Epaper_22-12-27 LHR

PM confident about steering country out of econoMic woes, Post flood challenges

Staff RepoRt

Primeminister muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on monday expressed the resolve that despite myriad economic challenges including the postflood situation, the coalition government was determined to steer the country out of the current difficulties.

challenges including the post-flood situation, the coalition government was determined to steer the country out of the current issues.

Addressing a ceremony after laying foundation stones of different uplift communication, road, hydel and power infrastructure projects, the prime minister said “These challenges might

be manifold but 220 million people of the country should not get worried, the coalition government with the support of its partners will steer the country out of the challenges.”

He said for the achievement of progress and prosperity, they would have to work hard with devotion. “Nations always faced difficulties and the coalition government will put Pakistan on the path of development only through hard work,” he added.

Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Haji Ghulam Ali, minister for Planning Ahsan iqbal, minister for information and Broadcasting marriyum Aurangzeb, Advisor to Pm on Political Affairs engineer Amir muqam, Amir of Jammiat-e-Ulema islam-F maulana Fazlur rehman, relevant authorities and a large number of

people were present on the occasion. The prime minister said that he had laid down foundations for the com-

mencement of mega development projects in the backward areas of the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He mentioned that during his previous visits, these areas were inundated with flood water and the people of the areas had faced immense destruction, from Nowshera to Swat, Kalam, Kohistan, Dikhan and Tank districts were badly affected by floods. Destruction in Swat was caused mainly due to man-made structures in the middle of course of river, he said and criticized the provincial government of PTi for its flawed policies.

The prime minister sarcastically referred that the PTi provincial government always talked about introduction of an efficient system, but the people had witnessed the crumbling of that system whereas the government’s blunders in this regard could not be neglected.

DIKHAN

Film industry revival to promote pakistan’s narrative, positive image: marriyum

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

miNiSTeRfor information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Monday said the government had announced multiple incentives for the film industry which would eventually get a major boost and help promote the country’s narrative and positive image across the world.

Addressing the award distribution ceremony of National Armature Short Film Festival 2022 (NASFF2022), she said the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had launched the firstever film and culture policy, and finalized its implementation framework, which unfortunately could not be materialized due to the change of regime in 2018.

However, realizing the importance of film in building the national narrative, she said, the current

PML-N led government had once again rolled out the implementation framework.

Marriyum said tax exemptions had been given on import of film production related material in the last budget. She said in the recent past film industries of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and iran flourished due to abolition of taxes and now Pakistan’s would also develop due to tax amnesty, with injection of young and fresh blood in shape of producers, directors and filmmakers.

The minister said the film artists finance fund had been established under which medical insurance would be provided to the artists.

She said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had issued directives for preparation of short films on the devastation caused by the recent floods which helped in getting response both at national and international levels.

She recalled that PM Shehbaz Sharif during his last stint as Punjab chief minister had abolished

entertainment tax on cinemas on her request as he knew the importance of the medium of film in narrative building.

All the countries of world had already started using films for projecting their national narrative and then short film had gained much importance in the current era of social and digital media, she added.

She said the film industry now was no more considered solely a source of entertainment, as screen tourism, education and narrative building had been made integral parts of film-making to project and highlight culture, heritage and civilization of a nation.

The minister said Lahore became a hub of filmmaking when first Pakistani film “Teri Yaad” had made debut in 1948. Pakistan’s cinema was robust and vibrant and its film industry was known as Lollywood and Pakistan’s narrative was projected and promoted across the globe through its art, culture and heritage by the medium of cinema.

She recalled that in early 1970s , Pakistan used to be the world’s fourth largest film producing country and its films were in great demand. There were many famous film stars who had become the identity of country at international level.

She said unfortunately, in the later years of the same decade decline of the film industry started and Pakistan’s national narrative also suffered a blow subsequently.

She said the revival of the local cinema industry started in 2011 and young filmmakers, new production houses and new producers started joining the profession.

The minister expressed the hope that revival of the local film industry in Pakistan would promote its culture, heritage and national narrative across the world.

Govt to complete its constitutional tenure: Khawaja Asif

Staff RepoRt

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday said that general elections would be held on time as the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government would complete its constitutional tenure.

Addressing the 50 death anniversary of Khwaja Muhammad Rafique, the father of Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique and former provincial minister Khwaja Salman Rafique here at a local hotel, he said that no one would

be allowed to pressurize the government for early general elections, adding that it was legal and constitutional right of any government to complete its tenure.

Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTi) Chief imran Khan only wanted to come into power by any mean as he could do anything to achieve his personal goals.

He said that imran Khan could dissolve the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, if he was really committed to dissolve the provincial assemblies, but he would not do so as he

was using tactics of pressurize just for political gains. The Minister said that Mian Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had to face worst circumstances, when they were detained in jails during imran Khan’s government, adding that the PDM government after coming into power, lost its political capital as it had to take challenging decisions, by setting aside its political gains to steer the country out of crises. The government was putting efforts to resolve the peoples’ problems and put the country on road to progress and

prosperity, he said and added that imran Khan would also be further exposed as his corruption audios were being surfaced in which his involvement in financial matters got established.

Khawaja Asif said the previous government did nothing on Kashmir issue but raised hollow slogans so it was needed to put in place an effective campaign to highlight Kashmir issue and expose indian atrocities at international level, adding that people of Pakistan stood by their Kashmiri brethren in their struggle for freedom.

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

President Dr Arif Alvi rebutted a statement “wrongly attributed” to him regarding the suspected support extended by former army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa to Pakistan Tehreek-i-insaf (PTi) during the 2018 general election and in the Senate. “President Dr Arif Alvi has taken notice of the statement wrongly attributed to him about the alleged help extended by [Bajwa] and his team in the Senate, and their help to Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf during the elections also,” the media wing of the presidency said. “The statement has been quoted out of reference to the context and is twisted and self-concocted,” it said. The statement came after The News quoted Alvi telling journalists, leaders of the business community and foreign diplomats during a dinner on Saturday that “Gen. Bajwa and his team” had helped former prime minister imran Khan in the polls. According to the publication, Alvi was asked during the gathering about the souring of relations between Khan and Gen. Bajwa to which he responded he was still looking for the answer. The president said it was probably in October last year and then in April or May this year, the report said. “The statement has been quoted out of reference to the context and is twisted and self-concocted,” the presidency added.

imran khan attack: Jit reveals prime suspect was trained

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Joint investigation Team (JiT) formed to probe the attack on former prime minister and PTi chairman imran Khan in Wazirabad, revealed on Monday that the prime suspect Naveed Meher was trained. As per details, the PTi leader Musaddiq Abbasi held a press conference along with Omar Sarfraz Cheema Advisor to Chief Minister of Punjab. He said that the Joint investigation Team (JiT) carried out polygraphic tests of Naveed Meher and shocking revealed that the Wazirabad attack was planned and the attacker was not alone, but it’s still not confirmed how many attackers were there. The PTi leader further said that according to JiT the guard did not fire any bullets. earlier, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Gujranwala sent the prime suspect in the imran Khan attack case on 10-day physical remand. The police told the court that a motorcycle was recovered from Naveed Meher, the prime suspect in imran’s attack case. it is pertinent to mention here that Naveed Meher was arrested after opening fire at Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTi) chief and former premier imran Khan on November 3 from the crime scene at Allahwala Chowk during the party’s long march. The First information Report (FiR) of the gun attack incident had been registered on November 7.

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

An accountability court (AC) has issued a detailed verdict on the Toshakhana reference against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. As per details, the Toshakhana reference was returned to National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The TLTP learnt that the detailed verdict stated that the lawyers said after the amendments in the NAB Ordinance, a case cannot be registered on an amount less than Rs 500 million.

Whereas according to the petitioner the Toshakhana reference is worth Rs 120 million.

After the amendments in the NAB Ordinance, section 5 was included which states that cases over Rs 500 million come under the jurisdiction of the NAB.

So, the court ordered to return of the Toshakhana reference against PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari, PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to the NAB and ordered to send the

NAB reference to the concerned forum. earlier, an accountability court (AC) returned the Toshakhana reference against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

it is pertinent to mention here that in January 2020, the members of the executive board in a meeting chaired by NAB chairman Justice Retd Javed iqbal approved three references against former premiers, Nawaz Sharif and Yousaf Raza Gillani, and expresident Asif Ali Zardari over the charges.

A reference was also filed against Anwar Majeed and Abdul Ghani Majeed for paying the taxes on the luxury vehicles imported via Toshakhana. The reference said that the former president kept the luxury vehicles given as gifts from the UAe and Libya instead of handing them over to Toshakhana and paid their tax amounts using fake bank accounts. it said that former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani gave undue favour to the president and Nawaz Sharif during his tenure also allowed him to handover the vehicles to Asif Zardari.

MQM legislators assure cooperation to HMC Administrator

HYDERABAD Staff RepoRt

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan’s MNA Sallahuddin and MPA Rashid Khilji on Monday called on newly posted Administrator Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Farooq Khan and assured his full cooperation in providing services to the citizens of Hyderabad. MQM legislators presented a flower bouquet upon assuming office of the HMC Administrator.

They extended greetings to Farooq Khan and hoped that he would perform his responsibilities with

commitment and dedication to resolving people’s issues. Speaking on this occasion, HMC Administrator Farooq Khan said that instructions have been given to the concerned authorities to solve public problems.

He said that he was personally visiting different areas of Latifabad and the city along with municipal officers to get the awareness of the problems and redress public grievances. To provide a good and healthy environment to the citizens of Hyderabad, the parks department is giving a lot of attention and in this regard, the parks are being improved to provide best possible recreational facilities to the children, Farooq Khan said.

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTi) General Secretary Central Punjab Hammad Azhar lashed out at the imported government for surging prices of daily use items at a breakneck speed and the so-called economic commentators and attention seekers who, he said, painted doomsday scenarios during PTi’s era when things were on the mend but now they opted to remain tightlipped when PDM brought a booming economy to its knees. Hammad Azhar, in a statement on Monday, said that PDM stood fully exposed during their eight months of government, because they did not have any plan to arrest the decline of all key fundamentals due to which the free-fall of the economy continued. He said that the regime’s only obsession was PTi Chairman as how to rig the system to prevent him from being voted into power again.

Hammad Azhar stated that the gravity of the situation could be judged from the fact that flour prices have been doubled in eight months of PDM government, as the price of 20 kg flour has been surged from Rs 1300 to Rs 2500 in the market. However, he went on to say that the tiny clique of fake desi liberals were in an amusing fix these days. “The regime’s fascism is out on full display. PDM stands fully exposed too but so-called economic commentators that graced the TV screens during PTi’s era were now in hiding,” he added. “These attention seekers painted doomsday scenarios for three years when things were on the mend but have chosen to remain quiet during the actual meltdown caused by PDM,” he maintained.

Hammad said that the free-fall of the economy continued and there was no plan in sight to arrest the decline of all key fundamentals. “The regime’s only obsession is imran khan and rigging the system to prevent him from being voted into power by the public” he added.

Punjab assembly cannot be dissolved before Jan 11, Imran told

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Punjab Assembly cannot be dissolved before January 11, the legal experts told former prime minister imran Khan. Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTi) chairman imran Khan was briefed by his legal team on the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly in light of the Lahore High Court verdict. The legal experts informed imran Khan that the Punjab Assembly cannot be dissolved before January 11 as the matter has been conditionally attached to the court’s verdict.

The former premier was also informed that the legal status of a no-confidence motion also ended after Speaker Sibtain’s ruling. Legal experts were of opinion that Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman has to ask CM Pervaiz elahi

again to take a vote of confidence from the house.

earlier, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan also said that the assembly cannot be dissolved till January 11 following the ruling of the Lahore High Court (LHC). The Lahore High Court (LHC) has restored Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz elahi and the provincial cabinet after suspending the governor’s denotification order.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) suspended the governor’s denotification order after getting assurance from Pervaiz elahi to not dissolve the Punjab Assembly.

Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman had denotified the chief minister for not seeking the vote of confidence which was challenged by Pervaiz elahi in the Lahore High Court (LHC). A five-member bench of the high court heard the petition today.

Detailed verdict in Toshakhana case: Nawaz, Zardari, Gilani get relief from amended NAB law

presidency: statement of army support to pti attributed to alvi ‘self-concocted’

LAHORE

Hammad blasts so-called economy experts for silence over economic collapse

swati seeks case transFer From iHc cJ to anotHer Judge on mistrust

ISLAMABAD tLtp

pAKiSTANTehreek-e-insaf (PTi) Senator

Azam Swati has written a hand written letter of mistrust against the islamabad High Court (iHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and requested him to transfer his bail plea to another judge.

in his letter, Swati said that he has been confined in a judicial lock up in a “false case”. Referring to his writ petition No 4441/2022, which was rejected by Justice Farooq, he said that “the long delay calls for ‘justice

ecp asks parliamentarians to submit statements of assets by december-end

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) has drawn the attention of all members of parliament and provincial assemblies to submit their statements of assets and liabilities including those of their spouses and dependents by December 31. According to eCP, all parliamentarians have to submit their yearly statements of assets and liabilities, including similar details of their spouses and dependent children, on the preceding June 30 on Form B for the financial year 2021-2022. The commission, on the first day of January each year, publishes the names of members who fail to submit the requisite statement of assets and liabilities within the period specified under sub-section (1). The commission will on January 16 by order suspend the membership of a member of an assembly or Senate, who fails to submit the statement of assets and liabilities and such Member shall cease to function till (s) he files the statement of assets and liabilities. The eCP further said that any member submitting a fake statement of assets and liabilities under this section in material particulars may, within 120 days from the date of submission of the statement, be proceeded against for committing the offense of corrupt practice.

Zardari pledges not to deviate from BB’s mission

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday pledged not to deviate from the mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in any circumstances. in his message on the eve of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s 15th martyrdom anniversary, he said he sought guidance from her politics and is still being guided by the philosophy of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Asif Zardari said that no one else faced the difficulties that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto faced for the sake of the constitution and democracy as she was a symbol of patience and endurance. Asif Ali Zardari said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto bravely resisted the barbaric and brutal dictators. “We are strong and steadfast on her ideology because of her teachings,” President Zardari said adding that the continuation of democracy was the beautiful dream of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. By the grace of the Almighty Allah, that dream was fulfilled. Asif Ali Zardari said that the announcement of the institutions to be apolitical is also a realization of the dream of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and it will give stability to democracy and establish the country’s credibility.

delayed is justice denied’.”

The TLTP learnt that Swati highlighted that this was a “paramount phrase” that was required due to the chief justice’s late order which resulted in Swati’s transfer from islamabad.

“i was abducted and was illegally taken from PiMS Hospital on December 2, where i was admitted, to Quetta then to Sindh and where 46 false FiRs were filed against me,” Swati wrote.

