Epaper_22-12-05 KHI

instead of democracy, early polls to further imran’s agenda : Bil awal

Rubbishing the accusations of a foreign conspiracy behind the removal of Imran Khan the foreign m nister said the polit cal eaders were supposed to speak the truth to their people instead of coming up with such conspiracy theories

He told the inter viewer that it was for the first time that a prime minister was removed constitutionally through a vote of confidence not through a coup or court order

Asked about the early elections he sa d nstead of furthering democracy the early e ections would instead further Imran Khan’s agenda

He sa d it was important for the countr y to complete its five years term unless there was any urgency which currently was not there

To a question, Foreign Minister Bilawa sa d that Kashmir was an unfinished agenda and s nce Narendra Modi s election the space for Musl ms n India as well as Kashmir was shrinking

Imran ‘under mining’ democracy merely to regain power: PM

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday crit cised the Pak istan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and said that the ousted premier wants to make his way to power “even if t means un dermining ” the countr y ’s democratic system

and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies if the coal tion government agrees to con duct elections by the end of March next year an an nouncement described as pressure tactic by the cr tics and the coa ition alliance

OREIGN

on Sunday said that he did not see the need for holding early

in the countr y as was be ng demanded by

and

Imran Khan The foreign minister in an inter view w th Al Jazeera, said that the current government in herited from ts predecessor “a div ded countr y and a collapsed economy

However, he said the incumbent govern ment was looking for solut ons to nterna problems and consensus at the internationa level He sa d in order to address the chal lenges inherited from the previous govern ment, it was essential that the whole countr y get united as no sing e political party or indi vidual could address the situation alone He said in order to address the chal lenged inherited form the prev ous govern ment it was essential that the whole countr y get united as no sing e political party or indi vidual could address the situation alone

He sa d the people of Pakistan and Indian want to live in peace In order to achieve that t was essential to respect international aws and conventions to address the issue of terrorism and extremism

Coming to Afghan stan the foreign min ster said Pakistan was engaging with the war torn countr y n the interest of its own as well as the neighborhood

However, he sa d the TTP had been in volved in terror attacks in the past which were still go ng on He said Pakistan would work with the Afghan government to address the cha enge posed by the terrorist outfits

I m r a n a d v i s e d P T I l a w m a ke r s t o p r e p a r e f o r p o l l s : F a w a d

Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI)

leader Fawad Chaudhr y shared on Sunday the party Chief Imran Khan advice to al party lawmak ers to go back to their const tuen cies and prepare for elections

The PTI Senior Vice President said that they w ll not waste any more t me and call for elect ons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pun jab “ The PDM wou d keep run ning from elections but they wou d not waste any more time ” In a tweet on Sunday Chaudhr y added that if PDM continues to run away from the elections [ ] we will go for the

‘

provinc al elections of Punjab and (Khyber) Pakhtunkhwa and the elect ons for the Nat onal As sembly would be held later

In a tweet today KP govern ment spokesperson Barr ster Muhammad Al Saif assured the PTI leadership that the “ Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would be dissolved on the order of Imran Khan” Yesterday, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhr y Par vez Elah in a tweet once again re terated his support for Imran “ We are waiting for Imran s signal to d ssolve the Punjab Assembly We remain loyal to whom we support ”

E ahi also professed h s loyalty towards Imran, saying: “ We are stand ng by Imran Khan and will

continue to stand by him

On Sunday PTI ally Awami Muslim League ch ef Sheikh Rashid said: Either Imran will get a date for the elections by Dec 30 or will break up the assemb ies; the bal s in the government s court on whether they make or break politics He lambasted the government for not be ng in a state to “go out into the peop e” and sa d that former f nance min ister Miftah Ismail had conducted a post mortem of their economy ”

Imran had on Friday stated while speaking to legislators from the KP Assembly via video link from his Zaman Park res dence that he was “all set to dissolve the Punjab and KP as

semblies th s month and take 66 per cent of Pakistan to the pol s

The former premier had made an offer to the government to “sit and talk and announce a date for the general elections, fa ling which he would d ssolve the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KP, which his party govern

The former information m nis ter added that Khan had advised all PTI candidates to go back to their constituenc es and start preparing for elect ons “Nat onal Assembly elections would be he d after wards if the government does not ca l for general polls, but PTI would opt for pol s in Punjab and KP as soon as poss ble

In an nter view with a private channel on Saturday the PTI chief Imran Khan shared his wil ingness to delay dissolut on of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assem blies if the coalit on government agrees to conduct elect ons by the end of March next year

In a tweet on Sunday, PM Shehbaz said that the PTI chief s recent diatribe against parliamentar y democracy is the latest in a series of attacks that fly in the face of how democ racy funct ons in modern nation states ”

As the PTI ch ef speaks against state institutions and hurls abuses against the rul ing all ance leaders PM She hbaz believed that h s po itics’ so ely aimed at com ing back into power through any means necessar y His (Khan s) politics is aimed at making his way to power even if it means un dermin ng foundations this countr y stands on the prime m nister expressed

The PM s statement comes after the PTI chief shared his w llingness to ha t the dissolution of the Punjab

He added that the de posed premier s pol tics is a med at making his way to power even if it means un dermining foundations this countr y stands on Earlier the federal gov ernment had to d the PTI chief that the threats and di alogue offer could not go hand in hand in response to Imran s offer of holding talks on the cond tion of an nounc ng fresh general po ls

On Friday, the PTI chief had softened his stance on possible talks with the Pak istan Democratic Move ment (PDM) leaders and had appeared to be striking a concil ator y tone as he signal ed his openness to sit and talk and g ve a date for the general elections

However wh le making the offer he had also threat ened to dissolve the Pun ab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K P) assemblies

G e n B a j w a s h o w e d u s r i g h t p a t h ’ t o s u p p o r t P T I : C M E l a h i

Gen (retd) Bajwa had turned the t des in favour of PTI

Punjab Ch ef M nister Chaudhr y Per vaiz Elahi has endorsed his son Moonis Elah ’s statement that former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Ba wa sug gested that his PML Q party should sup port PTI during oppos tion s no confidence motion aga nst Imran Khan n March this year

In an inter view w th a oca TV chan ne on Sunday CM E ahi said Gen Bajwa told him that go ng w th Imran was a better option after he shared his reser vations about o ning PDM all ance as he did not trust Sharif family E l a h s a i d h e w a s w a r y o f a c c e p t i n g t h e t h e n o p p o s i t i o n l e d b y S h a r i f

m n i s t e r ] a s t h e y h a v e b e t r a y e d m e i n t h e p a s t, ” h e r e m a r ke d

The PML Q leader said his son Moo n s played a major role in convincing h m to support PTI nstead of join ng Pak istan Democratic Movement alliance

Moreover E ahi said the then army chief Gen (retd) Ba wa showed him the r ght path” to support PTI

Speaking on a pr vate TV channel earl er this week, Moonis E ahi revea ed that “ there has not been any contact with the new militar y leadership how ever, he added that the former COA S

“This is my po nt of content on with PTI and anyone who cal s him a traitor he continued he was seen as per fectly f ne when he was going n their support and now he is cal ed a turncoat

“ I have offered the PTI to come on TV and prove to me that he [Bajwa] is a traitor and I w ll show you just how much the man did for you ”

He went on to claim that there was no doubt about it that the man had gone al out for you [PTI]”; but the minute he removed h mself then he became the bad guy ”

“ If he was the bad guy, he would have never told me to support Imran Khan,” Moonis sa d

Minister Bi awa Bhutto Zardari

elections

Pak stan Tehreek e Insaf Chairman

former prime minister

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE

s ta f f r e p o r t

Amid GloBAl ConfliCt, UnGA AdoptS reSolUtion

hiGhliGhtinG power of Sport to AttAin peACe, Uplift

UNITED

AGAINST a backdrop of global conflicts economic uncertainty and climate change, the UN General Assembly has recognized the transformative power of sport to achieve peace and sustainable development with the adoption of a consensus resolution

Adopting the text, introduced by Monaco, titled “Sport as an enabler for sustainable development delegates laid out

imran to dissolve assemblies if polls not announced by dec 30, says rashid

RAWALPINDI s tA f f R e p o R t

the ways in which sport can be used to help young people improve their lives while generating cooperation among nations

In his remarks, the President of the 193 member Assembly, Csaba Korosi, said the international community must include sports and athletes in its work to carry out the changes that transform the world, pointing out that sports bring people together in peaceful conditions and can help combat some of the greater dangers facing humankind

Noting that the World Cup is underway in Qatar, he said both male and female

athletes are role models for millions of young people “It is more promising if nations compete on the fields of sports rather than on battlefields,” he said, adding, “The former is more noble and the latter leaves death and devastation behind

The Assembly president urged all member states to preserve the unifying spirit of sports and the Olympic Movement

Encouraged by the Assembly’s unity on the resolution, the Permanent Observer of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Louis Alberto Moreno, said stronger collaboration between the Olympic

community and the United Nations system can advance the global goals by using sport in such areas as peace health education gender equality and climate action

In a polarized world, there are few occasions when humankind can set aside its differences and come together in peace, he said, adding that the Olympic spirit is the most important symbol of peace in today s world

The IOC representative welcomed that the resolution specifically highlights that international sporting events should be organized in a spirit of peace and without discrimination of any kind

Qatar ’s Ambassador Alya Ahmed Said al Thani said that the opening speech of Emir of Qatar at the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup was an eloquent response to the unfair, selective, racist, condescending and politicized campaigns which targeted her country’s organization of the sporting event She said Qatar will focus on humanity by building strategic partnerships and expanding international cooperation mechanisms to spread a culture of tolerance and peace Ms al Thani also pointed to the launch of a campaign on the global goals on the sidelines of the World Cup

Balochistan police summon Gill in sedition case

QUETTA

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid said on Sunday Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan would get the date for the national elections till December 30 or dissolve the assemblies In a statement on Twitter, the AML chief while giving an ultimatum to the incumbent government said now it has all come to the point for the ruling body to either strengthen the country s politics or destroy it Mr Rashid underlined that people don’t trust the coalition government and it’s only option to call for an ‘escape election as they cannot face the public Targeting the Shehbaz led government further he said Miftah Ismail who was the former finance minister, wasn’t sparing his own government in bashing the ongoing economic policies of the government In another tweet he also expressed grief on the demise of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) senior leader and Marriyum Aurangzeb’s aunt Najma Hameed He prayed for the departed soul and the bereaved family

pti leads in second phase of A JK local polls

MUZAFFARABAD s tA f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) is leading with 229 seats in the second phase of the local government elections in Azad and Jammu Kashmir (AJK) according to interim results The polling was held in four districts of Poonch division Bagh, Rawlakot, Haveli, Sudhanoti on Saturday The AJK Election Commission said it had received results of 708 out of total 787 seats The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) currently sit at the second position after securing 129 seats followed by PPP with 104 seats The Jammu Kashmir People Party bagged 28 seats while the TLP managed to win seven seats in the local government elections Interestingly, independent candidates have secured 233 seats The interim results show the ruling PTI failed to get its chairmen elected in Abaspur Dhirkot and other municipal committees and it is likely to lose mayorship of Rawlakot It is recalled that the PTI took the lead over its opponents the PML N and PPP in the first phase of the local government elections in Muzaffarabad division Meanwhile, The polling in the third and last phase of the elections will be held in all three districts of Mirpur Division, including Mirpur, Kotli, and Bhimber, on December 8 A total of 1 2 million registered voters will exercise their right to vote

S indh Culture D ay: US, German CGs wish people peace, prosperity

remind you that the people and government of the United States stands with the flood affected people of Sindh and Balochistan in these difficult times ”

The Balochistan police on Sunday summoned PTI leader Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case registered against him in the province According to the police authorities, a case has been registered against Gill in Balochistan The officials warned if Gill didn t appear before the police, then they would obtain his arrest warrants and bring him to Quetta after arresting him On Saturday, a case was registered against Gill in Qila Abdullah for using “vile language” against state institutions At present, Gill is on bail in a case that was registered against him for sedition and inciting people against state institutions The former chief of security staff of Imran Khan was arrested on August 9 after he had called for rebellion within the army and called on the officers to defy certain orders from the top military command during an interview with a private TV channel A few days ago, another PTI leader Senator Azam Swati was also taken to Quetta where a judicial magistrate court today remanded him into police custody for 5 days On Saturday, a session court in Islamabad deferred the indictment of Gill in a case pertaining to incite mutiny in state institutions till December 12

Amid a countrywide celebration of Sindh Culture Day on Sunday, US Consul General in Karachi Nicole Theriot and German Consul General Dr Rüdiger Lotz put on beautiful Sindhi attire to celebrate the rich and profound heritage of Sindhi people While expressing their felicitations on the Sindhi Culture Day, both the dignitaries said that Sindh is a land of rich culture and history

Taking to official Twitter account of the US Consulate Karachi, Nicole Theriot wrote: The people of Sindh have created an inclusive and tolerant society On this Sindh Cultural day being celebrated on December 04, the United States wishes the people of Sindh and Pakistan peace and prosperity ” Nicole Theriot, with Sindhi Ajrak on her shoulders, also appeared in a video shared on the official Twitter account of the US Consulate in Karachi

She said in her video message: “Today, we join Pakistanis to celebrate Sindh Cultural Day We do it with the understanding that many are still recovering from the plight of the devastating floods this year This day, we commemorate Sindh s rich history and culture “I thank the people of Sindh for your warmth and hospitality as I continue to learn more about Sindhi history, poetry, and culture

On behalf of everyone at the US Consulate in Karachi, I wish you a happy Sindh Cultural Day, and

The video also featured other officials of the US Consulate in Karachi, clad with traditional Sindhi attires and extending felicitation on the Sindi Cultural Day in Sindhi language “Sindh Jo Saqaafati Dihaarho Mubarak Hujy! The US Consulate in Karachi wishes you all a very Happy Sindhi Cultural Day,” Nicole Theriot concluded

Meanwhile German Consul General in Karachi Dr Rüdiger Lotz put on beautiful Sindhi attire to celebrate the rich and profound heritage of the Sindhi people The German Consulate General released a video on the occasion that showed a proper celebration was held there to mark the day

In the video, the German Consulate General Rüdiger Lotz said that cultural exchanges and dialogues are an integral part of international relations in the modern world He further said that Sindh is a land of peace love respect and brotherhood as it has a great culture Sindh celebrateS culture day: Sindh Culture Day is being celebrated on Sunday with zeal and zest across the province and elsewhere in the country The day is celebrated on the first Sunday of every December On this occasion various cultural government, and non government organizations organized seminars, rallies and conferences to highlight the centuries old culture of Sindh valley

SC rules Vawda disqualified for tenure of current assembly

ISLAMABAD

The Supreme Court of Pakistan released a short written verdict in former Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda s disqualification case according to which he had been declared disqualified till the completion of current assembly’s term The apex court released a brief verdict comprising four pages which were written by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Atta Bandial The judgment stated that Vawda informed the court that he received the certificate of cancellation of his dual nationality on June 25, 2018, and he admitted that he misinformed the court The apex court ruled that Vawda was not eligible to become a member of the National Assembly in 2018 The verdict stated that since Vawda has admitted his mistake therefore Article 63 (1) applies to him The apex court ruled that Vawda will be considered disqualified till the completion of the tenure of the current assembly However, he will be eligible for the next elections The court directed Vawda to send his resignation from the Senate seat to the Senate chairman

injuries to attack the cocaine cartel

I regard as ominous the busting of a cartel

a third of Erope s cocaine The bust apparently involved people being arrested in Dubai, which

A n e x a m p l e c l o s e r h o m e o f t h e iniquities being piled on Imran Khan was the PDM government relentlessly ordering the Navy to conduct a raid at sea, in which i t s e i z e d 5 8 0 k g o f d r u g s I m r a n w o u l d never have allowed such mindless police brutality

t h o u g h t h e t r a v a i l s o f l i v i n g w i t h o u t privileged access, alleviated somewhat by the prescriptions of opioids as painkillers for his bullet wounds, but also through the travails of seeing Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa replaced as COAS by Gen Asim Munir General Bajwa has been given a post r e t i r e m e n t b a r r a g e b y t h e P T I Vi r t u a l Wa r r i o r s , w i t h f i n g e r s p o i n t e d a t h i s alleged acquisition of property ISPR has h a d t o d e n y i t G e n e r a l B a j w a w a s t h e COAS who not only got an extension from the PTI but also did not deny the frequent s t a t e m e n t t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n d t h e military were on the same page

he instigated

the European police forces to take advantage of the Cuptaan being laid low by his bullet

And the drugs would have ended up in t h e To s h a k h a n a I s n ’t t h a t t h e r e a l Toshakhana story? How first all drug hauls had to be deposited there and then had the h a u l s w i t h d r a w n I n a d v a n c e o f t h e P T I s p o k e s m e n , l e t m e s a y t h a t n o t a s i n g l e g r a m m e w a s s o l d A l l w i t h d r a w a l s w e r e consumed on the premises of PM House, a n d t h e r e w a s n o t a s i n g l e p a i s a o f corruption committed M e a n w h i l e , I m r a n n o t j u s t l i v e s

