Epaper_22-12-14 ISB

evIdence’ exposes delhI fannIng terrorIsm In pakIstan: sana

ISLAMABAD

mINISTER for Interiors Rana Sanau lah on Tuesday said Pak stan had irrefutable evdence” of the nvolvement of nd an spy agency RAW in the b ast at Johar Town Lahore ast year saying nd a was not on y behind the Johar Town b ast, but a so found involved in fanning terrorism in Pak stan “ This is a matter of nternal security and we are nit at ng the process to take it up at the internationa leve The Secretar y Foreign Affairs will highlight the issue at different world forums whi e Minister for Fore gn Affa rs Bilawa Bhutto Zardar w ll ra se the matter of Indian involvement in terror financing and subversive activities in Pakistan at the United Nations ” the minister said while address-

ing a news conference here along w th Pun ab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Add tiona nspector General (IG) Imran Mehmud

Rana Sanaul ah said Pakistanis had rendered innumerable sacrif ces n w ping out terrorism from the countr y “ Pakistan has been fac ng terror sm for several decades and Pakistanis ncluding cit zens, personnel of armed forces, pol ce, Rangers and agencies, journalists and pol ticians have either lost their lives in this war or became ts v ctims ”

He sa d gather ngs at mosques, Imambargahs important bui dings and elsewhere were targeted India had remained involved in ever y form of terrorism in Pak stan

I n d i a w a s a c t i n g j u s t l i ke a n e n e m y a n d a t t h e s a m e t m e t r y i n g t o c o nc e a l i t s b r u t a t i e s i n t h e o c c u p i e d Ka s h m i r h e a d d e d

The minister said the arrest of spy Ku bhushan Yadev and his statement was sufficient to prove that India was nvolved in ever y act of terrorism in Pakstan and was adopt ng d fferent ways for the purpose

He said they had “ unden able evdence that could establish India and ts premier spy agency (Research and Analysis W ng) were involved n different terror inc dents

H e s a i d t h e Fo r e g n M i n s t r y w o u d r a i s e t h e i s s u e o f I n d a n i n v o l v e m e n t i n t e r r o r i s m i n Pa k s t a n a n d a l s o e x p o s e i t b e f o r e t h e w o r l d A f t e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n i t t r a n s p i r e s t h a t n d i a s i n v o v e d n t h e J o h a r To w n t e r r o r a c t a n d i t s o w n n a rr a t v e a l s o t e l s a b o u t i t s i n v o l v e m e n t h e a d d e d He sa d India had transferred more than $0 8 mill on to the terrorists to carr y out the task

T O S H A K H A N A

Prime M n ster Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reiterated resolve of h s government to interconnect the entire countr y through the development of road nfrastructure connecting all provinces particu arly the disadvantaged areas of the countr y say ng connecting the deprived areas includ ng Balochistan and Sindh, wou d pave the way for economic and social deve opment besides strengthen ng the nat onal economy

PTI Chairman Imran Khan desp te tall claims fai ed to n tiate th s much-needed project during h s government

The prime m nister critic zed former prime m n ster Imran Khan for instigating pub c for his personal ga ns and sa d instead he shou d have protested over the man pu at on of the cartels of sugar and wheat during his tenure He hoped that the pub ic wou d not fall prey to his negative campaign

PM Shehbaz gave cred t to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for nit at ng motor ways n Pak stan, sayng the PML-N Supremo had revolution zed road infrastructure bu lding n Pakistan

He announced the completion of the Sukkur-Rohri Bridge which was earl er announced by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and a so directed improvement of Karachi-Hyderabad Motor way to avo d traff c congest on and accidents The prime min ster who twice per formed the foundation- ay ng of M-6 motor way n Sukkur and Hyderabad c ties of Sindh prov nce respect ve y sa d connecting the deprived areas, including Balochistan and Sindh would pave the way for economic and social deve opment, bes des creating new business opportunities

With ts ends n Sukkur and Hyderabad, the 306-km- ong M-6 w ll be completed w th Rs307 b llion within 30 months as per nternational standards The M-6 port on will complete the North-South Motor-

way Corridor, also known as the Karachi-Peshawar Motor way which w ll nterconnect major c ties of the countr y

The prime minister in h s address at the two events said t was a matter of satisfact on for the coalit on government to restore construction work of the M-6 motor way that faced a pro onged delay due to the ineffic ency of the previous government

He emphasized upon ensur ng the qual ty and standard of the M6 motor way not less than rest of the motor way network n the countr y He directed the relevant authorities to complete the publ c-private proect with n the st pu ated time per od

The prime m n ster encouraged Planning Minister Ahsan Iqba to promote further projects on publicpr vate pro ects so as to ach eve the goals of deve opment and prosper ty He also ca ed for improving road connect vity from Balochistan to the up-countr y in order to connect the a l-important Gwadar Port and mainstream the province in the nationa economy

He also announced that the Federal Government would contribute Rs one billion to S ndh s deveopment fund to m tigate the sufferings of flood-affected people and urged the prov ncial government to al ocate the same amount from its exchequer He mentioned that federal and provincia governments nat onal and provincia disaster management authorities and internat ona aid agenc es were colaborating in the rehabi itation

years

These gifts are not awarded to nd v duals but the publ c office holders who represent the government of Pak stan during the r fore gn visits said the PAC chairman add ng that these g fts under the law have to be dec ared deposited in Tosha Khana

T h e c o m m i t t e e w a n t e d t o k n o w t h e p r o c e d u r e a n d l a w a c c o r d i n g t o w h i c h t h e v a l u e o f g i f t s w a s d e t e r m i n e d , s a d N o o r A a m

He further said that the committee a so wanted to know the names of pol tical eaders, Chief Ministers, Governors, Judges, Generals bureaucrats the federal secretar es who rece ved gifts during their foreign vis ts dur ng the ast ten years and whether they declared those g fts n Tosha Khana or not “ T h e y w e r e r e l u c t a n t i n i t i a l l y t o s h a r e t h e r e c o r d w i t h PA C t h e r e f o r e I o r d e r e d A u d i t o r G e n e r a t o o b t a i n t h e r e c o r d s a i d PA C C h a i r m a n a d d i n g t h a t a t e r t h e c o m m i t t e e w i l l r e v i e w t h e p r o c e s s o f a u ct i o n o f t h o s e g f t s

The committee wh le considering the audit report of 2019-20 pertain ng to audit paras against Pak PWD Estate Office and Pakistan Housing Authority Foundat on directed National Accountabi ity Bureau (NAB)

to vacate possess on of

secretar at building n 15 days period and submit the compliance report to the committee

The committee also directed NAB to mmed ately pay dues to the Pak PWD fa ling which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Frontier Constabular y (FC) and if needed Pakistan Army to in tiate action to get vacate the build ng from NAB s possession and recover amount of dues

The committee a so directed the Aud tor General of Pakistan to stop payment of pens ons to those retired off cers who failed to vacate their offic al res dence after their ret rement and do not subm t NOC

The committee took strong exception to such officia residences which were st ll under the use of retried officials and the Estate Off ce was help ess to get them vacated “ I know, my file is with you, do whatever you want I have faced Imran Khan for 3 years and w ll a so face you but you w ll have to vacate the building immediately,” said the PAC Cha rman whi e talk ng to the NAB officials who were justifying the possession

In another audit para regarding non-recover y of dues from the allottees of houses and shops a l over Pakistan the chairman directed Ch ef M n sters, Chief Secretar es to get such houses, shops and petro pumps vacated from a ottees and to re-auction them according to the latest market value

The committee also directed FIA to initiate legal proceed ngs aga nst m nisters governors and offic als nvo ved on the allotment of government property at low rates

S ta f f R e p o R t

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Chairman Publ c Accounts Comm ttee (PAC) Noor Alam Khan on Tuesday directed the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) to provide the record of gifts received by the pub ic off ce holders and declared in Tosha Khana during the last 10

Shaheed-e-Mil at

SUKKUR/HYDERABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

A m i d s e v e r e s h o r tA g e , g o v t fA i ls t o r e i n i n g A s t h e f t

cases of gas theft registered in ssGCL in FY 2021-22

ga s consumers of all categories across the country are currently facing severe gas shortage while the government has so far remained failed to bring an end to the menace of gas theft, it was reliably learnt on Tuesday

according to documents available with Pakistan Today/Profit, a total 2841 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) gas has so far been stolen from the main pipeline in the country during the ongoing financial year 2021-22 which is more than the total gas supply of one-day to all the gas consumer categories of the country as per details approximately total 1 918 MMCFD gas worth of Rs 1,692 million has been stolen in the jurisdiction of sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (sNGPL) while around 923 MMCFD gas worth approximately Rs 641 million has been stolen in the jurisdiction of sui southern Gas Company Limited (ssGCL) during the ongoing FY 2021-22

Moreover more than 142 000 cases of gas theft reported in sNGPL while 16,617

It is also learnt from the document that total 44 gas theft cases of industry consumers have been registered in the jurisdiction of sNGPL who stole 169 MMCFD gas worth Rs352 million while 1,484 cases of gas theft of commercial consumers have been registered who stole 89 MMCFD gas worth Rs155 million and 687 cases of gas theft have been reported of special domestic consumers who stole 98 MMCFD gas worth Rs91 million similarly, 139,589 cases of gas theft of domestic category of gas consumers have been registered who stole 1,343 MMCFD gas worth Rs 734 million and 221 cases gas theft of un-registered consumers have been registered who stole 218MMCFD gas worth Rs 360 million the jurisdiction of sNGPL in FY 2021-22

as per document, total 15 cases of gas theft of industry consumers have been registered who stole 77 6 MMCFD gas worth Rs121 5 million, while 258 gas theft cases of commercial category of gas consumers have been registered who stole 69 2 MMCFD gas worth Rs 116 5 million and 525 gas theft cases of special domestic gas consumers have been registered who stole 61 0 MMCFD gas

Assemblies’ dissolution date to be announced in Pti’s lahore public meeting

senior Provincial Minister Mian aslam Iqbal said on Tuesday that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) had decided to dissolve the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KPK and all its allies were on the same page in this regard Briefing the media, he said a meeting had been convened under the chair of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and the final date would be announced in a public meeting here at Liberty Chowk aslam Iqbal added: My personal opinion is that assemblies should be dissolved before December 20 so that elections can be held before Ramadan ” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to hold a massive political power show at Lahore’s Liberty Chowk Mian aslam said PTI will hold a massive public gathering at Liberty Chowk in which Imran Khan will announce the date of the assemblies’ dissolution Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on November 26, announced the dissolution of Punjab and KP assemblies The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and its ally PML-Q are reportedly having a disagreement over the time of the dissolution of the Punjab assembly Earlier Punjab chief minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi advised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan to delay the dissolution of the Punjab assembly said sources

elections to be held on time: musadik malik

ISLAMABAD A P P

Minister of state for Petroleum Musadik Malik said the elections would be held on time He was talking to a private news channel on Tuesday

He said the holding of elections was the prerogative of Prime Minister shehbaz sharif He said the PTI had left the country in "economic crises" whereas the incumbent government (PDM) was making efforts to stabilize the economy, Musadik Malik alleged that Imran took "kickbacks" worth billions of rupees He further said that last year people faced an acute shortage of gas and their government managed to overcome this challenge to a some extent this year

worth Rs 124 1 million in the jurisdiction of ssGCL in FY 2021-22 Moreover 9 047 gas theft cases of domestic consumers have been registered who stole 381 5 MMCFD gas worth Rs104 8 million and 6 772 gas theft cases of un-registered consumers have been registered who stole 334 MMCFD gas worth Rs 175 1 million in the jurisdiction of ssGCL in FY 2021-22 It is pertinent to mention that gas theft is continued in the jurisdiction of sui gas companies i-e sNGPL & ssGCL while the gas consumers across the country are found complaining about the severe gas shortage being faced by them amid the winter season

Besides, the indigenous gas production declined by over six percent to 2 006 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) against consumption increased by over five percent to reach to 3,884 MMCFD in fiscal year (FY) 2020-21

The fact was revealed in a report released by the Oil & Gas Regulatory authority (OGRa) titled “state of Regulated Petroleum Industry for fiscal year 2020-21 ” The report contains data regarding growth of mid and downstream petroleum sector, specially, Oil, gas, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG),

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) etc

During FY 2020-21, indigenous gas production declined by over 6 percent to 2,006 MMCFD from 2 138 MMCFD as compared to FY 2019-20, whereas gas consumption increased by over 5 percent, reaching at 3,884 MMCFD from 3 683 MMCFD

The country has a huge network of 13,768km of transmission and 191,478km of distribution gas pipelines providing natural gas to domestic, industrial, commercial and transport sectors

The gas utility companies (sNGPL & ssGCL) have expanded their transmission and distribution network to cater to the demand of their new consumers

The sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (sNGPL) and sui southern Gas Company Limited (ssGCL) have extended their transmission network by 37 Km and 17km respectively during FY 2020-21

similarly, sNGPL extended its distribution network by 7,141 Km and ssGCL by 929 Km during the same period

sNGPL has connected 371,618 new consumers during FY 2020-21 reaching 7 41 million total consumers on its network Whereas, ssGCL has added 95,436 new

Will again go to people’s cour t if assemblies dissolved, says Moonis

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PMLQ leader) and former federal minister Moonis Elahi has said that if he remains in the assemblies he will serve the people and if the assemblies are dissolved, he will again go to the people’s court

“Politics is our family mission, Muslim League is the representative

party of the people Whenever we get an opportunity we leave no stone unturned to serve the public ” Moonis quoted experts, saying: The country has defaulted economically and the shahbaz government failed to fix the economy ”

The PML-Q leader said We were with Imran Khan yesterday, we are today, and we will be in the future ” Earlier the younger Elahi said “There is no conflict between the PTI

and PML-Q on the dissolution of the Punjab assembly and we have conveyed this message to the PTI chairman loud and clear: the assembly will be dissolved in the blink of an eye if he can ensure elections in Punjab soon afterwards ” Moonis, the son of Punjab CM Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said The decision to dissolve the Punjab assembly should be prudent [and take into consideration] the prevailing ground realities ”

Murad S aeed ’s life in danger, PTI claims

StAff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Murad saeed’s fellow party leaders on Tuesday raised concern over life threats being sent to him as they urged authorities to take notice

Party chief and former premier Imran Khan took to Twitter to express his support for saeed saying it is my request to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the text and contents of this letter [ ] before it is too late The letter the PTI chief was referring to was sent by the former minister to President Dr arif alvi yesterday wherein saeed had highlighted details of stalking and threats by suspicious persons

“I believe that life and death are in the hands of allah I have complete faith and trust in allah I am not afraid of death and will continue to speak the truth,” saeed had added

He had requested the president to take notice of the matter and take necessary action

In his two-part tweet, Imran likened the threats faced by saeed to the cases of senator azam swati and journalist arshad sharif

swati was arrested by the Federal Investigation agency cybercrime wing on November 27 for using derogatory language against the military on social media website Twitter subsequently, cases were registered against the PTI leader in Balochistan and sindh However, the Balochistan High Court quashed all the cases while the sindh police took him into custody from Quetta last week sharif on the other hand had fled the country after he was charged with sedition and died in Kenya’s

Nairobi after reportedly being shot under suspicious circumstances

Criticising the country s judiciary for not taking action on the threats issued at saeed the ‘custodial torture of swati and the murder of sharif, senior PTI leader shireen Mazari said how long will the supreme Court (sC) of Pakistan simply ignore these gross human rights violations?”