Further, he said that the iHC CJ has given judgement about a tweet which his lawyers presented to Special Court Judge Raja Asif Mehmood who was “transferred immediately for reason unknown to all

of us,” after which a new judge was appointed following several days of delay, who dismissed Swati’s bail application “without going into merit and without considering any legal basis and ground”.

The senator asserted that the special court judge should not have been transferred without the consultation of the iHC CJ.

“i know it was done without legal or procedural basis for reason not known to us,” he wrote.

Further, Swati maintained that he has “factual and legal basis to believe that i do not expect justice from your court due to bias based on ‘Asif Zardari case’ in which supreme court so well said that if a

reasonable man would say that that the judge was biased and bias may be caused by a judgement, order or observation of superior court, bias would vitiate the confidence”.

Thus, he concluded that he has “no confidence” of getting justice from Justice Farooq’s court and requested his bail application be transferred “to any other judge of the iHC” which he claimed was in the interest of justice and for the protection of his legal and constitution fundamental rights.

PM Shehbaz invites Qatari Emir to attend Climate Resilient Pakistan Conference

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited the emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to participate in the international Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, co-hosted with the

United Nations, in Geneva on January 9, 2023. The press release issued by PM Office on Monday stated that during telephonic conversation with the emir of Qatar, the prime minister thanked him for the generous humanitarian assistance provided by Qatar during the devastating climate-induced floods in Pakistan earlier

this year. He recalled that Pakistan now faced the enormous challenge of rehabilitation and reconstruction in a climate-resilient manner.

Premier Shehbaz Sharif highlighted that while Pakistan had mobilised its own limited resources to the extent possible,

PM approves appointment of Tariq Pasha, three others as NBP BoD members

ISLAMABAD

Shahzad paRacha

Prime Minister has approved appointment of Tariq Pasha — a close aide of ishaq Dar — and three others as Board of Members of National Bank of Pakistan.

Sources said that the Finance ministry has asked PM to approve Ashraf Mahmood Wathra as chairman while Nasim Ahmad, Ali syed and SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha as directors of NBP board for the term of three years.

in addition to above, the Finance ministry has also proposed an additional Secretary (internal Finance), Finance division may also be appointed as ex-officio director on the NBP Board for effective

oversight of the government.

Sources said that the appointment of these officials would not be presented in the Federal Cabinet meeting for approval.

The Board of NBP is currently dysfunctional with effect from April 16, 2022 due to having less than the minimum required five directors on the board.

Presently, Asif Jooma and Ahsan Ali Chugtai as directors while Farid Malik as private director (elected by private shareholders) are working in NBP Board.

Sources said that the Finance ministry has also finalized names for the appointment to the position of the President NBP and cabinet will approve the summary in the upcoming meeting.

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Saudi Arabian embassy Monday issued a security alert for the kingdom’s citizens in Pakistan, advising them to remain “careful and limit their movement” amid rising terrorism threat.

The alert comes a day after the US embassy stopped its staff from visiting islamabad’s Marriott Hotel due to fears of an attack. A few other embassies have also advised their staff and citizens in the federal capital to restrict their movement for some time, especially until Jan 1. The islamabad police had also raised security to high alert in the capital. The police had said that checking was increased at all entry and exit points and requested the public to cooperate with inspections.

The Saudi security alert advised incoming Saudi residents and those in the country to “be cautious” and

not venture out except for any necessity.

“Security of islamabad has been placed at the highest level,” the alert said, adding that Saudis should contact the embassy and consulate if the need arises. The developments come in the wake of a suicide bombing in the federal capital on Friday which claimed the lives of a policeman and a taxi driver.

According to the islamabad-based Pakistan institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PiCSS), it was the first suicide attack in the capital since 2014.

A total of 165 people lost their lives and over 600 were injured in 18 suicide attacks in the city from 2005 to 2014. The last suicide attack took place in March 2014 when two persons blew themselves up in the Judicial Complex at F-8 sector. The country has seen 504 suicide attacks over the last 22 years. A total of 6,748 people were killed and 15,111 injured in these attacks.

Covid Variant threat: NDMA directs NIH to review vaccine stock, hospital arrangements

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Monday conducted a review of the prevailing coronavirus situation with a particular focus on “evolving Covid variants” and directed the National institute of Health (NiH) to review the stocks of vaccines and arrangements in hospitals to deal with virus cases. NDMA Chairman Lt Gen inam Haider Malik presided a special session of the National emergency Operation Centre (NeOC) today that focused on “evolving Covid variants and expressed confidence in Pakistan’s current strategies and national preparedness”.

The NDMA said the situation will be continuously monitored by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and “preparedness, preventative protocols and vaccination administration system will be strengthened to tackle spike in concern.”

An official handout of the NDMA said that an NiH

team briefed the meeting’s participants on the “updated monitoring of regional trends of the new coronavirus variant and trajectories development for Pakistan without creating undue alarm”.

The NDMA chief directed the NCOC and NiH to “issue a precautionary Covid variant risk advisory for the public and relevant stakeholders based on scientific analysis of data at the global and regional level and carry out selective mock drills for Covid emergency”.

The press release highlighted that the “NCOC showed detailed statistics on Covid management, vaccination administration data and low risk of a new variant in Pakistan.” The NiH officials also informed the meeting’s participants that the current Covid positivity rate stood at 0.53 per cent and 95pc of the eligible population was inoculated with the first and 90pc with the second dose of vaccines.

The press release added that Lt Gen Malik “apprised the participants of the prime minister’s vision on the establishment of National Preparedness and Response System in the country.”

“He also explained the expansion plan for NeOC and making it live interfaced with all departments to remodel the country’s emergency response from a reactive to a proactive mode for disaster management.”

Regarding the Covid situation in the country, media reports said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department recently asked employees of public sector hospitals to get fully vaccinated against the infectious disease. As new variants of the coronavirus spread at a rapid pace in parts of the globe, including india, China, and the United States, health authorities in Pakistan seem to be ill-prepared to stop the arrival of the virus in the country. even though the NCOC claimed that the situation was being closely monitored, there have been no measures at airports, such as rapid testing and screening of inbound travellers, to detect positive cases of Covid. NCOC member Dr Shahzad Ali Khan had said the Centre was regularly holding its meetings. He had added that it was yet to be seen how new variants would behave in Pakistan since “viruses behave differently in different environments”.

continued international support and solidarity was required to meet the daunting challenge of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas, and to build resilience against future climate shocks.

He congratulated the emir on Qatar’s successful hosting of FiFA-2022 Football World Cup, which had set a new benchmark for international sports events.

The prime minister and the Qatari emir also had a brief exchange of views on bilateral and international issues of mutual interest.

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Reaffirming the fraternal relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Monday reiterated their mutual commitment to further enhance and deepen bilateral cooperation across all areas of mutual interest. FM Bilawal, during a telephonic conversation with Prince Faisal, thanked the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for valuable flood relief assistance to Pakistan, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press statement.

The two foreign ministers also discussed the recent developments in Afghanistan. They reaffirmed the importance of guaranteeing women’s rights, and their full and equal participation in all aspects of life. They also reiterated their support for security, stability and peace in Afghanistan and the importance of international engagement for building a more sustainable future for the Afghan people. Foreign Minister Bilawal apprised his Saudi counterpart of the upcoming international Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, which is being held in Geneva on January 9, 2023.

Fm Bilawal, saudi counterpart reaffirm to further deepen bilateral cooperation

Saudi, US embassies advise their citizens to remain careful amid terror threat in Federal Capital

GoVt to SPEnd aLL rESoUrCES on yoUth initiatiVES For dEVELoPinG PakiStan: PM

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

PRIMEMinister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said the government would utilize all resources to help the youth channelize their energies for the progress and development of Pakistan.

He was speaking at an awards ceremony of the National Amateur Short Films Festival (NASFF) organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in collaboration with the Dubai Port World.

The prime minister congratulated the young short film-makers for proving their mettle. “The youngsters made the nation proud with their talent.”

He said the parents and teachers of the award winners deserved credit for imparting education and grooming the young men who created a distinct identity for themselves with their efforts and hard work.

He appreciated the contribution of the Dubai Port World in helping youngsters in the field of film production. The youth were making meaningful efforts to build a soft image of Pakistan through technology and modern tools of communication, he added.

Prime Minister Shehbaz said it was an era of technology and the young generation had the capacity, passion and enthusiasm to make Pakistan according to the vision of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

He lauded the efforts of young filmmakrs in beautifully shining light on Pakistan’s civilization, culture, heritage and natural wonders, including mountains, rivers, valleys and lakes.

“If Pakistan wants to move forward and make progress then its key is in the hand of youngsters.”

The youth would have to turn their dreams into reality to build Pakistan as envisioned by its founding fathers, he said adding the nation fully realized that the youth were the country’s future as they had

the energy and talent to put it on the path of prosperity.

Shehbaz said the government would support the initiatives of youth and meet their financial requirements. He announced to constitute a committee to find young talent in Pakistan who wanted to promote culture and heritage of the country.

He said there was a time when Pakistani dramas and films were very popular in the South Asian sub-continent. The PM said 50 youngsters – 25 male and 25 female students – from all parts of Pakistan would be given scholarships on merit for film-making courses abroad.

He said Pakistan would encourage investment in building of industrial parks. Group Chairman of Dubai Port World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem in his speech expressed desire to construct industrial parks and export goods from Pakistani ports.

Earlier, the prime minister distributed awards among the best amateur short filmmakers in different categories.

Sharif congratulates Dahal on Nepal re-election win

strengthen our bilateral ties and regional cooperation.”

Ch Salik appointed Senior Vice President of PML-Q

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The politics of Pakistan Muslim League (PMLQ) has taken new turn as Chaudhry Salik Hussain is appointed Senior Vice President of the party. The PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain gave approval of appointment of his son as Senior Vice President of the party. Secretary General PML-Q Tariq Bashir Cheema issued the notification of new appointment in the party. Sources in the party have told Pakistan Today that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain would be holding an meeting in the federal capital and would make key appointments in the meeting being held today.

Foreign Secy, Uzbekistan’s first deputy FM discuss political, economic matters

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan and Uzbekistan’s First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Furkat Sidikov met here Monday and discussed issues of mutual interest. The meeting also focused on enhancing political and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Staff RepoRt

The prime minister congratulated Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla who led a decade-long insurgency against Nepal’s Hindu monarchy, who on Sunday was appointed prime minister for a third time.

“Heartiest felicitations to […] Kamal Dahal Prachanda on becoming prime minister of Nepal,” Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet. “I look forward to working with him to further

Sharif said the two nations enjoyed cordial relations as regional partners and expressed the desire to work with the leader of Nepal.

Dahal, who still goes by his nom de guerre Prachanda — meaning “terrible” or “fierce” — will head the new government for the first half of the fiveyear term with the support of the opposition Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party and some other smaller groups.

“He has been appointed and commands the support of a big majority of parliament,” Tika Dhakal, an aide to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, told Reuters.

Prachanda, who replaces Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress party, will step down in 2025, making way for the UML to take over the office, local media reported.

Analysts said Prachanda was unlikely to provide the country with stability due to many coalition partners. He also faces serious economic challenges.

Written court order on interim bail of prime minister’s son

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

An accountability court in Lahore on Monday issued a written order on interim bail of Suleman Shehbaz, elder son of the prime minister, in a Rs16 billion money laundering case.

Shehbaz, who returned to Pakistan earlier this month, was granted bail after he filed a petition for pre-arrest bail in the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in 2020.

The court said in the written order that Shehbaz should join the investigation and make sure of his presence in every hearing in the court.

The court also ordered him to submit surety bonds worth Rs500,000 for its satisfaction and issued notices to NAB till January 7. The petitioner told the court he is innocent and booked in the case contrary to the facts, the order read.

It further stated that according to Shehbaz, if he is arrested, this will cause unprecedented damage to him.

Earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) stopped the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting Shehbaz upon his arrival from London.

It is worth mentioning that the NAB had written a letter to the British government to hand over Shehbaz, who was wanted by the accountability watchdog under money laundering charges and the illegal funds’ scandal.

An accountability court in 2019 also issued non-bailable warrants for his arrest in the money laundering case.

Inflation is more than 8 percent, the highest in six years. Nepal, tucked between China and India, also faces dwindling foreign exchange reserves, with an increasing dependence on imports of basic goods.

“It is unlikely for the economy to grow as political instability will spook investment and businesses,” former central bank governor Deependra Bahadur Kshetri told Reuters.

Nepal has seen 10 government changes since 2008 when the 239-yearold monarchy was abolished.

SPSC to announce CCE-2022 result in next 10 days

HYDERABAD Staff RepoRt

Sindh Public Service Commission on Monday assured that the result of the Combined Competitive Examination 2020 will be announced in the next 7 to 10 days. According to a press release issued by the SPSC Secretary, Commission is leaving no stone unturned in clearing its huge backlog by promptly announcing interview results and scheduling new examinations/interviews without any delay. As far as the announcement of the CCE2020 result is concerned the Commission is bound by the orders of the honourable high court of Sindh regarding transparency and formulation of results under its supervision, the statement added. The Secretary further said the interviews would also be scheduled soon after the announcement of results. The SPSC would also expedite the CCE 2021 written examination result and will schedule the next CCE once the previous two CCEs are streamlined, he added. He also advised all aspirants to exercise patience as their legal rights should be protected at all costs.

IHC seeks report on Toshakhana gifts received by PMs, presidents since 1947

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a notice to the Cabinet Division for refusing to provide details of the gifts received by prime ministers and presidents since creation of Pakistan, and asking it to submit a report within a month.

IHC’s Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the petition filed by Abuzar Salman Niazi. Advocate Wasim Abid appeared in court on behalf of the petitioner.

During the hearing, the advocate

said that the petitioner asked for the details of gifts given by other countries to the presidents and the prime ministers, however, the Cabinet Division refused to provide the information as it was classified.

The Pakistan Information Commission gave an order on June 29, however, it has not been implemented even after five months, said the petitioner’s lawyer.

“Why are you limiting yourself to the prime ministers and presidents and not including the rest of the public servants? This shows your intentions,” Justice Hassan remarked. He added that any petition like this

is only related to the prime minister.

The court addressed Deputy Attorney General Syed Ahsan Raza and ordered him to provide the information if the records are available.

At this, Raza said that such information should be available on the website, adding that there would not be any record before 1990.

The court said that it might be possible that Toshakhana’s records are available. It said to provide the records if available.

The court then adjourned the hearing and sought the report from the Cabinet Division in a month.

ISLAMABAD

LAS ArrAngeS PoLicy diALogue on MinoritieS’ rightS

Sukkur Staff RepoRt

iNPakistan, Minority communities’ access to justice is impeded by direct and indirect discrimination which manifests through societal bigotry, institutional discrimination, gaps in existing legal protections, and a series of laws and policies designed to disempower and threaten their safety and well-being.