I’ve noticed that Imran no longer talks about the COAS knowing about any corruption by the PM General Asim is the DG ISI who was sacked as early as 2019 for telling the PM about what was going on in Punjab The problem with that story is that it not only shows the COAS as complicit but the new DG ISI, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed

The fourth most senior officer has decided to soldier on, it seems It s a new one on supersession I can understand a CGS making way so that the new COAS can pick his own man for what is perhaps the most important post in GHQ I can also understand an officer passed over for promotion retiring, so that they will not have to salute onetime juniors But if a senior is promoted? I was once told by a retired |Indian lieutenant general that the promotion to four star rank and appointment as the COAS was a matter of luck, and three stars was as far as one could go on competence

I’m not sure Imran is particularly interested in all this, particularly with

England visiting They seem to have taken his assurance that the Long March wouldn t interrupt the match so much to heart that they put up the highest one day score by any team, helped ahid Mahmood, the legspinner, supposed to be Pakistan’s new secret weapon, who did take four wickets, but did conceded 235 runs, the most by any debutant on debut England scored 306 4 that first day, which was more than Australia got against South Africa at Sydney in 1910 Which was 494/6

Sticking closer to home, the smog has been making life hard, not so much because we can’t get about and because of the effects on our breathing, and the watering in thew eyes it causes Look, Igave up smoking years ago but I’ve found that my chances of lung cancer, other cancers and other dread diseases are once again increasing I’m just waiting for some doctor to tell me to stop breathing

LAHORE: Citizens throng Race Course Park to enjoy Family Winter Festival photo by zubA R Mehfooz

KARACHI s tA f f R e p o R t

Faiz Hameed, by the way, has started a new tradition, that of retiring when your senior is promoted, and you thereby lose the prospect of further promotion Lt Gen Azhar Abbas, General Bajwa’s CGS, has also taken that route

A S h r A f i U r G e S p r i VAt e B A n KS t o w i t h d r Aw

A p p e A lS A G A i n S t f S C ’ S r i B A V e r d i C t

based economic system

Ashrafi, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council, assured the government all out support of Ulema and Mashaykh in the implementation of FSC s decision in letter and spirit

Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Sunday said the private banks should withdraw their appeals against the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) verdict on Riba (usury)

Talking to APP, he said the government had taken practical steps by withdrawing appeals of national and state banks from the apex court in a bid to get rid of the interest

He proposed all the financial institutions devise a combined strategy to make the country’s economic system free of interest which was totally against the divine commands He also urged the government to take stern action against the people who were allegedly involved in an interest based system at the local level

He said Pakistan, currently, was facing a critical financial crisis and its solution was lying in political stability and improved law and order situation in the country

He urged all the religious and political parties to unite on one platform and help cope with burgeoning polarization, extremism, and the new wave of terrorism with collective efforts

He also appealed the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf Chief Imran Khan to come to the table talk to evolve consensus on the ‘Charter of Pakistan’ as it was the need of the hour and it would help control increasing

violence in the society and improve the ailing economy of the country

He proposed that the way ‘Message of Pakistan’ was designed to promote religious harmony in all sections of the society, there should be long term policies on the country’s social, economic, and foreign affairs issues in the shape of Charter of Pakistan and it should be implemented by all the governments to come and national institutions in the larger national interest

Ashrafi emphasized that Pakistan had to go out of the box in the matter of its foreign policy as there was a paradigm shift in the

Imran won’t take risk of dissolving assemblies: Gilani

MULTAN s tA f f R e p o R t

Former prime minister and PPP stalwart Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said Imran Khan would not take the risk of dissolving assemblies

“Imran Khan knows if he dissolves assemblies then elections will be held in two provinces only Gilani expressed the remarks while talking to media persons in Lodhran Gilani posed a question: “When Imran Khan had not accepted our demand for elections, how can we accept it?” Imran Khan should sit with them unconditionally in order to sort out a new roadmap Gillani added He wondered how a chief minister, who could not get an FIR registered, would dissolve assemblies The ex PM stated that PTI conducted media trials of PPP and PML N “The politics of Imran Khan is backed by lies only, and his real face and politics were exposed

Kp-eZdmC launches nine new eZs; attracts investment of rs340b

PESHAWAR

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KP EZDMC) has launched nine (9) new Economic Zones (EZs) during the period of last three years to promote industrialization and attract domestic and foreign investment in the sector The newly launched Economic Zones include Rashakai Prioritized Special Economic Zone, Hattar Special EZ and 7 EZs while five new upcoming projects also include one proposed Special Economic Zone at Draban D I Khan The remaining four others are Buner Marble City, Salt and Gypsum City Karak, Mansehra Economic Zone and Katlang Economic Zone The KP EZDMC has been established as non profit organization, within the meaning of section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984 and is wholly owned by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Company aims to develop and manage world class industrial estates in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to help organizing and establishing planned and rapid industrialization in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rehabilitation of the existing industrial estates is also part of the objectives of this Company According to an official of the Company, the Company has so far extended incentives to the tone of Rs 14 3 billion to the enterprises in Hattar and Rashakai SEZs in the shape of relief in taxes The investors friendly initiatives of the Company have helped increase the number of operational enterprises in the province to 1166 units while 163 sick and closed industrial units have also been revived The total employment in the operational units surged to 100 500 with around 10 percent female participation 297 units are under construction in the new zones The completion of the under new EZs will generate 48 375 direct employment These initiatives have attracted huge industrial investment of Rs 340 billion in existing and newly launched EZs and resulted in making the company self sustainable The Company has spent Rs 7 260 billion on infrastructural works in different zones executed from the company’s own resources The upcoming initiatives of the company include planning and designing for Chaman Economic Zone Balochistan skill development of human resource in collaboration with Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and British Council The Company is also going to establish a Women Business Park to promote women entrepreneurship Women Business Powark is a new concept in PP (Plug & Play) where these women can immediately start their businesses The Company is also working on construction of KP EZDMC Tower through the company’s own sources besides provision of Green/Solar energy to SMEs in EZs at competitive rates DATA of all EZs and enterprises has been digitized by recording it on the internal MIS system

external affairs of the Islamic and Arab world He also thanked the Saudi leadership for extending the term of deposit in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) from the Saudi Fund for Development

Expressing gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, he said the relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was like two brothers

He said Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif ’s meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would yield further cooperation in the shape of Saudi investment in the days to come ahead in the country Similarly, other Islamic countries are also increasing trade and economic cooperation with Pakistan,” he said expressing the hope that there would be good news from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia in the near future

FelicitationS to Sindhi people on c u lt u r e d ay: M e a n w h i l e , S e n a t e C h a i r m a n M u h a m m a d S a d i q S a n j r a n i o n S u n d a y e x t e n d e d s p e c i a l g r e e t i n g s t o t h e S i n d h i p e o p l e o n t h e i r Culture Day

Each year Sindhi people celebrated Cultural Day worldwide on the Sunday in the first week of December People are donning cultural dresses with Sindhi Topi (cap) and Ajrak the traditional block printed shawls to spotlight the centuries old rich culture of Sindh

In his special Sindh Culture Day message to Sindhi people living across the country, Sanjrani said, the day highlights the love and importance of Sindh culture Sindh province is the cradle of the world’s most beautiful and oldest civilization, the Indus Valley civilization

He urged the people to take a pledge to promote the Sindhi language and traditions on the Culture day

GC T sets up 160th school in K arachi to achieve enrollment of 100,000 kids

Green Crescent Trust (GCT) a non profit organization, has launched its 160th charitable school in Sindh as a step forward to achieving its goal of enrolling 100 000 out of school children in the Sindh province by the year 2025 The new charitable school has been opened in an underprivileged part of the Azizbad area in Karachi

The new GCT school in Azizabad in the next few years will enroll a total of 720 students from underprivileged families for education up to class 8th Another GCT school is functional nearby and has been functional for past many years The location of the two schools shows that the issue of out of school children in the midst of Karachi is as grave as in a faraway rural area in Sindh

A large number of concerned philanthropists dignitaries from various walks of life, and donors of the

GCT attended the launching ceremony Speaking at the launching ceremony the GCT CEO Zahid Saeed thanked the concerned donors and philanthropists for continuously supporting the drive of this charity to educate underprivileged students in Sindh He said the generous and uninterrupted support this charity had been receiving from its donors would enable it to achieve the target of increasing the number of its charitable schools in Sindh to 250 by 2025 for enrolling a total of 100,000 children from needy families

He said the concerned donors and philanthropists had to come forward and generously support genuine charitable drives in the education sector as they did so during the coronavirus pandemic and as in the recent flood calamity, which had massively damaged the school infrastructure in Sindh Zahid Saeed informed the audience that the GCT has employed over 1400 qualified teachers to educate around 29,000 students from underprivileged areas of Sindh 2,000 orphan children are fully supported by GCT

Those who pushed country to verge of collapse exposed: Abbasi

HAVELIAN

s tA f f R e p o R t

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi here on Sunday said the upcoming era is that of PML N and the faces of those who brought the country to the brink of destruction have been exposed He expressed these views while talking to the media

The minister further said that before the general elections PML N was working on its restructuring at the village council level, and respect for the sentiments of the workers in Muslim League N was the policy of the leadership

H e s a i d t h a t P a k i s t a n M u s l i m L e a g u e N w a s t h e n a m e o f a n i d e o l o g y, t h e w o r k e r s w h o w e r e

standing with the Party in difficult times were the asset of the Party as no political party or force could succeed without workers

Murtaza Abbassi said that the district leadership o f M u s l i m L e a g u e N h a s a l w a y s r e s p e c t e d t h e s e n t i m e n t s o f t h e w o r k e r s a n d l i s t e n e d t o t h e i r c r i t i c i s m p o s i t i v e l y I n t h e c o m i n g g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n s , P M L N w i l l w i n w i t h a t w o t h i r d majority he added T h e m i n i s t e r s a i d t h a t i n A b b o t t a b a d , a c o m p r e h e n s i v e c a m p a i g n h a d b e e n l a u n c h e d t o o rg a n i z e a n d a c t i v a t e t h e P a r t y a t t h e v i l l a g e council level The drama staged by Imran Khan has f l o p p e d a n d P M L N w i l l p r o v e i t s m a j o r i t y w i t h landmark victory in district Abbottabad and other parts of the country, he expressed

imran ‘undermining’ democracy merely to regain power: pm

CONTINUED FROM PAgE 01

The offer for talks to the government had appeared to mark a departure from the hardline stance he had taken during his mammoth November 26 Rawalpindi rally However, a day later, while addressing K P lawmakers through a video link from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore on Saturday, Imran lamented that the coalition government rejected his offer for talks and directed lawmakers to start preparing for elections” Following the ex PM’s advice to his lawmakers, senior party leader Fawad Chaudhry revealed that the party would first go for polls in Punjab and K P A day earlier, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan invited the ruling coalition to hold talks over date of general elections, noting that his party would only wait till March Speaking to a private news channel, the former premier said that if the incumbent government is ready to hold elections by the end of March, he would not dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies However he said, his party won’t agree on a date after March and assemblies will be dissolved this month [December] if the government disagrees “We are ready to hold negotiations over date of general elections,” the former prime minister said, citing the devastating economic situation as the reason behind PTI’s constant demand Imran Khan warned that he would dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies if the government refuses to hold elections in March Speaking of the dissolution of assemblies the PTI Chairman noted that Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi had vowed to follow his orders Pervaiz Elahi has given me the full authority to dissolve the assembly whenever I want,” he added

e&p companies discover 16 hydrocarbon deposits in 2021 22

Exploration and Production (E&P) companies, operating in different parts of the country, have collectively discovered 16 oil and gas reservoirs during the last fiscal year in pursuit of making the country self reliant in the energy sector Out of these, ten discoveries were made in the oil and gas fields of Sindh, four in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each in Balochistan and Punjab, according to an official document available with APP Initially, the companies started extracting oil and gas from seven newly discovered wells of Sindh province including Taj 1, located in Tando Allahyar district, Turk South 1 & Mulaki West 1 and Bhatti North 1 in Badin district, Fazil 1 in Ghotki district, Mohar in Khairpur district and Naimat West DT 1 in Sanghar district Currently their accumulative oil and gas production stood at 1258 98 barrels per day and 10 91 million cubic feet per day respectively The E&P companies, under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives carry out different development projects in the surrounding localities of their operational fields for the welfare of local communities regularly Accordingly the companies during the last five years have collectively deposited Rs3108 309 million in joint bank accounts of DCOs/DCs of different districts of Sindh Province

Joint Action Committee QAU releases fact sheet on land, Bhara Kahu Bypass issue

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Joint Action Committee Quaid I Azam University (QAU) Islamabad has released fact sheet on important issues pertaining to versity’s land and ongoing Bhara Kahu bypass The Joint Action Committee (JAC) is comprising of relevant stakeholders i e Academic Staff Association, Officers Welfare Association, QAU Alumni Association and Employees Welfare Association, a press release said According to the Fact Sheet, Bhara Kahu Bypass project has far reaching implications for the university; it violates the sanctity of the only National University

of the country it bisects the campus into two noncontagious barricaded parts, it separates the entire front of the university on Murree road from rest of the main campus thus diminishing any chance of having a dedicated road access (from Murree road) for the university it is detrimental to the natural environment of the university area including extremely valuable Botanical Garden of the university, it violates the master plan of the university including sites reserved for National Research Centers

The project would also consumes about 600 Kanals of precious university land rendering significant additional land unusable, while leaving about 2000 Kanals

of most precious (front) university land at the mercy of land encroachers, and last but not the least, it destroys the peaceful academic and research environment by sowing the seeds of discord and unrest amongst students, faculty, alumni and employees of the university

The bypass construction on university land started in September 2022 by breaking boundary wall of the university establishing of camp site and concrete/asphalt plants on university land adjacent to QAU residential colony and by cutting hundreds of mature trees, all without intimation let alone approval from university syndicate Ironically the project construction started without mandatory approval from the Pak

Environmental Protection Agency Showing serious concerns on the ongoing developments, QAU community, during past few weeks has petitioned to University Syndicate, the Islamabad High Court, a Cabinet sub committee, the Pak EPA, and the Environmental Tribunal against this violation of QAU land QAU is the only National University envisioned in the original Islamabad Master Plan 1960 to be in the National Park area Therefore, for this purpose, a total of 1709 acres 4 kanals and 12 marlas land in National Park area was acquired, payment of which was made by QAU, while paying an additional 10 5% to CDA as service charges

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R e p o R t

pRIME Minister s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz

KARACHI

before the masses ” Responding to a question Gillani said Imran Khan was having misleading dreams of getting a two thirds majority “Our allied parties are much stronger and competent and the coalition government would continue for even years to come ”

ISLAMABAD

KP CM tErMs rs97B KPCIP MILEstoNE IN

ProvIsIoN oF CIvIC FACILItIEs to PUBLIC

various projects for establishment of recreational parks in Kohat, Mardan, Mingora and Peshawar and a project for establishment of sewerage treatment plant in Kohat are ready for implementation which will incur Rs 9 billion

CH I E F Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mah mood Khan while terming the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project (KPCIP) as an important initiative for public welfare, has directed the relevant authorities to ensure physical progress on various packages under the project as per stipulated timelines

“The project will prove to be an important mile stone in provision of better civic and recreational facil ities to the citizens in divisional headquarters ”

While chairing a meeting to review progress on KPCIP a Rs97 billion project launched for provi sion of civic facilities including provision of clean drinking water, establishment of green areas and other facilities in five divisional headquarters of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa He directed that work on the project should be accelerated to ensure its timely completion It is pertinent to mention here that, chief minister has formally performed groundbreaking of three differ ent projects including restoration of water supply sys

Effective measures likely to eradicate polio from Pakistan by 2023: UNICEF

ISLAMABAD

A senior UNICEF official said the polio program in Pakistan was back on track and hoped that the crippling disease will be eradicated from the country by end of 2023 following effective measures to check its spread

Regional Director for South Asia George Laryea Adjei in an exclusive interview with APP, said the current data suggested that virus was now under control in the country

“We are using all available resources and services at our disposal to reach every girl and boy in Pakistan with lifesaving vaccines and protect them against the entirely preventable disease,” he said Appreciating efforts of over 350 000 health workers traveling to all parts of the country to administer doses of the vaccine to every child, he said, “the program is back on track to stop all wild polio virus transmission in 2023,”

George Laryea Adjei said Pakistan was in a much better position today to eradicate polio than a year ago However, there were challenges that hampered the efforts to eliminate the virus completely

He expressed concern over the attack on polio and health workers in some parts of Pakistan and lauded the courage of polio teams

He also appreciated efforts of polio eradication endeavors of the government recalling that Pakistan was the first country to launch an ambitious program for training its health workers to support national immunization programmes Highlighting the challenges , he said that the onslaught of back to back disasters drought, heatwaves floods and acts of violence continued to put millions of children’s lives at risk in Pakistan He said the recent catastrophic floods destroyed vital health facilities and exacerbated health risks for millions of children, especially those living in districts historically at the highest risk for polio

The UNICEF, Regional Director said, UNICEF had been working with the government, UN agencies and NGO partners from day one of the flood to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable children and families, in 54 of the 90 calamity hit districts In the health sector, he said 110 mobile health teams were providing critical health services to children, women, and adolescents and UNICEF was also assisting the national measles and rubella vaccination campaigns for children under the age of five in flood affected districts

tem, establishment of new water treatment plant, Sher wan Adventure Family Park and Cricket ground and uplifting of the old Bazar in Abbottabad city These three projects will be completed at an estimated cost of over Rs 11 billion

