Epaper_22-12-02 KHI

no-trust move to be employed to counter assemblies’ dissolution

“I told PM Shehbaz to use his constitutional right. I told him we are your allies [… ] we give you authority to use your constitutional power. Shehbaz is a good man, he could have not called us and selected the COAS.”

The former president said that there may be some things that coalition leaders differed on but promised that it won’t dent their alliance because “everything is irrelevant, only Pakistan is relevant”.

He went on to say that he didn’t personally know gen Munir. “He was the first person on the list [sent to the Prime Minister House]. And as per seniority, he was selected.”

zardari said that former army chief gen Qamar Javed Bajwa never approached him for an extension.

“He might have said it to the prime minister. I wanted to lobby for gen Aamer, who was sixth on the list, but I could not because the situation was not good.”

Talking about the institutions’ decision to stay apolitical, he said that “the army has walked ahead by staying apolitical”.

Govt doubles Petroleum Levy on diesel, light diesel oil

price benefit to the masses. Sources said that increasing PDL on HSD will put further burden on the farmers who are already under stress.

The Federal government has doubled the Petroleum Development levy (PDL) on diesel and light diesel oil.

ISLAMABAD staff report

FORMERpresident and PPP chairman Asif Ali zardari said on Thursday that the coalition government had decided to table no-confidence motions in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab assemblies.

The statement comes days after PTI chairman Imran Khan announced plans to “quit the corrupt system and leave all the assemblies”. However, the PTI has yet to announce a date for the dissolution of assemblies in Punjab and KP, where the PTI is in power.

In an interview with journalist Asma Shirazi on Aaj Tv programme ‘Faisla Aap Ka’, zardari ruled out snap polls saying that it won’t “suit us or democracy”.

“It’s too immature and too soon to say anything about the elections. I don’t think there is a possibility of the establishment forcing early elections,” he said.

However, at the same time, he asserted that the coalition parties would contest the polls if the PTI succeeded in

dissolving the provincial assemblies. “I will see how many MPAs Imran is able to get.”

In response to a question about the tabling of no-confidence motions, zardari said: “god willing.”

He went on to say that the motions would be submitted “everywhere”.

“Even in KP. we have seats [there]. There are some friends who have gone astray […] we have to bring them back. we will bring a way in which they won’t have to resign.”

zardari claimed that he had numbers in Punjab which were sufficient to throw out the PTI government.

when asked if Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi could be reached out to again, the PPP chairman said that there was a distance between the two of them.

“I made Elahi deputy prime minister and gave them 17 ministries. This time they opted out themselves. we have bigger choices than them now.”

In response to a question on the appointment of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Asim Munir, zardari said that the new army chief came on the institution’s choice.

During the interview on Thursday, zardari claimed that he could defeat PTI chairman Imran Khan from any constituency “except for Mianwali where the nawab of Kalabagh will stand against him”.

“If I get myself shot and gather 25,000 people, where is the popularity in this? He lost against me by 21,000 votes in Sindh. we can fight him politically.”

He alleged that Imran was “making full payments” and promised to hold him accountable.

The former president also said that the government didn’t try to implicate Imran in any case. “If he has to be held accountable, nAB (national Accountability Bureau) will do it. If he did sell the watch then a case would be lodged against him automatically.”

He, however, stated that he wasn’t aware of any of Imran’s wrongdoings.

“Imran’s game was bigger and is still bigger. His game is not based in Pakistan. It’s based somewhere else,” zardari claimed.

In response to a question on whether he could reach an understanding with Imran, the former president said he could not “run after a man who keeps barking”.

“And even if it has to happen, the executive will do it, not me,” he added.

Sources in the ministry have informed that the Finance ministry has increased the rate of PDL on diesel from Rs12.59 to Rs25 per litre. Similarly, the government has also increased PDL on light diesel from Rs7.90 to Rs15.39 per litre.

Moreover, the Finance ministry has also enhanced PDL from Rs5.98 to Rs7.01. It is pertinent to note that the government is already charging Rs50 per litre PDL on petrol.

According to the agreement of the deal with the IMF, the government must raise Rs 850 billion in tax income during the current fiscal year by raising the Petroleum Levy to Rs 50 per litre on petrol and diesel.

Sources claim that the government has not imposed sales tax on petroleum products given the reason that the federal government is bound to transfer amounts to provinces in case it collects sales tax. However, in the PDL case, the federal government pockets entire revenue to its accounts.

Currently, the petroleum prices in the international market are going down due to partial lockdown in some cities of China and the Russian oil prices cap. However, the government of Pakistan is not passing the lower

Senate body toLd $4b in LoanS, GrantS received For FLood reLieF So Far: Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development was informed on Thursday that Pakistan had so far received financial foreign assistance worth over $4 billion to support flood relief activities in the country.

Officials from Economic Affairs Division (EAD) informed the committee that out of total financial assistance, the international development partners had extended an amount of uS$3.64 billion in form of loans and $435.03 million in the form of grants.

Further the meeting was informed that the development partners and the countries had dispatched in kind assistance for the flood victims.

The meeting of the committee was presided over by Senator Attaur Rehman and attended by Senators – Dost Muhammad Khan, Ejaz Ahmed Ch, Saadia Abbasi, Hidayat ullah, Tahir Bazinjo and nuzhat Sadiq.

The meeting was informed that out of total loan amount, the world Bank had extended $1.78 billion loan while the Asian Development Bank provided loan worth of $559 million. Similarly Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank also extended $500 million loans.

PM for realising Fund commitment to cope with climate challenge

ISLAMABAD staff report

Terming the Loss and Damage Fund a realisation of climate challenge by the global north, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said it was a must to practically implement the commitment as the disaster faced by Pakistan could also hit others in the future.

The prime minister, addressing the event “COP27 and Beyond: Pakistan’s Resilience Challenges” told the world that what had happened in Pakistan would not stay in Pakistan. It necessitated seriousness towards the challenge of climate change.

“Our friends in the global north, they should and they have realised the importance of this challenge. That is why it has made a remarkable agreement at Sharm El-Sheikh. ‘Loss and Damage’ is now a reality. But then, it’s not about these agreements and understandings. It’s about practical implementation,” the prime minister remarked addressing the event held to acknowledge the ministers, government officers and experts whose efforts led to the agree-

ment on the Loss and Damage Fund.

He appreciated the efforts of all those involved for achieving “which was almost impossible.”

He said the unprecedented floods in Pakistan had affected 33 million, left 800 dead, and inflicted around $30 billion loss to the country’s agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and livestock.

He thanked the donor countries, organizations, and local philanthropists for supporting the flood survivors.

He also lauded the role of the provincial governments and government institutions for their efforts for relief and rehabilitation of the victims.

He said that “Loss and Damage was like a sleeping beauty for the decade” and for the first time, it was articulated by the team led by the ministers for foreign affairs and climate change.

He said Pakistan had been seeking justice as it had faced which it had nothing to do with having less than 1% contribution to the carbon emission.

He also appreciated the role of diplomats, experts and other ministries including economic affairs, planning, information, and every Pakistani who

contributed to making the world realise what happened to Pakistan. Addressing the ceremony, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said Loss and Damage Fund was a “landmark event” because it was able to develop something which the developing countries had been pursuing for the last three decades.

She said the Fund would support developing countries like Pakistan to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure and achieve resilience.

“This is not about global south alone but rather all climate justice seekers both in north and south,” she remarked.

She apprised the gathering of the concerted efforts made by the prime minister, foreign minister and diplomats at COP27 and earlier, as the urgency was felt more after the floods.

She said the Fund was considered a major outcome of the COP27 and appreciated the flexibility shown by the developed countries which led to the agreement bringing a win-win situation for all. Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, who had been instrumental in the dialogue process at COP27, said resilience was key to a sus-

tainable future and trajectory to growth.

She said the concerted public advocacy led to the agreement adding that it was all about climate justice, not charity as the developing countries lacked resources to deal with the climate change-induced disasters.

She said the situation would not stabilise unless the climate stress was addressed. She said the resilience was also a race against time, citing the seriousness of the situation caused by climate change in form of artificial lakes and flood-caused destruction.

profIt report shahzad paracha

g SAyS IT’S TOO IMMATuRE AnD TOO SOOn TO SAy AnyTHIng ABOuT nExT ELECTIOnS

Govt IncreAses oMcs MArGIn up to rs1.32 per lItre FroM Dec 1

reached Rs 4/litre on the sale of petrol and Rs 5/litre on the sale of diesel.

evENthough the government announced that it was keeping fuel prices unchanged for the next two weeks, there was a lot of movement in the components of the final price at the pump.

For starters, the government jacked up the margin of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) by up to Rs 1.32 per litre on the sale of petroleum products with effect from December 1, 2022.

Rs 1.32 per litre might not sound like much but it represents a nearly 50% increase in the OMC margin.

With this hike the OMCs margin has

Secondly, the government also increased the petroleum levy (PL) on diesel by Rs 12/litre bringing it up to Rs 25/litre and collects Rs 50/litre PL on petrol. Earlier this year, the government had committed to increasing petroleum levy to ensure it meets revenue targets set under the IMF bailout programme.

Increasing the OMC margin and levy while keeping fuel prices the same is made possible because the falling price of oil in the global market is not being passed on to the consumer.

According to sources, the government may further increase the margin on petrol by Rs 2/litre and on diesel by Rs 1/litre.

The government believes that OMCs

will earn billions of rupees worth of profit with this hike in the sales margin of petrol and diesel.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced a reduction in kerosene oil price by Rs 10/litre and light diesel oil (LDO) by Rs 7.50/litre, whereas petrol and diesel price will remain the same till the next fortnight. This means that after December 1, 2022 petrol will be available at the previous rate of Rs 224.80/litre, HSD at Rs 235.30/litre, Kerosene Oil at Rs 181.83/litre and LDO at Rs 179/litre in the open market for the next 15 days.

Consequently, the breakup of petroleum prices from December 1, 2022 is as follows: Ex-refinery price at Rs 142.34/litre, custom duty at Rs 14.77/litre, Inland Freight Margin at Rs 6.69/litre, OMCs margin at Rs 4/litre,

Similarly for diesel (HSD), the ex-refinery price is Rs 178.28/litre, custom duty Rs

Senate body calls for protecting customers from price increase

pROfIt REpORt daniyal ahmad

The Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production, chaired by Senator Khalida Ateeb on Wednesday, has called to protect customers from being subjected to making additional payments to cover the price differential between when they make the payment of their vehicle and when they receive it.

The SenaTe commiTTee’S recommendaTion

The Committee recommended that customers that have made complete payments for their vehicle should be safeguarded from being subject to paying price differentials on account of manufacturers increasing the price of their vehicle. The Committee particularly highlighted exempting customers, meeting the aforementioned criteria, from price increases attributable to the Pakistani Rupee depreciating against the US Dollar. It also recommended that customers be exempt from increases justified by manufacturers on account of local and/or domestic factors as well.

The automotive sector has expressed its dismay at what it believes to be an unjustified demand by the Committee, particularly as the sector has a completely

different stance on the matter.

Blame game

“The Senate Standing Committee can pay the difference then.” Abdul Waheed Khan, Director General of the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), told Profit, expressing his annoyance. “If the US Dollar, or whatever currency in which the imports are denominated, is fluctuating so widely then companies should not be required to pay from their pocket.” Khan continued when Profit asked how the automotive sector could implement the Committee’s recommendation. Khan blamed the long delivery times on the State Bank of Pakistan’s current stance on letters of credit, stating that the State Bank had deliberately encumbered PAMA’s members in accessing letters of credit to conduct their transactions to pay the differential if the manufacturer decides to increase the price for any reason. The Committee particularly highlighted that customers

The Summer of TuSSle BeTween The auTomoTive

FIA summons Imran Khan in cipher probe

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday summoned former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan again in connection with the investigation into US cipher issue. As per details, the FIA officer dropped summon at PTI chairman Imran Khan’s residence at Zaman Park in Lahore. FIA has initiated the investigation in connection with the US cipher on the order of the federal Interior Ministry. The investigation team comprises senior FIA officers of Lahore. The PTI chairman Imran Khan was summoned to FIA headquarters in the cipher probe on November 7 and former foreign minister and PTI vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also summoned on November 3. However, the PTI chief couldn’t appear before the investigation team after he got injured when a suspect opened fire near the PTI reception camp at Allahwala Chowk during the party’s long march. FIA has now summoned the PTI chairman Imran Khan on December 7.

SecTor and The ParliamenT The Senate Committee on Industries and Production is the Upper House counterpart to the National Assembly Committee on Industries and Production. The two jointly exist as part of Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly (2007) to monitor the activities of their requisite Cabinet Ministry.

The statement from the Senatorial Committee comes in light of the various heated sessions in its Lower House counterpart whereby the latter had first directed the Ministry of Industry and Production, and then ordered automotive CEOs to be summoned to explain the sector’s practices as well.

The crux of the matter relates to the automotive sector seeing unprecedented demand over FY 2021-22. This led to extended wait times and coincided with Pakistan’s deteriorating balance of payments position, which in turn subsequently led to automotive manufacturers introducing price increases

and subjecting customers to paying the differential. The matter came to a head when the State Bank of Pakistan expanded its mandate in June to include oversight of the automotive sector’s import activities. The State Bank sought to deliberately curtail access to letters of credit by implementing a rationing system to reduce forex outflow from the country.

Parliament and the State Bank have since been at loggerheads over the matter. The automotive sector at face value does not constitute a major component of Pakistan’s persistent forex crisis.

Automotive CKD kits and parts constituted the 3.04% and 0.65% of total imports across FY22 of all imports based on figures provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). However, the transport sector was the largest consumer energy across FY22 with a total consumption of 17.40 million tonnes of energy. This secondary consumption is, perhaps, what the government has bundled alongside the overall sector to constitute a major contributor to the forex crisis.

Swati moves IHC seeking shifting of all cases against him to Islamabad

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati on Thursday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking the court to order for clubbing all cases against him.

PTI Senator Azam Swati filed the petition through his counsel Babar Awan, requesting the IHC to shift and club all cases registered in connection with controversial tweets against state institutions, to Islamabad.

The counsel stated that the PTI Senator Azam Swati was arrested in a false case, elaborating on that after the FIA case, several other

cases were also registered against him across Pakistan. The petitioner added that because of security reasons all the cases against the PTI leader should be clubbed in Islamabad.

Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) senator Azam Swati filed a petition in the IHC seeking details of cases lodged against him in Islamabad, Balochistan and Sindh.

The petitioner stated that the court was the only platform from where he can get details of all the cases lodged against him.

It is pertinent to mention here that Swati was arrested for the second time in the same case over a month after he secured post-arrest bail from a court in the capital city.

