Epaper_22-12-08 KHI

SC orderS new panel to probe Sharif aSSaSSination Govt readies plan to import Turkmen LPG via Afghanistan

were no eyewitnesses, the top judge said. he said the probe should be conducted by senior officials who are experts in understanding the case and gathering evidence from other nations. It also asked the Foreign Office to assist the team in collecting evidence.

“The court has not formed a judicial commission as it is a criminal case,” CJP Bandial observed during the hearing, adding that the investigation should begin from khurram and Waqar, the two men Sharif was in contact with in kenya.

Earlier, a copy of the 592 pages long report compiled by the fact-finding committee was also submitted in the court. The report bears the signatures the two-member commission – FIA Director muhammad Athar Waheed and Intelligence Bureau (IB) Deputy Director General Omar Shahid hamid.

g ImPORT TO hELP mEET CRIPPLING GAS ShORTAGE

Faced with a gas shortage crisis as winter sets in across the country, the government has drawn up comprehensive plans to import Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) over land from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan, Pakistan Today learnt on Thursday –plans that could come into play with immediate effect once necessary approvals come through.

devised in a consultation session on November 10 between stakeholders to devise a mechanism for the LNG import. Under the immediate plan, imports will commence immediately, while six to eight months are required for the short-term plan, and one year for the long term plan.

In the immediate plan, LPG being imported in Pakistani bowsers will be cleared using the existing border gate (Friendship, or FS, Gate), facilities and yard.

Staff RepoRt

thESupreme Court on Wednesday ordered the government of the Pakistan Democratic movement (PDm) to set up a new, specialized investigation team to investigate the killing of Arshad Sharif, the prominent investigative journalist who was shot dead in kenya.

Sharif, 50, a fierce critic of the military, died in a suspected police shooting near kenya’s capital Nairobi on October 24.

A five-member bench, comprising CJP Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Jamal mandokhel, Justice Syed mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice mohammad Ali mazhar took the hearing of the suo moto notice.

On Tuesday, a large bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the chief justice, ordered the federal government to file the first information report (FIR), 43 days after Sharif’s “targeted” killing.

Sharif fled Pakistan in August — first to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and later to the East African nation — after over a dozen sedition cases were registered against him for allegedly criticising institutions and “abetting mutiny” within the army.

The court had directed the authorities to present a copy of the police report and the inquiry report conducted by the two-member investigation team, which visited the two nations, on Wednesday.

During the proceedings, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the latest should include members from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the police. The court asked the government to issue a notification to this end and inform the judges about the members by Thursday.

Tuesday’s FIR was brief as an investigation had not taken place and there

Sharif’s mother Riffat Ara Alvi and his widow were present for the hearing, along with the FIA director general, the information secretary and the Islamabad police chief.

During the hearing, the interior ministry presented the fact-finding report and the first information report (FIR) registered on Tuesday of the journalist’s killing.

Additional Attorney General (AAG) Aamir Rehman told the court the investigating team had received information from kenyan authorities. The team also met three of the officials who fired at Sharif, he said, adding that a meeting with the fourth one could not be arranged as he was injured.

IGP Islamabad bypasses District Administration in notifying JIT on Arshad Sharif murder case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Police Wednesday bypassed the District Administration in notifying a five-member committee to investigate the Arshad Sharif murder case. The office of IG Islamabad on Wednesday issued notification with regard to constitution of special joint investigation team to probe into FIR No 987/22 dated 6/12/2022 u/s 302/34PPC police station Ramna Islamabad. On the request made by the SSP/Investigation, Islamabad vide letter dated 06.121022, a Special Joint Investigation Staff RepoRt

The Collector Customs, Quetta, after consulting stakeholders, has forwarded a plan to the Federal Board of Revenue to import the LPG from the Chaman border, said sources privy to the matter. They said the federal government is all set to take a big step of importing the LPG from Turkmenistan, which is not only cost effective but the LPG is also of better quality.

All necessary preparations have been made and customs officials at Chaman border will allow the entry of LPG bowsers to Pakistan after necessary clearance, the sources added.

Documents available with Pakistan Today provide further details on various aspects of the plan, which will begin after necessary approval of the FBR.

In the first phase, Afghan transporters, referred to as the Afghan prime movers, will bring LPG from the border of Turkmenistan, and will hand over the bowsers to the Pakistani prime movers at the Chaman border.

In the second phase, a facility for LPG decanting will be established at Chaman border.

The documents outlined three plans – the immediate plan, short term plan and long term plan – as

According to the short term plan, notification of a new gate and yard will take at least six to eight months, as per the district administration, National Logistics Cell (NLC) and the XII (12) Corps. LPG clearance through the new gate and yard at Chaman will be done as per Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and Balochistan Environment Protection Agency (BEPA) standards.

Under the long term plan, a station will be established to decant the LPG into Pakistan bowsers.

The initial process will involve empty Pakistani bowsers being transported to the Chaman border by Pakistani prime movers, who will then hand over to Afghan prime movers. The Afghans will transport the bowser, through Afghanistan, to the border crossing with Turkmenistan at Torghundi for the LPG to be filled. The bowser will then travel back to Chaman, and will be handed over to Pakistani prime movers who will transport the cargo to necessary destinations in Pakistan.

Pakistan is faced with acute gas shortages, with local reserves depleting fast, and global Liquified Natural Gas supplies in high demand with winter setting in across the word, which has sent market prices out of Pakistan’s reach.

iSLAMABAD

profit report ahmad ahmadani

ArShAD ShArIf’S MurDer ‘PlAnneD ASSASSInATIOn’, SAyS fACT-fInDInG TeAM

REPORT CLAIMS TRANSNATIONAL ACTORS INVOLVED IN ‘TARGETED’ MURDER, INCONCLUSIVE IF SHARIF TORTURED

ISLAMABAD MoNitoRiNg RepoRt

THEfact-finding team probing the murder of Arshad Sharif has concluded that the gruesome murder of the journalist was a case of planned and targeted assassination by transnational characters and not a case of mistaken identity, as the Kenyan police earlier claimed.

According to the team’s report, the “transnational roles” of individuals from Kenya, Dubai, and Pakistan cannot be ruled out in the case.

“The four GSU (General Service Unit) police officials and OC GSU Training camp had been used as instruments in this case under influence, either financial or some other compulsion,” the report stated.

The report added that Waqar – who sponsored and hosted the journalist – was

connected to Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) and other international agencies and law enforcement.

It furthered that the fact that Waqar handed over Sharif’s personal cell phone and iPad to a NIS officer, rather than to the police, ‘established’ his link with the NIS.

“His linkage with national and international agencies provides a scope of possibilities of transnational characters in this case”.

The report also said that the narrations presented by Khurram, who drove the vehicle prior to Sharif’s murder, regarding the sequence of events and the crime scene, were contrary to logic and facts, and that there were no penetration marks of a bullet on Sharif’s car seat.

Rather, the journalist was hit from the back and the bullet exited from the right side of his chest. The report maintained that Khurram’s narrative did not match “his

‘TRANSNATIONAL ROLE’ OF INDIVIDUALS FROM KENYA, DUBAI,

[Sharif’s] sitting position, the position of the gunners as well as the line of fire”.

The report also declared that the Kenyan police’s claims of portraying the incident as a case of “mistaken identity” was also full of contradictions and that the statements given by the GSU police officials contradict themselves.

“Their version of events is not believable”.

It furthered that the post-mortem report in Pakistan identified that four fingernails of the slain journalist’s left hand were missing, giving rise to speculation that Sharif had been tortured before his death.

However, it continued, that while the Kenyan post-mortem did mention “fingernails” taken as DNA samples, it did not mention how many fingernails were taken. “Keeping in view the apparent differences in the two post-mortem reports, there is no concrete evidence to establish that

Arshad Sharif was tortured before the killing,” the report said.

Moreover, the fact-finding team stated that there were “compelling reasons for Sharif to leave Pakistan due to the criminal cases registered against him in different districts” of the country and that he was asked to leave the UAE by Emirati authorities.

The report also highlighted the five principles of international criminal law that invoke the criminal jurisdiction of any country. These principles include the territorial principle, nationality principles, passive personality principle, protection principle, and universal principle.

With the aforementioned facts in view, the fact-finding team recommended that a case be registered under the relevant provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act at the Counter Terrorism Wing (CTW) of the Federal Investigation

Imran Khan to dissolve assemblies within next few days: Qureshi

months.

COAS Gen Munir visits Quaid’s mausoleum

RAWALPINDI Staff RepoRt

Chief of Army Staff, General Syed Asim Munir during his maiden trip to Karachi after assuming the charge as Army Chief visited mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to pay homage to the founder of Nation. According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Army Chief laid floral wreath and offered Fateha at Quaid’s mausoleum. The COAS visited Corps Headquarters Karachi during which he was briefed on Operational, Security and other matters of the formation including assistance to civil administration during recent natural calamity in Sindh particularly interior Sindh. Gen. Asim Munir appreciated Army and Ranger’s troops for operational preparedness and reaching out to people of Sindh during recent unprecedented floods in the country. The COAS praised formation, allied organisations and law enforcement agencies for maintaining safe and secure environment in the province particularly megapolitan city of Karachi. Earlier, on arrival at Karachi, the Army Chief was received by Lieutenant General Muhammad Saeed, Corps Commander Karachi.

SC hears eCP contempt case against Imran, others

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday heard the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petitions over contempt proceedings against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other leaders of the party. A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Athar Minallah, heard the ECP’s petitions seeking transfer of all cases of PTI leaders against its contempt proceedings from different high courts to a single one. “These cases are under hearing at the Lahore High Court, Sindh High Court and Islamabad High Court,” the ECP said in its petitions. The PTI lawyer argued that all cases could not be clubbed to facilitate the parties. “The election commission is a constitutional body, how could a stay order be given on its proceedings,” Justice Athar Minallah questioned. “There is no restraining order over the election commission’s proceedings, the PTI leaders have submitted their replies,” the counsel said.

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said party’s chairman Imran Khan has decided to dissolve the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies within the next few days.

“Today, the party and the party’s leadership have given authority to Imran Khan [for the assemblies’ dissolution]. Imran Khan now intends to dissolve the assemblies soon so that the process can be taken forward,” he said Wednesday while addressing a press conference along with the party’s top brass.

Qureshi said as a result of Khan’s back-to-back consultative meetings with the party’s lawmakers and local

leadership, he is “convinced” that the way forward is the dissolution of both assemblies and snap polls.

The PTI has been pressurising the coalition government in the Centre to hold early elections in light of the “deteriorating economy”, but the former has not heeded the demand.

Khan had last week said that he would delay the dissolution of the assemblies if the government decides to hold general elections in March, but the government rejected the offer saying that polls will be held on time — October 2023.

But even though the PTI has been persistent in its demand for early polls, its ally Chief Minister Punjab Pervez Elahi believes that he did not see elections taking place in the next four

During the presser, Qureshi said: “We believe that even if the PDM’s (Pakistan Democratic Movement) federal government is keeping its own interests above the state’s and not thinking about holding general elections, then new governments should be formed in both provinces before Ramadan.”

The former foreign minister said PTI does not want anarchy in the state and wishes to “end the differences” that have taken place in the last eight months, hinting at the party’s worsening relations with the establishment.

Qureshi said that the PTI leadership, including Khan, believe that the incumbent government has lost the trust of the business community as well as the agriculturists.

President Alvi urges Dar to initiate dialogue between PTI, govt on snap polls

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday urged Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar to play his role in initiating dialogue between PTI and the government since army had distanced itself from political affairs.

In an interview with a private TV channel, the president said: “Since Army leadership has distanced itself from political affairs, the responsibility of

politicians has increased to hold talks and help stabilise the country. I have also conveyed this to Senator Dar in my meeting to help initiate talks for possibility of early elections. I gave him some suggestions.”

Alvi’s statement comes a day after PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry revealed that “informal communications” between his party and the federal government, pertaining to the snap elections, had begun.

It is pertinent to mention that last week PTI chief Imran Khan gave the federal government an ultimatum to either “sit and talk and give a date for the general elections” or “we will dissolve the assemblies”.

Earlier today, a statement from the Aiwan-e-Sadr said that Dar called on President Alvi today and discussed various matters concerning the economy, finance, and the rehabilitation of flood affectees.

PM invites IT sector stakeholders to tap huge potential of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said Pakistan had enormous untapped potential in the Information Technology (IT) sector and invited foreign IT companies and experts to fully explore the indigenous talented youth bulge of the country.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the 21st Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2022, the premier said no doubt, in the last decade or so, Pakistani entrepreneurs had made great strides to promote the IT sector with individual and collective efforts. The government was also playing a proactive role to support

the efforts. The event was organized by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) and the Tech Destination for IT and ITES, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT).

The prime minister said given the youth potential, out of the total population, 60 percent of the country’s population comprised of youth. “This is a challenge as well as an opportunity to covert this potential into opportunity,” he added. The prime minister said Pakistan possessed huge potential to increase its IT export. The country’s total IT export hovered around $2.6 billion dollars, which

did not fully reflect the immense talent. Pakistan had the huge strength to enhance the target to billions of dollars, he observed.

He mentioned that he had chaired a number of meetings to mull how to galvanize the youth and enhance the IT sector. He said they had concluded that a target of around $5 billion dollars annually in IT export could be easily achieved, adding he had invited the IT experts and the youth to come forward and carve out a plan to achieve the target.

The prime minister elaborated that during his tenure as ‘Punjab’s Chief Servant’, he promoted IT with various initiatives, taken in a big way, in the health and education and revenue collection sectors.

Agency (FIA) on the basis of Section 4 of PPC. This section discusses the principle of nationality in international criminal jurisdiction.

The team comprised two senior officials and was created by the incumbent federal government.

Dar expresses gratitude to KSA for continuous support, cooperation

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Ambassador of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki and Ambassador of the Netherlands to Pakistan, Henny Fokel de Vries called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar discussed various issues of mutual interest on Wednesday. Finance Minister Dar extended warm welcome to Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki and highlighted the historical, religious, cultural and long-standing bilateral ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. He shared that both states enjoy exceptional relationship on various front including economy and trade. The finance minister apprised the ambassador about the ongoing post-flood reconstruction and rehabilitation program. Ishaq Dar thanked the ambassador on extending the term of US$3 billion deposit in SBP by Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). He also thanked SFD for their valuable investments in different sectors of Pakistan’s economy. Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki acknowledged the long-term relationship and shared that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims at further deepening the economic and commercial ties with Pakistan. Later, the finance minister expressed gratitude towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for continuous support and cooperation with Pakistan.

Netherlands ambassador calls on Dar In the meanwhile, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Pakistan, Henny Fokel de Vries Wednesday called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar. SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa and other senior officers from Finance Division participated in the meeting.

Pakistan to be among largest economies in world by 2075: Goldman Sachs

ISLAMABAD: A research paper published by Goldman Sachs has projected Pakistan to be the sixth largest economy in the world by 2075 given “appropriate policies and institutions” are in place. Authored by economists Kevin Daly and Tadas Gedminas and titled ‘The Path to 2075’, the paper projected that the five largest economies by 2075 will be China, India, the US, Indonesia and Nigeria. Goldman Sachs has been projecting long-term growth of countries for almost two decades now, initially starting out with BRICs economies but later expanding to cover 70 emerging and developed economies. Their latest paper covers 104 countries with projections going as far as 2075. Pakistan’s future star status is predicted on the back of its population growth, which along with Egypt and Nigeria, could place it among the largest economies in the world in the next 50 years, according to Goldman Sachs. NewS DeSk

PAKISTAN CANNOT BE RULED OUT IN MURDER

eCP BOSS SAyS never OPPOSeD

eleCTrOnIC vOTInG

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

THEElection Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said it faced “unwarranted criticism” from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who “widely propagated” and accused it of opposing the introduction of an electronic voting system and balloting rights for foreign Pakistanis, majority of whom is understood to be a supporter of the opposition party.