The participants of the meeting were informed that

Moreover, agreements have been signed for the es tablishment of water supply systems in Kohat and Pe shawar at a cost of Rs 7 5 billion, sewerage treatment plant in Mardan at a cost of Rs 8 3 billion and water supply network projects in Mingora at an estimated cost of Rs 20 billion

The mobilization advance guarantee is in the process of verification after which the physical work on these projects will be initiated

Addressing the meeting the Chief Minister said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project is one of the mega projects of the provincial government He stressed that the projects must be completed within the stipulated time frame along with ensuring quality of work He directed the quarters concerned to expedite the purchase of equipment and construction machinery and made it clear that ground breakings will be performed only when the machinery is mobilized to the respective site

B I S E M u l t a n p ay s d u e s t o h e i r s o f d e c e a s e d s t a f f e r s o n P O ’s o r d e r s

LAHORE

s ta f f r e p o r t

The Board of Intermediate & Sec ondary Education Multan paid a total of Rs 10 86 million to wid ows/ family members of 17 de ceased employees, along with creation of a post in favour of an applicant, after effective mediation of the office of the Punjab Om budsman (PO)

In a statement issued here on Sunday a spokesperson said the Ombudsman Office also interacted to resolve a five year old family pension issue of Ruqiya Bano, a Bahawalpur based widow, to arrange a financial benefit of Rs 649,725 Alongside, the 14 year pending issue of Yasmin Bibi had

also been resolved after the in volvement of the Ombudsman Of fice and the Police Department paid Rs 1 376 million as family pension to both sisters, the spokesman informed

In a similar development, the District Education Authority Toba Tek Singh recompensed Rs 550 000 to Hafiz Muhammad Saeed as payment for the repair of its offices after he approached the Ombudsman for settlement of a six year old issue, he said

As a result of the processing of complainants’ applications by the regional offices, the Agriculture De partment had given a laser levelling unit to Basharat Ali of Nankana Sahib while a widow namely Nazran Bibi of Sargodha had re

ceived Rs 300,000 as financial as sistance after a delay of 10 years Similarly, the School Educa tion Department (South Punjab) had recruited the daughter of its deceased employee, namely Sobia Malik, under Rule 17 A of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appoint ment and Conditions of Service) Rules 1974 After the involve ment of the Ombudsman Office and also paid her arrears of Rs 1 442 million he said

In another development, the Ombudsman Office helped Muhammad Umar Farooq of Faisalabad by ensuring that the Excise Department gave relief of Rs 91,025 by correctly assessing the property tax of the house of the plaintiff added the spokesman

R ailways all set to operate Green Line Train in current month

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e p o r t

Pakistan Railways is all set to operate Green Line Train during this month as a superior service to facil itate the passengers and generate revenues for the de partment The train is comprised of two AC Parlor five AC Business, six AC Standards, and four to five economy class coaches,” an official in the Ministry of Railways told APP

He said the decision was taken on the directives of Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique who wanted the best arrangements for the Green Line Train for the travelers

The official said that the minister also directed the official concerned for reducing the travel time of the Green Line from Lahore to Karachi to less than 20 hours which would restore the confidence of the pas sengers “It is also decided to provide the best travel facilities in the Green Line train including the provi sion of high quality food and keeping the ticket price at an affordable level Besides, a separate LCD will be installed on each seat of the AC Parlor to let pas sengers enjoy favourite videos through headphones,”

he added

To a question, he said Pakistan Railways was also going to expedite work to improve services in the pas senger trains as well as at the major railway stations by involving the private sector which would help ad dress growing issues, especially related to cleanliness

“The department was of the view that the clean liness related services in trains and at major stations, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Peshawar, Khanewal, Sukkur, Sahiwal, Mul tan and Bahawalpur were not satisfactory he added

He said that if services of the private sector were hired under a fast track policy, the hygiene conditions at stations and in trains could be improved which would also restore the confidence of passengers in the department

The official said the minister also asked the offi cials to accelerate efforts to bring uniformity in the design and signboards of stalls at the major railway stations under a policy

The official said that the government was taking several steps to improve the performance of Pakistan Railways and would provide maximum facilities to the masses

Pakistan Army sets up free medical camp in Gwadar

QUETTA: Pakistan Army set up a free medical camp in a remote Karghi area of Gwadar district in view of the poor basic health conditions in backward area of Balochistan The Pakistan Army is determined and al ways striving to ensure the timely provision of quality health facilities and their better access to the people

The doctors and paramedical staff provided awareness about the prevention and control of diseases, especially malaria and provided medical examination, diagnosis and free medicines to the patients in the mobile free medical camp More than 100 patients including women, children and male were treated in the camp The local people appreciated the timely provision of health facilities by the Pakistan Army s ta f f r e p o rt

Fayyaz Dev favourite for Punjab IGP slot

LAHORE: Fayyaz Ahmad Dev is favourite among the three names that had been sent to the federal government from Punjab for the appointment of Punjab inspector general of police (IGP) The names of Amir Zulfiqar and Ghulam Mehmood Dogar are also part of the list that had been sent to the federal government After Punjab IGP Faisal Shahkar refused to work with the Punjab government, Kunwar Shahrukh was given the additional charge of the Punjab IGP It is to be noted here that Faisal Shahkar has also been entrusted with services at the United Nations s ta f f r e p o r t

PML-N’s Begum Najma Hameed laid to rest

RAWALPINDI: The funeral prayer of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) Senior Parliamentarian Begum Najma Hameed was offered here at Aqsa Park, in the Sattelite town area, on Sunday The former Senator had passed away aged 78 in Rawalpindi s Holy Family Hospital after a lingering illness

Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, parliamentarians Raja Zafar Ul Haq Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, Managing Director Pakistan Bait ul Mall Amir Paracha, Nayyar Bukhari, Raja Javed Ikhlas, Chaudary Tanvir Khan, Sharjil Mir, Amjad Abbasi, PML local workers besides people belonging to different walks of life attended the prayer Begum Najma Hameed was the aunt of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb and sister of PML N leader Tahira Aurangzeb She was the PML N Women’s Wing President and got elected as senator twice Najma Hameed was close to PML N’s supremo Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his wife, Kulsoom Nawaz (late) She also played a critical role during the political struggle of the party led by Kulsoom Nawaz Begum Kulsoom remained under house arrest at Najma Hameed s residence in Satellite Town Rawalpindi Begum Najma Hameed was born on March 18, 1944, in Multan and served for the Muslim League along with Begum Rana Liaqat Ali Khan and Begum Feroz Khan Noon in different capacities Her Qul will be held at Siddique Hall, Sattelite town, on Monday after Zuhr ’s prayer s ta f f r e p o r t

I n d i a u s u r p e d a l l b a s i c r i g h t s o f I I O J K p e o p l e : G A G u l z a r

SRINAGAR

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) senior leader Ghulam Ahmed Gulzar has said that India has usurped all po litical, social and religious rights of people of the territory

According to Kashmir Media Service, Ghulam Ahmed Gulzar in a statement issued in Srinagar said in the presence of over one million trigger happy troops equipped with sweeping powers under draconian laws, the

besieged Kashmiris are living agonized life To punish the Kashmiris for demanding their universally accepted right to self determina tion, Indian troops are committing heinous crimes against humanity, he added He said these dreaded forces have mar tyred nearly one hundred thousand Kash miris irrespective of age and gender for the last over three decades

Thousands Kashmiris have been crip pled through physical and mental torture and thousands are languishing in jails in fabri cated charges which include APHC leaders, human rights activists journalists and ordi

nary Kashmiris, he lamented APHC senior leader said after 5th Au gust 2019 the Modi led fascist Indian gov ernment is trying to impose its devilish Hindutva on Kashmiris and deprive them of their unique identity and culture

Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar termed Kashmir as a political and humanitarian dispute and appealed to the people who believe in human divinity to support the just struggle of Kash miris self determination

He deplored that in the critical situation when life, honour, existence, culture and identity of the oppressed Kashmiris were at

stake the criminal silence of the world was adding insult to the injury It is the responsi bility of people with conscience all over the world to raise their voice against the injus tice in Kashmir, he maintained Meanwhile All Parties Hurriyat Confer ence Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC AJK) chapter leader Muhammad Sultan Butt in a statement in Islamabad expressed con cern over the duplicity of the world powers and said criminal silence of the world has emboldened India to increase its inhuman activities against Kashmiris, Indian Muslims and other minorities

PESHAWAR

Govt sPENDiNG Rs100m to ADvANCE BAloChistAN toPoshEEts’ GEoloGiCAl mAPPiNG PRojECt

tHE government would utilize funds amounting to Rs100 million, dur ing the current fiscal year to ad vance an ongoing project of the Petroleum Division for the geolog ical mapping of 50 Toposheets of outcrop area’ to identify minerals’ potential in Balochistan province

Last year an amount of Rs 30 million had been allocated for the project under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2021 22)

“Under the project, 50 geological map pings of Toposheets of Outcrop Area, out of 354 unmapped Toposheets of Balochistan, are being carried out The geological maps provide a bird’s eye view of the surface and (subsurface) distribution of various types of

rocks and economic minerals that are found in a particular region, according to an offi cial document available with APP

Through the mapping, the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) wanted to maintain a database for future exploration of the oc

currences of metallic and non metallic min erals potential, dimension stones, aggregates and limestone reserves for the industry

“These maps are essential for all future detailed geological works including, miner als’ exploration civil engineering soil sur

veys land use town planning groundwater earthquake hazards; environmental geology and soil conservation projects,” the GSP said in the project detail

Worldwide experience suggests that ge ological maps of 1:50,000 scale provide the most useful information and meet the basic requirements of the majority of the demands, involving research in ‘stratigraphy’, struc ture & tectonics sample collection for labo ratory studies, mineral evaluation and identification of promising areas for further exploration of natural resources

According to the document, the total outcrop area of Balochistan is 335,360 square kilometer (524 Toposheets) out of which 108,800 sq km (170 Toposheets) have been mapped and published on a 1:50,000 scale and the maps are available

The promising mineral potential outcrop area would be mapped under this project, fol

lowing which its gained experience would be used in mapping the rest of the outcrop area

“This project will help map the outcrop area in detail on 1:50 000 scale and maintain a database for future exploration of the oc currences of metallic and non metallic min eral potential dimension stones aggregates and limestone reserves for the industry in targeted potential areas of Balochistan,” the GSP said in the document The information collected after geological mapping and labora tory testing of rock samples would generate a database for interpretation to lead the individual occurrences of mineral reserves and other nat ural resources The studies would provide a platform for the exploration of mineral re sources by using other geoscientific investiga tions like geophysical surveys and geochemical studies followed by drilling operations and con tribute considerably towards the development of the mineral industry and mining sector

Need to put aside differences to win award of success for IIUI: Dr Hathal KP inser ts ‘Climate Change’ prefix in title of Environment Dept

President International Islamic Univer sity Islamabad (IIUI) Dr Hathal Ho moud Alotaibi has said that we are heading towards the right direction, say ing there is a dire need for putting aside the differences and grudges to win the award of success of this university He was presiding over a workshop titled: “Outcome Based Education, Impactful Research and Rankings in the Perspective of IIU s Strategic Plan 2022 2026” held here at Quaid e Azam Auditorium, Faisal Masjid Cam pus of IIUI on Sunday

The workshop also attended by the

Vice Presidents, Deans DGs, HoDs, Director QAD, Director ORIC, Direc tor BIC Professors Associate Profes sors, Assistant Professors, lecturers and other relevant officials

The activity after the introduction was divided into 4 sessions including: implementation of IIUI strategic plan 2022 26 and departmental/ faculty level organograms, status and way forward, brief presentation on the outcome based education and curriculum revision, ad dress of the worthy president and recog nition ceremony in the regard of the high achievers of university

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Hathal Homoud Alotaibi discussed the importance of the university tragic

plan, its characteristics, long term based outcomes and dedicated efforts of the team working on the implemen tation process of the plan He said the IIUI management be lieves in transparency and efficacy of talented human resource He congrat ulated the high achievers adding that the university shall keep encouraging the officials who contribute into the success and image building of the uni versity Dr Hathal thanked Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for financial support of the university and add that the there is further encouraging news as IDB funded collaboration based develop ments are also going on Earlier, Dr Ahmed Shuja Syed,

Vice President Research and Enter prise in the session of the introduction of the activity discussed importance and initiatives of OBE and up skilled faculty He also shed light on rankings and university performance meaning ful research, impactful collaborations and enterprise He also discussed ca pacity building innovation and collab orations in the light strategic plan He also updated about the performance of the grant projects that he mentioned have exceeded the number of 40 in previous 2 years Director BIC, Engr, Ahsan Mirza highlighted the importance of 6 prior ity targets set by university in the light of the strategic plan

P B M to ex p a n d s c o p e o f e d u c at i o n fo r o r p h a n c h i l d re n t i l l g r a d u at i o n l eve l

ISLAMABAD

10 dead, 1,230 injured in 1,141 Punjab accidents

At least 10 persons were killed and 1 230 others in jured in 1,141 road traffic crashes in Punjab during the last 24 hours As many as 692 seriously injured people were shifted to different hospitals while 538 others with minor injuries were treated at the incident site by the rescue medical teams The analysis showed that 596 drivers, 481 underage drivers, 120 pedestrians and 524 passengers were among the victims of the road ac cidents The statistics show that 259 accidents were re ported in Lahore which affected 277 persons placing the provincial capital at top of the list, followed by 83 in Faisalabad with 86 victims and at third Multan with76 accidents and 69 victims According to the data, 991 motorbikes, 85 auto rickshaws, 122 motor cars, eight vans, 32 passenger buses, 32 trucks and118 other types of vehicles and slow moving carts were in volved in these road accidents

Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) has decided to launch a pilot project to facilitate orphan children accom modated in the Sweet Homes across the country to pursue their education up to graduation level

“Earlier, the PBM Sweet Homes (Orphan ages) were catering to the educational needs of these orphan children till Matric level but now the pilot project is being launched to help them acquire education till graduation level”, Manag ing Director PBM Amir Fida Paracha said in an interview with APP

Presently, 51 Sweet Homes operating across the country were catering the needs of 4355 or phans in terms of their accommodation, educa tion and well being through adopting a modern welfare approach

Amir Fida Paracha also revealed that PBM, under his supervision, has planned to set up a tech nical school along with each Sweet Home so that those children who could not get education or lack the tendency to get formal education can be equipped with vocational and technical skills to be come able to earn for themselves and their families

To address the issue of increasing child labour in the country, the MD PBM said that 159 Schools for Rehabilitation of Child Labours (SRCLs) across the country were working to

withdraw children from their workplaces to bring them into the mainstream education through non formal means of education The children passing out from SRCLs are admitted to the government schools for education up to Grade VIII through a PBM grant of Rs 4,100, he said

About the Orphans and Widow Support Pro gram (OWSP) the MD PBM said the program which is a Conditional Cash Transfer intervention was basically designed to provide financial assis tance to widows with a focus on orphans espe cially girls education The OWSP provides Rs 8000 per month and Rs 16,000 per month to families having one child and more than one child respectively upon meeting compliance of 75 per cent school attendance “A total of 692 families have been paid an amount of Rs 23 598 million since December 2020”, he said Amir Fida Paracha conveyed that the first phase of OWSP will be launched in Karachi next week as a pilot project while it will be launched in Lahore af terward to reach out to more families”, he said About the expansion of Women Empowerment Cen ters (WECs), the MD PBM said that around 163 WECs were operating across the country to provide free vocational training to widows, orphans and poor girls in modern trades like Dress Designing, Embroi dery, Basic and Advance Computer Courses, Fabric Painting etc with a stipend of Rs 50/ per day on at tendance basis through biometric system

province In order to make cli mate change a priority the title of the environment department has been renamed, they observed

ANF nabs three with 82kg drugs

RAWALPINDI

Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) Pakistan while conducting three counter narcotics operations seized over 82 kg of drugs and arrested three accused, said an ANF Headquarters spokesman here on Sunday He informed in an operation near Kot Abdul Malik Interchange, ANF intercepted a car and recovered 64 8 kg charras and 7 2 kg opium from secret cavities of the vehi cle Two accused including an Afghan national were also rounded up during the operation ANF and ASF in an opera tion at Bacha Khan International Airport Peshawar recovered 946 grams of charras from a trolley bag of a passenger resi dent of Azad Kashmir going to Manchester The spokesman informed that in the third operation in Panjgur Balochistan, ANF recovered 10 kg charras from an unregistered motorcy cle Separate cases have been registered at respective ANF Po lice Stations and further investigations are under process

48th UNC TAD regional course concludes at Foreign S er vice Ac ademy

A

The 48th United Nations Confer ence on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Regional Course con cluded here on the other day after an overwhelming participation of young diplomats from Asia and Pa cific countries

A certificate awarding ceremony of flagship Regional Course by the UNCTAD was held at the Foreign Service Academy where Director General Mazhar Javed gave the certifi cates to participants from eleven coun tries namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Maldives, Mon

golia Nepal Pakistan Vanuatu and also Pakistan as the host country

The training course was organ ized by UNCTAD in collaboration with the Foreign Service Academy (FSA) whereas the latter is one of the five venues, worldwide for the UNCTAD multi year training pro gramme

