Epaper_22-11-28 ISB

P M u r g e s Pa k - T u r k i y e j o i n T r e s e a r c h , r e s o u r c e s P o o l i n g T o fa c e c h a l l e n g e s

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t

PrIme minister Shehbaz Sharif said that n wake of the com mon challenges and emerg ing threats facing both countries pakistan and turkiye should work together through col ective research and poo ing of resources we be ieve that pakistan and turk ye should work together and deepen their partnership through collect ve research and oint development and pooling of resources,” prime m nister Shehbaz to d turk sh anadolu agency in an exclusive inter v ew, published on Sunday, dur ng his two day vis t to the countr y from novem ber 25 26 to joint y inaugurate the third of four mIlgem cor vette ships manufac tured by turkiye for the pakistani navy he said the exemp ar y pak turkiye re ations were “grounded f rmly in com mon religious cu tural and inguistic links and transcend pol tical changes on ei ther side over the past seven and a half decades the prime minister said the two sides have a ways “ stood by each other in the face of all changes pakistan and turkiye support each other on al issues of core nat ona inter ests whether it is Jammu and kashm r or northern cyprus I would like to take this opportunity to thank turkiye part cularly ts leadership for ts principled support on Jammu and kashmir d spute,” he said confronted by common cha lenges and new and emerg ng threats pakistan and turk ye have deepened their cooperation across various spheres particularly in defense,” Shehbaz Sharif said, lauding the turk sh defense industr y wh ch has achieved spectacular suc cess under the leadership of president er dogan defying a l odds and challenges in the past two decades

“ pakistan is turk ye’s largest defense customer the prime minister under ined adding that their co laboration on the

construction of the mIlgem c ass war ships not only has a un que value for the pakistani navy ’s capab lity enhance ments but also prominently stands out as a defining moment to further cement the bonds of friendsh p between our two nations and our two nav es to a question, the prime minister sa d pakistan’s economy “ was facing multiple globa and domestic challenges and was “on the verge of financial co lapse” when he assumed charge the economic pol cies of the prev ous government were not pro growth and led the economy to mu tiple cha lenges,” he said however, the prime minister said his government had adopted a m x of policies to tackle the economic downturn by accepting the fact that we have a ver y short t me to step back from the edge of bankruptcy and financ a collapse ” no doubt some of our policy op t ons like the withdrawal of untargeted subsidies, had added to the cost to the economy in the short term but most of our pol cies are more likely to offer ben ef ts in the longer term he remarked

we are also aware of the fact that our current course of act on is hurt ng the most vulnerable and marg nalized in society but we are tak ng care of them by announcing targeted subsidies and other relief measures,” the prime minister said he said the revival of the Imf pro gramme and “active engagement with bilateral and mult ateral partners had eased the pressure to tack e the economy he noted that his government took measures to reduce the import bil , current account defic t, and pressure on the pak stani rupee the prime m nister said the massive f oods that hit pak stan early this year caused a great deal of suffering the recently announced packages by the government for farmers and bus ness men will help stimulate economic ac tivities, he added coming to the issue of climate change prime minister Shehbaz said while pakistan contr buted less than 1% of the global carbon footpr nt it is fac ing the brunt of natural ca amities in the form of heat waves glacial outbursts

ISPR: Leaked data of ar my chief ’s family wealth ‘lies and malice’

ISLAMABAD

days after the finance minister said the federal board of rev enue (fbr) successfully traced the identities of the people suspected of leak ng the tax information of fam ly members of gen Qamar Javed bajwa the mi itar y sa d an investigative report which, citing those records estimated the combined declared wealth of the fami y of ts outgoing chief at a staggering $56 mill on was to ta ly untrue and based on b atant lies and mal ce last week an on ne inves tigat ve news portal, factfocus, ran the stor y about the accumu lation of wealth and property by family members of gen bajwa during his extended six year term in office ending tuesday the report al eged that gen ba wa s immediate and ex tended fami y members had exponentially expanded their domestic as well as foreign property and businesses since he took command of the pak istan army in 2016 however instead of ques

t oning or denying the validity of the information, the office of Ishaq dar ssued a statement say ng the finance min ster had taken “ serious notice” of the leak calling it a violation of the tax law and a breach of offic a confident a data

Subsequently on tuesday dar sa d the top revenue au thor ty had traced the identities of staff who apparently leaked the records to ahmad noorani,

a washington based ournal st who published the stor y In a statement responding to the report released no ess than a week later, the Inter Ser v ces public relat ons (ISpr) claimed the data was being exagger ated on the basis of assumpt ons a certain group has clev erly and with il ntent inked the assets of the father and family of the general s daughter in law w th him and his family the statement sa d the med a wing of the m li tar y was concerned that a false impress on was being created that these assets were acquired by Sabir hameed, a lahore based realtor and father of gen bajwa s daughter in law during his time in office

It s total y untrue and based on blatant lies and mal ce,” the statement said adding the as sets of the genera and his family had been declared to the fbr the army chief and his family regular y file their tax returns the statement said “like ever y citi zen the army chief and h s fam ly are answerable to the tax author ties for their assets,” it added

droughts, torrential rains, and unprece dented monsoons

there is an urgent need for the in dustr al zed countries to meet their cli mate finance commitments with a balanced focus on adaptation and m t gation,” he said, welcoming a deal to establish a loss and damage fund to compensate developing countries most severely impacted by c imate change he also suggested that the nterna tional community explore the possibili ties of debt swaps for climate action particu arly adaptation a b o u t h i s g o v e r n m e n t ’ s e f f o r t s t o r e s p o n d t o t h e f o o d s i t u a t i o n t h e p r i m e m n i s t e r s a d t h e c o u n t r y “ mounted coordinated rescue and re e f o p e r a t i o n s m o b i l i z i n g a l p o s s b l e r e s o u r c e s a n d c a p a c i t e s ” a ded cated nat onal flood response and coordination centre (nfrcc) has been set up to effectively coordinate res cue and relief operations he noted while discussing his government ’s foreign policy, he said pakistan’s “ long standing and broad based relationship with the uS was “committed to deepen and widen

In recent months engagement be tween both countries has been quite product ve and substantial our interac tions at various levels have intensified which man fests in that the re ationship s strengthen ng recalling a recent interaction with uS pres dent Joe b den n new york he sa d there had been several high level visits ncluding congressional delega tions and by members of the (uS) ad ministration

“ t h e s e i n t e r a c t i o n s h a v e y i e l d e d posit ve results and further solidified our ties,” he said, thank ng washington for t s $ 9 7 m i l l i o n o f s u p p o r t f o r pa k i s t a n i flood v ctims the two countries, ce ebrating 75 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties are charting out a promising course for

the decades ahead,” said Sharif he ca led the uS an important trad ing partner and added that the two countr es were “exploring more ways to strengthen bi ateral trade and commer cial t es “ Some of the uS compan es are do ng quite well n pakistan we encour age major uS companies to invest in pak stan s lucrative market and en hance commercia ties particu arly in our growing It sector,” he said, encour aging more student exchanges be tween the two countries commending the “ strong pakistani d aspora in the uS Shar f said they were “act ng as a bridge to deepen the ties between our two countries and the people pakistan is also cooperating close y with the uS to promote peace and sta b lity n afghanistan while a so pursuing a foreign policy of “ friendliness and goodw ll towards all countries he sa d “ pakistan has traditional y main tained good relations with the united States and china h storically t was pak istan that acted as a br dge n opening up the relationsh p between the united States and the people s repub ic of china,” he noted wh e the pakistan china relation sh p s ver y special pak stan and the uS have also ma ntained a longstanding historic bi ateral re at onship which is broad based in nature and covers all is sues of mutual interest

Shehbaz Sharif said pakistan strong y be ieves that nter state relations should be based on mutual respect and peaceful reso ution of issues by upho d ing of princ p es of un charter and inter national law on relations w th china, he said his recent meet ngs with the ch nese lead ership injected new impetus in our joint efforts to ensure timely progress and im p ementation of major pro ects

Not to wait for single minute if Imran asks to dissolve Punjab Assembly: Per vaiz Elahi

LAHORE

punjab chief minister chaudhr y per vaiz e ahi declared on Sun day that he won’t “ wait for a minute” to dissolve the provin cial assembly f ptI chairman Imran khan asks him to do so

I owe the punjab govern ment to Imran khan we stand with those whom we support,” punjab ch ef minister ch per va z reaff rmed while responding to rumors and specu at ons, in a v deo statement on Sunday

It is important to mention here that the pml Q is an a ly of the ptI in the punjab the chief min ster of pak istan s biggest province warned the Shehbaz Sharif ed coal tion government in the centre that in case ptI and its al ies exit the countr y ’s assemb ies, then their government which expands over a mere 27kms won t ast for the next 27 hours ” he c arified his po tica party s stance on pakistan

tehreek e Insaf (ptI) ch ef Imran khan s call for the dissolution of the punjab assembly the cm said that the punjab govern ment was the trust of Imran khan and pml Q leadership would not eave its allies a one after making promises he said that Shehbaz Sharif led govern ment would never run even a day after the d ssolution of as

semblies following the mpas ’ mass res gnations the chief minister clarif ed that they would not wait for a single minute if Imran khan or dered to dissolve the assem b es he added that Imran khan was g ven a new life by allah almighty and his political strategy entered the decisive phase

a t t e n t i o n

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Govt tryinG to fix destruction brouGht by ‘irrelevant’ iMran: MarriyuM

S h e s a i d t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t ’s f o c u s w a s s o l e l y o n t h e s o l u t i o n o f p r o b l e m s being faced by the people

“ We a r e c o m m i t t e d t o a c l e a r a g e n d a f o r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d p r o s p e r i t y o f P a k i s t a n T h r o u g h t h i s a g e n d a w e h a v e made our national priorities and thinking c l e a r b e f o r e o u r p e o p l e a n d b e f o r e t h e outside world the minister added

She said that the nation could see that there are two characters before it one is constructive and other is destructive

a n n o u n c e d t o r e m o v e h i s o w n governments (in provinces) Taking another swipe she said that the PTI chief said in his speech that he did not w a n t t o b e c o m e p a r t o f t h i s c o r r u p t s y s t e m b u t d e s p i t e t e n d e r i n g h i s resignation, he was still taking salary and other benefits from the same system

e s o r r y state of economy and foreign affairs, and historical debt are all Imran Khan s legacy

The minister quipped that Imran came t o t o p p l e t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t b u t h a d

20 deaths from dengue in three weeks: health depar tment

ISLAMABAD

At least 20 people were killed from dengue fever in different parts of Pakistan over the last three weeks as the number of cases keeps on increasing in the country, the provincial health departments reported During this period around 15 deaths were reported from Punjab while Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded three and two deaths, respectively, according to the latest figures released by the authorities on Saturday In the last 24 hours, four people died from the disease in Punjab, bringing to 45 the total death toll this year in the province the provincial health department said The total number of dengue cases in the province this year has now gone up to 18,487 Sindh reported 104 new infections in the last 24 hours With the newly reported dengue cases, the total number of cases this year in Sindh has risen to 22,038 with 61 deaths Islamabad reported four new dengue cases in 24 hours, the health authorities said on Saturday night The city’s total tally has risen to 5,378 this year while 11 people had lost their lives

dawar stopped from boarding flight to tajikistan

Mohsin Dawar, an MP and leader of the ethnic Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) group, has been stopped from flying to Tajikistan’s capital city of Dushanbe to attend a conference on Afghanistan Dawar who was scheduled to attend the annual meeting of Herat Security Dialogue (HSD) said he was stopped by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at Islamabad airport even after the cabinet had removed my name from ECL [Exit Control List] for two months” now

The lawmaker from Miran Shah tehsil of North Waziristan district said he was on my way to board the plane when I was stopped ” “It felt that they had been ordered to do that in advance,” he said in a series of tweets “When I reached the counter, I was told that my name was on the ECL I told them that the cabinet has removed my name from the list [but] they told me that they were directed on a call to not let me go In a thinly veiled reference to the army, Dawar a member of the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PMD) coalition, lamented: “Once again neutral Havaldar [sergeant] demonstrates he has more authority than the federal government

Ms Aurangzeb said that no face saving c o u l d s a l v a g e t h e P T I i m a g e a s p e o p l e have seen its true face She lamented that t h o u g h s i t u a t i o n h a s c h a n g e d b u t t h e ‘agenda of a liar and destructive mind’ has not changed

PDM toppled Imran’s govt to ‘save’ countr y: Fazl

KOHISTAN

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)

President Maulana Fazlur rehman while rebuffing the Imran Khan s claim of a foreign conspiracy against his government, said he was thrown out from the government by the PDM through a constitutional way

The JUI F chief was addressing a public gathering at Kohistan on Sunday He further said that soon after the PTI led government came into power through a fake mandate in 2018 political and

economic instability started prevailing in the country, due to which masses lost their confidence in parliament, government and institutions

The PTI government promoted the politics of victimization and sent opposing politicians to jail by lodging fabricated cases against them, he added Maulana said, “We have not just thrown the PTI led government out but in fact saved the country Imran Khan created political and economic instability in the country and tried to create a divide in our forces, he added JUI F chief said that Imran Khan,

contrary to his claims failed to gather millions of people in his public gathering He had also announced to jam Islamabad but he failed as people rejected his call; only a few thousand people attended his public gathering and many of them were government servants from KP and Punjab, said Maulana He said after the purported attack, Imran Khan had installed bulletproof glass not only on his container but also at his residence On the other hand, Maulana said I escaped three suicide attacks and still addressing public gatherings in the open without any extra

COAS Bajwa inaugurates various healthc are projec ts of Fauji Foundation

Chief Of Army Staff (COAS)

General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday visited and inaugurated various healthcare projects of Fauji Foundation

The COAS was briefed regarding newly constructed projects including Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) which is the most modern facility offering modern solutions in its field and about Foundation University Nursing College, which has the capacity to accommodate 396 students an Inter Services Public relations

(ISPr) news release said on Sunday

The Chief of Army Staff also visited the newly constructed New East ridge hospital which was a private patient care facility

having 40 clinics and 146 beds, functioning under the umbrella of Fauji Foundation Over 1 5 million patients are treated every year at Fauji Foundation medical facilities across Pakistan the news release added

The COAS expressed his satisfaction over Fauji foundation’s role and contribution as it has been playing a vital role in providing both welfare in terms of job opportunities and free healthcare facilities to veterans, and their families and also caters to a large number of civilian and private patients across the country the release said

S heikh Rashid eyes fresh elec tions in April if PTI quits assemblies

s tA f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) chairman and former interior minister Sheikh rashid Ahmed on Sunday predicted the fresh elections would be held in April next year if the PTI quits all provincial assemblies

Taking to Twitter, he said after quitting assemblies as many 567 seats would get vacant and the elections would be held in April 2023

“I already advised to dissolve assemblies and go for elections We are ready for negotiating data for new elections instead of clash ” rashid said the Punjab Police were helpless in setting stage at Faizabad, adding the sea of people at the [PTI]’s long march was referendum for the elections regarding Swati s arrest, he said the arrest was a conspiracy hatched by the coalition government that was afraid of elections

much grist to the mill of scriptwriters, and he turned this apparent disadvantage to comic advantage

While the whole country has been focused on Imran Khan’s Long March and the COAS appointment, tragedy has struck the world of comedy Tariq ‘Teddy’ and Ismail Tara died within five days of each other last week Tariq Teddy was the ornament of the Lahore stage, while Ismail Tara was that of Karachi’s

He was probably better known, for he exploded into public view in Fifty Fifty it must be now about 50 years now Teddy on the other hand, was a stage comedian par excellence and did not have such a long

career It is not known, but I’m sure the young Teddy must have been influenced by Tara whom he must have seen on TV even before he had made it in his native Faisalabad Of course, Faisalabad was not enough for he had to come to Lahore where he made it big The passing of these two puts me in mind of a decade ago when in April 2011 Babbu Bral and Mastana died within five days too, of one another Tariq had been their junior but the loss of those two at the saame time shook Lahgore’s theatre to its foundations, for they were two of the premier comedians of the Lahore stage

Tariq was known as Teddy because he was a small chap, just like a teddy bakra, a breed of small goat Tariq s size provided

Tariq and Ismail were never paired together, though both were parts of celebrated pairs Tariq Tewddy had a pairing with Mastana, though that was broken by Mastana’s death For those who saw them on stage, it was apparently a love hate relationship, for though both engaged in jugatbaazi (exchange of quips preferably one liners) with other comedians to great effect, the jugatbaazi they engaged in with each other was not just wildly funny, but reacherd a new comic level, almost as if theory inspired each other

But then Ismail Tara too had an incredible pairing on Fifty Fifty, with Maajid Jehangir when they played a pair of elderly Karachi businessmen Ismail Tara was 73, which meant a generational

security measures

The PDM chief said Imran Khan had been using NAB to harass politicians and put them behind bars while under a one word manifesto, he called every politician a thief The current government was not victimizing the PTI leadership he said, adding that “if we wanted to take revenge on Imran Khan, we would not have amended the controversial NAB laws Instead, we have removed all rules against human rights so that such draconian laws could not be used against any politician, including Imran Khan,” the JUI F chief added

Planet’s future hinges on addressing issue of climate change: Marri

KARACHI

Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety and BISP Chairperson Shazia Atta Marri has said that over 33 million people have been affected owing to heavy rains and flash floods in Pakistan She said this while attending a meeting of 26th Socialist International Congress held at Madrid, Spain, according to a communiqué here on Sunday In her speech she expressed solidarity with the women and children affected by the wars and conflicts globally and highlighted the catastrophic impact of climate change in Pakistan in detail Shazia Marri said We are expressing solidarity with the women and children of Palestine, Kashmir and all around the world where they are being tortured and harassed as the results of the wars and conflicts ” She said climate change had wreaked havoc on Pakistan this summer and affected more than 33 million people, including 0 65 million pregnant women and about 4 million children The minister said climate change was probably the greatest threat being faced by humanity today A few years back, many around the world, including Socialist International members were debating on the issue of climate change, as the debate continues, the climate related disasters kept wreaking havoc,” she added She said that climate change had become a reality and it feared the global community which was now, showing some seriousness towards it and I hope, this seriousness of the world community would be changed into taking some real actions this time” Shazia Marri further said by taking the example of recent floods in Pakistan it was important to understand that climate change was not just an environmental issue, but a threat to health, livelihood, agriculture, peace and security and the overall economy of the world She said climate change was a threat beyond the imagination of the common man, which had endangered the future of our planet

difference with Tariq Teddy, who was only 46 Tara died of kidney failure, Tariq of liver They will both be sorely missed Will Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa be sorely missed? He was hardly a comic figure, and had the glowering presence of an army officer Like his previous two predecessors he was the son of a soldier Just as he was going, there was a report about his and his family s accumulation of assets PTI people think that is why he replaced Imran, and while he was in office, prevented him from taking action against the Sharifs or Zardari Is that going to be his new narrative?