There are no evidence-based studies that analyze in detail how the court and adminis-

trative procedures, judgments, lawyers, and legal processes might be disempowering minorities and creating fear and distrust among the community, which in turn prevents them from relying on the justice system to resolve disputes.

Realizing the sensitivity of the situation, the ‘Religious Minority Project’ of the Legal Aid Society (LAS) strives to ensure that Freedom of Religious Belief (FORB) abuses are prevented for minorities in Pakistan and to promote FORB in Pakistan by strengthening access to justice and rule of law for mi-

norities.

Making persistent efforts, the minority project recently arranged a policy dialogue with administrators, civil society organizations, the legal fraternity, and other stakeholders in the DC House, Sukkur. The LAS project team presented the findings of the research “Case File Analysis- CFA” conducted by LAS on the legal needs of religious minority communities in their attempt to access justice.

The research study has been conducted by a comparative study of 80 cases from 8

districts of Sindh on four major categories: matrimonial issues, petty crimes, forced conversions, and blasphemy cases. The purpose of the research was to analyze the structural discrimination and issues pervasive in the legal system with regard to religious minority communities in Pakistan.

The Legal Aid Society is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization which was registered on the 19th of November, 2013 under the Societies Registration Act, of 1860. Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, former Chief Justice of Sindh and former Supreme

Pak-Uzbek PTA to be signed by end of Jan’23

from baCk page

This was said by Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar while talking to the media after signing nine Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev Jamshid Abdukhakimovich here on Monday.

He said the Pakistani side has already completed the homework and consultation for the PTA while the Uzbek government would finalize the same by the end of next month. Both the two countries have decided to implement the Preferential Trade Agreement from February 1, 2023.

Apart from the PTA, the minister said the two countries have also discussed the implementation of the Agreement between Uzbekistan and Pakistan on Transit Trade (AUPTT) and Uzbekistan would notify rules in this regard in February.

“Both sides agreed to formulate a joint strategy for transit trade through Afghanistan. Regional understanding on Transit and Trade Framework to be prepared including joint fund/mechanism for the upkeep of road infrastructure in Afghanistan,” he informed.

According to documents to overcome the problems being faced by the Pakistani and Uzbek transporters, both sides have agreed to take up all issues with Afghanistan in a joint visit to Kabul tentatively to be undertaken in the last week of January 2023 after finalization of the joint agenda to be presented to

the Afghan side. Under the finalized agreements, the two countries are expecting to expand investment and increase bilateral trade to $1 billion.

The concerned ministries of the two countries have also decided to undertake a joint visit to the Afghan capital in the last week of January to discuss problems faced by Pakistani and Uzbek transporters.

During the recent visit of the deputy prime minister and his team Uzbekistan has requested an offdock terminal at Karachi and Gwadar ports and was assured full facilitation, the statement added.

Besides this, the countries also decided to hold trade exhibitions and prepare a strategy to cooperate in e-commerce.

The Uzbek delegation is scheduled to meet a number of officials during its visit, including Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev had visited Pakistan earlier this year. During his visit, a number of agreements and MoUs were signed by the two sides. A MoU was signed between Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Tourism and Sport and Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony to promote religious tourism. Another MoU was inked between the two states in the field of environment and climate change.

Pakistan and Uzbekistan have been closely collaborating at regional and international fora especially at the United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Economic Co-

operation Organisation, and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

This was said by Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar while talking to the media after signing nine Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev Jamshid Abdukhakimovich here on Monday.

He said the Pakistani side has already completed the homework and consultation for the PTA while the Uzbek government would finalize the same by the end of next month. Both the two countries have decided to implement the Preferential Trade Agreement from February 1, 2023.

Apart from the PTA, the minister said the two countries have also discussed the implementation of the Agreement between Uzbekistan and Pakistan on Transit Trade (AUPTT) and Uzbekistan would notify rules in this regard in February.

“Both sides agreed to formulate a joint strategy for transit trade through Afghanistan. Regional understanding on Transit and Trade Framework to be prepared including joint fund/mechanism for the upkeep of road infrastructure in Afghanistan,” he informed.

According to documents to overcome the problems being faced by the Pakistani and Uzbek transporters, both sides have agreed to take up all issues with Afghanistan in a joint visit to Kabul tentatively to be undertaken in the last week of January 2023 after finalization of the joint agenda to be presented to the Afghan side. Under the finalized agreements,

the two countries are expecting to expand investment and increase bilateral trade to $1 billion.

The concerned ministries of the two countries have also decided to undertake a joint visit to the Afghan capital in the last week of January to discuss problems faced by Pakistani and Uzbek transporters.

During the recent visit of the deputy prime minister and his team Uzbekistan has requested an off-dock terminal at Karachi and Gwadar ports and was assured full facilitation, the statement added.

Besides this, the countries also decided to hold trade exhibitions and prepare a strategy to cooperate in ecommerce. The Uzbek delegation is scheduled to meet a number of officials during its visit, including Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev had visited Pakistan earlier this year. During his visit, a number of agreements and MoUs were signed by the two sides. A MoU was signed between Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Tourism and Sport and Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony to promote religious tourism. Another MoU was inked between the two states in the field of environment and climate change. Pakistan and Uzbekistan have been closely collaborating at regional and international fora especially at the United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Economic Cooperation Organisation, and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Suzuki announces plant shutdown for year 2023

Essentially, the State Bank told car companies in Pakistan that they needed to seek permission before performing transactions in dollars for the import of CKD kits. This meant that auto assemblers in the country will now need express permission from the State Bank to assemble them in the country.

Through this permission, the State Bank was now able to control how many cars were being imported and how many dollars were outflowing. This became the cudgel that the State Bank now uses against the automotive industry in an attempt to provide life support to Pakistan’s dwindling current ac-

PM confident about steering country out of economic woes, post flood challenges

Continued from page 01

He said however, with the collective efforts made by all the governments to overcome the flood situation, but still different areas in Sindh were under flood water and the people in Gilgit Baltistan were shivering from biting cold. The prime minister said that the federal government had allocated a huge amount of Rs90 billion for the flood-affected populace and each affected family was given Rs 25,000 besides, ensuring provision of medicine and food. The magnitude of the disaster was huge, he said, adding on 9th January a donors’ conference would be held in Geneva and they would remind the world that the climate induced calamity was the result of global carbon emissions by the developed nations. Pakistan had less than one percent of carbon imprints, but it had been pummeled by the extreme weather due to carbon emissions by the developed countries, he opined.

count position.

Link between the State Bank’s measures and Suzuki’s worst start in two years

The ramifications of the State Bank’s decisions has been that Suzuki has had the worst start to a fiscal year since FY 2020-21. Suzuki, like the majority of Pakistan’s automotive industry, operates on a justin-time model. Per the model, Suzuki only begins manufacturing vehicles after having taken orders for the vehicle.

A consequence of this model is that it has relatively high lead times. An inability to freely access letters of credit needed to import the CKD kits to manufacture the cars pushes up lead times even

more so.

This, consequently, leads to Suzuki being able to take lower orders all in-advance due to its inability to handle similar levels of volume it saw in previous years.

Five month cumulative sales volume for Suzuki’s cars and motorcycles is 24% lower yearon-year compared to the same period in FY 202122. However, as with non-production days, Suzuki is not the only one suffering from demand destruction in the current climate. The notification comes the two weeks following Millat Tractors’ decision to permanently observe a four-day work week due to insufficient demand.

Court Judge, founded the organization with the main objective of serving marginalized and underprivileged communities to reduce challenges in accessing justice.

Over the last nine years of operations, LAS has spread its operations to 13 judicial districts in the province of Sindh and is functional in Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). In the short span since its inception, it has gained recognition regionally and internationally as one of the key professional organizations working in the domains of law, justice, and development.

Govt announces 16 public holidays in year 2023

iSLamabad Staff RepoRt

Cabinet Division informed on Monday that the federal government employees and officers will avail 16 public holidays and can also obtain 22 optional leaves in year 2023. The Cabinet Division issued a notification today, detailing government holidays and the number of optional leaves which the employees and officers can avail next year. According to the notification, the first public holiday will fall on February 5, 2023, on account of Kashmir Day, March 23 holiday for Pakistan Day, May 1 Labour Day, Eidul Fitr holidays from April 22 to 24, Eidul Azha holidays from June 29 to July 1, Muharram holidays on July 28 and 29, Independence Day on August 14, Eid Miladun Nabi on September 28, Iqbal Day on November 9, Quaid Day/Christmas December 25. As per the notification, Christian employees and officers will avail December 26 as public holiday after Christmas Day. Two of the 16 public holidays in 2023 will fall on Sundays. Bank holidays will be observed on January 2, March 22 and July 3. Muslim government employees cannot avail more than one optional leave in a year while non-Muslim staff cannot avail more than three.

Russia can send natural gas to Pakistan, Afghanistan in long term: Novak

Continued from page 01

Novak also reiterated that Moscow is discussing additional gas supplies through Turkey after creation of a hub there. He also said that Moscow expects it will have shipped 21 billion cubic metres (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in 2022.

“This year we were able to significantly increase LNG supplies to Europe,” Novak said. “In the 11 months of 2022, they increased to 19.4 bcm, by the end of the year 21 bcm are expected.” In a wide-ranging interview with the TASS agency, parts of which have been published throughout the weekend, Novak also said that in the long term, Russia can send its natural gas to the markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan, either using the infrastructure of Central Asia, or in a swap from the territory of Iran. He also said that Russia has agreed with Azerbaijan to increase gas supplies for its domestic consumption. “In the future, when they increase gas production, we will be able to discuss swaps,” he said. Moscow is also discussing higher supplies of its gas to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, he said.

AC issues written order on Suleman’s interim bail in money laundering case

LaHore Staff RepoRt

An accountability court (AC) has issued a written order on interim bail of Suleman Shehbaz, son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a money laundering case. Suleman, who returned to Pakistan earlier this month, was granted bail after he filed a petition for pre-arrest bail in the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in 2020. The TLTP learnt that the court stated in a written order that Suleman Shehbaz should join the investigation and make sure of his presence in every hearing in the court.

Imran blames ‘incompetent rulers’ for failure to protect Pakistanis from terrorism

Continued from page 01

Since the last eight months, we have continuously warned that the imposed, corrupt, and incompetent rulers were pushing the nation towards disaster,” Imran said. According to him, independent economic experts were suggesting that Pakistan was facing a very serious situation and added that a two-fold increase in the price of flour would most likely deprive millions of poor people of food.

“After ruining the economy, the imported government failed to provide security, which is very worrying. Despite America’s withdrawal from the region, our government shielded the nation from its fallout with the best diplomatic strategy,” he added.

He was of the view that leaving national security at the mercy of “immature” Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was criminal negligence.

“We are closely monitoring the situation in the country and we will strongly resist any attempt to lead the nation to a major disaster,” he added.

He reiterated his demand for snap polls, which in his opinion was the only way to save the country from

destruction. “Only a government with a public mandate in the true sense will be able to manage the economy and control terrorism”.

During the meeting, the PTI leaders discussed the strategy for the resignations of the PTI members of the National Assembly.

The meeting condemned National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for going on a foreign trip, knowing that the PTI MNAs were coming to meet him to verify their resignations.

The participants termed the speaker’s act as an “insult” to the parliament.

On this occasion, former finance minister and head of the PTI economic team Shaukat Tareen briefed the meeting about the impact of the increase in the prices of food items, especially flour, on the common man. The PTI leaders also showed concern over the United States and the European Union’s travel advisories for their citizens.

Meanwhile, as per the sources, the PTI chairman was briefed by his legal team on the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly in light of the Lahore High Court verdict. He was told that the Punjab Assembly cannot be

dissolved before January 11, as the matter has been conditionally attached to the court’s verdict.

The legal experts further informed the former premier that the legal status of a no-confidence motion also ended after Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan’s ruling. They were of the opinion that Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman has to ask Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi again to take a vote of confidence from the house. White paper on economy

Later, addressing the media, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that his party was going to issue a white paper on the country’s economic situation.

The PTI chairman has summoned a meeting of the economic experts wherein the country’s economic situation will be discussed in detail and the white paper will be issued by the party based on the proposals of the economic experts, he added.

He went on to say that the PTI has formed working groups for basic reforms, which will prepare the proposals on the country’s economy and governance. “The PTI believed that after getting rid of the current rulers, the country could not get out of the quagmire without major reforms,” he added.

Continued

Continued from baCk page

Tough decisions

The League has to sleep in the bed it made

AT a paltry $6.1 billion, the central bank’s foreign exchange holdings are alarmingly low. The bank has explained how a series of repayments of external debt has led to the current decline, but the logical conclusion of that explanation is that the situation is going to get much worse, since there are more repayments to be made in the near future.

This, and some other factors yet again underline the dire need to revive our arrangement with the ImF, which had been put on hold because the ruling PDm, and the league, which is in the driving seat when it comes to financial matters, feels that the political costs of some of the conditions that the Fund insists on are too high. This is not the declared position, obviously; going by its statements, the government feels that acquiescence to the donor agency’s demands would be bad for the citizenry. Those conditions? The ImF wants the government to be completely Laissez-faire as far as the value of the rupee versus the us Dollar is concerned. The government isn’t playing ball, and is doing so, unsuccessfully, yielding a large black market for the greenback. Then there is the insistence that the government remove subsidies for the utilities and also those for fuel. This, the government spurned only recently, by announcing a whopping ten-rupee slash.

The government is trying, yes, to get some bailouts from friendly countries, whether in the form of loans or oil payment restructuring, but even those are half-measures. even those are very difficult to come through in the absence of the ImF signing off on its deal, given how the latter would inspire confidence amongst the aforementioned friendly countries.

The PDm overthrew the previous dispensation for a number of reasons, it says. But to save the economy from sinking was the one it cited the most, to get brownie points from an electorate that was finding it difficult to make ends meet. It has turned out to be a failure as far as that is concerned.

The Pml(N) knew what it was getting into. It is time to be the adult in the room, and take those tough decisions.

Who writes Leo Messi’s scripts?

With a shout-out to the ‘dry’ World Cup

sions.

While Christiano silently drops out of the GoAT debate, certain sections of the media have chosen to shift the goalpost for messi. With the lack of international trophies on the part of messi not a valid argument any more, they are now arguing that the fields were rougher, the tackles nastier, and there were far fewer yellow and red cards in the times of maradona and Pele before him; and that therefore, their achievements are that much more praiseworthy. Pele and maradona both were amazing players without a doubt but what is conveniently forgotten in this line of reasoning is that leo has always had to contend with defenders with fitness-levels unthinkable in the old times. Throw in the technology – video footage and expert analysis – available to the modern defenders, and messi’s longevity and brilliance become all the more extraordinary.