Speaking at the ceremony, Di rector General FSA Ambassador Dr Mazhar Javed stressed the need for the developing country diplomats to enhance their understanding of the global trade and development issues from their perspective It was cru cially important for the promotion of their national interests, he added

scored that without understanding the global and development agenda i t w a

diplomats of developing countries to work for the betterment of their states

He also noted that there was a g r e a t n e e d f o r u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e dynamics of developing countries so that their agendas could be pre sented properly on multilateral and global forums

However, he added that it was very important to develop the part nership between Foreign Service Academy and UNCTAD

Addressing the participants,

Economic Affairs Officer Progamme Coordinator at UNCTAD Randa A Jamal said after evaluation of the two week long course it was learnt that the participants had achieved almost all there learning objectives which they aspired to ac quire during the course

She emphasised that after the post pandemic recovery period, qualitative measures were necessary in ensuring human development and sustainability as economic develop ment could not be done at the cost of environmental degradation

Ms Jamal said the participants were going to take back new knowl edge and skills and would contribute

for the benefit of their countries and its economies

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ad ditional Foreign Secretary (UN &EC) Haider Shah said the pro gramme has successfully concluded with the purpose to impart new skills and knowledge on development and economic affairs related issues

Remarks on Behalf of UN Res ident Coordinator by RCO, Head of Office UN Pakistan Shah Nasir Khan extended his felicitations to the course participants and congrat ulated them on behalf of UN Resi dent Coordinator and other UN agencies

H e s a i d p o l i c y f o r m u l a t i o n f o r

e c o n o m i c r e s i l i e n c e w a s c r u c i a l whereas this course had enabled to e n h a n c e m e n t t h e c a p a c i t y o f p u b l i c d e p a r t m e n t s o f d i ff e r e n t c o u n t r i e s “ I t ’s a u n i q u e p r o g r a m m e p a r t i c i p a t e d b y 11 c o u n t r i e s a n d t h e f i r s t c o u r s e a f t e r t h e C o v i d 1 9 p a n d e m i c ”

Maryam, a participant from Maldives while expressing her views on the training thanked UNC TAD team for providing the oppor tunity to learn more about challenges of trade and development in her re gion She added that the lectures were very informative and beneficial for the betterment of the partici pants’ countries

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

PESHAWAR

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has inserted Climate Change’ in the title of Environment Department to reflect its focus and priority in handling issues pertaining to environ mental degradation caused by climatic changes According to a notification issued here, the title of Forestry, Environment and Wildlife Department has been added with a prefix of Cli mate Change’ The new title of the environment department is now `Climate Change, Forestry, Environment and Wildlife Department The decision has been hailed by environmental ists who termed it a step in the right direction for addressing climate change issues in the

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

Kabul embassy attack

Mutually beneficial cooperation remains missing

O W that the responsibility for the attack on the Pakistan embassy in Kabul has been claimed by the IS KP (Islamic State Khorasan Province), a number of dimensions have opened up For a start, it shows that the taliban government remains unable to maintain law and order, even though that was supposed to be its strong point One factor is that those fighters who think of the taliban as sellouts have flocked to the IS KP this also raises alarm bells for Pakistan and the IS KP may spread its terroristic activities to Pakistani It has a record of operating here, but has not been heard of recently, but it has been expanding at the expense of the tehrik taliban Pakistan (ttP), in much the same manner, by inducting those who see the ttP as too mild

though it is basically a Pakistani issue, the taliban need to consider the position, where it has been shown that it cannot perform one of the most basic duties of any government, that of providing security to the foreign missions accredited to it this throws into doubt all the other commitments made by the taliban to the USA to obtain the withdrawal of its forces the taliban have not fulfilled their agreements, and seem to be discovering that they are against the Sharia It does seem opportunistic to have agreed before and to renege later It would have been more forthright to have stated that the conditions, particularly about the status of women, were unacceptable, and then lived with the consequences As it is, the taliban are living with the consequences of their welshing on those conditions the taliban were also acting as an honest broker between the ttP and Pakistan, but those efforts have come to naught, and the ttP is once again on the rampage And now the taliban cannot even guarantee Pakistan s embassy safety

At this stage, because the taliban face an immediate challenge to their rule, because of their failure to keep a foreign mission safe, and because the Pakistan government could face a threat on its own soil from the attackers, it is essential that the stop the blame game that seems to be developing and concert measures that will bring matters under control Whether the taliban drives its ‘undesirables’ into the arms of Pakistan, or vice versa, does not really matter What does, is that the two sides establish the kind of cooperation that had been promised by taliban boosters when theory first took over, but which has so far been missing

A world facing multiple crises

Welcome to the polycrisis a world in which, as historian Adam tooze says, “economic and non economic shocks” are entangled “all the way down We have an inflation shock that emanates from the disruptions caused by a pandemic, the policy responses to that pandemic and an energy shock caused by a war that war in turn is related to the breakdown in relations among great powers Slow growth, rising inequality and over reliance on credit have undermined political stability in many high in come democracies the credit boom led to a great fi nancial crisis whose outcome included a decade of ultra low interest rates and so even more financial fragility worldwide Adding to these stresses is the threat of climate change ’ An excerpt from a recent Financial Times (FT) published article How to think about policy in a polycrisis

TH E world currently is the grip of many seri ous challenges, mainly in the shape of the fast unfolding existential threat of climate change crisis high inflation low growth ris ing poverty and inequality, high level of debt at the back of years of cheap money, not to mention overly tight monetary policy contributing to significant capital flight from developing countries, and in turn, not only strengthening the US dollar and adding to im ported inflation, but also raising interest payments A higher interest rate and a stronger dollar have not only brought balance of payments worries to many developing countries, but have also sparked default in a number of countries, for instance, Sri Lanka, while creating serious debt servicing worries for many de veloping countries, like Pakistan; where Pakistan has also been facing one of the worst climate disasters, in the shape of catastrophic floods, which not only af fected more than three million people, but has caused serious damage estimated at around $30 billion the world is indeed in a ‘polycrisis’ as for in stance renowned economist, Adam tooze pointed out in this regard in a recent article ‘Welcome to the world of the polycrisis’ published by The Financial

Times (Ft) as follows ‘Pandemic drought floods mega storms and wildfires, threats of a third world war how rapidly we have become inured to the list of shocks As former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers recently remarked: “this is the most complex, disparate and cross cutting set of chal lenges that I can remember in the 40 years that I have been paying attention to such things ”’ Here, it needs to be pointed out that while many of the challenges from climate disasters to the pan demic, to supply chain crisis, to inflation and low growth all have a strong imprint of climate change crisis the recently con cluded COP27 meeting in Egypt \took a step forward in reaching a consensus on forming a loss and damage fund to provide financial reparations to climate change affected countries like Pakistan yet the main source of climate change cri sis in the shape of global warming was not properly dealt with In fact, COP27 meetings overall back tracked on the commitments of last year ’s COP26 meet ings in Glasgow, with regard to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in a way that global average temperature could be curtailed below 1 5°C that needs to reverse as soon as possible, so that the world returns to being on track to reach that goal the challenge of high debt has also become a seri ous issue, putting a number of developing countries at risk of default For this, it is important to move away from the policy of austerity, and instead of pursuing a pro cyclical policy stance, it is important to move to wards a counter cyclical policy An important manifes tation of this counter cyclical policy is to revert from an overly tight monetary policy stance, since inflation globally has a significant supply side emphasis this will, in turn, lessen the debt repayment bur den, and help reduce capital flight, and imported in flation component; not to mention lower interest rates will also help create more fiscal space in countries, to in turn follow much more freely a non austerity policy and in turn make needed climate and health related public and private investments, in addition to overall providing greater social safety protections to vulnerable sections of the society Here, a fresh allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs) by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the tune of $650 billion as August last year will also help in the non austerity effort, and will be useful in mean ingfully safeguarding against balance of payments crisis reducing debt default risks and in reducing the imported inflation component

doing normal things

This will, in turn, lessen the debt repayment burden, and help reduce capital flight, and impor ted inflation component; not to mention lower interest rates will also help create more fiscal space in countries, to in turn follow much more freely a non-austerity policy

the seriousness of the difficult debt situation could be gauged, for instance, from a recent Bloomberg published article Global debt costs are soaring Here’s where it will hurt most’ as ‘the world is emerging from the cheap money era with a moun tain of debt that s now getting painfully expensive All around the globe, there are borrowers deeper in the red than ever before the total owed by house holds, businesses and governments stands at $290 trillion, up by more than one third from a decade ago, according to research by the Institute of International Finance Although the world s debt has declined from a pandemic driven record early this year, the risks it poses to economies and financial markets are inten sifying that s because many borrowers face a re lentless increase in their in terest payments, as the Federal Reserve and other central banks raise rates at the fastest pace in decades to subdue inflation ’

Moreover, with regard to the serious severity of the overall crisis situation that the world finds itself in, a recent Project Syndicate (PS) published article ‘the unavoidable crash’ pointed out the world economy is lurching toward an unprece dented confluence of eco nomic, financial, and debt crises following the explo sion of deficits, borrowing, and leverage in recent decades Just looking at explicit debts, the figures are staggering Globally total private and public sector debt as a share of GDP rose from 200% in 1999 to 350% in 2021 the ratio is now 420% across advanced economies and 330% in China In the United States, it is 420%, which is higher than during the Great Depression and after World War II Worse these developments are coinciding with the return of stagflation (high inflation alongside weak growth) the last time advanced economies ex perienced such conditions was in the 1970s But at least back then, debt ratios were very low today, we are facing the worst aspects of the 1970s (stagflation ary shocks) alongside the worst aspects of the global financial crisis And this time, we cannot simply cut interest rates to stimulate demand ’

The writer holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at International Monetary Fund Prior to this he did MSc in Economics from the University of York (United Kingdom), and worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Statistics (Pakistan) among other places He is author of Springer published book (2016) ‘The economic impact of International Monetary Fund programmes: institutional quality macroeconomic stabilization and economic growth’ He tweets @omerjaved7

It is said that a chain is as strong as its weakest link the political history of Pakistan has been tumul tuous But, this time it is something which is com pletely unusual Undoubtedly Imran Khan is full of faults like any other ordinary person Even at times he made blunders literally He was selected like many rulers of Pakistan with the help of Power Origins though his single quality put him at the top political spot Despite a tussle with the ‘Choosers’ He demurred instead of complying with the orders of the Choosers Additionally, American influence became talk of the town the USA is not our problem but our conditions are our problems We as a nation are responsible for our conditions Real Independence would be possible only

if the country would have been financially independent If India can get rid of the IMF then we should also have to elect a P V Narasimha Rao, to get the desired results Cipher story was not as it was as it was told and even the public is not fond of it but his mere adjective was, he started to confront the “Power Origins” and it cer tainly won the hearts of the masses Albeit Choosers s do’s and don’t have been visible for the observers

But unprecedented incidents have been noted A DG ISI appearing for a presser is as rare as seeing an elephant in an ocean Putting the so called blame of martyrdom of Investigative Journalist Arshad Sharif on the Army and especially the ISI is indication of total confusion and sheer blame game which has no reality at all because the way he was assassinated seemed more like an accident only according to experts When systems and institutions don’t set the priorities, only chaos is seen Pakistan is a country full of problems and political instability places it at a tough place But the important thing is how and when was this political instability created

It is evident that there is a state of anxiety in the country Even when the state of uncertainty has achieved its peak, no right direction was determined by any insti tution this state of affairs on political and international level cannot be ignored the masses of Pakistan gener ally are familiar with the political conditions of the coun try they are smart enough to know how things move and who controls the big decisions in the country the only worrisome thing is that after the fall of the PtI gov ernment, the condition could not be controlled either at the political level or the economic

At international level an image has been developed that Pakistan will always be a third World country and it can t be financially independent and will lie only in the vicinity of economic default Only a normal ruler can put this country on the right path the priority must be

Imran Khan is a popular political leader and he is going to be the next Prime Minister as well sooner or later, but is he really ready to cope with the challenges which are being faced by Pakistan right now? He did not know before becoming prime minister how to run a government and its affairs But now, has he learnt the ‘Magic’? though his ouster has made him learn many lessons and he also showed courage and determination, skepticism is still there But the next phase of Getting Power again is very difficult there is a saying that One who gains the world will surely lose his self

People are compelled by in creasing inflation Routine diffi culties should be lessened Inflation must be bearable Elec tricity and other utility bills must be in the paying capacity of the common man Health and treat ment facilities must be cheaper Education standards must be im proved the people of Pakistan are worried by private educa tional institutions’ fees and want to improve the standard of gov ernment educational institutions the upper strata of society which is called elite is living a lavish life whereas common people are suffering direly Un doubtedly, the nation is facing big challenges but facilities should be provided as far as possible Pakistan calls itself an agricultural country but wheat, edible oil and pulses are imported from abroad

businesses and important tasks on hold the affluent are ready to leave the country any time Economy is already in doldrums

In a nutshell, how can Pakistan save itself from these drowning symptoms of a great disaster? There are a few things to stop this prognosis Firstly, Devolution of Power and the right person for the right job are needed urgently.

We have to understand that the system is not that im portant but the people who run this system are the most important Human material is the core Once Confucius said that if a person loses his character, he loses every thing the people at the helm of affairs have lost their characters So inflictions have become fate of the nation

People of Pakistan are get tired of Politics literally they personally know everything they have put their

However, why is the majority behind Imran Khan now? Because others stories of corruption are well known Pakistan is passing by the verge of make or break right now the political turmoil is on its peak the clouds of controversies and political tussles have spread all across Youth bulge is at the apex Every day 17000 youngsters are turning 18 years of age It makes Pakistan the second youngest population of the world after Yemen, although the fu ture seems grim the clouds of a fall similar to Sri Lanka’s are being pre dicted by Political Pundits every hour the mushroom growth of rumours about political debacle and fall of the federal Govern ment with the proclamation of dissolution of Provincial As semblies by Imran Khan has added fuel to fire People are tired of their conditions and po litical instability they are mi grating abroad in large numbers the ray of light is vague at the end of the tunnel Everyone is being heard saying, that this country will not be on the right path for years yet to come In a nutshell, how can Pak i s t a n s a v e i t s e l f f r o m t h e s e drowning symptoms of a great disaster? there are a few things to stop this prognosis Firstly Devolution of Power and the right person for the right job are needed urgently Secondly, across the board accountability, skipping the phenomenon of sa cred cows can only benefit the nation thirdly start to think good of others so that the good process con tinues People of Pakistan should not get to hear stories like Ahmad Noorani’s alleged story of embezzlement about an Ex Chief near his retirement, otherwise the finale has started!

Yousaf Nizami Editor

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

M A Niazi Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor Aziz ud Din Ahmad Joint Editor

I s ‘ 7 0 - y e a r r e b o o t ’ c h a l l e n g i n g s u p r e m a c y o f c e r t a i n g r o u p s ?