Addressing an event in connection with the National Voters Day in Islamabad, Sikander Sultan Raja, the chief election commissioner (CEC), said the tribunal was never opposed to the

suggestion of former prime minister Imran Khan, and said it has been taking measures to ensure transparency in the coming general elections.

Raja said his commission has also gone after “elements” who attempted to employ lawlessness and irregularities to influence the polling.

As a result of these measures, the confidence of people in elections, the democratic process and the commission has increased, he said. He further said an effort has also been made to ensure the implementation of the election code of conduct by taking across-the-board action against violators.

Raja said the election commission supported the use of technology in the process. “But the regime should be

Governor administers oath to Khayal Castro as provincial minister

LAHORE:

approved by all the stakeholders […] so that people can easily exercise their right to franchise and secrecy of vote could be ensured,” he said.

He added we have not opposed the electronic voting machines (EVMs) or the voting right of overseas Pakistanis, as claimed by Khan and members of his party, but there should be a way for this.

“I challenge all critics to show one instance where the ECP opposed electronic voting machines or voting rights for overseas Pakistanis, but there should be a procedure,” he said.

He also insisted that politicians should avoid raising slogans in favour of EVMs without considering the overall mechanism that would

eventually make the entire election process “suspicious”. He added he couldn’t make the general elections controversial by acting in haste.

Mentioning the local bodies’ elections as an important one, Raja said his institution is serious in its conduct.

He said the process of local government elections has been completed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. LG elections in the capital will be held on December 31, while the second phase of elections in Sindh will be held on January 15. He said polling for the local bodies in the flood-hit areas of Balochistan will be held on Sunday.

The official said ECP are also ready for the local elections in Punjab which he said will be held in the last week of April.

CM KP performs groundbreaking of uplift schemes in Kohat, Hangu

network will also be established under the project.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for the improvement and rehabilitation of the Water Supply System in Kohat which will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 4.65 billion.

Policeman martyred in terrorists attack on Bannu police-post

BANNU/KARACHI: A gang of terrorists martyred a head constable during late-night duty at Police-Post Kangar Bridge in Bannu area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday. According to police, the terrorists carried out an armed attack at the Police-Post in Kangar Bridge area near Bannu. As a result, a policeman was martyred. The police retaliated by firing but the terrorists fled the scene in the darkness of the night. The police have launched search operation to capture the fleeing terrorists. Panic gripped the area soon after the incident. Later, funeral for of martyred Police Head Constable Sardar Ali Khan Marwat was offered at Police Line Bannu. The funeral was attended by District Police Officer Muhammad Iqbal, SP Investigations Zia Hassan, other police officers, and a large number of dignitaries and relatives of the martyred cop. On the occasion, DPO Muhammad Iqbal expressed his condolences to the bereaved family and paid tribute to the martyr. He said the martyr’s blood would not go in vain. Meanwhile, Regional Police Officer Banu Syed Ashfaq Anwar visited Police-Post Kangar Bridge and conducted a detailed inspection of the crime scene. Staff RepoRt

The chief minister formally laid the foundation stone of a mega

regarding improvement of the

system

establishment

a new sewage treatment plant at Kotal Township (KDA) which would

implemented under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project (KPCIP) at an estimated cost of Rs 6.73 billion.

The project on completion would increase the water treatment capacity by 3.0 million gallons per day. A 75kilometer long new sewerage

The project includes renovation and rehabilitation of existing water reservoirs and tube wells, establishment of eight new water reservoirs, 10 new tube wells, and a new water distribution network. The completion of the project will add another 23,000 households to the water distribution network and the entire Kohat city will be provided with uninterrupted water supply round the clock. The project will benefit approximately 224,000 people in the district.

Mahmood also performed a groundbreaking ceremony of the Business Development and Community Centre for women in

Kohat, along with the groundbreaking of a recreational park and other facilities in the Sports Complex Kohat. Both the projects will be completed under the KPCIP and will incur Rs 560 million.

He also inaugurated the upgradation of Government Girls and Boys comprehensive high schools to Higher Secondary level, which has been completed at a cumulative cost of Rs 70 million. In District Hangu, the chief minister inaugurated a Civil Hospital in Duaba, which has been completed at a cumulative cost of Rs 154.4 million. The project includes administrative, dental, diagnostic, OPD and emergency blocks along with water supply line and allied facilities.

He also inaugurated the newly established District Jail in Hangu and two Rescue 1122 stations in Tehsil Tal and District Hangu which have been completed at a cost of Rs 410 million cumulatively.

Justice Ayesha Malik ranked among world’s 100 inspiring women

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Justice Ayesha Malik, the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, has been named in the BBC’s list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2022. In January last, Justice Ayesha Malik took her oath and formally became the country s first woman judge to make it to the top court. The list includes women from various

parts of the world, who have played a key role in politics, education, activism, advocacy, health, science, sports and culture. From Pakistan, Justice Malik is the only woman who has been named in the 10th edition of the BBC’s 100 Women. “Appointed this year as the first female judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Ayesha A. Malik has authored judgments protecting the rights of women,” the BBC wrote in her brief introduction.

“This includes her landmark judgment

Pizza Hut set to be sold: What went wrong with the fast food franchise?

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12

He remained at Dominos between 201215, before moving on to Dominos KSA. However, in the decade after he took over, Dominos grew to have 62 branches in Pakistan and had Pizza Hut on the ropes. But Ahsan’s exit was not all that suddenly made Dominos such a success. In 2013, the first branch of Burger King also opened in Karachi. Rich and settled from the business they were getting from Pizza Hut, MCR decided to bring Burger King franchises to Pakistan as well. And they made quite a splash doing this, opening not one but three branches in Karachi at a time. The response, however, was muted. And attention and investment started to be diverted towards Burger King which just refused to take off in Pakistan in the

presence of McDonalds.

PIzzA HUt tRIES tO CLAP BACK:

In the meantime, other franchises also began operations. NY21, Broadway, California Pizza, and Papa Johns are just a few of the new entrants in the market.

As the market size shrunk for Pizza Hut, they had to go back to the drawing board.

In 2017, Pizza Hut announced that along with a local partner they were going to invest some $3 million over the next five years and open 75 new branches of the franchise.

During a ceremony at the US

Consulate in Karachi, a new franchise agreement was signed between Yum! Brands – the Fortune 500 company that owns Pizza Hut – and MCR. The deal was aimed at expanding Pizza Hut’s presence in Pakistan and adding to its network of 75 outlets over the period of next five years.

Meanwhile, MCR President Aqueel Hasan said that the agreement presents a massive opportunity for Pakistan, adding that the country was looking at approximately $3.4 million on average in investment alone from the deal.

Except the new franchise agreement does not seem to have gone as planned. It has been reported that the company was unable to maintain Pizza Hut up to its international benchmark. The management of the Maak’s International identified that MCR failed to follow the guidelines set by Yum! Brands.

“All outlets have been closed at the moment because of supply-chain issues. The previous management was neither focused on supply-chain nor the ambiance of Pizza Hut. During this time, it lost market share and allowed others to get ahead” said Jafri.

which banned the so-called two-finger test of rape victims. These ‘virginity tests’ used to be performed during the examinations of sexual assault cases until they were outlawed in 2021.”

Alongside her role in the Supreme Court, Ms Malik also conducts training for judges around the world and has inaugurated conferences for women judges in Pakistan, encouraging the debate on the gender perspective in the justice system and other issues.

Sharif’s absconding son seeks court protection to return

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Suleman Shehbaz, one of the two sons of the prime minister, approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to request protective bail in a host of graft and money laundering cases against him, to be able to return without the fear of arrest. Shehbaz was declared proclaimed offender by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in 2019 after he refused to appear before the dirty money watchdog in an Rs16 billion money laundering case involving members of his family despite repeated summons, and issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him. Following his designation as an offender, the watchdog agency made repeated attempts to bring Shehbaz back but remained unsuccessful for one reason or the other. The reference mainly accused Shehbaz Sharif of being a beneficiary of assets held in the name of his family members and benamidars, who had no sources to acquire such assets. It said the members and benamidars of his family received fake foreign remittances of billions in their personal bank accounts. In addition to these remittances, the bureau said, billions of rupees were laundered by way of foreign pay orders, which were deposited in the personal bank accounts of Sharif’s two sons. The reference further said the Sharif family failed to justify the sources of funds used for the acquisition of assets. It said the suspects committed offences of corruption and corrupt practices as envisaged under the provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, and money laundering as delineated in the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. The agency also asked the trial court to try the suspects and punish them under the law.

Make CnG great again, association leader advises govt

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Similarly, he said, the supply of an additional 10 mmcfd to CNG Stations for new conversions can save $86.89 million per annum Furthermore, installation of sequential injection kits in motor vehicles will save 17.54 million liters of petrol and as a result foreign exchange of $13.03 million per annum. On the revenue generation side, Paracha said that, among other things, tax collection at the time of distribution and sale to third party (CNG industry) can generate $48.9 million per year while tax collection at retail level can generate $102.3 million per annum. He pointed out that CNG infrastructure was already set up across the country, and it would also be cheaper and more eco-friendly fuel, which will also benefit the masses in terms of price relief. A total 2,300 CNG stations are established in the country and out of which 1,100 are in Punjab, 600 in Sindh, 575 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 25 in Balochistan. Currently, approximately half of the stations in Punjab have suspended operations due to non-availability of gas since December 2021. About Rs 150 billion has been invested in CNG kits, and the direct and indirect employment in the CNG sector stands at over 500,000. The total gas supply needed by the entire CNG sector is 400 mmcfd.

Imported automobiles hit 3-year-low

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However, the fact that there even exists a lower bound to compare the current import volume likely indicates that the Government will make proactive efforts to further dampen imports altogether.

EyE Of tHE StORM: The automotive sector has faced the brunt of the government’s attempt of correcting the country’s balance of payments deficit. The CBU segment in particular holds a special place with imports being outright banned from 19th May till the middle of August, when the ban was replaced by a series of regulatory and additional customs duties.

The duties themselves were inaugurated with then Finance Minister Mifah Ismail who stated that the duties were in effect the “maximum amount of permissible regulatory duties”. The purpose of these measures Ismail

stated was, “So we either use that money to buy cars or wheat. We either buy mobile phones or grain, or home appliances, microwaves and air conditioners as opposed to edible oil.”

A large automobile importer, on the assurance of anonymity, told Profit that “The State Bank’s control over letters of credits is the current cudgel being used to stem CBU imports. Even if customers muster the amount of money needed to import the vehicle, we are unlikely to meet their demand or will have to subject them to long delivery periods because of the State Bank’s refusal to immediately open letters of credit.”

Based on PBS’ data, the CBU segment of automobiles has on average accounted for 0.36% of the total import bill from FY 201819 to FY 2021-22. It currently stands at 0.03% and is unlikely to tick up anytime soon.

PESHAWAR Staff RepoRt

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan paid a day-long visit to southern districts Kohat and Hangu on Wednesday where he performed the groundbreaking of various development projects worth Rs 13 billion, besides inaugurating newly completed development projects in the districts.

project

sewerage

and

of

be

Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman administered oath to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Khyal Ahmed Castro as Provincial Minister at Governor House Lahore on Wednesday. Secretary I&C Punjab Zahoor Hussain read out the notification regarding the appointment. Chief Secretary Punjab Muhammad Abdullah Khan Sumbal, Provincial Minister Basharat Ahmad Raja, Principal Secretary to Governor Punjab Nabil Awan, Secretaries of various departments and members of Provincial Assembly attended the oath taking ceremony. Staff RepoRt

IGP IslAmAbAd byPAssEs dIstRICt AdmINIstRAtION

IN NOtIfyING JIt ON ARsHAd sHARIf muRdER CAsE

ISLAMABAD ejaz Cheema

tHEIslamabad Police Wednesday bypassed the District Administration in notifying a five-member committee to investigate the Arshad Sharif murder case. The office of IG Islamabad on Wednesday issued notification with regard to constitution of special joint investigation team to probe into FIR No 987/22 dated 6/12/2022 u/s 302/34-PPC police station Ramna Islamabad.

On the request made by the SSP/Investigation, Islamabad vide letter dated 06.121022, a Special Joint Investigation Team was formed comprising of the officers of the ICT Police including CPO/headquar-

ter as its chairman while DPO Saddar, SHO PS Ramna, Investigation officer of the case and any other member who may be nominated by IGP as members of committee to investigate the Arshad Sharif high profile case purely on merit.

Per the notification, the Special Joint Investigation Team after completion of an impartial, fair, free and transparent investigation shall submit a detailed and comprehensive report to the IG police, Islamabad.

According to an official, office of Chief Commissioner Islamabad can constitute or notify the team but the IGP office without consulting the high ups of district administration Islamabad constituted a committee comprising of police officials.

Whereas, according to section 19 of

Anti-Terrorism Act XXVII of 1997, no investigation officer under the Act shall be an officer or police officer not below the rank of inspector or equivalent or if the government deems necessary, the JIT to be constituted by the government shall be headed by an investigation officer of police not below the rank of superintendent of police (BS-18) and other officer of JIT may include equivalent rank from Intelligence agencies, Armed forces and civil armed forces. The JIT shall comprise of five members and for the meeting purpose the quorum shall consists of three members.

The high ups of Islamabad police did not respond to a query of this scribe with regard to bypassing the district administration in constituting committee.

Lahore schools, private offices to close thrice a week as smog worsens

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

umar apologises in contempt of court case

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Rawalpindi bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday disposed of a contempt of court case against secretary general of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Asad Umar, after he tendered an apology in a contempt of court case against him. Umar appeared before the court along with his lawyer Faisal Chaudhary. “Produce your client before the court. Where is he?” Justice Jawad Hassan said to Chaudhry. Upon this, Umar came to the rostrum and apologised to the court for his speech critical of the judiciary. “My intention was not to target any judge or judiciary. We respect the judiciary and will continue doing so. I apologise if my speech crossed the line,” he said. “Courts allowed your long march, [but] you levelled allegations against the courts. The problem is not the contempt of court. It is about the accusations against institutions and personalities,” Justice Hassan remarked. “There was no mentioning of a specific judge in my speech,” Asad Umar replied. “The court has a video of your speech. Do you remember what you said in that speech? Article 50 and 60 of the Constitution allows the right to democracy. The Constitution allows the right to freedom of speech but not to criticise institutions,” he declared. The court, subsequently, disposed of the case.

Gill in hospital with breathing problems

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The schools and offices in Lahore will remain closed for additional two days — Friday and Saturday — weekly due to the worsening smog situation in the city, according to notifications issued by the Punjab government on Wednesday.

The step was taken on the orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The notification, issued by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), stated that the staff may continue to work from home. The order will remain effective till January 15, 2023.

“All private offices being operated by companies, private sector entities and other individuals, within the territorial limits of Lahore Metropolitan Corporation, shall remain closed on every Friday, and Saturday, with effect from 07.12.2022 until 15.01.2023. However,

their staff may work from home,” stated the PDMA notification.

Meanwhile, School Education Department’s notification stated that the decision to close the schools weekly is applied to all the private and government schools of District Lahore.