LIoNel messi leading his team to a famous World Cup triumph surely signals the end of the GoAT debate once for all. It would be safe to say that those who are still unconvinced will never be convinced. In fact, the leo v Christiano debate was settled quite a while back. Although leo’s stats per game played have for a long time been better than Christiano’s on just about every important count, the GoAT debate in any sport is rarely about stats alone. No doubt, as a striker par excellence Christiano has had a stellar career, but leo is much more than just a striker. He is as mesmerizing when he effects an impossible assist as when he scores an unlikely goal. True, the likes of Piers morgan continue to gamely argue for Christiano with a straight face, but this species is on the very brink of extinction.

leo’s competition with compatriot maradona was always tighter. For like leo, he was much more than merely a striker. And like leo, he was scheming and starting a move when he was not busy converting a half-chance into a goal. leo’s failure to win major trophies for Argentina was held against him for a long time, but like a true champion he has responded by first winning the Copa America and finally the World Cup, winning the best player accolade on both occa-

Qatar 2022 was a memorable event with more quality and drama than one is reasonably entitled to expect from a single event. Quality and drama on the pitch, that is. off the pitch (including the stands and outside stadiums) it was a remarkably trouble-free affair. The uK football policing unit has reported that not a single england fan was the subject of an arrest or police incident through the duration of the tournament. It is attributed by senior officers to the lack of access to alcohol within the stadium perimeters. That is solid evidence if one needed any. But for some, it is apparently too much to accept it as conclusive evidence.

This came to the fore when talksPosrT’s Jim White asked simon Jordan his views on the correlation between the gentlemanly behaviour of British fans and the unavailability of alcohol in the stadiums, something in drastic contrast to their generally outrageous conduct in european and world competitions of the past, exemplified so vividly at Wembley in euro 2020. When it comes to world cups, according to police reports, one has to go back to spain 1982, and before that to mexico 1970, for four straight games involving the england side without significant fan trouble. Jordan’s reply to White was a study in ambivalent evasiveness. In his response, Jordan threw in just about everything – everything except the big elephant in the room, that is. That england fans, like fans of all other nations, comprise a very small percentage of criminal elements. That Qatar’s

Because a majority of Westerners, including the most responsible of social drinkers, would be hard pressed to find its replacement. To most Westerners therefore, a society without alcohol is probably next to inconceivable, and certainly unworthy of belonging to.

Ethical grandstanding

Numerous Western governments and Westfunded NGos produce reports on human rights conditions in countries all around the world.

These reports typically share three characteristics: they identify developing nations as major human rights violators; present developed onesas the global defenders of those rights; and include nations that are strategic competitors or perceived as adversaries in the definition of the Western “axis of evil” narrative. That assertion is supported by the u.s. Department of state’s most recent “Countries of Concern” report.

But another noteworthy aspect of those studies is their excessive, and to a greater extent, exclusiveattention on the political side of human rights issues, which largely goes unnoticed and is less frequently discussed. In other words, the reports purposefully exclude the social and economic aspectsof the problem, thereby omitting the wider range of problems covered by the united Nations Declaration of Human rights (uDHr).

This is not to downplay the fact that, given their weaker economic standing and more exclusive political environments, human rights circumstances in developing nations are comparatively poor. However, it is equally indisputable that any nation, regardless of its level of development, would be found lacking in a human rights assessment that looked at the situation of each of the 30 uDHr articles. Common political concerns including freedom of expression, assembly, and association; arbitrary imprisonment and abuse; the conduct of security forces; freedom of the press, etc. are frequently covered in these reports.

However, economic and social variables that are more important for advancing human rights and heavily

emphasized throughout the uDHr are purposefully omitted when Western governments and NGos create their assessments. Western human rights reports typically confine their coverage to a small number of specific cases of violations and the judicial actions taken in developing countries against people suspected of committing acts of crime in violation of the country’s laws, rather than taking a comprehensive approach to analyzing human rights conditions. such deliberate omission is problematic and done for a few reasons in particular.

First of all, because of their prejudicial views of developing nations, Western governments and so-called human rights groups prefer to take a patchwork and fragmented approach, which simultaneously aids them in hiding their horrific systematic human rights crimes. Developing nations frequently struggle to maintain their internal security because of a lack of governmental capability, resource limitations, and persistent security issues including terrorism, drug trafficking, and internal conflict. For the sake of improving overall security, these circumstances often force them to take draconian measures in dealing with criminal or terrorist threats.

on the other hand, if human rights reporting is narrowly focused on the political spectrum, the developed world has an advantage over developing nations due to its “national security state” and considerably larger state capacity as well as the absence of persistent security threats like terrorism.

For instance, the emergence of Bangladesh’s elite force, the rapid Action Battalion (rAB), coincided with the ascendant extremism in the south Asian country in the 9/11 era. since its inception on march 26, 2004, law enforcement has profoundly contributed to effectively countering terrorism, and militancy, rooting out human trafficking, halting drug abuse, and rampant usage of illegal ammunition and firearms. rAB had curbed the menace

of terrorism and arrested 2729 militants to date, thus, neutralizing formidable terror outfits like Jamaat-ul-mujahideen Bangladesh (JmB), HuJI-B, Neo-JmB, Hijbut Tahrir, etc. In addition, rAB had conducted 333 operations and arrested 1238 people to liquidate the threat of transnational drug peddlers, piracy, and trafficking networks.

Indeed, rapid Action Battalion (rAB) had taken the mantle in its war against terror, drugs, and trafficking, and however, its swift actions, had unwarranted collateral damages due to the structural loopholes and constraints in a developing country like Bangladesh, albeit, its action was effective in rooting out the menace of drug-terrorism nexus. Although sporadic outrage on the grounds of “human rights violations” by international civil society from the Western world is vented, the outrage needs to

strict policing and generally higher law and order standards could have a lot to do with it. That it could be because of the fewer number of tickets available. And that it was common knowledge that many people drink alcohol and do not cause trouble. He just could not bring himself to as much as consider the possibility that alcohol could be one of the factors, if not the single most significant reason, behind incidents of hooliganism in sport.

The last excuse of an argument, namely ‘many people drink alcohol and refrain from criminal behaviour’ especially reminds one of the famous progun slogan ‘Guns don’t kill, men do’. Both statements are true of course, but both fall spectacularly short when pressed into service as conclusive arguments by alcohol- and gun- enthusiasts respectively. With the notable exception of influential sections in the usA, it is obvious to the whole world that guns play a decisive role in violent crime. It should be similarly clear to any unbiased observer that passion and ‘spirits’ make for an explosive mix in and out of football stadiums.

Freedom is the cornerstone on which the Western civilization is supposed to have been built. Any curtailment of freedom is only justifiable on grounds of potential harm to others. As a maxim, this is as unassailable as they come. But its practical application is arbitrary at best. Alcohol, in this civilization, is kosher ‘provided one does not drive while inebriated or become a public nuisance otherwise’, while drugs less damaging to the health and less likely to cloud judgement are banned outright without any such provisos (freedom can go take a ride in this instance).

When it comes to alcohol, this spirited reluctance to face the facts is not without reason. Because a majority of Westerners, including the most responsible of social drinkers, would be hard pressed to find its replacement. To most Westerners therefore, a society without alcohol is probably next to inconceivable, and certainly unworthy of belonging to.

The author is a connoisseur of music, literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be reached at www.facebook.com/hasanaftabsaeed

be tempered by the unique political-administrative-justice milieu in developing nations whereby a blanket application of Western norms will be counterproductive.

second, human rights reporting with the inclusion of additional articles, particularly related to societal and economic dimensions, would expose systemic, less visible but more implicative grim human rights conditions in the Western world.

For example, A recent poll by the Pew research Institute found that just a small percentage of Americans (only 58%) believe that race relations are improving in the u.s. such racial division and disgust horribly permeate the legal, social, political, and economic spheres.And according to theongoing research by The Washington Post, police in the united states murder roughly 1,000 people each year through shootings, with black individuals being shot disproportionately andfrequently. similar to how poor standing in relation to this article and related outcomes across the state spectrum eventually violatesseveral other human rights enshrined in the uDHr - like, right to life (Article 3), the right to recognition before the law (Article 6), the right to equality before the law (Article 7), Access to justice (Article 8), the right to a fair trial (Article 10).

Therefore, the West’s selective reporting on human rights is consistent with its machiavellian grand agenda to hide the previously unknown but gruesome human rights violations carried out both inside and outside of its own countries, while also using its dummy ethicalgrandstanding weapon against developing nations to prod them into toeing the line.

The writer is a freelance columnist

SuFiAN SiDDiquE

First of all, because of their prejudicial views of developing nations, Western governments and so-called human rights groups prefer to take a patchwork and fragmented approach, which simultaneously aids them in hiding their horrific systematic human rights crimes.

HASAN AFTAB SAEED

Yousaf Nizami Editor

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

M. A. Niazi Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Joint Editor

Profanity

A moral and constitutional breach?

BArriSTEr WAqAS TArAr

‘Certainly, better amongst you is the one, who has the best of Ikhlaq’

THe essence of a valid Hadith which we all may have heard, read, taught, or understood at some point in our lives. recently when it embraced my pensive thoughts against our prevalent socio-political environment filled with profanity, particularly surrounding political communications, my rather extensive scholarly and hermeneutical research led me to infer that Prophet (PBuH) recognised and envisaged it to be the fair yet highest civil standard of one’s morality and ethics. specifically, when profanity applied to political communication, although its contravention is certainly both immoral and unethical, it could however amount to constitutional breach too per infamous article 62 of the Constitution. Currently, it may sound like a wishful and idiosyncratic notion, until it gets to the Apex Court particularly when read and construed with the rules of progressive legal interpretation to reflect the prevalent social change and ethical demeanours in order to keep nurturing the legal “tree of life”.

let’s put this ethical and pensive prolix aside for a moment and reflect on our current socio-political communications, particularly of our politicians; who we (people) elect to be our representatives in the Parliament. Thus, every politician becomes the agent of its constituents with constitutionally charged ostensible authority given to them by its constituents. one of the core duties of their job as representative is to voice our concerns using effective communication skills and strategies as adept and charismatic leaders. It stems from that they have a positive constitutional duty to represent us in a best possible ‘professional’ manner – no doubt sense of duty has a higher threshold than of a mere expectation to perform in a constitutional setting. It therefore becomes pertinent for constituents to analyse what their constitutionally employed agents have been up to. We can prima facie argue and to some extent affirm as well that most of them have failed us miserably on numerous occasions of national and constituency interests. The pattern of sheer incompetence and negligence does not end with the core duties but have been awfully prevalent in their political communications too, which is nothing short of profanity, slander, and derogatory remarks both at national and regional levels. What surprising the most is that such profane behaviour is shamefully targeting no one but their own colleagues –parliamentarians including their families, state officials and institutions. It is equally acceptable that once someone subscribe to a public life, although their right to privacy and personal life is somewhat compromised, however sanctity of their home, personal relationships and domestic nuances are left untainted both professionally and morally. such triage is not only evading their very own personal liberties and rights but doesn’t befit our Islamic mores either.

You may be wondering why we should be worrying about such nonsensical and derogatory behaviour of any politician(s) who are generally renowned for playing dirty games with their political adversaries and to some extent public at large since its plain politics “per se” and playing by the ordinary rules is not a trait of this dynamic game. We are innocently mistaken in such naïve belief because we are the biggest stakeholders of this (democracy) game for various valid as

well catalyst reasons.

For instance, we switch their roles from an individual into a politician by vesting our ostensible authority and trust with them through elections. secondly and pressingly important for our analysis here is that their profanity is not limited to themselves or their peers but have now entered our own homes and lives through our unlimited access to mass media platforms. Hence, we are not only the stakeholders but have now become accessories to this derogatory process as well since we are playing a very active as well as catalyst role by validating and promoting this whole profane process both at individual and community levels.

Against the backdrop of the anecdotal onset, I would now like to pose another question pertaining to our moral and ethical values – i.e., why our politicians have started championing profanity which is even putting neo-liberal politicians (who started it in the first place) to shame as well with their sheer level and degree of engagement. several psychological and sociological studies have denoted that profanity is perceived untrustworthy, incompetent, and Irrational. Why then people, particular politicians employ profanity during public speaking. It is analytically argued that people curse and use foul language because it helps them express their feelings, aggression, urge, and dominance in particular social settings.

Against the backdrop of our own cultural setting, we can evidently agree that we are an emotionally charged society, who believes in loud sociopolitical expressions and being inherently a patriarchal society, dominance has become a part of our epigenetics.

portant to look beyond the words themselves to see how language is being used to create a particular affect which is usually aimed at distraction. It is well established political strategy to deflect and divert attention away from the active point one’s making or expected to make.”

Accordingly, we may wonder, what particular affect our politicians may have in mind or inherently trying to achieve by championing profanity in their political communications. Are they employing this crude language and derogatory remarks to achieve pro-attitudinal response from their voters or deflecting us from core issues which are root cause for many of our socioeconomic problems. It is evident from the last general elections and recent by-elections that both sides of the politics not only championed profanity to attract voters but successfully employed it to deflect us from issue-based politics to one revolving around personal lives of our top political leaderships and their familial affairs.

During my own yearlong observations into the use of profane language, I have struggled to find a few instances where the top leadership of such political parties have denounced the strategic use of profanity –not to my surprise or yours, rather it has been defended by their peers and political adversaries in equally despicable manner.

Profanity, thus when used in these special social settings, becomes rather a rhetoric tool used by the source to intensify the political discourse by adding a little informal and nowadays derogatory flair to establish or reinforce social connections. Profanity, in this targeted communication stream, allows its user to connect with likeminded people by nurturing emotional and dominant discourse already prevalent in the society. Hence, the strategic use of this profane language does not remain with its users or confined to its targeted audience, rather it becomes part of the wider communal setting where it was deployed and could be consumed and/or further employed by the other members of the society. onus then shifts to the community whether to reject it outright being immoral and unethically or to embrace it as a windfall of the prevalent social practices. It is saddened and heartbreaking to denote here that we have in fact started championing it. The rationale is simple, precedents are set at the top and followed below. Thus, if political leaders are doing something unreservedly and without repercussion, we see no harm in following suit.

Another pertinent reason for strategic use of unparliamentary and profane language has been denoted by Professor Phillip sergeants as, “with the politics, of course, it’s always im-

During my own yearlong observations into the use of profane language, I have struggled to find a few instances where the top leadership of such political parties have denounced the strategic use of profanity –not to my surprise or yours, rather it has been defended by their peers and political adversaries in equally despicable manner. mind you, they are our representatives with our constitutionally charged ostensible authority, have they been fulfilling the very purpose for which they were elected. let’s leave the question of their professionalism aside for a moment and revert back to the civil standard envisaged by our beloved Prophet (PBuH) to be a mere human being, let alone a leader of a community. Do we truly believe that majority of our recent politicians have the best of the “Ikhlaq” or even seen practicing it both professionally and publicly.

