Epaper_22-12-11 ISB

taking serious notice of the alleged poor per formance of the energy sector prime minister shehbaz sharif has summoned important meetings to be held dur ng the next week to take up three agenda items, t was re iably learnt on saturday according to sources the prime minister off ce has called important meetings during the next week to take up three agenda items including gas procurement options rev ew meeting on strategy to deal with gas shortage dashboard regard ng gas compan es redressal mechanism, replac ng expensive imported fue with local cheaper fuel in power plants and refiner y po cy the meetings to be chaired by the pm shehbaz sharif are schedu ed (tentatively) to be held n the next week said sources the sources said that the pm office, n a most immed ate letter has asked the secretar y petroleum to immediately prov de the soft and hard cop es of the information/documents re ated to above meetings the pm office sought brief talking po nts for the pm, minutes of ast two meetings f any on the subject copy of presentation ( f any) and list of part cipants (duly signed), said sources they added that premier shehbaz sharif while taking serious notice of the poor performance of the energy sector and use of expensive fue in the power plants de ay in the approva of new refiner y policy, gas shortage etc in the countr y has summoned mportant meetings on the subject matter during the next week

the energy ministr y has failed to secure the approval of the new refiner y policy despite passing one and half years and due to this delay the ikely nvestment of approxmate y $ 12 bi lion of saudi arab a and united arab em rates (uae) in the oil ref ning sector has been facing postponement and this undue delay has made the pm unhappy said the sources sources sa d that the government has dec ded to give an end to the use of expensive mported fuel in the power plants and for this the pm would issue necessar y direct ons to use local coal in the coal power plants during the upcoming scheduled meeting similarly the meeting scheduled to be held under the chair prime minister shehbaz shar f during the next week is ikely to take decis ons regarding the gas procurement/import from different countries in order to control

shortage moreover the meeting is expected to formu ate a mechanism for solving the fears and problems of gas compan es, said sources they added that the pm would br ng big changes in the coming days if the pm finds no progress/deve opment in the energy sector t is pert nent to mention that gas consumers of al categories are facing gas shortage with the start of winter season and the government has been facing severe cr ticism from al corners of life for making no arrangement to br dge the gas shortage of the countr y while the countr y s own gas reser ves are fast deplet ng also, the government has been facing public wrath due to expansive power tariff and taking cognizance of the matter the premier has called the meetings during next week to ensure relief for the public and save the government sk n from further public crit cism

Cour t dismisses drugs case against Sana

LAHore s tA f f r e p o r t

a court in lahore has acqu tted rana sanaul ah khan of smugg ing heroin in his car end ng a high-profile case that focused public interest on how the justice system would treat the loudmouthed minister for interior khan was arrested n July 2019 by the ant -narcotics force (anf) from the islamabad-lahore motor way firdous aashiq awan then-min ster for nformat on said 15 k lograms of heroin was seized from his veh cle

He spent nearly six months in prison until the lahore High Court (lHC) ordered his re ease on ba l after ruling that no substantial evidence was ever presented to the court drug smuggl ng s of 27 crimes that can lead to a death sentence n pakistan s a t u r d a y s d e c i s i o n w a s a n n o u n c e d o n a p e t it i o n f o r a c q u t t a l k h a n m o v e d i n t h e m o r n i n g c l a m i n g t h e c a s e w a s p ol i t i c a l l y m o t v a t e d a n d t h a t t h e p r o s e c u t i o n d i d n o t h a v e a n y e v i d e n c e t o p r o v e t h e c h a r g e

He also blamed the former government of imran khan for victimising h m according to farhad ali shah his attorney

dur ng the proceedings two anf officials, imt az ahmed and ehsaan azam dismissed wrong charges against the minister in their affidavits submitted n court the two cla med they were present at the scene when khan was arrested “ we never saw any sort of drugs being recovered from the scene they declared at the time of his arrest khan s lawyer az m nazir tarar, told reuters the accusations were r d culous tarar said khan had told the court at h s arrest hearing that police had ntercepted h s vehicle and driven him to their office in lahore without elaborating any further officials told him later that hero n had been seized from his car, he said the anti-narcotics police said khan h mself pointed to a briefcase on the rear seat of the car when ntercepted and he ped officers unzip a po ythene bag contain ng the drugs

Imran sticks to Punjab, KP assemblies’ dissolution to force snap polls

former pr me minister and pti Cha rman imran khan sunday re terated his resolve for mak ng a l out efforts for holding early elections which he sa d were essential to avert the looming default and stabil se the ailing economy i am sticking to his decision to dissolve the prov ncia assemb ies [of kp and pun ab] in december n a bid to force the incumbent government into early e ections we will implement our decision to dissolve assemblies and we are holding consu tat ons and preparing our party eaders because negotiat ons for caretaker set-up will start after the dissolution of assembl es the former premier said in an inter view with a ocal tv channel on saturday when asked to g ve an exact date for assemb ies’ disso ution, imran said, “it wil be done in december responding to a quest on that punjab Chief minister per vaiz elahi was reluctant to dissolve the provinc a assemb y the pti chief said the pml-Q leader believed that the provincial government shou d continue for some more time “ But he [Cm elahi] has also said that he will accept whatever dec sion i will take [for assembly] ”

imran also dispelled the rumours that Cm e ahi attached a cond tion that he would only disso ve the provincial assembly if pti agreed to nominate h m for chief min ster after next elections “ who needs the elections most? our [popularity] graph s going up opposi-

t on and general Bajwa had hoped that our party will fal apart after regime change operation he remarked imran said the early polls had become the necess ty of the nation and the militar y “ polit cal stabil ty s essentia for the r e v i v a l o f e c o n o m y w h i c h c o u l d o n l y c o m e t h r o u g h e a r l y e e c t o n s e l e ctions are essential for this countr y and pa k s t a n a r m y b e c a u s e l C s [ l e t t e r o f credit] are not open ng for the import of weapons i m r a n k h a n c a i m e d t h a t f o r m e r c h i e f o f a r m y s t a f f g e n e r a l ( r e t d ) Q a m a r J a v e d B a j w a t o l d h i m t o r eplace usman Buzdar with aleem khan as punjab chief minister genera (retd) Bajwa s demand to remove Buzdar was strange,” khan who leve led allegations against the exCoa s recent y sa d k h a n, w h o w a s r e m o v e d f r o m t h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r s o f f i c e t h r o u g h a n oc o n f i d e n c e v o t e n a p r i l, s a i d : “ g e ne r a l ( r e t d ) B a j w a a s k e d t o r e m o v e u s m a n B u z d a r H e w o u l d n s i s t o n m a k i n g a l e e m k h a n t h e c h i e f m i n i s t e r o f pu n j a b t h e e x- p r i m e m i n i s t e r s a i d t h a t h e i n f o r m e d g e n e r a l ( r e t d ) B a j w a t h a t aleem had a lot of allegations evelled against him and that in light of those claims, he couldn’t appo nt him as the chief minister the former prime minister revealed that the incumbent Cm of punjab Chaudhr y par vez elahi did not want aleem as the province s ch ef min ster

Calling all those people involved in

ousting his government as “ mir Jaffer and mir sad q he said: whatever happened with pti during the last seven months was all because of ex-Coa s gen Bajwa s policies g e n ( r e t d ) B a j w a w o u l d s a y n ob o d y w i l l t a ke a t i c ke t f r o m p t i a n d p m l- n w o u l d f o r m t h e n e w g o v e r nm e n t, ” h e c a i m e d

khan alleged that during his government s tenure general (retd) Bajwa controlled the national accountability Bureau (naB) naB was under Bajwa s control; therefore he decided who would go in and who wil be released it was not in our hands the pti chief said He alleged the former army chief

would oversee who should be arrested and who shouldn t we did not have the authority those who did, they provided rel ef to them naB was not under our control they [m litar y] had inf uence ever ywhere,” he said t h e f o r m e r p r i m e m i n i s t e r a d d e d t h a t h e w a s a s k e d t o d e a l w i t h t h e e c o n o m y a n d e a v e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y t o t h e m

Berating the pakistan democratic movement (pdm)-led government the ex-premier said the multi-party al iance was “ tr ying hard ” to get him disqualif ed [pml-n] supremo nawaz sharif s tr ying to c ose all cases against himself and disqualify me ” he added shedd ng ight on the prevailing situation in the countr y, khan re terated his demand for elect ons linking economic growth with political stabil ty “ whether they hold elections now or after 10 months or a year they [pdm] will lose,” he claimed wh le referring to the punjab by-po ls results that were held in Ju y the pti ch ef sa d that those who left the party to jo n the pdm were punished for do ng so n the by-polls as the party won a majority of the seats up for grabs

Condemning the dism ssal of pakistan muslim league-nawaz s (pml-n) supremo nawaz sharif ’s cases, khan sa d: nawaz sharif wil not return until his cases are dismissed if he comes to punjab then he w ll be arrested the former premier added that genera (retd) Bajwa considered prime m nister shehbaz sharif a genius

iSLAMABAD s tA f f r e p o r t

the gas

FIve JouRNALISTS kILLed oN Job IN PAkISTAN IN 2022: RePoRT

The Brussels-based group also tallied 375 journalists currently imprisoned for their work with the highest figures in China including Hong Kong, in Myanmar and in Turkey Last year ’s report listed 365 journalists behind bars

With the number of media workers killed on the rise, the IFJ and other media rights groups have called on governments to take more concrete action to protect journalists and free journalism

people to hold their leaders to account, including in ensuring that those with power and influence do not stand in the way of open and inclusive societies,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said in a statement

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) says that 67 journalists and media staff have been killed around the world so far this year up from 47 last year

JIT decides to devise ToRs for probe into Arshad Sharif’s murder case

ISLAMABAD

N e w s D e s k

The failure to act will only embolden those who seek to suppress the free flow of information and undermine the ability of

More media workers were killed covering the war in Ukraine 12 in total than in any other country this year according to the IFJ Most were Ukrainian but also included those of other nationalities such as American documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud Many deaths occurred in the first chaotic

weeks of the war, though threats to journalists continue as the fighting drags on

The IFJ said the rule by the terror of criminal organizations in Mexico, and the breakdown of law and order in Haiti, have also contributed to the surge in killings 2022 has been one of the deadliest ever for journalists in Mexico, which is now considered the most dangerous country for reporters outside a war zone

The group recorded five deaths of journalists amid this year s political crisis in Pakistan, including the grisly murder in Kenya of Arshad Sharif, and warned of new

threats to journalists in Colombia and continued danger for journalists in the Philippines despite new leadership there

It also called out the shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as she was reporting from a Palestinian refugee camp The Arab network this week formally asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate her death

The Brussels-based IFJ represents 600,000 media professionals from trade unions and associations in more than 140 countries The report was released on the eve of the United Nations’ Human Rights Day

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed rejoins JuI-F

QUETTA

The special Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has decided to record the statements of martyr journalist Arshad Sharif s mother and widow in connection with a probe into the murder case The special JIT formed by the federal government held its first meeting at the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) headquarters here the other day During the meeting, it was decided that the special JIT will devise its own terms of reference (ToRs) for carrying out the probe into the Arshad Sharif murder case The JIT will record statements of Arshad Sharif ’s mother and widow first, whereas, all relevant persons will be contacted to record their statements The JIT spokesperson said in a statement that preparations have been started to complete travel documents of the investigators to depart for Kenya On December 8, the federal government shared the names of the members of a new special joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif with the Supreme Court (SC) The new JIT includes members from ISI, IB, FIA and the Islamabad police The members include DIG Intelligence Branch, Sajid Kiyani, FIA’s Waqarauddin Syed, DIG Headquarters, Owais Ahmed, Murtaza Afzal from the Military Intelligence and Muhammad Aslam from the ISI The JIT will enjoy special powers and the government will provide funds to the JIT if its members want to go to Kenya for the probe

Scrutiny of PML-N, PPP foreign funding: IHC fixes PTI plea for hearing on 22nd

Brussels congregation c alls for immediate end of human rights abuses in IIOJK

(AJK) a P P

A seminar held on the International Human Rights Day in Brussels, the European headquarters, on Saturday, in which speakers called that violations of human rights in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir State should be ended immediately

The seminar was organized by Kashmir Council Europe (KC-EU) on the International Human Rights Day, said a message received here

The speakers of the seminar expressed deep concern over the ongoing Indian atrocities in the Indian illegally Occupied Kashmir and demanded to end these atrocities and give Kashmiris their right to self-determination

They said that for a fair solution to the Kashmir issue, it is necessary to stop atrocities in Occupied Kashmir, release all political prisoners, end India s state terrorism and take steps to withdraw Indian forces from Occupied Kashmir

Former Member of the National Assembly and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam central leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed rejoined JUI-F on Saturday A delegation led by Federal Minister for Housing and Works and JUI Balochistan Ameer Maulana Abdul Wasey visited the residence of Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and convinced him to rejoin JUI Later the former MNA met JUI central Ameer Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman and announced joining JUI parting ways with Maulana Shirani led the forward block of the party It merits mention that the Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazl (JUI-F) had removed Hafiz Hussain Ahmed as the party s spokesperson on March 27, 2021 Hafiz was removed after he opposed a statement issued by Nawaz Sharif The decision was taken by the Majlis-e-Shura, the party s main decision-making body The meeting was chaired by party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the sources said, adding that Fazl briefed the participants about the decisions taken by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)

uN: More aid needed as winter descends over flood victims

YORK

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday fixed for hearing a petition of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) failure to conclude the Pakistan People s Party (PPP) Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other parties’ funding cases During the hearing, Faisal Chaudhry the counsel for the petitioner PTI leader Farrukh Habib, appeared in the court On the occasion, Chief Justice Aamir Farooq said that the court can fix the case for hearing after vacations To this the lawyer requested the bench that the case to be heard before the vacations, saying that otherwise, it would be too late This is a small issue he said The CJ said that while it was indeed a “small issue”, the rest of their major issues were scheduled for hearing next week He remarked that they could schedule it for hearing before vacations The court then fixed December 22 for the hearing of the case PTI leader Habib submitted in his petition that there was a Supreme Court order regarding scrutiny of party funds, but funds of the PPP and PML-N were being scrutinised for only three years On the request of Akbar S Babar the PTI s funds from 2008 were scrutinised he pointed out, adding that the party was “discriminated against” and the ECP “lost its fair and transparent role” He pleaded the court to order the commission to complete the scrutiny of the party funds of the PPP and PML-N for over five years within two weeks I H C s e e k s d e ta I l s o f B H a r a k a H u B y pa s s p r o j e C t e x p e n d I t u r e s Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to submit details of expenditure being incurred on Bhara Kahu bypass project, passing through a land of the Quaid-eAzam (QAU) Islamabad IHC judge Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzaib heard arguments on identical petitions filed by a professor of the QAU and residents of Murree, Kashmir and Bhara Kahu challenging the construction of multi-billion Bhara Kahu bypass project Other citizens have also petitioned favouring the construction of the bypass project After arguments the court ordered the CDA to submit details of work carried out on the project and the total expenditures incurred so far The counsel for the university professor said that it is a fact that the QAU land will be used for the bypass project and the problem lies as who owns the land

The senior leader of KC-EU, Ch Khalid Joshi presided over the seminar participated by Kashmiri and Pakistani and European intellectuals and experts Among the speakers were Ch Khalid Joshi, Sardar Mehmood Endre Barcs Sardar Siddique Shiraz Raj Hafiz Unib Rashid and Shazia Aslam Iftikhar Ahmed, Raza Chaudhry, Mir Shah Jahan, Aslam Shah, Mahar Nadeem and Raja Abdul Qayum were among other participants

The speakers asked the international community, especially the European Union s leaders to play their role in ending human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir

They appealed for the immediate release of Kashmiri human rights leaders Khurram Parvez, Ahsan Unto and Kashmiri political leaders including Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmad Shah and other Kashmiri prisoners

Meanwhile, Chairman Kashmir Council Europe (KC-EU) Ali Raza Syed who is on a visit to Pakistan in a statement on the day of human rights asked the international community special European Union’s authorities to put pressure on India to immediately end crimes of Indian security forces against people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and grant them right to self determination according the UN s resolutions on Kashmir

He said, since 1947, people of occupied Kashmir are facing endless hardships as their miseries are being increased day by day It is duty of international community including Europe Union to take immediate steps in order to end the atrocities against the people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir So that situation of that disputed land should be normalized and people of Jammu and Kashmir should be provided a peaceful atmosphere where they can use their right to self determination in accordance with their wishes and according to United Nations resolutions, he added

With the arrival of winter, the humanitarian needs of the flood-hit people of Pakistan have intensified and more resources are urgently needed to deal with the situation, a United Nations spokesperson said In an update on the situation left behind by the devastating floods, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary general, told a briefing in New York that even as water levels recede, more than 20 million people continue to depend on aid, observing that reconstruction measures were being taken in some cities “To date, in support of the government response, our humanitarian partners have reached more than 4 7 million people with aid since the onset of the flood,” Dujarric told reporters Some 2 6 million people have received food assistance he said “Our [humanitarian] partners have also helped 125,000 children to resume their education, including through more than 500 temporary learning centres ” However schools remain inaccessible for more than two million children More resources are urgently needed ” the spokesman said noting that so far only 23 percent of the $816 million floods response plan has been received

Chinese, Pak istani universities develop heat-resistant hybrid rice varieties

BEIJING ag e N c i e s

Sponsored by Wuhan University Hubei Association of Science and Technology, and the University of Punjab, the 2nd International Cooperation & D e v e l o p m e n t F o r u m o n H o n g l i a n Ty p e H y b r i d R i c e w a s h e l d a c c o r d i n g t o C h i n a E c o n o m i c N e t ( C E N )

