s d a y s a i d t h a t t h e i n t e r i m p r o b e r e p o r t i n t o t h e l e a k o f A r m y c h e f G e n e r a l Q a m a r J a v e d B a j w a ’ s i n c o m e t a x r e c o r d s h a d b e e n r e c e i v e d and the cu prits nvolved had b e e n t r a c e d S p e a k n g i n a talk show Dar sa d the leak of ncome tax returns of the army ch ef ’s fam y was “ illegal ” and h e h i m s e l f h a d s e e n t h e i n t e r m p r o b e r e p o r t Fi n a n c e Minister said that he hoped to r e c e v e t h e f i n a l r e p o r t s o o n and the government has found a few people behind the leak He said that the matter wou d be taken to its logica conclu sion Sharing further detai s Dar said that one person involved n the eak belonged to Lahore and another from Rawalpind However, the minister hastened to add that there is a poss bi ity that some of the nd vidua s nvo ved may have the author sa tion to ook at the income tax records as there was a circle in Rawalpind where assessments take place “ These people are authorised to access the [data] for the r assessment, Dar said a n d a d d a d t h a t i f i l e g a l w o r k s a l o w e d o r a b l i n d e y e s turned towards it then a person will not be fulf ling the r duty

The aw does not a ow the release of army chief or anyone e l s e s i n c o m e t a x r e t u r n s w t h o u t a c o u r t o r d e r s a d t h e f i

nance minister Separately Specia Assistance to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Revenue Tariq Pasha on Tuesday cha red an mpor tant sess on to probe the matter related to the leakage of tax details of the Chief of Army Staff (COA S) General Qamar Javed Ba wa and his fam ly members The key session was held at the Federa Board of Revenue (FBR) headquarters and the FBR Chairman As m Ahmad also attended the session Tariq Pasha a so summoned Pakistan Revenue Automat on Lim ted (PRAL) a n d a m e m b e r o f t h e I T t o t h e s e s s i o n T h e P R A L c h a r m a n briefed the participants of the meet ng regard ng the leaking of COA S Bajwa and his family members tax details Moreover, the FBR chairman and IT member a so briefed Tar q Pasha re garding the issue It was earnt that a report will be presented to F nance Min ster Ishaq Dar after an inquir y into the conf den tial data leak

g P M c o n t e m p l a t e s o p t i o n s f o r n e w a r m y c h i e f g S h e h b a z , Z a r d a r i , N a w a z d i s

g ‘ P i c k ’ f o r n e w C O A S t o b e m a d e w i t h i n 4 8 h o u r s : K h A s i f

P T I m ay s eT u P ‘ s h o P ’ I n P I n d I a s P l e a f o r I s l a m a b a d n o C w I T h d r aw n

ISLAMABAD

ex p E C T E D to enter Rawalpindi on Friday to force the government to call snap elections, participants of the pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (pTI) protest march who earlier sought permission, a no objection certificate (NOC), from the administration for a prolonged stay in Islamabad are now anticipated to set up a temporary tent city in the garrison city

Speaking to the media, Asad Umar, secretary general of the opposition party, when asked whether the pTI planned to stage a sit in in the city said the protestors were prepared to set up accommodation in Rawalpindi

The protestors from across the country have been told by the senior party leadership to converge in Rawalpindi on Friday, the same day when the government is expected to announce a new army chief

Former prime minister Imran Khan who is recovering from gunshot wounds, is expected to join the sit in the following day

Umar further said the next plan of action would be shared by Khan on Saturday “If he [Khan] decides to

Cour t records eCP statement in foreign gifts case

A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the foreign gifts reference against former prime minister Imran Khan until December 8 after recording a district election commissioner s statement Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal presided over Tuesday’s hearing before whom District Election Commissioner Waqas Malik gave his statement The district election commissioner said he had been authorized to pursue the case He added that the ECp was an independent institution that functioned under the Constitution and ensured that corrupt practices were curtailed Malik further said members of the National Assembly submitted their returns to the ECp annually Khan, too, submitted his returns from 2018 to 2021 he added The hearing was adjourned till December 8 Toshakhana a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division stores precious gifts given to the head of state Mps bureaucrats and officials by heads of other governments, states and foreign dignitaries According to Toshakhana rules gifts and other such material received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division The reference had been moved against Khan by the pakistan Democratic Movement (pDM) on August 4 for not “sharing details” of foreign gifts and proceeds from their alleged sale Last week, the ECp sent the reference to the court asking it to proceed against Khan under criminal law for allegedly misleading officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries during his tenure as the prime minister The commission seeks a three year jail term and imposition of a fine as the punishment The complainant in the reference is the Islamabad deputy election commissioner The reference stated that Khan had “deliberately concealed his assets relating to Toshakhna gifts retained by him particularly in 2018 and 2019 in the statements of assets and liabilities filed for the year 2017 201 8 and 2018 19”

stay, we will arrange accommodation for the demonstrators, he added

Responding to a question about the extent of the security planned for the party chairman considering the reported threat to his life, Umar said the former prime minister will be surrounded by “extraordinary” security measures on his arrival in Rawalpindi

With regard to security you are absolutely right, we have had apprehensions before which turned out to be true [ ] we were receiving reports that his life is in danger and you saw how an attempt was made on his life in an organised manner

“However, [this time] there will be special security arrangements [ ] unlike those in place in previous rallies It was difficult to convince Khan [to accept security], you know he’s a brave man, and he doesn’t want anything between the people and himself, the former planning minister said

On the question of the appointment to the office of arm chief, Umar noted whoever succeeded Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa the incumbent will have a big responsibility to steer pakistan towards becoming a country that was envisioned by its founders

He [new army chief] will have this big

responsibility on his shoulders that in an evolutionary process, how to take pakistan to the next phase so it is put on the path to becoming pakistan envisioned by Muhammad Iqbal and for which Muhammad Ali Jinnah P e t i t i o n s e e k i n g n o C f o r P r o t e s t i n i s l a m a b a d w i t h d r aw n: The pTI withdrew its plea from the Islamabad High Court, seeking permission to hold rally in Islamabad

During the proceedings the pTI lawyer requested the court for withdrawal the petition, which was accepted by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq

While hearing the case Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that nobody can challenge writ of the state Besides the pTI petition, the IHC conducted hearing of traders’ petition against the pTI expected sit in and possible closure of roads Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition of traders in the federal capital against the expected pTI sit in at Faizabad Interchange and said that there were decisions of the Supreme Court and the IHC regarding the protest He maintained that putting up containers was not a solution to the problem and that a modern approach should be adopted Justice Farooq furthered that even if a protest happens in Rawalpindi those travelling to

Islamabad may face difficulty

During the hearing, the pTI withdrew its petition against not allowing the rally and sit in in Islamabad from the IHC At this the IHC bench disposed of the petition of the businessmen

Last week, the IHC chief justice had said that rallies were the right of the people but they should not fringe upon the fundamental rights of other citizens

While hearing a traders’ plea regarding the former ruling party s long march and expected sit in and the possible closure of roads, Justice Farooq had said that no one can be allowed to block the motorway

He had said that businesses would be affected if highways and motorways were blocked, adding that no one had the right to hold a sit in on the motorway

He furthered that Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had given a decision in a sit in case and said that all rallies will be held in the parade Ground in Islamabad

G en Bajwa lauds contribution of troops for peace, stabilit y in Balochistan

RAWALPINDI

As part of his farewell visits, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief Of Army Staff (COAS) visited Quetta Garrison on Tuesday COAS laid floral wreath at Martyrs’ monument and interacted with officers and troops COAS appreciated efforts and contributions of the Corps and its formations towards peace and stability in the province, their assistance to provincial govt during recent flooding and socio economic development Later COAS inaugurated Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute of Cardiology Quetta (ICQ) first ever cardiac facility of 120 beds established in collaboration with United Arab

Acceptance of demand for environmental justice diplomatic vic tor y of Pakistan: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Tuesday said that acceptance of the demand for environmental justice at the global level was a major diplomatic success of pakistan

The establishment of a global fund to compensate the losses of countries affected by climate change was a victory for pakistan’s stance and recognition of its stand, she said in a statement

prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif turned the deadly effects of climate change on developing countries and flood disasters in pakistan into the global agenda”, she maintained She said that pakistan s stand under the leadership of the prime minister played a decisive role in creating a global consensus on the issue

Cour t closes wealth c ase against D ar

N

The establishment of Loss and Damage Fund will help in the rehabilitation of flood victims in pakistan, she remarked

She appreciated the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres for proving to be a benefactor of developing countries The minister said the efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman played a key role in victory of pakistan’s position at the global level

The decision to establish a global fund at COp 27 was a historic milestone in protecting the planet from the ravages of climate change, she said

Marriyum Aurangzeb said the world leaders deserve congratulations and tributes for taking decisive and practical steps to save the planet She hoped that this global alliance will play an important role in combating the effects of climate change

Emirates (UAE) UAE Ambassador Director UpAp Governor Balochistan and Chief Secretary Balochistan were also present on the occasion COAS said that this cardiac institute will serve the population of Balochistan at Quetta and two more such facilities are also planned for Balochistan under the same project COAS also presented Sitara e Quaid i Azam on behalf of president of pakistan to H E Abdullah Khalifa Saeed Al Ghafeli, Director UpAp Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also visited Command & Staff College (C&SC) and School of Infantry & Tactics (SI&T) During the visits, COAS interacted with faculty and student officers Earlier on arrival at Quetta COAS was received by the Corps Commander Lieutenant General Asif Ghafoor

drCs play key role in speedy, fair solution to social problems: rPo

SWAT

S y e d S h a h a b u d d N

After constant delays, ECP announces LG polls in Karachi, Hyderabad on Jan 15

elections

Following constant delays, the Election Commission of pakistan (ECp) on Tuesday announced holding much demanded local government elections in Sindh’s metropolis Karachi and Hyderabad on January 15

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja announced the verdict, the commission had reserved after hearing petitions, on November 15

Following the verdict the ECp directed the Sindh and federal governments to complete the security arrangements in this regard

The tribunal also directed the Sindh government, chief secretary, chief of provincial police, and federal interior ministry to ensure security arrangements to hold free, fair and impartial elections

The polls in Karachi were scheduled for July but postponed due to the floods The Sindh government had repeatedly sought the rescheduling of dates for the

The elections were initially scheduled for July 24, but they were delayed due to bad weather and rains Then, polling was set to take place on August 28 and October 24, but the provincial government refused to provide security In its judgment on the petitions moved by pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (pTI) and Jamat i Islami, the Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the commission to announce a new schedule for the elections

Regional police Officer Malakand, Sajjad Khan lauded the significant role of Dispute Resolution Councils (DRCs) in sustainable solution to issues faced by the masses, saying DRCs playing a key role in speedy and fair solution to social problems at local level of society without any cost or financial benefit RpO Sajjad Khan expressed the views while presiding over meeting of DRC Swat on Tuesday at Regional police Office Saidu Sharif Swat Chairman and members of all local DRCs belonging to Swat attend the meeting The RpO reviewed overall performance of all DRCs in terms of public services delivery through their decisions and agreed with the form to include some proposals to make more effective the council for speedy provision of services in resolving social problems The RpO also learned about various problems faced by DRCs and assured their solution On the occasion, the RpO said that the DRC forum provides services according to the basics teaching of Islam and directions of beloved prophet Muhammad (SAWW) for maintaining peace and reconciliation among people He said that DRCs were the best system for sustainable solution to social problems outside the courts which were yielding best results and lessoning burden on regular courts He said that Jirga system is an organized part of pakhtun traditions and efficacy and results of which have also been recognized at the international level Keeping in mind the same enology of such Jirga system’s efficiency and following the pakhtun traditions, the DRC model has been introduced with legal cover so that to resolve the basic civic issues outside the court and police station on mutual understanding He further said that the DRCs have played a magnificent role in this regard, while solved a number of complex cases with sustainable manner in society He said that the DRC composition was based on educated and dignified members of society and the same council has played the role as a protector of the oppressed people

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e P o R t

S ta f f R e P o R t

ISLAMABAD

P

An accountability court on Tuesday closed a wealth case against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and other suspects The verdict was reserved by the court on Monday after the completion of the arguments from both sides Judge Muhammad Bashir while announcing the reserved

verdict said they cannot hear the assets case against Dar and other accused after the recent amendments in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law The court has sent back the reference to NAB The details verdict in the case will be released later Judge Muhammad Bashir remarked after announcing the short order Earlier, an accountability court (AC) granted a one day exemption from court appearance to Finance Minister

‘ a z a d I m a r C h ’ w o n ’ T a f f e C T P I n d I T e s T, I m r a n a s s u r e s T u r n e r

fO R M E R prime minister and pTI

chairman Imran Khan has assured British High Commissioner Christian Turner that his party’s protest rally or sit in will not affect the pakistan England Test match scheduled to be held in Rawalpindi on December 1

The pTI sought permission from the Islamabad administration on Monday to allow it to proceed from different routes of Islamabad to reach Faizabad in Rawalpindi

Although the application does not clearly state whether it will be a one day gathering or a sit in the intention is clear that the November 26 rally can be converted into a sit in

The British high commissioner and pakistan Cricket Board (pCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja called on the former premier at his Zaman park residence in Lahore and inquired about his health

The British high commissioner condemned the assassination attempt on the pTI chief and expressed his best wishes for his speedy recovery

Imran Khan asked the pCB chairman and the British diplomat to continue their preparations for the match saying his movement will not affect the 5 day match

Senior pTI leader Fawad Chaudhry was also present in the meeting

England have not played a Test match in pakistan since 2005 having declined to tour since because of the country s precarious security situation but played a successful Twenty20 series earlier this year

They are due to arrive in Islamabad on November 26, with the first Test in Rawalpindi from December 1 5

IHC bars SNGPL from gas supply disconnec tion to traders

J u s t i c e M o h s i n A k h t a r K a y a n i h e a r d a petition filed by Islamabad s traders and All Rawalpindi Restaurants Association a g a i n s t t h e d e c i s i o n o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t o n f o r c e d c o n v e r s i o n o f t h e i r u t i l i t y c o n n e c t i o n s o n R e g a s i f i e d L i q u i d Natural Gas (RLNG)

Imran’s par t y not providing any social ser vices to public: Kaira

ISLAMABAD a P P

Adviser to prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday said that Imran’s party is not providing any social services to general public pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (pTI), is creating chaos for the country on the name of long march, he said while talking to a private television channel pTI chairman is spreading anarchy through protest demonstration and long march, he said Khan's party is engaged in promoting political instability in this country, he said The world leaders, he said were trying to visit pakistan but Imran Khan’s long march had halted the investment opportunities coming to this part of the region In reply to a question about talks with pTI, he said the talks were the only solution to resolve political issues He urged pTI leaders to come forward and discuss issues of public interest at the forum of parliament

Propaganda cells present rogue data to create panic: dastgir

ISLAMABAD a P P

Minister for power, Engr Khurram Dastgir on Tuesday said that propaganda cells present rogue data to the public to create financial panic Talking to a private news channel, he said that the narrative of default was just a temptation similar to the one we face in the political arena "We were on verge of default in April, which we diligently prevented and saved the country”, he said Coalition government had tried their best to overcome the financial mess created by Imran Khan’s led government, he added Comparing the October, 2022 current account status with October 2021, minister said that it shows decline of almost 47% that means economy was heading in the right direction Similarly, our foreign exchange reserve position stabilized our past few months he added

I H C c o m p r i s i n g

T h e p e t i t i o n e r s h a d c h a l l e n g e d t h e disconnection of gas connections issued by SNGpL During the hearing, the court

directed the SNGpL not to disconnect the g a s c o n n e c t i o n s o f c o m m e r c i a l c u s t o m e r s w h o w e r e n o t s h i f t e d t o RLNG p e t i t i o n e r R e s t a u r a n t A s s o c i a t i o n p r e s i d e n t F a r o o q C h a u d h r y a p p e a r e d b e f o r e t h e c o u r t t h r o u g h l a w y e r I m r a n S h a f i q a n d s a i d t h a t f o r c e d s h i f t i n g o f commercial customers to RLNG affected the daily wage employees