25/litre.

terrorism rises by 52pc since ‘regime change operation’: Fawad

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

in tragic Quetta suicide attack, saying alarming upsurge has been witnessed in incidents of terrorism after “regime change operation” in the country. In a statement on Thursday, Fawad Chaudhry stated that the incidents of terrorism in Pakistan were increased by 52% since ‘‘ Regime Change Operation” carried out to topple a well-performing PTI government and brought in the incompetent “imported government.” He said that during this period, a total of 270 citizens and security personnel were martyred in these terror-related incidents while hundreds sustained injuries. Fawad Chaudhry stated that the main reason for terrorism was non-existence of a serious and competent government in Islamabad. He went on to say that this imported incompetent government ruined the fast thriving economy and destroyed the governance altogether. He said that the Afghan policy was a shambles, as no one was paying any attention to counter-terrorism, fearing that they should not lose the hard achievements after 2018.

Khar briefs pM on Afghanistan visit

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The deputy foreign minister called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday to apprise him about her recent high-profile visit to the neighbouring nation of Afghanistan. Hina Rabbani Khar, who paid a day-long official visit to Kabul on Tuesday, informed the prime minister about the outcome of her meetings with the interim Afghan leadership. Sharif said Pakistan desired a peaceful Afghanistan and vowed to extend every possible support to the Afghan brethren. He called upon the international community to play its role in improving the situation in Afghanistan as the warntorn country faced the challenges of economy and security. Her visit followed an announcement by the TTP ending a five-month old agreement to pause violence after Pakistan Army stepped up operations against them in former tribal regions and elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan. Since the Taliban seized power in August last year, its ties with Islamabad have deteriorated amid border clashes and a spike in cross-border attacks by TTP militants. Islamabad has repeatedly asked the Taliban to withdraw support to such elements widely reported to be operating freely inside the war-torn country.

Emergency plan to control population explosion soon: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday asked the provinces to create their own population ministries, saying the federal government will soon unveil a national emergency planto control the population explosion.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb was addressing a ceremony in Islamabad to mark 70th anniversary of establishment of Population Council. She stated that Prime

Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Task Force next week and provinces will be represented in the meeting.

The Information Minister then noted that the world’s population has reached 8 billion this year, of which 230 million is Pakistan’s population, and that in 75 years, the country’s population had grown from 40 to 230 million.

According to her, Pakistan would have a population of 263 million in 2030 and 338 million in 2050, making it the world’s fifth-largest country in terms of population.

She went on to highlight the concerns brought on by emerging population, emphasizing how issues with public services, such as education and health, also become more prevalent as population grows.

Following the 18th Amendment, the issues like education, health and public services are the responsibility of the provinces, she continued. “There is a need to create a national narrative on these issues of national importance and all stakeholders should be involved in the formulation of the narrative,” said the Information Minister.

She continued by saying that there should be an open discussion on such issues at the government level and that everyone must participate. She also mentioned the recent natural disaster like the flood that wreaked havoc in Pakistan, stating that children and women were significantly affected by the devastating floods.

She added that the goals were clearly defined in the declaration adopted by the National Conference held in the Parliament in the past, and the declaration of the conference is also signed by the provinces.

In order to attain the desired goals through policymaking, legislation, and narrative formulation, she said, “These goals and recommended measures need to be revised.”

In the end, the Information Minister applauded the planning department, stating that it has done a great job in the past and played a key role in regard to give awareness to the general public of the issue. The Information Minister also assured all possible support to the Population Council in creating awareness on digital media and creating a narrative regarding the growing population.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior vice President Fawad Chaudhary on Thursday expressed heartfelt grief over loss of precious lives

dealer’s commission is fixed at Rs 7/litre and petroleum levy is fixed at Rs 50/litre.

18.12/litre, Inland Freight Margin Rs 1.90/litre, OMCs margin Rs 5/litre, dealer’s commission Rs 7/litre and petroleum levy is fixed at Rs

pROfIt REpORt ahmad ahmadani

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS CUSTOMERS NOT BE MADE TO PAY BEYOND WHAT THEY HAVE ALREADY PAID IF MANUFACTURERS INCREASE PRICES FOR ANY REASON

pM vIsIts chInA eMbAssy to oFFer conDolences over JIAnG ZeMIn DeAth

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

pRIMEMinister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday visited the Embassy of China here in Islamabad to offer his condolences over the death of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin. In a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong, the prime minister expressed deep sorrow over the death of former president Jiang Zemin.

He said Jiang Zemin would always be remembered

as a great leader, who played a key role in strengthening the relations between Pakistan and China. He lauded the contribution of late Jiang Zemin’s role in China’s development.

The prime minister also penned his comments in the condolence book placed at the embassy. PreSidenT condoleS deaTh of Jiang Zemin

Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday conveyed his deepest condolences to the leadership and people of China on the demise of former President of China, Jiang Zemin.

The president said that former Chinese President Jiang Zemin was a distinguished statesman who, through sustained economic reforms, led China during a period of rapid growth and development, and significantly raised the standard of living in China.

He said that former President Jiang continued to deepen the friendship and people-to-people ties between the two countries.

He said that President Jiang would be remembered for his services and dedication to his country.”Our thoughts are with the people of China at this time of bereavement,” he said.

PTI moves Supreme Court against Swati’s arrest over tweet on army chief

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

A leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party petitioned the Supreme Court through its sub-office in Lahore against the arrest of Senator Azam Khan Swation charges of sending out tweets critical of former chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and featuring slurs.

In her petition, Dr Yasmin Rashid, health minister of Punjab, told the top judicial forum the septuagenarian parliamentarian was taken into custody in a political move, before requesting the judges to punish the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for making the “illegal” move. The agency arrested Swati, 75, on Sunday, the second time in as many months, after he pressed the former army chief on details of his financial assets

Gas blast at Kp coal mine kills nine workers

pESHAWAR ReuteRS

during a public rally in Rawalpindi the previous night, according to members of the opposition party. He was last arrested by the agency in the second week of October in a midnight raid at his residence in Islamabad. His lawyer Babar Awan alleged at the time that Swati’s house was raided without a search warrant. “He was blindfolded and treated like a terrorist,” he had told the press. In her petition, Rashid said the raiding team meted out ill-treatment to members of Swati’s family present during his arrest, and called on the apex court to take action against the agency for doing so. It also asked the judges to ensure the sanctity of the Parliament during such matters.

Rashid also said the women MPs of the party will protest against the treatment meted out to women members of Swati’s family by Rana Sanaullah Khan, the

minister for interior.

“We are hopeful the chief justice would give justice to us,” the minister said, adding she will also file a plea against Maulana Fazl ur-Rehman, the chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUIF), for using derogatory language against women supports of the PTI.

SwaTi SeeKS TranSfer of caSeS To iSlamaBad: Meanwhile, Swati also approached the Supreme Court seeking to transfer over a dozen first information reports (FIRs) registered against him in Sindh and Balochistan over the tweet and the comments during the rally to Islamabad.

The plea was moved by his lawyer Babar Awan in which the federation, director general of the FIA and inspector general of Sindh and Balochistan police were nominated as respondents.

Swati said the agency implicated and arrested him in a “false case”, noting that at least 16 cases were registered against him across the country. He said he faces a security threat and has been advised against personally appearing to attend hearings in those cases. In such a scenario, the senator appealed to the court to order the consolidation and transfer of the cases to Islamabad. The senator also appealed to the court that the “operation of FIRs” registered against him be suspended until his plea is heard.

“The petitioner invokes Constitutional jurisdiction of this honourable court inter alia on the question of larger public importance and seeks the remedy of transferring all the FIRs at one place/jurisdiction to enable the petitioner to effectively defend himself,” read the petition.

Sana to Afghan Taliban: TTP attacks should be a matter of concern for ‘hosts’

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

A gas blast at a coal mine killed nine workers in the Orakzai district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, a government official said, and a team investigating the incident said gas sparks had caused the explosion. There were 13 workers in the mine at the time and nine bodies were recovered, said Adnan Farid, the deputy commissioner. The remaining four miners were rescued from the rubble and have suffered critical injuries, he said.

A government team from the mineral development department inspected the site of the incident and said the explosion took place “due to gas sparks inside the mine,” Nazeer Khan, the district police officer (DPO) in Orakzai, told Reuters.

A government report seen by Reuters said the blast caused the collapse of the mine, and that gas build-up had triggered the blast. It didn’t specify what type of gas it was.

Coal deposits are found in the northwestern district that sits on the Afghanistan border and mine accidents are common, mainly due to gas build-ups.

Mine workers have complained that a lack of safety gear and poor working conditions are the key causes of frequent accidents, labour union officials have said in the past.

The minister for interior said the involvement of Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists in attacks inside Pakistan should be a matter of concern for the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan hosting them, observing the resurgence of the menace of militancy in the former tribal regions was dangerous for regional peace. The group, listed as a global terrorist organisation by the United States and the United Nations, is an off-shoot and close ally of Afghanistan’s ruling group.

The TTP has claimed responsibility for hundreds of suicide bombings and other attacks since its emergence in Pakistan in 2007, killing tens of thousands of civilians and security forces. Its leaders and fighters largely fled into hiding in Afghanistan after the government ordered a major military operation, called Zarb-i-Azb, backed by air power, against the group in 2014.

Speaking to the media in the capital after attending a meeting called to review the security situation in the country following the attack on a polio team in Quetta on Wednesday, Rana Sanaullah Khan said the rise in terror attacks is alarming but appeared confident that the situation, however grim, was not out of control yet. He asked the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to address the reported infiltration of militants lest the federal government was compelled to take the matter into its hands. “TTP is enjoying every possible support and conducive environment in Afghanistan,” the minister alleged, a day after the

proscribed outfit claimed the attack in Quetta in which at least five people, including a policeman, were killed.

“KP chief minister was not allowed [by his party] to attend meetings on evolving law and order situation chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,” the minister said, and told Mahmood Khan that national matters were above party politics. Turning to the domestic crises, the minister, in a thinly-veiled reference to former prime minister Imran Khan, said that “a group led by a mad, crazy person [sic] is bent on triggering anarchy in the country.”

Khan said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was “making every effort to destabilise the country.”

“Economy cannot strengthen in the middle of political uncertainty in the country. When they [PTI] were in government, their agenda was to eliminate opposition parties and now [when they are out of power], they are trying to destabilise the country.”

He claimed the party’s threat of dissolution of provincial assemblies is part of the plan to trigger a crisis. “If you don’t want to be part of this corrupt system then you should quit Senate, and resign from the assemblies of Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan assemblies as well.”

The minister said that if the party tenders en masse resignations, elections will be held only in Punjab and KP constituencies while the general election, scheduled to be held by next winter, will be held on time.

“Announcement to dissolve assemblies in rallies in unconstitutional and undemocratic. And we will try to stop the assemblies from being dissolved,” he said.

President, PM for engaging vulnerable groups to help prevent AIDS spread

Staff RepoRt

Dr Arif Alvi and Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to fighting the spread of AIDS through the provision of testing and treatment services to disease victims.

The president said the disease could be prevented and treated with meaningful engagement with vulnerable communities.

In his message on World AIDS Day, he said Pakistan was committed to providing quality healthcare services indiscriminately with the aim to build a stronger society and healthier society.

“We also rededicate ourselves to further strengthen the HIv response at the national and provincial levels, support data-driven solutions, expand access to testing

and treatment, ensure economic empowerment of the vulnerable section of society, and fight the stigma and discrimination attached to HIv diseases and its victims,” he said.

President Alvi emphasised that by joining hands together with partners like UNAIDS, NGOs, and the private sector, new ways could be explored to address HIv and AIDS.

He urged all stakeholders to thoroughly create awareness and provide counseling to the vulnerable segments to prevent the disease altogether and to diagnose it at an early stage to save precious lives.

He prayed for those who lost their lives to AIDS and expressed solidarity and support to the bereaved family members.

“On this day, we also reaffirm our support and provide assurances to the victims of AIDS that we will

continue to work with all relevant stakeholders at all levels with the aim to halt new infections, treat those who are suffering from it with care and passion, without stigmatizing them, and to wipe out AIDS from our country as many other countries have done successfully,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the Ministry of National Health Services to focus on raising awareness about the disease through testing, prevention, and treatment to effectively fight it.

The prime minister, in a tweet, expressed concern over the increasing cases of HIv and AIDS, terming the statistics “deeply worrying”.

Sharif also emphasized removing the taboos attached to AIDS to ensure its elimination. “On World Aids Day today, let us all vow to end the stigma attached to HIv,” he said.

oGrA jacks up lpG price by rs12/kg

ISLAMABAD ahmad ahmadani

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority on Thursday notified Rs12 per kilogram hike in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for the month of December 2022, adding more woes to the already burdened masses. According to OGRA notification, the price of LPG for December 2022 has been increased by Rs…metric ton and due to this notification of LPG price hike, the price of a domestic cylinder has been increased by Rs139 to Rs2,548 while commercial cylinder would now be sold at Rs9,804 after an increase of Rs535. Demanding from the government to give an end to all taxes imposed on LPG in order to ensure the supply of LPG at lower price, Irfan Khokhar, Chairman LPG Association said that the government should devise a comprehensive LPG import policy and immediately start the LPG plant of Jamshoro Joint venture Limited (JJvL) to avoid further losses. He urged that the government should immediately close all factories which are producing lower standard of LPG cylinders. The government should also legalize the use of LPG as a fuel in motor vehicles, said Irfan Khokhar, Chairman LPG Association. It is pertinent to mention that the OGRA had earlier fixed LPG price at Rs 2409 per 11.8-kilogram cylinder for the month of November, 2022. Besides, LPG is usually used for cooking, lightening, heating purposes in the country.

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah on Thursday said that the incumbent coalition government would respond according to the Constitution in case the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assemblies were dissolved before completion of its constitutional tenure. Addressing a press conference here, the minister said that the government would review all options in line with the constitutional provisions, if the provincial assemblies were dissolved, which might delay in conduct of elections or participation in elections of both assemblies. “We are not afraid of elections and will participate in it if these are conducted,” he added. The minister said that the coalition parties would use all the available constitutional options to stop the dissolution of the Punjab and KP assemblies. He said that Imran Khan had failed in all his moves to destabilize the country so far and he would also fail in its new political move. The minister said the PTI has double standards and it should also quit from Senate, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan governments before the dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. He demanded that PTI MNAs should tender resignations from National Assembly and vacate the Parliament Lodges, ministers’ houses and return the official vehicles. He said that Imran Khan would not be allowed to succeed in his nefarious design of destabilizing the country, terming him a threat to national unity. Rana Sanaullah said that the PTI chairman was following the anti-state agenda, adding that Imran Khan was trying to sabotage the peaceful environment of the country for personal gains. He said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) had caused serious damages to many sectors including the national economy. The minister said a group led by a crazy person was bent upon creating anarchy in the country and making every effort to destabilize the country. “Economy cannot strengthen when there is political uncertainty in the country.

‘Govt will consider all constitutional options if punjab, Kp assemblies dissolved’

ISLAMABAD

CPEC ProjECtS hELP PAKIStAn ImProvE EnErgy StrUCtUrE, rEdUCE PowEr gEnErAtIon CoSt: ZhAo LIjIAn

AChinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson on Thursday said that the energy projects completed under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) featuring advanced technologies and lower cost not only provided a solution to Pakistan’s electricity shortage, which was a historic achievement for the country but also helped Pakistan improve its energy structure and reduce the cost of power generation. This is an important contribution to the local economy and people’s lives, Zhao Lijian said during his regular briefing held here at International Press Center (IPC).