“In compliance with the directions of Hon’ble Lahore High Court, Lahore, in Writ Petition No. 227807/ 2018 vide order dated 02-12-2022, it is notified that owing to prevailing SMOG condition, all Public & Private Schools in District Lahore shall remain closed on every Friday & Saturday, in addition to the weekly holiday on Sunday till further orders,” stated the notification.

It also noted that the chief executive officer of the District Education Authority (DEA), Lahore and the concerned heads shall manage the distribution of homework to the students during the closure of schools.

A day earlier, the Lahore High Court

sought a notification from the Punjab government tomorrow (Wednesday) for the closure of schools for three days weekly.

The directives were issued by the court during the hearing of a case related to pollution and smog in Lahore and other Punjab cities.

During the hearing, the court ordered the Punjab government’s lawyer to submit a notification regarding the closure of schools tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi announced to impose environmental emergency in Lahore and other cities to deal with the situation of smog.

The chief minister said that smog has been declared disastrous and ordered to effectively implement the plan to reduce the smog.

“Action should be taken to control those factors that are causing smog,” said CM Elahi, adding that failure to imple-

Business Confidence Score lowest in Pakistan since Covid: OICCI survey

ISLAMABAD Ghulam abbaS

The prevailing political uncertainty and deteriorating economic indicators have dented overall Business Confidence in Pakistan, which stood at a negative 4% in November 2022, a decrease by 21 percent from the positive 17% announced in May 2022, showed survey results by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) released on Wednesday.

According to results of comprehensive Business Confidence Index (BCI) Survey – Wave 22, conducted by OICCI announced throughout the country during September to October 2022, the highest drop in confidence was recorded in the “services sector” (24 percent), followed by “Retail & Wholesale trade” (22 percent), and Manufacturing sector (20 percent).

exchange and resource constraints”. Amir added, “Key stakeholders especially foreign investors will continue to support the authorities in taking long term policy measures to streamline the economic fundamentals including fair taxation for all and facilitate business and investment in the country”.

ment the standard operating procedure (SOPs) to reduce smog will not be tolerated. The chief minister also announced a ban on stubble burning, saying that action will be taken against those caught burning the crops residue.

CM Elahi said that action will also be taken against the vehicles emitting smoke. He added that the anti-smog squad will constantly check the smokeemitting vehicles in the city.

“The anti-smog squad will also check the vehicles at the entrance of the Lahore city,” said the chief minister. He added that the farmers will be provided with a modern harvester called “Hepper Seed” to dispose of crop residues.

The chief minister said he has issued directives to transfer all brick kilns to zigzag technology. He also ordered that the environment, agriculture, industries and transport departments should conduct an anti-smog campaign continuously for three months.

POWERCHINA helps flood-hit people of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The sentiments of the OICCI members, the leading foreign investors, who were randomly included in the survey, stands at positive 6 percent, substantially lower to positive 33 percent in the previous wave. Foreign investors have in the past also shown higher confidence than non-members. Commenting on OICCI members survey feedback, Ghias Khan, observed that “foreign investors feedback could have been more positive but for serious concerns on few critical issues like the undue delay in revising the pharma pricing and the extreme delays in overseas remittances for goods, services and dividends. Such actions are seriously counter productive for attracting FDI in the country”.

Shahbaz Gill, former chief

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, was rushed to a hospital in Lahore late on Wednesday in circumstances that raised concerns about his health. Reportedly, he was suffering from respiratory symptoms, including breathlessness and wheezing, and was shifted to Services Hospital in the Jail Road neighbourhood of the provincial metropolis. At the hospital, doctors performed an examination to identify the nature of the disease. After evaluating the results, it would be decided whether he should be discharged or kept in the hospital, a source in the hospital said. Police have also been deployed to secure the ward where Gill is admitted. No one except doctors and their staff is allowed to enter the room. He was hospitalised in August as well after complaining of breathing difficulties while in detention on treason charges for suspected anti-military remarks. At the time, the former prime minister had accused the police of “torture and abuse” but they denied mistreating Gill, insisting that Gill was unwell because he suffers from chronic asthma. The police later released a statement on Gill’s medical condition, saying he is medically fit to be questioned.

The survey sample consisted of 42 percent respondents from the Manufacturing sector, 33 percent from the Services sector and 25 percent from the retail/ wholesale trade. Despite recording a significant drop in confidence of 20 percent, the Manufacturing sector recorded a net confidence level of positive 3 percent, whereas services and retail sector stood at negative of 8 percent and 14 percent respectively.

OICCI BCI Survey, conducted periodically face to face, across the country in nine cities, covering 80 percent of the GDP, with higher weightage given to key business centers of Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi-Islamabad, and Faisalabad. The OICCI Survey feedback covers the business environment at regional, national, sectorial, and own business entity levels in the past six months, as well as the anticipated business and investment environment in the next six months.

Overall, more than half (56 percent vs 19 percent in previous wave) survey respondents were negative on the business environment in the past six months and going forward only net 2 percent (vs 18 percent in the previous survey) were positive for the next six months. Commenting on the business situation for the next six months, the OICCI Vice President Amir Paracha observed, “these are challenging times, and the authorities are doing all they can to navigate the enormous challenges in front including managing inflation, restricted availability of foreign

The three major threats to business growth identified in the survey are Inflation (78 percent), High Taxation (71 percent), and currency devaluation (70 percent) which could potentially slow down business growth in Pakistan”.

Looking ahead, only 18 percent (34 percent in Wave 21) expect expansion in business operations, 2 percent (21 percent in Wave 21) planning new capital investment and 7 percent respondents (positive 16 percent in Wave 21) expect increased employment in their respective businesses.

The OICCI is the collective voice of major foreign investors in Pakistan. The over 200 OICCI members, from 31 different countries, have a presence in 14 sectors of the economy and contribute around one-third of Pakistan’s total tax revenue, besides facilitating transfer of technology and skills and providing employment to a sizable number of people. About a third of OICCI member companies are listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange and 40 members are associates of the Global Fortune 500 companies. Besides their business operations the OICCI members realize their corporate social responsibilities and are major contributors to various CSR activities benefitting 34 million persons from underprivileged communities.

POWERCHINA says it has donated funds, repaired roads and agricultural infrastructure and helped local employees overcome the disaster following this year’s devastative floods and heavy monsoon rains. Since mid-June, under the influence of the monsoon season, many provinces in Pakistan have been hit by unprecedentedly severe floods. POWERCHINA said in a statement on Wednesday that it has also played a leading role in donating money to the flood-affected people in Pakistan, and received positive response and strong support from the Association. Giving details of the aid and relief activities, it said the first batch of donations was raised on 26 August for the flood-affected Pakistani brothers to rebuild their homes. After the first timely donation, as the disaster continued to worsen, in response to the call of the Pakistani government, POWERCHINA made a further donation of USD 104,000 to the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund on October 21. POWERCHINA also participated in a second round of donations to the Chinese Embassy and APCEA. The Chinese staff, enthusiastically and spontaneously donated tents worth about 2 million rupees and officially handed over to the Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry and to a Baluchistan-based party at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan on December 1. In the face of the sudden flooding, Diamer Bhasha Dam Project was also seriously affected by the flooding. The project department responded quickly to the flooding, and after surveying the affected site, formulated a relief plan and sent a rescue team with excavators and other large machinery and equipment to participate in the rescue and relief work, helping local villagers to clean up the collapsed road sections, to remove the hazards off the road and backfill the irrigation canal foundation. After four days of reconstruction, the 8 km collapsed roads were cleared and the main road to the nearby villages was restored, thus helping the locals to get out of the trouble.

of staff to

SCieNCe

MiNiSTeR

ISLAMABAD Staff report

FEDERALMinister for Science and Technology, Agha Hasan Baloch on Wednesday emphasized that Pakistan must have an integrated health system to cope with future epidemics.

He was addressing the closing session of the three-day ANSO-PAS-MAAP conference on “Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness”.

The conference was jointly organized by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS), the Alliance of International

Science Organization (ANSO), and the Monbukagakusho-MEXT Alumni Association of Pakistan (MAAP) at the PAS.

Speaking on the occasion, Agha Hassan Baloch said that the existing coronavirus is a big example of an epidemic.

“Epidemics leave devastating effects on human lives and hinder the social and economic development of the countries on a long-term basis”, he said.

The epidemics create global human health problems and disrupt the interconnections of nations which ultimately lead to economic problems.

Due to all this, he said that the poor countries are affected on a large scale.

The economy stagnates and a human tragedy ensues, he added.

Agha Hassan Baloch said that every incident brings opportunities along with devastation and COVID has also given the world an opportunity to formulate a sustainable policy to cope with the future emergencies on equal footing.

A social contract should be established that protects rights on an equal basis and creates equal opportunities for the development of all nations along with freedom and respect.

The federal minister termed the exchange of information about epidemics at the regional, national and global level

as imperative for prevention and cure.

He said that better education and scientific research are effective means of dealing with these diseases. “We must have an integrated health system to deal with epidemics and must be ready to face any emergency situations.”, he said.

This health system should not only be limited to human life but also to the extent of protection of plants, crops and animals which is essential for human life.

The federal minister distributed shields and prizes among the five candidates from across the country in the poster competition held at the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS).

Pak-US universities’ partnership crucial to agriculture transform: envoy

ISLAMABAD Staff report

Pakistan’s Ambassador to United States Masood Khan has said that there are potential areas of cooperation between the agriculture universities of Pakistan and the United States and interventions needed to optimize agricultural yields through introduction of weather resistant and climate resilient seeds.

NH&CD, University of Sydney to collaborate in cultural projects

ISLAMABAD Staff report

National Heritage and Culture Division (NH&CD) and University of Sydney on Wednesday discussed the areas of mutual interest, including “signing of collaborative agreement between Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM), Government of Pakistan and University of Sydney”.

Professor Mark Allon from University of Sydney visited the NH&CD in Islamabad and discussed the areas of mutual interest, including signing of the collaborative agreement with senior officials of the division. The meeting was attended by Senior Joint Secretary Abdul Sattar Khokhar and concerned officers of NH&CD and Department of Archaeology and Museums.

The Directorate of Archeology and Museums (DOAM) is committed to contributing towards the upgradation and restoration of museums, heritage assets and archeological sites in the country.

Adviser to Prime Minister for Political, Public Affairs and National Heritage and Culture Engr Amir Muqam had recently inaugurated renovated Islamabad Museum here at Department of Archeology and Museum. A total of 46 artifacts confiscated in the USA have been repatriated to Pakistan and are displayed in the museum.

New artifacts from reserve collection of Islamabad museum have also been displayed in the museum. The recent renovation and extension of museum has made great impact on the vistors, researchers, students and heritage professionals.

Talking to the Head of Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland Prof Matthew Hansen in Washington, he said recent momentum in Pak-US relations has provided an opportunity to further strengthen Pak-US cooperation in agriculture sector.

He underlined the need for more research on GMO as well as food and cash crops. He requested Prof Hansen to help develop university to university partnerships to carry out a research on advanced crop monitoring in Pakistan.

Prof Hansen said that through a project titled “Global Agricultural Monitoring (GLAM) Project” funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, the University of Maryland has provided

technical assistance to build capacity of Pakistani statisticians in application of remote sensing in crop area estimation.

Under the project, the University of Maryland launched research to estimate wheat yield, and subsequently build the capacity of relevant Pakistani institutions.

Prof Hansen said that he was already engaged with Dr Iqrar Ahmed, Vice Chancellor of University of Agriculture Faisalabad

and welcomed the collaboration between the two universities. He plans to discuss this in detail during his visit to Pakistan in January 2023.

Ambassador Masood Khan thanked Prof Hansen for his support and valuable partnership, and assured him of the Government f Pakistan’s continued support in building linkages between Pakistan’s universities with the University of Maryland.

corporate corner

contInueD froM pAge 01

The AAG further said that the government was trying to arrange a meeting with the relevant minister and the cabinet secretary. “The high commission in Kenya is in contact with the relevant authorities,” he said.

Sharif’s employer, ARY News, had fired him in August, claiming the journalist had violated its social media policy, without specifically mentioning the post. His talk show, Powerplay, which aired on Mondays and Thursdays, was also discontinued.

Sharif’s family, his friends and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, including its chairman

Imran Khan, have demanded a fair investigation into the murder. They claimed he was forced to leave the Sheikhdom at the request of the Foreign Office, a claim the Foreign Office categorically dismissed.

Last week, Imran Riaz Khan, senior journalist and Sharif’s colleague, launched a “Write Letter To Chief Justice” campaign, eliciting a massive response from across the nation, with people sending letters to the top judge, urging him to investigate the grisly murder.

Joining the campaign, Khan also penned a letter to the chief justice, requesting him to conduct an independent judicial inquiry into the matter.

Commandant Pakistan Navy War College addressing participants of 5th Maritime Security Workshop during inagural session held at Lahore. pr

Faryal Talpur meets US delegation

Karachi: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Women Wing President and Chairperson, Sindh Assembly Standing Committee on Home, Ms Faryal Talpur met with a delegation of American officials at Zardari House in Karachi.

The delegation consisted Senior Advisor Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, Mr Christopher Jester; Political Chief US Embassy Islamabad, Mr Brad Parker; Political Chief Karachi Consulate, Mr Ronald Rhinehart and Political Specialist, Mohammad Saleh Shah. She thanked the delegation for the American relief and rehabilitation efforts and various program initiatives in Sindh in the aftermath of devastating and unprecedented rains and floods in Pakistan. pr

SUPARCO to assist CDA in setting up Geo-Spatial Technology Wing

islamabad: A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Capital Development Authority and SUPARCO on Wednesday under which SUPARCO will assist CDA in setting up a GeoSpatial technology wing at CDA. The MOU signing ceremony was held at SUPARCO Headquarters. The MOU was signed by Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain (R) Muhammad Usman Younis and Chairman SUPARCO. The ceremony was attended by CDA officers including Planning Wing and officers of SUPARCO .

SUPARCO will support CDA in establishment of Geo-Spatial Technology Wing. Staff will also be recruited in this wing and SUPARCO will impart training to the recruited staff. Under this MoU, SUPARCO will also provide imagery including high resolution images to CDA on a quarterly basis. A Geo-Spatial technology wing will be established under planning wing. The wing will help in provision of special training, Geo-Spatial services, special monitoring including data management. The basic purpose of establishing this wing is to further improve planning with the help of high resolution images based on technology. pr

President stresses quality improvement in civil service with ‘right person for right job’

Secretariat attended the meeting.

President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday called for bringing qualitative improvement in the civil service by ensuring the selection of the right person for the right job, besides updating the examination process for recruitment.

The president said the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), being the top examining authority of the country, should be perfect and should match the world standards in terms of its members’ skill set, examination, and selection procedures for government departments.

He made these remarks during a meeting with FPSC Chairman Captain (retd) Zahid Saeed, who called on him to present the Annual Report 2021 of FPSC, here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. FPSC Secretary Syed Hasnain Mehdi, and senior officials of the Establishment Division and President’s

The president said for the interviews, standard questions should be selected and evaluated, and the response of the interviewer should be calibrated and quantified on a statistical and scientific basis.

These methods, he said, should be continuously improved upon by benchmarking best practices around the world, using technology to rule out biases, and seeking external help to evaluate the examination and selection criteria.

He said the FPSC should hire a consultant with excellent repute and relevant experience to evaluate its examination and selection criteria, identify the improvements needed, and recommend solutions to bring it on par with the best selection and recruiting agencies of the world.

President Alvi said the recruitment process should be made more efficient and transparent by incorporating the latest Infor-

mation and Communications Technology (ICT) tools. The FPSC, being the top-examining body, should make efforts to improve the availability of quality human resources for the government by bringing improvements and updating the selection process at par with world standards.