He was compelled to leave his country by Musharraf with a commitment that he would not come back for the next 10 years Mian Nawaz Sharif faced the brunt of many military generals but he kept surviving in politics and neither the iron fisted Musharraf nor Shukria Raheel Sharif could end his political career Even the Bajwa Doctrine failed and the so called illiterate, cor rupt, and incompetent politician reclaimed his place within the system

the lesson learned is that unarmed politi cians proved themselves stronger than the Es tablishment of Pakistan which had laser focus projects against politicians Political engineers in uniform tried their best to ruin the careers of politicians but politicians always found some ways to defeat engi neers in uniforms

is no firm and tested theory in favour of this no tion, we have seen in history that culture reboot is not so unfounded Now Pakistani society has completed this 70 year phase after independence and we have already celebrated the 75th Inde pendence Day

Impact of real estate

t H E Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is said to have created history by exceeding the upward revised target of Rs6 100 billion in 2021 22 fiscal A major portion of the amount is collected through tax on property related transactions For the 2022 23 fiscal, the federal budget had raised the tax on property sale and purchase by nine per cent altogether Previously the tax rate on buyer, if non filer, was 2pc, but now the tax rate has been raised to 7pc Similarly, there was no tax on the seller of property after five years of ownership Under the revised rates every seller irrespective of timeframe has to pay a property tax of 4pc the positive thing is that these tax rates are significantly reduced for income tax filers For income tax filers the tax rate is 2pc for both the buyers and the sellers which is a substantial relief the scenario suggests that the government is urging the public to become filer However, there is a general perception that the revenue will reduce significantly as the property sale and purchase has already shifted to a reverse gear Also, the property dealer association carried strikes throughout the country against the hike in taxes the problem basically is lack of awareness the public is afraid of being income tax filers they consider it a trap the government needs a comprehensive awareness policy for public about the rules and regulations of income tax returns that will eventually increase the number of filers the government has to assure the public that it is neither a trap nor a strenuous exercise to be an income tax filer Unless the level of general awareness among public is raised, the revenue is not likely to enhance In fact, a shortfall in overall revenue may occur the government should carry a statistical analysis from the date of tax enhancement till date so that a comparison of revenue collection could be made, and due steps taken accordingly

ABDUL BASIT

Breast cancer my ths

B R E A S t cancer awareness encourages women to have regular screening for its early detection In Pakistan, women are hesitant to get themselves examined owing to cultural norms prevalent in society

PO L I t I C I A N S in Pakistan are por trayed as incompetent, corrupt, use less, and illiterate, who have no skills and expertise to run the country the 1973 Constitution is considered trash and a piece of paper that can anytime be thrown in a dustbin this is the perception that has been crafted with tireless efforts since the orphaned parliamentary system was launched in Pakistan I joined active journalism in 1987 when Amir al Mu’minin Ziaul Haq was running the Emirate of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, according to himself, and had already destroyed the Pakistan people’s Party (PPP) whose founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had already hanged to death in Rawalpindi jail Last week I attended a cake cut ting event for the 55th Anniversary of PPP where loud slogans of “Jeeay Bhutto” (Long live Bhutto) and Kal bi Bhutto Zinda tha Aaj bi Bhutto Zinda Hai (Bhutto was alive yesterday Bhutto is alive today) could be heard thousands of followers of Bhutto visit every year his grave where he was buried at midnight in 1979 by men in uniform under strict security and nobody within his family being allowed to see his face I witnessed the arrival of his daughter Be nazir Bhutto, in Lahore on April 10, 1985, when almost a million followers welcomed her at the old Airport of Lahore and the tail of her proces sion was at Government College Lahore inter section, and this 11 km journey she finished in 14 hours I reported her rise as Prime Minister twice, I reported the aftermath of her assassina tion in Liaqat Bagh Rawalpindi on December 27 2007 (aged 54) and I also reported the com ing back of PPP again in power without her the PPP faced the brunt of two army dicta tors for over 45 years but still has the provincial government of Sindh the 1985 partyless general elections of Ziaul Haq gave birth to a new cadre of politi cians, and one of them is Mian Nawaz Sharif I reported his rise with the help of Lt Gen Hameed Gul and Gen Ziaul Haq and I also reported his arrest by the Chief Executive of Pakistan Gen Musharraf, and the termination of government twice He rose again as Prime Minister and then he became a victim of “project Imran Khan”, but I again reported the coming back of his party into power this April

Now we have come to know that the military has decided to stay away from poli tics I receive this news with certain reserva tions and will keep my fingers crossed It is very difficult to hand over Empire so easily to someone you con sider incompetent, use less, corrupt, and illiterate I believe that this decision of staying away from political power can be a tactical retreat but not a firm decision

I fear that thou sands of political cronies, hundreds of powerful families and dozens of living leg ends from the ex ser vicemen cadre would continue to advise and beg military leadership to stay in the political arena because this is their biggest source of honour bread and but ter Anyhow it is too early to say anything about what role the mili tary will opt for under the unusual circumstances it is going through

The major factors of collapse repor ted by anthropologists, historians, and sociologists are environmental change, depletion of resources, loss of cultural identity, the downfall of the government, rise of violence, unsustainable complexity, invasion, disease, decay of social cohesion, rising inequality, intolerance, a decline of cognitive abilities, loss of creativity, and misfor tune

A country that is facing implosion due to un skilled youth depleting natural resources eco nomic and natural disasters, incompetent and politically motivated bureaucracy, and greedy politicians is difficult to pull out from possible economic and administrative collapse Cosmetic performance would not help now and neither mil itary nor civilian leadership can work in the moral vacuum that has been created by the PtI cadre Mutual respect among social groups eroded by project Imran must be reclaimed as soon as pos sible if we really want to avert social collapse

For this purpose, offering economic, social, and moral accountability by powerful groups is strongly needed We must accept that the mantra of “accountability of politicians” has now sur passed our youth and is demanding accountabil ity of everybody regardless of social status and the notion of the sacred cow has been rejected by a new generation

A number of anthropologists believe that cultures reboot every 70 years Although there

Supporters of this 70 year reboot there is a revolution of some sort going through silently in every society the founding and second gen eration generally lived through the experience that shaped them which led them to create a cul tural system to respond to that situation Since that experience was real for the first two gener ations, they can pass those ideas to the third However, the great grandchildren of the found ing generation are sceptical of this system, ques tion and challenge it, and seek to reboot it for the new conditions they face this reboot phase is usually turbulent, and dangerous but nat ural the level of turbu lence is directly related to levels of economic and environmental degradation, demo graphic imbalance, and imbalance in the distri bution of resources among groups Unfor tunately all these fac tors are much higher than normal in Pakistan so turbulence during a “70 year reboot” would be greater and quite unpleasant No body can predict the fu ture with full confidence but we can make general cultural predictions by looking at general circum stances and what cul tures do this doesn’t mean that we can make specific predictions about the future but rather that general so cial trends can point us to things that we can expect in the future Honestly speaking we do not find any na tion that has not gone through this societal col lapse at least once in its lifetime Anthropologists say that a collapsed society may revert to a more primitive state, be absorbed into a stronger society, or completely disappear they also believe that societal collapse is generally quick but rarely abrupt the major factors of collapse reported by anthropologists historians and sociologists are environmental change, depletion of resources, loss of cultural identity, the downfall of the gov ernment, rise of violence, unsustainable com plexity, invasion, disease, decay of social cohesion, rising inequality, intolerance, a decline of cognitive abilities, loss of creativity, and mis fortune Here I leave it to my readers to make a list of how many of the above mentioned factors we can find today in Pakistani society

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

It is the most common cancer among women and Pakistan ranks among the countries with the highest incidence in Asia About 34 women per 100,000 suffer from this disease, while elsewhere in the region its incidence is low According to estimates 109 women die every 24 hours due to breast cancer in Pakistan We have 40,000 deaths a year because of breast cancer with an addition of 90,000 new cases annually, which should be a matter of great concern

Uneducated women from rural and far flung areas often feel insecure talking and thinking about breast cancer screening there has been an increase in awareness about the disease in urban centres where literacy rate is higher, and better health facilities are available

But it seems nothing has changed for rural areas where people rely on understaffed and ill equipped dispensaries or primary health units for their medical needs It is a social, moral and ethical responsibility of all the stakeholders to inform, encourage and facilitate our women in getting appropriate screening the earlier we detect the disease the better is the chance of its cure Once the disease spreads, it becomes a life threatening situation If treated in time, many patients can become long term survivors It is our duty to reach out to the public and spread awareness about breast cancer and its early prevention

there are many factors that can influence breast cancer risk We cannot change some factors, such as old age, or having a family history, but we can help lower the risk of the disease by taking care of our health, keeping a healthy bodyweight, being physically active, avoiding smoking and alcohol, breastfeeding children, getting daily exercise and having proper sleep If someone has a family history of breast cancer or inherited changes in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, it is important to tell this to the doctor to lower the risk It is widely believed that breast cancer treatment is worse than the disease itself

In fact, recent advances in the treatment of breast cancer have resulted in better tolerance and less severe side effects with survival rates showing great improvment Another common prevailing mis conception even amongst the most educated of people is that the biopsy of a lump expedites the spread of cancer On the contrary, biopsy helps early diagnosis of cancer, thereby promoting an early treatment there is a dire need for educating the masses about the risks of breast cancer, clarifying misconceptions and encouraging them to seek early medical advice Early diagnosis coupled with timely treatment remains key to successful cure of the disease

DR JAUHAR ABBAS KOHAT

Courage at debatable time

t H I S refers to the article ‘Failure of governance’ (Nov 19) by former finance minister Miftah Ismail the write up was a combination of courage, frustration confusion inability and even exasperation especially when it is coming from the horse’s mouth, or, say, from the mouth of someone who was till recently the horse in the stable of Shehbaz Sharif led government

No one could have better judged the economic performance of previous as well as the sitting government, of which the writer himself was a part and was sitting on the proverbial ‘hot seat’ to steer the country out of its accumulated economic woes with a magic wand

We, as citizens, have witnessed governments come and go without delivering any tangibles the rhetoric has been pretty much the same regardless of who happens to be running the show at any given point in time Blaming the outgoing ousted or defeated government and reiterating the bogus claims of changing the life of the common man by taking tough decisions which the previous government could not take has nothing new about it these are nothing but paraphrased words of the preamble of the recently released Economic Survey of Pakistan for the 2021 22 fiscal Ironically the writer himself happened to be the incumbent minister and approver of the survey It is courageous, however, to accept one’s failure in public, but I think the timing is not correct No doubt, we are passing through a crucial economic period where uncertainty is the only certainty In a nutshell, this is bad for business, commerce and trade the former minister just added fuel to speculations of all shades and varieties that are doing the rounds in commercial circles What we need is a positive approach from all the stakeholders to lift the national morale instead of deflating the already asphyxiated confidence of investors and consumers MUZAFFAR

JAFRI KARACHI

a Letter from Prometheus

agha Iqrar harOOn

Are we facing social collapse?

The secreT hisTory of poliTical isl am

Th e ongoing focus of both media and academia on the Muslim Brotherhood as the origin of “political Islam” belies the movement’s roots in the fierce debate over secularism and religion in the Ottoman empire’s final days

It’s become fairly typical to consider the Ottoman Turkish sphere as a category apart when it comes to polit ical, religious and other affairs in the Middle east, as if only the Arabic element counts as authentic, and crossovers don t count But this approach which reflects the world view of modern nationalism has obscured the process through which Islamist political ideology emerged from the premodern Islamic tradition in all its complexity european secular nationalism especially Auguste Comte’s anti religion positivism spread throughout var ious elite groups of Ottoman society in the late 19th cen tury, not least the military, setting the scene for a showdown with clerics and devout intellectuals after the Young Turk revolution of 1908

The debate quickly degenerated into extreme posi tions The religious lobby sensing that not only reli gious institutions but faith itself was under attack

described their opponents as essentially atheist, though most professed that they remained believers

In this context, in 1913 nationalist intellectual Ziya Gokalp coined the terms Islamism (İslamcılık) and Is lamist (İslamcı) in an effort to undercut the claim of these traditionalist clerics and their allies among devout intel lectuals that one side was Muslim and the other was not introducing this terminology decades before it became commonplace in regional political discourse

LOSING BATTLE: In 1918, the Islamist position was defined further in a remarkable book by Said halim Pasha, who, as Ottoman prime minister during the First World War, had fought a losing battle against ideologues of the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) over the role of Islam in education

The book, İslamlaşmak (To Become Islamic), talked in the most explicit terms yet about Islam as a totality covering all aspects of modern life and the need of mod ern Muslims to take positive action to establish their Is lamicness in the face of a state that as he put it had “distanced itself from Islam”

These ideas were elaborated further in a 1923 book published in Arabic and Turkish in Istanbul by egyptian cleric Abd al Aziz Jawish, in collaboration with Turkish poet Mehmet Akif ersoy, which gave Islamic prescrip

tions for understanding everything from family and food to architecture and history here we have the basics of ideas later developed by figures such as hassan al Banna and Sayyid Qutb in egypt and Abul A la Mawdudi and Muhammad Iqbal in India and Pakistan, the essence of which was that the nature of liberal western political, economic and social systems is such that the faith of the Muslim living under their jurisdiction is in jeopardy The response, they agreed, must be political

Until the abolition of the caliphate in 1924, the Ot toman Islamist lobby held out hope that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk would lean into Islamic faith and institutions to shore up identity and legitimacy in the new state

The most prominent figures then fled abroad as sharia courts were closed, Arabic script was banned and the call to prayer rendered in Turkish winning, of course western praise Those exiles had a deep impact in egypt in particular, where they and the Turkish students they attracted to study with them moved within the circles of al Banna s new Muslim Brotherhood organisation es tablished in 1928

From his new home in Cairo, Mustafa Sabri, the Ot toman grand mufti from 1919 1920 who remained Ataturk’s most vocal critic in the diaspora, wrote a searing critique of liberal constitutionalism as an arbitrary system subject to political whimtitled The Definitive Word

RESERVATIONS: But even al Banna, despite paying the costs of publishing the book in 1943, expressed reser vations over Sabri’s view that the liberal Muslim intel lectuals who were ascendant in egypt at that time had in

The histor y of predicting the future

effect exited Islam through their support for the secular view that all knowledge must be empirically provable metaphysics be damned

Sayyid Qutb who mixed with Sabri in Cairo literary salons before Sabri s death in 1954 had no such com punction In the early 1950s, Qutb took those radical ar guments and similar ideas developed by Mawdudi and began to reformulate them as a comprehensive attack on western modernity and its local facilitators in a series of works culminating with his famous book Milestones published in 1964 So from 1908 the trajectory of what we now call political Islam, or Islamism, can be traced in the Sunni sphere from Ottoman Istanbul to egypt to India to Pakistan The Turkish republic stopped the first round of debate dead in its tracks and subsequent think ing on post Ottoman Islam in Turkey served effectively to obscure its memory

Not only that Turkish students in Cairo returned to Istanbul to propagate the works of al Banna and Qutb, which were translated into Turkish in the 1960s and 1970s and accorded a hallowed place in the Turkish Is lamist movement led by the late Necmettin erbakan

In short the notion of a sharp rupture in Islamic thought between the era of empires and that of the modern nation state appears to have been overstated, in that some of the key arguments of modern Islamism were formed ear lier than imagined, in the final years of the Ottoman polity

Andrew Hammond currently teaches Turkish history at Oxford university He is the author of Popular Culture in North Africa and the Middle East

pacity to be deterministic Ultimately, neither approach is necessarily more useful than the other and that’s be cause they both share the same fatal flaw the people framing them

Th e future has a history The good news is that it’s one from which we can learn; the bad news is that we very rarely do That s because the clearest lesson from the history of the future is that knowing the future isn’t necessarily very useful But that has yet to stop humans from trying

Take Peter Turchin’s famed prediction for 2020 In 2010 he developed a quantitative analysis of history, known as cliodynamics, that allowed him to predict that the West would experience political chaos a decade later Unfortu nately, no one was able to act on that prophecy in order to prevent damage to US democracy And of course, if they had Turchin’s prediction would have been relegated to the ranks of failed futures This situation is not an aberration Rulers from Mesopotamia to Manhattan have sought knowledge of the future in order to obtain strategic ad vantages but time and again, they have failed to inter pret it correctly, or they have failed to grasp either the political motives or the speculative limitations of those who proffer it More often than not, they have also cho sen to ignore futures that force them to face uncomfort able truths even the technological innovations of the 21st century have failed to change these basic prob lems the results of computer programs are, after all, only as accurate as their data input

There is an assumption that the more scientific the approach to predictions, the more accurate forecasts will be But this belief causes more problems than it solves not least because it often either ignores or excludes the lived diversity of human experience Despite the promise of more accurate and intelligent technology there is little reason to think the increased deployment of AI in fore casting will make prognostication any more useful than it has been throughout human history

People have long tried to find out more about the shape of things to come These efforts, while aimed at the same goal have differed across time and space in several significant ways, with the most obvious being

methodology that is, how predictions were made and interpreted Since the earliest civilizations, the most im portant distinction in this practice has been between in dividuals who have an intrinsic gift or ability to predict the future, and systems that provide rules for calculating futures The predictions of oracles, shamans, and prophets, for example, depended on the capacity of these individuals to access other planes of being and receive divine inspiration Strategies of divination such as astrol ogy, palmistry, numerology, and Tarot, however, depend on the practitioner ’s mastery of a complex theoretical rule based (and sometimes highly mathematical) system, and their ability to interpret and apply it to particular cases Interpreting dreams or the practice of necromancy might lie somewhere between these two extremes, de pending partly on innate ability partly on acquired ex pertise And there are plenty of examples, in the past and present, that involve both strategies for predicting the fu ture Any internet search on “dream interpretation” or “horoscope calculation” will throw up millions of hits

In the last century, technology legitimized the latter ap proach as developments in IT (predicted at least to some extent, by Moore’s law) provided more powerful tools and systems for forecasting In the 1940s, the analog computer MONIAC had to use actual tanks and pipes of colored water to model the UK economy By the 1970s, the Club of Rome could turn to the World3 computer simulation to model the flow of energy through human and natural sys tems via key variables such as industrialization, environ mental loss, and population growth Its report, Limits to Growth became a best seller despite the sustained criti cism it received for the assumptions at the core of the model and the quality of the data that was fed into it

At the same time rather than depending on technolog ical advances, other forecasters have turned to the strategy of crowdsourcing predictions of the future Polling public and private opinions for example depends on something very simple asking people what they intend to do or what they think will happen It then requires careful interpreta tion whether based in quantitative (like polls of voter in tention) or qualitative (like the Rand corporation’s DeLPhI technique) analysis The latter strategy harnesses the wisdom of highly specific crowds Assembling a panel of experts to discuss a given topic, the thinking goes, is likely to be more accurate than individual prognostication

This approach resonates in many ways with yet an other forecasting method war gaming Beginning in the 20th century, military field exercises and maneuvers were increasingly supplemented and sometimes re placed, by simulation Undertaken both by human beings and by computer models such as the RAND Strategy As sessment Center this strategy is no longer confined to the military, but is now used extensively in politics, com merce, and industry The goal is to increase present re silience and efficiency as much as it is to plan for futures Some simulations have been very accurate in predicting and planning for possible outcomes, particularly when

undertaken close to the projected events like the Sigma war game exercises conducted by the Pentagon in the context of the developing Vietnam War, for example, or the Desert Crossing 1999 games played by United States Central Command in relation to Saddam hussein’s Iraq