Don’t we know better or should at least strive to know better. I believe, we have lost the plot pertaining to our ethical and cultural aura, which became the core ideology of our existence as a nation in the first place. How low, we as a society have to go to realise our political causes or to make a point at the expense of our scared civil and moral values, which for now may seem unethical but may soon be read and construed by the supreme Court against the prevalent sociopolitical setting as a constitutional breach pursuant to infamous article 62 of the Constitution. Beside the role of Apex Court, the moment for us to take charge is now or profanity would make us a socially and culturally doomed nation with a radically different socio-political equity to passon inter-generationally. We should not let us submerge in this strategic triage that is challenging us to the core whilst leaving us both morally and ethically wrecked.

The writer is a legal Researcher and Bioethicist. He can be reached at waqas.tarar@wstlawyers.com

Editor’s mail

SALU affairs

THe overall performance of academic institutions in sindh is not up to the mark. According to the Times Higher education (THe) World university rankings for 2023, not even a single university in the province was able to make the cut. This is a true reflection of the state of affairs.

In northern sindh, shah Abdul latif university (sAlu) in Khairpur is the largest university in terms of admissions and faculty. The university has been lagging behind two years in conducting annual examinations of affiliated colleges. The university has changed the proposed schedule of these annual examinations six times. Actually, these examinations were to be held in 2021.

still, there seems to be no chance of examinations being conducted.

on the one hand, the university charges exorbitant fee from the poverty-stricken students, who cannot afford higher education in private universities, while, on the other, the university postpones its examinations by citing one reason or the other. There is also a tug-of-war with the sindh Professors and lecturers Association (sPlA) on the core issue of payment of bills. The university administration has to pay all the arrears owed to professors and lecturers as compensation for the assessment of answer sheets and conducting the practical examinations in the previous years.

It is shocking that the university has allegedly declared hundreds of students either ‘fail’ or ‘absent’ in the results announced against some examinations even though students’ signatures are available on the relevant sheets. There is a need to set things right in the university administration to help it keep up with its counterparts elsewhere in the country. The whole administration needs to be inducted on merit, and political interference must be stopped forthwith.

ALI SIKANDAR CHACHAR GHOTKI

Taxing charity

reCeNTlY, I visited some flood-affected areas in sindh with my friends and was shocked to see the suffering of the people in those villages and towns. Children over there seemed to have forgotten to even smile and play. moved by what I came across during the visit, I wrote to a superior official in the Convent of sisters in Italy to send us some chocolates and cheese for these children as a token of love and sympathy. I had planned to distribute these things among the unfortunate children on Christmas.

The small parcel did come, but, to my surprise, I was asked to pay rs33,000 as tax. I am forced to send this token of love back to Italy because I can buy something else for these people with the same amount of money from the local market. If I was doing some business, I could understand the imposition of taxes, but for a small box purely for humanitarian purposes, there should have been no tax.

DR EMMANUEL PARVEZ FAISALABAD

MDCAT exam and frustration

IT is a common belief that an mBBs degree is one of the hardest to pursue academically, and, therefore, it would not be baseless to claim that the premBBs studies are just as hard compared to other courses at that academic level. In order to study for an mBBs in Pakistan, you need to know you are going into that field from grade IX, especially for the students whose parents put them in schools following the Cambridge university system, also known as the Cambridge Assessment International education (CAIe).

This is something I learned this year after having to swallow a bitter pill. owing to the Covid pandemic, the A level batch of 2022 had a very trying 2021-22 term. Not only did our study start in July, but in the midst of our preparations for our final year examinations, we also had to sit our first year examinations. resultantly, we did not have much time left to study the whole syllabus. As a result, A level mBBs hopefuls threw ourselves in the local Intermediate syllabus as soon as we finished our A2 examinations. We worked tirelessly for our As, A2 and then medical and dental college admission test (mDCAT) in one continuous chain.

owing to the ticking clock, we did not have much time for any extra study, so we stuck to the syllabus and the Punjab and federal board textbooks on which the test was supposed to be based. one month before the mDCAT, one of the biggest examinations deciding our future, we received word that the examination was now being conducted on a provincial basis, with each province preparing its own syllabus and question paper.

However, we did not give up and did not waste any time in studying strictly the syllabus from the books of an entirely different education board. It is crucial to know that there is a huge difference in information among federal, Punjab and sindh board textbooks. Intermediate students had prepared from these textbooks for three years and had sat several examinations on the basis of that particular syllabus. In contrast, aspirants from the CAIe stream just had a month to prepare, and yet we completed the syllabus to the best of our abilities. Finally, we appeared for mDCAT feeling confident despite the fact that the Pakistan medical Commission (PmC) had been throwing at us continuous curveballs.

However, the PmC had one last ball left for us; one which we could not in any way attempt to play, for it was too fast and wholly unexpected. There were at least 30 multiple-choice questions (mCQs) that were out-ofsyllabus, 10 mCQs whose answers were wrong in the answer keys, and two mCQs whose correct answers were not given in the options provided.

The more level-headed students attempted to solve the rest of the paper as flawlessly as they could, while the more anxiety-driven ones started losing marks even on questions they knew very well. When the answer keys were released the next day, the students totalled their score and there was a significant gap between the scores of Intermediate and CAIe students. Furthermore, the PmC and the conducting universities refused to acknowledge their mistake.

Why should we, the CAIe students, suffer just because our parents put us in the Cambridge system rather than the local one when we were young? Why was there a change in syllabus about just a month before the test? Why should we be forced to enrol in any school other than our dream school, or have to plan to be a dentist rather than a physician just because we followed official instructions?

We have evidence of out-of-syllabus questions and the wrong answer keys, yet the PmC and the government refuse to acknowledge their follies. Is the youth not the future of Pakistan? Are we not the youth? The students demand an answer to each of these questions. We demand justice.

SYEDA SUKAINA KAZMI KARACHI

Do MusliM voTers WanT only MusliM poliTicians To represenT TheM?

IndIa In TransITIon/scroll hilal ahmeD

aNy discussion on Muslim politics in contemporary India would remain entirely meaningless if two popular, and in a way, conflicting meanings of the term “political representation” were not taken into consideration. In a more general sense, Muslim representation is evoked as a normative ideal. It is argued that the adequate presence of Muslim MPs and MLAs in legislative bodies ensures the smooth and effective functioning of democratic polity.

This line of argument relies heavily on the egalitarian values of the Indian Constitution as a political criterion to evaluate the representation and/or underrepresentation of Muslims in the Parliament and State Assemblies.

This normative explanation employs a highly simplistic method to determine Muslim political presence. It is assumed that there is a direct and reciprocal relationship between Muslim elected representatives and common Muslims. Thus, if the total Muslim population of India is divided by the number of elected Muslim MPs and MLAs, an exact level of Muslim representation could be ascertained. This mechanical interpretation of Muslim representation is also used to explain Muslim social marginalisation and backwardness.

A section of political commentators argue that Muslim underrepresentation is one of the main reasons behind the social, economic, and educational backwardness of Muslims. highlighting the findings of the Sachar Commission Report which was released in 2006, it is strongly asserted that Muslim political representation is morally necessary and democratically desirable.

Contemporary hindutva politics offers us another popular meaning of the term Muslim representation. BJP leaders often argue that the Indian Constitution does not recognise religion as a criterion for affirmative action, and for that matter, representation. The idea of Muslim political representation, therefore, is legally unsustainable and politically divisive. The popular slogan “Sab ka Sath Sab ka Vikas”, the argument goes, is sufficient to accommodate Muslims’ political aspirations.

These two popular explanations dominate our public life. even the academic discussions on Muslim political representation are deeply influenced by these public debates. One finds a number of articles, essays, and books on this theme that reproduce such popular claims without paying any attention to the complex ways in which postcolonial Muslim political identity has evolved. In fact, the nature of competitive electoral politics and the changing dynamics of electoral representation are completely ignored in such discussions.

It is worth noting that Muslims do not participate in politics as a closed-homogeneous religious community. CSDS-Lokniti surveys show that issues such as education, employment, and healthcare determine their voting preferences in different contexts. Of course, the significance of community-based representation in political decision-

making is recognised as an important factor; yet, electing only the Muslim leaders to get involved in political life is not always preferred. This complex finding –Muslim anxiety to have Muslim presence in politics versus Muslim indifference toward Muslims leaders – takes us beyond the popular stereotypical debates on Muslim representation.

Precisely for this reason, there is a need to study Muslim representation in relation to three crucial aspects: political constitution of Muslim identity and its multiple manifestations, the logic of institutional set up, and the nature of Muslim leadership.

MUSLIM POLITICAL IDENTITY AND REPRESENTATION: Muslim political identity has a complicated history. The formation of the Muslim League in colonial India and its overly communal politics – separate electorate, weightage system, and eventually twonation theory-based demand for Partition/Pakistan –provide a strong and controversial historical context to post-independence Muslim political experiences. This historical reductionism is deeply problematic. Colonial Muslim politics, we must remember, was based on a very different logic of representation. elite and powerful Muslims had the right to vote. These Muslim leaders claimed to represent Muslims as political custodians.

The post-1951 scenario was very different. The Indian Constitution was not based on a proportional/communal form of representation. At the same time, the introduction of a universal adult franchise and first-pastthe-post system of voting established a new form of political representation. The elected MPs and MLAs were to represent the community of voters living in a geographically-marked political constituency. They were supposed to represent the aspiration and demand of this secular community as committed messengers.

It does not mean the Constitution was indifferent toward group rights; it recognised group rights in such a way that the principle of secularism could not be compromised. As a result, a few administrative categories – Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Minority – were created to deal with group-based collective political aspirations. There was no place for conventional Muslim politics in this framework. Muslim leaders had to evolve a new meaning of representation to get involved in the election-dominated political life of the country. In this volatile context, Muslim community as a political stakeholder was redefined.

This historical background is useful to identify two conflicting aspects of contemporary Muslim political identity. On the one hand, there are a number of culturally diversified Islamic communities that define themselves as Muslims. These Muslim communities are divided by caste, class, region, and even religious lines. The apparently heterogeneous Muslim communities engage with the electoral system in a variety of ways and produce what may be called substantive Muslimness. Muslim electoral participation at the constituency level is perhaps the best example to illustrate this point.

It does not mean that these highly diversified Muslim communities are completely fragmented nor think of themselves as “Indian Muslims” in a collective sense. The collective Muslim identity is produced in two related ways. The political class addresses Muslims as a homogeneous group – either to legitimize their constitutional status as a religious minority or to reject them as anti-national separatists. In both cases, Muslims are seen as a homogeneous collectivity. This given oneness also affects the self-perception of Muslim communities in a significant way. They envisage themselves as members of a pan-Indian community. This process leads to a discourse of Muslimness – a discourse that revolves around the rights, privileges, duties, actions, and collective suffering of Muslims.

The political interplay between substantive Muslimness (in terms of diversity) and discourse of Muslimness (in terms of homogeneity) actually determine the nature of political representation in a significant way. For example, Asaduddin Owaisi has carved out a space for himself as a Muslim leader in the media-dominated discourse. A large number of Muslims attend his rallies and public meetings all over the country. however, despite this popular backing, Owaisi’s party, the All India Ittehadul Muslimeen has not yet been able to translate this overwhelming Muslim enthusiasm into electoral benefits.

Muslims reject AIIM at the constituency level because its religious appeal does not always correspond to complex sociological and economic configurations at the constituency level. In other words, Owaisi becomes a representative of all Muslims when he operates in the discourse of Muslimness. however, he remains an insignificant factor at the constituency level outside hyderabad (or for that matter, where his party does not have any organic link with voters). It means substantive Muslimness produces a different context-specific logic of representation.

Politics of Muslim representation is inextricably linked to the institutional structures that governs the operational aspects of competitive electoral politics. The direct election based on universal adult franchise for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies actually encouraged the political parties to constitute the winning configurations of voters.

The KhAM (Kshatriya, harijan, Adivasi, Muslim) model in pre-Modi Gujarat and My (Muslim-yadav) model in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the post-Babri Masjid scenario are good examples of such political coalitions of voting communities. The BJP’s emergence as the dominant player over the last eight years has broken these configurations in a powerful manner. The party tends to create a new configuration of voters in which it does not want to include Muslims. This exclusion of Muslims from the winning configuration is one of the most crucial aspects of contemporary electoral politics.

It is worth noting that the members of Rajya Sabha and State Councils are not elected directly. These legislative bodies offer an opportunity for the political party to induct their favorable Muslim leaders in the Parliament and state legislative. This indirect form of election is used by the po-

litical class to fulfil its commitment to wider inclusion.

My 2015 study, “Muslim Representation in Rajya Sabha: Forms and Trajectories,” shows that unlike the Lok Sabha, Muslim representation in the Rajya Sabha has always been impressive (9-10%). This is an important finding, revealing that Muslim representation, even in terms of the number of MPs and MLAs, is contingent upon the actual institutional set up of legislative bodies.

REPRESENTATION AND LEADERSHIP: Muslim representation, in any case, is all about leadership function. The 2017-19 CSDS Lokniti-APU’s three-round survey-based study, “Politics and Society Between elections,” covers 24 states with a nationally representative sample of more than 48,000 respondents.

One particular question is very significant: “Suppose there are two leaders from same political party and equally competent to get your work done. If one is from your religion while the other from a different religion, whom would you be willing to contact first?”

There was a mixed response on this question. It appears that religious groups do not necessarily trust the leaders of their own respective communities. Muslim perceptions also confirm this general pattern. Forty-six percent of Muslim respondents claimed they would prefer to contact a Muslim leader if they were in need. however, almost an equal number of Muslims (41 percent) did not subscribe to this view. For them, religion of a leader is not an important consideration.

Two crucial inferences can be drawn from these findings. It is clear that Muslim communities do recognise the importance of having Muslim elected leaders to deal with everyday encounters with administrative power structured in a different context. Secondly, Muslim leaders are not always seen as representatives. Instead, they are envisaged as professional politicians who participate in politics to maximise their vested interests.

A close analysis of these trends suggests that Muslim leadership, in and of itself, is a highly diversified phenomenon. There are three distinct types of Muslim leaders who perform very specific functions in different contexts: Professional Muslim politicians, Muslim elites, and Muslim influencers. The professional Muslim politicians operate as a crucial link between parties and the particular Muslim community they claim to represent.

The Muslim elite, on the other hand, functions as a systemiser – either to sustain the internal power structure in its favor or to challenge it to get legitimacy. The influencer asserts his/her presence in the media-driven public discourse. These three types of leaders perform very specific functions in different political contexts and produce concrete everyday meanings of Muslim representation, which are very different from popular perceptions and media debates.

Hilal Ahmed is an Associate Professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, India.

The controversy over the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts is not as straightforward as it appears. The executive wants to take complete control of the last bastion of democracy, the judiciary.