But what s the point of re electing him if the new COAS will prevent him pursuing the corrupt? And he will, because there re already stories swirling about shakedowns of leading businessmen when he was Corps Commander Gujranwala Meanwhile, there s turmoil in the

Bahasa speaking world Malaysia has been through an election, which has had some odd results First of all, Dr Mahathir Muhammad lost his seat That s a bad thing to happen to any 97 year old, let alone a former PM Imran should learn from that example, though he must be heartened by the example of Anwar Ibrahim who has finally become PM at the age of 75 A long, long time ago, he had been brought in by Mahathir to attract the youth vote Anyhow he later went to jail for assaulting his driver However, he has made it Somebody Imran can learn from

Of course, Imran is too busy these days to learn stuff Now that he has got the Long March out of the way telling people he will dissolve the assemblies and force elections That sounds like a formula for fresh elections but it depends on Ch Parvez Elahi agreeing Will he? Did his mother raise any stupid sons?

RAWALPINDI

RAWALPINDI

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R e p o R t

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R e p o R t

n K h a n h a s b e c o m e ‘ i r r e l e v a n t ’ a n d t h e g o v e r n m e n t i s t r y i n g t o f i x t h e destruction brought by him during his four years tenure I n a s t a t e m e n t i s s u e d o n S u n d a y M s A u r a n g z e b s a i d t h a t I n f l a t i o n , t h

s a n a u l l a h d u b s i M r a n c a l l f o r r e s i G n at i o n s f r o M a s s e M b l i e s ‘ f r u s t r at i o n ’

c u l m i n a t e d a t r a w a l p i n d i H e a s s e r t e d Imran to realize that “Pakistani nation has rejected his narrative”

INISTEr of Interior rana Sana Ullah Khan said on Sunday that

of resignation from provincial assemblies was “illogical and an angry reaction Talking to a private news channel, he s a i d t h a

I m r a n ’s a n n o u n c e m e n t o f resignation from assemblies was a result of “frustration” because both chief ministers of KP and Punjab could not gather people i n l a rg e n u m b e r s f o r t h e l o n g m a r c h

He quipped that if Imran had a problem with the current political system then the latter should bring a “revolution”, adding that if Imran was successful in winning the elections, he would still remain in the same s y s t e m w h i c h h e h a d a l w a y s d i s r e g a r d e d by calling it corrupt r e p l y i n g t o a q u e s t i o n , t h e m i n i s t e r h e l d t h a t P u n j a b C h i e f M i n i s t e r P e r v a i z E l a h i c o u l d n o t d i s s o l v e t h e P u n j a b

A s s e m b l y b e c a u s e t h e P a k i s t a n Democratic Movement (PDM) knew very

w e l l h o w t o c o u n t e r h i s ( I m r a n ) p o l i t i c a l move “ P T I ’s d e c i s i o n t o r e s i g n f r o m t h e assemblies would be proven to be a folly w h i l e t h e i r o w n p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s w i l l leave,” he anticipated

He said that if a no confidence motion w a s b r o u g h t i n t h e P u n j a b A s s e m b l y against the CM, the provincial government would lose around 15 to 20 votes because some PTI MPAs were in touch with them (PDM)

He said in his opinion, if PTI resigned f r o m p r o v i n c i a l a s s e m b l i e s , t h e b y elections would only be held as the flood

h ad destroyed the economy adding that it was impossible to hold general elections across the country at this point in time

The minister while describing the decisions the federal government was forced to take given the circumstances to address the economic challenges after assuming power conceded that as a party they had sacrificed their political capital but the State was protected via those needed tough decisions

The minister added that the government requires four to six months to deliver economic progress and provide relief to the common people replying to another question about

Hundreds of Pakistani students, expats contributing to make FIFA 2022 ‘a big success ’

Forward Sports, a Sialkot based local sports products producer

Hundreds of Pakistani proud students and expats in Qatar are contributing tirelessly to FIFA World Cup 2022 for making this month long hectic event a smashing success

Along with many students who are enthusiastically assisting in engineering IT hospitality and broadcasting for the success of this major event, the Pakistani community in Qatar is also supporting this most awaited and watched tournament

Though the Pakistan football team could not make it to an international FIFA event, however, the country always remained in news for producing high quality footballs for international teams and events in collaboration with Adidas and

Talking to this news agency a media professional, Maryam Khalid, who works as a commentary assistant for Qatar s broadcasting department believes that her experience as an intern at the Qatar FIFA event will help her achieve her future objectives

To a query, Maryam said, “We were trained by professionals, and FIFA staff always remains attached to us to resolve any problem beyond our understanding ”

Muhammad Saad, another overseas Pakistani, participating in the FIFA World Cup 2022 as a volunteer in the Legal Department, said his selection was a great pleasure and an exposure to get involved in such a historic event in the Gulf “In layman’s terms my role is to

monitor any illegal commercial activity and report it to the relevant ”

The opportunity he said had provided him the confidence to play a lead role

An intern Abu Bakar Majeed Bin Abdul rab a student of BSc Computer Engineering, said he was assisting the Host Broadcasting Services a company that has managed some of the most prestigious sporting events around the world including 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and the current 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup

Being an IT Assistant meant that my work started well before the World Cup started, and it will end a week after the World Cup reaches its pinnacle Along with my fellow interns and supervisors, initially, we had to set up and distribute more than 750 corporate laptops and more than

2,500 corporate phones to incoming World Cup staff from around the world while being available to solve any IT related problems and working with our supervisors to code applications that will make operations for the staff easier,” he added Abu Bakar said FIFA World Cup 2022 being hosted in Qatar was not only a moment of utmost pride for the State of Qatar but for the entire Muslim world

“The nation currently holding the greatest sporting event on the planet in full swing, he remarked However, he regretted that the Pakistan Football team c o u l d n o t b e c o m e a p a r t o f t h i s t o u r n e y a n d h o p e d t h e n a t i o n a l t e a m o n e d ay w o u ld mak e it in to th e F I FA c u p a s h e b e l i e v e d , “ T h e n a t i o n h a s t r u e p o t e n t i a l t o e x c e l i n a n y f i e l d o f l i f e ”

Not to wait for single minute if Imran asks to dissolve Punjab Assembly: Per vaiz Elahi

Pervaiz Elahi said that the massive public gatherings prove Imran Khan’s popularity The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance will be shattered after the mass resignations of the MPAs”, he added

He censured Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) for spreading lies and claimed that the ruling political party would face humiliation in the next elections

The chief minister said that the Punjab government was working for

welfare of the common man and vowed that the citizens would also get free medical facilities for cancer treatment soon

On Saturday former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced that his party has decided to quit all the assemblies in his address to a mammoth public meeting in rawalpindi Imran Khan in his address in Pindi said: “I would announce the date of resignations after consulting chief ministers and the parliamentary party ” PML N, aLLies activate to

eleven perish in neelum valley, dadu accidents

NEELUM VALLEY/DADU s tA f f R e p o R t

Eleven persons including five members of a same, were killed and seven other persons sustained injuries in two road accidents occurred in Neelum Valley of AJK and Dadu on Sunday According to police and health authorities, six women died when a jeep plunged into a ravine in Neelum Valley of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday The authorities informed that the jeep fell into a gorge near Dodhniyal in Azad Kashmir s Neelum Valley killing three women Shamim Bibi, Zaiwar Jan, widow Amin Malik, Altaf Jan, Bibi Guddi and rani Bibi The injured were identified as Walayat Bibi, Sobia Bibi, Habib Jan, driver Fida Hussain and Muhammad Bashir The women after casting their vote were on their way back home when the tragedy struck The voting at polling station numbers 07 and 08 in Beesiyanwali in Dodhniya was temporarily suspended due to the accident It may be mentioned here that voting in local body elections is taking place throughout Azad Kashmir today In DADU, five members of a family were killed and two others injured in a car tractor crash on Indus Highway in Khairpur Joso area on Sunday According to police, the family belonging to ratodero town was travelling in a car, which collided with a tractor, killing Syed Azeem Shah, Syed Mithal Shah, their sister and two others while other persons were injured

foiL PLaN: The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz and allies have consulted to save Punjab Assembly from dissolution Most of the PML N MPAs and allies were of the opinion to bring the no trust motion against Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi in the assembly, sources said

Some members have been of the opinion that the governor should ask the chief minister to get the vote of confidence from the house

The chief minister could not ask for immediate dissolution of the assembly in case of a bid for vote of

no confidence or the confidence vote in pending according to sources

“In case of a no confidence motion, the chief minister would have to get 186 votes while the ruling coalition have 190 members strength in the assembly with 180 members of PTI and 10 PML Q lawmakers ” sources said

The opposition is expected to begin political maneuvering after launching a no confidence motion,” sources said The PML N and its allies will take a final decision over the no confidence,” sources added

LPG dec anting sans prec autionar y measures posing threat to public safety

MULTAN

s tA f f R e p o R t

The business of illegally refilling of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), fluctuating rates and missing precautionary measures posing threat to public safety as the illegal business went unchecked across the district

A large number of shopkeepers were refilling LPG cylinders at different markets and streets of the city despite ban on refilling of LPG cylinders as the directives have already been issued that the cylinders filled by the company can only sold at the shops The business was also on rise at suburban areas of the city areas especially near bus and wagon stands where most of the public transports were using LPG cylinders and putting public lives on risk

The shopkeepers were selling the LPG on high rates as they were selling LPG at 210 to 250 per kg through their open and hidden shops

A shopkeeper Ghulam Ahmed told APP on Sunday that he used to purchase the gas at rs 180 per kg and selling it at rs 210 per kg to the customers However, the prices were very high at suburban areas due to no check and balance by the quarters concerned The LPG was being sold at rs 220 to 250 per kg in these areas

A n o t h e r s h o p k e e p e r S u b h a a n s a i d t h a t h e

w a s g e t t i n g r e a s o n a b l e p r o f i t f r o m t h e business He said that he never used to refill the c y l i n d e r s b e c a u s e i t c o u l d c a u s e i n t o d a m a g e s H e s a i d t h a t h e w a s f o l l o w i n g a l l t h e p r e c a u t i o n a r y m e a s u r e s t o p r e v e n t a n y u n t o w a r d i n c i d e n t a t h i s s h o p Muhammad Mustafa, a citizen informed that he was purchasing LPG at rs 210 from the shop for kitchen use He said that there was no proper check and balance on the rates of the LPG adding that he purchased the gas at rs 230 and rs 250 also from other shops He said that the rates of LPG were different at each shop He demanded of the concerned authorities to ensure proper check and balance on LPG rates in order to provide relief to masses and also implement standard operating procedure (SoP) at these shops to prevent any mishap

On the other hand, the demand of LPG has been increased with the advent of the winter season as most of the people using the liquefied petroleum gas for maintaining room temperature to protect them from cold

However, the riffling shops of LPG in populated areas could also cause into mishaps while hidden shops near bus and wagon stands were also a threat to public safety but the concerned departments were playing a role of silent spectators

Senator Azam Swati s arrest by the FIA rana Sana Ullah said that the PTI stalwart’s speech was anti state and “uncivilized”, now the institution (FIA) would investigate and act within their constitutional limits

He further said that he specially asked the authorities to provide special care while ensuring comfort and medication for the senator

Weighing in over Shehbaz Gill s objectionable speech in rawalpindi’s political rally, the minister castigated the former, saying that it had become a tradition for the PTI leadership to express expletives against their political opponents

a JK PM terms conduct of much-awaited lG polls in a JK historic event

MUZAffARABAD (AJK) s tA f f R e p o R t

Azad Jammu Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan on Sunday said this day would be remembered in the history of AJK for long as devolution of power from the centre to local bodies was going to take place in the region after a long pause of over three decades He said while talking to reporters here that “credit for holding civic polls goes to the Tehreek e Insaf government that remained stick to its principle stand on the issue He said as per the vision and mission of PTI chief Imran Khan, powers were being transferred to the lower level through local body elections Holding local elections, he said would improve the continuity of the democratic process and strengthen democracy He said it was high time that the leadership across the political spectrum should play a positive role to ensure that the elections were held peacefully across the liberated territory The AJK PM said that people should exercise their right to vote with full enthusiasm and freedom and choose their representatives who could work for a better and bright future for the nation “It is the first and foremost duty of every patriotic citizen to actively participate in the national duty so that the democratic process flourishes Praising Pakistan Army for its professionalism, He said, “Our army is the best army in the world ” Owing to the deployment of armed forces, he said, the elections would be held peacefully Pakistan is a part of our faith and we are all Pakistanis”, the PM said About financial problems being faced by the government, he said, “Due to the cut in the budget of AJK by the federal government the construction and development process has been hindered”

PM urges Pak-turkiye joint research, resources pooling to face challenges

CONTINUED fROM PAgE 01

Important understandings were reached on advancing flagship projects such as the Main Line I and Karachi Circular railway (ML I/KCr) projects, as well as on the early implementation of the Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation “We also agreed to step up cooperation in green energy, science and technology and agriculture which are all important building blocks of CPEC’s (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) high quality development, he said Both Pakistan and China are mindful of the complex regional environment and the risks it poses We will continue to exercise heightened vigilance and ensure that our detractors nefarious designs will fail Sharif added Coming to the Kashmir issue and relations with India, the prime minister said Pakistan s foreign policy was one of friendliness and goodwill towards all ” “We want good relations with all neighbors, including India,” said the prime minister However he stressed that for complete normalization of relations, including the revival of trade ties, India must “reverse its actions of Aug 5, 2019, when New Delhi revoked the limited autonomy of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir He also said India must end its “state terrorism” in IIOJK and not seek demographic changes in the occupied territory to perpetuate its illegal occupation ” referring to his inaugural address as prime minister, Sharif said he reiterated our desire for maintaining ‘good ties’ with India “We, however, strongly believe that durable peace cannot be achieved without a just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people ” The onus remains on India to create a conducive environment for meaningful engagement ”

ISLAMABAD

QATAR

A p p

OPPOSitiOn PaRtieS in huRRy tO ‘aveRt’ KP aSSemBly DiSSOlutiOn

tH E opposition parties in Khy ber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has summoned an emergency session to discuss options to save the provincial legislature from dissolution

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has announced that his party has decided to quit all the assemblies in his address to a public meeting on Saturday

A session of the parliamentary lead ers of the opposition parties in KP as sembly will discuss various options to avoid dissolution of the legislature

“The opposition could mull over bringing a no confidence motion against Chief Minister Mahmood Khan,” Awami National Party’s parliamentary leader Sardar Babak Khan has said

A session of the opposition parties has been summoned at the residence of Opposition Leader in provincial assem bly Akram Durrani, Sardar Babak said

630 kanal state land retrieved from land grabbers in Daraban

DI KHAN: Assistant Commissioner (AC) Daraban, Nadir Nazar taking action against land grabbers, retrieved 630 Kanal land from illegal possession The assistant commissioner, along with Naib Tehsildar Daraban, local police, officials of Revenue department and Tehsil Muncipal administration, took action against the land grabbers following the directions of Deputy Commissioner Nasrullah Khan During the operation, 630 kanals of state land was recovered Later, under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner Nadir Nazr encroachments were also removed in Daraban Bazar by taking action against temporary encroachments Besides, the AC also checked the prices of essential commodities at various shops He imposed heavy fines on the shopkeepers involved in illegal profiteering He asked the shopkeepers to display the price lists at prominent places and warned them of strict action against those involved in hoarding and profiteering s ta f f r e p o r t