He said the processes for making highlevel selection and recruitment required to be improved continuously by using sophisticated examination and interviewing techniques to ensure that the candidates match the required criteria.

He also expressed concern over the nonfulfillment of posts reserved in quota for minorities, women quota in rural Sindh, and quota for Balochistan. Such posts should be filled on priority without compromising on standards, the integrity of selection process, and the quality of candidates, he added.

The FPSC chairman presented the Annual Report 2021 of the Commission and

informed the president that last year, it conducted national-level exams smoothly despite the COVID-19 pandemic and observed the relevant SOPs (standard operating procedures).

He highlighted that under General Recruitment, the FPSC received 509,955 applications during 2021, and recommended 2161 candidates for appointment against different posts.

Staff report

Players in action during inaugural match of 1st CNS all Pakistan Squash Championship 2022 held at RKJK Squash Complex. pr

Too little, too late?

The Supreme Court’’s taking suo motu notice of journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder in Nairobi may be a case of too little too late. An FIRof the murder was registered by the Ramna Police Station’s ShO on the Court’s order on Tuesday. The complainant said in the FIR that he had gone to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on the night of October 26, when the medicolegal examination of the body was conducted, while the murder had been committed in Nairobi on October 23. While the Supreme Court (and the Ramna Police) could legally claim jurisdiction, the Kenyan authorities would normally have priority. The right of Mr Sharif’s mother to register the FIR was also asserted by his widow. however, so far, it had not appeared that the family was interested in registering an FIR, though the Court had taken cognisance of Mr Sharif’s mother, for the copy of the post mortem report on the basis of which a FIR was to be registered. The FIR registered, nominates three men, all Pakistanis residents in Kenya, who hosted Sharif in Nairobi. The Supreme Court saw the 592-page report filed by the original JIT constituted by the government, but ordered a new JIT constituted, specifying that it include an officer from the ISI. The ISI had pulled out its nominee from the JIT because it was one of the agencies accused of being behind the murder.

Mr Sharif’s killing had become something of a political football between the PTI and the PML(N), as though neither accused the other in so many words, hints were dropped. The noise was loud enough for the DG ISI to make a highly unusual public appearance to deny involvement. One of the effects of the Supreme Court taking an interest in the case is that it may still, or at least muffle, the voices of so-called experts, whose wild speculations cause the family needless pain.

It is perhaps unfortunate that case has moved simply from the murder of a journalist abroad, where he had been forced to flee after things grew too hot for him at home, into a cause célèbre. Because of that, the government should have treated the case with more sensitivity. It is to be hoped that the Supreme Court’s intervention does not prove merely a gesture, but that there is a thorough investigation, and it is not dismissed by the government as another citizen killed abroad.

Oil politics amidst Russia Ukraine War

cent), and oil (about 11 percent). According to the data of Visual Capitalist, Russia (the third largest oil producer with a production rate of 10.94 million bpd) will account for 25 percent of the eU’s oil imports in 2021. Also, the supply chains around the world are dependent on Russian and Ukrainian metal exports.

Considering the oil market exclusively, the skyhigh oil prices are the best evidence of the aggravation of the war that almost every country is currently facing. Russia’s oil-dependent europe is facing an oil shortage; in previous years, the West consulted, eventually, other oil producers around the world (OPeC, CIS, G-20), resulting in an oil shortage in Asia, the Middle east, and elsewhere.

nounced the continuation of the OPeC Plus agreement, a cut-off of 2 million bpd to support oil prices. Oil politics are at an all-time high right now. Biden’s policy is to pressurize OPeC and its allies by spurring G-20 oil-producing countries from increasing their oil production to get some relief from this severe inflation and recover from the economic crisis.

M. A. Niazi Joint Editor

Nizami Editor

Aziz Executive Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Joint Editor

OPeC Plus is contributing as the largest oil producer and exporter bloc in the global oil market. The Russia-Ukraine crisis has altered international ties between numerous actors and had a detrimental effect on the oil market. Oil politics have found a home in the global political machinery. Saudi Arabia, the leader of the OPeC Plus, is now on the hook for the US demands that it acts according to its interests, whatever the consequences. The world’s oil politics is in such a state that one can only sit back and watch the fascinating dynamics of international relations.

Before probing into the oil politics of war among the US, Russia, and the OPeC countries, one really needs to have a glimpse at the total contribution of the influencers. The total oil production in the world by 2021 was estimated at around 89.9 million bpd. By region, the estimated oil production of the Middle east countries is 28.1 million bpd, North America has 23.9 million bpd, Asia Pacific 7.3 million bpd, Africa 7.2 million bpd, South America 5.9 million bpd, and europe 3.4 million bpd. An estimation of major oil production by organizations shows that OPeC has a production rate of 31.7 million bpd (35 percent of total world oil production), making it the world’s largest contributor, while the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is producing around 13.8 million bpd.

Of the world’s top ten oil-producing countries, five are Middle eeastern OPeC countries, collectively producing 25.1 million bpd (or 27.8 percent of the total world oil production). Furthermore, according to the Observatory of economic Complexity’s (OeC’s) estimation for 2020, Saudi Arabia has earned $95.7 billion from crude petroleum exports, making it the world’s largest exporter of crude petroleum. In the same year, Russia, the USA, and Canada competed with profits of $74.4 billion, $52.3 billion, and $47.2 billion respectively. The OPeC countries are explicitly the largest contributors to energy exports and have a great influence on the global energy market.

On the other hand, Russia and Ukraine are the world’s key exporters of wheat (about 30 percent), corn, mineral fertilizer, and natural gas (about 20 per-

Furthermore, due to the hike in oil prices, the supply chains are disrupted, and the transportation of other commodities is also badly affected, and the prices for them are also touching the sky. In terms of Russia’s restrictions, they are and will be bad for the entire world, more or less. The country’s most vulnerable to the effects of Western embargoes on Russia would be the least developed and developing countries, including the Middle east and North Africa (MeNA).

As great influencers, OPeC and other oil-producing countries are the beneficiaries of inflation and high prices despite shortages of food commodities and supply chain disruptions. The OPeC states and its allies (OPeC Plus) agreed in July to boost oil production by 400,000 bpd per month, which was cut by 10 million bpd during the covid-19 pandemic and gradually decreased to 5.8 million bpd.

Furthermore, the global demand for oil is expected to increase to 99.9 million barrels this year, according to OPeC forecasts, due to frail economic activities caused by geopolitical uncertainties. The world’s great powers are attempting to resolve the energy crisis, with US President Joe Biden requesting OPeC Plus to increase oil production.

Although Russia and Ukraine are undoubtedly the war’s adversaries, other states are also performing to the best of their abilities. This war has escalated into a “cold war” of soft power politics among the influential states. The current dynamics of oil politics point to a favorable situation for Moscow in the coming months. While the ties between the USA and Saudi Arabia are in question, it is equally important to consider what the Asian oil importers would do in such a situation

Furthermore, open media dialogues are eliciting US rage, as US Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Chris Murphy stated that “I thought the whole point of selling arms to the Gulf States despite their human rights abuses, nonsensical Yemen War, working against US interests in Libya, Sudan, etc., was that when an international crisis came, the Gulf could choose America over Russia or China,”. The USA needs to design a “FullScale Re-evolution” on the Saudi-US alliance.

Among the hazy images, one thing stands out: for the first time in history, Saudi Arabia and Iran (as part of OPeC) are working together, ostensibly in support of Russia. The OPeC decision to reduce oil production paints several pictures of Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical understanding of great powers. It has decreased the rates for Asian importers (the biggest buyers of Saudi oil are in Asia, i.e., China, India, South Korea, and Japan), raised the oil rates for europe, and left the rates for the USAunchanged.

Meanwhile, the statement on the decision to cut down by OPeC Plus is that it is not a political decision but a technical one. however, it will drag an already stressed europe into a great energy crisis and inflation.

As in the Carnegie Conference 2022, a German Minister, Ms Katja Keul, also stated in her talks that Germans and europeans are going to struggle for oil prices this winter as they are already stressed over their high gas bills.

But the fact is that as oil production rises, prices for the three global oil benchmarks—Brent crude, OPeC’s basket, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI)—are falling. According to estimates on OPeC’s website, there was a significant range in oil prices from September 2 to November 25. The price of crude oil was $99.7 per barrel on September 5 and was calculated at $83.80 per barrel on November 25.

Despite the sanctions imposed on Russia, the OPeC bloc, which is essentially Saudi Arabia, has now an-

Although Russia and Ukraine are undoubtedly the war’s adversaries, other states are also performing to the best of their abilities. This war has escalated into a “cold war” of soft power politics among the influential states. The current dynamics of oil politics point to a favorable situation for Moscow in the coming months. While the ties between the USA and Saudi Arabia are in question, it is equally important to consider what the Asian oil importers would do in such a situation.

The year 2019 marks the worst pandemic in the history of the world, of which the aftereffects are still very much there today. Many commercial areas are becoming flattened. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted global growth in 2021; however, the World economic Forum forecasts a decline from 5.5 percent to 4.1 percent in growth in 2022.

People are likely to stay vigilant when making purchases, given the high uncertainty caused by rising fuel prices, global inflation, and more significant damage from natural disasters linked to climate change. According to the “Global economic Conditions Survey: Q3 2022” conducted by the Association of Chartered & Certified Accountants, there is a lack of corporate confidence due to worries about rising expenses, falling consumer spending, and fluctuating exchange rates.

however, digital knowledge appeared to be on a surge in the face of declining businesses. Of course, lockdowns linked to the epidemic have significantly impacted this. Being unable to leave their houses, many in-

dividuals turned to homeschooling to assist their children, engage their minds and socialize with others, use their free time to learn and grow, or even seize the chance to change careers and acquire new skills.

Free learning courses that teach computer programming and coding to students of all ages are an excellent reflection of this transition. Instructing the next generation in digital creation and communication has accelerated the spread of digital knowledge.

It is good that knowledge is accessible digitally since it facilitates easy and widespread knowledge sharing. Academic articles may now be instantly indexed, searched, and shared, making scientific advancements much simpler. For others to build upon and develop, information is available. Lawsuits, concepts, and DIY advice all fall under this category. hearing about other people’s experiences makes it simple for us to empathize with one another, understand one another, and perhaps treat one another nicer while revealing more about ourselves.

Besides these advantages, digital knowledge holds some severe drawbacks as well. It can be used for exploitation purposes very easily. To access tools and social media accounts or to connect with people, we are under pressure to provide information about ourselves. People who don’t use social media are frequently viewed as awkward or outsiders. People find it challenging to schedule mutually convenient times to pick up the phone and chat and even more challenging to meet in person at a cafe or someone’s house.

All of this is happening because the world is getting busier and busier due to digitalization.

Today, with a “like,” “share,” or even a kind comment or GIF, we may show that we care and are paying attention by peeking into the lives of our family and friends on social media. But what do we forfeit in exchange? Do we realize how much of ourselves we give away to algorithms and advertising firms that collect and sell our data in exchange for allowing us to create incredibly intimate movies to amuse our friends or to reassure them that their troubles are not unique?

The extensive list of businesses your data is shared with may be seen by selecting one from the drop-down menu in the “manage cookies” button on each website you open. The business of data is enormous. And it grows in size as we conduct more internet trading. Governments are responsible for establishing rules controlling and taking care of our privacy. however, there are many hurdles due to large businesses’ considerable sway and

the global scope of websites and trade. here arises a key question: What happens if the government is incompetent in the first place? Obviously, our privacy will not be secure and will easily be breached. Anyone can steal your data and use it for their personal interests.

Since digital knowledge can be located anywhere, the location of the labour force also has an impact. As working from home has become more commonplace, businesses no longer need to invest in offices to hire employees. Instead, they often have the luxury of hiring staff from the lowest-paying countries, which not only exploits workers from poorer countries and those with fewer labour rights and benefits, but also decreases employment in wealthier countries.

A business can expand more quickly if it is more affordable to operate. We hope this results in lower prices for goods, but on the other side, big businesses somehow control these prices because they have more sway over the market, consumers, and decision-makers. If two or three major digital companies control the majority of global data flow, the consumers’ choice and power to decide whether or not to share

personal data are greatly diminished.

With knowledge and technology connecting people from all over the globe, the world has now become a global village. So, it is in everyone’s best interest to ensure that they receive a fair salary, safe working conditions, and benefits for their labour. As a result, everybody will be given more power, and progress in science, technology, and health will be accelerated. Therefore, businesses should hire the best candidates for the job; it doesn’t matter where they come from.

Shared knowledge is great because it gives people more power, but governments must ensure that there are clear options for citizens to opt out of data sharing and that privacy policies are in place to safeguard them. What information is stored, sold, and to whom also needs to be much more open. There is currently too much abuse of customer data because workers in affluent countries lose their jobs because they demand a fair salary. Similarly, workers in developing countries suffer a lot because they get a meagre income from their services.

Thus, the chance for developing countries to get a stronger foothold in manufacturing and IT, and digital knowledge, increase as the wealthier countries struggle economically in the coming years. These countries can train their workers in digital technologies to generate income. So, it is the right time for developed and developing countries to consider and work altogether. The global stakeholders must work in cooperation to achieve success for all.

The writer can be reached at abuhurrairahah@gmail.com

The Supreme Court’s suo motu notice of the Arshad Sharif case may show practical limits

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

aBu HurrairaH aBBasi

Thus, the chance for developing countries to get a stronger foothold in manufacturing and IT, and digital knowledge, increase as the wealthier countries struggle economically in the coming years.

Pairman Bazai

Yousaf

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

Umar

The war has impacted the oil markets

Target Kidnapping in Philippine

and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), a government entity that operates casinos and regulates the industry. “It began to aggressively develop the industry by awarding dozens of licenses,” said lawyer David Lee. Chinese businessmen were quick to seize the opportunity and the number of POGOs mushroomed. Last November, Manila expelledhundreds of Chinese nationalswho had beenarrestedin a series of raids against online gaming operations and other cyber-crimes in Palawan province, for allegedly working illegally in the country, according to CNN Philippines.

Philippine police dealt with 65 cases of kidnapfor-ransom involving POGO workers or casino customers, leading to the arrests of 132 people, according to an official tally provided to CNN by the Philippines police.

Editor’s mail

Lingering power issue

ThIS refers to the report ‘Nepra sees surplus power production in five years’ (Oct 3) wherein the National electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) predicted a surplus power in the country to the tune of 12,670MW from the present 3,184MW over the next five years.

But it failed to say if the power would also become reliable and affordable for the consumers. Probably, it will not be less expensive than what the rate happens to be today. Rather, the tariffs will go on spiralling because of the state of affairs prevailing in the power sector owing to gross mismanage-ment, incompetence, corruption and lack of professionalism.

The real problem is lower power demand to which no worthwhile attention has been paid or is being paid. Our foremost task should be to take all suitable measures to boost demand, which should have been undertaken some years ago, to match the existing power-generation and installed capacity. The breakup of huge surplus power has not been provided to find out the contribution of various energy sources, in particular the variable renewable sources, like solar, wind and hydropower and those from indigenous fuels, like coal. The power demand should match the generation to increase the utilisation factor so that we do not have to make capacity and other fixed costs, which lead to increase in power tariffs and daunting circular debt.

The government has announced lower tariffs for limited exportoriented enterprises for boosting exports and earning foreign exchange, which is a welcome step and will increase consumption and demand. The government needs to provide greater incentives for maximising the utilisation of surplus power to bridge the growing gap between power generation capacity and the demand for best economic propositions.

So far, adequate attention has not been paid to raise power demand proportionally to overcome the huge losses being incurred due to unutilised surplus energy. There are still many parts in the country having no access to electricity, while there are thousands of applications pending with distribution companies (Discos) for new connections.