Blome underscores bolstering Pak-US economic par tnership

soldier mar t yred in fire exchange with terrorists near south waziristan

having fought gallantly, embraced martyrdom According to ISpR, sanitization of the area was being carried out to eliminate any terrorist found in the area pakistan Army is determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve it added

US Ambassador Donald Blome on Tuesday visited Karachi to underscore the strong ties between the United States, pakistan and further strengthen the bilateral robust economic partnership as well as public health cooperation

During his visit, Ambassador Blome met representatives of the American Business Council, Aga Khan University Hospital, and a KFC funded School for the Deaf to witness many ways, both countries are further forging a strong partnership to build a strong partnership

In his meetings with industry leaders at the American Business Council Ambassador Blome discussed how the United States and pakistan can facilitate broad based, equitable and sustainable economic growth for both nations, according to

a communiqué Ambassador Blome commented, “I am committed to boosting bilateral trade and investment, especially through a new framework called the US pakistan Green Alliance that seeks to promote climate smart agriculture and private sector led growth in pakistan ”

The United States is pakistan s largest bilateral trade partner and one of its largest sources of foreign direct investment, with U S investment in pakistan increasing more than 50 percent in the past year

Blome met Aga Khan University Hospital leadership where he learned about their operations and toured the facilities In 2012, the US Development Finance Corporation provided a $30 million loan to expand Aga Khan’s hospital and healthcare facilities

The US remains committed to expanding healthcare cooperation with pakistan

Ambassador Blome visited a

KFC funded school for the Deaf community and ate lunch at one of the KFC establishments that hires workers with disabilities

He was impressed to see that KFC not only donated to the flood relief efforts but was taking corporate social responsibility to heart by creating meaningful job opportunities for the hard of hearing and leading the way on inclusivity

The United States government has contributed $97 million to flood relief efforts to date, while the US private sector and US citizens have separately donated more than $32 million

“The U S government is dedicated to expanding the full range of the U S pakistan relationship including education, people to people ties, clean energy and health related cooperation ” the US Ambassador assured “Together, we can promote a more stable, secure, and prosperous future for both our nations

no stabilit y in politics until Coas appointment issue resolved: rashid

Awami Muslim League president Sheikh Rashid has said there will be no stability in politics until the issue of the new army chief ’s appointment is resolved On Twitter the former interior minister said his successor Rana Sanaullah’s statement that an army chief would be appointed even if a summary for it was not moved had rung alarm bells” “It is clear from the interior minister ’s statement that everything is not well,” said Rashid while making an apparent reference to the leaked tax records of incumbent army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his family into which Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as ordered an inquiry They themselves get the records of the assets leaked and that order an inquiry into it,” Rashid

B r i t i s h C o u n c i l t o h o s t ‘G o i n g G l o b a l A s i a Pa c i f i c C o n f e r e n c e ’ i n S i n g a p o r e

SINGAPORE

The British Council today announced its ‘Going Global Asia pacific Conference’ which provides a strategic forum for leaders in international education to share knowledge and build a global network to shape the future of higher education across the world The conference will take place from 28 November to 1 December 2022 in Singapore and is the first regional edition of the British Council’s flagship Going Global conference It also marks 75 years of the British Council’s presence in Singapore and its role in advancing the city state’s growth story through its work in the English language, Education, Arts and Culture

The conference will explore the theme of International Education in the United

Kingdom (UK) and Asia pacific region: How to pursue equity in an inequitable world an especially pertinent topic at a time when disparities in educational opportunities areon the rise due to the global pandemic The conference aims to re imagine the future of education and build stronger, more inclusive, internationally connected education systems through exchange of insight learning and ideas to benefit hundreds of millions of people across the UK and Asia pacific region

The conference will include both in person and live stream sessions and the in person events are being attended by 200 invited senior leaders in the tertiary education sector from 20 countries and territories, representing over 140 organisations across Asia pacific and the UK at Marina Bay Sands Singapore Senior education leaders globally can also attend key segments of the

conference online by registering for live stream sessions until 28 November 2022

The conference will be opened by Maddalaine Ansell, Director of Education, British Council and attended by Sir Steve Smith the UK Government s International Education Champion It will cover key themes including: The context for education in a changing world;Addressing gender gaps in higher education; Digital inclusion; How Higher Education Institutions can contribute to climate action and many more

Key speakers at the conference will include recognized leaders in the global education sector including Dr Libing Wang Chief of Section for Educational Innovation and Skills Development for UNESCO Asia pacific;James Crabtree Executive Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS Asia);RodoraTuralde Babaran,

Director of Human Development at the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat; and Md Mokhlesur Rahman, Senior Operations Officer at The World Bank,among others

The United Kingdom is consistently ranked amongst the most popular destinations for higher education amongst students from across the Asia pacific Students from the region account for almost half of the UK’s 600,000 international students, including over 14 000 from Singapore alone Some notable alumni from Singapore and the wider region include the current prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong the first female prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi and pakistani female education activist andthe youngest Nobel prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, to name a few Maddalaine Ansell, Director of

Education, British Council, said: “We are thrilled to be hosting our first regional Going Global conference in Singapore this year at the same time as we celebrate the British Council’s 75th anniversary in the city state and focusing on the Asia pacific region We are looking forward to robust discussions on a range of topics including how to ensure that educating international students overseas also builds higher education capacity in sending countries, and that partnerships between countries are equitable and benefit everyone involved For close to 20 years, through our flagship Going Global conference the British Council has provided a strategic forum for leaders in international education to share knowledge and build global networks that shape the future of further and higher education across the world ”

LAHORE

S ta f f R e P o R t

RAWALPINDI S ta f f R e P o R t

A soldier embraced martyrdom during a fire exchange that took place between pakistan Army troops and terrorists, in general area Sararogha, South Waziristan District According to ISpR press release army troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location During intense exchange of fire, Havaldar Umer Hayat (age 39 years resident of Lachi Kohat)

RAWALPINDI

ISLAMABAD S

According to the policy of the federal g o v e r n m e n t , g a s s h o u l d b e s u p p l i e d t o d o m e s t i c c o n s u m e r s a n d c o m m e r c i a l c o n s u m e r s o n p r i o r i t y b a s i s J u s t i c e Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said that SNGpL could neither cut the gas connection nor t r a n s f e r t h e g a s t a r i ff u n t i l t h e n e x t hearing

L a t e r h e a r i n g o f t h e c a s e w a s adjourned till December 2

P R e S S R e l e a S e

KARACHI S ta f f R e P o R t

D e v e lo p e D c o u n t r i e S b i g g e S t u S e r S o f c h i l D l a b o u r i n S u p p ly c h a i n S : e x p e r t

opment of children, Morales de la Cruz said: And so these 300 million children suffer a lot ”

cHIlD labour has increased in the supply chains of developed coun tries and blocs such as the Euro pean Union the US Canada Japan, Norway and Switzerland, especially due to cruel and illegal business models of corporations an expert said on the occasion of World Children’s Day S p e a k i n g t o A n a d o l u A g e n c y, h u m a n rights activist journalist political consult a n t a n d s o c i a l e n t r e p r e n e u r F e r n a n d o Morales de la Cruz noted it was the 74th anniversary of the adoption of the Univer sal Declaration of Human Rights and said t h e r e a r e m o r e t h a n 3 0 0 m i l l i o n w o r k i n g c h i l d r e n a r o u n d t h e w o r l d d e s p i t e c h i l d r e n ’s r i g h t s b e i n g c o n s i d e r e d w i t h i n t h e scope of human rights Pointing out that child labour harms the physical, psychological or emotional devel

He said the increase of child labour in the supply chains was due to an increase in the types and volumes of products produced by countries in the Global South, but espe cially due to cruel and illegal business mod els of corporations He said the Covid 19 pandemic also led to an increase in child labour During the Covid 19 epidemic we also saw a significant increase in poverty Child work rises as poverty rises because child labour is the outcome of extreme poverty,” he added Rights of weakest children in supply chains not respected Morales de la Cruz argued that devel oped economies and their companies are the biggest financial beneficiaries of child labour “We can talk about tens of millions of children working in the supply chains of the European Union and the United States,

and the same goes for Norway and Switzer land This is a very serious problem because these countries are supposed to have a sys tem based on the rule of law and respect for human rights But when you look at their supply chains and their investments, they don’t respect the rights of the weakest chil dren he said

He noted that he had been asking Ger man politicians at the highest level to do everything possible to stop this

“The reality is that when you look at the products that Germany imports, we can start with coffee tea and cocoa we can start with cotton and fashion We can also continue with cobalt for electric cars and batteries There are many children working in these supply chains,” he said

“Even the luxury brands and the gold and the diamonds in jewelry are tainted with child labour The child labour problem is not only present in cheap products ”

Morales de la Cruz stressed that corpo

rations were paying the producers a fraction of the real cost of the products He empha sized that countries in Asia like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh went through extreme poverty which affects hundreds of millions of people Difficult to finD proDucts not associateD with chilD labour: “Asia is an important exporter of products to Europe and the US So when we look at the products that these countries import, we find child labour and even forced labour there So what is really needed is for the governments of the devel oped nations to ensure that companies re spect the law and also that the government protects the rights of children and even slaves who are working today That is why I wrote a letter to the leaders of the G7 leaders Summit hosted by Ger many at Elmau Palace in the state of Bavaria demanding that they make a commitment to eliminate forced and child labour, he said

I n s u rg e n c y, n e g l e c t h u r t fl o o d re l i e f i n B a l o c h i s t a n

GANDAKHA

Maryam Jamali should have been prepar ing for an economics exam Instead, the teenager from the flood hit province of Balochistan was helping organise post partum clinics and shelter for people neg lected by relief efforts

Pakistan’s largest and poorest province is plagued by under develop ment, bad governance, corruption, and a long running insurgency When cata strophic floods submerged vast swaths of Pakistan this summer, about 75 percent of Balochistan’s population was affected, the largest proportion of any province in the country Yet recovery here has been slower, and residents say they are paying the price of years of neglect by the local and central government Red tape is mak ing it difficult for international aid work ers to reach devastated areas

Much of the already dilapidated pre flood infrastructure has been washed away, further hampering aid efforts

People still wade in waist high water or float on rafts through Balochistan’s fields On the pot holed and suspension shattering drive to Jamali s village, there are deep ruts carved out by desperate lo cals to free trapped floodwaters It is an uncomfortable car journey around the province’s flood affected areas, though not so impossible or inaccessible as to be a reason for the slowness of aid

It is a contrast to neighbouring Sindh, an agricultural, commercial, and manu facturing hub At the height of the flood ing people in the Sindh city of Sukkur used boats on submerged roads But pumps were brought in to remove water, and now there is little sign the city was ever flooded

Balochistan was not so prepared, de spite disaster striking it often There was

severe flooding in 2010 and 2011 The arid region normally has low rainfall, but any rain in this mountainous area can cause flash floods

Jamali, her father, and dozens of vol unteers have helped more than 20,000 flood survivors since mid June

“We haven’t seen any international o rg a n i z a t i o n s c o m e h e r e t h e m s e l v e s , ” said Jamali, 19 Maybe they think this is a scary place It’s not, it’s just a lack o f e ff o r t o n t h e i r p a r t I t ’s d i ff i c u l t t o navigate through the bureaucracy Be c a u s e o f a l l t h o s e h u r d l e s t h e y j u s t didn’t come here this time ” A drainage canal not far from her village illustrates w h a t r e s i d e n t s s a y i s a n i n f r a s t r u c t u r e t h a t p r o t e c t s S i n d h a t t h e e x p e n s e o f Balochistan

Wa t e r f r o m B a l o c h i s t a n ’s G a n d a k h a c i t y i s m e a n t t o b e d r a i n e d t o ward Sindh through the canal But only one of the canal’s five gates are open Cement seals the rest Someone has w r i t t e n i n U r d u F o r G o d s s a k e , o p e n i t u p ” o n o n e o f t h e c a n a l ’s w a l l s T h e f l o o d w a t e r w a s c h o k i n g the city at one point, Jamali said Balochistan is not a political or economic heavyweight and doesn’t

have a political patron like other provinces Sindh is the power base of the Bhutto dynasty Punjab is the home of a past and present prime minister and con tributes the most to Pakistan’s GDP, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a stronghold of former premier Imran Khan

Though Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan is its least populated, made up largely of high mountains It s also a centre for the country’s small ethnic Baloch minority, who say they face dis crimination from the central government local politician Sana Baloch claims the flood relief focus has been on Sindh and that there is a closed door policy for Balochistan unfairly using the insur gency as an excuse International agencies and groups are willing to support people but they are not welcomed by the federal govern ment, said Baloch

“They are not encouraged or allowed to come here ” But there has also been criticism of local authorities for doing little even as the scale of the crisis grew In the Sohbatpur district, Muhammad Ismail is rebuilding his destroyed home while his family lives on the roadside

UN adopts Pakistan resolution on strengthening OIC ties

UNITED NATIONS A p p

The General Assembly adopted by con sensus a Pakistan introduced resolution on cooperation with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), urging the United Nations to enhance collaboration with the Saudi dominated bloc in areas of mutual interest

Under the terms of the resolution, Cooperation between the United Na tions and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation”, the 193 member assem bly affirmed the UN and OIC shared a common goal of promoting and facili tating the Middle East peace process with the goal to establish a just and com prehensive peace in the region It also affirmed it shared a common objective of fostering peaceful and political solu tions to other conflicts in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations

and Security Council resolutions

Introducing the resolution in the world body, Ambassador Munir Akram, speaking in Pakistan s capacity as chair of the OIC member nations group in New York, said it highlights the two or ganisations desire to work together on shared concerns, including global secu rity, self determination, respect for ter ritorial integrity decolonisation and combating terrorism

The envoy said the draft is consis tent with the spirit of the resolution which, in 1965, invited the Islamic Or ganisation to participate in the work of the United Nations and its subsidiary or gans as an observer

“This year ’s resolution”, he told the General Assembly, contains technical changes, and invites all member states to observe the International Day to Combat Islamophobia in an appropriate manner ”

Morales de la Cruz said he expected German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other G7 leaders to show that they are willing to act on this issue

According to the latest study by the In ternational labor Organization (IlO) and UNICEF published on June 10, 2021, the number of children employed as labourers globally had surged in recent years, reaching 160 million

According to a report published on Sept 14 this year by the University of Zurich, there are more than 373 million children globally now who work instead of play This puts them third worldwide in terms of popu lation after China and India

According to official figures around one out of every 10 children worldwide works as a child laborer, with the percentage rising to one out of every five children in developing nations Some of these children work in dan gerous jobs that could harm their health, safety and morals

Shehbaz congratulates Kazakhstan president on re election win

The high commission of the United Kingdom said it was in contact with au thorities days after a teenage boy from Bradford city in the northern English county of West Yorkshire was allegedly shot dead while on a trip to Pakistan to see family Adil Khan, 14, was mur dered while on holiday”, announced Janaza Announcements, a death notifi cation service, on Facebook late on Sat

urday “A 14 year old boy has been murdered in Pakistan while on holiday Adil Khan, age 14, has sadly passed away,” the post read Details about his death are yet to be confirmed We are in contact with the local authorities in Pakistan [ ] and are providing consular support to [Khan s] family, Arab News reported, quoting a press representative at the British mission According to The Sun, the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom was also “supporting” Khan’s family

The prime minister congratulated Kassym Jomart Tokayev, the president of Kazakhstan, on his re elec tion, his office said, as he secured a second term in Sunday’s snap election with 81 31 percent of the vote “I extend my heartiest congratulations to [Tokayev] on his victory in Kazakhstan s presidential elections, Shehbaz Sharif tweeted He noted Pakistan and Kaza khstan enjoy “excellent brotherly relations” and said he looked forward to working with Tokayev to further deepen them Tokayev, who has openly defied major ally Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, had been widely expected to extend his rule over the oil rich, former Soviet republic by seven more years with a strong mandate to continue his increasingly independ ent foreign policy We can say that the people have expressed convincing confidence in me as president and all of you,” Tokayev, 69, told his staff earlier, re ferring to exit polls that favoured him Voter turnout in Kazakhstan’s snap election was 69 44 percent with five other candidates scoring in the low single digits, data showed Voters second most popular choice was “against everyone” with 5 8 percent of ballots Ob servers from the Organisation for Security and Coop eration in Europe said the vote underlined the need for further legal reforms to ensure genuine pluralism