Gems expor ts witness 98.59pc increase: PBS

ISLAMABAD: Gems exports during the first four months of the fiscal year 2022 23 increased by 98 59 percent as compared to the exports of the commodity during the corresponding period of last year During the period from July 22 Oct 22 Gems worth US$ 3 797 000 were exported as compared to the exports of US $ 1,912,000, during the same period of last year According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the exports of jewellery increased by 18 70 percent, worth US$ 3 840 000 as compared to exports of US$ 3 235 000 during the same period, last year Meanwhile, Furniture also increased by 93 61 percent as the exports recorded during the current fiscal year were US$ 5 386 000 as compared to the exports during the same period of last year which were US$ 2,782,000 s ta f f r e p o rt

Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa As sembly here on Sunday said the provin cial assembly would be dissolved without any delay after receiving the proper or ders by PTI Chairman Imran Khan

In a statement, Mushtaq Ghani said all the legislators were waiting for the orders of Imran Khan and were ready to leave the assembly

H e s a i d a m a j o r i t y o f t h e a s s e m bly’s members were elected on ruling PTI tickets and all the seats would be come vacant

Meanwhile the spokesperson of the provincial government Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said that Imran Khan’s order would be obeyed, however, the decision would be taken after consul tation with the party’s senior leadership

He said the federal government would no longer have its mandate after the dissolution of the two provincial as semblies of the country

It ’s like homecoming for me, says Kesha Ram on L ahore visit

Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale great granddaughter to Sir Ganga Ram said that it was like home coming for her after she was wel comed with open arms by the people during her week long so journ in historic city of Lahore

In an interview with APP at her ancestral home in Gulberg here prior to her departure on Sun day, she said she was the first per son of the family to visit the legacy of Ganga Ram after some one hundred years when the Ganga Ram’s family had to leave due to Partition of Hindustan in 1947, adding she was accorded a royal like treatment wherever she went in the city Kesha Ram a Vermont State senator, had been visiting Lahore to trace the legacy of her great grandfather Sir Ganga Ram (1851 1927), who is considered the ‘fa ther of modern Lahore for his services as a civil servant and a philanthropist to the city of Lahore during the British rule He is cred ited with building the most iconic buildings of Lahore, developing a housing society developing barren farmlands in Renala Khurd and bequeathing behind a legacy of philanthropy through hospitals and educational institutions

To a question she recollected being handed a biography of Sir

“The college teacher, who hailed from Lahore, said, Kesha, do you know what legacy your Sir Ganga Ram had left behind and how deeply respected he is for his contribution to the city of La hore?” she reminisced

The joy on her beaming face was quite apparent as she sat in front of the fire place in the draw ing room of the Ganga Ram’s fam ily home for the interview and recollected her great grandmother who would always tell stories about the swimming pool, the dou ble kitchens and the verandah after she had to abruptly leave her treas ured home due to partition in 1947

“As I was pulled up here I felt I had seen this place already

through the anecdotes of my ‘Dadi jee (great grandmother) who never stopped talking about the place she lived between 1928 and 1947”, she bemused, adding Sir Ganga Ram passed away in England in 1927 his ashes returned Lahore and were cremated in a Samadhi near Taxali Gate, and this house held a special place for the family as Ganga Ram had built this last abode with ‘love’s labour ’

To a question, she thanked the people and government for preserv ing Sir Ganga Ram’s legacy, adding that her family had unfounded fears about his legacy being ‘forgotten and wiped away before she came to see herself “I have been treated like the royalty wherever I went due to the connection in flesh and blood I have with my great grandfather Sir Ganga Ram but where he lives is in hearts and minds of people of Lahore,” she shared ecstatically

Gov t authorizes utilization of Rs241b development fund in 4 months

ISLAMABAD

The Federal Government has authorized the utilization of development funds amounting to Rs 241 26 billion out of a total allocation of Rs 727 billion for various ongoing and new social sector uplift projects of the federal ministries and division in the first four months (July October) of the fiscal year 2022 23 under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP)

Out of the total authorized/disbursed amount, the total amount spent on the development projects during the corresponding period stood at Rs 98 8 billion

According to the disbursement mechanism of the Planning Division the development funds allocated in the federal budget are released at the rate of 20% in the first quarter (July September), followed by 30% each in the second and third quarters, and the remaining 20% in the last quarter (April June) of a fiscal year

The government also authorized/disbursed Rs 100 billion for the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Reform

The detail shows that Rs 57 133 billion out of a total allocated amount of Rs 160 2 billion have been disbursed to corporations while Rs 184 billion have been disbursed to the federal ministries out of a total allocation of Rs 563 3 billion

For National Highway Authority (NHA) the government has disbursed/authorized Rs 29 9 billion out of a total allocation of Rs 117 2 billion, whereas for NTDC/PEPCO, the government has disbursed Rs 27 2 billion

The federal government has also disbursed/authorized Rs 87 billion out of a total allocation of Rs 87 billion, however, only Rs 0 78 billion have been spent on the development projects of the cabinet division so far Similarly, the data shows that Rs 494 million has been disbursed to Aviation Division, and Rs 161 million have been disbursed to the Board of the Investment The government also authorized the utilization of Rs 1 9 billion for Climate Change Division out of which only Rs 38 million have been spent during the period under review

For Higher Education Commission (HEC) the government has authorized the release of Rs 17 78 billion, Rs 25 2 billion for provinces and special areas Rs 435 million for Commerce Division Rs 36 million for Communication Division (other than NHA), and Rs 445 million for Defense Division Likewise, the government also disbursed Rs 286 million to Finance Division, Rs 180 million to Establishment Division, Rs 1 4 billion to Federal Education and Professional Training Division, and Rs 4 3 billion to Housing and Works Division

Climate change to c ause dengue outbreaks in non-vulnerable high-altitude areas: Study

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan after receiving massive manifesta tions of spiking up global warming, the en vironmental degradation and shift in monsoon weather pattern and increased tem peratures would face spread of dengue out breaks in non vulnerable high altitude areas

A study carried out by the scientists and experts from the Global Change Impact Stud ies Centre (GCISC), Health Services Acad emy (HSA) and National Institute of Health (NIH) titled “Modelling the impact of climate change on dengue outbreaks and future spa tiotemporal shift in Pakistan” discussed sig nificant impacts of climate change on the intensity and spread of dengue outbreaks The research got published in a leading environmental and health journal Environ mental Geochemistry and Health The much needed research underlined a

mix of outcomes highlighting rise and decline in the outbreak scenarios of dengue disease

The study’s aim was to assess the num ber of dengue transmission suitable days (DTSD) in Pakistan for the baseline (1976 2005) and future (2006 2035, 2041 2070, and 2071 2099) periods under Representa tive Concentration Pathway scenarios

Our findings also indicate that DTSD would spread across Pakistan, particularly in areas where we have never seen dengue in fections previously The good news is that the DTSD in current hotspot cities is projected to decrease in the future due to climate change ”

The research while indicating disease rise during the baseline period (1976 2005), iden tified the top ten hotspot cities with a higher frequency of DTSD namely Karachi, Hyder abad, Sialkot, Jhelum, Lahore, Islamabad, Balakot Peshawar Kohat and Faisalabad

The rising temperatures in the North though rang the alarm bells for the re

searchers as due to climate change there was an elevation dependent shift in DTSD to high altitude cities belonging to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also includ ing the Federal Capital

It noted that for instance in the 2020s, Kotli, Muzaffarabad, and Drosh; in the 2050s Garhi Dopatta Quetta and Zhob; and in the 2080s, Chitral and Bunji “Karachi, Is lamabad, and Balakot will remain highly vul nerable to dengue outbreaks for all the future periods of the twenty first century,” the study cautioned The study had further revealed po tential spatiotemporal shift and future hotspots of DTSD owing to climate change

The results show a higher DTSD during the monsoon season in the baseline in the study area except for Sindh and South Punjab

The study outcomes show that in the fu ture periods, a temporal shift (extension) to wards pre and post monsoon season was

PESHAWAR

“We will not allow dissolution of the as sembly at any cost,” he vowed Imran Khan in his address to Azadi March participants in Pindi said: “I would announce the date of resignations after consulting chief ministers and the

parliamentary party ” It is pertinent to mention here that Imran Khan s PTI is ruling the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province while they are also major partner in Punjab coalition with Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi s Pak

istan Muslim League Quaid (PML Q)

P A S S e M B Ly t o B e D I S

LAHORE

Ganga Ram during her childhood by the family but credited a col lege teacher in the United States who introduced her to the iconic status of her father in Lahore

predicted However there was a temporal shift in the region during the post and pre mon soon season, which provides suitable breeding

conditions for dengue mosquitos due to fresh water; therefore, local authorities needed to take adaption and mitigation actions

RS1b eNdowMeNt fuNd Set uP

foR aRtiSteS welfaRe: CM el ahi

PUNjAB Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has said that steps will be taken on priority basis for the re vival Pakistani films, espe cially Punjab films

“An endowment fund worth Rs1 billion will be established for the welfare of artistes and financial as sistance for the deserving artistes has been enhanced from Rs5,000 to Rs25,000 ”

Chief Minister Chaudhry Per

vaiz Elahi was talking with senior film producers Sheikh Amjad Rasheed and Rana Khalid Manzoor who called on him at CM’s House here on Sunday They discussed with the chief minister matters pertaining to revival of film industry along with resolution of other problems

The Punjab CM assured that the Punjab government will review to set up film production studio and all possible steps will be taken to pro vide quality recreational facilities to the people The chief minister high lighted that employment opportuni ties will be generated with the

enhancement of film production, adding that Punjab was a fertile land with regard to art and culture

On the occasion, Sheikh Amjad Rasheed expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister over the endowment fund for the artistes and welcomed his decision He lauded the CM for winning the hearts of artistes by in creasing their financial aid

Punjab Information Secretary Asif Bilal Lodhi and Press Secretary to CM Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhry were also present on the occasion CM orders striCt aCtion against kite flyers: Punjab

Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Sunday took notice of an in jury to a citizen due to a kite string in Gulberg area and sought a report from the Lahore police in this regard

The chief minister ordered for taking legal action against those found responsible for committing negligence The CM ordered for pro viding the best treatment facilities to the injured citizen

The CM asserted that implemen tation of a ban on kite flying should be ensured strictly In an indiscrimi nate manner, action should be taken against those flouting the ban on

1 7 , 0 0 0 s t u d e nt s t a ke p a r t i n m o s t co m p re h e n s i ve M at h s O l y m p i a d 2 0 2 2

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

More than 17000 students from grades four to eight across the country have participated in Maarif Inter School Maths Olympiad (MISMO) the biggest and most comprehensive mathematical competition in Pakistan

According to the details, this is an initiative of Pak Turk Maarif Interna tional Schools and Colleges, which is aimed to bring out Mathematical intel ligence and skillfulness among Pak istani young Mathematicians

MISMO applications regularly open in September every year and the competition is held on the last Sunday of November

This year, Pak Turk Maarif organ ized this mega Olympiad in 65 Olympiad centers in 35 different cities of Pakistan where more than 17000 students participated Pak Turk Maarif believes in pro viding equal opportunity, therefore, MISMO applications are accepted

from the students of Public and Private schools across Pakistan

Through MISMO Pak Turk Maarif provides a neutral platform for students to think and resolve logical and analytical problems and showcase their mathematical skills

Country Director of Pak Turk Maarif Int l Schools and Colleges Harun Küçükaladagli said the motto of the 2022 MISMO Olympiad is “who will be the next Al Khwarizmi of Pakistan?

We want to motivate the students to discover their potential rather than implying this event is merely a contest Our aim is to spread awareness among people about our historical personali ties, and scholars who have con tributed to the world’s history with their discoveries, he said

Country Director said MISMO, was Pakistan’s biggest academic event, giving an opportunity to students from public and private schools to present their mathematical talent

Besides, this mega competition also invites school management, teach

ers, and students from different aca demic backgrounds to work as one team Therefore MISMO is consid ered an important contribution from Türkiye’s experience in this field to the academic environment of Pakistan for being open to all Bugra Ozler, the Education Coor dinator of Pak Turk Maarif Interna tional Schools and Colleges, underlined that the candidates can have varied exposures as per their academic cultures, regional backgrounds, and overall academic development How ever, in order to maintain a reliable, valid, and fair assessment, the scoring depends on the basis of the difficulty index of Olympiad questions

This index data is derived from the student population and reflects the ac tual proficiency level of participants and schools

Each question item, therefore, car ries different weightage in regard to the difficulty index of grade specific populations Objective questions in the MISMO are assessed through com

kite flying law

Meanwhile, Punjab CM Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi took notice of abduction and murder of a child in the area of Chung police station and sought a report from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in this regard

The chief minister said that the

killer of the innocent child should be arrested at the earliest He asserted that the accused deserve strict pun ishment according to the law and or dered for providing justice to the heirs The CM expressed his deep sense of sorrow with the heirs and assured them of provision of justice

Nine dead, 1214 injured in 1,127 Punjab accidents

LAHORE

puter aided methods and data analysis software including ICR technology

He said Pak Turk Maarif Schools has given utmost importance to the transparency of the entire Olympiad process by ensuring the secrecy of MISMO printables, utilizing tailored transport modes, formulating digital platforms for application arranging and on boarding affiliated Olympiad centres, providing comprehensive training for duty staff and quality assur ance support throughout the process

“We have been using high edge question setting for developing MISMO content, and we have set cer tain standard quality indicators for each question item, such as real life connection, addressing higher order thinking and problem solving skills in authentic contexts, Ozler said

The prime focus of MISMO, is to assess such a high number of cohorts on both qualitative and quantitative scales and bring together students from diverse academic cultures and different regions

of a model panagah by Pak PWD at Tarnol, model panagah at Park Road, Taramri Chowk, Tarlai and the construction of Aiwan e Sayyahat (Tourism Complex) at Sector F 5/1

At least nine persons were killed and 1214 injured in 1127 Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) in all 37 districts of Punjab dur ing the last 24 hours Out of this 649 people were seriously in jured who were shifted to different hospitals Whereas 565 minor injured victims were treated at the incident site by res cue medical teams thus reducing the burden of hospitals Fur ther, the analysis showed that 550 drivers, 38 underage drivers, 134 pedestrians, and 539 passengers were among the victims of these road traffic crashes The statistics show that 261 RTCs were reported in Lahore which affected 286 per sons placing the provincial capital at top of the list followed by 105 in Faisalabad with 119 victims and at third Multan 72 with 70 victims According to the data 980 motorbikes, 87 auto rickshaws, 130 motorcars, 31 vans, 12 passenger buses, 23 trucks and 92 other types of auto vehicles and slow mov ing carts caused these road traffic accidents

Minor girl murdered after rape in Samundri

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak EPA) has issued formal approvals to the Envi ronmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Reports of four public sector development projects after a hiatus

The approvals were accorded after a meticulous review of the initial environmental examination (IEE) reports after the EIA Reports were submitted by the project proponents to the EPA which was a

mandatory procedure as per the Pakistan Environ mental Protection Act (PEPA 1997) and also under the review of the IEE and EIA Regulations, 2000

An EPA official told APP that the approvals were pending for more than two weeks at the higher forum of the Agency seeking its green signal as no devel opment project could be initiated without the EPA’s approval to the EIA and IEE of the project

The projects included the construction of the Ac ademic Block at Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Med ical University at PIMS Hospital, the establishment

However, the official procedure for the approval of the IEE Reports was different as compared to that of EIA Reports as a formal public hearing was held in the latter s case and all stakeholders including media, civil society, local community, project propo nents and implementing partners used to attend which was followed by a robust question and answer session, the EPA official said

The EPA, he said, was regularly holding public hearings of EIA Reports to ensure stakeholder en gagement before the commencement of any devel opment project to ensure the preservation of the pristine ecology and nature of the Federal Capital

Enrollment of street children: A distant dream in K hyber Pakhtunkhwa

Working against the time, Asad Khan, hardly a 12 year old mechanic was busy like a hon eybee repairing water geysers, batteries, heaters and other electric appliances scattered all around him in his small workshop to meet the placed orders in wake of declining mercury levels in Peshawar He starts working from early morning till sunset at his maternal uncle’s workshop to earn two times bread for his fam ily at Pabbi station, Nowshera

The motivated youngster had entered the electronics repairing work three years back to financially support his seven member family due to poverty After three year expertise in fix ing pipes of electric and gas geysers, Asad was called ‘Ustad’ [master] by his maternal uncle Sadaqat Khan and fellow mechanics

“I had left school at class V to support my poor ailing parents and meet the education’s expanses of my two young brothers and as many sisters,” Asad told APP while narrating his ordeal of labour Earning about Rs 500 per day from his shop Asad also provides home services to make some extra money to assist his poor father in meeting the domestic ex

penses including electricity and gas bills, be sides the educational expenses of his siblings

The young boy has the desire to get a diploma in electrical engineering from an in stitute for employment abroad, however, the fi nancial position is a hurdle for him to accomplish his dream

Like Asad Khan, there are thousands of out of school children (OSC) in the province due to socioeconomic imbalances, lack of co ordination between government departments, unavailability of transportation to schools es

The survey revealed that the OSC included 2 9 million girls and one million belonged to merged tribal districts Similarly 74 4 percent of girls and 38 5 percent of boys are out of school in the province Besides 77 percent re ported OSC in Palas Kolai 70 percent in Upper

Kohistan and 69 percent in Lower Kohistan, there are about 61 percent such children in Torghar 55pc in Shangla 53 percent in Lakki Marwat and 51 percent each in Tank and Bata gram districts