S c i e n t i s t s a n d o ff i c i a l s f r o m C h i n a a n d P a k i s t a n attended the forum online or offline to explore SinoP a k c o o p e r a t i o n o n h y b r i d r i c e i n t h e f u t u r e H o n g l i a n Ty p e H y b r i d R i c e i s t h e o r i g i n a l s c i e n t i f i c a n d t e c h n o l o g i c a l a c h i e v e m e n t o f Wu h a n U n i v e r s i t y

H o n g l i a n Ty p e H y b r i d R i c e i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y i t s e x c e l l e n t q u a l i t y d i s e a s e a n d i n s e c t m u l t i p l e r e s i s t a n c e , h i g h t e m p e r a t u r e t o l e r a n c e , a n d h i g h n i t r o g e n u s e e ff i c i e n c y, w h i c h i s a p p l i c a b l e t o b e c u l t i v a t e d i n c o u n t r i e s o f h i g h t e m p e r a t u r e , f r e q u e n t p l a n t d i s e a s e s a n d i n s e c t p e s t s a n d c r u d e g r a i n p r o d u c t i o n a l o n g t h e B e l t a n d R o a d r o u t e l i k e P a k i s t a n

I n c o m p l e t e s t a t i s t i c s s h o w t h a t t h e a c c u m u l a t e d a c r e a g e o f H o n g l i a n h y b r i d r i c e g l o b a l l y s o f a r h a s e x c e e d e d a b o u t 3 0 m i l l i o n h e c t a r e s A c c o r d i n g t o Z h u R e n s h a n , D i r e c t o r o f Wu h a n U n i v e r s i t y – T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f P u n j a b H o n g l i a n Ty p e H y b r i d R i c e J o i n t R e s e a r c h C e n t e r, H o n g l i a n Ty p e H y b r i d R i c e w a s i n t r o d u c e d t o P a k i s t a n i n 2018 and has achieved promising harvests in various d e m o n s t r a t i v e p l o t s i n L a h o r e , G u j r a n w a l a , Ve h a r i , P a k p a t t a n i n P u n j a b , S h i k a r P u r a n d L a r k a n a i n S i n d h e t c b a s i c a l l y c o v e r i n g m a i n r i c e p l a n t i n g r e g i o n s i n P a k i s t a n

T h e f i e l d t r i a l s a n d d e m o n s t r a t i o n i n P a k i s t a n i n 2 0 2 2 e x h i b i t e d t h a t t h e y i e l d o f H o n g l i a n H P 3 i s 1 2 5 % h i g h e r t h a n t h a t o f t h e c o n t r o l g r o u p

This summer, Pakistan was hit by unprecedented f l o o d s a n d s u ff e r e d h u g e l o s s e s D e v e l o p i n g h i g hy i e l d h y b r i d r i c e i s o f g r e a t s i g n i f i c a n c e t o r e s u m e g r a i n p r o d u c t i o n a n d e c o n o m i c g r o w t h a f t e r t h e f l o o d d i s a s t e r

We s i n c e r e l y h o p e Wu h a n U n i v e r s i t y – T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f P u n j a b H o n g l i a n Ty p e H y b r i d R i c e

J o i n t R e s e a r c h C e n t e r c o u l d b e c o m e a l o n g - t e r m platform for China-Pakistan agricultural science and t e c h n o l o g y c o o p e r a t i o n t o s a f e g u a r d m u t u a l f o o d security and deepen Pak-China friendship,” Shahzad S a b i r D i r e c t o r A g r i c u l t u r e H e a d q u a r t e r s P u n j a b s a i d i n t o d a y ’s f o r u m I t ’s l e a r n e d t h a t t o c o p e w i t h g l o b a l w a r m i n g , r i g h t n o w n e w h e a t - t o l e r a n t H o n g l i a n h y b r i d r i c e v a r i e t i e s m o r e s u i t a b l e f o r P a k i s t a n ’s l o c a l c o n d i t i o n s i s b e i n g d e v e l o p e d u n d e r Wu h a n U n i v e r s i t y – T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f P u n j a b H o n g l i a n Ty p e H y b r i d R i c e J o i n t R e s e a r c h C e n t e r “

T h e j o i n t r e s e a r c h w o r k o f Wu h a n U n i v e r s i t y a n d t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f P u n j a b o n e x t r e m e l y h e a tr e s i s t a n t h y b r i d r i c e w i l l p r o m o t e t h e r e s e a r c h a n d d e v e l o p m e n t o f h i g h - y i e l d h y b r i d r i c e i n P a k i s t a n a n d i m p r o v e t h e l e v e l o f f o o d s e c u r i t y i n t h e c o u n t r y, ” Ta r i q B a s h i r C h e e m a , M i n i s t e r f o r

National Food Security and Research once remarked i n t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l f o r u m t h e m e d b y H y b r i d R i c e Aid for Foreign Countries and World Food Security” t h i s N o v e m b e r

MIRPUR

LAHORE: Students perform during a tableau at Queen Mary College Photo by zuba r Mehfooz

W e A R I N g M A S kS F o R Lo N g e R T I M e C A N e v e N H A M P e R C o g N I T I v e P e R F o R M A N C e

played by more than 8,000 people in 18 countries before and during the pandemic

WE A R I N G a face mask

can temporarily disrupt decisionmaking in some situations, hampering cognitive performance in certain sports, and professions like language interpreters, performers, waiters and teachers a new study have revealed

The University of Queensland (UQ) research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analysed almost three million chess moves

It found wearing a mask substantially reduced the average quality of player decisions

“The decrease in performance was due to the annoyance caused by the masks rather than a physiological mechanism but people adapted to the distraction over time,” said Dr David Smerdon from UQ s School of Economics

The data showed masks were more likely to decrease performance in situations where there was a demanding mental task with a high

working memory load, Medical Daily reported

This is something to keep in mind for occupations in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as other professions that demand a high level of working memory such as language interpreters, performers, waiters and teachers ” Smerdon added Dr Smerdon, an Australian chess Grandmaster said while mask mandates had helped to curb the spread of Covid-19, almost nothing was known about their impact on cognitive performance

“At the moment there are no large studies on the impact of maskwearing on the general population, he said The study found that while mask-wearing had a negative impact on chess performance, the effect subsided after four to six hours of playing

The results suggest that the effect of masks may depend on the type of task, the duration of the task, and working memory load, he added Understanding the impact of mask wearing on decision-making could help individuals and organisations better evaluate when and how to use them

C hinese firm assured of 700MW solar projec t ’s approval

plant for M3 Industrial City and Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Faisalabad

The Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) and the Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA) have prepared to approve a 700-megawatt solar power project in Faisalabad on a priority basis

According to Gwadar Pro, the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Co (FIEDMC) and PowerChina Jiangxi Electric Power Construction Co (JEPCC) have already signed a memorandum to facilitate the establishment of a 700MW solar power

The PowerChina JEPCC is a subsidiary of PowerChina and Henan Zhonghui Electric Power Engineering and Consulting Co

According to the PBIT statement, Dr Rania Ahsan, a representative of Chinese state-owned firm Zhonghui Electric Power Engineering and Consulting Co held a meeting with Chairperson SEZA S

Naveed to discuss matters relating to the approval of the company’s 700MW solar power project CEO PBIT/Secretary SEZA, Jalal Hassan, DG PBIT Dr

Suhail Saleem and RA-Facilitation Engr Ayesha Khushboo also attended the meeting

The Chairperson SEZA assured that the matters relating to the project will be resolved on a priority basis and meetings with FIEDMC for the resolution of the matter will also be arranged as soon as possible According to an earlier statement by the Federal Board of Investment (BoI) the provisionally-estimated total investment of the project is $630 million, wherein Chinese companies will come as financers, and the SEZ developer/FIEDMC will provide land on lease or will be an equity investment partner in the project

S anaullah’s acquittal exposes PTI’s ‘worst politic al vic timisation’: PM

ISLAMABAD

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eCP amends affidavit for candidates after vawda’s disqualification

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has amended its affidavit for election candidates after disqualification of former PTI leader Faisal Vawda The candidates have to submit the amended version of the affidavit in future elections of the Senate and assembly membership A clause related to misinformation has been added in the new affidavit under which the membership will stand cancelled over misinformation in the election papers According to officials, it will be mandatory for a candidate contesting election to submit the new affidavit with the election commission The election candidate would also have to give details of his/her foreign passport in their statements on oath The ECP has dispatched the new affidavit to all four provincial election commissioners It is important to mention here that the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its verdict in Faisal Vawda’s disqualification case, revoked his lifetime disqualification and declared him disqualified till the completion of current assembly’s term Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial issued a four-page order The judgment stated that Faisal Vawda informed the court that he received the certificate of cancellation of his dual nationality on June 25 2018 and he admitted that he misinformed the court The apex court ruled that Vawda will be considered disqualified till the completion of the tenure of the current assembly However, he will be eligible for the next elections The court ordered the ousted PTI leader to submit his resignation to the Senate Chairman as quickly as possible Vawda had challenged his lifetime disqualification following a verdict issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) In his petition, the former PTI leader had stated that the election commission was unauthorised to declare him disqualified for life He was of the view that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had dismissed his plea in haste The ECP had declared the lifetime disqualification of Faisal Vawda in its verdict for submitting a fake affidavit

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said the acquittal of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in the narcotics case proved that the previous PTI-led government had carried out the worst political victimisation against its opponents

The prime minister, in a statement thanked Allah Almighty over “innocent” Sanaullah’s acquittal by a special court in Lahore and asked those who used to swear on the name of Almighty to seek forgiveness from Allah” “The

frivolous case of narcotics against Rana Sanaullah is the worst example of political victimisation Despite facing political victimisation, Sanaullah never complained,” the

prime minister said He said the time had drawn a clear line between truth and falsehood, genuine and forged, and innocent and sinful

He paid homage to the party leaders including Sanaullah and leaders of other political parties for boldly facing the “worst” political victimisation during the tenure of PTI Chairman Imran Khan s government “The frivolous narcotics case against Rana Sanaullah and his acquittal is also an example to make people aware of lies told by the previous government the PM added

MQM -P blames WASA for failing to operate drainage system

HYDERABAD

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Hyderabad chapter leader and MPA Rashid Khilji has blamed Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) for terribly failing to operate the drainage system which has resulted in overflowing sewage in many parts of the City and Latifabad talukas

In a statement issued here on Saturday, Khilji said the urban areas had been made a center of numerous civic problems making the lives of ordinary people miserable

He held the allegedly corrupt officers and staff of WASA responsible for the plight of the citizens who had to wade through sewage poodles every day

The MPA said the supply of water continued to be a big problem as many parts of Hyderabad did not get the water supply on a daily basis

Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah should accept that Hyderabad is a big city and that it requires functional civic institutions as well,” he emphasized

He requested the Sindh Local Government Minister and Director General of Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) to pay attention to the serious issues of water supply and sanitation

ATC grants bail to Haleem Adil in land grabbing case

KARACHI

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Haleem Adil Sheikh in a land grabbing case PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh appeared before the court in the land grabbing case The PTI leader ’s counsel presented arguments on the bail plea in the ATC He said that the PTI leader wants to face the court in this case so the court is requested to accept the bail plea At this, the court granted bail to the leader of opposition in the Sindh Assembly Earlier, the Sindh High Court (SHC) barred police, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from taking any ‘illegal’ action against PTI leader and Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh The land grabbing case was registered against Haleem Adil in Anti-Encroachment police station Zone 2 According to the complaint, the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) leader along with three other persons illegally occupied 40 acres of public land in the Northern Bypass area of Karachi According to the ACE officials, Haleem Adil is allegedly not joining the investigation and despite repetitive notices he failed to appear before the ACE

PPP leader dr Asim challenges trial cour t’s jurisdiction

Former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain on Saturday challenged the accountability court’s jurisdiction in Rs462 billion corruption case against him following the recent amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999 The counsel for Dr Asim Hussain moved a petition in the accountability court saying that the court could not hear the case Further, he added that the cases about lands mentioned in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference were being heard in the Supreme Court Hussain was expected to record his statement in the accountability court on Friday His lawyer said that his written statement was ready and it could be filed whenever the court would order Later, the court sought a response from NAB prosecutor on Hussain s petition and adjourned the hearing

Petition filed in LHC against discrimination with women in receiving summons

LAHORE

A writ petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging discrimination against women over receiving summons issued by the court

The petition questioned why the summons, both in criminal and civil cases, could not be served or received by female family members Serving summons only to the adult male of the family members and depriving the female of this right is itself a violation of the right guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan petitioners Syeda Izzat Fatima and Maryam Chaudhry implored the court Advocate Syeda Izzat Fatima implored in the petition that the service of summons in criminal cases shall be only on the adult male member of the family of the person summoned While in a civil suit, Order V Rule 15 provides the service of summons on an adult male member of the family

The petition noted that relevant section 70 of Cr P C and Order V Rule 15 of CPC are outdated in today’s era, women are working side by side and are active in every sector of the field Both these codes create a distinction and discriminate between genders

There should be equality before the law and equality of justice the counsel Izzat Fatima contended in the petition The Code of Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure Code does not consider an adult female member of the family capable and competent to receive the summons, she noted She argued that the majority of males work outside the house while female members are mostly available, especially during day time, at their home Therefore, women must have the right to receive summons and come under the ambit and definition of an adult and reasonable person, she added

The counsel contended that the aforesaid relevant section and Rule 15 both fail to account for situations such

as when the person summoned resides only with female family members or when the only person available at the time of service of summons is a woman

The aforesaid section and Rule are hence unconstitutional by creating a gender bias and discrimination between males and females Under British law Criminal Procedure Rules 2015 Rule 4 3 to 4 4 discuss the provision and delivery of summons but nowhere are they restricted or limited to an “Adult Male”

Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the United States District Courts, summons is described in Rule 4 Summons, including details about the method and process of serving summons However, nowhere in the entire Rule has the word “male” been used The petitioners requested the court to direct the concerned quarters to legislate or amend laws in accordance with the Constitution They further prayed the court to direct taking urgent initiative towards this ongoing issue regarding gender discrimination and look over the unconstitutional aspect of Section 70 and Rule 15

ISLAMABAD

KARACHI

ISLAMABAD

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IMrAn-led ‘PrOPAgAndA grOuP’ uSed dAIly MAIl

tO hAMPer PAkIStAn’S FOreIgn AId: MArrIyuM

she added

MI N I S T E R for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said the PTI was not a political party but a “propaganda group” which was led by a “foreign funded Fitna agent Imran Khan who used the Daily Mail to hamper Pakistan’s foreign aid

Addressing a press conference here, she said that Imran Khan’s announcement of dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies was only a bluff She dared him to make public the resignations of his party s members of the two assemblies

The minister alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ran dirty trends on social media through the foreign funding received by its leader for

fulfilling his anti-Pakistan agenda Imran Khan had been accusing others of gulping the money received in the name of natural disasters but he himself utilized the charitable donations for his personal and political gains

Four ‘terrorists’ crossing into Pakistan killed in Afghan border IBO

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The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday claimed to have killed four terrorism suspects allegedly crossing into Pakistan through Afghanistan border in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) In a statement the CTD police said: “The CTD conducted the operation following a tip-off about terrorists’ crossing the Afghanistan border into Pakistan ” “The terrorists, as soon as sighted the team of law enforcement officials, resorted indiscriminate fire which ensued by a shootout And during the cross-fire, four alleged terrorists were killed including Mohammad Dawood –a local commander of Da ish the CTD stated Other two terrorists killed in the shootout have been identified as Abdullah and Mohammad Laiq, while identity of the fourth suspect is yet to be ascertained”, the CTD claimed in the stamen

The stamen informed that two hand grenades two Kalashnikovs’, six magazines and two pistols were also recovered from the killed terrorists, besides dozens of cartridges NICs Pakistani currency and other items were also recovered from the spot Earlier on Friday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed to have killed four terrorists in a search and clearance operation in Nowshera district CTD Mardan Region and KP police conducted a joint raid in Nowshera on a tip-off During the raid, the terrorists opened fire at the raiding teams However four terrorists were killed in retaliation by the raiding teams, the CTD spokesperson said The raiding teams recovered arms and explosive material from the possession of the killed terrorists The CounterTerrorism Department spokesperson said that the scope of the search and clearance operation was expanded On Wednesday, the CTD arrested “four terrorists” associated with a banned outfit s Atiq-ur-Rehman alias Tipu Gul group during a raid in Bannu T h e C o u n t e r- Te r r o r i s m D e p a r t m e n t t e a m r e c o v e r e d a r m s m o b i l e p h o n e s a n d o t h e r m a t e r i a l s f r o m t h e p o s s e s s i o n o f t h e a r r e s t e d m e n T h e C T D s p o k e s p e r s o n s a i d t h e s u s p e c t s w e r e a l l e g e d l y i n v o l v e d i n t h e t a rg e t k i l l i n g o f p o l i c e m e n a n d e x t o r t i o n

Syed AfSAr SAjid

President summons Senate session on Monday

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The minister said that the “foreign agent led party” was a propaganda group which had not only harmed the country’s foreign policy and economy while being in power but also continued pursuing that “nefarious agenda” even after ouster from the government

She said that in 2018 Pakistan s growth rate was 6 2 percent while inflation rate was only 3 per cent The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had been launched by 2016 and due to which the new generation was getting job opportunities while load shedding problem was overcome by completion of several power projects she added

But unfortunately, political instability was brought in the country as the thrice popularly elected prime minister was sent home on a ludicrous claim of not taking salary from his son’s firm, she added