He said that energy was one of the most heavily invested, fastest advancing, and most productive cooperation areas

under

gone into commercial operation. The former project provides massive clean and affordable electricity for Pakistan, and the latter generates power from Pakistan’s coal, which helps save Pakistan’s valuable foreign exchange resources, he added.

According to official sources, the total installed capacity of CPEC energy projects, including that of coal, wind, solar and hydropower, stands at 6,570 MW. They generated 28,549.94 Gwh and 25,772.48 Gwh power respectively in FY 2020-21 and FY2021-22, accounting for 22.03% and 18.37% of the total generation in Pakistan.

As the CPEC energy projects replaced the costlier energy production from furnace oil and diesel to coal and renewable energy resources in the last five years, the energy needs of Pakistan have been fulfilled at lower prices, driving growth in the export-oriented industries.

Anti-narcotics force seizes over 3,000 kg drugs

ISLAMABAD staff report

Covid-19 daily report: 40 new cases, one death

ISLAMABAD staff report

Pakistan recorded 40 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of National Health Services said on Thursday.

According to data released by the ministry, the overall tally of infected people climbed to 1,575,226 across the country after adding the fresh cases.

A total of 30,632 people died of Covid-19 in Pakistan, with one more death recorded on Wednesday, according to the ministry’s statistics. On Wednesday, 6,828 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan, and the positivity rate stood at 0.59 percent. There are 29 patients in critical condition.

14 Afghan immigrants arrested in Karachi

KARACHI staff report

The police on Thursday booked and arrested in a latenight operation 14 people from Afghanistan for illegally living in the port city of Karachi. The people failed to produce evidence of their Pakistan citizenship and relevant travel documents, police said. Police have registered cases against the immigrants under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and handed those men over to the authorities. In a statement, police said the crackdown against such foreign nationals would continue across the provincial metropolis. Earlier on November 11, Sindh Rangers and police in their joint action rounded up 122 illegal immigrants, who were attempting to enter Sindh from Balochistan. According to a spokesperson for over, the personnel of the paramilitary force and police searched the passenger bus in a routine practice wherein they encountered the 122 suspects who were Afghan citizens having illegally penetrated into Pakistan.

The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) conducted 34 operations in different parts of the country over the last week, seizing 3000.65 kilogrammes of drugs and 4,820 litres of prohibited chemicals, it said.

During the counter-narcotics operations on November 21-27, the force arrested 32 people including two women, while impounding 10 vehicles that were being used for smuggling, the

ANF said in a statement.

In Balochistan, the ANF recovered 2583.99 kilogrammes of drugs, 3,795 litres of hydrochloric acid and 1,025 litres of acetic anhydride in eight operations. It has arrested two people involved in drug smuggling while seizing two vehicles, the statement said.

The police in Punjab recovered 168.28 kilogrammes of drugs and seized three vehicles in eight operations, arresting 11 people, including a woman.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it

seized 242.02 kilogrammes of drugs and five vehicles, and arrested 11 people in eight operations.

The ANF in Sindh confiscated 1.53-kilogramme of heroin in a couple of operations while arresting three people.

From the northern parts of the country, the ANF recovered 4.84 kilogrammes of drugs in eight operations and arrested five people in drug smuggling. All the cases were registered, and further investigations have been underway, according to the statement.

Pakistan at UN: ‘Perpetuation’ of Israel occupation won’t bring peace to Mideast

Amidst intensifying Israeli attacks and annexation of Palestinian territories, Pakistan has urged negotiations to find a solution to end the dispute and pave the way for an independent state of Palestine with the city of Jerusalem as its capital.

“The perpetuation of Israeli occupation will not bring peace to the holy land,” Ambassador Aamir Khan, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the General assembly as he reaffirmed Pakistan’s solidarity with Palestine.

“If history is any guide, even if they are dispossessed and disempowered by Israel, every succeeding generation of Palestinians will persist in seeking their freedom and fundamental rights, including their right to self-determination,” he said. The envoy said that Israel’s actions — such as illegal settlements, demolitions and evictions, are grave violations of international rights laws — are hampering hopes for sustainable peace.

“We condemn the killing and wounding of Palestinians, including women and children by Israel, the occupying power,” Khan said, adding: “International community is obliged, morally and legally, to bring this deplorable situation to an end.”

He underscored the work of UNRWA, the UN

agency that delivers basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees, saying political and financial support for the agency is just one way to show solidarity with them. “We call for the establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous State of Palestine, on the basis of internationally agreed parameters, the pre-1967 borders, and with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” the envoy added. Opening the debate, Riyad Mansour, permanent observer for the state of Palestine, said that Israeli exceptionalism has only emboldened the country’s worst instincts.

Today, the 193-member body will finally acknowledge the historical injustice that befell the Palestinian people, adopting a resolution that decides to commemorate in the Assembly Hall the 75th anniversary of the Nakba (Catastrophe) when the creation of Israel caused many to lose their homes and become refugees, he said.

There is no two-state solution without a sovereign and independent state of Palestine based on the pre1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Anybody serious about the two-nation solution must help salvage the Palestinian state and recognise it now without further delay, Mansour said, stressing that justice in Palestine would mean that the international law-based order has triumphed over the impunity and double standards.

Leopard preservation zone ‘extraordinary jewel’ in heart of Islamabad: US envoy

ISLAMABAD staff report

Donald Blome, the ambassador of the United States to Pakistan, visited the leopard preservation zone in the Margalla Hills National Park and described the protected area as an “extraordinary jewel” in the heart of Islamabad.

The ambassador along with Arsalan Faheem, the country director in Pakistan of DAI, visited the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre established in the old Murghzar Zoo and received a briefing on the biodiversity-rich facility.

Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) chair Rina Saeed Khan and her staff accompanied the ambassador during the visit.

To help the cats, former prime minister Imran Khan in October 2021 ordered a leopard preservation zone with a roughly 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) radius be set up at Margalla Hills in an effort to protect the endangered species’ natural habitat.

In recent years, there have been signs of a leopard comeback in the park located just outside of Islamabad. Conservationists say the animals likely drifted to the Margalla area — foothills of the Himalayan mountains — as it became heavily forested over the years. And they stayed on because they found prey, a stable environment and an ecosystem that could support them.

On the occasion, Ambassador Blome said: “I am thrilled to have this opportunity to visit Margalla Hills National Park.” He also appreciated the efforts of the IWMB working to preserve the wildlife and biodiversity of Margalla Hills. He also mentioned that the Pakistan-US green alliance was also supporting various climate resilience initiatives focusing on biodiversity, agriculture, and other regions related to the environment and nature.

The staff showcased taxidermy specimens of different illegally hunted animals like the Asiatic leopard, Ibex, Markhor trophies, and black buck dear and hides or pelts of Barking Deer, Red Fox, Jackal, Mongoose, Bengal Tiger, and Snow Leopard. These pelts on the display were recently confiscated in a raid by IWMB staff at a shop in F-7 Market.

Khan and Dr Tariq, wildlife director at IWMB, briefed the ambassador on the efforts of the board in nature conservation and protection of precious biodiversity species of the Margalla Hills National Park. During the visit to Wildlife Rescue Centre, the envoy observed black bears and common kites, eagles, and buzzards that were under the rehabilitation of the IWMB and lauded the efforts of the staff.

The ambassador also hiked into the zone where he was briefed on the living natural habitat of the endangered wildcat. A short documentary on Margalla Hills National Park was also shown to the ambassador and the participants.

In the end, Faheem gave the vote of thanks. He said his organisation as the international development agency was collaborating with IWMB and NDRMF to protect the leopard preserve zone and Margalla Hills National Park. “Pakistan is looking for a new identity and it has rich tremendous natural preserves.

Texas Symposium urges for peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue

ISLAMABAD staff report

The Texas State Representative and Congress woman Terry Meeza has stressed for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the legitimate aspirations of the people of Kashmir.

She was speaking as chief guest at a symposium on Kashmir Conflict, organized by Kashmir Global Council and South Asia Democracy Watch in Frisco Texas, according to press statement received here.

Among others, the symposium was attended by well-known social activist Ms. Beverly Hill and various political leaders, academics and young students.

Terry Meza urged the international com-

munity, especially the United States, to reach out to India to end the deliberate politicizing of the justice system and its discriminatory functioning. This development shows that there was growing noticeable awareness regarding Indian’s brutal acts and atrocities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Meanwhile, President Kashmir Global Council Farooq Siddiqi said that the council would continue to bring the issue of Kashmir to the forefront in the corridors of world powers.

After a full day discourse and deliberation during the symposium, a resolution was passed that stresses upholding the human rights of Kashmiri people and appealed to allow the UN Human Rights Commission to

verify the report compiled by the UNHRC in 2018-19.

It pledged to support and make efforts for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in keeping with the legitimate aspirations of the people of Kashmir.

The resolution urged international community, especially the United States, to reach out to the Indian state to end the deliberate politicizing of the justice system and its discriminatory functioning. It is pertinent to mention here that freedom struggle of Kashmiris and occupation of Kashmir has entered in its 75th year. It is time that international community urges India to recognize Kashmir’s right to independence as per the UNSC resolutions. This is the only way to maintain peace in South Asia.

CPEC.

The spokesperson said that this year, the Karot hydropower plant, the first

large-scale hydropower investment project under CPEC, and the Phase II of the Thar Block II power station project had

UNITED NATIONS staff report

Punjab, KP CMS to IMran: both aSSEMbLIES to bE ‘dISSoLvEd’ wIthout dELay

LAHore Staff RepoRt

tHEChief Ministers (CMs) of Punjab and Khyber Pakthunkhwa on Thursday assured former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan of ‘dissolution’ their respective assemblies without any delay.

According to details, Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi called on the former premier at his residence in Zaman Park in Lahore. Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) leaders Moonis Elahi and Hussain Elahi were also present in

the meeting. On the occasion, Pervaiz Elahi assured that there would be no delay in dissolution of the Punjab Assembly once PTI chairman give the call. “The provincial assembly belonged to the former prime minister,” he said, adding that they will support Imran’s every decision.

“We fully support those we choose to ally ourselves with,” the Punjab CM said, adding that those creating misunderstandings will fail as they did in the past. He also welcomed the opposition for tabling a no-confidence motion in the provincial assembly, saying: “It will fail like it did in the past.” Pervaiz Elahi claimed that the opposition did not have the requisite

numbers for passing the no-confidence motion. “Governor’s rule can also not be imposed when the assembly is in session,” he said, advising the opposition to go over the assembly’s Rules of Business before speaking.

During the meeting, matters pertaining to political and administrative matters were discussed. The rules of procedure of the Punjab Assembly were also reviewed in the meeting. The participants also expressed their determination to fight “every unconstitutional tactic” of the opposition. Speaking on the occasion, Imran Khan noted that he has summoned a meeting of Punjab Parliamentary Party tomorrow. “A final

Mysterious plaint seeks FIA action against Gandapur over tweet on ex-army chief

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has initiated work on the complaint moved for a legal action against Ali Amin Gandapur, a leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, over a tweet critical of former army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.

A mysterious person in a complaint filed to the agency requested that action be taken against Gandapur over the “hateful and poisonous” tweet against the general.

Ethiopia keen to help Pakistan counter climate change woes: Envoy

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia to Pakistan Jemal Beker Abdula on Thursday said Ethiopia was keen to help the government of Pakistan in addressing climate-related issues which had caused great economic and human loss to the country in the shape of recent flash floods. “We are ready to exchange knowledge, ideas and initiatives with the government of Pakistan by signing agreements on climate action,” he said during a meeting with Special Assistant to PM and Minister of State Romina Khurshid Alam here at Prime Minister’s Office. The ambassador briefed Romina Khurshid on Green Legacy Initiative which was a brainchild of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ali Ahmed. He said the initiative had brought green revolution in the country through attitudinal, behaviour and cultural change. Under the Green Legacy Initiative, Ethiopia had planted some 25 billion seedlings in last four years to address climate issues out of which 500 million were avocadoes, mangoes and papaya, he added. Jemal Beker said climate change was not a myth but a reality and Pakistan needed to build a resilient economy by addressing its climate related issues. “I have visited the flood affected areas in Sindh where I met with flood affected people and distributed relief items among them.” “Sharing their pain in such trying times is very important for me,” he remarked.

The text of the complaint read that Gandapur at-

consultation on the future of Punjab Assembly will be held in the meeting,” he added. Khan also lambasted the incumbent government for “destroying” the national economy.

It is important to mention here that former prime minister Imran Khan had announced that his party would quit all the assemblies during his address to long march participants in Rawalpindi on November 26. “We will be no more part of this “corrupt” political system as we have made up mind to quit all assemblies,” the former premier said while addressing the party workers and supporters at Rawalpindi Jalsa.

Imran Khan said that his party had decided

not to go to Islamabad to avert any destruction or chaos. “I would announce the date of resignations after consulting chief ministers and the parliamentary party,” he announced.

Earlier on November 28, Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry confirmed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership agreed upon dissolving Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab assemblies.

Talking to journalists at Zaman Park in Lahore, Fawad Chaudhry noted that the PTI leadership held a party leaders’ meeting to decide upon quitting all assemblies to push the incumbent government for fresh elections.

‘KP Assembly would be dissolved when PArty leAder indicAtes’: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan declared that he is a soldier of Imran Khan whenever he (Imran) sought the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to be dissolved, he would waste not a single minute.

Govt doubles Petroleum Levy on diesel, light diesel oil

ContInueD froM pAge 01

tempted to incite public hatred against the army by tweeting against the military command which was a violation of the FIA Cyber Crime Act.

“Ali Amin Gandapur tweeted: ‘Who was he? He was Mir Jaffer Bajwa’. By posting such a hateful tweet, he not only dared question the loyalty of the army chief but also hatched a dangerous ploy to incite people against their defence institutions,” it declared, without explaining further.

“It will be a weakness [on the part of security institutions] to ignore it,” it stated. “Ali Amin Gandapur should be brought to justice for spreading incitement against the military command so that no one can do such a thing in the future.”

POF playing key role in meeting demand of defence sector,

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday urged the need for focusing on Research and Development, innovation and modernization and adoption of best practices to further improve its efficiency and productivity of defense production sector.

“The defense production sector has immense potential for growth which can be fully realized by continuously improving the capacity of its human resource and adopting emerging and critical technologies powered by Artificial Intelligence, virtual reality and robotics”, President Dr Arif Alvi said during a visit to Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Wah on Thursday.

The President underlined the need to employ modern marketing techniques and improve the efficiency of supply chain to consolidate our position in existing markets and increasing our footprint in new and nontraditional markets by promoting Pakistani defense products which were high quality, effective and dependable in any given situation, and were at the same time very cost-effective.

The President appreciated POF for its pivotal role in moving towards self-sufficiency and in meeting the growing demand of our defense sector and civilian security agencies, as well as capturing foreign markets by improving

its efficiency, adopting quality financial management practices and digitalizing its processes to transform POF into a self-sustainable and progressive defense industrial complex.