In merged areas 66 percent of children are out of school in North Waziristan, 63 percent in Bajaur, 61 percent in South Waziristan, 51 percent each in Mohmand and Khyber and 47 percent each in Kurram and Orakazai and bringing them under school net is a big chal lenge for the provincial government

Terming the BISP’s survey findings as alarming, PML N KP spokesperson and mem ber provincial assembly Ikhtair Wali claimed that it negates tall claims of the PTI govern ment regarding an increase in children’s enroll ment and uniform education policy

He said neither promises of uniformed ed ucation were fulfilled nor the dual education system was abolished in the province adding that private schools continued sucking the blood of millions of people with a roaring in crease in tuition fees

Taking cognizance of the high ratio of OSC, the BISP has started Education Scholar ship programme to motivate parents to enroll their children and decrease the dropout rate

Under this programme, Rs 1500 per three months were being provided to boys and Rs 2 000 to girls at primary level Rs 2500 for boys and Rs 3000 for girls at secondary level, whereas Rs 3500 boy and Rs4000 per girl at higher secondary school level

Syed Shahab Khan, Senior Planning Offi cer, Education Department said that a “Rs 3 7 billion project had been planned for providing educational stipends to students of class 1 12 and Rs 500 million for school bags and station ary in merged areas He said 200 alternate learning pathways centers would be opened for children aged 9 16 for OSC while Rs 3 billion would be spent on converting two room schools to six rooms besides converting mosque schools into schools The construction of 100 new primary schools was proposed for the upcoming fiscal year while 150 middle schools to secondary schools in settled districts would be built

He said a one billion rupees project was proposed for the “establishment of early childhood education programme to be exe cuted next fiscal year Shahram Khan Tarkai, Minister for Education, told APP that the second shift was started for OSC in govern ment schools

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

A 10 year old girl was murdered after being kidnapped and pur portedly raped in Samundri city of Faisalabad district, police said on Sunday The event occurred in the Sharif Abad town of Samundri where Iman Fatima went to buy sweets from a nearby shop but did not return According to her father, her body was later discovered on a neighbour ’s roof She was mo lested and then killed The police reached the scene and col lected the evidence They have also apprehended four suspects

PESHAWAR

pecially for girls, and early child age mar riages According to a survey of the Benazir In come Support Program (BISP) 2021 there are about 22 8 million OSCs in the country includ ing 4 7 million children aged between 5 to 16 years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

E PA i s s u e s a p p rova l s to fo u r p u b l i c s e c to r d eve l o p m e n t p ro j e c t s a f te r we e k s ’ h i at u s

Leaving the Houses

Th e PTI s Long March ended on Saturday as expected with a tame dispersal party Chairman Imran Khan saying he was doing so because he did not want to destroy the peace of Islamabad he also claimed that the PTI was a party that followed a peaceful and constitutional path This was belied by its behaviour as recent as its May 25 Long March, when its cadres vandalized Islamabad, and going back to its 2014 sit in, when again it trashed Islamabad during its prolonged occupation of D Chowk The PTI’s actual respect for the Constitution is shown by how its Deputy Speaker subverted it during the vote of no confidence this year, which he tried to ‘put off ’ , according to the Supreme Court however, if its subsequent experiences, including the recent attempt on its Chairman’s life, have convinced it that it should follow the strictly legal and constitutional path that can only be welcomed however it should not be claimed that it has always done so because history does not bear that out

Mr Khan announced that his party was pulling out of the Assemblies, and would thus force elections That is probably not going to work, because if there is no dissolution of the KP and Punjab Assemblies, it would be possible for the opposition to elect a new Speaker and carry on much like the National Assembly, where though the PTI MNAs have tendered their resignations, most have not been verified by the Speaker, and thus by elections have not been held As for the Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies, once the resignations are verified, by elections could easily be held There is the entirely separate problem of getting Punjab CM Ch Pervez elahi to follow the PTI’s lead, though the noises he and his son Moonis elahi have made so far, have been positive however while all these individual dramas play out in the provincial assemblies the clock will continue ticking, and the country will keep on moving towards the end of the assemblies tenure That means that the pressure for premature elections will be dissipated anyhow

The PTI must realize that it will have to reexamine its strategy at this point, because it really has nothing left in the cupboard even the option of leaving the Assemblies is not a very exciting one The PTI must also note that it has failed in its primary objective, of preventing a certain individual from becoming COAS, or ensuring that a certain individual reached that position Therefore, it is possible that it may not get the snap elections it seeks

Welcome confession by COAS

Ge N Q A M A R J Av e D B A J wA address ing the Defence and Martyrs Day cere mony at GhQ on 23 November unhesitatingly confessed that Army s in terference in politics during the last 70 years was unconstitutional which has been the cause for criticism of the institution adding that it was after thorough consideration of the situation that the Army leadership decided in February this year not to inter fere in politics and stick to this decision

It is for the first time that a sitting COAS has come out openly in regards to accepting the Army’s manipulative role in politics terming it unconstitu tional and at the same time pronouncing an end to it forever It is the most auspicious development and needs an unqualified appreciation and gratitude of the nation The corrective course adopted by the Army leadership augurs well for the future of democracy in the country provided the politicians also mend their ways

General Bajwa was right on money to observe that instead of appreciating and welcoming the deci sion of the establishment to remain apolitical many people subjected the Army to criticism and a false narrative was created to spread chaos in the country and very inappropriate language against the Army was used which was tolerated he was justified in disapproving what has tran spired during the last six months In our situation, the Army is the symbol of national unity and integrity The nation is greatly indebted to it for the sacrifices that it has rendered to safeguard our borders and in fighting against terrorism so that the citizens of the country could live in peace I am sure General Bajwa will be long remembered for his contribution in ar riving at a decision by the Army not to interfere in the politics of the country and remain apolitical The Army under him as he pointed out served the country beyond the call of duty by helping it to get out of the FATF grey list, securing cheaper gas from Qatar and loans from friendly countries fencing borders and meeting the covid 19 challenge It was

T h e f u t u r e o f

terrorism and preventing the activities of cross border criminal gangs, prevention of illegal infiltration, preven tion of other drugs and human trafficking including yaba and crystal meth ice, increasing mutual cooperation in the overall security of the border, exchange of various information related to the border conducting joint pa trols, organizing regular coordination meetings or flag meetings at the region and battalion levels, repatriation of detained or imprisoned citizens of both countries re turn of forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens to their orig inal homeland and discussion on various ways to increase mutual trust between BGB and BGP were held

In addition, the conference will have very effective and fruitful discussions on the repatriation of detained or imprisoned citizens of both countries the return of forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens to their original homelands and various ways to increase mutual trust be tween the BGB and BGP The Bangladesh delegation was scheduled to return to Dhaka after the conference today

possible due to the personal efforts of General Bajwa for which he deserves due recognition General Bajwa s address was the strongest ever rebuke of the conspiracy narrative bandied around by Imran Khan in which he accused the USA of hatching a conspiracy to topple his government with the help of PDM leadership and tacit approval of the Army Since his removal from office as a conse quence of the no confidence motion, he has been running around the country and relentlessly rubbing in this narrative at all available forums, including media But of late he, staying true to his reputation, has retracted on the conspiracy theory which was never there by exonerating the USA and the Army of involvement in it This corroborates the observa tions of the COAS about the creation of a false nar rative by him which was designed to foment chaos and crisis in the country however Imran Khan has now shifted his focus on the appointment of the new COAS and made the issue controversial notwithstand ing the fact that he has no role in it and it is the exclu sive constitutional obligation of the sitting Prime Minister Analysts rightly believe that the motive behind his Long March is to generate pres sure for having a COAS of his choice appointed he does not care about the in convenience caused to the public and loss to the econ omy due the political insta bility triggered by his campaign since his ouster from power Unfortunately Imran Khan has a history of propa gating false narratives to achieve his political agenda creating political instability in the country and then going back on the created falsehood who can forget his mantra of 35 punctures, on the basis of which he along with the Canada based Pakistani cleric Tahirul Qadri besieged Islamabad for 124 days And when the judicial commission nullified his claim of rigging in the 2013 elections he went back on the narrative and confessed to a Tv channel that 35 punctures were only a political statement and somebody else had told him about it

the verdict of guilty against the party That campaign continued unabated after his disqualification verdict by the eCP

The COAS, reiterating the need for introspection by all the stakeholders, rightly observed, “The army has initiated its process of catharsis and he expected that political parties would follow suit as well and re flect on their behaviour The reality is that there have been mistakes from every institution, including polit ical parties and civil society No single party can take Pakistan out of the current economic crisis Lessons should be learned from such mistakes, so the nation can move forward Political stability is mandatory and the time has come for all political stakeholders to set aside their ego, learn from past mistakes, move for ward and take Pakistan out of this crisis ”

Democracy thrives in a culture of tolerance and doing politics by adhering to the internationally recog nized norms about it sub servience to the constitution and laws of the country Pol itics is the art of the possible conducted within the forego ing parameters Any conduct contrary to it is inimical to the national interests

T h e c o u n t r y u n d o u b t e d ly i s i n t h e g r i p o f wo rs t ev e r p o l i t i c a l a n d e c o n o m i c c r i s i s . T h e c o n t i n u e d c o n f ro n t a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e p o l i t i c a l s t a k e h o l d e rs c a n l e a d t o i r r evo c a b l e d a m a g e t o t h e p o l i t y. I t c a n o n ly b e w i n c h e d o u t o f t h i s q u a g m i r e t h ro u g h s i n c e r e a n d c o l l e c t i v e e f fo r t s by a l l t h e p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s .

No doubt the military leadership is also responsi ble for the detour that the country took from objec tives of independence and the vision bequeathed by the founder of the country, but in my view the major blame can justifiably be ap portioned to the politicians and political parties who recklessly indulged in power politics, and that dirty game still continues Imran must accept the real ity that his exit from power was a result of the constitu tional process and he also had the same right to or chestrate a no confidence against the sitting govern ment It is not the end of the world As advised by the apex court his party must return to Parliament, instead of resolving political is sues through the courts as it was the right forum to deal with and resolve contentious issues

Not only the establishment and PDM, but almost all the state institutions, have been the targets of his scorn and maligning his smear campaign against the eCP, ever since it ordered re election in NA 75 after the PTI administration was found guilty of kidnap ping the presiding officers to manipulate the results, and the retention of the seat by PML, has seen Imran Khan persistently launching scathing attacks on it, particularly its chairman, without any restraint

The grilling of the eCP became more intense dur ing the foreign funding case and after it announced

b o r d e r g u a r d

mar’s

Bangladesh

Myanmar expressed grief over the border tension helicopter flights, firing and mortar fire from Myanmar and the loss of life and property on the border of Bangladesh Also Myanmar s BGP has promised that such incidents will not happen in future At the same time, BGB BGP agreed to work together on the border situation The meeting discussed working to stop infil tration and drug smuggling

The country undoubtedly is in the grip of the worst ever political and economic crisis The contin ued confrontation between the political stakeholders can lead to irrevocable damage to the polity It can only be winched out of this quagmire through sincere and collective efforts by all the political parties

Imran Khan is well advised to abandon his agitation which has no rational basis and sit with the rival po litical parties to chart out a future course for the coun try his own political future also hinges on this course correction

d i p l o m a c y

A

Office, and the Ministries of home Affairs and Foreign Affairs

On the other hand, a 15 member delegation led by Myanmar Police Force Deputy Chief of Police Major General Aung Naing Thuy, participated in the confer ence Apart from senior BGP officials, the team in cluded representatives from the ministries of Defence home Affairs, external Affairs and Immigration and Population Affairs

In the conference de escalation of the tense situation on the border caused by the recent internal conflict in Myanmar, violation of airspace, combating inter state

A flag meeting was held between a nine member Bangladesh delegation led by the captain of Teknaf 2 BGB Battalion and a nine member delegation led by Lt Col Kao Na Yan Shor, commanding officer of Border Guard Police Branch No 1 Myanmar Maungdu at Shahpari Island in Cox’s bazar on Sunday

In August and September, massive gunfire and mor tar shelling erupted between \Myanmar s army and the Arakan Army, an insurgent group in Rakhine state, inside Myanmar on the Tumbru border in Naikshyongchari On August 28, two shells fired by Myanmar landed in the territory of Bangladesh Bangladesh strongly protested by summoning the Myanmar ambassador several times over the incident of firing on the border

In a flag meeting on October 30 at Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Myan

The BGP pledged to uphold a peaceful stance on the border in order to prevent the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar from being impacted by the civil war in Myanmar Such a meeting demonstrates that all parties have a culture of open communication mutual trust, and confidence that will serve to clear the road for the repatriation of the Rohingya

The border conference between Myanmar and Bangladesh gives senior leaders of participating mili taries and security personnel the chance to forge closer ties of friendship and collaboration Participants are also able to share best practices and lessons learned

Additionally, it strengthens participants’ mutual un derstanding of each other s advantages and main chal lenges in border regions, fostering cooperation in the face of transnational threats

The militaries cooperate to find solutions to prob lems that they share and to look for chances for training exchanges between the participating countries Myan mar and Bangladesh both can consider the conference to be a crucial occasion for the Armies to comprehend the regional ties

can openly discuss the issues at hand as well as the successful solutions put forth in each nation

Bangladesh and Myanmar must place a high priority on maintaining a secure state border and takes the nec essary precautions to stop the flow of terrorist combat ants, illicit drug and weapon trafficking, and other international organized crime

Cross border and other security threats have grown more complicated over the past few years and difficul ties are piling up quickly Threats including international organized crime, human trafficking, terrorism, and drug trafficking are too great for any state to handle on its own It is essential to increase cooperation on both a re gional and global scale

Regional cooperation to increase readiness and fos ter confidence in fending off global dangers while up holding human rights, must be encouraged

In order to combat terrorism and violent extremism within border security and management and implement the holistic approach to security, both parties should em phasize the importance of enhancing cooperation between the government, law enforcement, and civil society Re sults are only attained by employing comprehensive and constructive hard and soft solutions to border security management including both government, security and de fense enforcement forces and civil society players

Imran Khan plays his last card

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail com

Th e 8th Border Conference between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Myanmar Bor der Guard Police (BGP) has started The con ference, which started on Thursday in Myanmar ’s capital Nay Pyi Taw, would con tinue for five days

10 member delegation led by BGB Director General Major General Sakil Ahmed participated in the conference In addition to the senior officials of BGB, the delegation includes representatives of the Prime Minister ’s

Border Guard Police (BGP) both expressed remorse for recent border incidents BGB discussed the issue of border shelling at the beginning of the meeting Several times there were protests against mortar shells and heli copter flights violating the airspace inside

Recognizing that it is more difficult to detect security issues such as transnational threats, narcotrafficking, il licit mining illegal immigration and other transnational crime in the border areas due to their thick topography, the security of the border is a challenge and a shared goal for all neighboring states The two countries have long standing cooperation, but it was strengthened between the two forces with this conference, strengthening coop eration and building trust measures, which is a key factor in achieving hemispheric security objectives The partic ipants

The writer is a freelance columnist

s a M i n a a k h t e r

M a l i k M u h a M M a d a s h r a f

The PTI chief must emulate him

Yousaf Nizami Editor

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

M A Niazi Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor Aziz ud Din Ahmad Joint Editor

N o t a n ‘ e r r o r o f j u d g m e n t ’ b u t a ‘ c o m e d y o f e r r o r s ’

and could not be shared publicly

ing something to the military leadership on im portant and sensitive issues, and vice versa I hope both parties would come out of presenta tions” mode soon and would enter “discussion” mode The last 70 years are full of military in terference in politics but we all know that has not produced any tangible good for the military and almost every experiment succumbed to self inflicted injuries but the home grown political cadre survived against all engineering

Syed Ali Raza also known as Manzar Bhopali has rightfully written:

Umar bhar to koi bi jung larh nahi sakta

Tum bhi toot jaoge tajurba hamara hai (Nobody can fight the war their whole life; you will break: that s our experience)

I have seen that the Cabinet Division kept quiet when the Toshakhana was allegedly con trolled by people like Farah Gogi who could take anything out of the Toshakhana building I can cite several other examples here indicating that top bureaucrats had apparently decided to forget their duties and responsibilities towards State and they stood with a non permanent state the political government, for enjoying their lucrative postings This trend is seeping down to the dis trict administration level

MDCAT blues

T h I S is with reference to the report ‘Medical commission orders rechecking of MDCAT question papers (Nov 16) It takes a couple of years to prepare for the medical and dental college admission test (MDCAT) in the light of the laid down criteria and syllabus

The test as one can well imagine is crucial for all candidates aspiring to become doctors, because the very journey starts with this test And it is not an exam that one has to simply pass It is a competitive exam which means one has to score high enough to qualify And with all that at stake everything matters This year ’s MDCAT was held after a considerable delay owing to the recent floods that disturbed life in major parts of the country The delay and the subsequent uncertainty increased anxiety among the aspirants when the test was eventually held on Nov 13 throughout the country, it was a nightmare for many, as has been noted by the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) as well In Sindh where I sat the test, it was conducted by the Dow University of health Sciences (DUhS) It was strange to find multiple choice questions (MCQs) related to subjects and topics that were not part of the prescribed syllabus

It was unjust, disappointing and seriously demoralising for the students to find so many such questions; at least 20 30 of them More than that, the biggest negative impact these questions had on the students was in terms of the distraction they caused