Pakistan leading voice on protec tion against racism, Islamophobia: Bilawal

As the world observes International Human Rights Day on Saturday, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistan was a leading voice on issues such as the right to development, and protection against racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia

The foreign minister, in his message said that Pakistan joined the international community in commemorating the 74th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR)

He said on the Day, Pakistan celebrated its achievements and reaffirmed its resolve to uphold the universally agreed human rights norms, principles and values

He said the 1973 Constitution guaranteed equal rights for all and equal protection of law

“We are proud of our many achievements and the advancements made in women empowerment child rights and the freedom

of speech in Pakistan Every successive generation has contributed to upholding of equality, dignity and human rights he remarked

He said Pakistan had consistently made contributions including to global efforts, including at UN human rights bodies, to advance the ideals of human dignity, freedom and justice for all

The foreign minister said that Pakistan had been at the forefront of the development of global human rights agenda – from its contribution in development of Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination to the landmark International Conferences on Human Rights in Vienna and the Beijing Conference on Women

He said Pakistan had also been a champion of the rights of people living under colonialism and foreign occupation It supported freedom movements of peoples living under colonialism in Africa and Asia, advocated against Apartheid and has been a leading voice against genocide, he added

Foreign Minister Bilawal said Pakistan continued to be a firm advocate for the right of self-determination of the peoples of Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir as they had every right to realize their aspirations for dignity liberty and human rights

One dead, seven hurt in Balochistan explosion: police

QUeTTA s ta f f r e p o r t

At least one person was killed and seven wounded in a blast that went off outside a shopping centre in the Awaran district of Balochistan, police said on Saturday

u a rt e r s ( G H Q ) h o s p i t a l , a p o l i c e o ff i c e r s a i d Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, chief minister of Balochistan, condemned the event and extended condolences for the dead He also

directed the authorities to provide treatment to the injured Cowardly terrorists targeted innocent children and other citizens including women The people of Balochistan look at these perpetrators with hatred,” Bizenjo said, adding that terrorists who create an atmosphere of terror” were the enemies of the province

Speakers call for transforming higher education on modern lines

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Speakers at the 3rd Rector ’s Conference held here on Saturday highlighted the need to transform higher education on modern lines, following the technological advancement and trends practiced internationally

The conference was organized by the Association of Private Sector Universities of Pakistan (APSUP) in collaboration with COMSTECH, the Higher Education Commission, the Punjab Higher Education Commission The Superior University and the InterUniversity Consortium along with partner institutions More than 80 Vice Chancellors/ Rectors of public and private universities from all over Pakistan and Islamic Universities from Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and Kazakhstan participated in the conference

The Ambassador of Kazakhstan and diplomats of different OIC member states also graced the occasion

In his welcome address, the President of Preston University, Prof Dr Abdul Basit highlighted the idea, purpose and aim of the conference

He said today we are marking a paradigm shift by bringing public and private universities together to join hands for the single cause of education in Pakistan The Coordinator General COMSTECH Prof Dr M Iqbal Choudhary said in his keynote address that this conference is important for education in Pakistan

He said the theme of the conference “education for economic development” is relevant and important Prof Choudhary expressed his gratitude to the Chairman of HEC for leading the reinstitutionalization of the Pakistani education system He emphasized the need for the introduction of international education culture in Pakistan

Rector, of Superior University, Dr Sumaira Rahman said the mission of Superior University is to produce job creators not job seekers

She said that we found that the self-esteem of the students is very low and we started a program to boost the self-esteem of the students

She informed me that in a short period of two years our students have created 120 businesses, 1,240 new jobs, and 800 million in revenue

She shed light on Superior University s programs and methods of delivering education

The Vice Chancellor of Al-Istiqama University, Nigeria, Prof Salisu Shehu addressed the gathering on behalf of all African participating universities

He expressed his gratitude for the invitation and said that this participation not only provided us an opportunity of acquainted with the institutions but also an opportunity to experience the international system of education

He said we feel the importance given by the government to education in Pakistan

He said the knowledge shared with us is extremely great He appreciated Prof Dr M Iqbal Choudhary for inviting the initiating alliance of Islamic universities of Africa

He said we will take these experiences back to Africa with us to implement

B o o k R e v i e w : A nw a r J a m a l ’s s p i r i t u a l p o e t r y

Anwar Jamal is a reputed veteran writer, poet, critic, and educationist from Multan He has some sixteen publications in prose and verse to his credit besides numerous literary awards and souvenirs conferred on him in recognition of his literary talent and contribution The present work Gul-e-Sarsabad (2022) is actually a collection of his two ‘na’atia’ books viz ‘Laulak Lama’ (1984) and ‘Hasunat Jamee-o- Khisalehi’ (2017) ‘Laulak Lama’

It is a na atia Musaddas of a hundred hexagons, each consisting of a quartet followed by a differently rhymed couplet The prototype of the poem is obviously Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali’s (1837-1914) monumental work titled ‘Musaddas-e-Hali – Madd-oJazr-e-Islam’

The first edition of the book, published in 1879, contained 294 stanzas whereas its third edition, brought out in 1886, contained a supplement (‘zameema’) of 163 additional

stanzas, making a total of 457 stanzas

It is a story in verse of the ebb and tide in Islam’ in which Maulana Hali has examined ‘the state of social and moral degradation in the then contemporary Muslim society’ Anwar Jamal prefaces his ‘na’at’ with hamd , the rhyming pattern of both being identical

The poem titled ‘Laulak Lama’ aptly synthesizes rhythm and meaning Renowned poet Aasi Karnali viewed it as a ‘na’atia nazm’ In his foreword to the book, the author avers that na at is a reverential delineation of the life and character (’seerat’) of the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) Maulana Hali’s ‘Musaddas’ is the inspirational source of the poem

The author of Laulak Lama has adeptly assimilated the descriptive and reflective in the poem, turning it into a veritable epic of devotional verse In the sparse space of a hundred stanzas, he has graphically portrayed the sublime features of the life and character of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)

The diction soulfully corresponds with the intrinsic grace and grandeur of the poem The narrative covers the whole orbit of creation starting from the Fall of Adam, con-

summating in the advent of Islam, and finally culminating into a supplication to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) for his intercession in redeeming the existential chaos that we are stuck in today ‘H a s u n at J a m e e-o-K H i s a l e H i’’

The book is divided into three heads comprising 36 pieces of ‘hamd-o-na’at’: (1) ‘Alif Allah’ (‘hamd’– 4), ‘Ya Ayyohal Muzammil ( na at –20) and Ya Ayyohal Mudassir ’ (‘na’at’–12)

Interestingly a Hindko verse collection of the same title by well-known Urdu and Hindko poet Aurang Zeb Hussam Hur (b 1960) was awarded ‘Saeen Ahmad Ali Award’ for the year 2017 by the Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad The consanguinity of the two titles seems to be a mere coincidence Dr Aasi Karnali’s preface to the work amply illustrates not only the thematic aspects of Anwar Jamal’s spiritual verse but also the prime virtues of his style and technique According to him the present collection of the

latter ’s ‘na’at’ is a distinctive addition to the extant na atia literature in Urdu

He perceives in it an aura of the diction and stylistics of ‘na’at’ emanating from its inception and then evolution as a literary genre, to the present times Anwar Jamal’s grasp of the history of Islam coupled with the knowledge of some popular oriental languages and dialects seems to enable him to conceive and compose his religious verse felicitously

As a ‘na’atia’ poet, Anwar Jamal falls in the line of poets like Mohsin Kakorvi, Bahzad Lucknowi Iftikhar Arif Maulana Mahir-ul-Qadri, Iqbal Azeem, Naseeruddin Naseer, Muzaffar Warsi, Hafiz Ludhianvi, Hafeez Ta’ib, Sa’im Chishti, Gauhar Malsiani, Abdul Aziz Khalid, Raja Rashid Mahmood Khurshid Rizvi Dr Aasi Karnali Dr Anwar Mehmood Khalid, Dr Riaz Majeed, Hasan Askari Kazmi, Rashk Turabi, Riaz Hussain Zadi Riaz Hussain Chaudhry et al

‘Gul-e-Sarsabad’ authored by Anwar Jamal published by Sukhan Saraye Publications, Multan

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Imran Khan himself has been convicted for all the crimes for which he sent all his political opponents behind the bars during the last four years she said He was accusing others of wrongd o i n g s w h i c h h e h i m s e l f c o m m i t t e d ,

President Dr Arif Alvi has summoned a session of the Senate on Monday (Dec 12) under Article 54 of the Constitution of Pakistan The session is summoned at 1500HRS in the upper house of the parliament, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release

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s ta f f r e p o r t

N e w a b N o r m a l : C l i m at e d i s a s t e r d a m a g e ‘ d o w N ’ t o $ 2 6 8 b i l l i o N

have smashed records by far, now in some financial measures seems a bit of a break from recent years

tH I S past year has seen a horrific flood that submerged one-third of Pakistan, one of the three costliest US hurricanes on record, devastating droughts in Europe and China a drought-triggered famine in Africa and deadly heat waves all over

Yet this wasn t climate change at its worst With all that death and destruction in 2022, climate-related disaster damages are down from 2021 according to insurance and catastrophe giant Swiss Re That’s the state of climate change in the 2020s that $268 billion in global disaster costs is a 12 percent drop from the previous year, where damage passed $300 billion

The number of US weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage is only at 15 through October and will likely end the year with 16 or 17, down from 22 and 20 in the last two years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration But because of Hurricane Ian, overall damage amounts are probably going to end up in the top three in American history

Weather disasters, many but not all of them turbocharged by human-caused climate change, are happening so frequently that this year s onslaught, which 20 years ago would

Welcome to the new abnormal “We’ve almost gotten used to extremes And this year compared to many years in the past would be considered a pretty intense year, but compared to maybe the most extreme years like a 2017 2020 and 2021 it does look like a slight adjustment down,” said NOAA applied meteorologist and economist Adam Smith who calculates the billion-dollar disasters for the agency

“We’re just getting used to it but that’s not a good way to move into the future Wildfires in the United States weren’t as costly this year as the last couple years, but the Western drought was more damaging than previous years, he said America’s billion-dollar disasters in 2022 seemed to hit every possible category except winter storms: hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, heat waves, hail storms and even a derecho

When it comes to 2022 s financial damages globally and the United States, Ian, which walloped Florida, was the big dog, even though Pakistan s flooding was more massive and deadly In terms of just looking at dollars not people, Ian’s damages eclipsed the drought-triggered African famine that affected more people It also overshadowed river levels in China and Europe that

PML-N plans improving ‘public image’ in Punjab ahead of polls

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to intensify political activities in Punjab with the resolve to provide relief to people before general elections According to details, the PML-N decided to intensify political activities in Punjab while the Punjab leaders expressed their concerns with party leadership in case of early elections The PML-N leaders were of the view that the government should provide relief to the people by reducing prices of electricity, petrol and necessary commodities before the general elections Sources while quoting Punjab members claimed that they would face problems in the constituencies due to rising inflation as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had conducted a full election campaign during the long march The provincial members noted that Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi has released development funds to PTI and PML-Q MPAs, urging the Muslim League leadership to release funds They added that party supremo Nawaz Sharif and vice president Maryam Nawaz should be part of the election campaign S ta f f R e p o R t

OIC boss in Islamabad on

maiden visit

ISLAMABAD: Hissein Brahim Taha, secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), arrived in Islamabad on a three-day visit to Pakistan on Saturday Taking place at the invitation of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the visit is Taha’s first to Pakistan after assuming office in November 2021 the Associated Press of Pakistan said At the airport, Taha, who is accompanied by a five-member delegation, was received by Rizwan Saeed Sheikh Pakistan s permanent representative to OIC, and Farrukh Iqbal Khan, director general of OIC During the visit, Taha would call on Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and also visit the region of Kashmir Separately, meetings with ministers for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, information technology, and commerce are also on his agenda The Foreign Office said that during talks, the secretary-general and the foreign minister would discuss inter alia issues on the agenda of OIC, including the Kashmir dispute, Islamophobia, and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan Pakistan as a founding member of OIC will continue to make efforts to promote Islamic solidarity, unity, and dialogue in the organisation S ta f f R e p o R t

dropped to levels so low it caused power and industrial problems and the heat waves in Europe India and North America that were deadly and record-breaking Smith said NOAA hasn’t finished calculating the damages from Ian yet but there s a good chance it will have more than $100 billion in damage, pushing past 2012’s Superstorm Sandy that swamped New York and New Jersey, ranking only behind 2005’s Katrina and 2017’s Harvey for damaging hurricanes

In the 1980s, the United States would average a billion-dollar weather disaster every 82 days Now it s every 18 days, Smith said That’s not inflation because damages are adjusted to factor that out, he said It’s nastier weather and more development, people and buildings in harm’s way, he said

Globally “if you zoom in the last six years, 2017 to 2022, this has been particularly bad” especially compared to the five years before, said Martin Bertogg, Swiss Re s head of catastrophic peril

“It felt like a regime change, some people called it a new normal,” Bertogg said But he thinks it was more getting back, after a brief respite to a long-term trend of disaster costs steadily rising 5 percent to 7 percent a year US climate envoy John Kerry said the increasing number of disasters makes the case for reducing emissions

“You’re spending money now because we re not doing the things we ought to be doing,” Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press “We’ll be spending a hell of a lot more under much more stringent circumstances than we are today if we don’t move faster ” Not every year has to be a whopper The US got a break in 2019 when there were “only” 14 billion-dollar disasters, NOAA’s Smith said

A growing body of evidence indicates that climate change is increasing the variability as well as the average” of weather disasters, said Stanford University environment director Chris Field, who led a United Nations 2012 report on extreme weather What this means is that in some years we get hit harder than others In other years we

get hit like never before ”

The important thing is that the trend in disasters is increasing,” Field said “And it will continue to increase until we halt the warming

Looking at damages, mostly insured losses, can give a skewed picture because how much a disaster cost depends greatly on how wealthy the area that the disaster hit, less so than the scale of the disaster itself, said Debarati Guha-Sapir, who runs the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium And even more important, these figures are about dollars, not people, and that distorts the true picture, said Guha-Sapir and University of Washington health and climate professor Kristie Ebi

Pakistan urges ac tion to improve governance of seas

UNITED NATIONS

Pakistan has called for urgent action to improve the governance of the oceans as their “sustenance and sustainability” was inextricably linked with the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda

“We need to take urgent action Improving the governance of the oceans and strengthening legal frameworks are essential to preserving international peace and security, inter-connectivity, the blue economy, and the timely achievement of the SDGs,” said Rabia Ijaz second secretary at Pakistan s mission in her statement at a meeting of General Assembly

Pakistan also emphasised the strengthening of legal frameworks to preserve international peace and security, interconnectivity, the blue economy, and the timely achievement of the SDGs The diplomat told the meeting that the world currently faced a global emergency of the Oceans which were under relentless threat from human activities

Sea levels are rising coastal erosion is worsening marine pollution is increasing, marine biodiversity is

rapidly declining, and the Ocean is warmer and more acidic, Ijaz said

Experts say oceans are a neglected area of global governance despite the United Nations’ 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 193 member states agreeing in 2015 to a global goal to sustainably manage and protect marine resources

The diplomat noted that since its inception, UNCLOS has played a fundamental role in promoting legal order and peace in the oceans, as well as ensuring the harmonious and judicious use of ocean resources for all mankind

“Pakistan also attaches great importance to the work of the three bodies established under UNCLOS the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) and the International Seabed Authority (ISA),” Ijaz said She said it was essential to balance the need for resource extraction with the preservation of the marine environment and stressed the need for developing a robust and comprehensive regime for exploitation before the commencement of the mining anywhere in the “area”

She also underlined the need for addressing the

question of the possible hazardous impact on marine ecosystems which necessitated continuous negotiations in “good faith” in light of the best available science

Ijaz said that as the coordinator of the Group of 77 and China for this year, Pakistan appreciated the progress made during the IGC-4 and IGC-5 to finalise the draft treaty under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) and look forward to reconvening of the next session

She stressed the principle of the common heritage of mankind should guide and underpin the new legal regime for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction

She told the meeting the idea of a so-called blue economy recognised the seas and oceans as main drivers of economic development with great potential for innovation and growth

“Pakistan’s interest in the concept emanates from a coastline of over 1000 kilometres an extended continental shelf, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of around 290,000 square kilometres and two major ports Karachi and the newly built deep seaport at Gwadar ” Ijaz said the Indian Ocean offered the promising potential for mutual cooperation and collaboration But geostrategic competition and the pursuit of military dominance by some nations could gravely jeopardise that potential, she added

The diplomat said the international community needed to be cognizant of the fact that any military conflict in South Asia could endanger stability in a region that was critical for global trade and global peace and security “We are also concerned at the politicization of the issues related to the South China Sea The resolutions of the disputes related to the South China Sea are between the countries concerned Those outside the region should respect the negotiations and the process through which the parties concerned wish to resolve their disputes ”

Ijaz reiterated Islamabad was fully committed to the 2030 Agenda, including goal number 14 pertaining to the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and was open to cooperating and collaborating with friendly nations for this purpose

K a s h m i r i s o b s e r ve I nte r n at i o n a l H u m a n R i g ht s D ay

to observe the day

World Human Rights Day was observed on Saturday at both sides of the Line of Control including Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) with unanimous resolve to continue struggle with full vigor for early end of the ongoing massive human rights violations against innocent local population by Indian occupational forces

Special ceremonies were reportedly held in various parts of AJK including in Mirpur division under the auspices of various Human Rights Organizations with the coordination of the members of the civil society

Addressing these ceremonies, speakers emphasized the need of making collective efforts by the international community to ensure the complete protection of human rights all over the world particularly in those areas where the people were being denied their due rights

Speakers called for the measures by the international human rights outfits to move for ensuring the grant of basic human rights in the areas including in the strife-torn Indian held Jammu Kashmir state where the masses comprising all segments of the civil society were being denied their due human rights –including Kashmiris globally-acknowledged birth right to self determination

In Mirpur, a walk by the human rights activists was the hall mark of the day Participants marched through city streets shouting slogans for the vibrant role of international human rights organizations to save innocent people of occupied Jammu & Kashmir from the ongoing and increased Indian reign of state terrorism

Addressing a meeting of senior journalists condemned the continued rather increased human rights violations against the innocent Kashmiris including the media in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir State at the hands of the Indian occupying forces for last 75 years in general and since August 05 2019 in particular

Speakers also vehemently condemned

the brutal tactics to suppress the voice of press in occupied Jammu & Kashmir

They called upon the world community to take immediate notice of the fast increased human rights abuses as well as continued reign of violence unleashed against the innocent people including journalists by the Indian troops in occupied valley

Speakers called upon India to immediately stop the barbarous activities in the occupied state and instead positively respond to resume the result oriented dialogue process with Pakistan in order to ensure the early peaceful resolution of the core issue of Kashmir through grant of the basic human right of self determination to the people of the state committed by the international

community, they added

Speakers reiterated the long standing demand by Jammu & Kashmir people granting them the opportunity to determine their future in accordance with their wishes and United Nations resolutions on Kashmir

They called upon the world community especially the international organizations, claiming to be the champions and custodians of human rights the world over to play a due constructive role for immediate just settlement of the Kashmir issue without further delay

“The international community should realize the gravity of the situation in South Asia and offer their due assistance for early peaceful resolution of this longstanding issue, speakers urged

WASHINGTON t h e a S S o c i at e d p R e S S

MIRPUR (AJK)

S ta f f R e p o R t

W h o i s r e s p o n s i b l e ?