Dr Arif Alvi visited different parts of POF where he was given an overview of the production and manufacturing processes. He also took keen interest in different defense products manufactured at POF, and were on display. The President was also briefed on the role of POF in fulfilling the ammunition requirements of Pakistan’s Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies and steps taken by it to develop academia-industry linkages.

It was highlighted in the meeting that out of total grant, Asian Development Bank (ADB) extended grant of $8.28 million while Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) provided grant of $0.7 million. The meeting was informed that United Nations in coordination with the government of Pakistan launched a $160.3 million flash appeal on August 30, 2022 out of which $148 million have been pledged by the humanitarian commitments as of September 15, 2022. The revised appeal, however urgently seeks $816 million to respond to the growing lifesaving needs of the people-a jump of $656 million from the initial applea of $160 million. UN’s organizations WHO, UNFPA and FAO provided financial support of $3.06 million whereas China also provided $112.33 million for the rehabilitation and reconstruction process in flood hit areas. The United States extended financial assistance of over $95 million while Japan provided $7 million of financial support. Likewise, the participants were informed that Canada, Australia, European Union, UK and Euorpean Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO)-EU extended grants worth $4.22 million, $3.48 million, $19.57 million, $62.52 million, and $30.67 million respectively. The officials told the meeting that UK (FCDO), Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Azerbaijan, and South Korea extended grants of $62.5 million, $58.87 million, $0.99 million, $1.05 million, $1.95 million, $0.5 million, $8.6 million, $2.1 million, $2 million, and $4.86 million respectively. Senator Saadia Abbasi asked the authorities to ensure transparency in the utilization of the funds and that the proress report must be presented before the committee in two months time.

Pakistan values ties with Switzerland: Governor

LAHore Staff RepoRt

Georg Steiner, Ambassador of Switzerland to Pakistan, on Thursday called on Punjab Governor Muhammad Balighur Rehman at Governor House Lahore.

Senior Political Adviser to Swiss Ambassador Osama Kaiser Khan was also present on the occasion. In the meeting, issues of mutual interest were discussed including further promotion of bilateral cooperation in various fields, especially in trade. Speaking on the occasion, the Punjab Governor said that Pakistan values relations with Switzerland and cooperation in socio-economic development.

He said that the people and government of Pakistan are grateful to the Government of Switzerland for helping the flood victims. The Punjab governor said that the process of rehabilitation of the flood victims was still going on while he was also working on the aspect of getting the flood victims out of the psychological effects of the flood, adding he said, as the chancellor of the universities he has mobilized the vice-chancellors of the universities and the students in this regard.

$25.4b investment under CPEC helped Pakistan mitigate energy, communication issues

Chinese senior diplomat on Thursday said that the landmark project of China, Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has achieved fruitful results, bringing in US$ 25.4 billion in investment and helped Pakistan to mitigate its energy and communication issues by adding 6040 megawatts of electricity and 886 kilometers of core national transmission network and 510 kilometers of highways.

Addressing as chief guest at a seminar titled “CPEC’s Defining Moment: Prospect and Challenges” organized by the Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution (IICR) here, Ms Pang Chunxue, Deputy Head of Mission of the Chinese Embassy said China and Pakistan will jointly advance CPEC with greater efficiency

making it an exemplar of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution (IICR) Executive Director Ms Sabah Aslam was also present.

Pang Chunxue said the two sides would make full use of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC to ensure the speedy completion of projects under the corridor.

Under the promotion of CPEC, she said Pakistan’s energy shortage had been greatly addressed, transport infrastructure has been improved, and local people have gained a large number of employment opportunities.

She said that China would always put Pakistan as its priority for cooperation and work in joint hands to address various risks and challenges at the regional and international levels, deepen the

location.

In

we must deal with them. He said Pakistan needs to take some ideas from its Chinese friends and that is what CPC is focused on “modernization”. Pakistan can also use and implement the idea in its own requirement, Pakistan needs modernization in order to carry on with the emerging world or else be obsolete, he added.

He said that there is a need to link industry and institute in order to resolve the challenges, as Pakistan needs to institutionalize the challenges to CPEC.

Joining from Sri Lanka, Dr George highlighted that every country is unique in its outlook and none should be looked at as a replication of the other rather unique relationship it has with the international community.

Dawood Butt said that the emerging world is talking about more politics than trade and in these times

Pakistan should feel proud of CEPC rather being skeptical about it, we should introspect but not be skeptic about its productivity and benefit for Pakistan because China is leading in GDP and Pakistan is no 1 recipient of China Foreign Direct Investment. We need to remove bottlenecks for seamless functioning of CPEC. There is institutional consensus that CPEC is necessary to Pakistan. geography is important but history is equally important and Pakistan need to learn from Chinese history which is full of resilience, he added.

Prof. Shahid Raza said CPEC will happen amid all the challenges it faces, it may take slightly longer but it will be accomplished. Javed Iqbal highlighted the technological aspects of CPEC saying that the foremost need of modern world is nowhere to be seen in CPEC project.

ISLAMABAD

Mian abRaR

China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, and build a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.

his opening remarks Moderator of the session, Professor Dr. Azhar Mahmood, said that CPEC is an opportunity that was harnessed as a result of Pakistan’s geo-strategic

Due to the same reason, it has vital importance in China’s One Belt One Road Initiative because it is the enriched and shortest route of east west connectivity providing connectivity to not only region but civilization. Professor Dr Tahir Awan focused political aspects of CPEC saying that there are challenges and

says President

Punjab rendered rudderless again

THE cavalier attitude of PTi chief imran Khan towards the Punjab, shown in his announcement that he wants its Assembly dissolved, ignores the fact that its provincial government is mandated to perform such vital governance functions as controlling law and order, and providing the citizenry health and education. The state of governance under imran’s so-called ‘Wasim Akram-Plus’, chief minister Usman Buzdar, was nothing to write home about, for the rumors of corruption which swirled about him and Farah ‘Gogi’ combined with poor governance. The problem thus existed before the vote of no-confidence that ousted mr Khan from the Premiership. However, after the resignation of mr Buzdar, government, already pretty invisible, entirely disappeared, after first Hamza Shehbaz and then ch Pervez Elahi, took the office in a series of titanic struggles where the courts had to be invoked at every step.

matters have only been made worse by the fact that local councils stand dissolved, with elections due to be held. At a time when the provincial government does not manage to perform its basic functions, it also has the responsibility of ensuring that municipal functions are carried on. The game of musical chairs being played by the chief minister is reflected by the impermanence of the chief secretaries and iGPs, even though that was something that the Buzdar government suffered from. on top of that, mr Khan has started the hare of dissolution, something not likely to sit well with ch Pervez, who took office at a very high cost, both personal and political. Though he has made reassuring noises in public, he will be very reluctant to advise the dissolution. He can be stopped from dissolving if a motion of no-confidence is moved against him, something the opposition is expected to do even it has no hope of success. mr Khan should not be surprised if he finds his partymen unenthusiastic about either resigning or having their House dissolved. ch Pervez Elahi must also make sure that he provides the province the kind of governance it needs, because at the moment, the province’s bureaucrats has gone into a wait-and-see mode with vengeance, and are sitting on files because they do not want to take decisions, as they do not know which political master they have to please. Even a smart administrator like ch Pervez, has found himself hamstrung by the present situation, and has found himself unable to deliver the sort of governance he would like to.

In search of the next step

With the Long March over, what can Imran do next?

At Penpoint M A NIAZI

THE PTi’s Long march is over, without imran Khan having secured any of his goals. not only did he not have any input into the appointment of the new coAS, but no fresh election date was announced. The dream might not be over, but the Long march, and the threat of a sit-in at the end, was perhaps imran’s last card.

He announced one more card, the dissolution of the Punjab and KP Assemblies, and the resignation of the PTii members from the Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies.

He had obtained the consent for this from the cms involved, but has still to hold the parliamentary party meeting which will take a final decision.

it would be unprecedented to have elections to two provincial assemblies, and for the federal government to remain intact, but not unthinkable. That is the logic inherent in a situation first occurring in 1988, and repeated since, of Punjab being in the opposition. it is thus not much of a jump to the stage of an election in Punjab alone.

in that context, the indian experience will be instructive, where provincial elections for Uttar Pradesh (the largest state in the indian Union) are now bifurcated from national elections. now only if either UP or the Union has a premature dissolution to make the elections coincide, are elections likely to fall on the same day. However, UP has never held the majority of the seats in india, as the Punjab does here.

Another consequence will be the continued tying of Sindh and Balochistan elections to national elections, just as inindia a cluster of states have both national and provincial elections together. There were only four in 2019, which is about par for a union of 28 states and eight union territories. Three other states had elections that year, but not coinciding with the general election.

Holding separate elections for the Punjab and KP assemblies will mean entering uncharted territory, for both national and provincial candidates depend heavily on the candidates for the other seat, campaigning together most of the time, and printing joint election material.

Separating the two from the national elections would lead to the electorate focusing on the provincial government’s performance, something which has not happened so far, with provincial elections being little more than referenda on the outgoing national government.

the election will be made to centre by the PmL(n) on the Buzdar and Pervez Elahi governments, for which the PTi was responsible. The issue of Buzdar’s corruption, and the role of the First |Lady and her aide Farhat Shehzadi ‘Gogi’ will also be raised. it will probably be raised in the national election, but it has a particular resonance in the Punjab.

A complicating factor in such an election would be the presence of a sitting mnA. in previous elections, those mnAs were themselves candidates, and had a vested interest in their provincial running mates doing well. now, matters would be different, and there would be less of the coattail effect, whereby running mates delivered biradri vote banks for each other. There would be a significant time difference, and interests could change in the meanwhile. There would also be the entire internal dynamic of the PDm components. The PPP has not been entirely wiped out in Punjab, but it is close to being so. Though PPP cochairman Asif Zardari has won kudos among political insiders for his skills, the Punjab electorate seems less than impressed. Then there is KP, where all components are interested in contesting.

The Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies would become targets for imran, and bastions for the entire PDm, not just individual components. Though they do not have a majority of national Assembly seats, if they remain intact, that might prevent a national election. They will also pose a challenge to the EcP if they remain undissolved. The EcP will be hard put to monitor sitting mnAs during a provincial assembly election. True, the provincial governments will be caretakers, and the administration will be under the EcP, but will the PTi stand the chief Election commissioner, or indeed the rest of the Election commission, who all signed off on the decisions against the PTi and imran, conducting those elections?

duced which might not be easily overcome, as the desire for assemblies to run their full tenure becomes further confirmed.

if the PDm parties get a mauling at the hustings in provincial elections, as the PTi hopes, there will be an even lower incentive to give up their present governmental positions. Also, the possibility of the economy improving will remain, that it will be a turnaround for the general election.

The PmL(n),which still remains the party to beat, especially in Punjab, will also like to bring back its chief, nawaz Sharif, for the campaign. He might find it unfamiliar to campaign for the provincial election without a national, but he will probably also have to do some campaigning in KP.

it is also possible, indeed probable, that the PDm will move no-confidence motions in both the provincial assemblies, and thus prevent the chief ministers from dissolving. Whereas it might be possible for the Punjab government to be overturned, the KP government will likely survive, unless there is a massive intra-party rebellion. As a matter of fact, the Punjab government was only retained by the PTi after it sacrificed Usman Buzdar, and a major crisis which saw a PmL(n) government briefly hold office. indeed, ch Pervez Elahi only became chief minister after the PmL(Q) votes against him were excluded on a court order. in KP, on the other hand, the no-confidence motion was handily defeated.

Imran now seems to have run out of political options. He may now have to exit his agitational mode of politics for now, and for next year’s elections. It works to his advantage that next year is election year, and he can look forward to elections next year without bothering to dissolve the Punjab and KP Assemblies.

The result of the no-confidence motion would not matter as much as its prevention of dissolution. There is an alternative, leaving the Speaker in place, and getting everyone else to resign, with the Speaker verifying the resignations to the EcP.

However, while that might force dissolution in the nWP, where almost the entire House would resign, it would potentially open the door in Punjab to the PDm. Again, there would be little incentive to dissolve.

The EcP will have a tough time keeping the federal government out of the elections. mnAs will also have to be stopped from doling out public largesse.

M. A. Niazi Joint Editor

Yousaf Nizami Editor

However, a separate dissolution now would become a referendum on the PTi government. As recent by-elections showed twice, once on 17 Punjab seats and then eight national and three Punjab seats, the PTi is in good electoral shape. its voters do not seem fazed by the decision against it in the foreign funding case and against imran in the Toshakhana reference. There is no measure of how the electorate has reacted to mtr Khan’s having had an attempt made on him during the Long march. However, it is possible that

Apart from the possibility of violating tradition, the PDm does not seem to have an incentive to follow PTi provincial dissolutions with dissolution of its own at the centre. one of the defining characteristics of a politician is optimism, a belief, perhaps in the face of reality, that ‘something will turn up.’ if the PTi loses those elections, the coalition might feel that they might as well exploit the moment, and go for national elections. However, again, there would be a gap between national and provincial elections intro-

Thepossibility of a sit-in is now because the weather is increasingly hostile. The 2015 sit-in, it should not be forgotten, was held the summer, and was called off because of the APS Peshawar massacre, as winter set in.

imran now seems to have run out of political options. He may now have to exit his agitational mode of politics for now, and for next year’s elections. it works to his advantage that next year is election year, and he can look forward to elections next year without bothering to dissolve the Punjab and KP Assemblies. However, his penchant for the dramatic may lead him to do so, as he has done in the past.

The writer is a member of staff

Polarized politics - A reason for the economic crisis

proves that whoever comes into power wants to pursue their interests rather than the state’s national interests.

S. Akbar Zaidi in his book, “issues in Pakistan Economy” discusses this issue in great detail. He mentions the three eras and the evolution of Pakistan’s economy. The first era is the ‘Era of Exploration’ from 1947 to 1979. After independence, the Pakistani territory had no industries, economic sectors, or resources. initially, Pakistan was an economically weak state. The absence of a constitution made it more difficult because neither was any constitution established nor any economic policy introduced for the country.

did not introduce any model. Since Pakistan was receiving aid as a result of the Afghan War, it had an aidbased economy. When Prime minister Benazir Bhutto came into power, the country’s economy was suffering, and she went to the imF for short-term loans. An economic model was yet to be made, but her government was toppled.

helping Pakistan. in 2013, Prime minister nawaz Sharif introduced the ‘crony capitalism model’. This model only supported the industrialists. The model was made for specific industrialists, not for all industrialists, such as for iron, sugar, port, and housing industries. it brought prosperity but only for that particular industrialist community.