The students just lost their focus to the extent that they felt confused in answering even the relevant questions The test was a chaos and mental torture for the candidates Besides, when the key to the answers was later uploaded on the university’s website, it had many wrong answers, leaving the students even more confused and shocked No one is quite sure what is actually going on behind the scenes Students are already giving voice to their concerns on various social media platforms against such blatant injustice The DUhS should provide question papers to the students and the key to the answers should also be rechecked for the sake of justice and fair play Furthermore, remedial measures should be taken by both the DUhS and the PMC by compensating the students for the errors in the examination paper The PMC, according to the said report, has already asked all public sector universities to recheck their question papers and to compensate the students in case of any discrepancy

This is a logical decision made promptly One hopes that the PMC would ensure that the decision gets implemented as well, and implemented fairly The untiring efforts of students should not go in vain due to mistakes made by MDCAT administrators Besides the PMC and all other relevant authorities should ensure that such problems do not happen in the future

AFTAB NABI KARACHI

Hanging threat

AL L is said, all is done and it is done in a more appropriate way than expected For the first time in the history of Pak istan, the COAS and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman were appointed by following the seniority list of the Pakistan Army

The appointments of new two four star Gen erals by Prime Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif have written a new history by abjuring the tra dition of “pick and choose” Of course, this de velopment has sent a loud and clear message to the rank and file that men in uniform must avoid political manoeuvring for their top appointments and their seniority would be the only considera tion for bringing them to top slots Though I am not confident to presume that politicians have learned a lot that pick and choose had always been an “error of judgement” rather than a “comedy of errors” without going into details about the role of the military in politics, I appreciate retiring COAS Gen Qamar Bajwa in his last speech reaf firmed that the military as an institution had de cided last year that it would not meddle with politics If I am not wrong, I heard such state ments several times since the beginning of the 21st century when “Project Imran” was launched Anyhow one should be pragmatic and trust what General Bajwa had said, as he practically kept the military out of politics in the last several months although former Prime Minister Imran Khan had been crying for help from Rawalpindi and had been abusing the military leadership when he felt he was betrayed After the appoint ment of new COAS Gen Asim Munir, Imran Khan again demanded that the military should play its role in early elections

I am of the view that neither can the military keep itself away from politics for a long time nor politicians change their habit of seeking support from GhQ, so we need to design a working model in which the military and civil leadership can have candid debates not only about political upheavals or economic health, but also to decide strategic and defence challenges faced by the motherland There should be no sentiment of “trespassing” if the civilian leadership is advis

The hatred for democracy, Parliament, the 1973 Constitution, and politicians brought hy brid systems but every arrangement had an age of less than one decade however, after the fail ure of the previous arrangement, there was al ways a new experiment to get positive results” Nevertheless, history books are silent about what kind of positive results the military wanted to achieve

I believe the tenures of Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaul haq, Pervez Musharraf, and Imran Khan who had a civilian face brought nothing to the military but a debauched reputation and caused further extension in the civil military di vide In the Russian language, there is a word zachem Its literal meaning in english are “what for?” but Russians use it for an aimless and use less action I believe that the system should now come out of this zachem phase and everybody must work together to take the country out of the economic, administrative, political, and moral collapse Pakistan is facing today because we have reached a point where our permanent state is also crumbling and that is a very dangerous reality

The Civil establishment Code, popularly known as the eSTACODe, is practically becom ing non operational as officers of federal serv ices posted in the provinces of Punjab and KPK are refusing to report back to the establishment Division when they are called back we have lis tened to an audio leak of what role an officer of grade 22 of the Pakistan Administrative Service, (previously known as the District Management Group or DMG) played in the cipher fiasco and now he has reportedly left the country because he does not want to report to the State to answer several questions about the alleged role he played for creating a political situation out of a classified document we have seen how a woman named Farah Gogi allegedly took state property worth billions of rupees from the Toshakhana and allegedly sold it in Dubai Of course she could not do it until and unless the Cabinet Division helped her in this illegal act and handed over the state prop erty to her The Cabinet Division is run by a Sec retary belonging to the Pakistan Administrative Service who is an employee of the Federal gov ernment the State but he stood with the al leged culprits and Cabinet Division refused to provide the record when journalist Raja Ibrar de manded the record by invoking the Right to In formation Act The Cabinet Division took the position in the Islamabad high Court that infor mation related to Toshakhana was classified

we have seen how the KPK government helped former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 25 attack the capital of Islamabad The Chief Secretary and the IG Police are officers of the federal government but they allegedly pro vided safe passage to Khan to enter Islamabad with the KPK police force and administrative machinery we understand that two federating units (the province of KPK and Punjab) are standing against the federation and bureaucrats posted in these provinces are showing extraor dinary political tilt towards provincial govern ments run by PTI My question to state institutions is, can we run the state of Pakistan with such arrangements for all that much longer?

we know that the concept of the modern state is derived from Greek and Roman philosophies of Perception of State which is based on the principle of “Subordination to the common good”

In ancient Greeks, there was no sharp dis tinction between political rulers and bureau cratic officials as both were considered the position holders of constitutional authority and obedience to the “Constitution” was a must for both of them The disobedience of the “Con stitution could cost the life of any position holder of constitutional authority” This back ground of political philosophy behind the State helps us to understand that disobedience to wards “subordination to the common good” is an unforgivable crime and this subordination is the base of the State

I have been writing that 2022 was a historic year that brought unusual circumstances for Pak istan and we should learn from what had been happening to the Constitution in reference to the disbanding of the Assembly by the PTI Speaker, trolling of state institutions, abuse of bureau cratic positions in reference to the cipher fiasco and the Toshakhana case, abuse of Presidential office with reference to the Punjab cabinet oath taking crisis and the flouting of state writ by the PTI on several occasions

I believe that we have to review the Consti tution the powers conferred to the President and to the Speaker National Assembly besides the eSTACODe that always helps the bureaucrats whenever they are found guilty of subverting or disobeying the State A complete overhauling of the system is needed, otherwise we cannot avert another project Imran despite promises and commitments coming from everywhere Politicians after every political debacle claimed they were victims of an error of judgment but I believe every time we had turbulence, we had a “comedy of errors”

The writer is an international award winning journalist who has been in the field since 1988 and appears in national and international media as analyst and political scientist

The Defence housing Authority (DhA) areas in Karachi has been built over several decades but there are some serious problems that have never been taken proper care of Poor roads, ineffective drainage and serious security issues are part of life in what is generally referred to as the ‘posh’ area of the city

A relatively new problem is that of jumbled wires hanging loosely from one electricity pole to the other These are probably cables supplying internet connectivity to various neighbourhoods within the sprawling community The local administration a while ago was planning on having all such cables run underground, but nothing happened beyond the ‘planning’ stage These hanging wires pose serious threat to the life of any unsuspecting passer by especially to children in the area and those who come to collect garbage from the houses Despite several complaints, no concrete action has been taken so far Surely the DhA supervisors must have also noticed these wires but they choose to turn a blind eye to the matter, which is well within their means to sort out All that needs to be done is for the administration to give a deadline to internet service providers and their vendors operating across the society to have the matter fixed

The administration should do something about these hanging wires before they claim a precious life or two The threat is serious DR

ASGHAR NAQVI KARACHI

Curriculum review

S e M I N A R I e S once used to be not only the main religious learning centres but also learning hubs of worldly affairs Students were taught science, medical and engineering courses, algebra, geometry, logic and philosophy alongside Islamic jurisprudence The practical nature of the system enabled seminary students to be decent individuals in their respective fields

During the British rule in India, however, the seminaries began to lose their influence The British introduced new schools to train people in administrative affairs and divided the system of education into two separate domains: traditional and modern A rift was created between their graduates that only widened the chasms in society The seminaries limited their educational activities to religion As a result, there came a dearth of practical people coming out of the seminaries who could reshape the course of history and politics A sincere review of the curriculum being taught at the seminaries today will do a lot of good to the students and to society at large FARHAN

RAUF KECH

Patients and traffic

M U C h has been written and discussed about the horrible traffic jams in Karachi but not specifically in terms of the logjams around cardiac emergency facilities and on roads leading to them health emergencies, especially when they relate to the heart, need immediate attention Any delay becomes a matter of life and death

There is a cardiology centre in the busy area of Karachi’s hussainabad area It is supposed to be a major and efficient facility, but what good can even the most efficient health centre do when the patient fails to get there in time?

The situation is terrible, especially in the evening hours till late in the night because of the presence of one of the innumerable food streets the city has The city adminis trators should ensure better traffic management in the area to facilitate heart patients, in particular, and citizens, in general SHAKIL

KARACHI

a letter from Prometheus

agha iqrar haroon

Without a thorough review, there will be another ‘projec t Imran’

Wa s h i n g t o n ’ s vaunted “rules based international order has undergone a stress test following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and here’s the news so far: it hasn t held up well in fact the disparate reactions to Vladimir Putin’s war have only highlighted stark global divisions, which reflect the unequal distri bution of wealth and power such divisions have made it even harder for a multitude of sovereign states to find the minimal common ground needed to tackle the biggest global problems especially climate change in fact, it’s now reasonable to ask whether an inter national community connected by a consensus of norms and rules and capable of acting in concert against the direst threats to humankind, exists sadly, if the re sponses to the war in Ukraine are the standard by which we re judging things don t look good

THE MYTH OF UNIVERSALITY: after Russia in vaded, the United states and its allies rushed to punish it with a barrage of economic sanctions they also sought to mobilize a global outcry by charging Putin with trash ing what President Biden s top foreign policy officials like to call the rules based international order their ef fort has, at best, had minimal success

Yes, there was that lopsided vote against Russia in the United nations general assembly, the March 2 res olution on the invasion sponsored by 90 countries one hundred and forty one nations voted for it and only five against, while 35 abstained Beyond that, in the global south at least, the response to Moscow’s assault has been tepid at best none of the key countries there Brazil india indonesia and south africa to mention four even issued official statements castigating Rus sia some, including india and south africa, along with 16 other african countries (and don’t forget China though it may not count as part of the global south), simply abstained from that Un resolution and while Brazil like indonesia voted yes it also condemned “in discriminate sanctions” against Russia none of those countries joined the United states and most of the rest of nato in imposing sanctions on Russia not even turkey, a member of that alliance in fact, turkey, which last year imported 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia has only further increased energy coop eration with Moscow, including raising its purchases of Russian oil to 200,000 barrels per day more than twice what it bought in 2021 india too ramped up oil purchases from Russia, taking advantage of discounted prices from a Moscow squeezed by Us and nato sanctions Keep in mind that before the war Russia had accounted for just 1 percent of indian oil imports By early october, that num ber had reached 21 percent Worse yet, india’s purchases of Russian coal which emits far more carbon dioxide into the air than oil and natural gas may increase to 40 million tons by 2035, five times the current amount

Despite the risk of facing potential Us sanctions thanks to the Countering america’s adversaries through sanc tions act (Caatsa), india also stuck by its earlier deci sion to buy Russia s most advanced air defense system the s 400 the Biden administration eventually threaded that needle by arranging a waiver for india, in part because it’s seen as a major future partner against China with which Washington has become increasingly preoccupied (as wit nessed by the new national security strategy) the prime concern of the indian leadership however has been to pre serve its close ties with Russia, war or no war, given its fear of a growing alignment between that country and China which india sees as its main adversary

What’s more, since the invasion, China’s average monthly trade with Russia has surged by nearly two thirds, turkey s has nearly doubled and india s has risen more than threefold, while Russian exports to Brazil have nearly doubled as well this failure of much of the world to heed Washington s clarion call to stand up for universal norms stems partly from pique at what’s seen as the West’s pre sumptuousness on March 1, when 20 countries, a number from the European Union, wrote Pakistan s then Prime Minister imran Khan (who visited Putin soon after the war began), imploring him to support an upcoming general as sembly resolution censuring Russia, he all too typically replied: “What do you think of us? are we your slaves [Do you take for granted] that whatever you say we will do? had such a letter, he asked, been sent to india?

similarly, Celso amorim, who served as Brazil’s for eign minister for seven years during the presidency of Luis inacio Lula da silva, declared that condemning Russia would amount to obeying Washington’s diktat For his part, Lula claimed Joe Biden and Ukrainian pres ident Volodymyr Zelensky were partly to blame for the war they hadn’t worked hard enough to avert it he opined, by negotiating with Putin south african Presi dent Cyril Ramaphosa blamed Putin s actions on the way nato had since the collapse of the soviet Union provocatively expanded toward Russia’s border

Many other countries simply preferred not to get sucked into a confrontation between Russia and the West as they saw it, their chances of changing Putin’s

mind were nil, given their lack of leverage, so why incur his displeasure? (after all, what was the West offering that might make choosing sides more palatable?) Be sides, given their immediate daily struggles with energy prices, debt, food security, poverty, and climate change, a war in Europe seemed a distant affair, a distinctly sec ondary concern Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro typ ically suggested that he wasn’t about to join the sanctions regime because his country’s agriculture depended on imported Russian fertilizer

Leaders in the global south were also struck by the contrast between the West’s urgency over Ukraine and its lack of similar fervor when it came to problems in their part of the world there was for instance much commen tary about the generosity and speed with which countries like Poland and hungary (as well as the United states) embraced Ukrainian refugees having largely shut the door on refugees from afghanistan, iraq, and syria in June, while not mentioning that particular example, india’s foreign minister subrahmanyam Jaishankar high lighted such sentiments when, in response to a question about the European Union s efforts to push his country to get tougher on Russia he remarked that Europe “has to grow out of the mindset that [its] problems are the world s problem, but the world s problems are not Eu rope s problem given how singularly silent European countries had been “on many things which were happen ing, for example in asia,” he added, “you could ask why anybody in asia would trust Europe on anything at all? the West’s less than urgent response to two other problems aggravated by the Ukraine crisis that hit the world s poor countries especially hard bore out Jais hankar ’s point of view the first was soaring food prices sure to worsen malnutrition, if not famine, in the global south already in May the World Food Program warned that 47 million additional people (more than Ukraine’s total population) were going to face “acute food insecu rity thanks to a potential reduction in food exports from both Russia and Ukraine and that was on top of the 193 million people in 53 countries who had already been in that predicament (or worse) in 2021 a July deal brokered between Ukraine and Russia by the Un and turkish President Recep tayyip Erdoğan did, in fact ensure the resumption of food exports from both countries (though Russia briefly withdrew from it as oc tober ended) still, only a fifth of the added supply went to low income and poor countries While global food prices have fallen for six months straight now, another crisis can not be ruled out as long as the war in Ukraine drags on the second problem was an increase in the cost of both borrowing money and of debt repayments following interest rate hikes by Western central banks seeking to tamp down inflation stoked by a war induced spike in fuel prices on average, interest rates in the poorest countries jumped by 5 7 percent about twice as much as in the United states increasing the cost of their fur ther borrowing by 10 percent to 46 percent a more fundamental reason much of the global south wasn t in a hurry to pillory Russia is that the West has repeatedly defenestrated the very values it declares to be universal in 1999, for instance, nato intervened in Kosovo, following serbia s repression of the Kosovars, even though it was not authorized to do so, as required, by a Un security Council resolution (which China and Russia would have vetoed) the security Council did ap prove the Us and European intervention in Libya in 2011 to protect civilians from the security forces of that coun try s autocrat, Moammar El gadhafi that campaign, however quickly turned into one aimed at toppling his government by assisting the armed opposition and so would be widely criticized in the global south for creat ing ongoing chaos in that country after 9/11 the United states offered classically contorted legal explanations for the way the Central intelligence agency violated the Con vention against torture and the four 1949 geneva Con ventions in the name of wiping out terrorism

Universal human rights, of course, occupy a promi nent place in Washington’s narratives about that rules based world order it so regularly promotes but in practice frequently ignores, notably in this century in the Middle East Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was aimed at regime change against a country that posed no direct threat to Russia and therefore was indeed a violation of the Un Charter; but so too was the 2003 american invasion of iraq, something few in the global south have forgotten