Killing of Karachi policeman triggers hunt for leads

KA RACHI A h M A d S A A d

A policeman chasing a “suspicious vehicle” in the up scale Defence neighbourhood of Karachi late on Mon day was killed by a man who authorities said was an expatriate Closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of the event, making the rounds on the Internet, shows the suspect and the police, both holding firearms, dis embarking from a black Toyota Mark X car and en gaging in an apparently heated argument As the situation escalates, the man pulls a pistol and fires more than one shot at Abdul Rehman from point blank range, killing him on the spot, before speeding away The suspect, later identified as Khurram Nisar, is a Pakistan national living in Sweden and is under stood to have returned on November 5, police said Police also retrieved the vehicle and the suspected murder weapon Nisar however was still at large A spokesperson of the department told the media the slain police, who along with a colleague was on a rou tine patrol was chasing the car before somehow get ting into it According to Syed Asad Raza, senior superintendent of police in Karachi (South), the po licemen were trying to take the vehicle to a nearby police station when the event took place ” According to him, the police intercepted Nisar on suspicion of the abduction of a young woman The accompany ing policeman miraculously survived the attack, the spokesperson confirmed Raza said he opened fire at Nisar but missed

t h e A S S o c At e d p r e S S

ISLAMABAD A n A d o l u Ag e n c y

ISLAMABAD

S tA f f r e p o r t

ISLAMABAD

British diplomatic mission in contac t with authorities over ‘murder ’ of teen

Z ARdARi MAfiA Held SindH HOSTAG, RulinG AT GunPOinT: HAleeM Adil

lE A D E R of Opposition in Sindh As

sembly Haleem Adil Sheikh has said that Zardari mafia has made the province and ruling it at gunpoint

Talking to media in Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday, he said that

Zardari mafia has made the life of people of Sindh miserable and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has died in province but governing by use of force

Haleem Adil Sheikh said that the key issue of the people was general election but t h e y w e r e g r a s p e d i n g e n e r a l s e l e c t i o n Merit should be ensured in selection to get rid of the prevailing issues he added

The PTI leader said that the PHC has awarded transit bail to him till December 13 2022

He said that there was PTI government i n K h y b e r P a k h t u n k h w a s i n c e 2 0 1 3 a n d not a single case based on political revenge has been registered against any opposition l e a d e r o r c o u n c i l o r O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , Sindh government lodged 28 cases against

me, he added Haleem Adil claimed that there would b e g i g a n t i c g a t h e r i n g o f p e o p l e i n Rawalpindi on November 26 Earlier, two million people were estimated to join Azad M a r c h b u t a f t e r a s s a s s i n a t i o n a t t e m p t o n Chairman PTI Imran Khan, now four mil lion will reach Rawalpindi The opposition leader said that journalist

Cour t adjourns hearing of sedition case against Shahbaz Gill

of the suspects so that we know who are they At this Abbasi said that two suspects are appearing before the court

A local court in Islamabad has ad journed the proceedings to indict PTI senior leader Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case filed against him till December 3

Additional Sessions Judge Tahir Abbas heard the case and public pros ecutor Raja Rizwan and Gill s lawyer Burhan Moazzam were present in the court Two petitions were also filed on behalf of the PTI leader in the court

During the hearing, the public prosecutor said that he is ready to pres ent arguments on both petitions today Gill’s lawyer said that it is important to know who are the suspects for a trans parent trial

He added that there are seven to eight more suspects, however, we do not know who they are I want the list

Army chief's appointment constitutional right of PM, says Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD

Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said the appointment of the new army chief was the constitutional right of the prime minister Talking to a private television channel he said it was the prerogative of the prime minister to appoint of the army chief Commenting on the weak economy of Pakistan, he said the long march and public meetings of Imran’s party had halted the business activities in this country He said Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf s (PTI), last regime had made serious damage to many sectors including the national economy Rana Sanaullah said that Chairman PTI was following the agenda of anti state people, adding Imran Khan was trying to sabotage the peaceful environment of this country for personal interest Replying to a question about the long march call by PTI Chairman, he said the government would take action against the violators of the law

Marriyum rebuts rumours about PM's upcoming visit to Turkiye

ISLAMABAD a p p

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday rebutted rumours about the cancellation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's upcoming visit to Turkiye "Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken no decision to cancel his visit to Turkiye " she said in a news statement She urged the media to verify a news before broadcast or publication

The judge remarked that the pros ecutor has maintained that there are no other suspects apart from these two Gill s lawyer requested the court to postpone the hearing of the case, but the prosecutor asked the court to set the next hearing soon

Gill was taken into custody on Au gust 9 for inciting mutiny within the Pakistan Army through his remarks during a private TV channel show

He was booked in a sedition and arms recovery case in August and stayed in detention for over a month He, however, finally got bail from the

Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the sedition case on September 15 after repeatedly attempting to get released

The case against Gill is registered at Kohsar Police Station under Sec tions 124 A (sedition), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), and of the Pakistan Penal Code

The PTI had been insistent in de m a n d i n g t h e p a r t y l e a d e r ’s b a i l , a l leging that he is facing humiliation t o r t u r e a n d s e x u a l a b u s e i n p o l i c e custody

While Gill was in police custody t h e P T I h a d r e p e a t e d l y a l l e g e d t h a t h e w a s “ s e x u a l l y a s s a u l t e d ” , “ t o r t u r e d a n d s t r i p p e d n a k e d H o w e v e r, t h e a u t h o r i t i e s c o m p l e t e l y denied the claims

SDC high-ups review post-flood rehab in Swat visit

A delegation of the Swiss Agency for Develop ment and Cooperation (SDC) led by Program Manager Caroline and Deputy Head Alberto Groff called on Commissioner Malakand Divi sion Shaukat Ali Yousafzai and discussed various areas of mutual interest

During the meeting, they exchanged views on different issues including SDC s support in post flood rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, hotel industry and sensitization of local people on climate change The Commissioner Malakand briefed the delegation about the damage caused by the recent floods of 2022 which badly affected roads, commu nications and the hotel industry in the district The commissioner emphasized the need for

Pakistani citizen ‘abducted’ in Iran, family demanded ransom

KARACHI

S ta f f R e p o R t

A Pakistani citizen namely Muhammad Khalil has allegedly been abducted by unidentified men in Iran s capital Tehran during a business visit

A Pakistani citizen, Muhammad Khalil, was allegedly abducted by unidentified men during a business visit to Tehran and the abductors de manded $3,000 from the family to release him

The abducted man’s son, Adeel told the media that his father went to Iran for business purposes

He detailed that his father is 60 years old and being subjected to torture by the abductors Abductors who are talking in Farsi language are demanding $3,000 ransom to release my father ” “My father was abducted by a taxi driver The abductors gang comprising of three to four people who are subject ing my father to torture My father runs a business of used cameras and he used to visit Iran and Turkey ” He said that the family wrote a letter to the Foreign Office (FO) and the Overseas Pak istanis Foundation to recover Muhammad Khalil after his abduction in Iran

Balochistan Assembly forms special committee over ‘low gas pressure’

QUETTA

S ta f f R e p o R t

Balochistan Assembly has constituted a special committee to take up the issue of low gas pressure in Quetta and other parts of the province with the federal government Accord ing to details, the

GHQ moves summar y for new COAS as political wheeling, dealing galore

ConTInUED fRoM pAgE 01

On Monday, the defence minister revealed at the National Assembly that the General Headquarters (GHQ) has been informed that the ministry of defence has received Prime Minister Shehbaz’s letter in relation to the appointment of a new chief of army staff After meeting PM Shehbaz, Khawaja Asif revealed that despite the consultations and discussions, there are still a few technical aspects that are yet to be finalised The defense minister had said that mat ters pertaining to important appointments would be com pleted by November 25 to 26 PM Shehbaz, Zardari discuss options: Former president and Pakistan People s Party Co Chairman Asif Ali Zardari called on Prime Minister She hbaz Sharif at PM’s House in Islamabad According to details, PM Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari discussed the country’s political and economic situation during the meeting Sources said that both the leaders also discussed the appointment of new army chief During the meeting, the leaders also made telephonic conversation with PML N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman On the occasion, Asif Ali Zardari enquired after the health of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif The Prime Minister thanked the former President for the visit Avoid speculations : Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Au rangzeb refuted reports that the Prime Minister Office had received summary for the appointment of new Chief of Army Staff Taking to her twitter handle on Tuesday she said “speculations” should be avoided over this important matter, adding that no summary had been received so far “As soon as the Prime Minister office receives the sum mary, the media would be informed”, she added

Cour t records distric t elec tion commissioner ’s statement in Toshakhana reference

A local court has adjourned the hearing of a Toshakhana reference against PTI chief Imran Khan till December 8 after recording a district election commissioner ’s statement

Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal conducted hearing while District Election Commissioner Waqas Malik submitted his statement The proceedings were initiated on the Election Commission of Pakistan s (ECP) complaint after the electoral watchdog found him guilty of “false statements and incorrect declaration in his election papers

Imran was expected at the court today as the summons for his appearance was is s u e d d u r i n g t h e p r e v i o u s h e a r i n g ,

which marked the beginning of a criminal trial against the former prime minister for c o n c e a l i n g i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e Toshakhana gifts

During the hearing, the district election commissioner said that he had been author ized to pursue the case

He added that the ECP was an inde pendent institution that functioned under the Constitution and ensured that corrupt prac tices were curtailed

Malik further said that members of the National Assembly submitted their returns to the ECP annually Imran too submitted his returns from 2018 to 2021, he added

Later, the court adjourned the hearing till December 8

Earlier, the court summoned Imran after

the ECP found Imran had made false state ments and incorrect declaration” in his elec tion papers and disqualified him

Last week, the ECP had sent the refer ence to the court, asking it to proceed against Imran under criminal law for al legedly misleading officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries during his tenure as the prime minister The com mission seeks a three year jail term and im position of fine as the punishment

The complainant in the reference is the Islamabad deputy election commissioner

The reference stated that Imran had “delib erately concealed his assets relating to Toshakhna gifts retained by him particularly in year 2018 and 2019 in the statements of assets and liabilities filed for the year 2017 201 8 and 2018 19

It further said that as per the record the gifts were purchased from the Toshakhana

for Rs21 5 million on the basis of their as sessed value, while they were valued at around Rs108m

The ECP wanted the PTI chief to be con victed for the offences mentioned under sec tions 167 (corrupt practice) and 173 (making or publishing a false statement or declara tion) of the Elections Act 2017

The reference was filed in August against Imran by the coalition government, for “not sharing details” of Toshakhana gifts and proceeds from their alleged sale Law makers from the Pakistan Democratic Move ment the ruling alliance had submitted the reference to NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who had subsequently forwarded it to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja for further action

pESHAWAR S ta f f R e p o R t

Arshad Sharif was murdered and elements involved in the conspiracy were being ex posed He alleged whether it should be Ar shad Sharif ’s murder or what was done with Azam Khan Swati, role of Asif Zardari in it would flash

more cooperation for rehabilitation of the disaster affected areas He expressed gratitude to the del egation for visiting Swat Additional Deputy Commissioner Swat Sohail Khan, Secretary to Commissioner Muhammad Ali Khan and Assis tant to Commissioner (Development) Fazal Ali were also present in the meeting

ISLAMABAD

committee which will be headed by act ing speaker Sardar Babar Khan Musakhail will take up the issue of low gas pressure in Quetta and other parts of the province with the federal government The committee also included Opposition Leader Malik Sikander Khan (JUI F), two members from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and parliamentary leaders of other political parties The commit tee was formed after Parliamentary Secretary for Health Khalil Garage Bhutto moved the motion against gas and electricity shortages in the assembly The special committee will visit Islamabad to take up the issues with petroleum and power ministries and other authorities

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The government

Po L i t i C A L speculations are at a fever pitch in our hapless republic All due to an appointment of an official heading a department that reports to a Grade 22 federal secretary, who reports to a cabinet minister who reports of course to the prime minister himself that pecking order doesn’t end there the PM, in theory, reports to the people that elected him And the incumbent holder of that office was elected to it by the majority of the representatives of those people But the people don’t seem to be featuring anywhere in the scheme of things, either for the government or the opposition which it needs to be pointed out runs the provincial governments for much more than half of the country the previous (federal) dispensation was rightly made fun of when it came to the musical chairs that it had made of the finance ministry But are the incumbents any better, what with replacing Miftah ismail with ishar Dar in just a matter of several months? Furthermore the much trumpeted Mr Dar ’s ascent to his old position was justified by, amongst other things, the claim that he would improve the dollar to rupee exchange, a problematic goal to begin with Well, now even that imperfect target is slipping away terror rears its head in not just the former tribal areas, but also in Swat again with massive rallies carried out by the locals against its rising tide one shudders to imagine the desperation of these protestors if they risk the ire of the aforementioned militants, specially since they, more than metropolitan mainstream Pakistan know what those zealots are capable of the Baloch insurgency, with all its transgressions, and the human rights violations in reprisals by the state against it, carries on, unabated And this is not to mention the biggest cause for concern, a natural calamity the scale of which this nation has seen rarely the terrible floods of this year with the lives of literally millions of people not back to the way they were, which wasn’t a prized position in the first place Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s critics accuse him of lacking on the whole vision thing but even they concede that he does a decent enough job on the getting things done front Sadly, he is nowhere to be seen in the midst of the ever brewing political crisis the people need governance Where is the government?

By itself, the announcement that the FBi will conduct an independent investigation into the murder of Palestinian American journal ist Shireen Abu Aqla is not, as one israeli journalist said a watershed moment in the uS israel relationship But because of the factors that led to this decision and the tensions that will flow from it, it s clear that there are changes underway in uS attitudes toward israel and its behaviour it will be recalled that immediately after Abu Aqla was killed, the israeli hasbara machinery swung into full gear doing what they always do to escape blame a combination of denying, lying, and obfuscating hoping to buy enough time until the issue faded from the headlines and was forgotten they said:

“We don’t think we killed her ” Palestinian terrorists, firing indiscriminately, are likely to have hit her ”

“our forces returned fire as accurately, care fully, and responsibly as possible Sadly she was killed in the exchange ” “they were armed with cameras ”

By not cooperating with us perhaps Palestini ans are covering up the truth ” in too many instances in the past, such an intense campaign of dissembling might have worked But this was different for several reasons: Shireen Abu Aqla was a respected journalist; she was an American citizen; there was ample video footage of the shoot ing; and reflecting the changes that have been devel oping in uS public opinion, some members of Congress were emboldened to demand an independ ent investigation of Abu Aqla’s death

Given the intense media reaction to the killing of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, there has been a heightened uS media sensitivity to the protection of journalists even more so in this case, because Abu Aqla was a uS citizen with family members who elo

quently pressed uS officials for support Major news outlets, including CNN, Associated Press, The Washington Post, and The New York Times conducted investigations of their own inter viewing witnesses, reviewing video footage, and sur veying the scene their findings, in every instance, found israel s claims to be false

Most importantly, within days after Abu Aqla’s killing, one quarter of the Democratic members of the house of Representatives sent a letter to the Sec retary of State and the Director of the FBi calling for an independent investigation of the shooting their demand was joined a few weeks later in a letter to President Joseph Biden signed by one half of the Democrats in the uS Senate then, following the re lease of an inconclusive forensic analysis of the bul let that killed Abu Aqla, which the israelis hoped would lay the matter to rest four leading Democratic senators sent a sharp re sponse to the Secretary of State decrying the report as inadequate, lacking in trans parency and in no way “meeting any plausible def inition of (an) ‘indepen dent, thorough, and transparent investigation ” the bulk of the letter com prised 13 probing questions that needed to be answered to satisfy their demand for a full investigation Now, four months later, the FBi has re sponded that they will con duct such an inquiry the congressional spon sors of the letter expressed satisfaction with the prospect of an FBi investigation, with one senator calling it “an overdue but necessary and important step in the pursuit of justice and ac countability israel’s reaction on the other hand was pre dictable outrage Defense Minister Benny Gantz called the FBi announcement a grave mistake, pledging that they “will not cooperate ” outgoing Prime Minis ter yair Lapid amplified this rejection, saying “israeli soldiers won t be investigated by the FBi With battle lines drawn the White house and State Department sought to distance themselves from the fray, claiming that they were unaware of the FBi decision it is unlikely that they were not informed and, now that it has been announced, it is even more unlikely that it can be aborted without further alien ating important leaders in the uS Senate and gener