Economic development is always linked with political stability. Political polarization in Pakistan is the major reason for the country’s economic downfall. When politicians and dictators came into power, they focused more on perpetuating their political careers rather than promoting national interests. The country’s initial economic models lacked consistency and continue to do so. The economic history of Pakistan, based on three eras, shows political polarization as a reason for the current economic setback. inconsistency in politics leads to economic upheaval. in different political phases in Pakistan, different leaders came to power and introduced their economic models after assuming office. Every time, the new administration established new policies while changing the ones that had been in place before. This resulted in the state receiving new models without any incentives. This

Until 1956, there was no economic model. After that President Ayyub Khan came to power and introduced the Howard Trickle-Down model. it was a capitalist model. He developed the economic capacity through industrialization and emphasized privatization which created jobs in the country.

After President Ayyub Khan, Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came to power and introduced nationalization. it was a socialist model. it was opposite to Howard’s TrickleDown model.

Then ‘The Era of Twisted Economy’ started from 1979 to 2000. President Zia ul Haq

The first requires stabilizing the economy through debt reduction, expanding the taxable income, organizing national resources, reducing losses because of state-owned enterprises, cutting down unnecessary development spending, removing shortfalls in energy and infrastructure sectors, controlling inflation, and keeping the currency stable.

Prime minister nawaz Sharif did the same as he also went to the imF for loans. it should be remembered that the country has gone to the imF 23 times for loans. The most recent request was in 2019. nevertheless, because of uncertainty in politics, the nation is still caught in the financial trap of the imF. Then came ‘The Era of Problematic Economy’ from 2000 onwards. Because of nuclear weapons tests in may 1998 and the Kargil Episode in 1999, the USA sanctioned Pakistan. However, these sanctions were lifted and US aid to Pakistan began after Pakistan backed the USA in its “War on Terror” since the 9/11 attacks. President Pervez musharraf introduced the consumer credit model. He invested in educated people and provided them cheap loans from which they started their small industries and this created jobs in the country. in 2009, there was no proper economic model and then Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani went to china and the imF for help, but they did not show much interest in

in 2019, the Riyasat-e-madina model was introduced by Prime minister imran Khan. its purpose was to uplift the poor class through the Ehsas program and health cards. The currency was devalued, imports were banned, and exports were increased, to bring capital into the country. Because of the short-term economic models, no proper policy was adopted to stabilize the economy of the country. it is the biggest reason for fragile economic growth

There is a need for a proper and sustainable economic model. Stakeholders should come together and make a proper economic model which should be there for at least 10 to 20 years and should not be changed even if the regime changes. To bring economic stability, an effective fiscal and monetary policy is needed. There is a requirement for the two following mechanisms for economic prosperity; stability in politics with good governance, and reforms in the present economic structure.

Thefirst requires stabilizing the economy through debt reduction, expanding the taxable income, organizing national resources, reducing losses because of state-owned enterprises, cutting down unnecessary development spending, removing shortfalls in energy and infrastructure sectors, controlling inflation, and keeping the currency stable. The second requires structural reforms, human resource management, uniform tax policy, exclusion of microeconomic biasness, and enhancement of competition in the market.All the above-mentioned measures can bring economic balance to the country.

The writer is Assistant Research Fellow at the Balochistan Think Tank Network, Quetta

The price of poor governance will be paid by the people

SAkINA AhMed khAN

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

Umar Aziz Executive Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Joint Editor

Political instability cruises economic problems

Twenty-five years of peace

organizations and people who believe in the ideals of independence and liberation war have differed in their views and paths with the previous governments in realizing the fact that peace can never be established by using military force to appease the anger of the hill communities or to destroy the rights of the hill communities. .

All the political parties and people in favor of independence and liberation war were demanding the resolution of the problem through discussion with the people agitating for the establishment of peace in the chittagong Hill Tracts.

no effective and sincere efforts were undertaken except for some public initiatives in the past. As a result, it was almost impossible for people to live or move freely in the three districts of the chittagong Hill Tracts. Such an unsettled situation in a large part of Bangladesh not only hindered the overall development and progress, but also the chances of the hill-dwelling people to overcome their socio-economic, political and ethnic backwardness were far-fetched.

Bangladesh took bold initiatives to establish peace in the hilly areas and improve the fortunes of the people there. in october 1996, an 11member national committee for chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs was formed under the leadership of ruling party chief Whip Abul Hasanat Abdullah. in December of the same year, the first meeting was held between the government and the Jan Sanhati Samiti (JSS) at the circuit House in Khagrachari.

Both sides reached a consensus to find the best possible solution to meet the just demands of the tribal people within a centralized system under the constitution while keeping the sovereignty and integrity of Bangladesh intact. Due to the efforts of the Prime minister, the final compromise was established in the seventh meeting held between the national committee and the JSS.

Editor’s mail

Education: A tool for political revival

EDUcATion is the heart and soul of Pakistan, if the state wishes to reap the benefits of a burgeoning economy, and population, then education should be regarded as a strategic imperative as a tool to expand the understanding of the people. This is one of the main pillars of a functioning democracy, the greater the rate of education, the greater the rate of political activity amongst the people, and hence a more fitting state. The book wields immense power over the political map of Pakistan and is one of the greatest tools to make Pakistan more than a crisis state.

Education is supposed to be an opportunity for all, regardless of caste or creed. This should have been the standard but in the status quo, there is an issue of female representation, along with opportunities for the underprivileged. The flaws of the education sector fall into one of two categories, either negligence or incomplete policies. This disparity in education has opened the door to radicalization by multiple militias and terror organizations, along with indoctrination into radical political philosophies, such as that of ethnic purity. The greatest way to hinder the progress of any great nation is not to oppress the people, that they may not speak. But to make sure that a nation is illiterate, that the people do not know how to speak. By allowing discrimination in education, a society inadvertently creates people who are easily radicalised and hence this begins a chain reaction ending with the complete political polarization of a nation.

A failure to provide, along with a failure to guarantee quality allows the alienation of societies, an example of both is the Single national curriculum: a grand gesture to create an equal opportunity for education and so a level political map; ended with the dissolution of a government and islamabad no longer paying attention to the Snc any more, leaving it as a shadow of an unfulfilled promise. To have adequate political representation, along with participation means that the state needs to prioritise education as a budgetary policy. of the over 9000 Government Schools in Balochistan, more than half of them do not have access to running water. The failure of a stable education system in Balochistan only exacerbated a concurrent security crisis, by allowing students to be easily politically indoctrinated to radical groups, along with allowing them to be easily indoctrinated as child soldiers. Even the minute task of paying teachers their salary can lead to a better functioning democracy when you have a literate population.

Hoping for a prosperous state while simultaneously creating a disengaged population is a misnomer. if a state can spend a quarter of its budget dedicated to the sale of arms and establishing the economic stability of the armed forces, then it is not a grand task to expect islamabad to increase spending on equal education instead of constantly slashing its budget. islamabad dedicates 1.7% of its GDP to the education sector, under this circumstance if we expect a properly functioning democracy along with a non-violent population then the state and its people are living in fiction.

DEcEmBER 2 is the 25th anniversary of the chittagong Hill Tracts peace accord in Bangladesh. The historic agreement of the chittagong Hill Tracts Association was executed with the national committee on chittagong Hill Tracts, formed by the Government of Bangladesh. The day is a special day in the history of Bangladesh. on 2 December 1997, in the conference room of the Prime minister’s office, in the presence of Prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid, members of the cabinet, senior military and civilian officials and foreign diplomats, national committee convenor Abul Hasanat Abdullah on behalf of the government and Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma (Santu Larma), President of JSS and chief of the Peace corps on behalf of Jansanhati Samiti, mt. Signed the chittagong Treaty, which is called the chittagong Hill Tracts Accord.

An end to the protracted armed insurgency and a peaceful political solution to the problem without the intervention of any third country or party. This was possible due to the visionary and prudent leadership and political wisdom of the Hon’ble Prime minister. i had the rare privilege of being present at this historic moment.

The signing of the agreement was widely covered by the world media at that time. Various governments and human rights organizations also congratulated Prime minister Sheikh Hasina and chittagong Hill Tracts chief Santu Larma for signing the agreement. As a result of the signing of this agreement, an opportunity has been created to resolve the disputes, conflicts and clashes that have been going on for more than two decades in the chittagong Hill Tracts. innocent mountaineers and other Bengalis lost their lives in the mountains.

The efforts to establish peace in the region by deploying military forces were not so easy. The conflict created by the settlement of people brought from the plains in the places where the people of different ethnic groups living in the hilly areas lived and farmed had caused considerable resentment and insecurity among the small ethnic groups.

Bloodshed broke out between natives and settlers over various reasons, including possession of property. As a result, self-defense organizations were formed among the local hill tribes, which later turned into armed conflict, bloodshed and casualties. Jana Sanhati Samiti has long been fighting with the local hill youth in the deep forests to realize their rights through armed means.

Various international groups continue to encourage such organizations to disrupt peace and order within the country. This was going to create long-term danger for a state like Bangladesh. Political parties, socio-cultural and human rights

Bangabandhu’s six points were one of the mottos of the independence that the people of Bangladesh achieved through the liberation war of 1971, where the basic position of the state towards regional autonomy and ethnic rights was clear. Therefore, the ethnic and linguistic-cultural rights of the hill communities of the chittagong Hill Tracts are included in the constitution of of Bangladesh.

After Sheikh Hasina won the election in 1996 and came to power, she took the initiative to solve regional problems in chittagong Hill Tracts, deputing parliament member Abul Hasnat Abdullah to engage in discussions with public solidarity. Discussion between the two parties, identifying the causes of the problem and establishing a consensus on the solution, took place. Finally, both sides agreed to a peace treaty to resolve the issue in a 72-point declaration. on December 2, 1997, an agreement was officially signed between the government and the People’s Solidarity Association in Khagrachari.

on February 10, 1998, in a colorful ceremony at the Khagrachari Stadium, the first batch of Shanti Bahini surrendered its arms to the Prime minister, led by Santu Larma. The arms surrender programme has four phases. At last, the Peace corps surrendered its arms. According to the terms of the agreement, on 6 may 1998, the amendment to the Local Government council Act and the chittagong Hill Tracts Regional council Act were passed by the national Parliament.

The goal is ‘no conflict and distance’ between Bengalis and small ethnic groups, creating a peaceful environment through mutual harmony, trust and neighborly behaviour, establishing equal status and rights for all as citizens of Bangladesh.

on 15 July 15 1998, the ministry of chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs was established through a gazette notification. Kalparanjan chakma was appointed minister and Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma (Santhu Larma) was appointed Regional council chairman (with status of State minister). Later three chairmen were appointed in the three hill district councils. Hill District councils have been given the responsibility of hill area development.

The three hill basins of Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban cover one-tenth of the area of natural beauty of Bangladesh. Here, the tribal people have been living side by side with the Bengali people for a long time, maintaining the identity of their language, culture, religion, tradition and culture. The mountainous region, rich in natural resources, was in a backward and underdeveloped state for a long time before independence.

After achieving the independence of Bangladesh through the great liberation war in 1971, under the leadership of Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh mujibur Rahman, the chittagong Hill Tract region was joining the development process by adopting various practical programmes. but after the killing of Bangabandhu along with his relatives by the anti-liberation war gangs on the night of 15 August 1975, the multi-faceted development plan and development progress of the region was hindered. This deadlock in development lasted for almost two centuries due to the bloody conflict in the chittagong Hill Tracts.

Then and current Prime minister of

The political, social, cultural and economic rights and socio-economic development of all the citizens of the region have been accelerated. Along with the folk and traditional culture there, mainstream cultural practices are equally prevalent. Bengali new Year is celebrated along with Baisabi festival. Similarly, Eid and Durga Puja are celebrated with great joy. These new conditions of cultural evolution are developing hill culture in different ways.

Although there are some doubts among some hill dwellers about the accord and its implementation, due to it, the tribals have an environment to keep their political, social, economic, cultural rights and ethnic identity intact under the constitution of Bangladesh, as well as to integrate with the national mainstream. on the other hand, the possibility of building prosperity by uniting all the people, whether tribal or Bengali, improves daily.

The goal is ‘no conflict and distance’ between Bengalis and small ethnic groups, creating a peaceful environment through mutual harmony, trust and neighborly behaviour, establishing equal status and rights for all as citizens of Bangladesh. only then the peace agreement will be able to restore peace and confidence not only in the mountains but in the entire country. in that case, the government and cHT people must be committed to the proper implementation of the peace agreement and the constitution.

The writer is a freelance columnist

AhmEd Arif PirAchA LAhorE

Thinking rationally to beat polarisation

WE are experiencing challenging times. However, there has probably never been as much societal division as there is now in our midst. The young ones, adults and seniors are all adding to this growing polarisation. We are unwilling to accept and appreciate the opinions of others even when they are based on facts and even when we know that they are based on facts. That is as bad as it gets.

The worst is the case of those who happen to be supporters of this political party or that. They change their views and public stance without any, repeat any, change in ground reality. They do so because their leaders said so. Just see who was saying what in the first quarter of this very year, and who is saying what in the last quarter of the year. it is amazing. The two narratives have survived. The two sets of activists have survived. All that has happened is a switch between the narratives and the activists. if ground reality is anything to go by, and it should be just about the only thing that matters, the situation was bad back in the first quarter, and it is bad right now. i do not fault the leaders for bashing their rivals. Rightly or otherwise, this is what they live for. However, it is up to the individuals to be realistic and rational in observing and interpreting the unfolding drama. There is no point in being a blind follower. it does not help the country. it does not help society. it does not help one’s family. And, it does not help the individual either. The lone beneficiary happens to be the demagogue. Despite a change in government, the situation has not altered on the ground in any meaningful or drastic manner. no country can ever find itself suddenly on the brink of default. it takes years to get to that point. Likewise, the country cannot suddenly become prosperous in such a short time. Those who have increased the prices in the last few months are the ones who were opposing it when they were not in power, and those who are criticising it now were the ones who were raising the prices when they were in power. is it all too hard to keep track of? We must think rationally on the basis of facts, and only by acknowledging the criticality of the larger picture rather than focussing on a tiny window and insisting that it is the ‘most important’ aspect of an argument. We must be prepared to listen to the views of others before forming an opinion. it will help if we may listen with the intent of understanding rather than listening only to rebuff. Soon, we will have an opinion based on reasonable thought. The current trend is clearly to pick an ‘opinion’ first, and then to build an argument around it. it is only through rational thinking that we may have a chance of ending, or at least mini-mising the level and intensity of polarisation in society, and to become a better people.

dr AYEShA hANif mALAYSiA

Lab exploitation

mY younger sister was recently suffering from fever and was taken to the local government hospital where doctors prescribed some tests. The problem was that the laboratory was non-functional on account of some strike being observed by the staff. Left with no choice, we moved to a private laboratory, where we were asked to dish out Rs1,200 for getting the tests done. As it seemed i was being ripped off, i rushed to the lab outlet being run by the Liaquat University of medical and Health Sciences (LUmHS) locally. The outlet itself carries the reputation of being very expensive, but, surprisingly, it charged Rs700 for the same tests.

The way the private laboratory is charging its customers is callous. most of the patients going there happen to be poor, and are forced to go to this particular laboratory because of its proximity to the children hospital, and the almost constant ‘strike’ that its laboratory staff observes.