THE WAR AND CLIMATE CHANGE: Worse yet the divisions Vladimir Putin’s invasion has highlighted have only made it more difficult to take the necessary bold steps to combat the greatest danger all of us face on this planet: climate change Even before the war, there was no consensus on who bore the most responsibility for the problem who should make the biggest cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, or who should provide funds to countries that simply can’t afford the costs involved in shifting to green energy Perhaps the only thing on

which

is

of

climate

limiting the increase in global warming to 1 5 degrees Centigrade that s a valid conclusion according to a Un report published this month, the planet’s warming will reach 2 4 degrees Centigrade by 2100 this is where things stood as the 2022 United nations Climate Change Conference kicked off this month in sharm el sheikh, Egypt as a start, the $100 billion per year that richer coun tries pledged to poor ones in 2009 to help move them away from hydrocarbon based energy hasn’t been met in any year so far and recent disbursements, minimal as they have been were largely in the form of loans not grants the resources the West will now have to spend just to cover Ukraine s non military needs for 2023 $55 billion in budgetary assistance and infrastructure repairs alone according to President Volodymyr Zelensky plus soar ing inflation and slower growth in Western economies thanks to the war make it doubtful that green commit ments to poor countries will be fulfilled in the years to come (never mind the pledge, in advance of the novem ber 2021 CoP26 United nations Climate Change Confer ence, that the $100 billion goal would be met in 2023 ) in the end, the surge in energy costs created by the war, in part because Russia s natural gas supplies to Europe have been slashed, could prove the shot in the arm needed for some of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide and methane to move more quickly toward wind and solar power that seems especially possible because the price of clean energy technologies has declined so sharply in recent years the cost of photovoltaic cells for solar power has for instance, fallen by nearly 90 percent in the past decade; the cost for lithium ion batteries, needed for rechargeable electric vehicles by the same amount during the last 20 years optimism about a quicker greening of the planet, now a common refrain, could prove valid in the long run however when it comes to progress on climate change the immediate implications of the war aren’t encouraging according to the international Energy agency, if the Paris agreement s target for limiting global warming and its goal of “net zero” in global emissions by 2050 are to prove feasible, the building of additional fossil fuel in frastructure must cease immediately and that s hardly what’s been happening since the war in Ukraine began instead, there has been what one expert calls “a gold rush to new fossil fuel infrastructure Following the drastic cuts in Russian gas exports to Europe, new liquefied nat ural gas (Lng) facilities more than 20 of them, worth billions of dollars have either been planned or put on a fast track in Canada, germany, greece, italy, and the netherlands the group of seven may even reverse its decision last May to stop public investment in overseas fossil fuel projects by the end of this year, while its plan to “decarbonize” the energy sectors of member countries by 2035 may also fall by the wayside in June, germany, desperate to replace that Russian natural gas, announced that mothballed coal fired power plants, the dirtiest of greenhouse gas producers, would be brought back online the Federation of german industry which opposed shutting them down well before the war started, has indicated that it s already switching to coal so that natural gas storage tanks can be filled before the winter

scrapped its decision to prohibit, on environmental grounds the development of the Jackdaw natural gas field in the north sea and has already signed new contracts with shell and other fossil fuel companies European countries have concluded several deals for Lng purchases includ ing with azerbaijan, Egypt, israel, the United states, and Qatar (which has demanded 20 year contracts) then there’s Russia’s response to high energy prices including a huge arctic drilling project aimed at adding 100 million tons of oil a year to the global supply by 2035

Un secretary general antónio gutteres character ized this dash toward yet more hydrocarbon energy use as madness Using a phrase long reserved for nuclear war he suggested that such an unceasing addiction to fossil fuels could end in “mutually assured destruction ” he has a point: the Un Environment Program s 2022 “Emissions gap Report” released last month concluded that, in light of the emissions targets of so many states, Earth’s warming in the post industrial Revolution era could be in the range of 2 1 to 2 9 degrees Celsius by 2100 that’s nowhere near the Paris agreement’s more ambitious benchmark of 1 5 degrees on a planet where the average temperature has already risen by 1 2 degrees as the germany based Perspectives on Climate group details in a recent study, the Ukraine war has also had direct effects on climate change that will continue even after the fighting ends as a start, the Paris agree ment doesn’t require countries to report emissions pro duced by their armed forces but the war in Ukraine likely to be a long drawn out affair, has already contributed to military carbon emissions in a big way, thanks to fossil fuel powered tanks aircraft and so much else Even the rubble created by the bombardment of cities has released more carbon dioxide so will Ukraine’s postwar recon struction which its prime minister estimated last month will cost close to $750 billion and that may be an under estimate considering that the Russian army has taken its wrecking ball (or perhaps wrecking drones missiles and artillery) to everything from power plants and waterworks to schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings

WHAT INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY? Leaders regularly implore “the international community” to act in various ways if such appeals are to be more than ver biage, however, compelling evidence is needed that 195 countries share basic principles of some sort on climate change that the world is more than the sum of its parts Evidence is also needed that the most powerful countries on this planet can set aside their short term interests long enough to act in a concerted fashion and decisively when faced with planet threatening problems like climate change the war in Ukraine offers no such evidence For all the talk of a new dawn that followed the end of the Cold War, we seem stuck in our old ways just when they need to change more than ever

TomDispaTch com R a j a n M e n o n

everyone agrees in this moment of global stress

that not enough has been done to meet the 2015 Paris

accord target

ideally

cold sets in india, too, has responded to higher energy prices with plans to boost coal production by almost 56 gi gawatts through 2032, a 25 percent increase Britain has

Rajan Menon is the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Professor of International Relations at the City College of New York and the director of the grand strategy program at Defense Priorities

W O R L D L E A D E R S I N V O K E I T. W E ’ R E L E A D TO B E L I E V E I T W I L L AC T O N O U R B E H A L

Railways receives first batch of high-speed rail coaches from China

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Railways on Sunday received the first 46 out of 230 new high speed passenger coaches from China The new rail coaches reached Karachi port and will be trans ported to Lahore by the Karachi Lahore main line 1 by end of this month, the authorities said Pakistan and China’s CRRC Tangshan Locomotive & Rolling Stock Company inked an agreement in November 2021 for the supply of 230 high speed coaches to Pakistan Railways as part of a plan to upgrade and enhance long distance pas senger services in the country The PR spokesperson said that passenger rail coaches will include 80 compartments each for economy and air conditioned class 30 parlour cars, and 20 vans each for luggage and brake Two hun dred freight vans will be imported, while 620 of such bo gies will be prepared at the factory he added Under $140 million contract (Rs31 billion, approximately), the Chi nese company is to manufacture 230 state of the art pas senger coaches of which 46 will be provided as completely built units and the remaining 184 will be man ufactured in Pakistan by the PR engineers and technical staff under the supervision of the Chinese experts It mer its mentioning that the PR is working to upgrade the di lapidated track (ML 1) as the Khanpur Kotri section is not fit for high speed train operation

Adab Festival concludes on a high note

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

After the resounding success of day one of Adab Festival, the second day was even more packed with people of all ages pouring in through the day Every space, sessions, chil dren’s tent art exhibit book and education fairs and food court were overflowing with people especially women, chil dren and the youth The second day opened with a session for students on building innovation and capacity in the cre ative sectors by Dr Samina Zahir Speakers during the day included Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Zehra Nigah, Arfa Syeda Zehra Aitzaz Ahsan Javed Jabbar Sultana Siddiqui Dr Ishrat Husain, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Kishwar Naheed, Iftikhar Arif, Masood Lohar and Masood Lohar Sessions were interactive with endless questions asked by the engaged audiences Sessions included a talk between Aysha Baqir and Amna R Ali on Aysha s brilliant novel Beyond the Fields and another between Irshad Abdul Kadir and Maheen Usmani on Irshad’s novel The Lady of Sohanbela about a woman gaddi nasheen Another session was on a book of poetry by Nafisa Talat Husain introduced by Quratul Ain Hyder and endorsed by Zehra Nigah and Fahmida Riaz with participants, Sheema Kermani, Ameena Saiyid and Nafisa’s grandchildren At the closing ceremony Ameena Saiyid and Shama Askari thanked Murtaza Wahab, the authors, artists, Lightstone Publishers’ team and sponsors for their support of the 4th Adab Festival The closing Keynote speeches were made by Zafar Masud and Árfa Sayeda Zehra and the day ended with riveting per formances by Rosemary Mushtaq, Shayma Saiyid, rap singer Kaifee Khalil and a concert by LAAL

ResignAtions Cl Aim meRely A RUse to ‘misleAD’ pUbliC: sHARjeel memon

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

sINDH Minister for Information and Trans port Sharjeel Memon on Sunday Imran Khan’s government did nothing while in power and the resignations claim is merely a ruse to mislead the general public If Imran really wants resignations, then he should ask President Arif Alvi to be the first to step down ” Sindh Minister for Information and Transport Sharjeel Memon was talking to media during a visit to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line site in Karachi as the work on the project is going on at a brisk pace Calling PTI’s Pindi rally a corner meeting, Shar jeel said that Imran Khan arrived in Rawalpindi to get the election date and left after announcing resig nations He also claimed that Pervaiz Elahi was a sen sible man and he will never want to give up his power on Imran Khan s whim ElEctric taxi sErvicE in Karachi soon: The Sindh Minister announced that very soon a modern, affordable and environment friendly electric taxi service will be launched in Karachi which will be extended to other major cities of the province He said that negotiations were underway for the electric taxi service project and the Sindh gov ernment was working seriously to finalize it soon He said: The existing online taxi services in

city are charging very high fares Sindh government is endeavouring to provide affordable taxi service to the citizens ”

Mr Memon said that the leadership of Pakistan People’s Party had directed to expedite pace of work on all the ongoing public transport projects in Karachi so as to address the long standing transport issue of the city

He added that public transport projects with in vestment of billions of rupees had been launched in the city Sindh Mass Transit Authority is working day and night to increase the number of buses in the city and improve the transport infrastructure he added The minister said that the work on 22km BRT Red Line is in process at rapid pace It starts from Malir Halt and passes through University Road be

C hina’s telecom sec tor registers stable growth in Jan- Oc t

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

China’s telecommunications industry maintained steady expansion in revenue in the first 10 months of 2022, with emerging businesses such as cloud computing posting rapid growth official data showed

The combined operating revenue of the sector stood at over 1 32 trillion yuan (about US$185 bil lion) in the January October period, rising 8% year on year, according to the China s Ministry of Indus try and Information Technology Emerging businesses such as big data, cloud

computing, internet data centers and Internet of Things registered a rapid revenue increase during this period

The emerging business revenue of China s major telecom giants jumped 33 1% from a year earlier to 256 3 billion yuan, China org cn reported Specifically, revenue from cloud computing and big data soared 127 8% and 59 3% respectively in the first 10 months, while that from data centers logged an increase of 12 7%

China’s 5G network development has continued to advance The number of 5G base stations reached 2 25 million by the end of October, a net increase of 825 000 compared to the end of 2021

Nabeel R iz vi breaks India’s Guinness World Record

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan’s Syed Nabeel Hasan Rizvi has broken a Guinness World Record for the Longest Number Sequence Memorized in four seconds

“Nabeel memorized 30 random numbers in just four seconds and correctly recalled in sequence Nabeel’s coach Sania Alam of Futuristic Learning USA institute told APP She informed that Nabeel had bro ken the record which was previously set in place by an Indian in March 2022 with 28 numbers memorized

“Nabeel has been training his memory skills for many years with me He has also competed in var ious international mind sports competitions includ ing World Memory Championships,” she said Sania said Nabeel was the junior UK Memory Champion 2019 and Bronze Medalist of UK Mind Mapping Championship 2019

Commenting on the big achievement, Nabeel

said, “It

be when properly trained ”

The longest number sequence memorized in four seconds was 30, and was achieved by Nabeel in Karachi, Pakistan, on June 27 Syed has been training his memory for many years He has com peted in various international mind sports competi tions including the World Memory Championships

fore its integration with green line at Numaish Chowrangi H e s a i d t h a t B RT R e d L i n e l a u n c h e d with the assistance of ADB and it is Pakistan s first project, which will be run on biogas In this regard, the the construction of Pakistan’s first biogas plant w i l l b e s t a r t e d s o o n H e s a i d t h a t S i n d h h a d t h e honor of having started the first electric bus service in Pakistan in the field of public transport and now the work on BRT red line running on eco friendly biogas is in progress

He said that Sindh Government Transport De partment had started Orange Line and People s Bus Service Soon electric bus service will also starts its formal operations in the city

The transport minister said that the work on the B RT Ye l l o w L i n e p r o j e c t w i t h t h e s u p p o r t o f t h e World Bank is in the final stages, the construction of which will also commence soon He said that all major cities of the world had modern public trans port system including BRT service

The minister added that Karachi Circular Rail way (KCR) was a very old project and now with t h e e ff o r t s o f t h e S i n d h C M , t h e p r o j e c t w a s i n cluded in the CPEC projects

I n r e s p o n s e t o a q u e s t i o n , h e s a i d t h a t a l l f e d e r a l i n s t i t u t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g t h e M a l i r C a n t o n m e n t B o a r d , h a d t a k e n o w n e r s h i p o f t h e B RT R e d L i n e p r o j e c t a n d w e r e e x t e n d i n g f u l l s u p p o r t i n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f p r o j e c t

HUD orders separate washrooms for ladies at all public places

MULTAN

S

H o u s i n g a n d U r b a n D e v e l o p m e n t ( H U D ) D e p a r t m e n t S o u t h P u n j a b h a s d i r e c t e d a l l c o n c e r n e d d e p a r t m e n t s t o c o n s t r u c t s e p a r a t e w a s h r o o m s f o r l a d i e s a t a l l p u b l i c p l a c e s a n d a l s o s o u g h t r e p o r t o f m i s s i n g f a c i l i t y f r o m c o n c e r n e d d e p a r t m e n t s T h e P a r k s a n d H o r t i c u l t u r e A u t h o r i t y ( P H A ) h a v e s t a r t e d s u r v e y f o r t h i s p u r p o s e t o a s c e r t a i n t h e m i s s i n g s e p a r a t e w a s h r o o m s i n a l l 8 0 p a r k s s u p e r v i s e d b y t h e P H A Ta l k i n g t o A P P h e r e o n S u n d a y, S p o k e s m a n o f P H A J a l a l u d d i n s a i d t h a t 1 5 n e w p a r k s h a v e b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d b y t h e P a r k s a n d H o r t i c u l t u r e A u t h o r i t y ( P H A ) i n t h e o n g o i n g y e a r w h e r e s e p a r a t e w a s h r o o m b l o c k f o r l a d i e s h a v e b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d H e s a i d t h a t t h e r e w e r e a b o u t 2 5 t o 3 0 p a r k s i n t h e c i t y w h e r e s e p a r a t e w a s h r o o m s f o r l a d i e s w e r e m i s s i n g , h o w e v e r, t h e f a c i l i t y o f w a s h r o o m s w e r e a l s o m i s s i n g i n s m a l l p a r k s H e s a i d t h a t t h e d e p a r t m e n t h a s s t a r t e d a c t i o n o n t h e d i r e c t i v e s o f t h e H o u s i n g a n d U r b a n D e v e l o p m e n t ( H U D ) D e p a r t m e n t t o p r e p a r e d e t a i l e d r e p o r t o f m i s s i n g s e p a r a t e w a s h r o o m s f o r l a d i e s i n t h e p a r k s H e s a i d t h a t t h e r e p o r t w o u l d b e s e n t s o o n t o t h e q u a r t e r s c o n c e r n e d f o r f u r t h e r i n s t r u c t i o n s J a l a l s a i d t h a t d i ff e r e n t d e v e l o p m e n t p r o j e c t s w e r e u n d e r w a y a t v a r i o u s p a r k s o f t h e c i t y a n d t h e d e p a r t m e n t w a s a l s o f o c u s i n g o n i n c r e a s i n g s e l f i n c o m e o f t h e d e p a r t m e n t H e s a i d t h a t r e c e n t l y, t h e d e p a r t m e n t h a s a u c t i o n e d v a r i o u s c a n t e e n s a n d p a r k i n g s t a n d s o f t h e p a r k s t h r o u g h w h i c h r e v e n u e o f R s 1 0 m i l l i o n w o u l d b e g e n e r a t e d e v e r y y e a r H e s a i d t h a t p r e p a r a t i o n o f f l o w e r p o t s w e r e a l m o s t i n f i n a l s t a g e s f o r f l o w e r e x h i b i t i o n w a s g o i n g t o b e h e l d i n t h e l a s t w e e k o f D e c e m b e r H e s a i d t h a t 2 5 0 0 0 f l o w e r p o t s w e r e b e i n g p r e p a r e d f o r e x h i b i t i o n o f G u l l e D a w o o d i w h i l e 8 0 0 0 p o t s w e r e b e i n g p r e p a r e d f o r M e r i g o l d f l o w e r s w h i c h w o u l d b e d i s p l a y e d a t g r e e n b e l t s o f t h e c i t y i n t h e n e x t m o n t h

a

National University of Science and Technology (NUST) again brought laurels to the country by receiving the most modern PANDORA instru ment and access to the GEMS satel lite from NASA for real time air quality data monitoring NUST not only received the US

National Aeronautics and Space Ad ministration’s (NASA) latest satellite but became a part of the most modern geostationary orbit based satellite ob servations (GEMS Geostationary En vironmental Monitoring Spectrometer) of air quality as the first institute of the entire region to re

ceive the equipment to record, col late, and calibrate real time air quality data the Head of Department Envi ronmental Sciences, NUST Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engi neering (IESE) Dr Muhammad Fahim

Dr Khokhar said, “Air quality has become a global issue with its impact on the society economy in dustry, diplomacy, public health and natural resources in addition to envi ronmental science ”

Especially, he said Asia with its rapid increase in industrialization

and population, was regarded as an important source region of global scale emission Thus, it is crucial to monitor the concentration of rele vant gases and aerosols over Asia in high temporal and spatial resolution from geostationary orbit satellite ”

He highlighted that there was no such facility available in the country to have 24/7 satellite based data for air pollution NUST Institute of En vironmental Sciences and Engineer ing (IESE) has emerged as a globally trusted institution for high level re search projects and the hard work of its faculty specifically Dr Fahim Khokhar said

The Pandonia Global Network (PGN)’s Pandora is the outcome of

A major joint objective is to sup port the validation and verification of more than a dozen low earth orbit and geostationary orbit based UV visible sensors He added that the prestigious global space agency NASA trusted NUST with the re sponsibility to become the focal point in the region for its geostationary satellite and being part of the PGN