Under the Bharatiya Janata Party, the executive is all-pervasive. With constant attacks on opposition parties and their leaders. By coupling denigrating words with the skilful use of investigative agencies like the CBI, eD, etc., the executive seeks to place itself on a higher moral ground. Parliament is used to project the ruling party’s ideology and actions. Real issues affecting the common man and the nation are debated in passing with selective information and statistics. The ruling dispensation is using Parliament to further its agenda.

The towering personality of the prime minister is eclipsing the cabinet and its role and every constitutional and critical appointment that is being made appears to suit the executive, be it the comptroller and auditor general of India, chief vigilance commissioner, election commissioners, cabinet secretary and other crucial secretaries or the heads of the eD, income tax department etc. What else can explain the extensions given to the eD head and the hurried appointment of the last election commissioner? Gujarat cadre officers belonging to IAS and IPS services, who have served the PM well in the past, seem to be chosen over deserving and independent officers from other state cadres. What could the reason be for such subjectivity, except to consolidate power in the hands of a few? Skilful methods are adopted to depose duly-elected state governments run by opposition parties, thereby creating a constant challenge in governance. Attacks on critics, simply on account of tweets or articles, are designed to create an atmosphere of fear across the nation. even films and actors are not spared, with Pathaan being the latest target. The prevention of two young actors from even offering prayers at the great temple of Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain is an exam-

ple of the vigilantism that has gone unpunished by the state.

Minority communities are constant targets, in forms both subtle and unsubtle. In a Constitution Bench judgment of July 7, 2018, the Supreme Court said, “There can be no shadow of doubt that the authorities which are conferred with the responsibility to maintain law and order in the States have the principal obligation to see that vigilantism, be it cow vigilantism or any other vigilantism of any perception, does not take place.”

The courts are being systematically approached by fringe elements in furtherance of such objectives and sadly, they are unable to see and stop such attempts, causing grave misgivings to millions of Indians. After a virtual free run under a series of Chief Justices of India with the powers to constitute seemingly convenient benches and allocate cases to them, the judiciary under recent chief justices has shown remarkable resilience and is pushing back. Questions are being asked by judges on sensitive matters to sub-serve public purpose. Judgments and orders have been passed to protect the civil liberties and fundamental rights of citizens. All these may have upset those in power.

Thus, the not-so-veiled attacks by the

law minister, followed by the vice president, himself a respected lawyer, are calculated to send a chilling message to the judiciary: Fall in line or we will take away your powers to appoint and transfer judges. They need to be reminded of Articles 141 and 144 of the Constitution, which make Supreme Court judgments the law of the land.

I have been an open critic of the collegium system installed by the Supreme Court, arrogating to itself powers that the Constitution does not. I even argued in support of the NJAC in a changed form. But that was in 2015. having seen the government in action, I am now convinced that if the executive were to start appointing judges to the higher judiciary, they will end up making disastrous and subjective appointments as is being done for other constitutional offices. And that will be the death knell of democracy in India. Citizens will be deprived of their fundamental rights and civil liberties will be jeopardised.

The executive has crippled the judiciary by not providing much-needed funds for large-scale infrastructure and sufficient manpower. To top it all, the high pendency of cases in courts is also on somewhat on account of mis-governance and unlawful and

arbitrary actions on part of the executive at every level, from the district to the Centre. Rule of law and an independent judiciary are basic features of our Constitution. The two are deeply connected. Constitutional framers were quite clear in their resolve that “No executive should be able to have any influence upon Judges.” But as Ambedkar had feared, “…I feel, however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot”. Our nation cannot afford its failure because millions of Indians sacrificed their lives, liberties, properties and peace for a free India and its Constitution. At a time when India has assumed the G20 presidency with year-long programmes in the country, it would be important for the country to showcase a functioning and vibrant democracy.

As the US president Andrew Jackson once said, “All the rights secured to the citizens under the Constitution are worth nothing, and a mere bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent and virtuous Judiciary.” There is a heavy burden on the collegium to build such a judiciary. Its functioning so far has been a mixed bag. It needs to be much more vigilant and objective in the future. Let us hope the executive does not prove Ambedkar right. If it does, let us pray that the judiciary will step in to defend the Constitution in letter and spirit.

The writer is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT MUSLIMS DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN POLITICS AS A CLOSED-HOMOGENEOUS RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY. CSDS-LOKNITI SURVEYS SHOW THAT ISSUES SUCH AS EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND HEALTHCARE DETERMINE THEIR VOTING PREFERENCES IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS

IndIan ExprEss

Dushyant Dave

PBM releases first installment to deserving families in Lahore

corporate corner SMEDA unvEilS rEport About flooD iMpAct on SMES

lahOrE Staff report

SMALLand Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) on Monday unveiled its preliminary assessment report on impact of recent floods on SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises).

SMEDA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hashim Raza, while addressing the launching ceremony of the Report, disclosed that 197,658 economic establishments have been affected by floods across the country bearing an estimated loss of US$ 5.3 billion.

Presidents of the Chambers of Com-

merce and Industry from Quetta, Dadu, DG Khan and Swat also addressed the launching ceremony via internet.

He said that recent flood in Pakistan was one of the worst natural disasters in the country’s history. More than 33 million people or 14 percent of the country’s total population has been affected by floods and heavy rains that have hit more than 90 of the 160 districts of the country. In Pakistan, 90 districts have been declared “calamityhit.” Out of the total 90 districts, 32 belong to Balochistan, 24 Sindh, 17 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine GilgitBaltistan, five AJ&K and three Punjab, he added.

Referring to the report compiled by

“Ensuring transparency and efficacy in this project, the payments are released through UBL OMNI Digital Banking.”, he added while explaining that monthly stipend of Rs.6000/- is granted to the mother having on school going orphan girl while Rs.10,000/- per month is given to mother of more than one school going orphan girls. pr

IIUI extends last date of admission till January 02

International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) has extended the last date to apply for admission in more than 100 programs of its 11 faculties till Monday, 2nd of the January, 2023.The university administration made this decision keeping in view the interest and requests of applicants to extend the date. The university has offered admissions in BS, MS and PhD programs of 11 faculties including Social Sciences, Basic and Applied Sciences, Management Sciences, International institute for Islamic Economics, Arabic, Usuluddin, Languages and Literature, Engineering and Technology and Shariah and Law, Faculty of Computing and Faculty of Education.The applicants can apply by visiting the IIU website or this link http://admission.iiu.edu.pk. Male applicants can also call on 051-9019567 and female applicants can call on 0519019327 for guidance and details. pr

Eagle Squad is playing a vital role in eradicating crime: Islamabad Police

The Eagle Squad of Islamabad Capital Police is playing a vital role in crime prevention from the city, during the last 24 hours Eagle squad checked a total of 1378 suspicious persons, motorcycles and vehicles, a police public relations officer said. He said that, following the special directions of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad, the Eagle Squad is working under a safe city Islamabad which is deployed in different areas of the city for patrolling and crime prevention. During the last 24 hours, the Eagle Squad checked a total of 146 pedestrians, 955 motorcycles and 140 vehicles during special and snap checking out of which 83 suspicious motorcycles and 6 vehicles were impounded at various police stations. Eagle Squad also ensured the arrest of the numerous accused involved in mobile snatching and heinous crimes. pr

SMEDA, Hashim Raza informed that the effects of the 2022 Flood were broadly analyzed in this study that aims to assess the impact of floods on SMEs at the provincial and district levels. Analysis has been conducted for economic establishments across 71 districts to estimate direct and indirect losses, he said, adding that both secondary data and primary data were gathered through site visits of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Punjab to derive estimates of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by floods across the country and also identifying their need for assistance for revival.

The CEO SMEDA admitted that

Pak-Qatar Takaful Group and BLINQ strike deal

Islamabad Staff report

Pak-Qatar Takaful Group and BLINQ Solutions Private Limited have signed an agreement with an aim to fast-track payment collections and facilitate existing and new customers to make payments from a wide range of payment options.

According to a statement issued on Monday, Saqib Zeeshan (Deputy CEO, PQGTL) and Asif Hasan (Founder and CEO, BLINQ) signed the agreement along with senior officials of both companies including Mr. Muhammad Kashif (SVP, Digital Business, PQGTL), Muhammad Shoaib Akhtar (SEVP – Operations, PQGTL), Muhammad Saleem (CFO, PQGTL), Kashan Rafique Ahmed (Head of Automation, PQGTL) and Hassaan Rahim (Head of Business and Partnership, BLINQ). While expressing his views at the signing ceremony, Mr. Saqib Zeeshan (Deputy CEO,

PQGTL) said, “Pak-Qatar Takaful is committed to providing convenient and innovative services to its customers. Our partnership with BLINQ is yet another step forward in this endeavour. By enabling wide range of payment options, we are hopeful to create a long term positive impact across our customer base.”

Mr. Asif Hasan (Founder and CEO, BLINQ) while sharing his viewpoint stated that “BLINQ remains focused on supporting businesses in pursuit of digital transformation through its centralized payment aggregation service. Our collaboration with Pak-Qatar Takaful Group will provide their customers the freedom to transact from their preferred mediums.”

Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited (PQGTL) is one of the leading General Takaful companies in Pakistan. PQGTL offers comprehensive General Takaful products’ portfolio for corporate customers as well as individual clients.

Costa Coffee making its debut in Pakistan, in partnership with Gerry's Group

pr

London’s favorite coffee shop comes to Lahore, starting with opening the first retail store in December and the second store planned for 2023 in Karachi. The store, located at DHA Lahore Phase 6, Raya Commercial will provide customers the chance to relax and unwind with friends and family in a warm and welcoming environment, offering signature Flat White and a range of Costa Coffee drinks made with the brands famous Mocha Italia Signature Blend coffee beans. As well as a range of hot and cold drinks, the store will also serve a passionately crafted local assortment of savoury and sweet treats. For those on the go, to store will offer a wide range of Grab and Go products. “We are truly

delighted to be partnering with Gerry's Group in bringing Costa Coffee to Pakistan. Coffee lovers in Pakistan can now enjoy a great cup of coffee, one that's captured the heart of our coffee fans in the UK and globally for the past 51 years,” said Mr. Vinay Nair, Head of Emerging Markets, Costa Coffee.

“Our great-tasting coffee is the result of our commitment over the years to crafting the best cup of coffee time and time again. We strongly believe that with our genuine passion and relentless pursuit for perfection, not just in serving great coffee, but also in how we contribute back to the community we do business in, we will continue to provide uplifting coffee moments in our coffee fans' daily lives that bring joy to everyone.

Settlement of consumers complaints is our top priority: IESCO spokesman

Islamabad pr

Chief Executive Officer IESCO Dr. Muhammad Amjad Khan will hold E-Kachary on 27th December, 2022 (Tuesday) From 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM and will attend consumer calls and necessary directives to relevant offices will be issued at spot for rectification of valuable consumer electricity related issues. Consumers re-

lated to Islamabad, Rawalpindi City, Rawalpindi Cantt, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal Circles and surrounding areas can contact Chief Executive IESCO on Facebook ID CEOIESCO E-Kachery and Telephone No. 0519253105 according to above mentioned schedule.

IESCO customers are requested to mention name, bill reference number and contact number while lodging complaints.

Remembering Benazir Bhutto on her 15th Death Anniversary

December 2022 marks 15 years of losing the Muslim World’s first female Prime Minister, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. She was a symbol of the federation, championing the cause of democracy. Her loss was not any one party’s loss but it created a vacuum in politics at the national level. Her death only benefited the enemies of Pakistan.

As the first woman who was elected as Prime Minister in the Muslim World, Shaheed BB keenly felt a sense of responsibility towards women and raised her voice against any injustice. Speaking at the Fourth World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme, she said, “On this solemn occasion I stand before younot

the research had its limitations due to accessibility to flood affected areas and unavailability of updated district level data of economic establishments.

Highlighting results of the study, CEO SMEDA informed that according to the findings 25% of the economic establishments have completely destroyed in the floods, whereas rest of the SMEs suffered from a damage of over Rs.1.4 billion in total because of disruption in supply chain, loss of customers, electricity disruption, roads, bridges and other transport network disruption. Over 20 percent of the surveyed SMEs have an estimated Annual sales Turnover loss of Rs.1.3 billion.

For revival, 86 percent Surveyed SMEs have demanded Subsidized Provision of Specific Products, Inputs or Services and 57 percent Surveyed SMEs Demanded Access to new loans. In Sindh the businesses have demanded access to new loans on low interest rate to resume operations and subsidized provision of specific products, inputs or services.

Chairman State Life celebrates Christmas with employees

only as a Prime Minister but as a woman and a mother—A woman proud of her cultural and religious heritage, a woman sensitive to the obstacles to justice and full participation that still stand before women in almost every society on earth.

As the first woman ever elected to head an Is-

AIOU organizes Int’l symposium on Arabic Language Day

lamic nation, I feel a special responsibility towards women's issues and towards all women.” She introduced many projects in Pakistan that increased representation of women in our society. She created opportunities so that women could reach their full potential living in Pakistan.

This was starkly different from oppression of women during the previous Zia-ul-Haq’s government. Both her parents groomed her to be a strong, independent woman and she was a witness to their sacrifices for democracy. As her father was hanged in what is now acknowledged as judicial murder, her mother fought alongside him and displayed great courage. Benazir Bhutto followed in her parents’ footsteps and never faltered in the face of terrorism.

She stood for democracy and stood by her people. Even after the terrorist attack on her in Karsaz, she decided to fight till the very end because she believed that her people deserved to be heard and their voice was represented in democracy.

2007 was the year when Shaheed BB returned to Pakistan. It was a strange year. She did not celebrate her birthday that year on June 21. It was the year when she left the physical world. I felt that she knew about it and that she was prepared for the journey. She longed to return to Pakistan. The thought of finally going back brought her a sense of great happiness. She wanted to see her people and to visit her father and her brother’s final resting places. She wanted to pray for them and perhaps she knew she wouldn’t be here for long.