ShAmS UL hAQUE LArKANA

TIlloTAMA RANI ChARulATA

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord has allowed the area to develop

It’s all about the bomb

Progressive alFrEd MEYEr

thE Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in southeastern Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has the world’s attention right now, and rightly so. For the first time in history, six nuclear reactors and thirty-seven years’ worth of high-level nuclear waste are in the middle of a battlefield in an active war zone—one artillery shell, on site or off, could interrupt the control and cooling of the operational reactor, or the cooling of the waste in storage, leading to a catastrophic release of radiation that could spread throughout the Northern hemisphere. how in the world can nuclear power reactors be considered clean and safe sources of electricity?

Russia, a nuclear-armed nation that invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has said that it would use nuclear weapons if needed. And strong allies of Ukraine—the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, all NATo members—are also armed with nuclear weapons. You likely are aware of what has happened in the weeks since this magazine went to press, and whether or not the world is in the midst of another major radioactive disaster, as happened at Fukushima in Japan in 2011, Chernobyl in northern Ukraine in 1986, and Three Mile Island in the United States in 1979. I assume that if you are reading this, nuclear weapons have not been used in the war in Ukraine. So how has the world ended up in such an existentially threatening situation? Why does the nuclear enterprise have the world’s future so tightly in its grip? The short answer: nuclear weapons. It is all about the bomb.

In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging him to pursue nuclear research in the United States. It was crucial, Einstein wrote, to counter Germany’s efforts to harness the magic of radioactivity and develop a super weapon. A few years later, the Manhattan Project was born in secrecy in 1942. A sprawling and tightly controlled academic, military, industrial, and governmental infrastructure was built to accommodate an entirely new industry equal in size to the American automobile industry at the time. Secrecy was so thorough that when Vice President harry Truman ascended to the presidency on April 12, 1945, upon Roosevelt’s sudden death, he was unaware that the atomic bomb program even existed, much less that it was on the verge of testing a plutonium weapon in July.

During World War II, the United States succeeded in developing atomic weapons, while Germany was defeated before it could do so. Even though Japan was essentially defeated by then, Truman, some three months after he learned that the United States did possess the super weapons, chose to use them. Although the firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945 had burned to death more than 100,000 people and left more than a million people homeless, it did not occasion the global outcry that followed the use of the uranium bomb on hiroshima, on August 6, 1945, and the plutonium bomb on Nagasaki, three days later. Nuclear weapons are a special kind of horror opposed by most rational people around the world.

Yet the U.S. military and successive Presidents have

unequivocally pursued global domination through the possession of nuclear weapons and the consistent support of the academic, military, industrial, and governmental infrastructure needed to enable their production. This capacity has been the guiding force of our military security strategy since 1945, and it remains in place today. It is the raison d’être of the nuclear enterprise. Even the United Nations gives special status to the countries “recognized” as possessing nuclear weapons; the five permanent members of the Security Council—the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom—are vested with veto power over any U.N. Security Council resolution.

however, following the use of nuclear weapons in Japan in 1945, there has been significant ongoing public opposition to them. In the earliest days of the United Nations, there were various efforts to abolish or control nuclear weapons. It was clear that they constitute an entirely different type of military threat that includes the likelihood of ending life on earth as we know it. Abolishing nuclear weapons is the way to end this existential threat.

When World War II hero General Dwight D. Eisenhower became President in 1953, the dilemma for the military, and for Eisenhower, was how to grow the atomic bomb programs, in light of negative public opinion toward the nuclear enterprise. At the same time, the United States wanted to be recognized as the leader of the “free world” in the postwar years. In the early 1950s, the military needed to recast nuclear enterprise activities to appear to be peaceful, beneficial parts of our modern life, very distant from the wartime horrors.

In August 1953, Eisenhower was worried about the Soviet Union’s successful test of a sophisticated hydrogen bomb—which signaled to the United States that the nuclear arms race was officially on. Eisenhower considered delivering a type of “fireside chat” to the American public—or perhaps a “mushroom cloud chat”—to level with citizens about the truly horrific existential threat that nuclear weapons posed to the world.

But by December of that year, a different strategy appeared to take effect. In a now famous speech on December 8, 1953, titled “Atoms for Peace,” Eisenhower proposed to the U.N. General Assembly an international program of sharing “peaceful” nuclear materials and know-how for untold bounty, to encourage development of nuclear programs around the world.

The United States also proposed an international agency under the United Nations to promote and oversee nuclear activities, which today is the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA. While acknowledging the IAEA’s important oversight role, such as inspecting the Zaporizhzhia reactors and fuel pools at this perilous time in history, one should also recognize that the IAEA’s bluntly stated mission is to promote nuclear technology. The first leaders of the IAEA were from the United States, to ensure that U.S. interests were protected.

Nuclear enterprise infrastructure is an outgrowth of World War II. These new endeavors drew international interest in creating the huge nuclear marketplace now in existence. Atoms for Peace—a plan to share nonmilitary nuclear technology with other countries to “win hearts and minds”—placed nuclear materials and reactors in more

than forty countries, including Iran. This generated ongoing business for many American nuclear enterprise companies while supporting and expanding the U.S. military’s nuclear infrastructure and capacity in the United States. having nuclear activities under the auspices of the United Nations conferred upon them the legitimacy and respect of that international body. While Eisenhower was making his “Atoms for Peace” speech at the United Nations, he was in the middle of planning the largest hydrogen bomb test ever in the United States, the fifteen-megaton “Bravo” test, on March 1, 1954, which was more than 1,000 times bigger than the bomb dropped on hiroshima.

The generally favorable response to Atoms for Peace was a trifecta for the nuclear enterprise. U.S. nuclear activities were repackaged as the “peaceful” atom and given the patina of social acceptance through United Nations oversight. Eisenhower was lauded as a good leader for sharing the atom with the world, and the U.S. nuclear infrastructure got new business and growth, which supported more U.S. nuclear weapons and nuclear Navy programs.

Atoms for Peace also served geopolitical ends. For instance, one reason the United States provided Iran with a research reactor in 1967 was to saddle that country with significant financial obligations, including paying for ongoing parts, services, and technical support from American companies. These financial obligations would then, theoretically, force Iran to sell more oil on the world market, regardless of oPEC actions, a kind of atoms-for-oil program—but only peaceful atoms, mind you!

As Atoms for Peace was taking shape, a major policy change was made via the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The top-secret, tightly controlled Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb was a governmental endeavor. Nuclear reactors produce the plutonium needed for atomic bombs. With the passage of this new bill by Congress, the operation of nuclear power reactors by privately owned corporations was allowed.

The Atomic Energy Commission was created in 1946 to promote and regulate the development of this new industry. With the commission led by Wall Street banker Lewis Strauss for five critical years, it is not surprising that the scales heavily favored promotion over regulation. Encouraging private investment in these risky reactor projects was assisted by minimizing regulatory safety and operational demands upon the private operators.

Being the biggest nuclear enterprise on earth encourages the circular, self-sustaining dynamic of the nuclear arms race. But why was it so important for the U.S. government to develop and subsidize civilian nuclear power? Because it allowed the military, in essence, to spin off its nuclear reactor activities to private financing and corporate operations. Like Atoms for Peace, this repackaging of a military activity as a civilian one succeeded in making the endeavor socially acceptable and somewhat self-funding—although government subsidies are still perennially needed to carry on, and taxpayers are still covering the liability insurance costs of the private corporations. Most importantly, as detailed in a 2017 report by former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, civilian nuclear power is an “essential enabler” of our national security. The Atlantic Council calculates the

value of this contribution to national security to be $42.4 billion a year. Businesses contributing to the nuclear Navy’s supply chain are in forty-four U.S. states.

The essential nature of civilian nuclear power for national security would suggest that if the United States has the largest national inventory of civilian nuclear reactors in the world, then it also has the largest nuclear enterprise infrastructure to support nuclear weapons production and a nuclear Navy.

Being the biggest nuclear enterprise on earth encourages the circular, self-sustaining dynamic of the nuclear arms race. The United States is busy modernizing its nuclear weapons infrastructure to be “strong enough” to negotiate the elimination of nuclear weapons. This is presented as official doctrine in the nonproliferation world. In reality, the United States is actually driving the growing international nuclear arms race.

Atoms for Peace and the nuclear enterprise employ particularly successful advertising campaigns, greatly influencing public opinion and shaping our cultural consciousness of the nuclear world.

Presenting civilian nuclear power as the answer to climate change, as clean and safe electrical generation, or as energy “too cheap to meter” is simply a sales pitch. What is actually delivered by a robust nuclear energy fleet is the capacity for nuclear weapons and a nuclear Navy.

over the decades, there have been numerous expert critiques of nuclear power, authoritatively debunking these misleading and false promises, yet these critiques seem to have no effect on the trajectory of the nuclear enterprise. I suggest that these sales pitches are diversionary techniques aimed at sapping our energy. It does not matter if nuclear power can really solve climate change, it just has to be seen as an essential part of the solution to attract bright, young talent into what is made to appear as the cutting edge of technology and climate solutions, even though the civilian nuclear power industry worldwide has been in decline since 2002.

To protect ourselves from the dangers of the nuclear enterprise, we need to stop the nuclear weapons and nuclear power reactor programs—a tall order, for sure. But if we seek success in our efforts, we are well advised to understand the forces we are engaging with. It is all about nuclear weapons.

Alfred Meyer is a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility and has worked with communities affected by the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear catastrophes.

What dangers do social media platforms bring to societies?

wealthy, but competition in the mobile device industry, rapid price drops, and the proliferation of social media platforms with appealing features such as ease of use, interaction and low cost made the impossible a reality.

Some statistics illustrate the amazing digital reality we now live in and provide an indication of what life will be like shortly in a world that is becoming increasingly digital. For example, one out of every five people in the world purchases at least one mobile phone every year, which is an unprecedentedly large number. This shows that digital tools have become a vital part of the majority of people’s daily lives.

cations on various aspects of life have affected them, and our recognition that the use of social media platforms demonstrated a large number of positives, primarily to facilitate communication and information exchange among individuals, but also created several challenges and dangers to humanity, some of which can be referred to in this article based on several international studies.

Do social media platforms pose a real threat to societies? Can we compare what is happening on social media platforms to providing a dangerous firearm to unqualified and undisciplined individuals, then letting them run around in the streets, where they can kill people at any time? Does the use of these platforms lead to the dangers of self-dissatisfaction and a sense of inferiority toward others?

The most optimistic people did not expect the massive spread of the Internet in the world in this way; the number of Internet users this year exceeded five billion people, or approximately 63 per cent of the world’s population, which a few days ago exceeded eight billion people.

Many people expected the Internet to be only for the

In my opinion, social media platforms are the root of the world’s mass madness, as they have turned the vast majority of people into content creators and consumers of strange and sometimes shocking content.

According to the website (Kepios), which defines itself as “Kepios helps the world make sense of what people are doing online”. This website shows that “there will be 4.74 billion social media users around the world in october 2022, equating to 59.3 per cent of the total global population.”

“Social media user numbers have continued to grow over the past 12 months too, with 190 million new users joining social media since this time last year.

These statistics demonstrate what people have in the digital world now, how social changes and their ramifi-

Various studies show that the use of social media platforms has increased the violation of people’s privacy all over the world and has made the lives of many people available to all people in a negative way. Although some content creators do it because they want to, and this is exactly what we are seeing, the truth is that the majority of them are compulsively motivated by getting views and likes. In a way, this has made some of them mentally ill, and the psychological pressure on them is immense, similar to what happens with movie stars and great singers, who constantly live in fear of low prevalence and other painful fears of declining popularity.

In addition to the points already made, research in this area also shows that social media platforms can lead some users to become excessively narcissistic. It is also important to remember that these platforms feature recordings of influencers’ everyday lives, some of whom are incredibly wealthy or lead unattainable lifestyles that the vast majority of people can never hope to emulate.

Following such influencers may make their followers feel inferior and unhappy because they are unable to achieve the same level of success and cannot enjoy life’s true pleasures as they do. In one of the studies conducted by the author of these lines, young followers expressed mental anguish because they saw the luxurious lives of influencers. Even though they are aware that their lives are sometimes fabricated, they are sad because they find themselves unable to keep up with their lifestyle.

other research shows that social media platforms have given criminals and transnational gangs a new way to do suspicious things and made it easier, faster, and safer for them to talk to people who might be victims.

Due to their unprecedented spread and the ability of any individual to broadcast and post without prior experience or limitations that prevent him from making mistakes, it is evident that social media platforms pose several risks, and it is hoped that these risks will be reduced through greater awareness among content creators and followers. Even with all of this, social media platforms

for

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ATOMS FOR PEACE AND THE NUCLEAR ENTERPRISE EMPLOY PARTICULARLY SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS, GREATLY INFLUENCING PUBLIC OPINION AND SHAPING OUR CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE NUCLEAR WORLD

Jordan Times

MahMoud alrajabi

“THERE

corporate corner

Dar, Zaman Discuss matters relating to Defence buDget allocations

ISLAMABAD staff report

sECRETARYDefence Lt Gen (Retd) Hamood Uz Zaman Khan HI(M) called on Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at Finance Division, today.

SAPM on Finance Mr. Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Mr. Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Special Secretary Finance and senior officers from Finance and Defence Divisions attended the meeting.

Defence and Economic issues to-

Faysal Bank, BoK partner for innovative financial & digital payment services

Faysal Bank Limited (FBL) and Bank of Khyber have partnered to launch a suite of digital financial services featuring virtual & debit card services along with added digital payment solutions. Faysal Bank through its Fintech Express Program is driven by creating partnerships with Banks and Fintech to further encourage State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) financial inclusion initiative in Pakistan. Faysal Banks Fintech Express Program is focused on identifying financial institutions and aiding their customers’ digital journey through innovative technologies. With this partnership, Bank of Khyber will leverage Faysal Bank’s Fintech Express Program to accelerate the customers’ digital journey and provide its customer accessibility to a host of digital solutions to aid their banking needs. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Yousaf Hussain, CEO, FBL said, “Faysal Bank wants to be the cornerstone of the digital product revolution in Pakistan. We continue to focus on developing and strengthening ecosystem partnerships with multiple players that bring expertise and economies of scale in their respective domains. Faysal Bank’s agreement with Bank of Khyber demonstrates our commitment to facilitate other banks and startups in Pakistan.” pr

Shan Shares expands partnership with Saylani Welfare Trust to tackle hunger

KarachI: Shan Shares, the CSR identity of Shan Foods, has expanded partnership with Saylani International Welfare Trust (SWIT), a nongovernmental organization focusing primarily on feeding the poor and homeless, by sponsoring another free meal set up in an effort to provide free meals to the underprivileged members of the society. This initiative is part of the agreement Shan Shares had signed last year with the Saylani Welfare Trust to regularly sponsor food for underserved people and provide their products for the preparation of meals. Under this collaboration, thousands of people have already been provided with meals free of cost since the launch of its first food truck. By sponsoring another meal set up, Shan Shares aims to expand its outreach in the city and share meals with more communities. pr

Habibi Developments inks MoU with Goyzer for Real Estate Management Software

KarachI:

With

The software not only provide Pre Sale support but also provides Post Sales solution for seamless integration. Through its mobile-first approach,Goyzer is enabling tenants, landlords and vendors to connect to the entire ecosystem on their phones in real time. Habibi Development is the first company in Pakistan to obtain this advanced system to manage their properties for their upcoming projects. pr

gether with security related budgetary matters were discussed during the meeting.