TH E apology to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by The Mail on Sunday and the acquittal of interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in a drug trafficking case both raise the question of what is to be done about such accusations, which could destroy the reputation of an individual Both cases are linked to the accountability process, or rather its misuse Mr Sharif stood accused by the story of The Mail On Sunday of having embezzled aid for flood victims while Punjab CM The settlement of the case by The Mail on Sunday taking down the story from its website, and issuing an apology to Mr Sharif is good news not just for him, but for the country as a whole because he has become PM and there is now no excuse of that story to deny aid for this year ’s floods Rana Sana was finally acquitted by a special court in Lahore of possession of 15 kg of heroin for which he was arrested in July 2019 He was acquitted because of a lack of evidence, with an anti- narcotics Force assistant director and an anF inspector submitting affidavits saying that they had not witnessed any recovery when Rana Sanaullah’s car had been stopped Rana Sanaullah had already made bail in the case, when evidence could not be produced against him

Both cases have in common the readiness to accuse without sufficient evidence They also show the impunity of those who bear false witness The person ‘credited’ with fomenting the story against Mr Sharif, PM s interior adviser and PTi s accountability czar, Shahzad akbar, is nowhere to be seen Similarly, Shehryar afridi who was the Minister of State in charge of anti-narcotics, who had sworn on the Quran in the national assembly, that he had evidence of Rana Sanaullah’s wrongdoing is also nowhere to be seen also common to both cases was the desire to lay the accusation, false or true, for political purposes

Politicians are both victims and instigators, depending on whether they are in power or not it must not be forgotten that their principal stock-in-trade is their repute, and its being damaged is as painful as actually being convicted or punished They must make necessary tweaks to the law so that such political misuse of the law becomes impossible The law already provides for the punishment of those making false accusations; there is a need to operationalize it so that this particular abuse is stopped

W h y t o u c h t h e h o r n e t ’ s n e s t

The amendments to the NAB law were person-specific

Senate passed the Elections (amendment) Bill 2022 and the national accountability (Second amendment) Bill 2021, with an aim to bring the necessary reforms the coalition parties had promised Under the amended law it renders the body toothless to prosecute white collar crime by the public office holders

lic institutions, hinders economic development and has a disproportionate impact on the enjoyment of human rights, particularly by people that belong to marginalised or disadvantaged groups

In d i a c o n t i n u e s t o t r y t o i n c r e a s e tension through anti-Pakistan statements and in the past few days the i n d i a n d e f e n c e M i n i s t e r, R a j n a t h S i n g h , h a s o n c e a g a i n t h r e a t e n e d Pakistan Gen Syed asim Munir the new Chief of the Pakistan army, while responding to his controversial statements regarding the occupation of Gilgit-Baltistan and a z a d J a m m u a n d K a s h m i r, h a s m a d e i t clear in a very open manner that the Paki s t a n a r m y h a s t h e a b i l i t y t o i n v a d e a n d kill enemies in case of aggression, and if w a r i s i m p o s e d , w e w i l l n o t o n l y d e f e n d the motherland but also take the fight to the enemy’s territory it is not the first time that india has used rhetoric against Pakistan india keeps trying such clever tactics from time to time and every time it is met by facing shame but there is no let-up in the boldness and stubbornness of the indian government india which has not stopped its behaviour despite inflating its anger many times and continues

AS the news go by, the anti-graft watchdog greenlights unfreezing of assets of an infamous personality who was escorted in State-owned aircraft alongside the Prime Minister of Pakistan, earlier this year, with investors pinning hope on daronomics oft repeated under the name of accomplished writers who know far more of the economy than this laymanish effort by the scribe to resurrect the cash-strapped economy of Pakistan it stood in stark contrast to the low-key welcome after being crowned as an absconder in a corruption case filed before the national accountability Bureau, in 2017, paradoxically, albeit the trial Court managed to record statements of 42 witnesses in absentia, until recently this week the Court ordered the release of frozen assets a Vernerian Professor of English Law at Oxford, a man of his time, a V dicey, and his dismissive references to such tweaks, now finds few adherents: a land of settled government, a land of just and old renown, Where freedom slowly broadens down From precedent to precedent (You ask me, why ) Mukhtaran Mai stood tall Gang-raped and paraded naked in public 21 years ago on the orders of a village council, Mukhtaran Mai became the symbol of resistance and courage in Pakistan when she raised voice against the brutality accountability refers to the processes, norms, and structures that hold the population and public officials legally responsible for their actions and that impose sanctions if they violate the law it is essential if systemic threats to the rule of law are to be corrected Lately, the incumbent government soon after coming into power had made amendments to the naB (Second amendment) Bill in order to further clip the wings of the Bureau as the Court ordered that the case was beyond scope and jurisdiction after the tweaks were made in the law

You and your deductive reasoning Earlier this year, the national assembly and the

The recent amendments take away the president s power to appoint the Chairman of the Bureau and instead made the Federal Government the appointing authority, thus making the Bureau subservient to the ruling elite The amendments operate to pre-emptively exonerate the holders of public office and their coconspirators from the offences of corruption and corrupt practices with which they stood charged in multiple references, protect them from being prosecuted for such offences involving malversation of national wealth, state assets and public money in future and failed to secure these for the welfare and benefit of the people in gross disregard of the sacred trust reposed in these holders of public office by the people of Pakistan nonetheless, moving on, a joint session of Parliament approved the national accountability (Second amendment) Bill, 2021, in June this year

The core of the existing principle is, i suggest, that all persons and authorities within the State, whether public or private, should be bound by and entitled to the benefit of laws publicly made, taking effect in the near future and be publicly administered in the courts My formulation owes much to a V dicey, but i think it also captures the fundamental truth propounded by the great English philosopher John Locke in 1690, that wherever law ends, tyranny begins amidst the glaring examples most of the amendments made in the naO 1999 are person-specific, and as such, the amendment are designed to dissuade such persons from speaking the truth as per their conscience and, constitutes an unreasonable restriction on a person s fundamental right to freedom of expression envisioned in article 19 of the Constitution whereas beyond borders, it is now an offence, under the amended act, to give or offer an undue advantage to another person with the intention to induce or reward, a public servant to improperly perform a public duty Corruption is rightly called as one of the most insidious social phenomena it erodes the trust in pub-

Whereas as captivating as it sounds the preamble of the amended law aims at eradicating corruption, corrupt practices and hold5ng accountable all those persons accused of such practices The government’s decision to steer the legislation into law was vehemently condemned by the legal community and public at large Vested interests and corruption have hampered the efforts to deinstitutionalize persons and institutions

The changes made in the prevailing law have failed to bring within its ambit, corrupt practices among private entities inter se and illegal gratification given to foreign officials to truncate the scope of triable offences from within its ambit More so, after the introduction of Section 18C now the naB chief is required to conduct an inquiry into any case filed under naO 1999 and shall make the report available to the accused before an investigation is launched perhaps making it amenable to challenge in the courts of law which would frustrate and hamper the investigation of cases in a non-partisan manner with no axe to grind

The hallmarks of a regime which flouts the rule of law are all too familiar; the midnight knock on the door, the sudden disappearance, the shor t trial, the subjection of prisoners to genetic experiments, confession extracted by tor ture, the gulag and the concentration camp, the guest chambers, the practice of genocide or ethnic cleansing, the waging of aggressive war.

The list is endless

Historical incidents of corrupt practices and modern theories of regulation of economic behaviour might evoke a sense of fascination, but there can be no doubt that in modern business and commerce corruption has a devastating and crippling effect The public entertains a range of views not all consistent (one minute they are senile and out of touch the next the very people to conduct a detailed and searching inquiry; one minute port gorged dinosaurs imposing savage sentences on hapless miscreants the next wishy-washy liberals unwilling to punish anyone properly for anything although often unfavorable)

The hallmarks of a regime which flouts the rule of law are all too familiar; the midnight knock on the door, the sudden disappearance, the short trial, the subjection of prisoners to genetic experiments confession extracted by torture, the gulag and the concentration camp, the guest chambers, the practice of genocide or ethnic cleansing, the waging of aggressive war The list is endless

P a k i s t a n i s d e t e r m i n e d t o r e t a l i a t e

its rhetoric against Pakistan However this time army Chief General asim Munir has given such a blunt answer that after it india will never dare to cast its greedy eyes on azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan

The work of the armed forces of the country is to fight and the Pakistan army Chief will also converse about fighting whilst peace, diplomatic solutions and negotiations are the responsibility of the political leadership Pakistan can compete with india in terms of defence capability The strategic balance is in Pakistan’s favour rather than the number of soldiers and the pile of weapons, also General asim Munir has determined his priorities after taking office He is paying full attention to the professional capacity of the army by separating it from political affairs it is worthy of satisfaction that the Chief of the Pakistan army is always ready to deal with any external aggression but the political chaos and division that has been going on for a period of time in the country will also have to be overcome because national consensus and unity are needed to defeat the enemy’s ambitions inevitably the country is deeply embroiled in internal conflicts General asim Munir and his team must deal with the political problems caused by the former army Chief while retaining the army away from politics and fighting against conspiratorial enemies like india The nation has placed a lot of hopes on its new army Chief, people supported the army against the anti-national forces yesterday and the nation will

continue to support the army against antinational forces until the end it is to be hoped that the political leadership in these difficult situations would realize the difficulties the country is in and how much the enemy is working to harm the country but the political leadership has no

leisure from their confrontations and tearing down each other They are so busy in implementing actions that they have not even given themselves time to respond to the anti-national statements

The coalition government was expected to give an effective response to the indian defence Minister ’s statements in a political and diplomatic manner, but the issue has been abandoned by condemning it in a weak tone and as much as the nation is sensitive about the security of Pakistan and the issue of Kashmir, the coalition government has not realized this sensitivity That is why army Chief General asim Munir has to give a blunt answer

Pakistan’s message of peace has been misconstrued for a long time and its willingness to negotiate is interpreted as weakness but this time the Pakistan Army Chief ’s blunt response to the controversial statements of the Indian Defense Minister has stirred the public’s sentiments. The nation is welcoming the statement of the new Army Chief. It was very impor tant to get the message out to the Indian government, so that India refrained from creating threats to the neighbouring countries and if it still does not stop such behaviour and the world continues to watch as a spectator, then the whole world will have to bear the consequences along with India.

india is an aggressive country and its ongoing behaviour will not be corrected until it is answered in a regressive manner, so it is necessary to respond to its cowardly statements in a strong and effective manner Unless india sees its interests in danger, the Modi government will not realize the importance of negotiations

Pakistan’s message of peace has been misconstrued for a long time and its willingness to negotiate is interpreted as weakness but this time the Pakistan army Chief ’s blunt response to the controversial statements of the indian defense Minister has stirred the public’s sentiments The nation is welcoming the statement of the new army Chief it was very important to get the message out to the indian government, so that india refrained from creating threats to the neighbouring countries and if it still does not stop such behaviour and the world continues to watch as a spectator then the whole world will have to bear the consequences along with india

Two decisions raise the question of how to stop ‘trial by media’

The writer is a freelance columnist

S a r m a d S at ta r

Yousaf Nizami Editor

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

M A Niazi Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Joint Editor

War of words bet ween Indian D efence M inister and new COAS

M o r a l i t y s u r r e n d e r e d

AM i d S T conflicting reports about the fate of the morality police role in the urban areas of the neighbouring islamic Republic; that of iran, one thing is more than evident that this internal blow to the unique system of governance will continue to haunt it in the short run, the republic might be able to recover from the after effects of the blow; in the long term, the wounds can potentially become an ulcer or cancer to eventually eat up the complete system a s t h i n g s s t a n d , t h e g o v e r n m e n t i t s e l f claims that the law has been held in suspension or abeyance There has been no repeal of the M o r a l i t y P o l i c e L a w W h a t h a s h a p p e n e d i s that it has been put on the backburner for now The opponents of the system; whether within the system and those in the world at large, especially the Western capital s are interpreting it as a victory for the stance of the protesters F r o m t h e s t a n d p o i n t o f t h e We s t e r n g o v e r nm e n t s a n d g i v e n t h e b a c k g r o u n d o f s t r a i n e d geopolitical relationship between iran and the free world, the world is more than happy and content with what it interprets as the repeal of a ‘black law’ in the backdrop of the developments of the last three months and a peek into the mechanics behind the scenes of that society; it has been nothing short of a miracle that one of the most modern societies in the Middle East before the new millennium provided legitimacy to the theocratic system of government for four decades There has been a time when the people were disgruntled over the affairs of the state However, like many other nation states; it has been construed as a normal cycle of protest and readjustment on part of both parties; the nezam (system of governance) and the people who are governed it has never been thought that the nezam will be changed in its entirety Like any other political system, the bet has been to change the dominant political trend through the electoral process The rise of the reform camp and its ability to shake up the 2009 elections; and be able to elect Presidents to the administrations in 2013 and 2017 was indicative of the adjustment within the system d u r i n g a l l t h o s e p e r i o d s ; t h e e c o n o m i c sanctions were never softened on iran; except for the three years between 2015 and 2017, incidentally the reformist era, when the JCPOa allowed post-Revolution iran a rare window to a l l o w t h e w o r l d t o p e e k i n t o i r a n a n d a l s o a l l o w t h e i r a n i a n s t o s o m e w h a t r e n e w t h e i r business relationship with the outside world The crippling sanctions before the finalization of the JCPOa and after its termination had its damaging impact upon the iranian society as well as economy

Cut off from the international payment system nostro ; a move advocated by the United States to bring iran on its knees over presumed nuclear weapon development suspicions or apprehensions; iran has been able to carry on through various payment arrangements despite the fact that pro-West governments, inclusng the Pakistani quasi-democratic-establishment order,

shun any trade with iran With the Pakistani central bank advising the banking industry to include the islamic Republic as a ’dangerous geography , means no opening of letters of credit or other instruments for transactions; it has been india, China, Russia; an independent minded Turkiye and iraq who allowed iran the required breathing space

With 80 percent of the world out of the purview of trade opportunities; it has been a rough ride for the iranians; not just the islamic republic itself; but also the people of the republic Many sanctions apparently slapped to pressure the iranian theocratic establishment; have usually ended up causing more pain to the common iranian

That pain has caused two types of reaction within among the band of diehard supporters of the nezam, the resolve to support the system has increased On the other hand, the people, especially among the urban middle income groups, who have been generally lukewarm supporters of the nezam it was the time to call it a day, and contribute as much as they can into the change or the downfall of the system

The Mahsa amini episode as a matter of fact threw open that section of society in its full force When compared with the pronezam crowd in any objective 360-degree review; numbers on the government side were invariably more; as evident in the public counter-marches along the same streets where a day before people might have torn down ashura banners; the supreme leader s pictures and even dismantled a renowned military hero’s statue in anger

The retreat of the Islamic republic over Hijab in such an international environment is a blow something like , if God forbid tomorrow, Pakistan is asked to surrender nukes. The republic will resurface from the shock in months and years to come . The gamechang ers either way will be , how much the regime is willing to adjust and preser ve; and secondly and most impor tantly; how the public construes the same The barometer for that will be the 2024 Majlis and 2025 Presidential polls. Until then it is going to be a suspense-filled thriller all the way

veal that the women in support of the system too have a good deal of hair visible beneath the scarf That on-ground reality is suggesting that practically the Mahsa amini episode was a stab on oneself as the result of overzealous implementation of the law analyzing the adjustment process in that society a look into the iranian performance in cinema suggests it has not been a doomsday scenario for iranian directors The creative scene might only be one expression; despite the talk of internet outage in the islamic republic; a run through any open source operating system hosting sites and mirrors will reveal that iran is far ahead of techies like Pakistan and india in this regard