F u r t h e r a m p l i f y i n g t h i s g row i n g d i v i d e i s t h e e l e c t i o n o f a h a rd r i g h t g ov e r n m e n t , l e d by B e n j a m i n N e t a nya h u a n d i n cl u d i n g r a c i s t , u l t r a n a t i o n a l i s t , a n d u l t r a O r t h o d ox r e l i g i o u s p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s t h a t a r e d e m a n d i n g t o p s e c u r i t y p o s t s i n t h e n ex t g ov e r n m e n t .

ating an intense political backlash in Congress and public opinion it s this final point that must be considered, as this entire tug of war is playing out against a back drop of several other factors that illuminate the un folding tensions in the uS/israel relationship there i s a d e e p e n i n g p a r t i s a n d i v i d e o n t h e q u e s t i o n o f holding israel accountable for its human rights vi olations Polls show that Democrats are solidly in favor of holding israel accountable while Repub licans are not As an example, on hearing the news of the FBi investigation, Republican Senator ted Cruz called for Attorney General Merritt Garland to be impeached Further amplifying this growing divide is the elec tion of a hard right govern ment, led by Benjamin Netanyahu and including racist, ultranationalist, and ultra orthodox religious po litical parties that are de manding top security posts in the next government De mocrats have warned Ne tanyahu about the dangers of bringing these elements into his cabinet (warnings that he is likely to ignore) on the other hand, given the prominent role played by Christian Nationalists in today’s GoP, Republicans have either been silent or supportive of a Netanyahu government And finally, there s the role played by the pro is rael lobby AiPAC in the last election their dark money political action committee endorsed over 100 Republican election deniers and spent tens of millions to oppose progressive Democrats espe cially targeting women of color and liberal Jewish members of Congress who were deemed insuffi ciently supportive of israel All of these factors com bined are contributing to a further erosion of the once bipartisan support for israel in Congress

While there’s no certainty that the FBi will be allowed to carry out its independent investigation, the fact that it was announced and the forces at work in today’s American polity make clear that there are changes afoot in the uS/israel relationship it is not yet a watershed moment, but it s heading in that direction

The writer is President of the Arab American Institute

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

Wi t h o u t political stability in the country, the economy cannot improve nor is it pos sible to solve the problems that are becoming serious with each passing day, due to which the life of the common man is becoming miserable So, our political leadership must emphasize the need for political stability day by day but they do not take into account what is their own role for political stability on the one hand, the tehreek e insaf leadership is con tinuously pointing out the risk of 80 percent of Pakistan defaulting; on the other hand, Fi nance Minister ishaq Dar claims that there

is no risk of default of the country, all inter national payments have been arranged for one year and people should not listen to ru mours Whether people are paying attention to these rumours or not, the conditions of the country are not improving it is beyond the understanding of the general public as to whom the Finance Min ister is telling the rumours People have been hearing such rumours for the last 20 years, that Pakistan has embarked on the path of development and prosperity and will emerge as a strong economic power soon the coun try will not need loans and will not have to borrow money from others instead people from all over the world will come here to study and work the nation has always be lieved in these claims but none of them have been fulfilled All the claims and promises have remained the same, if viewed from a literal and academic point of view, all these claims are rumours and the political leader ship has fooled the people by spreading such rumours for their own benefit in every period of power, the govern ment and the opposition leadership make such a spectacle through their rhetoric and later object Similarly in the current time, ob jections are being raised by putting a show in front of the public and the government is making a show of the announcements of de velopment in the country while the Pti lead ership is showing the spectacle of the country becoming Sri Lanka defaulting or turning into a banana republic Pakistan was developing rapidly during the Pti era and

has started to collapse as soon as the Pti government fell, but in the eyes of those who expelled the previous government, Pakistan is on the path of economic development if the coalition government is terminated in the next few weeks, the allies will also see Pakistan sinking and defaulting Surpris ingly the political leadership sees everything good in the house of Power and everything outside the house of Power as bad the fact cannot be denied that the con ditions have never been favourable for the country and the people in every period of power and the entire responsibility for this lies on the political leadership; but instead of being ashamed of mere shortcomings and incompetence the political leadership has been demonstrating stubbornness it is the

misfortune of the rulers that there is either a mismanagement or a conspiracy against them that the day they make any claim for the development of the country, the report or statement of their own institution comes When Finance Minister ishaq Dar claimed that the country was not in default, the news came from the State Bank that the Pakistani government will have to pay another Rs 50 billion in interest on Chinese loans after which became clear that 39 percent of the total interest has increased

According to Pakistani rulers, the crite ria of success has been to acquire loans and pay interest on loans, so ishaq Dar ’s delight ful announcement is that all international payments have been arranged for the next one year

H ow l o n g w i l l t h i s s t u p i d i t y c o n t i nu e a n d h ow l o n g w i l l t h e e n t i r e bu rd e n o f l o a n s a n d i n t e r e s t c o n t i nu e t o b e p u t o n t h e p e o p l e ? T h e p o l i t i c a l l e a d e rs c o m i n g t o p ow e r a r e t a k i n g l o a n s o n t h e o n e h a n d a n d o n t h e o t h e r h a n d t h ey a r e p r e a ch i n g s e l f - r e l i a n c e , bu t t h ey a r e n o t r e a dy t o a c t o n i t t h e m s e l v e s

i wish it was also told from whom this arrangement has been made by begging and asking for a loan? if there was a Pti govern ment today, perhaps its finance minister would have been saying the same thing that we have agreed with the iMF on easy terms and managed to repay all the loans as it has become so common that more loans have to be taken to pay off the interest on the loans and this would have been considered a suc cessful economic strategy by all our rulers how long will this stupidity continue and how long will the entire burden of loans and interest continue to be put on the people? the political leaders coming to power are taking loans on the one hand and on the other hand they are preaching self reliance, but they are not ready to act on it themselves thus, tak ing the first step towards the goal of self re liance is difficult, as soon as this first step is taken the goal will become easier

WASHINGTON WATCH

Dr JAmeS J ZOGby

Yousaf Nizami Editor

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

M A Niazi Joint Editor

The

Shireen Abu Aqla refuses to go away

Fostering Nor theast India-Bangladesh ties

Seven Sisters

Parliament and senior officials will also be pres ent As a result of the festival, the connectivity of Dhaka with the north eastern region of india will increase Speed will come in business and investment

Neglected Chemical sector

At this crucial juncture and in a depressing environment when the country is facing a lingering economic crisis that is in particular adversely impacting industrial activities, it is reassuring that the indigenous chemical industry, once neglected by successive governments, has continued to flourish and offers immense potential for further growth

Globally, the chemical industry is one of the largest and fast growing sectors; a market of about $4 trillion with over 70,000 products it is recognised as the mother of industries since it is vitally important for overall industrial development and self reliance, being a major provider of raw material to almost all sectors Many of the chemicals are part of our daily life whereas others are main constituents of practically all the manufacturing processes industrial chemicals, in solid, liquid and gas forms, are commonly used almost in all industries, including pharmaceuticals, rubber, soap and detergent, cosmetics and toiletries, food and beverages, cement, fertiliser, ceramics, glass, sugar, pulp and paper, iron and steel, oil and gas, leather and tanneries, coatings and inks, textiles and engineering industries, to name but a few

Besides, the chemical industry provides key linkages in terms of product technology to several industries, such as automotive, engineering, consumer durables, food processing and petrochemicals About 70 per cent of country’s overall industrial chemical output basic, formulated and intermediates is consumed by the larger manufacturing sector For this reason, growth of the chemical sector worldwide is directly proportional to the growth of overall manufacturing sector Pakistan’s chemical industry despite facing global competitive markets and lack of policy support from the government, has grown progressively over the years, and is considered one of the robust industries that has seen many ups and downs in the past but has survived the odds in fact, the industry has done well

To increase trade and communication between Bangladesh and the north east ern states of india, a 32 member Assam parliamentary delegation landed in Bangladesh on November 19 for a five day visit the Assam Legislative Assembly’s goodwill delegation to Bangladesh received a warm reception from Bangladesh at the Akhaura border the group is led by Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary Assam is one of the seven northeastern indian states Speaking on the occasion, Daimari said that india would stand by Bangladesh in any danger At the Akhaura international immigration Checkpost in Brahmanbaria, he told the media reporters that india would l stand by Bangladesh in any danger as it did in the Great War of Lib eration of 1971

Mentioning that the commercial relations between the two countries will be strengthened through the visit, the Speaker said that earlier people s livelihood in Assam was agriculture Now business was the key youngsters thought about business after completing their studies the youth of Assam would get commercial ben efits of this visit the delegation will pay a visit to the tomb of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in tungipara Gopalganj then meet with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and take part in a dinner hosted by the minister they will go to the Pran industrial Park before traveling to Assam that same day through Akhaura the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Assam organized this informative visit it is a study tour, he claims they are curious about Bangladesh s development, according to media reports in order to further boost connectivity and trade with the Seven Sister States and with india as a whole, Prime Minister Sheikh hasina invited the seven chief ministers of india’s north east to visit Bangladesh during her visit to Delhi in September

this visit may be a part of a larger initiative to increase connectivity and trade with northeast india the indian government has been improv ing the northeast s communication infrastructure as part of its Look East programme

Recently, indian politicians have praised Bangladesh for helping to maintain peace and security in the region by enforcing a zero toler ance policy against militants india also connects the ASEAN nations including Myanmar thai land, Cambodia, and Vietnam, through the

Bangladesh has many potential ways to in crease commerce with northeastern india and subsequently open up access to the ASEAN na tions because both india and Bangladesh have made progress in establishing connectivity through roads and railways Bangladesh also permits india to transfer commodities between different parts of india by using the Chattogram and Mongla ports, which lowers the cost and speed of shipping undoubtedly there are tremendous opportuni ties for trade and connection between Bangladesh and Northeast india however, people from Bangladesh and Northeast india must raise aware ness among businesses and the general public the Speaker of the Assam Legislative As sembly Biswajit Daimari paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister at Ganabhaban on Sunday Prime Minister Sheikh hasina said that the im port of fuel oil from india will start through the pipeline next year She said Bangladesh wanted to import oil through the pipeline hopefully this process can be started next year the 130 km long india Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (iBFPL) project aims to export oil products from india to Bangladesh

Apart from this, the Prime Minister also said that the border huts between Bangladesh and india would be reopened in different parts of the border region after the closure during the Corona period the relationship developed due to the visit of the representatives of the neighboring indian states of Bangladesh is beneficial for the Bangladeshi national interest the 32 MLAs’ Dhaka visit will definitely speak in favor of Bangladesh in india it will benefit Bangladesh Parliamentarians from both india and Bangladesh should also visit the neighboring states continuously it develops various relation ships, including trade, which is very positive

Work is going on to increase the bilateral re lations between Assam and Bangladesh through various means Apart from the visit of the dele gation of the Legislative Assembly to Dhaka, the north eastern state of india is going to open new doors of relations with Assam through the Syl het Silchar festival in an attempt to celebrate the age old people to people connect of the re gion, india Foundation proposes to organise the 1s Silchar Sylhet Festival on December 2 4, 2022 in the city of Silchar, Assam there will be cultural & literary festivals apart from business interaction during the three days the aim of the festival is to revisit the com mon values and shared heritage of the twin cities and their people separated by international bor ders the festival will also bring together emi nent people from public and social life, industrialists, artists, scholars, and practitioners from both sides to discuss and deliberate on is sues of mutual growth and opportunity in addi tion, the Festival will also provide a platform to explore multi disciplinary trade opportunities in sectors such as healthcare, tourism, education, and digital infrastructure the festival will im prove interpersonal relationships and explore various business opportunities, including those involving borders and rivers All are excited about making the event a success this will benefit both Bangladesh and india it will be attended by the Chief Ministers of Assam Manipur and Meghalaya besides several ministers of Bangladesh and india Members of

Prime Minister Sheikh hasina visited New Delhi in the first week of last September and in vited the Chief Ministers of the seven states of North Eastern india to visit Dhaka Although the chief ministers have not visited Dhaka so far, var ious issues of relations will be discussed through the Sylhet Silchar festival and the Dhaka visit of 37 MLAs of the Assam Assembly the seven states in the northeastern region of india are Assam Meghalaya Manipur tripura Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh Bangladesh has a large border with Assam, Meghalaya and Greater Sylhet Division Before 1947 Assam Sylhet were together After partition the two cities became separated the hasina and Modi governments are looking to create new areas for business and investment, including in creasing connectivity between the two cities

Due to some steps taken by the present gov ernment, along with the central government of india, the North Eastern states are quite relieved it is being accepted by india Assam Chief Min ister himanta Biswa Sharma praised Prime Min ister Sheikh hasina’s ‘zero tolerance policy’ against terrorism and separatism and said that Bangladesh has played an important role in countering terrorism in the region this will usher in a new chapter in Bangladesh s bilateral relations with Northeast india

Earlier, Jayant Narayan Chowdhury, former director general of india s NSG (National Security Guard) said the security challenges india faced in its northeastern region had been contained

According to stakeholders, Bangladesh and india have a cordial complex and extensive re lationship and partnership Assam is one of the partners in this partnership Assam, the largest state in the northeastern region of india shares a 263 km river and land border with Bangladesh trade with Bangladesh is very important for both sides considering its size population and loca tion india’s foreign minister When S Jaishankar visited Dhaka in May 2020, Sheikh hasina of fered india the use of Chittagong port But india has not yet started using Pura Dastu once it starts, the connectivity of Bangladesh and the North Eastern region of india will be ex panded the policy makers of the two countries are of the opinion that most of the Bangladesh india border is connected with the state of West Bengal in terms of commercial activities, the people of Bangladesh have a special attraction with this Bengali speaking region of india Sim ilarly, if bilateral relations and trade between Bangladesh and Northeast india improve, the picture of the entire region will change Meanwhile, in a joint venture between Numa ligarh Refinery Limited and Bangladesh Petro leum Corporation construction of a diesel pipeline from Numaligarh in Assam, Bangladesh and india to Parvatipur in Bangladesh is nearing completion in the meantime diesel is coming from West Ben gal’s Siliguri to Parvatipur by wagon overall, both countries will benefit from im proved communication and trade relations be tween Bangladesh and Assam through diplomatic and political understanding Besides, there is a lot of potential to increase the export of products from Sylhet, Bangladesh to Assam in Northeast india

Like all other industrial segments, and much else, the industry had a setback in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic but it soon recovered contributing 3pc of the gross domestic product (GDP) Currently, there are 28 listed companies engaged in production and marketing a large variety of chemicals and employing thousands of workers in addition there are many units operating in the non formal sector industrial chemicals are produced by converting raw materials, such as fossil fuels, minerals and metals and water with most of the required input being locally available Generally, the industry makes huge profits based on high demand of products and low competition, and the profits are increasing as its earnings have grown 24pc and revenues 15pc per year over the last three years

Within this flourishing market, however, multinational players have a field day, with the domestic entities struggling with low level production, being unable to maintain consistency in production and quality and marketing products that mostly have a very low value addition component they have not focussed on diversification of products, particularly of industrial chemicals however they have remained narrow based not because they have a narrow vision, but because of various constraints that hinder their way

HUSSAIN AHMAD SIDDIQUI ISLAMABAD

Research culture

i N Pakistan researchers worst nightmare is that the publication in which they got their studies published gets blacklisted, or, even worse, delisted by the higher Education Commission (hEC) the research culture in Pakistan is quite modest, but there remains active in the shadows a secretive network of ‘researchers’ and the ‘journal mafia’

the hEC a few years ago launched the hEC Journal Recognition System (hJRS) website, which contains a list of all the approved national and international journals the journals are divided into three categories, with W being the top category comprising journals with the highest impact factor, followed by the X category indicating a lesser impact factor, and the y category with the lowest impact factor