As these strategies have continued to evolve, two very different philosophies for predicting communal fu tures have emerged, particularly at the global, national, and corporate level each reflects different assumptions about the nature of the relationship between fate, fluidity, and human agency

Understanding previous events as indicators of what s to come has allowed some forecasters to treat human his tory as a series of patterns, where clear cycles, waves, or sequences can be identified in the past and can therefore be expected to recur in the future This is based on the suc cess of the natural sciences in crafting general laws from accumulated empirical evidence Followers of this ap proach included scholars as diverse as Auguste Comte Karl Marx, Oswald Spengler, Arnold Tonynbee, Nicolai Kondratiev, and, of course, Turchin But whether they were predicting the decline of the West the emergence of a communist or scientific utopia, or the likely recurrence of global economic waves, their success has been limited

More recently research at MIT has focused on de veloping algorithms to predict the future based on the past, at least in the extremely short term By teaching computers what has “usually” happened next in a given situation will people hug or shake hands when they meet? researchers are echoing this search for historical patterns But as is often a flaw in this approach to pre dictions, it leaves little room, at least at this stage of tech nological development, to expect the unexpected

Another set of forecasters meanwhile argue that the pace and scope of techno economic innovation are cre ating a future that will be qualitatively different from past and present Followers of this approach search not for patterns, but for emergent variables from which futures can be extrapolated So rather than predicting one defin itive future it becomes easier to model a set of possibil ities that become more or less likely, depending on the choices that are made examples of this would include simulations like World3 and the war games mentioned earlier Many science fiction writers and futurologists also use this strategy to map the future In the 1930s, for instance h G Wells took to the BBC to broadcast a call for “professors of forethought,” rather than of history he argued that this was the way to prepare the country for unexpected changes such as those brought by the au tomobile Similarly, writers going back to Alvin and heidi Toffler have extrapolated from developments in information technology cloning AI genetic modifica tion, and ecological science to explore a range of poten tial desirable, dangerous, or even post human futures

But if predictions based on past experience have lim ited capacity to anticipate the unforeseen, extrapolations from techno scientific innovations have a distressing ca

Whatever the approach of the forecaster and however sophisticated their tools, the trouble with predictions is their proximity to power Throughout history, futures have tended to be made by white well connected cis male people This homogeneity has had the result of limiting the framing of the future, and, as a result, the actions then taken to shape it Further predictions resulting in expen sive or undesirable outcomes, like Turchin’s, tend to be ignored by those making the ultimate decisions This was the case with the nearly two decades worth of pandemic war gaming that preceded the emergence of Covid 19 Reports in both the US and the UK, for example, stressed the significance of public health systems in responding ef fectively to a global crisis, but they did not convince either country to bolster their systems What’s more, no one pre dicted the extent to which political leaders would be un willing to listen to scientific advice even when futures did have the advantage of taking into account human error, they still produced predictions that were systematically disregarded where they conflicted with political strategies

Which brings us to the crucial question of who and what predictions are for Those who can influence what people think will be the future are often the same people able to command considerable resources in the present, which in turn help determine the future But very rarely do we hear the voices of the populations governed by the decisionmakers It’s often at the regional or municipal level that we see efforts by ordinary people to predict and shape their own communal and familial futures, often in response to the need to distribute scarce re sources or to limit exposure to potential harms Both is sues are becoming ever more pressing in the presently unfolding climate catastrophe

The central message sent from the history of the fu ture is that it’s not helpful to think about “the Future ” A much more productive strategy is to think about futures; rather than prediction, it pays to think probabilistically about a range of potential outcomes and evaluate them against a range of different sources Technology has a significant role to play here, but it s critical to bear in mind the lessons from World3 and Limits to Growth about the impact that assumptions have on eventual out comes The danger is that modern predictions with an AI imprint are considered more scientific, and hence more likely to be accurate, than those produced by older sys tems of divination But the assumptions underpinning the algorithms that forecast criminal activity, or identify potential customer disloyalty, often reflect the expecta tions of their coders in much the same way as earlier methods of prediction did

Rather than depending purely on innovation to map the future, it s more sensible to borrow from history, and combine newer techniques with a slightly older model of forecasting one that combines scientific expertise with artistic interpretation It would perhaps be more helpful to think in terms of diagnosis rather than predic tion, when it comes to imagining or improving future human histories

Middle east eye A n d R e w H A m m o n d

S O M E O F T H E K E Y A R G U M E N T S O F M O D E R N I S L A M I S M W E R E F O R M E D E A R L I E R T H A N I M AG I N E D, I N

T H E F I N A L Y E A R S O F T H E OT TO M A N P O L I T Y

UNTIL THE ABOLITION OF THE CALIPHATE IN 1924, THE OT TOMAN ISLAMIST LOBBY HELD OUT HOPE THAT ATATURK WOULD LEAN INTO ISLAMIC FAITH AND INSTITUTIONS TO SHORE UP IDENTIT Y AND LEGITIMACY IN THE NE W STATE

Amanda Rees is a historian of science based at the University of York who works on the history of the future, human animal relationships and science outside the lab Her most recent book was Human a short response to post humanism, published by Reaktion Press in 2020

H U M A N S H AV E LO N G T R I E D TO D E T E R M I N E T H E S H A P E O F W H AT ’ S TO CO M E. B U T E V E N T H E

O S T A D VA N C E D T E C H N O LO G Y C A N ’ T S O LV E T H E F U N DA M E N TA L I S S U E S W I T H P R E D I C T I O N S

Expor ters demand immediate refunds

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

The exporters Sunday demanded immediate refunds of Rs 200 billion from Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) to avoid units closure amid liquidity crunch Talking to a delegation of exporters led by Kaleem Ullah Anjum,Co ordinator to Federal Tax Ombudsman Meher Kashif Younis said Pakistan textile industry is likely to lose global markets because of various taxes, levies, presumptive taxes and surcharges, making the exports 10pc costlier against the regional com petitors hence, it s the dire need of the hour that government must adopt pro exports policy to boost the exports mani folds Meher Kashif Younis said with the withdrawal of zero rated regime and the implementation of a 17pc GST on ex port oriented sector, the cost of doing business has increased to unsustainable levels Expressing concern over unneces sary delay in payment of exporters s sales tax refunds, after witnessing a historic hike the textile exports fell by 15 23pc in October mainly because of the exporters were experienc ing an extreme liquidity crunch He said textile exports are expected to increase from $19 35 bn to $25bn this year and $50 bn over the next half decade He said as the stuck up re funds and tax credit of export oriented industries swelled to over Rs 200 billion in the current fiscal year if not cleared timely, will cause closing down textile units as severe liquid ity crunch made it impossible to continue their operations in these odd circumstances He said data showed the refund payment order worth Rs 45 billion is pending since Oct 16 with FBR while deferred sales tax refund edged upto Rs 55 billion in the last half year

Digital Veterinar y’s ser vice save hundreds of ailing pet animals in Peshawar

The online service by Digital Veterinary start up has helped in saving hundreds of ailing pet animals in Peshawar by pro viding online guidance to owners besides visiting homes for treatment on nominal charges Launched in 2020 in the name of DIGIVETPK to provide help to pet lovers in treatment of their ailing animals during corona lockdown, the digital start up continued its service and is been approached by hun dreds of pet lovers in the city During the last few months we have provided services for treatment of more than 60 cat tle infected with prevailing lumpy skin disease and almost all were recovered,” informs Dr Said Jamal head of DI GIVETPK Apart from treatment, we also educate animal lovers and owners of livestock about preventive measures like maintaining proper hygiene, timely vaccination, fumigation and use of mosquito repellent, he went on to say DI GIVETPK is the first ever mobile veterinary service in Khy ber Pakhtunkhwa having highly qualified veterinary doctors who provide online service to animal lovers and also visit homes for physical examination and treatment purposes,” in forms Dr Said Jamal The group was formed by a few dy namic young veterinary doctors under the leadership of Dr Ameer Hamza who is now going abroad for further studies A female vet was also part of the group who later went abroad for higher studies The group now comprises six members working under the leadership of Dr Said Jamal who joined it as member and started providing treatment in Peshawar city Our digital service rescued a large number of pet animals dur ing the coronavirus lockdown due to closure of pet clinics and restriction on movement of people, he recalled

Ministry all sEt for first-EVEr int’l rEal EstatE ExPo froM 8th

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

tHE Ministry of Housing and Works has com pleted all arrangements for the first ever In ternational Housing and Real Estate Expo” scheduled for December 8 to promote real estate business in the country besides ensur ing safe and secure housing for the public

The four day expo will be organized in collabo ration with other relevant ministries agencies organ izations, and authorities to encourage the approved housing projects and uplift the construction sector in the country an official in the Ministry told APP

He said that the people associated with the real es tate and housing industry across the country would par ticipate in the exhibition The stall was allocated to all the real estate developers, housing societies, real estate consultants, and construction material related industries

The main objective of the expo is to create aware ness among the masses on approved real estate in the country, he added

The official said that the Ministry would also al locate the stalls to those whose housing projects and companies were approved by the government tax payers, and companies with No Objection Certifi cates (NoCs) from relevant authorities

Meanwhile Secretary of Housing and Works Iftikhar Ali Shallwani told that the construction sector was the biggest provider of job opportunities for it has several other industries attached to it

“It was a fundamental right of everyone to have secure and safe housing, and the ministry intended to organize the event to achieve this purpose he added

Iftikhar Shallwani said different stalls would be set up by the Federal Government Employees Hous ing Authority (FGEHA), Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation (PHAF), and the country’s major builders, developers, and marketing companies

The Secretary said that he had also extended a cordial invitation to the ambassadors of different countries to participate in the upcoming expo and avail the opportunities in the housing sector which were offered by the present government

HEC invites innovative star t-ups to apply for Innovator S eed Fund Grant

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has in vited innovative start ups owned by students, alumni, faculty members, or researchers from pub lic or private sector universities to apply for the In novator Seed Fund (ISF) Grant

According to the HEC, the ISF, envisioned for the development of innovation and start up ecosys tem in Pakistan, is a flagship initiative of the com mission under the Higher Education Development in Pakistan Project (HEDP)

The ISF is anticipated to support the development of fledgling start ups having innovative ideas through the provision of seed funding grants, to transform them into successful and sustainable enterprises

The grant package includes up to USD 35,000 in seed funding, stretched over start ups proposed budgetary requirements for activities, including but not limited to entrepreneurial training, legal or fi nancial, or marketing training and support, among other services

About the applicant eligibility, the HEC con veyed that the lead applicant must either be a student alumni or faculty member, or researcher of the higher education institutions (public or private) and must have endorsement from one of the HEC established 35 Business Incubation Centers across the country

The lead applicant must have an SECP regis tered business concern, ensuring the legal status and promising potential of the start up

The priority sectors for ISF support include but are not limited to Agriculture, Food Resources and Agri Tech, Banking; Microfinance and FinTech; Creative, Digital Media, Arts and Culture; Educa tion and EdTech; E commerce and Smart Retail; Emerging Technologies; Health Care and Health Tech; Housing, Construction and Manufacturing; Sustainable Development, Climate, and Energy; Transportation and Logistics

The innovative ideas or concept notes on the pre scribed application template must be submitted through HEC online portal http://www rfi hec gov pk The deadline for submission of the application sub mission is January 06, 2023

Quilts business witnesses boom as cold star ts to rise across countr y

ISLAMABAD

As the cold wave persists across the country owing to the recent rains, the business of hand made, ma chine made quilts and blankets have gained a mo mentum in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad The shopkeepers have displayed attrac tive varieties of quilts and blankets in different price ranges to attract the inhabitants as winter is the best business season for the quilt and blanket sellers

The import of completely and semi knocked down (CKD/SKD) products into the country witnessed a decrease of 33 51 per cent during the first four months of the current fiscal year (2022 23) as com pared to the corresponding period of last year Pakistan imported CKD/SKD products worth $506 930 million during July October (2022 23) as compared to the imports of $760 417 million from July October (2021 22) according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)

Among the CKD/SKD products, the import of buses trucks and other heavy vehicles went down by 39 78 per cent from $219 183 million last year to $131 991 million during the months under review while the imports of motor cars also dipped by 31 55 per cent from $ 519 687 million to $355 741

million In addition the import of motorcycles wit nessed negative growth of 18 47 per cent from $23 547 million to $19 197 million Meanwhile on a year on year basis CKD/SKD imports into the country during October 2022 decreased by 8 91 per cent, from $174 920 million in October 2021 to $159 331 million The import of buses trucks other heavy vehicles and motor cars also declined by 12 25 and 7 88 per cent respectively in October 2022 However the import of motorcycles witnessed an increase of 5 10 per cent On a monthly basis, CKD/SKD imports during October 2022 surge by 21 32 per cent when compared to the imports of $131 331 million in September 2022

The import of buses, trucks and other heavy ve hicles witnessed an increase of 33 85 per cent whereas the import of motor cars and motorcycles during October 2022 also increased by 12 47, 212 79 per cent

Talking to APP, Saeed Khan, a quilt seller at Karachi Company said that winter season is al ways a blessing for the quilt and blanket sellers as it gives us the opportunity to earn handsome amount through selling these items He said that every year the demand of quilts and blankets in creases after the first rain spell of the season Keep ing in view the situation we have already kept enough stock to meet the demand of the customers “In winter, we work hard to earn breads for the rest of the year, he said Sadia Bibi, a buyer while talk ing to APP said that few years back we used to make traditional cotton filled quilts at home for winter but now we are purchasing polyester quilts and imported blankets due to their affordability and light weight She said that although these polyester quilts and imported blankets are not long lasting and comfortable but they are easy to handle and oc cupy less space to store which is a big attraction for us Khalid Hussain, a seller at Aabpara Market, told that the prices of quilts and blankets have signifi cantly increased during the last few years due to the overall inflation but still there is a great demand of these items and we are hoping to earn handsome money in the season He said that nowadays I am selling about two to four quilts or blankets a days but during the peak season the sale of these items goes up to 10 to 15 a day Samandar Khan, a tradi tional quilt maker from a local market, while talking to APP said few years back winter was the peak business time for us as people used to prepare hand made cotton filled quilts for the season We used to sew at least four to five quilts a day during winter which now has come down to one or two on average Now people prefer polyester quilts and imported blankets and we have to think of alternative profes sions in the future for our survival,” he added

RDA advises citizens to check status of housing societies before investment

as plazas, stores, schools, residential and com mercial construction and other illegal land use encroachments on a daily basis

Tariq Mehmood Murtaza asked the citi zens not to invest in illegal and unauthorized housing schemes and check status of the housing societies before any investment

According to Chairman RDA Tariq Mehmood Murtaza, the citizens had been ad vised to check the status of the housing so cieties at the RDA s Metropolitan Planning and Traffic Engineering (MP&TE) Direc torate or on the RDA’s official website rda gop pk

He informed that RDA was regularly con ducting raids against illegal housing schemes and strict action in accordance with the law was being taken against the rules violators The Chairman said that the Authority was en forcing the regulations against violators such

The RDA spokesman informed that the authorities concerned on the directives of Di rector General, Muhammad Saif Anwar Jappa had accelerated RDA s ongoing oper ations against illegal constructions and sealed 31 commercial buildings, lodged nine FIRs and demolished three offices of illegal private housing societies in November

RDA demolished five under construc tion commercial structures and sealed 11 commercial buildings on Shahpur Syedan Road Rawalpindi

The

He said MP&TE Directorate had also demolished boundary wall of one illegal pri vate housing scheme namely Countryside Farms at Moza Raatyal Mohra Koyain Chak Beli Khan Road, Rawat, Rawalpindi

The Directorate also lodged FIR against a housing scheme namely Countryside Farms (Countryside Residencia) housing scheme at Moza Kalyam Mughal, Rawat Rawalpindi he added

He said, RDA had also sealed 20 shops on Link Bajnial Road, in Moza Pind Nasrala Rawalpindi

He informed that grand operation against

unauthorized constructions was in full swing and the authority was trying to control illegal development of unauthorized projects

He informed that the authority had al ready lodged FIRs against two illegal housing schemes namely Mivida City and Abdullah City at Chakri Road Any advertisement on their part would be an attempt to deceive the citizens as they are illegal he said

RDA had also lodged FIRs against three illegal housing schemes namely Budget Agro Farms Countryside Farms at Chak Beli road Rawalpindi and Kalyam City, Rawat Rawalpindi, he informed

He clarified that Green Lake City was a fake housing scheme and advertisements by the housing scheme particularly on social media were illegal

MP&TE Directorate had also directed

the administration of illegal housing schemes to stop marketing of their unap proved and illegal housing schemes on print electronic and social media and contact the authorities concerned of RDA to get NoC and approval of the scheme as per law

Talking to APP the spokesman said

MP&TE Directorate had requested Federal Investigation Agency Cyber Crime Cell Overseas Pakistanis Foundation, SNGPL, District Collector Rawalpindi, District Council Rawalpindi PEMRA and Com missioner Islamabad about illegal advertise ments of private housing schemes on social media He said some owners and developers were wrongly claiming that they got NoC from RDA, adding, status of the housing schemes could be verified from RDA’s offi cial website