ChINeSe women are reportedly being targeted in a new wave of gambling-related kidnappings in the Philippines, alarming Beijing’s diplomats in Manila and the local Filipino Chinese community. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Chinese embassy has also investigated and verified specific cases to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the country. The victims are “mostly Chinese women, and recently Cambodian and Vietnamese,” said Teresita Ang-See, founding president of the Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order (MRPO).

Several organized crime syndicates focusing exclusively on kidnappings for ransom operate in and around the National Capital Region. Some criminal groups target workers or customers of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), Chinese nationals, east and South Asian expatriates, short-term travelers, and members of the Chinese-Filipino business community and their families. Criminal abductions of Westerners occur less frequently, though the threat remains. Most victims are rescued by authorities or released unharmed relatively quickly after the abductors receive a ransom payment.

In the past three years, the Philippines has emerged as a major hub for online gaming, according to Filipino officials, attracting more than 100,000 Chinese nationals who work in virtual casinos catering to players back in China where gambling is illegal. The online casinos generate tax revenue and desperately needed jobs in Manila’s crowded downtown area. But at the same time, they’ve pushed up rents and created new challenges for the Philippine National Police. Online gaming platforms allow players to gamble remotely. They sign up, choose a game and it is played over a live stream in another jurisdiction.

Manila has become the number one hotspot worldwide for online gaming, ahead of Malta, the Isle of Man and Curacao, according to David Lee, a lawyer at Taiwanese firm Lin & Partners who specializes in gaming laws. “The Philippines pioneered online casinos in the early 2000s, when Cagayan, a province to the north of the country, started awarding licenses to a handful of operators,” explains Ben Lee, the founder of GamiX, a Macao-based consultancy firm focused on the gaming industry in Asia. “But they really took off in 2016, when President Rodrigo Duterte came into office.”

Duterte handed the right to issue offshore gambling licenses to the Philippine Amusement

Many Chinese nationals working in the Philippine casino industry are attracted by the promise of jobs not available at home, experts say. “These are mostly young people, in their 20s, with little job prospects in China,” said Ben Lee. Some are lured to the Philippines with the promise of highpaying jobs in prestigious tech companies, but upon arrival they discover they will be working for an online gambling platform and paid a fraction of what they were promised, he added. “The workers frequently have their passports confiscated, are crammed 10 to a room meant for three to four people and have to work 12-hour shifts, with only one day off per month,” said Pitlo. On the job, they are expected to approach prospective players in social media chat groups and convince them to give online gaming a try, according to Lee. Once players are hooked, they are encouraged to wager increasing amounts of money, he added. POGOs cater to foreign customers and thus employ foreign nationals as customer service representatives to “effectively invite players and attend to their needs and concerns,” the PAGCOR spokeswoman said. Most of these foreigners are Chinese nationals, she said. “But we can’t categorically say they are based in China or are targeting players in China,” she added. “They might be catering to Mandarinspeaking people in other countries

“Almost all the victims and perpetrators were Chinese nationals,” said Cereno. Manila has its own concerns about the industry, with top officials suggesting that the influx of Chinese workers could turn to spying, posing a risk to national security. “You would also start getting worried when a whole building, a condominium tower, is occupied by only one nationality where you might not be able to guard their activities,” Philippine National Security Adviser hermogenes esperon, Jr, said in July 2019.

The recent kidnapping cases led by Chinese are getting worse and worse. A Chinese national who is working in Philippine just released a guess how much to kidnap a Filipino Chinese to remind everyone to be wary of being used as a “walking peso”; Unexpectedly, because of the incentive of the high kidnapping reward, these scum without convergence, but intensified, is bound.

The worst areas of kidnapping are now concentrated in Makati and Pasay, as these two places have a large number of gaming parks and homes, such as 1322, TechZone, and some bars popular with Chinese people. As long as you dare to step out of your house, the chance of being randomly kidnapped in the street is very high

The worst areas of kidnapping are now concentrated in Makati and Pasay, as these two places have a large number of gaming parks and homes, such as 1322, TechZone, and some bars popular with Chinese people. As long as you dare to step out of your house, the chance of being randomly kidnapped in the street is very high.

having surplus power is as bad as loadshedding economically. The situation must be brought under control as quickly as possible, otherwise the projected generation and demand figures paint a worrisome outlook. Out-of-the-box solutions to increase power demand may include lower power tariffs to selected enterprises, including smallscale industries and irrigation projects. More diversified industries should be identified for inclusion in subsidised rates in order to capture export markets. even efforts should be made to supply electricity at reduced rates to the domestic consumers. Cross-border trading of electrical power needs to be explored.

The powers that be have been making the power sector more and more complicated to manage and operate efficiently with each passing day, be it generation, transmission or distribution sectors. The power sector debt has risen to Rs2.5 trillion and is expected to rise, which is a major headache to the country’s economy.

The multifarious technical and financial issues under the existing system are becoming more and more complex with time. The situation has been made so grave over the years that even the best minds will be unable to find a quick fix to it. The fact is that no one can sort out the mess even in the next 5-10 years. A reliable and affordable power system will remain a pipe dream, and even external help will not be able to clear the mess.

In the first place they will decline to board the sinking ship or they will come forward with a long-term plan to rectify or reverse the decaying generation, transmission and distribution sectors along with streamlining the administration. Of course, all this will take a long time and will happen at a massive cost. No one can fix the woes of the power sector in weeks or months. It is a great folly to expect that the available expertise can deliver. A strong national will is required to bring out the necessary changes and that does not seem to be on the horizon.

RIAZ BHUTTA ISLAMABAD

Celebratory gunfire

eVeRY year we have injuries or deaths as a result of aerial firing. The sound of gunfire echoing across the city at the stroke of midnight on Aug 13 is symbolic of ‘freedom’, whenever Pakistan beats India in a cricket match, the sound of gunfire becomes a symbol of nationwide elation, and the same applies to electoral victories and even weddings.

While celebratory firing is illegal, it remains prevalent and common in the country. Despite the practice leading to several accidental deaths, the tradition unfortunately continues unabated. In some parts of the country, celebratory firing is part of culture, and when people with such cultural background move to other parts of the country and settle there, their practices engulf the larger community as well.

“In their free time, their Chinese employees often gamble at the casinos and end up in debt,” explained elmer Cereno, a spokesman for the Philippine National Police-Anti Kidnapping Group. “They are then approached by loan sharks who offer to lend them money. “When they fail to pay it back, the loan sharks kidnap them and try to get ransom from their relatives back home, ‘’ he said.

In October 2019, police rescued two Chinese POGO workers, whose families had been asked to pay ransoms ranging between 68,000 yuan and 80,000 yuan (about $9,800 to $11,500) for their release, according to a summary of the case seen by CNN. They had been abducted from a hotel six days earlier and held by five Chinese nationals in an office building in Taguig, a suburb south of Manila.

Between January 2017 and October 2019,

Some abductees said they were scared to escape: “On July 22, I am Angelina, angel city is in the van slammed to a car, get in the car after I had a meal with blindfold my eyes, with handcuffs handcuff me, after 15 minutes I was taken to a village, in after they took me 80000 pesos, and my We Chat borrow money from friends and relatives, with my pay treasure to loans, After two days of signed, they persecute me and forced me to record video to their borrowing 1 million yuan for commercial turnover, he ask my family to 1 million yuan, with a gun on my head, my family have got 560,000 yuan, the last is powerless, they open video beat me in front of my family, If you don’t pay off a million dollars, 100,000 for one hand.” There have been more than one victim who broke the news, kidnappers from the northeast, hunan, we do not say that the region is black, but vigilance is better! Now in the Philippines, no Chinese can be trusted. The Chinese embassy in Manila urged Philippine agencies to strengthen law enforcement. It also reminded Chinese citizens to “stay away from immoral activities’’ and avoid online gambling and telecom fraud.

The writer has a PhD in Political Science and can be reached at akramzaheer86@yahoo.com

What is frustrating is the fact that the aerial firing and use of firecrackers are continuing despite an order having been issued by the Supreme Court against such practices. All segments of society must come forward and play their role in raising voice against this menace. Prayer leaders may use the Friday sermons to raise awareness on the issue.

AHSANULLAH MENGAL HUB

Miserable roads

DeSPITe being one of the most populated and sprawling cities of the country, Karachi has the worst road infrastructure. While the condition of roads was already miserable, the monsoon spell proved to be the final nail in the city infrastructure’s coffin.

The road from Gulberg Chowrangi to Nagan Chowrangi has been rough, uneven and broken for a very long time. It is busy round the clock as it has hospitals, wedding halls, schools and shops on either side of it. The huge cracks and potholes on the road create difficulties for the commuters, especially for those using public transport. The elderly and sick, who suffer from body and joint pain, are affected the most by the innumerable jerks and bumps. Moreover, traffic chaos is frequent, making it difficult for ambulances to make their way to hospitals.

Unfortunately, most of the roads in the city are in a similar condition. Who is responsible for the inconvenience and trouble caused to the people day and night? Why are there no checks on the quality of material used for road construction? For how long will we suffer the consequences of such irresponsible behaviour of the officials?

SARAH AYAZ KARACHI

Dr muHammaD akram zaHeer

Catering to the Chinese penchant for gambling has an unexpected side-effect

DEsTroying ThE EconoMy To sAvE ThE ThiEvEs

Star eresh oMar JaMal

WHeN the Awami League came to power in 2009, the amount of defaulted loans stood at Tk 22,481 crore. During its tenure in the government, that amount increased to a mammoth Tk 134,396 crore as of September 2022. This happened despite the government repeatedly providing scope for defaulters to reschedule their loans and allowing for the real amount of defaulted loans to be understated through accounting manipulation which, if calculated properly, might amount to more than Tk 2 lakh crore, according to Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on economic Modelling (Sanem).

even the judiciary, which has not always had a stellar record in holding the executive branch accountable, has repeatedly expressed its disappointment at how different government institutions have failed to hold those responsible for the rising non-performing loans (NPLs) and financial scams to account. The High Court, for example, reprimanded the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on November 9 for its failure to complete the investigation of any of the 61 cases filed seven years ago over the misappropriation of more than Tk 4,000 crore from BASIC Bank branches. The court also chastised the commission

for not prosecuting and arresting the main perpetrators, i.e. former chairman of the bank Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu, his associates, and the bank’s board of directors.

The commission had filed cases against 153 junior officers in 2015 over a series of defalcations that nearly bankrupted the once profitable bank. But the bank’s former chairman escaped prosecution in all of the cases, despite him being involved in the scams, as per the investigations of the Bangladesh Bank and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). Similarly, the court also said that the fleeing of PK Halder, another major embezzler, from the country, even after the court slapped a travel ban, spoke of an unholy entente between different agencies to save the perpetrators of such crimes.

It has also been reported that bankers, including top officials of the Bangladesh Bank, have helped many perpetrators of embezzlement and other forms of corruption to benefit from such malpractices. The High Court, in fact, had ordered the ACC to take actions against 249 Bangladesh Bank officials, including three former deputy governors and six executive directors, involved in a number of financial scams worth Tk 3,700 crore, but to no avail.

On November 27, a High Court bench, while hearing a bail petition of a former official of Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited, which extended a loan of Tk 110 crore to the Bismillah Group, observed that the ACC was preoccupied with catching petty criminals instead of the big ones. In most cases related to embezzlement and shady loans, the ACC had failed to bring the perpetrators to justice – the owners of Bismillah Group, which took about

The EU’s operation against Musk

THE EU AUTHORITIES ARE SCRAMBLING TO PROTECT THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA SPACE AGAINST THE ‘FREE SPEECH ABSOLUTIST’

rt Matthieu Buge

AFTeR elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and the recent reactions of Brussels’ bureaucrats, it has become clear how far the eU is willing to go in order to preserve its own bubble of political agenda.

Just as one needs a special dictionary in order to understand Kant’s work and his own understanding of certain terms and concepts, more and more, one needs a special dictionary to understand the language of the eU. And the first entry to look up is ‘F – Freedom’. Its synonym, ‘liberty’, is the first word in France’s motto. And with the acquisition of Twitter by elon Musk and the wish of the billionaire to restore total freedom of speech on the platform, we have a new opportunity to try to decrypt it.

Commenting on the French-US partnership during his speech at the White House on December 1, French President emmanuel Macron said, “Our two nations are sisters in their fight for freedom.” Words that are quite consistent with the eU’s suddenly emerging rhetoric concerning the freedom of the Chinese people facing the zero-Covid policy of the Chinese Communist Party, the freedom of the Uyghurs in the west of China, the freedom of Russians opposing the Kremlin, the freedom of Iranian women to be like Western women… We could go on forever with this list, because it is constantly changing, adapting itself to the context of geopolitics.

As a concept, freedom of speech is really an illusion, as it is ruled, like everything else in the world, by balances of power. The eU proved this hard-to-admit fact to be true when it quickly banned RT and Sputnik after the beginning of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. And there is no doubt that this threadbare concept has been used in geopolitics for ages, establishing amusing if not pathetic double standards.

But double standards are not really the issue here. What is at stake is pure logic. Thierry Breton, the commissioner for internal market of the eU, talked to elon Musk in order to make Brussels’ point clear. And then said: “I welcome elon Musk’s statements of intent to get Twitter 2.0 ready for the DSA [Digital Services Act]. I am pleased to hear that he has read it carefully and considers it as a sensible approach to implement on a worldwide basis. But let’s also be clear that there is still huge work ahead, as Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation, and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising.”

Breton should hand every citizen of eU member states some instructions, or a guidebook, to navigate the eU’s logic here. “To reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech” is like saying “Let’s have lunch together; you’re free to order whatever I tell you to eat.”

These unelected bureaucrats threatened to ban Musk’s newly acquired company in the eU if he refused to comply with their rules, and the mainstream media has found

a new way to wage war against those who don’t agree with all their narratives and restrictions: The use of the word ‘absolutist’. While Musk himself wears the label of ‘free speech absolutist’, pundits are using it as a way to pillory those they can’t dismiss as ‘conspiracy theorists’. In this context, ‘absolutist’ rhymes with ‘terrorist’, ‘extremist’, or whatever you can imagine could be a threat.

Famed Toronto Professor Jordan Peterson has repeatedly argued that free speech implies that one should be challenged and even offended, that it is a condition of dialectics and progress. This is pure common sense. No more in europe. During the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, in order to promote their quarantine politics, some european governments said it was necessary to “limit freedoms in order to protect freedom.” Now, they have to limit freedom of speech in order to protect freedom of speech – a logic that can, understandably, leave many people speechless.

Things become clearer when one looks at what is supposed to be moderated. Dangerous scientific misconceptions, threats, calls to hatred and violence? Yes, but not quite. It depends on which side of the political agenda you find yourself on. In some cases (the Ukraine crisis, Covid-19, climate change), ‘unacceptable’ views usually come under intense social pressure and do not benefit from publicity in the media, even if they escape social media moderation.

Then there are issues that cannot even be discussed openly: The eU’s mass migration politics and the LGBTQ+ agenda, both promoted by the authorities. Saying that they are ‘promoted by the authorities’ is no understatement. In 2012, the BBC quoted Peter Sutherland, former chairman of Goldman Sachs and UN special representative for international migration, as saying the eU “should undermine national homogeneity.” As these issues concern individuals directly, it is quite easy to declare a threat to national or supranational order, as well as invoking emotions, without bothering with scientific arguments – alternative views should be suppressed as racist, homophobic, or anti-Semitic… well, anti-mankind, or, as Justin Trudeau would say, anti-peoplekind.