However, given the fact that the republic has surrendered to the public will, as is being presumed now and as it has been adjusting; will that readjustment finally dilute the ‘Wilayat Faqeeh’, a physical trigger to do away if the current supreme leader gives in to old age and progressively poor health Or; alternatively, it will survive and readjust still

The ground situation suggests that the Western powers would like the end of the islamic Republic ; as the iranian republic is a living counter-narrative; as were the Soviet and Chinese Marxist regimes in the last century The Russian experiment failed, but the Chinese experiment is giving them a run for their money Therefore in the end the external factors will not allow the internal adjustments to sustain a mix of internal strife fueled by covert support and external military and economic pressure at best suits the world

Exploiting workers

P O V E RT Y stands out as the single largest barrier in the way of achieving a high capitalisation rate of human resource in any country Uplifting the masses is thus the first and the foremost aim of all sane nations

The reality of Pakistan is just the opposite The state itself is the biggest manufacturer of poverty for its people a number of state organisations in the country use hundreds of private security guards and pay them Rs17,000 to Rs18,000 per month for a 12-hour shift for 30 days a month The minimum legal wage as we all know is Rs25 000 for eight hours per day and Rs50,000 for a 12-hour shift The guards also have no social security as they are not registered with the Employees’ Old-age Benefits institution (EOBi) which means they must adopt beggary as their new profession on reaching the age of superannuation

Often state organisations take refuge behind the false argument that these guards are the responsibility of the private security contractors This is utterly incorrect as the law makes it mandatory on the principal employer to ensure compliance with all labour laws

When reputed organisations adopt such illegal poverty promotion practices, they transmit a strong message to others that illegal wages, exploitation and cruelty are acceptable practices in the country

The rulers must stop pampering the rich and should penalise them so that they may ensure that all security guards and sanitation workers in the country get the defined minimum wage as well as EOBi coverage

NAEEM SADIQ KARACHI

Rise and Fall of Nations

T H i S is with reference to the article The One Per Cent Republic (nov 10) in which the former finance minister eloquently identified the eliteincurred ills of Pakistan’s political economy although the writer was not too scathing in highlighting the fault lines, he evaded putting forward practical solutions to the problems for which much of the blame goes to the class from which he comes the one per cent elite One would have expected a former finance minister to also present some workable remedies to such imbedded structural problems

To grasp the workability of Pakistan for a small elite and its failure to deliver to the impoverished, one can invoke ibn Khaldun s cyclical theory of rise and fall of the nations’ by limiting the view to its aspects of political economy ibn Khaldun explained the stages from rise to fall of an empire with every stage demonstrating distinct political, military, economic and, above all elite behaviours Skipping other stages which apparently have been traversed in the last 75 years, our current state of affairs, in the light of that theory, correlates with the last phase and even that has been continuing for more than a couple of decades

States generally feature unbridled elite-consumption, there is breakdown of fiscal discipline, immense decrease in the provision of public goods steep decline in the real value of the currency outsourcing or informalisation of taxation, followed by breakdown of law and order

Things turn uglier when the nation moves from one stage to another till the dynastic kingdoms are taken over by a strong peripheral conquering, nomadic tribe or a foreign power ’; hence restarting the cycle

When ibn Khaldun presented his trend-setting theory, there were, of course no global financial institutions like the World Bank and the international Monetary Fund (iMF), to bail out nation-states from fiscal crises, but for how long can a state look up to foreign hands to rescue it from recurring structural and elite-provoked crisis?

We surely cannot produce another ibn Khaldun, because we, as a nation, are intellectually infertile, but we can at least try to learn from what the visionary said and what history has proven time and again

SALAL AMIN ISLAMABAD

Harassing teachers

R E C E n T LY, the Sindh education department, through the iBa Sukkur testing service, selected thousands of primary and junior elementary school teachers (JESTs) i was also selected under the latter category from Johi taluka of dadu district

indeed, the whole recruitment process was on merit basis Many closed schools were reopened as a result of these appointments, and the government overcame the shortage of teachers in functional schools However, unfortunately, in the name of monitoring of these teachers, certain dishonest members of the department concerned have been harassing the teachers by asking for bribes on a monthly basis; otherwise they are told, they would be targeted

One day, when i was on casual leave, a monitoring assistant visited my school and took down a note that i was absent even though i was on a casual leave, which is my right under the relevant rules and regulations There were other teachers who also faced a similar situation in the district

The following day an associate of that monitoring officer came to me and said that if i pay a ‘monthly amount’ to the said official, my case would be dealt with leniently i told him i was sincere with my profession, and that the officer concerned should also perform his duty honestly all the relevant offices, especially of the chief monitoring officer of dadu district, should take action against such officials and their corrupt associates N A M E w I t H H E L D o N R E Q u E S t D A

Darkness of illiteracy

The question is whether the system is on its way out Or; alternatively on the other hand whether it is open to adjustment The October 3 Tweet by the Supreme Leader s Office that many iranian women who do not observe the ideal Hijab are also supporters of the regime; meant that the leadership was conscious of the undercurrents of change and was willing to accept the same as on face value a run through the pictorial news reports of the counter demonstrations in iran in support of the nezam will re-

The retreat of the islamic republic over Hijab in such an international environment is a blow something like, if God forbid tomorrow, Pakistan is asked to surrender nukes The republic will resurface from the shock in months and years to come The gamechangers either way will be, how much the regime is willing to adjust and preserve; and secondly and most importantly; how the public construes the same The barometer for that will be the 2024 Majlis and 2025 Presidential polls Until then it is going to be a suspense-filled thriller all the way

THE state of education is deplorable in rural areas of Pakistan especially in southern Punjab where there is a dearth of public colleges i am a resident of Ferozepur area in Multan There is only one public college in my village The majority of people work on daily wages Therefore they cannot send their children to private colleges Some parents cannot even afford public colleges

Consequently, the enrolment rate for higher education is low compared to other areas of Punjab Besides the quality of education in southern Punjab is not satisfactory Those who can afford prefer to send their children to Lahore or islamabad to get quality education Others are just left to survive in the darkness of illiteracy The relevant authorities should increase the number of public colleges for boys and girls in the village, and improve the quality of education The locals do deserve a better deal

naqi akbar

Q uestions over rationale of the Islamic Republic

US inTernATionAlizeS irAn’S UnreST

inDian Punchline m K B H A d r A K u m A r

Th

e ongoing unrest in iran since mid-september following the death of a Kurdish woman in police custody shows no signs of abating as of now The unrest has drawn support from all social strata and assumed anti-government overtones The efficacy of suppressing the unrest is doubtful iran is entering a period of turmoil indeed, the government faces no imminent threat but seems cognizant of the imperative need to address the hijab policy to pacify the protestors As the protests continue, many women are walking on the streets of cities across iran especially in Tehran without head coverings

There is a long history of Western countries fueling public unrest in iran Regime change agenda must be there in the western calculus but, curiously, Washington is also signaling interest in reaching an accommodation with Tehran under certain conditions relating to the regime s foreign and security policies in the present international milieu

iran’s Foreign Minister hossein Amirabdollahian stated explicitly on Monday that the United states and a number of other Western countries have incited riots, because “one of the United states’ objectives was to force iran to make big concessions at the negotiating table for the revival of the JCPOA Amirabdollahian’s remark followed some megaphone diplomacy by Rob Malley, the U s special envoy on iran last weekend speaking in Rome Malley connected the dots and outlined the linkages in the matrix he said: “The more iran represses, the more there will be sanctions; the more there are sanctions the more iran feels isolated The more isolated they feel, the more they turn to Russia; the more they turn to Russia, the more sanctions there will be, the more the climate deteriorates the less likely there will be nuclear diplomacy so it is true right now the vicious cycles are all self-reinforcing The repression of the protests

and iran s support for Russia s war in Ukraine is where our focus is because that is where things are happening, and where we want to make a difference ” in effect Malley admitted that the Biden Administration is a stakeholder in the ongoing protests in iran importantly, he also hinted that although iran has taken a series of fateful decisions that make a full revival of the nuclear deal and a lifting of some economic sanctions a political impossibility for now, the door to diplomacy is not shut if only iran s leadership changed course on relations with Russia in further remarks to Bloomberg on saturday, Malley said that “Right now we can make a difference in trying to deter and disrupt the provision of weapons to Russia and trying to support the fundamental aspirations of the iranian people ”

As he put it, Washington now aims to disrupt, delay, deter and sanction” iran’s weapon deliveries to Russia, and any supplies of missiles or assistance in the construction of military production facilities in Russia would be crossing new lines ” in sum, Malley has linked the U s approach toward iran’s protests with Tehran’s foreign and security policies in regard of Russia and its war in Ukraine

The first signs that the U s intelligence was focusing on iran-Russia military ties in tandem with its israeli counterpart, of course appeared in late July, when the U s national security Advisor Jake sullivan made an allegation during a media briefing at the White house that iran wanted to sell weapons-capable unmanned aerial vehicles to Moscow

sullivan claimed that iran was already training Russian personnel in using the drones Within the week, sullivan doubled down on that allegation

The timing of sullivan’s disclosure must be noted carefully coinciding with a visit to Tehran by Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 19 Putin’s talks with the iranian leadership messaged a strategic polarization under way between Moscow and Tehran with far-reaching consequences for regional and international politics

Putin’s discussions ranged from the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and syria to the legality of Western-led sanctions regimes de-dollarization geopolitics of energy, the international north-south Transport Corridor, defense cooperation and so on, anchored on the congruent interests of the two countries on a number of important strategic and normative issues

Following up Putin s discussions iran s armed forces Chief of staff, General Mohammad Bagheri traveled to Moscow in mid-October Gen Bagheri met Russian Defense Minister sergei shoigu which signaled that the military relations between the two countries was acquiring an irreversible momentum

A fortnight after Gen Bagheri s visit Russian security Council secretary nikolai Patrushev came to Tehran to discuss “various issues of Russian-iranian cooperation in the field of security as well as a number of international problems,” according to interfax news agency Russian state media said Patrushev discussed the situation in Ukraine and measures to combat Western interference” in both countries’ internal affairs with his iranian security counterpart Ali shamkhani Patrushev also met with iran s president ebrahim Raisi

Meanwhile, Washington senses that there is disharmony within the iranian establishment on how to handle the protests, and, in turn, this is sharpening the internal iranian debate about the wisdom of growing alliance with Russia vis-a-vis re-engaging with the West in a fresh attempt to revive the nuclear deal

Clearly, Malley’s remarks hinted that amidst the United states’ support for protests in iran, it still remains open to doing business with Tehran if the latter rolls back its deepening strategic partnership with Moscow and refrains from any involvement in the conflict in Ukraine in fact, head of the international Atomic energy Agency Rafael Grossi (who holds Washington’s brief) also chipped in with a remark on Monday that the Un watchdog has no evidence that iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon program implying that the resumption of negotiations in Vienna faces no “systemic” block

That said, Tehran s cooperation with Moscow on foreign and security policy policies is of long-term consequence to iran and there is no question of the iranian leadership putting all its eggs in the American basket For Russia too the partnership with iran is of strategic importance in the conditions of multipolarity significantly, iranian media has reported that iran s nuclear negotiator and deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani visited Moscow last weekend and met his Russian counterpart sergei Ryabkov in Moscow to discuss the prospects of full-scale implementation” of the JCPOA (2015 nuclear deal) “in order to strengthen the

approach of multilateralism and confront unilateralism and adhere to the principles contained in the United nations Charter” as well as the two countries’ “efforts to prevent instrumental political abuse and selective treatment of human rights issues by Western powers ”

The official news agency iRnA later reported from Tehran quoting Bagheri Kani that the two sides reviewed bilateral relations over the past months and created frameworks and mechanisms in agreement with each other for developing relations he mentioned syria, south Caucasus and Afghanistan as areas of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow

Most certainly the latest round of iran-Russia consultations was noted in Washington On saturday, the Director of national intelligence in the Biden Administration Avril haines held out a veiled threat that while iranian leaders may not see the protests as a threat now, they could face more unrest because of high inflation and economic uncertainty she said, We see some kind of controversies even within them about exactly how to respond within the government ”

On the other hand, Bagheri Kani s consultations in Moscow would have taken into account the large-scale U s -israeli air exercises last Tuesday simulating strikes on the iranian nuclear program The israeli military said in a statement that joint flights of four israeli F-35i Adir stealth fighter jets that accompanied four U s F-15 fighter jets through israel s skies simulated an operational scenario and long-distance flights ”

The statement added, “These exercises are a key component of the two militaries increasing strategic cooperation in response to shared concerns in the Middle east, particularly those posed by iran ”

The U s -israeli exercises underscores the criticality in the situation surrounding iran Tehran’s shift to enrichment at 60% causes disquiet in Washington But a military strike on iran is fraught with unpredictable consequences not only for the West Asian region but also the global oil market, which is facing uncertainties due to the U s attempt to put a price cap on Russian oil

The bottom line is that the protests in iran are assuming the proportions of a casus belli The United states has internationalized iran s internal upheaval

Palestine wins the World Cup T o b u i l d a C h i n a - A r a b c o m m u n i t y w i t h a s h a r e d f u t u r e i n t h e n e w e r a

This incident was like a thunderbolt against the Occupation and its supporters while the disappointment was clear in the presenter s facial expressions

Although it was not broadcast on the BBC or any of the globally famous channels, the scene was greatly viewed around the world and it was extensively circulated and more influentially spread on social media platforms

This scene which did not exceed a few seconds, hides behind it many d e t a i l s r e g a r d i n g t h e g l o b a l p o p u l a r i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h t h e i s s u e a n d c o nfirms the superiority of the Palestini a n n a r r a t i v e o v e r t h e o n e o f t h e O c c u p a t i o n a n d a l s o h i g h l i g h t s t h e s t r o n g e ff e c t o f t h e Wo r l d C u p i n Qatar in enhancing this concept and making chants for Palestine as well as r a i s i n g i t s f l a g a g e n e r a l f e a t u r e o f this tournament

The contagious spread of refusing to be interviewed by israeli channels by the fans of Brazil, Japan and other teams is the greatest evidence of the spirit that prevailed at the World Cup in Qatar, and of the impact caused by the enthusiasm of the Arab fans in expressing their belonging to Palestine, to the extent that it became, as described by a Brazilian newspaper the thirty-third team in this world’s most prominent tournament for the most popular and massive sport

The celebration of Morocco’s qualification for the last eight, for the first time in its history turned into a pure Palestinian celebration, not only in Doha or Casablanca, but also in

most of the world’s cities that witnessed great popular celebrations, especially London where the “freedom of Palestine” slogan was chanted in Piccadilly square in the centre of London The live celebration scenes disappointed the Arabs who normalised relations with israel and their Zionists friends while their faces turned dismal when the Moroccan team raised the flag of Palestine after its victory over spain This occurred in conjunction with a conference on education and coexistence in Morocco with the participation of Arab countries together with the Occupying state to demonstrate the benefits of normalisation to the citizens of the region however the answer was practical and firm from inside the tournament of the World Cup by rejecting normalisation in all its forms and isolating the official normalisation from our living peoples who have a clear compass

The illusion that dominated the normalisation current emanated from false accounts on social media platforms This illusion prompted them to lie and to then believe their lie Moreover they believe that there is a real current standing with them while, in fact, it is no more than a mirage that the thirsty see as water and after reaching it, find nothing; rather, he found a nation that put Al-Quds as its only compass

Once again, the matter is not a mere game or a sport that people play Rather it has become a thermometer that indicates the nation’s connection to its central issues even if its voice vanishes sometimes as a result of oppression and the brutality of power, it soon rises in support of Al-Quds, expressing unity and solidarity as soon as it finds an opportunity to do so

This article first appeared in Arabic in Arabi21

PeoPle’s Daily H e Y n

Ch i n e s e President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to saudi Arabia on Dec 8, and will attend the first China-Arab states summit and the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Riyadh upon invitation

Xi and leaders from Arab states are expected to jointly lay out the blueprint for future cooperation usher in a bright future of ChinaArab strategic partnership, chart the course for building a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era and inject confidence and impetus in promoting world peace and development

Xi will attend the inaugural China-Arab states summit This will be the largest and highest-level diplomatic event between China and the Arab world since the founding of the People’s Republic of China as well as an epochmaking milestone in the history of China-Arab relations China and Arab states are important members of the developing world and important political forces in the international community China has all along viewed Arab states as strategic partners in terms of pursuing peaceful development, further cooperation with developing countries and building a community with a shared future for mankind

Over the recent years, the two sides have gradually consolidated political mutual trust and reaped fruitful results in practical cooperation in various fields They have made constant achievements in the high-quality development of the Belt and Road initiative (BRi)

They firmly support each other in safeguarding their core interests and join hands to safeguard the basic norms governing international relations

Changes unseen in a century are accelerating The world has entered a new phase of turbulence and transformation To hold the first China-Arab states summit is a joint strategic decision of both sides to strengthen solidarity and coordination under the current circumstances China and Arab states will send a

strong message about their determination to strengthen solidarity and coordination render each other firm support, promote common development and defend multilateralism

The first gathering of leaders from China and GCC countries will have a profound influence on the development of China-GCC relations The GCC is one of the world s most dynamic regional organizations it plays a positive role in the region and even the world China and GCC countries are good brothers friends and partners that enjoy a high degree of political mutual trust, solid economic and trade cooperation and frequent people-to-people exchanges Their relations, which are healthy, stable, and comprehensively developed, have become a front-runner in China s relations with Arab states and set a good example for cooperation between China and developing countries