Anyone in Pakistan who can write around 4,000 words and, more critically, has Rs40,000 to Rs50,000 to invest can simply become a published researcher this undermines the credibility of the research process, and lumps those who have paid for publication or utilised touts, together with those who have done proper research, adhered to correct ethics, undergone a proper editorial process and subsequently got published Many in the academia assist their students in getting published, utilising their connections, and, in exchange, they ask students to add their names among the co authors improving their own profiles Because of this professors now have a large number of publications, which, depending on their career, may only be achievable if they publish a research paper each day

Additionally some professors threaten to fail students if they do not add their names to the publications Many students out of fear add the names of their teachers to escape the punishment We need to curb this trend if we really want to see the local research culture getting promoted

TUFAIL DAWAR ISLAMABAD

Digital policing

S i N C E the start of the year, Karachi and parts of Sindh have experienced an uptick in street crimes, robberies, and kidnappings this raised fear among the citizens as well as public outrage against the negligent attitude of law enforcement agencies Although the provincial government and municipal authorities offered reassurances of action against gangs and mafias the law and order situation in the province remains dire to address the high crime rate, the information and technology branch of Sindh Police introduced the ‘talash’ application to facilitate investigation and root out criminal elements the app offered Karachiites some comfort as it would help the police trace suspects and recover the citizens’ stolen items Globally, digital applications and initiatives have picked pace and allowed law enforcement agencies to better tackle crimes therefore, this app offers the Sindh police a chance to restore the confidence of the public and revive peace and harmony in the province the Sindh police should fully activate the application across Karachi to tackle street crimes and robberies this will also allow the police to test the effectiveness of the app and resolve any technical issues the app should be launched in other parts of the province as well to curb the rising crime rate the public must also support the police initiative by lodging their complaints and providing them with sufficient details to catch the criminals

FAHEEM ALI SOOMRO KARACHI

K A m A l u D D I N m A Z u m D e r

QATAr World Cup

CrITICs Are unprepAred for The resT of ThIs CenTury

T h e g o o d , t h e b a d a n d t h e e x c e e d i n g l y u g l y o f t h i s y e a r ’ s C o p

IN the years after 9/11, as liberal sympathy for the US wore thin, you heard a lot of this: The west is in no position to judge less democratic parts of the world Scolding the Middle East in particular risks looking anti Muslim Regimes aren’t bad, much less “evil”, just products of local cultures that untravelled Americans don t under stand Even if things were so black and white, shame on us for courting Arab states in the past as oil suppliers or as Cold War chess pieces Did you know, by the way, that Texas still puts people to death?

Such was this relativism, this refusal to speak ill of what is now the “global south”, that Christopher Hitchens left the left The estrangement had begun when his comrades equivocated over the Rushdie affair in 1989

So now, as liberals deplore World Cup host Qatar with such vehemence, it is nat ural to tease them “What kept you?” and so on We are all neocons now , etc A generation ago their line wasn’t just Stop the War in Iraq (If only that campaign had carried the day ) It was that western values weren’t for everyone Today on sex on labour standards, on freedom of the press, it seems there is a universal minimum that must bind all countries

What if they were closer to the truth the first time around? The relativism of the noughties had its problems It came close

Worldcrunch

J o e C H i a l o

to suggesting that non white countries should be held to a lower standard It snubbed the brave reformers in autocra cies and conceded the central argument of their oppressors If nothing else, though, it was prudent It understood the limits of western influence in the world

How much tighter those limits are now To judge by the criticism of Qatar, lots of people are psychologically unpre pared for the rest of this century Whether or not China surpasses the US, the centre of world power is likely to creep away from the established democracies (Look at projections of the biggest economies in 2050 ) There will have to be a modus vivendi If a sports tournament in a Gulf state is too much, what is permissible?

Should Mario Draghi not have signed a gas deal with Algeria as Italian premier last summer? Should the US not be building up its already vast embassy in Bangkok given the lèse majesté laws and on off democ racy there? As for Qatar itself, is sports washing a regime bad but directly enriching it through energy imports fine?

If so, on what moral or strategic grounds?

Vietnam that 100mn strong benefici ary of friend shoring, is “not free”, in US watchdog Freedom House’s reckoning In donesia the fourth most populous nation on Earth, is just “partly free” So too is much of the subcontinent, from where lots of the mistreated workers in Qatar have come There is no western counterbalanc ing of China, no Asia strategy at all, with out the help of some or all of these nations

Until recently, liberals had seemed to absorb and accept all this The rise of the rest was a well ventilated subject even before the process really got going But the outrage over Qatar whose host status we

have had 12 years to get used to has been stunning I am glad it exists Give me Enlightenment chauvinism over the pre tence that all models of government are equal This is the first World Cup since early childhood that I have not essentially suspended my life for and unease with the host must be part of the reason

The outrage reveals something about those who feel it though It is plain now that lots of people have paid lip service to the idea of a changing world, a less west ern skewed balance of power without reckoning with its practical effects A World Cup in a not exceptionally brutal Gulf state: do we think this is the end of the moral compromises?

Fifa stands condemned for selling out to despots as though it pretended to be a democratic club in the first place In fact, it is a global one, with lots of illiberal or corrupt countries as members that hap pens to be Zurich based Argentina in 1978 (under the junta) and Russia in 2018 (while it occupied Crimea) are past hosts of its grandest tournament

If this tawdry organisation scandalises people imagine the reaction as great west ern nations navigate this century Four months have passed since Joe Biden bumped fists with Saudi Arabia s crown prince Having talked up a clash between democracies and autocracies, the US pres ident now seems to define the enemy more narrowly as Russia and other active revi sionists of the world system He knows that victory depends on enlisting allies that fall short of the Jeffersonian ideal of governance others are slower to the same realisation Liberals have traded relativism for a universal conscience just as the world makes such a thing unaffordable

Independent C a r o l i n e l u C a s

Co p27 was billed as one of the most consequential global climate sum mits in a generation As the UN Secretary General warned earlier this year: We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator” From deadly floods in pakistan, to extreme heat in the UK: devastating climate impacts are only going to get worse

Yet how did our prime minister respond to the summit? First of all he refused to even turn up, before being forced into a screeching U turn Then as the summit concluded this weekend all he could muster in response to its outcome was a 33 word tweet And today, when in the absence of a statement from the government I dragged a minister to the House of Commons to provide an update on the Cop27 outcome; he sent the industry minister, who didn t attend the summit to respond on his government’s behalf

If he’s not prepared to assess the outcome of Cop27 I certainly am the good the bad and the exceedingly ugly

Firstly, the good: at long last, and after over three decades of campaigning a loss and damage finance fund was finally agreed De spite smears from the right wing press, wealthy countries listened to the overwhelm ing chorus from the Global South and climate vulnerable countries including impassioned speeches such as those by pakistan s prime minister, after the nation’s devastating floods

They eventually acknowledged that the nations who are the biggest polluters must pay up to help poorer countries deal with a crisis not of their own making There’s still a lot to be done the fund is meaningless unless gov ernments like our own ensure that it is ade quately financed to support vulnerable

countries And that’s new and additional money, not cash raided from an ever dwin dling overseas aid budget But the fund is cer tainly a breakthrough, and one which Global South countries say mustn’t be dismissed

Now to the bad: Cop27 made no progress on the single biggest driver of the climate emergency, fossil fuels India put forward a proposal to phase down all fossil fuels not just coal as was agreed in Glasgow But the world’s biggest polluting countries, and the climate wrecking fossil fuel companies that sit alongside them ubiquitous at this year ’s summit put paid to that

The world s governments are already planning to produce more than twice the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than is consis tent with a liveable future No wonder island states like Tuvalu, hardest hit by the climate emergency, are demanding a global fossil fuel treaty to keep new fossil fuel reserves in the ground for good Why won’t governments like ours sign up to it?

Then we come to the ugly: Cop27 was mired by our failure to release Alaa Abd el Fattah A British citizen, a father to a 10 year old son, a dearly loved brother, writer and pro democracy activist, Alaa has been unlaw fully imprisoned by the Egyptian authorities for more than nine years Ministers were “concerned”, and the prime minister “raised the case” with his Egyptian counterpart

So why is Alaa s family still after two weeks of opportunities for diplomatic lever age have come and gone being forced to seek answers and action? Alaa has faced threats and intimidation, he’s suffered fainting fits and mental breakdowns, and he’s been put on suicide watch yet the government is standing idly by Let’s be clear climate lead ership from this government is sorely lacking Sunak s frankly pathetic statement from the weekend is just the latest example of climate delay from greenlighting swathes of new oil & gas licences in the North Sea; to refusing to rule out a new coal mine in Cumbria; to maintaining an effective ban on onshore wind and blocking solar farms

Cop27 represented a tiptoe forward when we desperately needed a giant leap We sim ply don t have time for timid dawdling, and modest progress The transformation of our economy to align with a liveable future is going to happen our government should be leading the way on a managed and orderly transition nationally, not taking us down the path to more climate chaos

petitors the lodestars of a rapidly growing market

Many of them assume that free trade and open bor ders will catapult Africa into a new era The scene is set for a wave of new start ups, crying out for stronger links between Germany and Africa

WE have a responsibility to help those in need That is undeniable From the earli est days of foreign aid, it was given with the best of intentions to alleviate poverty in Africa But since then, it has grown into an entire industry There are so many organ izations all seeking to do good but inefficiency and mis guided assumptions mean they often fail to achieve what they set out to do

In my opinion the aid industry has always shown a hint of disdain towards this emerging, vibrant continent Yes, it is a complex continent as they all are It is marked by poverty and war but that is not the full picture That is why we need a new approach Instead of aid, Ger many and the rest of the West should focus on increasing economic cooperation with Africa as an equal partner We have to do away with aid in its current form It is expensive It is inefficient And it doesn’t achieve its aims What we need is a change of perspective Because Africa doesn’t need Europe Europe needs Africa

A DYNAMIC AND CONFIDENT AFRICA: Africa is a continent of young people the average age is between 20 and 25 Its population is growing faster than any where else in the world The continent is already home to 1 4 billion people By 2030, that figure could rise to 1 7 billion, meaning the population of Africa would be greater than that of China And Africa is also experienc ing a construction boom Experts estimate that in the next ten years, there will be more new buildings in Africa than over the past hundred years in Europe

Six of the ten fastest growing global economies are in Africa, and consumer spending is rising by almost 4% In 2021, it was over $1 93 billion Africa is riding a wave of dynamism, confidence and a desire for success

Many industries, such as tech, medicine and agricul ture, are seeing the emergence of a new elite, often edu cated at top institutions abroad, who are confident in their own abilities and potential This generation has gained experience in Western industrialized countries and is now

returning home and getting to work, rolling up their sleeves and founding companies That is a game changer

VENTURE CAPITAL FOR AFRICA: Many people across Africa have long been breaking new ground es pecially when it comes to embracing the opportunities of digitization The number of start ups on the continent is skyrocketing and large sums of venture capital are flowing into Africa The question is: why is Germany proving so hesitant?

When half the population is under 20 it is clear that the next few years will see an increase in the number of people of working age who can contribute to the econ omy This means Africa is the only continent in the world with a so called “demographic dividend”

These young people are motivated and keen to learn, and they are being drawn to the cities While in the past many aimed to become farmers and grow their own food, now more and more young people are looking to fulfill their potential driven by a desire to become part of the economy Africa is a continent coming into its own Its young population means there is a huge potential market for start ups and modern technology for medicine and biotech, for culture, fashion, music and films A market for digital products, software, apps for the future

What many in Germany don t realize is that Africa has already taken great strides forward in terms of inno vation, leapfrogging stages of industrial development It went straight from sending letters to using WhatsApp without the transitional stages of faxes or email The con

tinent is also miles ahead when it comes to making pay ments via smartphones Its population already has more mobile money accounts than traditional bank accounts, with half of all mobile users carrying out transfers via their phones

Mobile payment platforms that allow fast financial transfers even in the most isolated regions, thus increas ing spending power in rural areas now count tens of mil lions of users These digital financial services, known as Fintechs, are paving the way towards a prosperous future for the continent By 2060 there will be more than a bil lion people in Africa who belong to the new middle class the engine of every economy

CATAPULTING INTO A NEW ERA: To reach their goals, the young middle class are finding jobs in new, flexible companies that are constantly growing There are already hundreds of companies in Africa with a turnover in the billions Among them are courier services that have used artificial intelligence to revolutionize par cel deliveries both domestically and abroad, as well as payment platforms that allow small and medium sized businesses to use e commerce

Alongside the Fintechs, Africa has seen the founding of start ups that aim to produce more plentiful harvests, overcome supply chain difficulties and improve health care Even more importantly, they are growing faster and often have better profit margins than their counterparts on the international stage These dynamic, highly successful start ups are head and shoulders above their German com

Europe can no longer afford to dismiss Africa both politically and economically We cannot expect Africa to wait patiently for us to realize this many African coun tries are already seeking partners for themselves

WHY IS CHINA INVESTING SO MUCH IN AFRICA? It s an open secret that China has long rec ognized For many years now, China has been Africa’s most significant investor and trade partner, pouring money into building infrastructure and developing in dustrial and commercial centers, and thereby winning a lot of friends on the continent

Long before the Ukraine war Russia was making ef forts to build relationships with African states, especially in terms of military and security matters That is especially clear in Mali where Russia is taking over the role for merly played by Germany and France The USA is also pursuing security related and economic interests in Africa

Africa has an abundance of options to choose from when it comes to international partners from China and Russia to the USA and Turkey These countries are all discovering the continent s enormous potential But al though Europe is geographically much closer to Africa than China or Russia are, we Europeans seem reluctant to make use of this strategic advantage Stronger relations with Africa are not only important when it comes to se curity and the economy, but also geopolitically, as the global center of gravity drifts inexorably towards Asia

Unless we engage with Africa, Europe’s influence on the world stage will wane It should go without saying that strong, close, stable relations with Africa also have a positive impact on security and migration

A PARADIGM SHIFT FOR EUROPE: people who can see potential in their own country won’t risk a dan gerous journey and an uncertain future elsewhere There fore, one of our aims must be investing in businesses to create better economic social and cultural prospects to the benefit of everyone involved

R E N T FO R M I S E X P E N S I V E A N D I N E F F I C I E N T. A N D I T I S N’ T N E E D E D A F R I C A I S N OW A DYN A M I C A N D CO N F I D E N T CO N T I N E N T. E U R O P E N E E D S A C H A N G E O F P E R S P E C T I V E TO U N D E R S TA N D T H AT I T N E E D S A F R I C A AS MU C H AS A F R I C A N E E D S E U R O P E

A b o l i s h a i d t o A f r i c a

FInancIal tImes J a n a n G a n e s H

T H E W E S T W I L L H AV E T O M A K E FA R W O R S E M O R A L C O M P R O M I S E S A S T H E C E N T R E O F

G LO B A L P O W E R C R E E P S E L S E W H E R E

L E T ’ S B E C L E A R , C L I M AT E L E A D E R S H I P F R O M

T H I S G O V E R N M E N T I S S O R E LY L A C K I N G

Meezan Bank, PMRC join hands to promote Islamic Housing Finance

K a r a c h i:

Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank and Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company (PMRC), a Mortgage Liquidity Facility set up by the State Bank of Pakistan, have recently inked a Master Musharakah agreement to support and promote affordable housing finance in the country Under this agreement, PMRC will provide five years fixed rate concessional funds to Meezan Bank, which will provide much needed support across the housing value chain With the acquisition of funds worth PKR five billion, Meezan Bank aims to ultimately improve access to affordable, Shariah compliant housing finance in Pakistan through better and more affordable rates The signing ceremony took place at Meezan House, Karachi and was attended by Meezan Bank’s Founding President & CEO Mr Irfan Siddiqui, Deputy CEO Mr Ariful Islam, Group Head Consumer Finance Syed Iftikhar ul Haq & Head of Housing Finance Mr Masroor Mohsin PMRC was represented by their Managing Director & CEO Mr Mudassir H Khan, Resident Shariah Board Member Dr Mufti Muhammad Yunas Ali, Head of Business Mr Muhammad Shahzad Khan & Head Islamic Business Mr Hasan Junaid Nasir p r