PTI General secretary asad Umar said that saeed was “a young man fighting the cause of Pakistan with logic, reason and passion, and is an asset to the country” as he hoped that a strict notice will be taken over remedy the threats that have been expressed by him Fawad Chaudhry also joined his party leaders in raising alarm over saeed s letter as he revealed that saeed had been “receiving threats for the past several months”

“a local terrorist group has been tasked with taking his life, he added stressing that saeed and sharif had maintained a very close relationship and alleged that those who had “sharif killed also want to harm Murad”

Former minister ali Muhammad Khan also said that “in our traditional politics” saeed is a “beacon of hope for the middle-class educated patriotic youth who started his political journey from scratch as he urged for authorities to protect his life

Earlier, saeed had demanded that the investigation team that went to Kenya and Dubai to investigate the murder of journalist arshad sharif should present the evidence before the public saeed had said that arshad s laptop was not with him and those who went for investigation should “put the evidence they have brought before the nation”

connections making a total of 3 21 million consumers on its network Overall there were 10 62 million natural gas consumers in the country by the end of financial year 2020-21

The main consumer of natural gas was power sector, consuming over 30 percent (1,305 MMCFD), followed by domestic sector with 20 percent (862 MMCFD) fertilizer 19 percent (829 MMCFD), General Industry 8 percent (365 MMCFD) and captive power 5 percent (203 MMCFD) of the total gas consumed during FY 2020-21 In Province-wise gas consumption Punjab s share was 52 percent (1,426 MMCFD), sindh 39 percent (1,052 MMCFD), KP 7 percent (190 MMCFD) and Baluchistan 2 percent (64 MMCFD) of total gas consumption during the year under review

Natural gas supply during the year was 4,172 MMCFD compared to 4,050 MMCFD last year Mari, sui, Uch, Qadirpur, Kandhkot and Maramzai etc were major gas fields Out of total gas supplies 1,153 MMCFD as against 1,057 MMCFD last year, was supplied by the gas fields/producers directly to their consumers and the remaining through gas utility companies

e e n c o n v e y e d t o I m r a n

gov t committed to eradicate all forms of polio from Pakistan: Pm

ISLAMABAD A P P

Prime Minister Muhammad shehbaz sharif on Tuesday reiterated that the government remained committed to ending all forms of polio in the country

The prime minister had a telephonic conversation with Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Bill Gates and discussed the ongoing public health and social sector programmes supported by BMGF in Pakistan PM Office Media Wing said in a press release While expressing concern over-reporting of new cases in 2022 after one year without any polio case, the prime minister noted that there had been a pause in polio cases since september 2022 In light of the recent flooding which had adversely affected the ongoing polio vaccination efforts due to large-scale displacements and destruction of healthcare infrastructure the prime minister reaffirmed that the government was actively implementing the special emergency response plan and would continue to adapt and find ways to reach out to children in these challenging times He also appreciated the valuable support extended by the BMGF to Pakistan in polio eradication and improving immunisation, nutrition and financial inclusion in the country The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to further strengthen the fruitful partnership with the Foundation in all the ongoing areas of cooperation

S uleman S hehbaz granted 14- day protec tive bail in money laundering c ase

ISLAMABAD

laundering case Justice aamer Farooq heard the case and suleman appeared before the court following his return to Pakistan after four years in self-exile in London He was accompanied by his lawyer amjad Pervaiz suleman shehbaz took protective bail in an effort to surrender before the Federal Investigation agency’s (FIa) court which has declared him as an absconder in the money laundering case against him Earlier, the IHC had barred the authorities from

arresting

The court approved his request, stopping the FIa and other agencies from arresting him Talking to media personnel outside the court, the premier ’s son stated that he had returned to Pakistan after four years to surrender before the courts “The whole world saw the games (PTI chief) Imran

Khan played with the country and my family in the past four years,” he claimed suleman added that the retired National accountability Bureau judge justice Javed Iqbal, who was responsible for the money laundering proceedings against him was a black spot on the accountability system”

He maintained that PML-N leader and Interior Minister Rana sanuallah was acquitted after a false case of heroin was registered against him

He furthered said the sharif family was targeted as part of political vendetta and that people were pressured into giving false statement to arrest members of the sharif family He stated that he now believed that the country had a fair environment adding that PTI leader shehzad akbar was “on the run” from Pakistan

LAHoRe

GUJRAt S tA f f R e P o R t

He said that this apprehension had b

w h e n C M Elahi, him and Hussain Elahi called on the former at his Zaman Park residence on Dec 1

ISLAMABAD

A h m A d A h m A dA n i

mAssive revenue losses scAm: fBr directs dg PcA to conduct three yeArs’ Audit of gB customs

ISLAMABAD S h A h z A d PA R Ac h A

tH E Federal Board of Revenue has directed the Director General Post Clearance audit (PCa) to conduct an audit of GB customs Collectorate for the last three years sources said that the audit could bring out the method and magnitude of massive revenue losses caused in the GB customs allegedly by a principal appraiser Raja Waseem ahmad under the alleged patronage of DG custom intelligence, Islamabad

The GB customs scam remained in news during the past weeks after the former collector GB customs collectorate Nisar ahmad who served there for about three months had pointed at a cartel of senior

custom officers allegedly involved in corrupt practice of money making through clearing high value imported goods at throw away and nominal duty and taxes and charging bribe money on each import container as a price of their misuse of powers and the resulting heavy revenue loss on each container

This cartel of senior custom officers allegedly amassed massive amounts of bribe money every month on the clearance of around ninety containers a month in the GB customs collectorate sources said that Chairman FBR had asked Member Customs operations Mukarram Jah ansari to probe the former Collector s startling disclosures and revelations about the quantum of corruption in the FBR’s customs field formations The chairman FBR, an IRs officer and

largely unaware of the deeper tricks of money making in the custom department under him, may be feeling assured that truth about GB customs scam will now rise to the surface once he he has set the member customs operations himself to the task of unearthing and finding out the truth in the alleged revenue loss scam However, sources added, the chairman FBR may not be knowing that FBR has used it s PCa department in the past as an instrument to white wash and bury the massive revenue losses caused in the customs scams perpetrated by senior custom officer in their lust for leaving each other behind in money making and richness

In the process of realising these ulterior motives, custom officers have been using PCa allegedly to buy time, to let the customs

scams evaporate from the public memory and to finally use the PCa to whitewash the scam a case in point is FBR’s direction to PCa to investigate and audit the high profile and a massive revenue loss scam in Faisalabad customs allegedly perpetrated by ex DG custom intelligence shoukat ali and his team of senior custom officers

The PCa perhaps for the first time resisted its misuse and brought forth the magnitude of revenue loss caused in the scam and the custom officers who had caused that loss sources disclosed that FBR came down on some junior custom officials with a heavy hand and suspended a custom official who had laid that scam bare right on the highway

Interestingly, FBR did nothing on PCa’s revealing report on the Faisalabad customs

G ovt plans 870 judges’ hiring to make up for shor tage in higher, lower cour ts

LAHoRe

S tA f f R e P o R t

The government has planned appointment of as many 870 new judges to make up for the judges shortage in the higher as well as subordinate judiciary and deal with the huge backlog of cases across Punjab

This step will also help ensure dispensation of quick and cheap justice to the citizens according to official sources the government has planned the appointment of 700 new civil judges and 170 additional district and sessions judges in the subordinate judiciary while 19 new judges will be appointed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) according to details, the recruitment of new judges will be made in the first quarter of the upcoming year The sources said the judiciary had decided to provide quick and cheap justice and end huge backlog of cases

Currently a total of 1 417 000 cases are pending in the subordinate sessions, civil and special courts, while

tajikistan president due today

ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e P o R t

Emomali Rahmon, president of Tajikistan, will arrive in Pakistan on Wednesday on a two-day visit, at the invitation of Prime Minister shehbaz sharif the Foreign Office said In a statement, it said that during the visit, the two governments will exchange views on how to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas During the tour a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) are expected to be signed The president s visit to Pakistan is expected to impart a renewed impetus to deepening cooperation between the two countries in diverse fields and further strengthen the growing geo-economic partnership, the Foreign Office said “Pakistan and Tajikistan are brotherly countries linked through longstanding historical cultural and religious bonds These ties are marked by mutual respect and exceptional cordiality The two countries have a commonality of views on various regional and international issues,” the associated Press of Pakistan said Tajikistan is the closest neighbour of Pakistan in central asia separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor, only 16 kilometres apart at their closest point This proximity makes Tajikistan an important partner of Pakistan in the region

a total of 180,000 cases, appeals and petitions are pending with the LHC s principal seat and its three benches in Rawalpindi, Multan and Bahawalpur all civil judges are forced to hear 150 cases while the session judges take up 40 to 60 cases per day The number of cases pending in the civil courts of major districts of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Multan is between 50 000 and 75 000 while in small districts this number is 25,000 to 35,000

On the other hand, every day strikes by lawyers are also a headache for the judiciary The sources claimed that the judiciary has decided to reduce the number of cases in the upcoming year according to the decision the LHC s division bench in Rawalpindi has started hearing appeals at 9am every day as compared to the earlier practice of conducting the hearing at 11am

The LHC chief justice has also issued instructions to the judges of the sessions, civil and special courts to deal with the cases expeditiously and give judgments in old

cases without giving dates “all old criminal and civil cases should not be given delayed dates the order said The tests for the recruitment of new civil and additional session judges were extremely tough and lengthy due to which only five percent of the candidates could qualify

LHC CJ Justice Muhammad amir Bhatti has said that all the complaints regarding this matter have been resolved He has also directed the senior lawyers of all districts to train young lawyers for the civil judge exam Further rewards will also be given to motivate the judges concerned for delivering judgments in the maximum number of cases in the New Year The CJ will get a report on the pending cases from each district every month

Meanwhile, the most senior and well-reputed district and session judges will be promoted to judges of the Lahore High Court on the 19 vacant seats of judges Eight of the 19 seats will be filled by the district and session judges while the remaining seats will be filled with senior lawyers

S enior law yer moves PHC against TIP over corruption perception sur vey results

peSHAWAR S tA f f R e P o R t

a senior lawyer has filed a contempt petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) for allegedly declaring judiciary in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the most corrupt institution in its recent National Corruption Perception survey (NCPs-2022)

In the petition, shabbir Hussain Gigyani, a supreme Court advocate, requested the high court to prohibit the anti-graft watchdog from publishing false fake and factitious” reports

The petitioner sought the court s orders for the government to monitor the functioning of the organization and regulate their acts and action He has made the TIP’s country director, media head and publisher as respondent in the petition The petitioner has referred to the reports of national and international media about the TIP s National Corruption Perception survey (NCPs), 2022, which identified the sectors “perceived as the most corrupt at national and provincial levels The survey report, seventh in the last 21 years, was released on Dec 9 on the occasion of the International anti-Corruption Day

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, judiciary was the most corrupt sector followed by the tendering and contracting, and the police according to the TIP survey’s findings mentioned in a news item as claimed in the petition

The petitioner said that the survey was reported by print and electronic media while its findings went viral on

social media as well

He said that the survey report not only “scandalized courts,” judges and judicature but also tried to “bring the same into hatred ridicule and derogatory position

The petitioner said being a student of law and member of the bar council, he prayed the court to invoke to the jurisdiction conferred on it under article 204 of the Constitution read with sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 along with other relevant laws

He contended that apart from “scandalizing the courts,” the organization had allegedly attacked the character of the judges and judicial officers, and blemished the quality of the judicial work The petitioner contended that it had allegedly tried their best to attack the independence of judiciary, which was one of the main features and hallmarks of the Constitution The petitioner contended that the release of the survey report was tantamount to abusing the freedom of expression as it didn’t have any cogent source or evidence of its contents

SHC restrains police, FIA from arresting A zam Swati

HYDeRABAD

The sindh High Court’s (sHC) Hyderabad circuit bench has restrained the police and the Federal Investigation agency (FIa) from re-arresting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) incarcerated leader azam swati in the cases registered against him within the jurisdiction (Mithi, Nawabshah and Hyderabad) of the court till January 11

a two-member bench of the court, comprising Justice adnanul Karim and Justice Mahmood a Khan issued the

order while taking up petitions filed against the 74-year-old senator for his controversial tweets against the senior military officers

The TLTP learnt that the circuit bench served notices to the sindh inspectorgeneral of police (IGP), Hyderabad deputy inspector-general (DIG) and FIa, directing them to submit the details of the cases lodged against the incarcerated senator on the next hearing at the outset of today s hearing, swati’s counsel argued that cases were registered against his client in the different districts of the Hyderabad

region

“Registration of multiple cases on the same issue is a violation of the supreme Court’s orders,” he claimed

The lawyer further said that perhaps cases were registered against his client across the country, adding that three FIRs were registered against swati in Hyderabad, Mithi and Nawabshah

He pleaded with the court to grant relief to his client within the jurisdiction of the court

The court barred the police from rearresting the PTI leader on the FIRs lodged in the Hyderabad region

scam rather FBR reportedly allowed the incriminated custom officers to steal away the report from FBR records sources close to development told this scribe that senior custom officials are trying their best to make a deal with the whistle blower as they think that Nisar ahmad’s disclosures regarding shelter and backing of money maker principal appraiser Waseem ahmad from DG custom intelligence in the customs frauds in GB customs had put the senior customs officer ’ career at peril and some senior custom officers in FBR wanted to avoid this eventuality sources said, the whistle blower has been assured he will be given a good posting after a few months and the whistle blower has reportedly agreed in return that he will now stop washing the dirty linen in public sources said that it was in this context that PCa will be misused once again to silence the noise about custom officers lust for and their magnitude of money making at the cost of massive losses of government revenue It will be no different this time as many earlier revenue loss scams in the custom department have seen the same fate

Buzdar withdraws bail plea in assets beyond means case

minister

Former Punjab

withdrew

from an

in a case of assets beyond known sources of income The PTI leader appeared before accountability Court Judge sheikh sajjad ahmed after his bail expired in the case He took back the petition after an investigator of the National accountability Court (NaB) told the court that the former chief minister was not wanted by the NaB anymore and no arrest warrants had been issued against him The NaB official added that the former chief minister would be informed before his arrest In November last, the accountability court granted interim pre-arrest bail to the former chief minister in the case initiated by the NaB against him for holding assets beyond means The anti-graft watchdog is already investigating a case related to misuse of authority in liquor licence case against the former chief minister He is also facing charges of illegal promotions in the Communication and Work Department and corruption in awarding contracts for key development projects in Punjab during his tenure as CM

over 13.5m children administered polio drops

ISLAMABAD

Over 13 5 million children under the age of five years in 36 districts have been administered polio drops during the third sub-National Immunization Days campaign of the current year The campaign covered nine districts of Punjab, eight districts of sindh, six districts of Balochistan, and Islamabad In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the campaign was launched on December 5, targeting nine high-risk districts of the region Over 100,000 trained and dedicated 'sehat Muhafiz' were engaged in the vaccination drive to inoculate the targeted children at their doorstep Federal Minister for National Health services, Regulations and Coordination abdul Qadir Patel said "If we can eliminate the polio virus from southern KP, we will succeed in eliminating polio from Pakistan altogether" "We are actually quite close to the finish line, and we are determined to get there as soon as possible Pakistan has made great strides in the fight against polio, with the virus circulation reduced to only one small part of the country", he added Dr shahzad Baig, Coordinator of the National Emergency Operation Centre emphasized that the anti-polio campaign required collective action at all levels to completely eradicate the polio virus from the country He said, "Our aim is to ensure timely and repeated vaccination of eligible children High-risk districts are our top priority, and we are keen to eliminate the virus from the challenging areas while protecting the rest of the region as well,” he added "I particularly urge all parents and caregivers to get their children vaccinated in every vaccination drive

LAHoRe S tA f f R e P o R t

chief

Usman Buzdar on Tuesday

his petition

accountability court for interim bail

A P P

04 NEWS 14 December 2022_Layout 1 12/14/2022 12:18 AM Page 1

N U S T a r T i f i c i a l i N T e l l i g e N c e c o N f e r e N c e i N f e b r U a r y

THE National Center of Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) has invited submissions of research papers on artificial intelligence (AI) for the third edition of the annual event on the subject scheduled to be held in February

According to an official of the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), the two-day event on February 22-23 will be held at the institution’s premises and bring together the community of practitioners and researchers to meet and share cutting-edge developments in the field

The conference will cover innovation and scientific research in the area o f A I , m a c h i n e l e a r n i n g , d a t a f u s i o n , data mining and information retrieval, decision support systems artificial neural networks, deep learning and big data analytics, deep learning and cybersecurity robotics autonomous systems ass i s t i v e r o b o t i c s , i n t e l l i g e n t s y s t e m s ,

the emerging needs of humankind in the rapidly developing science and technology frontier