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

RAWALPINDI

Land Use and Building Control (LU&BC) Wing RDA while carrying out an operation against unauthorized and illegal commercial buildings took action in accor dance with the law against the rules violators

O P E C + l I k E ly t O m a I n ta I n

O I l O u t P u t l E v E l s

mA J O R oil producing

countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia look set to maintain their current output levels at a meeting Sunday, ahead of fresh sanctions against Moscow coming into force

The alliance s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) kicked off their gathering Sunday, a source close to OPEC told AFP, ahead of the full ministerial conference afterwards which was expected to be brief

The 13 member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will consult with 10 other oil producing na tions including Russia known collec tively as OPEC+ to review their decision in October to cut production by two million barrels per day

On Friday the EU G7 and Australia agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil, which will come into effect on Monday or soon after alongside an EU embargo on maritime deliveries of Russian crude oil

It will prevent seaborne shipments of Russian crude to the European

Union, which account for two thirds of the bloc’s oil imports from Russia, an at tempt to deprive Moscow’s war chest of billions of euros

While Russia denounced the incom ing price cap on Saturday, threatening to suspend deliveries to any country that adopted the measure Ukraine suggested the cap should have been set even lower For OPEC+, the big unknown in the oil equation is how heavily sanctions will hit Russian supply

Iran executes 4 over links to Israeli intelligence

TEHRAN Ag e n c i e s

Iran on Sunday put to death four people accused of working with Israel’s intelligence service, the judiciary said “This morning, the sentences of four main members of the gang of mobsters related to the Zionist intelligence service were executed,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported Iran carried out the sentences four days after the Islamic republic’s supreme court upheld the penalty of capital punishment for their intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime (Israel) and kidnapping”, the Mizan Online said There was no recourse to appeal after Wednesday’s decision, it added Mizan identified the men as Hossein Ordoukhanzadeh, Shahin Imani Mahmoudabad, Milad Ashrafi Atbatan and Manouchehr Shahbandi Bojandi, without elaborating on their backgrounds Three other defendants were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison for crimes against the country’s security, complicity in kidnapping and possession of weapons, the judiciary’s website said after the Wednesday ruling Iran and Israel have been engaged in a years long shadow war The Islamic republic accuses Israel of carrying out sabotage attacks against its nuclear sites and assassinations, including of scientists

On May 22 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had arrested members of “a network acting under the direction of the Israeli intelligence service” “These people committed theft destruction of personal and public property, kidnapping and extortion of false confessions,” a Guards statement said at the time In late July Iran reported additional arrests, of several people allegedly linked to Israel’s Mossad These included alleged members of a banned Kurdish rebel group that was planning to target “sensitive sites”

“The uncertainty for Russian supply is significant”, DNB analysts said OPEC would therefore “aim for a low profile meeting that leaves existing pro duction quotas unchanged

An ‘uncomfortable position’ Moscow’s threat to suspend deliver ies to countries abiding by the price cap would put “some in a very uncomfort able position”, said OANDA analyst Craig Erlam: “Choosing between losing access to cheap Russian crude or facing

G7 sanctions

The choice of a virtual OPEC+ meeting instead of an in person confer ence at the Vienna headquarters, sug gested a policy rollover, UniCredit analyst Edward Moya said But “deeper oil output cuts” could still not be ruled out at this stage Amid economic gloom fuelled by soaring in flation and fears of China’s weaker en ergy demand due to its Covid related restrictions the two global crude bench marks remained close to their lowest level of the year, far from their March peaks

Since the group’s last meeting in early October Brent North Sea oil and its US equivalent, WTI, have lost more than six percent of their value But spec ulation that a further OPEC+ production cut might still be on the table boosted prices throughout the week “OPEC+ might feel compelled to adopt a more aggressive stance” by cut ting or threatening to cut production even further, UniCredit analyst Edoardo Campanella said “Russia might also re taliate by leveraging its influence within OPEC+ to push for more production cuts down the road, thus exacerbating the global energy crisis,” he added

Wa r d o g s : S a u s a g e s b o l s te r t h e fi g h t i n e a s te r n U kr a i n e

On the roads leading to the front in Ukraine’s war torn east, every morning begins with a familiar scene soldiers filling up trucks, sipping steaming coffee and catching up between bites of fresh hot dogs

Wrapped in buns, toasted and served with an array of condi ments, the spirit raising snack is served at petrol stations, kiosks, and bakeries across the country

Near the front, some petrol stations offer them free to men in uniform often resulting in long queues and sold out stock

“It’s like a tradition to come here for a short pit stop to drink a cup of good coffee and eat a nice hot dog said a 57 year old soldier fighting in the Donbas re gion, who uses the name Casper

My wife says this is not food,” he grinned “I used to eat home cooked food now you see I eat hot dogs, but she doesn’t know about it ” Casper is not alone many have changed their eating habits since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, pushing hundreds of thousands to take up arms to fight back

Jose, the nom de guerre of a 26 year old military engineer in Donbas, likes white bread with mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup for his morning hot dog

He used to opt for brown bread but jokes that it no longer seems to matter under ar tillery fire

‘Nothing can beat it’

For some, the morning hot dog is just a matter of conven ience I d go with borshch but I never have enough time or any one to cook a real borshch for me said a police officer in the eastern city of Kramatorsk who did not provide his name for se curity reasons

“Usually you just grab what ever you can reach Here we

cannot be too selective, to be honest, he added, saying a hot dog is usually “the fastest” op tion around It s the most popular noth ing can beat it,” said Olena, the manager of a petrol station in Kramatorsk

She said her store sells up to 50 sausages a day to customers in cluding soldiers and police offi cers Most hot dogs range in price from 40 to 70 Ukrainian hryvnia (a little over $1 to just under $2), with myriad meat options includ ing beef chicken and spice in fused sausages on most menus

Another soldier, nicknamed Bumble Bee, says the morning rit ual provides much needed famil iarity amid the uncertainty of war

Israel strikes Gaza after rocket fired from enclave

The Israeli air force said it had carried out overnight air strikes against sites of the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip after a rocket was fired from the Palestinian enclave towards Israeli territory

The Israeli army reported on Saturday evening a rocket had been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel the first in a month

The attack came as Islamic Jihad threatened to retaliate after Israeli troops killed two of its leaders in the West Bank town of Jenin on Thursday

“In response to the rocket fired toward Israeli territory, IDF fighter jets targeted overnight (Sunday) a weapons manufacturing site belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation, the Israeli army said in a statement

The target was a site “where the majority of the organisation’s rockets in the Gaza Strip are being manufactured it said

Israel Defense Forces also hit “a Hamas terrorist tunnel in the Southern Gaza Strip”, it said

The army said a few hours later it had targeted a Hamas military post in response to fire from the Gaza Strip against Israeli warplanes

However, the Hamas said it used anti aircraft missiles during Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip

Security sources in Gaza reported two strikes in the south of the enclave, one against a military training site in Khan Younis and the other in an uninhabited area close to Rafah The strikes caused no injuries according to Palestinian medical sources “The Zionist enemy is extending its aggression against our people by brutally bombarding the Gaza Strip, following its crime yesterday of executing the martyr Ammar Mufleh in Huwara Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said

Indonesia’s mount semeru volcano erupts, top aler t status triggered

down its side, sparking the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people exactly one year after its last major eruption killed dozens The eruption of the highest mountain on Indonesia’s main island of Java, around 800 kilometres (500 miles) southeast of capital Jakarta, prompted authorities to raise the alert status to the highest level

Hot avalanches caused by piles of lava at the tip of the 3,676 metre (12,000 feet) volcano slid down after the eruption, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement

The increased threat level “means the danger has threatened the people’s settlement and the volcano’s activity has escalated”, Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) spokesperson Hendra Gunawan told broadcaster Kompas TV

No casualties or injuries were reported immediately after the eruption but Gunawan warned nearby residents not to travel within eight kilometres (five miles) of the crater after the threat level was raised to four The BNPB said 1,979 people were taken to 11 shelters, with at least 6 villages affected by the eruption Images on local TV showed evacuees, mostly women and children, taking shelter in a school

Videos shared with AFP by local rescue group Irannala Rescue showed a huge black cloud rising from the volcano s crater engulfing the sky and blocking the sun in nearby villages

The villages were being battered by monsoon rains by the afternoon and the rainfall was mixing with volcanic ash, according to Kompas

Residents were also told to avoid a southeastern area 13 kilometres (8 miles) along a river in the direction where the ash was travelling

World Cup host Qatar seeks to change minds on Islam

Coffee and faith

Proudly Muslim Qatar has taken advantage of the World Cup to reach out to the hundreds of thousands of visiting fans to change minds about Islam or even make conversions The Gulf emirate is the first Muslim nation to stage a football World Cup and its gas riches have endowed it with an array of grand mosques to pique the curiosity of visitors

Canadian couple Dorinel and Clara Popa listened to the call to prayer at an Ottoman style mosque in Doha s Katara cultural district

It is known as Doha’s Blue Mosque be cause of the sumptuous mosaics of blue and purple tiles on the walls A guide took the couple on a tour of the elaborate interior dominated by a giant chandelier

Dorinel Popa, a 54 year old accountant, said the couple were taking a first look at Islam We have prejudice against the cul ture and the people,” because of a lack of ex posure to others, he said

We have some thoughts in our heads and now maybe some of them will change,” added his wife, a 52 year old doctor The Qatar Guest Center which supervises the Blue Mosque, has brought dozens of Muslim preachers from around the world to Qatar for the tournament

Outside the mosque there are booklets in different languages explaining Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, along with Arabic cof fee and dates

Syrian volunteer Ziad Fateh said the World Cup is “an opportunity to introduce millions of people to Islam” and change “misconceptions” about a religion that many in the West link to radicalism

We explain to people more about ethics, the importance of family bonding, and respect for neighbours and non Mus lims he added

Near the mosque, volunteers managed a table aimed at visiting women with a sign saying: Ask me about Qatar Those who

stop are also offered Arabic coffee

A Palestinian volunteer Somaya said most of the questions concerned “the veil, polygamy and whether women are op pressed in Islam

Qatar ’s record on women’s and LGBTQ rights has been heavily scrutinised in con nection with the World Cup Nearby, visitors can watch a five minute virtual reality tour of Islam The campaign is being pursued across Qatar

‘Happiness’ in Islam

In the Pearl district where many expa triates live and frequent its expensive cafes and restaurants, murals have been painted with quotes from the Prophet Mohammed urging good morality

Upscale shopping malls carry advertise ments promoting Islam In the Souq Waqif market, where thousands of fans gather every day free books and pamphlets are left in one alley with a sign saying: “If you’re looking for happiness you will find (it) in Islam” Near the Souq, the Sheikh Abdulla bin

VIENNA Ag e n c e s

Zaid Islamic Cultural Center is open 12 hours a day for tours

Some Muslim leaders in Qatar have called for efforts to convert visiting football fans to Islam Sultan bin Ibrahim Al

Hashemi, a professor of sharia law at Qatar University who heads the Voice of Islam radio station, said the World Cup should be used to find new converts as well as counter Islamophobia

DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE Ag e n c i e s

LUMAJANG INDONESIA Ag e n c e s

Indonesia s Mount Semeru erupted Sunday spewing hot ash clouds a mile into the sky and sending rivers of lava

Pa k i s ta n n e e d s 2 6 3 r u n s t o w i n t e s t a g a i n s t e n g l a n d o n f i n a l d ay

quad, as he bold Harry Brook when he was just 13 runs away (87) in scoring his second century of the first test Brook s innings included 11 4s and 3 6s England were 264 for 7 having a 342 runs lead over Pakistan when they declared the in nings at tea

lyon takes six as australia win 1st test against west indies

PERTH, AUSTRALIA

day (today)

England set a 343 runs target for Pakistan after scoring 264 for 7 in their second round of play against Green shirts before declaring the innings at Pindi stadium Rawalpindi on sunday England started the day with Ben Duckett going on a duck in the very first over of their second innings, followed by Ollie Pope for 15 in the 6th over naseem shah took Duckett while Mohammad ali downed and Pope

England were 46 for 2 at lunch Crawley was 24 and Joe Root was at 4 Crawley who scored a half century (50 off 48 balls including 7 4s) was sent to the pavilion in the 14th over it was ali again who displayed his top notch and

Mehidy powers Bangladesh to thrilling odi win over india

dismissed Crawley Joe Root who went unlucky in the first innings (23 runs) stood firm for the visitors and went on to score 73 runs off 69 balls including 6 4s But he was cut short by Zahid Mahmood who took him in the 29 over Zahid took his second wicket in the

form of Ben stokes who was also out on a duck agha salman didn’t lag behind to contribute his share as he bagged Will Jacks wicket when he was on 24 runs this was the sixth wicket for England Pacer naseem shah also proved his mettle in the absence of Haris Rauf who was injured due to a strain in his right

Meanwhile, agha salman (10) and Zahid Mahmood (1) were batting at the end of third day’s play when Pakistan were 499 for 7 in their first innings against England

England bowler Will Jacks shinned on day four as he bagged last three of Pakistan salman (5), Zahid (33) and Haris Rauf (12) on day four Pakistan scored 579 for all in 156 overs

Pakistan was opened by abdullah shafique and imam ul Haq in their sec ond innings when the opening stand couldn’t last long and shafique was dis missed by Ollie Robinson providing just a 20 run partnership to the first wicket then came in azhar ali, who was un luckily hit on hand by the ball in the same over and was retired hurt

GCU M arathon: S tudents run for promoting justice, peace, tolerance

LAHORE

s ta f f r e p o r t

Mehidy Hasan Miraz hit an unbeaten 38 and put on a record tenth wicket stand as Bangladesh edged out india by one wicket in a thrilling opening one day international on sunday Chasing 187 for victory, the hosts fell to 136 9 before Mehidy and Mustafizur Rahman put together a 51 run partnership Bangladesh’s best ever for the final wicket to achieve their target with 24 balls to spare in Dhaka Bangladesh lead the three match series 1 0 with the second match on Wednesday at the same venue Mehidy, coming in to bat at number eight, hit four fours and two sixes and survived a dropped catch by wicketkeeper kL Rahul on 17 to turn the match on its head Mehidy hit the winning runs in his 39 ball knock to trigger wild celebrations as the players came running onto the field and the home crowd erupted Mustafizur scored 10 off 11 balls as he and Mehidy stood firm to record a memorable win shakib al Hasan set up victory after his impressive bowling figures of 5 36 helped bowl out india for 186 in 41 2 overs despite Rahul’s 73 after Bangladesh elected to field first Bangladesh collapsed after a few good partnerships including a 48 run stand between skipper Liton Das and shakib who made 29 spinner Washington sundar got Das out for 41 and then shakib to a stunning one handed catch at extra cover by Virat kohli

Bangladesh suffered a double blow in successive balls when Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim fell after a 33 run stand for the fifth wicket Bangladesh looked to be cruising at 128 4 in the 35th over, but lost their way after Mahmudullah fell lbw to shardul thakur and then Mohammed siraj bowled Mushfiqur

Hundreds of students from more than 25 universities across the country participated in marathon on the Mall with an aim to promote peace toler ance and justice Commissioner La hore Muhammad amir Jan flagged off the five kilometre marathon, which started from the Governor ’s House and ended at the Government College University (GCU), Lahore this year, female students also participated in the marathon but for a shorter run of almost three kilome tres, from GPO Chowk to the Uni versity s clock tower GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr asghar Zaidi also participated in the marathon, and also finished the cross line

T20 Women’s C ricket Tournament second phase begins today

LAHORE

s ta f f r e p o r t

after the conclusion of six match first phase of t20 Women’s Cricket tournament, the second phase will commence from Monday (tomorrow) at the two venues of Lahore Lahore Gymkhana and LCCa Ground

Four teams namely Blasters, Challengers, Dynamites and strikers will feature in the event where Pakistan’s elite cricketers will take part the second phase will be played on a single league basis where two matches will be played daily on 5, 6 and 7 December

Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium will host the tournament’s

final between the top two sides on December 9, which will be live streamed on PCB s Youtube channel the matches will begin at 1000, while the toss will take place at 0930 the tournament provides a great opportunity for players to kick start their preparations for the iCC Women’s t20 World Cup in south africa later next year and hone their skills in the format in order to incentivise domestic performers, the best performer of every match will continue to receive PkR 20 000 as they were getting in the first phase of the tour nament the player of the tournament will bag PkR 50,000 the winning team will receive PkR 1 million, while the runner up will get PkR 500,000

spin king nathan Lyon bagged six wickets, including century maker kraigg Brathwaite, as australia ground down a gutsy West indies to win the first test in Perth by 164 runs on sunday skipper Brathwaite who took the match into a final day with a defiant overnight 101 after australia declared their second innings at 182 2 on day four couldn t keep the momentum going against Lyon and was bowled for 110 the Caribbean team resumed on 192 3, needing to bat through 90 overs for a draw after gamely rebuffing an attack missing the injured Pat Cummins for two sessions on saturday

But they were all out for 333 after some plucky late resistance Lyon ended with 6 128, in the process surpassing india s Ravichandran ashwin to become the eighth highest wicket taker in test history with 446 “the batters did their job, the quicks stood up, it was a fantastic all round performance, said australian skipper Pat Cummins