After having to deal with Donald Trump and his national-centered politics, the eU (along with the Democrats in the US) is now facing the ‘absolutist’ elon Musk, who has rehabilitated the former American president on the network he’s taken on. They decided to move quickly and impose their vision upon him. Obviously not fast enough, because Musk has some aces up his sleeve. The release on December 3 of ‘the Twitter Files’ by Musk through journalist Matt Taibbi officially reveals what anyone with half a brain had noticed long ago: Twitter had been favoring the woke side of the political spectrum. Journalist Glenn Greenwald sounded the alarm about this ten years ago.

So, what does ‘freedom’ mean in the mind of Brussels’ bureaucrats? It is the freedom of the eU, as well as its aligned media and followers, to push their wide agenda of socio-cultural revolution and impose it on opponents who do not want to hear about this anthropological shift – “No matter the cost,” as Macron would say.

Tk 1,200 crore from five banks, for example.

Recently, the New Age reported that the Chattogrambased S Alam Group had taken more than Tk 30,000 crore from the Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL), which the business group controls, despite the group only being entitled to borrow a maximum of Tk 215 crore from the bank as per the existing rules. According to a Bangladesh Bank audit report, the group used its influence in the bank’s board and management to obtain the loan mostly through unethical mechanisms. The New Age report also quoted a senior Bangladesh Bank official as saying that the central bank did not allow its officials to conduct inspections freely into banks controlled by the group for unknown reasons. Nor did it approve their inspection reports and take action based on them.

Despite being one of the most profitable banks in Bangladesh in the past decade, Islami Bank had an observer on its board the whole time it was doing well financially. Usually, the central bank appoints such observers in banks whose financial health is poor – the observer is then withdrawn once the bank’s financial health improves. But, as this daily reported on December 1, the opposite happened in the case of Islami Bank. The Bangladesh Bank observer in Islami Bank was withdrawn in March 2020 without any explanation and, ever since then, the bank has been caught up in all sorts of irregularities and chaos. Was that a coincidence? According to Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), the central bank’s decision to remove its observer allowed scamsters

to take loans, ignoring banking norms. If we deeply analyse the other financial scams that have occurred over the last decade, nearly all of them have the same story. And these stories draw a pattern.

The pattern seems to be, as the High Court observed, that an unholy nexus of powerful people has been aiding and abetting financial criminals – some of them powerful individuals or groups themselves – to commit crimes that are ruining the financial health of our banks and is pushing the overall financial sector into the abyss. And this has been going on for so long that, at this point, it has become quite clear to everyone – except for the finance minister, it seems. But the finance minister himself should have been aware of this – firstly, because it is his job, and secondly, because his predecessor himself had admitted in parliament that what was happening in the financial sector was plain and simply “dacoity.” And that these dacoits could not be held accountable because they were being backed by his own party members.

Unfortunately, within the government at present, no other official seems to have the courage to admit what the former finance minister did – certainly not the current finance minister, who apparently seems unaware of what is going on in our financial sector. As for the government, it seems to be hell-bent on pursuing the policy of saving the perpetrators which, if it continues down its current trajectory, will ultimately end up destroying our economy.

Eresh Omar Jamal is assistant editor at The Daily Star. His Twitter handle is @EreshOmarJamal

The birth of a new international order

THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA, THIS CENTURY’S TWO MILITARY, TECHNOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC SUPERPOWERS, WILL BE THE DOMINANT PLAYERS, BUT EUROPE, JAPAN AND INDIA WILL EXERCISE

MEANINGFUL INFLUENCE OVER LARGE SWATHS OF THE PLANET

We are witnessing an unprecedented confluence of major and minor crises. From the COVID-19 pandemic, surging energy prices, and the return of inflation in developed and developing economies, to fractured supply chains, Russia’s criminal war in Ukraine, and climate change, many of these crises are signs not just of decay but of a new world order being born.

As the remnants of the twentieth century’s bipolar order finally disappear, a new global pentarchy is coming to the fore. The United States and China, this century’s two military, technological and economic superpowers, will be the dominant players, but europe, Japan and India will exercise meaningful influence over large swaths of the planet.

A big question mark hangs over Russia, because its future status, capacities, and strategic posture will depend on the outcome of its reckless war of aggression. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has clung desperately to the past, seeking to recreate the twentieth or even the late nineteenth century. But with its catastrophically misguided effort to destroy Ukraine, it ultimately is destroying itself.

A Russian military defeat in Ukraine is already a certainty, a matter of when, not if. But it is still far too early to foretell the likely consequences. Will Putin’s regime survive, or will Russia’s defeat usher in another phase of internal decay and disintegration. Until that question is resolved, we cannot yet know whether Russia will try to maintain its old claim to hegemony in eastern europe and much of eurasia.

If the Kremlin is forced to abandon that claim, its role as a world power would probably be over. To be sure, even a decrepit, humiliated Russia, rather than going into geopolitical hibernation, would most likely remain a major source of instability in the new world order, and especially on the european continent. But it

is now clear that Russia’s massive nuclear arsenal is no longer sufficient to secure its geopolitical status in the twenty-first century. Its economy is being decisively weakened as the rest of the world moves to phase out fossil fuels — the backbone of the Russian economy. Whereas Russia poses new risks because of its fragility and decay, China will do so by dint of its increasing wealth and might. Owing to the massive wave of globalisation that began in the early 2000s, China managed to lift itself out of poverty and position itself to achieve high-income status. And with the 2008 financial crisis partly discrediting the West, China has been able to expand its own global leadership role and present itself as a global superpower alongside the US. Unlike the Soviet Union during the Cold War, however, China has not made the mistake of focusing solely on its military power. On the contrary, its global rise reflects its embrace of integration into USand Western-dominated world markets by serving as the world’s “extended workbench”, while investing heavily in competing with the West on the technological and scientific frontiers. The Chinese certainly have not held back on military investment, but they have not allowed spending on defense and security to crowd out everything else. The defining difference between China and Russia today is that, unlike Putin, the Chinese leadership has been living in the twentyfirst century for quite some time.

The recent G-20 summit in Bali laid bare this fundamental difference of outlook and purpose. Whereas Russia found itself diplomatically isolated, China was central to all the discussions and the shaping of the final communiqué. Though they have not adopted the Western line on the Ukraine crisis, large countries such as China and India used the occasion to distance themselves noticeably from the Kremlin, decrying its war policy and nuclear threats. If the in-person talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping help to deflate Sino-American tensions, the Bali summit will have opened the door to reshaping international relations in the twenty-first century.

The outcome of the US midterm election offers yet another reason for hope, as the widely anticipated Republican “red wave” failed to materialise. The GOP failed to take the Senate and only barely secured a majority in the House of Representatives. As in 2018 and 2020, former president Donald Trump once again held his party back. Most Americans do not want a return to his “America first” isolationist policies.

Together, the US midterms and the Bali summit offer cause for optimism at an otherwise fraught moment. But we will need much more progress toward global cooperation. Ultimately, our two biggest crises, Russia’s retrograde war in Ukraine and climate change, can be overcome only if the world’s key powers find a way to work together.

EVEN THE JUDICIARY, WHICH HAS NOT ALWAYS HAD A STELLAR RECORD IN HOLDING THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH ACCOUNTABLE, HAS REPEATEDLY EXPRESSED ITS DISAPPOINTMENT AT HOW DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS HAVE FAILED TO HOLD THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RISING NON-PERFORMING LOANS (NPLS) AND FINANCIAL SCAMS TO ACCOUNT

Project Syndicate Joschka Fischer

corporate corner

Japanese Consul General visits Central Depository Company

FTO TAkES COGnIzAnCE OF CASES LyInG

UnATTEnDED In DIFFErEnT FBr OFFICES

islamabad staff report

THETax Ombudsman in pursuance of own motion cognizance has ordered FBR to trace out the record of remanded back cases prior to the year 2019 and to develop a legal module in such a way that the case pending adjudication with each officer would be visible to the concerned commissioners as well as the chief commissioners along with date of expiry of the case.

the concerned authorities but no action was taken.

However, Section 11B (2) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 states as below: 11B .Assessment giving effect to an order:-

Mr. Moin M. Fudda - Chairman CDC welcomed the delegation and spoke about the long term bilateral relations between Japan & Pakistan while stressing on the need to foster greater ties on business and trade initiatives. Mr. Badiuddin Akber - CEO-CDC presented an overview of the Pakistan Capital Market landscape and CDC’s key role in its development as an integral infrastructure institution that handles the settlement and custody of securities, while highlighting the association between CDC and Japan Securities Depositories Center, Inc. (JASDEC), which is CDC’s counterpart from the

pr

Health precautions urged for children with start of winter

One child dies of Pneumonia every 39 seconds across the World, according to UNICEF.

Despite a plausible decrease in the infant mortality rate in Pakistan (from 62 per 1,000 live births in 2018 to 56 per 1,000 live births in 2022), Pneumonia is still the number one killer in Pakistan, with 70,000 deaths per year. There are around 15 million episodes of ARI (Acute Respiratory Infections) in Pakistani children annually and that includes milder illnesses like; common cold, and flu, to severity that needs admission to hospitals in which Bronchiolitis, acute attacks of Asthma and Pneumonia are on top. “Prevention, early recognition, and interventions (seeking medical care) can save more lives,” said Dr. Irfan Habib, Medical Director at ChildLife Foundation. Bronchiolitis (inflammation of the air passage due to virus) is affecting mostly infants, specially during the rainy season and early winters. Parents and adults can easily infect young children with the virus.

Its symptoms resemble those of the common cold (runny nose, sore throat, cough, and sometimes fever). pr

Bank Alfalah signs MOU with Ignite to empower startups and freelancers

The own motion investigation initiated on the complaints received to Tax Ombudsman wherein complainants had contended that their cases were not adjudicated afresh on their remand back by Appellate Tribunal for denovo consideration during the period prescribed in the Section 11 B(2) of the Act, therefore they had become time barred. They approached to

(2) Where, by an order made under Chapter-VIll by the Appellate Tribunal, High Court or Supreme Court, an order of assessment is remanded wholly or partly and the Commissioner or Commissioner (Appeals) or officer of Inland Revenue, as the case may be, is directed to pass a new order of assessment, the Commissioner or Commissioner (Appeals) or officer of inland revenue as the case may be, shall pass the new order within one year from the end of the financial year in which the Commissioner or Commissioner (Appeals) or officer of Inland Revenue, as the case may be, is served with the order:

Therefore, a notice was sent to all

the Chief Commissioners –IR as well the commissioners –IR (Appeals). All seven Commissioners-IR (Appeals) reported nil. Chief Commissioners-IR sent lists of remanded back cases lying with them and reported that none of them was time barred. Since, information provided was contrary to factual position therefore, Additional Commissioners IR , Office of Chief Commissioners and regional offices like MTO,CTO,RTO –I and RTO –II were also called to discuss the issue.

FTO observed that prior to 2019, neither there was computerization of legal record, nor it was manually maintained properly. There is all possibility of many remanded back cases lying pending in different offices unattended and no one is taking pains to dig out such cases , as after transfer of sales tax regime from customs to IR in the year, 2010, frequent changes are witnessed over jurisdiction of cases on large

Successful test drive of People's Bus Service starts in Sukkur: Memon

Karachi staff report

Provincial Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that on the directives of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Sindh Transport Department has successfully started the test drive of Peo-

ple's Bus Service in Sukkur city. He said that after Karachi, Larkana and Hyderabad, People's Bus Service has now arrived at Sukkur.

The provincial minister has made this announcement on his twitter account and said that People's Bus Service for the people of Sukkur will be formally started this month. He

said that according to the vision of Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the Sindh government is on a mission to provide modern, comfortable and affordable travel facilities to the people of the province. The provincial minister said that the People's Bus Service is at its best serving the people.

Sindh Governor attends Thailand National Day ceremony

Governor, Congratulate to the Acting Consul General of Thailand Ms. Siriporn Tantipanyathep, and the people of Sindh Governor.

Governor Sindh Kamran Khan Tessori has said that trade, diplomatic and cultural relations between Pakistan and Thailand are stable, but there is a need to expand them further. He was speaking to reporters at a National Day dinner organized by the Acting Consul General of Thailand Ms. SiriponTantiPanYathep at a local hotel.

On this occasion, former Governor of Sindh, Governor of Sindh Muhammad Mian Soomro, CM special assistant Tariq Khan, Honorary Trade Adviser of Thailand in Pakistan, Arif Sulaiman, diplomats of various countries, dignitaries of the city and a large number of Thai residing in the city participated.

The National Anthems of

A DAWN OF DATA REVOLUTION AND WHAT’S AT STAKE?

both countries were also played on this occasion, while a cake was also cut on the occasion of Thailand's National Day.

Governor Sindh congratulated the Acting Consul General and the people of Thailand. Governor Sindh said that a large number of Pakistanis are going for tourism. We want Thai citizens to visit Pakistan and enjoy Pakistani tourism. Acting Consul General of Thailand Ms. Siriporn Tantipanyathep, said that relations with Pakistan are increas-

ing. I have just posted here last week. I want to improve the relations between the two countries during my posting.

The trade advisor for Pakistan, Arif Sulaiman, said that the trade volume between the two countries is 400 billion US dollars, While in previous years the trade volume was decreased to 2.2 million due to Corona, now the covid is over and tourism has increased and we want to increase the trade again to more than 400 billion.

scales and this exercise is continued.Although, jurisdiction over cases were notified by FBR itself, but nobody bothered to oversee as to whether the PRAL had shifted the soft record of the aggrieved registered persons from previous jurisdiction to new one, resultantly the notifications show jurisdiction at one place and the PRAL system at other place for years together till some complaint was filed or the person made efforts himself to got it transferred and even after transfer of soft data by PRAL from old place to new one, the manual record was not transferred by the old office to new one. Since new office did not process the case without manual record, the case remained unattended, as Department still maintains both records i.e. soft as well as hard for processing any case because of the fact that all operations are not being automated. no procedure has been developed by FBR.

MCB Bank partners with Bookme.pk to enhance acceptance of e-booking services across Pakistan

UBL & Sindh Enterprise Development Fund sign agreement for collaboration

A new startup wants companies to answer to individual

islamabad

MahaM

It is estimated that by year 2025, individuals and businesses alike will produce about 463 exabytes of data per day globally and there will be an estimated 175 zettabytes of data in the global data-sphere

Businesses use data for a variety of reasons; including but not limited to analyzing customer behavior, providing relevant ads, customer centric product trends and analyzing market value. Thus today data is imperative to a business. As a result most companies are increasingly focusing on their data policies, individuals and businesses are increasingly concerned about ethics surrounding data and privacy laws. But even as these laws emerge, the time taken to comply with these laws officially or unofficially is

not very promising. In fact, in a report recently (link) it was disclosed that it takes companies about 62 days to discover a high severity data breach and another 71 days to disclose the said breach.

Thus, purely relying on a business to do the right thing when it comes to data breaches and data privacy ethics is not enough.

Kuber Signal is a company that wants companies to be held accountable/responsible by the individual for their data related decisions. The company quantifies privacy policies for other companies into a standard 4-point metric and a final Goodness score that’s comparable across board and then shows these scores to the individual so they can decide what companies keep their data safe.

The metrics are:1. Personal Data Privacy Goodness Score 2. Behavioral Data Privacy Goodness Score 3. Technical Data Privacy

Goodness Score 4. Data Sharing Goodness

Score

Each metric measures how much of an individual data is stored, used and shared by the Company, that individual is a customer of the company then shows what companies in the same industry, selling the same product, rank higher than the individual’s company of choice.