The conference will be a rewarding experience of networking and exchanging the knowledge of Artificial Intelligence with industry academia and intellectuals of the field and accepted papers will be published in IEEE Xplore, a digital research database for discovery and access to journal articles

Those interested are required to submit papers here by December 25

AI offers society and the business world novel and radically different approaches to knowledge discovery learning, problem-solving, and decision-making

Based on intelligent computing technologies that empower machines to observe, listen, and learn beyond the typical capabilities of humans AI facilitates business decision-making by offering real-time models with enhanced accuracy and efficiency

S econd phase of LG polls in Balochistan on today

QUETTA S ta f f R e p o R t

The second phase of the local government (LG) elections will be held in 32 districts of Balochistan on Wednesday I n t h e s e c o n d p h a s e o f t h e L G e l e c t i o n s , t h e c o u n c i l o r s e l e c t e d d u r i n g t h e f i r s t p h a s e w o u l d c a s t t h e i r v o t e s f o r t h e r e s e r v e d s e a t s o f 7 m u n i c i p a l c o r p o r a t i o n s , 4 8 m u n i c i p a l c o m m i t t e e s , a n d 5 9 7 u n i o n c o u n c i l s The voting will be held for 33 percent of seats allo-

cated for women, 5 percent each for farmers, labours and non-Muslims

According to details, on the women-reserved seats, as many as 786 female candidates have been elected unopposed out of 2,082 Polling on 1295 seats will be held on women seats while no candidate submitted nomination papers on 19 seats

On 902 Farmers’ seats, 412 have been elected unopposed while 10 seats remain vacant due to non-filing of nomination papers and polling will be held on the rest of 480 seats

O n 9 0 2 r e s e r v e d s e a t s f o r l a b o u r s , 4 0 8 h a v e

b

r s o n 6 s e a t s a n d t h e p o l l i n g w i l l

Minorities seats, while election would be held on 709 seats due to not submission of nomination papers, while polling will be held on 47 seats

In order to conduct the second phase of local government polls in free, fair and transparent manner, the Election Commission of Pakistan has appointed 32 DROs, 131 ROs, 145 AROs, 597 Presiding Officers and 597 Polling Officers

U o S g e t s N o C t o l a u n c h M P h i l, P h D p ro g ra m s i n M i c ro b i o l o g y, B i o t e c h

SWAT

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has granted NoC to the University of Swat (UoS) for launching MPhil and PhD programmes in Microbiology and Biotechnology

According to UoS Spokesman Rafiullah it is the 9th department of the university, which received NoC for launching MPhil and PhD programs E a r l i e r t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f E c on o m i c s , Z o o l o g y, F o r e s t r y, P h y s i c s , C h e m i s t r y, I s l a m i c S t u d i e s , E n v i r o nm e n t a l S c i e n c e s a n d M a n a g e m e n t S c i e n c e s h a v e a l r e a d y r e c e i v e d N o C s f o r e i t h e r M P h i l , P h D o r b o t h d i s c ip l i n e s d u r i n g t h e t e n u r e o f t h e i n c u mb e n t Vi c e C h a n c e l l o r, t h e s p o k e s p e r s o n i n f o r m e d On the occasion Prof Dr Hassan Sher, Vice Chancellor UoS, congratu-

Fac tbox: Recent attacks on foreigners in Afghanistan

frontier said, with each side accusing the other of starting the fighting

lated the faculty of the Centre of Biotechnology and Microbiology and informed that admissions will be offered from the next month in all the departments having NoCs for launching MPhil and PhD programs

He said that the departments, already offering MPhil/PhD, will also announce new admissions from January 2023

T h e V C f u r t h e r a d d e d t h a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f S w a t w a s a r e a l b l e s si n g o f A l l a h f o r t h e s t u d e n t s a n d p u bl i c o f t h e a r e a , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e f i e l d o f h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n The students of Swat and adjoini n g a r e a s n o w h a v e t h e f a c i l i t i e s o f higher education at their doorstep,” he said, adding that they were striving to develop research culture through these higher degrees and scholars of the univ e r s i t y w i l l s o o n p r o d u c e q u a l i t y r esults in the field of research

T wo killed, eight injured in van-trailer collision

ISLAMABAD

At least two people were killed and eight others injured in a collision between a van and a trailer in the Naushahro Feroze district of Sindh According to the reports the accident took place in the wee hours at the Dadu-Moro link road when a van collided with a trailer laden with sugarcane, resulting in the killing of two persons on the spot Police and rescue teams reached the site and shifted the victims to a hospital, local media said, adding that the injured included women and children Reportedly the ill-fated van was going from the Dadu district to the Khairpur district of the province Road accidents frequently happen in Pakistan mainly due to poorly maintained vehicles dilapidated roads and negligence of road safety measures

10 people mauled by stray dogs in larkana

LARKANA

At least 10 people were mauled by stray dogs in and around Larkana on Tuesday as the menace continued to hit the residents very hard The injured include 1- year Bashir, 11-year Moomal, 55-year Ghulam Muhammad 10-year Fatah and others All the affected persons were brought to the Anti-Rabies Vaccination Center working at the Casualty of Chandka Medical College Hospital for vaccination of anti-rabies and dressing of their wounds to save their precious lives and after which all were discharged and allowed to go home

Seven new covid-19 cases recorded in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD

S

Pakistan recorded seven new Covid-19 cases on Monday, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday According to data released by the ministry, the overall tally of infected people increased to 1,575,487 across the country after adding the new cases A total of 30,635 people died of Covid-19 in Pakistan, with no more deaths recorded during the last 24 hours, according to the ministry’s statistics On Monday, 3,341 tests for Covid-19 were conducted throughout Pakistan, and the positivity rate stood at 0 21 percent

The Taliban took back control of Afghanistan last year as US and foreign troops withdrew after 20 years of conflict following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States

Following is a list of recent attacks on foreigners in Afghanistan:

December, 2022: At least three attackers were killed by security forces in Afghanistan on Monday after armed men opened fire inside a hotel in central Kabul popular with Chinese nationals

Cross-border shelling and gunfire between Afghanistan and Islamabad killed six Pakistan civilians and one Afghan soldier officials on both sides of the

Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul came under attack with gunfire wounding a Pakistan security guard, officials said in what Islamabad called an attempt to assassinate its head of mission, who was unhurt September, 2022

Two Russian embassy staff were killed in a suicide bombing near the nation’s diplomatic mission in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the Russian Foreign Ministry said August, 2021

A single Islamic State bomber killed 13 US troops and at least 170 Afghans at Kabul airport as US soldiers were trying to help both Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover

LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

Aviation and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Tuesday said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) must be abolished while suggesting creation of a new accountability body

During a media talk in Lahore, Rafique said that although the current NAB Chairman Aftab Sultan is an honest person but they still seek improved functionality and outcomes from the bureau

Criticizing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan he said that dragging Pakistan Army into the politics was inappropriate

The minister said that cases were framed on the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leaders h i p i n a v e r y h y p o c r i t i c a l m a n n e r a s t h e y w e r e

37

lankan

students arrive to pursue fur ther education: data

ISLAMABAD

aimed at political vengeance

Earlier, former prime minister and senior vice president of PML-N Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had also called for abolishing NAB to save the politicians from humiliation in the name of accountability Lambasting NAB ex-chairman Javed Iqbal, Abbasi said that the real culprit who brought disrepute to the bureau was Iqbal and that they want to hold him accountable

ISLAMABAD a p p

KABUL R

NiNe eCoNoMiC zoNes L AuNCHed, work oN Five More iN ProGress: ProviNCiAL CAbiNet iNForMed

mood Khan in the Chair

AS many as nine out of 19

Economic Zones have been launched whereas work on the launching of five Economic Zones is in progress An Investment to the tune of Rs 340 00 billion is expected in these Economic Zones Similarly, 1672 Industrial Units have been established and 167 dysfunctional units have been restored Moreover, 363 Industrial plots have also been allotted in Special Economic Zones These Industrial activities are expected to generate 180000 direct employment opportunities in the province This was told to provincial cabinet meeting held here on Tuesday with chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mah-

The chief minister directed the concerned authorities for result oriented steps to further improve the performance of EZDMC and to ensure the timely completion of the ongoing developmental projects The Cabinet accorded approval to extend the tenure of the existing CEO, KPEZDMC Javed Iqbal for a period of three years The cabinet also approved the issuance of arm license of prohibited bore to lawyers

CM Mahmood Khan also directed the concerned authorities to formulate a mechanism to extend the prohibited bore arm license facility to the general masses as well The forum decided to impose ban on the burning of tyres for industrial activities for a period of one year with the aim to curtail environmental pollu-

Fawad Hasan Fawad seeks acquittal in assets case

LAHORE S tA f f R e P o R t

The principal secretary to former prime ministers Fawad Hasan Fawad HAS filed an acquittal plea in accountability court (AC) in assets beyond means case

As per details the accountability court heard the case against Fawad Hassan in the assets beyond means case The TLTP learnt that the petitioner said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry into the assets case was illegal as it was beyond NAB jurisdiction The case registered against the petitioner by NAB was a political case The AC accepted the acquittal plea for hearing Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) dropped corruption cases against Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and other Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders following amendments to the NAB ordinance

LHC recovers father, sons from illegal police custody

LAHORE S tA f f R e P o R t

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has summoned the city police chief to appear before the court in person in the case of illegal detention of three persons by police Earlier, a court bailiff recovered a father and his two sons from illegal custody of police and produced them before the court The high court bench issued contempt notices to Manawan and Batapur police stations officials over misstatement before the court The bench also summoned the CCPO Lahore in person in the next hearing of the case “It has become routine of police to subject the citizens to excesses, while caring least about the fundamental human rights their privacy and honour,” court observed “Police don’t hesitate or fear to speak false before courts Such policemen have no right to remain in the department the judge said “If the excess proved these policemen will not be allowed to remain in the police job,” court said Earlier, it was pleaded to the court that the police conducted raid at home, arrested the father and his two sons and kept them in illegal detention

Gov t working diligently to bring economic stabilit y in countr y: Abbasi

iSLAmABAd

A P P

Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Tuesday that the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was working day and night to bring economic stability in the country Addressing workers’ convention of PML-N, he said Pakistan was passing through a very critical phase of its history However the government would not disappoint people Government was cognizant of the problems faced by the poor due to inflation, he said adding poor policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government played havoc with the economy of the country during the last three and half years The era of Imran Khan was based on incompetence and corruption He said Imran Khan s politics was based on lies His dreams of coming into power agains would never come true

tion The cabinet also Okayed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mineral Auction Rules 2022 Similarly, the cabinet nodded to the holding of digital literacy training for provincial cabinet members to promote e governance and paper less culture in government offices

The cabinet also approved to extend the tenure of 80 Muawin Qazis of Malakand division in the light of para-6 of Sharia Nizam Adal Regulations

Moreover, the forum also approved the establishment of a special Unit for the investigation of sexual crimes in all the districts under anti-rape (investigation & trial) Act-2021

The cabinet also accorded approval to the establishment of seven sports grounds on the land of Auqaf

Ghari, 50 Kanal ground in Ghalla Dher, 30 Kanal ground in Shamat Pur 20 Kanal ground in Turoo Khas

Punjab CM takes major decisions to reduce government expenditures

LAHORE

A P P

Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervez Elahi has issued strict instructions to implement the austerity policy while making major decisions to reduce government expenditures in the province

He imposed a ban on the procurement of new vehicles for government departments and further announced a 50% reduction in the non-development expenses of all government departments including the CMO

While chairing a meeting at his office on Tuesday, the CM instructed all departments to ensure strict implementation of the austerity policy He also ordered to provide him with a complete record of state lands in Punjab within seven days A comprehensive policy will be prepared to auction the government lands transparently

Parvez Elahi directed adopting out-of-box measures to increase provincial resources and stressed that line departments should uniquely introduce new measures to increase revenue He directed to achieve targets set for increasing the resources and made it clear that it is the responsibility of the line departments to ensure achieving targets within the stipulated period They should burn the midnight oil while adopting concrete measures to increase the resources This would help provide more facilities to the citizens he noted The development program and financial affairs in the province were reviewed in detail

P r o v i n c i a l F i n a n c e M i n i s t e r M o h s i n Leghari, former federal minister Moonis Elahi, Hussain Elahi MNA, Chief Secretary Abdullah Sumbal, Principal Secretary to CM Muhammad K h a n B h a t t i , s e c r e t a r y f i n a n c e a n d o t h e r s a ttended the meeting

WSSP demands Rs320m grant as company reeling under debt of Rs70m

pESHAWAR

The water and Sanitation Company Peshawar (WSSP) has asked the provincial government for more funds and informed that it is reeling under a debt of Rs70 2 million

The company also needs another Rs240 million for the current month’s expenses Thus the company has immediately requested Rs320 million from the provincial government

In the letter sent by the WSSP to the Department of Local Government, it is said that the company is under debt of Rs70 2 million in terms of fuel rented vehicles and expenditure for repair purpose which the company has to pay in any case The company also needs urgent funds to meet the expenditure of the month of December

I n s t e a d o f i s s u i n g q u a r t e r l y g r a n t s t o a l l s a n i t a t i o n c o m p a n i e s , t h e p r o v i n c i a l g o v e r nm e n t h a s n o w s t a r t e d i s s u i n g g r a n t s e v e r y month, due to which the sanitation companies

have to send applications for the provision of grants every month S i m i l a r l y, W S S P, w h i c h i s s u ff e r i n g f r o m financial crisis does not have Rs100mn to pay e l e c t r i c i t y b i l l s T h e p r o v i n c i a l g o v e r n m e n t has been informed about the absence of funds as WSSP is currently suffering from severe financial crisis

The company has to wait for monthly grant from the provincial government to pay salaries

According to the company sources, currently, the WSSP has arrears of Rs100mn in terms of electricity bills which have to be paid by 30th September, but the company does not have a single penny in this regard Due to non-payment of bills the company may face a fine of up to Rs10mn Therefore, the WSSP has requested the provincial government to help it pay the bill amd avoid heavy fine The company has clarified that the said amount should be deducted from the amount received in the annual grant approved by the company for the financial year 2022-23

40 Kanal ground in kandar and 66 Kanal ground in Muhib Banda Similarly, the cabinet also approved the upgradation of Swabi Sports Complex on 30 Kanal lease land of Auqaf

The cabinet also approved the appointment of Hifzur Rehman as a technocrat member of the Local Government Commission The cabinet approved Tehsil Council byelaws 2022 The provincial government is empowered to make model bye-laws for local governments under section113 of Local Government Act 2013

The cabinet approved the repeal of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Housing Authority Service Rules 2010 as the said service rules are no longer required after the issuance of Provincial Housing Authority

PM vows to interconnect countr y via road infrastructure development

COntinuEd fROm pAgE 01

Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan in the upcoming donors conference to be held in Geneva in January would urge the international community to provide assistance in the wake of massive life and infrastructure losses due to the recent flash floods Sindh Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah regretted that the apathy of the previous government delayed the construction of M-6 for over three years and emphasized that 25,000 jobs related to the project needed to be given to the locals He requested the prime minister to allocate an amount for the Sehwan Bypass in next budget

He highlighted the need for the dewatering of flood-hit areas and expressed confidence that the Federal Government would continue to extend assistance to Sindh in that regard

Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Shah said the M-6 motorway would prove to be a milestone in strengthening of the economy by promoting intra-country trade activities

Federal Minister for Communications Asad Mehmood said the construction of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) was a long-standing demand of the people of Sindh which had been fulfilled by the present coalition government He expressed satisfaction that Shehbaz Sharif was fulfilling the vision of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif regarding establishing a large network of motorways in the country as a step of development

Federal Minister for Information Technology Amin ul Haq said the M-6 motorway would connect various cities of the country and would promote trade activities

Federal Secretary for Communications Capt (retd) Khurram Agha said the government would provide only Rs9 5 billion and the motorway would be constructed on a publicprivate basis

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Sindh chapter Rashid Mehmood Soomro said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would unitedly work and carry out of development projects across the country in the best public interest

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Dr Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb members of the provincial assembly and officials of the Sindh government attended the two events The six-lane motorway will comprise 15 interchanges, a large bridge over the Sindh River, 82 bridges over canals, 19 underpass bridges, six flyovers, and 10 service areas The project will create around 25,000 jobs The M-6 will pass through the districts of Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matiari, Benazirabad, Nowshero Feroze, Khairpur, and Sukkur Service areas and rest areas will be provided at every 50 km on both sides of the highway