Lyon is the most important bowler in our team, he keeps taking wickets there wasn’t much on offer for the spinners, but he found out a way and kept picking wickets it extended the West indies 25 year run of failing to win a test on australian soil, with the hosts retaining the Frank Worrell trophy ahead of the second and final test in adelaide starting thursday “Obviously disappointed with the loss We gave away the wickets in the first innings, but it was a good fight as a team and as a bowling unit,” said Brathwaite “it’s good to see the fight from the batters, but still a lot of improvement to be done Brathwaite said after his day four exploits that the opening overs would be “very, very crucial”, and in front of a spartan crowd, it was australia who prevailed kyle Mayers, who has been ruled out of any further bowling in the two test series with a shoulder strain, added just 10 runs to his overnight nought Lyon made the breakthrough, with Mayers getting a thick edge to steve smith at slip Brathwaite was almost chanceless in making his 100, but Lyon, in his 111th test, finally beat the bat and he was bowled “i was pretty happy with that one kraiggy batted extremely well, he’s a superstar batsman and i had to be patient,” said Lyon

7,000 policemen providing securit y for Pak-england cricket series

City Police Officer (CPO) syed shehzad nadeem on sunday visited Rawalpindi Cricket stadium and reviewed the security arrangements for Pak England cricket series according to a police spokesman, ssP Operations Waseem Riaz khan sP Rawal sP saddar sP security, and other officers were also present on the occasion the CPO while reviewing the arrangements also visited the entry gates, parking, adjoining areas, markets, and different other important places He directed the senior officers to personally check the duty points and brief the personnel on duty around 7,000 officers of Rawalpindi Police were performing security duties whereas 432 traffic police wardens were deployed to maintain the flow of traffic special teams of Elite Force and Dolphin Force were also patrolling around the stadium CPO said all measures are being taken to ensure foolproof security of cricket teams, matches, and cricket lovers

France, England in World Cup spotlight af ter Messi helps Argentina into quar ters

DOHA ag e n c i e s

France’s bid to retain the World Cup continues against Poland on sunday, while England’s pursuit of a first major trophy in 56 years will be tested by african champions senegal Didier Deschamps’ French side are aim ing to become the first team to win succes sive World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 after winning Group D in Qatar

Led by electric Paris saint Germain for ward kylian Mbappe, the French are heavy favourites to progress past Poland at Doha s al thumama stadium

But in a World Cup packed with shocks like the group stage exits of Germany and Belgium, subduing Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski is the key to France avoiding another upset

Poland’s all time leading scorer will be hoping to add to his meagre World Cup tally of one goal against France goalkeeper Hugo

Lloris, who is set to make his 142nd interna tional appearance and equal Lilian thuram as Les Bleus’ most capped player

France captain Lloris praised both Lewandowski and his Polish counterpart Wo jciech szczesny, who has starred with two su perb penalty saves which were crucial to his team finishing second in Group C “Lewandowski has been one of the best num ber nines in the world for years now but they are a good side collectively,” said Lloris

“szczesny is a having a fantastic tourna ment, Poland owe their place in the last 16 to their goalkeeper ”

if France see off Poland, their path to wards the World Cup final on December 18 could include a quarter final showdown against England Gareth southgate’s team are slated to meet France in the last eight if they beat senegal at al Bayt stadium

England reached the semi finals four years ago and finished runners up at Euro 2020, and got off to a fine start in Qatar by

winning Group B and they believe they can win the tour nament in Qatar to finally end their agonis ing wait for a first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup

“that is not being over confident, that is being humble enough to see what goes on in our training and how the staff prepare and believing in ourselves too,” said England de fender John stones Rocked by the loss to in jury of talisman sadio Mane before the tournament, senegal reached the World Cup knockout stage for only the second time after tuesday’s 2 1 win against Ecuador secured the runners up spot in Group a

We are capable of beating anyone and we need to be convinced of that,” said sene gal assistant coach Regis Bogaert

Off the pitch, arsene Wenger, FiFa’s foot ball development chief, suggested on sunday that the teams who have been successful in the tournament were those who ignored the con troversies surrounding hosts Qatar

Prof Zaidi said: “From justice, i also mean climate justice, equal op portunities of education for all stu dents, gender equality and women’s empowerment and equal economic, political and social rights and oppor tunities to all individuals ” He added

that such healthy activities had an extraordinary ability to promote tol erance and understanding in students and they also play a vital role in their character building He said he had seen many students encouraging and helping others to finish their race

ag e n c i e s

RAWALPINDI s ta f f r e p o r t

DHAKA s ta f f r e p o r t

Germany’s players covered their mouths before their opening game in a protest against the ban on wearing a rainbow themed arm band in support of LGBtQ rights the four time world champions were

later knocked out at the first hurdle “the teams (who did well) as well who were men tally ready, who had the mindset to focus on the competition and not on political demon strations said Wenger

ISLAMABAD

FBR HeSITanT TO SeT uP cOMMITTee FOR PROBe InTO GB cuSTOMS ScaM

E D E R A L Board of Revenue

has failed to constitute an en quiry committee to investi gate Collector GB s disclosure of a massive rev enue loss scam in the GB customs

As per details, FBR did not consti tute the promised enquiry committee to probe the former collector GB s allega tions disclosing the involvement of DG custom intelligence Faiz Ahmad in a big revenue loss scam allegedly exe cuted by the DG through patronising the criminal money making activities of a principal appraiser Raja Waseem Ahmad in the GB customs

Instead of immediately setting to enquire into the truth of Collector GB’s unusual disclosures of a revenue loss scam FBR in the last week trans ferred the collector Nisar Ahmad and sidelined him as secretary in FBR

According to member custom op erations FBR Mukarram Jah Ansari, the Chairman FBR had given direc tions and inquiry would be initiated in a few days

Meanwhile, sources said that DG Customs intelligence had also written a letter to the chairman FBR explain ing the reasons which, according to him, prompted the collector ’s disclo sures of the alleged revenue loss scam in GB customs

When read side by side, the col lector ’s letter to member custom op erations conveying to member heavy revenue losses in GB customs al legedly being caused by the collusion of DG custom intelligence with a principal appraiser and the DG’s letter to chairman FBR raising counter al legations against the collector, these two letter make a fit case for an im mediate high level enquiry to deter mine which officer ’s disclosures against the other are correct and to punish the officer found at fault

One of the reasons why FBR seems hesitant for the last two week to enquire into the matter may be that FBR knows very well that the find ings of such an enquiry may go against either or both of the two offi cers and will certainly expose and es tablish the restive love of senior custom officers for money making and their merciless disregard of their

FO confirms veracit y of repor ts about IS KP Kabul embassy attack claim

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Foreign Office on Sunday confirmed the reports circulating on social media that the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS KP) was behind the attack on Pakistan’s Embassy in Kabul that was launched a couple of days ago In a statement Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that we have seen reports that Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS KP) has accepted responsibility for the terrorist attack on the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul She said we are verifying the veracity of these reports independently and in consultation with the Afghan authorities

The spokesperson said the terrorist attack is yet another reminder of the threat that terrorism poses to peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region She said we must act resolutely with all our collective might to defeat the menace of terrorism Earlier in a press release, the FO said: We have seen reports that IS KP has accepted responsibility for the terrorist attack on the Pakistan Embassy compound on 2 December 2022

Independently and in consultation with the Afghan authorities, we are verifying the veracity of these reports This notwithstanding, the terrorist attack is yet another reminder of the threat that terrorism poses to peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region We must act resolutely with all our collective might to defeat this menace On its part, Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to combat terrorism

duty to safeguard the import revenues

Sources said that these two offi cers’ letters against each other have put FBR in a difficult situation which FBR could avert by delaying the en quiry and pushing the scam under the carpet as has happened in the past after so many revenue loss scams caught public eye

However sources disclosed the two officers’ letters against each and other record clearly show that Raja Waseem Ahmad Principal Appraiser, allegedly the central man to operate the scam, is under suspension due to his involvement in corrupt practices and revenue losses and that Collector GB caused his suspension This indi cates that the Collector GB may not be a party to the principal appraiser ’s dar ing money making Had the collector been behind the principal appraiser, he would never have caused his suspen sion Why then a much junior officer like principal appraiser minted mil lions on each container and continued to amass the amount for months de spite collector ’s disapproval?

The fact central to the enquiry of GB customs revenue loss scam is the evidence of alleged collusion be

tween the high ups of custom intelli gence and the principal appraiser FBR can take into account many clues to connect the DG and princi pal appraiser into the alleged collu s i o n o r d i s c o n n e c t t h e m f r o m a n y such collusion

For instance, the circumstances which prompted principal appraiser to indulge in massive money making despite collector ’s disapproval, the transfer of principal appraiser ’s pro ceedings to an officer working under DG, the DG’s silence on massive rev enue losses in GB customs which DG himself admits and the DG’s claim that he blocked just 8 containers in the face of massive custom clearance crimes in GB customs and then chose to re examine only three of these eight containers are some of the circum stances which point at which of the two officers is speaking truth against the other

B y i t s h e s i t a t i o n t o e n q u i r e i n t o t h i s p l a i n a n d s i m p l e t o u n d e r s t a n d s c a m o f m a s s i v e r e v e n u e l o s s i n G B c u s t o m s , F B R w i l l o n l y p r o m o t e i n i t s f i e l d f o r m a t i o n s a c o r r u p t c u l t u r e a n d d i s r e g a r d f o r t h e g o v e r n m e n t r e v e n u e

P M , P r e s i d e n t, o t h e r s ex t e n d g r e e t i n g s o n S i n d h i C u l t u r a l D ay

ISLAMABAD

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has extended his heartfelt greet ings to everyone on Sindhi Cul tural Day which is being celebrated across the country Sindh culture day is being observed in the province and other parts of the country on Sunday The day is typically celebrated by rapturous crowds who put on the colours of Sindh s culture, manifested through the traditional attires, embellishment, and folk music, to celebrate the annual event across the province which is celebrated on the first Sunday of December

While sharing greetings on the social media site Twitter on Sunday, the premier said that the culture and heritage of Sindh is beautifying the entire region and humanity for thou sands of years He wished a happy Sindhi culture day to all the Sindhi brothers and sisters

President Dr Arif Alvi on Sunday extended greetings as the people from Sindh cele brated their annual cultural day with traditional enthusiasm

On Twitter, the president said that the land of Sindh was a symbol of peace and love

He said humility and af fection for others are the main

source of inspiration for us from our Sindhi culture ”

My heartiest facilitation on Sindhi Culture Day The land of Sindh is symbol of peace and love Humility and affection for others are the main source of inspiration for us from our Sindhi culture Happy Sindh Day,” the president tweeted in Sindhi language

Sindh Cultural Day is cele brated to highlight the centuries old rich culture of Sindh It is celebrated each year in the first week of December on Sunday, not only in Pakistan but also by the diaspora across the world Foreign Minister and Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in his message on the occasion said Sindhi Culture is beautiful amalgamation of Sindhi tradi tion and Islamic culture

He said Moen Jo Daro is the mother of Sindhi culture and cultural diversity of Pak istan is the country s strength and beauty He said world has recognized the culture is col lective heritage of humanity

Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan also ex tended his felicitation on Sindh Culture Day In his tweet he said today we celebrate the rich culture and traditions of Sindh going back to the great Indus

Valley Civilization It’s the land of the Sufis & freedom Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, congratulating Sindhis living all over the world said Sindhi promotes love and respect for other cul tures beside beautiful colours of Ajrak and Topi

He said the tradition of Sindh has captured the love of the whole world It is notewor thy that every year, Sindhis all over the world celebrate Cul tural Day on the first Sunday of December

The celebrations include cultural events, music con certs rallies seminars and conferences to highlight the different aspects of Sindhi cul ture and its role in developing cohesion in society

Meanwhile, the German Consul General in Karachi Dr Rüdiger Lotz put on beautiful Sindhi attire to celebrate the rich and profound heritage of the Sindhi people

The German Consulate General released a video on the occasion that showed a proper celebration was held there to mark the day

In the video, the German Consulate General, Rüdiger Lotz said that cultural ex changes and dialogues are an integral part of international re lations in the modern world

Six colliers choked to death after explosion in Harnai coalmine

QUettA S ta f f R e p o R t

Six coal miners were killed in a gas explosion in Shahrag coal field area of Harnai district on Sunday

According to rescue officials, at least six labourers were trapped in the coal mine that collapsed after an explosion in Harnai district According to Levies officials as soon as the incident was reported, rescue and district administration rushed to the spot to initiate a rescue operation Levies officials further said that the accident took place in the mine of contractor Haji Dilawar Khan in Shahrg Tarkh Tung, where coal was being extracted “All of them died after being trapped inside the mine for seven hours as the rescue operation started very late and the miners were without protective gear, so the chances of their survival were quite slim they said The miners have been identified as Sarfaraz, resident of Shangla; Ghaniur Rehman, resident of Dir; Bacha Khalid, resident of Swat; Rehmanullah, resident of Dir; Najeebullah resident of Dir and Naseeb Gul resident of Swat Earlier, the Balochistan Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) team reached the site and started a rescue operation to take out the trapped colliers from the coalmine Commissioner Sibi Division Shahid Saleem directed the Levies and other officials to ensure their presence on the site and supervise the rescue operation personally The medical teams had also reached the site after the commissioner directed doctors to be present outside the coalmine to ensure timely medical treatment to the trapped miners in case of their safe rescue

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili took notice of the incident and directed the mines and mineral department to investigate the matter “Investigate the causes of the incident properly and submit a report in this regard to fix responsibility,” the chief minister ordered Dozens of ill fated colliers are killed in explosions and mine collapse incidents across Balochistan each year due to lack of safety measures The incident came as a grim reminder of the Orakzai mine blast, that claimed the lives of nine labourers a few days ago

660MW unit of Shanghai-Thar coal power plant connected with national grid: Dastgir

ISLAMABAD

The first 660 megawatt unit of Shanghai Electric 1,320 MW Thar coal based power plant has been connected to the national grid The development shared by Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan through a statement on twitter handle on Sunday The minister termed the addition of low cost electricity from indigenous resources as a good news and added that it was the fruit of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative Shanghai Electric is the sponsor of two 660 MWs ultra supercritical coal fired power plants in Block I of the Thar Desert in Sindh province The project also includes an integrated coal mine of 7 8 million tons per annum capacity According to another tweet retweeted by the Federal Minister for Power the other 660 MW unit will also be connected to the national grid on Monday (Dec 5) after which both units will collectively start contributing 1,320 MWs electricity to the national grid At this stage the power plants will start contributing electricity to the national grid for testing purposes before commencing commercial operations, a source said According to the Thar Coal Block 1 Generation Co (TCB 1), the power plants are capable of providing affordable energy to four million households TCB 1 is a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric and the owner of the power plant

FBR direc ts DG Intellec tual Proper ty to auc tion proper ty of big tax evaders, brands

on the subject cited above

This office had already brought to the notice of registrar of Copyrights and Trade marks, Patents and Design IPO that Za kauddin Shaikh, Zunir Ahmad, Khalida Parveen and Wamiq Zaka were the default ers/directors of M/s Forvil Cosmetics (pvt) Ltd and sales tax amounting to Rs310 7 million along with default surcharge (to be calculated at the time of recovery) was re coverable against them

At that time, the aforementioned sales tax demand was recoverable/pending against the management of M/s Forvil Cosmetics )pvt) Ltd, therefore, their BIO AMLA & others copy Copyrights and Trademarks, Patents and Design were attached in terms of section

48)(1)(e) of the sales tax act 1990 and it was accordingly advised through the above re ferred letters/notices to the registrar of Copy rights and Trademarks Patents and Design IPO to block the transfer/sale/sublease of their copyright/trademark mark/patent/design of these defaulters, it was also requested that NOC from the office of DC Inland Revenue CTO lahore should be obtained before initia tion any kind of proceedings with respect to transfer/sale/sublease/copyright/trademark/ patent/ design of above said defaulters

It is further informed that the aforesaid government dues have not been deposited by the above said defaulters till date and moreover the government dues have be come almost Rs570 million including penalty and default surcharge which have to be paid by the above said defaulters/di

rector of the company

Documents state that DC Inland Rev enue enforcement CTO Lahore intends to re cover the outstanding government dues from the defaulters by way of sale/auction of BIO AMLA & other copyright/Trademark/ patent/ design and other immovable/movable properties It is therefore requested to you to kindly intimate the present status of BIO AMLA and all other copyrights/trade marks/patents/design of these defaulters to this office latest by 12/12/2022 enabling this office to proceed further in this matter

Sources said that the team of FBR’s CTO Lahore has started this historic work A formal opinion was taken from the de partment in which the legal team confirmed that the trademarks or copyrights that con stitute financial goodwill fall under the cat

egory of movable property

Sources claimed that the investigation of cases of tax evasion of million of rupees is also going on against the managing part ner of Forvil Cosmetics Muhammad Awais which manufactures and sells Bio Amla shampoo and other products, and the sales tax registration number of this company has also been suspended

However, He used to suppress matters with collusion of some officials of the de partment but after the strict action of DG I&I IR, now CTO Office Lahore has started investigation against those who were in volved in collusion with tax evaders

Officials said that this is a historic move which has never been done before and this initiative will discourage tax evaders and increase the tax revenue of FBR