The company can also track public information around other companies and aims to provide users with the right tools and information so an individual can stay up to date with their specific security concerns, be it companies or other security threats and make better informed choices.

Kuber Signal ultimately provides the user with a privacy score that can help them evaluate them online behavior and help mitigate their data related threats.

Kuber Signal is founded by a Data Scien-

tist and a cyber-security expert whose expertise lies in investigating brands for their security posture using AI algorithms. The mission of the company is to ensure an individual is aware of their security posture and a knowhow into how to improve it. The company also provides individual security assessment, cyber news and information on relevant scams in the individual’s playground.

In conclusion, data privacy and ethics have never had more value than in recent and coming years. Today a data breach is nothing less than a home invasion of yesterday. This may sound extreme but almost every bit of useful information about a person is somewhere on the internet with some company whose “terms and conditions” the customer didn’t read and if a malicious actor gets access to that data, the consequences for the individuals can be devastating.

The writer is an ML Researcher, Data Scientist and a Certified Ethical Hacker. She is recipient of the president's Gold Medal for her MS in Robotics and AI from NUST, SMME. She received another MS in computer science from UMass Amherst, USA where she was pursuing ML Research. She has served as a Data Scientist in key organizations in the US and in Pakistan.

She’s also been an invited judge at various international business awards.

Certified Ethical Hacker - EC Council, New Product and Services Jury at Stevie Awards for Women in Business, Industry Expert and Judge at Globe Women World Awards, Master's in Computer Science from UMass Amherst in USA, Receiver Of President's Gold Medal, Counselor Advocate at Center for Women and Community, Founder of Kuber Signal LLC.

Karachi: A delegation from the Japanese Consulate in Karachi, headed by Honourable Odagiri Toshio San, Consul General of Japan in Karachi visited the Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDC) today.

Representatives from Pakistan Japan Business Forum and leading Pakistani corporates also attended this event.

Japanese Capital Market.

United Bank Limited (UBL) and Sindh Enterprise Development Fund (SEDF) recently signed an Agreement for Institutional Collaboration to provide Subsidized Credit to Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) in Sindh. The agreement signing ceremony, held at the UBL Head Office in Karachi, was chaired by Syed Qassim Naveed Qamar, Special Assistant to CM Sindh for Investment Department and Public-Private Partnership Projects. Mr. Khizar Pervaiz, CEO-SEDF and Mr. Shazad G. Dada, President & CEO UBL signed the Agreement in the presence of officials and dignitaries from the public and private sector which also included Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi, Secretary to Government of SindhInvestment Department among others. pr

Lahore: MCB Bank Limited, one of Pakistan’s leading Banks, has entered into an agreement with Bookme.pk, the leading provider of e-ticketing services in Pakistan. This partnership aims to facilitate hassle-free online ticket booking experience for the digital banking customer base of MCB Live. Under this agreement, MCB Live users will be able to book and take advantage of opportunities for travel, leisure and entertainment available exclusively through Bookme.pk. This alliance aims to facilitate the growing demand for convenient and cost-effective e-ticketing services. pr

Karachi: Intending to leapfrog the digital ecosystem in Pakistan, Bank Alfalah has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ignite, a public sector company with the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT). The partnership aims for financial facilitation of startups and freelancers to be a one-stop solution catering to all banking needs. pr

ChIna-arab CooPeraTIon ToPs XI’s agenda of landmarK mIddle easT vIsIT

ISLAMABAD MiAn AbrAr

CHINESEPresident Xi Jinping will attend the first China-Arab States Summit and the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and pay a state visit to the country from December 7 to 10 on the invitation of its King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

In a report released in early December, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the summit as a milestone event. Leaders of both sides will take the opportunity to plan future cooperation while pushing for the upgrade of bilateral relations and consolidating consensus on global governance, development, security and other critical issues. Titled “ChinaArab Cooperation in the New Era,” the report emphasized fast-growing bilateral trade ties and people-to-people exchanges as well as mutual support and shared commitment to core issues.

China remains the biggest trading partner of Arab countries. In 2021, the bilateral trade volume was roughly $330 billion, a year-on-year increase of 37 percent.

China is willing to jointly promote high-quality cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with Arab States, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory letter to the fifth ChinaArab States Expo last year.

Noting that the traditional friendship between the peoples of China and Arab states has become stronger over time, Xi said that China and Arab states have continued to strengthen strategic coordination

Taliban map showing Kashmir as part of Pakistan upsets India

KABUL Agencies

Taliban have made public a map of South Asia, showing Jammu and Kashmir as part of Pakistan while Ladakh in the control of China.

According to Kashmir Media Service, a globe unveiled by Afghan rulers at an intersection in Kabul with Kashmir showing as part of Pakistan has upset India that is illegally holding Jammu and Kashmir for the past over seven decades.

KarnataKa-Maharashtra border row escalates: Tension prevails in Nashik city as the border row between the Indian states of Karnataka and Maharashtra escalates.

Maharashtra organisation, Swarajya Sangathan, protested in Nashik on Wednesday, against the Karnataka border issue. The protesters sprayed black ink on banner of Karnataka bank and raised slogans.

Maharashtra, since its inception in 1960, has been entangled in a dispute with Karnataka over the status of Belgaum district and 80 other Marathispeaking villages, which are in the control of Karnataka.

The Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai recently sought a merger of “Kannada-speaking” areas in Maharashtra’s Akkalkot and Solapur and had also said some villages in Jat taluka in Sangli district wanted to join Karnataka.

Belgaum or Belagavi is currently part of Karnataka but is claimed by Maharashtra. After the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute escalated, many untoward incidents took place in Belagavi.

On the other hand, police personnel in large numbers have been deployed in KarnatakaMaharashtra border region.

and synergy of actions in recent years and the joint construction of the Belt and Road has achieved fruitful results. win-win cooperation: Coorganized by China Media Group (CMG) and the Ministry of Media of Saudi Arabia, the 2022 Chinese-Arab Media Cooperation Forum was held successfully on Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Over 150 guests, including govern-

ment officials, representatives of media organizations and scholars from China and 22 Arab countries, participated in the forum.

Over the years, China has expanded cooperation with Arab countries in developing renewable energy including solar, wind and hydropower energy. Together, they have set up the China-Arab clean energy training center, the Chinese-Egyptian Renewable Energy Laboratory, and implemented cooperation projects such as the 800-megawatt Al Kharsaah Solar Power Plant in Qatar and 186 megawatt solar power stations at the Benban Solar Energy Park in Egypt.

To date, China has signed BRI cooperation agreements with 20 Arab states and the Arab League. The two sides have carried out more than 200 large-scale cooperation projects in energy, infrastructure and other fields, benefiting nearly 2 billion people.

“All told, China-Arab cooperation in the new era is a powerful vision to guide entire communities towards a future of multi-pronged progression,” Hannan Hussain, former assistant researcher at Islamabad Policy Research Institute, wrote in an opinion piece.

Mozambique ex-president’s son, ex-spy bosses jailed for 12 years for graft

A Mozambican court on Wednesday sentenced two ex-spy bosses and the son of a former president to 12 years each for their part in a corruption scandal in which the government sought to conceal huge debts, triggering financial havoc.

The former head of security and intelligence, Gregorio Leao; the head of the economic intelligence division, Antonio do Rosario; and ex-president Armando Guebuza’s son, Ndambi Guebuza, were among 19 defendants accused in the country’s biggest graft scandal.

Eight defendants were acquitted while the rest were handed terms ranging between 10 and 12 years in a verdict that took the judge a week to read out.

“The crimes committed have brought consequences whose effects will last for generations,” said Judge Efigenio Baptista, addressing a packed courtroom located in the grounds of a high-security jail in the capital Maputo.

The scandal arose after stateowned companies in the impoverished country illicitly borrowed $2 billion (1.9 billion euros) in 2013 and 2014 from international banks to buy a tuna-fishing fleet and surveillance vessels.

The government masked the

loans from parliament and the public.

When the “hidden debt” finally surfaced in 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donors cut off financial support, triggering a sovereign debt default and currency collapse.

An independent audit found $500 million of the loans had been diverted. The money remains unaccounted for.

– ‘Desire for luxury’ –

Handing down the sentences Baptista said the scam had “aggravated the impoverishment of thousands of Mozambicans.”

“The country became famous for the worst reasons,” he said. “As high officials of the state they should have been (its) guardians.”

Leao and do Rosario were found guilty of embezzlement and

abuse of power, while Guebuza was convicted for embezzlement, money laundering and criminal association, among other charges.

Former president Guebuza, who had been in office when the loans were contracted, testified at the trial, but was not seen in court on Wednesday.

Wearing a black sweater over an orange prisoner jumpsuit, his son stood up as the judge handed out the verdict.

During the proceedings, Baptista said Ndambi Guebuza acted deliberately “to exert influence on his father” and get the government to approve the purchase of the vessels.

He took a $33-million bribe that went to satisfy his “desire for luxury” the judge said, listing some of the assets the former president’s son acquired with the money.

germany busts far-right cell plotting to overthrow government

BERLIN AFP

German police staged nationwide raids on Wednesday and arrested 25 people suspected of belonging to a farright “terror cell” plotting to overthrow the government and attack parliament.

Around 3,000 officers including elite anti-terror units took part in the early morning raids and searched more than 130 properties, in what German media described as one of the country’s largest police actions ever against extremists. The raids targeted alleged members of the “Citizens of the Reich” (Reichsbuerger) movement suspected of “having made concrete preparations to violently force their way into the German parliament with a small armed group”, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Those arrested are accused of having formed “a terrorist group by the end of November 2021 at the latest, which had set itself the goal of overcoming the existing state order in Germany and replacing it with their own kind of state”, they said.

Two of the 25 arrests were made abroad, in Austria and Italy. The prosecutors in Karlsruhe said they had identified a further 27 people as suspected members or supporters of the terror network.

“The accused are united by a deep rejection of state institutions and the free, democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany,” they said.

‘Into the abyss’

The Reichsbuerger movement includes neo-Nazis, conspiracy theorists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.

Its followers generally believe in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy and several groups have declared their own states.

Long dismissed as malcontents and oddballs, the Reichsbuerger have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat. The investigation gave “a look into the abyss” of farright terror from the movement, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement.

According to prosecutors, the terror cell suspects believe in Reichsbuerger and QAnon conspiracy theories and are “strongly convinced” that Germany is run by a “deep state” that needs to be toppled.

The suspects were aware that their plan “could only be realised by using military means and violence against state representatives,” prosecutors said.

They allegedly planned to appoint one of the arrested suspects, identified by local media as aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, as Germany’s new leader after the coup. Heinrich XIII had already sought to make contact with Russian officials to discuss Germany’s “new state order” after the coup, prosecutors said.

There was, however “no indication that the contact persons responded positively to his request.”

A Russian woman named only as Vitalia B., who was among those arrested on Wednesday, is suspected of having facilitated those contacts, prosecutors added.

The Russian embassy in Berlin said it did “not maintain contacts with representatives of terrorist groups or other illegal entities”, according to a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

Defend democracy

As part of the preparations for the coup, members of the alleged terror cell acquired weapons, organised shooting practice and tried to recruit new followers, particularly among the military and police, according to prosecutors. Former soldiers are believed to be among the members of the recently established terror group, they said.

An ex-MP for the far-right AfD party was also among those accused of being part of the plot, according to German media reports.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann praised on Twitter the dismantling of the “suspected terror cell”, saying it showed that Germany was able to defend its democracy. Germany’s domestic intelligence service estimates that the Reichsbuerger scene consists of around 20,000 people.

US judge dismisses suit against Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi murder

sulate in Istanbul.

A US judge dismissed Tuesday a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his alleged role in the 2018 murder of The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Washington federal judge John Bates accepted a US government’s stance that Prince Mohammed, who was designated prime minister of Saudi Arabia in September, enjoys immunity in US courts as a foreign head of state.

Bates said the civil suit filed by Khashoggi’s widow Hatice Cengiz and his activist group DAWN made a “strong” and “meritorious” argument that Prince Mohammed was behind the murder.

But he ruled that he had no power to reject the US government’s official stance, submitted in a formal statement to the court on November 17, that the prince had immu-

nity as a foreign leader.

Even if the prince was named prime minister just weeks ago, the US government’s executive branch “remains responsible for foreign affairs, including with Saudi Arabia, and a contrary decision on bin Salman’s immunity by this Court would unduly interfere with those responsibilities,” Bates said.

He said the “credible” allegations of the murder, the timing of the prince’s being named prime minister, and the timing of the US government’s submission, left him with “uneasiness.” But Bates said he had no other choice in the case.

Prince Mohammed has been the kingdom’s de facto ruler for several years under his father King Salman.

One of the prince’s most vocal critics, Khashoggi was a journalist and activist based in the United States when he traveled to Turkey with his fiancee to obtain documents for their marriage from the Saudi con-

After he entered the consulate, Khashoggi was seized and murdered allegedly by a team of agents of the Saudi regime, his body dismembered and disposed of.

A Saudi court in 2020 jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years over the killing. Last year, US President Joe Biden declassified an intelligence report that claimed Prince Mohammed had approved the operation against Khashoggi, an assertion Saudi authorities deny.

The murder deeply strained ties between Washington and Riyadh.

But driven by the needs of Middle East politics, particularly the threat from Iran, and Saudi Arabia’s power over oil markets, Biden traveled to the country in July in a move seen as partially aiming to put the murder case behind.

Nevertheless, while there Biden made mention of it in his talks with the crown prince, calling the murder “outrageous.”

WASHINGtoN AFP

MApUto AFP

AbdullAh, IMAM, NASEEM ProgrESS IN ICC rANkINgS

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

PAKISTAN’Strio of Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq and Naseem Shah have progressed in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings released Wednesday.

Pakistan openers Abdullah Shafique (up five places to 15th) and Imam-ul-Haque (up 12 places to 38th) have attained career-best rankings after slamming centuries in the first innings and figuring in a 225-run stand, said a press release.

Meanwhile, Naseem Shah has progressed five places to 54th with five wickets in the match while other fast bowler Zahid Mahmood’s six-wicket haul helps him enter the rankings in 109th position.

However, Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has overtaken England’s Joe Root to grab the top spot in the Rankings after becoming just the eighth player to score a double-century and a century in the same Test.

Labuschagne, who was just two points behind Root before the two ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Tests completed over

the past week, now enjoys a healthy lead at the top even as Root has slipped to fourth place – behind Steve Smith and Babar Azam.

Labuschagne’s scores of 204 and 104 not out in the first Test against the West Indies in Perth have earned him 50 rating points and he leads compatriot Smith by 42 rating points. Labuschagne has regained the No. 1 position after Root overtook him in mid-June with successive centuries against New Zealand.

Smith himself has gained two slots after contributing to the win with unbeaten scores of 200 and 20, along with Labuschagne registering the fifth instance of two Australians scoring double-centuries in the same Test.

Smith’s tally of 893 rating points is his highest since January 2021.

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon has moved up one place to 15th among bowlers after an eight-wicket haul that helped complete a 164-run victory and consolidate his team’s top position in the WTC points table.

For the West Indies, captain Kraigg Brathwaite is back in the top 20 after scores of 64 and 110 in the Perth Test while Kyle Mayers has progressed to 41st in the bowlers’ rankings.