P T I t o c r u s h 1 3 p a r t i e s ’ g r o u p o n D e c 3 1 : A l i Awa n

iSLAmABAd

In what appears to be a major breakthrough, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWM) announced unconditional support to Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) for the forthcoming local government elections in the federal capital to inflict crushing defeat on the selfcentered, greedy and crooks rulers who plunged the country into worst crises within short span of few months

The announcement in a press conference in joint press conference of PTI Islamabad Region President Ali Nawaz Awan and MWM political Secretary Engineer Zaheer Naqvi here on Tuesday

Speaking on the occasion Ali Awan said that the MWM chief Raja Abbas

Nasir stood by PTI during the last 8 months for which they were grateful to MWM

He said that PTI was striving hard to make Pakistan truly a welfare state like state of Medina, but unfortunately, the formula of ‘divide and rule’ sowed the seed of sectarianism and linguistic division in the country Ali Awan stated that the PTI was contesting the LG polls like general elections, which was expected within next two to three months, adding that God willing PTI would easily grab the mayor slot in Islamabad PTI leader said that the people of Islamabad will also vote to PTI on December 31 to inflict humiliating defeat on the 13 parties’ alliance, as they did in the by-polls elsewhere in the country as PTI won 85% of the by-elections

in the last eight months, adding that Imran Khan made a world record by winning eight by-elections

He said that once PTI was taunted as Tanga Party but today Imran Khan reduced the 13-party PDM group to a ‘Tanga party’ He said that during the last 8 months the imported government subjected the PTI to all kinds of state repression, ruined economy and imposed curbs on media besides skyrocketing inflation

A l i Aw a n w e n t o n t o s a y t h a t P T I always took decisions for the future of t h e h o m e l a n d i n s t e a d o f s h o r t t e r m p o l i t i c a l g a i n s , a s i t w a s e v i d e n t f r o m t h e u n p r e c e d e n t e d m o v e i n t h e h i s t o r y o f P a k i s t a n t h a t o v e r 1 2 5 m e m b e r s o f t h e a s s e m b l y s u b m i t t e d t h e i r r e s i g n at i o n s c o l l e c t i v e l y w h i c h w e r e n o t a cc e p t e d s o f a r

However, he said that PTI MNAs would go to National Assembly for the approval of their resignations on the day of dissolution of the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtukhwa He said that it was not possible to hold a by-election on 567 seats, so there will be a general election and even if a by-election was held, we will win with a twothirds majority

On the occasion Engineer Zaheer Naqvi said that MWM supported PTI’s ideology of Medina state He said that true public representation was need of the hour to get the country out of the prevailing instability, adding that MWM was unconditionally supporting PTI in Islamabad LG polls He said that it was good for the future of Pakistan that both parties sat together

pESHAWAR S tA f f R e P o R t

in Mardan which included 50 Kanal ground near women university Mardan 30 Kanal ground in Shahbaz

Imran and the NAB law

e C e n T amendments to the nAB law made by the Pdm government are being contested in the Supreme Court by PTI chairman Imran Khan He maintains that the nAB ordinance 2001 has been deliberately altered and weakened to allow for his rivals to get exemptions and acquittals in corruption cases Khan’s argument is not without merit; since the law was changed many high profile cases, against the Sharif family and others, have been dismissed However, the amendments made were through Parliament, which mr Khan and his party has boycotted since he was removed as Pm through a vote of no confidence back in April If he truly wanted to thwart the government’s, as he puts it, self-serving attempts, to curtail nAB s powers, he should have done so by voting against the legislation that was tabled Since his ouster he has attempted to regain his position and power through street agitation and targeted attacks against the military establishment, none of which has worked Hearing his petition yesterday, the Supreme Court wondered what exactly he wanted Should the Court, in another instance of judicial overreach, undermine the executive s authority and deem the amendments made to nAB law null and void?

In his typically hypocritical style of conducting politics, mr Khan has conveniently forgotten what sort of nAB he was running with the help of the establishment, rounding up his political opponents and putting them behind bars in loosely constructed and poorly prosecuted corruption cases It is ironical that the very Court that he has approached to presumably reverse what the government has done to nAB, has been highly critical of the methods employed by the accountability watchdog during the PTI’s tenure, terming their unjustified prolonged detentions a human rights violation

Since its creation by a military dictator as a tool for extreme political victimization, nAB has been an ineffective institution used by those in power to further their agendas and hold on to power through fear and blatant mistreatment of ‘accused’ persons, and that has led to suicide in some cases as well There is indeed a debate to be had about what a modern nAB law should look like and even if there is a need for it to exist anymore But that is to be had amongst lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in Parliament, not in a courtroom

A c a l l f o r a C h r i s t m a s t r u c e

through a ceasefire and negotiated settlement, before the conflict results in a nuclear war that could devastate the world’s ecosystems and annihilate all of God’s creation ”

CH R I S T m A S T I m e 1914, five months into the First world war a remarkable event occurred no one knows exactly how it began, but French, British, Belgian, and German soldiers on both sides of the trenches began singing Christmas carols, each in their own language, and then put down their weapons, played football and exchanged Christmas greetings and gifts with one another

This informal Christmas truce had not been sanctioned by any government There had been appeals from various civil society groups and Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XV who called on governments urging that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night that the angels sang” heralding the birth of Jesus not only were these appeals rejected, some of the soldiers who participated in the spontaneous truce were deemed traitors and punished for their action

The Christmas truce of 1914 didn t end the war It lasted four more years, taking the lives of almost 15,000,000 combatants and civilians The singular event of a spontaneous truce however did live on i n e u r o p e a n l o r e a n d h a s b e e n a n i n s p i r a t i o n t o filmmakers, storytellers, and religious leaders who continue to see it as a powerful example of how the human spirit can be a powerful force rising above hate and division in the promotion of peace

It was with this in mind that the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) launched a campaign of religious leaders calling on the governments of Russia and Ukraine to put in place a Christmas truce in Ukraine from december 25th to January 7th The FoR appeal is quite straightforward:

As people of faith and conscience, believing in the sanctity of all life on this planet, we call for a Christmas Truce in Ukraine In the spirit of the truce that occurred in 1914 during the First world war, we urge our government to take a leadership r o l e i n b r i n g i n g t h e w a r i n U k r a i n e t o a n e n d

Thus far the statement has been endorsed by over 1,000 US-based religious leaders and theologians representing most Christian denominations and organizations and leaders from the muslim Jewish Sikh, and Buddhist faiths with the war ’s violence accelerating intensified Russian attacks on Ukraine s infrastructure and now Ukraine’s use of drones to bomb installations within Russia no one is under any illusion that this appeal will be embraced either by the Russian or Ukrainian leadership or by the white House The bad blood between the two peoples is even poisoning their religious faiths The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians and Russians are orthodox C h r i s t i a n s o n c e u n i t e d u n d e r t h e P a t r i a r c h y o f m o s c o w, t h e U k r a i n i a n c h u r c h , w h i c h f o r y e a r s h a d b e e n u n c o m f o r t a b l e b e i n g u n d e r m o s c o w ’s thumb, declared its independence at the beginning of the war what drove them to sever ties was the R u s s i a n P a t r i a r c h ’s f u l l - t h r o a t e d e n d o r s e m e n t o f Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion coupled with his pronouncement that Russian soldiers killed in combat against Ukrainians would be forgiven their sins not wanting to overreach, the Ukrainian Patria r c h y i n i t i a l l y u rg e d U k r a i n e ’s 7 0 0 0 o r t h o d o x churches to sever ties with moscow Increasingly, they have done so But Prime minister Volodymyr Zelensky has taken this rupture a step further calling for a repressive law banning Ukrainian orthod o x c h u r c h e s f r o m i d e n t i f y i n g w i t h t h e m o s c o w Patriarchy

This split has even spilled over into Christmas celebrations The orthodox churches historically follow the Julian Calendar which predates the Gregorian Calendar that is now standard throughout the west According to the Julian Calendar, Christmas is celebrated on January 7 while the rest of Christendom celebrates on december 25 Ukrainians have now moved their Christmas to the western date decem-

ber 25 For that reason, the FoR organizers have called for the truce to last at least between december 25 and January 7 so that the birth of Jesus can be celebrated in peace by both peoples with layer upon layer of conflict, finding space for a truce whether government or orthodox Church endorsed, or spontaneous seems remote But it doesn’t make the appeal less urgent or important In many ways, not unlike the First world war, this is a war that didn’t need to be fought and could have been avoided It is taking a terrible toll in human life, while driving millions into exile as refugees In the end, no one will win and not just Ukraine and Russia, but all of europe, will be worse off than they were before the hostilities began

For this reason, the FoR religious leaders’ appeal represents an important call to the Christian peoples of Ukraine and Russia to let the guns fall silent during the time when both celebrate the birth of Jesus officialdom may not listen, but that’s no reason for religious leaders to be silent

It is important to be on the correct side of a call to conscience, even when the odds are decidedly against success my first involvement with the FoR was in 1967 the early years of the Vietnam war when I participated in their “The Brothers Project,” a national campaign to bring napalmed Vietnamese children to the USA for medical treatment That project didn’t end the war, but it did educate Americans to the humanity of the Vietnamese people and the inhumane use of napalm as a weapon of war Similarly while I founded the Palestine Human Rights Campaign nearly one-half century ago, I don t see the fact that we are still fighting to secure Palestinian human rights as a sign that our work was wasted we elevated a just cause and helped to educate a generation about injustice

In this same vein while the Call for a Christmas Truce may not succeed in creating a respite for victims of this cruel war it will challenge faith leaders and all peoples here in the USA and in Ukraine and Russia to face up to our responsibilities to seek peace at least during the time we celebrate the birth of the whom Christians call the “prince of peace”

I n t h i s s a m e v e i n , w h i l e t h e C a l l fo r a C h r i s t m a s Tr u c e m ay n o t s u c c e e d i n c r e a t i n g a r e s p i t e fo r v i c t i m s o f t h i s c r u e l w a r, i t w i l l ch a l l e n g e f a i t h l e a d e rs a n d a l l p e o p l e s h e r e i n t h e U S A a n d i n U k r a i n e a n d R u s s i a t o f a c e u p t o o u r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s t o s e e k p e a c e a t l e a s t d u r i n g t h e t i m e w e c e l e b r a t e t h e b i r t h o f t h e w h o m C h r i s t i a n s c a l l t h e “ p r i n c e o f p e a c e ”

Fallout of the Russia-West Economic War of Attrition for Pakistan

ropean markets

w i t h a 2 8 p e r c e n t g r o w t h i n t h e w o r l d economy rather than the previously forecast 3 9 percent

The once-comprehensible map of the world order has turned into a tangled mess, giving rise to a series of economic challenges The global economy was already under stress due to covid-19, and the Russia-west economic war has further exacerbated the existing situation The conflict is not just an indirect military engagement, but also an economic war of attrition on a scale that was unthinkable a year ago and unprecedented in its far-reaching impact on the financial stability of a deeply interconnected world

Since the outset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the western world, led by the USA, has wielded sanctions as an economic weapon against Russia by choosing an approach of ‘supply-side damage’ to impact the Russian economy while failing to adequately plan for the inevitable consequences of such a strategy for the rest of the world, including itself

europe is paying a heavy price, primar i l y i n t h e f o r m o f s u rg i n g e n e rg y p r i c e s along with rising interest rates in response to inflationary pressure According to the e u r o p e a n e n e rg y C o u n c i l R e p o r t , t h e U k r a i n i a n c o n f l i c t w o u l d r e d u c e g l o b a l productivity by about $1 trillion this year,

T h e c u r r e n t t r a j e c t o r y o f t h e w a r i s h e a d i n g i n t o w h a t a p p e a r s t o b e a l o n gstanding economic war of attrition between R u s s i a a n d t h e we s t R u s s i a ’s a n n o u n c ement of the suspension of the gas supply for an indefinite period created a wave of concern in europe as it became impossible to replace a dependency of this magnitude o n s u c h s h o r t n o t i c e T h e G 2 0 c o u n t r i e s also saw a decline in their aggregate GdP According to the european energy Council meeting in november the rise in gas and e l e c t r i c i t y p r i c e s h a s p u t p r e s s u r e o n t h e e U e c o n o m y, a ff e c t i n g t h e c o m p e t i t i v eness of european enterprises and jeopardizing eU cohesion

The snowballing effects of the Russiawest economic war are massive including a global surge in energy, gas, and oil prices along with a rise in interest rates for the developing world Pakistan needs to tread the trade situation with Russia carefully, as the eU is its largest export destination and granted Pakistan GSP+ status back in 2014, which is due to expire in 2023 Pakistan is in dire need of discounted oil and wheat from Russia and also does not want to jeopardise the impending renewal of its GSP+ status with the eU

R i s i n g o i l p r i c e s h a v e i m p a c t e d b o t h Pakistan’s soaring inflation and led to a red u c t i o n i n a c c e s s t o b a s i c c o m m o d i t i e s d e s p i t e r e c e i v i n g b i l l i o n s o f d o l l a r s i n loans from global financial institutions in

recent months, Pakistan’s economic condit i o n r e m a i n s p r e c a r i o u s A c c o r d i n g t o a world Bank analysis published in october inflation in Pakistan is predicted to reach above 23 percent in the coming fiscal year due to notably tighter global monetary conditions According to the Pakistan Statistic a l B o a r d , o w i n g t o h i g h e r i n t e r n a t i o n a l prices the import bill of crude oil and pet r o l e u m i n c r e a s e d f r o m $ 7 5 5 b i l l i o n t o $ 1 4 8 1 b i l l i o n i n t h e c u r r e n t f i s c a l y e a r Furthermore the Russia-Ukraine conflict has resulted in surging LnG prices, which i s o f c o n c e r n f o r P a k i s t a n a s m o s t L n G suppliers have backed out of their contracts to gain cost-effective advantages from eu-

In the food sector, Pakistan was the third largest consumer of wheat imported from Ukraine and Russia, and from 2020–2021, the government of Pakistan was planning to increase wheat production Unfortunately, the predicted amount of the crop may not be realised because of a fertilizer shortage and heavy losses of crops due to the recent floods, thus increasing food insecurity in Pakistan To enhance supply and avoid shortages, the government is aiming to import almost 2 million tonnes of wheat

However, the economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (eCC) has yet to finalise the method of payment due to the exclusion of Russia from SwIFT, a widely used worldwide inter-banking system of payment The conflict will impact the aver-

T h e e c o n o m i c a s p e c t o f t h i s w a r h a s c o n t r i bu t e d t o Pa k i s t a n ’s a l r e a dy wo rs e n i n g c u r r e n t a c c o u n t a n d f i s c a l b a l a n c e s a s w e l l a s i t s e c o n o m i c s t ag n a t i o n A s t h e c o n f l i c t i s s t i l l u n fo l d i n g , t h e l o n g - t e r m c o n s e q u e n c e s w i l l b e c o m e v i s i bl e i n d u e t i m e . Pa k i s t a n mu s t c a r e f u l ly ex a m i n e i t s s t r a t e g i c p o s i t i o n i n t h e g l o b a l e c o n o m i c c o n t ex t , m a k i n g i n fo r m e d bu t t i m e ly d e c i s i o n s t o w e a t h e r t h e s t o r m

age person by driving up the cost of raw materials as well as creating a scarcity of essential goods The price index change is also considerably more extreme, leaving people facing substantially higher costs for basic food staples Pakistan has seen a considerable rise in its consumer price index, up to 194 points, with the inflation rate hitting 26 6 percent in october

I t i s i m p e r a t i v e f o r n a t i o n s l i k e P a ki s t a n t o t a k e p r e c a u t i o n a r y m e a s u r e s f o r the worst-case scenario First, there is a requirement for strict fiscal discipline by foc u s i n g o n p u b l i c f i n a n c i a l m a n a g e m e n t r e f o r m s a n d b r i n g i n g t r a n s p a r e n c y a n d credibility to the budget cycle Secondly, there should be an emphasis on bolstering local energy generation systems and limiti n g t h e i m p o r t o f L n G T h i r d l y, t o d e a l w i t h t h e f o o d c r i s i s a n d s h o r t a g e , a p u s h should be made on establishing inventories f o r f o o d s t a p l e s a n d c o m m o d i t i e s Fourthly, to handle the international commodity price strain, it is important to cons i d e r i n d i g e n i s a t i o n b y i n v e s t i n g i n t h e manufacturing and processing sector