Finance Minster Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar highlighted economic outlook and fiscal position of the country and various measures taken by Federal Government to stabilize the economy and said that the results of these measures will soon be reflected in strengthened fiscal position and enhanced economic activities.

In conclusion, the Secretary Defence thanked the Finance Minister for cooperation.

UNAIDS and Ministry of Health commemorate World AIDS Day

ISLAMABAD pr

Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, in collaboration with Common Management Unit for AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNAIDS, WHO, UNDP UNICEF, UNFPA, UNODC, APLHIV commemorated World AIDS Day 2022. This year theme of the World AIDS Day is “Equalize”, this slogan is a call to action to increase availability, quality of services for HIV treatment, testing and prevention. Equalize calls for communities to make use of and adapt the message to highlight the particular inequalities they face and to press for the actions needed to address them.

During the event, World AIDS Day Report 2022 was launched by Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, Honorable Federal Minister, and said that “Government of Pakistan, at both the national and provincial levels, despite competing priorities and fiscal limitations, and with the support of partners like UNAIDS, UNDP, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, and other stakeholders has strived to provide HIV prevention and treatment services through high impact communitybased HIV prevention programme. We are going to revise national and provincial AIDS Strategies, setting the plan of action in the light of global guidance”

“There is a need to initiate national prevention revolution, that includes all available options to stop the transmission of HIV including protection commodities, immediate initiation of antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis. Specific populations and locations require additional tools such as harm reduction (needle–syringe and opioid substitution therapy programmes) for people who inject drugs.” says Mr. Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Mashhood Ahmad, Special Secretary Health, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.

Mr. Mustafa Jamal Kazi, Federal Joint Secretary & National Coordination for Coordination Management Unit, AIDS, TB and Malaria, while presenting the HIV response in the country highlighted “that Government of Pakistan has allocated PKR 2,000 million to tackle AIDS, TB and Malaria and this shows the commitment to prevent lives from HIV infections, while significantly strengthening health systems to deliver people-centered services to those most in need.

This year, Government of Pakistan reaffirms it support to overcome challenges pertaining to strengthening of HIV response, but also on the road ahead to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Ms. Yuki Takemoto, UNAIDS Country Di-

rector took an opportunity to thank Federal Minister, Federal Secretary and Joint Secretary stating that “The Global AIDS Strategy, 2021–2026 provides a clear, evidence-informed blueprint for getting the AIDS response on track. No miraculous silver bullet is needed, using the tools already at its disposal, the Government of Pakistan, together with communities and partners simply needs to translate its commitments into concrete results for people. And this can only happen when people living with HIV and key populations are provided with a platform to amplify their voices. UNAIDS supports Government of Pakistan to translate its political commitment in strengthening HIV response in the country.

Ms. Aliona Niculita, Deputy Resident Representative UNDP Pakistan, emphasized the agency's commitment to address economic, social, cultural and legal inequalities to contribute towards ending the AIDS epidemic in collaboratively working towards build resilient health systems to enable equitable and efficient access to services embedded with utmost dignity and respect for communities.

H.E. Ambassador Henrik Persson, Swedish Ambassador to the Pakistan extended his full support. He said as an ambassador I want to reiterate that the time to act is now, let’s spell a new beginning to reflect on our gains and failures of yesterday to seize the countless possibilities of tomorrow for making Pakistan HIV free.

While addressing to the audience Dr. Luay Shabaneh, UNFPA Representative quoted that HIV/AIDS has to be integrated in high-quality sexual and reproductive health at all levels of health care facilities to eliminate stigma and make timely interventions.

Mr. Asghar Satti, Representative of People Living with HIV (APLHIV) said that with the support and whole hearted efforts of educating and informing the citizens against the myriad dangers posed by the HIV/AIDS rooted in ignorance we will meet success. The Government takes the opportunity to thanks all the partners and stakeholders for their continuous support to strengthen the HIV response in the country and calls upon them to play their roles.

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EFU Life, SAF collaborate solar-powered community water tanks

EFU Life Assurance Limited, the leading life insurance provider in the country is proud to join hands with Shahid Afridi Foundation (SAF) to uplift the underserved communities across Pakistan.The year-long partnership is working towards creating possibilities to provide access to clean water, empower youth through quality education, and respond to natural calamities through three initiatives of Shahid Afridi Foundation namely Water, Education, and Emergency Relief Response. The partnership is getting strengthened further with the installation of two solarpowered community water tanks in Sindh and Punjab. These water tanks will directly benefit a community of more than 4000 people by providing them with access to water. A ceremony was held at Thano Bullah Khan Kirthar - Distt. Jamshoro, Sindh to inaugurate the first of the two solar-powered community water tanks. pr

Turkey and Pakistan celebrate 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations

Islamabad: Two significant Islamic nations, Pakistan and Turkey, have traditionally had cordial ties with one another. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Government of Pakistan recently held a colourful ceremony to commemorate the 75th anniversary of these diplomatic ties, highlighting the social unity and cultural diversity that these two countries share. During this ceremony held in Islamabad, the diplomatic officials and prominent personalities of Türkiye and Pakistan expressed their commitment to further strengthen their progressive cooperation for mutual wellbeing. Since Pakistan was established as an independent state in 1947, its modern diplomatic relations with Turkiye were established on 30th November 1947. Prior to that, both the native populations were already unified, as they shared many religious, spiritual, emotional, intellectual and linguistic commonalities for centuries. On this occasion, the Chief Executive Officer of Dawlance | a subsidiary of Arçelik A.Ş., Turkey, Mr. Umar Ahsan Khan said: “The historic friendship between the two states has positively evolved over the past 75 years. Our progressive cooperation is delivering great benefits in all socio-economic fields. We believe in the tremendous potential for industrial and technological collaborations between Pakistan and Turkiye. Arçelik A.Ş. is the 2nd largest manufacturer in Europe, head-quartered in Turkiye, which has wholly acquired Dawlance - Pakistan’s leading producer and innovator of technological products. pr

P&G Pakistan renews pledge with stemconnector to mentor 1,000 women

KArAchI pr

P&G Pakistan today reaffirmed its pledge to mentor 1000 women under Million Women Mentors (MWM), a premier network and an initiative of STEMconnector, dedicated to encouraging girls and women around the world to pursue, persist, and succeed in STEM careers.

This renewed collaboration of P&G Pakistan with MWM program is aimed at encouraging women across Pakistan to pursue career goals and leadership opportunities under the mentorship of senior leaders of P&G. During the pilot, P&G Pakistan exceeded its target to mentor 500 women from professional circles to benefit from better projects, access to leadership,

advocacy at higher levels, and mutual support.

Adil Farhat, CEO P&G Pakistan, appreciating the initiative said, “This is something close to my heart and I strongly believe that with confidence and ambition, something women are too often discouraged from when we’re young, mentors can help reignite that fire and push women to achieve more than we’ve been told they’re destined for. Being a strong advocate of equality, P&G aims to enable women to work confidently and become an equal part of the industry through MWM program. We are aligned on taking many more of such initiatives in the future that will result in an equitablesociety for all.”

In the recent years, P&G has bagged the title of Champion at the OICCI Women Empowerment Awards for two consecutive years. With its global ini-

tiative #WeSeeEqual, P&G aspires to build a world of equal voice and equal opportunities regardless of gender. The #WeSeeEqual program demonstrates P&G’s continued commitment to create a more equal world. As one of the world’s largest advertisers, P&G and its brands continue to leverage their influential voice in media and advertising to drive further awareness, tackle gender bias, spark conversations and motivate change. P&G has also partnered with HOPE and UN Women for women’s skill development and girls’ education in the country. Moreover, P&G as being a founder member of the US-Pakistan Women’s Council’s corporate initiative, intent to advance its gender diversity mission while supporting the USPakistan Women’s Council in its attempts to increase women's participation in the workforce.

Habibi Developments, a prominent provider of innovative residential projects and a market leader in construction Industry, inked an MoU with Goyzer, a leading IT solutions provider from Dubai, for the procurement of their state-of-the-art Real Estate Management Software.

over 25 years of experience in Proptech and presence in GCC, South East Asia and North African markets, Goyzeris now entering in Pakistan market. CEO Goyzer, Atif Bashir shared that Goyzer software is the most comprehensive property management software in the Middle east market.

Members of Royal Saudi Naval delegation being briefed during visit to Naval Headquarters in Islamabad. pr

Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Faisal Rasul Lodhi addressing participants of National Security & War Course at Naval Headquarters Islamabad. pr

Chinese, Russian foRCes hold seCond joint stRategiC patRol of the yeaR

ISLAMABAD Agencies

CHINESEand Russian militaries conducted a joint aerial strategic patrol in the Asia-Pacific region on Wednesday, the first time Chinese aircraft have landed in Russia and Russian aircraft have landed in China in such a joint patrol, and the first time the two countries have organized joint aerial patrols twice in a year. Analysts said it reflects a high level of increasing military cooperation and mutual trust that contributes to peace and stability in the region and the world.

According to the annual military cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian militaries, the two countries’ air forces organized and carried out a regular joint aerial strategic patrol over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the West Pacific on Wednesday, reads a statement released by China’s Ministry of National Defense on the day.

In the flight that lasted about eight hours, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army

(PLA) Air Force sent H-6K strategic bombers, and the Russian Aerospace Forces sent Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers, escorted by Russian Su-30 SM and Su-35S fighter jets, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

For the first time in the course of joint patrols, Russian aircraft landed at an airfield in China, and Chinese aircraft landed on the territory of Russia, according to the Russian statement, which also said that the Chinese and Russian crews acted in accordance with the provisions of international law without violating the airspace of foreign states.

In addition to the aircraft, China sent the Sovremenny-class destroyer Taizhou and the Type 054A frigate Huanggang to the Sea of Japan, as they sailed through the Tsushima Strait into the region from Monday to Tuesday, according to press releases from Japan’s Ministry of Defense Joint Staff.

This marks the fifth China-Russia joint aerial strategic patrol overall, with the first taking place in July 2019, the second in December 2020, the third in November 2021 and the fourth in May 2022, which also

nato seeks to reassure support to Russia’s neighbours

AGENCIES

NATO allies have offered to help Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia – all the neighbours under pressure from Russia, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said. “If there is one lesson from Ukraine it is that we need to support them now,” Stoltenberg told a news conference in Bucharest after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, while Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told Reuters “the beast also wants to take control of the Western Balkans.” NATO ministers began a two-day meeting in Bucharest on Tuesday with pledges both to help Ukrainians cope with what the defense alliance’s chief said was Moscow using winter weather as “a weapon of war” and to help sustain Kyiv’s military campaign. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the outcome showed NATO was “absolutely not interested in a political and diplomatic solution in Ukraine.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also warned against an armed confrontation between nuclear powers, saying the West was pushing Ukraine to continue fighting against Russia. “It is necessary to avoid any military clash between nuclear powers, even with the use of conventional weapons. The escalation may become uncontrollable,” news agency TASS quoted him as saying. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said Ukrainians needed fast and lasting help, and he was looking to the global South as well as the West to join “this common struggle.” Kuleba also demanded Russia withdraw its forces from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, where Moscow announced it had put the Ukrainian chief engineer in charge. Ukraine has said the engineer is a hostage. Washington pledged $53 million to buy power grid equipment, and U.S. President Joe Biden said providing more military assistance is a priority. Republicans, who take control of Congress’ House of Representatives in January, have talked about pausing the funding, which has exceeded $18 billion.

means that this is the first time the two countries have carried out such an operation twice in a year, observers said.

The exchange visits of warplanes to airfields in each other’s territories and the frequency increase of joint patrols from once a year to twice shows further growth in highlevel military cooperation and mutual trust between China and Russia, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told

the Global Times on Wednesday. Landing in each other’s airfields is also an exercise that could get the pilots and ground maintenance staff familiar with each other’s airfields and warplanes, the expert said. The navies of the two countries also carried out the second joint naval patrol in the Pacific Ocean in September shortly after the Russia-led Vostok-2022 strategic drills. The first joint naval patrol was carried out in

October 2021. China and Russia are expected to deepen similar military cooperation in the future, and while they do not target any other country or third party, they will contribute to peace and stability in the region and the world amid uncertainties, with the US attempting to replicate the Ukraine crisis to the Asia-Pacific region with hot topics like the Taiwan question, the South China Sea issue and the Korean Peninsula issue, the expert said.

Only a day earlier, Chinese air and naval forces warned away the USS Chancellorsville guided missile cruiser when the latter trespassed into waters around the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday without China’s authorization.

During the meeting between Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin last week, Wei drew the red line of the Taiwan question once again, after the PLA conducted large-scale military exercises around the island of Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to the island in early August.

In new role as G-20 chair, India set to focus on climate

BENGALURU the AssociAted Press

India officially takes up its role as chair of the Group of 20 leading economies for the coming year Thursday and it’s putting climate at the top of the group’s priorities.

Programs to encourage sustainable living and money for countries to transition to clean energy and deal with the effects of a warming world are some of the key areas that India will focus on during its presidency, experts say. Some say India will also use its new position to boost its climate credentials and act as a bridge between the interests of industrialised nations and developing ones.

The country has made considerable moves toward its climate goals in recent years but is currently one of the world’s top emitters of planet-warming gases.

The G-20, made up of the world’s largest economies, has a rolling presidency with a different member state in charge of the group’s agenda and priorities each year. Experts believe India will use the “big stage” of the G-20 presidency to drive forward its climate and development

plans.

The country “will focus heavily on responding to the current and future challenges posed by climate change,” said Samir Sarin, president of the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank. The ORF will be anchoring the T-20 — a group of think tanks from the 20 member countries whose participants meet alongside the G-20.

Sarin said that India will work to ensure that money is flowing from rich industrialised nations to emerging economies to help them combat global warming, such as a promise of $100 billion a year for clean energy and adapting to climate change for poorer nations that has not yet been fulfilled and a recent pledge to vulnerable countries that there will be a fund for the loss and damage caused by extreme weather.

He added that India will also use the presidency to push its flagship “Mission Life” program that encourages more sustainable lifestyles in the country, which is set to soon become the most populous in the world. When outgoing chair Indonesia

formally handed the presidency to India in Bali last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the opportunity to promote the program, saying it could make “a big contribution” by turning the sustainable living into “a mass movement.”