IMC and NED undertake research project to mitigate traffic hazards

Under its social responsibility banner, “Concern Beyond Cars , Indus Motor Company Limited (IMC) and NED University of Engineering & Technology (NED) have partnered to improve the deteriorating condition of safety on roads in the country The two year contract was signed by IMC Chief Executive, Ali Asghar Jamali and NEDs Registrar, Ghazanfar Hussain, at the company’s head office The Road Safety Improvement Project , entails NED carrying out an in depth research on traffic congestion and identification of high accident prone spots spanning ten major arterials in Karachi whilst also creating traffic safety awareness through campaigns, amongst children and young adults Adding to it, a Traffic Circulation Improvement Plan will resultantly be developed to help the government and law enforcement authorities to implement the same Commenting on the alliance, Mr Jamali said, The first step of solving a problem is recognizing that there is one What we experience on the roads of Karachi on a regular basis is not just appalling but evidence enough that the problem needs some serious addressing As a step in that direction and because of the strong connect traffic safety has with our business, IMC has rolled out an ambitious plan to reign in the injuries and fatalities caused by road accidents occurring on a daily basis pr

KE’s future outlook remains positive despite c urrent challenges

K a r a c h i: Despite macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, KE is confident in serving its customers in a reliable and efficient way through a comprehensive, multi pronged strategy These comments were made by KE’s Chief Financial Officer Muhammad Aamir Ghaziani at a Corporate Briefing Session held at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday Sustained investments in the value chain have driven continued improvement in KE s core business Since privatization, KE has been able to reduce its transmission and distribution losses from approximately 34% to 15% at the end of FY22 The utility s transmission and distribution (T&D) losses have reduced by 2 percentage points at the end of the first quarter of FY23 compared to the same period last year, while generation efficiency has also improved by 0 6 percentage points during this time Investment of around PKR 62 8 billion in FY22 and PKR 11 6 billion in first quarter of FY23 has been made across power value chain KE is also preparing itself for the future The panel shared plans to add up to 500 MW of efficient, clean energy in the short term to diversify the company s fuel mix and lower the costs of electricity for the company and consumers alike pr

Imran-Spread ChaoS wIll end on the weekend, SayS memon

tion of ToshaKhana

I N D H Minister for Informa tion, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon has said Tuesday the cheos spread by Imran Khan

Italy to provide tech support for olive cultivation with help of experts

and the Ministry of National Food Security & Research with the total cost of €1 5 million Secretary National Food Security and Re search Zafar Hasan remarked that every year we spend our precious foreign reserves on im port of edible olive oil; this project will help to replace it with the domestic production He hoped that the private sector will multiplicate the project and take it forward

Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese said Pakistan has a huge potential for olives Italy will continue to support Pakistan in olive production, he added

He added that It seems that Imran Khan will face the life long disquali fication The minister said that Imran Khan did not earn as much money from cricket as he earned from selling gifts of Tosha Khana He added that It has been reported that Imran Khan had sold out the gold medal he re ceived from India and added that these facts disclosed that selling valu able gifts and honors is an old habit of Imran Khan

Sharjeel Inam Memon said that Imran Khan is trying to become a pres sure cooker so that he could avoid cor ruption cases But this is not possible now Imran Khan will spend his rest of life in courts and behind the bars

He said that the general elections

corporate corner

A meeting of the Steering Committee on Olive Culture Holistic and Multi Professional Mech anism for a Pakistani Olive Oil Value Chain project was held at the Ministry of National Food Security and Research Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan, Andreas Ferrarese and Sec retary National Food Security and Research Zafar Hasan co chaired the meeting

The project, funded by the Italian Govern ment started in March 2022 with an aim of building a multi professional olive and olive oil value chain in Pakistan to enhance olive produc tion and improve food security through technical assistance and training of the stakeholders Government of Pakistan and Government of Italy are jointly executing the project through the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM Bari) Italy the Italian Agency for international Cooperation, Pakistan Oilseed Department

W h i l e a p p r i s i n g t h e f o r u m o n t h e p r o g r e s s o f t h e p r o j e c t M a r c o M a r c h e t t i Project Director said that preliminary assess m e n t s w e r e c o m p l e t e a n d p o l i c y s u p p o r t i n drafting of Olive Policy was provided to the G o v e r n m e n t o f P a k i s t a n I n t h e f i r s t o l i v e harvesting season of the project (Sep 2022 Nov 2022), field trainings on good agronom i c s p r a c t i c e s w e r e p r o v i d e d a l o n g w i t h guidance on olive processing protocols and h y g i e n e s a f e t y i n B a l o c h i s t a n , P u n j a b a n d KPK, told Marco Marchetti

Marco Marchetti said the project is taking rural communities on board in order to stream line the Pakistani olive oil value chain Activ ities to increase awareness of olive culture are also part of the project, he added

“International experts for training and technical assistance have been engaged as well; this will help in learning the techniques and technology to get the best outcomes,” said Marco Marchetti

FPAP develops Learning Management System and Android Application to reach out to youngsters through digitalization

Lahore: Rahnuma Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), with technical support from UNFPA, has developed a Learning Management System (LMS) and Android Application on Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) to reach out to young people through digitalization In 2021, eight short videos were developed on LSBE and disseminated through Ilm Ki Dunya YouTube channel a popular site for information about education system of Pakistan and through UNFPA This year, the videos were translated into sign language, making the information easily accessible and legible for people with disabilities These videos have also been made available on the learning management system and android app The LSBE Online Program has been carefully designed for adolescents and young people to augment their ability to understand and learn about life skills for a better society pr

Pakistan Nav y Ship Tabuk visits Qatar for maritme security during FIFA World Cup 2022

Islamabad p r

Pakistan Navy Ship TABUK visits Doha, Qatar for maritime security during FIFA World Cup 2022

Upon arrival at Doha PNS TABUK was warmly re ceived by officials from Qatari Emiri Navy and Pak istan Embassy at Qatar

During the port visit Commander Qatar Emeri Navy Maj Gen Abdullah Hassan Al Sulaiti visited aboard PNS TABUK During the meeting with Commanding officer PNS TABUK matters of mu

tual interest and cooperation in maritime domain were discussed Cdr Qatar Emeri Navy appreciated the efforts of Pakistan Navy in promoting peace and security in the region

On the occasion Commanding Officer of PN ship conveyed well wishes from Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi for the peo ple of Qatar in general and Qatar Emeri Navy in par ticular for safe and successful conduct of FIFA World Cup 22 Visit of PNS TABUK provided an opportu nity to further enhance the existing close diplomatic ties and cordial relations with Qatar

J I C A , PJ B F r e n ew p l e d g e to f u r t h e r b i l e t r a l t r a d e t i e s

Pr

Teruyuki Ito, Director General, South Asia Depart ment Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) currently on a visit to Pakistan and his team consisting of Eriko Sato and Tsuyoshi Hara called on Pakistan Japan Business Forum (PJBF) to discuss matters of mutual interest Chairman PJBF Kalim Farooqui briefed them on the aims and objectives of the forum and appraised the visiting guests with the contribution made over the years in further strengthening relations between Pakistan and Japan Present on the occasion were Tet suya Suematsu, Senior Vice Chairman, PJBF & Gen eral Manager of Marubeni Corporation and Syed Feroz Alam Shah, Director PJBF and Advisor Board of Investment, Government of Pakistan

Contribution of JICA towards development projects in Pakistan were highlighted by both Kalim Farooqui and Feroz Shah, both of whom have been associated with Japan for over 40 years and are recipients of civil awards by the government of Japan The visiting dele gation was made aware of the fact that earlier Pakistan's share of Japanese Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) was the highest in the region which included both the social sectors with grant assistance as also for infra structure development projects under Japanese yen loan assistance as state credit Important examples of both were mentioned However, with the regional geopolitical situation, assistance from other countries started eyeing Pakistan as a potential destiny for trade and investments of which China taking the lead came up with what is termed as China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a gateway to Central Asia and beyond

Imran Khan give now on November 26?' , the minister asked The provin cial minister said that election com

mission of Pakistan has already dis q u a l i f i e d I m r a n K h a n N o w h e (Imran) cannot escape from corrup

Islamabad

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Niazi, NI(M) SBt along with Former Rector Bahria University Vice Admiral (R) Kaleem Shaukat HI(M), newly appointed Rector BU Vice Admiral Asif Khaliq HI(M) senior Naval Officers and top management of Bahria University, during Special 48th Board of Governors Meeting held at Bahria University Head Office p r

They elaborated upon the progress being made to wards improved trade and investments between the two friendly countries and specifically mentioned about the recent Joint Dialogue between the two coun tries held in Islamabad in which over 70 Japanese businessmen converged as also an equal number of Pakistani businessmen having business interest with Japan The dialogue consisted of both G2G and B2B

USAID Mission Director Reed J Aeshliman, Mepco CEO

Mahar Allahyar Khan, Joint Secretary Ahmed Taimoor, Jam Gul Muhammad, Dr Rashid and others at the launch of Smart Meter Mobile Application S ta f f p h oto

Mr Mubashar Hameed Rector & Chief Executive Officer

KSBL (left) and Mr Ghias Khan, President & Chief Executive Officer, Engro Corporation (right) awarding degree to a MBA Executive student p r

U S - S a U d i T i e S U n d e R R e v i e w d e S p i T e K h a S h o g g i i m m U n i T y R U l i n g , B l i n K e n S ay S

DOHA Ag e n c i e s

K h a s h o g g i a S a u d i j o u r n a l i s t t h e n l i v i n g i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , w a s k i l l e d a n d d i s m e m b e r e d i n 2 0 1 8 b y S a u d i a g e n t s i n t h e k i n g d o m s c o n s u l a t e i n I s t a n b u l i n a n o p e r a t i o n U S i n t e l l i g e n c e b e l i e v e s w a s o r d e r e d b y C r o w n P r i n c e M o h a m m e d b i n S a l m a n

The prince has denied ordering the killing, which has cast a pall over relations between the two countries

Khashoggi’s fiancee has sued the prince in US court, but in a ruling last week, US Justice Department lawyers concluded that the prince had immunity as a result of having been named prime minister in the Saudi gov ernment in September

“The opinion that we provided does not in any way speak to the merits of the case or the status of the bilateral relationship Blinken said “Our review of that relationship is ongo ing he told reporters at a news conference in Qatar after an annual US Qatar strategic dialogue Blinken also said there were no

power out as 7.0 quake hits Solomon islands

HONIARA A F P

A 7 0 m a g n i t u d e e a r t h q u a k e s t r u c k t h e S o l o m o n I s l a n d s o n Tu e s d a y, w i t h e y e w i t n e s s e s r e p o r t i n g v i o l e n t s h a k i n g t h a t h u r l e d i t e m s t o t h e g r o u n d a n d k n o c k e d o u t p o w e r i n p a r t s o f t h e c a p i t a l H o n i a r a “ T h i s w a s a b i g o n e , ” J o y N i s h a , a r e c e p t i o n i s t w i t h t h e H e r i t a g e P a r k H o t e l i n t h e c a p i t a l H o n i a r a , t o l d A F P “ S o m e o f t h e t h i n g s i n t h e h o t e l f e l l E v e r y o n e s e e m s O K , b u t p a n i c k y ” A n A F P r e p o r t e r i n H o n i a r a s a i d t h e s h a k i n g l a s t e d f o r a r o u n d 2 0 s e c o n d s T h e r e w e r e n o i m m e d i a t e r e p o r t s o f s e r i o u s s t r u c t u r a l d a m a g e b u t p o w e r w a s o u t i n s o m e a r e a s o f t h e c i t y a n d p e o p l e w e r e r u s h i n g f r o m t h e i r o ff i c e s a n d f l e e i n g t o h i g h e r g r o u n d I w a s r e a l l y s c a r e d b e c a u s e t h i s i s t h e f i r s t t i m e I f e l t t h i s k i n d o f e a r t h q u a k e , ” s a i d a m a n a g e r a t t h e P a c i f i c C a s i n o H o t e l w h o a s k e d n o t t o b e n a m e d “ T h e b u i l d i n g w a s r e a l l y v i o l e n t l y s h a k i n g , ” s h e s a i d I t w a s r e a l l y s t r o n g i t m a d e y o u m o v e s i d e t o s i d e ” D o z e n s o f s t a ff a n d g u e s t s f l e d t h e b u i l d i n g t o t h e r e l a t i v e s a f e t y o f t h e c a r p a r k , h o p i n g n o t t o b e h i t b y d e b r i s o n t h e w a y o u t T h e n a t i o n ’s a t t o r n e y g e n e r a l , J o h n M u r i a , p o s t e d i m a g e s o n s o c i a l m e d i a o f o ff i c e f i l e s t h a t h a d s p i l l e d f r o m s e v e r a l l a rg e m e t a l f i l i n g c a b i n e t s T h e U S G e o l o g i c a l S u r v e y r e v i s e d t h e e a r t h q u a k e ’s m a g n i t u d e d o w n f r o m a n i n i t i a l 7 3 T h e q u a k e s t r u c k a t a r e l a t i v e l y s h a l l o w d e p t h o f 1 0 k i l o m e t r e s , j u s t o ff t h e s o u t h w e s t c o a s t o f G u a d a l c a n a l i s l a n d A t s u n a m i w a r n i n g h a d b e e n i s s u e d f o r a n a r e a o f t h e S o l o m o n s c o a s t w i t h i n 3 0 0 k i l o m e t r e s ( 1 8 5 m i l e s ) o f t h e e p i c e n t r e , b u t t h e U N b a c k e d P a c i f i c w a r n i n g c e n t r e l a t e r s a i d t h e t h r e a t h a d “ l a rg e l y ” p a s s e d S o l o m o n I s l a n d s a u t h o r i t i e s a l s o s a i d t h e t s u n a m i t h r e a t h a d p a s s e d , b u t u rg e d c a u t i o n We e x p e c t a f t e r s h o c k s s o p e o p l e s h o u l d s t a y a l e r t a r o u n d b u i l d i n g s a n d t a l l s t r u c t u r e s b e c a u s e o f t h e s i z e o f t h e e a r t h q u a k e s a i d D a v i d H i b a H i r i a s i a , d i r e c t o r o f t h e S o l o m o n I s l a n d s M e t e o r o l o g i c a l S e r v i c e A c c o r d i n g t o U N d a t a a b o u t 2 0 0 0 0 p e o p l e l i v e w i t h i n 5 0 k i l o m e t r e s o f t h e e p i c e n t r e T h e S o l o m o n s a s p r a w l i n g a r c h i p e l a g o i n t h e S o u t h P a c i f i c i s h o m e t o a b o u t 8 0 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e T h e q u a k e h i t e x a c t l y a y e a r a f t e r a n t i g o v e r n m e n t r i o t s t h a t k i l l e d a t l e a s t t h r e e p e o p l e a n d c a u s e d t e n s o f m i l l i o n s o f d o l l a r s i n d a m a g e

plans for the prince to visit the United States

The Biden administration’s ruling last week came at a time of increased strains be tween Washington and Riyadh over energy supplies, after the OPEC+ oil group decided at its last meeting to cut output targets over US objections

Blinken said the legal opinion that the prince was entitled to immunity was based on “long standing practice” observed in “hundreds of cases”

In every case we simply follow the law And that’s what we did,” he added

The decision has drawn criticism from the slain journalist s fiancee Hatice Cengiz who had filed the lawsuit jointly with a human rights group founded by Khashoggi

36 killed in central C hina fire

BEIJING

A F P

36 people were killed and two were missing after a fire at a plant in central China, state media said Tuesday, citing local authorities

The fire broke out at a plant in Anyang City in Henan Province on Monday afternoon news agency Xin hua reported without sharing further details State media said rescue services first received reports of a fire at 4:22 pm (0822 GMT) at Kaixinda Trading Co , Ltd After receiving the alarm, the municipal fire rescue detachment immediately dispatched forces to the scene,” CCTV reported Public security emergency re sponse, municipal administration, and

power supply units rushed to the scene at the same time to carry out emergency handling and rescue work,” it said, adding the fire was extinguished by around 11 pm local time ootage from the scene shared by state media showed thick plumes of black smoke from the fire with at least two trucks in position to battle the flames In addition to the dead and missing, two were sent to hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, CCTV said Authorities said “criminal sus pects had been taken into custody in connection with the fire, but did not provide further details