China has maintained the largest trading partner of the GCC Last year, two-way trade bucked the trend and surged 44 percent Lifting their relations onto a new level the two sides should cope with the turbulent international situation with their stable relations and promote regional prosperity with their mutually beneficial cooperation

This trip was Xi’s second visit to saudi Arabia in six years it elevated the China-saudi Arabia comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level China and saudi Arabia are good friends, partners and brothers that enjoy mutual trust, win-win cooperation and common development China attaches great importance to the development of China-saudi Arabia relations and puts saudi Arabia at a priority position in China’s overall diplomacy, its diplomacy with the Middle east region in particular

Given the profound and complicated changes in the international and regional situations, the strategic and overarching importance of China-saudi Arabia relations has become more evident

China will continue to promote the synergy between the BRi and saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and forge a high-level cooperation pattern between the two countries in such fields as energy economy and trade as well as high technology, enhance coordination in in-

ternational and regional affairs, and constantly enrich the connotation of the China-saudi Arabia comprehensive strategic partnership security and development have long been two major issues for countries in the Middle east China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign countries in dealing with Middle east affairs, and remained an important constructive force promoting peace in the region and supporting the development of the region

At the opening ceremony of the eighth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab states Cooperation Forum Xi proposed the two sides to together pursue common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, which has offered an important method to tackle the security dilemma in the Middle east

The China-proposed Global security initiative is of great significance for promoting peace and stability in the Middle east it has been widely recognized and supported by Arab states

The Global Development initiative (GDi) which is also proposed by China, has been supported by 17 Arab states, and 12 have joined the Group of Friends of the GDi

Chin will work with Arab states to implement the GDi, help the latter improve livelihood and their capability of independent development, and assist Arab countries in achieving the goals of the Un 2030 Agenda for sustainable Development China and Arab states are actively exploring a governance path for the Middle east that promotes peace through development, which will help the region achieve long-term peace and stability

Under new historical conditions, China and Arab states need to reinforce cooperation, tide over difficulties and march forward together more than ever Taking the visit as a new starting point, China will definitely work with Arab states to further carry forward their traditional friendship, deepen their all-round, multilevel and wide-ranging cooperation, and build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era, so as to benefit the people of both sides, promote solidarity and cooperation among developing countries and jointly safeguard international peace and development

M K Bhadrakumar is a former Indian diplomat

MALLE Y’S REMARKS HINTED THAT AMIDST THE UNITED STATES’ SUPPORT FOR PR OTESTS IN IR AN, IT STILL REMAINS OPEN TO DOING BUSINESS WITH TEHR AN IF THE L AT TER R OLLS B ACK ITS DEEPENING STR ATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH MOSCOW AND REFR AINS FR OM ANY INVOLVEMENT IN THE CONFLIC T IN UKR AINE

MiDDle east Monitor/ arabi21

A d n A n H m i dA n

An english fan with blue eyes and blond hair chanted “freedom for Palestine on an israeli channel during a live broadcast

corporate corner

BRI aIms at shaRIng fRuIts of ChIna’s development wIth developIng woRld: lI BIjIan

have joined hands with China to debunk the fake propaganda distinguishing false from truth, he added

CH I N E S E Consul General Karachi Mr Li Bijian has said that China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims at sharing the fruits of China’s development with the developing world to help create a world community with a shared future for the mankind

Li Bijian, the dynamic and always on the move Chinese Consul General, who is leaving no stone unturned to help out to the flood affectees of Balochistan and Sindh provinces He expressed these views while addressing the participants of a reception held here to confer a special award to recognise the contributions of Pakistani journalists to promote mutual understanding about China in Pakistan

CG Li Bijian giving away award to Mian Abrar, head of news, Pakistan Today

Those awarded included Pakistani journalists, academicians and scholars Award winners included Mian Abrar head of news of daily Pakistan Today

Yasir Habib Khan, Amir Riffat, Agha Masood Hussain, Ali Shabbar Naqvi, Amir Zia, Aneel Ahmed Usmani Farasat Shah Hussain Thebo Iqbal Baloch Iqbal Jamil, Iqbal Nafees Khan, Jawed Ahmed Malik, Majid Chaudhary, Manzar Naqvi, Mubasher Mir,

Mr Asim Ahmad, Secretary Revenue Division / Chairman FBR visited Large Taxpayers

During his meeting

LTO,

FBR reviewed the performance of all Chief Commissioners vis-à-vis targets assigned for the month of December, 2022 Detailed presentations, outlining the projection and strategy for achieving the budgetary target for the current month were given by all Chief Commissioners Inland Revenue The CCIRs also presented workable strategies for achieving the target set for December, 2022 as well as for the 2nd quarter of the Financial Year 2022-23 The Chairman FBR directed all CCIRs to effectively safeguard the revenue and meet the budgetary targets fixed both for the current month and 2nd quarter ending 31st December, 2022 p r

tion of mountainous areas

I s L A m A b A d: To celebrate International Mountain Day 2022, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) in collaboration with Alpine Club of Pakistan and other partner organizations organized a one-day conference on SUSTAINABLE MOUNTAIN TOURISM at Legends HotelIslamabad, on 10 December, 2021 This conference is a part of International Mountain Day celebration on the theme of “Women Move Mountains” Women play a key role in protection of environment and natural resources mountainous areas and social and economic development In the conference, four sessions were held on the themes of “Women Move Mountains”, “Sustainable Mountain Tourism in Pakistan”, “Adventure Tourism in the Mountain Areas of Pakistan and “Challenges and Prospects of Mountaineering in Pakistan” in which guests speakers shared their expert opinions on the important role play by the women as the primary managers of mountain resources, guardians of biodiversity, keepers of traditional knowledge, custodians of local culture and experts in traditional medicine and significance of mountains for the wild life and life of humans as well p r

NAV T TC in collaboration with JIC A holds workshop on Teacher Learning Materials

Pakistan Nav y promotes Commodore Hussain S ial to rank of Rear Admiral

KarachI s ta f f r e p o r t

Commodore Muhammad Hussain Sial of Pakistan Navy has been promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral with immediate effect Rear Admiral Muhammad Hussain Sial got commissioned in Pakistan Navy in 1991 The Admiral is a graduate of Pakistan Navy War College Lahore and National Defence University Islamabad and holds Master of Science degree in Sound & Vibration from United Kingdom

The Admiral has an illustrious service career having vast experience of Command and Staff appointments His Com-

mand appointment includes Commandant PNS KARSAZ

His major Staff and field appointments include Director (Projects) MTC North, General Manager PCBRF, General Manager (Technical) MTC South and Deputy Managing Director (Support & Services) at PN Dockyard Presently

Rear Admiral Muhammad Hussain Sial is appointed as Managing Director PN Dockyard, Karachi Rear Admiral Muhammad Hussain Sial is recipient of Sitara-e-lmtiaz (Military)

Maintaining law and order in c apital our first priority, vows SSP operations

Islamabad s ta f f r e p o r t

The Islamabad Capital police have finalized an effective and full proof security planning for the upcoming local bodies elections, Christmas and New Year celebrations Special deployment will be ensured at Churches and public places a police public relations officer said

He said that, following the special directions of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan a high-level meeting presided by SSP Operations Jamil Zafar Malik regarding the foolproof security measures for the upcoming local bodies elections, Christmas and New Year eve which was attended by all Zonal DPOs, SDPOs and SHOs During the meeting it was decided to install walk-through gates at the entrance of main churches of the capital city All the police officers have also been directed to hold special meetings to implement SOPs formed by the government for local bodies elections Make the security for the LBs elections foolproof ” said SSP Operations

He directed the subordinates to carry out

The

In the closing session of the workshop the Executive Director NAVTTC, Mr Sajid Baloch appreciated the efforts and support of (JICA) in bringing the out of school children in the formal education domain p r

“China never had a model of socialist governance system in the world to follow China did not know about the ups and downs of applicability and practicality of social political dispensation China was also unaware of drawbacks and backlash that had to be incurred on the social and economic life of billion of people in China Almost everything from head to toe was unpracticed But China learnt by doing and made a successful story as a trailblazer,” he added

“Let me tell you, he said that all credit goes to the multi-party system of China, in which Communist Party of China (CPC) is at its core, guiding China to proceed with flying colour People-centric vision anchors each and every policy and strategy because people are the only stakeholders deserved to be served, making their lives better, progressive, smooth, and peaceful, he added

He mentioned COVID 19 times as the worst period for China as globally myriad vicious campaigns were launched to demonise Chinese fairness, honesty, and credibility Even now doomsayers are hell-bent to undermine China for their vested interests He said categorically that China will never succumb to any insidiousness as false is always destined to fall and truth triumph over evil

Tarar for regulation of housing sec tor to c urb mushrooming of housing societies

Islamabad Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar has stressed the need of proper regulation of the housing sector to curb the unplanned growth of housing societies He said that despite multiple laws, unorganized growth of housing societies is on the rise which is not a good trend and added that instead of helping in regulation, multiple laws are creating confusion He emphasized that regulated activity in the housing sector is important to meet the growing housing needs of people He said that the Federal Capital should be developed into a model city for the future generations He assured to fully cooperate with ICCI in amending the building byelaws for commercial and industrial buildings to cater to the needs of current business requirements He lauded the initiative of the Ministry of Housing & Works and Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry for organizing the 1st International Housing EXPO to bring all stakeholders to one platform He expressed these views during his visit to the 1st International Housing EXPO at Jinnah Convention Centre, Islamabad He visited the stalls of the EXPO and appreciated the products and projects displayed at the occasion Speaking at the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that the building byelaws of CDA were made many years ago and are not helping in construction of commercial and industrial buildings as per need of the current times He stressed that the government should cooperate in amending and upgrading these byelaws to meet the needs of current businesses He also invited the Federal Minister for Law & Justice to ICCI, which was accepted by Azad Nazeer Tarar Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Works said that the agricultural land is being converted into housing societies, which should be a cause of concern He stressed that this trend should be discouraged and vertical constructions should be encouraged through policy measures for optimum use of land

National seminar to commemorate Human Rights Day held at I I u I

staff report

The Human Rights Day themed as Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for all was marked with a National Seminar at the female campus of the International Islamic University (IIUI) that was held in collaboration with Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights (PCHR)

The Chief Guest of this event was

Court of Pakistan Mr Syed

u h a m m a d A n w a r, C h i e f J u s t i c e

e d e r a l S h a r i a t C o u r t M u h a m m a d Talha Mehmood Federal Minister for SAFRON, Ms Kashmala Khan, Fede r a l O m b u d s m a n F O S PA w a s t h e G u e s t o f H o n o u r T h e o t h e r d i g n i -

wards the protection of human rights

He opined that academic institutions can play a pivotal role in disseminating awareness for protection of human rights Mr Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Chief Guest of this event during his speech identified that human rights are recognized as the fundamental rights in the constitution of

Pakistan Despite the fact that Article 25 gives the right of education to both boys and girls, over 1000 attacks over educational institutions of Pakistan were committed in three years

He opined that Islam is inclusive and non-discriminatory religion He opined that Ignorant men dominate women, the Holy Quran says men are protectors of women He said Islam is the best example of giving dignity freedom and justice to the humanity, irrespective of their cast, creed, and color Dr Syed Muhammad Anwar Chief Justice Federal Shariat Court urged that the universal declaration of human rights is a comprehensive draft having 30 articles is recognized by the constitution of Pakistan as well

Muhammad Zubair Uddin, Mjahid Barelvi, Mukhtar Ahmed Butt Rasheed Jamal Riaz Andy Rida Aaifee, Sajjad Ahmed, Sami Ullah Vohra, Shahida Wizarat, Shama Munshi, Sirajuddin Aziz, Syed Arfeen Syed Hassan Habib Syed Hasan Javed Syed Nasim Haider Naqvi, Syed Saad Ahmed, Syed Zaigham Hussain, Tallat Wizarat, Wamiq Zuberi, Wasif Shakil and Zahid H Karani Consul General Li Bijian said that awardees are vanguards of China-Pakistan friendship as through their diverse medium of communications and expressions, they are exerting their energies to sensitise people of Pakistan about China’s peaceful image, its working style and relationship its philosophy and vision Given the mind-polluting environment highly poisoned by misinformation and disinformation, they

Int ’l Mountain D ay celebrated with emphasis on women role for protec

FBR chairman visits LTO and Customs House in K arachi

Office (LTO) and Customs House Karachi on Saturday

at

Chairman

Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted a three day workshop at NAVTTC HQs Islamabad, to review the Teacher Learning Materials (TLMs) of seven selected trades of Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) Middle Tech The participants carried out detailed discussion to bring the current TVET education system in line with the requirements of the marketplace, in order to prepare the workforce in line with current market requirements TLMs for Dress Making, Applied Electrician Introduction to Tourism fundamentals of cooking Agriculture, Graphic Designing and Plumbing were reviewed by relevant Trade Experts , DACUM Experts, National Curriculum Council and NAVTTC representatives during the workshop The participants provided valuable suggestions to further uplifting TVET sector

LAHORE: National Assembly Speaker Raja Pevaiz Ashraf speaks at a reception organized in his honor by PPP leader

Asghar Bhatti staff photo

search operations across the capital city to ensure security and to flush out suspects and hard-core criminals Extra police force to be deployed to avoid any untoward incident, he said adding that security should also be ramped up on New Year night

Eagle Squads should be made more effective and operational Strict action should be taken against those found involved in aerial firing in the city, he said Snap checking and search operations are need of time to strengthen the security SSP Operations Jamil Zafar Malik asked the police officers to tighten noose around the drug peddlers and make concrete efforts to wipe out the menace of narcotics from the city

Islamabad s ta f f r e p o r t

C h I n a - a r a b S U M M I t C a r r I e S t r a d I t I o n a l F r I e n d S h I p, F o S t e r S C o M M U n I t y w I t h S h a r e d F U t U r e

RIYADH m i A n A b r A r

tHE first China-Arab States Summit was held successfully on Friday in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and more than 10 Arab leaders The event, which was an opportunity to bring China-Arab relations to new heights, to elaborate on the spirit of China-Arab friendship, to strengthen future cooperation and to further foster a closer China-Arab community with a shared future, has yielded fruitful results elaborating on China-arab friendship: Xi elaborated on the spirit of China-Arab friendship featuring solidarity and mutual assistance equality and mutual benefit, and inclusiveness and mutual learning, saying that solidarity and mutual assistance are distinct features of the ChinaArab friendship, adding that China and Arab countries trust each other and have forged a brotherly friendship

Enjoying a long history of friendly exchanges, China and Arab states have come to know and befriend each other through the ancient Silk Road, shared weal and woe in their respective struggles for national liberation conducted win-win cooperation in the tide of economic globalization, and upheld fairness and justice in the changing international environment Xi said adding that all these nurtured the spirit of China-Arab

friendship Equality and mutual benefit are constant drivers for their friendship, he said, noting that China and Arab states have set an example for South-South cooperation in pursuing mutually beneficial collaboration Chinese President Xi Jinping and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia at Riyadh s al-Yamamah Palace in Saudi Arabia, December 8, 2022 /Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia at Riyadh s al-Yamamah Palace in Saudi Arabia, December 8, 2022 /Xinhua

Inclusiveness and mutual learning are key values inherent in their friendship, he said, stressing that China and Arab states keep drawing wisdom from each other ’s time-honored civilizations, and jointly pro-

mote “peace, harmony, integrity, and truth,” the very essence of civilization seeking Common development: Over the years, China and the Arab world have jointly pursued productive common development through mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields China and Arab states should focus on economic development and promote winwin cooperation Xi said stressing that they should strengthen synergy between their development strategies, and promote highquality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

The two sides have established 17 cooperation mechanisms under the framework of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Over the past decade, trade has grown by $100 billion with the total volume exceeding $300 billion China’s direct investment in Arab states was up by 2 6 times in the period with the stock of investment reaching $23 billion, and over 200 BRI projects have been carried out, benefiting nearly 2 billion people of the two sides

“We are pleased to see the decision by the summit to build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era and to formulate the Outline of the Comprehensive Cooperation Plan Between China and Arab States laying out the blueprint for future China-Arab relations,” Xi said China-Arab summit carries forward traditional friendship fosters closer community

Bangladesh opposition mounts huge protest; MPs quit

DHAKA Ag e n c e s

Nearly 100,000 supporters of Bangladesh’s main opposition party descended on Dhaka Saturday to protest against the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and demand new elections Sheikh Hasina is a vote thief they chanted at the Golapbagh sports ground where the rally was held as the crowd spilled into surrounding streets

A l l s e v e n o p p o s i t i o n B a n g l a d e s h N a t i o n a l i s t P a r t y ( B N P ) M P s a nnounced their resignations from parliament at the event, which will leave the l e g i s l a t u r e l a rg e l y a r u b b e r s t a m p Hasina s party already had more than a two-thirds majority Western governments and the United Nations have expressed concerns over the political climate in Bangladesh It is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia but the Ukraine war has forced the government to suspend gas

and diesel imports while power cuts and fuel price hikes have triggered demonstrations in recent months

The Bangladeshi taka has depreciated by up to 25 percent, driving up the cost of food imports and hitting poor and lower middle class people

Autorickshaw driver Russel Miah joined the rally to express anger at rising prices of food and other commodities which he said had left him struggling to provide his family with three meals a day I am a victim of oppression he said I came here today to protest against the people who are responsible for my current situation

None of Bangladesh’s half-dozen television news stations carried live coverage of the event, raising suspicions authorities had pressured them not to A BNP official claimed that hundreds of thousands of people had joined the rally by mid-morning “Our main demand is Sheikh Hasina resign and parliament is dissolved and let