The writer is the former press secretary for Benazir Bhutto, chairperson of the Bhutto Legacy Foundation, and senior adviser to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Islamabad: Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM) releases first installment to the deserving families in Lahore, under the “Orphans and Widows Support Programme (OWSP)”. Managing Director of PBM, Amir Fida Paracha launched the programme by releasing the payments of first month, in a ceremony organized at Lahore Highlighting the project, Managing Director PBM, Amir Fida Paracha told that the widows registered under the Benazir Income Support Programme have been connected with OWSP with the condition of having one or more school going orphan girls. Mr. Paracha said this initiative translates the distinctive and compassionate idea of taking care the orphan girls providing them education and other basic needs of life.

bashIr rIaz

Chairman State Life, Mr. Shoaib Javed Hussain celebrates Christmas with State Life employees on December 26 2022 at State Life Head Office in Karachi. On this festive occasion he gave a message of inter-faith harmony and peace saying that State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan is for all Pakistanis. pr

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari President ICCI is giving trophy to Salman Ali Khan The winner of all pakistan Quaid e Azam Chess Tournament at ICCI. Azhar Ul Islam Zafar Vice President ICCI , Chairman Pakistan Chess federation Hanif Qureshi,Raja Gohar Iqbal , Saad Farooqui, Humayun Kabir, Asher Hafeez, Imtiaz Abbasi are also Present. pr

Islamabad: A one-day International Symposium was held at Allama Iqbal Open University on World Arabic Language Day. Director, Media and Cultural Affairs, Saudi Embassy in Pakistan, Muhammad bin Saleh Al Muhammad was the chief guest. Prof. Dr. Hind Abdul Halim Mahfouz and Dr. Hina Abdul Fattah from Al-Azhar University, Egypt were among the foreign speakers. Dr. Inam ul Haque Ghazi from International Islamic University and Dr. Abdul Majeed Baghdadi, Chairman, Arabic Department AIOU were the national speakers. Dean, Faculty of Arabic, Prof. Dr. Shah Mohyuddin Hashmi presided over the symposium. This symposium was organized by the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, AIOU. Dr. Abdul Majeed Baghdadi explained the aims and objectives of the symposium. He said that the United Nations included Arabic as an international language in December 1973, and December 18 has been celebrated as the International Day for Arabic Language since 2012. pr

Mr. Omer Farooq, Chief Financial Officer and Group Head

Finance & Accounts at Jubilee Life Insurance received the Certificate of Merit in Insurance category at the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Best Presented Annual Reports Awards 2021 ceremony held in Kathmandu, Nepal. The accolade was presented as an honor to Jubilee Life for its excellence in financial reporting in accordance with the internationally accepted financial reporting framework. pr

XI InsTRUcTs TARgeTed pUblIc heAlTh cAMpAIgn In lIghT oF coVId pReVenTIon

CHINa sTAFF RePORT

cHINESEPresident Xi Jinping has called for carrying out the patriotic public health campaign in a more targeted way in light of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control.

The year 2022 marks the 70th anniversary of the mass Patriotic Health Campaign. Launched in the early 1950s in China, it was aimed at raising levels of sanitation and hygiene and controlling waterborne disease.

In his recent instruction to the campaign, Xi appealed for more efforts to guide the public on promoting health knowledge and skills, developing good personal hygiene habits and practicing a civilized and healthy lifestyle, with an aim to “build a solid social defense line for epidemic prevention and control, and effectively protect the lives and health of the people.”

More targeted patriotic health campaigns should be conducted as the country’s COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control faces new situations and new tasks, Xi noted.

He also highlighted the progress made over the past 70 years under this national campaign and urged those working on the

front to make innovations and new contributions to accelerating the building of a healthy China.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made instructions on the matter and urged efforts

Ukrainian drone downed in Russian air base, 3 killed

MOSCOW Agencies

Russian air defence troops downed a Ukrainian drone as it approached an air base in southern Russia and three people died after being struck by debris, Russian news agencies said Monday. It was the second attack on the Engels base this month. Engels, in the southern Saratov region, lies more than 600 kilometres (370 miles) from Ukraine. “On December 26, at around 01:35 Moscow time (2235 GMT), a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region. “As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian technical servicemen who were at the airfield were fatally injured.” The defence ministry said no planes were damaged. Saratov governor Roman Busargin said there was “absolutely no threat” to local residents, adding that no civilian infrastructure had been damaged. He warned locals against spreading “fake information”, citing Russia’s strict laws adopted in the wake of its Ukraine offensive at the end of February. “All stories about the evacuation from the city are blatant lies, created far from the borders of our country,” he said. On December 5, Moscow said Ukrainian drones had caused explosions at the Engels airfield and another base in the Ryazan region. Kyiv had not yet commented on the incident.

to adhere to the principle of putting prevention first, and innovate related mechanisms and working approaches. Noting that the country’s epidemic response against COVID-19 is being imple-

mented in an orderly fashion, Li called for efforts to further leverage relevant strengths and boost the initiative to carry out science-based epidemic prevention and control on all fronts.

Savage US blizzard leaves 32 dead, power outages, travel snarls

NEW yOrk Agencies

A brutal winter storm that brought Christmas chaos to millions of Americans will be slow to dissipate, the US National Weather Service said Monday, after intense snow and frigid cold caused power outages, travel delays and at least 32 deaths across the eastern part of the country.

“Much of the eastern United States will remain in a deep freeze through Monday before a moderating trend sets in on Tuesday,” the NWS said in its latest advisory.

In Buffalo, western New York, a blizzard left the city marooned, with emergency services unable to reach the worst-hit areas. “It is (like) going to a war zone, and the vehicles along the sides of the roads are shocking,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a native Buffalo, where eight-foot (2.4-meter) snow drifts and power outages made for life-threatening conditions.

Hochul told reporters Sunday evening that residents were still in the throes of a “very dangerous life-threatening situation” and warned anyone in the area to remain indoors.

More than 200,000 people across several eastern states woke up without power on Christmas morning and many more had their holiday travel plans upended, although the five-day-long storm featuring blizzard conditions and ferocious winds showed signs of easing.

The extreme weather sent wind chill temperatures in all 48 contiguous US states below freezing over the weekend, stranded holiday travelers with thousands of flights canceled and trapped residents in ice- and snow-encrusted homes. Thirty-two weather-related deaths have been con-

firmed across nine states, including at least 13 in Erie County where Buffalo is located, with officials warning the number is sure to rise.

Officials described historically dangerous conditions in the snow-prone Buffalo region, with hours-long whiteouts and bodies discovered in vehicles and under snow banks as emergency workers struggled to search for those in need of rescue. The city’s international airport remains closed until Tuesday and a driving ban remained in effect for all of Erie County. “We now have what’ll be talked about not just today but for generations (as) the blizzard of ’22,” Hochul said, adding that the brutality had surpassed the region’s prior landmark snowstorm of 1977 in the “intensity, the longevity, the ferocity of the winds.”

Due to frozen electric substations, some residents were not expected to regain power until Tuesday, with one substation reportedly buried under 18 feet of snow, a senior county official said.

First Metaverse Ambassador ‘Tiensy’ launched in Indonesia

Joining hands and moving forward towards the future, TIENS Group Global Partnership Promotion Conference was held in Sentul International Convention Center, Jakarta, Indonesia. OLver 15,000 people from over 100 countries and regions attended the meeting, and more than 20 million people from all over the world watched and participated in the live-streaming broadcast online. All Tiens people would work as one team to embark on a new glory of Tiens’ cause and jointly compose a new future for the growth of the enterprise. The conference focused on the Tiens’ ecological layout of Metaverse on the “Three Comprehensiveness Strategy”, namely, Global Marketing, Global Live-streaming and Global Partnership. The new trend of Tiens’ layout in multiple business areas was presented through melodramas, immersive experience, intelligent interaction, virtual reality, and other abundant digital technologies and cultural interaction forms. At the conference, Tiens launched the first Maverse image ambassador “Tiensy”. Through the drive of scientific and technological innovation, Tiens will be dedicated to improving user interaction experience and catering for more youngsters. At the conference, Tiens Group signed a series of global strategic cooperation agreements with a number of market partners from China, Indonesia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and other countries that have reached cooperation intentions. Relying on the global platform of Tiens Group, all partners will work closely in multiple business sectors of “One Body Multi-wings” strategy, making full use of Tiens’ global brand, global supply chain, global payment system, global marketing network and operation system, global crossborder e-commerce platform, global information technology and other advantageous resources to help more local enterprises in various countries quickly move to overseas markets and create a win-win new future.

17 dead, 110 injured in heavy snowfall in Japan

tOkyO Agencies

At least 17 people have died and 110 more have been injured as a result of heavy snowfall in Japan, sources in the country’s disaster management reported on Monday, according to Sputnik. Severe snowfall has been hitting northern and western Japan since December 17. Many people have died or got injured after falling from the roof, while removing snow, or getting buried underneath snow sliding off rooftops. Winter storm has continued through Monday, with snow piling up higher than 160 centimeters (5.2 feet) in some areas. Heavy snow has led to power outages across the country, leaving around 1,000 households in the prefecture of Niigata alone without power for over a week.

South Korea says military fired at N. Korean drones after incursion

The military did not indicate whether the objects had been shot down or had gone back over the border, one of the most heavily-fortified locations in the world.

South Korea accused the North of flying several drones across their shared border on Monday, prompting Seoul’s military to deploy warplanes to shoot them down — with local media reporting one of the planes later crashed.

The incursion was the first time in years that North Korean drones have invaded the South’s airspace and came hot on the heels of a recent flurry of sanctions-busting weapons tests by Pyongyang.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the military first detected a suspected North Korean unmanned aerial vehicle around the airspace of Gimpo at 10:25 am (0125 GMT) and “responded immediately”.

“This is a clear act of provocation in which North Korea invaded our airspace,” a JCS official told reporters.

The incursion prompted Seoul to fire warning shots and deploy fighter jets and attack helicopters to shoot down the five drones, one of which reached airspace near the capital.

One of the warplanes, a KA-1 light attack aircraft, later crashed in Hoengseong County, Yonhap news agency reported.

The South Korean military also deployed its own manned and unmanned reconnaissance assets to areas near and north of the Military Demarcation Line for “corresponding measures”.

“We conducted reconnaissance and operational activities, including photographing major enemy military facilities,” the JCS official said.

“Our military will continue to respond thoroughly and resolutely to such provocations by North Korea,” he added.

Flights were temporarily suspended at Gimpo and Incheon international airports — the country’s two major hubs — for about an hour at the request of the JCS, according to Yonhap, which cited an official from South Korea’s transport ministry.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the incident marked the first time that South Korean flights were suspended over “the appearance of North Korean drones”, adding they were likely for spying purposes.

“Considering North Korea’s poor

level of drone development, there is little possibility that they carry the drone attack capabilities used in modern warf are,” he added.

“It is speculated that they came over to our area as part of reconnaissance training during the recent winter training.”

Drone operations: It was the first time in five years that North Korean drones had invaded South Korean airspace, and the latest in a series of provocations from Pyongyang this year, including an unprecedented blitz of weapons tests — among them, the launch of its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile yet.

Last week, Pyongyang also fired two short-range ballistic missiles and claimed to have developed new capabilities to take images from space, saying it would be ready to launch a reconnaissance satellite by April next year.

The North’s drone operations are a growing security concern in Seoul, but Pyongyang has denied any involvement and accused South Korea of fabricating evidence.

In 2017, Seoul’s military fired warning shots at a flying object that entered the country’s airspace from North Korea across the Demilitarised Zone.

A year earlier, South Korean soldiers fired warning shots at a suspected North Korean drone that crossed the western part of the border, the most sensitive part of the Demilitarised Zone.

In September 2015, South Korea triggered an anti-aircraft warning and sent an

attack helicopter and fighter jet to track down a drone that crossed the border, without success.

And in 2014, a South Korean fisherman found the wreckage of a North Korean drone in his net near a frontline island south of the rivals’ disputed Yellow Sea border.

SEOUL AFP

Jakarta Agencies

BABAr’S BrAve Ton lifTS PAkiSTAn To 317-5 AGAinST neW ZeAlAnd

KARACHI Agencies

CAPTAINBabar Azam scored his ninth Test hundred and alongside the recalled Sarfaraz Ahmed helped his team recover against New Zealand on Monday in the first Test.

Babar raised his hundred off 161 balls with a six off Michael Bracewell (2-61) over midwicket just before tea as Pakistan progressed to 224-4. Pakistan ended the day on 317-5.

New Zealand, playing its first Test in Pakistan in 20 years, had made early inroads and Pakistan stumbled to 110-4 in the first session before Babar, unbeaten on 161, and Sarfaraz got himself out on 86 before rebuilding the innings with a 114-run stand.

Babar had a tough start against New Zealand spinners, Ajaz Patel and Bracewell, after captain Tim Southee brought on his slow bowlers as early as the fourth over on a dry and tacky wicket at National Stadium.

Daryl Mitchel dropped a regulation catch when Babar drove loosely at Bracewell on 12 and then also survived an

Sarfaraz joins elite company with 50th Test appearance

KARACHI Agencies

lbw television referral in legspinner Ish Sodhi’s first over before lunch.

Babar could have been run out soon after lunch but Devon Conway couldn’t hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end with the Pakistan captain way out of his crease when Sarfaraz refused to go for a quick single.

Sarfaraz, playing his first Test since January 2018 in place of the rested Mohammad Rizwan, made full use of his hometown conditions but fell short of another historic century.

New Zealand came close to dismissing Sarfaraz on 26, but the batter successfully went for a TV referral after on-field umpire Aleem Dar adjudged him to be caught behind off Southee.

Earlier, Patel (2-91) and Bracewell (261) found plenty of turn in the first hour after Southee lost the toss in his debut as New Zealand skipper and Babar elected to bat.

Southee read the slow and dry wicket quickly and brought on his spinners with the new hard ball just three overs old.

Patel got the breakthrough off his third ball as Abdullah Shafique (7) was stumped after getting beaten on two successive deliveries from the left-arm spinner.

Shan Masood (3) also tried an over-am-

Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed joined the rare company of Pakistani wicket-keepers after appearing in the 50th match of his Test career. Sarfaraz has been included in the playing XI for the opening Test against New Zealand started here on Monday at National Bank Cricket Arena. The wicket-keeper batter Sarfaraz has made a comeback to the team after four years. He last played in 2019 against South Africa in which he took 10 catches and scored a half-century, that too as the team’s captain. The 35-year-old is also playing his first Test in Pakistan. However, the returning player has become the only fourth Pakistani wicket-keeper to play 50 or more Tests. Moin Khan, Kamran Akmal and Wasim Bari are the other three players to achieve the mark. Bari topped the list of the most capped Pakistani wicket-keepers in Tests with 81 appearances, while Moin and Akmal are second and third with 66 and 53 Tests, respectively.

Green takes five as Australia seize control of 2nd South Africa Test

MELBOURNE Agencies

Cameron Green celebrated landing one of the richest contracts in Indian Premier League history by taking a career-best 5-27 as Australia ripped through South Africa’s fragile batting in the second Test on Monday. After the visitors were dismissed for 189, an aggressive David Warner, in his 100th Test, was unbeaten on 32 and Marnus Labuschagne was not out on five to steer the hosts to 45-1 at stumps on day one. Usman Khawaja was out for one, caught behind by Kyle Verreynne off Kagiso Rabada. “That’s cricket summed up,” Green told reporters. “You can have a really slow start to the summer and think cricket’s so tough and then you have a few days like this, and it brings you back. “It’s a very special feeling (getting five wickets). Australia won the first of three Tests by six wickets inside two days on a hostile and green Gabba pitch in Brisbane last week. The deck at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was less bowler-friendly, but captain Pat Cummins surprisingly chose to field at a venue where toss-winning teams normally bat first. It proved to be an inspired decision in front of 64,876 fans with the Proteas losing early wickets as they again struggled against the hosts’ bowling firepower. After slumping to 67-5, Verreynne and Marco Jansen launched a stirring fightback in a gutsy 112-run stand. But then Green — the second-most expensive buy at the IPL auction last week behind England’s Sam Curran — went on a blitz, snapping the partnership when Verreynne got an outside edge on 52 that Stee Smith collected.Two balls later, Jansen was gone, caught by wicketkeeper Alex Carey for 59 off Green before the giant Australian bowled Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.