No reason has been given for the cause of the blaze : Industrial accidents are common in China due to weak safety standards and corruption among

officials tasked with enforcing them News of the Anyang City fire followed reports of an explosion at a chemical factory in nearby Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province on Monday Videos posted on social media showed a fire at the industrial site spewing dense grey smoke into the sky Other images showed nearby build ings strewn with shards of glass and frightened locals fleeing the blast

“Personnel were dispatched to the scene, the fire was extinguished, and the human toll is not yet known Da hebao an official daily based out of neighbouring Henan reported on the Twitter like Weibo platform citing au thorities

In June, one person was killed and another injured in an explosion at a

chemical plant in Shanghai

The fire at a Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co plant in the outlying Jinshan district sent thick clouds of smoke over a vast industrial zone as three fires blazed in separate locations, turning the sky black

And last year a gas blast killed 25 people and reduced several buildings to rubble in the central city of Shiyan

In March 2019 an explosion at a c h e m i c a l f a c t o r y i n Ya n c h e n g , l o c a t e d 2 6 0 k i l o m e t r e s ( 1 6 1 m i l e s ) from Shanghai killed 78 people and d e v a s t a t e d h o m e s i n a s e v e r a l k i l o metre radius

Four years prior a giant explosion in northern Tianjin at a chemical ware house killed 165 people, one of China’s worst ever industrial accidents

‘Butcher of B osnia’ suffers health issues 5 years into sentence for genocide

BELGRADE

A n A d o l u Ag e n c y

On the fifth anniversary on Tuesday of Ratko Mladic’s life sentence for his role in the Bosnian genocide, the convicted war criminal is suffering from serious health issues

Dubbed the “butcher of Bosnia,” Mladic was once Europe’s most wanted for crimes as one of the masterminds behind the continent s most well docu mented and widely known genocide and crimes against humanity

A convicted war criminal, Mladic is today suffer ing serious health concerns in the Dutch prison where

he is being held According to earlier reports in Ser bian media, he is currently in critical condition

“He was taken to the prison hospital due to gen eral weakness, lung inflammation, and heart com plaints Controls continue We were informed that the results will be known on Monday at the latest,” his son Darko Mladic said Mladic was the commander of the Army of Re publika Srpska, established in Bosnia Herzegovina at the beginning of the country’s civil war amid the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s

He and the forces under his command were linked to the genocide committed in Bosnia, particularly in Srebrenica after Serb forces overran an enclave sup

China warns US against crossing Taiwan ‘red line’ in defense chiefs talks

The

June before a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan sparked fury in Beijing

But China and the United States have since moved to lower the temperature with meetings be tween top officials On November 14, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met for three hours at a Group of 20 summit in Bali, the first in person talks between the leaders of the world s two largest economies since they each became president

That was followed by a meet ing between Xi and US Vice Pres ident Kamala Harris at an Asia Pacific summit in Bangkok

Chinese

the

saying “Taiwan is China s Taiwan and resolving Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese” during his meeting with U S Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Tuesday

The Chinese defense minister called the Taiwan question the number one “red line” in China U S relationship and “the core to China s core interests in their 90 minute talk in Siem Reap, Cambo dia He also slammed attempts of foreign interference

Wei’s meeting with Austin

marked their second face to face conversation this year with their last talk held five months ago in Singapore Chinese State Coun cilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (2nd R) meets with U S Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (2nd L) in Siem Reap Cambodia November 22, 2022 /Chinese De fense Ministry Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (2nd R) meets with U S Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (2nd L) in Siem Reap Cambodia, November 22, 2022 /Chinese Defense Ministry

According to Wei, the in per son talk between Chinese Presi

dent Xi Jinping and his U S coun terpart Joe Biden took place about a week ago in Bali, Indone sia has pointed the direction for the development of China U S re lationship Calling for a “rational and practical policy to China Wei said he hopes the U S can keep its promise and fully imple ment the consensus reached by the two heads of state

The Chinese military values its relationship with the U S mil itary, Wei told Austin, but the U S “must respect China’s core inter ests It s all on the U S for the current situation of China U S re lationship,” Wei added

The two defense officials agree to maintain open lines of communication in preserving re gional peace and stability Austin also stressed the need for dia logues on “reducing strategic risk, improving crisis communications, and enhancing operational safety” during their talk, according to the readout by U S Department of Defense

posedly under the protection of UN peacekeepers However, Mladic is also known for his forces bloody 1,425 day siege of Sarajevo, the longest against a capital city in the history of modern warfare

After the war ended with the Dayton Accords of November 21, 1995, Mladic became a fugitive for over a decade

A 15 year manhunt ended in 2011 when he was found and handed over to The Hague tribunal for trial Mladic’s trial began on May 16, 2012, and ended with summations in December 2016

The trial which lasted more than 500 days called 591 witnesses and saw nearly 10,000 pieces of evi dence accepted by the court

Top Russian official warns of possible nuclear accident at Zaporizhzhia

LONDON Ag e n c i e s

T h e h e a d o f R u s s i a s s t a t e r u n a t o m i c e n e rg y a g e n c y R o s a t o m w a r n e d o n M o n d a y t h e r e w a s a r i s k o f a n u c l e a r a c c i d e n t a t t h e Z a p o r i z h z h i a n u c l e a r p o w e r p l a n t , E u r o p e ’s l a rg e s t , f o l l o w i n g r e n e w e d s h e l l i n g o v e r t h e w e e k e n d M o s c o w a n d K y i v h a v e t r a d e d a c c u s a t i o n s o f s h e l l i n g t h e f a c i l i t y f o r m o n t h s s i n c e R u s s i a n f o r c e s t o o k c o n t r o l o f i t i n M a r c h , s h o r t l y a f t e r i n v a d i n g U k r a i n e R e n e w e d s h e l l i n g o n S u n d a y t r i g g e r e d f r e s h f e a r s o f a p o s s i b l e d i s a s t e r a t t h e s i t e T h e p l a n t i s a t r i s k o f a n u c l e a r a c c i d e n t We w e r e i n n e g o t i a t i o n s w i t h t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l A t o m i c E n e rg y A g e n c y ( I A E A ) a l l n i g h t , ” I n t e r f a x q u o t e d R o s a t o m C E O A l e x e i L i k h a c h e v a s s a y i n g R o s a t o m h a s c o n t r o l l e d t h e f a c i l i t y t h r o u g h a s u b s i d i a r y s i n c e P r e s i d e n t V l a d i m i r P u t i n i n O c t o b e r o r d e r e d R u s s i a t o f o r m a l l y s e i z e t h e p l a n t a n d t r a n s f e r U k r a i n i a n s t a ff t o a R u s s i a n e n t i t y K y i v s a y s t h e t r a n s f e r o f a s s e t s a m o u n t s t o t h e f t T h e I A E A h a s c a l l e d f o r t h e c r e a t i o n o f a s e c u r i t y z o n e a r o u n d t h e p l a n t , s o m e t h i n g L i k h a c h e v s a i d w o u l d o n l y b e p o s s i b l e i f i t w a s a p p r o v e d b y t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s “ I t h i n k t h e l a rg e d i s t a n c e b e t w e e n Wa s h i n g t o n a n d Z a p o r i z h z h i a s h o u l d n o t b e a n a rg u m e n t f o r t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s t o d e l a y t h e d e c i s i o n o n a s e c u r i t y z o n e ” I n t e r f a x q u o t e d h i m a s s a y i n g T h e R o s a t o m h e a d a l s o s a i d i t a p p e a r e d K y i v w a s w i l l i n g t o “ a c c e p t ” a “ s m a l l n u c l e a r a c c i d e n t a t t h e n u c l e a r p o w e r s t a t i o n T h i s w i l l b e a p r e c e d e n t t h a t w i l l f o r e v e r c h a n g e t h e c o u r s e o f h i s t o r y T h e r e f o r e e v e r y t h i n g m u s t b e d o n e s o t h a t n o o n e h a s i n t h e i r m i n d s t o v i o l a t e t h e s e c u r i t y o f t h e n u c l e a r p o w e r p l a n t , ”

TA S S q u o t e d h i m a s s a y i n g

THE US relationship with Saudi Arabia is still under review despite a Biden administration ruling that the Saudi crown prince has immu nity from a lawsuit over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday

WASHINGTON A F P

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met his Chinese counter part Wei Fenghe in Cambodia on Tuesday as the two sides move to keep tensions in check

meeting on the sidelines of a conference of defence minis ters in Siem Reap is the first be tween Austin and Wei since

State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe re iterated

country’s stance on Taiwan question,

S a u d i a r a b i a S h o c k M e S S i ’ S a r g e n t i n a at W o r l d c u p

DOHA S tA F F R e P o R t

unhERALDED Saudi Arabia notched one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history on Tuesday with a 2 1 win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina thanks to a scintillating second half come back

On his fifth and final quest for the only major trophy to elude him, the 35 year old Messi scored a 10th minute penalty in a dominant first half display where he and Lautaro Martinez also had three goals disallowed for off side But Saudi Arabia, the second lowest ranked team in the tournament after Ghana threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina’s de fence in front of a frenzied 88,012 crowd Saleh Al Shehri squeezed in a low shot in the 48th minute while Salem Al Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute to leave Argentina and Messi looking utterly shell shocked in the Group C opener

Four new national records set in ‘palmolive Sindh Women Swimming championship’

Despite plenty of possession after that, Argentina were unable to penetrate Saudi Arabia, who were com p e t i n g i n t h e i r s i x t h Wo r l d C u p b u t h a d n e v e r p r e v i ously won an opening game ‘Fulfill our dreams’: The entire game was played in an extraordinary atmosphere a t t h e L u s a i l S t a d i u m w i t h A rg e n t i n a ’s t r a d i t i o n a l l y massive and raucous following matched by the thou sands of Saudis who had come over the border to cheer o n t h e i r t e a m “ O u r t e a m f u l f i l s o u r d r e a m s ! ” a n d

“Where is Messi? We beat him!”, the green clad Saudis chanted over and over in the Lusail Stadium, on their f e e t a n d g r e e t i n g e v e r y c l e a r a n c e f r o m t h e i r d e f e n c e with a deafening roar

Both teams have Mexico and Poland to come, with Argentina needing an immediate reaction if Messi is to have a realistic chance of matching Diego Maradona’s immortality in his homeland by bringing home the World Cup The result broke Argentina’s amazing 36 match undefeated run and stopped them from matching the previous international record of 37 games unbeaten held by Italy

Head, Warner plunder centuries as Australia crush England in final ODI

MelbOurne

A two day 28th Palmolive Sindh Women Swim ming Championship organized by Karachi Women’s Swimming Association in collaboration with Pal molive was held at Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday

An overwhelming number of 261 swimmers from fifteen Karachi schools and local clubs, which were divided into six groups, participated in the event The participating students belonged to Karachi American Schools, Karachi Grammar Schools, Bea con house School Systems, Karachi Gymkhana, Karachi United Mama Parsi Girls high School nixor College, CAS School and The City School PAF Chapter Karachi Grammar School was on top with 305 points while Bay View Academy got the second position with 108 points The CAS Schools got the third position with 106 points Four new na tional records were set during the two day event Of the total four new records, three were set by the CAS School s hareem Malik, who took part in the 13 and 14 year age group competitions including 100 meter Breast Stroke, 50 meter Breast Stroke and 200 meter Individual Medley in which she got the first position hareem was also declared the best swimmer of the event Karachi Gymkhana’s Iman Shaikh set the new national record in the age group 15 year and 16 years category 100 meter Backstroke contest Later, chief guest Sidra Iqbal gave trophies and individual prizes to winners and other contestants The Managing Director of Col gate Palmolive Pakistan Zulfiqar Lakhani, Pak istan Special Olympic Chairperson Ronaq Lakhani Vice President Pakistan Olympic Associ ation Fatima Lakhani and member POA environ ment commission Tehmina Asif also the graced the occasion with their presence

made a formidable 355 5 on the back of head’s 152 and Warner ’s 106 in a rain hit game reduced to 48 overs, with the pair s 269 run stand the ninth highest opening partnership in 50 over cricket and the biggest at the MCG

It left England needing 364 to win under a DLS adjusted target, an ominous score they never looked like getting against a disciplined attack led by pacemen Pat Cummins

and Josh hazlewood and Adam Zampa’s spin “It’s been fantastic, all three games,” said Australian skipper Cummins Everything has really clicked Good to finish it off here, that’s just about the best ODI I’ve been a part of Everything was perfect ” With Phil Salt sidelined for a concussion check after hit ting his head while fielding, Dawid Malan was elevated to open for England with Jason Roy but he fell for two to ha zlewood

It didn’t get any easier for the batsmen, who were re stricted to just 49 1 off the opening 10 overs, already well behind the required run rate Cummins accounted for Roy (33) and Sam Billings (7) in quick succession, while James Vince ground out 22 off 45 balls before Sean Abbott broke his resistance When Zampa removed skipper Jos Buttler (4) and Chris Woakes in successive balls, then Moeen Ali (18) in his next over, England were 95 7 and their hopes over Zampa ended with 4 31

Messi centre stage as Argentina, France begin World Cup title bids

DOHA A F P

Lionel Messi will embark on Tuesday on what will surely be his last chance to win the World Cup, with Argentina and holders France both in action in Qatar After England thumped Iran 6 2 to showcase their title credentials, day three of one of the most controversial World Cups in history will have four matches Messi and his strongly fan

cied Argentina side are up first when they face Saudi Arabia in Group C, fol lowed by Denmark versus Tunisia in Group D The evening matches are Robert Lewandowski’s Poland against Mexico in Group C and the last game of the day tees up reigning champions France, spearheaded by Kylian Mbappe, versus Australia in Group D Much of the attention though will be on forward Messi

The 35 year old has won pretty

much it all and is one of the greatest footballers of all time, but World Cup glory has eluded him and this is surely his last time to rectify that glaring omission “It is probably my last World Cup, my last chance to land this great dream that we all have Messi told re porters in Doha on Monday

“I don’t know if this is my happiest moment but I feel great

“I’m older, more mature, I want to make the most of everything, to live it with the maximum intensity and to enjoy every moment that I have ”

In recent days, Messi has twice trained apart from the rest of the squad but he moved to dispell any concerns amongst Argentines that he might not be fit for Saudi Arabia

hasan ali vows to make a comeback after being dropped from pak test squad

lAHOre S tA F F R e P o R t

Pakistans fast bowler hasan Ali has vowed to make a comeback after being dropped from Pak Test squad for the three test hone series against England I will work really hard in the ongoing domestic season and earn my place back in the national team,” the pacer tweeted on Tuesday after he was sidelined by the national selection committee for the im portant home series against English team The fast bowler has so far claimed 77 wick ets in 21 Tests along with 91 and 60 wickets in ODIs and T20Is respectively The selec tion committee headed by Muhammad Waseem ignored him due to his lack of per formance in the last four Test matches he played against Australia and Sri Lanka, The England team will arrive in Pakistan on no vember 27 with the first Test scheduled to be played on December 1 in Rawalpindi It will be the first time England will play a Test in Rawalpindi, which has previously staged 12 matches with the home side winning five and losing three The second Test starting from December 9 will be played at Multan and the final Test of the tour will take place at the national Stadium in Karachi commencing on Saturday, December 17 The 28 year old right arm fast bowler hasan had wished his fellow cricketers the best for the game ahead and eagerly awaits his comeback in the team he also congratulated the players who were selected for the highly anticipated home series against England

Seven Pakistan players will be seen in action in the exciting sixth edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League to be kicked off at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday Two new sides from the USA new York Strikers and Mor risville Samp Army are making their entry in the tournament, replacing Qalandars and Maratha Arabians in the eight team event The final of the League would be played on Decem ber 4 The first round matches would be fol lowed by qualifiers and eliminators Several famous players of the world, including seven from Pakistan will be plying their trade for dif ferent sides in Abu Dhabi T10 League Pakistan stars Mohammad Amir and Iftikhar Ahmed have been selected by Bangla Tigers Left arm spin all rounder Imad Wasim will play for Delhi Bulls, veteran fast bowler Wahab Riaz and 24 year old right handed batsman Azam Khan will play for new York Strikers Former Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Irfan will represent northern Warriors while Imad Butt will be seen in action for Team Abu Dhabi