Muslim terror accused languishing in Indian jail for nine years sans trial

A M u s l i m m a n M a n z a r I m a m h a s b e e n l a n g u i s h i n g i n a n I n d i a j a i l f o r t h e l a s t n i n e y e a r s o v e r a l l e g a t i o n s o f t e r r o r i s m B u t t h e m a t t e r i s y e t t o c r o s s t h e f i r s t s t a g e o f t h e t r i a l , w h i c h i s f r a m i n g o f c h a rg e s a g a i n s t h i m T h e s e c o n d s t a g e o f t h e t r i a l , w h i c h i s t h e e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e w i t n e s s e s , w o u l d c o mm e n c e o n l y a f t e r t h e c o u r t d e c i d e s o n f r a m i n g t h e c h a rg e s I m a m w h o h a i l s f r o m R a n c h i t h e c a p i t a l o f t h e I n d i a n s t a t e o f J h a r k h a n d , w a s a r r e s t e d b y I n d i a ’s d r e a d e d N a t i o n a l I n v e st i g a t i o n A g e n c y ( N I A ) i n A u g u s t 2 0 1 3 d u r i n g t h e C o n g r e s sl e d U PA g o v e r n m e n t a n d b o o k e d u n d e r v a r i o u s s e c t i o n s o f t h e d r a c o n i a n a n t i - t e r r o r U n l a w f u l A c t i v i t i e s ( P r e v e n t i o n ) A c t ( U A PA ) , a n d t h e I n d i a n P e n a l C o d e ( I P C ) A g o l d m e d a l i s t i n U r d u I m a m w a s 2 4 - y e a r- o l d w h e n h e w a s a r r e s t e d H e i s n o w 3 3 - y e a r- o l d A b u B a k a r S a b b a q , w h o i s r e p r e s e n t i n g I m a m i n t h e c o u r t , t o l d t h e m e d i a t h a t t h e y h a d f i l e d a b a i l a p p l i c a t i o n i n t h e D e l h i H i g h C o u r t b u t t h e h i g h c o u r t a s k e d h i m t o g o t o a N I A c o u r t T h e b a i l a p p l i c a t i o n w a s r e j e c t e d b y t h e N I A c o u r t i n N o v e m b e r t h i s y e a r T h e y a r e n o w p r e p a r i n g t o g o t o t h e h i g h c o u r t a g a i n h e s a i d C o m m e n t i n g o n t h e m e r i t o f t h e c a s e , S a b b a q s a i d , t h e r e i s n o w i t n e s s a n d e v i d e n c e w h i c h c a n c o n n e c t M a n z a r I m a m b u t n e i t h e r i s m e n t i o n e d i n t h e c h a rg e s h e e t W h e n i t c o m e s t o t r i a l i n t h e n i n e y e a r s , a rg u m e n t s o n c h a rg e s h a v e b e e n c o n c l u d e d e i g h t t i m e s B u t n o o r d e r s w e r e p a s s e d b e c a u s e e a c h t i m e t h e j u d g e w h o r e s e r v e d t h e v e r d i c t g o t t r a n s f e r r e d b e f o r e h e o r s h e c o u l d p r o n o u n c e i t , h e s a i d I n I m a m ’s c a s e , c h a rg e s h e e t s w e r e f i l e d f o u r t i m e s i n 2 0 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 a n d 2 0 1 6 T h e r e w e r e 11 j u d g e s , 1 3 3 c o u r t h e a r i n g s a n d e i g h t d a t e s o f i n c o n c l u s i v e a rg u m e n t s o n c h a rg e s i n t h e l a s t n i n e y e a r s H o w e v e r, t h e t r i a l d i d n o t c r o s s t h e f i r s t s t a g e

a neutral caretaker government step in to hold a free and fair election,” spokesman Zahiruddin Swapan told AFP

A senior security officer speaking on condition of anonymity estimated the crowd at up to 80,000 people

There had been no violence so far but SWAT teams, counter-terrorism units and canine squads were on standby, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruq Ahmed ‘We Want freedom’

Tension was high in the capital after security forces stormed the BNP headquarters on Tuesday, leaving at least one person dead and scores injured

Two of the party’s top leaders were arrested on Friday on charges of inciting the violence, adding to the roughly 2,000 activists and supporters the party said had been detained since November 30 to try to prevent the rally from going ahead

The opposition has been holding protests around the country and Hasina has rejected outright their demands for

her resignation and an election under a caretaker government Police set up checkpoints on routes into Dhaka and security was tight across the sprawling metropolis of 20 million people on Saturday Another police officer said up to 3 000 policemen were deployed outside the rally ground to ensure security

Only a handful of cycle rickshaws and cars plied Dhaka’s normally congested roads, with BNP officials accusing the government of triggering an unofficial transport strike to try to prevent people from joining the rally

The country s leading Bengali daily newspaper Prothom Alo said ruling party student cadres beat at least 10 BNP supporters, searched their mobile phones and handed them over to police

Mohammad Alamgir, a businessman who travelled from the southern island of Bhola to attend the protest, said: “I don’t support any political party We want freedom from the current situation

US warns as Russia, Iran move toward full defence ‘par tnership’

The Biden administration is accusing Russia of moving to provide advanced military assistance to Iran, including air defense systems, helicopters and fighter jets, part of deepening cooperation between the two nations as Tehran provides drones to support the war in Ukraine White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday cited US intelligence assessments for the allegations, saying Russia was offering Iran “an unprecedented level of military and technical support that is transforming their relationship into a full-fledged defence partnership ” Kirby said Russia and Iran were considering standing up a drone assembly line in Russia for the Ukraine conflict, while Russia was training Iranian pilots on the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter and Iran could receive deliveries of the plane within the year “These fighter planes will significantly strengthen Iran’s air force relative to its regional neighbours Kirby said

The US allegations are part of a deliberate effort by the US to drive global isolation of Russia, in this case, targeted at Arab nations who have looked to contain Iran’s regional malevolence and who have not taken a strong stance against Russia s invasion of Ukraine

Earlier this year, the Biden administration accused Saudi Arabia of siding with Russia in the conflict by shepherding cuts by the OPEC+ cartel to boost the price of oil, crucial to funding Moscow’s war effort Saudi Arabia and Iran have

been on opposite sides of a yearslong proxy war in Yemen Kirby said the arms transfers were in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and that the US would be “using the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt these activities ”

Concerns about the deepening and a burgeoning defense partnership” between Russia and Iran come as the Biden administration has repeatedly accused Iran of assisting Russia with its invasion of Ukraine

The administration says Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russia over the summer Kirby on Friday reiterated the administration’s belief that Iran is considering the sale of hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia but acknowledged that the US doesn’t have “perfect visibility into Iranian thinking on why” the deal hasn’t been consummated

Britain s UN ambassador Barbara Woodward on Friday accused Russia of attempting to obtain more weapons from Iran, including hundreds of ballistic missiles, in return for an unprecedented level of military and technical support” to Tehran

“We are concerned that Russia intends to provide Iran with more advanced military components, which will allow Iran to strengthen their weapons capability,” she said “So it is imperative that the truth about Iran s supply to Russia is exposed, and is investigated by the UN as soon as possible ”

At a UN Security Council meeting called by Russia to assess the impact of Western weapons pumped into Ukraine, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia again denied that Iran is supplying weapons to Ukraine

with shared future Fostering closer ChinaArab community with shared future

As strategic partners, China and Arab states should carry forward the spirit of China-Arab friendship, strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and foster a closer ChinaArab community with a shared future, so as to deliver greater benefits to their peoples and advance the cause of human progress, Xi said

China and Arab states should stay independent and defend their common interests, Xi said adding that China supports Arab states in independently exploring development paths suited to their national conditions and holding their future firmly in their own hands

China is ready to deepen strategic mutual trust with Arab states and firmly supp o r t e a c h o t h e r i n s a f e g u a r d i n g s o v e r e i g n t y, t e r r i t o r i a l i n t e g r i t y a n d n ational dignity Xi said noting that the two sides should jointly uphold the principle of non-interference in other countries intern a l a ff a i r s p r a c t i c e t r u e m u l t i l a t e r a l i s m and defend the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries

I n 2 0 1 4 X i f i r s t p r o p o s e d b u i l d i n g a China-Arab community of common interests and a community of common destiny a t t h e s i x t h m i n i s t e r i a l c o n f e r e n c e o f t h e C h i n a - A r a b S t a t e s C o o p e r a t i o n F o r u m T h e p r o p o s a l w a s w a r m l y w e l c o m e d b y Arab countries

Former US police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s back sentenced

WASHINGTON

A former Minneapolis police officer was sentenced to 3-1/2 years in prison for his involvement in the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died under the knee of another officer in May 2020 triggering nationwide protests against police brutality and racism The officer, J Alexander Kueng, pleaded guilty in October to a single-state count of aiding and abetting manslaughter He appeared for the sentencing hearing in Hennepin County District Court through a video link from a federal prison in Ohio, where he is serving a 2-1/2- to 31/2-year sentence on federal charges stemming from Floyd s death Kueng who will serve both sentences concurrently, was given credit for 84 days already served He was one of four officers who were called to a Minneapolis grocery store on May 25, 2020, and tried to take Floyd into custody on suspicion that he used a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes During the encounter the senior officer on the scene, Derek Chauvin, pinned the handcuffed Floyd’s neck to the ground with a knee for over nine minutes causing his death Kueng 29 and fellow officer Thomas Lane helped Chauvin restrain Floyd, while another officer, Tou Thao, kept bystanders from approaching the scene Kueng’s sentencing represents a taste of justice for the Floyd family, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said in a statement While the family faces yet another holiday season without George, we hope that moments like these continue to bring them a measure of peace, knowing that George s death was not in vain,” Crump said Kueng declined to make a comment at the hearing His attorney, Thomas Plunkett, sought to deflect some blame from Kueng, saying his client was a rookie on his third day on the job at the time of the incident Plunkett instead pointed to Minneapolis police leadership, including former Chief Medaria Arradondo “They failed Mr Keung, they failed Mr Floyd and they failed the community, Plunkett said Justice has become nothing more than mean-spirited revenge ” Demonstrations and, at times, riots erupted across Minneapolis after the incident A disturbing video of Floyd’s final minutes circulating on social media helped spark demonstrations across the nation and in large cities around the globe Chauvin was convicted of murder in a state trial and sentenced to 22-1/2 years He also pleaded guilty to related federal charges and is serving a federal sentence of 21 years concurrently The three other officers were convicted in federal court of depriving Floyd of his civil rights and sentenced in July to between 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 years in prison Kueng’s plea agreement on the state charge includes a sentence of 3-1/2 years to be served concurrently with his three-year federal sentence, a spokesperson for Hennepin County District Court said in October Lane accepted a similar plea deal in May Thao who rejected a comparable agreement in August, has decided to waive his right to a jury trial Instead, a state judge will determine his guilt based on evidence submitted jointly by prosecutors and the defense

NEW DELHI Ag e n c i e s

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

E n g l a n d E d g E s a h E a d a s Pa k i s ta n s t r u g g l E s i n s E c o n d t E s t m at c h

and

ing by

on 73 from 106, his third score of real substance of this breakthrough tour

ENGLAND leads the second test with an overall lead of 281 runs over Pakistan as second day of second test match came to an end What s a team to do when its plans for dominance come to fruition too soon? After their toil for wickets in Rawalpindi, interspersed with manic bursts of batting that bought them time to turn the screw, England found themselves in the polar opposite scenario on the second day in Multan

The day dawned with an eight-wicket surge in the morning session that was beyond their wildest dreams and after that came two sessions of batting consolidation – or at least the closest thing that this highoctane line-up can muster featuring a brace of even-tempo-ed half-centuries from Ben Duckett and Harry Brook, two wildly illjudged run-outs from Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, and a further burst of wickets for the mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed that took his debut tally to ten and counting

The upshot was, that by the close of day two, England had the match – and the series – at their mercy on a surface that promises only to get more challenging as the contest unfolds After bowling Pakistan out for 202 on the stroke of lunch a lead of 79, England had extended their advantage to 281 with five wickets remain-

O v e r a l l E n g l a n d p r e s s e d a l o n g a t a p u r p o s e f u l r a t e o f 4 1 2 a n o v e r, f a s t e r t h a n a n y o f P a k i s t a n ’s t h r e e i n n i n g s o f t h e s e r i e s t o d a t e b u t t h e i r p r o g r e s s w a s s t i l l s i g n i f i c a n t l y m o r e w a t c h f u l t h a n t h e i r f i r s t - d a y 2 8 1 h a d b e e n A n d y e t , t o j u d g e b y t h e e a r l y s i g n s o f E n g l a n d s r e p l y, s u c h r e l a t i v e r e t i c e n c e p e r h a p s h a d n ’t b e e n t h e o r i g i n a l g a m e p l a n f o r t h i s s e c o n d i n n i n g s

After Crawley had taken on Abrar ’s arm at mid-on and lost – a fair sign of a team still in a hurry – Will Jacks strode out to bat at No 3, a position in which he had never before batted in first-class cricket Watching on from the Sky Sports studio Stuart Broad speculated that “Lumberjacks” had been promoted to “chop down” the attack but the ploy didn t quite pay off As Abrar entered the attack for the seventh over, he took his match tally to eight wickets with his sixth ball of the innings as Jacks climbed into a slog-sweep and had his stumps rearranged Jack Leach and Ben Stokes celebrate the wicket of Saud Shakeel, Pakistan vs England, 2nd Test, Multan, 2nd day, December 10 2022 Jack Leach and Ben Stokes celebrate the wicket of Saud Shakeel Matthew Lewis/Getty Images At 25 for 2, England were in slight danger of throwing away their morning domi-

nance but Joe Root’s arrival at No 4 signalled a reversion to more traditional tactics in spinning conditions – watchful strike rotation and calm partnership building as he and Duckett carried their third-wicket stand to 54 from 80 balls

After his tour de force in Sri Lanka and India two winters ago, Root’s fluency in spinning conditions is a fairly reliable gauge of the challenge of any given surface And once again, he was not in total command of his brief in making 21 from 35 balls even though it took a stunning piece of reaction fielding at short leg to prise him from the crease Crouched beneath his helmet Abdullah Shafique tracked Root s positioning for a pre-meditated sweep, then grasped the chance straight off the face of the bat in his outstretched left hand inches from the ground

When Brook – Gilbert Jessop’s nemesis at Rawalpindi – opened his latest account with four runs from his first 26 balls, it did seem for a time that England were reformed characters But inevitably that staid tempo wasn’t going to suit Brook for long After drilling Abrar straight back down the ground for his first boundary he picked off a further seven fours and a six in making 69 runs in his remaining 80 balls before the close

At the other end, Duckett too stepped up his urgency, though seeing as his second dexterous fifty of the match had come from a perfectly brisk 68 balls, perhaps he had no

Boland takes three in an over to leave West Indies facing 2nd Test defeat

Scott Boland grabbed three wickets in his opening over to leave a rattled West Indies on 38-4 and facing a heavy defeat in the second Test Saturday as the world’s top-ranked team zeroed in on another victory to seal the series After the visitors were dismissed for 214 on day three of the pink-ball clash in Adelaide, in reply to the hosts 511-7 declared, Australia called time again at 199-6 in their second innings

It left the Caribbean side needing 497 to win but they meekly surrendered under the lights to the line and length of Boland, in the side in place of an injured Pat Cummins He removed Kraigg Brathwaite Shamarh Brooks and Jermaine Blackwood in six siz-

zling balls without conceding a run two caught and one lbw to leave West Indian hopes in tatters Boland, who ended with 3-9, last played in the Ashes campaign on home soil a year ago, snaring an incredible 6-7 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, highlighting the depth of Australia’s bowling stocks Mitchell Starc then enticed a nick from Tagenarine Chanderpaul (17) with wicketkeeper Alex Carey collecting as they crawled to stumps, still 459 runs adrift, with Devon Thomas and Jason Holder at the crease After the West Indies succumbed in their first innings on the cusp of the day’s first break, Australian skipper Steve Smith opted not to enforce the follow on conscious of his bowlers’ workload with three Tests against South Africa ahead Cummins and Josh Hazlewood both missed the Adelaide clash with injuries picked

need to go into overdrive He had already been egregiously dropped by Babar Azam at midwicket on 69 when his previously disciplined knock ended with a further loss of concentration ten runs later, as he rocked back to pull another Abrar long-hop but was bowled as the ball kept low

Pakistan collapsed to be 202 all out against England as the visitors took a 79run lead on a turning wicket in the second Test on Saturday Left-arm spinner Jack Leach struck three times and Joe Root picked up two wickets in an over as Pakistan lost eight wickets for 95 runs in the opening session on Day Two Leach finished with 4-98 while Root took 2-23 as the three England fast bowlers Mark Wood (2-40), Ollie Robinson (12) and James Anderson (1-16) also squeezed out Pakistan batters with their re-

verse swing The last-wicket pair of Faheem Ashraf (22) and debutant Abrar Ahmed (7 not out) added 23 runs to extend the session by half an hour before Wood wrapped up Pakistan’s innings by having Ashraf caught at deep backward square leg Leach snared the key wickets of half century-maker Saud Shakeel (63), Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz while Robinson clean-bowled captain Babar Azam off his second ball as most of Pakistan s batters fell to poor shots

Argentina cruise into semis af ter D utch rout

van Gaal

up in the first Test at Perth that the hosts won by 164 runs Instead they batted again with quick runs clearly the intent

Openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja made fast starts, but spinner Roston Chase halted their progress Warner dragged Chase’s first ball onto his wicket and departed for 28, then Khawaja was caught behind by Joshua Da Silva for 45 in the same over That brought Marnus Labuschagne and Smith together and they slammed 21 runs off one Brathwaite over