The impact of lifestyle “has not received as much attention in the global discourse as it should,” said R. R. Rashmi, a distinguished fellow at The Energy Research Institute in New Delhi. He added the issue “may get some prominence” at

China opposes US extending investments ban on Chinese firms linked to military

BEIJING stAFF rePort

China firmly opposes the White House’s decision to continue the Trump-era ban on U.S. investments in Chinese firms linked to the military, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

In continuing the ban of the previous administration on investments in companies they say are linked to China’s military, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the U.S. is repeating its mis-

take, adding that this is a move driven by its political agenda and a wanton denial of facts and the actual situation of relevant companies. It has seriously undermined the rules and order of the market, and hurt the legal rights and interests of Chinese businesses and those of global investors including American investors, he added.

“We urge the U.S. to respect the rule of law and the market, mend its way, and stop taking actions that harm the functioning of global financial markets and the legal rights and interests of investors,”

Zhao said. The spokesperson noted that the Chinese side will take necessary measures to firmly uphold the legitimate and legal rights and interests of Chinese companies, and support Chinese businesses in protecting their interests according to law. Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday pledged necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies after the U.S. banned new equipment sales from five Chinese firms. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission issued a ban last

the G-20 which would be a success for the Indian government, but critics say the focus on lifestyle changes must be backed by policy to have credibility.

India has been beefing up its climate credentials, with its recent domestic targets to transition to renewable energy more ambitious than the goals it submitted to the UN as part of the Paris Agreement, which requires countries to show how they plan to limit warming to temperature targets set in 2015.

Friday on importing and selling telecommunications equipment of five Chinese companies including Huawei and ZTE, alleging they pose an “unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security. Huawei and ZTE have repeatedly opposed U.S. restrictions and denied that they threaten U.S. security.

Ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting told a press conference that China firmly opposes the U.S. generalizing the concept of national security and abusing state power to maliciously suppress Chinese companies and urged the U.S. side to immediately correct its wrong practices. The move will not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies but will also affect the interests of American companies and consumers and disrupt the international economic and trade order, which does no good for either country or the world at large, Shu said.

Musk says Twitter clash with Apple a ‘misunderstanding’

this week over fees and rules at the App Store, saying Apple had threatened to oust his recently acquired social media platform.

Twitter owner Elon Musk said he met with Apple chief Tim Cook on Wednesday and “resolved the misunderstanding” that prompted him to declare war on the iPhone maker’s App Store.

“Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store,” Musk tweeted.

“Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”

Musk also tweeted a video clip of “Apple’s beautiful HQ” in Cupertino, California, noting that he had had a “good conversation” with Cook.

The world’s richest person opened fire on the planet’s most valuable company early

The billionaire CEO had tweeted that Apple “threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.”

Apple, which has not issued a public statement on the matter, typically tells developers if fixes need to be implemented in apps to conform to App Store policies.

Analysts told AFP the clash may have came down to money, with Musk irked that the App Store takes a commission on transactions such as subscriptions.

Musk has delayed the relaunch of the Twitter Blue subscription tier intended to have users pay for perks such as account verification checkmarks.

Twitter rolled out Blue early in November, but pulled the plug after impersonators

paid for check marks to appear legitimate in what former head of safety and security Yoel Roth referred to as “a disaster.”

Both Apple and Google also require social networking services on their app stores to have effective systems for moderating harmful or abusive content.

But since taking over Twitter last month, Musk has cut around half of Twitter’s workforce, including many employees tasked with fighting disinformation, while an unknown number of others have quit.

He has also reinstated previously banned accounts, including that of former president Donald Trump.

Describing himself as a “free speech absolutist,” Musk believes that all content permitted by law should be allowed on Twitter, and has described his actions as a “revolution against online censorship in America.”

SAN FRANCISCO AFP

ReCoRD-bReakinG enGlanD put pakistan to the sWoRD in fiRst test

rAwAlpinDi Agencies

fOUREngland batsmen scored hundreds Thursday as the visi tors piled up a record 506-4 on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.

Openers Zak Crawley (122) and Ben Duckett (107) set the tone with quick-fire tons against a hapless Pakistan bowling attack before Ollie Pope (108)and Harry Brook (101 not out) compounded their misery. Ben Stokes was also not out, on 34, when bad light stopped play, having helped England break a 112-year-old record for the most runs on the first day of a Test — beating Australia’s 494-6 against South Africa at Sydney.

After winning the toss England went straight into “Bazball” mode, the brand of freewheeling, aggressive batting taken from the nickname of head coach Brendon McCullum.

England’s fiery batting — with 73 boundaries and three sixes — lifted the gloom over the start, which hung in the balance Wednesday after several of the tourists came down with a mystery virus.

As if the punishment from the top

three wasn’t enough, Brook — playing only his second Test — cracked six consecutive boundaries off one over from debutant spinner Saud Shakeel.

He is only the fourth batsman to score six consecutive boundaries in a Test, following West Indians Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, and Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya.

Brook reached his maiden century off just 80 balls, capping a highly entertaining day for a crowd of 6,000 that included around 150 “Barmy Army” fans.

Brook added 176 for the fourth wicket with Pope, who fell to pacer Mohammad Ali.

Pakistan had briefly fought back in the second session when they dismissed Duckett, Crawley and Joe Root (23) in the space of 53 runs, but that was shortlived. Debutant leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood was the most successful Pakistan bowler with 2-160 on a pitch similar to the one used against Australia earlier this year.

That pitch was declared “below average” by the match referee after it yielded 1,187 runs for the loss of just 14 wickets over five days.

Duckett, who hit his maiden hundred after being recalled to the Test side following an absence of six years, was

the first to go when he missed a reverse sweep off Mahmood and was trapped leg-before.

West Indian umpire Joel Wilson initially ruled it not out, only to change his decision on Pakistan’s review.

Duckett, who hit 15 boundaries, put on 233 for the first wicket with Crawley — an England record for the first wicket against Pakistan.

It beat the 1962 stand of 198 between openers Geoff Pullar and Bob Barber in Dhaka, then East Pakistan.

Crawley was bowled off a sharp incoming delivery by Haris Rauf in the next over, the Test debutant’s first wicket.

The lanky Crawley hit 21 boundaries in his quickfire 111-ball innings, his third Test hundred. Former skipper Root also fell leg-before to Mahmood, unsuccessfully challenging the decision.

Crawley showed his intent right from the start, hitting three boundaries off Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah’s first over of the match, and bringing up his half-century off just 38 balls.

He could have become the first England batter to score a century before lunch on day one of a Test but was left nine short. England are on their first Test tour to Pakistan in 17 years.

Tunisia fail to advance despite 1-0 win over much-changed France

DOHA Agencies

An invigorated Tunisia claimed a famous victory over a French team made up mostly of backup players on Wednesday but their 1-0 win over the reigning champions was not enough for the North Africans to progress to the World Cup knockout stages.

Tunisia, who needed to beat the already-qualified France and hope for Denmark to avoid defeat against Australia in the other Group D game to advance, roared onto the pitch to challenge a disjointed French side featuring nine changes from the side that beat the Danes.

But their win against the 2018 World Cup winners failed to see them through to the next stage after Australia defeated Denmark 1-0 and clinched second place in Group D. Tunisia thus keep their unwanted record of not progressing from the group stage in six World Cup appearances.

French-born Wahbi Khazri lifted Tunisia to their third win in 18 matches at

the finals, dribbling into the box in the 58th minute and slipping the ball past back-up goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, who at 37 is the oldest Frenchman to play in a World Cup match. Tunisia’s win also ended France’s six-match winning streak at the World Cup.

Tunisia also threatened early on, with

Denmark still ‘amazing’ despite failure at Doha

DOHA Agencies

Captain Simon Kjaer insisted that Denmark are still a top team despite their dismal 1-0 defeat to Australia which knocked them out of the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the group stage. Denmark had come into the tournament on a high after reaching the semi-finals of last year’s European Championship and beating world champions France home and away in the Nations League. But they exited the tournament in humiliating fashion, finishing bottom of Group D with just one point and a single goal scored after Mathew Leckie fired Australia into the last 16. “We didn’t deliver as a team,” said Kjaer, who missed Wednesday’s match with an injury. “Massively disappointed but that’s part of football. We were flying very high in the Euro, now we’re pretty far down. “We will have to take all the beatings and that’s right, we need to take everything. We’re an amazing team, still with a lot of quality and we have to learn from this.” Denmark were one of the teams that abandoned plans to wear a rainbow-coloured armband earlier in the tournament after being threatened with sporting sanctions by world football’s governing body FIFA. But Kjaer said that the team had been “mentally in a good place” despite the off-field row that focused on LGBTQ rights in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal. “I saw fire in the boys’ eyes before we went out so there was a strong belief that we could turn this around,” said the captain.

Hostility from the stands was palpable from the start, with a portion of Tunisian supporters at Education City whistling at the French national anthem as it was played before kickoff. The same

had happened at an emotionally-charged 2008 friendly in Paris between France and its former colony.

In a tactic designed to rest his stars for the Round of 16, French manager Didier Deschamps gave players who generally see very little of the pitch a taste of the action. But France’s bench showed little cohesion and their back line was consistently pushed back and split wide open by a Tunisian side desperate to score.

The Tunisian captain’s goal mobilised the French into action, with Deschamps bringing in stars like Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann to jump-start an attack that had so far been tepid.

Mbappe and Griezmann energised the French, who were aided by Tunisia sitting back in the hope of preserving their win. On the Tunisian bench, substitutes and staff had their eyes glued on the other decisive group stage game in the dying minutes of their own match.

Hoping to spare themselves the embarrassment of a loss, France pressed on but a stoppage-time goal by Griezmann was disallowed over an offside.

England should be ‘feared’ at World Cup, says Rice

have done that. We’re not just here to get into the last 16, we want to go the whole way.”

Mexico coach Gerardo Martino fired immediately after World Cup exit

Declan Rice believes England should be feared by their World Cup rivals as they gear up for a last-16 showdown with Senegal on Sunday.

Gareth Southgate’s side beat Wales 3-0 on Tuesday to finish as undefeated Group B winners, underlining their status as one of the leading contenders for the title in Qatar.

England’s next test comes against Senegal at the Al Bayt Stadium, where a victory over the Africa Cup of Nations holders would set up a potential quarter-final date with world champions France.

While they will face tougher opponents after the group stage — in which they played Iran, the United States and Wales — Rice is adamant that England deserve maximum respect from even the best teams at the World Cup. “Yeah, definitely,” he said. “Other nations will look at our quality and why should we not be feared?

“If you look at our attacking talent we have world-class talent. Across the board, we have players who have won the biggest trophies.

“It is up to us to prove that. The likes of France

Rice believes a key factor in England’s confidence in Qatar is the number of players in the squad who have achieved success at the highest level. Southgate’s team is packed with Premier League title winners and players with vast Champions League experience, giving Rice belief they will not wilt under pressure in the latter stages of the World Cup.

Fantastic mentality: “Our mentality now is fantastic, we have players that have won trophies year in, year out, so they’ve brought that mentality and installed it to England,” he said.

“It’s about the manager too, the way he talks to us. He’s so calm. He emphasises we’re England, we’re just as big as anyone else and we can achieve anything. When you have a manager like that, anything is possible.”

Rice also highlighted England’s strength in depth — Southgate made four changes to his lineup against Wales, including starts for Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford, who played decisive roles.

“It’s always nice to know you can bring players off the bench that can instantly change the game,” said the West Ham midfielder.

Mexico coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino was fired immediately after World Cup exit. Following the match, Mexican coach Martino said his team’s group-stage exit at the World Cup was a “huge failure” as they missed out on a place in the last 16 on goal difference. Goals from Henry Martin and Luis Chavez in the second half gave Mexico a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia, who pulled a goal back late on through captain Salem Al-Dawsari. But the result wasn’t enough to send Mexico into the knockout stage despite Poland’s 2-0 loss to Argentina as they finished third in Group C. The defeat marked Mexico’s earliest exit from a World Cup finals since the team failed to go past the group stage in 1978. “I am the main one responsible for this frustration we have and this disappointment,” said Martino, whose contract is due to expire. “It’s a great sadness and I assume responsibility for this huge failure.” Mexico had failed to win either of their first two World Cup group games for the first time since 1978, but Martino said they still could have gone through. “I don’t think we were knocked out in the previous matches, but today,” he said. At one point Mexico faced elimination on FIFA’s fair play rules, having picked up more yellow cards than Poland, and desperately searched for a third goal. “That’s why we went for it. We knew Poland had fewer yellow cards and it was necessary in that moment because of the other result,” said Martino. “Unless many players were booked the results meant we were still out.” Coach Herve Renard admitted his side were outclassed by Mexico as Saudi Arabia’s campaign came to an end despite a shock opening win over Argentina.

“The World Cup level is very high, in our group we had three very, very good teams,” he said.

“Mexico this evening were much better than us.”

The Saudis would have made the last 16 for only the second time had they beaten Mexico. “In the history of Saudi Arabian football only once have they reached the second round. It was a long time ago, in 1994,” said Renard. “Before this game we were dreaming to do it again. With the game we did today we didn’t deserve to go to the second round. “We did our best.

Nader Ghandri flicking the ball into the net off a free kick but the play was ruled offside.

DOHA stAFF RePoRt

DOHA AFP

51st NatioNal Day of UaE obsErvED

iN PakistaN with ENthUsiasm

bond of brotherhood will further enhance in various sectors and broader horizons.”

UAE Ambassador to Pakistan

Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Alzaabi on Thursday hosted a reception, here at a local hotel, to mark the 51st National Day of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There was a huge participation from the diplomatic and journalistic community in the colourful reception where the UAE envoy received all the guests with great vigour.

Addressing the celebration ceremony, the ambassador said this cheerful gathering was clear evidence of enthusiasm and affection between the brotherly people and governments of our two countries.

“Indeed, I consider this event as Fifty First celebration of our friendly relations and cooperation, and I am confident that this

He said the celebration this year came with the visionary leadership of UAE President Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vice President, Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who adopted the “Principles of the 50” as guidelines for a new phase of growth and development over the next 50 years.

He said the miraculous accomplishments in the areas of development over the last year coincided with the unprecedented success of UAE, which had the pride to not only host international events but to successfully host the EXPO 2020 amid the gigantic participation of more than 192 countries and thousands of multinational and leading companies.

The envoy said the UAE adopted eco-

nomic strategies that stimulated economic diversification away from oil, and working to build an economy based on knowledge and diversity, reinforced by scientific and techno-

logical progress, and to provide impetus for investment in digital and circular economies, as well as sectors based on artificial intelligence and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The UAE, he said, believed that the future of regional security depended on strong multilateral partnerships and a common commitment to achieving stability and prosperity through peaceful political and economic means.

“The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements will continue to pave the way for more opportunities for the people of the region and open the way for the vital economic development of the Middle East, accelerating and enhancing trade across nations and increasing the ease of doing business throughout the region, and in other markets such as Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.” He said the United Arab Emirates had become an important trade hub, and “it is aware of the necessity of prosperity and the free flow of goods and services as a fundamental principle for any modern and peaceful forward-looking country, and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements are the latest step in this regard.”

He said the UAE had deep and distinguished relations with all countries, which reinforced and reflected its principles based on openness, partnership, building bridges, and working to consolidate peace, and the common interests of countries and peoples, in a way that contributes to achieving international peace and security.

ISLAMABAD staff report