The economic aspect of this war has contributed to Pakistan’s already worsening current account and fiscal balances as well as its economic stagnation As the conflict is still unfolding the long-term consequences will become visible in due time Pakistan must carefully examine its strategic position in the global economic context making informed but timely decisions to weather the storm

Sabina Babar is a Researcher at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS), Lahore She can be reached at casslahore@gmail com

The writer is President of the Arab American Institute

Re n o w n e d historian Adam

Tooze has warned that the world faces a ‘Poly-Crisis’ a perfect storm of impending global financial and socioe-conomic crises

WASHINGTON

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

S oviets and Ukrainians should recall Christmas 1914

The string of pearls

Belt

De S P I T e the inhuman characters of Lovett and Todd in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the phrase string of pearls is still an attractive metaphor probably because of the culmination of Johanna and mark’s romance Perhaps it is the same while using this phrase for strategically located seaports in the Indian ocean region

There is no need to consider the phrase as a cunningly coined term to maliciously defame China’s strategic contribution to uplift the region through connectivity and economic progress There is no doubt that all locations on the string carry significant importance for connectivity and trade The most precious pearl in the string is Gwadar; Hambantota and Chittagong are also important to keep the entire string operative even under the toughest global circumstances efficient connectivity across the Indian ocean from The Bab-el-mandeb (Gate of Lamentation) to The Strait of malacca can bring significant prosperity to the Indian ocean countries According to some estimates two third of the world s oil reserves, 35 percent of the world’s gas wealth 60 percent of uranium 40 percent of gold and 80 percent of diamond reserves are owned by Indian ocean countries

According to Junaid Ashraf from Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad “The pearls are a metaphor for the Chinese seaports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka Bangladesh myanmar and maldives In Pakistan, China is building infrastructure at the Gwadar port, which is strategically located only 240 miles from the Straits of Hormuz In Sri Lanka the Hambantota port is of great significance as it is approximately six nautical miles away from the Indian ocean s major east-west shipping route China is also interested in upgrading the Chittagong port facility and to establish its link to Yunnan province in China via myanmar myanmar has a great strategic location as an ocean outlet, which would facilitate the flow of resources (oil in particular) to China without passing through the vulnerable waters of the malacca Strait Furthermore, the maldives is an island nation that consists of roughly around 1190 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 2 atolls oriented north-south off India’s Lakshadweep islands, between minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago where the American base of diego Garcia, is located, making it strategically an important country ”

we need to comprehend a dual dimension of the ‘string of pearls’ theory coined by western countries to delineate the strategic depth of the

In the case of enemies, it is quite evident and convenient to conceive that they will try their best to undermine the CPeC through every possible means utilizing our weaknesses However it is a little complex to understand the apprehensions of friends As far as allies are concerned, they express their anxieties every here and then and continuously try to sabotage the project But it is difficult for friends to explicitly take a position against CPeC

However we can safely determine that interventions from all these international players do converge and shape a huge threat for the safety and prosperity of Pakistan If we remain unable to proactively address all pertinent aspects of the situation, we will probably do so in a crisis in the near future we need to ponder two important facets, first the strategic importance of Gwadar being the most precious pearl in the string and second, our people on the route, especially in Balochistan and Gwadar

The 19th century naval flag officer, strategist and historian, Alfred Thayer mahan, had predicted that the future of the 21st century would be determined on the waters of the Indian ocean in these words “whoever controls the Indian ocean, dominates Asia This ocean is the key to the seven seas in the 21st century the destiny of the world will be decided in these waters ”

proponents and opponents of the project because CPeC liberates China from the clutches of these chokepoints to fulfill exceptional energy needs and also facilitates Chinese businesses to connect to the rest of the world in a most efficient manner

It is a responsibility of both China and Pakistan to make sure that people, the most important stakeholders in the project on the route of the CPeC remain happy and satisfied to make this strategic initiative a real success deprivation, poverty, lack of development and opportunities and absence of basic necessities such as education, clean drinking water amenities and social security can easily lead them to accept any temptation to spoil the project we can’t ignore instances such as arresting Kulbhushan Jadhav from Baluchistan who was involved in terrorism and spying activities in the province we have to address all reasonable concerns of our people instead of inhibiting their voices and curbing their demands, to help them avoid any enticement to become a tool in the hands of international players to create unrest in the country

It is the responsibility of the governments of Pakistan and China to objectively analyz e both hard and soft aspects of the project through a four-prong ed strategy Completing proposed projects efficiently should remain one prong of the project Another and probably most impor tant is the satisfaction and prosperity of people along the route of the project The third should be to engag e evident opponents, helping them comprehend the economic impact of the CPEC and the social uplift of local communities which project can ensure through growth & expansion activities by providing employment and other relevant facilities

Junaid Ashraf further argues, more than 50 percent of the world’s maritime oil trade is carried out in the Indian ocean, which itself is believed to be rich with energy reserves The Indian ocean is the hub of most important strategic chokepoints in the global maritime trade, making maritime security and access to water vital to a state s power and progress The Straits of Hormuz and malacca are also among such chokepoints through which 32 2 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum are transported every day Under this scenario the significance of the CPeC grows manifold for both

It is the responsibility of the governments of Pakistan and China to objectively analyze both hard and soft aspects of the project through a four-pronged strategy Completing proposed projects efficiently should remain one prong of the project Another and probably most important is the satisfaction and prosperity of people along the route of the project The third should be to engage evident opponents, helping them comprehend the economic impact of the CPeC and the social uplift of local communities which project can ensure through growth & expansion activities by providing employment and other relevant facilities such as health and education to the least developed segments across the route Finally, we should not ignore getting friends to join the benefits of the project, otherwise they can be even more harmful than obvious rivals of the project through their silent penetration in the society and creating chaos from within which will be exceptionally challenging to handle

The writer is Associate Professor Management Sciences and Head Center of Islamic Finance COMSATS University (CUI) Lahore Campus, and can be reached at drabdussattar@cuilahore edu pk and tweets @drabdussattar

Misplaced confusion over HRC repor t

T H I S is with reference to the editorial ‘1971 in retrospect’ (nov 28), which ended with the words: “ the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report has never officially been released and no one has been held responsible for the loss of the eastern wing” This has also been the constant refrain of politicians and the media since the previous army chief touched the subject in his last public speech before leaving office ( Army has resolved to shun politics, assures Bajwa’ [nov 24])

Actually, the report was made public on dec 30, 2000, and a report to that effect featured on the front page of dawn titled HRC blames generals for ’71 debacle” (dec 31, 2000)

The commission’s report had earlier hit the headlines when India Today had carried excerpts from the supplementary report in August 2000, which were reprinted by dawn as a stand-alone supplement, titled ‘Tragic events of 1971: Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report’ (Aug 14, 2000)

Gen Pervez musharraf, the then chief executive, constituted a committee to study the report and recommend what action should be taken The committee comprised interior minister moinuddin Haider and foreign secretary Inamul Haq As the cabinet secretary at the time, I was the third member of that committee He accepted the recommendation that the report should be declassified, and this was communicated to the public in a press release by the cabinet division on dec 19, 2000, which appeared in dawn also citing a long-standing demand that the report should be made available to the people (‘HRC report to be declassified on 30th’ [dec 20, 2000])

The report was declassified on the said date in the manner in which restricted records are made public in official archives all over the world we took care to avoid declassification close to the eid holidays and the first half of december when the war had been fought in east Pakistan leading to the surrender on dec 16, 1971 The report was made public in its entirety except for some passages dealing with our relations with foreign countries Copies of the report were placed in the cabinet division and its offices in Karachi and Lahore They were consulted by the media and interested citizens and many newspapers, including dawn, printed excerpts from both the main and supplementary reports

The main report deals comprehensively with the political issues leading to the crisis in east Pakistan It criticises the Awami League s civil disobedience movement as ‘a reign of terror ’ and Yahya Khan’s flawed military and political strategy The supplementary report, which examines the war sector by sector, makes painful reading because it deals with the surrender itself The commission recommended trial by court martial for officers of different ranks It also recommended that some generals should be tried for criminal neglect of duty in the conduct of war on both fronts However no trials were conducted This piece of correspondence is simply in the hope of clearing the existing confusion about the status of the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report

DR MASUMA HASAN KARACHI

Motor way police

R e C e n T LY I was travelling from Hyderabad to Khairpur mirs by public transport The driver of our van seemed to be driving in a reckless manner, as if he was intoxicated The lives of all the passengers were at risk because of his irresponsible behaviour

At Bhit Shah, close to the city of Hala, the van actually brushed passed a truck, and lost a sideview mirror in the incident, but it had no impact on the driver and he continued unperturbed while all this was happening, I used my cellphone to call the national Highways and motorway Police (nHmP) helpline and told the operator about the driver ’s recklessness The operator assured me that the lives of the 22 passengers on the van would be protected and that a police unit would soon be on its way to help us when we reached the naushahro Feroze bypass, the police unit was there waiting It stopped the van A policeman came over and asked the passengers what exactly was going on He then spoke to the driver and gave him a speeding ticket This had a positive impact on the driver, and things became much better thereafter The incident only proves that the nHmP is the most responsible police force in the country which should be a model force for all the provincial police forces Besides, people should seek help on motorways whenever they encounter reckless drivers

SAIRA NIAZ KARACHI

Fantasy vs realit y

H e n RY Ford rightly said that failure is an opportunity to start again; more intelligently Those who recently sat the medical and dental Colleges Admission Test (mdCAT) and are now grumbling about what happened during the process would do well to pay attention to what Ford said and use it as an opportunity to start again; more intelligently A change in perspective will help them face the reality that they had been doing the wrong thing by focusing their energies on the healthcare sector in which nearly 11,000 graduates are unemployed in the country Those without a post-graduation fellow-ship against their name stand nowhere And that fellowship takes more than a decade after one has completed the five-year medical graduation How many of us can wait that long to make a decent living in a struggling society like the one we have in Pakistan? Is it the best use of our time resources and energies? Hardly

It is just a game of mindset, really The fantasy of wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope hanging around the shoulders is an image that powers many an imagination Those running private medical colleges and universities sell this image to lure students and their parents with competition getting tougher and unemployment rising, medical education, honestly is a waste of time and resources for a majority of those who apply for a seat with the kind of advancements that are being made in the digital world, technology will promote remote or robotic healthcare delivery within the next say 10 years

now is the time to plan one’s life in that era, especially for those belonging to middle and lower-middle classes who have to make a living and to do it as quickly as they can Come to think of it, the mdCAT fiasco is a blessing in disguise By taking the decision out of our hands, it has given us all an opportunity to start again; more intelligently

HIRA NAZIR LAHORE

and Road (B&R) initiative of China on one side the BRI brought enormous opportunities which we couldn’t capitalize so far for Pakistan in the shape of China-Pakistan economic Corridor (CPeC) on the other it led to innumerable challenges for Pakistan from both conventional friends and allies and traditional enemies

D r A b D u S S AT TA r A b b A S I

Gwadar is not just the centrepiece of CPEC

W h At A F r i c A n E E d S At B i d E n ’ S S U m m i t

petitive posturing” from the US and china to demonstrate who is “more generous” towards Zambia

Un

i T E D S TAT E S President Joe Biden is hosting African presidents prime ministers and monarchs for a US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in the past, such glittering meetings have often devolved into neo-colonial lectures with African leaders passively listening to the US president hypocritically say out vague notions of spreading “liberal democracy” values

But times have changed For all its challenges, Africa s global stature is at its most attractive in modern history – and our leaders must drive a hard financial bargain with the US, extracting maximum value for the continent through their negotiations and discussions with Washington They must not let the summit ebb into waffling lectures from the US on “values” it does not itself practice at home or abroad instead, African leaders must grab the microphone – and if needed be uncompromising about the continent’s economic interests

AFRICA IS IN DEMAND: For decades the US did not prioritise Africa – Washington adopted an “anchor states” model to Africa, working primarily via a handful of powerful regional actors to leverage influence it could afford to do that, in good measure, because its supremacy on the continent, as in other parts of the world, was largely unchallenged – especially since the end of the cold War That is no longer the case: china is the continent’s biggest trading partner, with mounting influence The US and European Union covet what Africa could offer: support on the war in Ukraine, cooperation in climate change reduction and access to rare earth minerals critical to the West s competition with Beijing on everything from computing to sophisticated weaponry

Which brings me to the strategic leverage that Africa today enjoys The US-led West is keen to reduce chinese and Russian military forays into Africa For instance in november, central intelligence Agency Deputy Director David cohen met Teodoro nguema, heir to the throne in the oil-rich deeply autocratic Atlantic ocean state of Equatorial Guinea The US’s supreme interest in Equatorial Guinea is to prevent china from establishing a naval base on Africa s vital Atlantic coast – and thus facing the US East coast never mind democracy in other words, the US knows exactly what it wants to gain from Africa Here is the question though: Does Africa know what it wants from the US?

NEUTRALITY ON UKRAINE: When it became apparent that many African nations would take a neutral position on the war but aggressively lobby all sides for an immediate end to hostilities Antony Blinken the US secretary of state, began circling Africa trying to diplomatically upstage Russia on this front, African leaders need to tell Biden that they will stick to their current course, balancing relations between the West and Russia, while calling on all sides to stop dangerous weapons build-ups and of course the war Turkey and india can serve as examples After all, the US and Russia are both weaponising the “pornographic spectacle of food shortages in Africa to soil each other ’s image

ON THE MONEY: if there is one area where Africa today can negotiate harder with the US, it is on com-

What’s really wor th doing? A philosopher weighs

Monitor B a r B a r a s p I n d e l

i n G a world record holder in pull-ups surely requires dedication and resolve one might not expect a person who has accomplished that feat to be averse to a life focused on goals and achievement, but one might not expect the pull-up record holder to be a philosopher, either Adam Adatto Sandel has a doctorate in and has taught philosophy, and, as he explains in “Happiness in Action: A Philosopher ’s Guide to the Good Life,” he has also devoted an inordinate amount of time to what he describes as the absurd task of hanging from a bar and then raising oneself until one’s chin is over the bar, again and again

Since 2014, that training has paid off to the tune of three Guinness World Records for most Pull-Ups in one minute (Sandel is currently working to reclaim the record) But it’s also led the author to think deeply about why the accomplishment of goals so often fails to bring about lasting happiness even when we expect that it will instead, he writes, “orienting our lives to achievement somehow leaves us perpetually unsatisfied ”

“Happiness in Action,” as its title suggests, proposes that fulfillment comes not from racking up successes but from losing ourselves in activities that we find meaningful (He contrasts goal-oriented striving with activity for the sake of itself ”) in the case of the author ’s pullups, the pleasures and challenges of his immersion in the exercise, not to mention the camaraderie he enjoys with friends and mentors at the gym, has led him to excel He regards his world records as the fruits of a character-building journey not as the result of a single-minded fixation on achieving a particular outcome

The book is organized around three interrelated virtues that Sandel says are essential to happiness: self-possession, friendship, and engagement with nature All three, he believes, have been displaced by the pressure both internal and external, to prioritize future success over experiencing life in the moment He explicates these virtues using his own life story the work

of ancient and modern philosophers (Aristotle and Socrates in particular), and examples from popular culture

Self-possession, friendship, and engagement with nature represent, in Sandel’s words, activity that is intrinsically meaningful and that does not await some future accomplishment or acquisition for its justification ” Self-possession, which he notes is not to be confused with selfconfidence, involves living one’s life purposefully and with integrity, through both successes and failures; it s akin to what Aristotle called “greatness of soul ”

Self-possession in turn enables true friendship, which Sandel distinguishes from the alliances our goal-oriented society encourages us to pursue in order to further our careers or improve our social standing Finally, Sandel argues that we often assume an adversarial stance toward nature and use technology to attempt to master or tame it in mobilizing nature for our goal-oriented striving ” he writes “we overlook its beauty and sublimity ” For the author, engaging with nature means immersing ourselves in our surroundings with interest and wonderment