Labuschagne was finally undone by Anderson Phillip, caught at gully by Chase for 31, ending his two-Test series with 501 runs after a double century and two centuries Smith’s luck ran out on 35 after Thomas took a catch by the ropes, leaving Travis Head to blast 38 from 27 balls before the declaration

Yamaguchi and Tai cruise into badminton World Tour Finals deciders

BANGKOK Ag e n c i e s

World champion Akane Yamaguchi on Saturday booked a ticket to the last stage of the season-ending badminton World Tour Finals in Bangkok crushing Olympic gold medallist Chen Yufei The Badminton World Federation shifted its $1 5 million flagship event to the Thai capital’s Nimibutr Arena after original host China dropped the tournament due to its tough Covid restrictions

The semi-final on Saturday was a rematch of a clash from Thursday in which Chen beat Yamaguchi in straight games in the women s

singles Yamaguchi got off to a flying start in the latest match-up with feisty smash shots and fancy footwork but Chen fought hard to stay in contention

The Japanese 25-year-old managed to seal the first game 21-19 after an electrifying final rally Momentum stayed with her in the second where she carved out a nine-point advantage by the mid-game interval before clinching it 21-10 For the second game, I played well with all my power and skills and the win in the first game boosted my confidence and helped me win easily, Yamaguchi told reporters Chen said her opponent is an outstanding player “I had no problem with my energy lev-

els, I think I was just not decisive enough I kept making adjustments but I think ultimately I was too slow,” the Chinese star said On Sunday, Yamaguchi will play Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan who quickly dispensed with He Bing Jiao in the other semi Saturday

The Olympic silver medallist mounted a s ophis ticated attack to claim the firs t game 21-18 as He struggled to play catch-up Her Chinese opponent came out firing in the seco n d b u t Ta i e v e n t u a l l y s t o r m e d h o m e t o clinch the game and match 21-14 Tai said the key to her victory was maintaining composure but added that it was difficult adjusting to the on-court drift

DOHA s tA f f R e p o R t

Argentina set up a semi-final showdown with Croatia after beating the Netherlands 4-3 on penalties following a thrilling 2-2 extra-time draw in a World Cup quarter-final classic Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was the hero in the shootout for the South Americans after Argentina squandered a Lionel Messi-engineered two-goal lead in the final minutes of normal time Dutch substitute Wout Weghorst scored two late goals the second from an inventive free-kick in the 11th minute of stoppage time as the Netherlands fought back with seven minutes of normal time remaining to force extra-time Argentina looked poised for the last four after Messi conjured up a brilliant assist for Nahuel Molina and a clinical goal from the penalty spot It s a lot of joy, a lot of relief,” said Messi

“We didn’t want extra-time or penalties We suffered too much because of how everything happened but it is the quarter-finals of a World Cup We knew how to suffer when it was our turn but we got through to the semi-finals “It’s beautiful, something impressive, he added For the Dutch it was a bitterly disappointing end to their tournament and they have now lost six of their last eight shoot-outs in major championships since 1992

“We have been practicing penalties all year and despite everything we failed It’s a shame ” said coach Louis

“As a coach, I want to have everything under control That’s why I asked the players to take penalties for their clubs, they all did But if you miss two, you won’t win You just can’t get over a streak like this he said

The Lusail Stadium was turned into home for Argentina with the vast majority of the the 88,235 crowd backing the South American team and only a smattering of orange shirts in the crowd

But all were treated to a thrilling late-night drama that finally reached its conclusion just before 1 a m local time on Saturday

After a cagey start, Messi produced a moment of inspiration, ten minutes before the interval, to create the opener for his team Offering no clues of his intent, he split open the Dutch defence with a sublime reverse pass between Daley Blind and Virgil van Dijk into the path of Molina who timed his run perfectly and slotted home with the outside of his foot

Van Gaal responded at the break by making a double change, bringing Teun Koopmeiners and Steven Berghuis on into midfield in place of Bergwijn and Marten De Roon

But while the Dutch saw plenty of the ball their play remained too predictable and guileless

FRee-kIck GeNIUS: Deservedly the Argentines extended their lead in the 73rd minute after Denzel Dumfries tripped Marcos Acuna in the box and Messi made no mistake from the spot, burying the ball in the corner

Morocco write World Cup histor y as they reach semi-finals

DOHA

Ag e n c i e s

Morocco wrote World Cup history on Saturday night as the first African and Arab country to reach the tournament’s semi-finals continuing their surprise run in Qatar with a shock 1-0 victory over the highly fancied Portugal Youssef En-Nesyri leapt high in the air to head home the game’s only goal just before half-time at the Al-Thumama Stadium to strike a significant blow against football’s established order and book a semi-final on Wednesday against either England or France

who meet later on Saturday

The result will be widely celebrated across Africa and the Arabic-speaking Middle East, desperate to see one of their teams in contention for the biggest prize in football

Morocco had already taken the scalps of Belgium and Spain in this tournament but the win over Portugal is of much greater significance It was also one of Morocco s better performances in Qatar, full of determined defending and canny counters, keeping at bay a collection of world stars despite losing key defender Nayef Aguerd to injury before the match and

his back four partner and captain Romain Saiss early in the second half Portugal will see it as a missed opportunity against the lowest-ranked side left in the tournament and a disappointing curtain call for the 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo Morocco again noisily encouraged by the majority of the 44,198-strong crowd, said they were fatigued after their last-16 success over Spain and immediately went into defensive mode as Portugal attacked from the outset A fourth-minute free kick for Portugal from wide on the right was swung into the penalty area, and met by Joao

But the supply quickly dried up thereafter as Morocco closed the passing lanes and frustrated the Portuguese attackers

Joao Felix had two more half chances in the first half but Morocco gained in confidence and found a sudden spring in their step, frequently breaking on the counter attack

SURGING: Left back Yahya AttiatAllah made several surging runs down the flank, presenting Selim Amallah with a good chance in the 35th minute, which he was unable to convert

MULTAN s tA f f c o R R e s p o n d e n t

sunset

with Brook unbeaten

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA Ag e n c i e s

Felix’s diving header, producing a fine save from Yassine Bounou

“The Essence is the top of the line variant in Australia, and we have ob-

tained approval to introduce it in Pakistan,” said Syed Asif Ahmed, General

Manager of Sales and Marketing at MG Motors He further said that the new vehicle will have additional features compared to the previous completely built-up (CBU) unit These features, Ahmed tells Profit, are based on the feedback that MG Motors received from its customers

“We made seven promises to Pakistan, and one of them was to deliver the best value possible Its price should exceed Rs 7 million, the current price tag (Rs 6 89 million) is a sign of our commitment to Pakistan” Ahmed continued MG has also increased the warranty from 4 years/100,000 kilometers to 5 years/150,000 kilometers (whichever comes first)

Profit had asked the question earlier this week as to where the domes-

tically produced MG HS was? This was on account of Javed Afridi causing a storm on social media with the prehype for the MG4 Fully Electric that he claimed could travel from Lahore to Peshawar on a single charge Javed Afridi, has since then unveiled various advertisements for the domestically produced MG HS

One thing that MG Motors has still not unveiled to the media is whether their dispute with the Engineering Development Board (EDB) has been resolved Profit, thus, asked the EDB directly about the matter

The issue was resolved in late November There was no issue from our end, they had to complete their plant which they have, ” said Asim Ayaz, General Manager of Policy at the EDB to Profit

Swati taken to Sindh af ter Balochistan release in army criticism case

Sindh police have taken custody of Azam Khan Swati a senator of the opposition Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf (PTI) party, a day after the Balochistan High Court (BHC) ordered his release in a case registered against him on charges of sending out tweets critical of top army brass, including its now-former chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, and featuring slurs Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Swati in the last week of November, for the second time in less than two months after he criticised Gen Bajwa at a public rally and through a series of tweets His arrest came hours after Swati delivered a fiery speech mentioning his custodial torture last time, while asking a series of pointed questions, including the sudden ballooning of his wealth, from Gen Bajwa

According to a first information report (FIA) registered by the agency headed by a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart, on the complaint of a staff member under a draconian

cybercrime law at least four Twitter handles including Swati’s, “started, with malafide intentions and ulterior motives, a highly obnoxious campaign of intimidating tweets against Gen Bajwa

Separately, he was nominated in multiple complaints filed with police in Balochistan and Sindh However, on Friday, Justice Hashim Khan Kakar of the high court in Balochistan directed police to quash all five complaints against the senator and release him But party colleagues said Swati was again arrested by the Sindh police According to Saddam Hussain Khaskheli a senior superintendent of police (SSP) in Sindh, two cases have been registered against the senator in the Qambar Shahdadkot district of Sindh He was taken into custody from the Sukkur airport,” he said, adding the senator will now be presented before a court on December 15 FARMHOUSE SEALED: Meanwhile, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has sealed, after demolishing part of a farmhouse owned by Swati in the Murree Road neighbourhood of Islamabad over violation of building laws, confirmed Usman Swati, the senator s son

According to a communique issued by the authority, the unit was “transferred to Mrs Tahira Swati” (senator ’s spouse) on March 25, 2014, and its building plan was approved on May 7 2015 But “the basement was not approved in the building plan,” the agency said It said the first notice in this regard was issued to Swati in 2016, followed by a reminder in 2018 after a survey of the farmhouse was conducted “There was a deviation from the approved building plan as servant quarter/Kitchen, office block and tractor trolley shed are not constructed The observations regarding violations were separately conveyed on 29-11-2018,” the notice read Therefore, a show-cause notice was issued to Swati on November 4, 2022, in accordance with the ICT Building Control Regulations 2020 “with instructions to show sufficient cause within seven days as to why such violations have not been removed and why the premises may not be sealed off until compliance of the by-laws or removal of the same by the authority at the risk and cost beside imposing a penalty the CDA said

Minister distances government from swati witch-hunt

LAHore

Rana Sanauallah Khan rejected the claim the cases against Azam Swati were a part of political revenge who is accused of sending out tweets critical of the army, observing that the senator of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party targeted “two institutions” and not the entire government

Addressing a news conference the minister for interior who is a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart, said: “If we wanted to file cases against them [PTI leaders] or wanted to treat them how they treated us We would have filed cases of heroin against them ”

He added the barrage of mysterious complaints filed against Swati was registered in “accordance with the law ” “Just yesterday, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) quashed cases against him On the other hand, we have contested our cases for years,” he lamented Moving on to the alleged audio leak of former finance minister Shaukat Tarin, Khan said the finance czar talked about sabotaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme “They don’t have the authority [of the government] so they are bent upon destroying the economy,” he said “Why shouldn’t the cases against the members of the coalition government be closed since they are being closed after litigation? he asked

Referring to the defamation case against Daily Mail, a British newspaper, related to corruption allegations against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Khan claimed the newspaper accepted its fault and apologised for it

He claimed that the newspaper made that mistake at former federal minister Shahzad Akbar s behest

“Imran Khan leveled false allegations against others while he himself was involved in corruption,” he alleged, adding the party should also apologise to the nation for false cases Talking about the talks between the government and the PTI, Khan said the government was ready for unconditional talks” He added President Dr Arif Alvi was playing a role to facilitate a dialogue between the two groups

This was also done before by Parvez Khattak Asad Qaiser Fawad Chaudhry, and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, however, the former prime minister did not listen to them,” claimed the minister When asked about disgraced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif ’s return from London, the minister said the party has requested him to be present for the next election campaign, and the former prime minister has accepted it He expressed hope that the “institution” will stand by its commitment to stay apolitical Army is an organised institution where an individual’s policy doesn’t work, that there would be [former army chief] Bajwa sahib or [current] Asim Munir ’s policy,” the minister said He said it was the institution’s decision that the army will stay apolitical It was the institution s policy and it still is, he added A petition has been filed seeking the acquittal of Khan in the drug case against him His counsel, Farhad Shah during the hearing informed the court that two narcotics officials denied the allegations against the minister The petition claimed the case had been filed on the political vendetta, hence, the minister should be acquitted

Another missed target: Pakistan unlikely to fulfill claim of implementing TSA by year- end

some cash was transferred into the TSA but the remaining could not due to restrictions from lenders and because some accounts were strictly classified for specific purposes

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s technical team visited Islamabad in October and worked on a draft report on the status of the “Implementing a Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Managing Fiscal Risks by Pakistan” As per recent reports, Pakistan will miss its end-December deadline to close all bank accounts maintained by the public sector entities and defense ministry in commercial banks and transfer the money to the central bank

Moreover, the report states that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is unaware of which government departments own the untraceable 484 accounts It is estimated that the potential amount of these balances is Rs 1 2 trillion to Rs 2 9 trillion

The technical mission to Pakistan in October is different from the mission that will visit for the staff level ninth review for the current IMF programme As per Rana, the technical mission’s findings state that it will take at least a year before the country can fully implement the TSA system; expected around October 2023 It is important to note by then Pakistan will have completed the IMF programme; and will have no push to shift completely towards TSA

Implementing TSA has been one of the IMF’s conditions in the 2008, 2013, and 2019 programmes The government’s progress with implementing TSA

In 2008 Pakistan agreed to implement the TSA by June 2009 However, Pakistan asked the IMF for more time By 2010,

During the 2013 program, the government engaged in talks regarding implementing TSA, however, there was no meaningful development

For the current programme, Pakistan had committed to closing all commercial bank accounts maintained by the defense ministry armed forces and public sector entities by December 2022

On the 19th of August 2020, the finance division directed all federal government ministries, divisions, attached departments, and subordinate offices (MDAS) to close their bank accounts with commercial banks/ financial institutions and transfer the balance funds to the federal government s central account no 1 (non-food) with the SBP In a circular to commercial banks and financial institutions the SBP said that upon receipt of account closure requests, the respective branches will initiate the closure of accounts and transfer the available balances to their centralized treasuries within seven days

Progress had been slow In October 2021, the IMF expressed serious concerns over Islamabad’s inability to close down accounts of federal and provincial governments into private commercial banks

Under the Treasury Single Account (TSA)1, Pakistan already agreed with the IMF to withdraw Rs2,900 billion from commercial banks and shift it into the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCA) known as the account number of the federal government with the State Bank of Pakistan However all-powerful ministries, including the Ministry of

Defense and others, had not yet accomplished such assigned tasks within the stipulated time frame

In June 2022 the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) directed all banks to shut down federal government accounts and transfer all balances to the SBP s account number1 by June 13, 2022

It is advised to close the accounts and transfer the aggregate amount of such balances to federal government’s Account No1 (non-food) at SBP by close of business on the 13th of June 2022 and ensure the meticulous compliance of these aforesaid directives the central bank said in a circular Following that, the pace of work on implementing TSA-II has been slow What is the TSA?

This means the IMF wants Pakistan to close all bank accounts maintained by public sector entities and the defense ministry in commercial banks All that money is to be transferred to the central bank in one account The concept is as simple as it sounds – all public money must be gathered in a single account usually maintained by the central bank as it is the fiscal agent of the government However, there is no harm in using a commercial bank for this purpose A TSA can be defined as a unified structure of government bank accounts enabling consolidation and optimum utilization of government cash resources The TSA separates transaction level control from overall cash management for a country Some private sector entities also use TSAs to manage their finances better

It is easy to imagine the TSA as a big vault where the government stashes all of its money and takes some out when needed,

but it is more sophisticated than that To put this simply, a TSA is basically just a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts that the government uses to transact all its receipts and payments It presents a consolidated view of the government’s cash position at the end of each day Why does the IMF stress adopting TSA?

This works on the principle of fungibility of all cash regardless of what the cash is used for So instead of separate accounts for each type of transaction the distinguishing of individual cash transactions are done through the accounting system To sum it up in a line, instead of having an account for each transaction type, the government clubs its money into one account and distinguishes transactions through accounting and record keeping

The primary reason to set up a TSA is to ensure effective aggregate control over government cash balances The IMF believes that a country having a fragmented system for handling government receipts and payments is a critical public finance management weakness This is because, with a fragmented government banking system, you’ll find idle cash lying around in bank accounts These may or may not be earning market-related remuneration, or simply interest In economics, the concept of opportunity cost makes this even more important

Secondly, not knowing its resources fully or being able to tap into them collectively, the government may find itself borrowing unnecessarily For instance, the government may pay unnecessary borrowing costs such as interest while raising funds in light of a cash shortage In reality, there is no cash shortage it was perceived because the system is fragmented and

money is lying around in various accounts

The government is fully aware of the volume of funds and no longer faces ambiguity associated with the location of the funds

Moreover, any cash that is lying around in banks, can be put to use by the banks to extend credit This, however, drains the extra liquidity in the system when the SBP goes for open market operations especially when the government has issued debt to cancel off the extra borrowing Essentially, the debt is draining the liquidity

The TSA enables government debt servicing costs to go down and brings down the liquidity reserve requirements This is because, through the TSA, cash flow volatility goes down As a result, the government no longer finds itself in a position where it needs to maintain a high cash reserve to meet unaccounted-for or exogenous shocks that impact fiscal operations

And while it may seem trivial, a little goes a long way The usage of TSA helps reduce bank fees and transaction costs along with lower administrative costs associated with maintaining these costs Reconciliation costs are also saved Basically, this provides an opportunity for the government to reap the benefits of economies of scale in processing payments

Through TSA the government can have a consolidated view of all government cash flows Through the TSA, the ministry of finance has full control over budget allocations This helps the government improve its budget control and monitoring It drastically improves the quality of fiscal information In addition, the TSA also helps strengthen the coordination of

KArACHi S ta f f r e p o r t