The NUST low cost quality sen sors have been deployed across the

country including Islamabad and Rawalpindi, he added

The Pandora equipment received from NASA comprised a Field Box, Spectrometer and Sensor Head and costs around $55,000 dollars Dr Khokhar informed that the latest gadget was a very critical tool for the students of BS, MS, MPhil, and PhD students that would provide the stu dents an opportunity to get hands on experience on the most modern equipment and interact with global experts The PGN provides real time, standardized, calibrated and verified QA/QC AQ data whereas the PGN participants were primarily com prised of governmental and aca demic researchers and technicians

ISLAMABAD

feels great being able to break the barriers of your own mental capacity and to witness how impeccably fast the brain’s processing powers can

ISLAMABAD

Khokhar told APP on Thurs day while sharing the achievement

Canada l aunChes new Indo-PaCIfIC strategy; foCus on ‘dIsruPtIve’ ChIna

CA N A D A launched a new Indo Pacific strategy on Sun day, vowing more resources to deal with a “disruptive” China while working with the world’s second biggest economy on climate change and trade issues

In a 26 page document, Canada said it would boost its military presence in the region and tighten investment rules to protect intellectual property and prevent Chinese state owned enterprises from snapping up critical mineral supplies

The long awaited plan is a blueprint to deepen ties with a fast growing region of 40 countries accounting for almost C$50 trillion ($37 4 trillion) in economic activity But the focus is on China at a time when bilateral ties are frosty

“China is an increasingly disruptive global power said the strategy China is looking to shape the international order into a more permissive environ ment for interests and values that in creasingly depart from ours ”

The strategy, highlighting Beijing s “foreign interference and increasingly

coercive treatment of other countries,” said Canada would invest in an en hanced regional military presence along with intelligence and cyber security

“Our approach is shaped by a real istic and clear eyed assessment of today s China In areas of profound disagreement, we will challenge China,” it said Tensions soared in late 2018 after Canadian police detained a Huawei Technologies executive and Beijing subsequently arrested two Canadians on spying charges All three were released

Italy declares state of emergency after deadly landslide

ITALY Ag e n c i e s

A wave of mud and debris hit the small town of Casamicciola Terme early Saturday morning, engulfing at least one house and sweeping cars down to the sea, local media and emergency services said

A first tranche of two million euros relief funds was released at the end of an emergency cabinet meeting which declared the state of emergency, Minister for Civil Protection Nello Musumeci said

More than 200 rescuers are still searching for a dozen missing people, while hundreds of volunteers, and others, up to their knees in mud, are busy cleaning the streets of the town Wreckage of cars and buses crushed by the mudslide could be seen and boulders were scattered around as excavators sought to free up access to homes cars and shops Rescuers had recovered the body of a 31 year old woman, according to Italian news agency AGI “It’s a situation that hurts us, if only for the people who disappeared under the mountain Here it’s an island and even if we don t really know everyone it s almost that Salvatore Lorini, 45, said “The mountain came down, there was devastation of shops cars hotels and that was already happening nine years ago Now I am cleaning my mother in law’s shop,” he said The landslide was caused by a lack of maintenance and prevention “because nature is nature, there was an earthquake, but a bit of prevention” could have saved lives, said Lorini

The peninsula, off Naples, is no stranger to states of emergency following earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or severe weather

g o t t e n ’

last year, but relations remain sour

Earlier this month Canada ordered three Chinese companies to divest their investments in Canadian critical miner als, citing national security

The document in a section men tioning China, said Ottawa would re view and update legislation enabling it to act “decisively when investments from state owned enterprises and other foreign entities threaten our national se curity, including our critical minerals supply chains ” The document said

Canada would boost its naval presence in the region and “increase our military engagement and intelligence capacity as a means of mitigating coercive behav iour and threats to regional security ”

Canada belongs to the Group of Seven major industrialised nations, which wants significant measures in response to North Korean missile launches

The document said Ottawa was en gaging in the region with partners such as the United States and the European Union Canada needed to keep talking to na tions it had fundamental disagreements with it said but did not name them

“China’s sheer size and influence makes cooperation necessary to address some of the world’s existential pres sures, such as climate change and bio diversity loss global health and nuclear proliferation And China’s economy of fers significant opportunities for Cana dian exporters it said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government wants to diversify trade and economic ties that are overwhelmingly reliant on the United States Official data for Sep tember show bilateral trade with China accounted for under 7% of the total, compared to 68% for the United States

C hina enforces more resolute measures to c urb rising infec tions

China State Council s Joint Pre vention and Control Mechanism has reiterated its commitment to cracking down on COVID 19 control malpractices and urged lo calities to rectify improper imple mentation of the 20 new adjusted measures announced recently

The mechanism said that some local governments have been found to either roll out overt measures such as ordering wide spread lockdowns or take a lax attitude toward the disease, and both tendencies are wrong

The issue of imposing addi tional COVID 19 restrictions, as well as other problems that have emerged following the release of the 20 measures on Nov 11 must be firmly addressed, it added

Wang Liping, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that these new measures have not only required local officials to cope with local outbreaks in a more scientific manner but also guided them to be more consid erate in enforcement, China Daily reported As domestic out breaks are spreading fast and

widely, Wang said the key to reining in infections is promptly and precisely detecting infections in communities, tracking down close contacts and designating at risk areas during the initial phase of a new outbreak

“Epidemiological investiga tors, transporting staff and nu cleic acid testing personnel should cooperate and exchange information, so as to grab the golden window of opportunity of 24 hours to prevail over the virus,” she said

In addition to the 20 adjusted measures, Wang said the mecha nism has also released four tech nical guidelines to standardize

nucleic acid testing protocols

She stressed that after com pleting one round of testing in a region, disease control workers must wait until at risk people are transported away before launch ing the next round

The National Health Com mission and the National Admin istration of Disease Prevention and Control have dispatched working groups to urge and guide localities to unswervingly and strictly implement the latest and ninth COVID 19 control protocol and the 20 measures, as well as taking more resolute measures to curb rising infec tions, she added

Kim vows nor th Korea to have world’s most power ful nuclear force

SEOUL A F P

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country aimed to have the world’s most powerful nuclear force as he celebrated the launch of its newest intercontinental ballistic missile at a ceremony with his young daughter, state media reported Sunday Kim also handed promotions to more than 100 officials and scientists for their work on the Hwasong 17 dubbed the “monster missile” by analysts and believed to be capable of reaching the US mainland just days after Pyongyang test fired it in one of its most powerful launches yet Hailing the new ICBM as “the world’s strongest strategic weapon”, Kim said North Korean scientists had made a “wonderful leap forward in the development of the technology of mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported Building the nuclear force to protect the dignity and sovereignty of the state and the people “is the greatest and most important revolutionary cause, and its ultimate goal is to possess the world’s most powerful strategic force, the absolute force unprecedented in the century,” Kim was quoted as saying in his order promoting the officials The leading officials and scientists had demonstrated to the world Pyongyang’s “goal of building the world s strongest army he added The launching vehicle for the new Hwasong 17 ICBM was awarded the title of “DPRK Hero”, a separate KCNA report said, using the acronym for the North s official name It “clearly proved before the world that the DPRK is a full fledged nuclear power, the report said, adding the North “fully demonstrated its might as the most powerful ICBM state” The UN Security Council has passed nearly a dozen resolutions imposing sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile activity since 2006

Bolster nuclear deterrent

Attending a photo session on Saturday with officials and scientists who had contributed to the successful test firing of the missile, Kim called for “limitless bolstering of the defence capabilities”, KCNA said in another report Kim exhorted the scientists and workers to “expand and bolster up the nuclear war deterrent of the country at an exceptionally rapid speed”

The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried more than a dozen pictures of Kim at the photo session with his “beloved daughter”, who was revealed to the world for the first time at last week’s ICBM launch

Until then, North Korean state media has never mentioned Kim s children, and last week s report was the first official confirmation that he had a daughter, experts said The photos showed the girl believed to be Kim’s second child named Ju Ae dressed in a black fur collar coat, linking arms with her father as they posed in front of the gigantic missile surrounded by uniformed soldiers

The November 18 ICBM test was the latest in a record breaking blitz of missile launches by Pyongyang, with officials and analysts in Seoul and Washington warning they could culminate in a seventh nuclear test by North Korea, which last tested an atomic device in 2017

fg h a n s t o r i e s h i g h l i g h t e d i n t wo n ew f i l m s f r o m N e t f l i x

else but are not able to go to school

But at international political meetings, “Afghanistan is out of those discussions ”

The world’s focus has shifted to the war in Ukraine, but two major new documentaries aim to throw the spotlight back on Afghanistan, and the people left behind by the United States’ rapid withdrawal last year

National Geographic’s Retrograde fol lows an Afghan general who tried in vain to hold back the Taliban advance in 2021, while Netflix’s In Her Hands tells the story of the country s youngest woman mayor who had to flee as the Taliban took over “We’ve forgotten about this story when was the last time we discussed the war in Afghanistan, or read an article about it?” said Retrograde director Matthew Heineman “Obviously there’s still some coverage of it, but not that many people are talking about this country that we left behind Zarifa Ghafari, the former mayor spot lighted by In Her Hands, said that back under the Taliban, Afghanistan is “the only country around the world nowadays where a woman can sell their body their children anything

Both movies begin in the months before the US withdrawal, as their subjects tried to build a safer and more egalitarian future for their country

The two films end with their central characters forced to watch from abroad as the Taliban rapidly erases all their work

“Retrograde” began as a documentary with rare inside access to US special forces

In one early scene, US troops are shown having to destroy or retrograde their equipment and wastefully fire off excess am munition that was sorely needed by their Afghan allies

After the Americans left their base in Helmand, Afghan general Sami Sadat agreed to let Heineman s cameras stay and follow him, as he took charge of the ultimately doomed effort to stave off Taliban advances

In one scene, Sadat stubbornly deter mined to rally his men to fight on as the sit uation crumbles around them chides his aide for bringing to his war office persistent

reports of nearby Afghan troops downing their weapons

“Every neon sign was saying ‘stop, give up, this is over,’ and he had this blind faith that maybe, just maybe, if he held on to Lashkar Gah or Helmand, that they could beat back the Taliban,” recalled Heineman

Sadat eventually had to flee, and the filmmakers shifted their lens again to des perate scenes at Kabul airport as Afghans fought for spaces on the last American planes out It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever witnessed in my career,” added Heineman, who was nominated for an Oscar for 2015’s Cartel Land

“Discussions around wars in public pol icy and foreign policy they re often talked about and discussed without the human ele ment,” said the director

One of the things I ve tried to do throughout my career is taking these large, amorphous subjects and putting a human face to them ”

Former mayor Ghafari had survived as sassination attempts and seen her father gunned down by the Taliban before she too

left Afghanistan as the Islamists moved in

“Talking about that moment, I’m still not able to stop crying it was something that I really never wanted to do,” said Ghafari, who drew the Taliban’s ire by campaigning for girls education after being appointed mayor of Maidan Shahr aged 24

“I had some personal responsibilities, es pecially after the murder of my dad to help

The directors of In Her Hands, which counts Hillary Clinton among its executive producers, returned to Afghanistan and filmed Ghafari’s former driver Massoum, now un employed and living under the Taliban

In unsettling scenes, he is seen bonding with the same fighters who once attacked the car in which he was driving Ghafari

OTTAWA Ag e n c e s

LOS

secure my family

BEIJING Ag e n c i e s

E n g l a n d a r r i v E s f o r f i r s t t E s t s E r i E s i n Pa k i s ta n s i n c E 2 0 0 5

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

En g l a n d s cricket team arrived in Islamabad early Sunday to play its first Test series in Pakistan since 2005 led by Ben Stokes England will kick off the tour in Rawalpindi an adjacent city to Islam abad which hosts the first Test from Thursday The second Test will be played at Multan from december 9 13 before England round off the tour with the final Test at Karachi from december 17 21 England had played a seven match T20 series in Pakistan prior to the T20 World Cup in australia where it went on to beat Pakistan in the final England was due to tour Pakistan last year before the T20 World Cup in the United arab Emirates (UaE) but aban doned the tour due to security concerns after new Zealand had aborted its tour to Pakistan just minutes before the toss in

the first OdI at Rawalpindi

There were some concerns over Eng land’s Test tour to Pakistan after former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was wounded in Wazirabad, a district in Pun jab, during his protest against the sitting

fg/din Polo claim coca-cola aibak Polo cup

LAHORE s TA f f r e P o r T

Fg/din Polo outpaced newage Cables/Master Paints by 9 5 to win Coca Cola aibak Polo Cup 2022 that concluded here at lahore Polo Club on Sunday To witness and enjoy the challenging and enthralling aibak Polo Cup final, the officials of Coca Cola, Century Ventures director ayaz lakhani, director Kamran afzal, director Wasim Mazhar and COO Century Ventures nazia Wasim, lahore Polo Club President Omer Sadiq, Secretary agha Murtaza ali Khan executive committee members and a great number of polo lovers, players and their families were present at the concluding ceremony, officials of Coca Cola and Century Ventures distributed prizes and shields among the winners and top performers In the main final, both the teams played superb polo and gave tough time to each other, but Fg/din Polo dominated the last two chukkers and managed to take a huge lead, which helped them win the title clash comfortably by 9 5 argentinean player Tomas Marin Moreno stole the show by displaying high quality mallet and polo pony work and firing in fabulous five goals for the winning side Shah Shamyl alam also played well and banged in a brace while Farhad Muhammad Shaikh and Mian abbas Mukhtar contributed with one goal apiece For the losing side, Juan Cruz greguol pumped in all the five goals Earlier in the subsidiary final Remington Pharma outlasted diamond Paints/Sheikhoo Steel 7 4 For Remington Pharma, Hamza nawaz Khan emerged as hero of the day as he smashed in superb five goals while ahmed Zubair Butt converted a beautiful brace For diamond Paints/Sheikhoo Steel, Osman aziz anwar, Omer asjad Malhi, Mir Huzaifa ahmed and nicolas antinori scored one goal each

government It s been a long time since England have played Test cricket in Pakistan,” Stokes had said in abu dhabi last Friday where the team trained for a week before flying out to Pakistan

“With what happened with Imran Khan recently, there was a little bit of concern but we have Reg dickason who has been the security man for many years with England, and we left it in his capa ble hands last Monday Khan met with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair man Ramiz Raja and the British high commissioner in lahore and assured the officials that his protest against the gov ernment will not disturb the England cricket team’s tour to Pakistan

Pakistan had hosted England twice in a Test series at UaE over the last 17 years with foreign teams reluctant to travel to Pakistan after the Sri lanka cricket team was attacked in lahore in 2009

However, since 2015 Pakistan has started regaining the confidence of for eign countries that it could organise in ternational games at home and have hosted almost all the major cricketing nations, including South africa and australia

Costa R ic a ‘still alive’ at World Cup af ter late win over Japan

DOHA

Ag e n c i e s

luis Fernando Suarez said his Costa Rica team were “still very much alive” at the World Cup after a 1 0 win over Japan on Sunday blew group E wide open and handed a potential lifeline to germany Japan, who shocked four time champions germany 2 1 in their opener in Qatar, would have taken a giant stride towards the last 16 with a win Instead, they laboured in the first half against a Costa Rica side who were hammered 7 0 by Spain, then defender Keysher Fuller scored in the 81st minute with a deflected strike on the counterattack

It was Costa Rica’s first shot on

target at this World Cup and left them, leaders Spain and Japan all on three points Spain face germany later Sunday in a group widely seen as the toughest at the tournament

These players did amazing things today I will not talk about tech nique or tactics Today I need to value and appreciate what they have done to get this win,” said Suarez, whose side meets germany on Thursday

“We weren’t dead yesterday and now we are still very much alive nobody can forget about us yet so we can still dream “People thought we were already out but we are in this together

Shock end Japan made five changes to the team which stunned germany as

coach Hajime Moriyasu made full use of his 26 man squad

In temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) at ahmad Bin ali Stadium, Japan im mediately went on the attack and won a corner within 30 seconds

Suarez made just two changes to the team thumped by Spain, ger son Torres and 34 year old centre back Kendall Waston taking their places in an aging XI that featured four players from the 2014 World Cup quarter finals But Japan s early promise melted in the doha sun and the first shot at goal a tame effort which sailed high and wide did not come until 10 min utes from half time through Costa Rica’s Joel Campbell

Messi goal helps keep Argentina World Cup hopes alive

DOHA Ag e n c i e s

lionel Messi helped keep argentina s World Cup bid alive with the first goal in a 2 0 victory over Mexico on Saturday defeat to outsiders Saudi arabia in their open ing group C match in Qatar had left argentina on the brink, knowing another loss would spell the end of their tournament chances But the albiceleste just edged a dis jointed and tetchy affair against their fellow latin amer icans at the lusail stadium in doha and who else but the mercurial Messi should be the hero, firing home a low shot from 20 yards on 64 minutes, before Enzo Fernandez added a thunderbolt second goal for argentina three minutes from time The first game cost us,” said Messi “We knew that we had to win today, that another World Cup was starting for us and we knew how to do it It was a tough game to pick ourselves up for because Mexico play well “The played the first half

with intensity but the second half we relaxed and became ourselves again ” Messi’s goal meant he tied the late diego Maradona on eight goals and 21 appearances at the World Cup for argentina It came a day after argentines marked the second anniversary of Maradona’s death