“Happiness in Action” offers much to ponder; Sandel s critiques of technology and its effects on our judgment and agency are particularly resonant The book’s examples help elucidate its themes, but one wishes Sandel had drawn from a wider range of material He returns to the Larry David sitcom “curb Your Enthusiasm again and again, aptly calling it a caricature of our cultural maladies but surely there are others in addition, as a philosophy book seemingly intended for a wide audience, its extensive refutation of the ancient philosophy of Stoicism might be of limited interest to the general reader

Finally it is notable that the author s vision of happiness is biased toward being in demanding positions: he endorses “adventure and risk,” situations of resistance and hardship and failure ” This inclination is perhaps not surprising from a guy whose idea of fulfillment has for years involved pushing himself through grueling sets of pull-ups Some readers might associate the good life with less arduous pursuits, and with things like fun or tranquillity or well-being Activity for the sake of itself,” of course, will mean something different to everyone

modities, rare earth minerals and their economic partnership more broadly

The Democratic Republic of the congo for instance is home to the world’s largest-known deposits of cobalt and is a major source of lithium both of which the US craves in its fierce quest to beat china in next-generation computing, decarbonisation, and electronic wargaming

The US Defense Department has opened talks with malawi s miners to avoid leaning too much on china which by 2019 was supplying 80 percent of America’s precious earth minerals

The EU which is Washington s closest ally is so desperate for energy amid the war in Ukraine that mozambique started shipping liquified natural gas to Europe in november This partly helps lessen pressure on the US to fill up the EU’s Liquefied natural Gas (LnG) storage tanks

At a time when Russia is doling out mercenaries and china cash, to African leaders in exchange for strategic influence and resources, the US and its allies know that they cannot afford business as usual with the continent So it is important that African leaders speak – as best as possible – in one voice to negotiate preferential trade regimes and access to finance at fair interest rates

There is already evidence that this can be done: consider the case of Zambia, which counts china as its biggest trading partner As Lusaka looks to restructure its sovereign debt, the US has asked Zambia’s creditors like china and France to accept their losses As Stephen chan, a professor at London s School of African and oriental Studies, said in november, we may now see “com-

The Biden administration has already announced that it will use the summit in Washington to pledge support for the African Union to be included in the G20 – a sign that the US recognises the growing clout of the continent But African leaders should press for more than just a seat at the global high table

They can learn from supposedly staunch allies of the US like Saudi Arabia which drive hard bargains with Washington to protect their national interests, even if that means limiting oil production to keep crude prices high Saudi Arabia does not easily tolerate intimidation from Washington nor should African nations

GO BIG OR GO HOME: At the climate talks coP27 in Egypt in november, there was a glimmer of optimism that emerged in the manner in which Africa carried out its climate diplomacy Presidents from Africa took to the podium to lambast the US and other industrialised nations for creating the climate crisis and demanded tangible billions in climate reparations funds

Biden’s summit in Washington is an opportunity to build on Africa’s status as an influential geopolitical player our leaders need to look their US counterparts in the eye, secure the best deals possible for the continent and its individual nations, and not let the US set the agenda with its hypocritical preaching on liberty and democracy The US might be the world’s biggest power But this could be Africa’s moment

Ashley Simango is a writer based in Zimbabwe She got an honourable mention at the 2021 Arrude Jesuit Center For Ethics in Society High School Essay Competition Her writings on diplomacy and economics appeared on Newsweek, Fast Company, The New Arab and The Africa Report

A f r i c a l e a d e r s s u m m i t : F o r g i n g a b e t t e r p a r t n e r s h i p ?

U S

c o n o m i c and political analysts in Africa say the continent s leaders must push for fair trade deals and better economic partnerships with the United States when they gather in Washington this week About 50 high-level African delegations are expected at the USAfrica Leaders Summit convened by the Biden administration “it should not be about just a matter of attending the summit We should know what we want We need to tell them that yes we are ready to do business with them,” said Daniel Amateye Anim, an economist based in Ghana’s capital, Accra negotiating fair deals to improve economies in Africa should be a priority, Anim told DW Political analyst martin Andati told DW from nairobi that African leaders should not attend the summit as beggars “They should go in for a form of partnership which creates a win-win situation,” he said

The African Growth and opportunity Act (AGoA) has been at the core of US economic policy and commercial engagement with sub-Saharan Africa since 2000 it provides eligible countries in the region with duty-free access to US markets for over 1,800 products Anim said that Africa had not explored the potential of the AGoA enough The program is due to run until 2025 but there are indications that the Biden administration might want to extend it beyond then

US TRAILS CHINA IN TRADE WITH AFRICA: But Andati said that the AGoA had been overtaken by developments in Africa, including the African continental Free Trade Area (AfcFTA), the largest of its kind in the world, which came into effect on January 1, 2021 in addition, china’s engagement and influence in Africa have grown and overtaken that of the US AGoA is no more effective like it was under President [Bill] clinton it had a big impact then but now most things, which are being exported, are not even produced on the continent The raw materials are coming from china, Andati said china’s foreign direct investment in Africa is nearly double that of the US The Asian giant is also the largest lender around the continent According to the US congressional Research Service chinese deals with 632 businesses in Africa totaled $735 billion (€698 billion) in 2020 The previous year, 800 trade and investment deals across 45 countries were valued at $50 billion cRS data also shows the US invested $22 billion in 80 companies in Africa over the same period The US has repeatedly warned Africa over its engagement with china and Russia The matter is expected to come up at the summit this week “The chinese have overrun the Americans and now the Western world, led by the US, is trying to find a way of getting back into Africa to be able have its presence felt ” Andati said At a media briefing last week, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs chidi Blyden said that the US would have to review its position on Africa and the kind of partnerships it can establish “We have been told by our African partners and we completely agree that they don t want to have to choose between working with the United States, other international partners and china And we respect that,” he said “i’m open to understanding more about what

our African partners need, and we’ll learn a little bit of that from the Africa Leaders Summit ”

Blyden added that US officials meeting with African leaders would be “listening and understanding where we can fill in the gaps or where we can work and complement other partners that they re working with to include china

Daniel Amateye Anim suggested that Africa could exploit the US-china-Russia divide “in fact, they [US] are not too comfortable with china and with Russia s presence on the continent so we should use it as a tool to attract more funding ”

SECURITY, COVID RECOVERY AND FOOD: Andati said that the issue of security, especially in the regions of the Great Lakes, Horn of Africa and Sahel, should be discussed at the summit The Americans are very keen especially in the Horn of Africa where they have a certain interest The instability in Somalia has affected the way the Americans do some things,” he told DW Blyden said that the US did not want to focus entirely on a military approach to ending security crises on the continent “We’re trying to learn from past efforts in the Sahel and ensure that we have engagement partnership and collaboration with our African partners to do this ”

The first US-Africa Leaders Summit was held in 2014 Energy, trade, financial services, climate change, food security and healthcare were some of the issues discussed Similar matters are on the summit schedule this year, with an even greater emphasis on bilateral trade and investment initiatives

The African Union (AU) this week said that the US-Africa Leaders Summit would include new initiatives to increase US engagement with the AfcFTA it noted that talks would center on initiatives to boost Africa’s recovery after the pandemic, bolster food security and promote investment in infrastructure, heal and renewable energy projects

COUP REGIMES EXCLUDED: certain countries have not been invited to the summit The White House named them as Burkina Faso mali Guinea and Sudan and said they were excluded because the AU had suspended them over recent coups Eritrea has also been excluded since it has no diplomatic relations with the US The delegations due in include the heads of state of key countries such as nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and Angola The chairman of the African Union s executive body, moussa Faki mahamat will also attend

WIlliams in Washington contributed to this article

THE US KNOWS WHAT IT WANTS FROM AFRICA IT IS NOT DEMOCRACY. DOES AFRICA KNOW WHAT IT WANTS FROM THE US?

Christian sCienCe

BE c o m

in.

-

Alexandria

C H I N A’ S F O R E I G N D I R E C T I N V E S T M E N T I N A F R I C A I S N E A R LY D O U B L E T H AT O F T H E U S . T H E A S I A N G I A N T I S A L S O T H E L A R G E S T L E N D E R A R O U N D T H E C O N T I N E N T

Foundation

corporate corner Women Business net Work paved Way for Gender inclusion in pakistani corporate

in Pakistan

WO M E N Business Network, have paved the way for delivering gender inclusion agenda for Pakistan at their recent event of WOMENBIZ2022 meetup in Islamabad club

Karachi While the true motif of the school is to encourage girls’ education, about 25% boys from the district have also been enrolled in the school where they will be provided quality education A total of 22 5 million children are estimated to be out of school in Pakistan, the majority of whom are girls A total of 32% girls and 21% boys are still not in schools and it gets worse for girls because only 13% make it to the ninth grade Our youth can only thrive in this constantly changing world if they have access to education This initiative aims to bridge the gender gap in education and help the children build a better tomorrow for themselves Commenting on the partnership, Managing Director Habib Oil Mills, Mr Moidul Hassan said, “Despite the country's increased demand for girls' education, girls still face barriers to education because of the gendered social norms and poverty p r

Zong 4G, Hands Pakistan par tner with PHA to develop urban forest in Multan

The WOMENBIZ2022 was held on 7th December 2022 as part of their efforts for policy advocacy and women empowerment series of networking events held throughout the year The main event brought together from Corporate, Government sector, Embassies and Women Chambers across Pakistan to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Gender Inclusion in Pakistan and move from dialogues and talks to definitive actions and initiatives taken by government, various corporates, and women networks and building the future based on these initiatives to improve the representation and inclusion of women in economic growth of Pakistan The event was convened by WBN in partnership with the Dunya Foundation, Euro Petroleum, Bima and Coca Cola

Speaking at the event Ms Sam Dada, Founder of WBN said WBN is active in advocating for gender inclusion and mainstreaming the gender in business, facilitating women to network, policy advocacy and bringing together all stakeholders to collectively further the agenda of improving the Pakistan’s image and ranking on the global index for gender parity ” Further Iftikhar Hussain, Founder of WBN explained the objective of Womenbiz and its sustainability through different initiatives

H E Alfred Grannas, German Ambassador to Pakistan said the event made it possible for Pakistani Corporate, Women in business and gender champions to connect, to discuss challenges and identify oppor-

Green Marshall Plan, climate change and floods in Pakistan

pr

Currently the 27th UN Climate Change conference was held at Sharm el-Sheikh from 6 to18 November 2022 The purpose of this gathering was to mitigate the level of global warming, adapt action, finance climate-related projects (USD 100 Billion per year by 2025), and collaborate on climate issues In this gathering, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, and his team, attended the summit in which two main demands were made: debt relief and climate compensation

community toward floods and is equally responsible for its disaster mismanagement

This indifferent attitude of the global community and lack of cohesive and rapid res p o n s e o n t h e p a r t o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t i n Pakistan further proliferated problems

tunities “The event has reminded me of the importance of collective power and partnership and really connecting between communities at the national regional and global levels and the influence that this can have H E Henrik Persson Swedish Ambassador to Pakistan appreciated the WBN efforts and echoed the inclusiveness of both genders to uplift women in the workforce

Panel discussion session during the event, included a discourse of Corporate leaders and gender champions discussing the role of corporate sector in improving the women representation in workplaces and realising women’s leadership for resilience, confirmed the need for women to be at the centre of corporate policy and decision making and for delivering gender-transformative action The panel was moderated by Sabahat Bokhari, Director D&I in Jazz and the panelists include Dr Sadia Nadeem, Professor, School of Business Management, FAST- NUCEES, Mr Murtaza Khalil, Country Head, Bima Milvik, Mr Faisal Hashmi, Head External Affairs & Stakeholders Management, Coca-Cola Pakistan and Ms Faryal Sadiq Chief Sustainability Officer Interloop

corporate corner

I s l a m a b a d: With the environment being one of the most critical challenges faced by Pakistan; the significance of planting trees and preserving the environment is greater than ever In-line with Zong’s commitment to a clean and green Pakistan, Zong 4G and Hands have partnered with the Parks & Horticulture Authority (PHA), Multan to develop an urban forest in the Aam Khas Bagh This initiative is yet another addition to the company s list of accomplishments in their efforts to address environmental concerns, which are crucial for Pakistan to counter the devastation of climate change affecting the country The Zong 4G team, along with Hands, successfully planted over 700 trees in the city to develop an urban forest After coordination with PHA, a diverse selection of trees including Tabebuia Yellow, Sukhchain, Terminalia, Amaltas, Guava, and Lemon, along with eight other types of trees, were planted p r

Faysal Bank declared Best Islamic Retail Bank in Pakistan

With a keen focus on offering innovative Islamic retail banking products and services, Faysal Bank Limited (FBL) has been at the forefront of setting new benchmarks in the Islamic retail banking industry in Pakistan In recognition of the bank’s continued efforts, Faysal Bank was recently conferred the prestigious title of Best Islamic Retail Bank in Pakistan 2022 by the Awards Committee of the 8th Islamic Retail Banking Awards (IRBA) organized by Cambridge IFA at a ceremony held in Jakarta, Indonesia Commenting on the occasion, Mr Yousaf Hussain, President & CEO of Faysal Bank said, “Alhamdolilah We are humbled This global recognition is because of the excellence achieved through belief, dedication, commitment and concerted efforts by the entire Faysal Bank team p r

D iabetes Centre, Novo Nordisk launch clinic for kids with Type -1 diabetes

The environmental changes are posing an existential threat to regions across the globe Almost in every region, in one form or the other, climate changes are affecting not only the agriculture sector but also every walk of life Climate change has gravitated the attention of academic scholars and the media Voice has often been raised against climate terrorism, climate unfriendly policies, lack of policy direction, and commitment to implement objective-oriented climate policy

Of late, Pakistan was the direct victim o f g l o b a l c l i m a t e p o l i c y a n d r e g r e t s t h e l a c k l u s t r e r e s p o n s e o f t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l

The purpose of the Green Marshall Plan i s t o o ff e r a i d a n d s u p p o r t t o c o u n t r i e s t o p u r c h a s e A m e r i c a n - m a d e c l e a n e n e rg y America intends to increase its supply chain by offering climate-resilient infrastructure p r o d u c t s I n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h i s , t o p r omote sustainable development at the global s c a l e t h e r e i s a d i r e n e e d o f b u i l d i n g bridges rather than burning bridges in infrastructure development

To cope up with climate issues several efforts have been made at global level The first UN Climate (COP 1: Conference of the Parties) talks began in 1992 at Rio Earth Summit, Brazil, while the last summit (November 6-18, 2022: COP-27) is going on at Sharm El Sheikh Egypt

D r Per va iz Ali M a h es a r D ep a r tm en t o f Po litica l S cien ce, U n iver s ity o f S in d h Ja m s h o ro Em a il: p er va iz m a h es a r @usindh edu pk

pr

T h e N a t i o n a l S k i l l s U n i v e r s i t y I s l a m a b a d (NSU) is the most relevant institution to initiate soft skills training programs in collabo r a t i o n w i t h t h e A m e r i c a n I n s t i t u t e o f P a k i s t a n ( A I P S ) T h i s w a s j o i n t l y a g r e e d upon by the visiting team members, including Professor Dr Mike Hirsch, Dean of the C o l l e g e o f A r t s a n d S c i e n c e s f r o m t h e H o u s t o n - Ti l l o t s o n U n i v e r s i t y, A u s t i n , Te x a s , a n d M r N a d e e m A k b a r, D i r e c t o r, AIPS stationed in Pakistan on their visit to the NSU

U p o n t h e i r a r r i v a l , Vi c e C h a n c e l l o r ’s N S U w e l c o m e d h o n o r a b l e d e l e g a t e s f o ll o w e d b y a b r i e f i n g a b o u t t h e u n i v e r s i t y

Prof Hirsch appreciated the "NSU Student O n c e N S U S t u d e n t F o r e v e r " m o d e l A cc o r d i n g t o h i m , h i s u n i v e r s i t y i n A u s t i n , Texas, USA, has embarked on several new

i n i t i a t i v e s a f t e r C O V I D - 1 9 , a n d a m o n g these, reskilling and retraining models like NSU are the most popular ones