Football fever grips countr y as Pakistan’s soccer ball features in World Cup

ISlAMAbAD

A n A d o l u Ag e n c y

Just a week ago millions of people across Pakistan came out of the cricket fever with t h e i r t e a m s t a n d i n g s e c o n d i n t h e T 2 0 World Cup held in Australia now sports fans are looking ahead, with a raging foot ball fever gripping the otherwise cricket c r a z e d c o u n t r y a s t h e 2 0 2 2 F I FA Wo r l d Cup rolls on in Qatar

In Siddique Goth, a suburban neighbour hood of Karachi streets are festooned with man sized portraits, and posters of soccer stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and neymar Jr

A couple of streets are also dotted with posters of Egyptian wing wizard Mohamed Salah although the north African nation could not qualify for the finals

Flags of leading football nations like Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England, Portu gal, and the host Qatar can be spotted in the locality A large screen has been set up by residents at a busy square to watch the slogs together nestled in the outskirts of Karachi’s Malir district, the remote neighbourhood is also known as mini Qatar because hundreds of area youths ethnic Balochs are working in the wealthy Gulf state

Brazil is by far the favourite squad of local football lovers, while European sports juggernaut Germany stands second

“neymar is going to rock this time,” nasir Baloch a local footballer told Anadolu Agency

Meanwhile, Sagheer Baloch, a school teacher sees Germany as a favourite

“ T h e p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m a n d c o o l n e s s that the game of football requires, German p l a y e r s a r e e m b e d d e d w i t h t h e m S a g h e e r, a f a n o f S p a n i s h h o r s e p o w e r, B a r c e l o n a , o p i n e d

Speaking to Anadolu Agency he counts on captain and goalkeeper Manuel neuer, Kevin Trapp and Marc Andre ter Stegen to turn the tables in favour of Germany Mini Brazil: Football is a popular sport in the otherwise cricket loving Pakistan, par ticularly in rural areas Yet, the national team is ranked 200th in the FIFA world rankings Straddling the edge of the Arabian Sea, Lyari, a small shantytown south of Karachi, has long been a poster child for gang wars and drug trafficking

however, it is also known as mini Brazil” among soccer fans for the talented male football players that this run down lo cality has produced over the decades

“Lyari has always supported Brazil They (locals) consider it their own team,” Ahmad Jan, who coaches Lyari s girls foot ball team said Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Jan said Argentina is another favourite team in Lyari but of course nowhere close to Brazil ”

“Football runs in our blood We will con gratulate any team that would win the title but our inclination towards Brazil is un changeable,” he maintained, smiling

At present he said neymar Salah and Messi are the most popular among the local youths T shirts plastered with the faces of the three players are in high demand nowa days in Lyari, where drum beating youths took out a rally last week to celebrate the be ginning of the event

The Brazilian national flags can also be

spotted fluttering on the roofs of dozens of houses across Lyari h o m e t o 1 5 m i l l i o n p e o p l e , m a i n l y B a l o c h , t h e a r e a h a s o v e r the last 74 years produced a large number o f p l a y e r s w h o h a v e w o n m a n y t i t l e s f o r the country, especially between the 1950s a n d 1 9 6 0 s , k n o w n a s t h e g o l d e n e r a o f Pakistan s football team n o n e t h e l e s s , l a c k i n g g l a m o u r a n d g o v e r n m e n t f u n d i n g , w h i l e h a v i n g t o d e a l w i t h i n t r a f e d e r a t i o n s c h i s m s a n d l a n d g r a b b i n g m a f i a w h o h a v e b e e n

s w e e p i n g u p s p o r t s g r o u n d s , f o o t b a l l i n P a k i s t a n h a s g r a d u a l l y d e c l i n e d f r o m i t s p r e v i o u s r a n k a s f o u r t h o n t h e A s i a n c o n t i n e n t i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s

In Aprillast year FIFA suspended the P a k i s t a n F o o t b a l l F e d e r a t i o n ’s m e m b e r s h i p f o r s i x m o n t h s , c i t i n g a h o s t i l e takeover of the federation s head office by a r i v a l g r o u p The action was taken when the group refused to vacate the office and hand it over to a FIFA approved group

The membership, nonetheless, was re stored by FIFA after a period of over a year in July this year

Pakistan made football shines in event

A s i d e f r o m t h e i r l o v e f o r t h e s p o r t , P a k i s t a n i s h a v e a s p e c i a l r e a s o n t o r e j o i c e , a l t h o u g h t h e i r t e a m i s n o t p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e e v e n t Together with China, P a k i s t a n i s s u p p l y i n g s o c c e r b a l l s t o b e used in the forthcoming mega event, which this time will be held in the winter instead of the summer due to the hot weather in the Qatari capital named “Al Rihla,” an Arabic word for The Journey, the official match ball for the 2022 World Cup was unveiled in March by Adidas in Doha nestled on the outskirts of Sialkot, Forward Sports, which also makes footballs for the German Bun desliga, the French league, and the Cham pions League, has manufactured Al Rihla for the mega event

Seven pakistani players to par ticipate in abu dhabi t10 league

ISlAMAbAD Ag e n c i e S

KArACHI

What happened to crude oIl prIce and hoW does It affect pakIstan?

RuDE oil is probably the single most important commodity in the world right now, and it has been so since the last 100 years

The byproducts of this oil are petrol, diesel, jet fuel, Natural Gas, Furnace oil and lubricants etc There are more than 50 thousand oil wells in the whole world and each one of them has a distinct chemi cal composition The oil is gauged based on the weight and the sweetness of the oil Typically, the lighter and sweeter an oil is, the more gasoline and diesel content is found in it, and the heavier and sour it is, the more ground chemicals like asphalt are found in it

To further ease down this process, crude oil is distributed into various bench

marks Based on its geographical extraction points, chemical composition and extrac tion capacities crude oil is classified into various benchmarks Each benchmark is consistent with itself and hence, is easier to trade and price Some important ones are WTI Crude oil that hails from the united States and Brent Crude from the Northern Atlantic region

A r o u n d 6 0 % o f t h e c r u d e o i l t h a t i s globally traded, comes from OPEC coun tries The Organization of Petroleum Ex porting Countries, is an alliance that was formed in 1960 It has 13 members which i n c l u d e s c o u n t r i e s l i k e S a u d i A r a b i a Kuwait, Iraq, uAE, and Nigeria etc The countries coordinate on the matters of oil

The Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif ’s close aides including Ahad Cheema and Fahd Hussain did not disclose their assets details with Cabinet divi sion According to details, the PM has four advisors and thirty Special Assis tants and almost half of them did not submit their assets details to cabinet division so far As per the cabinet de cision, PM’s advisors or SAPMs are bound to furnish their assets or nation ality details within 15 days after as suming the office

According to the document, the Advisor to PM on Establishment Ahad Cheema did not submit his as sets details to the Cabinet Division so far SAPM on Public Policy and Strategic Communications/ Spokesperson of the Prime Minister Fahd Hussain also did not submit his asset details

SAPM on Government Effective ness Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, Hafiz Abdul Kareem, Romina Khur shid Alam, Attaullah Tarar, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Rubina Irfan Shehreyar Ali khan Mahar Ir shad Ahmad Khan, Raza Rabbani Khar, Faisal Karim Kundi, Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial and SAPM on Fi nance Tariq Bajwa also did not submit their assets details

Sources said that cabinet division has reminded the PM secretariat with regard to furnishing of assets details of above mentioned advisors or SAPMs but no response has received so far

According to documents, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Pasha has declared his assets worth Rs38 2 million in cluding five plots or houses, invest ment in Behbud besides 4500 British Pounds in the name of his wife He also mentioned that he has Rs10 9 million liabilities including loan amounting to Rs4 49 million from his

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan de clared on Tuesday the party will return to power and will not even need to campaign with power of the popular public vote and the “current situation” in the country

Free and fair elections are dire need of the hour to lift the country out the prevailing economic turmoil and restore stability and confidence

Addressing a seminar via video link on Tuesday, Imran Khan claimed that the more the government would delay elections, the more beneficial it would be for the PTI “We will not even need to campaign due to the current situation of the country, he pointed out He underscored that a “government with a clear majority needed to take bold deci sions for economic turnaround and sweeping reforms ” Imran criticizing the government of Shehbaz Sharif, said a new government

would have to take tough decisions to “cor rect the country s course The PTI chairman said that the country needed to focus on at tracting investment and investors should be incentivized and amnesties should only be provided to those who invest in Pakistan’s industrial capacity

Referring to his ouster, the PTI chairper son claimed that he was still unaware of what those allegedly behind the plot were seeking and said he had sent Shaukat Tarin to tell the neutrals” that the economy would be adversely affected due to political insta bility Earlier, while announcing what ap peared to be the final showdown with the government to force it to announce early election date, Imran asked people to con verge on Rawalpindi on November 26 to restart “Haqiqi Azadi March”

The PTI chief reiterated that the solu tions to economic problems in the country were linked with the rule of law The former premier insisted on the need to establish rule of law and said the solutions to economic problems were linked with rule of law as it

n i f y i n g t h e p r i c e s Some of the main benchmarks produced b y t h e s e c o u n t r i e s a r e A r a b L i g h t M u r b a n C r u d e a n d I r a n H e a v y e t c L o w e r f r e i g h t c o s t s , a n d d i p l o m a t i c a r r a n g e ments dictate that Pakistan measure most o f i t s p e t r o l e u m a c q u i s i t i o n , u s i n g t h e Arab Light benchmark

,

The globally famous benchmarks of Crude oil, namely Brent and WTI crude oil saw a decrease in their prices following a re port from the wall street journal The report stated that the OPEC countries were set to boost their output of crude oil, which would mean an increased global supply of crude oil Simultaneously, there is a growing con cern of decreased demand in China China

reported its first COVID 19 related death on Sunday, since May, causing stricter lock downs In the anticipation of this decrease in demand and an expected increase in pro duction, the Brent and WTI prices dropped by approximately 6% on Monday However, before the news could have affected the benchmarks further, represen tatives from OPEC countries negated such claims The Saudi Minister of Petroleum stated that the OPEC+ was sticking to their output cuts and would take further steps to balance the market prices, if the need arises Following this, the crude oil benchmarks regained their value on Tuesday Pakistan, being an importer of crude oil, is highly vulnerable to the global price

shocks This means that any change in the prices of crude oil affects Pakistan on a much bigger level After the resumption of the Extended Fund Facility of the IMF Pak istan has pledged to raise the levels of pe troleum levy it collects Considering that this levy was enacted at a higher price of crude oil, a drop in the prices is good news for Pakistan Not only does it mean higher revenue for the economically downtrodden government of Pakistan, but could also re sult in a relief for the people in the form of a lower price

As of now the prices are at $81 (WTI), $88 (Brent) and 86 (Arab Light) Media re ports suggest that even at the current prices the government meets its revenue target from petroleum in excess Subject to the dollar exchange rate the price of petroleum is very likely expected to fall in the near fu ture, coinciding with political motives of the PDM government

Indonesia rescuers hunt for sur vivors as quake toll jumps to 268

CIANJUR INDONESIA Ag e n c i e s

According to the rules the advi sors and special assistants are breach ing a cabinet resolution during the tenure of former PM Imran Khan to increase openness for the public inter est The special assistants are also ob ligated to disclose their nationality and publish it on official website of

the cabinet division

It is pertinent to mention here that the ECP also yearly reveals the re ported assets and liabilities of the Members of the Parliament (MPs) The ECP, however, does not post as sets details on its official website

The reporter requested Spokesperson to PM Fahd Hussain for comments on the matter but no re sponse was received till the story was being compiled

Pakistan Today contacted all the aides to PM mentioned in the story but no one responded

The death toll from an earthquake on Indonesia’s main island of Java jumped to 268 on Tuesday, as rescuers searched for survivors in the rubble and relatives started to bury their loved ones As body bags emerged from crumpled buildings in Indonesia’s most populous province, West Java, rescue efforts turned to any sur vivors still under debris in areas made hard to reach by the mass of obstacles thrown onto the roads by the quake The epicentre of the shallow 5 6 magnitude quake on Monday was near the town of Cianjur where most of the victims were killed, hundreds were injured and dozens were feared trapped as buildings col lapsed and landslides were triggered The death toll jumped dra matically again later on Tuesday from 162 to 268, Suharyanto, the head of Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency or BNPB, told a press conference At least 151 people remain miss ing and more than 1,000 have been injured, said the official, who like many Indonesians goes by one name The focus is still on the search and evacuation of victims That’s the priority,” he said “When the emergency response ends, hopefully everyone has been found At a burial in a village near Cianjur relatives of 48 year old victim Husein, who was killed while building a house when the quake struck, broke into hysterical wails before his body was lowered into the ground I just lost a brother 10 days ago Now I’ve lost another brother,” said his sister Siti Rohmah as she sobbed uncontrollably “I kept waiting, hoping he would survive and that nothing bad would happen to him One of the dozens of rescuers, 34 year old Dimas Reviansyah, said teams were using chainsaws and excavators to break through piles of felled trees and debris to find survivors I haven’t slept at all since yesterday, but I must keep going be cause there are victims who have not been found,” he said Drone footage taken by AFP showed the extent of a quake triggered landslide where a wall of brown earth was only punctuated by workers using heavy machinery to clear a road

brings progress

Imran Khan noted that the economy can’t be improved as long as there was po litical instability in the country “Investors don t invest amid political instability, he said, adding that political stability is only possible with transparent elections

Recalling the challenges that his govern ment faced, the former premier said when his party came into power, the country’s economy was still in bad shape It would have been difficult if it wasn’t for the help Pakistan received from friendly nations,” he noted If we hadn t received help from Saudi Arabia united Arab Emirates (uAE) and China, we wouldn’t have had resources for payments, the PTI Chairman recalled

Speaking about the PTI’s management of the COVID 19 crisis, Imran said he was proud of his economic team for how it tack led the issues “The corona crisis was ex tremely massive Had we imposed a complete lockdown during the epidemic, people would have died of hunger ” he added “We provided relief to people during

COVID 19,”

During his speech, Imran Khan said that his government should have purchased oil from Russia in his tenure “We should have purchased oil from Russia when we assumed charge of the government, he said

“I am sure that we could have convinced the Americans to let us buy cheap oil from Russia, he said, pointing out that how India made efforts to buy oil from Moscow

The former prime minister claimed that the country was being run by mafias, alleg ing that the “real estate mafia” was the most powerful one in the country

He further claimed that the Lahore De velopment Authority had informed him about the corruption in the real estate sector Multiple cases were registered on the issue but the police and government departments were bribed and silenced,” he alleged

He also criticized the incumbent govern ment over its ‘failed economic policies’ re gretting that any new incoming government

will need to take “tough decisions” to correct the country s course

PTI meeTIng revIews nov 26

sTraTegy: Punjab Health Minister and PTI Central Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid chaired an important meeting at her party office regarding November 26 party’s strategy

The meeting was attended by General Secretary PTI Central Punjab, Ham madAzhar, Information Secretary Andlib Abbasi Col (r) Ijaz Minhas Dr Azimuddin Lakhvi, Shaukat Ali Bhatti, Bilal Ijaz, Sadia Sohail, Faizul Hasan Shah, Brig (r) Ijaz Shah MNA Haji Imtiaz Dr Nausheen Hamid, Rukhsana Naveed, Shanila Roth, MPAs Talib Nakai, Salim Sarwar Joda, Gulraiz Afzal Gondal Shanila Ali Raja Sha keel Zaman, Waseem Ramey, Amina Taliah, Faisal Gondal, Tariq Hameed, Sheikh Im tiaz Owais Younis and others

Dr Yasmin Rashid reviewed the strategy of November 26 in detail during the meeting A briefing was given to her on behalf of party officials

Khan said highlighting that his government made the best decisions during the pandemic

LO B A L C R U D E O I L P R I C E S S AW A S M A L L E P I S O D E O F R I S E A N D FA L L , T O I L I N G W I T H E M O T I O N S O F M I L L I O N S A C R O S S T H E W O R L D

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