Babar

Sanaullah of Mardan wins Quaid Day Cycle Race

Sana Ullah of Mardan won the Quaid-e-Azam Day Cycle Race of 28-km organized by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cycling Association here at Northern Bypass on Monday.

Mohsin Khan of Peshawar stood second while Umar Farooq of Mardan stood third in the Race with President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries Peshawar Muhammad Ishaq was the chief guest on this occasion who distributed medals and cash prizes among the athletes.

Haaland

Sana Ullah from Mardan finished with a clock time 47.23 seconds and won gold medal, Mohsin Khan from Peshawar won the silver medal with his clock time 47.24 seconds while Umar Farooq from Mardan won the bronze medal by covering the distance in 47.25 seconds. Rescue-1122, Police, Traffic Police, and health department officials were also present, and provided best available facilities to the players.

can score 800 goals, says De Bruyne

LONDON Agencies

Kevin De Bruyne believes Manchester City teammate Erling Haaland can go on and score 800 goals before his career ends. Haaland, who will return to the city of his birth when the champions resume their Premier League title defence at Leeds has scored 24 goals in just 19 appearances since his summer move from Borussia Dortmund. “He already has about 200 goals, so he can probably go to 600, 700 or 800 if he stays fit and does the things that he does,” said De Bruyne.

The Belgian international has played with a host of top strikers in his career and is well-placed when it comes to 22-year-old Haaland s place in the pecking order.

De Bruyne enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the club s record goalscorer Sergio Aguero before the Argentinian left the Etihad Stadium in 2021.

very hard to compare because they are all totally different,” said De Bruyne. “They have all scored 300 or 400 goals. Erling is so obsessed with goals he can maybe go beyond that.”

Shakeel, who scored four half-centuries in England’s 3-0 sweep against Pakistan last week, played a loose drive against Southee and offered a regulation catch in the gully just when it looked the pair had started to rebuild the innings.

Pakistan also brought Mir Hamza into the playing XI after the left-arm fast bowler played his only Test against Australia in 2018 in Abu Dhabi. Hamza replaced allrounder Faheem Ashraf.

Imam, the opening batter, also returned to the side after missing Pakistan’s last Test because of a hamstring injury. Masood moved down the order at No. 3 as Azhar Ali retired from Test cricket after playing his last Test against England. Southee was appointed captain for the two-Test series after Kane Williamson stepped down before the Black Caps’ first Test tour to Pakistan since 2002.

New Zealand did play an ODI series in Pakistan in 2003 and was due to play a limited-overs series in Pakistan last year, but abandoned its tour just hours before the toss in the first ODI because of security concerns.

Weather concerns in Multan forced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to organise the entire tour — two Test matches and three ODIs — in Karachi.

Top Australian Test award named after Shane Warne

MELBOURNE AFP

Australia’s men’s Test Player of the Year award will be renamed in Shane Warne’s honour, officials said Monday, as tributes were paid to the late spin-king at the Boxing Day Test against South Africa. Warne, considered by many as second in stature only to Donald Bradman in sports-mad Australia, died unexpectedly aged just 52 in March. The Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award will be presented annually, second only to the prestigious Allan Border Medal for the most outstanding player across all formats. “As one of Australia’s all-time greats, it is fitting we acknowledge Shane’s extraordinary contribution to Test cricket by naming this award in his honour in perpetuity,” said Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley. The announcement came on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Warne’s home venue where he achieved many memorable feats, including an Ashes hat-trick and his 700th Test wicket. Warne’s Test cap number 350 has been painted square of the wicket for the duration of the match, while both the Australian and South African teams wore floppy white hats in his memory during the national anthem ceremony.

“His place as a legend of Australian and world sport is assured,” added Hockley. “Whilst we continue to mourn his passing, it is fitting that we honour Shane at his beloved Boxing Day Test at the MCG.” Credited with reviving the art of legspin, Warne took 708 Test wickets as part of a dominant Australian team in the 1990s and 2000s before becoming a respected commentator.

PCB to follow govt’s advice on going to India for World Cup: Najam Sethi

stAFF RePoRt

Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Najam Sethi on Monday said that the board would follow the government’s advice on touring India for next year’s ICC T20 World Cup.

“Whatever the government says we will do if the government says go to India we will go to India. If government says no go — we won’t go,” said Sethi talking to media persons at the National Bank Cricket Arena, formerly known as the National Stadium Karachi.

He said that his top Cricketing priorities are the restoration of the PCB constitution of 2014 with amendments, if needed. He said that the revival of regional and departmental crickets was also part of his advanced approach and vowed to constitute a good team and draft winning strategies for staging the best cricket matches on the grounds.

The PCB management committee’s chief said that the committee had full powers and it had been provided with a four-month period to function. He said that the management committee would be dissolved as the constitution of 2014 was

re-established and all elected representatives were ready. He said that, later, the Prime Minister would recommend nominations and then elections would be announced. ethi said that for last four years he did not make any comment regarding

two previous PCB chairmen. ‘I was of the view that they must be provided space to work as the mistakes are part of life.’

Replying to a question on renaming of National Stadium Karachi as National Bank Cricket Arena, he said that in 2013, when he became PCB chairman some officials of PCB and media said that Gaddafi Stadium should be changed, but, in my view, the names should not be changed. He said that if HBL name could be attached to PSL then why National Bank’s name could not be attached to National Stadium Karachi.

To another question, he said that grounds and pitches would be reviewed as they were behaving differently. The game was changing around the world, he added. He said that in his previous tenure as a PCB chairman, he had told Indians if they would not come to play in Pakistan then we would also not come to you. Replying to another question on Niaz Stadium, he hoped that they would find a way for Niaz Stadium restoration with Sindh government.

bitious shot against Bracewell’s off-spin and Tom Blundell got his second stumping before Imam-ul-Haq (24) played a reckless shot and holed out to Southee at mid-off to leave Pakistan struggling at 48-3.

raised his fifty off 76 balls when he drove Sodhi through mid-on off the backfoot for his seventh boundary before Southee dismissed Saud Shakeel (22) in the penultimate over before lunch.

KARACHI

PESHAWAR stAFF RePoRt

President Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cycling Association Nisar Ahmed, technical officials and other personalities were also present. Around 40 cyclists from across the province participated in the race that started from Northern Bypass Peshawar.

He has also combined with Romelu Lukaku on international duty, former City teammate Gabriel Jesus and new World Cup-winner Julian Alvarez, a current fellow City player. “It is

DAR sUmmoNs bReAKUP of Rs 447bN iN

GiDC DUes, URGes swifT ReCoveRy

PROfIt REPORt

ISLAMABAD

mINISTERfor Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar on Monday directed officials to compile an updated sector-wise breakup of a massive Rs 447 billion in outstanding dues under the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) in a bid to fast track recoveries by the government.

Dar, who chaired a meeting at the Finance Division on pending GIDC dues, expressed concern at the delay in collecting the outstanding amount. Once the breakup is presented, the meeting will formulate a strategy to ensure the swift recovery of the amount, much of which is locked up in

revenue rises by 37pc in last 3 months

g 3,194 Petitions Pending in varioUs coUrts of law Pertaining to the gidc

courts.

The GIDC was a special cess – or tax –introduced on commercial gas users by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government back in 2011 with the goal of using the funds of developing the gas infrastructure in Pakistan, which is sorely in need of uplifting. The tax however, fell into legal trouble over the years, locking up the dues.

The cash-strapped government wants to find ways to recover this amount as soon as possible. Most of the dues are of the fertiliser sector, according to figures shared recently in the Senate.

Monday’s meeting was attended by top officials of the finance and petroleum sec-

tors, including Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Tariq Bajwa Secretary Finance, as well as the Managing Director of the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), representatives of Sui Northern, Sui Southern, Pakistan Petroleum Limited.

The meeting was told that there are some 3,194 petitions in various courts of law pertaining to the GIDC.

Examining the court decisions and stay orders, Dar expressed serious concerns over non-recoveries and expressed resolve of the government to recover each penny from the defaulters.

Suzuki announces plant shutdown for year 2023

fbr

PESHAWAR

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) collected a record high of Rs 12.61 billion revenue in the first five months of the current financial year. This makes 37% more revenue than Rs 9.2 billion collected during the same period last year. For the next financial year of 2022-23, KPRA is assigned to collect Rs 35 billion, of which Rs 32 billion is to be collected in the form of service tax and Rs 3 billion in form of infrastructure development. According to statistics released by KP Finance Department, Rs 1.7 billion was collected in infrastructure development. In comparison, Rs 1.1 billion was collected in the same period last year, with an addition to Rs 11 billion was collected in the form of sales tax on services on services worth Rs 8.1 billion. A total of Rs 12.61 billion has been collected during five months. Provincial Minister of Finance Taimur Saleem Jhagra appreciated KPRA’s performance and said that if the federal government is facing difficulty in achieving their revenue targets, the KP government can provide them KPRA’s services. “The federal government is not performing well at the moment, so the KP government is ready to provide all support to achieve revenue targets,”Jhagra said. The Finance Minister also said that KPRA’s revenue increased three times in the last three years which is many times better than FBR.

Pak-Uzbek PTA to be signed by end of Jan’23

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan and Uzbekistan are set to sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) by the end of next month. The evaluation of export/import items for bilateral trade under the PTA have already been finalized between the two states. Preferential Trade Agreements, or PTAs, are formal arrangements of trade between countries that see benefits from trade amongst themselves. In many cases, these benefits are the product of proximity; countries close to one another are better able to conduct trade both because of lower transportation costs and greater possibilities for transparency. In the case of Pakistan and Uzbekistan, the two countries will use the central Asian corridor to implement a relaxed duty structure that will promote trade between the two countries on multiple levels. The PTA is scheduled to be signed by the last week of January 2023, and implemented within a week.

Suzuki has notified the Pakistan Stock Exchange that it will halt all production from January 2 to January 6. This will be the sixth time that Suzuki will observe non-production days this fiscal year. However, this will be the first time that Suzuki will halt production for both its automotive and motorcycle plants.

Suzuki has cited insufficient inventory levels due to the State Bank’s restrictions on imports of completely knocked-down (CKD) kits as the main reason for its actions. The company had previously halted production from August 18 to August 19, August 22 to August 26, August 29 to August 31, October 19 to October 21, and October 24 to October 26.

“Suzuki will have cumulatively observed twenty-one non-production days for its automotive plant and five days for its motorcycle plant. It is a very critical time for Pak Suzuki due to import restrictions and also no future information till how much more time these restrictions will continue. Detention, demurrages, and KIBOR+3% are really hurting our industry,” says Shafiq Ahmed Shaikh, Head of Public Relations and Official Spokesperson at Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited.

“Our dealerships and vendors are also very disturbed due to no sales and production respectively. Request to the Government of Pakistan to please have discussion with Industry to solve the matter on an urgent basis,” Shaikh continued. The spectre of the State Bank over the automotive industry

Suzuki’s announcement comes exactly a week after Toyota Indus Motor

COAS, CJCSC attend funeral prayer of martyred Captain Fahad

RAWALPINDI Staff RepoRt

Funeral prayer (Namaz-e-Janaza) of Captain Muhammad Fahad Khan, who embraced shahadat (on Sunday) in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast near Kahan Balochistan, was offered at Army Graveyard Rawalpindi on Monday.

According to the Inter-Services

Public Relations (ISPR), Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Syed Asim Munir and a large number of senior civil and military officers, soldiers, citizens and relatives of martyr attended the funeral prayer. The martyr was buried with full military honour.

had made public that they will be halting their production for the remainder of the year on account of the same reason. Similarly, Honda has also observed 15 non-production days this fiscal year due to the State Bank’s import restrictions. Their blame, however, is not misplaced. In May, the State Bank issued a circular stating that it now possessed administrative oversight over the import of CKD units of cars being imported into the country.

The State Bank’s announcement regarding CKD imports came only a day after the government imposed an import ban on luxury items in an attempt to stem foreign exchange outflows. While cars were not a part of the ‘luxury’ items banned by the government, they did come under scrutiny from the State Bank in a much subtler manner.

Novak

Russia is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe Pipeline and it can also send supplies to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the long term, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told state TASS news agency. “The European market remains relevant, as the gas shortage persists, and we have every opportunity to resume supplies,” TASS cited Novak as saying in remarks published by the agency on Sunday. “For example, the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, which was stopped for political reasons, remains unused.” The Yamal-Europe Pipeline usually flows westward, but has been mostly reversed since December of 2021 as Poland turned away from buying from Russia in favour of drawing on stored gas in Germany. In May, Warsaw terminated its agreement with Russia, after earlier rejecting Moscow’s demand that it pays in roubles. Russian supplier Gazprom responded by cutting off supply and also said it would no longer be able to export gas via Poland after Moscow imposed sanctions against the firm that owns the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline.

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan has expressed serious concern over the rapidly rising terrorism incidents across the country, saying that “incompetent rulers” have miserably failed to protect the lives and property of the people. “After the economic crisis, there has been an extraordinary increase in the incidents of terrorism in the country,” he said while chairing a meeting of the party leadership in Lahore on Monday.

The PTI leader deliberated at length on crucial matters including the overall political situation in the country, deteriorating economic conditions, and rising terrorism. The former prime minister said

that the “corrupt, dishonest and incompetent rulers responsible for the economic chaos have now miserably failed to protect the lives and property of the people”. Eight months ago, the country was economically stable while terrorism was practically over. These corrupt and dishonest people at the helm of affairs were given the power to play with the economy and national security and award themselves with NRO-2,” he added.In recent days, the country has seen a 52% increase in terrorism incidents in which 270 people have died and more than 550 were injured. I had warned of the consequences before my government was changed through a conspiracy.

LAHORE

g this will be the first instance of the comPany shUtting down both car and motorcycle Plants this fiscal

PROfIt REPORt muhammad Raafay Khan

KPRA’s

g kP finance minister says kPra's revenUe increased three times in last three years which is mUch better than

PROfIt REPORt aziz buneRi

g

Uzbekistan to notify rUles for transit trade agreement by febrUary

PROfIt REPORt ghulam abbaS

Russia can send natural gas to Pakistan, Afghanistan in long term:

MOSCOW agencieS

Imran blames ‘incompetent rulers’ for failure to protect Pakistanis from terrorism