H e a l s o m e n t i o n e d t h a t P a k i s t a n i s lucky to have a young population compared with the US where aged people predomin a t e A s s u c h , l i f e l e a r n i n g i n i t i a t i v e s a r e being strengthened in the US to cope with emerging technology challenges

In the current uncertain and volatile international environment and an unenviable domestic situation Pakistan is facing a plethora of challenges A global economic slowdown and high inflation, especially in commodity prices and energy shortages are negatively impacting countries around the globe The situation has been compounded by the past three years of the crippling COVID-19 pandemic a new and intense geopolitical competition between t h e l e a d i n g g l o b a l p l a y e r s , a n d t h e c o n f l i c t i n

Ukraine Against this unpredictable and fluid environment, Pakistan’s strategic ties with China are a constant positive and a source of stability, promise, and hope This strategic friendship requires careful nurturing and strengthening Pakistan and China enjoy close and friendly relations since the establishment of diplomatic relations in

D irec tor General Ministr y

of

Foreign Affairs Japan meets PJBF

PTCL Group provides winter jackets to flood affec ted communities

including Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited and Ufone 4G has donated 3000 warm jackets to help the flood affected

S t r a t e g i c t r a j e c t o r y o f Pa k i s t a n , C h i n a r e l a t i o n s

1951 Over time, this relationship has flourished into an ‘all-weather strategic cooperative partnership’

The friendship between Pakistan and China has withstood the test of time, including changes in governments and major developments at the regional and international levels Pakistan’s bilateral ties with China are deep-rooted and multifaceted, having a strong component of cooperation in the field of defence In the recent past, the launching of CPEC, a crucial element of President Xi Jinping s visionary Belt and Road (BRI) initiative has greatly upgraded the much-desired development dimension in the Pakistan-China partnership

The first phase of CPEC called Early Harvest projects, mainly relating to energy and infrastructure, achieved a great deal of success After a good start, CPEC witnessed a bit of a slowdown This was a re-

sult of the confluence of several factors including COVID-19 domestic economic difficulties and an abundance of red tape resulting in delayed payments to some Chinese investors, security concerns, and political uncertainty in the country However during the recent visit of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to China in November, both sides resolved to reinvigorate this crucial project This visit as a whole was very significant and productive

The fact that the Prime Minister of Pakistan was the first foreign leader to visit China after the 20th CPC of the Communist Party, signalled the importance China attaches to its strategic ties with Pakistan Ambassador Muhammad Haroon Shaukat is Director Foreign Affairs at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS), Lahore, Pakistan

I s l a m a b a d: The Diabetes Centre and Novo Nordisk

Pakistan under its Memorandum of Understanding announced the launch of TDC Blue Lilies Clinic for children living with Type-1 Diabetes The ceremony was attended by H E Jakob Linulf Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan, Dr Asjad Hameed Chairman Board of Directors TDC Tahir M Abbasi, CEO TDC, Dr Nuzhat Hameed, Board Member of TDC and Rashed Rafique Butt, VP & GM Novo Nordisk p r

He can be reached at casslahore@gmail com

Habib O il Mills, S hahid Afridi

join hands to empower girls ’ educ ation

K a r a c h I: Habib Oil Mills (HOM) have joined forces with Shahid Afridi Foundation (SAF) to empower girls’ education in the country by establishing a school, Shahina Perveen Campus, in the under-resourced locality of Ibrahim Haidery in

Yutaka Arima Director General Southwest Asian Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan called on Kalim Farooqui, Chairman Pakistan Japan Business Forum (PJBF) during his brief stay in Karachi enroute to Islamabad His delegation included Tsutsumi Taro, Director, Keiko Ikemoto, Assistant Director and Yasushi Nakagawa Acting Consul General, Consulate General of Japan in Karachi During the meeting with him, Kalim Farooqui was assisted by Tetsuya Suematsu, Senior Vice Chairman PJBF, Kazunori Yamaguchi, Country Director, Japan External Trade Organization, Kazuteru Mihara, COO Japanese Association of Commerce & Industry (JACI), Syed Feroz Alam Shah, Director PJBF and Advisor to the Board of Investment (BOI) and the Ministry of Information Technology (MOIT) and Murtaza Mandviwalla, Director and Secretary General of PJBF In his opening remarks, Kalim Farooqui welcomed the delegation for meeting PJBF and choosing to stop over in Karachi, the economic and business hub of Pakistan p r

NSU, AIPS to work jointly on developing sof t skills modules

C h i n a a d v i s e i T s C i T i z e n s T o l e av e a f g h a n i s Ta n a f T e r K a b u l aT Ta C K

CHINA on Tuesday advised its citizens in Afghanistan to leave the country “as soon as possible,” following a coordinated attack by Islamic State militants the previous day on a Chinese-owned hotel in the heart of Kabul The Chinese advisory appeared to be a setback for Afghanistan s Taliban rulers who seek foreign investments in hopes of halting the downward spiral of the Afghan economy since their takeover of the country more than a year ago

The militant Islamic State group a key rival of the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack Monday afternoon on Kabul Longan Hotel, which left three assailants dead and at least two hotel guests injured as they tried to escape by jumping out of a window

Plumes of smoke rose from the 10-story building in the central Shahr-e Naw neighbourhood, according to images posted on social media as the attack unfolded Residents reported explosions and gunfire Taliban forces rushed to the area and blocked all roads leading to the site Khalid

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the attack “egregious in nature” and said China was deeply shocked Beijing demanded a “thorough inves-

India repor ts injuries ‘on both sides ’ in border clash with C hina

Indian troops prevented Chinese soldiers from entering Indian territory on Dec 9 during a border scuffle that led to injuries on both sides, India s defence minister said on Tuesday in the first such clash since 2020 between the neighbours

The incident occurred in the Tawang sector of India’s northeastern Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh which borders China’s south and is also claimed by Beijing The Indian troops illegally crossed the line to block” a routine patrol of Chinese border troops, a spokesperson from the Western Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said on Tuesday

We urge the Indian side to strictly control and restrain the front-line troops, and work with China to maintain peace and security on the border,” the spokesperson said

An Indian defence source told Reuters that patrolling teams from both sides came face-to-face at one of the peaks there and that in an ensuing handto-hand fight, some soldiers fell on the rocky surface and injured themselves

Two other sources said around half

a dozen Indian soldiers suffered minor injuries The defence source said the un-demarcated border called the Line of Actual Control (LAC), means soldiers from both sides cross over into each other ’s territory every now and then Such events are then raised in flag meetings so that they do not escalate “Sometimes we perceive some areas as ours, sometimes they do,” said the source, declining to be named as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had already issued a statement in parliament about an attempt by the PLA to enter Indian territory

“These are skirmishes that keep happening, and they are not major This was not major Singh told lawmakers that the scuffle led to “injuries to a few personnel on both sides but that there were no “serious casualties on our side”

“PLA troops tried to transgress the LAC in the Yangtse area of Tawang Sector and unilaterally change the status quo,” Singh said “The Chinese attempt was contested by our troops in a firm and resolute manner The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, told a news conference that the situation at the border was “generally stable”

India s foreign minister has said that relations with China can not go back to normal without peace on the border India has stepped up scrutiny of many Chinese companies operating in India in the past two years, though its imports from China have surged

The scuffle was the first between t h e t w o c o u n t r i e s s i n c e d e a d l y c l a s h e s i n J u n e 2 0 2 0 w h e n I n d i a n and Chinese troops were involved in hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh, abutting the Chin e s e - a d m i n i s t e r e d Ti b e t a n p l a t e a u The incident led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops

The Chinese side was asked to refrain from such actions and maintain peace and tranquillity along the border minister Singh said about the latest tension “The issue has also been taken up with the Chinese side through diplomatic channels

The un-demarcated 3,800 km (2,360-mile) frontier between the nuclear-armed Asian giants had stayed largely peaceful since a war in 1962, before the clashes two years ago sent relations nose-diving

“In view of the current security situation in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again advised Chinese citizens and institutions in Afghanistan to evacuate from Afghanistan as soon as possible,” Wang said

The Taliban swept across the country in August 2021, seizing power as US and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their final withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war

Since their takeover, the international community has baulked at extending official recognition to the former insurgents who have broken promises of pursuing a more moderate path forward, including reopening schools to girls beyond the sixth grade and safeguarding minority rights

The Taliban government has recently also made statements saying it intends to implement Islamic law, as it did when the Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s In the past weeks the Taliban have carried out executions and public floggings on several occasions of those convicted in Taliban courts of crimes such as murder and adultery

China has economic and mining interests in the country though those familiar with past talks between the Taliban and Chinese

officials say Beijing wants Taliban commitments to prevent China’s Uyghur opponents from setting up operations in Afghanistan

Chinese firms, with strong government backing, have tentatively sought to pursue opportunities in exploiting Afghanistan s vast, undeveloped resource deposits, especially the Mes Aynak mine that is believed to hold the world s largest copper deposit

In October, Taliban-appointed government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid highlighted China as a key part of Afghanistan s economic development China has also revealed its aspirations to play a leading role in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US forces Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a regional conference recently led calls for the United States to unfreeze Afghan assets held abroad and end sanctions on the Taliban government

There was no information on the identities of the injured Chinese guests at the Kabul hotel or what they were doing in Afghanistan

The IS statement carried by one of the militant Telegram channels used by the group, said two of its members targeted the hotel because it is frequented by diplomats and owned by “communist China ”

Top developer expands operations to Europe

Leading international real estate developer One Homes, who recently acquired 100,000 square feet of prime land in Islamabad, opened their new European Head Quarters at the heart of Central London The new headquarters is based in a prime office building at the heart of London’s plush Marylebone area The new office boasts panoramic views across Central London and will be home to 60+ team members including sales marketing finance legal and business development

The new office includes state-of-the-art meeting and conferencing facilities, modern work pods, break out areas a fitness suite customer car parking and an ample amount of space to support the companies growth and development Commenting on the new office opening, Aqib Hassan Chief Commercial Officer ONE Homes said We re continuing to aggressively expand our presence across international territories

This year the group have opened new flagship offices in Islamabad Dubai and Houston and inducted over 100 new people across the group” The new office in London includes a purpose-built onsite private fitness suite fitted with the latest Peloton+ machines to encourage a holistic 360 working environment and employee wellness

The design concept of was led by ‘Script Design by Samirah and aims to deliver a space for the team that inspires whilst promoting a holistic lifestyle well-being and fitness Commenting on the property market Aqib said, “Property has always been a safe haven in times of inflationary pressure

Experts see property as a hedge against inflation and we re seeing particular interest in our prime properties in Islamabad from the overseas diaspora both in Europe and North America”

“Pakistan’s property market has continued to show strong growth not only in the changing global economic environment over last 12 months but throughout history, in varying economic climates the property market has continued to grow from strength to strength” The interiors of the office showcase artwork from leading Pakistani artists including a feature piece by Mohsin Shaikh and a Muhammad Ali wall mural by the leading London-based mural artist Anthony Steel

The new office at the heart of the global capital of London will be the companies UK & European HQ clientele enabling them to efficiently cater to the growing needs of their European customers thereby allowing them to remain a client-centric organisation, with their customer at the heart of their business s philosophy and operations

China sues US at WTO over chip export controls

China M i a n a b r a r

China on Monday sued the United States through the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism over its chip export controls The U S passed a massive chip funding bill in July that pours $52 7 billion into domestic chip manufacturing The bill aims to restrict China’s semiconductor development through subsidies and bans on so-called “national security” grounds

The U S has repeatedly generalized the concept of national security in recent years abused export control measures, and hindered the normal international trade of chips and other products This is a typical trade protectionist approach,” a spokesperson for China s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said in a statement

China’s filing of a lawsuit at the WTO is intended to defend its legitimate rights and interests through legal means the spokesperson said

Semiconductors are the world s fourth most traded product just after crude oil re-

fined oil and cars, according to Boston Consulting Group Its supply chain is highly global, with Chinese and American enterprises deeply integrated China hopes the U S will abandon its zero-sum bias and stop disrupting the trade of high-tech products, including chips, the statement added

Separately, the WTO ruled last week that the 2018 U S tariffs on steel and aluminum imports violated global trading rules I n M a

25 percent

TO over the decision

“China applauded the objective and fair ruling by a WTO expert panel,” an MOFCOM spokesperson said Saturday Facts have proved that the WTO security exception clause is not a safe haven for unilateralism and protectionism

Chinese embassy denounces UK foreign secretary’s remarks on China The Chinese Embassy in Britain on

Monday expressed strong opposition to the recent remarks made about China by Britain s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly Cleverly said in an interview recently that China is an incredibly challenging country on the international stage, and that China’s behavior is “unacceptable on affairs related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong

“The remarks by the British side are a

distortion of the facts and slander against China,” the embassy’s spokesperson responded in a statement published on the Chinese embassy’s website

The spokesperson stressed China has always respected the sovereignty of other countries and opposed interference in other countries’ internal affairs; upheld peace and stability and rejected war and turmoil; stood for dialogue and cooperation and opposed confrontation and rivalry; and advocated

multilateralism and stood against unilateralism “In contrast, the UK and the U S frequently interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, create conflicts and frictions across the world, and practice double standard in international affairs Who is challenging and undermining the international order? The international community has a fair judgment,” the statement read

Noting affairs related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong are purely China’s internal affairs, the spokesperson said the British side has no right to make irresponsible remarks

The Chinese government’s policies on Xinjiang and Hong Kong are conducive to safeguarding human rights promoting development, and achieving long-term peace a n d s t a b i l i t y, t h e s p o k e s p e r s o n s a i d , a d d i n g t h a t n o o n e c a n s t o p t h e C h i n e s e p e o p l e f r o m r u n n i n g o u r c o u n t r y a c c o r ding to our own will The Chinese embassy urged the UK side to abandon ideological prejudice, respect the facts, and keep pace with the times

The UK should stop lecturing others stop pointing fingers at other countries, and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs ”

iSLaMaBaD

Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said the attack lasted several hours followed by a clean-up operation

nEW DELhi

LODnOn ag e n c i e s

In addition to Neymar, this included his parents, FC Barcelona and former club presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, Santos FC and former president Odilio Rodrigues Filho, and N&N the company founded by Neymar ’s parents to manage his career

Brazilian company DIS had argued they lost out financially on Neymar s transfer because they owned 40 percent of Neymar ’s sporting rights at Santos and believed the true value of the deal had been obscured by those involved

“According to the court it has not been proved there was a false contract or that DIS was intended to be harmed,” said the court in a statement

Neymar s high-profile trial got underway in mid-October in Barcelona, just a month before the start of the World Cup in Qatar The 30-year-old who now plays for French champions Paris SaintGermain and Brazil crashed out after a penalty shootout against Croatia in the

quarter-finals Prosecutors had initially sought a two-year jail term and a 10-million-euro ($10 5 million) fine for Neymar but in a surprise move, they dropped corruption and fraud charges against all the accused at the end of October

Brazilian sports investment firm DIS filed a lawsuit in 2015 alleging it had been defrauded during the player s transfer to Barcelona

It claimed Neymar, Barcelona and the Brazilian club colluded to mask the true cost of his transfer thereby cheating it of

its proper share of the player ’s transfer DIS also argued that it was not informed of the existence of an exclusivity contract in 2011 between Neymar and Barcelona

But Spanish prosecutors, which initially shared DIS view, later said the firm’s allegations were not based on “evidence” They concluded the case was a matter for civil rather than criminal justice

DIS InDIctment: Even though prosecutors dropped their charges the case continued because the court was also con-

sidering a separate indictment filed by DIS as it is allowed by Spanish law

DIS was seeking to recover 35 million euros it claims it was cheated of Barca said the transfer cost 57 1 million euros, with 40 million euros paid to N&N and 17 1 million to Santos, of which 6 8 million was given to DIS Spanish prosecutors initially said they believed the actual value was at least 83 million euros