England wrestle with World Cup conundrum to stop Mbappe

DohA Staff RepoRt

England manager Gareth Southgate is wrestling with the biggest dilemma of his reign as he tries to plot a way to stop the “sensational” Kylian Mbappe in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final. Southgate’s hopes of leading England to a third successive semi-final at major tournaments hinge on finding a solution to a problem that has proved impossible for any team to solve in Qatar. Just how do you subdue a player with Mbappe’s lethal combination of electric pace, balletic skill and clinical finishing? Australia, Denmark and Poland failed to come up with an appropriate answer as Mbappe scored in his three starts on route to the quarter-finals. Poland defender Matty Cash summed up the conundrum posed by Mbappe after the Paris Saint-Germain forward’s brilliant two goals in France’s 3-1 last-16 victory on Sunday. “I didn’t know whether to drop off or go tight,” Cash said. “When I went tight he just spun in behind. When he gets the ball, stops and moves, he’s the quickest thing I’ve ever seen. “He’s a different level. Speed, movement, look at his finishing. He’s got everything.” Four years after playing a key role in France’s World Cup triumph in Russia, Mbappe is the tournament’s most feared player. The 23-year-old already has five goals in four games in Qatar, while his haul of nine career World Cup goals puts him level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and one ahead of Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo. Now it is Southgate’s turn to sit the daunting Mbappe exam. “Look, he is a worldclass player who is always producing the moments when they are needed. That is what those top players do. That is the challenge we face,” Southgate said. So what will Southgate do to combat Mbappe’s threat? One answer would be to switch England’s 43-3 formation to a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 system, which would allow Kyle Walker to move from right back to supplement the central defence. Southgate’s concern is to avoid a situation in which the pacy Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele can run at defender Harry Maguire and exploit his lack of speed.

Portugal to face Morocco in World Cup quarter-final on Saturday

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Portugal and Morocco would meet in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup, at 10:00 AM ET on Saturday, December 10. In the Round of 16, Portugal defeated Switzerland 6-1 while Morocco took out Spain on penalties. Portugal is -151 on the moneyline to claim a spot in the semifinals over Morocco (+455). The odds to hit the over on the 2.5-goal total are +115, with -145 odds to finish under that total. Bet on Portugal vs. Morocco legally online with Tipico Sportsbook, our official sportsbook partner in CO, NJ and, soon, IA. Portugal faced Switzerland in its last match and picked up a victory by a final score of 6-1. The victorious Portugal side took 13 shots, outshooting Switzerland by three. Goncalo Ramos for three goals in the match against Switzerland. Morocco clinched a victory on penalty kicks against Spain in its last game on December 6.Spain outshot Morocco 13 to six. In the squad’s scoreless effort, Walid Cheddira led Morocco with two shots.

(up seven places to a career-best eighth).

In Men’s ODI Player Rankings, India’s Shreyas Iyer has moved up seven places to joint-20th after scores of 24 in the first match of their ongoing series against Bangladesh and 49 in the preceding final match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series against New Zealand.

Charith Asalanka of Sri Lanka (up three places to 34th), Lokesh Rahul of India (up four places to 35th) and Afghanistan’s Najibullah Zadran (up four places to 41st) are among the others to progress in the rankings for ODI batters. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan has gained four slots to reach sixth in the ODI bowlers’ rankings after grabbing four for 37 in the last match of their Super League series against Sri Lanka.

Centurions Zak Crawley (up two places to 46th), Harry Brook (up 90 places to 70th), Ben Duckett (re-entered at 127th place) and Ollie Pope (up two rating points) have all gained in the weekly update as have Anderson (up two places to third) and Robinson

Bangladesh’s star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has hopped seven places to reach ninth among bowlers after his five-wicket haul against India while Sri Lanka legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga and Indian pacer Mohammad Siraj are in joint-26th position. New Zealand seamer Tim Southee (up five places to 29th) and India’s Shardul Thakur (up nine places to 42nd) have also progressed.

Portugal hero Ramos ‘never dreamt’ of World Cup hat-trick

agencieS

Portugal’s hat-trick hero Goncalo Ramos said he had not even dreamt of starting a World Cup knockout match, let alone scoring three in his first start in the tournament.

The 21-year-old striker was handed a surprise start ahead of five-times Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and rewarded coach Fernando Santos with a brilliant match-winning display.

“Not even in my wildest dreams did I think of making my first start in a World Cup knockout game and scoring three goals,” he said.

“But we have to think game by game and prepare for the game (quarter-final with Morocco). This result doesn’t matter now. We’re going to go all out in the next game.”

Ramos was only two years old when Ronaldo made his debut for Portugal and has often spoken of his admiration for the 37-year-old.

The man of the match at the Lusail Stadium was asked how the dressing

room — and Ronaldo — had reacted to the surprise team selection from Santos.

“Honestly no one in the team talked about it. Cristiano, as captain, did what he does, he helped, he talked to us, not only to myself but to my teammates,” he said.

“Cristiano Ronaldo has always been a role model, he is an idol for many. I also like (Robert) Lewandowski and

He

15 minutes later with the fourth goal in a 4-0 win. Born in Algarve, the forward

burst onto the scene with Benfica this season after being given an enhanced role as the central striker following the sale of Darwin Nunez to Liverpool.

He has scored 14 goals in 21 games in all competitions, quickly adjusting to his new role.

“My favorite position is forward, but last year I was asked to play in support of Darwin. It’s clear that with his departure a space opened up for me. It’s great to now have the role that I love the most,” he said in a recent interview.

Should he continue his impressive impact on this Portugal side in the quarter-final against Morocco he would surely find himself a target of the same kind of big-money approach that saw Nunez leave.

But for now, his thoughts are purely on contributing to Santos’ increasingly impressive side and he isn’t even taking his starting role for granted.

“That is something that doesn’t concern me. I always work to the fullest and hopefully that is evident,” he said.

Netherlands to host 2024 WSF World Masters Squash C’ships

Pakistan international and Sindh’s Aroob Shah will lead Pakistan in the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup which will be played from 14 to 29 January 2023 in South Africa. Women’s selector Asmavia Iqbal announced a 15-player squad and five reserves players.

These players were selected after their performances in this year’s Women U19 T20 Tournament held at Lahore Country Club in Muridke from 13 to 22 August. Later, the top performers of the six-team

tournament had undergone two skills and training camps staged at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High Performance Centre, Multan in September and at the Hanif

To further assess their fitness and skills, the U19 players had also featured in the first phase of T20 Women’s Cricket Tournament held at Lahore’s LCCA Ground from November 26 to December 2. The players were part of Team Conquerors, one of the three participating teams in the event.

Aroob Shah, who has featured for Pakistan in two ODIs and five T20Is, will have the services of hard hitting right-handed batters Eyman Fatima and Shawaal Zulfiqar.

Besides the duo, Aroob who herself is a leg-spinner, will have promising spinners in the likes of Rida Aslam (left-arm spinner), Quratulain Ahsen (leg-spinner), Anosha Nasir (off-spinner) and Mahnoor Aftab (offspinner). The squad also includes four fast bowlers in Areesha Noor, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer and Zaib-un-Nisa.

As per the ICC’s eligibility criteria for the event, players born on or after September 1, 2003 have been selected. Chief Selector Asmavia Iqbal here on Wednesday: “I want to congratulate the 15 players who have made into the squad for the inaugural U-19 event. I remain confident that this side has the capability and potential to do well in the mega event. These players were selected after a rigorous and robust process and I want to congratulate the coaches who have worked tirelessly hard on the skills of the players to get them ready for the event. “The tournament will also help us to increase our pool of players which will ultimately help in forming a strong and more competitive squad at the senior level.”

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Netherlands has been confirmed as hosts for 2024 WSF World Masters Squash Championships, with the Frans Otten Stadion in Amsterdam hosting all of the action from August 17 to 24. “It will be the first time that the Netherlands will host the WSF World Masters, with hundreds of players aged between 35 and over 80 years set to descend on Amsterdam for the showpiece event”, said a press release. The 2024 event of the WSF World Masters would be the 21st edition, with the most recent event taking place at the Hasta La Vista Club in Wroclaw, Poland in August, 2022. Over 1,500 matches were contested in Poland, with 650 players competing for the titles. South Africa’s Christo Potgieter and Guyana’s Nicolette Fernandes were notable medal winners at that event. “The WSF World Masters Squash Championships is a highly-anticipated part of the WSF calendar and we’re delighted to come to an agreement with Squash Bond Netherlands to bring the tournament to the Netherlands for the first time,” WSF Chief Executive William Louis-Marie said. Squash Bond Netherlands Director Tom Lucas said, “With the World Masters we believe we can offer one of the most loyal group of players a great experience in one of the most unique cities in the world, Amsterdam”. SquashLevels would be the Official Rankings Partner for the event. SquashLevels Co-Chief Executive Jethro Binns said, “We’re delighted to be able to support the World Masters in 2024. We have firmly believed for a long time that SquashLevels will make a huge difference when it comes to improving the accuracy of seedings at international events”.

England’s epic 74-run win in the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi reflects in the rankings for their batters as well as the seam bowling pair of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who finished with five wickets each in the match.

DohA

(Zlatan) Ibrahimovic,” he added Ramos was only making his fourth appearance for the national side, having played ten minutes across two games in the group stage.

only made his debut on November 17 in a pre-World Cup friendly against Nigeria, coming on as a 67th minute substitute and promptly scoring

has

StAff RepoRt

Mohammad High Performance Centre, Karachi in November.

Aroob Shah to lead Pakistan in inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup

Pizza Hut set to be sold: wHat went wrong witH fast food francHise?

aFTermonths of being shuttered, the franchises of Pizza Hut and Burger King are set to re-open in Pakistan after a change in ownership. Pakistan’s oldest international fast food chain, and once one of its biggest, Pizza Hut had shuttered shop a few months ago.

The Pakistani franchise rights of both Pizza Hut and Burger King currently belong to MCr Pvt Ltd, which opened the first branch of Pizza Hut nearly three decades ago in November 1993. However, in the past decade Pizza Hut has taken a beating on the market with the entrance of new pizza franchises such as Dominos and Papa Johns. Despite an effort to revamp back in 2017, it seems the local owners of the iconic pizza restaurant have had enough and are set to sell. reliable sources have said that MCr is currently in late-stage talks with Maak International for the sale of both their Pizza

Hut and Burger King franchises. Maak, an Islamabad based business group which operates in the rice, petroleum, hospitality and pharmaceutical sectors, has confirmed that the transaction is now close to completion and bank reconciliation is underway. If completed, the transaction will amount to somewhere between $10-$15 million.

Maak International has claimed that they will have the 84 branches of Pizza Hut and 9 branches of Burger King spread across 23 cities in Pakistan up and running again within a month. The question is, however, what brought the once mighty Pizza Hut to such dire straits in Pakistan, and why did Burger King never take off?

The Pizza huT sTory

Beginning its operations in 1993, Pizza Hut was the first international fast food chain to enter Pakistan at a time when the long-reach of globalisation was just stretching into our borders. In fact, Pizza Hut was a pioneer in Pakistan. KFC would not open its first franchise in Pakistan until 1997 and McDonald’s would not do so until a year after them in 1998.

And for a long time Pizza Hut dominated the pizza market in Pakistan, largely because they single-handedly created the demand. It is hard to imagine today with every bakery, restaurant, and cafe having its own rendition of pizza on the menu and dozens of dedicated pizza chains in the country, but there was a time when this famous Italian dish was not commonplace in Pakistan.

It was Pizza Hut that brought Pizza to Pakistan and introduced familiar flavours that would appeal to the Pakistani market. On top of this, the first-mover advantage of being an ‘American’ brand operating in Pakistan gave them a growing clientele. But very quickly competition started to pop-up. Local pizza shops and chains began opening, but this only indicated the growing demand. Pizza Hut’s popularity never waned, and with still remembered features such as an all-you-caneat salad bar and their famed ramzan deals, Pizza Hut was easily on the top of the pizza food-chain. Then came Dominos. enTer Dominos entering Pakistan in 2004 and opening their first franchise in 2009, Dominos had

a rough landing in Pakistan precisely because of the hold Pizza Hut had on the market for two-and-a-half decades. According to a case study by Naveed M Khan, an associate professor at Bahria University, Domino’s International entered Pakistan in 2009 through a master franchise agreement with “ Hilal Confectionery”.

There was, of course, a lot of buzz when Dominos first entered the market. They were a famous international franchise, and had also seen great success in the Indian market — which meant there was a lot of curiosity regarding them. In the first four years, although sales of Domino’s pizza was around rs. 2 million per month from 13 outlets in Pakistan, their operational losses were somewhere around 33%.

Pizza Hut was massive. Opening 13 branches and then also providing good deals for customer acquisition was very expensive. So what did Dominos do? Floundering and fast sinking, they poached one of Pizza Hut’s star employees. how Dominos useD Pizza huT’s own man againsT Them

Muhammad Ahsan Ahmed had been at Pizza Hut since April 2005. He had started off as their head of Business Development and went on to become their General Manager for Hr, and Business Operations. In 2012, Dominos hired him as their CeO. In a short time Mohammad Ahsan was able to cut losses and made the company profitable.He Was very successful in cost cutting the first phase of reorganising the business, and went on to create value and increase sales dramatically.

“For those interested in what I did at Dominos, it worked out in three phases. Phase one was helping the company hit the elusive operational profitability. Phase two was achieving the first ever month of Positive P L in over nine years, and phase three was helping the company grow by as much as 70%”, he says on his LinkedIn profile.

As the head of Pizza Hut’s business development, Ahsan had a front row seat to all of the franchise’s strategies. Using his experience in the business, he was able to turn things around at Dominoes.

Imported automobiles hit 3-year-low

the import of CBU cars which saw a decline of 82%.

At $78.5 million, CBU imports are now at a three year low with the last time import volume had fallen to these amounts being in FY 2019-20 when the four month import volume stood at $40.16 million.

“The reduced volume is a natural impact of two to three factors.” Profit was told by Mian Shoaib Ahmed, Chairman All Pakistan Car Dealers and Importers Association.

Three year low

Import numbers for CBUs fell across all categories YoY, with the greatest contraction coming in

“Firstly, the Government’s import restrictions, then the current duties levied on imported vehicles, and finally the exchange rate. These have increased the cost of vehicles and raised them beyond the purchasing power of customers,” continued Ahmed.

Pakistan’s

The instant supply of 50 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of local “unutilised” natural gas to the CNG Stations for its sale as fuel for motor vehicles can benefit the country to the tune of approximately $778.93 million annually to the country, a leader of the CNG association, Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, claims. According to his calculations, the provision of 50 mmcfd local gas will result in the saving of approximately $587.26 million per annum in the form of replacing imported fuels, and the government can generate approximately $191.87 million per annum in revenues as well.

“While having 25 years’ long experience in the

gas sector, I can ensure $200 million worth of benefit to the country within one month with available resources if an opportunity is given to me,” said Paracha, adding that he is ready to prove his claim on any forum. He called on the government to give the CNG dealers the necessary support to make this happen, and said he had submitted the calculations to authorities for consideration.

Local gas reserves in Pakistan have fallen sharply over the years, with supplies from existing fields dwindling and no new reserves having been discovered of note. CNG, once prevalent as a fuel across Pakistan, has been pushed to the margins again as supply of the local gas has been curbed in the face of falling reserves. But Paracha believes that the answer lies in turning to CNG again.

Sharing details of his calculations, Paracha said approximately $434.49 million per annum can be saved in fuel consumption, while saving can also be made on the persistent problem of Unaccounted for Gas (UfG) worth $52.84 million annually.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released its import data for the month of October 2022, which paints a not-so-pretty picture for automotive importers. Per PBS’s data, imports for completely built-up (CBU) units have reduced by 61% four months into FY 202223 year-on-year (YoY). Currently, the automotive imports stand at $78.5 million in comparison to the $201 million seen in the same period last year.