The goals were two rare moments of quality in an often poor and tense encounter where the occasion seemed to get to everyone, except seven time Ballon d Or winner Messi But argentina still need to win their final group match against Poland to guarantee a place in the knock out stages “We cannot let up now Every game is a final now, we cannot make any mistakes,” said Messi

Fractious, forgettable

The first half was an entirely forgettable affair Mexico’s back five and aggressive approach left ar gentina with little space or time to construct anything and the Mexicans never had enough players for ward to cause their opponents problems when trying to counter

new Zealand-india second odi abandoned due to rain

HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND

The second one day international between new Zealand and India was abandoned in Hamilton after rain halted play on Sunday India, sent into bat, were 89 for one with Shubman gill on 45 and Suryakumar Yadav on 34 when play was called off The fixture had been reduced to a 29 over match after a first weather disruption halted play for nearly four hours with India on 22 0 after 4 5 overs a further eight overs were bowled when play resumed before the rain sent the players back to the pavilion again and no more play was possible new Zealand lead the three match series 1 0 after winning Friday s opening game in auckland by seven wickets

The final match is in Christchurch on Wednesday

England spearhead pacer likely to miss opening test of Pakistan tour

ISLAMABAD

England spearhead pacer Mark Wood is doubtful for the opening match of the historic Test series against Pakistan due to a hip injury, foreign media reported according to the details, Wood sustained the injury amid England’s successful T20 World Cup campaign which forced him out of the semi final against India and the final against Pakistan despite Wood’s rehabilitation reportedly going well, it is improbable for the pacer to gain enough fitness to prepare himself for the rigours of a Test match with only three training days left before the series begins on december 1 The right arm pacer, however, is accompany England’s squad, scheduled to step foot in Pakistan to play a historic series after a gap of 17 years England Test captain Ben Stokes also confirmed that Wood’s absence from abu dhabi’s leg of training where they played a training match against England lions had nothing to do with the latter ’s injury and in fact, Wood, alongside Harry Brook was given time off at home due to excessive workload

tagenarine chanderpaul gets player of match award

CANBERRA Ag e n c i e s

West Indies got much needed time in the middle on the final day of their four day, first class match against the australia Prime Minister s XI at Manuka Oval in Canberra Tagenarine Chanderpaul top scored with 56, leading the touring side’s pursuit of a target of 309, which also saw devon Thomas punch a confident 55 and wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva, a confident unbeaten 52 Chanderpaul s knock came on the heels of his first innings 119 and earned him Player of the Match award West Indies appeared poised to win the day/night contest at 177 3 but lost a cluster of wickets to see their challenge derailed, finishing on 277 8 The left handed Chanderpaul carried his side’s chase, stroking five fours and a six off 138 balls as he put on 46 for the second wicket with nkrumah Bonner (12) and a further 34 for the third wicket with Thomas whose 93 ball innings included four fours and a six Chanderpaul was eventually third out, left arm seamer Joel Paris earning an lbw decision against him but Thomas picked up the mantle, adding 58 for the fourth wicket with left hander Kyle Mayers (20) The unflappable da Silva then anchored perhaps the key stand of the innings when he posted 48 for the seventh wicket with alzarri Joseph, whose 31 came from 73 balls and included four fours and a six

A ra b t e a m s t u r n Q a t a r Wo r l d Cu p i n t o a ‘ h o m e’ t o u r n a m e n t

DOHA Ag e n c i e s

number of arab teams have turned Qatar World Cup into a home tournament like thousands of other Saudi fans, Muhammad al dabbagh travelled by car last week to Qatar to watch live the first ever World Cup to be held in the Middle East “Had it not been in Qatar,” he said, “it would not have been so convenient, or affordable for me to attend a World Cup ” and had he not made the road journey via the abu Samra border crossing, he would not have witnessed Saudi arabia lighting up

the tournament with a massive upset against argentina The green Falcons’ 2 1 over the two time champions on Tuesday set off wild celebrations with overjoyed Saudi fans flooding all major tourist attractions and fan zones in Qatar Quickly, it turned into an all Middle Eastern party at the heart of it all was doha’s Souq Waqif, where fans from different countries had gathered in a large group with their respective flags, joining in the singing and dancing Chief among them were Qataris, who were happy to play second fiddle at their neighbours’ party after the hosts’ national team lost to Ecuador in the tournament s opener

“We are not sad that Qatar lost, we are happy that Saudi arabia won,” said Bassam Muhammad, a Qatari student, as others walked by waving the flags of both coun tries, which restored full relations in early 2021 after a years long diplomatic rift Just hours after the Saudi win on Tuesday Tunisia pulled its own weight to hold the higher ranked denmark to a surprise 0 0 draw at the Education City Stadium

Most of the more than 40,000 or so fans in attendance were rooting for the team from north africa amine, a Tunisian fan, thinks that the arab unity on display among the supporters is not strange to see

AwAiting cleArAnce for 2-yeAr, Methyl BroMide consignMent on Brink of exPiry

iN another example of bureau cratic bottleneck and influence of mafia in government institu tions, a private firm, which im ported methyl bromide two years ago, is finally going to get his consignment expired at port, after fighting the hurdles, what the im porter claims, created by influential mafia in the Department of Plant Pro tection (DPP), an attached department of the Ministry of National Food Se curity and Research (MNFS&R)

According to available docu ments, Ahmed and Kamran Traders (Pvt Ltd), which imported Methyl Bromide (MB) on January 13, 2020 with valid registration could not get released the consignment from Karachi port as the DPP Department did not clear the consignment and canceled all IPCs issued on Form 16 after import of the same

The private firm probably started facing a strong influential importer group which according to a depart mental inquiry of MNFS&R, has mo nopoly over import of MB and fumigation of imported/exported con signments For, what the report says, the same reasons, the DPP which had issued an IPC to M/s Ahmad and Kamran on Form 16 in 2020 to import MB, and once it was imported, the de partment canceled all IPCs disallow ing the shipment, thus, leaving only one importer in the market More specifically, the department adopted three courses to sustain the monopoly

As per the inquiry report the DPP treated the mixture of 98% MB & 2% Chloropicrin as a new pesticide Later on, despite the gazette notification of 98% MB & 2% Chloropicrin for reg

istration and import of said formula tion dated 16 07 2021, the depart ment did not release MB from Karachi port and asked for a fresh ap plication of IPC from M/s Ahmad and Kamran The company, which mean while faced court cases from its com petitor, later received another IPC on April 26, 2022 but another competitor (Pentagon Fumigation) approached the Sindh High Court and got a stay order against shipment of the con signment of Ahmed and Kamran Company However the court on No vember 24 through its interim order the stay has vacated, consequently di recting the department concerned to endorse the pre shipment inspections report and custom authorities to clear the consignment in accordance with relevant applicable laws and rules

However, according to Ahmed Yar Khan Kakar CEO of the company the officials of DPP were still allegedly applying delaying tactics despite the fact that the imported consignment of MB is going to expire on November 30, 2022(after next two days) The total value of the container including other expenses was estimated to be over Rs100 million (10 crores)

When contacted the Acting Di rector General of DPP Allah Dita Abid did not reply to queries shared with him What is the issue related to the function of DPP?

As per an inquiry report of a com mittee constituted by MoFS&R to in vestigate ‘hegemony’ of private firms in one of the ministry’s important de partments DPP the government reg ulatory body was being influenced and run by a group of private compa nies and mafia

The 15 page report, prepared by a committee on the directives of the Prime Minister secretariat and submit

ted to the Secretary MoFS&R, reveals how a powerful mafia is practically runs the DDP affairs, especially the major role of the department the fu migation process of all imported and exported agriculture items

The committee headed by Rashid Mahmood, former Additional Secre tary II of MoFS&R (currently serving as secretary power) was assigned to investigate the controversy over the import of MB used for fumigation and the monopoly in this sphere

As per the report, “Inquiry Report on Methyl Bromide Registration and Import for Phytosanitary Fumi gation,” the committee has made it clear that for all practical purposes, it appears that DPP is no more a federal entity as far as the issuance of biose curity and phytosanitary certificates is concerned Instead, it is influenced and practically run by the fumigators who virtually control the entire value chain of the business Such regulatory capture is generally associated with a high level of corruption The majority of the department officers are com promised and/or afraid of doing any thing against the mafia for fear of repercussions says the report

In its findings, the committee has revealed that current leadership posi tions at DPP are not manned by sci entists/entomologists who have any knack for enforcement nor have the ability to sustain extraneous pressure while executing their regulatory pow ers Therefore the current organogram and recruitment criteria cannot serve the purpose of regula tory enforcement with high stakes

According to the report, there is a subculture of corruption, backbiting, infighting, and responsibility shirking that has seeped into the very roots of the organization The Director Gen eral (DG), all directors, and deputy di

rectors are part of the problem rather than the solution, even if some of them may not be financially corrupt

The committee has informed that interestingly, the importer of Methyl Bromide and fumigating companies were all one party due to which not only there is a monopoly but also higher cost being charged to im porters/exporters by the fumigators

The decision about the right price of fumigation cannot be left to private ac tors if the volume of private actors’ business is a result of regulatory action

As per the report M/s Adeel Pesti cides and Manufacturing is the sole dis tributor of MB on behalf of M/s National Chemicals Notably, this dis tributor of MB is also a fumigator Al though 50 fumigators are registered with DPP, MB was distributed to only three fumigators, namely M/s Pentagon Fumigation M/s Pest Management Services, and M/s Tahir Fumigation Services Only six fumigators con sumed 98% of MB during 2021

In addition, the fact that the sole distributor is also a fumigator and supplies MB to only three major fu migators, thus crowding the rest from the market indicates the existence of strong market power in the hands of a cartel It adds that M/s Ahmad and Kamran traders which tried to import MB, were punished by the group to serve the interest of the monopoly

According to the report, based on the claims made by Tariq khan (direc tor Registration) in his statement a fu migator, namely M/s Pakistan Fumigation services, (Adeel Pesti cides) provided office space and bore running expenses of key office, namely Seaport office on I I Chundrigar road, Karachi from 2011 to 2015 in ex change, the department delegated the drafting of official documents, includ ing PPROs and PCs to the fumigators

C JCSC Gen S ahir Shamshad Mirza takes charge of office

Newly appointed Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza on Sunday assumed the charge of his office at an impressive ceremony held at Joint Staff Headquarters on Sunday

According to a statement issued by the ISPR, be sides a large number of serving and retired officers from three services, the ceremony was also attended by former Chairmen Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee A smartly turned out Joint Services guard pre sented the salute as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of

Staff Committee arrived at the venue General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Hilal e Imtiaz (Military) reviewed the guard of honour and the march past Meanwhile Chinese Embassy released a video congratulating the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee The Chinese Embassy in the video stated that the new Army leadership will play vital role in promoting and propagating bilateral relations and cooperation between the forces of both countries “We also appre ciate the cooperation of General Qamar Javed Bajwa and General Nadeem Raza in promoting bilateral re lations and cooperation between the two forces, stated the Chinese Embassy in the video message

o

into the matter

said sources

Pakistan’s default risk reaches alarming levels, says Miftah

LAHore

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) leader and former federal finance minister Miftah Ismail on Sunday said Pakistan’s default risk has reached a dangerous level, claiming that Pakistan is on the verge of default Miftah Ismail, the leader of Muslim League (N), while issuing a message on the social networking website Twitter, wrote that “I don t know what is the best dollar rate only the market can determine it ” Imports were $80 billion and exports $31 billion last year, and the No 1 priority of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar shouldn t be to make imports cheaper & export harder which is what an appreciated rupee does ”

The former financial czar in his article stated that “even after paying the December Sukuk bonds, the risk of bankruptcy does not lessen Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government did not follow the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is why the risk of default increased ”

Miftah also said that “we cannot take any risks but at the same time we need to make effective strategies for the creditors National interest should be preferred over political differences If the government does not take the necessary steps, it will not be in a position to criticize PTI A major decline of 38% was observed in exports from 2013 to 2018, which was a huge deficit for the current account Because PTI did not follow IMF’s agreement, the economy faced a massive downfall, we had to take challenging steps and sign a new agreement with them

He stressed that failure to comply increases the risk of default “We have no margin for error while there is an urgent need for concrete steps to reassure markets and creditors,” he said National interest should take precedence over political interest They have no right to criticize PTI if the government does not take the right steps, exports fell by 38% between 2013 and 2018 and the 38% decline in exports led to the second largest current account deficit PTI s non implementation of the IMF agreement caused difficulties for the economy, but we re signed the agreement with the IMF, which led to difficult decisions

Today there is a large gap between the dollar rate in the open market and interbank and the State Bank informally guides the banks on the exchange rate Miftah Ismail further said: “From 13 18 our exports declined by 38pc from 13 5% to 8 5% of GDP & we ran the second largest current account deficit The issue was a currency pegged to a dollar that highly subsidised imports & made them surge even as our exports were getting priced out

c i a l s g o u n c h e c ke d

Huge corruption and misuse of au thority have allegedly been done by the officials of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) in repair to approach road in Rajjar area and construction of boundary wall of a grid station in the federal capital

According to sources, officials of IESCO are allegedly involved in bogus tendering process, corruption and misuse of authority in the repair to approach Road Rajjar and also in the construction of a boundary wall of I 10 Grid Station in the federal capital And, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been requested to investigate and take action against the officials of IESCO who are al legedly involved in bogus tendering process, corruption and misuse of authority The FIA, however, has so far kept a mum in this regard and despite lapse of “quite some time” yet to initiate an inquiry (326/2020)

Sources said that a new ap proach road was earlier constructed for Rajjar grid station in Jhelum District under the supervision of Executive Engineer Civil (IESCO) through a tendering process How ever, Executive Engineer Civil (IESCO) had refloated road main tenance tender of the same ap proach road of Rajjar grid station a few months ago though the security maintenance period of this road was for one year while there was no need for road construction or repair until 2025 i e three years as per IESCO rule/plan Moreover, as per IESCO tender advertisement rule no tender is issued to a firm /con tractor whose any civil work is pending from the previous year works tenders in the same division But the tender winning company had several pending works of the previous year on its part

Surprisingly, the newly con structed approach road of Rajjar grid station does not need any main

tenance as it is currently available in good condition and anyone can visit the road site to know the actual condition of this approach road the sources added

Sources also informed that some cracks had appeared in the boundary wall of federal capital’s I 10 grid station (GSC house build ing) which was designed by NESPAK And, IESCO’s Executive Engineer (Civil) got dismantled this boundary wall which was con structed at a cost of Rs 20 million Similarly the Executive Engineer (Civil), without calling a tender, had verbally asked a favourite contrac tor to start construction of the boundary wall of I 10 grid station under emergency rule of PPRA

According to section 2(g) of PPRA, emergency means natural calamities disasters accidents war and operational emergency which may give rise to abnormal situations requiring prompt and immediate ac tion to limit or avoid damage to per son, property or the environment,

They added that this work was simply building work and no emer gency situation was faced

Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah Kazmi, chairman Anti Corruption Cell, Labour Unity of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (CBA) through an application has re quested the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate both matters and take strict action against IESCO officials who are allegedly involved in the corruption and misuse of au thority He also asked the FIA to check and scrutinise the tender doc uments of the last two years to find the truth behind the corruption and misuse of authority allegedly com mitted by the officials of IESCO Since both matters are related to public importance and misuse /wastage of public money so FIA should wake up from deep slumber and start investigation into the said matters, said Syed Manzoor Hus sain Shah Kazmi while talking to Pakistan Today/Profit on Sunday

He added that though FIA had earlier launched inquiry 326/2020 to investigate the corruption and vi olation of rules in the award of ten ders etc , the investigating agency had so far not achieved any mile stone in this regard

Record tempering is allegedly being done in IESCO to save the of ficial’s skin and FIA has been in formed many times in this regard But the agency (FIA) has yet to take any mentionable step/action for the satisfaction of applicant or to safe guard the public money, said Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah Kazmi, chairman Anti Corruption Cell, Labour Unity of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (CBA)

It is also learnt from sources that the cost incurred on construc tion of the boundary wall of I 10 grid station was Rs 6,71,37,260 However, the Executive Engineer (Civil) dismantled the boundary wall after finding cracks in it and later paid Rs 2 crore paid to another contractor on verbal commitment without calling a tender for the con struction of the boundary wall of the federal capital’s I 10 grid station

of IESCO “SDO Civil, Qaisar Shehzad and Xen Civil Division IESCO Is lamabad Naser Saeed Khattak played key roles in I 10/3 Grid Sta tion Wall said sources

It is important to note that Audit had observed that the expenditure incurred on retaining wall was very much high as compared to the mar ket rates

It is pertinent to mention that the length of the designed retaining wall is 131 feet while the length of exca vation is 310Ft Similarly, the de signed height is 13 5 Ft and the depth /height of excavation is 31 5 Ft

When contacted IESCO spokesman, he said he has for warded the sent questions to Xen Civil for reply and did not provide official words And when this cor respondent directly approached the said Xen Civil, he did not bother to reply despite sending questions via WhatsApp text message

FIA Inquiry Officer, Additional Director, Malik Sajid was also ap proached to get his stance over undue delay in the inquiry of 326/2020 but he did not appear despite efforts

iSLAMABAD