During the trial Neymar said he didn’t remember if he took part in the transfer negotiations saying he only signed documents presented to him by his father All of the other defendants, including former Barcelona presidents Bartomeu and Rosell, denied any wrongdoing DIS, which owns a chain of supermarkets in Brazil s Sao Paulo region, initially asked for a five-year prison sentence for Neymar and his father who is also the player s agent B u t a t t h e e n d o f t h e t r i a l , i t c a l l e d f o r a r e v i s e d p r i s o n s e n t e n c e o f t w o a n d a h a l f y e a r s f o r N e y m a r a n d f o u r y e a r s f o r N e y m a r ’s f a t h e r, b u t t h e d ef e n d a n t s w e r e a c q u i t t e d N e y m a r, w h o w o n t h e C h a m p i o n s L e a g u e w i t h B a r c e l o n a i n 2 0 1 5 , l e f t f o r P S G i n 2 0 1 7 f o r a w o r l d - r e c o r d 2 2 2 m i l l i o n e u r o ( $ 2 3 4 m i l l i o n ) t r a n s f e r f e e , w i t h t h e P a r i s i a n s i d e a c t i v a t i n g h i s r el e a s e c l a u s e

Shoaib malik surpasses another t20 milestone

Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik on Monday became only the second batter to score 12,000 T20 runs He achieved the feat while playing for the Jaffna Kings in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) His 35-run innings against the Colombo Stars helped him surpass the milestone Only the ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle has scored over 12,000 runs in the T20 format Shoaib Malik achieved the milestone in his 485th T20 game

Naseem Shah out of final england test due to shoulder niggle: PcB

ries due to a lingering knee problem and shoulder injury, respectively England have already won the series with victories in the Rawalpindi and Multan Tests, making the Karachi Test a dead game

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

The flat wicket at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has received another demerit point within nine months from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after England recorded a historic 74-run victory over Pakistan in the first Test at garrison city last week The ICC on Tuesday said match referee Andy Pycroft rated the pitch “below average” as England plundered a world-record 506-4 on Day 1 with four of its batters scoring centuries

England went on to score 657 in 101 overs before Pakistan also replied with 579 with three batters from the home team scoring hundreds

It was a very flat pitch which gave al-

most no assistance to any type of bowler, P y c r o f t s a i d i n a n I C C s t a t e m e n t “ T h a t w a s t h e m a i n r e a s o n w h y b a t t e r s s c o r e d very fast and both sides posted huge totals T h e p i t c h h a r d l y d e t e r i o r a t e d d u r i n g t h e course of the match ” England went on to win its first Test in Pakistan in 17 years after Pakistan lost its last five wickets for nine runs and got bowled out for 268 in dimming light on the last day England has since clinched the series with a narrow win in the second cricket Test at Multan

In March, a similar type of wicket at the same venue received a demerit point from the ICC when only 14 wickets fell over five days in a Test match between Pakistan and Australia A venue can be suspended from hosting international cricket if it accumulates five demerit points within five years

The all-rounder made his T20I international debut in Bristol against England in 2006 He then led the Pakistan team to the final of the T20 World Cup Final in South Africa and was part of the WC-winning Pakistan team of 2009 in England Shoaib remained unbeaten in the final against Sri Lanka at Lords in 2009 He played 124 matches for the national side, amassing 2435 runs and claiming 28 wickets Recently Malik has made headlines for something not related to sports, as news about his separation from his wife of 12 years, Sania Mirza, started circulating a couple of weeks ago However, the Pakistan all-rounder broke his silence on his divorce rumours, and asked the people to leave it alone Expressing displeasure over the constant media pressure on the speculations and gossip about his personal life, Shoaib said: “It is our matter Neither I nor my wife is answering this question Leave it alone ” Rumours of Shoaib and Sania’s divorce widely spread on social media after which the couple remained the talk of the town On the tennis star ’s 36th birthday, her husband wished her but got no response in return

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In

He then launches his words in the direction of the Dutch substitute whose two late goals pushed the two teams into penalties while the reporter struggles to get his attention

The sport’s world governing body FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against both teams after a World Cup record of 18

Pakistan vs New Zealand series to commence from dec 26

Pakistan Cricket Board and New zealand Cricket have mutually agreed to bring forward the tour of New zealand men’s side to Pakistan by a day The first Test of the two-match series will now commence on 26 December at the National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi and the second will be played in Multan from 3 January The three ODIs will be played on 10 12 and 14 January in Karachi

LAHORE

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday ruled out teenage pace sensation Naseem Shah from the third and final England Test in Karachi due to a “niggle in the bowling shoulder” “The fast bowler will travel to Lahore where he will undergo a further assessment at the National High-Performance Centre before beginning rehabilitation,” reads a PCB press release issued today It said that the team management had not requested his replacement at the current stage It added that Pakistan and England will travel to Karachi on Wednesday afternoon Shah previously missed out on the Multan Test as well due to the shoulder niggle His absence is a further blow to Pakistan as pace spearheads Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf are also out of the se-

DOHA

BRAzILIAN football superstar Neymar was cleared of corruption charges on Tuesday related to his transfer to Barcelona from Santos in 2013 A court in Spain acquitted all nine defendants in the trial

C a b i n et a C C o r d s a p p r o va l t o r e ko d i q d e a l

FEDERAL cabinet on Tuesday formally accorded its approval to signing of final deal over Reko Diq project – paving way for the final signing of the agreement on December 15 After the approval given to the ministry of petroleum and other relevant ministries and with its final signing, the agreement over Reko Diq project would be implemented

The federal cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif The meeting comprehensively discussed the reconstitution of Reko Diq project agreement PM Office Media Wing said in a press release Addressing the participants, the prime minister said that the government of Pakistan would ensure protection of the rights of investment in Reko Diq project and all other investors and would fulfill its commitment in this regard

The federal cabinet endorsed a decision of the Economic Coordination Committee taken on December 11, 2022 regarding Reko Diq project funding plan

The meeting was apprised that for the settlement of the agreement of Reko Diq project a legal opinion was solicited from the Supreme Court through filing of a presidential reference under Article 186 of the Constitution The Supreme Court on December 9 had given an opinion, observing that the reconstitution process of Reko Diq project was transparent and the agreements signed in this regard were legal under the relevant laws

Supreme Court’s advice was already sought over the Foreign Investment (Promotion and Protection) Bill, 2022 (Amendment Act) being under discussion in the parliament, it was added

The meeting accorded approval to the inking of final agreements over the settlement of Reko Diq project upon the recommendation of Petroleum Division In this

F i n a n c e M i n i s t r y n o t i f i e s a p p o i n t m e n t o f t h r e e s e C p c o m m i s s i o n e r s

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The federal government has notified the appointment of three commissioners of the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for a period of three years According to a notification in this regard Akif Saeed, Mujtaba Lodhi and Abdur Rehman Warriach have been appointed as commissioners SECP for a period of three years with immediate effect Akif Saeed joined SECP in 2004 and has served as head of various divisions until being appointed as commissioner from December 2014 to December 2017 Meanwhile Warraich is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) Currently serving as Director General (Debt) at the Ministry of Finance Warraich has vast experience in the fields of debt management, risk management and corporate compliances He has also served as an advisor and debt management specialist with the government of Punjab where he led a reforms programme executed with the technical assistance from Department for International Development (DFID) of UK In addition, Mujtaba Ahmad Lodhi has been serving as member of Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and has expertise in the fields of regulatory compliance, finance, restructuring and technology As per the details, Akif Saeed has a history of working with the incumbent government having worked as SECP commissioner during the former government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Abdul Rehman has worked as Director General (Debt) during the PML-N s previous government As per sources, the federal government shall appoint one of the commissioners to be the chairman of the commission with chances of Akif Saeed filling the vacancy due to his closeness with former chairman SECP Zafar Hejazi With the latest appointments the SECP s commission has been completed Earlier, Chairman SECP Amir Khan and Sadia Khan were working as commissioners in the department

Jit plans witnesses’ listing in arshad sharif’s murder probe

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S ta f f r e P o r t

The joint investigation team (JIT), constituted to probe the killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif, has decided to make a list of witnesses, who recorded their testimonies other than the family The decision was taken during the second meeting of the joint investigation team held here at City Police Office (CPO) Headquarters in Islamabad The JIT instructed the Superintendent of Police (SP) Saddar to immediately contact the family members of slain Arshad Sharif for a meeting The team also decided to make a list of witnesses other than Arshad Sharif ’s family who recorded their testimonies Apart from this the investigation team decided to hold meetings on the daily basis, wherein the performance related to the case will be reviewed Earlier the special JIT decided to record the statements of martyr journalist Arshad Sharif ’s mother and widow in connection with a probe into the murder case It decided to devise its own terms of reference (ToRs) for carrying out the probe into the murder case It was learnt that the team will record testimonies of Sharif s mother and widow first, whereas, all relevant persons will be contacted to record their statements later The JIT spokesperson said, in a statement, that preparations have been started to complete travel documents of the investigators to depart for Kenya

regard under Rules of Business 1973 the secretary/additional secretary petroleum division were given a nod to sign the said deal on behalf of the government of Pakistan

The cabinet approved the regulatory framework for the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and its special purposes vehicles (SPVs), the government of Balochistan SPVs and Reko Diq project company

The meeting was apprised that with the consensus of allied parties, it was agreed that the legislation was related to the extent of Reko Diq project only

To remove certain legal issues, a fivemember cabinet committee comprising Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar Minister for Trade Syed Naveed Qamar and Minister for Economic Division Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was formed The committee would hold discussions with the leaders of the allied parties and would remove their apprehensions by taking them on board It was further agreed that in consultations with the relevant parties, the amendment would be made

Pak istan’s default risk won’t subside until IMF comes to table: M if tah

PML-N leader and former finance minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday claimed that Pakistan’s default risk won’t subside until and unless the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came to the table

“IMF is the lender of last resort [ ] and when it comes on board, other lenders like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank agree to provide us with loans

“But if that connection with the IMF breaks or a programme is suspended then other loans stop as well and after that you can’t save Pakistan ” he said in an TV interview

Pakistan entered a $6bn IMF programme in 2019 and its ninth review is currently pending with remote talks being held between IMF officials and the government for the release of $1 18bn

Earlier, media reported that Pakistan and IMF had had a round of engagement on November 18 but could not finalise a schedule for formal talks on the overdue ninth review

T h e t a l k s , o r i g i n a l l y d u e i n t h e last week of October were rescheduled to Nov 3 and then kept on facing delays following gaps in estimates by the two sides

Earlier this month, incumbent Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that he was not concerned whether the IMF team arrived or not for the ninth review, asserting that the IMF could “not dictate the government Dar added that he had told the IMF that it was “behaving abnor-

mally in regard to dealing with Pakistan “I have never taken dictation and never will from these institutions, I have to look after Pakistan s interests During the interview with TV talk show Monday, Miftah in contrast with Dar ’s statement said that Pakistan has gone back into jeopardy and the situation won’t get better until IMF comes on the table” W h e n I M F g i v e s y o u a l o a n this means they are helping you out But saying that the Fund is unreason-

a b l e [ ] w e n e e d t o l o o k a t o u rs e l v e s [ ] w h y d i d w e g o t o I M F previously Dealing with the IMF is not an easy task ”

He stressed that the country needed to do some things to bring the IMF mission to Pakistan, saying that funds from neighbouring countries could only last the country for so long

In response to a question on the agreement reached with the IMF during his tenure as the finance minister, Miftah said that all the arrangements had been made before he was replaced with Dar Qatar had promised $3bn, UAE had committed to $2bn and Saudi Arabia had promised $1bn They had told this to IMF Separately, our negotiations were underway with the World Bank and they too gave us a commitment along with ADB

“But all of these agreements were subject to the IMF programme But if IMF doesn t come now, then none of this money will come Miftah warned, adding it was time Pakistan took some difficult decisions

He reiterated that if IMF doesn t come then it will be very difficult to save ourselves from a default”

Imran asks O mni Group to withdraw notice, tender apology

iSLAMABAD

S ta f f r e P o r t

P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k - e - I n s a f ( P T I ) C h a i r m a n I m r a n K h a n o n Tu e s d a y d e s c r i b e d t h e d e f a m a t i o n n o t i c e i s s u e d b y t h e O m n i G r o u p a s b a s e l e s s , i l l e g a l , f a k e a n d a bs o l u t e l y w r o n g , a s k i n g t h e O m n i G r o u p t o i m m e d i a t e l y w i t h d r a w t h e n o t i c e a n d t e n d e r a n u n c o n d it i o n a l a p o l o g y I n h i s r e p l y t o t h e l e g a l n o t i c e u n d e r t h e d e f a m a t i o n o r d i n a n c e , 2 0 0 2 d a t e d 2 1 s t N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 2 , s e n t t h r o u g h B a r r i s t e r H a s s a n K h a n N i a z i a n d B a r r i s t e r M i a n Wa l e e d A s h r a f , I m r a n K h a n p r o v i d e d d et a i l s o f t h e p l e a b a rg a i n m a d e b y O m n i G r o u p w i t h N A B I n h i s r e p l y, I m r a n K h a n s a i d t h a t t h e n o t i c e w a s c o m p l e t e l y f l a w e d i n l a w, w h i c h d i d n o t m e e t t h e r u l e s a n d r e g u l a t i o n s o f t h e D e f a m a t i o n O r d i n a n c e 2 0 0 2

T h e P T I c h a i r m a n s a i d t h a t i n J u l y 2 0 1 8 , t h e J I T i n v e s t i g a t i o n r e p o r t f o r m e d o n t h e o r d e r s o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t , r e v e a l e d t h e c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n O m n i G r o u p Z a r d a r i G r o u p a n d B a h r i a To w n

“ A p l e a b a rg a i n w a s e n t e r e d a n d a p p r o v e d b y t h e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y c o u r t a m o u n t i n g t o R s 9 b i l l i o n , w h i c h a g a i n i s a n a d m i t t e d f a c t ” i t r e a d s T h e b r e a k d o w n o f t h e p l e a b a rg a i n i n s i x c a s e s s h o w e d t h a t p l e a b a rg a i n f o r a n a m o u n t o f R s 2 , 1 2 9 7 8 9 m i l l i o n w a s a p p r o v e d b y t h e r e s p e c t e d a c c o u n t a b i l i t y c o u r t i n r e f e r e n c e N o 2 / 2 0 1 9 S t a t e V s H u s s a i n L a w a i

Similarly he said that plea bargain for an amount of Rs200 million was approved by an accountability court in reference No 14/2019 State Vs Manzoor Qadir Kaka and plea bargain for an amount of Rs1 563 019 million was approved by an accountability court in reference No 4/2019 State Vs Khawaja Anwer Majdeed P l e a b a rg a i n f o r a n a m o u n t o f

R s 3 1 7 9 4 m i l l i o n w a s a p p r o v e d b y a n a c c o u n t a b i l i t y c o u r t i n t r a n s a ct i o n s o f R s 8 3 b i l l i o n f r o m B a h r i a To w n t h r o u g h t h e J o i n t A c c o u n t o f A P S M u s h t a q A h m e d a n d Z a i n M a l i k i n t o f a k e a c c o u n t s a n d p l e a bargain for an amount of Rs170 million was approved by an accountabili t y c o u r t i n t a k i n g R s 1 2 2 b i l l i o n kickbacks in JV Opal-225 by Zardari Group it was stated

Moreover, he said that plea barg a i n f o r a n a m o u n t o f R s 4 9 5 5 9 5 million was approved by an accounta b i l i t y c o u r t i n a t r a n s a c t i o n m a d e f r o m t h e a c c o u n t s o f M / s B a h r i a To w n ( P v t ) L t d a n d J o i n t A c c o u n t s of Zain Malik and Mushtaq Ahmed into fake accounts

I n l i g h t o f t h e a b o v e f a c t s t h e statement given by Imran Khan that a p l e a b a rg a i n w a s e n t e r e d t o t h e t u n e o f R s 9 b i l l i o n s t a n d s t r u e ; h e n c e , t h e n o t i c e u n d e r r e p l y w a s unfounded, illegal, frivolous and incorrect it reads

“Therefore, the notice sent by Omni Group is baseless, illegal, fake and completely wrong, thus Omni Group should withdraw its notice immediately and tender apology to Chairman PTI, it was stated

E FA M AT I O N N O T I C E

iSLAMABAD M i a n a b r a r

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